Good Monday to you all!

I was a bad, bad girl this weekend! I gave into a serious craving for sushi. According to literature, pregnant women are supposed to avoid all raw animal protein. However, I believe it is because there is a risk of the mother getting sick from improperly handled/prepared food and not a direct risk to the baby. Technically, a mom-to-be isn't supposed to eat under-cooked meat or soft egg yolks either. However, I still eat my steak medium-rare and I despise over-cooked eggs! This is not a craving I plan on succumbing to on a regular basis... but oh my did it ever taste delicious!

There is so much information out there on what you should and shouldn't do when you're pregnant... what you should and shouldn't eat... what you should and shouldn't drink... Way too much information! And, quite often, there is contradictory information. Thankfully my doctor has the mentality that "pregnancy is a condition, not a disease" and as such is pretty laid back and tells me when things I read are crap. He was quite adamant that there is to be no skydiving or bungee-jumping! :D

I went and got myself run-down last week which resulted in me picking up a nasty cold bug in the later portions of the week (ie: just in time for the weekend). I had back-to-back deadlines that caused a decent amount of stress as well as very early mornings at work. Once I finished them and the work-adrenalin stopped, the cold set in way too quickly. I left at lunch on Friday and crawled into bed. I spent a lot of time sleeping this past weekend and attempting any and all home remedies that we could think of! The best I came up with was Vicks Vapor Rub, Breathe Right Nasal Strips, and a Vaporizer (hot-water humidifier) complete with liquid Vicks to add to it. I can sort of breathe today, but I get really stuffed up at night still and have a hard time sleeping (last night was my best sleep in 3 nights). A hot shower in the morning gets me through a good portion of the day.

Although I was incredibly under-the-weather this weekend, I actually managed to get one big job done! I've been suffering from a lack of work-appropriate clothing lately, but was given a garbage bag full of maternity clothing a few months ago. So, this weekend... before going shopping... I cleared my closed and drawers of clothes I cannot wear anymore and hung up / put away all the maternity clothes I have at this point. I had stuff in there I didn't know about! Now, even though my closet is emptier, I know that I can wear everything in it. That makes me happy.

One final thought for this Monday... apparently I am now starting to "look pregnant"! This too makes me feel happy as I am no longer just looking like I'm retaining water or eating too many snacks. I've had a few different people (including my hubby) tell me that I'm beginning to look like a preggie! :D

The good, the bad, and the ugly!

The good: I had my ultrasound yesterday and all looked good. The tech had a hard time getting all the measurements required as Baby B. is very, very active and as such I was in the exam room for quite a while. Seeing the heartrate on the screen is really neat. Our due-date is pretty much dead on (doctor said Sept 21; ultrasound said Sept 18) and as such will not be altered. And Baby B. weighs approximately 8 oz. which is apparently normal for this stage (18 weeks). All looked good according to the tech and my doctor will have the results in a day or two (well before my next prenatal visit). However... JB and I had hoped to find out if Baby B. is a girl or boy but no such luck! S/he was basically folded in half (picture a tiny baby in the pike position) and as such the tech could not determine what sex our baby is. All in all a really good experience.

The bad: I scared myself something fierce today! I am utterly exhausted (due to back-to-back report deadlines at work) and was in a hurry after work to make it to an appointment. Add to the equation the fact that it's been snowing/raining all day, thus making things slippery, and what do you get? You get me falling, basically doing a faceplant, and landing square on my stomach. Thus, I was really worried. I went to the doctor's office and one of the on-duty doctors felt my stomach area, listened to Baby B.'s heartbeat, and checked my pulse and bloodpressure. After all my worrying (and tears) things are fine. The doctor just told me that if there is any bleeding to go to the hospital, but so far (4 hours later) nothing. When I was lying on the exam table and the doctor was listening to Baby B.'s heartbeat he kept laughing because Baby B. kept moving. Hearing the doctor's genuine, happy laugh made tears stream down my face... I couldn't stop it!

The ugly: My obsession with McDonalds. Ick! Well, I'm really only addicted/craving two items and they are probably two of the healthier things on the menu - grilled cheese sandwich and the chicken snack wrap. I don't know why McDonalds grilled cheese tastes so good, but it does! :D

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C-Dub asked how my energy is. Well, right now it is in the negative. However, only part of that is from the pregnancy I think. I have back-to-back report deadlines that I am in the middle of right now and as such I haven't been getting nearly as much sleep as I seem to require. Just one more sleep-deprived night and day and then I think I get a little break!

One thing that I think I've decided is that I'm pretty sure I'm feeling the baby move. The feelings are getting to be too regular to be gas (which I haven't suffered from too much yet). My one friend described some of the feeling she had with her first as "tap-dancing on my hips/ribs". That describes pretty well what I've been feeling quite a bit of today! :)

Another product search:

Okay girls (and boy if Matthew is reading this)... I need your help again. This time I am looking for the Heart-to-Heart Prenatal Listening System from your local Toys R Us/Babies R Us. These are very hard to find, but I'm guessing there's a better chance of finding one in Ontario than my little city (there were three in stock here, but they pretty much sold the day they went on the shelves... and they are only getting three more in sometime in the next month). I did find it on that website Nej sent me to for the Dekor Diaper Refills, but it is quite a bit more than $29.99. So, if any of you find it I would absoloutely love it if you could buy it and mail it to me and I would then send a cheque your way when you let me know what it cost with shipping. :D

I've still been feeling pretty blue these days... the darn snow isn't helping! Plus, I've been having a little trouble with my back/hips which doesn't make life at a computer desk all that fun. Oh... speaking of the Dekor Diaper Refills... thanks to e-bay.ca and Nej... I am well stocked! By the time I need more refills perhaps they will be more convenient to find and if not, then I will order from Safety Superstore.

I left work early today due to my back/hips and headed over to my chiropractor (I think I'll be visiting him often over the next 6 months). The funny thing is... his wife is due in August! Then, since I was missing work anyways, I decided to head over to my doctor's office and go walk-in for my monthly prenatal visit (I picked a great day... no line-up!) rather than missing work again tomorrow. The visit was short and sweet. My blood pressure is still holding (135/85); I've gained a little bit of weight (2kg according to their scale... less according to my weekly TOPS weigh-ins); and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time!!! Oh my goodness... did that ever make my week! There actually is something in there... and it's growing! :D