Sixteen Weeks.

Four months. That's how long I've been pregnant. Craziness! I can't believe that I'm closer to halfway than not. Half of me wants time to fly, and the other half just wants to enjoy the time that Mr. Skinny and I have as a family of two before we become a family of three.

How Baby's Growing:


Honestly, different sources say the baby is anywhere from 3 inches to nearly 5 inches, with the fruit of the week ranging from a lemon to an avocado. So take your pick. Baby is growing, with his/her bones turning from cartilage to bone, so kicking should be felt in the next few weeks. I haven't felt anything yet, but I'm hoping I'll feel it soon. My mom said that it took her forever to feel my brother and I moving. She actually started lying to people when they'd ask her because she couldn't believe she didn't feel it yet. I'm not worried yet. Fine details are developing as well, lines where the fingers and palm bend, and s/he has enough muscles to form a tightly clenched fist.

I've also read that the baby's eyelashes are growing and most of the development this week is inside the baby. His/her heart is pumping blood and the umbilical cord is completely developed. I don't know about you, but I didn't know it took so long for the umbilical cord to be developed. I kind of thought it developed almost immediately.

Source

Momma's Thoughts:

I wish we could have an ultrasound now! I want to see what my baby is doing, how s/he's moving! Some news though, the ultrasound I thought we'd be having next Wednesday? Yeah, most likely not happening. I called our insurance yesterday to find out if they help cover the cost of a breast pump and/or childbirth classes (coupon for $30 off the pump and no help for the classes where we want to take them), but I was transferred to a maternity counselor and let me tell you, she was the nicest person I've talked to in the health field since finding out I was pregnant! She totally understood why I didn't want the flu shot and just suggested I keep some anti-bacterial gel in my car/in my purse and wash my hands frequently. No judgement. Asked how I was feeling and how I was handling my pre-natal vitamin. When I told her that the vitamin's fine, I just cut in in half since it's a little big, she suggested I asked for a smaller vitamin. I didn't even think of that! Simply genius.

But she said that since we don't have a time for our ultrasound, then it probably isn't scheduled for next Wednesday. As disappointed as I am, I'm glad that I talked to her and she told us so that we have time to prepare before going to the appointment. I'm hoping I can make an ultrasound appointment as soon as I turn 20 weeks. I don't want to wait too long! I want to see what this little guy/girl looks like! I'm still trying to figure out how to convince Mr. Skinny that we don't need to find out. But now I have more time to figure that scheme out!

How I'm Changing:

Finally my weight leveled out a bit and I only gained 0.4 last week, bringing my gain up to 5.8 pounds. I'm hoping to have another small gain this week since my eating has been a bit healthier. I'm getting more comfortable in my "new" body, and I'm embracing the pregnant curves. I actually feel pregnant and feel like I look pregnant. I've even gotten a couple up and down glances from strangers, trying to figure out if I'm pregnant I'm sure. I definitely feel I've crossed over into the looking pregnant part of my pregnancy, and I don't just look fat all the time.

I got a couple good nights of sleep, and a couple nights of not so good sleep. It all balances out since I have 2 days each week where I don't work and can sleep late if I need to make up some sleep.

Like that bra in the background? It's new, it's a 36DD.
Awesome.

My acne is getting better, I suppose, but my dry eyelids have good and bad days. I think the dry, cold weather doesn't help either, but I have a loooong winter ahead of me. Oh well, I'll deal. What else can I do?

Oh, I had one last (hopefully) vomit session. Saturday morning Mr. Skinny tickled me, I coughed and my body took that as a sign that I need up dispose of the nothing that was in my stomach. I tried to control myself, and Mr. Skinny tried to help, but it didn't work. Oh well, at least it wasn't popcorn. Or ground beef. Blarg!

I also haven't felt baby move, I don't think, but I'm not worried about that yet. My mom said she actually started lying to people because it took her forever to feel my brother and I move. When I talked to the lady from our health insurance, she told me some tips and assured me that there's nothing to worry about, I still have time.


What I'm Eating:


Not too much has changed since last week. Healthy appetite is back, with a good balance of unhealthiness, like the fettuccine alfredo I made last night. But it was oh, so good. Mmm. Doesn't help that my parents brought a ton of stuff back from Disney and we're slowly eating through that.

I'm also getting a little frustrated with the things I can't eat. And the things that I don't know if I can eat or not. Like shrimp. It's Christmas and for Christmas Eve, we're at Mr. Skinny's parent's house, which is fine, but dinner consists of sandwiches (no lunch meat for me) and shrimp (questionable). Awesome. And once I make the mistake of telling Mr. Skinny what I "shouldn't" eat, he remembers it and tries to be helpful with reminding me what I shouldn't eat. I always said I was going to eat perfectly when I was pregnant, but once you're actually there, it's super hard.

How I'm Moving:


I actually moved! Once. For 30 minutes. On the treadmill. While watching Kourtney and Kim Take New York. It's my trash TV. Don't hate. Remember how I miss running? Well, I ran for probably a total of 5 minutes, split into 2 sessions. I didn't push myself and stopped when my shins started bothering me. I didn't look at the clock so I'm not sure how long I went, but the fact is I RAN! And I felt great! I was a little more tired than normal (duh, I am pregnant and haven't run is MONTHS), but I hope I can really keep this up. NO excuses. I'm home Monday and Wednesday, have a DVR full of junk to watch and I have a treadmill. Please keep hounding me on this!

Other Random Tidbits:


We took our Christmas pictures last weekend. I had a vision in my head of just taking a picture from our shins down with a pair of baby shoes in the middle, but when I went to look for shoes, I couldn't find ANY unisex shoes. So I found a onsie instead and took these shots.

The bottom one was closest to my original vision, but I thought it looked weird without our faces, so just the other two got on our Christmas card. And I sent them all out today! Go me! Granted, this is the first year that we just did a picture card and not personalized cards and I do feel a little bad about that. This might be the first of many years of that though. Thoughts?

Tell me:


What do you think about picture cards vs. personalized hand written cards?
What have you heard about shrimp during pregnancy? Do you think you followed/would follow all the "rules" during pregnancy?