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Week 18 
Milestones: Baby is now 14cm CRL and weighs almost a half pound! The bones are starting to "ossify" (making them more solid) and the baby's head is starting to catch up to his or her body. According to my pregnancy calendar, a "period of rapid growth" is beginning and I've been warned that I "may pop out". My Journal: Baby has still been very active and I love the fact that I can count on "hearing" from him or her at least a few times every day now, sometimes even up to a half dozen little sets of movements. Some of those little kicks are surprisingly strong for such a little one! I just feel so "in awe" every time I feel those little kicks and am getting so attached to that little person in there. It is so special to me everytime I get to feel him or her move around, and I really look forward to the next set of movements. I try to keep track during the day of when I feel the baby move though, and if it's felt like a long time, I'll try to lie down on my back (seems to always encourage those kicks or at least put my body in a place where I can feel them better) and wait for some movement. I always make sure baby "checks in" right before bed too. He or she often does anyways, but one night I was up pretty late waiting for some movement. Even though I've left a lot of my first trimester anxieties behind me, I don't think I can fully relax until this baby is in my arms, safe and sound! So I do admit sometimes I am more anxious to feel those movements than a mother who hasn't experienced 3 miscarriages would be. I do find that for the most part I am able to enjoy them and feel blessed that I'm already feeling my baby so reliably so early in my 5th month! I find I'm at a very strange stage with other people's reactions to my pregnancy. Sometimes it really bothers me that people seem to forget I'm pregnant or don't notice or don't say anything, but other times, I get a little tired of answering the same questions over and over again. Especially "When are you due?". I have started just saying "late December, early January" because I hate having to go through the "Well, according to my LMP, they would calculate a due date of Dec 28/29, but I ovulate pretty late so the due date actually comes up as more like Jan 4th, and the baby's measuring around then, but really 2 weeks on either side of that day would still be on time" spiel. And I don't want to just say "Jan 4th" because I'm really hoping to go a little bit early at the end of December but if the reverse happens and I go late, I don't want to be hearing "Are you still pregnant?" over and over again. The other question that's already started to bother me and I suspect will bother me even more is "What's the sex?". I always say "We're hopign to find out the sex, but we're happy either way and the room's already painted!", so I think I'll just keep saying the same thing even when we find out. I may have to tell people the sex only if they promise not to pull any "pink vs. blue" crap on us. But at least even when I'm going between these two extremes (people not asking enough or only asking the same, tired old questions), there's enough in between to keep me happy. Best of all is when friends and family as me how the baby's doing in general, or how I'm feeling, in general, because it means I get to talk a little bit about the baby or my pregnancy (which of course I love to do!). Test Results/Ultrasounds/Appointments: Nothing new this week, just eagerly looking forward to our ultrasound in 2 weeks! Physical: Lots to update in this category this week! There have been a lot of things happening physically. I don't think they were kidding in my pregnancy calendar update when they warned "you may pop out" because I have definitely noticed a lot of changes in my belly! It is feeling tighter and tighter, and I'm ready for the day I wake up feeling a bit more comfortable but at the expense of a new set of stretch marks! The most annoying side effect of this bigger and heavier belly has been the pains I've been having. I started noticing these pains during last week, especially when getting out of the car! It was like a sharp, shooting pain in my lower belly, on the outside that radiated from very low down and "inside" to the outside. At first they were just "once in a while" pains, but this week they have been getting worse and worse, so I looked it up to try to find out what they were and what I could do! From what I've read, I am almost positive they are "round ligament" pains, since they only happen when I get up from sitting down (and once in a while when I sneeze), and that's when round ligament pain happens. The sources I've checked say it's mostly a "first half of the second trimester" thing though, and that it's because the belly is too big to be supported by the muscles it's depending on, but too small yet to carry more weight in the actual pelvis and pelvic bones. So I'm hoping my belly will reach that point when it will be better supported by other muscles/bones and will stop straining those round ligaments so much because it's not a fun sensation! Along with these pains, I've also started having some pain, discomfort, and difficulty with sleeping positions. I am already starting to find it awkward to roll over in bed at night and find that I can't just flip over in one place like I used to be able to. Now I have to be more careful about how I roll over, which means I tend to wake up a little more while doing it. This is unfortunately as much an annoyance for Paul as it is for me, but I guess we'll just have to get used to it. I've also started getting those leg cramps - luckily I remember from being pregnant with Harmony that putting my foot flat on the floor helps get rid of it almost right away. The ache of it may stick around, but so far I've been able to quickly react to the sharp pain of it by getting up and pressing my foot down. Yet another thing to disrupt our sleep - no wonder we've both been finding it more challenging to get out of bed in the morning these days! Meanwhile, I've had nausea returning a little bit this week. Not enough to slow me down very much, but there have been a few mornings when I felt like I did towards the end of my first trimester. More of an annoyance than anything really bothersome, but I just find it strange that it would come back a little bit after being almost nothing for several weeks. Hopefully it's just a short phase, I would hate to have the morning sickness stick around for the whole pregnancy! And with all these painful/frustrating physical changes come some funny ones as well! Paul was feeling my belly and noticed it was a little uneven! So I guess my belly is so tight now that if baby shifts to one side or another, you can tell. I just hope that means he'll soon be able to feel the baby's little kicks and movements. Weight Gain/Food: Yay, I'm still at 5 lbs! We've had a bit more junk food than usual though lately, so hopefully I can still keep on track with eating healthy in general. My appetite has been a little wacky lately too - sometimes I find I really don't want to finish my dinner, but sometimes I'll be really hungry and have seconds. I just try to listen to my body and eat seconds if the food is healthy - maybe my body is just trying to make up for the bit of extra junk food (I haven't craved second helpings of pizza this week, but I ate a second steak fajita with veggies pretty quickly!). I've also been really craving donuts this week though... I haven't caved in to those cravings yet, but I suspect a trip to Tim's will be in my near future. Emotional: I think it's safe to say I was slightly less grumpy this week? I will have to check with my child and spouse. ;) I've been pretty emotional though - I'm going through some stuff with friends and it makes me sad too - one of my closest friends is going through a personal crisis of her own and I've had teary-eyes too over it, even though it's nothing specifically to do with me. There's a lot going on with other friends too, that makes me wish for stability (for them and in my relationships with them). I find I can be a little more sensitive at times, maybe taking things a little too hard on myself and wondering "what did that mean?". I'm trying to keep it all in perspective though and remember that all these hormones are making me more sensitive! I'm glad I have a lot of positive things to think about so that I can try to avoid dwelling on the negative things.
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