Pregnancy: The Good & The WTF?!

Boy it's been awhile since I have posted over here.  I have had the urge to post about random pregnancy stuff, but somehow it felt criminal considering my last few posts (quite some time ago) were about alcohol & crass subjects. But hey, why change just because I'm pregnant. I wouldn't be the real me if I created a fluffy pregnancy blog, decorated with pretty birds & light-hearted posts, would I? Nah.

Today I'm 18 weeks & 4 days pregnant. According to BabyCenter.com, my little dude or dudette is the length of medium bell pepper. WOW. Even though I'm almost half way through, it's still hard to believe I'm pregnant.

I chose red, cause green bell peppers are not my thing these days.

I have wanted to be pregnant as far back as I can remember, & I always LOVED newborns.  I've always been fascinated with the whole process & felt the urge to be a Mom very early on. Clearly I wasn't dumb enough to get knocked up at 15, or 18....I knew/dreamed it would happen one day when I was happily married...which I am.  I've been with DG for 7.5 years. We just got married on 9/30/11 & pregnant the 1st week of January. Who knew it could happen on the first go round'. LOL. Well it did, and we feel extremely fortunate that it happened so fast. We may have been a bit in shock, but soon the shock turned to excitement.

That said, I think I will keep posting preggo stuff on this blog, mixed in with the normal random ramblings.  But to kick off the first preggo post, I thought I'd do one of those nifty surveys I have seen other Moms-to-be do:

How far along?  18 weeks, 4 days aka in my Fifth Month or 4.5 months...however you wanna figure it.
Total weight gain/loss?  Gain so far, I believe 6 lbs.
Maternity clothes?  Yes, the jeans have been a must since about 13 weeks.  I have wide hips, so I wasn't able to sling my regular jeans below my belly, because if I lowered them they didn't fit around my hip region...I have an hourglass figure..which is great, but doesn't work for slipping jeans lower.  I'm now realizing I may need to buy some tops since my regular ones are getting too stretched at the bottom.
Stretch marks? None, thank goodness.
Sleep?  Eh. I have always been a side sleeper, but inevitably roll to my back in the middle of the night.  I have been conscious of trying not to roll on my back...which wakes me up a lot, as does my need to pee. SO ANNOYING.
Best moment last week? THINKING I felt a kick. But haven't felt it again...some random flutters, but could have been gas. My Doc said probably closer to 20-22 weeks for first pregnancy.
Movement?  See last question.
Food cravings?  Tomato soup, tuna, spicy/salty foods. Also crave something sweet at night.
Gender? Our big ultrasound is this Thursday, but we aren't finding out. DG is really really wanting it to be a surprise. I alway swore I wanted to wait too, but man it's going to be hard!
Labor signs? None!
Belly button in/out? Still pretty deep. Always been a deep inny.
What I miss: Drinking wine after work.
What I am looking forward to: My Wed cervix check & my Thurs ultrasound...I'm a ball of nerves right now...Praying all is ok with baby.
Milestones: None this week. 

And a few other random things...

Annoying symptoms:

~Constantly growling, gurgling stomach. It doesn't stop after I eat because then it makes noise while it's digesting. So uncomfortable to always have that bottomless pit feeling. Ugh.

~I'm out of breath a lot...after talking, walking up stairs. 

~On a positive note, I have never thrown up, only had mild nausea for a few weeks in the beginning...and yucky food aversions.

Think I'll post some belly progression pics next time around...Until then ;)

XOXO J