18 Weeks! (And also my thoughts on Stretch Marks!)

Baby Shiloh is now 18 weeks along, or 45.7% cooked, according to my lovely iPregnancy app! Nothing much is new from last week, except that I did have a checkup at the doc. Everything is looking fabulous! I gained 2 pounds over the last 3 weeks, and I'm measuring 20 weeks. I think Shiloh had a little New Orleans-style growth spurt! : )

I also had the pleasure of receiving my first weekly progesterone shot. The nurse gave me this one, and showed Jason how to find the right spot by making a little "L" on my hipbone, then jabbing the giant needle down into the middle of the L! It actually didn't hurt at all when she did it, but I have my doubts about Dr. Jason administering the shot next Thursday. We shall see.

Anyway, here is the latest installment in our every-four-week maternity series! My belly is definitely growing!






On a side note, I have somehow been very blessed to avoid getting any stretch marks on my belly over the course of the last 3 pregnancies... I have a few faded, silvery ones on my hips leftover from the lovely land of puberty, but my belly has miraculously remained unharmed! Now, I know that everything you read says this boils down mostly to genetics, and it probably does. If your mom got stretch marks, odds are good you will too, and if she didn't, then you might be spared.

However, as previously noted, I am obsessed with anything that holds the promise of increased beauty, so the odds of me leaving my stretch mark fate in the hands of heredity were pretty much "ZERO." Ever since I found out I was pregnant with Autumn, I have faithfully slathered my belly in Palmer's cocoa butter stretch mark cream in hopes of keeping the pesky little lines at bay throughout each pregnancy.





Now, I have no idea if this has had any effect, or if it really is just the luck of the draw, but I figure you might as well file it under "can't hurt, might help," and give it a try! It isn't too expensive (about $5.00 for a 4.4 oz. tube at Wal-Mart), and it feels nice when you rub it on, so I think it's worth a shot! I usually go through about 2-3 tubes of it per pregnancy, so I think that $10-15 to feel like I am doing something about the whole stretch mark thing (even if it is only a placebo effect!) is a small price to pay!

I have 2 weeks left until I'm "grounded," so I plan to be as active as possible in this beautiful spring weather until then! I wish I was outside now instead of working on pictures, in fact. I will have to try to escape later this afternoon. Have a great day everybody!