Bubbles, Appetites, Registries, and Redistribution

Here's our picture at 16 weeks! And we just passed the 17 week mark!!

A lot of exciting things have happened since I last updated. We took a mini vacation to Illinois, first to Chicago where we got to see our dear friends Kevin and Lauren, and then to Normal/Bloomington where we saw another great friend David get married to a wonderful woman. The whole long weekend was a blast. MY favorite part, though, was that I felt the baby move for the first time. It was late after the wedding, and I was lying in bed, when all of a sudden, I felt like someone blew a bunch of bubbles that then all popped in a line right in my stomach! It was definitely a distinctive feeling from anything I've felt before. I've been feeling it most days if I pay attention and sit still long enough. :)

Last week, we had our 16 week doctor appointment. The baby's heartbeat was 154 this time, just a little slower than last time, but the doctor found it immediately. It's so tempting to get one of those machines where you can listen to it at home all the time. I wasn't kidding when I said I could just sit there and listen to it forever. All other stats were good. They didn't even have to give me time to lower my blood pressure! It was right where it should be, right at the very beginning! As of that appointment, I still hadn't gained any weight, but there's definitely a belly there. I guess the weight I have is just redistributing itself. :-)

Speaking of weight-gain, my appetite has SERIOUSLY kicked it up a notch in the last two weeks. I'm finding that I feel the need to eat pretty much every two hours...and not just a little bit of need, but like, SUPER hungry. I guess the baby's going through his or her first growth spurt! I'm trying to be careful about what food I have around me, though, so that helps.

Finally, we registered for baby things this past weekend. If you're interested in seeing what we've registered for, you can find our main registry at Babies R Us online, and our littler registry at Pottery Barn Kids online. It's a little different registering for baby things, because you don't have ANYTHING, and the responsibility to find the BEST and the SAFEST, while keeping price in mind can be at times stressful and overwhelming. Still, it was fun to think about OUR baby using the things we were registering for...well, maybe I wouldn't say it was FUN to think about the baby using the rectal thermometer, but you get what I mean. Peter went with me to register, and pretty much went with my judgement on most things...the one registry item HE alone picked out? The mini Soriano Cubs T-shirt...What kind of parents would we be if we didn't teach our children about undying commitment AND utter disappointment right from the get-go?