A Bumpdate....Week 16.

I must first start out by apologizing for the poor photo quality. Hopefully come December 25 this problem will have been resolved and we'll have high quality and well lit pictures!! However, I thought I'd share a little update of our small but growing bump....because it's there! Can you see it? It's even bigger today as these were take a few days ago. Even in my loose fitting clothes it's starting to show through and if you know what you're looking for you'd definitely see it. 

 Don't I look lovely? Ahhh!!!! Yuck.

So a little update on how things have been going in case you're interested. 

WARNING: this is a little longer and winded than most of my posts. If you don't have time or aren't interested, just skip to the end. I'm using this as a bit of a journal. Beware. 

I'm 16 and a half weeks now and little baby J is about the size of an avocado. That really gets to me; I just can't believe it. Here's why: I've started to really feel physically pregnant recently. This little baby is taking up quite a bit a space in there, but really hasn't made much room for itself. Does that make since? My belly just doesn't seem to be growing so much with the darling, so I've been a little uncomfortable sleeping and moving around, but looking at belly's size you might not think so...why would she be uncomfortable? She doesn't really look pregnant?

One really awesome and amazing milestone I hit two weeks ago was feeling little baby move around. Yupp, I can feel him or her. I love it. I can especially feel it in the evening when I'm sitting down and space is a little more constricted. Last night I realized that the movement is getting even stronger and more noticeable. Again, I love it. I only wish that Lyle could feel it right now too. A few days ago a friend lent me a little home doppler to borrow for a bit. We've been able to hear the heart beat which has been really great for Lyle since he's never been to an ultrasound or appointment. But soon enough!

Other milestones I've overcome or hit: no more morning sickness (hooray!), unbuttoning the top of my pants (especially as the day progresses), and a little bit more energy (however, I'm not truly convinced on this one). Sleeping has definitely become more of a task and I broke down and got a body pillow a little bit ago. Lyle is very jealous of this pillow, but Maddy seems to really like it as I find she takes over it in the middle of the night. I think it really helps with finding a reasonable position to sleep in. The bathroom has become a frequent friend, no surprise to anyone that's been pregnant before. And lastly, no maternity clothes yet. 

Naps have become an almost regular activity if I'm able to. I was feeling really guilty about it, but now I've just accepted it and embrace them. I find myself worrying like crazy about getting enough nutrients to the baby. Am I getting enough water, DHA, calcium, or iron? And every week I find myself obsessing over a new topic, for example I shouldn't be drinking tea, but I can't drink caffeine; sodium laurel sulfate (SLS) in products, and radiation from my laptop. I think it's normal though.....

My guilty pleasure, since I've been in my second trimester, has been decaf lattes. I wasn't wanting coffee at all earlier and prior to pregnancy rarely drank lattes. Now I've been exceeding our coffee budget a bit....I should probably cut back for several reasons...Lyle's not too happy with this one.

You may be wondering if I'm still running....no I'm not. I was for quite a while earlier on, but I had some normal cramping that bothered me and then I got really sick a couple times with a bug closer to the end of my first trimester on top of regular morning sickness. This set me back. I'd lost some weight and was feeling really weak so I decided to forgo the running. I know runners often will run throughout their pregnancies and I always thought that I would. When it came down to it, for me I just wasn't feeling safe anymore and I care too much about this new little life of ours. Instead, I've been walking pretty regularly and doing some exercises, but even that has been quite a workout for me. I'm not used to getting so easily exhausted and I usually always try to push myself a little further, but now I laugh because I'm so easily winded and beat! Some days I'm lucky if I'm able to finish my loop! What's going to happen to me later on? I do miss running though and hope that it's not too hard for me to get back into once this is all over. But for now, my running shoes have been put away and are taking a hiatus.

Now to a more exciting topic! We have not begun the process of getting "baby things" yet other than some wonderful things that Lyle's sister has passed down to us. We're just not ready for it. Although....I did get my diaper bag! Please laugh. This was my Christmas gift from Lyle and I'm so excited about it. It's a diaperbag/handbag that I purchased off of Ebay. I'd been eyeing it for a while and decided to go for it. I did open it up when it came, just to make sure it was what I'd ordered, but now it's all wrapped up and under the tree. 

That's the update for now! I warned you it was a long one. Did I forget anything? Oh yeah! We find out what we're having in less than 2 weeks! Can you believe it? Time flies by. The ultrasound is on the 22nd, however we're going to wait until Christmas morning to find out together. A little Christmas excitement for ourselves alone here in Greenville. Don't worry, I'll keep you all "posted"....haha...get it?

Have a happy and restful weekend. Happy Holidays.

lauren