18 Week Update

Whew. What a week.

 How far along: 18 weeks 6 days

Size of baby:  Sweet potato, Bell pepper (WHAT?!)

Physical symptoms: Bloated after eating. Headaches, stuffy nose (allergies?). Restless legs when I lay down- prettttty bad. Trouble getting comfortable and falling asleep. A little dizzy, some heart flutter action going on once in awhile. Sliiiightly less exhausted. Constantly dying of thirst (and then urgently have to pee 2 seconds later... I literally pee before we go out, then go get my coat and by the time I get to the door I have to pee again. Constipated, like whoa (sorry!). Prettyyyyy moody and emotional. Bizzaro-world dreams. Some food aversions. My face is constantly broken out. Oh, and here's a brand new one: My stomach and chest have been itchy. Awwwww damn, watch out for the stretch marks (I rubbed cocoa butter on myself once this week and gagged for like 3 hours from the smell). And last but not least, apparently "pregnancy brain" is a real thing- I'm the biggest freaking space cadet lately. I forget what I'm saying in the middle of a sentence, think it's the wrong day all day, etc. It's super cute. Not.

Weight gain/loss: Last time I checked it was about 5lbs but I've been realllllly constipated all week so I haven't checked in awhile.

Maternity clothes: I returned those two shirts to Target but couldn't find replacements... I bought another one off of eBay and that came today. Very exciting. But I'm in this awkward place between sort of fitting into regular clothes (and just looking "fat") and feeling like a total poser in maternity clothes because I'm not quite big enough. Idk. Is this "feeling like a poser" thing an infertiles issue? Like is it just that I'm somewhat in denial about this being real??

Stretch marks: Nope!

Sleep: I slept more than last week, but I'm still pretty exhausted. And this restless legs thing has got to freaking go.

Best moment since last week: We got a stroller!!!! I'd been researching strollers for a long time, but we "finally" went to look at them in person last week and E was pretty sold on the Uppababy Vista... which was amazing since that was also my first choice. But those suckers clock in at like $750, not including somewhat necessary add-ons, so there was noooo freaking way that was going to happen. Looong story short, we decided to find one on Craigslist... but since we have a custom to not have any of the baby items in our home before the baby is born (yes, I know!), I started looking for one near either E's parents or mine. First I found one near E's parents, like legit a 5 minute drive from their house, but the lady never got back to me. So then I found one near my parents, for even less than the first one (and way less than 1/2 the price of a new one). My mom went to check it out for us and BOOM. Sold! So now we have a barely-used (the woman used it for two years but in conjunction with two other expensive strollers!) Uppababy Vista with a bunch of extra add-ons. It'll stay at my parents' place until they visit post-birth... or something like that. Whatever. I'm freaking stoked.

Oooh also, Saturday night two different friends that I'd seen on Shabbos FB messaged me- one to call me out about this blog and how I hadn't mentioned this whole pregnancy thing when she asked "what's new?" that day (ha ha) and the other, who'd gone through years of infertility before having her two children wanted to let me know that she thinks about me every day and prays for us. :) Which was beyond sweet and it was fun getting to tell her. And she told me that just that day she was watching E play with another friend's sons and thought to herself what an amazing dad E is going to be someday. :) Couldn't agree more!

And my realllllly good friend's daughter (!!!) got engaged (!!!) so the engagement party was this past week and it was amazingly special.

Movement: I'm still not sure. Which has me on high alert because I was positive I was feeling him or her a couple of weeks ago, but I'm telling myself it must have been just gas all along. Idk....

Cravings/Aversions: I'm more grossed out by things than craving them. I'll go into the kitchen and can tell you exactly what I DON'T want, but have a really hard time finding something that I do want. I've been kind of having to force-feed myself every once in awhile. I did have a major craving for a margarita last night though! 

Gender: We found out at our 16 week appointment but are going to confirm it at the 20week appt before we tell anyone, if anyone. 

Labor signs: Hopefully not anyyytime soon.

Belly button:  Innie

What I miss: Sleeping comfortably through the night. Cocktails (I just need to suck it up and work the "mocktails" edge). Laying on my stomach (it hurts, yo). Looking good in clothing. Or out of clothing... haha? 

What I am looking forward to: Our 20 week appointment! :) And feeling this kid realllly move (G-d willing). :) And on Tuesday we can go public by all ways of counting to 4 months, so it realllly won't be a secret and I'll maybe feel more comfortable wearing maternity clothes in public (which I haven't done yet at all).