I’m officially 16 weeks pregnant today, or 4 months. While the change of weeks is always fun, the change of months really feels like a milestone.
I have secretly been excited about 16 weeks because baby is the size of an avocado this week. You know that rarely a day passes by that I don’t include avocado in one of my meals in some way so I thought this one was really sweet. And so crazy to think that in the beginning, Tanner and I lovingly referred to baby as “the chocolate chip” because it was SO tiny for so long.
Here’s some of baby’s milestones this week:
- Eyes and ears are now in their final position. Baby’s eyes are sensitive to light and baby begins hearing my voice and will recognize it at birth. All I have to say is that baby is going to be reallllllyyy familiar with “inhale up dog, exhale down dog.” Oh and, “Zoey, no!”
- The heart is working and pumping 25 quarts of blood a day
- Facial muscles are developed enough to make a variety of expressions
- Baby might be having frequent bouts of hiccups
- If it’s a girl, millions of eggs are filling her ovaries this week (how nuts is that?)
My update for the week.
Weight Gain/Body Changes: still up 6 pounds and that seems to be my sweet spot for the last few weeks. I think my body just needed to gain those initial 5-6 pounds to sustain the pregnancy.
I personally think it’s hard to see the body changes in the photos above but I promise you there is a small bump there and everyone who sees me in real life comments on it. I took a picture of it this morning to show you!
Also, my stomach is definitely starting to feel harder where the bump is versus kinda bloated/squishy like it was in the beginning. From what I understand the magic number for showing with your first is around 20 weeks? I’ve definitely noticed that with friends so it’ll be fun to see when I “pop.”
Workouts/Workout Modifications: the biggest thing I’ve realized lately is that I’m getting sore way more easily from workouts that typically wouldn’t leave me sore and that I need more recovery than normal. Also, I’ve already had to drop my weights for my strength training classes because I experience muscle fatigue and get out of breath so much faster. All to be expected. Since my last update I’ve run just a little, lifted a good amount and done tons of yoga. In general, everything is still feeling good although I stay mindful day-to-day on how what I’m doing is feeling for my body.
Symptoms: I’m in that sweet spot where the tiredness from the first trimester has improved and I’m not really uncomfortable yet on the bump front so overall I’m feeling pretty normal. My skin has been a mess the last couple of weeks with a lot of breakouts and any spots I do get turn dark and aren’t fading after they heal. I think that’s normal too.
To be completely transparent, I’m mostly struggling with the hormonal changes and dealing with emotional stuff…which is even harder with the holidays coming up. I’m going to be writing a post about grief and pregnancy in the coming weeks.
Food Aversions: I’m not having any strong aversions but my sweet tooth has really calmed down and I’m finding myself wanting sweet things like fruit instead of ice cream or chocolate…most of the time. I will not shy away from the Thanksgiving dessert table.
Food Cravings: alllllll the carbs. Seriously, I just want a lot of bread and carby things. Eating a ton of crackers, sourdough, oats, pasta, sweet potatoes, bagels, etc.
Sleep: overall, I’m still comfortable and haven’t had to get one of those crazy pillow things yet and I’m not having to get up and pee quite so much now that baby has moved up a bit in the second trimester.
Maternity Clothes: still a no on this although I work in stretchy yoga clothes. I think getting dressed for Thanksgiving will be a fun and interesting experiment and all I can tell you is that I will not be wearing jeans for this occasion! 😛
Miss Anything: not crying quite so often!
Fun/Weird Stuff Shares: when I go to bed at night or wake up in the morning, I can roll onto my back and feel (and see!) the hard lump where my uterus is. Some mornings and evenings it’s even more pronounced than others and really cool to see.
Also, this falls into the fun category but we received quite a few baby gifts last week from friends and they were our first ones. We now have books, a stuffed animal, muslin cloths and some other fun stuff for baby. Makes it feel real to see it sitting on our table!
Looking Forward To: FEELING THE BABY MOVE! Some of my apps are telling me that early flutters are possible starting at this point and I can’t wait. The only bummer is that my ultrasound tech told me that I have an anterior placenta (that means my placenta is in the front so it’s acting as a padding between my belly and the baby) so I might not feel movement as early as some.
Your gender guesses were mostly boy! We find out on December 7! I’m so darn tempted to go to one of those elective ultrasound places to get an early confirmation. Has anyone done that? Then I tell myself to take a deep breath and be patient, at the end of the day I will be 100% thrilled with either and I truly have no preference either way. I really just want to see baby again. 🙂
Did you experience a “honeymoon period” when you were in your second trimester where you felt pretty normal?
Did you struggle more with physical or emotional symptoms of pregnancy?
At what point in your pregnancy did you find out gender? Did anyone wait until delivery and let it be a surprise?
I struggled most with anxiety and nausea so far – so a little bit of both. I actually had my honeymoon period in the beginning of trimester 3 – trimester 2 was my hardest emotionally. wishing you all the best with this journey! I’m 35 weeks tomorrow!
I love these updates and all you have to share about your experiences! I’m currently 14 weeks and 4 days with an estimated arrival on May 18. It’s fun to see the variances and the similarities in symptoms and thoughts. I’m very excited about getting to feel the baby move too! My placenta is also anterior facing and I read the same thing about it possibly taking longer to feel movement. Soon enough though ? I look forward to future posts and following you along your journey! Cheers to you and yours!! ? ??
We found our sex with both of our babies at the 12 week mark using Maternity 21 – a fetal DNA test. Totally harmless to both Mom and baby. Both times it was roughly $100 out of pocket and worth it!
I love your pregnancy updates!
Both of my pregnancies were pretty easy. I had mild morning sickness and while I definitely felt best in my second trimester I never felt terrible, even at the end. Worst thing at the end was terrible insomnia; I slept better with a newborn than I did in my last trimester.
With my first we found the sex at 14.5 week because I had to see a specialist and have a high level ultrasound. I’ve definitely known people who have paid for ultrasound to find out sex early. I loved knowing!
You are doing great! I struggled with my emotions, especially around this time between the first and second trimester. I cried every single day – sometimes I knew why, and most of the time, I just let myself cry even though I had no idea why the tears were coming. Those dang hormones! I also craved fresh fruit and carbs. I ate a bowl full of cheerios every morning (sometimes at 4 in the morning…). I normally don’t even eat cereal. I tried to listen to my gut (literally) and just eat what I was craving and it worked. Also, I loved having a body pillow, but no so much the pregnancy pillow. I just needed something to wrap my legs around to take pressure off my hips and lower back. Good luck and I hope you continue to enjoy this journey. I found the entire process to be so incredible!
So awesome! Love these posts! Ours was a surprise! We waited until birthday and yes I am a little biased;) but it was the best surprise ever. We will do it again if given another chance! My honeymoon phase was around 16-26 weeks, the husband and I hiked over 85 miles out west — felt amazing. I had more emotional symptoms, but also developed the “mask of pregnancy”, more sensitive to soreness post workouts, random bloody noses and frequent peeing (trading jogging for power walking around 26 wks helped!). Loved it thought! Enjoy!
So thrilled for you. Pregnancy is tough emotionally and physically, mostly because of the unknown. Trust your body, always. I was an “older” mom, 37 and 39, so the constant worry was always there. Seems silly now! We went without finding out sex for both our kids (girl 3 1/2 and boy 1 1/2). It was truly an awesome surprise. Best to you.
Ahhh Jen, the hormones! I honestly felt like I wasn’t myself at times…it actually got more intense once baby arrived- double portion of all the feels! I promised Daniel that the fun-loving girl was still in there.
20 weeks was when I popped so hang in there! I had the same placenta position as you! The flutters felt like gas at first but then I could tell the difference- you will love feeling him/her move!
The carbs cravings are for real! I had so many potatoes it wasn’t even funny! Mashed, roasted, stuffed…you name it!
Love reading all your updates! Hope the second trimester is wonderful! -Kendra
We only found out gender ahead for the last baby, for numbers 1, 2 & 3 we were surprised, LOVED being surprised ?
Love your updates!! It’s all so exciting! My first I started feeling kicks at 17 weeks! And I couldn’t stand waiting for the anatomy scan so we went early at 16 weeks and found out baby was a boy!
With second baby, I thought we would wait to find out gender but then again when I knew I could possibly know we found out baby was a girl at 15 weeks! And felt her kicks around 16 weeks! I was the same as you…always wanting to see baby! Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us! Gives me all the feels!
Hey Callie – thank you. It’s been an amazing new journey for me and awesome to be able to document it here. It’s been tough to wait on the gender but my anatomy scan is finally next week so we have one week to go!
I had all the symptoms – nausea, vomiting, heartburn, terrible sleep, fatigue, moodiness, etc. – for all 42 weeks. I threw up the least in the second trimester when I had one week of honeymoon phase, so at least there’s that? But it’s totally worth it, especially once you feel baby move! For me it was really early on and felt like a little goldfish was swimming around in my belly 🙂 Our little girl turns one in a few weeks, and she is the best thing to ever happen to me. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat <3 I'm glad you're feeling good and hope you continue to enjoy your pregnancy. It truly is so magical.
Ahhhh Monica, I’m sorry to hear this! I’ve had a few friends/acquaintances that have had this same experience and it’s truly awful. It really is amazing what our bodies are capable of. I’m in awe every day.
Honeymoon period of pregnancy? Sounds like a dream…can’t wait to get there! At 12 weeks I’m finally able to get back to spin/barre, feels so good to sweat again! Only really sick at night right before bed these days!
I have actually been surprised I haven’t been super emotional yet, honestly! I shocked myself when I was like “oh cool” at our last doctor visit when we heard a heartbeat. What?! I cry when people on tv see it! Weird.
And I’m hoping to wait to find out at birth! My husband wants to know ASAP though. I’ve shocked myself at how laid back I am about it!
Hey Kate – don’t worry, relief is coming in the second trimester. I am shocked by how much my energy levels feel back to normal for the most part.
Congrats on the pregnancy! I had an anterior placenta too! Don’t worry, I still felt tons of movement, it’s probably just a little different than what you expect. The movement I felt was mostly inward. I didn’t really get those huge belly moving, foot sticking out moments, so my husband missed out on that, but I had plenty to experience! Right about now is when I first felt something. You always hear of the flutter or gas bubbles, but my best description of it was getting a text on vibrate but deep inside. I first noticed it standing still doing dishes. It’s subtle but you are intuitive with your body so you’ll know when it happens. It’s just different than anything else you’ve ever felt. Enjoy all of this, it goes so fast! And thanks for blogging, I love your content!!
Hey Anne – thanks for sharing your experience with anterior placenta. It’s super helpful and reassuring to read. And gosh, I know…it is going so fast and I know after the holidays those last four months will fly by.
I appreciate the kind words on my blog. Thank YOU for reading!
Love your updates! At 29 weeks, I’m very excited that stretchy pants are completely acceptable for me to wear this Thanksgiving. My doctor told me that my placenta might also keep me from feeling the baby early but I found that it was more of a “thumping” than a “flutter.” I think it took 4 or 5 times for it to happen to know it was the baby. Happy Thanksgiving – so much to be thankful for this year.
Thanks Emily – I think my days of tight and restrictive jeans/pants are long gone. Haha. Eagerly awaiting those first movements and yes, we feel so abundantly blessed this year.
Second trimester was great! Literally as soon as I hit 28 weeks I got super uncomfortable as baby’s feet just rest on my right ribs ALL THE TIME. Lol! I have an anterior placenta as well and started feeling the tiniest bit of movement around 18-19 weeks. We did not find out the gender and I am so excited for our little one to arrive in about 3 weeks so we’ll finally know! It’s been really hard not knowing! I’m glad everything is going well for you except for the hormones. Mine have mostly stayed in check except for a few random moments where I burst into tears at work!
Hey Caitlin – congrats and you’re SO close to delivery! How are you feeling now? I can’t even believe how many women have left comments that they waited to be surprised at delivery with the sex. That is awesome! I’m so excited for you!!!!
So exciting! I wanted to chime in as I had an anterior placenta with my first pregnancy. I didn’t feel movement until pretty late, like 24 weeks….just wanted to let you know because I was sure that meant something was wrong and my dr kept assuring me it wasn’t. So hang in there! I also only ever felt big movements, kicks and punches and things, never those little flutters people talk about. Still, that first kick, was like the best thing ever!
Sara – this is super helpful as I do have a tendency to worry if something is wrong. It’s great to read about other’s experiences with anterior placenta. I got to hear the heartbeat on the doppler at my appointment today and that’s always such a comfort since I’m not feeling movement yet.
Hi Jen!
I’m not a mother and I’m not pregnant but I’m really enjoying following your updates! Please keep sharing! I’m glad you’re feeling pretty good physically, and I hope that the emotional part improves for you <3 Do you follow the Insprialized blog? She just had her baby 2 months ago and she did an AWESOME job sharing about her pregnancy and must-have products for the baby before, during, and after his arrival 🙂
Hey Amanda – thank you so much for the support of my pregnancy and documenting it here on my blog.
I don’t follow her blog but I’ll go back and read through her pregnancy posts. thank you!
I hit my honeymoon period around 16 weeks and felt awesome physically (hormones were no joke) until i delivered at 42 weeks. I also had an anterior placenta and felt flutters the best during yoga (specifically down down and bridge). We didn’t find out the gender until our son was born!
SO wonderful to hear that you felt good through delivery. I am praying for the same. I am SHOCKED by how many people commented on this post that they waited to find out the sex at delivery!
My belly seemed to pop out overnight (finally)at 23 weeks! I had strong abs and have a long torso so it took forever so don’t worry if you still don’t pop out at 20! People gave me serious anxiety about looking small but baby was perfect! That same week my husband felt the baby so in 6-7 weeks you will be in that super fun stage where you can see that bump without a doubt and your partner can feel some movement! ??????
Thanks Kendra! I am trying not to worry too much about my lack of a true bump as I know it varies so greatly from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy. I’m trying to tell myself to enjoy this time now before I get big and uncomfortable!
You look so great! I started to wear maternity clothes around week 16 because the bloat made my work clothes more uncomfortable. I don’t feel like I started to show until around 20-22 weeks. I also have an anterior placenta. I did not feel movement until around 22 weeks. There were times between weeks 20 and 22 that I thought I might have felt something, but at week 22 I knew I was feeling the baby move. Now I am 25 weeks and I can start to see some movement in my stomach. My husband hasn’t been able to feel the baby kick yet but hopefully he will soon!
We decided not to find out the sex. I really wanted to be surprised at the delivery. That’s what all of my family has done, with the exception of one of my brother’s 2nd child – and they were wrong (thought it was a girl and it was a boy!). I’m over 35 so qualified for genetic testing so we could have found out around 10 weeks when I did the genetic test but we opted to be surprised.
I’ve struggled more with the physical aspects of being pregnant, which then impact me mentally. I have RA and it’s been terrible during this pregnancy so I have not been able to be pregnant as I keep getting flares pretty much weekly now. 🙁 Not being able to workout makes me feel guilty and not so great about myself/how I look.
Hey Lisa – thanks for sharing your experience with anterior placenta. It’s helpful and comforting to hear that it took a while for you to feel movement.
I cannot believe how many ladies have replied saying that they were surprised at delivery and didn’t find out. That is awesome but we are going to find out! 🙂
I’m so sorry about your RA. I can’t even imagine dealing with the flares in addition to pregnancy. Sending you lots of love.
I had the anterier placenta too which was only a bummer for the beginning of the pregnancy b/c by the end, his kicks and hiccups were all i felt! I dont remember when i finally started feeling the flutters b/c to me it felt like my stomach growling. I didn’t know that was the baby kicking until the Doctor was checking my belly and it happend and he said that was your baby!!! I hope you get to feel the baby soon 🙂
Nikki – thanks for sharing about your anterior placenta. So great to read that! I’m anxiously awaiting the movement! 🙂
I love these updates! I’m 14 weeks with my first so I love getting a peak at what might be ahead. We plan on waiting to find out until the big day! Sending lots of good vibes your way!
Thanks Mary and congrats on your pregnancy! 🙂
Congrats to you and Tanner!
Second trimester is the best!! Over the first trimester stuff and not “too big” to have to change much until 3rd trimester. Enjoy it! I have the biggest sweet tooth and I’d literally craved oranges and grape fruits during my two pregnancies. Think it was the thirst quench too! Seeing baby is soo cool and I got emotional every time. We found out gender with our first and second we were surprised. Surprise is definitely more fun but if you want to plan and have baby nursery set up and all that it’s good to find out. Literally no one gets surprised anymore I realized. Hope your emotions subside a bit. Pregnancy is crazy but so cool too! You will forget the bad stuff eventually! Good luck!
Thanks Heidi! I’ve been so surprised over how many comments I’ve received from you ladies who waited until delivery to find out. That is so cool but we’ve both agreed that we want to know! 🙂
I see your bump in the pics. I remember being about halfway and laying down on my back and feeling/seeing that lump you mentioned.
I think with your active lifestyle your weight gain is fine. And I’m sure your OB or midwife will let you know if there are any concerns. I gained on the low end during my pregnancy. Most of the weight comes at the end when the baby is fattening up. I feel like the weight picked up a lot in the 3rd trimester for me. I really don’t remember my weight gain week by week, except at the very end.
Mine was also anterior. I felt around 18 weeks as “gas” and then closer to 20 weeks I was like “no that’s definitely the movement.” I would notice the movement at night mostly. Like when I would lie down to go to bed. I would be tired and the baby would be waking up!
What is odd is there is also something called “phantom kicks” where you feel like the baby is kicking and this happens after delivery!!! It’s been some time now since I had it happen but it was totally happening 12-18 months after I gave birth. Craziest thing ever.
I waited until delivery to find out the sex of the baby.
I’m about 10 pounds up right now at 17 weeks and talked to my doctor about it today. He said he’s not worried at this point because I’m working out every day and not really eating too crazy. I’m just trusting that my body is doing what it needs to do for the pregnancy. And trying to just remember that every pregnancy is so different so we’ll see!
I can’t wait to feel the movement. I try to pay attention every night when I go to bed to see if I feel anything but so far just gas! Ha.
The phantom kick thing is crazy but I can totally see how that would happen.
I don’t know how all of you ladies waited until delivery. That is so awesome…but I can’t do it! 🙂
I had anterior placenta with both pregnancies and felt both around 18 weeks. Also I found out gender with #1 and was surprised with #2 and I honestly loved both knowing and not knowing.
Thank you for sharing when you felt movement. I am anxiously awaiting it! We are going to go with finding out gender because we both feel strongly that we want to know and I think it will help me personally to better bond with baby.
I ate a TON of avocados with my 3rd pregnancy and my son LOVES them to this day. Keep on eating them! 🙂
For our 1st we did a blood test to find out the sex, our 2nd we waited for the ultrasound, and our 3rd we waited until delivery. In hindsight, I wish I would have waited until delivery for all of them. It was so fun to have that big surprise with all the adrenaline pumping! Either way you do it though, it is such a blessing to find out the sex of your baby.
Ha, great reason to keep up my daily avocado intake! 🙂
I’m sure that the delivery room surprise is an insane moment but we’ve both agreed that the baby will be shock enough for us so we’re going to find out ahead of time! 🙂
Yayy for avocado baby!! So happy for you!
We waited both times to find out the sex of the baby and I highly recommend going that route if you have any inclination toward it. Is it hard not knowing? Omg yes. Does it mean you have to forego decorating the nursery according to a gender specific theme? Yep. But it was so worth it to have that moment when my husband announced, “it’s a boy/girl!” to the birth team. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. ??
Cheryl – I cannot even imagine the surprise it must be in the delivery room…I just don’t think I have it in me to do it! 🙂 I’m such a planner and really want to know the sex to plan for the nursery and just overall baby bonding! 🙂
This is absolutely fantastic!
If you want to know more about movement have a look at the Still Aware organisation. They talk about movement, what to expect, what is normal and how to establish a bond with your baby. It’s so amazing feeling movement and it’s amazing how it can be your baby’s indicator over its health.
Btw I had an anterior and still felt movement around 20 weeks :).
Hey Danielle – thank you so much for the head’s up about Still Aware. I am going to check it out for sure. In the meantime, I’ll be eagerly awaiting feeling those first movements!
I sure did experience honeymoon and am still in it!! I was SOOOO sick the first trimester, could barely leave the bed most days. But once I hit about 13 weeks I felt completely normal. I definitely struggled with physical – the sickness nearly killed me lol! We found out gender at 14.5 weeks from an outside source and then confirmed at our anatomy scan at 20 weeks, so they were right at 14! 🙂
Hey Brittany! I’ve loved following your journey on IG and I’m so sorry that you were so sick in the first tri. I feel so lucky to have escaped that. I’m glad you’re feeling more like yourself in the second trimester – you certainly look amazing! We can’t wait to find out the gender next week!!!!!!
Congratulations on your pregnancy Jen! I found out the gender of my baby at birth – my obstetrician held my baby boy to me so I can “discover” it myself as opposed to announcing it. My gender guess for yours is a boy too cos I lived on all the carbs! ? So excited to see how your pregnancy journey progresses. Much love x
Congrats on your pregnancy! Just catching up on your blog and I guess tomorrow is the big day! We didn’t find out the sex before birth with either of our daughters…my husband and I were both completely on the same page with that decision with is so rare these days!
Being pregnant makes you feel so anxious, you want to know many things that you never bothered before your pregnancy. I stumbled upon an informative page on WhatToExpect that provides information on pregnancy weeks, months and trimesters. Hope you and readers find it interesting.