STATS:
How far along: 17 weeks.
How big is baby: It’s a Turnip. The baby can probably hear now so we’ve been singing him/her songs and reading books. Its cartilage is turning into bone, which probably means I should concentrate on getting more calcium, so that it wasn’t drained from my teeth and bones. It’s also gaining fat which is very important and soon I will be feeling the kicks which should be one of the most exciting part of pregnancy.
Total weight gain: 4 pounds (141lb) YAY! While, I was never afraid of pregnancy weight gain, I’ve never thought that I’d be ACTUALLY happy watching the numbers on scale climb, but I am. It’s been relatively difficult/slow for me to gain weight. Every pregnant woman worries about the well-being of her unborn baby and the only way for us to track the growth is through our weight gain.
Sleep: Figuring it out, getting used to sleeping on my sides. Still haven’t bought the body pillow, I am using 3 pillows currently. I still do wake up twice or three times a night to go pee, and dealing with pillows, so it’s tough but manageable.
Best moment of the week:
Getting started on cleaning out the nursery. I haven’t been working on the design, because I want the nursery to be gender specific.
Food cravings { again, these are not real cravings (i.e. I can easily resist them), but here are things I’ve been “enjoying” more than other foods I eat}:
PEACHES! OMG I’ve been eating 6 peaches a day! Love anything fresh and juicy. Out of junk stuff, I only eat 1/4 of a cup of Haggen Daaz pistachio ice cream twice a day, but man do I enjoy that 1/4 of a cup.
Food aversions: Bread
Symptoms:
Nausea – Pretty much gone, unless you count the unpleasant feeling in your stomach that fullness and heartburn bring on.
Hunger – Need to eat once an hour, preferably something fresh, like a fruit or cucumbers
Heartburn – Mild to medium heartburn all week. Due to a tip from one of the readers, I looked up papaya enzyme pills, and while I wouldn’t take them while pregnant due to some other ingredients, I found out that papayas themselves have the same effect. So I’ve been eating papaya when heartburn strikes and it seems to help.
Skin – Still pretty bad.
Movement: I felt something that seemed like a gas bubble or movement, but there’s no way to know whether it’s one or the other, so I choose to discount it, since it didn’t continue. Hubby keeps saying “You felt your first kick!” which is kinda annoying 🙂
Gender: At our 20 week ultrasound on September 1st.
What I’m looking forward to:
Finding the time to sit down and plan the nursery.
Working on my pregnancy photo book. I’ve been periodically taking themed pregnancy self-portraits for a pregnancy book. Basically it will be a book with my thoughts, feelings and photos that would portray the whole pregnancy experience. I am not too far along due to pregnancy symptoms and general laziness but today I was able to take another planned shot- our daily morning walk, a part of whatever meger exercises I get to do these days ( I do some light strength training and cardio as well). And yes, I totally look fat here and not pregnant 🙂 lol
What I miss:
Feeling not pregnant.
Next appt: September 1st, the big one
I think you look lovely (not fat at all, but I totally hear what you’re saying…) – and as always, I’m impressed (not to mention jealous) by all your perfect bump pictures – they’re wonderful and creative and something you and your hubby will enjoy for a long, long time. You’re so close to the REALLY fun stuff (kicking and lots of movement)! So excited for you!
That bubble type thing you felt was exactly what my first movements felt like! I thought had gas until my mom explained that was movement! It will get much stronger soon! How exciting. Ginger also helped me with heartburn too.
You look so great!! And how lucky that you are craving healthy fresh fruit 🙂
Whenever you are ready to play around with nursery design ideas (or even before if you are like me!) this website is SO fun to goof around on in your spare time! http://www.babybedding.com/designer
What do you mean “the only way for us to track the growth is through our weight gain?” There isn’t really a direct correlation between mom’s weight gain and size of baby. That’s why they measure your fundal height. Fundal height measurements are indicative of baby’s true size.
Well yeah of course. But from what I remember fundal height calculations become accurate from week 25. So before that time, the only way I can tell my baby is growing is because I’m growing. If I lose weight I worry, if I gain it at a proper rate it gives me satisfaction.
The bubble type feeling was the feeling i first had and it was the baby, not gas. Sort of like popcorn popping inside. You might feel it and then feel nothing for a day or more even. The feeling is pretty spuratic in the beginning. Also, be sure you watch your fruit intake the night before your glucose testing and also the morning of. Fruit can really screw with your blood sugar.
I’m not even sure I felt it- it was so fleeting I thought I might have imagined it.
Thanks on the tip about fruit/glucose test. Will remember that.
I’m with all of the above! that little gas bubble was probably a kick:) when I was prego I had that same feeling and it drove me nuts for WEEKS because I wanted to feel my baby kick but all I could feel was that dumb gas! But yeah, it really does just feel like gas:) and the bigger baby gets the more intense the “gas kick” gets:)
So happy for you:) this is where it gets fun:) when you get to play the guessing game of “baby or imagination?” or baby sitting on bowels or baby wriggling:) This’ll be so fun!
I’ll be more convinced when I feel it again! 🙂 I’ve never really felt “gas bubbles” before so there was no way for me to tell what it was 😉
I cant believe your 17 weeks already and your belly is so tiny! Mine was HUGE by then! You look great. Cant wait to hear what you are having. I am sure you are anxious!
Hi, I love your blog. I am preparing my body to get pregnant and I bought one of the books you recommened. The 3 month prepregnancy guide book. I am soooo not used to eating so healthy, but I am glad I found your blog and read that book. Now I am eating much healthier and have sustained it for a couple months!
Anyway, I was thinking, maybe you are not experiencing any cravings because you have all of the nutrition (ie vitamins and minerals) that you need. So your body doesn’t need to make you eat anything. I don’t know, what do you think?
Side note: I was watching the learning channel and they were talking about crazy pregnancy cravings and one doctor said some women crave dirt/clay/mud or something which may mean they needed minerals. Crazy right?
Oh I’m so glad you’re doing it right: getting ready before getting pregnant. Sooo important! When you’re done reading the 3 months guide, pick up the other book I love, get ready to get pregnant (look in pre conception resources in the top nav bar), it takes it all even further.
And you know you do have a point about cravings. I haven’t thought about it that but you’re probably right.
Thanks I’ll go check it out 🙂
How funny about the aversion to bread!
Also, question for you, September will mark the first month that the Mister and I TTC; based on what you have read, what do you believe are the most important foods for me to be eating right now?
I have read some literature on this myself, but I think that your knowledge still trumps mine and I would be interested to hear your thoughts!
Of course, anything that contains folic acid. Though as long as you’re taking folic acid supplement religiously , you don’t need to worry about it.
If you’re thin, then eating well to make sure you’re have enough “fat stores” lol to make it easier to conceive. Some girls have to put on a few lbs before they are able to conceive. I acted preemptively and gained 4 lbs before TTC.
Otherwise make sure you eat LIKE you’re already pregnant: lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fatty fish rich in omegas. Avoid toxins (smoke, alcohol etc) because you never know when you actually conceive.
I was also kind of worried about chemical pregnancy (70% of conception result in chemical pregnancies and miscarriages) so I was very careful about everything in the first month.
If I think of smth else I’ll email you. I’m pretty sure I’m subscribed to your blog.
Wonderful–I appreciate your insight.
I actually did not like the body pillow, it wouldnt contort to my needs. I used regular pillows and bought the body pillow cover. Made the pillows more manageable & maneuverable but still kept them together as I tossed and turned.
I felt kicks at 18 wks… just around the corner!
do you know that Haagan Daz ice cream has raw egg yolks in it??
Seriously? No I didnt!