16 weeks

Hii!! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I for one feel like this weekend lasted 4 hours as opposed to 48... there is never enough time to catch up on sleep! :)

This week I went to Charlotte and Greensboro for conferences with our Nationwide insurance agents. I had to give a presentation (which I hate, hate, HATE) but both meetings actually went well! As I was sitting on the plane halfway between Columbus and Charlotte, I had a realization: this was baby's first flight! Up until then the flight had gone really well but unfortunately there was quite a bit of turbulence during the landing and I was feeling really nauseous. After we landed and I was able to get off the plane I felt fine! Baby's first flight was, in the end, a success. :)

I was so excited to be in Charlotte since 2 of my besties live there (Mindy and Kathryn) so we met up for dinner. We went to Cantina 1511 which is a Mexican restaurant I fell in love with during Mindy's wedding rehearsal dinner. They have the YUMMIEST chopped salad (Stolen picture below) which I got with chicken, not shrimp!

It was so fun catching up with Mindy and Kathryn! I really miss them and don't see them enough since they live so far away... but who can blame them?! Charlotte has better weather than Ohio about 75% of the year!

The Cantina employee CLEARLY doesn't know how to take a picture with an iPhone!

On Friday I had a checkup with the doctor. He listened to baby's heartbeat again (which I can't remember exactly, but heart rate was in the 150's) and he found it in about 2.5 seconds! I told him I was relieved as it took a lot longer the last time and he said as the baby gets bigger it gets easier to find the heartbeat. I then had my blood drawn for what they call the quad screen which tests for increased risk for spina bifida, down syndrome, and other birth defects. I should have the results this week (if anything is to be of concern) otherwise the doctor will go over them in detail during our next appointment.

My belly continues to grow this week and it's becoming more and more noticeable in tight tops. Baby will double in size over the next few weeks and is starting to grow toenails! Baby also starts hearing loud noises and I've read some will startle the baby but also get them used to such noises; for instance, fetuses who regularly hear a dog barking will become babies who sleep right through a dog's outbursts! I guess that's good news for us because no matter what we try, Callie always barks at anyone who walks by the house!

How far along? 16 weeks
Maternity clothes? Just maternity jeans and rocking my belly band with work pants. OH and I love me some maternity leggings!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Getting uncomfortable. Lauren is letting me borrow her pregnancy pillow so I'm looking forward to using that!
Best moment of the week: Hearing baby's heartbeat again :)
Miss anything? Beer, especially with today being St. Patrick's Day - I would LOVE a green beer!
Movement: Not yet
Food cravings: Nothing crazy, just wanting sweets all the time
Anything making you queasy or sick: No! I've been lucky
Have you started to show yet: In tighter tops
Gender prediction: Girl... everyone has been saying girl!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In
Rings on or off? On (off in the picture because I have to get it repaired - a few stones were loose during my bi-yearly inspection!)
Looking forward to: Finding out gender in just over 2 weeks!!!

That's all I've got for now! We are so excited for our next appointment on April 2nd (gender ultrasound!).  Have a wonderful week! :)