18 Weeks

Today, I am 18 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Baby is apparently as large as a mango, or about as long as a bell pepper, and this time next week, we should know if the little one is a boy or girl. I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really can't wait to know if we'll be having a son or daughter, and I'm also looking forward to seeing the little bean again. At the last ultrasound, baby was looking like a gummy bear, and I have nightmares that baby is now just a larger gummy bear. I want to see arms and legs, our baby's profile, and of course, the parts. Baby, this is no time for modesty.

There still is no bump to speak of. Anything that resembles a bump is not the baby, and really just my organs and innards being pushed up and out. No, the baby is still in my relatively flat lower abdomen, below my belly button. That's what the doctor says, and that is where I feel an occasional flutter of movement.

Last week, Friday night, at 18 weeks exactly, I got my first taste of edema, AKA "cankles." John had sweetly offered to rub my feet, and it was then that we saw that my right ankle had completely disappeared into my calf. Both feet and ankles were swollen, but the right was considerably worse. Of course, I immediately consulted Dr. Google, thinking the worst - preeclampsia or maybe gestational diabetes - knowing nothing about these conditions or their cause. I also called my mom, Nurse Mary, who reassured me that it was fine, told me to keep my feet elevated, sleep on my left side, avoid salt and drink lots of water.

In the morning, when my ankles were still slightly puffy, I called my OB. She asked if my ankles were tender, which they weren't, or if my entire leg was swollen, which it wasn't. So, she told me, it was nothing to worry about, keep ankles elevated and sleep on the left. She said that swelling is normal in pregnancy, even this early. Tenderness and swelling of the entire leg can be signs of a blood clot, but as I had neither, there was no cause for concern.

The Cankle:


Good news is, the swelling was gone by Sunday, and it hasn't been back. I've been keeping my feet propped up under my desk at work, sleeping on my left side, and drinking lots of water.

Speaking of sleep positions, the pregnancy books and emails say that I should stop sleeping on my back. Even at this point, they say the weight of the uterus can impede blood flow to me and baby. Unfortunately, I happen to be a back sleeper, so this has been a bit of an adjustment. I wake up throughout the night, realize I've rolled onto my back and freak out because I'M ALREADY A TERRIBLE MOTHER!

And then I roll over and go back to sleep.