17 weeks and 3 days

so i'm 17 weeks 3 days today. i love having the pregnant belly!! although it's still pretty tiny. the woman at the veggie department at the market told me yesterday, "look, you can finally tell you are pregnant!". our friendship began when i was about 11 weeks along and had an emergency need for the bathroom. thankfully she pointed me in the right direction, telling the guard that the pregnant girl needs some t.p., so he ran off in search of a roll. I was so thankful for 1) for the toilet itself and 2) for toilet paper. i am usually good about carrying around my own t.p. because the public bathrooms in peru never have it for you. but in this case i was a pregnant woman in the market with a full bladder and that "i've got to go pee NOW" feeling, without even a square of paper!! she was my hero.

At 14 weeks we went on a long (i mean long) road trip. 17 hours from Cusco to Tacna. By the time we were heading back at the end of the trip, I was HATING the van. I just wanted to get out. Sitting for that long (even though Ricky made several small stops along the way for me), was just too much. The good part was, though, that we had our 2nd ultrasound done! The picture is posted in my album. The doc said the baby is healthy and just the right size. He scared me at first because he was feeling around on my belly and couldn't really locate my uterus. Apparently it was still low, and a little small. But nothing to worry about. He reaffirmed that last statement after he saw the baby and confirmed the size. I am a petite person and having small babies runs in my family, so i wasn't terribly surprised. But while you're laying on some butcher paper up on a table with a doctor pushing around and then have him make noises like, "hhmm, uhh huhh... yahh..", you'd probably think the same thing i did. I was like, "WHAT?!" but it turned out fine. We are so happy to have heard the heartbeat (this time by the doppler). The first time was at 7 weeks and we just saw the little flash of the heart, which was still cool though. But actually hearing it was something else.

During the ultrasound, the baby was curled up with his arm above his head, and we could just see the little fingers moving. When all of a sudden, the baby pumps his legs a few times to get some momentum and then completely flipped over! We were exstatic... actually seeing the baby move on the screen.

I've begun to feel movement and kicks in the last week or so. It's fun, but I wish they could be felt from the outside so Ricky could feel them too! That will happen soon enough, so I am just cherishing this time between the baby and i...

I haven't been very hungry. I always hear about women who could eat and eat during their pregnancies, but after I cook lunch and finally sit down to eat, I can hardly finish my food. I've gained 1.5 kilos so far, which is about 3.3 pounds. And i'm 17 weeks! The books and websites say that gaining between 2-6 pounds in the 1st trimester and then between the 14-28th week gaining a pound a week is normal. I'm not worried yet, because I know I'm eating healthy. I just want to make sure my calorie intake is high enough (we only eat 1 main meal a day). I eat a good breakfast every day, i snack during the day sometimes having a sandwich or something and then usually something light at night. I just want to do everything possible so the baby is healthy... and not underweight. The doc said i shouldn't worry too much and just eat whenever I'm hungry. And I've got some good prenatals that I'm taking so that should be a good help too.

For those of you who read this... and are women... and have gone through pregnancy before... perhaps (i hope) you can relate with me on this one. I feel more womanly and beautiful and complete now that I'm pregnant. The woman's body was meant for this. I don't know if I have the glow of pregnancy or not, but I sure feel it on the inside. Aside from feeling kindof crappy at times, usually from not sleeping well, I feel great! Seeing my belly grow is weird and wonderful (and having other things grow is wonderful too!). It is such a blessing and a miracle how God created our bodies to go through such emense changes and be the perfect environment for a growing human life. I wonder sometimes, how does it all fit in there... everything must be still squished together!

But it is truely wonderful. I love it.