17 Weeks 5 Days

How Far Along: 17 Weeks 5 Days
Size of the Baby: About 5 1/2 inches long and 7 ounces. About the size of a bell pepper.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2 pound gained. But I think the doctor's scale is wrong. I was very careful to not each much this morning before the appointment.
Maternity Clothes: Yes. On occasion I can wear a non-maternity top if it's a less fitted style, but pants are limited to either maternity or loose like lounge/pajama pants. The shirt in the picture above is not maternity, but the skirt is.
Gender: Don't know yet. I'd like a girl (since I've never had a baby girl to dress up and such) but Seth was such an easy baby (at least partially due to being a no fuss boy) so maybe we need a boy who is less high maintenance than a girl and all her accessories. We do have names picked out (if I don't change my mind) but don't think we'll share until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. We are having a sonogram on Wednesday and I'll be able to find out what we are having. Right now I plan on revealing to the family at Easter dinner on Sunday. The kids want to know and are giving me a hard time for making them wait from Wednesday until Sunday. But what I have planned with be fun since it lets the kids be involved finding out.
Movement:None. Dr W says I should feel the baby move in the next 1-3 weeks. I have thought I've felt something, but written it off mostly because the doctor didn't really expect anything. Now, I'll start paying more attention to what I'm feeling.
What I Miss Most: sleeping all night, eating normally and not feeling hungry/overly full all the time.
Cravings:None. I can eat whatever I want, but am trying to be careful and not gain too much weight. Although I'd love to have strawberry shakes every day, I have restrained myself.
Symptoms: Shortness of breath, random aches and pains, being tired, moodiness. (The latter could also be related to the fact that I have stress on all fronts right now since its tax season.) Lately I've been waking up feeling yucky in the middle of the night. I've used the time to pray, but really wish I wasn't being woke up because I don't feel well.
Best Moment of the week:Today at the doctor's, he heard the heartbeat really quickly and said the baby was having fun. Strong, steady beat every time so far. I love it. I suppose after Wednesday the best part of the week will be finding out the gender of the baby.

Funny story: Today I asked my doctor if he was retiring. All of my doctors/dentists have announced their retirement, so I had to make sure Dr W would be delivering my baby. He quickly said no. He wouldn't be able to keep busy without the practice. It made me feel better. It's one of those randome thoughts that had me a little nervous, but I feel better now.

For whatever reason, last fall, my insurance announced that they were dropping the one hospital my doctor delivers at. So, I've decided it is cheaper to self pay the hospital (they actually charge lower rates if they don't have to deal with the insurance companies) than to run it through insurance. The out of network deductible is $15,000 so we will never meet that. All or most of the doctors (pediatrician, anesthesiologist) are covered by my insurance, just not the hospital itself. Kinda strange if you ask me. Of course the way insurances change, that could all change before I deliver anyway. All that to say, I have chosen my doctor because I love him, even if I have to self pay the hospital in order for him to deliver the baby. So if he was going to retire between now and my delivery, I was going to switch sooner rather than later.

We aren't posting on facebook/the blog until maybe Sunday night about the gender reveal. This time, I want to tell all the family first so you will just have to wait. :)