16 weeks!

Today I am 16 weeks pregnant! 24 weeks left!

(actually, today I am 16 weeks and 4 days... We've had a busy week getting ready for England, meeting new newborn friends and celebrating the end of chemo for a dear friend)

I'm hoping that I'll get a good smiley MK picture at some point in the next 24 weeks!

How Big is Baby? Belly Bean is the size of a Haas Avocado... I love avocados! :)

Total Weight gain/loss: Still up 5.5lb, but seeing changes in my body shape for sure... my hips are starting to get wider- good for getting that baby out in 24 weeks!

Sleep: Still waking up a couple times to pee, but able to go to bed soon after getting up. I'm a stomach sleeper and have tried to keep sleeping on my belly as long as possible, but now the "bump" is too big to sleep on my tummy. I now straddle a body pillow and it's ok, but not as good as belly sleep.

Movement: Definitely feeling baby move!! I love it! It's more of a kick than a flutter, and usually after I eat when I'm sitting down, taking a nap or bending over.

Symptoms: thoroughly enjoying the 2nd trimester bliss! No more overwhelming fatigue! YAY! Still getting round ligament pain when I sneeze. My boobs are definitely huge and still hurting, they are getting ready to nourish BB in January!

Food Cravings: still craving tuna fish, hamburgers, mac and cheese and watermelon/berries. I've started drinking milk too- I never drink milk other than in my cereal when I'm not preggo!

Gender: My dr wants to see us at 18 weeks for the anatomy ultrasound... so we find out the gender in TWO WEEKS!!!! My feeling this week is boy.

What I miss: Belly sleeping, margaritas, starting to get sad that we won't be traveling at all during the holidays to visit family.

What I'm looking forward to? Finding out what BB is in two weeks and finally get to call it by its name (hint: initials KMV). Traveling to England to visit my family in less than 12 hours! My sister being in town for a week after England, and then going to the Field's family reunion in Cali in August! We are getting spoiled with family time in the next month, and I LOVE it!

Milestones: We made it to 4 months!
Big sister: Literally as I was typing this on the lap top MK pulled my shirt up, kissed my belly and said "wuv wu belly bean." What a sweet big sister! Big sister is also officially less than 1 month away from being two... AHH! Not ready to have a two year old, where did my little baby girl go???

Doctors appointment notes: We went to our 16 week appointment last friday and it was pretty straight forward. Got to hear BB's heart beat- 160bpm (girl?) and get some questions about international travel answered. I get to wear some awesome compression hose on our 9 hour flight due to the increased risk for blood clots in preggo women and my dr wants me to chew a low dose aspirin on travel days. We also got the quad screen blood test done- blood test that measures a protein that can tell if baby could have a neural tube defect (spina bifida) or Downs Syndrome. My doctor warned me that due to the complications we had early on in pregnancy, I would have a higher risk for a false positive for neural tube defects. We are still waiting on the results, but I'm not anxious. The nine month wait and the many scares during the first 12 weeks have really just shown me that the Lord is in control, this baby is His (psalms 24) and all I can do is trust in His plan for this baby's life. I've always had a heart for special needs children and would feel honored to be the mother of a baby with special needs. I know that getting the quad screen is controversial, several of my friends feel strongly about not getting it. After prayerful consideration, Mike and I came to the conclusion to get the test so that we could be as prepared as possible for a special needs baby, who would need special care almost immediately after delivery. If our test comes back positive, we'll go see a specialist to get a high level ultrasound and possibly do an amnio depending on the findings (but that's only if it's positive!). I'll keep you updated! :)

Our 17 weeks post will be in ENGLAND! :)

Love,
KV, MV, MKV and KMV!