17 weeks

I am 17 weeks today!

This weeks yays and boos:

Yays

• We finally had our great room painted! A friend from high school owns his own painting business. He did the hard part (darker color) then the next day Neil did the lighter color at the bottom. I love how it turned out. All of this is part of my master plan to get the house looking good before the baby comes.

• I had a dental checkup last week and all is well. I was getting paranoid because pregnancy can apparently do weird things to your teeth so I figured I'd better be sure.
• Got a Costco membership (all of these sound so suburban). Good deals and I noticed they have baby furniture. Will definitely look into that and also start stocking up on things we will need.
• We bought a doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat! It's awesome! Neil is the only one who can find the baby every time!
• My nails and hair are growing like crazy. My nails always broke and split so I'd keep them short so I'm loving this. And there's no better time to grow out my pixie cut!

Boos

• People are starting to stare. I know why, obviously but there's always that few seconds when I get paranoid that my fly is down. But then I remember I am wearing maternity pants and those don't have zippers.
• My appetite is back with a vengeance. My weight is normal but I'm finding I want to eat ALL THE TIME so I'm really trying to continue to eat well. My doctor told me to eat more protein, which puts on weight and is also somewhat challenging when I don't always want meat. It was tough this weekend because we went to a pizza place and then I was trying to stay out of the house while it was being painted and ended up eating fast food. I truly feel better when I eat well and can tell right away when I don't. I keep my fruit bowl filled as always and I pack lunch or eat at home whenever possible. It really is a challenge to keep it up though!

16 weeks...4 month mark!!!

BABOOM!

Guess what...I have been debating cloth diapering. A lot of people balk at it and think I'm nuts but oh well. Turns out, yours truly was cloth diapered as a baby! I turned out perfectly fine, people!

Week 16 Yays and Boos!

Tomorrow I will be 16 weeks, or 4 months. It's so hard to believe that time is moving quickly now, since the first 10-12 weeks just seemed to drag on forever!

I'm becoming more interested in reading pregnancy books. Before I felt so overwhelmed that I felt like I was just trying to make it through the first trimester alive. Now I'm getting more excited and want to learn about everything from cloth diapering to labor meditation methods.

Yays for the week:

•  This book. It was given to me by a new mom and is the first one I've seen that doesn't try to scare the living hell out of you. It's a funny, light read with just enough substance to make it worthwhile.
• Finally looking pregnant and not just like I ate too much.
• Everyone at work finally knows. I know there were people who suspected but were too polite to ask.
• My new Brita bottle. I hate Cincinnati tap water, and this helps since I'm religious about drinking the required amount of water per day.
• My Dr told me to eat more cheese!
• Getting stuff done around the house that we won't have time for later. Having the great room painted, getting the carpets clean, getting new bedroom furniture, etc. Want to make it as cozy and organized as possible.
• Eating healthy about 85% of the time. Eating good food makes me feel noticeably better to the point where I don't even want junk food except for the occasional desert or snack.

Boos for the week:

• Smokers, still. Seriously, I'm tired of having to turn off my air in traffic because your bad habit is being sucked into my car.
• Dizziness. I get it, bad. I love Bed, Bath and Beyond but had to leave after all of five minutes yesterday because I thought I was going to pass out. I talked to my OB's nurse and she said I needed more protein. I'm trying!
• Peoples' obsession with me having a nursery theme. I personally don't like matchy-matchy stuff and just want something simple. You would think I was killing puppies when I tell someone I don't have a theme.
• Just when I got a little energy and appetite back, work is full-tilt crazy. So now I'm still exhausted and have to force myself to eat while on mute on conference calls...and hope nobody asks me a question while my mouth is full!
• Freaking flu epidemic. I swear, Neil and I pick the best times to have compromised immune systems! When Neil was in chemo, we had the H1N1 outbreak and now we're having one of the worst flu seasons in years. Watching the news makes me paranoid. I am trying to minimize my exposure by working from home a few times a week and using hand sanitizer by the gallon. We both have our flu shots as advised by my OB but it's still very scary.

 Ok, so I'm probably not technically "showing" but I know for a fact that my guts are getting all mushed up in my very short torso. It's probably another few weeks before it's baby up there but since baby is causing it, let's just call it a bump. Here's the progress at 13, 14 and 15 weeks (today). Hard to believe it will be 4 months next week! Please excuse the horrible hair, it really sucks growing out a pixie because you go through a mullet phase.

This should not be so difficult

So today I read an article about a baby's fingernail that almost killed the mother.

I'm pretty good about not worrying over things that are so rare or unlikely to have a bad outcome. Sure, I look up many foods to make sure they're safe and I am avoiding all medications I can. Long story short, I am careful but not crazy.

However, one thing I cannot stand/tolerate is secondhand smoke. I hated it before but I hate it with a passion now. I have zero tolerance for the people who stand in the middle of sidewalks, in doorways, etc and puff their poison into the air everyone else passing by has to breathe. I take care of myself and don't have this habit...so I'd love someone to explain to me why I should have to expose myself and my unborn child (oh man...is this my first pregnancy diva moment?) to their cigars and cigarettes.You smoke. I don't. You go stand in the cold if it's worth that much to you! I know it's tough to quit smoking--I saw my dad struggle for years before he was finally able to. But he also never put his lit cigarette on the windowsill of the pizza place by the door while he was inside getting his order (I just saw someone do this, want to kill them).

I am finding it really tough to avoid secondhand smoke while downtown. Nobody wants to inconvenience themselves by walking to an alley because it's cold.  So they stand in the doorway of my office building. Or on the sidewalk where you cross the street. Or in the car next to me in the parking lot.

I will be honest, I'm feeling a little rage over this.

I forgot...about clothing

To add to my list of things I said I wouldn't do, I promised I wouldn't wear yoga pants as real pants.

Never-pregnant-before me never knew that before you show enough to make strangers pat your belly and coo, YOUR ABDOMEN BLOATS AND YOU LOOK LIKE YOU ATE TOO MUCH GOLD STAR and that you will try to wear real pants and you will cry.

Stretchy pants are good. Stretchy pants are my friend. On days I have to go to the office, I find myself saying "I can't wait to get home and take my $#$%& pants off." Real pants can take a hike.

Advice from a Stranger

Today we met a college friend, his wife and their new baby for lunch. His wife was kind enough to bring me some pregnancy books, which I sat on the edge of the restaurant table. A man sitting behind us saw the books and our friends' baby and was making small talk about kids. All normal enough.

About a half hour later, he asked if I know what I'm having yet, to which I replied that we would find out in February. His advice?

"Don't have a boy. My son was growing three marijuana plants in his closet with a grow light (emphasis his). LIKE I WOULDN'T KNOW!"

Uncomfortable silence on my end. "Ummm, thanks?"

End conversation. The wings were good.