IT'S A GIRL!

I had my second ultrasound on Wednesday and we found out that we are having a little girl. I was so happy I could hardly talk and so was my husband. We were both secretly hoping for a girl and only admitted to it after we found out. I would be happy either way but this is just amazing. The ultrasound went well even though I got a technician that wasn't very friendly or talkative. It didn't change how happy we both felt. The baby looked so much bigger this time and finally it had more space to move around. I enjoyed this ultrasound so much more. I could see more of her body like the arms (we haven't seen them clearly before) and her profile. She just looked so peaceful and happy in there! It was wonderful. I loved finding out the sex of the baby. It made it so much more real. It made us both bond to the baby in a deeper way. Now we can buy girly stuff and call her "she" and we can focus on picking out baby girl names. Makes it totally so much easier. I know it was the perfect choice for us. There is no way I would be able to wait for another 4months and what would be challenging is thinking I am having a girl only to find out that its a boy or vice versa. I like it better knowing.

I got to sort through 4 boxes of baby boy clothes that we have from Armando's sister. I wanted to pick out what I could use and what I wanted to give her back. There was a lot of stuff that was unisex but also stuff that was typical for a baby boy. I also went and bought 4 girl outfits all in pink. I was getting tired of blue, green, yellow and white. We still have to set up the entire baby's room but that's in May. Right now the baby's room is a guest room and we have Armando's dad visiting from the Philippines for a week. So we'll have to wait. I can't wait though. I have a lot of ideas for her room.

Diet wise I have been staying very high raw for past two weeks. I may have had a soup or baked potatoe on two or three occasions but other than that it is all raw. What interesting happened is getting an extreme aversion to fish. When my husband and I became vegetarians 5 years ago we have kept fish in our diet. We would have it maybe 1 or 2 times a month. We ended up going to this Fish and Seafood restaurant with a friend and I ate a small portion of salmon. I felt so sick afterwards. Not physically but mentally and emotionally. I felt exactly the same as I felt when I knew I had to let go of meat. I felt incredible sadness for the lost life of this animal and eating its dead flesh was too much. I wanted to cry and felt so dirty and kept feeling the energy of the dead fish in my body. Luckily next morning I went to two yoga classes. One with my friend Jennifer and the other with my best friend Shanine. They both helped me to work through my emotions and reactions to the fish. I decided I am ready to let it go and made that fish my last fish ever. Ever since I made that decision something shifted in me and I started to feel right and happy again. I will keep my diet exclusively vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. I understand that fish was the hardest for me to let go. I associated fish with nourishment (Omega 3 essential oils, vitamins, etc.) and it didn't help that it was a huge part of my childhood. We didn't eat a lot of meat when I was growing up but we ate a lot of fish. Fish was considered a healthier and more nutritious choice and something my mom and my relatives used to show us how much they cared. I realize that for different families it is different foods that symbolize love and care. It may be cakes or cookies, a hearty soup or meat and potatoes. It's important to really look at the food for what it is and to strip away the emotional aspect of it.

I have went through so many shifts and changes in this pregnancy. I became so much more intuitive and sensitive to energies and I know its partly because my baby's energy is quite high. It's vibrating very high and makes me think that we are having a Crystal Child (or simply a sensitive child). A few of my most intuitive healer friends have also felt that. Oh it will be so lovely to see what other major changes and shifts this little one will give us :)

Other health related matters are: I feel great for the most part. My only complaint for the past week is that I feel tightness and pulling in my abdomen from my ligaments stretching. At 18 weeks the uterus is at the belly button as the baby is moving higher up. I can definitely feel it. It's not too uncomfortable but a new sensation I haven't felt before. I also have days that I feel totally exhausted but when I do I rest. My skin is clearer than it was up to this point. I think with the raw food diet most major negative side effects just don't happen. I hear girls in my prenatal yoga class tell me all the time that they have hip pain, back pain, heart burn, swollen ankles and feet, nausea, etc. I know that a healthy diet filled with fresh raw vegetables and fruits gives optimum health to the mother and the baby. I think its the best gift you can give to yourself and the baby along with proper amount of exercise.

My weight in:

Week 1-8: 124 pounds
Week 8-12: 124 pounds
Week 12-16: 125 pounds
Week 16-20: 127 pounds