18 Weeks

The baby is the size of a bell pepper now and growing quickly! Can’t wait to be sure I’ve felt movement. It has to happen any time now.

We had a really great week this week. We finished off our time in Kauai with a helicopter tour of the island – so incredible! – and some sunbathing – finally! There are so many waterfalls there and so much of the island isn’t drive-able. It was really cool to see all of it.

Then we headed to Maui which felt much more commercial and popular than Kauai. It’s crazy how each island is so different. We drove up a 10,000 foot volcano, spent time in the sun, and drove the Road to Hana. I think my favorite part of the Road to Hana was the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees. If you’ve never heard of them, go find a picture before you finish reading this. I’m glad we did the Road to Hana, because everyone says you have to and I think I would have wondered if we hadn’t, but I won’t do it again. We drove it the same day as our flight from Hawaii so San Francisco, so it ended up being a really long day full of lots of sitting.

In San Francisco, we did some sight seeing – spent some time at Fisherman’s Warf – saw a Giant’s game and went to the Adele concert. By the time we got to San Francisco, I was ready to be home in my own bed, but we had a really good time and I’m glad we capped our trip off there!

How far along? 18 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss? +5.2 lbs, man, I really packed it on during vacation!
Maternity clothes? Not quite, but I did order some maternity jeans – those will be coming out soon, I’m sure.
Stretch marks? Still not yet
Sleep? Sleeping just fine – starting to remember weird dreams
Best moment this week? So many choices from such a great trip, but I’ll probably have to go with either the helicopter tour we took of Kauai or the Adele concert. Both were pretty unreal experiences – we really spoiled ourselves with this trip!
Miss Anything? Nope!
Movement? Can’t be sure.
Food cravings? Nope, not really, but green beans sounded really good the other day.
Anything making you nauseous? Nope
Symptoms?  Still hanging in there with the heartburn. It’s feeling like it might be here to stay. Maybe I’m going to need to invest in some Tums at some point.
Gender Prediction? Not yet.
Labor Signs? Nope
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood? Relaxed and ready to be home from our incredibly long, super fun vacation.
Looking forward to? My own bed.

17 Weeks

This week, Mini Mitch is the size of a sweet potato. I still don’t feel like I’m showing a ton – I’m definitely still feeling like I’m in the, “Hmm, I think she had a burrito for lunch” phase. Sometimes I show more than others, it just depends when it is in the day, whether I’ve eaten, etc.

We’re enjoying our trip to Hawaii. We got to Oahu Thursday and headed to the Northshore to explore. On Friday we visited Pearl Harbor, which was so interesting to see in person. Just the magnitude of what happened there is so humbling.

Friday afternoon we headed to Kauai, which is so pretty. The island is so lush and green. Yesterday we hiked a portion of the Kalalau trail – it was super slick with mud from all the rain they’ve gotten and my shoes are an interesting color of orange now, but it was really pretty and a lot of fun. Today is pretty rainy and grey due to a tropical storm that is coming through, so we’re going to drive around the island to Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of the west. Should be pretty cool to see.

How far along? 17 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss? Not sure! We’re in Hawaii and don’t have access to a scale.
Maternity clothes? Nope. Sticking with my normal clothes still, though it does feel like the days of my jeans are coming to an end. Lots of hair tie through the button hole action.
Stretch marks? None yet.
Sleep? We’re waking up (and subsequently going to bed) super early because of the time change, but no complaints here – that has been just fine!
Best moment this week? We really enjoyed visiting Pearl Harbor and getting to experience some of that history.
Miss Anything? Nope!
Movement? Still not feeling much.
Food cravings? Nothing specific.
Anything making you nauseous? Nope
Symptoms? Lots of heartburn. A little less with the headaches, but lots of heartburn.
Gender Prediction? Nope
Labor Signs? None.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood? Relaxed and happy, enjoying our hiking and swimming and sunbathing and eating.

16 Weeks

We had a nice, relaxing week this week, which is just what we needed to prepare for our upcoming trip. It gave us time to run some errands, get some chores done around the apartment and just prepare in general.

How far along? 16 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss? +2.2 lbs, down half a pound from last week – making up for some of that over indulging I was doing with friends around!
Maternity clothes? Still not yet, though I did go buy some loose dresses for our trip to Hawaii
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep? Still sleeping just fine
Best moment this week? We had our 16 week appointment this week and got to hear the baby’s heart beat again. It was at 154 this time and sounded good. Can’t wait to see this little one again in four weeks. We’ve only had one ultrasound so far.
Miss Anything? Still no. Just happy to be pregnant.
Movement? Still not sure. Maybe? Maybe digestion?
Food cravings? I get random hankerings, but no real cravings and I don’t usually act on the hankerings.
Anything making you nauseous? Nope
Symptoms?  Holding strong with the heartburn and headaches. Still avoiding spicy food, which makes me sad, but I’m starting to feel like if I’m going to get the heartburn anyway, I may as well eat what I like.
Gender Prediction? No strong feelings. Chris might be leaning boy.
Labor Signs? Nope!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood? Feeling good. No strong mood. Just enjoying summer!
Looking forward to? Our trip to Hawaii!

15 Weeks

It has been a nice, eventful week. More on that below.

The baby is about the size of an apple this week. I don’t have a whole lot to report this week that isn’t included below. More next week!

How far along? 15 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss? +2.6 lbs
Maternity clothes? Still not yet, but lots of loose, flowy tops so I don’t look questionably chubby
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep? I’m waking up less and less at night to go to the bathroom, which is nice. Definitely sleeping hard like I always have.
Best moment this week? We’ve had a really eventful week! We finished our visit with Aarti & Stefan strong by chartering a boat out on Lake Michigan on 4th of July. This weekend we drove up to my parents’ cabin for a quick visit to see them and then today we have brunch with an old high school friend of mine. It has been a great summer week, that’s for sure. 
Miss Anything? Still no.
Movement? I felt something this week that may have been some movement, but I’m really not sure. It very well could have been digestion too. I keep thinking I’ll know when I know.
Food cravings? Nada.
Anything making you nauseous? Nope
Symptoms?  Still with the headaches and heartburn. I’ve stopped eating anything that might be spicy or that has a strong flavor, but simple things like bagels seem to be triggering the heart burn too. In fact, I get heart burn if I let myself get too hungry. It’s just a constant I’m learning to accept.
Gender Prediction? No strong feelings one way or the other.
Labor Signs? Definitely no.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood? Feeling good. Enjoying my summer.
Looking forward to? Our upcoming trip to Hawaii and San Francisco! This was planned before we knew about the baby and I’m so happy it was. We wouldn’t have wanted to spend the money if we knew about the baby, and it’ll be so nice to take a trip we won’t be able to take again for a really long time.

14 Weeks

I’m officially into my second trimester! I’m sure this will be the time when we’ll start doing all of our research and making all of our plans, but I’m still cautiously optimistic and not quite ready for all that yet. I’m not even ready to commit to maternity clothes (not that I feel like I need them yet).

This has been a pretty normal week full of work and workouts with a dessert of Aarti and Stefan visiting from LA for a long 4th of July weekend. We’re eating at all the best restaurants while they’re here, which I’m sure is contributing to my weight gain.

My stomach is definitely not its usual flat self these days, but it’s not quite looking questionable yet either. It is especially easy to cover it up with the flowy tops that are in style these days, which I have definitely embraced!

How far along?  14 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss?  +1 lb, finally gaining some weight like everything says I should/will
Maternity clothes?  Regular clothes are still fitting just fine
Stretch marks?  Not yet
Sleep?  Not as tired anymore and sleep is good
Miss Anything?  Not yet
Movement?  Nope
Food cravings?  Haven’t had any
Anything making you nauseous? No nausea
Symptoms?  Still heartburn and headaches. Simultaneously, of course.
Labor Signs?  Definitely no.
Belly Button in or out?  In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood?  Mood is good. Been having lots of fun with friends in town!