18 Weeks

I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love we have received this week. I feel so blessed to be a part of this community and am so thankful for such a strong support system to get Parker and I though this journey. Thank you for all of the love and prayers. It means more than you know!

I want to continue doing bumpdates for the duration of this pregnancy and will savor each new one I get to write. I can't believe we are already to 18 weeks!

Thoughts: This week we found out our baby has triploidy, so it has been without a doubt the hardest week of our lives. We have been so overwhelmed by how much love we have received and how many people already love our baby. Through the awful news we received, we also found out some joyful news. I am carrying a baby girl!! We chose the name Taylor Grace for her and just love getting to talk about her and pray for her by name. I will write a post next week on her name story.

Baby: The fruit and veggie comparisons aren't very accurate for us because our little girl is a lot smaller than most babies her age. I believe the genetic counselor told us she is around 5 ounces right now.

Weight: The home scale has officially stopped working. Maybe it's a sign. They didn't weigh me at my last appointment since they were really just concerned about the baby. I would guess I am up 5-8 pounds. The bump looks much bigger after I have eaten. It's not much to write home about first thing in the morning, but it sure does grow after a decent meal!

Symptoms: Physically, I am feeling just fine. I have a nice case of pregnancy brain every now and then, but that's the only thing I can think of.

Sleep: I don't think I would be sleeping well at all if I were by myself. As hard as this journey we are on is, we are so thankful we are going through it while Parker is home and not deployed. I can't imagine doing this without him here. Having him here makes it much easier to go to sleep because I am not as likely to stay up and let my mind go crazy. I am still sleeping through the night unless I have to make a quick pit stop to the ladies room.

 

Cravings/Aversions/Eating: Still loving PB&J's. What else is new?

Workouts: The sub-chorionic bleed is gone, so that is a praise! That is the whole reason we did the ultrasound that made us realize the baby was small in the first place, so I wonder if God placed that there so the doctors would give me the unscheduled ultrasound. I don't know, but I am very thankful that it is cleared up. I can now work-out, so I am power walking a few miles here and there and doing weights with Parker. Nothing too big, but it feels great to move again. I had an amniocentesis at the beginning of the week (essentially, they stuck a long needle in my belly), and I was basically on bed rest for 24 hours after that. Other than that, I have enjoyed being active.

Clothes: Parker and I agree that my belly really hasn't changed sizes much in the last couple of weeks, so all of my clothes still fit pretty well. I just have a nice round tummy protruding from some of my shirts ;)

Random: We officially switched doctors' offices and will see the high risk OB for the remainder of this pregnancy. They seem to be a very competent team, and we feel really good about being in their care. Regardless of how much longer I am able to carry our little girl, I will have to go into labor and deliver her since I am this far along. I see this as a blessing, and I am thankful that we are surrounded by a team of doctors who have done their very best to prep us for what to expect.

 

17 Weeks

Thoughts: We are three weeks from the halfway point... wait, what?! I am anxious to feel movement but haven't felt anything yet! My belly is growing and we love it!

Baby: Baby is the size of a turnip, measuring 5 inches long and weighing 5 ounces. Baby is practicing sucking and swallowing and starting to pack on more body fat!
 

Weight: I have an appointment tomorrow so I will weigh myself then. I was up 5 at last week's appointment, and my guess is I have gained another pound or so.
 

Symptoms: Round ligament pain can be rough at times, but that's really the only symptom I have been experiencing.
 

Sleep: Sleeping 8-10 hours a night and loving it! I have finally gotten used to sleeping on my side, so that's a plus!
 

Cravings/Aversions/Eating: I am still eating PB&Js like it's my job. Cereal is for breakfast every single morning and I wouldn't have it any other way. One thing I have noticed is I usually don't want meat for dinner. I still eat it, but I really just want to eat the side dishes.
 

Workouts: I am benched for the time being. At my 16 week appointment last week, the doctor discovered a 1 cm sub-chorionic bleed. The good news is it hasn't affected the baby, and many times they go away on their own, so my doctor took away all exercise until my 20 week appointment to see if it will go away. No working out for me, but hopefully the bleed will resolve on its own and all will be good! I really prefer to be active, but the doctor knows best so I am fully following her discretion.
 

Clothes: The rubber band trick still works most of the time for pants and tops are fitting just fine as well. However, we had a wedding in to attend and I was in a panic because none of my winter dresses would zip! I had exactly two that fit, and I wore one to the rehearsal dinner and one to the wedding.
 

Random: We had a doctor's appt last week and got to hear that wonderful heartbeat again! It was going strong at 140 bpm. We also had an ultrasound and were just mesmerized by how active our little one was. Baby couldn't stop moving around and looked like a real baby! We have stared at those ultrasound pictures every day since. Call us crazy, but we think this baby has Parker's profile! The baby was measuring a little small so we go back tomorrow to make sure our dating is correct.

   

16 Weeks

 

Thoughts: I woke up 16 weeks 0 days, looked in the mirror, and was like (as my friend Emily put it) "Whooooop there it issss!". The bump just appeared out of nowhere, and I finally look a little pregnant. Parker kept having me suck in because he couldn't get over how much the belly wouldn't actually suck in. It's a baby, yall!

Baby: Baby is the size of an avocado this week, measuring 4.5 inches long and weighing 3.5 ounces. Baby is about to go through a big growth spurt and double his/her weight and grow a few inches. That explains some of the round ligament pain I've been having! 

Weight: According to the doctor's scale, I am up 5 pounds. This makes sense. I definitely feel like I've gained a couple of pounds in the last week alone!

Symptoms: Round ligament pain has been pretty rough on me this week, but I take it as a blessing that our little one is growing! I had a pretty easy first trimester, so I was due for some of this. A lot of stretching and growing going on!

Sleep: The round ligament pain has been pretty consistent the past couple of evenings, so I toss and turn a little more. I am still sleeping through the night though, so no complaints there!

Cravings/Aversions/Eating: Same old, same old. I eat a PB&J every day for lunch and literally go to bed looking forward to tomorrow's sandwich. It's so sad. As Parker and I see it, there are worse things to crave. No real aversions, so that's nice!

Workouts: I am still power walking 4-5 times a week, and that's been great. I walk between 1-3 miles every day. Nothing intense, but the doctor told me to start taking it even easier for the next couple of weeks. 

Clothes: The rubber band trick still works, but I opted for maternity shorts yesterday because my normal shorts were too tight. With this nice little growth spurt I've hit, maternity pants may be a thing sooner than I thought. All of my tops still fit just fine. 

Random: We officially decided to find out the gender with our families, so we are looking forward to that! We also used my fetal doppler this week, and Parker found the heartbeat right away. That was our first time hearing it together, so it was pretty darn special!

 

15 Weeks

Thoughts: 15 weeks feels good! Really, all I want to do is figure out the gender of this sweet little babe. We could technically go find out today, but we are doing a gender reveal party after Thanksgiving and I highly doubt we would be able to keep it a secret until then. I'll continue to wait!

Baby: Baby is about 4 inches long and weighs about 2.5 ounces. I believe the fruit equivalent is an orange this week. Baby can now sense light and would wiggle away if I shined a flashlight on my belly. Baby's legs are slowly growing longer than his/her arms. If this baby looks anything like me, those legs have quite a bit of growing to do!

Weight: +1 pound from pre-pregnancy weight. I really don't look too much different in the mornings, but the minute I eat something, my stomach gets bigger than it used to. I assume there's not much room for food + baby together! Parker and I both think the fact that I gave up desserts for the month played a large role in the lack of weight gain. You mean not eating ice cream every night will keep me on the smaller side? Interesting.

Symptoms: I'm not as tired as I have been the past couple of weeks, so that's exciting! This past Sunday I was sitting in church and realized I had forgotten to take my prenatal vitamin. I took it when I got home and then failed to eat anything for the next couple of hours. One minute I was walking around just fine, and the next minute I was doubled over on the couch clutching my stomach. It was awful. I know not to take that vitamin on an empty stomach, but man, lesson learned. I was out of commission for a good 3-4 hours and just felt miserable. Funny thing is, I also felt grateful in this moment because it made me realize just how blessed I am to have gotten sick for the first time at 15 weeks, and it was completely preventable and my fault when I did get sick.

Sleep: I get a good 9-10 hours a night and sleep through the night. I have always been a stomach sleeper, so it's still an adjustment not sleeping on my stomach.

Cravings/Aversions/Eating: I still eat a PB&J every day for lunch. Nothing sounds more appetizing when the lunch hour rolls around than that! I am still loving grapes as well and decided to mix it up with green grapes instead of the usual red this week. Yeah, not the same.

Workouts: I am power walking 4-5 times a week and loving it. The weather here has been gorgeous! I ran a slow mile with Parker Saturday and was fine. I tried to run on my own on Monday and stopped after .3 miles. My body just said no, and I heard it loud and clear. I think I am officially done running, and that's okay. Power walking is something I can do all through the pregnancy, so that is exciting.

Clothes: Maternity clothes still aren't necessary, but my sweet friend is letting me borrow all of her old maternity clothes when the time does come. Very excited to not have to buy all that stuff! Still doing the rubber band trick on various pants.

Random: We went to the pumpkin patch this week and talked about how fun it will be to bring our then 6 month old next year. Such a cool thought!

   

14 Weeks

 

Thoughts: Loving this second trimester! Baby seems to have popped out to say hello this week and I am loving it. I rub my little bump so much throughout the day it might as well be Buddha.

Baby: Baby is the size of a lemon this week, measuring 3.4 inches long and weighing 1.5 ounces. Baby now has a roof of the mouth and intestines in place in his/her body.

Weight: I am sitting here writing this at 10 PM the night before it gets published, and I just had a giant dinner at Chili's. So, weighing myself right now would not be advantageous. I will say I think my 0 number changed, but I'll be sure to get an accurate number for next week!

Symptoms: Just overall exhaustion, pregnancy brain, a little round ligament pain, and some nice bacne to boot! Same old, same old on that front.

Sleep: I traveled for work this week (and got to see my family!) and had the military ball last weekend, so I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked. I prefer about 9 hours and really don't function well on less than 8. I've always been big on sleep though! I swear that's the reason I hardly ever get sick.

Cravings/Aversions/Eating: I still want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch every single day. I was home with my twin earlier in the week, and I said, "oh my gosh, let's make nachos in the oven like we used to eat when we were kids! And scrambled eggs!". And then that's exactly what I ate for lunch, so that was strange.

Workouts: This past week I think my body was really trying to tell me to take it easy. I ran my usual 2 miles one morning, but it was so difficult. I wasn't really breathing heavily, but it was so hard to get my body to actually move. I finished the run much slower than normal, exhausted, and my heart rate was 20 bpm higher than it's supposed to go while pregnant. It was a wake up call that I am not taking it easy enough, so I've been sticking to power walking. My sister and I power walked 3 miles earlier this week, and it felt amazing!

Clothes: Thankfully loose tops are the style right now, so I can still wear pretty much everything. Thanks to the rubber band trick on select pants, those all still fit too!

Random: Baby Phelps attended his/her first military ball this past weekend! I bought a fetal doppler so I could listen to the heartbeat at home (apparently I'm that mom, and it's Sonaline B if you're interested in being that mom too), and I was able to find the heartbeat for about 10 seconds! It was hovering between 140-150 bpm. I brought it home with me to Texas for my mom and sister to hear, but after trying to find it for about 5 minutes we gave up. Baby is so small and wiggly, so it's pretty hard to find right now. I'll try again soon!

And because this is just too good not to post, my twin sister posted this picture on Instagram with the following caption: "My twin and our baby bumps! Spoiler alert, one of our bumps was actually fathered by a Taco Bell burrito. I won't say which one." Can't. Stop. Laughing.