almost 17 weeks, lots of movement.

BabyH is moving a lot today.  She kicked me a couple of times quite hard, and one could feel little flickers of feet or knees just below my bellybutton.  She is so funny!  I started tormenting her by kicking back a bit, to see what she would do, and she moved to the other side of the uterus, probably pissed off with me.  I love it!  She is going to be so much fun, I just love a kid who gets upset and lets you know who's boss.  

The pregnancy is getting fun now, with the baby moving so much, and the nausea almost gone.  I am still nauseated, but no vomiting, and have gained already 6 lb in 3 weeks, which is quite a bit.  I have stopped eating deserts now.  I think a lot of it is water too, since my breasts just went up in size again.  I think by the end of this pregnancy I am going to have some serious jugs to deal with.  I am cutting back from work to half time only, which will give me more time to sleep, as I am frequently having to wake up and go to work in the middle of the night, on average once a week.  When I don't sleep, I notice more Braxton Hicks, and the same happens if I overwork, so it is really time to slow down.  

I have also spent a couple of nights battling with insomnia, of all things.  It seems that I either sleep too much, or not at all, and it is hard to predict which one is coming.  Two nights ago, I was making deodorant at 2 am.  If anyone wants to know the recipe, it consists of equal parts baking soda and cornstarch, mixed with a bit of coconut oil to make into a thick paste.  I don't have specific recipe quantities, but I think about 1/4 cup of each powder and 4-5 tbsp oil would work.  It is a very good deodorant, it works better than the one I got at the organic foods store (aluminum free).  Of course, aluminum deodorants work the best, but in pregnancy I try not to use them, just to be safe.  

I also had very dry skin this winter and could not put anything on it because I am phobic of chemicals when pregnant.  I worry about parabens, and cannot stand any fragrance at all.  So I made my own body cream, and it turned out perfect:  equal parts of oil (I used grapeseed and melted cacao butter) and water, plus about 10% by weight of beeswax.  I never measure, so I just eyeballed about one to two tbsp of beeswax that came off my candle the other week (I have beeswax candles and use the leftover wax for fun stuff like this), melted the wax in the oil component, and then used a handheld mixer to mix in the water.  It is a wonderful consistency, and my skin is finally not dry and itchy anymore.  

Lastly, I made beeswax lipbalm:  equal parts of beeswax and coconut oil, melt together in a small container and pour it into something that will be your final container, let it cool, and enjoy.  I put a bit of honey in it too, and sometimes one can put red pigment in (like a bit of lipstick or some cheek colour powder) if desired, to make it into a coloured lipbalm. 

That is all for now.  I will let you guys know if I find any other good recipes.