Seventeen Weeks

How far along? 17w2d

Maternity clothes? Bella bands and loose tops have been augmented by my first pair of maternity pants which I wore for the first time today. I am in love with them and need to buy more. I also spent this morning at M@cys looking for more to wear - I definitely have a little bump going on now. However, M@cys doesn't have a maternity section so I was left looking for more loose tops. I actually like this tactic - at first I was nothing but discouraged with the stuff I was finding - bright pink thigh-length stretchy t's with frilly sleeves, flowy tie-dye is in right now too aparently. But after some digging, I got some cute stuff that will work and won't look terribly 'maternity.' I doubt they will work for those last couple months, but who knows how big (or not big) I will be by then. I hereby reserve the right to shop more if necessary!

Stretch marks? No. I apply lotion occasionally - my belly, while protruding, is not yet taught so I'm not being very vigorous yet about the lotion or belly butter.

Sleep? Still sleeping on the futon - the dogs' deworming course will be done in about a week. I really miss my bed. My hips hurt pretty badly and it can only help to start sleeping on a real mattress again. It is going to be quite the struggle convincing DH to make the dogs sleep on their dog bed for the next 5-6 months.

Best moment this week? Telling DH's family. Not much of a story there. He told them over the phone. It's just nice to get it out there although I kind of wanted to wait until after the anatomy scan. Now there's just one isolated collection of friends who don't know. We'll see them in May and probably won't tell until then. Well, we probably won't have to 'tell' by then will we?

Movement? I'm starting to feel some more convincing jabs and flutters...still not totally sure though. They might just be a consequence of my ute taking up more space. My dr. said I'd probably feel it at 20 weeks at the earliest and that seems so far away.

Food cravings? Pizza. Lasagna. Popcorn. Egg salad. I'm really trying to turn over a new (healthy) leaf now that the morning sickness has gotten better (not gone completely though, unfortunately) and now that I'm approaching the GD test in a few weeks. Lower-fat options, less chocolate and candy, fewer cookies, smaller portions of ice cream, more whole foods, more lean protein, etc. Also more exercise. I'm motivated! I think this is the typical 2d trimester second wind. I feel great, I'm still not big enough to feel pregnant yet, I don't have too many of the symptoms that come with the extra weight and extra pressure on your insides, so I'm trying to take advantage of it.

Gender? No idea. All signs still point to girl. DH and I just assume we're having a girl, isn't that funny? I was telling him this weekend that if it turns out to be a girl I'll just think "of course. I already knew that." Whereas if it's a boy, it will take a serious mental adjustment. I'll have to get used to the idea. But of course, we will be beyond thrilled either way.

What I miss? Not being so neurotic. Lately my freak-outs have been food related. This weekend we got DH a new cell phone at c0st.c0...after we had shopped for groceries. So while I waited the hour for the transaction to go through all I could think about was whether I'd be able to eat the 3 gallons of yogurt and six lbs of cheese and seventy eggs (i exaggerate of course...a little) we had just purchased. I thought about how long our drive home was and wondered, what if it's been out of the fridge too long? What if I get sick? What risks are there? What about listera!!!? Same thing today at the mall. I was about to pass out (and/or vomit) from starvation so I grabbed a slice of vegetarian pizza from Sb@rro. Harmless in theory but it was kind of lukewarm (though probably baked long enough judging from the bread and golden cheese on the crust) and I started obsessing about cross contamination, insufficient heating while it was sitting out (and just how long had it been sitting out there?), lackluster fast-food conditions, etc. etc. I was making egg salad yesterday (because I don't trust the store-bought stuff these days) and after eating half of a hardboiled egg I noticed a blood spot on one of the egg white pieces, probably transferred from the yolk during heating. Another freakout. I made DH eat the rest even though the egg was thoroughly cooked and nevermind that blood spots in eggs are harmless. Oh, and after I ate my egg salad sandwich I noticed that the "best by" date on the bread was pretty far gone. The bread was refrigerated though, no mold or anything. Still. I swear it never ends.

Weekly Wisdom: None, I don't feel very wise this week.

Milestones: Trip to the mall for maternity clothes. Also, I found the baby's heartbeat with the doppler while I was standing up. I'm starting to realize there is a real live actual growing baby in there!

Emotions: Still stressed enough that this month is crawling by. But I am noticing that I'm able to let things slide off my back easier than I was before. Even the events of the food discussion above aren't bothering me the way things used to bother me. I guess another way to say it is that I'm gaining confidence that things will be ok.

I am a little short with DH lately, I tend to pick on him, but I don't think it's hormones so much as needing to be more careful that he doesn't leave his coldcuts on the cutting board and that he washes his hands before making food or putting away the dishes, things like that - particularly when he's coming straight from the garden or from playing with the dogs. That's not asking too much, is it?