Pregnancy: 16 Weeks

I can't believe it has been 6 weeks since my last pregnancy update.

 The baby belly is giant already!

 Whose belly is bigger mine or Phoenix's?

Already in love!

Due date: May 4, 2012

How far along: 16 weeks

Weight gain: 10 pounds

Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes. From about 10 weeks on I've been in maternity clothes.

Baby bump: 2nd pregnancies are no joke. My belly started rounding out around 6 weeks and I was obviously showing by 9-10 weeks. When I was pregnant with Brennan I wasn't showing this much until 26-27 weeks. Good thing I have Babycenter and Facebook so I can see my big bump fits right in with all the other 2nd time moms. Now if I could just get my family to stop teasing me about having twins we'd be good.

Gender: We aren't going to find out the gender. We are really excited to announce both the gender and the name on the day the baby is born. The waiting may kill the older kids and some of our other family members but we are super excited for the big surprise. My intuition from the beginning is that it is a boy. Hubby says he thinks it is a girl. We'll see in about 24 weeks who is right.

Heartbeat: We got to hear the heartbeat at my appointment on November 3rd. I was 13 weeks and 6 days. The baby had a nice strong heartbeat of 160 BPM. It was an amazing sound to hear and I loved seeing hubby's face light up when he heard it too.

Movement: I first felt the baby move on November 4th when I was 14 weeks along. I noticed other 2nd time moms saying they could feel the baby as early as 12 weeks then I finally read in one of my pregnancy books that 2nd time moms can sometimes feel the baby at 14 weeks so I decided to give it a try. Last time I was pregnant I didn't feel Brennan until about 20 weeks along. My doctor then told me to eat a snack, lay down and be still and focus on feeling the movement. I did the same thing this time and sure enough I could feel some nudges and even some tumbling going on. I still can't feel the baby move during my day to day activities but if I lay still and try to feel the baby move I can. The baby is most active right before bed around 9pm at night. I hope that doesn't mean we're going to have a baby who doesn't want to sleep.

Symptoms: Overall I still feel great! I noticed a significant boost in my energy levels around 12 weeks. I still get tired, especially if I do a lot during the day, but now instead of falling down in bed at 8pm because I can no longer function, I am tired but can stay up until 9:30 or 10pm getting done what needs done. I've had a few instances of round ligament pain but usually it is a dull ache if I do too much. I've had more headaches the past few weeks but not too many. The breast tenderness has subsided. The always feeling hungry has subsided too though I now try to eat a lot more protein especially in the morning so I stay fuller longer. My blood pressure has still been a little high. When I take it now it tends to be in the mid-upper 120's over upper 70's or lower 80's. I had 4 acupuncture sessions which helped. I'd continue those but we won't be meeting our deductible this year and will have a lot of out of pocket costs next year so I can't keep paying out of pocket for acupuncture. My original blood work didn't say I was anemic but the acupuncturist suggested adding a liquid iron supplement from Vitamin Cottage and I think it is helping keep my blood pressure down.

Exercise: I've been doing horrible with exercise since it has gotten cold. Brennan and I went on a 5 mile bike ride yesterday but on average I am only exercising 1-2 days per week. I'd really like to continue running my entire pregnancy so it is easy to pick up postpartum. There is a prenatal water aerobics class through the city I am going to sign up for. I figure paying for a class will be motivation enough to get me there and be 2 days a week of exercise. If anyone has any great cold weather/no exercise partner suggestions for keeping me motivated I'd love to hear them. I also have Your Shape on the Xbox and occasionally do the yoga or cardio but honestly don't love exercise videos.

Next Appointment: Friday, December 2nd. I'll be 18 weeks and I scheduled it for when Nate isn't working so he can come along too. Our ultrasound is scheduled for January 3rd. It is the standard anatomy scan since we won't be finding out the gender though I am excited to see the baby.

Here is the link to the Baby Center Your Pregnancy: 16 Weeks Some of the highlights are: get ready for a growth spurt your baby will double in size in the next few weeks. Your baby is the size of an avocado (4 1/2 inches and 3 1/2 ounces). His legs are more developed. His eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. He's even started growing toenails. His heart is now pumping 25 quarts of blood each day and this amount will continue to increase as he develops.