Here we go, internet. I took this on the eve of 18 weeks. Finally looking pregnant and not just fat, which is a wonderful change since I have been feeling pregnant since about 7 weeks.

I remember looking forward to January, simply because that meant I would be in my second trimester and hopefully feeling better. With the new year, the fatigue died down a bit, but also came the sacroiliac joint pain. Most days I am crawling home from work nearly in tears because standing for that long just doesn’t agree with me anymore. I used to be thrilled to be free of my humdrum office job when I graduated from cosmetology school but right about now, I would LOVE to be able to sit all day. I try my best not to complain because I did want this. I have wanted to be a mother since the summer I sat and watched way too many episodes of “A Wedding Story” and more particularly “A Baby Story”. So I grin (grit my teeth) and bear it.

I have been stressing myself the last few weeks as I waited to feel the baby move. A kick, a roll, a bony Logue elbow to the bladder – anything. I am fairly certain I started feeling the popping or fluttering, as most mothers describe early quickening as feeling like, on Friday, the day I officially turned 18 weeks. Of course, this being my first pregnancy, I still wonder if I am feeling that or just imagining.

The real excitement this week is the ultrasound on Wednesday, where we will hopefully get to find out if Baby Wynegar is a boy or a girl. I am anxious to make sure everything is moving along smoothly and that we will be able to walk away with the definitive answer of the sex of our child. I am somewhat annoyed at the smartasses  people who, when I tell them we are finding out what we are having, have felt the need to point out  ”Uh, you’re having a baby.” Really? No shit? Here I thought it might be a tap dancing penguin.

If that’s the case, we’re calling him Mumble.