22 weeks

Oops. Oh, well.

And, she decided to pop out! Big time! People no longer think I'm just fat, they actually offer me seats on the train (except the 7 train, those people were raised by wolves. Seriously.)

We've had a busy 3 weeks. I had a second anatomy scan, which wasn't necessary, but since my insurance covered it, I decided to go for it. Plus, any opportunity to see the little potato is a good one. She's perfectly healthy, but a little small. I'm making an appointment with a nutritionist to see if we can bulk her up without tipping me over the scales, which I'm dangerously close to. Since I'm not puking on a daily basis, I'm just having a little pregnant party with myself. This is not good for someone like me who is addicted to food.

In the past 3 weeks, I've been craving:
- vanilla ice cream (which is weird because I think vanilla is boring)
- Tabasco sauce
- taco salad
- chili con corne wafel from Wafels & Dinges
- corn on the cob
- baked potato
- lasagna

The only other thing out of the ordinary that I've been experiencing is really bizarre dreams. I had one where a co worker's twin sister was dating the man who is the voice of Skooter from the Muppet Babies. They met at Applebee's and went camping. Also, he was a dwarf. In another dream, a little boy taught his pet hamster to speak. It said beautifully poetic things and met the president. The 4 of us went para sailing around the world together.

I'll stop eating pecan pie before I go to bed.

19 weeks

Really, it's just the shirt that's making me look like there's a belly there. Still no real, discernible bump.

This week was a real headache. Literally. I had two killer ones and took Tylenol to quell them. Tylenol is the only painkiller you can take during pregnancy, because everything else threatens to constrict blood vessels to the baby. I never take Tylenol though because it tears up your liver. I feel badly taking it because it might also be shredding little Flannery O'Conor Flannery's* biggest organ as well. It's a hard pill to swallow - pun intended. I've tried all of the other remedies; walking, napping, water, scalp massage, etc. Nothing but the Tylenol works, and even then, only the pain goes away. I can still feel the pulsating sensation in my skull. I called the Dr. today, but had to leave her a message because she was delivering a baby. I asked her how often it was safe to take Tylenol. Some other googling offered that a half a cup of caffeinated coffee is safe for relieving a headache, so I tried that today, but it didn't work either. Any Mamas out there have any answers?

You may also notice my lovely Belly Band. It's a garment that you wear at the top of your pants, like a pull-on belt, that allows you to wear your pants un-zipped without them falling to your ankles. It's the best thing ever. I throughly plan on wearing after pregnancy, especially at Thanksgiving, and Ryan asked for one.

This week in cravings:
- strawberry soft serve ice cream from Ameri-stop. I have no idea why, but what I do know is that they only serve it on Sunday
- crab rangoon
- Tom Kha Gai (acquired!)
- creamy fish chowder (?!?!)
- almond joy
- stuffed shells
- cheez-its
- nutty bars (scored! a lovely co-worker came to the rescue!)

next week, week 20! Half way!

18 weeks - it's a...

 GIRL!

This week was pretty exciting. We found out we are having a girl, and more importantly, that she couldn't be healthier. She has every organ that she's supposed to, and all of her bones are growing the right length. The appointment for the anatomy scan was not at all like everyone told me it would be. First of all, they asked me to pee before going in. I was surprised, but relieved (pun intended). Also, the ultrasound tech performing the scan was really difficult to understand through an incredibly thick accent. I barely understood anything she said other than, "all healthy," and "it's a girl."

3 days later I had a regular check up with the baby doc. Good news - she gave me the all clear to eat soft cheeses, including goat cheese and blue cheese as long as they're made with pasteurized milk. Yay! There are 3 schools of thought on the soft cheese front; that you can't eat any soft cheese, that you can eat it as long as it's made with pasteurized milk, or than you can eat any cheese as long as it's heated to boiling. I'm so glad that my lovely counselor went with the easiest of these 3 choices. Bad news - I've gained too much weight. 12 pounds total. She informed me (for the first time) that I should only gain 25 pounds during this pregnancy, and 12 pounds is a lot to have gained so far for not even being half way there. Her suggestion was to simply quit eating so many carbs and not to drink my calories. Easier said than done, lady.

Other than that, the weird food cravings haven't ceased. This week was brought to you by:
- Keebler sugar wafers
- Apple cinnamon cereal bars
- a tomato sandwich (white wonder bread, tomatoes, mayonnaise)
- fast food fish filet sandwich (say that 10x fast)
- orange hi-C
- corn in a cup*

Not as many as last week, but they're just getting weirder as time goes on.

You might be happy to know that Ryan and I resolved our differences in regards to the dishwasher situation. I've decided to just relax about it and let him load and unload when he gets the chance. Why was I fighting about doing the dishes?

This coming week looks like a lot of rain. I'll be staying indoors mostly, eat low-carb soup and watching the presidential debates. What about you?

*OMG, corn in a cup. There is a phenomenon you may or may not have heard of yet called "Mexican Street Corn," or sometimes, "Elote." This entails a grilled ear of corn on the cob, rubbed with mayonnaise, rolled in cotija or queso fresco crumbles, then drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with cayenne. SO DELICIOUS. At our local weekly food gathering, Smorgasburg (get it? a smorgasbord in Williamsburg?) a genius family took it upon themselves to scrape the kernels off the corn, and mix all of the ingredients in a cup so that you can eat it with a spoon. Ryan still prefers his on the cob, but I enjoy the uninteruptted bites I can shovel in with the freed corn in my hand. If you don't have corn in a cup near you at any street festivals, I highly suggest you find the nearest Mexican neighborhood and get some Elote on the weekend. It will change your corn eating habits, I promise.