4 Months!

I have to say, for a lot of reasons this pregnancy is just going by so much faster than when I was pregnant with Nolan. He's the ultimate distraction, I'm telling ya.

This morning I was getting into work and I was like "what day is it?" and remembered it's the 27th... which means (since my due date is on the 25th) that I'm 4 months pregnant now - officially! 18 weeks and some change too.

Compared to when I was pregnant with Nolan, I am not memorizing the fruit of the week as closely. I'm not looking at the individual progresses in development as closely either. It's kind of a relief in a way because when I was pregnant with Nolan there were many days that I thought I was going to go insane.

So here I am in yet another bump pic:

18 weeks 1 day (I think)

So even though I say this pregnancy has been going fast, I still do get scared sometimes. I don't feel as much movement as I feel like I felt with Nolan at this time. This leads to a lot of doppler uses! Nolan now calls the doppler "baby" and wants to use the ultrasound gel and use the doppler on me. Spoiler Alert: He's not really good at it yet. He really would rather play with the gel after using the wand to touch my stomach.

Lately my morning sickness has been better although I did throw up for no freaking reason on Saturday...

I'm still leaning towards the possibility that this is a girl because of the sickness I'm feeling. Only 12 days left of not knowing if we're having a son or a daughter!

It's almost like I should just appreciate each day of not knowing because we will know for the rest of our lives... but it's also like COME ON. I'm so excited to find out!

The countdown continues...

The Countdown Begins

Yesterday's midwife appointment was actually super dull to be honest. The nurse took my vitals, tested the "sample" I provided, and then the midwife came in and we heard the heartbeat. Since I have my own dopper at home hearing the heartbeat isn't as much of a relief in the midwife's office as it probably is for some.

Maybe I'm just an old hand at this by this point?

The date of the appointment is September 9th... that's less than 4 weeks away! I'm trying to not make a huge deal about it publicly (at work especially) because I want my family to know the sex, if we find out, before everyone else. So when I come in to work late that day I'll just be nonchalant, acting as if I didn't just have a HUGE appointment that morning!

For fun let's see what the old wives tell us I'm having:

Chinese Gender Prediction:
GIRL

Fetal Heart Rate:
Since it's in the 140s and Nolan was in the 140s... I'll go with BOY here

Breakouts/Blemishes:
I had some then they went away, right now my skin is clear so BOY

Ring Over Belly:
It went back and forth so GIRL

Morning Sickness:
Uhhhhuhhhhh... GIRL

Some of the other ones are either too silly (which boob is bigger?) or I'm just not far enough along (are you carrying high or low?) so I'll just leave it there. The facts show we're having a girl... although the heartbeat thing feels like the most scientific of all of them since there's concrete numbers rather than "how are you feeling" when it comes to morning sickness.

We'll see!

If we're having a boy I have to admit I'm going to be a little bummed to not stock up on a new wardrobe but my wallet will be pleased with the cost savings of hand me downs!

Also, just for kicks - here's a picture of how good my nails are looking! Thank you prenatal vitamins and omega 3s!

holding a sharpie to demonstrate that I'll be an amazing hand model should you be hiring... 

Today, I'm EXCITED!

I always get excited on midwife appointment days.

Well... nervous too... but today excited! Probably because I've been kind of sort of feeling movement and can easily hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler!

Why I'm excited today:
1: I get to leave work early... that's ALWAYS exciting in my opinion!
2: I get to schedule my anatomy scan appointment!!
3: It's just fun to pass every midwife appointment milestone...

Here I am at 16 weeks. I seriously think that the 1st tri flew by... however sick I felt I wasn't as scared as I was when I was pregnant with Nolan.

My little baby is about the size of an avocado (which makes me think guacamole would be a real treat this week... does that make it sound like I want to eat my baby?) and 4.6 inches long. Baby can hear my voice and is just growing like crazy!

Back up a little bit...

So yeah, the anatomy scan is THE ultrasound where you find out if you're team pink or blue (or you can be team green... whatever!) so knowing that I'll finally be able to count down the days until that ultrasound REALLY excites me.

With Nolan, I think we agreed that we liked the name Nolan about this time in the pregnancy with him. So going into the scan we knew if it was a boy he'd be a Nolan. We didn't (and still don't) have a name for a girl picked yet. No names are jumping out at us unfortunately. I have a few that I'm warm to but then a few days later I don't feel so excited about it.

But yes, we're definitely finding out.

Earlier in the pregnancy I was taking crazy pills and thought it would be fine to be team green the entire pregnancy. Now that I'm potentially a few weeks away from finding out... I just don't want to wait anymore!

We're going to find out during the ultrasound. Neither of us really want to wait to do something special to find out the sex. While we see the baby is going to be exciting enough! BUT I've planned a little gender reveal (sex reveal, whatever) for my family for when we're in Seattle and it involves cupcakes (again).

This time we're ordering from Cupcake Royale and getting:

The Kate - With a neutral icing

Red Velvet

And probably 2 other flavors to make sure the kids have something they like. So probably:

The Classic

And I'm going to see if they can do a peanut butter cup one.

In case the thought of cupcakes makes you want to snack but you're on a diet... keep reading:

My midwife/OBGYN office asks that we bring in a sample of pee rather than having them take it right there.

I left my sample in my car... in the heat... so it's probably baking in like 90 degrees inside my car giving it that nice homeless person smell. 

16w1d

Best Moments This Week: The "was that the baby moving?" feeling I've had a few times. A big thing this week is that we've decided for sure that I'm going to keep working after maternity leave. I've found a few options for daycare so we're just sorting through what we think would be best for the kiddos come April.

Total Weight Gain: You know what? I plead the 5th.

Maternity Clothes: Sometimes... mostly because it expands my wardrobe. But I fit into prematernity pants ok.

Symptoms: I'm actually feeling much better! Last update I was still getting quite sick so I suppose sometime between then and now I've been able to stomach a number of more foods which is been a huge relief.

Sleep: Sleeping really well, and not really having to get up a thousand times in the night to pee like I did with Nolan.

Food Cravings: Sour stuff. And salt water taffy. So sour salt water taffy is where it's at for me. But right now I wouldn't turn away a box of sour patch kids.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not as much stuff as before.

Movement: Mayyyyybe?

Stretch Marks: None

Gender Prediction: Ofda, that's the million dollar question. I'm guessing girl because I've felt so sick but I wouldn't be surprised (or disappointed) if we're having another boy.

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button In or Out?: In

Wedding Rings on or off?: On, and I have to say my nails look stunning right now! #handmodel

Happy or Moody?: Happyish

Purchases for baby: A new Lazy Boy recliner for the nursery. Last time I had a rickity rocking chair which was uncomfortable for nursing. I pleaded my case to Brian who didn't think it was that big of a deal that we sit in the chair that felt like it was going to turn to kindle underneath me when I sat down. This thing is heaven. It's soft, overstuffed, padded arm rests and comfy cozy. I can totally picture being able to nap on this during the newborn sleepless night stage.

Purchases for Momma: I think the recliner totally counts for this as well.

Miss Anything?: Definitely beer and wine still.

Looking forward to: Wedding in Seattle! Going on Nolan's first ever flight! Seeing the whole fam! And finding out the sex of the baby!!!!

Derpy Bump Pic:

Fact.