17 weeks

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I skipped a week. I know.  I was otherwise occupied.

Two weeks ago, we were out with Jude for the week at his work.  The kids got to see what daddy does for work, and how much time in the truck is involved. They did pretty well.

We also ate out. A lot.  As in, every meal.  From week 14 to week 16, I gained 5 pounds. Eeks. So much for the weight loss at the beginning of the pregnancy keeping my overall weight gain down. I haven't gained any in the past week, but I am, officially, at the same weight that I was, at the same point, during my pregnancy with N.

My brother-in-law and his wife birthed their first child at the end of May, and he had a lot of trouble getting started in life.  He's been in a children's hospital since his birth, and we spent some time last week being nearby, visiting a few times and trying to be helpful and supportive.  Jude spent time working on my dad's roof with his dad, brother, and sister.  Although it was an unexpected week off of work for him, it worked out to be a good week to get several things done.

I've been listening regularly with my fetoscope to see if I could hear a heartbeat.  I've read that the typical time the fetal heartbeat can be heard with a fetoscope is anywhere between 18-24 weeks.  One midwife told me she'd heard a heartbeat with a fetoscope as early as 16 weeks, but clearly that's not typical.

So, imagine my pleasure and surprise at hearing the placenta and catching the heartbeat for a minute at 16 weeks 5 days!  I haven't been able to hear the heartbeat again, but it was very, very soft, and with fans running and cicadas buzzing outside, the extra noise makes it hard to hear much of anything.

I have been an absolute exercise slacker.  With E's pregnancy I didn't do lots of regular exercise until about 20 weeks or so. With N's pregnancy, I was exercising 3-4 times a week by 14 weeks.  Time to hop back on the treadmill, but clearly I need to do so very early in the morning, to avoid the heat of the day.





Alas, no photo this week.  We'll get back on track with photos at next week's update.