Cocoa Butter Goddess

Boy or Girl? What will it be? You only have one more week to cast your votes (in the poll on the right hand side of the page)! I still don't have the slightest idea or feeling. The Chinese calendar said it was to be a girl, along with the rest of my family, but we shall see. I can't wait to find out, but I suppose I'm going to have to.

I'm incredibly sick of lathering up in cocoa butter and constantly smelling like a beach. As I try to prevent stretch marks, I find that many mothers think this notion is impossible. I've heard, "It's all about your genes" or " 90% of women get them", but I tend to cling on to the words of comfort that I hear from a select few- "Cocoa butter and/or oils worked for me."

I will not defy the cocoa butter gods.

If you see me around town looking shiny and smelling like the cast of Jersey Shore, forgive me. I'm trying to prevent my skin from stretching too much too fast.

I have good news, though. I have gained some weight! More on this later. Here's an update on the babe-

19 Weeks

Size of Baby: heirloom tomato (6 in, 8.5 oz)

Total Weight Gain: 6 lbs. I was up to 7-8 but I weighed again today and I'm back down. Still progress, though.

Maternity Clothes: I can't wear size four and below anymore, but I can still button some of my size six pants if I pull them just below my belly. I haven't purchased any maternity clothing just yet, but I did buy a bathing suit from Motherhood Maternity to prepare for my upcoming beach trip. I wouldn't want to scare anyone off with my pasty white burgeoning belly!

I see lots of cool, flowing dresses in my near future. It's so hot here!

Oh, and preggo moms- Go to Gap! They have lots of shirts made for longer silhouettes so it's easy to find clothes that will grow with you. See the peach shirt in the photo? I purchased that there.

Gender: ??

Movement: I felt the baby move for the first time last Sunday. It was so weird/awesome. I have felt him/or her several times after that. I can definitely understand why many women think it feels like a snake. The first incident, though, I felt like someone was drumming their fingers inside me.

Sleep: I would sleep all day if I could. It is becoming harder to get comfortable at night. I look forward to being able to sleep on my tummy and back again.

What I Miss: Having energy to go on adventures!

Cravings: I just ate 7 marshmellows. I'll leave it at that.

Symptoms: Round Ligament Pain and paranoia! Does that count?

EasyBabyLife.com says this:

The nerves cells for each of the senses: hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing and touching are developing in their very own parts of the brain now, while other nerve cell production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections within the brain.

Your baby already has developed a sweet tooth! If sugar water is injected in the amniotic fluid, the baby drinks twice as much of the fluid as she usually does.

All I have to say is- of course my baby will have a sweet tooth! :)

Over and out,

Mrs. K (aka: Cocoa Butter Goddess)