Well, we had our ultrasound yesterday which was a very neat - but tiring - experience. We still don't know the gender because the baby decided to keep its legs clamped together the whole time we were looking. Alas. We do know that it looks good and healthy. Right now he/she is measuring normally, but on the small side of normal. So, just to make sure he/she continues to grow normally, we'll be having another ultrasound in 8 weeks. That means another crack and determining the sex. We have a very fun video of the ultrasound and some still shots which I'll scan and post soon.

I am doing very well too. My blood pressure is still great and I've only gained 6 pounds so far. I was having severe round ligament pain this morning, but apparently that's normal.

Just for the record, I don't like that straight-on photo of me. I think it makes my butt look wide. I choose to blame that on the still-slightly-baggy maternity pants.

As for baby and me - we're halfway there now! Apparently the baby is about the size of a large sweet potato, if that means anything to you. It's also developed some kind of greasy coating which is supposed to protect its skin, but sounds gross to me. And the baby is starting to swallow more.

I seriously think I'm starting to get bigger by the day. This is the part of the pregnancy that I was excited about, but it's kind of disturbing now that it's actually happening. It just makes it feel like things are starting to happen much faster! Anyway, our ultrasound is tomorrow, which is very exciting!

This one was just too silly not to include. 

Check out my groovy maternity pants... (sorry for the glare) 

There's the belly. 

Angela at 20 weeks! 

Okay, for the bazillions of you who have been asking to see a picture of me pregnant, you only have to wait a *few more days*! The problem up to now has been that I have no photos of my pregnant self. Yes, we own a digital camera, but it's difficult to take pictures of yourself (not counting close-ups of the face) and we never think of it when Doug is home. However, I have put a reminder - in very large letters - on my calendar for Saturday to "TAKE BELLY PHOTOS". So, just be patient!

I undeniably felt the baby moving last night. It felt rather like it was doing the chicken dance in there. It was very strange, but kind of cool. I think Doug is anxious for the movement to be felt from the outside so that he can be part of it. Oh, I've started reading The Chronicles of Narnia out loud to the baby... :)

Well, I'm definitely visibly pregnant now and I've decided to stop squeezing myself into my old clothes. I know that I have a long way to go, but at least you can *tell* that I'm pregnant now! I can feel the extra weight too, especially when I'm working out. And, of course, there's a lot going on inside - Baby's going through important sensory development. Develop away, little brain! :)

Another thing I didn't necessarily know before getting into this was that your body really doesn't appreciate being all stretched out of shape and it rather hurts. By the end of the day yesterday, my lower back was aching and I was having round ligament pain (lower abdomen and sides). It wasn't unbearably painful, but it wasn't exciting. Charlie gave me some snuggle therapy in bed though and that helped!

I had some wacked out dreams last night. They were more like nightmares really. Oddly, the first two had to do with myself, my mom, and my grandfather (and my cats). One had something to do with me seeing a face at the dining room window and freaking out and throwing things at it. I woke up from that one spooked and had to scoot closer to Doug. :)

The second dream took place on a boat and there was water coming in all the windows and I was trying to get all my kitties safe with little help from anyone else. There was a third dream too (which also had my cats in it), but I can't remember much about it. There was a "bad man" and possibly some death. I think maybe it's good that I don't remember the details. Whew, what a night...

Not much going on today. It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood. I only wish you could get Spring in a pollen-free version. Doug and I are both dealing with heads full of... well, snot. But, it's nice to look out the window and see little green buds popping out everywhere and people outside, enjoying the weather. :)

I am now 18 weeks pregnant, for those who have lost count. I don't feel this way every day, but there are many days when I stay hungry a *lot*. In fact, as I say that I realize that I'm hungry again. My big struggle is making myself eat healthy things instead of junk food. I could happily live on Chik-fil-a and Pizza Hut, but that would not be good for my health - or my width. I think I MIGHT be feeling the baby move now. I'm just not sure, but it feels like something is moving in there!

Well, I'm pleased to report that I'm almost back to normal (finally)! I still have a lingering cough that doesn't *sound* good, but I feel MUCH better. I even plan to shower and put on something besides pajamas and actually leave the house today! I'm glad I'm feeling well enough to go grocery shopping because I've developed a serious case of "we don't have any good food in the house" over the past couple of days!

Oh, this is funny - I had a dream last night that I was on America's Next Top Model. I was as pregnant as I am in real life and I was concerned that I was going to get kicked off the show because of it. Tyra Banks was telling me that the judges had wanted to kick me off because they thought I was just "fat", but she told them I was really pregnant. It was a very amusing dream and clearly I think about this show too much.

My apologies to those of you who got all excited when I actually posted a few days in a row last week. This bit of silence is quite forgiveable though - I have been sick for nearly a week! It started with a bit of a cough on Thursday evening and just continued to get worse and worse. I called my OB's office on Monday and they called in some antibiotics for me.

Since I was still getting worse as of this morning, I went to see my GP. Naturally, I started improving a bit almost as soon as the appointment was made - that's just the way it works. And, as expected, he told me that I do have a bit of a contagious infection, but it's largely just my allergies. I didn't really expect anything else, but I was starting to be paranoid that I had pneumonia or something! Oh, and Doug is a very good nurse! :)

Woah! What's this - three days in a row, I'm posting! No way! Well, my life is finally back to normal. 'Normal' being the state it was in before I got pregnant. I'm not sick all the time, I'm not out of town, no one else is in town. No funny business. The house has actually been clean for several days in a row too! :)

I did not participate in Cow Kitty torture after all. -- Oh, a quick aside for those who have no idea who Cow Kitty is. He is a stray who showed up around our house looking hungry last summer and we now feed him daily and he spends 60% of his time sleeping on our back porch. He's quite cute, but not the touchy-feely type. -- I was not comfortable with keeping him in that little trap for over 12 hours, plus our neighbors called and asked for the trap back, so that got me off the hook.

Okay, today I will not let my post be lost...

I'm supposed to take Cow Kitty to have him fixed and vaccinated tomorrow. I'm having it done through Shadow Cats - a feral cat rescue/shelter/spay&neuter group. They will fix him, vaccinate him, and ear notch him (i could live without that, but it's part of the deal) for only $20. The sad part is that I have to trap him overnight and then let him just sit in that little cage until tomorrow morning. Like this whole thing isn't going to be traumatic enough, I have to torture him for several hours first. This makes me so sad that I almost want to back out! :(

Another sad thing - I broke off one of my fingernails and now it's trying to get ingrown. It's quite painful. Naughty fingernail!