16 weeks pregnant

I had my 16-week appointment this week, and am very happy to report that all is perfectly wonderful with the baby in my belly. Taylor tagged along with me, and she was able to help Dr Simmons hold the microphone when we heard Baby’s heartbeat. She is already taking on the role of the helpful big sister, and I’m crossing my fingers that she’s this enthusiastic about Baby when it arrives.

I also opted to get a quad-screen done, which is a test that I had done when I was pregnant with Taylor. And for those of you unfamiliar with this test, it’s an elective procedure that’s performed early on to detect any sort of chromosomal disorders in the fetus. And I’m overly happy and relieved to report that all the blood work came back negative, which means Baby’s perfect. And in two weeks we’ll be able to see the little peanut swimming in my belly during our 18-week ultrasound. And even though we are waiting for the big push to find out whether it’s a boy or girl, I am so excited to see it’s little arms and legs grooving inside of me.

And even though I know the Baby is moving around inside of me now, I have yet to feel any kicks or punches. Well, I may have. But I’m pretty sure those movements were a result of the armadillo eggs I ate at Rubles a few weeks ago. And because I haven’t been feeling any movement, and because I have been feeling SO MUCH BETTER, it’s hard to even remember that I am pregnant sometimes. Other than the fact that I have to keep my jeans fastened with a rubber band.

And as far as my weight goes, I really haven’t gained that much so far. Which I know has a lot to do with the fact the only things I could consume for the first two months were applesauce and grape-flavored Gatorade. And while I was a bit worried about my weigh-in this appointment, being that I ate my way through eight states and housed an entire pan of Special K bars, the scales must have been jacked at my doctor’s office because it had me LOSING a pound this past month. Which I wasn’t going to argue with. Especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner.

No unusual cravings so far. At this point with Taylor, I was devouring egg salad sandwiches and Fritos at an alarming pace. But I’ve been trying to stick to a relatively healthy, normal diet so far. The one thing that always sounds good to me are pickles. Call me Snooki. And I know it’s so cliche, but the pregnant mama can house a whole jar of pickles in record time. It got so ridiculous that I just conceded and bought the restaurant-size tub of Clausen Spears for our fridge. And tonight when I was ordering my sub sandwich for dinner and informed the teenage boy behind the counter to not be stingy with the pickles, he shot me a weird look and I responded by pointing to my stomach and saying, My Baby wants pickles.

And now that my appetite and energy have returned, I have been getting back into my daily workout routine. And even though I’m not pushing myself through half-marathon training anymore, I’ve been trying to keep my body in shape with spinning classes, cardio and swimming laps. For the first two months, working out sounded pretty close to torture, but I drug myself to the gym just to get out of the house at least twice a week. And the ONLY thing that my body would tell me it liked was swimming laps. So I’m pretty sure I’m growing the next Michael Phelps in my belly. Or a mermaid. Either way, I’ll love it unconditionally.

And even though I still get tired pretty easily, I am no where near as exhausted as I was during the first trimester. Still, I am habitually taking advantage of Taylor’s daily two-hour snoozefests to lay down and either read or nap myself. I’ll have the rest of my life to catch up on housework and laundry, and I know I only have a few more months left of scheduled quiet time before our world is turned upside down.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to get my hands on Baby and try to put it’s newborn cheeks in my mouth, but I am all too familiar with an infant’s unpredictable routine and know that I need to savor these next months as much as I can. Wow. Two sets of cheeks to devour. I can’t wait.