Week 17

*How far along? 17 weeks

*Total weight gain? 8 pounds
*How big is the baby? sweet potato (about 5 inches and 5 ounces)

*Maternity Clothes? finally made the maternity step. Went to Old Navy and found a pair of jeans for the fall soo comfy...then went to the mall and the only maternity store I could find was called Destination Maternity (seemed expensive for what it was) but I did buy a pair of work pants that I actually wore today...very comfortable but the waist band made me quite hot.

*Sleep? seem to be sleeping a little better maybe only getting up once at night to go to the bathroom now so a little improvement but I STILL cannot master sleeping on my side I wake up flat on my stomach

*Best moment this week? having Brad at the Dr. with me to hear the baby's heart beat and making the next appointment in 3 week to find out baby's sex!

*Movement? not yet...I sure hope I can distinguish the first movement from all of the intestinal problems I have been having

*Food Cravings? I have been back to almost my regular diet this week which makes me so happy. Can tolerate healthy foods at most meals without thinking they are going to "make me feel sick" probably just my body's excuse to opt for something unhealthy. I have eaten a lot of chips and salsa this week (we know if this baby is a Redd he/she is bound to love Mexican)

*Belly Button? no changes

*What I miss? I still miss not feeling 100% me...

*What I am looking forward to? 20 week sonogram...sooo much excitement building...what will the baby be a he/she healthy (please Dear Lord!) and I feel like I am counting down the days as if it was the 3 weeks leading up to Christmas

*Milestone? I wore my first pair of maternity pants

*Is working out harder? I like to document this to look back on. Seems like sometimes at my morning workouts I can't do the elliptical on my normal setting and have to take it down a couple of notches...my legs seem to get more sore from the same exercises I have been doing for months...started back at bootcamp at the gym and it feels amazing...loooove my workouts

*What has been unexpected? Wow who knew gas pain could be so debilitating. I must have spent 3 hours at work pacing back and forth and hurling over into hunched positions to try to relieve this "unknown" pain. Thanks to my sis and a little gasX I started feeling a little better...my poor insides have seen better days

*Names? Oh the name saga continues..thanks to my girls on the boat they loosened Brad up a bit and I think made him come to the good side on some of my favorite names..(hopefully Brad realized that some of his favorite names were not soo cool) --thanks Britt and A-lex...we shall see although we know Brad has 100% turned down my favorite boy name..so onto finding a new fav.

*Nursery? Well since I think it's a boy I am on the lookout for some canoe paddles that I can hang on the wall..so if anyone knows where to find some cute canoe paddles please let me know!

At Dr. appointment this week -Dr. Alt said I was measuring between 17-18 which is right on target for now. She seemed to think the baby was moving around a lot when she was trying to find the heartbeat. Baby's heartbeat was between 159-161 and sounded perfect. She has told me to stop taking my prenatal vitamin for 3 weeks to try to help with some of my stomach problems...of course I was a little apprehensive but that just means I will have to up the intake of all my healthy vitamins via my diet.

We also went on our OB Tour of the Hospital St. Francis Eastside tonight and it was fun to see all those other pregnant ladies out there. Most of the preggos were much further along than me but still was neat to walk around and see everything. It is a really small hospital and the whole 4th floor is dedicated to labor/delivery. After delivery you will be moved to the other side of the semi circle hospital to a mother/infant room (which is new to me because both my sister and sister-in-law both delivered and remained in the same room so I did not realize that this had changed). Apparently the beds are different and so they move you after delivery (sure doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me). There is also a neonatal care unit (NCU) but no neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) so I will pray that the baby does not need any additional care. We saw where to check in and learned about the different procedures for a vaginal birth versus a c-section. It was exciting and a fun end to a Thursday work day.