Turnip in my belly!

I've been traveling for work for the past week (to New York), and when I got back to work already a few more coworkers are noticing the belly bump. Now that the belly bump is more pronounced, I am finally wearing t shirts that aren't like sacks of potatoes or pillow cases when I wear them. I'm wearing my normal shirts that are somewhat form-fitted, so the belly does appear to protrude above the waistline.

This week I can feel a huge growth spurt. Yesterday I had what felt like gas pains in my uppper stomach area, mixed with stretching aches all over. I rub my belly a lot during the day and when I lay in bed. I also often feel it getting hard in the area where my bladder sits near my uterus. I wasn't sure what I was feeling before (because I'm trying to feel for any baby kicking movements- none yet). But after doing some research it's probably a full bladder that looks and feels like a Nerf Football sometimes when I am laying in bed at night. Through the day my belly gets bigger, and then shrinks slightly in the morning when I pee a few times.

I am also starting to see a light brown vertical line forming underneath my bellybutton. Especially when my belly is full or when I am bloated, the line re-appears.

As for the nausea, it has entirely disappeared. I do notice I get hunger pangs late at night since I have been eating smaller portions (i just can't finish whole plates of food still), so I end up eating late snacks, which aren't always that healthy. Colin and I just shared a fudgcicle at 10pm tonight for instance. I probably should have eaten yogurt or some of those cherries I bought at Andronico's on Sunday :P If I do get nausea it's because I ate late and my tummy is yelling to me to eat something. So I have got to make sure I have snacks on hand at all times.

As for baby kicking, Colin places his head on my belly after I get home every day to feel or hear for any baby movements. Nothing so far- although the mystery that is Joan's belly is full of curious sounds that indicate food digesting or gas moving all around. Sounds that i produce normally, all the time :P. He had me listen to his belly to hear what mine might sound like. It sounds like being underwater, like you're snorkeling or scuba diving. Tiny bubbles flying past you, popping and moving all about. Boy I wonder what the baby hears in there, and I wonder if it likes the aquarium he or she is making a home out of.

Week 17 baby:

Your baby's skeleton is changingfrom soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.