My Fourth Month of Pregnancy



(In case you didn't know it, I'm currently pregnant and am documenting the pregnancy each month. See last month's update here.)

THE BABY. Saturday (9/22) I'll be 18 weeks pregnant, so, according to various pregnancy apps I’ve downloaded, the baby is currently the length of a bell pepper, measuring about 5.5 inches long and weighing 7 ounces. As the baby has continued growing, I finally have been able to feel his movements, starting the past couple of days. I know some people say it feels like butterflies or gas or tickles, but I'd describe it as a little bubble bursting or a slight flick against the inside of my stomach. The other night I felt it and had my husband put his hand in the spot and he was able to feel it, too, which was pretty exciting! 

HOW I’M FEELING. It comes and goes. During weeks 12-15, I had the surge of energy that they comes with your second trimester and my nausea abated considerably, compared with my first trimester. Around week 16, though, I started getting bombarded with fatigue and the nausea came back, not as bad as it had been but it did cause me to vomit for the first time this pregnancy. I think I figured out that it was because my body needed more food. That’s been something that’s been hard to adjust to, having to eat a lot and not necessarily when I feel hungry. I’ve realized that when I start to feel icky, it’s likely because my blood sugar is dropping, so when that hits, I go get something to eat and usually that perks me up, which has been a godsend of a realization, let me tell you! Speaking of food…



EATING. My eating habits have changed considerably since my pre-pregnancy days. I’m now eating about every couple hours, usually carrying a snack or two with me when we head out for errands or to church. There are still things that occasionally make me gag, but not nearly as often as they were in the first trimester. No cravings to note as of yet, though I still do have some aversions (most notably:  raisins). I have noticed that my desire to try any experiments in the kitchen has seriously nose-dived, which has caused me to take a break from my Adventures in Trying New Foods monthly challenge. The idea of okra and figs the past two months just didn’t do anything for me, so I took the initiative and skipped ‘em. Hopefully that will bounce back soon!

SLEEP. Around this point in pregnancy, they recommend that you stop sleeping on your back and stomach and start sleeping on your left side. This has been really cumbersome for me (typically a back sleeper) and has made sleep more restless while I try to stay comfortable. And I also usually end up getting up once during the night (usually between 4-5am) to go to the bathroom, have a drink, and sometimes get a snack. I'm actually getting used to it, so it isn't too bed. Plus, I know it's something I'm going to have to get used to, either now or once the baby's here, so I'm learning to just go with the flow and take naps later if need be.



PHYSICAL CHANGES. A bump is definitely starting to form and is particularly noticeable later in the day or when I wear shirts tighter around my stomach. I've also been quite aware of my body as it is growing, being able to feel my stomach and hips stretching out to accommodate the baby. It’s pretty interesting how all these different elements fit and work together to give the baby the room he needs. I've also noticed my skin and hair is drier than usual, so I've had to adjust to that.

CLOTHES. Thanks to that stretching and moving, my belly is indeed growing and I become aware of it every time I try to put on certain pairs of pants. By 10 or 12 weeks, a lot of my pants were already complete no-gos. Now, at almost 18 weeks, there are about half a dozen non-pajama pants that I can still comfortably wear (most accomplished by employing the snazzy rubber band-through-the-buttonhole trick!). As far as tops go, I’m pretty lucky that a lot of the clothes I already gravitate toward are maternity friendly with empire waists or tunics that flare out at the bottom. So far, I’ve avoided buying any maternity wear, but I would eventually like to pick up a good-fitting pair of maternity skinny jeans and some heavy-knit cardigans to get me through the winter (and that I can hopefully keep wearing in the future, too!). But that’s all that’s on my radar for now.

COMING UP NEXT. On October 11, we’ll get to have an ultrasound where we might be able to find out the sex of the baby. Currently, we do intend to find out, but I know that sometimes the baby doesn’t always cooperate with those things so if it ends up that the doctors aren’t able to be certain, I’ll be fine with that, too.



Related Posts
My First Three Months of Pregnancy

12 comments:

  1. Carmen, you're looking great! Can't wait to watch this bump grow :)

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    1. Thanks! It's been kind of a surreal thing to experience and watch it keep growing, growing. Proving that it's actually happening! That's something I don't think I've quite wrapped my head around yet! :)

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  2. You look wonderful! :) I love reading your update. It's amazing what our bodies are designed to do, isn't it?

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    1. It's absolutely phenomenal. It does it all on its own, really such a miracle how it all works together to create a little human!

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  3. I've also experienced that wakeup in the middle of the night. Sometimes I don't go back to sleep for an hour though, so I almost wish I had a baby to feed to feel like there's a purpose for it. I'm trying not to be jealous that your husband had already felt the baby move. Whenever I have Nathan put his hand on me, the baby stops! Hopefully soon.

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    1. Yeah, I'm usually up for an hour, too. You're totally right that at least feeding would give more purpose to it, for sure, but I am sure when that time comes, I'll just wish I could lie in bed and catch up on my emails instead :) Maybe with your baby that he doesn't keep kicking and kicking just means that he's going to be super well behaved when he comes out! I love reading into things like that, ha!

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  4. Isn't it amazing how our bodies change while God is growing a new little life inside? I never had any cravings (except for Ho-Ho's and Watermelon, which were already some of my favorites) but I did get some pretty strong aversions. I could not stand the smell of ground beef cooking so we didn't eat much of it that 9 months (pretty hard when you are die-hard Hamburger Helper fans!). I also loved Kraft Mac & Cheese and canned asparagus before. The M&C literally tasted like plain cooked pasta and cheese (not sure how to describe that, but I tasted the two totally separate things, as if I took a bite of one, swallowed it, then took a bite of the other... they would not meld no matter what I tried)... so I couldn't eat that anymore (thankfully I could as soon as the little one was born). But canned asparagus is another story. Even though I loved it in my pre-preggo days, the smell, texture and taste made me gag - and still does to this day (6 years later)... strange! :) So glad to hear things are going well though, can't wait to see what God creates in you, literally! :)

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    1. Oh, that's so neat to hear your experience! Fortunately I have not had any aversions to mac n cheese, which is a favorite treat of mine! But I know completely what you mean that somehow things that once were good suddenly, for no reason, now seem disgusting. I've had that experience off and on with salads. Weird. But at least they're just little sacrifices, when you think about it in context! I'm fortunate for that!

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  5. congrats once again! you look adorable! love the updates! boy, i hope i can make it through the physical changes when i get pregnant. have you had any insecurities about your body?

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    1. Thanks! I appreciate that :) I think the hardest thing about being pregnant and my body changing has been worrying about my weight and if I'm gaining enough for the baby. It's funny that no matter what, it seems like weight is always an issue, although it seems to flip with pregnancy because now you're supposed to gain weight. I'm just trying to make sure to do it in a health-ful way and listen to my body.

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  6. Thank you for such detailed updates! I enjoyed reading them. I'm looking forward to reading more. It seems like you are adjusting really well!

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  7. Yay! I am just now catching up on your blog! Congrats! I just had a sweet baby girl 6 weeks ago. I've been blogging about all things baby this week after a huge, super long hiatus during my pregnancy. I'm looking forward to reading more and more of your posts about BABY LIFE BLESSONS! :)

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