Eighteen weeks!
Check out that bell-ay. I am amazed every day at the rate in which my stomach is expanding. It’s a little freaky and I’ve started to get a wee bit concerned about stretch marks. I’ve been slathering myself with a yummy rich body cream from Origins, but does anyone have any other suggestions?
I’ve also started feeling the baby moving around. It’s totally wild. I can feel it best when I’m laying flat on my back. At first it just kind of feels like a weird pressure buildup in one area of my abdomen, below my belly button. But when I have my hand on my belly and he/she really gets going, I can actually feel the shifts and the rolls and the occasional distinct “bumps” from a hard kick. Last night I swear this kid was doing somersaults in there. Hawk was joking that the baby must be a girl because nearly every time I call him over to feel the kicks, he can’t feel it. He says, “She’s already defying her father. This does not bode well.” He did feel it last night though. Maybe it’s a boy 
Feeling my baby move has brought with it a whole new sense of reality. For four months I’ve thought, “Yep, I’m pregnant,” with not much to show for it other than a bloated-looking belly and a craving for Nachos Bell Grande. It’s almost been an abstract thought with ultrasound pictures to back it up every few weeks. But the first time I felt the baby move it was like, “Oh! You ARE in there!” There is a totally separate being living in my belly. Holy. Crap.
The movements also have given me more of a chance to feel connected to our little one. I love laying there, with my hand on my belly, quietly waiting to feel something. For a long time I feel the usual stomach gurgling, gas bubbles and then when I’m about to give up…*tap*. I smile and say, “Hi, sweetheart”. In these moments I am filled with such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I am so blessed, for so many reasons. I am blessed with the chance to be pregnant, to feel this life growing inside me, to nurture it as best I can (I promise there is much more to my diet these days than the aforementioned Nachos). And I see it as a blessing that surviving the pain of two miscarriages has allowed me to feel this gratitude all the more deeply. Would it have been so present if I hadn’t had those losses? I’m sure it would have to some degree, but I don’t know if it would be as intense.
beautiful belly
definitely keep up with the cream and make sure you do some vitamin e as well or ensure that there is vitamin e in your cream …
i am so happy for you!! xo
Isn’t it awesome??? Pregnancy is a very humbling, mind-blowing journey, and I’m so happy for you that you’re finally there!
Oh, and no advice on stretch marks. I thought I wasn’t going to have any until I was 37 weeks or so and suddenly saw that they had developed on the underside of my belly, where I couldn’t see them. Ack! I do think that those of us who are thinner might be slightly more prone to them simply because your skin has to stretch more (and you may gain more weight than someone of a heavier build), but if you do get them, they fade pretty quickly. I referred to them as my racing stripes.
I have had three kids and don’t have a stretch mark so I don’t know, I think it’s hit or miss.
You look great, and I’m so happy for you. One of the things I missed about being pregnant was feeling the baby move around inside of me. It’s weird, you’re holding your baby and yet, you miss that closeness of knowing it’s in your tummy, just growing and moving.
Thank you for the card!
I have known since the day I met you that you were going to be an amazing mother (and your wonderful husband an amazing father). But I do believe it has just hit me just how very right I was. I never doubted this time would come but I could not be happier for every feeling and bewilderment you are experiencing!
Not that I have children…. but I vote for Vitamin E.
Love you!