17 Weeks!

Hello!

Boy, it is a busy time of year for me!  My sister and I travelled down to Connecticut this past weekend because we had the immense pleasure of photography my cousin, Meredith's wedding!  It was so nice to be surrounded by family, even though we were working!  Steve came along with us for the ride, and we stayed at his family's house, so we got to do a little bit of visiting.  We've also been spending a lot of time looking at apartments lately.  I know we don't technically need a bigger place right now, but we were afraid of waiting until January or February and not being able to find a place (who moves in the middle of a Maine winter?!).  Not to mention the idea of me trying to pack and move while being very pregnant in the middle of winter doesn't sound like much fun.  So we've been looking and looking and looking.  We've gotten turned down for a few places because they won't allow us to have our pet snake, Houdini.  But we found a place!  The landlord is a very kind Christian man who actually knows a lot of the same people that we do!  We can't wait to move in in a few weeks!  Speaking of Houdini - I did a mini-photoshoot of him and Steve outside this week :)

So we got our test results back from the Quad screening.  This was when I went for the special ultrasound at 12 weeks, and had my blood drawn and 12 and 16 weeks.  It scans for chromosomal abnormalities and genetic disorders, such as Down Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, or Spina Bifida.  The great news is that all the tests came back negative!  So far we are looking at a very healthy baby boy or girl!  This is certainly a huge relief - now I can move on to worrying about everything else!

So here we are at 17 weeks!  The baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone now, which hopefully means I should be able to feel it move more!  Baby should weigh about 5 ounces this week, and should measure about 5 inches long from crown to rump!  Wow, it's growing so much!  The umbilical cord is getting much thicker and stronger, and the baby is starting to form a layer of fat underneath its skin - this is very important for metabolism and heat production!  

Here's me at 17 weeks (with my awesome car!):

How far along?  17 Weeks!

Maternity clothes?  Yes, mostly because they're comfy :)

Total Weight Gain:  Down another 1/2 a pound this week, so 11.5 pounds lost total. 

Sleep:  Besides the normal tossing and turning, I've been sleeping pretty well at night, and making it through the day just fine without a nap.

Best moment this week:  Getting the test results back - such a relief!  And signing the lease for our new apartment!

Miss Anything?  A little bit - the normal stuff.  But I'm getting over it.

Movement:  A few twitches and flutters here and there - I felt it last night while Steve was reading a book to the baby.

Food cravings:  Nothing too special - salty, sweet - I eat it all!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Still just the smell of bacon, but that's it!

Any other symptoms?  Minor headaches here and there, which is abnormal because I just don't really get headaches.  And the crying - yup, still crying over just about anything.

Have you started to show yet:  I think I'm getting a little bit rounder :)

Gender prediction:  I think it's a girl!

Labor Signs:  Nope!

Belly Button in or out?  In!

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

Happy or Moody most of the time:  It's really up and down - totally fine one minute, irritable the next, and crying later.

Looking forward to:  Another busy week ahead for me!  So I guess just the end of it - not that's it's bad, but it should slow down a little after this week.  Really looking forward to the gender reveal party at the end of the month, and moving into our new apartment!

Have a great week everyone!