So I’m a little behind on my blogging. Rather than making a 16-week post and throwing it up on my blog in the hopes that no one notices it wasn’t there a week ago, I’ve decided to combine them into two posts.
I got home from some professional development today, caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and though “woah, I look pregnant today!” so here’s a picture. For those of you who don’t see me regularly, here’s what I’m looking like these days.
(17 weeks, 2 days)
(this picture is like a Where’s Waldo game… Can you find the… dead plant? picture frame still holding the fake-people-photo? I bet if I hadn’t pointed that out you’d never have seen that stuff!)
Pretty much just me… with a bit of a baby belly!
My weight is still on track. I originally lost 5 pounds (nausea and such), and I’ve gained it all back, putting my net weight gain at 0. Love that! I’ll probably stop posting weight updates sometime soon – haha!
Okay, so last Tuesday we hit the 16-week mark. Here are the details on that milestone:
How your baby's growing:
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
And now for week 17:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now, and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.
Okay hold the phone. An onion? I can go to my cabinet right now and find three onions that are drastically different sizes. In fact, I just did that and snapped a picture… but then I realized 2 of the onions had gone bad and I feel weird posting pictures of rotten onions (even if you couldn’t tell in the photo!). But you know what I’m saying, right? Onions vary considerably and I think that’s a crappy depiction of how big/small my baby is. Silly.
Cravings
Still loving coke Icees. :) Man, those things are good.
And vinegar.
No, not together. Ew!
I just like a nice basic salad with some olive oil and vinegar. Lots of vinegar. Then more salad. And more vinegar. And then a homemade marinated cucumber (in vinegar). And some garden tomatoes… with balsamic vinegar. (Hang on… I’m getting hungry… I need to go make a snack…)
Hair
I’ve heard from other new moms that a neat part of pregnancy happens to your hair. I’m not sure what it is with body changes, but similarly to hair-changes after chemo, many women experience changes in their hair during pregnancy. Some people get curly hair, some curls go straight, some people just get weird kinky waves. None of these have happened to me… yet.
I’ve recently been told that my hair would stop falling out. You know how you lose a few strands here and there, just general shedding? I was thrilled to find out this would stop and my hair would get even more luxurious and thick over the next few months. Unfortunately… this hasn’t really happened. Mine seems to be falling out more than ever which is somehow more bothersome than before. This might, however, be related to my next comment…
Another weird pregnancy fact is that no one is really sure what the impact of hair color is on a developing fetus. Rather than getting my usual highlights and all over base color I decided to scale back and just get a few highlights and a quick color wash. So a few weeks ago I made an appointment with my amazing stylist (the incredible Lauren at Belleza – I’d love her even if she wasn’t family!). Unfortunately, my hair has not gotten curly or straight(er), but rather has taken on some chemical changes. Within about five minutes of the bleach being strategically placed on my highlights, my whole head started burning… my hair was steaming… and the foils were so hot Lauren burned her finger. Weird! Needless to say we washed the color out as quickly as possible and will not be taking this approach until well after the baby arrives.
Baths
This may sound weird, but I miss taking a bath! That was one of my evening luxuries every now and then. I know some of you are thinking that I’m foolish to not just hop in, but with so many doctors in the family I’m erring on the side of caution. Most docs say baths are fine as long as they’re lukewarm or don’t get warmer than your body temp… but who wants to take a bath that cold? No way! I’m all about taking a bath that’s so hot I can only step in with one foot at a time (like the proverbial frog who adjusts to the rising temperature slowly and suddenly finds himself immersed in boiling water – that sounds heavenly!). So… no baths. I’ll just indulge in a pedicure (with the warm foot bath) every few weeks and try to use that as my pampering fix.
Birthing Plan
Bronce and I are still discussing the details of a birthing plan. I’m pushing for natural birth – he’s holding out until I provide him with more information and rationale for that decision. I think we’re a long way from making a decision about that. I got the name of a highly-recommended doula who works in the labor & delivery area at UT and we plan to talk to her soon about our options and her experience.
Well… school starts next week on the day I hit my 18-week mark. I hate to say that’s going to be a late post, but unless I get it done the night before (unlikely!) it’s probably not going to be on time either. I know I have a few more pregnancy details I wanted to write about but they’re slipping my mind. Pregnancy brain has hit full force! I can barely remember my own cell number anymore…
