Great Expectations: 17 weeks

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Fruit Size Comparison: avocado 

Weight/Clothes: I have gained 9 lbs total at this point. Crazy! According to the charts at my doctors appointments I am right on the edge of being on target (if I'd gained over 10 I'd be over the target), so I'm trying to eat healthy and eat plenty of fruit and veggies and not go overboard on unhealthy options, though I'm still not keeping myself from the occasional treat.

 

I purchased a couple more pairs of bottoms today! My two pairs of jean capris have been amazing, but after all my travels they both wound up in the wash and on the drying rack and I found myself with very limited options. I picked up a pair of kaki cargo style capris, a pair of grey shorts and my first pair of maternity jeans. I didn't want to invest in to many shorts since summer will be coming to an end soon, but capris will last me through the fall at least. Everything was on sale, so I did pretty good AND I had a couple gift cards too (One gift card was actually still kicking from Christmas!) Gift cards are always a plus! I'm still good with my shirt selection for now especially with all my options for bottoms. I'm feeling the desire to find a few cute new dresses or skirts that can take me from summer into fall, but I have yet to find something I love.  

Cravings: Still soup...that is all. 

Gender: Adam found out he gets to come to cabin weekend in October, so the gender reveal party is ON!! We'll have to wait a tad bit longer to find out, but I am so excited to share in this surprise with our family and friends. It's going to be so much fun! Votes are still ALL boy and we started registering this week and I focused on neutrals, while Adam was drawn to boy stuff of course. We'll see!

Movement: Nothing for sure yet though I did feel some gas bubbles the other day, but I think they were way too high to be the baby moving. They were high up and I know my uterus end a finder width above my belly bottom right now...funny to know such things! Who knows...it made me wonder. 

Also, when I wake up the baby seems to regularly be squished to one side of my abdomen when I'm laying on my back. It is a very strange feeling and everything goes back to normal (evenly distributed) as soon as I get out of bed. Funny. 

Symptoms (discomfort, belly issues, nasal issues, sleeping, etc): I'm feeling GREAT! 

I've had some round ligament pain, but it's very occasional. That's it at the moment, which is awesome. 

I bought some shay butter with vitamin E to stay well moisturized and hopefully keep stretch marks at bay...we'll see...I haven't had the best luck with those boogers growing up, but they healed over time from my teenage years. Such is life I guess.

I've also been trying to walk more or swim to get in some extra exercise, which my doctors have been encouraging, nothing too strenuous though (not to fear mom:). 

Mental State: I have finally finished ALL my house projects in terms of getting settled though I found out my cookbooks are still eluding me as of today. I'm sure they will turn up sooner or later.

I have had A LOT on my mind though this past week related to baby some of which I'll get into next under appointment updates, but we also went to start a registry at Babies R US this week and that had my mind racing in regards to which stroller to buy, which bottles, pump and such to choose and finally what furniture would create the anchors for the nursery of our dreams. More research to be done and blog updates to come I'm guarantee.

We're also getting used to our new budget with Adam's new job and what life will be like on his income alone. The extras I make between now and Baby Herndon's arrival will only supplement. I think we're going to be good, we are so blessed, but I'm excited to see how things feel in the next couple months as we settle into routines and daily life (before baby at least).  

Appointment Updates: Well I went to my first centering appointment. I really liked the appointment and I think this model of care is going to be a great fit. I took detailed notes, which I'll blog about separately.

The highlights...I had somehow gotten ahead of myself and could not figure out how I had missed a week of journaling only to realize I was not 16 going on 17 weeks, instead I was 15 going on 16 weeks. Pregnancy brain at work I guess.

I had a borderline high blood pressure reading at the appointment!! Which is crazy because I usually have VERY low blood pressure and I get asked if I feel all right. I didn't think I was anxious or anything, but I was told we'd take another reading after hearing the baby's heartbeat because it would help me relax. 

The baby's heartbeat is now 145, which had me concerned since it had been 168...but not to fear, the doctor told me this is a very normal occurrence as the baby grows and is now much larger. 

My blood pressure did go down and was normal by the end of the appointment. Thank goodness.

The next day I had an early sugar test because of the high incidence of diabetes in my family. I went in...drank the well-known ORANGE DRINK and waited to have my blood drawn. Getting that drink down in five minutes was TOUGH! At first I thought, "This isn't sooo bad."...but a few minutes in I began to understand why everyone hates this test. It's was really hard to get that bottle of super sweet orange liquid down in such a short period of time. I wish I had brought a straw, but they didn't have one. At least it was cold because that definitely helped. Then I had my blood drawn for that test and my serial sequential screening for genetic disorders. 

Looks like everything has checked out. I'm curious if I'll have to take this sugar test again in the normal time frame. We'll see if I get to experience this joy a second time.  

Is this normal? Strange occurrences: Waking up with the baby more to one side of my abdomen. 

Best Moment of the Week: My mom and I found the perfect nursery furniture today! (More on that in its own post.) This baby is going to have a lovely room  to come home to. YAY! Thanks Nana! We also found the perfect living room rug, which will be oh to important for a crawling baby and for playing with toys in the living room.

Sidenote:

Adam also took this mama for a lovely date night. It's restaurant week in Boston, so we checked out a new spot on Newbury Street followed by a sunset cruise of the Boston Harbor. The weather was perfect. I am getting very spoiled by this summer weather! We're enjoying soaking in this alone time, but I can't wait until we have Baby Herndon along (in person) for all the fun too!