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The baby has reached banana status, meaning that's about how big he or she is. After twenty weeks is when baby goes from being measured from crown to rump, to being measured from head to heel. If Squirmy could stand, he or she would be about ten inches tall.

Squirmy is swallowing amniotic fluid for nutrition, and therefore is also producing meconium, a sticky black substance, in his or her bowels. This will be the product of the first few diaper changes.

I've popped for sure now and everybody can tell I'm pregnant, which is fun for the most part, and at my sub job at the high school today a student asked if she could feel my bump (I said yes).

Some people have been asking for a picture. Here it is, complete with the dirty bathroom mirror.

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Today is nineteen weeks. Next week is the "halfway" mark!

The baby is roughly the size of a mango and is about 6.5 inches long. Squirmy's brain is designating different lobes to specialize in various senses like taste, smell, hearing, and sight. Kidneys are fully functioning, hair continues to grow, and a waxy coating is forming on baby's skin to keep it from getting pruny in the amniotic fluid he or she will reside in for another five months.

I am growing steadily more plump but no definite "baby bump" yet, which I would really like to have simply to feel less like a big fatty and more like an obviously pregnant lady. My self esteem has been a bit low lately because I don't like how I look. No matter how much I paint my nails, pumice my feet, lather up with my favorite shower gel, put on makeup, and wear [what I think are] cute maternity clothes, I generally feel frumpy and so-so about my appearance. We'll blame it on hormones; I'm determined to feel cute at some point this pregnancy, and hopefully when my bangs are long enough to get the long pixie I really want (sometime next month), that will happen. I think it will help a lot because I feel much more confident with really short hair -- longer hair tends to make me look heavier because of how it sits around my face.

As many of my Facebook friends have seen, I am continuing to do workouts in hopes of not gaining more weight than I need to, having an easier labor, and being better able to lose the baby weight after delivery. I'm trying to do three days of definite cardio (for stamina and a strong heart) and three days of prenatal pilates (for strength and flexibility) every week. (Sorry to those of you who see the DailyMile posts all the time -- it motivates me to share my workouts.)

There's my weekly update. Can't wait to see Squirmy on September 3 via ultrasound!

No Nursery

We are not doing a paint-laden, animal themed, intricately decorated nursery. We don't have the finances, and frankly I don't see the need for it. What we are spending money on is new flooring in most of the house. As in, getting rid of the linoleum flooring that has staples where the cracks are and the carpet that smells like dog wee. You're welcome, baby.

We will, of course, have a safe and comfortable place for the baby to sleep. We're just not about to go to Lowes and Hobby Lobby and Babies R Us to buy paint and art and fancy stuff to fill a room with.


The "baby space" will NOT have:

A theme of any sort (unless you count the TMNT curtains that are still hanging from when Kevin was little)
New paint on the walls
Fancy bedding
An actual changing table


What the "baby space" WILL consist of:

A safe place for baby to sleep.
A dresser with baby's stuff in it.
Possibly a changing station, like a mat on a dresser, if we do cloth diapering.
A comfy rocking chair, probably the one I'm sitting in right now.

And of course, my mother-in-law gave us an old piece of my husband's childhood furniture as a contribution...

It's cute, but quite light, so I'm doubting I'll use it before little Squirmy understands how easy it would be to pull it -- and whatever contents are on the shelves -- over on top of him or herself. Cringe.

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Today is eighteen weeks of pregnancy for me.

The baby is roughly the size of a sweet potato, about 5.5 inches long. Hair is growing, reproductive organs are developing, and the baby can now yawn, hiccup, suck, and swallow. Squirmy seems to move most at night before I go to bed and sometimes in the morning. The movement is subtle enough yet that if I'm not paying attention, I may not notice -- but it is unmistakable when I am lying on my side reading my scriptures.

In other news, I have officially become a psycho. It's actually a bit frightening. In the past week I have done as much crying as when I am clinically depressed. And the mood swings... holy buckets, the mood swings. I'll be laughing at something on Pinterest one moment and five minutes later I'll be crying.

My poor husband seems to be at a loss and I feel horrible for him. This is where the whole "unconditional love" part of marriage needs to kick in full blast if he's going to continue to live in the same house as me. Until then, here I am pinning articles on how to manage pregnancy mood swings because I don't think he's going to put up with me for very long before he resents my complete instability. I'm already starting to resent it, and I can't exactly leave the house to get away from myself.

On a lighter note, I have two ongoing, unpublished blog entries that I will post near the end of my pregnancy. One is a list of the foods I have craved throughout this pregnancy, and the other -- started today -- is a list of the dumbest reasons I have cried during this pregnancy. Both lists are growing steadily and I'm sure will be quite long by the time January rolls around.

A Pity Party, Just for Today

I am bummed.

I am bummed that I spent three days out of town at an expensive resort and have returned unsatisfied and unfulfilled because my husband was either not feeling well or too tired to do anything fun. I'm bummed that that was my only chance to get away and try to relax before the baby comes. I am bummed that for most of my birthday I was crying, exhausted, and miserable. I am bummed to be back in my dirty house again. I am bummed that school is starting up and I don't like the work I am returning to. I am bummed that I look fat, not pregnant, and I am bummed that I have to go back to working two jobs and Saturdays again next week.

Call me ungrateful, but today I am just feeling really low. Maybe it's pregnancy hormones that are making it impossible for me to feel positive today.

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Seventeen weeks is today. According to my pregnancy tickers, the baby is roughly the size of an onion, is about 5.5 inches long, and his or her bones are beginning to ossify. Been chugging milk to assist with that.

I've definitely felt some unmistakable baby movement, earning my baby the ever so creative nickname of "Squirmy". I'm sick of calling the baby "it"!

I am now into many of my maternity pants; in fact, if I want to wear anything but yoga pants, I need to wear my maternity jeans. Now, if I could just start looking like I'm pregnant instead of like I'm just getting fat, that would be lovely!

It's nice to be able to enjoy my pregnancy now. I haven't had indigestion in a couple of days, which, really, is quite a lengthy vacation for my esophagus.

After reading that pregnant women should get at least 150 minutes of exercise in every week, I'm officially trying to work out for thirty minutes, 5-6 days a week, doing a combination of low-impact cardio, pilates, and a touch of yoga. I like thinking that this will hopefully make late pregnancy slightly less uncomfortable and labor just a smidgen quicker than it otherwise would be. And since lower back pain made a rather rude entrance into my life last week, I figure it's a good time for this regime -- I'm more comfortable and limber on the days I do pilates.

Pilates, Produce, and Polish

Another week change! Here I am, sixteen weeks along.

It's amazing how easily my limbs fall asleep. I can no longer lie on my left side or my whole arm falls asleep, and if I curl one leg up under me while I sit, that whole leg falls asleep. I guess that's increased blood volume for you.

I've started doing prenatal pilates, as most of my friends on Facebook are probably aware because of my Daily Mile posts (sorry everyone). Hopefully it keeps my body from falling apart entirely (I expect it to fall apart, but this might reduce the damage). :)

It's really lovely to feel well again. I was even really hungry today and didn't gag once! Now that I feel good I can go out of my way to eat really healthy foods again. Picked up quite a bit of produce at the grocery store today that I look forward to using in healthy meals.

Today was my sixteen week check up at the OBGYN and I got to hear baby's heartbeat again! At 152 bpm the nurse said that's right where it needs to be, and my doctor said that things were looking good and she told me to keep doing pilates. I'll be back in the first week of September to get a peek at my little offspring!

In other news, I have become all about nail polish, makeup, and cute clothes. Apparently pregnancy really brings out the woman in me!