19 weeks and bonus pictures :)

How far along?  19 weeks! (Yes I know I missed a whole week-- but I was at my dad's house for Thanksgiving and to see my sister in the hospital so it all just escaped me. I do have pictures though!!)
How big is baby? Mango- 6 inches from head to butt

What’s baby doing this week? 

• Developing a protective coating over her skin, called vernix caseosa. It's greasy and white and you may see some of it at her birth.
• Working on her five senses. Nerve cells for her sense of taste, hearing, sight and smell are developing in her brain.

Total weight gain/loss? I'm not even sure at this point. I know I gained about 3 points but I am starting to forget my starting point. I am pretty sure that I am up 8 pounds, but I will give the real weigh-in after my next appointment. Although, I am pretty sure that most of that is in the jugs. Holy cow these puppies are getting big!!! I had to order a new bra AGAIN! Hope it gets here soon because I'm busting out and starting to feel a little inappropriate!

Symptoms? Dare I say it? The puking is getting better.... I'm only puking every third day or so but that beats the pants off three times a day! I have been feeling stretchy and crampy and my right butt cheek keeps going numb when the baby rolls over. I got a dead leg on my grocery run the other day-- thank goodness for shopping carts to lean on as I limped around with my lazy leg in tow.
Maternity clothes?  Definitely out of most of my pre-pregnancy shirts. They just shorten up too much in the front! Although some of my maternity shirts are still a little too big. Stuck between sizes and it's frustrating!!
Stretch marks? None yet
Sleep?  It's not horrible, although I am starting to have a hard time settling down at night and getting comfortable. Then in the morning I am awake-- rarely can I fall back asleep.
Best moment of the week? SOOOO much movement this week. My belly is just jumping. And I am feeling kicks everywhere! Left and right, high and low.... only two weeks ago they were localized to the right side of my stomach. I have just loved laying and watching my belly move up and down. I have a strong little kid in there.
Food cravings Other than the moment last night where I was craving cheese and olives, I have not been having too many weird cravings. Just hungry all the time!!

Movement? Well, I guess I already answered this above! lol
Gender? Only ten days until my ultrasound! And our guess is officially on a girl.
Labor signs? No
Belly button in/out?In

What I miss: Not being hyper-alert to every little twinge and ache. As I get closer and closer to my pprom milestone I get more and more nervous. I keep worrying about every little thing and hoping it's not an indicator of bad things to come. Definitely need prayers for my sanity this week!
What I am looking forward to: My anatomy scan- and hitting 21 weeks so that my pprom week is firmly behind me. Then I can focus on the next big date- V Day!

 Milestones: None this week.

So, I'll start with last weeks (18) belly pictures. These were the morning after Thanksgiving, so I am still pretty stuffed:

 

This one was Thanksgiving night-- definitely a little bit of a food baby in there too!!!

And now for this week:

17 weeks

How far along?  17 weeks
How big is baby? Onion (about 5.1-5.9 inches from head to butt)

What’s baby doing this week? 

• Her rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone.
• And she's growing some meat on those bones -- putting on some fat.
• She's growing a stronger, thicker umbilical cord, too.

Total weight gain/loss?  According to my most recent OB appointment I am up a total of 2.8 pounds. I really thought it was a lot more than that all this time but I guess not!

Symptoms? Still got the morning pukes, but other than that not too much going on. This has been a rough week as I got the mother of all colds. Talk about misery. But I am finally starting to feel alive again-- just wish my voice would return! I'm tired of sounding like a goose!
Maternity clothes?  Of course!
Stretch marks? Not yet
Sleep?  Still suffering from middle of the night insomnia, but really I think it's David's fault for snoring so much. He is gone until Monday so I am going to test my theory and see how I sleep this weekend ;)
Best moment of the week? Getting to take a peek at the baby!! And getting my first cervical measurement back. It's 4.1 cm which is apparently very good. Now I just wait and pray with crossed fingers that it stays long and closed. Only 3 weeks and 3 days away from my first rainbow baby milestone. Prayers for my sanity would be appreciated as I am starting to notice every tiny twinge and ache and worry something is wrong.
Food cravings Nothing really this week

Movement? Feeling more and more movement, although that baby gave me a little bit of a nervous attack this week. It went from being super active and thumping away non-stop to doing absolutely nothing for three days. Must have just been being sick that got the baby feeling lazy because today it's back to kicking around!
Gender? Still don't know but now I am back to thinking that it's a girl. It just looked so tiny and delicate on the ultrasound. And it's profile was a little different from the identical ones that Nathan and Noah shared. Only have a few more weeks to go. Dec 10th is my next ultrasound!
Labor signs? Nope
Belly button in/out?In

What I miss: Medicine! All that I wanted this week was to have some flipping cold medicine! But I made it through with just Tylenol and I'm still alive so I guess all's well that ends well.
What I am looking forward to: Anatomy scan!!!

 Milestones:Nothing this week

Now for lots of pictures!!

First, meet our new little one! Looks like a little thumb sucker???

 

These are from week 16, but just for fun!! This is me after getting a really good work out in.

Just kidding! I was actually sitting on the couch all day and this was me getting ready to go to McDonald's.

 

Here is the 'ever crooked' front belly view.  

 And here is the official 17 week belly pic. Ignore the dirty mirror!

16 weeks

How far along?  16 weeks
How big is baby? Avocado, roughly 4.6 inches from crown to rump!

What’s baby doing this week?

• She's listening to my voice, thanks to tiny bones forming in her ears.
• She's growing hair, lashes and eyebrows.
• And she's forming taste buds.

Total weight gain/loss? Still at 4 pounds according to my scale, although I have an OB appt on Monday so we'll see what their scale says.

Symptoms? It probably goes without saying that I'm still puking. But that's alright. It really has gotten so much better and is almost exclusively a one-round event in the morning so it doesn't bother me so much anymore. I have been getting a lot of backaches and helloooo round ligament pain. A little suckier this time around because it seems like my c-section incision does not like the stretching!
Maternity clothes?  Yep!
Stretch marks? The ones that are there are starting to look a little uglier as they stretch back out. I let David take a picture of my belly from straight on--big mistake! It's like looking at yourself naked in a dressing room mirror. Who knew 4 year old stretch marks could be so ugly??
Sleep?  Well, I went to bed at midnight and at 5 AM was up for the day. My hips hurt so bad I couldn't sleep. I don't even want to know what I'm going to be feeling like in about 10-15 more weeks. It seems like my worn out old mom body is not liking round 3 of baby growing. I might just have to start taking naps during the day again.
Best moment of the week? Well, my early morning paid off because David got to feel the baby kick for the first time around 6 AM! So exciting. This baby is just moving like a little madman! I am so smitten for this little guy (gal??). Nate is anxious to feel kicks too. While I'm on the subject of Nate, this happened a few weeks ago but I forgot to mention it. I was in the fridge pulling out dinner, when out of the blue he ran in and kicked me in the leg full-force. He then stood there smiling at me. I was not happy with him to say the least, and as I launched into a butt-chewing he lowered his little voice and asked "but I thought you liked baby kicks?"  What a turkey! So I had to explain the difference between baby kicks and big boy kicks and we haven't had any more problems since.
Food cravings This week hasn't been too bad for cravings. I have been wanting peanut butter crunch, but for whatever reason all of our milk tastes rotten. I even bought a brand new gallon so I am thinking it's just my taste buds being wonky. Plus, it seems like everything smells worse than it really is these days. I made eggs for breakfast (delicious cage-free, organic chicken eggs to boot- my favorite!) and they smelled so bad I thought they were rotten. But, David said they were fine, and after eating mine I can see that they were. So, I will just enjoy the fact that everything is "gross" these days because it will help me stop eating like such a pig.

Movement? Yes, yes, YES!!! I'm just loving it. This whole baby thing is starting to get so real and exciting :)
Gender? Only 3(ish) more weeks until at least one of us knows ;) Although, David and I have yet to come to an agreement about if we're telling or not.
Labor signs? Nope
Belly button in/out?In

What I miss: Unlimited caffeine. I have been so thirsty for iced tea these days. It's my favorite drink and I have been feeling very deprived. I am limited to one bottle of it a day assuming I don't have any other soda or coffee. I know it's better than nothing but one little bottle is just a teaser!
What I am looking forward to: A healthy and uneventful remaining 20 weeks! I am determined to carry this baby to term. Third time WILL be the charm!

Belly pic time:

15 weeks

How far along?  15 weeks
How big is baby? Baby is about the same size as a navel orange. She's curled up in the fetal position, but, if you were measure her from crown to toe, she'd be about as long as a ballpoint pen. Her little feet are about the same size as your pinky-nail. She is now very clearly a boy or a girl, and she is looking more and more like a real baby as each day passes. Her legs are now longer than her arms, and all of her joints work.

What’s baby doing this week? She has several reflexes and will grimace or jump in response to loud noises or a light shined on my belly. Her eyelids are still shut, but she's making all kinds of facial expressions, including "crying" and squinting. She might even be hiccuping in there.

Total weight gain/loss? 5 pounds

Symptoms? Morning sickness still plagues me and have started getting backaches on and off. Also getting crotch pain-- I think Jr is using my cervix as a trampoline from the feel of it! Insomnia seems to be kicking in, I toss and turn all night long! This is such a foreign thing to me, I'm used to falling asleep before my head hits the pillow! But, I think I am starting to pop this week. It's hard for me to tell because I spend every day analyzing my belly--but David swears it's growing, and Nate kindly announces to everyone that his mom is fat because she ate a baby-- so it must be getting bigger.
Stretch marks? None to date!
Sleep?  Well, as I said, I'm really struggling with it. I think a lot of it has to do with being a stomach sleeper who's least favorite sleeping position happened to be on her left side, and now being forced off my stomach and exclusively onto my left side. I would just sleep any old way but I read an article that said sleeping on your right side doubles your chances of stillbirth. Needless to say, it scared the bejesus out of me and so it will be a sleepless 25 weeks....
Best moment of the week? We have been working with Nathan on learning how to pray himself. We do his traditional "now I lay me down to sleep" prayers every night, but have been encouraging him to always pray for something that is important to him. When told he should pray for anything in his heart, and whatever was important to him, he replied with:

"Dear Jesus,

   Thank you for giving me a baby, and for keeping my baby healthy.

         Amen"

Melts your heart right!  He is going to be such an awesome brother. He even told me on the drive home from Walmart tonight that he promises he won't kick the baby when it comes.
Food cravings Blue Icees. It has to be an actual Icee though, can't be a slurpee or a slushie or anything else.

Movement? I spent my entire morning feeling the faintest, yet absolutely certain baby kicks. I am so in love! There is nothing like that feeling. It's by far the best part of pregnancy. Makes everything else seem not so bad <3
Gender? Only about 4 more weeks before we will know
Labor signs? none
Belly button in/out?In, although my belly button ring makes it looked like it's popped out when I have my shirt pulled over it.

What I miss:  Stomach sleeping!
What I am looking forward to: Only a week and a few days to go until I have my cervical scan. Anxious for that!

 Milestones: I can't really think of any big milestones that I hit this week.

And now for the belly pictures: