18 weeks

Did I really just skip 17 weeks altogether? Because I was too busy complaining about pregnancy or perhaps obsessing over the gender of our babe? My deepest apologies to you, bloggies, and to Baby L with whom I will one day share these weekly updates.

1. How far along?: 18 weeks 1 day
2. How big is baby?: According to What to Expect, a mango (6 inches long, 8 oz in weight - holy cow, half a pound?!)
3. Weight gain?: 0 lbs! So excited to be back even with my pregnancy weight and not gaining anything yet. Also, my skinny jeans still fit!
4. Stretch marks?: None. Using Body Butter religiously after showers
5. Maternity clothes?: I'm actually wearing maternity jeans for the first time today. Not because I need them, because I wanted to try them out. You should ALL invest in a pair. I returned my $200 designer ones (couldn't deal with the guilt, and there was a rivet digging into my hip) and got some from Gap on sale for $50 - awesome. Full panel is key, that's the stretchy part that comes all the way up to your boobs.
6. Sleep?: I fall asleep on the couch almost every night between 9:30 - 10:30, and sleep there for a few hours until Ben is ready for bed. It works out, because my bladder can hold it from 12:30 / 1am until 6:30 am so I'm not waking up in the middle of the night just to pee.
7. Best moment last week?: Finding out our sweet little one is a GIRL! And naming her :)
8. Food cravings?: McDonald's cheeseburgers (I know, awful). And popcorn! I've never cared for popcorn but the past two times someone's had it out, I can't stop eating it! I think I'm moving away from the fruits / sweets and into the salty cravings. Oh helloooooo water retention!
9. Symptoms?: Hips are killing me! I got a prenatal massage on Monday thanks to my amazing sister, and it helped some. The heartburn is still awful.
10. Exercise?: Taking a prenatal yoga class once a week and it's AWESOME.
11. Gender?: IT'S A GIRL! In case you missed that blog post. I'm so so so excited to be having a daughter. And by the way, it's so much weirder to say "I'm having a daughter" than "I'm having a baby".
12. Movement?: I'm pretty sure I've only felt her twice - once, laying flat on my back, and another time in church while I was singing. Other times I think I feel the "flutters" / rolling movement they talk about, but it's so faint I can't be sure.
13. Belly button?: Still in, but not as deep.
14. What I miss?: Sushi in general, especially tuna. Occasionally I miss coffee.
15. Labor signs?: Better not have these yet.
16. What I'm looking forward to?: Picking out her nursery bedding! And there's a huge consignment event at the fairgrounds next weekend that we're going to check out, so I am excited to possibly pick out some furniture.

Not a great one, but I took it just for the blog.
The belly is definitely getting rounder / more extended!

Y'all, Friday was awesome. I can't express to you just how awesome, but man ... it will go down in history as one of my favorite days. I couldn't sleep, it was like Christmas morning! Ben had an early doctor's appointment before our ultrasound, so we were both up and excited for the day. We arrived at the doctor's office at 9:15 and sat in the waiting room until almost 10:00 - agonizing! But Ben was playing with the camera, taking silly pics & video taping my thoughts (which, BTW, were boy. Ben thought girl). Finally we got called back, and the u/s tech (who is SO nice) did all the anatomy stuff first - kidneys, bladder, brain, heart, etc. Amazing to see all these working organs on our little one! Baby was standing on her head the whole time, not willing to move, so things took a little longer than expected but no complaints from me! Finally the u/s tech told us to get out the camera, and asked if we were ready - oh man, were we! Even though she was uncooperative about the overall anatomy scan, she had no problem showing us her girly parts, putting her butt right on the screen. 

"It's a girl!" - commence to bawling. I cried for probably 15 minutes, I absolutely couldn't believe we're going to have a little girl. Still can't, I woke up Saturday thinking I had dreamed the whole thing. We spent the rest of the day Friday shopping, picking out her name, and getting ready for the "big reveal" with our families. What a blessed day to help us celebrate the arrival of our sweet little girl!!