18 Weeks!

Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is about the size of a baked potato — five-and-a-half inches long.
• Has actual cute little ears and working ear bones and can hear sounds through the amniotic fluid — similar to how things sound to you underwater.
• Is moving, moving, moving. The baby is still small enough that you may not feel every kick and punch yet, but the movements will start getting less “bubble-like” and more “holy crap, that was totally a foot” pretty soon, if they aren’t already.

You:

• May notice some dizziness from time to time, especially if you stand up too quickly or go too many hours without a good snack. Try to stay hydrated and remember to eat every few hours — good stuff like yogurt, nuts, fruits, veggies and cheese. Empty calories like chips and junk food will just make the dizziness worse, not better.
• Might be getting a little uncomfortable at night. The best sleeping position for pregnancy is on your side (when you lie on your back you compress the blood flow to your uterus), but as your pelvis changes and your abdomen gets heavier this can get awfully hard on your hips and legs. Try sleeping with a small pillow between your knees or lower thighs — I finally grabbed a small decorative pillow from our bed and found it made all the difference in the world without taking up too much room or making me feel too hot at night like regular pillows or those full-body maternity pillows did last time. (While very comfortable, trying to roll over with one of those big things was just a giant exercise in AWK-WARD.)
• Oh, and let’s discuss our bladders too. You might soon find yourself at that lovely stage when you just can’t seem to fully empty your bladder in a single bathroom run. I don’t know whether there’s just something baby-related blocking the exit or what, but I pee and then stand up and realize that I STILL have to pee.

I love her weekly descriptions because they always seem to be right on point!  I can definitely relate with the dizziness right now.  Often times I stand up, take a few steps, then have to pause until I can see clearly to keep moving forward.  I think I need to slow down a little!

I felt my first two little kicks with my hand this week, that was very exciting, but hasn’t happened again.  I keep pushing around but am not getting kicked in return.  But I do love being able to feel her moving every day now.  Still not huge movements, but just enough for me to know when she’s awake :)

Heartburn is still a huge complaint and I have already started getting Braxton Hicks contractions again.  Both of these happened the whole time with Ryder too, so I’m not surprised.

Speaking of the big brother, he is so concerned with little sis, he even told me today to take my jacket off because my baby was too hot!  There is no doubt in my mind that he’s going to love this little girl from day 1!  It seems like they already have a bond forming…as crazy as it sounds.