18 weeks

And growing... 

Check out my massive bicep.

Same dress only 3 weeks ago:

Maybe the two shots don't look much different, but the dress feels a lot shorter now!

I had my 18-week OB appointment yesterday and everything was fine.  I'm up about 3lbs from pre-pregnancy, which is a little on the low end, but the doctor wasn't concerned.  And to be honest (and vain), I'm glad all the weight I've gained so far has been baby-related rather than extra padding.

This week the baby is about 5.5 inches long and weighs about 7 ounces - the size of a bell pepper.  Although I still can't feel anything, we could hear a scratching noise on the Doppler at my appointment yesterday that the doctor explained was the sound of the baby moving around.  18 weeks is the official start of month 5, and I'll be able to feel definite movement by the end the month.  It's exciting to know that in just a couple weeks we'll know the gender, and I'll be able to feel little kicks and punches.  Pretty sure I've already lost my "mother of the year" nomination because I keep calling the baby "it".

I'm still exercising and have found that (at least when it's cool) running has been getting easier and easier.  I'm sure it will only last a few more weeks, but I want to enjoy it while I can.  I'm still doing a little yoga, although  I'm starting to be restricted in what I can actually do, and hope to get to the gym and try to tone up my bingo wings while I'm still feeling good.

I had a huge sigh of relief at work yesterday after giving my presentation.  There was a period of time at the beginning of the week when it seemed impossible to rescue it from disaster (we're talking threat level orange here), but I made a lot of changes, and it seemed like it went over well at the meeting.  I also got the page proofs back from my paper and only have a few changes that I need to make.  The only problem is that they want us to send figures that are at a higher resolution than I think SAS will allow...  More details than you want to know, but it would be nice if something happened without at least a minor headache.  Definitely looking forward to the weekend!