Aren't I just glowing? I feel so good this pregnancy in appearance. So this is what I look like. Boy do I look preggo! I really do have a preggo belly! Last week on Thursday I left work a little early. I was feeling so bad, I had been dizzy, my chest was hurting, my back hurt and I felt awful. I went to sleep at 4pm and never got up until the next morning. Then I called into work. I felt so bad that the OB wanted to see me. Joe had to come home from work to take me. They said the chest pain was my stomach pushed all the way up to my chest, and that I had some flu. I rested all weekend and luckily it went away by Sunday! I'm one day short of 19 weeks.

I've been feeling good otherwise. I've been using the restrooms more than I would like. I went to lunch yesterday and went 7 times in 2 hours. Yeah, a bit crazy!

My weight gain has been pretty steady - about 20 lbs, which is a lot but I haven't gained in the past few weeks, I actually lost a few lbs after the flu so I hope I don't gain a TON like I did with Joey. I haven't been eating as much and I've been exercising a lot so hopefully that helps.

Today was the ultrasound. The story is below. I still can't believe it's a boy. I'm so happy about it but I was for sure it was a girl. The little baby was quite active today when the tech was doing her ultrasound. He was moving his arms all around. It was so cute. Joe's mom was amazed at the way you can see the baby. The baby measured right on target and is 9 oz. in weight.

Here's 18 weeks:

This week of pregnancy, your baby is about 5- 5½ inches in length (crown-to-rump) and weighs close to 5½ ounces by now. Meconium (your baby's first bowel movement) is beginning to collect in the colon. Meconium is made up of undigested debris from the amniotic fluid and various secretions of the digestive tract and is greenish black or brown in appearance. Circulation of blood is now established and the umbilical cord lengthens and thickens in response to the rapidly growing needs of your baby. Though there is no direct exchange of blood between you and your baby, the placenta is transferring nutrients and oxygen from your blood to your baby via the umbilical cord. Your baby and the placenta are now almost equal in size.

You may have gained between 10-13 pounds by now, however weight gain varies greatly from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy. The top of your uterus should be just below your belly button now and due to the growth of your belly, your sense of balance may be affected. Maternity clothes may be a ‘must’ now if you’ve been pregnant before, otherwise it’s about time to start shopping for that new maternity wardrobe!

You may be having an ultrasound around this time, which can detect many physical abnormalities in your baby. This ultrasound is also valuable for determining placental position, amniotic fluid level and your baby’s anatomy. You may be able to determine your baby’s gender, if you’d like to know, although remember that ultrasounds are not 100% accurate. If you choose not to find out the gender of your baby, tell this to the technician at the beginning of your ultrasound.

Joe and I took the day off today. After we had our ultrasound, I was in a state of shock. I was SO sure that this baby was a girl, that I was almost betting people on it! I can't believe it's a boy. Wow! I'm very happy about it. I've heard girls are more difficult, but more honestly, I love Joey and how he is and we have all the clothes and toys already. I also think that Joey will be very close to his brother when he gets older, so that will be nice.

Joe's mother came with us for the ultrasound and that was really nice. The ultrasound tech took all types of measurements but she wasn't able to get a photo of the baby's head because he's head down. She had to do a vag ultrasound. I seriously have no modesty, I swear. I just pulled down my pants and sat right on the table. Come on - Joe's mother WATCHED Joey being born, so it's not like she hasn't seen anything anyhow and the tech I'm sure is used to that anyhow so who cares? She got the photos of the brain she wanted and said everything looked good and she'd talk to the doctor. She came back and said the doctor said everything looked great, even the kidney's. What a relief = oh and I'm still in a state of shock - it's a BOY!!!!!!!

We came home and had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Bakers. I had a yummy sandwich wrap, Joe had a steak and cheese burger and Joe's mom had a mushroom burger. We had a great lunch and it was nice.

Then we picked up Joey and stopped for ice cream and then took him to the playground. It was quite chilly AND windy. It didn't help that he went down a slide we didn't know had a water puddle at the bottom. So he got all wet. We let him play a little longer but then dragged him back to the car. He wasn't happy about it. We told him he was wet and it was bedtime. We got home and he was ready for a nap. He went straight into his room.

Joe's mom stayed a little longer and then left. It was already close to 3pm! I took a nap, Joe took a nap and we napped until Joey got up at 5pm.

This may be TMI warning. Our cat has been puking on our new carpet. We'll he's always puked but since we got our new carpet, it's really made Joe mad. So Joe's mom was coming out last night and we had a dark spot in our carpet and it mad Joe angry every time we passed it so I told him, let's just go out and get a carpet cleaner. I've always wanted one (I used to borrow my mothers) so now we'll just have our own. We got a heated steamer for the carpet by bissel for $162 at Wal-mart. Wow! Oh and it almost completely took the stain out. You can hardly tell unless it's in the daytime and it's so faint you would really have to look. That made Joe happy. He told me we could keep the cats (yeah, like he'd get rid of them anyhow!).

So when Joey got up we did a few errands and then went to the playground again. He had a great time just running around. We love doing stuff like that with him!

Anyhow, these photos are from this morning. Isn't Joey getting big? He's saying EVERYTHING now. I can't believe it! Yesterday I was in the car and said, 'Isn't daddy great?' and he said 'Yeah'. It was so endearing! :)

Huge shock!!

Remember how I thought I was having a girl - WRONG! I'm having a healthy baby BOY with no kidney problems! I can NOT believe I am having a boy. I was so sure it was a girl. I'm so excited. I really wanted another boy and I have all the clothes and all!! I still have no clue what we are going to name it. I guess we better start talking about that! The baby is measuring right on target.

I'll post photos of me and the ultrasound later tonight!

Oh and please enter our online baby contest: http://www.expectnet.com - Game name is BabyFisher2. Enter in your guess of when I will deliver and how big the baby will be! Keep in mind I will deliver at 38 weeks via c-section, my due date is 9/4 and Joey was 8lbs 15oz at 40 weeks. I want to see your guess! I'm printing out the guesses for the baby book!

My life in 4's...

4 Jobs you have had in your life.
1. Grocery bagger
2. Stocker - then night stocker for the same grocery store
3. College computer co-ops for Northwood University, Dow Chemical and Monitor Sugar Company
4. Systems analyst where I currently am

4 Movies you would watch over and over.
1. I don't really watch movies...
2. I do like the Shawshank Redemption
3. Will Farrell movies. My husband and I think he's a stitch.
4.

4 Places you have lived
1. Garden City, Michigan
2. Howell, Michigan
3. Midland, Michigan
4. Royal Oak, Michigan (the last place I lived) (I've never lived outside of Michigan)

4 TV shows you love to watch
1. The OC
2. American Idol
3. Clean House
4. (don't have a 4th!) (I used to watch ER until recently!)

4 Places you have been on Vacation
1. Mexico
2. Seattle, WA
3. Oceanside, Oregon
4. North Carolina
5. Florida

4 Websites I visit daily
1. Gmail to get my emails from yahoogroups
2. Freecycle.org - or at least get emails through yahoogroups from freecycle.org. Freecycle rocks!!!!!
3. Flylady.net - Love this site. I love a clean house!
4. Blogger.com - for my blog and to visit my friend's blogs (let me know if YOU have one!)! Blogging rules!

4 of my favorite foods
1. Pierogies
2. Kaluski (fried noodles and cottage cheese - it's polish and so are the pierogies!)
3. Hot home made meal. I cook a LOT. I love to cook.
4. I'm craving eggs EVERY morning!

4 Places I would rather be right now.
1. Carribean
2. In Seattle visiting my friend Caroline
3. Somewhere warmer!
4. On a cruise!!!!!

4 things I always carry with me
1. Purse/wallet
2. Cell
3. pager for work
4. Credit card ;-)

4 cars you have owned in the past.
1. 86 Mercury Cougar
2. 90 Honda Civic
3. 00 Honda CRV
4. 02 Honda Odyssey (see a pattern?)