Pregnancy Update: 18 Weeks

What a week! Normally, I don't have many new things to report, but this week there have been several changes. The biggest change I've noticed over the last seven days is the increase in baby kicking. I don't even have to lay down on my stomach to feel the movement, either. Often, I'll be sitting in a chair or on the couch when I feel the baby wiggle. Though I can't be sure, it sometimes seems like the baby will start kicking when G and I are talking to each other. If he or she is hearing us and responding with movement, that is really cool! Another thing I've noticed is that my belly is staying significantly bigger now. There are still some days when I wake up that it looks a little flat, but most of the time it pooches out. A lot. And when I eat, well, that's something else entirely. The moment food hits my stomach, I start looking like I'm about to go into labor!

Because I had something going on that took me away from the house almost every day this past week, my exercise and healthy eating dropped off some. I did manage to get in lots of walking, though; just not as much with the prenatal workout DVD. My weight is taking its sweet time in going back up, but I do think I'm gaining. This morning before breakfast, I weighed in at 119.4, which is the highest it's been in quite some time.

We bought a crib on Monday! I've had my eye on one from Pottery Barn for a while, but it was pretty pricey. Originally, G and I were going to ask friends and family for PB gift cards that would help us get the crib, but then Mom and I went to a PB Outlet and I found the exact crib I wanted at a dramatically reduced price. After talking to Hubby over the phone in the store, we decided to get it. We spent about what we would spend on a really nice crib from BabiesRUs, and there's just no beating PB's furniture quality. It's a convertible crib, so as the baby grows, we'll be able to adjust it to meet their needs. The box was huge, so I had to leave it with Mom and Dad temporarily, but we're hoping to get it here sometime this weekend and put it together. I can't wait to see it assembled! There are a few more pieces of PB furniture we would like to get for the room (though we won't be in need if we don't get them), so if anyone wants to know what we would like, we're still welcoming gift cards to Pottery Barn and also Restoration Hardware. We've registered at Target and BabiesRUs for everything else.

From what I can tell, most of my family members (and several in-laws) think that we're having a girl. G and I feel like we're having a boy, though. We will hopefully find out in a couple more weeks! In the meantime, I am scouring Pinterest for good gender reveal photos. Some people have gender reveal parties and I think it's a cute idea, but it's really not my style. Personally, I can't justify throwing a party just to tell people the sex of our baby. It's so much easier (and cheaper, and faster) to take a picture, call people, or announce it on Facebook. I know, I'm a kill-joy.

I've been getting up early with my Honey every day for a while now, and I feel so good! I rest well at night and I have a lot more energy in the morning. When I was younger, I always considered myself a morning person. When G and I got married, he said I was more of a "mid-morning person," since it took me a while to wake up. Well, the morning person has returned because except for the initial roll out of bed, I am wide awake and cheerful! There's something special about being up when the sun is rising. It's like you get a stronger sense of the presence of God (I do, anyway).

A sweet lady from my parents' church gave Mom the first and second Babywise books to give to me. I'm really excited about adding them to my reading list, because they had already been recommended to me by another friend. Since I'm very much about putting the baby on a schedule (specifically Dr. Denmark's schedule), I'm interested to see what the authors have to say and see whether or not their advice differs from Dr. Denmark's.

Recently, I looked through the pregnancy pictures that we've taken so far and I couldn't believe how much I've changed physically in such a relatively short period of time!

My first belly photo was taken at 6 weeks.

This photo was taken two days ago on my
birthday (almost 18 weeks).

Mom says I'm showing WAY earlier than she did with me. Apparently she didn't really show with me until two weeks before I was born! Since I'm not even half-way through the pregnancy yet, I think my belly is going to be huge (yay)! Between you and me (and basically everyone else), I'm still hoping to be surprised by twins at the ultrasound appointment. It highly doubt that will happen this time around, but a girl can dream, can't she? In other news, I'm pretty sure I caught a stranger noticing my belly for the first time the other day, and that makes me happy. I wanted to go up to them and say, "Oh, this thing? That's my baby bump. Wanna touch it?" However, they probably would have been seriously creeped out, so I just kept my mouth shut and smiled to myself. Thank the Lord that I'm shy, guys.