Week 24

How far along:  24 weeks; size of a ear of corn

How I'm feeling:  Still good, no real complaints

Sleep:  Same as previous weeks - sleep is good... although rolling over seems like a workout sometimes.  Also, I find myself waking up on my back a lot... I'm going to get a second pillow to prop myself up when I want to sleep on my back - doctor said that was better.

Worries/Fears:  That whole having to keep another person alive and well thing... but we'll cross that bridge soon enough

Miss anything: Not really, so far I haven't minded so much being pregnant... maybe bending normally and sleeping on my stomach

Movement:  Baby has been moving and the kicks are becoming stronger... it's fun

Food cravings:  Nothing

Food aversions: Again, nothing

Other symptoms:  The acne has gotten worse... I've never been a good face washer... but lately I've been trying to be better about it, but still getting breakouts.  I pee pretty often too.  My back gets sore at times.  I'm emotional and weepy... I've always been an emotional type of person, but lately I know things are worse... especially when I start crying it's harder to stop... ugh!  These are all minor things, but there they are.

Maternity clothes, Stretch marks, Belly Button:  Maternity clothes of course, other stuff no comments... I read somewhere that my belly button would pop at some point, but I think I have a pretty deep belly button b/c so far it doesn't even seem close to that.

What I'm looking forward to: Moving forward on all the baby-to-dos... and also Fourth of July weekend!

Best moment of this week:  I was happy to get back to work and get caught up on things.  It's weird to say that, but it's true.  The weekend was nice and low-key.  I'm so close to being finished with the cross-stitch I've been working on so I can move onto the one for the baby's room.  I had a good breakfast with my dad on Sunday and they brought me the cutest Cardinals baby outfit.  Janet even told me it was my dad's idea.  Another thing I thought was sweet is I bought up the SUA thing, and my dad told me something he read about it online... which means he looked it up online which felt really sweet to me.

Those socks say infant size, but they look big for an infant... but so adorable b/c little socks

The Bump: It's a growing :)

Back to the bathroom selfie... I should get a better mirror in our house huh?

Week 22 and 23

I really didn't want to combine weeks but with vacation and playing catch up when I got back these weeks are just combines b/c I think I'd have a hard time separating them in my mind.


How far along:  22 weeks; the size of a spaghetti squash and 23 weeks; size of mango

How I'm feeling:  Still good, no real complaints

Sleep:  Is good, I love my sleep.  The body pillow helps quite a bit.

Worries/Fears:  The SUA thing is on my mind, but really not that much... more the having a newborn in not that many months...

Miss anything: Nope, I'm good... although I took a drink of a Red Bull, and boy did that taste good... plus on the beach it would have been fun to have a frozen adult beverage... but all-in-all not missing much

Movement:  Baby is ramping up his movement... I feel him a lot more, especially when I'm sitting.

Food cravings:  Nothing

Food aversions: Again, nothing

Other symptoms:  I burnt my feet in the sun and by the end of the next day I had a really fat foot... it hurt to even walk on, but after elevated it and taking some Tylenol it felt so much better.  Another thing I've been getting time to time is throbbing pain in my forearm.  I mentioned this to my mom and she brought up that it might be carpal tunnel... I didn't think of that since I thought that would be more in my wrists than my forearm, but I think it's a possibility.  I've been trying to sleep with my wrists straight instead of curled up... hopefully it helps.  I considered getting braces too, but so far haven't done that.

Maternity clothes, Stretch marks, Belly Button:  Maternity clothes of course, other stuff no comments... I will say that I've heard the belly can get itchy, and so far my skin has been staying pretty moisturized.

What I'm looking forward to: Getting caught up and moving forward with my baby to-do list

Best moment of this week:  Vacation was so nice - it was great to relax and be around family all week long.  I worked on my cross-stitch and hope it's done soon so I can start on the new one I bought.  Seeing the baby at the ultrasound was pretty amazing too.

The Bump:  You only get a 22 week bump this time, since it's already Thursday I'll take my 24 week pic on Monday and then be back on track.

At the beach no bathroom this week :)

Big Ultrasound

I am so behind on posting updates since I was on vacation last week and then playing catch up at work this week... so let's go back to our ultrasound appointment which took place on June 12th.


Dan was able to take off work and we went to the doctor's office.  Since I wanted to schedule it on my day off to save up my leave time we had to go to the St. Peters office and we didn't actually meet with my doctor.


The ultrasound went really well!  The baby is measuring freakishly on track meaning I was 21 weeks 3 days and the baby was measuring 21 weeks 3 days - look at our star performer!


And in the big news we still don't know if the baby is a boy or girl!  So the surprise is still happening.  Dan has wanted to know all along, but he still looked away when she said she was nearing the 'danger zone'.  I'm excited that we're keeping this a surprise for everyone... although we already know that Baby T-Rex is getting a girl cousin roughly six weeks after he's born. 


Yes, I just said he and when I refer to the baby with a pronoun it's he, him, etc... Why? I just do... hopefully that doesn't confuse baby too much if he comes out as a she.


Now it was all positive but here's the negative part of our appointment... and when I say this stuff just remember we are thinking and remaining positive.  We are NOT freaking out and worrying and we won't until there's a reason to do so...


The umbilical cord normally has three vessels - 2 arteries and 1 vein.  Our umbilical cord only has one artery and one vein.  I found out the term for this is single umbilical artery or SUA.  According to what I read this happens in about 1% of pregnancies but it is one of the more common 'defects' that can happen.  There's a lot of scary stuff that can happen with this disorder if you look online, so I don't recommend it, but I did read some things because I just had to.  The good news is there's a lot of positive experiences online.  People have completely healthy babies and most all the stories/forum/etc I read were all positive.  This does mean that they will be keeping a closer eye on baby's growth.  I will have a growth ultrasound every four weeks to make sure he's growing on track.  I think that if his growth slowed that they might want to deliver the baby early... but we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.  The good news is we'll get many more chances to see him throughout this pregnancy.


Next appointment I believe my mom is coming with me and I'll have my glucose test, an ultrasound, and an appointment.


Onto pictures!  Here's some ones from the ultrasound of our baby.

Nice profile - I think I see Dan's chin, maybe I'm making that up

A fun 4D picture - that's not hair that's the uterine wall :) the good grief pose 

Baby sucking his thumb

21 Weeks

How far along:  21 weeks; the size of a banana or carrot (10.5 inches long, I look at that on a rule and wow it started to feel big)

How I'm feeling:  Still good, no real complaints

Sleep:  Is good, I love my sleep.  I'm still up to pee on a good night once, on a not as good night 2-3 times.  Also, Dan took over the new body pillow I bought and I've taken his worn one.  It's flat and limp, but it works perfectly for going under my belly and between my legs.  Might not be a forever solution, but it's certainly good right now.

Worries/Fears:  No big ones... I could let my mind travel down the 'what if the ultrasound doesn't look normal' path... but I really try not to let myself go there... no good will come of that.

Miss anything: Nope, I'm good

Movement:  Ok, this week I decided I definitely AM feeling the baby move.  I've probably been feeling it this entire time but you know me with indecisiveness... also I was at lunch at work on Friday and I was feel consistent tapping on the lower, middle part of my belly.  I put my fingers on the spot and felt the baby kick (or punch or something) down there.  I couldn't believe it.  I guess it could have been a muscle spasm... but really pretty sure it was the baby so that was really cool (that's actually what made me decide I was feeling the baby).  Dan hasn't felt it yet, but hopefully soon... it's just not very consistent at this point.

Food cravings:  Again nothing... although I did buy a package of Lindor Caramel Truffles b/c delicious.

Food aversions: Again, nothing

Other symptoms:  The heartburn hasn't been as bad this week - yay!  Bella peed in the house instead of pooping, so there's that still (keeping a better eye on her and they have to sleep in the kennels during the day and at night)  Another pregnancy symptom I experienced this week was my feet swelling.  I was wearing potentially tight shoes (They didn't feel tight, but I guess as they swelled they did)  I finally took them off hours later and realized just how bad it was.  Looking down my feet didn't seem that swollen, but from the sides I could tell they looked bigger.  I put them up and they seemed better by the next day.

Maternity clothes, Stretch marks, Belly Button:  Maternity clothes of course, other stuff no comments

What I'm looking forward to: Ultrasound Friday!  I'm excited to see something the resembles a baby instead of a blob... also VACATION!!  In regards to the ultrasound I'm still firmly in the not finding out camp and I think/hope Dan realizes that and respects that.  He really wants to know though so it's anyone's guess what will happen on Friday.  My plan is to make it very clear we don't want to know.  In my mind it's not even an option to know.

Best moment of this week:  That the 5-day work weeks are over for awhile? :)


Let's see what else went on this week... On Wednesday I picked my Dad and Janet up from the airport, so it was nice connecting with them for awhile.


Friday, Dan finished fixing the AC (lucky that he can do some of that himself) and I did chores.  Then we had dinner and I watched TV. 


Saturday I went to my cousin's high school graduation party.  When I got back Kyle was over and we hung out and Dan smoked ribs.  It was nice.


Sunday I went grocery shopping early and then napped and worked on my cross-stitch.  Very low key weekend.

The Bump:  This past weekend was the first time I got a comment from a stranger about being pregnant - so there's a milestone for you!

20 Weeks

How far along:  20 weeks; length of a banana or size of a mango

How I'm feeling:  Still good, no real complaints

Sleep:  Is pretty good, sometimes my belly feels sore when I wake up in the morning.  I bought a body pillow on Friday, but when I got it home realized it's WAY too big for my liking... so I'll probably have to figure out a different solution at some point b/c I imagine that part will only get worse.

Worries/Fears:  No big worries, although really I can work myself up pretty easily with that whole giving birth thing... or with the whole my life is changing in ways I don't fully even know thing...

Miss anything: Nothing that comes to mind at the moment

Movement:  Same update from last week... "Maybe I should refrain from answering this one until I know for sure... still in the maybe it's happening but I'm not totally sure camp."  But thinking more and more some of the things going on in there have to be the baby... but so far nothing that's made me think 100% I have

Food cravings:  Nothing specifically, this is something I sort of wish I had

Food aversions: None really...

Other symptoms:  The heartburn... I don't want to complain too much because really overall I'm feeling pretty good, but that heartburn is something else... pretty much daily and no real triggers... I guess I need to start carrying something around or try something stronger. Another symptom that isn't mine but I think is related to me is Bella. For the last week or so Bella has been pooping in the house quite frequently. At first it just seemed strange but then I made the connection that it might be related to this pregnancy. 

Maternity clothes, Stretch marks, Belly Button:  Maternity clothes of course, other stuff no comments

What I'm looking forward to: This being my last 5-day work week for 5 weeks (next 5-day week will be July 13th)

Best moment of this week:  The short work week was pretty nice!


Friday I made myself get up early and I went and got an oil change (in and out real fast if you go early).  Then I showed up to Target before it even opened.  There was a line to get in which seemed really weird to me, but they were all back in electronics so I guess there was some deal?  I got a lot of Target shopping done (with the store being nice and empty) and then headed back home.  I took a nap and relaxed around the house.  That night Kyle had a bonfire at his property.  It was nice weather and a lot of fun hanging out.  We thought the weather might suck (rain) but it ended up working out perfectly.  We stayed out until pretty late that night.


Saturday was a really low key kind of day... I did run out and get Gus's pretzels b/c a hot dog (inside a pretzel) sounded good and I wasn't doing anything else.  That night we ordered Chinese and watched a movie (Horrible Bosses 2).


Sunday I went grocery shopping in the morning.  That evening I hung out with Liz.  We went to dinner at The Fountain and then went to a Paint Nite class.  It was a lot of fun!

The Bump:

Awesome photo huh?