17 weeks and first official baby update

Baby is moving lots and I have felt it more and more in the past 4 or 5 days. I have felt the baby move really low in my pelvis and also just a few inches below my belly button too so that is interesting... I guess baby is all over the place. This is the week that the uterus presses against the abdomen so I am expecting that from here on out I will just pop out big time! Not that I haven't already :). It is kind of a funny feeling to call the baby "it" but I will have to get used to it because that is what "it" will be called until it's birthday.


With Rowen I took TONS of belly pictures. I found it fascinating how my belly went gradually from somewhat smooth and flat to smoothly round. This time I don't have that same fascination. I think mostly because it was bumpy round before I got pregnant this time so it just isn't nearly as cute and it was not a gradual process. I am okay with that, really, but it is different the second time- I don't really want to capture this belly on camera nearly as much. I look bigger in real life than in this photo. It really depends on what I wear. Some shirts make me look really round and others not so much.

I am craving lots of bad, bad food- anything salty and full of fat, some sweet cravings but not as much as you would think (I love sweets!!!). I also crave fruit and crunchy veggies but it seems like the bad food cravings win most of the time. I am exercising on a very regular basis (at least 5 days a week) to try to keep my blood pressure and stress levels in check and to just feel better about life in general- that is what exercise does for me, it is kind of a happy drug. It is not to burn calories so don't worry! Believe me, I am doing nothing major just walking on the treadmill and I have a few great prenatal workout videos I look forward to.

Rowen asks me often...

How did that baby get in there? He asks this question at least a few times a week. Recently I was sitting in the ski lodge with him with very few other people around but definitely close enough to hear him say, "How did that baby get in there?", in a very loud voice. I have decided that the best answer for us and for Rowen is that when mommies and daddies love each other lots and lots they can make a baby. So far that is working but he still asks often as if he is sure one day I will tell him the truth. He explained how the baby got in my belly to Devri the other day using that explanation so I guess he is buying it for now :). I knew Ro would be determined to know all the details because that is just how he is about everything... so very curious.

What is the baby saying? I tell him the baby is asking questions about its big brother. He loves this so we talk about all the things that baby wants to know about him. Rowen tells me often that when the baby is born he will hold the baby while I go get the diapers. Oh my! This is going to be interesting.

When Rowen is asked if he thinks the baby is a boy or a girl he consistently says "girl", however, whenever he talks about the baby he almost always says "he".

My next appointment is the BIG one! On my 32nd birthday (April 22) we have an ultrasound then an appointment with my OB. We are not finding out the gender but I am just as excited about this ultrasound as I was with Rowen's. I just want to see a healthy, growing, beautiful baby.