and more on the belly front...

We are now in week 19...one more week and we will have reached our half-way mark. Our ultrasound is scheduled for 8/14! I'm still packing on the pounds, more than what they write about, i'm sure. for some reason, your body does not crave (or want) healthy food when you are growing a baby inside of you. you would think that it would, however, somehow grilled cheese and pizza are about the most delicious things you can devour. oh well...

belly at 18 weeks, forget about trying to fit into that pair of pants for the picture! not happening! even with my bella band, extending the life of some of my pre-pregnancy pants, I have found myself having to let go and become....yes...fat. in the name of the baby. :-)

oh, the itching. there are thing people don't mention, or forget to mention, or don't ever bring up when you are pregnant. here's one....your boobs and belly will itch unbelievably. this is from your skin stretching. now i might have it worse than most because my boobs are growing right along with my belly...because the belly itching is tolerable. lotion, lots of lotion.

i have noticed that it is mostly my boobs growing with my belly. not my ass, not my arms, not my legs....just those two spots. thank goodness. stay that way, please!!!!

pregnancy is cool, very cool. the most wonderful experience you can ever feel is the movement of your little one. baby has become a little less active as he/she grows. the thumps and pats are getting stronger but more on the "hey, i'm just hanging out" kind of feeling. before, it felt like he/she was trying to escape. now, i think there is a comfort level.

baby is very high. right under my boobs. although, some days it seems lower and sometimes it's high. there are days when my belly is tight as can be - can bounce a quarter off of it and then there are days when it is mushy. i have days when i am super tired and others when i manage to do more than one errand. but the hunger plagues me!

Some people say i have the glow. i don't always feel glowy - but i definitely have good days. my complexion is good then bad....my nails are horribly dry, but growing like weeds.

i read and i read and i fill out info for free stuff....all this preparing is mind-bottling (ha ha). this is good...ted has the house to occupy his time...and me, the baby.

Homeowners at last!

We settled on the house on 7/20. Since that time, Ted has been a madman working constantly and without complaint! He is really the most motivated person i have ever seen! if you are interested in checking out the photo album, please let me know and i will forward the pics to you. there are way too many to post here. and they will just keep coming...i'll keep you posted on the progress.



needless to say, the house needs a ton of work but with Ted jumping right in, i believe that by Thanksgiving we will be entertaining and cooking a turkey for the family! We are only in Day 11 and we will be ordering our cabinets any day already. we have the plan, now it's just a matter of pricing it all out. it's ready for painting...so i am using mom's color sense to pick out the colors for the master bdrm and nursery. what i had dreamt for the nursery looks bad and so we had to regroup.

this is the basement, a view from the door coming in from the garage. the steps to go upstairs are directly to your right here. the basement goes back to extend into a laundry room and a tool room. while exploring the house for the first time an hour after settlement, we discovered mold in the basement. hence, this is why Ted went full-blown destroyer in this area. Tackling one problem at a time...

With all the carpets gone, the back porch gone, the kitchen cabinets and walls and floor gone (now rebuilt into beautiful drywall), bushes/trees gone...the house already looks 1000% better. it's amazing what ted can do when he puts his mind to it. I can already see our home developing into our nest!

Dr appt #3

last wednesday, Ted and I went to our 3rd (week 16) dr appt. we were told that i am measuring 2 weeks ahead...either my dates are wrong or i am carrying one big baby. we can find out for sure at the ultrasound which we have scheduled for 8/14.

The heartbeat was louder and stronger and racing at 158 beats/min. You could hear it loud and clear this time! No searching! You can deduct whatever you want, but there is still the 50/50 chance of the baby being a boy! :-) We won't have a better idea until we go for the ultrasound. And yes, there is only one baby in my belly. I guess it is at this point that you would be able to detect the number of babies inside. Because of my size, i guess it was a curiosity.

There is girl at the office who gave birth the beginning of December last year and she loves to watch my growth. She thinks I am BIG! people show differently, i am told. the way you carry your baby, people may see as an indication of the sex...who knows. take a look at me...let me know after consulting with the stars or what-have-you....what sex you think it is. maybe we should start a pool.

Ted's brother and sister-in-law are expecting again. This will be baby #3 and i am excited that our little ones will be so close in age! they only live an hour away, so hopefully we will be able to see them on a regular basis. altho, i am sure lugging three kids around is a huge chore! at any rate, ted's friends are about to have their third baby and they live 10 mins away. when you are having a baby, for some reason, you want to make sure there are people to hang out with with a common interest. :-)

So, growth in the next few weeks will be fast. i will be sure to keep you posted with belly shots and updates of how i am doing. I am finally off the chocolate milk and cheese and craving pasta. i don't know which is the lesser of the evils... seems like whatever i eat will make me fatter, so who cares! i eat what i want to eat!

Headaches have subsided altho i still get them once a week. gas is increasing as well as heartburn/indigestion. i have days when i am tired and days when my energy is increased. my mood swings have calmed down from two weeks ago, but who's to say that won't start up again. the last few weeks were terrible....please don't come back!

ted has been a complete wonderful, couldn't ask for a more understanding, sweetest of sweethearts partner through this pregnancy so far and i couldn't be more thankful! I love him with the biggest heart of hearts and cannot WAIT to raise our baby together!

mini-vaca

On Friday night, Mom and I drove down to visit with Dora and Evvan to Stone Harbor, NJ. Luckily the weather was great all weekend!

Evvan has been taking surfing lessons and he is amazingly great at it. This little boy was born with sea legs. he loves the ocean....and any type of water actually. he is on the swim team, which he loves! we got to watch him have a lesson on Sunday. it was so cool to watch the little man get up and go! i couldn't believe my eyes. i think he will make a great snowboarder!

I have always loved the beach! I got to wear my maternity bathing suit, which you will never see me in....hahahhahahha and sit under an umbrella just like an old nanny. i saw one other woman on the beach who was pregnant and she was wearing a bikini. i wasn't brave enough to give that a try. of course, she looked much thinner than me! but much further along! We got some sun, did some shopping and ate at some local restaurants. I had a great time getting to know Evvan a little better!

i cannot remember the last time i flew a kite. Seems like i was just mentioning it to Ted. I bought a kite for Evvan and brought it along. he was overjoyed to fly it since the last time, apparently, Jeff had some problems getting his kite off the ground! this kite was great. it took right off and once i got it up for him, Evvan took full control and never let it touch ground!

I know some people think the Jersey shore really doesn't offer much of a beach, but it's where we vacationed when i was growing up. i cherish the memories i have from all of our beach visits. there is nothing like a summer vacation at the jersey shore. it's only 2.5 hours from home. for a weekend jaunt...it's super fun!

Baby has not stopped letting me know he/she is in my belly since the first time i felt movement on june 4th. it started off with a flutter and moved on to a thud thud thud. I don't feel it every day, but the movements are starting to come more frequently. I used to feel something every few days or maybe only once a week. Now, I am starting to feel it every if not, every other day. We have a little gymnast on our hands! There also seems to be a pattern on the time of day. Generally in the morning between 10-12 and then again around 2-4 and often times after dinner around 7:30 - 8:30.

I have begun to play and poke around at the baby to see if i can get him to move. when i lay on my side and then turn over to my back, i can feel that hard bump move and see it sticking up more under my belly button until it settles and then i shift and repeat the movement. i'm probably annoying the poor thing but it's fun to play around and be able to see baby. Although we can't see digits or anything, there certainly is an apparent BUMP! and it moves! :-) i love our baby!

I have started to talk to my belly. i say Good Morning, i apologize for the water being hot in the shower and for slouching in my chair at work, for fear of squishing him. I know he can't hear me for a few more weeks ( i think week 24) but no harm in establishing an early relationship.

My back has been spasming for the past three days and it is SO incredibly painful. Now, i have not been active for the past three months (maybe more) in terms of exercising, other than the occasional walk here and there...so i am blaming myself. my rides to and from work have become horrendous. while i shift and bend in my seat i pray that the pain will subside until i make it to my destination. baby isn't even big yet! soooo.....i gotta get my butt in gear and get working.

I did prenatal yoga yesterday. If i can start practicing every day or every other i think i will save myself a lot of aggravation. I also walked saturday, sunday monday and wednesday...which i am sure helps in one way or the other. The weather here has been nice, so walks have been very enjoyable. when all else fails, we have the tredmill!

Settlement on the house should be around july 20th. i am holding my breath until the agreement comes back....or should i not hold my breath? any case...progression with that scenario has been slllllllower than molasses in December. or is it November?

Hope you all had a lovely 4th of July. Ted and I went to a picnic at Christen's mom's house. the weather was chilly and cloudy. i didn't get to work on my tan! rain moved in late and apparently delayed fireworks in the surrounding areas, but needless to say, pam was already entering sleepy sleepy land....oh well...

food glorious food!

One of the perks to being pregnant is the offering of food. strangers offer their space in line just so the pregnant lady can get her fill first. seconds are offered. bigger pieces are cut. it's cracking me up! and what do i do? i take it! because food looks and sounds so much more delicious when i am not the one choosing what it is that is going to go in my mouth next. man, that hot dog was good. you should have another one...for the baby. ok. "for the baby" get used to it - i'm going to hear this a lot. as if the baby didn't get the first hot dog, that one was all mine. :-) i hear two conflicting voices in my head. the first saying - you don't need all that... the second saying - eat for two, why the heck not!

most of the time i am pretty good about what i choose to eat. i have picked up eating salads this week which i have not had in a while (thank goodness for prenatal vitamins). you learn how important it is to eat healthy, but yet you can't bring yourself to do it. the second trimester is being a bit more forgiving with the food choices. there for a while i was getting frustrated at everything sounding disgusting. what do you want to eat? I DON'T KNOW! 3 months of that was enough for me. now, if i could only come up with the food ideas on my own. i find myself getting ideas from co-workers, commercials and casual walks through the grocery store. (yes, i talk casual walks through the grocery store)

my life revolves around food right now. i'm excited to have my taste buds back. just gotta lay off the picnic food. i'm trying to grow a human being....but could do without the four extra chins.

*burp*