BB2.0: 18 Weeks

Welp, it's that time again.  Already 18 weeks!  Almost halfway there and I have not even thought about a crib for this poor child.  Get movin', mama!  The only two things standing between me and sleep are (1) the fact that I still have to get L's stuff ready for school tomorrow and (2) this blog post, so I'll get on with it.

Size of Baby B 2.0:  A bell pepper!  

Side note:  Did you notice the font color change?  We'll get to that in a minute.  :-)

Baby is about 5.5 inches long and weighs almost 7 oz.  Teeny little man!  Baby's genitals are noticeable now, per Babycenter.  Clearly.  I'm not posting the creepy pictures anymore for now unless they start to look less creepy.

Weight Gain So Far:  Per the home scale, it is somewhere between 4-5 lbs this week, so up 1-1.5 from last week.  Whoops.  All of that delicious Whole Foods Key Lime Pie is catching up with me, I guess!

Cravings:  Really none.  Last week I mentioned that I needed my Mom's sloppy joes.  I satisfied that craving tonight and feel good about it.

Aversions:  Nada.

Symptoms:  Just the usual, constipation and exhaustion.  Jen gave me a good suggestion for some pre-natals to try to help with symptom #1, so I'll report back if/when I try them.

Movement:  Since my last post I have felt several distinct movements.  Still nothing consistent or too terribly often, but at least I'm feeling it now.  Bring it on, baby!

What I Miss:  Wine.  And being able to get through the work day without seriously contemplating a nap under my desk.

Signs of a Bump:  I realized when I looked back at my blog that I somehow skipped an 18 week update post with Lilly - all I had was a post about the gender appointment!  So, no pictures to compare this time, but here's what I look like tonight:

Still growing!

What I'm Thankful For:  Our friends and family were all so excited about learning the gender of Baby Baum 2.0.  I didn't really think people would care the second time around, and we are so grateful to be surrounded by so much love and support!

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Our first weekend at home in a while this weekend.  I have a ton of projects around the house that need to get done, which may or may not happen, but I'm looking forward to having no "firm" plans and spending time with my sweet little family.

Doctor Update:  In case you haven't figured it out (or if you missed it yesterday), we have a gender!  We are welcoming a sweet baby BOY in February.  

Sorry for posting a pic of your anatomy on the internet, baby dear.

Our ultrasound appointment was yesterday, and I am still in a state of shock.  I just knew it was a girl!  Dan is so excited, several times last night he stopped whatever he was doing and broke out into song and dance.  He already has ideas for names and the nursery, neither of which are consistent with my ideas, so I'm gonna need y'all to pray for my poor husband's life over the next roughly 4.5 months.  :-)

I'll do a separate post on the "gender reveal" if you will, but basically we decided that we definitely needed to know gender (based on aforementioned name discussion which is giving me panic attacks, oy), but we wanted to find out as a family.  Our ultrasound technician at my OB is absolutely wonderful and was very cooperative (not to mention so excited for us), and told us when to look away and helped me make sure Dan didn't peek.  Baby boy was luckily VERY cooperative so we got a lot of great photos, but again I'll only post the ones where you can really tell what you're seeing below.

The u/s tech told us that baby is perfectly healthy and she sees no cause for concern whatsoever!  Two hands, two feet, 10 fingers, 10 toes, perfectly functioning heart and digestive system, etc.  His heartbeat yesterday was 158 bpm.  I was 17w6d at the time of the ultrasound and he was measuring 18w4d, so almost a week ahead (ugh).  She  made a note in my file so that we can monitor that closer to go-time (yes please and thank you kindly!).  His weight is currently 50th percentile, and luckily his head appears to be average sized as well.  He is also currently breach.  Obviously, he has plenty of time to turn, but he is currently laying in the same position that I sit/stand in - head towards my head and feet towards my feet.  Lilly was always on her side and then head down, so that is one thing that is different from our sweet girl.

Sweet little baby foot!

I think this one looks like a dinosaur.  Baby velociraptor for the new nickname?!

Next Doctor Appointment:  September 23 for a check in with the doctor.  Let's see if I can keep the weight gain under control until then, ha!

That's all for tonight.  Off to pack L's lunch and back pack and then I can go to bed. Happy Tuesday!

Sarah