15w3d And Growing (All Pregnancy Post)

How Far Along? 15 weeks 3 days (holy crap I'm almost 4 months pregnant!)

Maternity Clothes? Tops are normal though I have some super cute maternity tops now thanks to my first Wa.lmart order. All pants must be maternity. I wore my "fat pants" jeans on Sunday to lunch with my step-sisters and I looked super-gangster due to them falling down and forming a flat ass on the backside of my legs. Just terrible. At least maternity pants have elastic. I can't wear a belt, it hurts and seems pointless. On Monday, DH's aunt brought by three huge tubs of maternity clothes for me to take and I got to pick out what I wanted. Some were super-outdated but others were quite workable. Once they're washed I can wear them and I'm so excited! Also my Wal.mart order is arriving today (the last one I ordered XLs and apparently my weight loss put me in the L category now) and that makes me even MORE excited!

Weight Gain? I think I've officially stopped the weight loss and put on one pound! Let's see if it sticks around for awhile.

Stretch Marks? I think I'm getting some on my boobs. Belly is same but getting harder, don't know how to explain it. I'm typically mushy in the "abs" area and it's no longer a bowl full of jelly.

Sleep? 2-3 hours at a time. I have to pee a lot. I try to sleep on my left side (better blood flow to the baby) but I'm a right-side sleeper by habit. Even worse, I suddenly like to sleep on my back and wake up with a stomach ache because I have to pee or something. I'm sure the back sleeping will need to stop soon.

Best Moment of the Week? Every moment is great, here are a couple neat ones: I can officially see the "back" of my belly button. First time in my life. Huh. I think I'll be getting an outie soon....Listening on the doppler and hearing the baby move away and come back; I don't even have to push down with the wand anymore, I just put it on my pelvic region (getting closer to the belly though) and there it is. A nice loud heartbeat in the 150s.
Movement? It feels like there is something possibly scratching at me in there. I don't know how else to explain it. Its rare but sometimes I think I feel something. I'm sure I'll know for sure when it gets stronger. Tipped uterus so it could take longer, I have no clue.


Food Cravings? Mostly Mexican food; last night I quickly pounded a Little Thickb.urger from H.ardees, which I normally hate. I really seem to want grilled food. Must.drink.orange.juice., every single morning I have a big cup of orange juice but it must also have ice and a straw. I drink everything I can with a straw. I have no idea why. Perhaps because I want everything ice cold and I don't like the ice hitting my face? Oranges are a favorite snack (Vitamin C imbalance? Sheesh). Ice cream and strawberries but that's fading.

Gender? No clue. BUT....I was so adamant that I didn't want to find out the sex at our 20 week ultrasound but now I think I want to. I have my own rationalizations that have nothing to do with other people's opinions about our decision. DH wants to know and I think it might be fun to have something done where the tech takes the picture of the "money shot" and puts it in an envelope for us with a little piece of paper that says "boy" or "girl" and seals it. Then we can take it to our favorite bakery and have a small cake made with the inside frosting be the gender-color (and we get the envelope back too) so that when we have our cake we find out. It can still then be an intimate and memorable experience for us. Though we'd have to wait a day for the cake. :) The appointment is on a Monday afternoon so we'd probably drop off the order the next morning and pick it up after work or something. I just don't know if I'd want to have a party and find out in front of a lot of people. This way once we know we can do something fun to announce to the family since our pregnancy announcement this time was pretty quiet.

What I Miss? I'm afraid to say I miss anything because non-pregnant Christa would slap me so hard for not being thankful for everything I'm experiencing, good and bad. I suppose I do miss golfing (I'm not risking it) and having a normal appetite.

Symptoms: Sore boobs, dry skin, zits, fast growing hair (everywhere; I'm actually growing a beard of peach fuzz which is beyond strange), queasiness if I don't keep eating, gas, burping, mood swings, repulsed and scared by all things of the sexual nature (I've been a nun for nearly 4 months people), emotional....


What I'm looking forward to? Everything. Right now my belly is growing, I've officially popped (though it's small) and I still can't wait for that nice round belly which seems to be coming in a little more each day.


Weekly Wisdom:  DH's aunt said that after giving birth I'll physically look and feel 3 months pregnant for about 3 more months (better be sans puking) so I'll want to wear the maternity pants for awhile post-partum. That's all I've got for "wisdom" this week.

Milestones: Every single day of this pregnancy has been a major milestone. According to books and websites my kid probably has some of that dark brown hair from its dad's side if that's how the genetics panned out.

Emotions: Thankful, grateful, elated. All I care about is this baby, this pregnancy and I think I've earned the right to have blinders on right now. Also I feel like such an imposter, most days. I still have such a difficult time talking to people about the pregnancy as if it's a normal one. People ask if we were trying (who asks that?) or tell me stories of how they know someone who tried to make a boy or girl when TTC and asks if we did that, etc. I so badly want to shout from the rooftops that this is a precious IVF baby and I've fought for this pregnancy for years and of course we were trying...but I work and live in a religious community where IVF is not discussed unless its in a judgy way because of Octom.om or whatever beliefs the person has. When people say, oh you can use that for your next one, I want to say that this might be our only one because we don't have the money to do IVF again any time soon. But its none of their business and I take the comment and shove it down into that little box where all the unintentionally hurtful comments went during the last 3+ years. Then I remember that I'm pregnant, in my second trimester, and smile.

First official belly pictures taken yesterday at 15w2d:

Finally, here is a picture of our three cats who love having their "bunk bed" back in the bathroom after 4 months: