Week 18

How far along? 17w5d
Total weight gain/loss: well, I haven't weighed myself, but I'm guessing +17-18 at this point
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: I think I'm at that center-of-gravity-shift-time so my back has been more achy, thus making it slightly uncomfortable to sleep, but I've been managing with my Snoogle and a pletora of pillows. Its amazing how many more props I can use when Chris is in the other bed!
Best moment this week: Feeling a BIG kick!
Movement: Yes, but its sporatic. With Gabriella, once I started feeling movement it never stopped. With this babe, I feel it much more sporatically. Sometimes yes, somedays not at all - they are very light taps and off to the side. I'm guessing this is b/c of the placenta. Yesterday when I was getting my brows done, it must have been the way I was laying down b/c I felt the biggest kick as I laid there. It literally took my breath away!
Food cravings: Nothing in particular this week. I still love everything generally
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Warmth! Last week I wrote about how it was super hot, but since Friday we've had very chilly temps (Sunday was even in the 30s!) so I'd like some stable spring weather please (effing Chicago)
What I am looking forward to: VACAY!
Milestones: Yay for movement! Oh, and also, all of our b/w screening tests (quad screen and OB panel) came back normal. Just waiting now on the CF carrier screen test results.

18 week belly pic!

Week 16-17 update

How far along? 16w5d
Total weight gain/loss: +16lbs....here we go
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Its been pretty decent. I can't really complain. I definitely don't have insomnia anymore
Best moment this week: Anytime Gabriella randomly comes up to me and gives me a big squishy hug and kiss
Movement: No and I'm starting to get impatient. All these tails of 2nd timers feeling flutters at like 14-15 weeks makes me so jealous. I know the OB said the anterior placenta shouldn't be a factor and I know that its still early, but alas I am an impatient girl. With Gabriella I was definitely feeling movement by week 18 so here's hoping I feel something by then.
Food cravings: My love affair with chips continues and I may have asked my co-worker who went to the grocery store, to pick me up gushers and popsicles...
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Spring...seems like we are on the fast track to the surface of the sun the past few days
What I am looking forward to: Lots of things, but more than anything movement and vacation
Milestones: Nothing really monumental going on right now.

In case anyone is wondering about Gabriella happenings, let me just tell you that this little girl is unbelievably hilarious. Sometimes I cannot believe what comes out of her mouth. Her new fave things to say are "I want it" and "I don't want it." She also likes to sternly point her finger in my face and say "stop it!" LOFL. How do you not laugh when a toddler is in your face pointing her finger at you in ALL seriousness? I die.

I'm getting super excited for vacation, but there's still SO much to buy. We are buying the Baby Bjorn travel crib (Thanks Maura!) since it looks perfect for what we need and despite the luxuriousness of this resort I just don't know what their provided cribs will look like. Also just have to start my master list of things to remember to pack.

I started prenatal yoga last Saturday and love it. The teacher was a little too over the top for me, but I still thought the class was worth continuing. I'll be starting twice weekly at the beginning of June when my 2nd class starts up during the week. Oh, also, I had another cervical check last week at the hospital and all is well. did find out that I have a marginal placenta, so its in proximity to my cervix. No sexy time or heavy physical activity...lol, not that I needed to worry about either of those. I just now have a medical excuse...SCORE!

I'll post belly pics tonight (under belly pics). T-26 days till the big u/s and Gabriella's 2nd b-day!

14 weeks survey

How far along? 14w4d
Total weight gain/loss: +11lbs
Maternity clothes? Yes, almost all the time
Stretch marks? Not yet (and hopefully I'll be able to stay away from them again this pregnancy)
Sleep: Meh, its ok. I've had insomnia this pregnancy, so my sleep hasn't been that great. Chris got kicked out of the bedroom about 3 weeks ago so at least I don't have to contend with his snoring.
Best moment this week: Anytime I hear the HB on the doppler (Its been between 155 and 165)
Movement: Nah, I think its still just gas at this point (I did find out today that I have an anterior placenta, but the doc said that it likely won't impede any feeling of movement on my end since I'm not overweight)
Food cravings: HUMMUS. And any type of dip, really (except salsa). Chips/Pita chips/crackers and dip is all I've wanted for about 10 days now.
Labor Signs: No and hopefully they don't get any ideas any time soon
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: My family (as always) and uninterrupted sleep
What I am looking forward to: The weekend, movement, our vacay to Puerto Rico, and uneventful and healthy pregnancy, finding out the sex, enjoying the warm weather once it finally makes its appearance.
Milestones: I don't think I have any really. A good cervix report?

State of my cervix and u/s pic!

Everything looks good on the cervix front. Its measuring 4 cm which is great. I was able to get a fab shot of the baby - here s/he is!

Latest and Greatest

Had my usual OB appt today. It was pretty 'eventful.' Not in a bad way, just lots of stuff that was checked. I have gained 10 lbs (OOPS) and the baby's HB was nice and loud on the doppler at 164 (its been in the mid 160s for about 2-3 weeks now). Which reminds me - VOTE IN MY BABY SEX POLL! Its conveniently located at the upper right side of de blog.

Moving on, I have been feeling an RLP sensation but close to where my cervix would be, so the doc did an exam and proclaimed my cervix to have plenty of length, but wanted to do a quick cervical check u/s just to be sure of the exact lentgh at this point. He said he wanted to do one between 13-14 weeks anyways, so its kind've routine too. I go in on Thursday for that. I get the clear to do low impact exercise, like yoga and walking as long as my cervix has a good report. The doc isn't expecting anything out of the ordinary there, so I'm sure things will be fine.

I don't think I'm any larger than last week, so as soon as I get around to taking a pic, I'll post it under the belly pics tab. I have a busy week ahead of me culminating with a fab trip to CA for my lovely BF's baby shower. Super excited about this. Gabriella is coming as well. Hopefully that shiny new portable DVD player keeps her happy on the plane ride :)

There's no denying it now!

Alrighty so there's no way in hell you can deny I'm pregnant now. I legitimately LOOK pregnant. I look the same way now as I did when I was about 16/17 weeks pregnant with Gabriella.

We got our b/w results back from the NT and everything came back fantastic. We're at a 1 in greater than 10K risk for Down's and both trisomies. That's the same factor we had with Gabriella so we were super excited to hear that news. The gossip has been spreading around the work place for a week now and frankly I'm beyond annoyed. I wanted to share on my own terms and I haven't really been able to do that b/c a blabbermouth friend of mine who was sworn to secrecy to me thought it was ok to confirm to the biggest office gossip that I was indeed pregnant. Um ok, thanks. Didn't realize it was YOUR news to share, but whateves. I'm over it. Rather than outright telling people I'm pregnant I'm waiting for people to actually ask me so that they can actually inquire about my pregnancy and well being. Why do you ask? I HATE that people are asking other people if I am in fact pregnant and then if they do hear a confirmation, they don't even have the decency to congratulate me and wish me well. Rather, the sole purpose of them knowing is to feed the gossip mill. No effing thanks. You want to know if I'm pregnant? Ask me directly and I'll tell you.

Sorry about the rant, I've just been quite pissed about this. Anywho, onto my bump, here it is in its 12.5 week glory. Immediately prior to taking this I was able to hear the thump thump thump of the baby's hb - still in the 160s.

Oh, and one more quick thing - I have my 1st cervical check on 5/3 and I am not allowed to know any sex guesses b/c Chris won't be there (BOO) but we did schedule our 20 week anatmoy scan - its on 6/7, Gabriella's 2nd birthday :)

NT scan :)

We had our NT scan today and everything went great. Baby was just in the right position and we were able to get everything we needed right away. Baby was out cold and did not want to move though - it would have been nice to see some action! Everything looks GREAT and the perinatologist expects my b/w to come back very good as well. Baby was measuring slightly ahead at 12 weeks exactly. I won't be spilling the beans at work or on FB until after I get the b/w back.

In other news, I'm sick again. Gabriella decided to share her head cold with me. The funny thing is that she's not even bothered by it and I've been dying the past 2 days. I took the day off work today to recoup and I'm really glad I did b/c I think it did a world of good for me. I've been sleeping like such crap lately. I wake up constantly and being sick is no exception. Hopefully I'll go back to some level of restorative sleep soon.

Gabriella is great. Aside from the sniffles, she's in fine form. We're looking forward to some warmer weather so we can get outside and expend some of her pent up energy!

Here's one pic of our big monkey. I've been trying to post one of the NT scan but blogger keeps rotating it the wrong way. Lame.