THE BUMP REPORT: 17 WEEKS

Up until now, I've been in that weird in between stage where no one really knows I'm pregnant unless I tell them.  They may have had their suspicions based on my increase wearing of stretchy pants and always eating some sort of cracker, but the bump wasn't front and center.

It's here now, though!  I had high hopes of taking a picture in the same clothes every week throughout my pregnancy, but only managed to take one picture at week 10.

I could probably just glob weeks 5-16 together and say that I felt happy to be pregnant, but also felt really nauseous, tired, and unmotivated. 

But now we're already at week 17, and I want to make sure I capture all these wonderful changes and feelings.

Dress: Old Navy (old); Cardigan: Target (old); T-shirt (old)

How far along:  At the time of these pictures, I was 17 weeks and 2 days (black and white dress) and 3 days (pink striped dress)

Baby size:  Size of a turnip

Maternity clothes:  Not quite yet.  I have been raiding my closet for anything with an elastic waistband, though.  Skirts, leggings, those jammer pants (these have come in especially handy).  I have found a few dresses with an empire waist (like the one I'm wearing) or shift dresses at Target that I think will work really well with my growing belly, too.

Feeling  Morning sickness has gotten so much better!  I still have bouts where I don't feel great, but my appetite has come back in full force, and my energy level has picked up, too.  I also feel less nauseous throughout the day, which is fantastic.

When people would tell me that it does get better, I would always worry that it wouldn't happen that way for me.  So hopefully this feeling good trend will continue.

Cravings:  I ate fairly healthy before getting pregnant, but found in the first few months of pregnancy I craved anything that my 10 year old self loved: chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, potato chips with sour cream and onion dip, etc.  Terrible stuff for you, I know, but at the time I went with anything that sounded remotely edible and stayed down.

Smoothies from QuikTrip are still a favorite, and I keep having a hankering for chocolate doughnuts.
I am also throwing in salads and fresh fruit in the mix, too, so that's good.

I thought I'd be craving ice cream every day, but too many sweets tends to make me sick.  I downed a blizzard yesterday.  It tasted great going in, but made me a bit queasy.  Maybe it had something to do with how fast I ate it, though:)

Dress: Target (no longer available); Shirt: Target (old); Belt: Target (old)

Random Thoughts:  It's so surreal to see my body changing and know that the reason is because there's a little baby growing in there.  As my bump grows bigger, it's starting to seem more real that in just a few months we'll get to meet this whole new person that is a little bit me and a little bit Wade.  I've always been scared of the unknown, and this is no exception.  I'm scared of everything changing, like I know it will, I'm anxious about being a good mother, I'm worried about my little baby's health, and I feel at times that it's taken forever to get here, but then no time at all.  So many feelings, but most importantly of all, there's pure joy when I look down at my bump and know there is a little guy or girl in there just hanging out.  It sounds so cliché, but it truly feels like a miracle.