18 Weeks

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Weight Gain:  I am still not worried about this one, but I was perfectly okay with only gaining two pounds at my doctor's appointment this week from my previous weight at 13 weeks.  My appetite is still great, and I am not getting sick so pretty much all my food is going where it is supposed to.  As long as baby is continuing to grow well, I am not going to worry on this little detail.  I am actually glad that my weight appears to be finally leveling out after the past year's struggle with my newly diagnosed thyroid condition.  I can definitely tell a difference in how I look with most of my weight now being centered in my stomach.  I think my face was really showing a lot of my extra weight this past year.  

Maternity Clothes:  I have some maternity clothes that I have been wearing even before I was pregnant because they are just comfortable.  I am thankful that right now I can mostly just wear what is most comfortable without a work dress code to worry about.  The maternity pants are still not the most comfortable attire for me, and I really hate wearing them because I have the worst problems keeping them up.   

Sleep:  I am sleeping about as well as I usually do.  I do get some normal back and hip pain from sleeping on my side. 

Best Moment of this week: We had our 18 week anatomy ultrasound this week.  The baby was so cute and seemed pretty active.  I was a little concerned about not feeling any major movement yet and am aware that can be affected by placenta placement.  The ultrasound did confirm that I have a very low lying anterior placenta which means the placenta is kind of in the way of me feeling any direct kicks from baby.  Hopefully, placenta will move up through the pregnancy and not pose any problems.  If a placenta stays too low and partially or fully blocks the cervix, it is called placenta previa which can be very dangerous at birth and would likely require a c-section.  We are definitely hoping that will not be the case here.  Thankfully, I am still able to find the baby's heartbeat pretty easily with our home doppler monitor.  

Movement:  Still not much.  Ultrasound confirmed baby is still sitting very low with an anterior placenta blocking most of the baby's movements.  

Food cravings:  I am still just enjoying food right now.  I don't think I have been as hungry in the past couple of weeks as in the first trimester so my appetite appears to be leveling out as well.  

Food Aversions: Nothing.  I seem to like it all. 

What I miss:  I think what I miss most is the peace of mind that comes with pregnancies when you have never suffered a loss.  Most people really take that for granted. 

Gender:  We do know and will likely share in the future.  We found out at about 14 weeks when we got the results back from some noninvasive prenatal testing.  The results were negative for any defects so that really put our minds at ease a little. 

Symptoms:  Still mostly hunger and some light nausea usually brought on by gagging or bad smells (hmmm, Cocoa!).  

What I'm looking forward to:  Just making it through the next 4 to 5 months safely and holding our sweet little baby in our arms and hearing those first cries! 

Dear Baby,

You just looked so cute on the ultrasound this week, and we watched you moving and stretching your little neck.  You reminded me a lot of your big brother Brody with the way you lay your chin on your chest.  He did that in the womb and still does it when he is pouting.  Are you going to be a little pouter too?  I can't wait to finally meet you.  Keep growing big and strong, little one! 

Love,
Mommy