Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Pregnancy Update - 18 weeks

Here's the big news: I felt the baby move for the first time on Sunday! It was after a long, hot, uphill walk from downtown Olympia back to Gabe's house. I was lying down on the couch to rest and catch my breath when I felt a pressure that slid for an inch or two along the inside of my low belly before disappearing. It really was unmistakable, I have never felt anything like it before! I haven't felt anything definite since then, just some little twinges that could have been digestive. I've read that for first-time moms it is pretty common for baby movements to be mistaken for gas, at least before the 20th week.

The other new thing is that I'm starting to get a definite linea nigra running down from my belly button. I think it's kinda cute. :)

For those of you who didn't already know, our baby is going to have a cousin right away - my brother and his wife are expecting in late November. They just found out it's a girl. Our parents are thrilled - not one but TWO grandbabies, at last!

The question most folks seem to want to ask me (besides whether it's a boy or a girl - No, we don't know yet!) is whether I am having any food cravings. Well, yes, sort of. Nothing - NOTHING - tastes like it has enough salt on it. So I'm salting just about every thing I eat. I even sprinkled a little salt on my english muffin this morning (tasted good!). I've also been craving fried vegetables: tempura, onion rings, pakoras, jojos, whatever. So instead of just steaming broccoli from the garden to go with dinner last night I battered it and made fritters. They were really, really good. Salted, of course.

I'm still throwing up twice a week (I've been marking my calendar - I'm not exagerating) but my energy level has improved a lot. Enough so that I'm doing things like making broccoli fritters and baked chicken for dinner! I can live with being sick twice a week - as long as I feel good the rest of the time - for the next 5 1/2 months if that's what it takes. Feeling the baby move really, really helps make all the rest of it seem worth it. :)

1 comment:

Keeley said...

Sounds like you are coming out of those dark days of early pregnancy! Congrats! And that is way cool that your little kiddo in utero is getting mobile! Probably getting a little less mobile, in fact, but now you get to experience it which has got to be an awesome feeling!