16 Weeks= 4 months!!

Week 16= 4 months....yay!! Not much has changed since last week, as you can see from the pictures. I do get tired in the afternoon starting around 2/2:30pm, which is hard !! I really do my best to eat every 2-3 hours as it is necessary or I start to go down hill pretty quickly. I don't have too many cravings but LOVE ice cream...especially Dairy Queen Reese's Peanut Butter Cup blizzards...yum!!! I read that the 2 things most pregnant women crave is ice cream and fruit....interesting!! My sleeping issue is better, and I think the mattress pad has helped.

On Sunday morning, I was feeling some strange twirly movements in my lower abdomen and couldn't help but wonder if it was baby movement. I've read that first time moms don't usually feel baby until 18-22 weeks, but that it is possible to feel it earlier. It didn't feel like gas or indigestion and had never really felt it before, so that's why I thought, maybe, just maybe!! When I really start to feel the little one, I guess I'll then know for sure if it was or not!!

16 weeks

This week is a short work week because we are leaving for Holly & Chris's wedding on Friday morning. How exciting!! Should be a great weekend and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate, which will be really nice.

Next week we go to our sonogram appointment on March 15th. It may be possible to tell the sex, which will be awesome as I am ready to start on the nursery! If we aren't able to find out the sex, we'll probably start soon anyway and just choose really neutral colors and designs. We plan to do this anyway, but I want to add a little boy or girl element here and there. We've looked some at cribs and are deciding on other furniture...next will be paint and decor! Should be a lot of fun.

Here's what babycenter has to say about week 16:

"How your baby's growing: At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces, your baby is about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, she'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, though, doubling her weight and adding inches to her length. Her lower limbs are much more developed now. Her head is more erect than it has been, and her eyes have moved toward the front of her head. Your baby's ears are close to their final position, too. Some of her more advanced body systems are working, including her circulatory system and urinary tract. Her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, circulating her total blood volume through her body many times. (By the end of your pregnancy, this will increase to about 190 quarts.) The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, her eyes are moving (slowly), and she's even started growing toenails.

How your life's changing: Have people been telling you how wonderful you look? The "glow of pregnancy" is real, thanks to increased blood flow to the skin. You may be enjoying yourself more, too, now that your hormones have stabilized and nausea has eased up. You're also probably less anxious about something happening to your baby (the risk of miscarriage drops dramatically after the 14th week) which likely adds to your overall sense of well-being.

Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, most don't until about 18 weeks or more. If this is your first baby, don't be too anxious — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so. The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll start to feel unmistakably like kicks."

I've bought a few maternity clothes: 2 pants and 3 shirts. I bought clothes that are maternity but can be worn now and don't really "look" maternity but will be clothes I can grow into. They make a cool thing called a belly band that you wear over your regular pants to allow you to wear your pants unzipped and unbuttoned without them falling down. I really like it and it will allow me to continue to wear some of my pants longer. My main maternity wardrobe will be for the hot summer, so I'm sure it will involve skirts, dresses, and capris...whatever is most comfortable!! I shouldn't have to buy too much, though, because my cousin Emily is letting me borrrow her clothes...thanks, Em!! Oooo...that reminds me, I need to schedule a massage with you soon, Em!!

Thanks for reading and have a great week!!