18 Weeks- Sweet Potato

At 18 weeks baby is the size of a sweet potato. I hate sweet potatoes. I mean I really really dislike them. They are simply a starchy vehicle for delicious roasted marshmallows at thanksgiving. I also can't even look at a sweet potato right now so I opted for the soda can size comparison for this week's picture to the right. I use a fun site to check out the size of my baby as we wind our way through the produce section.

Today I decided that I have to meet my crunch cravings with trail mix- including raw almonds and no salt nuts. "What helped me decide this?" you may ask. Well my friends that would be my cankles. Yes, my swollen ankles that I can push a finger into and leave an imprint. All it took was a handful of crackers! I am just thankful we aren't living close to McMenamins right now, because I could seriously go for some cajun tots. Those delicious little bad boys are covered in salt. Oh well. My energy and appetite are finally returning- my tummy is growling while I can smell the brown rice cooking, and salmon baking. I thought I would never get back to a place of opting for food at-home or something other than jamba juice. On that note it takes a lot to eat well during pregnancy. You need a ton of protein, have to avoid salt (boooo!) try to ignore that little voice that says to eat two huge bowls of ice cream instead of one small bowl. Once the appetite hits, oh man watch out! I have been doing pretty well though, and have gained just the right amount of weight.

I can feel our little one wiggling as I type this, and this is definitely my favorite part of pregnancy thus far. At first I thought it would freak me out when it happened. I mean you never feel your insides moving independently, you know? But it turns out, it's a great reminder that baby is there and happily growing ever day and now probably weighs around 7 oz.!