Pregnancy Update: Week 16

Week sixteen of pregnancy is in the books.  We rounded the corner into week seventeen today.  Last week we bought the crib and dresser for the nursery.  We wont decide on decor until we find out the gender in a few weeks.  The exciting thing about week sixteen was feeling small baby flutters.  Last week wasn't the first week I felt them, but they are growing stronger.  Right now, I feel like I have more of a beer gut than a baby bump, so the flutters remind me there is a baby in there.      

This week, I'm looking forward to our next midwife appointment on Friday and hearing our little ones heartbeat again.  I'm also looking forward to using my new Back N'Belly pillow.  I have been having hip pain the last few weeks at night; after I'm on one side for too long, my hip starts to burn.  Hopefully, this pillow will do the trick; it has great reviews online!  I'm not quite sure there is going to be room for this pillow plus two people and two dogs in the bed. 

Aside from the pains while sleeping, I have been feeling pretty good.  I haven't experienced total exhaustion up to this point.  The majority of my food aversions have subsided, but occasionally a food smell will throw me for a loop.  I haven't had a ton of food cravings, and am back to being able to eat most of my usual foods.  I haven't had any crazy cravings.  Occasionally a dill pickle will  sound delicious, but I loved pickles before I was pregnant, so I can't say that's too out of the ordinary for me!  I made the switch to decaf coffee last week.  It isn't the same, but I honestly feel lucky I didn't get headaches from cutting out my morning coffee cold turkey.  Of all the foods on the do not eat list right now, I'm missing lunch meat the most.  Jimmy Johns sounds delicious, and I crave it more now that I can't have it.  I'm still eating fish, but sticking to salmon and making sure to stay under 12 oz. each week.  

This week, my goal is to get back to the gym.  I haven't worked out since I was five weeks along.  I take the occasional walk with the dogs, but I haven't hit the gym since February.  I honestly miss the gym and liked having the stress relief each week.  Let's hope my card still scans after three months!

And Baby Makes Five

The beans have been spilled, Andrew and I are growing our family by two tiny feet this fall.  We are due shortly after our 5th wedding anniversary, on October 3rd.

Photo credit to Sarah Strege

We just entered week 16, and I'm feeling pretty good!  The end of the first trimester was a sigh of relief.  Morning sickness is no joke, and I feel grateful mine eased up right around week twelve.  Andrew thought a teenager moved into our house because all I ate for several weeks were Totinos pizzas, SpaghettiO's, and Kraft macaroni and cheese.  Those were the only things that sounded remotely appetizing for several weeks.  Sadly, one of my favorites, coffee, hasn't been on my menu since February.  I did just have my first cup of decaf coffee this weekend and it was delicious!  

 

We had our first midwife appointment in early March, and were eager to confirm things were going well.  We were cautiously optimistic going into the first appointment, and the sound of our little ones heartbeat was the best thing!  We even got our first pictures of baby at our appointment! 

I didn't take my first baby bump photo until week 10; there wasn't much to show or report other than I felt like putting normal clothes on.  I have been extremely grateful these last few months to work from home.  It has made taking lunch time naps and feeling crummy a little easier to live with.  It also allowed me to wear yoga pants every day.   

 During week twelve we had our second ultrasound, and I was amazed at how much baby had grown!  Other than the ultrasound and the changes I know were taking place, you wouldn't really know I was pregnant. 

Weeks fourteen, fifteen and sixteen were about the same.  Although, I'm starting to have a little more of a bump now. 

 14 weeks

week 15 while on vacation

Week 16 has been pretty exciting.  We got to share our big news with our circles beyond family.  I have also started feeling some small flutters from baby.  I can't wait for our next midwife appointment next week.  It's always reassuring to hear the heartbeat and make sure everything is going smoothly.  In just over one month, we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl!     

Vacation 2016

We just returned from a week long vacation in Orlando, Florida.  It was our longest vacation together to date, and the longest we have been away from Buddy and Maya.  Two weeks before we left, Maya had another one of her stomach episodes, so we were nervous about leaving.  However, she did great while we were gone.  Luckily, we were able to keep the dogs at the house and have someone come in and stay with them.  This was part of the vacation we intended to take last fall until we decided in the spring to renovate the master bathroom.  We were glad we made the trip, but we learned a lot about our vacation preferences. 

Our first two days were spent at Universal Studios.  We were excited to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  The very first thing we realized, is we obviously picked a bad time of year to go.  There was a "Graduation Bash" while we were down there, so on Friday night the park closed at 6:00 PM to allow for a ton of high school kids to have park access from 7:00 PM to 2:00 AM.  During the times when we were at the park, it was full of large school groups.  We also didn't go on any of the rides within the Harry Potter areas or the entire park for that matter because the wait times were over 45 minutes for each ride.  We aren't big ride people, so we didn't purchase the express passes, which would have helped with the wait times for ride lines.  We did navigate our way to Ollivanders to purchase a wand.  We debated spending the money, but realized we would kick ourselves when we got home if we didn't do it.  We did ride the Hogwarts Express between the two parks.  Luckily, we caught it at a time when the wait was only 15 minutes.  We discovered the wait times were a lot shorter if you were going from the Islands of Adventure side to the other side rather than the other way around.  

In total, we spent two days at Universal/Islands of Adventure.  That was the right amount of time for us.  If the rides were important to us, we would have purchased the express pass, which would have given us shorter wait times.  We also purchased two days of the dining plan.  We did the full dining plan, not the quick service dining plan.  We found it to be a good deal.  Everywhere we wanted to eat was included on the dining plan, and all meal options were included.  I worried when we purchased it that there were going to be a lot of exclusions, but we didn't encounter that issue.

We opted to stay in a hotel across from Universal.  Ultimately, we were looking for somewhere that had free breakfast, free wifi and free transportation to Universal Studios.  In hindsight, we would have stayed at one of the resorts at Universal.  We spent a fair amount of time waiting for the free shuttle between the park and the hotel.  If you were staying on property, there was a water boat transporting you between the hotels and the park frequently.  Also, there weren't a ton of food options near our hotel for the days we weren't at Universal.  On one of our off days, we caught the IRide to a nearby outlet mall.  On Sunday, we rested up before heading down to Universal to catch Blue Man Group.  That was one of my favorite parts of the trip!

On our final day, we headed to Sea World, which was our favorite day of the whole trip.  One full day was enough time for us at Sea World.  Rather than waiting on the free shuttle, we paid $2 per person one way for the IRide.  Again, we purchased the dining plan for the day we were there.  However, there were several more restrictions on where and what you could eat with this dining plan.

 The dolphin show was by far our favorite at Sea World!

Tuesday was our travel home day, and we were glad to be back!  At the end of the trip, we decided it would be a while before we took a trip like that again.  Perhaps, the trip would have been enhanced if we had rented a car during our time there.  However, we typically try to get by without renting a car so we don't have to deal with parking, etc.  All in all, it was a good vacation, but not one that we will be looking to repeat in the near future.  Our next vacation will likely be back on the east coast where we have never been disappointed with our trips!   

Packed and ready to head home!