Week 18: This week was full of milestones. The first was being asked when I’m due by a stranger. I was at Target paying for some glowsticks (essentials for toddler entertainment, by the way) when the cashier said, “Congratulations! Do you know your due date?” To be honest, I was a bit taken aback because I was wearing a pretty loose and flowy top, and call me crazy, but I think I’m one of those pregnant ladies who just looks chubby until about the 6 month-mark. It’s possible that she knew I was expecting because I recently started a baby registry at Target, and I was using my REDcard to pay…maybe there’s some notification on the cashier’s screen to that effect? OK, I’m done over-analyzing this situation.

On the physical front, I felt the baby move for the first time this week! I was just relaxing for a few minutes while Caleb played with the aforementioned glowsticks, and I decided to play some Greatest Showman songs on my iPad. Then in the middle of “Rewrite the Stars,” I felt two distinctive kicks in my lower abdomen. Male or female, this kid will grow up with an appreciation for Zac Efron. Speaking of sex, we had our anatomy scan this week. Baby C is…a BOY! I’ll be honest and say I was slightly disappointed but not surprised. As I’ve mentioned before, I just had a hunch it was a boy this whole time. As my thoughtful OB pointed out, parents like to have one of each sex, but for the children, it’s probably beneficial to have at least one sibling of the same sex. We’re not closing the door on more children just yet, so perhaps we’ll have another shot at a girl in the future! Plus, the anatomy scan also revealed that Baby C is healthy by all measures, which is obviously something to celebrate.

Week 19: I think nesting has begun. Ever since we found out the sex of the baby, I feel like it’s go-time. I cleaned out the nursery closet, washed all the crib linens, and, as you can probably tell from the picture above, re-arranged the furniture (not as ideal for bump photos, but oh well). I guess the pregnancy just feels more real now particularly because I feel kinda huge these days. Since when does my belly take up so much space?!

In other news, I’ve had a weird physical symptom develop–nose bleeds. Up until this pregnancy, I could count on one hand the number of nose bleeds I’ve had in my life. But since this pregnancy began, I’ve probably had 5 or 6 nose bleeds. I have no idea if this is actually a pregnancy-related thing; it could just be a total coincidence. Regardless, it’s super annoying to look down and see blood dripping down my front.