Life in the Barbie Dream House: March 2016

Hi dolls! When I realized we were almost halfway through this pregnancy I thought it was probably time for an update on my little bump and the (big) little boy who lives in there.

People keep asking how I'm feeling and the truth is I'm feeling really great and not taking a moment of it for granted! When they call the second trimester "the glorious trimester" they're not kidding! That being said, I really enjoyed my first trimester as well and had no complaints there except for the bad case of nausea. I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy, not intrusive and not life altering pregnancy has been so far (knock on wood - I know this could all change at a moment's notice). I'd heard so many horror stories about hair falling out, swelling, acne, uterine ruptures, feet growing (one of my biggest fears in recent years has been this one - so far so good!), hemorrhoids, being put on bed rest, not being able to sleep, etc. and aside from a bad case of nausea and some occasionally itchy legs, I've seen none of that! I've never been happier or more relaxed than as I am as a pregnant gal and its really a wonderful blessing. I guess in our case it's the calm before and after the storms of infertility and caring for a newborn!

Baby's size: BIG! At our 18 week ultrasound baby was measuring about 19 weeks in length. This is less dramatic (or perhaps more accurate) than the 17 weeks measurement he had at 15 weeks, but still long. His weight was 9 ounces, which we were told is right at average for 18 weeks, so if he's extra tall but average weight I'm thinking he might be a little string bean baby at birth. Definitely not mama's shape, kinda like daddy's shape, but just like my dad's natural shape. Maybe he's taking after his grandpa (if so, I hope he gets his scientific genius too!). Oh, and for those looking for the produce updates, according to my various pregnancy apps baby is the size of a grapefruit, a zucchini (probably more accurate in Baby C's case), an heirloom tomato or a Gameboy (weird, I know, but one of them occasionally gives me baby's size in electronics).

Recent developments: Last week we had our anatomy ultrasound scan - the most important ultrasound of the pregnancy. Eek - no pressure Baby C! It was 45 minutes long and consisted of countless detailed measurements of specific parts of baby's brain and organs, an analysis of his heart function and making sure everything was developing properly. Waiting for those results was the longest 24 hours of my life. Great news: everything came back great! We're feeling so blessed and just pinching ourselves that everything is going so well for our baby. I've also recently begun feeling baby kick (I'm saying it was my birthday present since a large Gigi's pink birthday cupcake two days before my birthday inspired the first officially noticeable kicks). I feel them daily now, especially after drinking cold water or eating sweets, but hubby still can't feel them from the outside. Something to look forward to! Also, baby got to vote for the first time on March 15th! I wish they'd given me two ballots, but unfortunately voting for two isn't a thing.

Symptoms: I thought I shed my extreme case of first trimester nausea around 14 weeks, but when I started tapering off my nausea meds my body quickly told me otherwise. After two failed attempts of weaning off the nausea drugs (both of which involved days of extreme nausea and a significant amount of pouting) I'm back on them at a half dose for the foreseeable future. I gave up on trying to give them up and am not looking back. Aside from the weird second trimester nausea, some itchy shins occasionally, getting winded more easily, light headedness while standing and round ligament "pain" (its not really painful - just kinda tingly), everything feels status quo! Most days I don't even feel pregnant.

Cravings: Still no cravings to speak of really, although Ross and I have both noted my increased fondness for cereal for meals (I know, I need to grow up). I always loved cereal (mostly for breakfast on weekends) but now it has become a popular dinner choice for Baby C and I as well, especially Raisin Bran and Fruity Pebbles.

Aversions: The aversions aren't as strong as they were in the first trimester (which was crazy strong), but several of my former favorite foods still either regularly or occasionally gross me out (it's hit or miss), including: cooked red peppers, cooked mushrooms and cooked onions.

Rings on or off: On! I love my rings so I really dread the possible day when my fingers are so swollen I need to shed them. Maybe I'll go mafia style and wear them on my pinky.

Nursery progress: So much progress! We've pretty much settled on the nursery colors as cream, gray, linen/khaki and gold. I've bought a couple pieces in that palette and am really, really pleased with how they go together. Hubby did an amazing job doing custom, very tall wainscoting throughout the room. We painted the wainscoting gray (twice - the first color was basically just white - our combined worst skill is selecting paint colors) and painted the walls above the woodwork an off-white/cream color. We're really happy with it. :) I ordered a small tufted couch instead of a glider or recliner, which to my surprise came in in less than a week! Hubby assembled and it looks great. He also did a lot of custom wood work and built-in shelving in the closet, mostly because he wanted to but also because he saw how much I was buying and quickly realized we needed to maximize space. Despite daily deliberation we haven't decided on the crib yet, which my parents have generously offered to buy, but we have it narrowed down to 3. It's just such a big decision! We're waiting to order a dresser until after the crib for obvious reasons. We haven't touched the baby's bathroom yet, but I'm thinking I want to do a nautical theme in there and have bought a few pieces of gold colored faux coral (because I'm ridiculous). We still need to order blinds but keep delaying because they'll cost a small fortune - we have to do custom since the window is 7 feet wide. First world problems, right?

Current obsession: I never would have predicted this to be my favorite hobby and pastime at any point in my twenties (even if this is my very late twenties), but shopping for baby boy clothes is my current obsession. I'm actually beyond obsessed. No exaggeration and I'm embarrassed to admit this, I've even run out of things to buy. Seriously. I've already bought every baby boy item I consider cute at the following stores, so now I'm just waiting like a psychopath for the seasons to change: H&M Baby (my favorite),Target, Kohls, Carters, Zulilly (thank goodness for my crazy ass it's restocked daily, although I'm a little mad at Zulilly because it seems they put so much more effort into their girl collections, which also outnumber the boy collections at least 4:1), Baby Gap, Old Navy Baby, Oshkosh, Walmart, Amazon, Babies R Us, Lids (baby now has 2 infant sized 59FIFTY hats) and even GroopDealz (also restocked daily, thankfully). I'm kind of at a stopping point until new stuff comes out or I find new stores, which for my sanity and wallet is a good thing. I just went a little (or a lot) crazy in the 3 weeks or so after finding out gender.

Currently Reading: After devouring all of the pregnancy literature I could find, I've moved on to trying to prepare for baby's actual arrival! I'm currently reading What to Expect The First Year and also just started going through The 100,000 Baby Name Book. I recently finished a less extensive baby name book and only walked away with one name to add to the maybe list (well, and a ton of laughs at some of the ridiculous names in the book, but to each their own I guess). Hubby is reading Dad's Pregnant Too.

Favorite Purchases: So many favs! I love the several light denim and chambray pieces I've recently bought him, his two pug onesies. his baby Tims (aka Timberlands) melt my heart, his bibdanas (so much cooler than regular bibs), his mint green pineapple swim trunks, his 2 inch baby Nikes are the cutest things ever, his plaid button down onesies (for the discerning baby with style, especially the pink one), his 4 pairs of baby mocs (baby moccasins) and his babiators (baby aviators), his baby muscle tanks and his faded holey jeans are all at the top of my list. He's already the best dressed member of our family.

Names: We've narrowed it down to 4-6ish, but none are really emerging as frontrunners. I think we're going to sit on this for awhile, even though I'm really ready to start monogramming!

Recent projects/progress: So much to report! Aside from clothes shopping, after finding out the gender we really poured ourselves into the nursery (which I already gave TMI about above). Hubby recently completed baby's book wall, which I adore, and is filled with equal parts my childhood books, hubby's childhood books and the books we've already bought for baby or that he's been gifted. I thought it was precious that most of hubby's baby books were about ducks - I guess that explains why as an adult he still loves them! We also just booked our babymoon - yay! We can't go anywhere south of Florida because of the stupid Zika Virus (boo) but will have a great time nonetheless. We're researching childcare options but so far none are jumping out at us as the right fit (not to mention they're all so expensive!). We also just finished our registries since our first shower is in April! My very generous MIL ordered us two Britax car seats (one convertible which fits perfectly in my small car and one infant carrier for Ross's truck/out and about) and two Britax B-Agile strollers. We did a TON of research on car seats and strollers and confidently decided on Britax after their amazing safety ratings and reviews. I should have listed the B-Agile as my second obsession above - its weird how hyped I am up about that amazing stroller!

Upcoming projects: Hubby will soon start working on a toy chest for baby, which I'm really excited about!

Maternity style: My current maternity style is basically to keep wearing what I've always worn but this time with guilt, because I've spent so much money on maternity clothes that it feels like I'll never need. All of my pantsuits and skirt suits still fit and button/zip, much to my surprise, and there hasn't been a thing in my closet yet that I've needed to sideline (except for maybe my beloved crop tops which I think would look a little redneck with a bump hanging out the bottom). I'm very thankful for that because, lets be real, maternity clothes are mostly super lame. Despite having already bought a ton of stuff I'm not getting much use out of, I recently went on a maternity clothes shopping binge for my birthday where I got two really cute fitted maternity dresses for work (cute fitted maternity dresses are an endangered species) and bought a lot of non-maternity flowy, baggy or plus-sized trendy teenage girl stuff. Lol. This almost 30 year old lawyer sure looked like a weirdo picking up everything in the plus sized teen section. I'm a mess, I know. I've been mixing in a couple maternity items here and there mostly to get use out of them/ease my guilt but basically am still in my normal clothes full time. I hope to use them soon as the bump grows!

Mood swings: Ask Ross to be sure, but I'm pretty sure he'd agree that I haven't had any! Feeling very lucky on this one, because some of the infertility drugs made me sleepy and sad. If there was one, it would have been when I got a little emotional bringing baby to the polls on primary Election Day, but I'm pretty sure that was just me being sentimental about democracy and not the hormones.

Hobbies: Peeing... a lot. Also shopping for baby boy clothes and dreaming about meeting our little man!

Baby's mood: One word: ACTIVE. Well, two more: LIKE DADDY. In my 8am 18w ultrasound he was bucking like crazy, dancing, kicking, doing breast stroke... just about everything but being still... and that was on a completely empty stomach (no sugar, no breakfast yet, no caffeine - just his natural energy). The tech asked if I sugar loaded beforehand (which a lot of women do before ultrasounds to ensure baby's activity, but I forgot to do that morning) and seemed surprised when I said no. To be honest, I'm terrified. I already have one 32-going-on-14 year old husband I can't keep up with and it looks like his little clone is already dancing up a storm at negative 21 weeks old. :0

Weight gain: I'm not sure I'll always feel comfortable sharing this number, but I'm pretty proud of it right now. So far I've gained exactly 7 pounds since conception, which my doctor says is great and a few pounds under where I'm allowed to be right now. You're supposed to gain about a pound a week during the second trimester and I've now gained 4 in those 6 weeks. I've been working out once or twice per day consistently since becoming pregnant, getting 9,000-13,000 steps/day on my fitbit almost always. I always walk after work and usually get a walk in before work and/or on my lunch hour. Since 2008 I've been obsessed with wearing a pedometer (long before they synced to phones), walking and logging my activity, but since becoming pregnant I've been even more obsessive. I guess I'm just really conscious of my weight gain and keeping it at appropriate levels/rates. I keep getting comments about not looking pregnant, which started to worry me a little bit, so I asked my doctor. She said that since baby is above average in length and right on track for weight, I have nothing to worry about. She said I'm most likely getting those comments because Americans are used to seeing women who gain way too much weight during pregnancy, so while I'm right on track, it might look smaller than the American norm because the American norm is to gain too much. She told me to keep doing what I'm doing and made me feel a lot better! She also said that a lot of women's bumps and babies hit a major growth spurt between 20 and 24 weeks, so I'm thinking my time to really pop is just around the corner.

Here are a couple bumpies, nursery photos & other baby related pics!

16 week bumpie