Baby Update: Boy or Girl?

{Taken at the end of 16 weeks, we're now coming towards the end of 17 weeks}

Weight Gain: About 3 lbs now! Baby's sure growing!

Symptoms: Less frequent vomiting than in the first trimester, now it's more like twice a week rather than twice (or more) a day. We had to see the doctor after 5 days of crazy pain that wouldn't go away (over a holiday weekend when the doctor's office was closed, of course), but that was a reassuring visit because the thing that's causing the pain is not dangerous, just painful, and I can manage the pain with tylenol (made it to 17 weeks without taking any pain meds, but nothing like rest or stretching takes care of this pain).

Preparations: Someone lent me a few pieces of maternity clothes, but I'm still wearing my normal wardrobe because maternity clothing seems rather huge at the moment. I tried on some maternity pants and they're not even close to being able to stay up but it should be a totally different story a few months from now. We attempted to walk into a maternity clothing store some weeks ago but Angel didn't want to go in and I didn't want to go in alone so we just peeked in the doorway awkwardly and all the clothes looked boring anyways. So I haven't bought anything new to wear since May. Good for the budget, right?

We're now more "prepared" for baby than we were in my last update. Thanks to one family who has older kids gave us their high chair and stroller and baby swing--how awesome is that?

An elderly auntie from church found out that I was pregnant this week and called Angel to come to her house to pick up some food she had for me: a package of 30 kampung eggs ("village" eggs, basically eggs that aren't from a factory farm) and a 5 lb. package of Milo (a chocolate drink mix). That was so sweet! I'm slightly mystified as to how two people are supposed to consume 30 eggs.

Angel's been reading Shepherding a Child's Heart in the evenings, sometimes out loud to me while I sleep.

Eating: The food that sounds the best to me is still consistently apples, oranges, raw carrots, raw cucumbers, and popcorn. I actually haven't had potato chips in quite some time. I've been able to eat a bit of chicken once in a while but meat or most actual "meal" type of food still doesn't seem appealing. After I finished 14 weeks I have let myself have caffeine once in a while. Sometimes I just want a glass of lemon iced tea or a glass of Coke. Not every day, but a couple times a week. I don't drink coffee at all and never have so at least I don't feel any loss in that area!

Realizations: I realized that I somehow always believed during childhood that having a baby meant being huge and pregnant for 9 months and then getting a baby at the end of it. I'm learning that this point of view is not really based on reality, and because this was somehow in my mind, by comparison, having a huge belly for only a few months doesn't sound bad at all. I know a lot of people start saying they feel fat or uncomfortable by this point but I feel like I just feel normal--other than the vomiting, excessive sleeping, and pain. It's funny what can feel "normal," I guess.

Gender Reveal:

It's a boy! So now maybe we'll be able to wrap our minds around baby prep a little better now that we know to picture t-shirts and shorts rather than floral dresses.

We had a really low-key gender reveal. Angel and I found out at the doctor's office, and knew if we tried to keep the secret for any length of time at all, we'd give it away. So on the way home, we stopped by where my family was and chatted with the sisters while I casually stole a bunch of blue Crayola sidewalk chalk. Took home the chalk. broke it up with a butter knife, stuck it in the blender, and then called the family to say, "Head out to the parking lot!" On the way out, Angel said, "I think the blue powder will really show up on the ground." while everyone else was also outside so I was right as far as knowing that a secret would never last for more than a couple hours with us. We barely made it to the parking lot!

My family all said "I knew it!" because for some reason they've known from the beginning. I had three dreams that the baby was a boy before we found out, so the ultrasound just felt like a final confirmation. Angel suddenly feels a whole lot more responsible. I guess he was figuring if the baby was a girl I could handle all the girly stuff like braided hair and dolls pretty easily. Now he's thinking about how soon he'll need to start teaching him how to replace alternators and struts and radiators. I'm not sure at what stage of baby development car repair skills are supposed to be introduced.

And, if you watched the video, yes, baby has a name. I'll tell you if you ask, I'm just not planning on posting the full name on the internet. :)