Little Buddy: 18 weeks!

So little buddy is 18 weeks, or maybe more, I'm not too sure really!  But I think I might be farther along than I think I am simply because baby is measuring a little big bigger than my scheduled timeline - so we shall see!  Either way another week has gone by - can you believe it?  I know I can't!  I think this part of my pregnancy is just going to fly by and then it will start to lag probably in the third trimester.  Baby is now the size of a bell pepper or a sweet potato depending on which website you look at.  He just keeps growing, which seems strange to me that I don't have to do anything and God just works His magic to grow a baby in my belly.

They say baby is keeping himself busy by working his muscles and practicing all kinds of moves.  They also say that Little buddy is making facial expressions, yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing, twisting, rolling, punching and kicking, and that he's big enough now that I might be able to feel him doing it!

Not too sure if I have felt him yet, never quite know if it's baby movements or water gurgling or my stomach settling. I'm sure in due time I will be able to distinguish one from the other!  They also say I should start thinking about sleeping on my side, which shouldn't be a problem for me because I do this anyways, but I should also mention that I am a major back sleeper!!  And pretty sure they say that's a big no no for all sorts of reasons I won't even bother going into.

In regards to symptoms, nothing much has changed in the past week! Wondering when everything is just going to hit me - no swollen anything, no varicose veins, no backaches, no leg cramps, no nosebleeds and I have definitely not reached the stage of discomfort.  I even called my mom last week to say ...are you sure there's still a baby in there?? Because I feel great, and I know it won't last forever!  But I can't help but feel slightly guilty for even typing that.  I mean you hear all sorts of pregnancy stories - some women are throwing up straight for 9 whole months and others just don't have any energy whastosever, and others experience every single syptom known to (wo)man.

And then here I am...not experiencing any of that.  I even went for a few runs last week, and I can definitely feel the toll the pregnancy has taken on my body.  I am slower, but not tremendously so, and I lose my breathe a whole lot quicker than I ever use to, but it feels so good to feel my feet on the pavement and to have the energy to even be out there doing it!

One thing I have definitely noticed is the CRAZY dreams!  I mean some of them are just bizarre.  I haven't been sleeping all that great lately, but this is coming from the girl that has ALWAYS slept straight through the night, well as long as I can remember at least.  I was never waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or anything like that, so these middle of the night bladder wake up calls are a new thing to me.  And something I have yet to grow rather fond of, but I suppose it's simply preparing me for the restless nights once my baby belly gets bigger and once the baby actually arrives!

I am just trying to live in the moment and enjoy every single bit of it!

until next time,

Malia