time to place your bets!

Well, I've crossed the 16-week mark and finally feel like I've officially entered into the promised land of the 2nd trimester. My energy level is back up, and I no longer have any nausea. The only real unpleasant "side effect" of pregnancy that I'm experiencing now is the occasional pounding headache. I find that I still get worn out pretty easily (just walking up the stairs can leave me winded), but I'm mostly feeling more like my normal self.

My body has definitely continued to change over the past couple of weeks. I woke up this past Monday and could not button a single pair of my regular pants. Just like that. My mother took one look at me yesterday and a look of panic came across her face... "You don't think you're having twins, do you? I'm not sure you're supposed to be this big already..." So I guess I am looking more like a pregnant lady and less like I just have an affinity for beer. Here's my 15-week baby-gut progress:

We had our 16-week appointment with the midwife yesterday. The practice where we go has 3 midwives who will rotate through all of our appointments so that we get to know each of them really well before the delivery. We got to listen to the baby's heartbeat again, and the midwife we saw was quite amazed at how active our little fetus is. I haven't felt any movement or kicking yet, but apparently there is a LOT going on in my uterus. Every few seconds there was a loud scratchy noise as the little grapefruit twirled around and stretched out. Sometime in the next few weeks I'll be able to feel those flutters and kicks, which I think will be pretty powerful given the sounds we heard on the dopplar!

So we've come to the point where people can start placing their bets about the sex of the baby... our next appointment will be our first sonogram, where we'll officially find out if it's a hoo or a moo! To help you make an educated guess, here is some information related to all those old wives' tales about gender prediction:

- the baby's heartbeat this time ranged between 140 and 150 bpm (boy?)
- my main cravings have been for sweet things (girl?)
- I've been breaking out like a teenager (girl?)
- so far all my weight gain has been just in my stomach (boy?)
- my age plus the month of conception is an even number (boy?)
- I'm super emotional all the time (girl?)
- my leg hair is growing at an exponential rate (boy?)
- I'm having pretty frequent headaches (boy?)
- a ring dangled from a string over my belly goes all over (boy or girl...?)

Sooooo take a guess... :)