Quick update - AKA my 17w3d "Almost halfway there" freak-out

I have almost reached the halfway point of this pregnancy. Wow. Halfway there. Five more months. Considering I will work one of those months in "outage mode", then that really only leaves me with 4 productive months to get EVERYTHING done... Oh CRAP! We've bought a few onesies and a couple of cases of diapers and a few other things we KNOW we're gonna need, but that's about it. I've picked out my nursery furniture. Then I checked and half the set is on back order, so I may have to pick out something different just to make sure it gets here on time. We know what theme we want to go with, depending on whether the baby has a penis or a vajayjay. I haven't registered, picked out bedding, painted, cleaned out the nursery, bought baby clothes, or anything like that. There's still carpet to clean, walls to wash, a glider and ottoman to pick out, a house to organize, clutter and "stuff" to go through and trash anything I can, boxes to unpack from when we bought our house eighteen months ago, Chris's scrapbook to work on, the baby scrapbook to start as soon as the gender is revealed to us.... OHMYGOD! Four more months is not enough time. Not with the way I work, days this week, nights next week...... For Pete's sake, I just ordered my first few pieces of actual maternity clothes today. I'll have to buy more ASAP. My scrub tops for work are almost too small in the belly already. I guess sooner or later I'll resort to wearing maternity jeans and t-shirts to work, just so my belly will stay covered.

OK, freak out over. I feel better. I know it'll get done, if I get off my butt on my days off and do it. Lately I have had no motivation to do anything other than eat and sleep. I'll have to change that. I think my work/sleep schedule has a lot to do with it. My poor body doesn't know if I'm coming or going, on top of being invaded by a foreign person with whom it has to share everything. I have to work nights next Tuesday through Thursday night, but then it's 3 weeks of day shift. Hopefully then I'll take on a more regular schedule and I'll feel like actually doing something during the day other than sitting on the couch watching TV and surfing the internet.

The good news is, as of January 6, I've only gained about four pounds the last 17 weeks. I want to gain a little more than the minimum recommended weight, but I want to stay away from the upper end of "recommended", and I definitely DO NOT want to gain over the recommended amount. I think 30 pounds, give or take one or two, would be good. I gained over 35 pounds last time, but I was a teenager, so it was recommended for me to gain a little extra then. Not this time. This time I get 25 to 35 pounds. Period. And I intend to aim for closer to 30 than 35.

Funny, four pounds gained equals a belly so big people at work are starting to notice it under my scrubs. Good grief! I'm going to be a lot bigger than last time, I think..... :)

Update on OB appointment and Granddaddy

Great news from my last appointment, which was Tuesday. The baby's heartbeat was 150! That is in the upper range of good, strong, and normal. Blood pressure is good, so no problems there. I have gained 1 pound since my last appointment. Which means more cake and ice cream for me this month! LOL. My next appointment will be Jan. 29 at 9:30 AM. Let's all hope the little bug shows off the goods, so paint and bedding and gender-appropriate cothing and such can be bought!

This child is already practicing to be a gymnast, it seems. Especially when I am trying to sleep. Kinda like his/her big sis was. I started thinking I felt the first flutters two days before Christmas, buut thought it might be gas or my horrid constipation/food digestion. Now it's obviously a baby. Still can't feel it from the outside, but I can sure tell when the baby gets all fired up and ready to turn cartwheels.

I bought a home heartbeat monitor at Walmart this week. It says it may not work until the third trimester, which is still more weeks away than I care to try to count at 5 AM. Thursday marked 16 weeks completed for me, so give or take two more months until then. I tried anyway, but wasn't too surprised when all I heard was the rumbly in my tummy. A small moment of good future parenting for you: The monitor takes a 9V battery to work. Guess where the only 9V batteries in my house are. If you guessed smoke detector, you are correct. With the assistance of a chair from the kitchen table, and the 9V battery from the detector in the living room, I heard my own stomach. Then I re-packaged the monitor and had Michael put the battery back where it should be.

I also bought a body pillow to keep me from leeping on my stomach. It doesn't hurt yet, it's just uncomfortable. So I slept with it. The next morning I woke up with my knee hurting me. It hurt so bad, it hurt to touch it. I don't know what is up with that.

Granddaddy was discharged from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, with an oxygen machine for home use and portable tanks for the car. We picked up the glass for his car yesterday. Then we drove to town to pick up his car and drop it off to be repaired. (Thanks sis!) Granddaddy had his PET scan yesterday. I will call this afternoon before I go to work to see if he got his car back and if his test results are back.

Time to get ready for bed. I have to put my blankets back up on the bedroom windows so I can sleep today. Poor Michael has been asleep on the couch all night. he wouldn't go to bed without me. I bet he sleeps on the couch all weekend. That's his usual spot when I have to work night shift. Poor guy. He says he can't sleep in the bed without me. Personally, I love the few days a month when I have the bed all to myself. He puts off too much body heat. And, every once in a while, there's nothing like a king sized bed all to yourself. Especially considering I sleep diagonally in the bed. And there's no one putting off more body heat than an oven. Or stealing the covers.