18 Weeks

I can't believe that I am almost half way through this pregnancy already! 

Cravings: Chocolate :) 

Symptoms: Growing belly, a little bit discomfort during the night, constant trips to the bathroom, and still a little morning sickness and fatigue, but it's finally getting a little bit better!!!! 

Complaints: Nothing really! 

Weight gain: Somewhere between -10 and -13... I'm a fluctuate-r normally and I weighed myself two days apart, so I either am fluctuating or I gained 3 pounds in two days, lol.  

Movement: Yes! Baby is definitely moving now! Love it! 

Doctor appointment results: Good! Babies heart rate is good, and we scheduled the big ultrasound!!! Yay!!!! Two more weeks and we get to see the baby!!!!

Mood: Good!

Planning: Trying to figure out where to give birth! I've met with a midwife for the new birth center opening up in Duluth, and that went well... I'm just not 100% sure yet. So I'm going to make an appointment at Essentia and interview some doctors there as well. Moose Lake, Cloquet, and St. Lukes are out of the question, so really my only options left are the birth center or Essentia. 

Other planning, I need to get back into exercising again! Now that I am finally feeling a bit better, I really need to be disciplined and do my exercises every day. Why? Well, not only is it good for you, but I get severe pubic symphysis when I'm pregnant. It was awful with Eli and it only gets worse with each kid you have... and I for one don't want to be on my knees in pain multiple times a day, and in public, because my pubic bones slipped so far out of place while I was walking around or standing. The only way to lessen/prevent the pain is to strengthen the muscles in and around your hips, so I really need to start working on it before I start experiencing the horrid pain on a multiples times a day basis. I did some squats last night, but I need to actually write down what I need to do so I don't forget it and so that I can make sure I get all the muscles targeted that need to be worked on. 

Advice: Nothing that I can remember or that was new! 

Dreams: Yep! I had a dream that we had a boy, and that we had it sleep in our pantry... haha! Also, the most random people show up in my dreams! Last night I had a weird dream about lava, vampires, and the girl from Mama Mia... 

Baby Size: The size of a sweet potato! 

Cute Stuff: Gabriel is still convinced the baby is a girl, haha! We were joking around about naming the baby 'Jack' if it was a boy, just for the shear sake that it's Eli's favorite character in his favorite movie. Well Gabriel overheard us talking about it and got so mad, 'No! The baby is gonna be a girl cause we don't have one! God is giving me a sister! And we are going to call her 'Princess' and that is going to be her name!' Also, Eli went with my to the doctor appointment I had this week and the doctor pulled up a chair close to the table and Eli got to help measure me and listen to the babies heart beat and stuff, he thought it was pretty cool! 

Other events of the week: My husband and I got to celebrate our anniversary! This is the first year we didn't go away for a night or plan anything 'big'. We just went out for a movie, stopped to get Rocky Mountain Mints (date night tradition!), sat in Barnes & Noble looking at books, and then went out for dinner! It was fun and we haven't had a chance to be kid free for a super long time, so it was nice just be alone together for once!