This week, I got an opportunity to take a quick trip to Pittsburgh.  My company was looking for volunteers to do university recruiting at my alma mater college.  I volunteered to go, and extended my trip through the weekend so I could see my family! 

The flights here were actually really good.  My layover was in Dallas, which meant that my first flight was about 3 1/2 hours and my second flight was a little over 2 hours.  I much preferred these two middle-length flights to the combination that I usually have of one long and one short.

Airport lunch was a chicken salad from Au Bon Pain, an apple and a bag of popchips.

I also bought an awesome bag of trail mix, which made it into my stomach before the rest of my lunch and therefore before the pictures.

The airline magazine had a magazine about one of my favorite personalities on TV:

Al Roker! I love him. He is one of the major reasons that I watch the Today show.  The article was really interesting, talking about all of the things outside of the Today Show that Al does – including his production company and various tv shows, and his family (his wife and two kids). Al is just such a likeable guy. 

Al, come find me. I think we should be friends.

Once we landed safe and sound in Pittsburgh, I picked up my rental car.  A compact for sure! 

The next 48 hours were pretty much a whirlwind.  I checked into my hotel (the Springhill Suites in Bakery Square) which was really nice.  My room was a suite:

(source – Not my room, but it looked exactly like that!)  One awesome thing about this hotel is that patrons get free access to the gym next door, Urban Active.  It’s a fairly new gym (a little over a year old?) and has nice equipment and facilities.  I headed there Wednesday morning for a little elliptical and treadmill time.  Definitely better than a hotel gym!

After the gym, as I prepped for the employment recruiting fair at the university, I realized that I was 19 weeks pregnant!

Ta-dah!

I have gotten lots of comments about my belly this week, from coworkers and also from family (since I am in Pittsburgh, yay!)  It is officially clear to the world that I am pregnant – and didn’t just eat too much for lunch.

This week, babycenter says that baby (boy!!!) is 8 1/2 ounces and about 6 inches long, the size of a large heirloom tomato.

(source)

This week there was a lot of sensory development for Baby P:  His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch.

Also, he can hear our voices now.  Let the serenading and storytelling begin!

My 19-week check in:

• Total weight gain: Not sure about weight gain from last week.  I always gain weight when I am with my family in Pittsburgh anyways… 
• Maternity clothes? Yup, I’m pretty much all in.  S and I went shopping last weekend and got 2 pairs of maternity jeans, a pair of leggings, and some shirts.  It feels so much better to have clothing that FITS!
• Stretch marks? None yet.
• Sleep: The past two nights I have slept HORRIBLY in the hotel (even though the bed feels comfortable to me).  It makes me realize that maybe the Tempurpedic is better than I realized.  The next three nights will be in my mom’s house, where I always sleep well, so let’s see!
• Workouts: 
• Sunday – ran 4 miles with the SFMTP group, woo hoo!
• Monday – walked 2 miles
• Tuesday – rest day (traveling all day)
• Wednesday – 10 min elliptical, 30 min walking on the treadmill
• Today – rest day, I am TIRED from the combination of not sleeping, yesterday’s workout, and standing form 12-6 at the employee fair yesterday.  My back is killing me!
• Best moment this week: Getting to see my Mommy and show her the baby bump!
• Food cravings: Holy chocolate-covered caramel popcorn.  My 2 mile walk on Monday was during my lunch hour work, walking to the store to buy MORE.  Can’t.Get.Enough.
• Aversions: None.  Unless an aversion to moving counts.
• Symptoms: Nada
• Belly Button in or out? In.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.

Ok, now I’m off to relax a little bit with Mummy and try to find a position where my back DOESN’T hurt.  Bye from the ‘burgh!