17 Week Recap: Momma's Little Man

17 Weeks
and thankful for sundress season!

I can definitely say that week 17 has been the most exciting of my pregnancy!!  This was the week that we got to actually find out whether we were having a boy or a girl!  (for a detailed description of that eventful day, check out the blog post "Oh Boy, IT'S A BOY!")

The week went by pretty slow, considering we had to wait until Thursday at 2pm for my appointment.  It was slower than Christmas coming - even the Christmas in 2nd grade when I got 2 hampsters. 

I have decided to start of the beginning of every week for the duration of my pregnancy (and maybe afterwards) with what I refer to as "Mani Mondays" - in order to keep some shred of sanity for the next couple of months, I needed something to look forward to when a new week rolls around.  I wanted something that would give me time to myself and be relaxing, so I'm taking my lunch break every Monday and heading to the nail salon for a manicure.  This is something that should be enacted by every pregnant woman, should be encouraged by her husband, and in my opinion should even be covered by your health insurance policy.  That hour of being doted on, having someone massage your hands and even make you feel somewhat pretty (eventhough I'm starting to not even recognize the body staring back at me in the mirror) is magical.  And worth every penny.  So to all of my fellow preggers, RUN - do not walk, to your local nail salon and treat yourself.  You deserve it!!

Thursday was the big reveal, and it did not disappoint!  It was the best moment of my life - seeing our little BOY on the screen and knowing that I was completely devoted to a baby that finally had a name.  Cohen Lees Jaroscak has every inch of my heart - and that's something no one can ever take away.  I love him so much and while I feel like I already know him, I'm counting down the days til I get to meet him face to face.  I can say that this is gonna be one stud of a kid - his closet is already growing by leaps and bounds and he's already got some pretty cool accesories!  Can't wait to see him all dressed up and handsome!

Cohen's First Bib from Uncle Tina!!

Friday we had about 14 friends over for dinner.  It was a little hectic at first, as the guest list for a relaxing Friday evening at home kept growing, but it was SO much fun to have everyone over and enjoy steaks on the grill and twice baked potatoes!  This is one of the many advantages to having such a wonderful home - being able to have people over and all of us being able to hang out without having to be out and spending a ton of money.  What was even better was the thoughtful gifts that some of our friends brought to Cohen and the sweet necklace Denise had made for me.  It's amazing what wonderful friends and family we have in our lives and I'm so excited to introduce Cohen to all of them!!

Drew and Cohen's BFF, Damon
Gettin the practice in :)

WEEK 17 CRAVINGS:  GREEN GRANNY SMITH APPLES.  Only green will do - and the more sour, the better.  I think I've eaten at least one every day since week 17 began.  My favorite is to slice them up and eat them with some really sharp white cheese (Dubliner cheese is my favorite and highly recommended if you like really sharp cheeses).  With the exception of my "3 Oreos a night" craving, I'm pretty stoked that all my cravings have been healthy!!  Dr Belle will be very proud of me :)

WEEK 17 "Dose of Daddy":  This was taken on Saturday, the first day in a long time that I can remember Drew didn't have to work or play golf or get up to do something with the new house, so he was able to sleep in.  I got up to get ready, and there he laid, all cuddled up with the current baby in the house.  (All together now..."Awwwwwwww!!")

My sweet boys.

WEEK 17 "To Remembers":  Eat every few hours.  Even when I'm not hungry.  In my previous, non-preggo life, I'd get busy and forget to eat and considered it a victory in the way of not gaining extra weight.  However, now that I have a little life inside sucking all of the energy and nutrients away from me, I know that I have to keep something on my stomach every few hours or so.  This is vital for two reasons (in addition to making sure my son is happy and healthy and growing strong):

1.  I have hypoglycemia...so even before I got pregnant it wasn't a great idea to skip a meal or eat terribly, just because it reaked havoc on my blood sugar.  But now that I am pregnant, it's even more important that I don't let my blood sugar bottom out.  I was reminded of this while in Target, when I got super dizzy and realized it was 3pm and I hadn't eaten all day.  After getting berated by both my momma and Andrew, I quickly paid for my things and pulled through to order a double cheeseburger at McDonalds.  Perhaps not the healthiest of remedies, but it did the trick and I was back to normal within a few minutes.

2.  I get REALLY bad mood swings when I'm hungry.  This was also the case before I got pregnant - I am crabby, irritable and incredibly short tempered when my blood sugar drops, but it's like a million times worse now.  Drew can totally vouch for the fact that my hunger-induced bad moods these days could render Freddy Kruger helpless.  I try really hard to prevent them, but there's sometimes where even the occasional KitKat won't ward off such evilness.

For this reason, I found this someecard relevant and had to share it with any and all who have experienced my wrath.

Is it wrong for me to blame it on the baby??