SWEET Baby

2 - the number of weeks left to go before we finally reach the half way mark! Today Chicken Fry is exactly 18 weeks and about the size of a 5.6 inch sweet potato. According to this book I've been browsing through - What to Expect When You're Expecting (which incidentally is being brought to the big screen this May and stars Cameron Diaz) - most pregnant women first begin to feel their baby kick between weeks 18 and 22. I haven't felt any movement in there yet, but I'm sure eager for it to start ... any day now Chickie ;) The book also mentioned that research suggests that women who work out regularly throughout their pregnancy tend to give birth to "smarter children". What they mean by that is that babies born to active mothers tend to have a lower birth rate (although I'm pretty sure genetics has something to do with this too), an easier birthing process overall, a leaner muscle mass (again, genetics??), and start doing things a little bit quicker such as rolling over, crawling, etc. So, after reading this and after spending the past two weeks of my winter vacation NOT at the gym, but at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Barnaby's Pizza, Olive Garden, ordering in Chinese, etc., I forced myself to go workout Tuesday and Wednesday. I had to work a basketball game last night after work, but am hoping to return to the gym again this afternoon - that might be kind of tough considering it's the first Friday after a lllooonnnggg first week back after break, but here's hoping to a SWEET, "smart" baby Chicken :)

Here's what Chicken Fry is up to this week ...

• Can you believe she's yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing?
• And she's twisting, rolling, punching and kicking, too -- and she's big enough that you might be able to feel her doing it!