Busy as a bee

18 weeks hitting it hard at the gym

My 17 week appointment was uneventful.  I met with the Doctor and the heartbeat was 150 BPM. I had blood work drawn and then scheduled the anatomy scan. That means next time I go in, we will find out what we are having...Boy or Girl! That is set for June 6, so its just over 1 week away. We are very excited.

I was thinking it was going to be a boy, but then now I feel more like it will be a girl. My acupuncturist told me she believes I am having a girl based on my pulses in each wrist. We will soon find out.

My itching has subsided quite a bit, which is nice! My most significant complaint now is my back pain. I have a lot of lower back discomfort and I think that is probably just par for the course as everything is expanding and stretching a lot.

We have been staying busy as a family. We recently bought new furniture for our living room. We got a really nice recliner that will be perfect for the baby because it rock and swivels. And we finally bought a king size bed set so we will have room to sleep all together if that is what needs to happen, although I am working hard to get Ruby transitioned into her own bed.

Big Sis testing out baby products

Ruby has taken a liking to Nick's CPR Dummy Baby and is practicing being a big sister. She has been dressing the baby and even disciplining the baby.

First time at the pool with Baby

Itchy Mama

Mother's Day Roses

For a little over a week I have been dealing with extremely itchy skin and terrible scalp itch. It started up a couple days after my last OB appointment and so I went back in that Friday. I met with another doctor who was puzzled by it. There was no rash and the itching was all over my body, but worse on the scalp. I thought I had lice at first!

They tested my blood to make sure there was not a problem with my liver, which can result in a dangerous condition for the baby which presents with mom itching. Luckily my liver and bile tests all came back fine. I am relieved that I do not have some rare condition and I can suffer through with whatever this is as long as I have a healthy baby. The itching is still there but it has subsided a bit, I think! I also think that maybe this is a sign that I am having a boy. I didn't have this symptom with Ruby and a couple people I have heard of had crazy itch with their boy pregnancies, but not with their girls. Additionally, I have had a total of 3 dreams now where I delivered a baby boy. Could it be? We wait.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and it was a nice, but uneventful day. Nick had to work so Ruby and I spent the day out and about shopping and then I came back and cleaned up the house a bit. It was so nice to have a day off work and to actually have the time to clean my house. We Facetimed with Diana and baby Emmet, which was fun. I also had a pretty rough work week so it came as a really nice surprise when I won a $200 Amazon gift card from a Mother's Day campaign I entered on social media. I am thinking I may use that to buy a new stroller, one that Ruby can stand and ride.

I have been back at it in the 9Round Gym and enjoying the workouts. My back is hurting a bit and so I think it is probably time to pay another visit to the chiropractor. Its already May and summer plans are taking shape. Nick and I will go to NYC in June and Ruby and I will take a trip to Michigan over the 4th of July. I am really looking forward to that. I have a feeling this baby is going to be here before we know it because we have so much planned between now and delivery date. Life is good.