Bugabug: 17 weeks

Weeks pregnant: 17
Total weight gain: +8
Total waist gain: ??
Baby size: onion

Physical stuff: My chiropractor has worked wonders for my headaches. I am hardly getting them anymore, and they lasted much longer with Penny. So grateful for that. I am also feeling lots of flutters and baby movements. I think they started about 3 weeks ago, but I forgot to mention them in my last pregnancy update. They are mostly on my left side and happen a few times/day.

Emotional stuff: I'm still consumed with the upcoming move, but I am definitely feeling more settled on that front. We found a great rental house in the town that we really wanted. It's an old home and reminds me somewhat of our house in Omaha. It has a good amount of space for us, and I will get a sewing space. Woo hoo! It also has a porch swing, a cute little backyard, and a laundry chute. It is half a block from a fabulous park and just a couple blocks from a great organic cafe with a play area. It is a hot rental market out there, so we just got really lucky. We also have a move date (packing & loading 8/22-24 and move in 8/27). And we decided to put our Omaha house on the market for 6 weeks to see if we can sell it at the price we want. If it doesn't sell by the end of September, we will rent it. It was hard to figure out what to do, as we think we will come back to Omaha at some point, but it is impossible to tell when that might be. We wouldn't want to rent the house out for 10 years, but if we were back here in a year, we would kick ourselves. But we don't have a crystal ball, so we have to do what makes sense now. As if all of that weren't enough, Josh is out of town all week at a wedding in the Caribbean, so the brunt of the getting-the-house-on-the-market legwork is falling on me. We were all supposed to go to the wedding, but when we started to research the travel risks, mainly involving Malaria in the region, we decided that it wasn't worth the risk for pregnant me and 1.5-year old Penny, so we cashed in on our travel insurance, and Josh is going solo. It sucks on many fronts, but it was definitely the right decision for our health and safety. It is hard not having him here to help with everything that needs to get done, and it is also hard that he is taking a week of vacation without getting to spend it with us, but it is what it is. And my mom and stepdad are here this week, which helps a lot.

Baby/Birth prep: I have an ultrasound scheduled for late next week. It will (hopefully) be my only ultrasound, so it's pretty exciting. I was supposed to wait until 20 weeks, but my midwife let me schedule it a week early so that we could squeeze it in before the move. I also contacted the birth center near our new home and hope to get a tour shortly after we move in. However, it is not accredited by the CABC. There aren't any in Illinois that are, so we still have some thinking and researching to do. I have amped up my kegel practice. I was obsessed with kegels last time, and I think it helped me avoid a bad tear. I like the kegel plan outline in this book.

Nursing/Boobs: I just wrote at length about where we are with nursing in my last post, but basically all is going well. I am letting Penny self-wean from this point, which I think she will do soon. I'm nursing whenever Penny asks, which is mostly once/day.

Gender stuff: I'm planning a whole post on this soon, so stay tuned!