17 Weeks = 4 Months Already!

Wow, where does the time fly? 17 weeks along doesn't sound notable until I do the math and realize that I'm 4 months along--and nearly half done already with the ~9 months of pregnancy. Yikes! So, in the hopes of remembering some of my pregnancy details here's another update:

How I've been feeling: Thank God, nausea (falsely dubbed morning sickness) has decreased to manageable levels...as long as I eat frequently, eat protein before bed, use extreme caution when brushing my teeth, and don't get too exhausted. I had headaches for a couple weeks early on, but adequate rest and water seems to have mostly fixed that. This last week I've also experienced dizziness; hopefully the slow release iron I've just started taking will remedy most of that. :)
Back pain? Not as long as I stretch, do pregnancy pilates, and/or generally stay active. Working at a school keeps me actively on my feet for a good percent of the day--a great thing so far.
My moods have been great so far! Unlike the 2-weeks neutral and 2-weeks rollercoaster of normal life, pregnancy has been a very pleasant, consistent, mostly peaceful sensation--amazingly so despite experiencing upset tummies. :-)

Funny cravings and stuff I can't stand: Most of my cravings seem to last 2-4 weeks before tapering off. Before realizing I was pregnant, fresh sweet peas were the number 1 food I craved, pomegranates too have been a favorite. I never before liked ginger anything, much less ginger salad dressing. I now have a notable appreciation for it. Damon's favorite food in the world, pizza, is now on the small quantity, low frequency list: 1 piece every week or so is all I can enjoy. Who would have imagined? Spicy foods and onions too are no longer palatable--how sad! Damon is especially sad because he has to season his food after I finish cooking. Poor guy! I suddenly have an appreciation for the sometimes bland food we grew up eating: every other year with these aversions would certainly be enough for me to settle with simple, healthy fare as the norm. Most of the foods I crave I ate as a child at one time or another, like sharp cheddar cheese dipped in aromatic honey. Yumm!!! The funniest craving I have is bananas. I normally can't stand more than one bananna every couple months, and I've been eating them almost daily for a month now!

17 week prenatal checkup: Friday we went to the 17-week prenatal visit and got to listen to the baby's heartbeat going swish-swish at 140 beats/minute. All our tests for baby's probable and actual health have resulted in good news. Baby is a very low risk for Down's syndrome and other life shortening/threatening trisomies compared to my age group. My blood type is positive, so there is no risk of developing antibodies to baby's blood. Also, cystic fibrosis is not a recessive gene so no need for Damon to give blood to get checked. Why find out about all these tests? Well, since we are quite deliberate in our decision processes, we decided it would be better to mentally prepare for and research a high-need situation if it were likely to arise. So, HURRAY! So far baby appears to be healthy, as is mommy. The only little hiccup is borderline low iron anemia... which I kind of anticipated and am taking iron to resolve.

Mommy had a cold: Well, I still am recovering. However, I feel like the cold is on the losing end. Yet another reason that sleep is so, so good! No, I didn't take the approved cold medicines. I decided that unless it tried getting into my bronchials I would tough it out. I thank God for a healthy pregnancy so far.

When will we know boy or girl?: Assuming baby doesn't decide to hide the good news, we will find out Friday, almost three weeks from now--19 more days!