I want to eat everything in sight.

Sixteen Weeks!

Now at the end of my fourth month, the baby is about the size of an Avacado, and it's home is about the size of a small melon.  It's going to double in size over the coming two weeks. It can sense light, though its eyes aren't open yet. Eyebrows are growing too.  Looking more and more like a tiny person every day.

In the never ending battle between good vs. evil (read: healthy vs. junk food), I think right now it's about a tie. Today I ate a donut, yogurt and raspberries/strawberries, an apple, a small handful of peanut butter M&Ms and some leftover enchilada casserole. I think I need to start working some V8 in to my diet. 

Paul is really excited that my boobs are also about the size of a small melon... The Girfriends' Guide to Pregnancy calls that a visit from the titty fairy.  Apparently it's a reward for the dads-to-be for putting up with a crazy pregnant lady for 9 months.  And I definitely have enough crazy to go around. Okay.  Maybe that's too much information.

Tomorrow morning I go for an additional blood draw...shouldn't be a big deal.  Next visit to the doctor is next week, and we find out the sex of the baby on November 1st.  Stay tuned for updates and more ultrasound pictures.  Are you sick of ultrasound pictures yet??

In a few weeks, my parents will be here to visit.  I'm getting used to the fact that already people aren't really coming to visit me, they're coming to visit the baby.  The baby will probably be moving around by that point, I'm sure they'll like that!

Kissing regular clothes good-bye

Over the past few days, I have really learned to embrace elastic-waistband clothes.  You know, the ridiculous maternity pants with the 12-inch elastic panel at the waistline.  The ones that I always thought looked completely ridiculous.  Now they are the BEST THINGS EVER.

For awhile I was able to get away with wearing my old pants with a belly band.  For those of you who don't know, the belly band is an AMAZING contraption that allows you to wear your pre-pregnancy clothes just a little bit longer.  You know, so you can hold on to 'skinny you' just a little bit longer.   It's basically a stretchy ring of fabric that is about 18 inches long.  What you do, is you pull on your old pants, leave them un-zipped and then pull the belly band over it to hold them up.  and VOILA.  This was a great plan until this week.  Now my lower abdomen (below my belly button) has grown significantly as the baby continues to grow like a maniac (it's now the size of a apple), and even unzipped my old pants dig into baby territory.  Every day, the pregnancy becomes more and more real.

While this is kind of a bummer (the old pants digging into me part, not the growing baby part...of course), there is a bit of satisfaction in knowing that I'm leaving the "Is she fat, or is she pregnant?" stage of my pregnancy and into the "Look at that pregnant lady!" stage.  Since I have become extra sensitive about my weight since I lost about 60 pounds a year ago, this is a HUGE relief for me.  Yeah, it's a bit shallow, but hey.  I'm dealing with serious hormones here.  At least my maternity clothes are still a Size 2. Size 2 with an AMAZING ELASTIC WAISTBAND.

Since you've been asking, here is what the belly is shaping up to these days.  I was waiting for a time when I looked all cute, but that hasn't happened since I started writing this post on Monday.  SO, this is me in my comfy yoga pants before bedtime.

Love how the shirt is bunched up over my belly?

Belly size varies day to day.  It depends on how bloated I am, and how much energy I have to 'suck it in' on any given day.

Paul and I took our typical weekend trip to Cabela's last weekend.  Because they were giving out $25 Cabelas gift cards for signing up for a $25 NRA membership, Paul and I both signed up.  They gave away free hats, that say "NRA" in huge yellow letters...they are hilarious.  What I really wanted was a "Future NRA Member" T-Shirt with an arrow pointing to my belly.  Slightly redneck-ish, but Paul and I both had a good laugh at that idea.  Funny, they wouldn't give us another gift card for signing up our unborn child.  You think they'd be excited about the idea of a lifetime member.  Just kidding.

I was STUNNED to learn that the baby is now 4 inches long and is the size of an apple.  I could feel it start to kick in the next couple of weeks, which is VERY exciting.  I'll keep you posted.

Now that the first trimester is over, I'm supposed to start 'feeling better'.  Though, I have to say I was really fortunate to never really have felt all that bad, just really really tired.  Well, and my blood pressure was very low before so I was having dizzy spells whenever I stood up.  Almost fainted a couple of times at work and it was a really strange feeling.  So the doctor told me to eat more salt - OKAY!!  My hunger has subsided a bit (thank GOODNESS), though I still cringe whenever anyone brings pastries into the office because I know I'll break down and half at least half a doughnut.  Oh well.

Oh yeah, and Paul is sitting right here and said I have to mention my ridiculous gas problem.  So there.  Now everyone knows.  One of the pregnancy books I read said something like the pregnancy gods are fair.  If you're fortunate enough not to have morning sickness, you'll be blessed with uncontrollable gas.  Well, they were right. Oh well, we all know I have no shame anyway.

Baby's first road trip.

The lime-sized baby, Paul, Rhyme and I piled into the truck this Labor Day weekend for a quick road trip to Kentucky.   I thought riding in the car for an extended period of time would be a challenging endeavor, with my 'frequent pottying' and general puffyness...but it really wasn't that bad.  We split up the trip and left Allentown on Friday night, shaving about 4 hours off of our 9.5-10 hour drive. 

Arriving in Kentucky Saturday afternoon, we stopped at Wendy's for lunch.  I was IMMEDIATELY in culture shock - I forgot how polite and nice the people are out here.  Even the lady in the Wendy's drive through, OVER THE SPEAKER BOX, said "Thank you, have a nice day!".  I thought I was on another planet there for a little while, people on the East Coast are generally so rude and discourteous.  Sometimes I really miss it here.

We came out here to visit Mila and Sarah, two of my colleagues from my job out here that have remained good friends...even though now I've actually been gone longer than I actually lived in Kentucky. It's funny how some people you just know you'll always be in touch with over the years. Rhyme is also enjoying his visit with Jasper, Mila's cat. I don't think Jasper is enjoying Rhyme's visit nearly as much.

This is Jasper: Petite and adorable!  Not Rhyme's best friend.

Of course, the baby has been very well-fed since we've been out here. Last night we went over to Scott and Heather's (two other colleagues/friends from when we lived here) for dinner and baby got to try a Smoked Habanero BBQ-something sauce. I know most pregnant women cannot deal with spicy food, but that's ALL I crave day and night. There was also a fabulous 'pregnant lady drink'. It had lemonade, limeade ginger ale and something else in it. Almost tasted like a margarita, and Heather reminded me that it's even better with vodka in it. :) OF COURSE IT IS! I certainly miss being able to have a drink with dinner...but who am I kidding. I never had A drink with dinner. Haha.   Anyhow it was a great night, fun to reconnect with old friends.

In Lexington, a Frozen Yogurt craze has taken over.  A local ice cream chain went out of business, and most of the vacant storefronts have been filled with a Frozen Yogurt chain called Orange Leaf.    Let me just say, that this is PREGNANT LADY HEAVEN.  There are about 10-15 different flavors of frozen yogurt (and, of course, you can twist together amazing combinations like Birthday Cake Batter and Brownie Batter, Granny Smith Apple and Caramel, and more), a whole buffet of toppings and it's SELF SERVE.  Freaking genius.  The spoons are appropriately shaped like shovels. Preggo like.  I told Paul he should open up one of these places in Allentown, it would be a huge success.  Though, he should probably not do it while I'm pregnant because I'd just eat all the profits.

You're not allowed to visit Lexington without visiting a good restaurant with amazing Southern food...like Ramsey's.  This is a Hot Brown.  It's pretty much one of the most amazing things you will ever eat.  It consists of (starting from the bottom) two pieces of grilled bread, a slice of ham, a slice of turkey, cream gravy, twp tomatoes (gotta have something healthy on there), and is topped with cheese and two slices of delicious bacon.  Yes, it's a heart attack on a plate, but everything in moderation...

Preggo hungry

Preggo full...

We had a great time on the trip - and look forward to going back sometime in the near future.   But another 9-10-hour road trip probably won't be happening again for a long time. And...I'm okay with that.