Eighteen Weeks

How Far Along: 18 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the same length as a bell pepper and weighs about 9 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Woo hoo! I'm at +3 from my original weight.
Maternity Clothes: Absolutely
Movement: I've felt Little Baby moving around a little bit, but I can definitely tell when he or she moves a lot, like when I get a foot in my ribs.
Gender: It's a....surprise!
Sleep: Yes please.
What I Miss: This week has been sorta stressful so I've missed the occasional adult beverage.
Cravings: I got my cheese sticks so I'm good. I'll take some more water though. And some Thor.
Symptoms: Still hungry and emotional.
Best Moment This Week: Seeing Little Baby at the Dr's appointment. He or she was wiggling all over the place and changed position 3 times while the lady was sonograming (?) me.
What I'm Looking Forward To: We're showing our house Saturday so I'm hoping things will work out for us.

Seventeen Weeks

How Far Along: 17 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby weighs about the same as a turnip according to BabyCenter.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Woo hoo! I'm at +1.
Maternity Clothes: Ummm most definitely.
Movement: Every so often I feel Little Baby moving around.
Gender: I've thought Little Baby was a girl this whole time, but recently I've been having dreams that it was a boy. Soooo who knows?
Sleep: Still pretty sleepy but I've been able to sleep so I'm thankful for that.
What I Miss: Soft cheeses - feta, queso, etc.
Cravings: I've been wanting cheese sticks all week. I think tomorrow's the day. Cheesesticks and a chocolate shake.
Symptoms: No new symptoms. Emotional and hungry.
Best Moment This Week: Starting a new book. I love starting books.
What I'm Looking Forward To: It's the season finale of "Vampire Diaries" so I'm really looking forward to Elena finally (hopefully) kissing Stefan again.

Something A Little Different

On the recommendation of Amelia, I watched The Business of Being Born, a documentary on home births vs. hospital births. I have to say that I thought it was super biased and a little ridiculous in its stats and interviews, but it did get me thinking about the kind of birth I'd like to have with Little Baby...and I guess that's the point. I know I don't want a C-section. It's not something I've ever wanted. Some may say it's easier, but it's a major surgery and I really don't want to be strapped down and not even get to hold my baby. (Not that I got to hold Kaleb for the first 7 hours of his life) I mean, if there's an emergency obviously I'll have a C-section, but I'd like to avoid it if possible. So, now that I've narrowed it to actually HAVING the baby, I'd like to do some things differently than I did with Kaleb. I still want to be in a hospital and I'd still like an epidural. I don't see those two things changing. But I'd like to NOT be induced this time. It just took forever for things to get rolling with Kaleb. There were some extenuating circumstances (low fluid levels, gestational diabetes) that made inducing the best option, but I'd rather not need the pitocin if possible. Also, even though I want an epidural, I don't want to get it as soon as I did the first time. Basically the nurse broke my water and the epidural man was in there within the next 10 minutes. I didn't feel any contractions. That made pushing extremely difficult. I had no idea where I was pushing and, consequently, it took 2 1/2 hours and a vacuum assist to get Kaleb out. Not to mention the recovery was awful. I think if I could feel more I would know where and when to push and it wouldn't have taken so long. Finally, I want to be able to walk around/move around more this time. Laying in the hospital bed the whole time was pretty boring. One good point the movie made was that laying down to push is very ineffective. That position fights gravity and closes the pelvis. I don't know if they'll let me walk and move around once I do decide to get an epidural, but maybe before. Of course, all this is planning and none of it may come to fruition. I may end up getting to the hospital and progressing rapidly and not even getting the opportunity for an epidural. OR it may take forever. OR the baby may be breached. Who knows? But that's my amended baby plan for this go around.

Chore Chart Revamp

I think Kaleb's at the age now where he can do some basic chores. Little dude loves to clean up and help us anyway, so we might as well make it official. Here's the problem. I don't like any of the chore charts I've seen. I think Mommy and Daddy should also be included on the chore chart. Maybe not with a bunch of chores on it since we do most of them anyway, but I think it will help Kaleb to see that everyone around the house chips in to make things run smoothly. Also, I think that instead of a word chore chart it should include pictures and words. I think I'd take a picture of each person in the family and put the name beneath it. That way it'll help the kids learn what their names look like. Same with the chores. Put a picture of the actual object (dishwasher, trucks, dirty clothes) and put the name under it. I might need to get with Amelia or Haley to help me with this project. One thing I need to decide is whether or not to use a magnetic board or eraser board for this, how many chores should be allotted, should the chores change daily or stay the same, and what about allowance? I'm going to consider this a summer project. Hopefully I'll be able to take pictures of my progress.

Sixteen Weeks

(It's amazing how when Amelia takes the picture with a real camera, and not just the camera on a computer, it doesn't look like you can see up my nose. We MUST get our camera fixed in May. Not even an option. P.S. I really don't like shoes.)

How Far Along: 16 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of an avacado according to BabyCenter. Thank goodness they show it compared to a quarter each time because some of the fruits/vegetables are totally foreign to me.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I 'm at -2 again according to my scale, but I'm thinking it must be wrong.
Maternity Clothes: I'm moving toward only maternity clothes and/or stretchy dresses and skirts. I can't even "button" my pants anymore with the help of a rubberband.
Movement: Every so often I feel Little Baby moving around.
Gender: Don't know, but I think we've decided that the baby's "colors" are going to be yellow, black, white, and gray. That would work for a girl or a boy.
Sleep: This week I've been really tired. Is it possible to regress back to symptoms from an earlier trimester?
What I Miss: This week I've been pretty content. I still want feta every now and then, but there's really nowhere to get it so it really doesn't matter.
Cravings: Hmmm....nothing in particular. Water perhaps.
Symptoms: Overly emotional is putting it mildly. I cry all the time or I get super frustrated about things that would normally not be a big deal. Mood swings? Check
Best Moment This Week: Rocking Kaleb to sleep. When his eyes droop down, but he doesn't quite go to sleep, it reminds me of when he was a newborn and would be droopy-eyed and then just zonk out. I LOVED rocking a sleeping Kaleb and I'm excited about rocking another sweet baby to sleep.
What I'm Looking Forward To: This is our last week of teaching. Next week is the MCT2 and the week after that is our final week. I'm looking forward to teaching like crazy this final week before testing.

Fifteen Weeks

Fail on the picture taking this week. We took one yesterday, but I didn't realize I was making a weird face until too late. Then we were going to take another picture today but I'm already in my pajamas and I'm too lazy to change out of them. Sorry. Maybe next week.

Alright, I don't know what day to write these posts. According to my due date I should write them on Fridays. According to the emails I get from BabyCenter.com, I should write them on Mondays. And according to the sonogram, I should write them on Wednesdays. So, yeah, I'll probably just end up posting them Monday-ish. Maybe a little before, maybe a little after.

How Far Along: 15 Weeks
Size of Baby: Little Baby is about the size of an apple according to BabyCenter.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I went to the doctor yesterday and I've gained a pound, but that still puts me at -1 for the week. I'm definitely not worried about gaining weight.
Maternity Clothes: I've had to wear maternity clothes exclusively a few times this week. I don't think I'm ready for full-on maternity clothes, but I like them.
Movement: I'm pretty sure I can feel Little Baby moving around now even though most of the pregnancy books and people say it's still a little too early.
Gender: Don't know yet, but next time we go to the doctor we'll be able to find out...if we decide to go that route. Eric's pretty sure this is the last baby (we'll see) and we want to do the whole walk-out-into-the-waiting-room-and-announce-"It's-a-boy/girl"-thing. So I don't know that we'll find out. I think I'll just stick with maybe yellow, gray, and white as the colors so it could go with either.
Sleep: I think I'm at the point now where I need to stop sleeping on my back, which really stinks. I love sleeping on my back. It's what I missed the most when I was pregnant with Kaleb.
What I Miss: I'm anticipating missing sleeping on my back.
Cravings: I'm pretty much craving anything that someone says or that pops into my head. But it only lasts a little while then I've moved on to something else.
Symptoms: I've been pretty sore/tender this go around. I'm pretty much over my nausea now which is SO great.
Best Moment This Week: I'm hoping we'll make the final decision this week about whether or not to find out what Little Baby is.
What I'm Looking Forward To: We have a super yummy supper menu planned for this week. So, yes, I'm looking forward to food.

Book Review: Maze Runner Series

The Maze Runner series is a trilogy centered around a boy named Thomas and his involvement with a futuristic government program.
In the first book, The Maze Runner, Thomas is sent to The Glade where all his memories have been wiped, leaving him not only disoriented but also the Newbie. Thomas meets the other Gladers and tries to adjust to his new life there. Then, something unexpected happens and the Gladers are forced to deal with everything thrown at them.
In the second book, The Scorch Trials, Thomas continues to deal with WICKED in a new environment that makes The Glade seem like a paradise. He's dealing with the loss of some friends from the Glade and the introduction of some Cranks that are helping the Gladers survive. In the end, Thomas has a falling out with a good friend because of an effort to save his life.
The third book, The Death Cure, breaks the mold of the first two in the same way that The Hunger Games trilogy's third book is different from the first two. In this book Thomas is finally coming face-to-face with WICKED and has decided not to let them play him anymore. As he and his friends search for a way to survive in a world full of Cranks, Thomas must face the reality that he may be the only way for the world to survive.

This series is definitely for mature audiences due to the graphic nature of some of the characters (especially in the second book...I almost stopped reading it myself). It is very fast-paced and keeps you guessing about what's going to happen. It is a very good series to read if you enjoyed The Hunger Games series.