Old Shirt, New Profile

Now that I'm a lady of leisure for the next few days, I finally have time to post a couple of profile photos of my expanding waistline. This week I'm 18 (going on 19) weeks along, so the baby is nearly half cooked. Up until this week, I really haven't been showing that much, but I feel like in the last couple of days my belly really exploded out. It'll be time to retire the purple shirt soon, which is one of two pre-pregnancy articles of clothing that still sort of fit. So for comparison:


15 weeks: A little bump that might be mistaken for a giant lunch or as I liked to call it my "burrito baby".

18 weeks 2 days: Hard to miss the belly, which now necessitates the use of an apron while cooking.

According to my Mayo Clinic Guide (my pregnancy Bible), the baby is about 5 1/2 inches long, or the size of a large baked potato. The rolling and tickling feelings that I've had for the past few weeks have definitely turned into thumps and pokes. Apparently, its ears are formed and all hooked up with the brain. One pregnancy source said the baby can "hear the tender beats of my heart" and "cooing sound of my voice." Barf -- I don't coo and I'm pretty sure my heart is more like a snare drum after climbing three giant flights of stairs everyday. Regardless, Jesse has been dreaming up a playlist of choice songs to make sure the baby comes out prepared to make the most of his extensive iTunes collection.

More importantly though, we go in on Tuesday for my second trimester ultrasound. I can't express how excited I am to see the baby again (and hopefully find out the sex). I'm not sure how I can wait a whole six days, but I'll try to distract myself somehow!