week 18.

There was no chalkboard picture taken this week- let's just say that the belly is right in between week 17 and week 19 - ha! Our big news this week is that we're having a little boy! I know, I know...we weren't supposed to find out - but my husband was having severe anxiety not knowing and he finally came clean and told me that it would really mean a lot to him to find out the sex. So, while we were at our 18 week appointment with Dr. Chu - he tells me that he really wants to have a son...I just looked at him and said, well- if this is a girl, you might not get a son because we're not sure if we are going to have a baby #3 :) That being said, he REALLY wanted to know the sex of the baby. I told him that we would flip a coin - heads we would find out, and tails he couldn't ask me anymore about it until delivery day...let's just say that heads won the toss. There would have been no fooling us though, as soon as Dr. Chu placed the ultrasound machine on my belly - all we saw were his boy parts! I couldn't believe it. Here this whole time I was convinced that we were having another girl. I'm not sure why, I just thought maybe that's what I was destined to have. But, seeing him up on that monitor and knowing that I would be able to have one of each, I felt like my perfect little family just got MORE perfect...Stephen was beyond excited; he's getting a son - every dad wants to have that 'father / son' relationship, and I'm happy he gets to have that. After we left our appointment we were both still in shock and decided that we wanted to tell the rest of the family our great news. With Isabella, we had a 'gender reveal party'...with Ethan we thought about it, but we didn't have much planning time so we were just planning on telling the family at the Conradi family party the following weekend. This meant that I had to keep this secret for an entire week! We ended up telling my parents via conference call on their way to Vegas - my mom would not have been able to wait, and she would have drove back from Vegas just to get it out of me. I'm sure you know now from this entry what his name is going to be...Ethan Gerald Conradi. We both love the name Ethan - it means, strong and firm. It also sounds great with Isabella :) Gerald is Stephen's dad's name. Stephen has his grandfather's first name for a middle name, and so he wanted to give his son - his grandfather's first name for a middle name. I love that we have decided to keep names from the family. Isabella's middle name is Joy (the same as my mom and also my Nana).

Big Sister's reaction to the big news...."Bella, you're getting a little brother!".....all she said was, "yes." it's like she already knew or something...haha!

now you know why I couldn't necessarily post this entry right away- I had to keep this secret until we told the rest of the family :) He's a picture of the 'boy' shot...it's as if he was sitting on a glass table and you were looking up.

Week 18 - baby is now the size of a sweet potato.

Here are some cool facts about the baby at week 18:  

• yawning, hiccuping, sucking, and swallowing!
• He's about 5.6 inches long and keeps on growing rapidly
• Twisting, rolling, punching and kicking too! (I was already feeling little movements before this, but that's because I'm more inclined to feel them with the second pregnancy)

 A few updates from the mommy-to-be...

How far along? 18 weeks 0 days

Total weight gain/loss: 2 pounds! (this is pretty amazing) 

Maternity clothes? yes, although I can get away with wearing regular shirts; they are just a little tighter around the belly area.

Stretch marks? the same ones :/

Sleep: I have officially brought out the pregnancy pillow - let the side sleeping begin!

Best moment this week: we found out we're having a little BOY!!

Miss Anything? wine.

Movement: yes. just waiting for daddy to be able to feel it. Because of the location of my placenta, Stephen won't be able to feel him right away (it was the same with Bella). 

Food cravings: MEAT.

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope.

Have you started to show yet: Yes. 

Gender prediction: it was confirmed, we are having a BOY.

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In, I think it's working its way out though...hard to tell.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Weekly Wisdom: need to start drinking more water...lot's more.

Looking forward to: having daddy feel Ethan move.