Weeks 14, 15, & 16 Bumpdate

Long time no see! The past few weeks have been basically the same, and were fairly uneventful (until week 16). Plus, we've been crazy busy now that the holiday season is upon us. So, I decided to do another combined post. Enjoy!

When are weeks 14-16?

Friday, December 1, 2017 - Thursday, December 21, 2017

What’s the size of the baby?

By week 16, baby is the size of an avocado, and is measuring 4.61 inches and 3.50 ounces.

Waist size?

Near the middle of week 16, I was measuring 31.5 inches around. That's only a 1/2 inch since week 12, but my belly is definitely starting to show much more now.

Symptoms?

Body: I think I officially started having round ligament pains. They're... strange... Before, I'd experience a discomfort in my lower abdomen, but nothing I would consider painful. Just noticeably annoying. Now, that feeling will sometimes include a pain that radiates from my hip socket toward my abdomen. It will last for a few minutes to almost an hour, but never longer than that. From my understanding, that's from my uterus stretching and the ligaments that support it are stretching, too. Sounds like this will happen off and on throughout the rest of my pregnancy... yay....

Also, that itching I had in week 13... I think it was caused by my cocoa butter. I stopped using it (or anything to moisturize my belly) for a week and it completely went away. Now, I'm using coconut oil, and so far it seems to work great. I've read that some women experience skin sensitivity during pregnancy, and I think that cocoa butter was giving me a minor allergic reaction. Oh well... It's cleared up now.

Sleep: It's definitely getting better, but most days I still feel like I could use a nap. There are some nights the round ligament pain will keep me up for a while, which is extremely annoying/frustrating.

Cravings & Aversions: This baby is definitely Jason's baby, because he/she loves cheese. All my cravings now revolve around foods with different types of cheese, like: pizza, cheesy bread sticks, macaroni and cheese, nachos, tacos, string cheese, spaghetti with Parmesan cheese... If it has cheese, I've probably had a craving for it the past month.

Nausea: Luckily, this isn't an issue anymore!

Movements: I definitely felt baby move! It was Sunday night (16 weeks + 2 days), and Jason and I were watching TV. There three very distinctive strong movements over a couple of minutes with some little wiggles in between. I definitely cried when it happened... I blame that on the hormones.

Dreams: No crazy dreams that I can remember this week.

Stretch Marks: None yet.

Gender? 

We officially have a date! Well... I as long as baby is cooperative during the anatomy scan, we have a date. That ultrasound is scheduled for Friday, January 12, and we'll be finding out with a very small group of immediate family that weekend. We are so excited to find out!!! Jason and I have been talking about "what if" scenarios for if our first baby is a boy or a girl for years. It's strange realizing we will know what the gender of our first child will be in less than a month... It's almost too real that it's on the edge of exciting and unnerving.

I'd love to know what everyone thinks baby Fiser will be. Take the poll below :)

[polldaddy poll=9843334]

Must have items?

Maternity pants! Not any ol' maternity pants. Find pants that make you feel confident. On cyber Monday I bought maternity clothes from a few different places (side note: you get greatdeals on maternity clothes on Cyber Monday. I highly recommend shopping that day if you're in need of maternity clothes around this time of year). Some of the pants I got make me feel kind of frumpy, which is not something you want when you also think you look like you ate too much all day, everyday. BUT! The ones I got from H&M I swear look like normal pants, and fit my slender frame perfectly. I will definitely be wearing those ones the most throughout this pregnancy.

What do you miss?

It's strange celebrating the holidays without drinking alcohol. I might need to buy some sparkling juice, so it seems like I'm having white wine with Christmas dinner...

What are you looking forward to?

During weeks 14 & 15 I would have said I can't wait to feel baby move for the first time. Now, I look forward to winding down every night in hopes I feel the little one wiggling around.

Best part of these weeks?

I loved my week 14 doctor appointment, because I got to hear baby's heartbeat. Feeling the baby move was amazing, too. Also, there are some days that I actually look pregnant. Most days I just look like I ate too much, but every once in a while I look legit pregnant. I kind of love that!

Challenges this week?

I feel like I have caught every cold that is going around the office and family that past few weeks. There will be one day that I'm feeling back to normal. Then, the next morning I'll wake up with a scratchy throat, and I start a whole new cold all over again. Worst part about having a lowered immune system while pregnant isn't even that fact that I catch everything right now... it's that most of the medicine that makes you feel better aren't safe for a pregnant person to take... So, I just drink lots and lots of tea right now.

Hubby’s thoughts?

He is (impatiently) awaiting our anatomy scan/gender reveal party. It's also really cute when I try to get him to tell me what he thinks the baby is. He is honestly so excited, and doesn't care if baby is a boy or a girl. He also doesn't have an inkling either way, and he won't even guess. Part of me thinks he just doesn't want to be wrong, and I'm way too competitive for that answer. It's definitely a little frustrating, but I think it's also kind of cute, too.

Jason tried to feel the baby when it was moving the first time. I think baby knew it, because all the movement stopped once he put his hand on my belly. Now I know that the really strong movements only last a minute or two right now. So, as soon as it starts happening I'm going to let him know. He is really excited to feel baby move. Probably more excited than finding out the gender.

---