17 weeks

My 17th week was my first mostly positive week since being pregnant.  I was able to stay up almost every night until Dave came home, I actually left the house and hung out with people, and I had moments where I felt almost 100% human.  Now, in the beginning of my 18th week, I've regressed a bit, but that's okay.  Each good day (and the bad ones too) are a gift from God.  I'm just trying to see it that way.

I bought some long, peasant skirts at Rue21 a couple of weeks ago and I bought them in XL so I'd grow into them, but as this pregnancy has gone I've only lost weight and not gained it thus far so the skirts sagged and dragged on the ground.  But this week, I noticed that my growing girth finally held them up! Yipee! I haven't weighed myself, but I'm guessing I may have added some pounds finally.  My midwife said I'd gain 4-6 pounds between now and my next appointment towards the end of February.

I'm still on the same weird diet.  I still have trouble if I divert from it for more than a few bites.  Even a couple of bites can sometimes throw me into a few hours of sleepiness.

Baby movement is becoming more pronounced.  It's not necessarily more or less movement than it was between 13 and 14 weeks, but it is more pronounced.  I feel so much closer to the baby as a human being when he or she moves.

I'm sort of hoping for a girl for the logistics of things.  We could turn the spare room into a playroom rather than another bedroom if it were a girl, and that would help streamline the organization of the house.  Of course, I'd love a boy too.  Everyone else is pushing for a boy. 

I'm still lounging around watching more tv with Bunny than I'd like, but I'm kind of resigned to that.  Even when I'm feeling well, I'm not usually up to the sort of play she prefers.  Dave and I have noticed that I am her snuggler, and we snuggle ALL THE TIME, and he is her jungle gym.  It's nice, though, because this pregnancy has allowed her to bond with her father in a way she hadn't before.  I'm sure it's just the breastfeeding thing, but she has been so attached to me since birth that it was pretty much me or nothing and she only wanted Dave when I wasn't around.  Now, she wants him for certain things and me for others.  She's learned how things need to function with me in my delicate state and has easily and happily adapted. 
She has really integrated pregnancy into her play a lot.  All of her dollies are becoming big sisters too, and sometimes one of them or her will be sick because "they have a baby in their tummy."  All her dollies get to experience all the things she experiences.  I love how I get to see the world through her eyes that way. 

And my goodness, but isn't she so much fun to listen to! She lets me sit while she plays and fabricates stories that may or may not involve me.  I listen and interact verbally and just laugh and laugh at her antics and her creativity.  It's amazing.  I just fall in love with her more and more every day. 

This week, Dave didn't have to wake up and get me food at all.  There were even mornings where I didn't eat until I'd been up awhile.  Again, that is an area where I've regressed, now that I'm halfway into my 18th week, but still, it gives me hope.

Noelle likes to nurse her dollies lately.  She informed me that she would help me nurse the baby when s/he comes, and I had to tell her that only I can nurse the baby because God hasn't given her milk yet and he will when she gets her own babies.