17 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along:  Seventeen weeks!

Size of baby: Baby M is right at five inches long, which is about the size of an onion, or turnip.

Movement: This little monkey is backwards.  Usually babies sleep all day (the movements and activities of the Mommy are supposed to lull baby to sleep).  When the mommy finally lays down at night is when they usually play.  This was my experience with the first two, as well as pretty much everyone I have spoken to.  This one, however, wiggles all. day. long!  When I lay down at night to try to let B feel...nothing...nada...zilch.  Turkey!

Heartbeat: 150

Fetal Development:

 "Baby continues to beef up. Now she's about 5.1 inches long and weighs about 5.9 ounces.  Her rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone.  She's growing some meat on those bones -- putting on some fat.  She's growing a stronger, thicker umbilical cord, too." -thebump.com

“Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop." -babycenter.com

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -3

MaternityClothes: I am wearing some maternity jeans and shorts and some regular (some with the BellaBand and some without). A few of my regular tops are still fitting, but most have been packed away. All of my maternity tops are still too big, so don't judge me if I am wearing the same shirt every time you see me ;) I am also wearing a lot of dresses.

Gender: We are not going to find out! So, while I thought this was going to make for a long pregnancy (which it very well still may), it has made the beginning actually fly.  Because we found out with the first two at 16 and 18 weeks, I have a mental association with gender reveal and halway mark.  I still feel so dang early, and I guess that's why.  I just realized (and only because a friend pointed it out to me) I am almost at the halfway mark, now! 

Gut feeling: I really do still feel like it is a boy. Boy just feels right; feels natural.  I still like to refer to the baby by its name, so I flip-flop back and forth from the girl name to the boy name. The boy name just "feels" right.

Bryan says, "That baby's a girl!"

Gannon says, "Oh, it has to be a boy!  I don't need another girl!!"

Austyn says, "A boy?  YUCK!  Mia Kathryn is a GIRL!"

Sleep: I am not sleeping so well anymore.  I think my dreams are just too vivid.  I wake up around two or three and never fall back asleep.  This is making for really long days.  Thank goodness I get off at one and can go home and nap before getting Thing 1 and Thing 2!

What I miss:  Sleep!!

Cravings: Junk, junk, and more junk. Home cooking is just not appealing at all. I want pickles, hot pockets, fast food, candy, and chips. All the time. Every once in a while, Peanut wants fresh fruits and veggies, but it is rare.

Aversions: Still nothing specific. This is a first for me!

Symptoms:
-I still can't eat breakfast, because I am too sick in the morning. But it is pretty much limited to the mornings, now! Yay!
-Back/hip pain! Ouch! My hips are killing me. I know they have already begun to shift, and they must just be in an awkward position right now. Man, oh, man...I need to get to a chiropractor.
-Clumsy!! Boy, am I clumsy! I drop everything, I trip over my own feet, and I knock over any glass in my reach. Sheesh! I ran into a tent pole at Academy the other night, and at Subway, I turned to leave the register and ran into the post that makes the line...Oy. I was like this with Gannon, too, but had no sense of recovery. This time, I am able to save at least most of my spills.
-Vivid dreams! I know I have talked about these before, so I won't go into detail about all of them, just let me tell you...Wooo-eeee, there have been some doozies! Ha!
-Allergies!  Ick!  sneezing, coughing, runny and stuffy nose, sore throat...Yep, pretty much the works.