Eighteen Weeks

Someone's had a growth spurt!  And no, I'm not talking about me, unfortunately.  I would suspect that all this whining I'm doing about not having a bump will come back to bite me in the rump (ha!) in about three months.  I know I should relish it and be glad that I'm not bigger, but it just astounds me how pregnancy grows different on every woman.  I'm looking at all these pictures of pregnant celebrities, due around the same time that I am, and they look a lot different than I do - so much, in fact, that I'm fairly certain they're wearing a bump pad. 

I may be wearing a looser fitting shirt today, but you're really not missing much of anything.  I'm convinced I'm just giving birth to a food baby.  Speaking of which, the baby is now about six inches long and weighs about eight ounces, or a half-pound.  It's as big as a large mango.  So, let's think about this...before I was pregnant, I could smuggle a large mango (at least) and no one would ever be able to tell.  I don't really know what I think about that, other than I may have missed my calling as a drug lord.

This week, the baby's arms and legs are in proportion, neurons are firing throughout the brain and muscles, and the cartilage is turning to bone.  Based upon what I'm feeling, I'm also getting the distinct impression that I'm giving birth to an action figure or the next star in the Matrix movies.  Seriously, this little bugger is doing flips and belly slides.  In addition to giving me a little pop every once and a while.  It's really a surreal feeling, but I like it.  Reminds me who's running the show. 

I'm feeling great, we almost have our house ready to put on the market.  The second bedroom is getting painted today.  Jeff and I are going to clean the place up tonight, and then the carpet cleaners are coming in tomorrow morning.  And then, we're all done.  We're really toying with the idea of renting our place because I don't know how much of a hit we'll take on the purchase price, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  I will admit that I am quite tired at the end of the day, and usually find myself crawling upstairs at about 8:30 to go to bed (that is, unless there's an episode of Friday Night Lights on television).  My appetite has been great and my energy level remains pretty constant throughout the day.  All good signs, I think. 

This weekend, Jeff and I are going to stay with my parents while our carpets dry.  My mom is having surgery on her foot tomorrow, so make sure you say a quick prayer for a safe and speedy recovery. 

UPDATE:  I may have had a real, true craving.  I'm not sure.  I really wanted a bacon, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and onion sandwich with mayonaise on toasted white bread.  With Twizzlers.  I don't know if that counts or if it's even weird.  But I just finished it and it was delicious.