18 Weeks

Wow. Just wow. I can't believe we're already at 18 weeks! That's almost HALF WAY!! Where does time go? I've got some exciting updates for this post though.

Let's talk about the baby!! He is now the size of a sweet potato! Personally, I LOVE sweet potatoes, so this particular comparison to produce makes me happy!

At a whopping 5.6 inches and 6.7 oz,  baby is becoming amazingly mobile, passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing (so cute!).

And guess what? I've started to feel these movements! I get little "taps" or "flutters." He seems to be responding to noises and I feel quite a bit of movement when I sit down and play the piano. I try to make it a point now to play for baby as often as possible! It's the most amazing feeling and I relish every last one. I actually find myself laying awake at night just hoping for another little wave from our baby. It makes me so happy!

In three weeks (I had to move my appointment back), we'll get to have another ultrasound! I can't wait to see him moving around on the screen and another little check to make sure everything is okay.

As far as I'm concerned, I still have zero complaints! I love being pregnant! One thing I've seen posted on other blogs about pregnancy is a little Q&A that sums a lot of things up quite nicely. I'm probably not going to post every question every week, but I will this first week and kind of update it as the we continue traveling along.

How far along?: 18 weeks
How big is baby?: See above. ;)
Weight gain/loss?: Last I checked, 3 pounds
Stretch marks?: None so far!
Maternity clothes?: Occasionally. I can still fit into some of my regular clothes, especially shirts. But I definitely have to make accommodations for pants! I wore my first full maternity outfit last week.
Sleep?: Not too bad. I don't sleep as soundly as I used to. I've started sleeping with a pillow between my legs which helps with pains that sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night.
Food cravings?: Nothing in particular. But, I have my moments.
Gender?: La, la, la. I'm not telling! (Not like I know or anything)
Movement?: Finally! It's getting more and more frequent. LOVE IT!
Belly button?: I definitely think I see more of it now and it's stretching a bit, but undeniably an innie.
What are you looking forward to this week?: More Movement!


Oh and let's not forget the bump. I have to confess that this one is probably a little exaggerated as I had literally just eaten dinner. Look, just look! My boobs are not bigger than my belly in this picture! YAY!!

The State of the Breast Address

There are a few things that are certain to grow with pregnancy. Of course, for some women, this is a positive. But, for women like me - those already blessed with a chest - it's really a pain in the, well, back. So, if you don't want to hear the woes I have regarding my ta-ta's you may want to come back another day.

If there's one thing about myself that I can verifiably say is good, its my figure. Sure, there are things I don't like, such as the ease I have in gaining weight in the dreaded "pooch" area, but I really can't complain. I have that perfect hourglass shape. My chest measurements have almost always matched my hip measurements with a nice smaller waist in between. Also, the beautifully sized and shaped breasts I've been blessed with came on slowly. So, no stretch marks, great girls. However, being well-endowed isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Let's start with clothes shopping in general. Finding dresses, shirts, swimsuits, any top in general, is a big game. Will they fit? I'm often jealous of those cute little girls with their cute little boobs in their cute little sundresses that I never in my wildest dreams would be able to pull off. And bras? Ha. I actually get amusement going to Victoria's Secret and having them ask me if they can find a bra for me just so I can tell them that they shouldn't bother because, at a 32DDD/F (yes, I know) they don't carry my size. I've been ordering my bras (for ridiculous amounts of money) from the UK for years.

Now that I'm pregnant, my difficulties have just grown. I do have to say that maternity clothes are awesome because most of them naturally give more space. But, I've already started my search for maternity/nursing bras. Unfortunately, my go-to, always-been-there-for-me UK supplier doesn't really have many options. So, I began my pity party. And, while I was busy lamenting, they kept growing. And then started the headaches which were caused by the extra weight I was carrying in my chest. I've been watching with dread as I expect stretch marks to pop up anytime. And, as silly as it sounds, I almost feel like I've been cheated in enjoying my belly because my boobs are stealing the show! I've had three people say that they knew I was pregnant before I said anything because my boobs gave it away. In fact, one actually asked me if I had gotten some work done! Eek!

Fast forward to a trip to Cotton Babies (aka my new all-time favorite store) where I decided on a whim to give their bra section a glance. And lo-and-behold, the heavens opened and the angels sang as I found not one, not two, but THREE bras in my size!!!! Oh. Em. Gee. I wasn't even sure a 32 H/I even existed. And, the best part? They won't cost me the first born child I'm carrying!!

If you want to check out the blessed company whom I'm currently considering setting up a shrine in my closet to (I kid) go here! It's pretty freaking awesome. Can you tell I'm happy? Good, I got my point across.

Am I happy with the state of my breasts? Not by a long shot. But, at least now I can live with it. Now I can worry about what they will look like in the aftermath and possibly consider starting a fund to pay to put them back to their original state of glory after I'm done making babies. Eek.

The Catch-Up Post

Okay, here goes. Weeks 7 through 17. I haven't kept up with these weekly posts, mainly because I really didn't feel like it was real. Like there was nothing to show people. Now that I'm writing this post, I'm realizing just how much there is to catch up on. Baby has done a LOT of developing in the last 10 weeks and I think it's safe to say I finally have a bump! More on that later. Let's talk about the little person that has happily made a home with me for a while.

All of this info comes from the Bump and it's pretty neat to think about how much our little one is developing and changing week to week.

Our baby has gone from being the size of a blueberry at 7 weeks to now being the size of a vidalia onion! He (I say he because I don't like referring to my baby as "it") has formed all of his limbs, organs, and bones. Tooth buds are in place, fingers and toes are wiggling, eyes are in place and can sense light, and ears are hearing. It is now known whether he is a boy or a girl, but we will not be finding out! We have gotten to hear the heartbeat twice (one was 167, the other 158). I have crossed the magic threshold into the 2nd trimester and feeling great!

More specifically, this week baby is around 5 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 6 oz. His skeleton is hardening and he is growing fat! Most amazingly, his fingerprints and toe-prints are starting to form!

This is me at 17 weeks! Holy baby bump! This was the first day I actually wore a full maternity outfit. Love it!

And, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing that the many things I'm wanting to say in this post really deserve posts of their own. So, coming soon:

• The State of the Breast Address
• Boy? Girl? Bald-headed Squirrel?
• Why I'm Angry with my OB
• The Name Game
• CD's - Not the Kind You Listen To
• Nursery Decor (This will probably be more like a series of posts)
• My Birth "Suggestion"

Until then, I'm going to go and enjoy my snow day! We got about 10 inches last night!

Something to hold you over

Someone shared this with me and I thought it was pretty hilarious. Rob didn't find it quite as amusing, but I thought it would be good to hold you over while I complete my catch-up post for weeks 7-17. Coming soon!

6 Weeks

There's something about "6 weeks." Not really sure what, but it feels like a milestone.

My baby is the size of a sweet pea!

According to thebump.com, our baby is "Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, and chin. Those little hands and feet -- still webbed like paddles -- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate."


That's so crazy! It's just miraculous and I can't help but smiling about it. It's slowly becoming a reality. We FINALLY get to have our first ultrasound on Sunday and I am so excited. I'm kind of nervous as well. The what-if's are hard at work in my head, but I'm just trying to relax and enjoy every minute of my pregnant bliss. 


Unfortunately, morning sickness has slowly made an appearance over the last week. It's tolerable most of the time and comes in waves. I'm learning how to adjust and keep the nausea at bay. I did learn to NEVER take my pre-natal vitamin in the morning. That was a BAD day. Fortunately, I've yet to actually lose it, but I came pretty close! I've also outgrown all of my bras (which is unfortunate, because I JUST bought some). I'm holding off on buying maternity/nursing bras as long as possible. I'd hate to spend the money on something just to outgrow that as well. Other than the morning sickness, I haven't really had many other symptoms. I seem to enjoy a nap in the afternoons more than usual, but honestly I feel more energized than before I was pregnant when I am awake. Hopefully that sticks around. I'm getting a lot done!


We've started thinking about nursery decorations and I'll be making a whole other post on that later! Also, in case you were wondering, we do not plan on finding out the sex of the baby. We want to be surprised. So, we're trying to be as gender neutral as possible. 


The boys are wanting to make an appearance in their shirts. Considering they were an integral part of the announcement, it's only fitting that they get some face time. ;)

And finally, this week's picture. Obviously nothing to show yet but bloat. But I even feel like that is better than it was last week. I can't wait for my baby bump to appear!

4 Weeks

I wrote this post right after we found out we were pregnant. I have a one for week 5 and 6 and I'm going to make one big post for the weeks between then and now. Enjoy!

Wow. Just wow. That's all I can really say. I'm PREGNANT!! I'm approximately 4 weeks 3 days. It's still very early, but I want to get an early start on my weekly posts. I apologize if this is going to turn into "just another pregnancy blog," but after spending so much time (and money!) to finally get to this point, I'm going to bask in the glory of it!

So, here we go!!

I guess I'll start with exactly how we got here. You can read the entirety of my infertility journey here. But, I'll go ahead and chronicle the cycle that finally did the trick. It started just like every other cycle (I'll spare you the details). I went ahead and gave my RE (who's awesome BTW) a call to let him know where we were at and to see what the plan was for this cycle. Since in my previous cycle I hadn't responded to the 150mg of Clomid, he said we were going to up it one more time to 250 mg and an IUI (intrauterine insemination) before moving on to another plan of action.  I set out with (kind of) high hopes and the positive outlook my RE always seemed to be able to give me. The Clomid was fine, just like every other cycle - no symptoms - until the last day. Then I started getting "tracers" in my vision and knew for sure this would be my last cycle on Clomid. Luckily I finished the medication for the cycle and we continued on our merry way. My window for ovulation came and went with no signs of success - another failed cycle. I called my RE to let him know and he asked me to come in for an ultrasound. They found one large follicle on my right ovary that my body didn't want to release. So, he prescribed me Ovidrel (a shot of HCG to trigger ovulation) and we scheduled the IUI for two days later. The IUI also came and went and we began the wait. THE LONGEST TWO WEEKS EVER.

Finally, I caved. I wasn't supposed to test until Wednesday. But, it was Monday morning and my temperature was still high. In fact, it shifted upward again. I couldn't wait any longer. So, I tested. And, lo and behold, the test said "Pregnant." See?

My first positive pregnancy test. I was shaking. I didn't know what to do with myself. I took a couple of laps around the house and tried to wrap my head around it. Then, I had to tell Rob. I already had it all planned out. I had made t-shirts for our puppies and they said, "Future Big Brother" and "Future Bigger Brother" on them. So, I put my plan in place. Rob's reaction was priceless. I'll never forget it.

This was one of the happiest days of my life. I can only imagine what it will be like when we finally get to meet our little one.

As far as pregnancy goes, so far I haven't felt much different. I'm a little more tired than usual and have been having some back pain. I'd say my most unexpected symptom has been heart palpitations, but they aren't bad at all. I'll admit, I'm a little worried about morning sickness. But, I'll take it!

And, for good measure, here's my first belly picture:

4 weeks

(I don't know why this picture looks so crappy and ignore the ridiculous look on my face. It was early...)