Bump Day ~ 23 Weeks

How far along? 23 weeks, baby is a grapefruit!

Weight gain/loss: 17 pounds.  Woof.  Back in denial until next month.

Maternity Clothes?  Nothing new there.

Sleep: Can't complain.  Though baby girl is following in her big brothers footsteps and protests greatly if I even dare sleep on my left side.  Right side for life!

Stretch marks: Still just rocking the same tiger stripes I've already earned.

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat at my appt on Friday.  That sound never gets old.

Movement: On several occasions, early in the morning when I'm stalling to get out of bed, I can feel baby girl curl up on my right side, it's surreal seeing this firm, lopsided bump on just one side knowing it's my sweet girl in there.  Pregnancy is pretty darn amazing.

Food cravings: I really wanted a chocolate milkshake like whoa, but I never did get one, and now the craving has past.  Maybe I should treat all cravings this way and avoid watching the scale continue to creep up.

Gender: Bouncing baby girl!  Who I'm 99% sure has a first name!

Labor Signs: Not for another 15-16 weeks thanks.  Which seems oddly close.

What I Miss:  Nothing really, still riding the second tri high.

What I'm looking forward to:  Figuring out the child care situation for this little nugget.  Haven't really done much in that department and it's starting to worry me slightly.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't take a 4 year old to your OB appt and expect him to sit quietly and play games on your phone.  Also don't expect your blood pressure to be within normal limits when the aforementioned 4 year old is in tow.

Milestones: I got the dreaded glucose drink for my appt next month.  The same appt at which I will be entering my 3rd trimester.  Hello.  How did that happen?

Big Brother:  Turned FOUR this week!!  He's been incredibly inquisitive about the baby lately, wanting to know if she goes to work with me, when she's sleeping, if she likes what I eat.  He also fully expected to get to see her at my appt and wanted to know how we were going to check on her if we couldn't take her out.  Pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Bump Day ~ 22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks, baby is a papaya!

Weight gain/loss: I'll find out this week at the doctor.  Until then I will continue to live in denial.

Maternity Clothes?  All maternity bottoms at this point except for maxi type skirts and dresses, no maternity tops other than my scrubs, but with most tees I need a long tank underneath.  Thank you Old Navy for making ridiculously long tanks, I have a feeling by December I will own one in every color!

Sleep: All week I'm dragging to get out of bed when my alarm goes off.  Weekends?  I'm up by 6 no matter how long I try to sleep in.  It's a cruel joke really.

Stretch marks: Nothing new, but as baby girl creeps past my belly button, my old belly ring scar is starting to look pretty wicked again.

Best moment this week: 

Movement: Lots!  And I saw some outside movement for the first time!!  Still can't feel any of the kicks, but watching the belly pop a bit is pretty awesome.

Food cravings: Dunkin Donuts Iced Coconut {deaf} Coffee. With cream & sugar.  I could have one every day, I limited myself to two.

Gender: Team Pink!

Labor Signs: Nada.

What I Miss:  Not feeling exhausted after being outside in the heat for 10 minutes.  Though who am I kidding, the heat as pretty much always knocked me out.

What I'm looking forward to:  Adam and Jamie being able to feel some kicks!  She's getting pretty strong, it should be any time now!

Weekly Wisdom: Keep Tums on you at all times.  Just trust me on this one, heartburn creeps up at the oddest of times.

Milestones: Baby can hear outside sounds now like our voices and music!

Big Brother:  In a heated bedtime moment where mean mommy took the iPad away, he threw the ultimate tantrum claiming he NEVER wanted to be a grown up and he did NOT want to be a big brother.  Sorry kid.  Little late for that.

Bump Day ~ 21 Weeks

How far along? 21 weeks, baby is a pomegranate.

Weight gain/loss: Same as last week.

Maternity Clothes? Picked up a pair of maternity jeans from H&M.  They were having a sale and it was on a whim, but I found a good pair on the first try!  Here's to hoping they still fit well by the time I actually need them.  Also got a pair of shorts from Target.  Wasn't so sure about them at first, but soon discovered how comfortable they were.  I foresee living in them from now until the first frost.

Sleep: Ugh.  Sucked a fat one.  But I can't really blame baby girl for that one, I had a wretched cold all week that's still lingering.

Stretch marks: Haven't really looked lately so let's just hope there's nothing new.

Best moment this week: Got a few things for baby.  It's still surreal to think we'll have someone small enough to fit into these tiny clothes....even more so that they're pink!  And there are ruffles on the butt!

Movement: Yes, and she has the opposite cycle as her brother did.  She's pretty active during the day then lazy and sleepy at night.  Maybe this means she won't have her days and nights mixed up when she's born like big brother!

Food cravings: Food hasn't been all that appetizing this week thanks to this cold and the return of some nausea.

Gender: Sugar and spice!

Labor Signs: So pregnant after loss brain returned this week.  I think because of all the sneezing, coughing and nose blowing I was having a some um, bladder control issues, but for a good 24 hours I was legit concerned my water had broke and was google searching like a mad woman before finally coming to my senses that no, I was not in pre-term labor, I was just peeing my pants.  Glamorous.

What I Miss: Breathing through my nose and sleeping without the aid of 30 pillows to prop me up so maybe I don't have yet another coughing fit and can actually sleep.

What I'm looking forward to:  Continuing to build baby girls wardrobe!  This is going to be fun!  Dangerous to my pocketbook, but fun!  Oh, and maybe settling on a name so I can stop calling her "baby girl" all the time.

Weekly Wisdom: When you're absolutely miserable and your OB says it's perfectly safe to take some Sudafed, just take the drugs.  Believe me.  You'll feel so much better.

Milestones: Well after my crazy made up labor drama, I'm just glad to be pregnant for another week!

Big Brother:  On numerous occasions when asked about the baby, he claims we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet.  Apparently he has the memory of a gold fish.

Bump Day ~ 20 Weeks

How far along? 20 weeks!  Baby is the size of banana and weighed about 12 ounces at our ultrasound.  Almost a pound!

Weight gain/loss: So I cut out the misc snacking and crap eating and lost 2 lbs this week.  Funny how that works.

Maternity Clothes? I'm hoping summer stuff starts going on clearance, wouldn't mind picking up a pair of shorts, especially considering shorts season around here can often go into October.  Love those indian summers!

Sleep: No complaints here.

Stretch marks: Same ole, same ole.

Best moment this week: Seeing our perfect, beautiful, healthy baby!  Seriously nothing can top that.

Movement: Baby has been more and more active in there!  Still no outside movement, but I found out I have an anterior placenta so it may be a bit longer this time around.

Food cravings: Not much this week, or at least not much I indulged in.  Trying to remember pregnancy is not a free pass!

Gender: Don't mess with mama's intuition!  We're having a GIRL!

Labor Signs: No thanks, not for about 19 more weeks please.

What I Miss: Just enjoying this part of pregnancy!

What I'm looking forward to:  At the moment I'm still living on the high from our big news this week!

Weekly Wisdom: Start the name game as soon as possible.  It may take 20 more weeks to convince your husband your name of choice is the only obvious choice.

Milestones: Half Baked!  Officially have more behind me than ahead of me, though December still seems ridiculously far away!

Big Brother: So I told him we were having a girl and his first reaction was to cry and pout because he wanted a brother.  You know.  The same kid who's been telling me for weeks we're having a girl and that all he wants is a sister.   Kids are weird.  Luckily he recovered quickly and now he's pretty excited!

Bowties or Bows? What will it be? Nobody knows!

Tomorrow's the BIG day so I went ahead and compiled a list of all the Old Wives Tales to see where we fall.  So far girl has a pretty big lead!  Get your vote in now!

Is baby's heartbeat above or below 140? Above ~ Girl

Do you crave sweet or salty? Sweet~ Girl

Do you sleep on your right or left? Right ~ Girl

Did you have morning sickness? Yes ~ Girl

Are you moody or happy? Moody ~ Girl

Is your skin clear or breaking out? Clear ~ Boy

Are you carrying high or low? Low ~ Boy

Chinese Calendar ~ Girl

Mayan Calendar ~ Girl

Did you have more headaches? No ~ Boy

Ring test, circular motion or to and fro?  To & Fro ~ Boy

Mama's Intuition ~ Girl

Dad's Intuition ~ Girl

Big Brother ~ Girl

Bump Day ~ 19 weeks

How far along? 19 weeks, baby's a mango!

Weight gain/loss: Well let's just say it's more than 5 now.  I think I need to tighten the reigns on the mindless snacking if I want to avoid gaining 50 lbs.

Maternity Clothes? Nothing new here.  I'm already dreading having to buy maternity jeans come fall so for now I'm going to enjoy the world of flowy dresses and maxi skirts.

Sleep: Great, the dreams are a little crazy though.

Stretch marks: Same ole, same ole.

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat, a strong 140!  Baby still tried to hide from the doppler, but after some searching we were finally able to pick it up for the first time!

Movement: I'm feeling something everyday now, mainly just rolls and flips but a few good jabs once or twice!

Food cravings: I ate the same chicken sandwich two days in a row from a local pub.  It was pretty amazing.  Two words, bacon + pretzel bun.  Ok, maybe that was three.

Gender: Friday is the BIG day and I can't wait!!  I'm putting my final vote in for GIRL!  In fact I told the husband I will be legitimately surprised if they say boy.

Labor Signs: Just some round ligament pains.  OUCH!  Especially if I try to get up too fast!

What I Miss: Nada.  A beer would have gone great with that sandwich though.

What I'm looking forward to:  Finding out who's in there!  The name debate as begun.  In typical fashion we can't agree.  We have pretty much settled on a girl first name though, so that's a start right!?

Weekly Wisdom:  When you eat pretty much everything in sight you can't really be surprised by the number on the scale.

Milestones: I started compiling a list of all the things we need.  Good news?  It's a pretty short list!

Big Brother: Well for the first time since March he's wavering on his girl vote.  Mainly because our good friends came in town for a visit and now he wants a baby brother just like his friend Isla.  Didn't take much to sway his choice.  

Bump Day ~ 18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks ~ Happy 4th of July!  Baby is the size of a sweet potato.

Weight gain/loss: Up 5 lbs as of my last appt....we'll reassess the damage this week!

Maternity Clothes? I feel like I wear the same rotation of pre-pregnancy bottoms and tanks.....but as long as I haven't had to invest in much maternity stuff, I'm ok with it!

Sleep: Good.  I'm not passing out at 8 anymore, but I'm still pretty tired by the end of the day.  And the heat really wipes me out!  Thankfully we had a cool spell this past week!

Stretch marks: Nothing new, lathered on the Palmer's a few times this week though to help with the itching.

Best moment this week: Three day weekend for the holiday.  I'm spoiled and have a 3 day weekend every week, but having the husband home that extra day really made the weekend seem longer!

Movement: Still just flutters and flips/rolls.  Nothing really consistent yet, but pretty much every day at least once.

Food cravings: Nothing in particular, still the wicked sweet tooth.

Gender: Less than two weeks till we know!  My intuition still thinks girl, but my heart is leaning towards boy...not because I wouldn't be over the moon excited about a girl, but I'm a boy mom, it's all I know, I feel like I wouldn't know what to do with a girl, which I know is irrationally silly.

Labor Signs: Nope.  Had a few sharp cramps this week which I'm guessing are round ligament pains.

What I Miss: Nothing, I'm really enjoying this part of pregnancy and I'm trying to soak it in.  I hope it's not my last pregnancy, but you never know, time is really starting to fly now and I feel like December will be here before I know it!

What I'm looking forward to:  My appt Friday.  This is the longest I've gone since finding out I was pregnant and I'm dying for a little reassurance and to hear the heartbeat!

Weekly Wisdom:  Don't look at old skinny pictures of yourself when you currently feel like a whale.  At least come December they'll serve as some kick ass motivation!

Milestones: Not much pregnancy related going on these days, but my tomato plant finally has some itty bitty baby maters on it, so I'm pretty stoked about that!  My first tomato!

Big Brother: Today while browsing H&M and he brought me a pair of Hello Kitty shoes for the baby, who he's still convinced it a girl. I did ask what his name ideas were for a boy and he said Johnny Carstar.  So at least he's consistent.