16 Weeks

16 weeks today!  My phone apps tell me baby is now the size of an avocado.  I had a check-up last week, and all is looking good.  Baby is measuring right on target, and all my vitals are good.  I must have jinxed myself after the last post though- that very night I had a lot of back pain trying to sleep, didn't get much sleep at all that night, and started getting sick as soon as I started trying to get up and get ready for work the next morning.  Luckily it only lasted a day.  I've gotten myself a body pillow now and am able to sleep much more comfortably.  No more sickness either- quite the opposite- I'm hungry all the time!

We're slowly starting to accumulate baby gear.  In addition to all the clothes, blankets, Boppy pillow, and Moby wrap carrier I brought back from America, I've found a lot of good deals on a Craig's List-type website called Gumtree.  I've gotten a Swing and Bounce (swing with seat that detaches to be a vibrating/bouncing seat), a Pack and Play, a highchair, a Moses basket with stand, and a baby bath.  A co-worker has let me borrow her sterilizer, and a store here has had their baby sale, so I picked up a baby monitor and some bottles at a great price.  Our guest room is rather full at the moment until Paul gets the office cleared out!  I've been investigating travel systems to no end and have even begun having dreams about them.  It's the item we'll be spending the most amount of money on, so I want to get it right!  So many decisions!

Tomorrow morning we have our first prenatal class.  It's an early pregnancy class taught by a midwife.  We'll do a set of further classes for 5 weeks- one evening a week - in June/July.  I'll also have 3 afternoons of a physiotherapist led class- one in April and 2 in June.  It's all becoming a lot more real now!  My next doctor appointment won't be until April 24, and that will include an in-depth ultrasound to look at all the baby's systems.

1st belly photo- 16 weeks

Since St. Patrick's Day is a Saturday this year, we get Monday off, so we're going to head to Louisburgh for the long weekend.  We'll take in the little parade they have every year, in which "The Yanks" (the College of St. Scholastica students) usually make an appearance.  Other than that, it will probably be a pretty quiet celebration on my part!