Helloooo baby bump!! As one my BodyAttack participants so eloquently put tonight “OH MY GOD, you’re so much bigger than last week!” …LOL, guess I better get used to that, and quick!! 🙂

This week has been a huge and super exciting one for all three of  us, so much has happened since my last update at the start of 17 weeks; it feels like that was a lifetime ago!

Firstly, Matt was away in Halifax from Monday – Friday of last week on a survival training for offshore platforms (he got dunked and inverted in a mock helicopter and had to escape through the windows – guy was in heaven!). Babe and I were on our own for the first two days of the week, and then an opportunity came up for me to pop up to Sault Ste. Marie for a few days with my mom to spend some time with my grandparents. I was feeling  tiny bit under the weather (just the very beginning of a cold), and I kind of liked the idea of taking a few days away from work and the gym, maybe getting a little extra sleep; plus I wasn’t sure that I would get the chance to see my Grandpa again in person before babe arrives in October, so a quick duffel bag packed, and my mom and I were on our way on Wednesday afternoon!

It was nice to spend some time with my mom on the drive up, we made great time and beat the sunset into Sault Ste. Marie (rolling in around 9:30 with the sun still shining…what?).

It was a great couple of days up North, the sun was shining brilliantly the entire time (a really refreshing change from the torrential downpour that we had had at home for the past 1,00,000 days – seriously, someone build us an arc), and it was nice to spend some time with my grandparents. I came down with a nasty headache that lasted the entire second and third day that we were in the Sault; but a quick call to my midwives hotline confirmed that I was good to take two regular strength Tylenol, which got rid of the headache right away.

My god, drugs are wonderful.

My mom had the great idea while my headache was at its peak that maybe we should pop into a Shoppers Drug Mart to check my blood pressure, which we did just for fun. Interestingly, it was substantially low at 123 / 59. My midwife wasn’t overly concerned, but I do think I’ll keep it in my mind to ask her about at my next appointment.

I got tons of sleep while I was in the Sault (and even got into the very dangerous habit of napping every day from about 2pm – 4pm…..who do I think I am?!), but my major challenge was eating. We were eating out quite a bit, and my anxiety over food safety is reaching an all-time peak these days. It’s gotten to the  point that I am so hesitant to trust any meat from restaurants, hot, cold or otherwise, and I’m sketchy about most salads / salad dressings as well.

That leaves french fries and breads, in case  you were wondering.

In all seriousness, I was eating a lot of carbs at meals simply because they were the only thing that I was fairly confident would be safe for babe. Stupid, I know; I can’t help it. I then started to have massive anxiety that I wasn’t getting proper vegetables / fruits in…… sigh. It’s a work in progress.

We trekked home on Sunday, where I finally got to see Matt after a full 7 days away! He was excited to see how much babe had grown in the week he’d been away.

Monday was a huge day for us all, as we had our 18 week anatomy scan ultrasound, and the ultrasound that could tell us the gender of sweet little babe! I was nervous going in, but more so excited to FINALLY find out if our guesses and intuition were right!

We had a different ultrasound technician then we had had the previous two times, and this one had slightly less patience for my Spanish inquisition, quickly telling me that she couldn’t tell me anything about how things looked or if babe was okay. I pouted about that for a while, but pressed on like a persistent chocolate lab at feeding time peppering her with questions about the heartbeat and the movement until I got her to admit (in exasperation – LOL) that yes, the heart was beating strongly, and babe was moving around.

Victory is mine – mua ha ha ha.

The tech quickly delivered some very sad news; that babe was in a bad position for her to be able to tell us the gender on that day. I know it’s silly and superficial, and really in the end it doesn’t matter to Matt nor I, but we had both been looking so forward to finding out on this day for so long that we were both pretty bummed by this news. I asked her if I could try to do some jumping jacks (which got an eyebrow raise from her, but I did them anyways), but babe was perfectly comfortable right where he / she was and wasn’t budging.

Sigh….strong conviction, this little one! We’re in trouble…..

Despite being disappointed, my heart melted to see babe sucking their thumb in one of the ultrasound pictures…..sweet baby…. take a look!

To make a long story short, after much deliberation at home, we decided to make one last ditch effort to keep our small family gender reveal get together on for this weekend, and book a 3D ultrasound at a private clinic for the next day. I was skeptical because I wasn’t convinced that babe would have moved by then, less than 24 hours later, but figured we may as well try.

Today at lunchtime, Matt met me over at the 3D ultrasound clinic; holy cats, what a difference from the medical building we’ve been going to! This place was F-A-N-C-Y, Iggy Azaela style! You could tell that the clients here are paying, not the government, that’s for sure! 🙂

The technician was the exact opposite of a Supreme Court judge; she was  this big, soft, super warm and friendly European lady with short blonde hair, and right from the get-go, I knew that we were in for a good experience! She crooned away at how great babe looked and how cute they were on the ultrasound right away (I foolishly beamed away with pride laying there – as if I had anything to do with this, and as if she doesn’t say this about every 18 week old fetus that she lays eyes on LOL). The BIG news though is that…..

SHE COULD TELL THE GENDER RIGHT AWAY. 

Shut.the.front.door.

I was so shocked that I don’t think I was even ready for her to say it right away, but she did and that was it! We know! We finally know!

We have our gender reveal for our families (Matt’s dad is miraculously in town this weekend, and we are hoping his two local brothers can make it in with their girlfriends as well); so I’ll hold off on sharing the gender for this week on the blog – SORRY!! You can expect the big reveal first thing next week though – Scouts Honour!!

And here we are! Today was my first Attack class back since my trip and everything felt good, it felt great to be back in the studio and moving again.

Well – this week has been a marathon for updates, so I think that’s all for today folks. 19 weeks starts tomorrow, and I’ve got my eye anxiously on the 20’s! Babe and I  will be glad to move pasts the 20 week milestone and start working on the second half!

Hope you’ve all had a great week! Chat soon!

-Sara & Babe xo

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