Hilary's Random Thoughts

I was very productive this morning. By 8:00AM I had cleaned my kitchen, scrubbed the microwave, disinfected all countertops, vacuumed and mopped the entire main floor, and even washed some walls. The secret to my success -- I turned on the TV in the front room, blasted one of those 'music only' channels on cable, the 'Kids Music' one -- filled with Hannah Montana and the like, and Annie and Ellie have been happily dancing and bopping for the last 45 minutes, pretty much uninterrupted. Why have I not done this before?!

Of course, despite their huge energy output, neither of them seem any closer to wanting to take a nap, while I'm just exhausted.

In other news, yesterday was my 18 week check up -- here's the highlights:

• We scheduled our ultrasound for next Friday. It's gonna be a long week and a half, but I'm so excited. (Sorry Amber, I'm just not strong enough to not find out :-). Even though I do think it'd be awesome to find out the sex at birth (and to keep everyone else annoyed and in the dark for the next several months). Maybe I could find a middle ground -- find out for myself next Friday, and just not tell anyone else 'til birth! :-) Nah, that would cut down on too many shopping months for my Mom to start spoiling the unborn grandchild. And if we get a boy this time, I'm gonna need all new stuff!)
• The baby kicked the doppler a lot again, but eventually we heard a strong heartbeat in the mid- to high-150s. My midwife said, "Sounds like a girl to me. And I'm right at least half of the time."
• I only gained three pounds this last month. Quite an improvement over the NINE I gained the month before. I was kinda shocked, as it appears I've put on 15 pounds just in my stomach in the last four weeks -- I don't know how I gained only three. It doesn't appear to have taken the weight from anywhere else!
The three vs. nine pounds thing probably has a lot to do with my nausea starting to get under control, so I no longer feel a near-constant compulsion to eat crackers and white bread around the clock. As well as the holidays being over.
• I totally forgot to ask the midwife what I can do about my gigantic cold sore outbreak all around my mouth. Seriously y'all, I have about 15 cold sores right now, all around one side of my mouth and along my lip line. It's pretty much the most disgusting, uncomfortable thing ever. I break out in cold sores my entire pregnancy, but this is ridiculous. This is not one of those things they tell you about in all those pregnancy books.
• The morning sickness appears to finally be letting up. I still feel crappy and fatigued off and on, but the nausea has only reared its ugly head twice in the past week. Yay. And, it's about time!