Bumpdate: 17 weeks

Sorry, sorry, sorry!  I've been bad about keeping up with this the last week or so.  The holidays are here, and I've been busy rushing around trying to get everything in order!

Nothing really exciting happened in week 16, so don't worry, you didn't miss anything.

Oh wait, I lied.  Last week, at 16 weeks, 5 days, I was sitting at my computer, and I felt a bunch of little bumps and bloops!  Little Sprout was moving around!  It lasted part of the morning and then was gone.  Since then, I've felt a couple more little bumps, but nothing major.  I'm still waiting for some big kicks!  Luckily, Sprout's bones are continuing to harden this week, and Sprout is now almost 5 inches long, so, I should be feeling more soon :)

When I hit 17 weeks last Thursday, I had one of those, "Holy crap this is going fast!" moments.  I'm almost half-way done with this pregnancy!  It doesn't feel like it because I still don't always feel that pregnant, but it's true!  I bet the last 20 weeks of this craziness is really going to fly!

I'm grateful to be a lot more awake now - finally.  I can stay up all day w/o needing a nap.  I still feel like I need one around 2 pm, but I can move past it and actually get stuff done.  Hooray!  My nausea is gone, and my eating habits have returned mostly to normal.  Whenever anyone mentions any particular kind of food, I want it, but other than that, the cravings are pretty low key - anything juicy and cheeseburgers.

I'm getting lots of guesses about Sprout's gender.  Most people are guessing girl, but there are still a few on the boy train.  I was convinced Sprout is a boy, but now I'm not so sure.  Either way, I'll be happy!  Only 23 more weeks (ish) until we find out!

Sprout has been getting lots of Christmas presents.  We've got the crib and pack 'n' play - thanks Grandma Alexis and Aunt Adrian!  Aunt Lauren bought some adorable baby clothes, and we've gotten tidbits from others, as well.  It's fun to see all the baby stuff in our house!  It makes it feel more real, for sure.

Without further ado - the 17 week bump...

Bumpdate: 15 Weeks

Today, we got our first real Christmas tree as a married couple!  Growing up, we always had real trees.  Since Louie and I have been together, we've had a fake tree because we've lived in apartments.  So, today, I took Louie out to Braun's Christmas Tree Farm to chop down a tree!  This is a tradition I hope to keep when Sprout gets here.  I loved having a real tree in the house over the holidays, and I want my baby to have those same wonderful memories.

In other news, I continue to feel little bumps and bubbles a couple times a week, but no obvious kicks.  I still wonder if what I'm feeling is actually baby or if it's just some other random thing going on in there.  I ordered more maternity clothes because 1 pair of jeans and 3 shirts that fit properly really isn't cutting it anymore.  I can still wear some of my other tops, but I just don't feel pretty.

I went Christmas shopping yesterday and was surprised how sad I was that I couldn't buy myself all of the adorable sparkly non-maternity clothes!  It's silly, but I do miss my old body.  I'm sure I'll love my current body even more once I start feeling kicks and Sprout really starts to grow, but it is challenging to deal with such drastic body changes.

As I was heading to the Gap, I heard a live orchestra playing Christmas music right near where kids were getting their pictures taken with Santa.  As I got closer, I realized it was a children's orchestra.  I have no idea why, but I started crying in the middle of the mall!  Something about little kids being talented and playing moving Christmas songs I guess.  Needless to say, I ducked my head and hustled into the Gap.  Pregnancy hormones: 1 - Carmen: 0

I keep meaning to take pictures of all the cute baby stuff I have gotten so far.  I'll get to it.  I promise.

Bumpdate: 14 weeks

Well, I've officially popped - at least in my eyes.  Granted, it's more of my uterus pushing all my organs up rather than actual baby, but hey, I'll take it!  My clothes don't fit right anymore, and I'm slowly purchasing maternity clothing.  Thank goodness it's cute!  It's nice to not have to sacrifice fashion.

We have gotten lots of baby stuff over the past couple of weeks!  I've gotten some sweet hand-me-down stuff from some friends.  Then, on Black Friday, Cotton Babies was having a sale, so I bought most of the rest of our stash.  We'll be using Flips for the most part with disposables as needed and prefolds with covers for the newborn phase.  I'm thinking about getting a few pocket diapers to use for overnights based on the recommendations from a friend.  It's hard to choose what to use because there are so many different kinds of cloth diapers and everyone has a different opinion based on what works for them.

We had an appointment with our midwife on Thursday at 14 weeks.  It took forever to get back into the exam room, but once we got back there, it was a pretty snappy appointment.  All of our 1st trimester screening came back normal.  I have to go in for some blood work next week for additional screening, but I'm not worried.

Note: All this screening is routine and can be turned down if you don't want it.  We figured it's better for us to know about any issues prior to birth so we can be prepared to handle them and not be surprised.  Things are all normal so far.  Yay!

We got to hear Little Sprout's heartbeat again!  Jane put the doppler right between my belly button and my pubic bone and found the heartbeat in no time.  It's wooshing steadily along in the 140s.  Seriously, there is no better sound!  We scheduled our next ultrasound for January at 19 weeks.  This is one of the longer ultra sounds that we get.  The tech will take their time looking at all of Sprout's organs to make sure everything is developing correctly.

How am I feeling?  Tired.  Starving.  Rotund.  But all in all, I'm feeling good!  Just waiting to be kicked...