enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

18weeks

So, this adventure is a good one.

I am in awe of the feeling. In awe of my blooming belly. In awe that there is the beginnings of a human in there. It felt real at 15 weeks when we saw the tiny one moving around on the ultrasound screen so actively. It's arms! It's legs! It's elbows! How bizarre and exciting it was to compare this person looking shape to the gummy bear we saw at our 11 week ultrasound.

But the growing belly and textbook symptoms are making it seem even more real right now. I have had a significant amount of "round-ligament pain" – the lower stomach pain that feels a bit like cramps – these past few weeks which is my insides stretching and growing to make room. Last week some lower back pain started to kick in. Paul googled a diagram to show me what exactly what bones and muscles were moving and the page he pulled up said this was usually something that started at 18 weeks.

"A-ha!" I thought. How odd & cool to be "right on schedule."

Last Wednesday night, as we were going to sleep, Paul said something relatively non-confrontational and I burst into tears. It took about 10 minutes to get a handle on my emotions and afterwards we just sort of stared at each other like "Hmmm, that's new…" For the most part, I feel pretty normal so the quick rush of emotions is startling. That part might get tricky, especially with Paul headed for deployment soon, but we'll make it work.

My daily yoga sessions are wonderful and I plan on sharing a bit more about them soon. I am loving feeling that comes with a quick 20-25 minutes on the mat. The work outs are super deliberate and focused and seem to be easing the physical discomfort and increasing the mental calm. I'd love to continue them indefinitely. I got a great comment on instagram about "yoga mama." equaling "zen baby." How awesome if that turns out to be true!

We've got a very long way to go, this baby and I, and I am really enjoying the ride. If all goes as planned, we'll find out the sex at the end of this week. I still think it's a girl, but regardless, I know knowing what's kicking around in there will be completely thrilling. We are so excited to be on this adventure and I am looking forward to spending the next 22 weeks in very close proximity to our baby boy or girl.

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56 responses to “18 weeks.”

  1. Toni From Avatar

    Looking good mama. Whatever you have, boy or girl, I bet they will love creating with you. I will root for a Zen baby!

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  2. Kayla Avatar

    You look lovely!! I’ve been so enjoying your yoga instagram pics!

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  3. breanne Avatar
    breanne

    you look amazing, elise!! i cant wait to hear what youre having but have definitely noticed that the majority of your pins are girl ones 😉 i am so excited for you and paul! my best advice for you is before it gets hard to sleep, get yourself a snoogle. it is the only way i have slept through both my pregnancies!! lots of love coming your way!

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  4. chloe Avatar

    You look great!! I can only imagine the excitment of finding out the sex! I think you can really start planning then.
    I also completely love your book shelf.

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  5. Marie Avatar
    Marie

    As I just celebrated my 3rd kid’s second b-day on Sat, it’s nice to experience (vicariously, of course) your excitement and wonder all over again. Each one is so completely different, but their temperments seem to mirror my emotional states with each pregnancy. (Did that make sense?) My calmest pregnancy – with respect to my inner space – produced my calmest child … I think there’s definitely something to the zen baby thing your friend mentioned 🙂 Prayers for continued health and an easy pregnancy~

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  6. Erin Avatar
    Erin

    I absolutely love reading these blog posts! My “babies” just turned 14, but I remember the wonderment and complete awe of the changing pregnant body and those emotions. Since having my boys, I am still very emotional…that part never left and I often find myself sobbing over commercials, but the journey is unmatched by any and I’m sending happy, healthy thoughts your way!

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  7. Sandi Avatar

    This book nerd is lovin’ your book shelves 😉
    And congratulations on your little one!

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  8. Emilie Avatar
    Emilie

    Elise, My second LOVEY is turning two this weekend!! I remember thinking he was a girl the WHOLE beginning of my pregnancy because i had this “feeling” (my first LOVEY is also a boy) so when we found out i was having another boy it was a surprise! Whatever sex your LOVEY is, I pray it is healthy!! ((BTW, I am TOTALLY DIY-ing my LOVEY’s birthday party… So fun to celebrate!!))

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  9. elise blaha Avatar

    I got one!! Love it SO much! 🙂

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  10. orange gearle Avatar

    I love this post. Thank you for sharing your experiences and emotions. I hope that you are going to tell us if you are having a boy or girl, but I completely understand if you keep it a surprise. 🙂

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  11. Cady Avatar

    Ah yes, the emotions. I honestly think I laughed and cried more during the pregnancy than I had the entire three years prior. So with the random tears at least I found things more hilarious.
    Are you planning anything fun for the gender reveal?

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  12. Brittany Avatar

    Will you be having a gender reveal party after the big ultrasound?

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  13. lisa fine @ vermont vittles Avatar

    Yay yay yay! All so exciting, and reading your posts make it all seem so real and so possible (I can’t wait to have kids of my own).
    I’d love to hear about any changes you’ve made to your routine before and after getting pregnant – like pre-natal vitamins, changes in toiletries, etc.

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  14. Ashlee Avatar

    I knew Everett was a boy from the very beginning, so I’m anxious to find out if you’re right about yours!
    Yoga helped my pregnancy SO much. Keep it up momma! It will help your back in the third trimester. If you’re not feeling baby kicks yet, I bet you’ll start feeling them any day now!

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  15. elise blaha Avatar

    No, just a gender reveal text to everyone we know. I will share on the blog once family and friends have been told. 🙂

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  16. elise blaha Avatar

    Yes on emotions! And no on fun gender reveal. 😉

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  17. Ang Avatar
    Ang

    Oh the emotions… almost 14 years later we still joke about how DH came home with a random People magazine for me and I burst out in tears. LOL Go ZEN BABY!!! 🙂

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  18. Cady Avatar

    Well, I can’t wait to find out on the blog. Enjoy that first shopping trip for gender specific items. That is certainly a fun moment in the journey 🙂

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  19. Carlee Avatar

    Such a great post! I am so happy and excited for you!! Congrats again and I can’t wait to see other projects and happenings for the little one.
    Carlee
    http://almostendearing.blogspot.com/

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  20. Jenna Avatar
    Jenna

    I’ve been reading your blog for a while, but have never commented- originally found you from 2peas back when I was in college!
    Congratulations! My husband and I have a 7 week old baby girl– he’s a 3rd year ortho resident & was on an out of town rotation in Sacramento during my 7th & 8th months of pregnancy– it was hard & it still is with all the long hours he works. I feel for you & can only imagine what an upcoming deployment must feel like. Hang in there!
    Looking forward to seeing your baby projects!

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  21. Chris Avatar

    I love following your journey. We just discovered that we’ve begun our on journey, as well, but it will be a second baby. TONS of fun seeing the excitement in my nearly 3-year-old as I tell him that we have secrets — that the baby is a secret — and him deciding whether he wants a baby brother or sister.
    Zen Baby. ❤ it.
    Emotions — even before I got pregnant again, what I realized is that pregnancy really rewires your brain. I became a bit less fly-off-the-handle-ish and my emotions never fully got back into check as they had been pre-pregnancy. So that may be something you deal with throughout life following (though not quite to the same extreme).

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  22. Melissa R. Avatar
    Melissa R.

    While in labor withe my first i was complemented on being calm, the nurse asked if i had experienced a calm pregnancy and then remarked that “zen mamas” have really calm babies, you can pick them out in the nursery.
    After my second child’s birth, he was brought back to us after an examination and the nurse commented to the effect of “that explains why he is so calm! you guys are so easy going!”
    Every child has their own personality, and mine are both not as calm now that they are school age, but those first few weeks they were very easy going babies. So keep it up! If it doesn’t help, it certainly isn’t hurting anything! And bonus. . .you feel good doing it!

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  23. -Michelle Avatar

    I confess I know little about pregnancy except what I read and hear from others. Just not for me.
    BUt i wasn’t sure if I had shared this link with you
    http://www.lifeincolorphoto.com/2009/01/the-birth-of-tuesday-lee.html
    And if you read the rest of Amber;s posts after that she shares in detail what it’s like to be a super tired new mom with a cute baby.

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  24. Nicole-Lynn Avatar

    Loving the update(s)! Please continue with them 🙂 I guess GIRL!

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  25. desiree Avatar

    love. your about a half week ahead of me and I am feeling the same things (only this is our 4th). The emotions can be overwhelming at times. health and happiness to you as you continue 🙂

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  26. elise blaha Avatar

    yes! I have read her blog and birth story. Very inspiring. 🙂

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  27. elise blaha Avatar

    that is so awesome. And you are right … not going to hurt. 🙂

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  28. elise blaha Avatar

    thank you! I was on pre-natal vitamins (gummy ones) for about a year before I got pregnant. I made A TON of green skincare changes in the past year and half. Not really to get pregnant but just to help out my skin. You can search green skincare on the sidebar for lots of posts and links. I will be sure to share my favorite products once I reach the 20 week mark. 🙂

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  29. Samantha Avatar
    Samantha

    How fun! You look fantastic 🙂 I’m currently 19 weeks pregnant with our first little one and loving every minute of it as well. I’m also doing prenatal yoga! Here’s to a couple of zen babies!!

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  30. Jenny Rose Avatar
    Jenny Rose

    My gut says boy, but my gut is very far away from your gut (I live in Canada)! I guess I have a 50% chance of being right! Having both a daughter and a son I can say, either is simply the best. Prenatal yoga is fantastic…for mind and body.

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  31. Jennie Avatar

    I saw your picture on instagram with the clementine oranges, and it was my experience when I was pregnant with my daughter that I absolutely couldn’t get enough oranges. I used to eat 2-3 a day every day! I remember on Christmas day bringing some oranges with me to my sister-in-law’s house so that I could have some after dinner, LOL! That was my #1 craving. But when I was pregnant with my 2 boys, I craved meat constantly. So just my 2 cents, but my guess would be that you are having a girl too! 🙂
    PS – ordered the Seafoam kit last week and the binder today and I CANNOT wait to get started! LOVE the design! Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂

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  32. Angie Avatar

    I am so happy we’re following you on this adventure and this post made me absolutely giddy. LOVE IT!!!

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  33. Carol T. Avatar
    Carol T.

    I too, think you are having a girl! So exciting either way!! Yippeee!

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  34. Emilie Avatar
    Emilie

    I could not get enough bananas with my first, (i think i ate 4-5 bananas a day!!) and i guess that’s why he doesn’t like them.

    Like

  35. Erin Avatar

    My sister & my sister-in-law are both pregnant. Can’t believe it! This is an exciting time for you. It is so fun to read on the updates of your little one.

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  36. Pink Ronnie Avatar

    Soooo very excited for you guys. I was seriously counting down the weeks/days/hours before finding out the sex of our latest little baby. I just love knowing whether it’s a boy or girl.
    Anyway, yes those hormones really do wreak a bit of havoc, but they also do wonderful things for our body (e.g. help us push big baby out) so I guess I can’t complain. 🙂
    Ronnie xo

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  37. Amber Lee Avatar

    Awe thanks Michelle. My friends say the posts after I had Tuesday don’t sound like me at all (um, I guess I sounded a bit desperate for sleep LOL). I was coming on to say, yes the emotional thing! Oh man I can laugh at it now, but we were also remodeling and I got a tad “jumpy” when things didn’t go right (i.e. walking into a paint store and setting a can of paint down they made wrong while crying begging for a re-do). My daughters friends are the kids of women I met in my prenatal yoga class. So awesome to have people going through at the exact same time as you. Exciting about gender! Does Paul do your ultrasounds? I only got one midway through.

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  38. Brianna Avatar
    Brianna

    Looks good. I really wish I could embrace daily yoga. I think it would really help with the whole working so many jobs thing. I freelance full time, plus have a part-time job.

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  39. Leilani Avatar
    Leilani

    This is such a wonderful time. There is nothing else like it and the wonderful journey you are about take. 13 years later I am amazed at the wonderful gift our daughter is to us. Our sea foam kit arrived today and we did a little happy dance on the porch when our favorite delivery person brought it to the door. Thank you for sharing so many wonderful parts of yourself with us! Here’ s to a wonderful new year!

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  40. Leona Lane Avatar

    id love to hear more about your yoga! especially if you have any dvd recommendations. maybe you just do it all by heart! either way, id love to know!
    -Jenn

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  41. Sarah Avatar

    Good luck with your pregnancy! I haven’t really commented much on here, but I’ve followed your blog for a while now {and love it!}. I’m a military wife and just had my second daughter 7 months ago. We live in japan and my husband is “forward deployed” so he’s gone 6 months every year for his sea tour here. Anyway… I dealt with all the pregnancy hormones and stuff while he was deployed last year and THANKFULLY he made it for the birth of our second daughter one week before he deployed! I was curious if your husband is going to be there for the birth? (I understand all that might be completely up in the air, though). Can’t wait to hear what you’re having! Girls are a very sweet, but any baby is a blessing! 🙂

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  42. Kathy Avatar

    My first baby I was certain it was going to be a girl and when I found out it was a boy I was shocked and for about a day I was disappointed. Then 24 hrs later I was fine and I was so excited it was going to be a boy. It is such an amazing 9 months and towards the end quite uncomfortable, you can’t see your feet and we were in Melbourne at the time and I couldn’t even put my ankle boots on to go out as I couldn’t bend down to reach them to do the zip up. It seems weird that some basic things you can’t do towards the end..be prepared if Paul is away you’ll have to get to know your nice new neighbours if you need some help.Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia

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  43. Maya Avatar

    I was a yoga mama my first time around, but we definitely did not have a zen baby! No matter, you deal with whatever comes your way. It can’t help but change you – for the good – no matter what. You’ll do great! 🙂

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  44. elise blaha Avatar

    Completely in the air. 🙂 we hope so! Thanks for sharing your story!

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  45. elise blaha Avatar

    hey Amber! No, my OB does the ultrasounds. This big one will be done by an ultrasound tech. 🙂

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  46. Kelsey McEvoy Avatar

    Oh, I’m so excited to follow your pregnancy through your blog (Not weird at all, right? I promise I’m not a stalker – ha!). MySpace was barely a “thing” when I was pregnant with my first, and with my other two I was so busy with military and civilian school that I don’t even know if there’s a single photo of my pregnant belly! I feel so horrible about not being more detailed about my pregnancies (and not keeping baby books for any of my kids), which is a MAJOR reason I started blogging last year, and Project Life this year.
    At some point it will become crazy and hectic and easy to forget to record the little moments, but you’re good at paying attention to those already so KEEP IT UP!
    You’re looking great 🙂

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  47. Briana Avatar
    Briana

    Soo cute! Cant wait to hear what your having 🙂 Love these posts!

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  48. -Michelle Avatar

    Yes Amber building a 2nd story on your house right when you are pregnant and planning a home birth? I kinda thought you were on crack or something LOL.
    I meant to post the link to Bennet’s story too but no time to look for it today.

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  49. -Michelle Avatar

    The only thing I know about is the darn ultrasounds. I had to have one of THOSE ultrasounds just yesterday as a follow up to a situation we had to deal with last summer.
    I remember when they said I had to have an ultrasound, i was like, oh ok, I’ve had those before. Lift your shirt, squirt squirt, move the thing around, no problem.
    OMG THAT IS NOT WHAT THE DR DID!!!!!
    So I was ummmm a wee bit more prepared for that this time around. Thankfully. I guess if I’d ever had a baby I would have known about those… yikes!!!

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  50. Paula C. Avatar
    Paula C.

    Elise, I am a relatively new reader and I have come to enjoy reading your blog posts every day. I have been wanting to write you an email about this but I never seem to get around to sitting down to write it… I don’t know if you have ever considered a home birth, but if you have, I’d like to briefly tell you my story. I am a 4th year medial student at Georgetown in DC and I gave birth to my son 14 months ago at home. I am a bit of an outlier in the medical community for turning to midwifery and homebirth but that is because I was delivered by Ina May Gaskin on the Farm in 1983. It scared me more to know I had a 1 in 3 chance of having a(n unnecessary) c-section just my stepping foot in the hospital to give birth than the infinitesimal chance that something would go wrong at home. If this is something you are even marginally curious about, I encourage you to look into it. Google Ina May and The Farm. There is a documentary about her (can’t remember the name) that was just reviewed in the New York Times. The Business of Being Born is another popular documentary available on Netflix streaming. A Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer is a literature based book on the evidence based medicine behind the indications for and complications of routine obstetrical interventions that Paul might be interested in reading as well.
    The idea of giving birth is scary. But it is also incredibly empowering and grounding. It is a uniquely personal experience that every mother deserves to have on her own terms. There are countless stories out there of women whose birth experiences left them feeling as though they missed out on something essential in the process. I was more afraid of being one of them–robbed of the rite of motherhood–than I was of trusting my body to do what it was built to do.
    Either way, wherever you decide to give birth, know going into it that you, all of you, mind and body, are truly capable of it. You are more powerful than you could ever imagine.

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