16 Weeks

Baby is now about the size of an avocado, about 4 1/2 inches long, and weighs about 3 1/2 ounces. The eyes have moved much closer together and the ears are now in position. At the start of last week the legs started growing longer than the arms. The eyelids are still fused shut but baby can sense light. The primitive air sacs in the lungs have begun to develop as baby moves amniotic fluid through the nose and upper respiratory tract.

Well, I thought by now, yeah 4 months in, that I would finally be able to write that I am no longer getting sick. I really thought it was going to happen too. I hadn't gotten sick in awhile and then last Thursday as I was settling into bed for the night an oh too familiar feeling came over me and I made it to the bathroom just in time. Although, if I continue to get sick every couple weeks for the rest of the pregnancy then that is fine as long as I don't feel like I did during the first trimester. I get more upset about the lost nutrients than anything else. The belly is continuing to slowly swell and I'm feeling more pregnant than fat. I love to rub my belly and talk to Nutter. I have a doctor's appointment next week. I have to remember to ask my starting weight as I have no clue what I was or where I am now. It seems like those first few weeks were a blur. I'm starting to feel the effects of pregnancy limitations. Not the things that I can't do but the things I shouldn't be doing. I have to give a second thought to lifting the dog food bags or the water softener bags. All the things that I just did before now I am conscious of and how much might be too much. So, I haven't been moving anything super heavy but if it's the size of a kid then I feel like it should be okay to lift, after all, what do mother's do that already have children? I went to the pool this weekend, and besides the exhausting laps, I think I got a little heat rash on the belly. Otherwise it's another pregnancy side effect that I am unaware of. The only other big change that I wasn't expecting to be difficult this early is the no sleeping on my back deal. I always pictured it being uncomfortable in the 9th month, but not the 4th. But it hurts my hips and my legs get cramps and then my shoulder starts to hurt. So every time I switch sides I wake up, very aware somehow that I cannot sleep on my back. I would have thought that I would just sleep through the night, unaware of my positions. Oh, and I also think I've been experiencing what is referred to as sciatic nerve pain, but I'm not sure (another question for the doc). I have a sharp pain in the middle of my right butt cheek at random times. It comes out of no where and can go just as quickly. It doesn't extend up my back or down my leg, just directly in my cheek. It seems to be most uncomfortable now when I sleep (that's when it is the worst and most uncomfortable). I am instantly relieved of all the pain when I lie on my back, but it is temporary as I roll back to one side. All of this and I don't feel that it's really begun yet...I'm not huge and uncomfortable! I am scared of what lies ahead. Will I look back at this entry at week 38 and laugh at myself and my petty complaints and say to myself, "What was I thinking? That was nothing!"

Okay, so it hasn't been the easiest pregnancy so far, and I'm sure it's bound to get worse. But, I love it. People say that it's all worth it in the end, when you hold your little baby. Well, I think it's worth it now. I love to look down at my belly and know that there's a life growing in there. I love to tell people I'm pregnant. I love to read the books and the baby websites that give me weekly updates on what my baby is doing this week. I cannot wait to meet little Nutter Butter and just thinking about it now makes me so anxious!