16 Weeks

I can't believe we're this far! I've held this week in my mind as a sort of landmark week, because Ashley was 16 weeks when we told them we were pregnant. She told me then to get the book "Your Pregnancy Week by Week," which I did and I love. Anyhow, when I looked at the picture of where her baby was at that point, I was amazed that she had a little person that looked like a little person, whereas I had a strange manatee-looking creation. Now we have a little person!

This week has been all about hunger and itching. Itching and hunger. More itching and more hunger. Michelle told me that when she was pregnant her doctor (who is also my doctor) told her that when the mother feels hungry, the baby has been hungry for an hour. Holy cow. The natural question that arose in my mind, then, was this: "How am I supposed to anticipate that I'm going to feel hungry in an hour so that I can go ahead and eat now?" My little one, it seems, has developed a little system for helping Mommy out on that one. I hiccup, a lot. Nearly one hour after I hiccup the first time, I feel ravenously hungry all of a sudden. When I hiccup, then, it's time to eat. Think it's embarrassing to have your stomach growl loudly in the middle of church? Try uncontrolled hiccups. Nice. It's actually a very nice system....as long as I can hiccup discreetly and not let everyone in on what's going on. Scott tells me, though, that pregnant women are somehow excused from making weird noises like that (and are almost expected to do so), and that I shouldn't worry. I don't know.

As for the itching, we're working on that. My doctor told me that it's normal, courtesy of pregnancy hormones. (What isn't?!)

The other night I came home and was sorting through my clothes to see what I can still wear and what, of the maternity clothes I've inherited, I have grown into. I had a sundress in mind for our trip to the beach next month and decided to try it on to see how it would work. I bought it a year or two ago, and while it fit then I knew that because of the cut it would work well as a maternity dress. From my memory, I thought it would work well next month. When I tried it on, though, I was in for a surprise! It fits now, and probably will not fit next week, much less next month. Scott escorted me out to the backyard and seized the opportunity to have a pregnancy photo shoot. The sun was going down, so the quality wasn't wonderful, but we got some pretty good ones.