18 Week Update

This week Baby Veale is the length of a bell pepper;  5.5 inches long and weighs in at 7 ounces.  He or she is busy flexing arms and legs, which I should be able to feel soon!  And the boy or girl parts should all be in place by now so all Baby Veale has to do on July 9^th is show us the goods!  Hopefully there’s not a shy baby in there.

HUNGER has been my biggest change this week.  I went from having to force myself to eat to getting incredibly hungry throughout the day.  I’m not constantly hungry which is good, but when I get hungry, it’s a savage kind of hunger.  No one better get in the way of me and my meal of choice! 

This morning I took Baby Veale out for their very first run.  I was on pelvic rest for the entire first trimester and then had been too nervous to do much until now.  The weekly pilates classes have been great and leave me sore, but you know me, I need more!  I hit the track at 0600 (yup, breaking out the military time) and got in a nice easy mile and a half.  I started out too fast and realized I wasn’t in the conversation zone (all the outdated textbooks say you should always be able to hold a conversation while working out to ensure your heart rate is not too high, and since I’m being an overly cautious pregnant woman, I’ll stick to that guidance for now) so I stopped to walk for a minute after the first lap.  But then I finished the rest of the workout without any breaks.  It felt great and it was a beautiful sunny 70 degree morning so I could have gone further but I figured I’d see how my body handles the workout before I do that.  So far, so good; I’m still feeling great and energized and excited to do it again.

New pregnancy symptoms of the week have been carpal tunnel and back pain, woo hoo!  I’ve had issues with carpal tunnel in the past, mostly just numbness /tingling in my hands but now it’s that and wrist pain.  The back pain is due to my organs moving around and the baby/uterus moving up and out which throws off my posture.  Poor hubby who has back issues said “now you know what I feel like” and I may have turned into crazy pregnant Kristen and replied with something along the lines of “YEAH, TRY ADDING 20 OTHER SYMPTOMS TO THAT, I’M PREGNANT, YEAH, IT’S JUST LIKE HOW YOU FEEL.”  Sorry, hubby!  He never knows when the switch will be flipped from normal Kristen to crazy pregnant Kristen.  In reality I do empathize with his back pain now, I’ll have to be sure to tell him that today.

I don’t think I’ve shared my most amusing pregnancy brain moment that happened a few weeks ago.  I was at work and wanted to ask Dan if he had Thursday off.  So I proceeded to open up Google and type in “Do you have next Thursday off?”  Turns out Google can’t answer everything.

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  down 3.5 lbs overall…but a .5 lb increase from last week, yes I’m counting that half a pound, don’t judge!

Maternity clothes?  No, only because I haven’t gotten the time/motivation to go buy some!  I’m living in dresses.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Better!  Still waking up every couple of hours but I think that’s something I just have to get used to. 

Best moment this week:  Going for my first run in four months this morning then coming into work to free ice cream (at 8am); for research purposes of course.

Miss Anything?  Not being a picky eater. 

Movement: No :-( Come on Baby, start letting me know you are there!

Food cravings: Baked potato soup with cheese from La Madeleine!  Debating whether it's worth it to drive out there at lunch time...I'd have to stay at work later since it would take longer than a normal lunch break.  hhhmmmm.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Everything except for baked potato soup from La Madeleine, raw veggies, fruit, or pasta.

Have you started to show yet: I’ve started to look overweight but not really pregnant.

Gender prediction: July 9^th can’t come soon enough.  I referred to the baby by the name we have picked out for a boy the other day, I’m wondering if my instincts are telling me something.

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!  Still easily annoyed though, just be super nice to me and we won’t have any problems, haha.

Looking forward to: July 9^th!