The Pregnant Diaries - Weeks 17, 18, & 19

Quote of the day (by Paul Yoder): "Don't rub yourself on the razor blade." And if you haven't guessed it, that comment was made to our cat, Icarus.

These 3 weeks were filled with friends, family, and the Holiday spirit.

For Thanksgiving Paul, Aust, and I drove up to Murray to spend time with my dad and stepmama. Jason flew in from California while Sarah and Josh drove down from Brigham City. It was so wonderful to have all of us siblings together again. Everyone was excited to see the baby bump, no matter how small. The food was too good to be true, but the company was even better.

The only mishap I had while spending Thanksgiving with the Zimmer fam, was waking up in the middle of the night with the most horrible heartburn I've ever experienced. In the morning I took some tums and mentioned my heartburn. Apparently I wasn't the only one! A few others had the same effect. We figured it must have been something in the food, but it still remains a mystery as to what.

Before we headed home, dad and Becca were so kind as to give us our Christmas gifts early. Christmas and Thanksgiving all at once? Yes please! Everyone received their very own blanket. And these blankets weren't just any ordinary blankets. These are the softest and most warm blankets you will EVER have the privilege of being covered by. :) They even gave us a mini version of the blanket for our little baby (gender still unknown at this time).

Saturday night we arrived home just in time to take a trip to Jay and Tabie's wedding reception. They were so adorable. I should have known that Tabie would have a wedding dress unlike any other. :) It was fun to see so many people I knew from my past.

How Big Is Baby?
At Week 17 baby is as big as an Onion!

At the end of week 18, my mom and stepdad took us to Disneyland!! :-o This was Paul's very first trip so I was crossing my fingers (and possibly toes) that he would enjoy himself. As soon as we arrived at our hotel in Anaheim and entered our room, he lit up like a Christmas tree. I swear he was like a little kid who couldn't stop being excited. We didn't realize that we would be staying at a condo so it was the most pleasant surprise! My mom even let us have the "adult" room (the only room with a bed for 2 ~ make that a bed for 5).

  Yeah, prolly should have taken the pic before we slept in it. Ah well!

Mom modeling the Doritos. Work it Mom!

I must say that the entire trip was so much fun. Because we were there on a Thursday we didn't have any trouble walking onto rides. When we rode Splash Mountain (which you advised not to ride if you are pregnant, but I did anyways) they asked us if we wanted to go again after our first run-through. Never happened to me before. Ever.

 Getting our smiles ready for Dizzyland. :)

 One of our epic Splash Mountain poses.

Quick pic after Splash Mountain mayhem. Some scenery for the Pooh Bear ride. It's one craaaazy ride.

One word of advice though if you are pregnant or have not exercised in a long time....you may want to prepare for all that walking and standing! By midday my knees were aching, my feed were sore and my lower back was starting to become sore. I felt like such a wimp, but by the end of the day I could hardly get anywhere without wobbling. That's what I get for not doing my exercises daily. The second day at Disneyland was very hard for me and I daydreamed of being in a little cart and having Paul push me everywhere haha.

The trip was successful and Paul had a great time. Here are some of the highlights:

• Pirates of the Caribbean ride malfunctioned while we were riding it, in the front seat. We stopped directly underneath the skull that says, "Dead men tell no tales." We tried to memorize his words, but somehow can only remember, "Psst! Avast there!" That ride took about 40 minutes total because of the delay. It was Paul's favorite.
• Paul's fascination with the blue bricks.
• World of Color (it was amazing!).
• Ferris Wheel (my first time ever riding a ferris wheel).
• Splash Mountain (we rode this about 5ish times during the trip and loved it every time). By our second or third time riding it, Paul and I would try and sing along with the characters right before the drop into the briar patch.
• The Tiki Shields. Every time we passed them Paul would go up and inspect them. He kept saying he was going to buy one. Unfortunately they didn't sell them. However, it did inspire him to carve his own shield.
• Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted House. This was mom's favorite (aside from Tower of Terror). It was definitely better than the original Haunted House.
• Being together as a family having a blast in the most magical place. :)

Checkin' out the shops. Paul really loved this hat, but said he would only wear it at Disneyland (it had dreadlocks attached). Lookin' good Paul! (his face almost reminds me of Dave's...)

 You're not allowed to take pictures on the ride. But when you are sitting underneath this guy for 30 minutes, you tend to not care after a while. :)

I was seriously considering buying one of these ears because I saw so many girls with them. They looked so cute in them...but when I saw myself I decided a picture would do just fine. :) Paul put himself in there...so we're kind of in the picture together haha.

 The infamous Tiki Shields (this one is Paul's favorite).

 DISNEYLAND!!! What a magical place.

Jack picking his nose...or maybe biting his fingernails. One of the two.

Week 18 was also when I began to feel our baby's little kicks!! It was kind of weird feeling at first. It felt like spasms in my lower abdomen (close to the pelvic area). Soon I recognized them as kicks and fell in love each time I felt them. I think our baby especially loved Splash Mountain. :)

Many MANY thanks to Mom and Ed for taking us to Disneyland and providing everything for us to make it special.

How Big Is Baby?At Week 18, Baby is as big as a Sweet Potato!

After a great time at Disneyland we said our goodbyes and headed home. That Monday I had my monthly visit with the doctor, which was pretty uneventful. It did take the doc quite some time to find the baby's heartbeat, which worried me at first. It turns out he was chillin' on my left side and the doc was searching for him on my right side. I guess he'll be good at hide-and-go-seek when he's older.

I was given a phone number for the hospital so that I could schedule an appointment for my ultrasound and finally find out the gender of our baby!! I could hardly wait so I told them to get me in at the earliest they could manage. They fit me in the very next day in the afternoon.

Now, here is the painful part...they told me to drink about 32-40 ounces of water about 1 1/2 hours before coming in so that I would have a full bladder for the ultrasound. BIG MISTAKE! I was 19 weeks along at this time, and I would have only had a little bit to drink had I known that my baby would be visible with our without the water. It was incredibly painful holding all of that water in, especially 19 weeks pregnant. Unless you don't have a baby bump, don't drink that much water. It will only make the experience painful and you'll constantly be worrying about letting it all out while the lady presses the device on your belly during the ultrasound.

I had to tell her during the middle of everything to let me go to the bathroom because I just wouldn't be able to hold it in and then we'd both be embarrassed hehe. She was kind enough to let me go and I will be forever grateful to her. I was a little mad that the ultrasound looked exactly the same as it did when I had a full bladder though, but at least I was able to enjoy the last part of it. :)

We found out we are having a boy (and have pictures to prove it, but you don't need to see that). I was slightly disappointed because of the fact that I didn't have any boy names that I liked. A silly reason, I know, but it was really hard for me to find any boy names I liked (and that weren't already taken by someone in Paul's family). However, aside from that, I must say that the ultrasound was amazing. Sure, it's black and white and for the most part you don't know what you are looking at, but it was incredible to see the baby moving around. We could see his skull, his fingers and toes, his bones in his arms and legs. I probably would have cried with happiness had I not been in pain for being restricted from going to the loo.

We can finally buy gender specific clothes. YAY!

How Big Is Our Baby Boy?At Week 19, he is as big as a Mango!

Our Christmas Tree (put it up after Dizzyland)

 Paul did most of the work putting up the tree. I helped with the branches later.

 

Icarus tried to help as well.

Paul and I put up the lights together and then strung the ribbon round about.

All done!


What is Icarus up to?

"My bag."

Gotta see what's in the bag.

Gotta get in the bag.

Gotta get under the bag.