Week 16

There's not a whole going on, but I wanted to update my few loyal readers on the goings-on of week 16. As of today, I am 16 weeks 3 days along. I think the weeks are starting to slow down. In the first trimester, every week was extremely significant as far as the development of the baby. As I got into the second trimester, the weeks just symbolized reaching milestones and scheduling doctor's appointments. There isn't significant development in the baby anymore since everything is pretty much in place. Instead, the baby is just continuing to grow bigger and bigger. By this week, he/she should be up to 4 1/2 inches and weigh 3 oz. The most I am experiencing is an ever-expanding waistline. I realized this week that I have gained ANOTHER inch. This puts me at a total of 6 inches that I have gained since finding out I'm pregnant. There's no hiding it anymore. I even had my first stranger comment on my pregnancy this week. It's always a big deal for a stranger to ask you about your pregnancy because it can be such a risky thing if people aren't too careful. Had I not really been pregnant, this comment would've been thoroughly insulting. But, when people start getting brave enough to ask, it usually means that there's enough there to be noticeable to others. So, in my situation, I was working the cash register in the hospital cafeteria during lunch when I had a nurse walk up (one that I had never seen before). She said, very adamantly, "When are you due?!!!!" I was really taken back by it. It was so sudden and she seemed astounded at my belly by the tone of her voice. I replied that I am due in August and she seemed surprised. It was a weird encounter, but I was still excited about it.

I also think, a few days earlier, that I may have felt the baby move. Most people don't feel it this early in their first pregnant, but not because they can't- mostly because they don't know what they are feeling. It's not until a couple more weeks go by that you start to experience it enough to put it together. But, on Tuesday I felt a kind of quickening in my stomach, like a fluttery feeling, only lasting for a few seconds. I haven't felt it since then, but they say that days may go by without feeling it when you're this early on. You don't start to feel it daily for up to 10 more weeks. Gas bubbles or other things are easy to mistake for the feeling of your baby, but I don't think I was gassy at all at that moment (and am not very often). I'm cautiously excited about it. Cautiously because it may have been something other than my baby and I want to feel it again before I get too excited, but excited nonetheless because, if it was, then that's SUPER cool!

In other news, I got all of the furniture I ordered for the baby's room. I started to put the crib together the other night. Jesse was gone and I wanted to surprise him when he got home. Also, if we want to return it through the store, we have to within a week. Otherwise, we have to go through the manufacturer. So, I wanted to make sure everything was there and in good condition. So, after working on it for a few hours, I realized that I needed a manual screwdriver, not a power one, since the power one wasn't long enough to tighten the screws all of the way in. I only got the headboard and one side assembled before I had to give up. It was pointless to put together a loose crib. I suppose this was a good thing because I also found out that the crib would not fit through any doorway in our house. Therefore, it needs to be assembled in the nursery. Putting it all together beforehand would've been a waste of my time. I was disappointed, though. My over-zealous need to plan everything out and be organized can't be met. While my brother-in-law still inhabits our future nursery, the crib will have to remain un-assembled. I wanted to have it all set up in the garage so that I could show people and then just move it in one solid piece to the nursery when Michael moves out, but it looks like all i have to show are pictures and pieces. Oh well. It's a minor problem. Everything is there and will be put up in plenty of time before the baby comes. So, I guess I'll just have to get over.

And, finally, just an odd piece of info, I found this baby name website today that had you put in your name and your husband's name to see what you should name your baby. I have no idea what science this is based on, but apparently, Jesse and Mandy together mean that we should name our son Jovani and our daughter Chasity. Ummm... it's not going to happen. Curious about your's? Check it out here.