Week 24 of Pregnancy

Our Baby

I’m pretty awestruck that I am 6 months pregnant already.  Time has sure flown!

The baby is as long as an ear of corn and weighs about 1 ½ pounds!  It has gained 4oz  (ish) in just one week!  Crazy… It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that we were excited that it was 1oz. 

Our little one is starting to sprout hair, though the color is not apparent yet… fitting for the ear of corn! 

How I am feeling

Much better than last week.  Around midweek I started to get my energy back and my ligament pains got much better.  I’m sleeping better, although, I am getting up to pee a lot more… maybe because I am keeping up with my water intake finally.  I think I am doing better emotionally, however, if any of you reading this know me, you know how shy I can be.  This week I have noticed that I have gone even more inward than normal.  It isn’t so much shyness as it is just a lot of thinking, mostly about the baby but about my family, Mike, finances etc as well. I think I’m just starting to prepare myself for what is coming in the next 16 weeks and how it may or may not turn everything upside down for a while. 

Physical Changes

My belly is still, of course, getting bigger.  My linea nigra is becoming more apparent and I feel like I am getting small dark spots around my mouth, which indicates the “mask of pregnancy.”   I gained 1.6 pounds making my total weight gain +13.8 and right on target.  I am kind of surprised I didn’t gain more because I have been extremely hungry this week.  Speaking of hunger…

What I am craving

Sadly, I am craving Cheetos, Cranberry juice, and Eggo Waffles (Not together…yikes).  Mike and I were at Home Depot this week and I got an overwhelming craving for a hot dog and Cheetos.  The hot dog craving went away but I had to have Cheetos.  I blame Home Depot.  I’ve gone through a box of Eggo Waffles this week (at least they are the whole wheat ones…).  Last night was the first night that I had a midnight craving for cranberry juice… drank right out of the container, which is totally not something I would do. 

All together, it has been a much better week and I’m happy to report that there are only 16 weeks left!

Week 18 of Pregnancy

Baby (I really have to come up with a nickname soon) is the size of a…. Bell Pepper! It weighs around 5-5.5 ounces and is about 5.5-6 inches in length!  Grow, baby grow!

I think I legitimately felt the baby kick early this morning.  Little thumps here and there.  Such an amazing feeling! 

I thought I'd try a new layout to these weekly updates.  They feel a little more organized!

How I’m feeling:
Nausea has revisited me, and it isn’t a very welcomed guest.  I get nauseous around 4pm and it doesn’t go away until around 7pm.  It’s not from not eating, because I am eating a bunch.  However, food just doesn’t sound good to me this week.  I have to force myself to think of something that sounds appetizing… not fun especially with nausea.  

My back is still hurting whenever I do too much moving around, so today is a rest day from doing anything around the house.  Just walking the doggie kids around the neighborhood.  The weather has finally begun to warm up so that makes me very happy.

My energy level is good and I get spurts of energy in the mornings.  Sleeping, however, has been hard lately.  I fall asleep great but wake up around 3am and can’t get back to bed until 6:30 and that’s with forcing myself to stay in bed.  Today, I actually got two extra hours of sleep so that helped a bunch.

Physical changes:

I think my belly grew a little bit this week.  I’ve wanted to get a tape measure to measure it every week but I keep forgetting!

I think I saw a really faint Linea Nigra (black line) on my belly this morning!  Kind of like that first pregnancy test with the really faint second pink line.

I have had no new weight gain this week.  I’m still up 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. 

What I’ve been craving:

I’m still on an avocado kick and eat at least half of one everyday.  Almost-burnt cheese is something I can’t get enough of and I find myself making quesadillas and pushing the cheese out of them while they are cooking so that it burns a little.  Lemonade is also a big one.  I have to have at least a glass a day!  Again, with the nausea, not much food sounds good this week.

Something fun: 

Since we aren’t finding out the sex of the baby, I thought it would be fun to look up some Old Wives’ Tales about gender.  They range from Chinese numerology to putting your wedding ring over your belly.  So here is a breakdown of what we have done so far.

Old Wives’ Tale	How to tell	Our baby’s gender
Ring over belly	Ring spins in circles=Boy Ring goes swings side-to side=Girl	GIRL
Linea Nigra	Line stops at belly button=Girl Line stops at rib cage=Boy	BOY
Carrying	High=Girl Low=Boy	BOY
Heart rate	150 and above=Girl Below 150=Boy (143bpm)	BOY
Hair Growth	Little or no change to growth=Girl Fast hair growth=Boy	BOY
Chinese Numerology	Not sure how this works but I put in my birth date and baby’s EDD	BOY
Skin	More pimples than usual=Girl No change to skin=Boy	GIRL
How I look	More Beauty=Boy Less Beauty=Girl (she steals your beauty!)  I think I look a little more dull and tired	GIRL

GIRL: 3 BOY: 5

Of course there are many more tales out there but we will stick to these 8 for now. 

22 more weeks and Mike and I will become parents.  P.S. I think it just finally hit me that I am going to be a mother shortly!  

Accepting Pregnancy Transformations

I used to dream about how my pregnancy would be.  Healthy diet with pretty healthy cravings, small emotional changes, happy all the time, able to sleep like a baby, and feeling great!  I can tell you that those dreams of perfection are already long gone.

Just before getting pregnant, I told myself that I would eat the best diet possible. I even went to the store and bought ingredients on a “pre-conception diet” list: Spinach, lean meats, limit sugar, and cut down on caffeine… etc.  I didn’t drink any alcohol and I had Mike follow the same rules.   Of course, that all went down the drain once I got pregnant (except the drinking, of course).  Even though chocolate is off the list, I still love my sweets, I drink a cup of coffee everyday, eat chicken tenders and fries all the time, and greens are just not my thing!  What I’m trying to say is, my pregnancy diet is far from what I had hoped it would be. 

My emotions have also started to become evident.  Just the other day, I was crying, well actually sobbing, for no apparent reason.  I get mad at Mike if he has stinky feet.  I don’t like being told what I need to do by my mom and I become very short with her if she does. If I don’t sleep well at night, forget it, all bets are off!   And dirty baseboards are my natural enemy and I can’t help but get mad and aggravated when I see them.  Oh, and I can’t forget that forgetfulness!  Did I expect this?  Yes.  Was I ready for it? No!  Was Mike ready for it? Probably not.

It is a difficult notion to know that your body is going to change so drastically in the next few months; that your body really is not your body for 9 months (and a few afterwards). But I’m starting to think that a lot of women may feel a little overwhelmed with this ever-changing body.  I know I do!  I sometimes wonder if my flat stomach or sharp brain will ever make an appearance again after the baby is born. 

It is a true miracle what is happening inside of me right now and I already love this baby more than I thought possible.  Looking at ultrasounds, I can already tell it has some of Mike and mine’s personality.  Maybe dreaming of a perfect pregnancy is a type of “getting ready for parenthood” mechanism.  You set out to have a perfect pregnancy but along the way you stumble, kind of just like parenthood.  I've finally learned that it’s okay to make mistakes along the way, all that matter is that you do the best you can do.  It’s all in the journey.

7 Simple Ways to Celebrate Earth Day!

Today is Earth day!  If it weren’t snowing we would probably be building our garden boxes.  But instead we are going to have a meatless Earth day Monday. 

Here are 7 simple ways you could celebrate Earth Day today:

1) Plant something.  Plant a tree, plant some flowers, or start a small balcony garden.

 

You could even reap the benefits by growing your own food.
Those peaches were grown from our baby peach tree and were the
best peaches I have ever had!

2) Go Meatless today.  This Earth day falls on a Monday.  Monday has been coined “Meatless Monday” by many health and environmental activists.  Or Make a pledge here to go meatless every Monday.

3) If you live in a place with nicer weather, don’t use your car.  Bike, walk, or use public transit today.  

Plus you get some exercise!

4) Go for a hike and celebrate with nature today!

5) Start Recycling.  Most trash companies offer recycling services at low or no cost.  

6) Go to a local farmer's market and support your state by buying locally.  Support your environment by buying organic when possible.

7) Use your reusable bags when grocery shopping!

You don’t have to go extravagant to make a change in the world.  Remember, many small changes can make a huge change!  And don't just make Earth Day your only day to make a difference, make a pledge to keep it going year round!

Happy Earth Day!