Merfbaby is 16 weeks!
I signed up for a weekly pregnancy email from The Pregnant Chicken, and my email yesterday told me Merfbaby is the size of a grenade Now we’re talking!
Merfbaby is 4 1/2 inches long and has started growing toenails! The heart is pumping 25 quarts a day.
How I’m Feeling: Good, but this week was exhausting. It was a really busy week at work, with a very late night on Monday…I collapsed into bed at 1:00am. I was dragging all week and went to bed early whenever I could, so I finally feel caught up on sleep. I have a lot I want to get done this weekend, but I’ll see how I’m feeling. I’m trying to put rest and sleep over busy work, but it’s hard when I want to get so much done around the house!
Belly/Weight: At my appointment yesterday I showed a 5 pound weight gain fro my last appointment. I asked the doctor if that’s ok and she said aiming for 1 pound a week is good. My tummy is sticking out a little more this week and it feels firm…creepy? Yea.
Life Changes: Still wearing normal clothes, but I have to start choosing some longer tops since my shape is changing. I tried to get more sleep this week since I was so exhausted from work, I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow :)
Movement: Still not yet. It was funny at the appointment yesterday seeing the baby moving around on the ultrasound but not feeling any of it!
Sleep: I still have 1 – 2 potty breaks in the middle of the night, but this week I had a harder time falling back asleep after crawling into bed. Merfman’s back into his production schedule so between his odd hours and the potty breaks I’m not sleeping well.
Cravings: Still OJ. Not lemonade so much this week. And protein. My appetite is back and I go from zero to hangry, fast. I’m trying to get more protein into my daily meals. Lots of dairy, beans, rice, some fish and peanut butter, and lots of eggs. I also asked my doctor about adding protein powder into my smoothies, I think that will help too.
Exercise: Monday I did a ton of running around and carrying various items back and forth for work. I was sore most of the week – arms and shoulders so I took it easy on the work outs. Don’t worry, I didn’t lift anything heavy. I ordered a new swim suit from Swim Outlet since my current stash doesn’t accommodate for the growing belly. PS Maternity Swim Suits are U.G.L.Y. I just ordered a regular suit 4 sizes larger than my normal. If toward the end I need to order up another size or two I will.
Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week: Merfman got to come with me to my doctor appointment on Thursday! He’s never able to come, so it was fun having him see Merfbaby on the ultrasound. I had been wondering if this might be the week they tell us the gender. At 12 weeks the technician wanted to tell me, but I felt like it was too soon to tell, even though they said they were 95% sure what it was. Plus, I was alone so I asked them not too. So, this week we were looking forward to maybe finding out. We were put into a room at our appointment that didn’t have an ultrasound machine so we thought we wouldn’t get to find out. The doctor opened the door and asked if we’d like to find out the gender! She said she couldn’t make any promises, but she would give it a shot. We asked if she found the gender, that she write it down and slip it into and envelope so we could open it later. Well….Merfbaby was being shy and she couldn’t get a good look, plus the cord was in the way. Womp. I have another ultrasound at the end of this month, so maybe we’ll find out then!
On My Mind: I’m halfway through reading “Baby Wise,” so I’ve been thinking a lot about the feed, wake, sleep pattern for the baby and I during the first few weeks. We want to get the baby into a rhythm soon after birth to help for our sanity, as well as Merfbaby’s. I’m a little nervous about the first week or two after birth. I can only imagine what to expect, so I’m trying not to over think it. I really want to breastfeed, and I know that can take a little while to get the hang of. Next up on my reading list is “Baby Whisperer.” So many Mom’s have recommended it to me, so I’m excited to get reading! We also selected a Baby Class to take starting in mid-April. We’ve chosen the Bradley Method classes since they focus on natural birth. The instructor explained the classes in a way I completely related to. She said, you would’t run a marathon without practicing, or show up on game day never knowing what to expect. Duh. As an athlete that totally made sense to me. I know there’s not a lot you can do physically to prepare yourself for the crazy that it labor, but the more I can understand about the progression of labor the better for me.
The Merfett 