18 weeks

At 18 weeks, we are growing closer to the halfway mark. This week, the baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and about 7 ounces. The arms and legs are flexing away, something we're hoping to feel very soon. Next week, we have our anatomical ultrasound, which will be a full check of all of the limbs and inner organs to be sure everything is developing appropriately. As long as the baby is in a position conducive to showing, then we'll also be able to find out whether we're having a little girl or a little boy. Hopefully, in next week's blog we'll be able to officially say "he" or "she," rather than always "the baby!"

Speaking of bell peppers, since so much of what Mike and I think and talk about these days revolves around food, I'll say a few more words on that topic. I'm sure my mom will be happy to know that pregnancy has forced me to broaden by eating horizons. I am eating things regularly now that I never ate before, simply because I know they are good for me and the baby. My diet for the first time in my life includes whole wheat products of all varieties (whole wheat English muffins, whole wheat pita bread, whole wheat pasta, the works!) and yogurt (and not the frozen variety!). And believe it or not, I'm actually growing to like these things.

Last weekend, we began our baby registry. It's clear that this is going to be a long process. It's simply amazing how much stuff you need for a baby. We spent over four hours in Babies R Us, and we only made a dent in the registry. The woman who got us all set up with a scanner said that the average registry is 12 pages long. I think ours is about 1 page after our first day. Hopefully our pace will pick up a bit going forward. We started with the big items (car seats, stroller, high chair, play yard), as I knew that would feel like real accomplishment. Walking out of there with a registry full of pacifiers, Q-tips, and a nasal aspirator somehow just wouldn't have felt as satisfying. Of course, Babies R Us has all of the items out so that you can test them. It was great fun trying to figure out how to fold up things like strollers and play yards. Mike's frustration levels were clearly beyond their limits with certain items, which was an easy way to decide not to select them, no matter what our trusty buying guide said. Thankfully, we should have a little time to practice all these folding mechanisms before the baby arrives!

Life has certainly gotten busy once again now that all of the students have started back to school full time. The beginning of the year is always a hectic time, and this year is no different -- which is why it took me until several days after the 18 week mark, which we reached on Wednesday, to finally put up this post. Orientation week is different than a normal school week, as students are not in academic classes but rather many, many sessions designed to set up the expectations and culture for the year. As a result, I was in classrooms the vast majority of the week, running different activities. I managed to sit down as often as I could, though my feet were certainly screaming that it was not often enough! I also was lucky enough to have other teachers around so that I could whisper to one that I needed to go eat a quick snack and have a few moments to sneak away. Gone are the days of not having time to eat lunch! Now, no matter what my day looks like, I somehow find a way to sit down and enjoy my five courses of "lunch" throughout the day. The kids are all of course very excited about the baby and have all sorts of questions, which is fun. All in all, the year is off to a good start. It's clearly going to be very busy but very exciting!