Week 18, Day 6

Well, any mention of any sort of escaping the baby and I managed to do last time I posted sadly is not the case this time. I got the flu - and when pregnant, without flu meds - it takes a healthy, 22 year old girl 8 full days to recover. Incredible. While I was out sick with the flu - the Matt flu hit the Mayes household and Mary Jane, Wendell and all the helpers got sick. I couldn't go into work - thank goodness - and so I was spared. Today at work I use hand sanitizer after I touch anything. Anything.

What a bad sick season!

Hopefully, the end is near. The birds are chirping on campus again and the sun comes out before 7am. Spring is a beautiful thing. Not as beautiful as summer - but then, what can compare my beloved summer? Absolutely nothing. It is only fitting that we would have our baby in the summer time - because now I can love that season even. more.

The belly is... unimpressive to say the least and at most times non-existent. Although, it is steadily growing. I can definitely tell a difference but Matt said if you don't know me very well you may just think I'm a little overweight. It doesn't look very much like a watermelon yet - I would compare to more of a grapefruit - maybe on a big day the large grapefruit variety. The baby is supposedly 5.5 inches long. I'm not sure exactly where s/he is hiding....

The weight gain has also been.. non existent. I'm not sure what my doctor is going to say next Thursday when I step on the scale and haven't gained one pound since our last appointment a month prior. I was supposed to gain 4-8 pounds. I promise I'm eating! But walking around UT makes it difficult to sustain any sort of weight gain. None of my classes are very close together and couple that with walking home from the bus stop and taking Niko out on occasion - all of this makes it very hard to gain weight. I have started eating more ice cream. I wasn't/still am not very interested in sweets during this pregnancy - but I recently bought the Intense Chocolate kind and someONE left Cookies and Cream at our house and it has been hard to resist. But I don't want to gain weight because of ice cream! So I try not to eat it... or I used to try anyways.

We find out in 4 days if baby is a boy or a girl. (!!!) I've been starting to think about the nursery more and decor - but I'm not really sure what that is going to look like. We have all of our furniture already - the crib isn't at our house yet - Wendell's granddaughter is giving us one of hers (she had twins). We'll have to paint or stain or somehow get the crib to match the rest of the dark wood - but we have a rocking chair, book shelf, and cabinet/dresser to use for the changing table. I think I'm still going to register for one of those super nice rocking chairs from Babies-R-Us and move the one currently in the baby room to our room - but even if we don't get it - then we are still covered.

It's hard to feel pregnant if you don't look pregnant. Correction: at times I feel VERY pregnant - but it feels strange to get excited about it when I am barely showing to the outside world. There is this new, uncomfortable indigestion feeling that is pretty much constant - and rolling over in bed fells ridiculous - and I'm starting to get hot. Other than these things... I'm just me.

Matt is still talking to the baby and I still don't. Occasionally I do. Like, if I sneeze really hard I feel the need to apologize for I'm sure jarring the poor child almost out of its wits. But I don't say things out loud to it. I "channel thoughts" to my womb during prenatal yoga... which I actually feel less weird about then if I were to start talking to my tiny little baby bump. What am I supposed to say? "Hi Baby - the weather is nice today...and, are you enjoying our 10am lecture course on the Iranian Revolution?" Maybe our baby will remember all the Spanish it hears MWF at 9am and will turn out bilingual. That would be ideal. Maybe when I know the sex and I see it again I'll feel more connected. I like when I feel it move! It isn't consistent but sometimes it really gets going. It doesn't feel like kicks and punches so much yet - although I do think I have felt one kick. I mostly just feel it moving around... it especially likes dinner time. Sometimes I sit during dinner and feel like the baby is dancing around in circles.

So, that is the baby news. Sort of uneventful - but time is just passing. I'm really glad we got pregnant when we did, because pregnancy itself sort of takes FOREVER and I'm anxious to play with this baby!