HALFWAY!!! 22 Weeks!!!

   Yippee do dah!! I'm 22 weeks pregnant today and absolutely cannot believe I only have 18 weeks left to go! These first 18 have gone by so incredibly fast. I better start finish my projects sooner than later! Time to quit procrastinating!


   I have felt so good this week. Other than my growing belly and kicks and flips I feel constantly, I don't even feel pregnant. This was the time with Rory when I really started to LOVE being pregnant, and I can feel that sensation coming back. As much as I hate to watch the number rise on the scale, I love to watch my belly grow and to think about the amazing things that are going on inside of me! I have always said that I want lots of kids, so hopefully after this baby gets here I will still feel the same way. I love being pregnant (once the "baby bump" finally arrives) and I love being a mother! Everything about both is so exciting and so rewarding.


   This weekend a best friend of mine, Laurie Kaye, got married. She was hands down the most beautiful bride that I have ever seen. She looked like a bride out of a 1960's vintage wedding magazine! I was a bridesmaid in the wedding and it always feels so good to watch someone else tie the knot and unite as one. Marrying Don was one of the happiest days of my life, even though we were only in front of a judge at the courthouse instead of 200+ people. My life has not been the same since and it keeps getting better!

 How Far Along: 22 weeks, halfway, 124 days to go

Size of Baby: a spaghetti squash, 1pound, 11 inches. Baby is starting to look like a minature newborn

Total Weight Gained/Lost: +10

 Maternity Clothes: yep

 Movement: all the time. Baby has gotten on a schedule and I always feel some major kicks right before bedtime. Its so nice to fall asleep to.

Look at this little cutie who tried to sneek into the picture...

Sleep: Good. I wake up once or twice to go to the bathroom or to a big kick to the stomach, but sleep is good.

What I miss: My pre-preggo body

 Cravings: sweets; chocolate, coffee, corn flake candy

Symptoms: I'm still exhausted most days. I could eat 24-7. Headaches have been absent for a week or so. Heartburn has also been on vacay. I don't constantly have to go the bathroom anymore which has ben nice (unless I drink lots of water)

Highlights from this week: hearing B2's heartbeat again.

Monthly Dr. Appointment

I went to the Dr. today for my 22 week appointment. Everything looks great. Heartbeat was in the 140's and was heard very clearly.

* Next appointment will be in 4 weeks, on Nov. 18th

21 Weeks Today!

   Today I am 21 weeks pregnant, almost halfway with just 131 days to go! This week has been more than great. My stress level has decreased tremendously now that school has slowed down. I have felt great and for the first time just sat back and enjoyed my pregnancy for more than 5 minutes! Baby is kicking with steel-toe boots I swear! I jump sometimes because the kicks are so intense. I can see the kicks and punches from the outside and I watch them all the time. It never gets old. After I eat, my stomach gets incredibly tight and almost feels like it is contracting!

   
   Speaking of contracting, I occasionally feel braxton hicks contractions. So crazy. I never noticed them with Rory and even when they were super intense around 38-39 weeks, I just assumed it was him stretching out in there. Now that I have experienced what they feel like, I can pick them up already. I had no idea they began this early on!

    For some reason this week I have started calling the baby a him. Don brought this to my attention. I'm not sure if it just comes natural or if its a sign. I have a hunch that its a boy, but I'm not 100% positive. Not even 75% positive. Just 50% ;) I don't want to get my mind set on either gender because I couldn't care less if baby has a wee-wee or a va-jay-jay, so I'm trying to dismiss these thoughts as soon as they arise.

   I am going to clean out some more of the "nursery" today and the rest of this weekend. I want to get the closet completely cleaned out as well as all the small furniture moved out. I mentioned painting the ceiling to Don and his response... "It's time to give Steve a call" <--- Thats our painter. So, my cheap, tight wad, penny pinching husband will not splurge on *ANYTHING, but he will pay for someone to come paint one little ceiling that he could easily paint himself!?! What the heck? I have no doubt that if I would offer to paint it myself he would totally let me. ha! That's not right.

*I exaggerate with his frugalness only because money burns a whole in my pocket. He's not as bad as I make him sound:)

How Far Along: 21 Weeks

Size of Baby: a bottle of root beer! 10.5 inches, and 12+ ounces

 Total Weight Gained/Lost: +9

 Maternity Clothes: Yes, plus the few winter shirts I found that still fit
Movement: holy, baby kicks! Beginning just yesterday, B2's kicks have quadrupled in intensity and frequency. Baby's got some muscle I tell ya'!

Sleep: Blah. I've been going to bed super early and getting more sleep than in the past few weeks, but I'm having anxiety. I've woken up just about every night this week after a crazy dream and been unable to go back to sleep for an hour or two. I will think about every single thing that isn't done or needs to be done before I fall back asleep. Its driving me nutzo!

What I miss: Sleeping on my back, It feels so good to roll onto my back for a minute or two

Cravings: Pasta with vinagarette again! I ran out of vinagarette the other night and it brought tears to my eyes!

Symptoms: heartburn, ligament pain, anxiety, frequent peeing

Highlights from this week: Feeling baby kick harder and more often! I have been able to sit down and watch and feel the movements this week and it amkes my heart warm!

   Check out these two pics! When I say that my belly changes constantly, I mean it. These pics were taken just minutes seconds apart. The one on the right was taken first, I thought my torso looked extremely short so I folded my shirt and jeans one more time and wha-la! Crazy what a difference just seconds make.

So this post is really long. I know. But I must tell you about my new finds!! If you know my name then you know that I LOVE yard sales!! I always find something that I am totally proud off. It does take some motivation to get me out of bed at 6:30am on Saturday mornings, but I do love them (I just wish they started at like 9:00). I have found quite a few things for the baby's room and it makes me so proud! Take a look... a changing table, crub skirt, bumber pad, and some onesies. I got all these for $25.25! Thats not a deal, thats a steal! Anyone up for tagging along next weekend? I've got a truck,..

Nursery Breaks Ground for Baby #2!

   Hallelujah! Today I decided to suck it up and attack the extra bedroom a.k.a soon to be nursery. Whoo! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Don lent a hand as well and cleaned out his closet and made way for my stuff to move in. He got rid of tons of stuff that we were able to consign and donate to goodwill! But on to the extra bedroom...the poor extra bedroom. The armoire, the shelves, the nightstand, and everything in between were full and covered with books and notebooks! The dust was an inch thick I swear. I should have taken a picture before I got started to show just how similar it looked to an old library. An old ghetto library.

   I got all the books put into a bin for later use and cleaned out all my notebooks with previous notes from Microbiology, Psychology, and Anatomy classes. I thought for sure I would reference them during my nursing student career, but I have yet to so far so I chunked them---well, recycled them. I also had tons of charts and documents from the hospital that had to be shredded. I hate shredding stuff!! I had 8 empty notebooks after the emptying and donated them to Don's students. So, finally, the shelves and anything that could possibly hold books or papers or anything of the sort has been cleared out!! Hooray!!! All the furniture is empty and ready to be moved. It took about 4 hours to complete the task, but that part is done. Its a start. I now feel a small bit of relief and feel as though we may actually get the nursery done before the baby gets here. Next task...cleaning out the closet and painting the ceiling.. AHH!!! Who knows when we will start that.

**I'll make sure to take pictures of the ceiling before I paint it just so everyone can have a chance to see how hideous it truly is. Heck, I'll post pictures as we go from this point on just so I can see the before and after. It will be an Extreme Makeover for sure.

20 Weeks... Halfway, but not really!

    20 Weeks...whoo. I remember thinking when I was only 6 or 7 weeks about how nice it would be to be in the double digits (10+ weeks). Now that I am 20 weeks, I almost wish time would slow down. Of course I'm ready to see our baby and hold it and all that good stuff, but I'm not ready for this pregnancy to be over. I don't feel like I've really gotten to enjoy it yet.

   Most people consider 20 weeks halfway; however, I do not. I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks (a day or two before actually). I've  only known I was pregnant for 16 weeks, but I still have 20 left to go!? So you see, I'm not quite halfway. At 22 weeks I will have been pregnant for 18 weeks and at that point only have 18 more weeks to go! AhHH!

How Far Along: 20 Weeks
Size of Baby: A banana! Textbook says...10 inches, 10.5 ounces but this healthy baby is already 12+ ounces!
Total Weight Gained/Lost: +9, 1lb shy of what my start weight was with Rory.
Maternity Clothes: Yep
Movement: All the time, but more intensely in the evenings
Sleep: Great! Rory had fall break and one of my clinical days was cancelled, so I got to sleep in a few days this week and catch up on some much needed ZZzzs. Its been great!
What I miss: Running again :( The weather has cooled off and it sure would be nice to lace up my shoes and run out the front door.
Cravings: Chocolate and jelly (peach or strawberry)
Symptoms: Nothing new at all. I pee all the time. My headaches come and go. Heartburn hasn't been so bad this week, but it does drop in occasionally after dinner. My belly is getting even more firm and round. It doesn't flatten when I lay down anymore :( My cheeks are also filling in. Chubby chipmunk cheeks are here!
Highlights from this week: Seeing our sweet baby on the u/s. I can't stop looking at the pictures they gave us!

20 Week Ultrasound!

   Today's ultrasound went wonderfully! B2 is growing so incredibly fast and was almost too large to capture from head-to-toe in one picture. Heartbeat was excellent at 138 as baby was yawning. It was so sweet! I measured to the exact date that I should, 19w5d.
   
  The U/S tech asked immediately if I wanted to know the sex. The answer was still no. We also opted out of the 4D u/s. Not only would that most likely reveal the sex, it would also show us what the baby looks like. We want that to be a surprise as well :) The sonographer showed me everything that she could, then had me look away while she captured the "private" shots. I still got to see baby's legs and belly and all that good stuff, so I didn't miss out on anything by opting out of the gender confirmation. She assured me that she was the only one who would know the sex and that she would probably forget by the end of the day. The sex is not documented so no one else knows which is great!! I was a little paranoid about the Dr. slipping up during one of our routine visits. Eek! That would be devastating!

    I am even more excited now thinking about birth day so I can find out what this little nugget is! Hurry up February! Oh... the biggest surprise... baby weighs 12 ounces now!! Wow!

The super excited Big Brother!

Next appointment is Oct. 20th