18 weeks

Baby is the size of a sweet potato!  He/She is 5.6 inches long and weighs 6.5 ounces.  
Supposedly baby is kicking and punching, hiccuping and yawning, but... I still can't feel any of it.  I still just get those wonderful pains that I'm sure are from someone punching and kicking me to let me know that he/she is still there.


Favorite quotes from this week:
Whoa, you got big.
I mean last week I knew you were pregnant, but this week it's like "wow you're really pregnant!"
You gots a baby in there? (from a child with wonderful speech and grammar, obvi)


How far along? 18 weeks
Maternity clothes? Now that school is over, I don't have to worry about getting dressed up everyday.  But those maternity tank tops are definitely coming in handy :)
Stretch marks? nope, just itchy, but using my stretch mark oil
Sleep: I'm back to waking up at least once a night, mainly because my hips start to hurt from sleeping on the same side for so long
Best moment this week: Being all done with school!  Thursday, June 13th, was our official last day of school for the year and my last day for some time.  I absolutely loved teaching kindergarten and the people I was fortunate enough to work with this year, but I was ready to be done.
Miss Anything? life without back pain!
Movement: still no.  I get pains in my lower abdomen when I think someone is making his/her presence known, but still no little movements.  I hope soon!
Food cravings: Loving cheese and ice cream
Exercise: We got a few jogs in this week.  Apparently this is cause of concern for some people that I jog past who have questioned if I just started running when I got pregnant or if I have been doing it for awhile since starting new exercise is bad for baby.  I've been running for 5 years now, so I think I'm good, thanks.  I love how everyone has an opinion as soon as you get pregnant and feel the need to tell you everything since they are obviously the experts on babies.
I also did my first pregnancy Bar Method dvd which feels much better for my back and hips than the regular dvd.
I recently found a free trial on Moms Into Fitness.  Lindsay Brin is a fitness instructor and created these awesome pregnancy workouts for each trimester with cardio and strength training.  I did the 2nd trimester cardio and strength yesterday (each video is less than 20 minutes) and it was a good workout.
Anything making you queasy or sick: not this week
Have you started to show yet: Everyone has commented on how I really look pregnant this week.  This outfit masks it a little bit better than the shorts and tank I was wearing yesterday, but we're definitely big!
Gender prediction:I'm thinking boy now.  I don't know if it's because everyone else thinks it's a boy or if I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable.  As long as I get one little girl at some point, I will be a happy camper.
The consensus among students, coworkers, and a few family members and friends, Baby Loeffler is a boy.  There are very few who think it's a pretty little lady.  We will know in 3 weeks at the gender reveal!
Labor Signs: nope
Symptoms: Back pain.  And I'm experiencing it as I type.  The new symptom this week was swollen feet and ankles.  My ankles were pretty non-existent the last few days of school.
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Oh my goodness, emotional wreck this week.  And not because school ended.  I'm stressing out about getting everything for baby, finding a crib and nursery furniture, designing the nursery, getting the right kind of cloth diapers for us (if you have any recommendations, please send them my way!), etc.  I had a mini panic attack walking into Target yesterday and almost started sobbing.
Looking forward to: Seeing Marquette friends this weekend at Mike and Emily's housewarming party and then seeing little Baby Loeffler at our 20 week ultrasound on July 1st!  However, we won't (hopefully) find out the gender until the big reveal on July 6th with our friends and family.

First of all, thank you so so much to everyone for your sweet words about my decision to resign.  While it was something that I also said I would do once we started our family, it did not come without some guilt.  But Andrew has been so supportive and wants me to be at home rather than have a baby raised in a daycare.  I loved my job teaching kindergarten very much, but this will be a welcomed changed.  With all of the politics creeping into education and the decisions made regarding bilingual education in my district, I needed to take a break.  It's just not fun anymore.



Dear Little One,

Although our 18 week picture does not show it well, we've actually gotten quite big this week.  I think this picture looks a lot like week 17, but people have said that I've really popped this past week and I notice it when I look in the mirror.  My only request is not to get too big in there.  I don't want a 9 or 10 pounder!

ebay has been my guilty pleasure this past week.  I've started our collection of cloth diapers and I am constantly on ebay looking for more.  I hope we find a brand that we both like.  But if anyone has any recommendations, send them our way.

Mama is officially done with school so I can be at home with you.  I need to start organizing the basement so then we can organize your room.  I'm very grateful and thankful that I made some wonderful friends this past year at my school who want to come paint your nursery!

You're supposedly a mover and a shaker in there, but I still can't feel it yet.  I hope that you start kicking hard enough to that I can feel those little flutters and not just the abdominal/uterus pains.  Your daddy is very excited to be able to feel you move in there.  He also cannot not wait to find out if you're a boy (or a girl).  He calls you a "he" all the time, so it would be nice to know if he's right or if he needs to get in the habit of saying "she."

Mama has been a little overwhelmed this week with school ending and thinking about everything we need to do to prepare for you.  You're just a little peanut and you need some many things!  But you have lots of people who love you very much and can't wait to spoil you rotten :)

In just 2 weeks we'll get to see your sweet little face again at the 20 week ultrasound.  My only request is that you're cooperative so that we have a gender to reveal at your party in 3 weeks!

Love,
Your mama