18 Weeks- My Sweet Little Sweet Potato

    

      18 Weeks is already here. It's been an interesting ride so far, and definitely not what I expected compared to my last pregnancy. Just about everything is different. Little girl is growing fast, super duper fast. She is roughly the length of a sweet potato now, from sweet little head to cute little rump. She has sleep and wake patterns, she is usually up in the morning and in the evening time. A soft downy covering of lanugo is starting to form and will cover her whole body. Something super crazy to think about is her ovaries now contain formed eggs...that will someday (hopefully) be my grandchildren. Her nervous system is maturing rapidly now. Nerves are covered with myelin, and her sense of hearing is even more acute now.

     She is moving so much more now. I feel her at least once a day and I love every second of it. Her kicks are still small but are unmistakably kicks. I've been able to feel a couple of good kicks from the outside, and Kenny thinks he felt some of them. You need psychic ability to know where and when she will kick though, so it's hard to catch. Each day I enjoy and love her little movements. She particularly loves sweets. Chocolate really gets her moving, and I have no problems with this. This is by far by favorite part of pregnancy. Until you feel the baby move it hardly seems real to know there is a little person in your body. The first few months you might as well just have the flu, you'd feel about the same. Once you start getting the belly and feeling those kicks though...it brings it all into focus. It all becomes extremely real. Speaking of the belly, it's growing at what seems to be light speed. All of a sudden I will look in the mirror and go "holy cow...I look pregnant" Even though I still feel terrible on a pretty regular basis I am still so happy to be building another little one for us to love and enjoy.

     I've been battling what seems like cold after cold after cold. My sinuses are constantly stuffed up and my chest aches from all of my coughing. The crummy part being I cannot take any of the good medicines to help relieve some of the symptoms. I've still been enduring some pretty annoying and painful contractions, and I get to see the OB doctor on Friday so hopefully she will be able to answer my questions. I thought I was going to be totally pro at this pregnancy thing but it's turning out to be just the opposite. They aren't kidding when they say each pregnancy is different. It's a whole new ride, a wonderfully, awesome ride.

     Next week Roxas turns ONE YEAR OLD! I cannot believe a year has already flown by. I have no idea where that year went. Sometimes the reality really hits me. Our son is about to turn one, we are prepping to welcome our daughter into the world and I'm halfway through the second semester of nursing school. It's taking a mountain of faith to take on this coming year. I'm super excited but very scared too. The future is full of even more new experiences for us to have as a family of four.

Until next week.....