Belly Growth So Far

Just another little post to show how my belly has grown over the weeks...

23 Weeks!

Today marks 23 weeks of pregnancy!  Abby and I are both getting bigger every day :)  Baby girl has been kicking lots and I still really love to feel her moving.  Unfortunately, Dave hasn't been able to feel her move again.  She's sitting in a very low spot and seems to freeze up whenever he tries to catch her moving.  Hopefully soon her movements will be easily felt from the outside!  Here is my 23 week picture:

Abby is about the size of a grapefruit this week, measuring about 11 inches and weighing over a pound:

Lately, I've become the kind of pregnant person that I used to REALLY dislike...a PREGNANCY COMPLAINER.  The truth is that pregnancy isn't really what I expected it to be.  I know it's SO unrealistic, but those pictures of happy, smiling women with glowing skin and thick, lustrous hair clutching their basketball bellies made me so excited for pregnancy.  It's really, really not like that!!  I'm still getting sick a few times a week (including this morning, yuck), my skin is terrible, and my changing body has quite literally become a major pain in the rear (and back!).  Last weekend I started having some mild back pain.  I ended up being pretty active on Sunday and Dave and I cleaned out the closet in the nursery and moved and rearranged a lot of things in storage.  By Sunday night, I was in excruciating pain.   I was on the floor on my hands and knees just crying because every step I took felt like someone was stabbing me in my lower back and then dragging the knife down through my booty.  I ended up taking Monday off to rest, and I called the doctor (and my sister!) just to make sure everything was ok.  As my sister predicted, the baby was sitting on my sciatic nerve, which was causing the extreme pain.  I rested a ton on Monday, plus I did a prenatal yoga dvd that my sister sent me and googled some other stretches/exercises that are supposed to encourage the baby to move.  By Tuesday I felt a bit better, although by bedtime I was back to being in a ton of pain.  I've been doing the stretches and exercises every day and am feeling MUCH better today, which is good.  My fear is that this is just the start of some major sciatic pain to come...but that's being pregnant I guess.  I still LOVE feeling her move (although who knows, that could always change too!) and I know that it's all for the best reason on earth.  I will say that people who do this over and over again are CRAZY!!  Michelle Duggar is obviously insane!  And to think, I'm only 23 weeks.  I'm trying so hard to remind myself how very, very badly I wanted this and to try to enjoy the things that I can.  Women have been doing this since the beginning of time, so I can survive too :)

23 Week Survey:

How far along: 23 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: minus 10 pounds.  That was this morning after absolutely stuffing myself at my birthday dinner last night at Bravo, so the real number is probably a little lower.
Maternity clothes: Of course!  Although, I tried my old jeans on the other day for fun and surprisingly they can still comfortably button!  They don't look good though because of my big belly, so I'll stick to the secret panel maternity pants.
Stretch marks: Nothing new this week.
Sleep: Same as the last few weeks.
Best moment this week: My birthday dinner out to Bravo with my husband last night.  A bonus was that my old manager was working and he majorly bumped up our wait time and comped our appetizer, which was so nice of him!
Movement: Her most active time this week has been very early in the morning (between 4-6am).
Food cravings: Nothing really this week.  I wanted an all out carb fest for my birthday, and it was wonderful!
Gender: Still a little girl!
Labor Signs: None.
Belly Button in or out: Still in.
What I miss:  I really wanted a glass of red wine at book club this week!

What I am looking forward to: Still our Portland trip!  It's coming up fast and I hope the weather forecast starts looking up.
Milestones: Nothing really this week!

All in all, I really have to be thankful for a healthy pregnancy so far.  Just a few more months of work and then our baby girl will be here in our arms, and that's all I want.  My resolution for next week is to try to be more positive about this pregnancy and my changing body, and also about work, which has been an enormous headache lately.  None of the things that are bothering me are life or death, and they won't last forever.  I do know one thing though, I am VERY happy that it's FRIDAY!! :)

22 Weeks!

The last couple weeks have actually flown by! I can't believe I'm 22 weeks (and over 5 months!) already.  I honestly hope that time continues to fly by like it has been lately :)  Here is my 22 week pic:

Abby is about the size of a papaya this week, and is now hearing outside noises:

Here's my 22 week survey:
How far along: 22 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: minus 9 pounds.  I really didn't eat well this week, so I need to start watching that better!
Maternity clothes: Yes.  Mostly maternity leggings and Uggs or my new leather boots because the two pairs of maternity jeans I have fall down too much!
Stretch marks: Two old ones from gaining and losing weight in college have started to grow again.  I'm not really surprised...I knew this was coming.  I suppose they'll only get worse from here!  I wish it was true that if your mom didn't get stretch marks then you won't either, but since I already have a TON of old ones, it's pretty much inevitable.  Oh well.
Sleep: So so.  My arms go numb from sleeping on my side, so between that and getting up to use the bathroom at least 4 times a night, I don't feel very rested lately.
Best moment this week: The ultrasound on Monday and Dave feeling Abby kick.  He's only been able to feel it that one time though!  Every other time we've tried she stops moving the second his hand touches my belly.
Movement: Movements are definitely becoming more pronounced!
Food cravings: Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!  I don't even think I'm technically supposed to have it, since it has cookie dough in it.  Hopefully the eggs are pasteurized.  I made the mistake of buying a big carton of it from Aldi and CAN NOT stop myself from eating it!  Never again.  I usually buy the tiny individual cups that Ben & Jerry's sells to keep my portion limited.
Gender: Still a little girl!
Labor Signs: None.
Belly Button in or out: In, but I have noticed that it's getting more shallow lately.  Ugh, I am not looking forward to that thing popping out, if it does!
What I miss: This week I'm back to missing sleeping on my stomach.  And fitting into regular clothes.  
What I am looking forward to: I'm starting to get really excited for our trip out to Oregon in a few weeks!  We're going out for a friend's wedding, but it will also be the last big trip before baby girl comes.  We have plans to visit the Portland Zoo (I LOVE zoos) and take a day trip to the coast to check out Cannon Beach.  Hopefully the weather cooperates!
Milestones: Nothing really this week, just happy to find out for sure that she is healthy!

5 Years

5 years ago today, I went on a blind date with a guy from Match.com.  I honestly didn't really have high hopes for the date.  Not that he didn't seem nice from the phone conversation we'd had, but I'd gone on a few dates with another guy from Match and they didn't really meet my expectations.  Little did I know that my life would be changed forever after one blind date :)  I'd never had a lot of luck with relationships.  I either ended up falling for guys who only saw me as a friend, or ones who treated me like total dirt.  I had some pretty strict internet dating rules at the time - one email back and forth, one phone call, then a date for a drink on a week night only, AFTER 7pm...basically, I didn't want to waste my time!  Dave and I agreed to meet at Old Chicago on a Wednesday evening for a drink.  I got there first and waited for him, and then some time passed and he was LATE!  Tardiness is a huge pet peeve of mine, so I texted my sister and asked how much longer I should wait.  In the meantime, there was a guy sitting by himself at another table...he didn't look like the pictures of Dave from Match, but sometimes people misrepresent themselves on dating websites, so I was skeptical.  I had the waitress go ask the other guy if he was meeting a blind date, and thankfully he wasn't!  Finally, Dave walked in and saw me immediately.  He came over with a story about how he cut his hand after he dropped his phone in the car trying to call me!  There was some major construction and he had to take a detour to get to the restaurant, which is why he was late.  He even excused himself to go get a band-aid from the car!  At this point, I knew I liked him already :)   We ordered drinks and started talking right away.  I had a friend on stand-by who called me a little while into the date in case I needed an out, but thankfully I didn't!  From the get-go, Dave and I had so much in common.  We talked and talked over drinks at the restaurant, and when we both realized that neither of us wanted the date to end, we shared a bottle of wine back at my apartment.  We've been together from that day on, and the rest, as they say, is history!  It's been such an amazing five years, and the craziest part of all is that it doesn't feel like it's already been 5 years!  He's my best friend and an amazing husband, and I honestly just can't wait for us to begin our new adventure as parents together.  I know it won't always be easy, but with him by my side all just feels right with the world.  Tonight we're going to recreate our very first date!  Here are some photos from over the years to wrap up my super cheesy post :)

21 Week Ultrasound

Yesterday morning I had another ultrasound!  At our anatomy scan at 19 weeks the ultrasound tech was not able to properly see Abby's heart, pelvis, umbilical cord, and stomach.  They didn't really tell me that, our doctor just said that they needed a few more pictures of her heart.  I've been worried but trying not to think about it too much for the last two weeks.  It turns out that at the last appointment, baby girl was just laying on her belly too much and that's why they weren't able to see everything.  I wish that the doctor would have just told me that!  Anyway, the appointment went great.  Dave wasn't able to go with me, but I wasn't even really nervous, I was just super excited to see Abby again :)  I had the same tech that we had for our last ultrasound, except this time she was so much more friendly!  She said "perfect" at least three times while getting shots and taking measurements, so I felt great about how the appointment was going.  I got to see all four chambers of the baby's heart, her main arteries, where the umbilical cord goes into her belly, her stomach, and of course got yet another confirmation that she is definitely still a girl!

At this point in my pregnancy, I start meeting other doctors within the practice, so yesterday I saw Dr. Fleming.  She was very nice and told me that Abby looks just perfect, which is what she is always happy to tell parents.  I was so relieved to hear that everything looks great!  She even said Abby's size is great too, which is wonderful because at the last appointment Dr. Horton mentioned that she was measuring a little small.  My blood pressure was perfect (for me!) too at 116/68.  The one thing Dr. Fleming did talk about is gaining the appropriate amount of weight throughout the remainder of my pregnancy.  On my scale at home, I am still down ten pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, but I wasn't weighed at the OB until I was already 8 weeks and had lost some weight, so according to them I am negative three pounds.  Dr. Fleming said a good goal is to be at or slightly above my pre-pregnancy weight by my next appointment in 4 weeks.  That seems very doable to me, without being too much to gain, so I'm ok with the 3 pounds.  It almost seemed as though Dr. Fleming thought that I was restricting my food intake, which is definitely not the case!!  I eat ALL the time, I just eat small portions and kind of graze throughout the day on snacks like an Odwalla smoothie, yogurt, string cheese, a few crackers, etc.  My theory is that my body will start gaining the weight it needs to when it's ready, and in the meantime I plan to continue eating just as I have been, which means eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full.  I think that will work just fine!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's ultrasound:

I just love her cute little profile!  The last very exciting thing that happened yesterday is that Dave was finally able to feel the baby kicking!  The last couple of days her kicks have been much more noticeable to me, so early yesterday morning I was trying to see if they could be felt from the outside, and sure enough, I felt her little thumps against my hand.  I called Dave into the room really quick and had him put his hand on my belly.  It took a few minutes, but he finally got to feel one of her little kicks :)  It made me so happy!  She has been kicking super low lately, and especially likes to kick me when I'm sitting down.  Yesterday at work her movements were actually tickling me so bad that I laughed out loud!  I can't wait to see how her movements will feel different to me (and Dave!) in the weeks ahead as she starts to really gain some weight and grow.  

DIY Maternity Shirt

I thought I would show off my sewing project from tonight.  We've got our first tailgate of the season tomorrow and I have exactly one MSU t-shirt that is even remotely acceptable to wear in public given the current size of my bump.  So, anticipating that I would need to come up with a solution, I bought a new bigger MSU t-shirt when my friend Jessica was in town a few weeks ago.  It was the first weekend all the students were back and one of the stores across from campus was selling all of their t-shirts for $12, which I think is pretty good!  The main problem with the shirt was that while it fit over my belly, it was really long and the bottom was too big so it looked pretty ridiculous.  This is where a tutorial I found on Pinterest for turning a regular shirt into a maternity shirt came in handy!  This is the tutorial I followed: http://sewlikemymom.com/diy-maternity-clothes/.  Here is how my shirt turned out!

I did one thing differently than the tutorial - I also hemmed the shirt a bit because it was still too long for my taste.  I'm very happy with how it turned out!  I can't decide if I want to wear this shirt tomorrow, or the last regular t-shirt that still fits...but either way I know I'll be getting a lot of use out of it soon.  GO STATE!

21 Weeks!

I'm technically a day early, but I may not get to this tomorrow so I wanted to write this post up tonight.  21 weeks as of Friday!  How exciting :)  On Monday I'm going to the doctor for my follow-up ultrasound, so that's something to look forward to!  Dave actually can't make it to that appointment, so hopefully all will be well.  Here is my 21 week pic:

Supposedly Abby is about the size of a pomegranate this week, which actually doesn't make much sense to me because a banana seems larger than a pomegranate, but hey, I'll go with it...

I took some time to work on art work for the nursery this week!  I spray painted some frames for some prints I found online, and I just love how they turned out:

The little speaker looking thing in the lower right-hand corner is an old intercom system that doesn't exist anywhere in the house except this room any more.  I debated removing it and patching the wall, but in the end I just decided to paint it.  I kind of love the quirkiness it adds to the space.  My mom joked that we should use it as the baby monitor, ha!  The prints hang just above the changing table, so here are a few other shots to show where they are in the room (also, as usual, the wall color is very difficult to photograph!):

You can see the dresser sitting in the little alcove near the entrance to the room.  I also hung a french memory board over the dresser:

And this little guy I painted at a paint-your-own-pottery studio a few weeks before we knew that we were having a little girl.  I love that he still compliments the color palette in the room!

I also painted a name art canvas to hang on the wall above the crib:

Again, there are some discrepancies with the color in the pictures.  The orange that I used to paint the "I"s is much more vibrant and visible in real life!  I really need to find a photo editing software with white balance that's easy to use, because the lighting in the nursery makes for some very poor photographs!  Overall, I am so pleased with how all the art has come together so far.  My sister also made some really adorable owl canvases  that I plan to hang on the wall above the glider once she gives them to me!  I haven't started my other sewing projects yet, but that's next on the list.

This week has been pretty good.  I still had some morning sickness one day, and woke up nauseous quite a few days.  I am truly beginning to think that the morning sickness might last throughout my entire pregnancy.  At least it's not every day anymore, so I'm thankful for that.  Other than the queasies, I've been feeling pretty good.  I'm still down ten pounds and still feeling great about that.  I bought some maternity leggings this week and LOVE them.  Thank god for comfortable maternity pants!  I tried wearing a pair of the maternity jeans I bought a while ago, and by the time I got up the driveway at work the pants were falling down so badly that I almost flashed the neighbors!  I had to go home and make an emergency wardrobe change.  I have NO idea why they don't stay up, because they seem to fit perfectly when I stand still.  I was really bummed because they weren't exactly cheap, and since I hemmed them there's no possible way to return them now.  I bought another pair in a different style, so I am going to try wearing those around the house tomorrow and see how they do before wearing them to work.  I think they'll stay up better because the denim doesn't start as low down as the other pair.  We shall see!  If they don't work I'll be SUPER disappointed.  Then I suppose I'll get over it and live in my comfy leggings, long tops, and boots for the rest of my pregnancy!  My amazing husband got me some ADORABLE leather boots for my birthday (and of course gave them to me early because I put on a major pouty face when they arrived and he told me I had to wait until my actual birthday to open them!).  Here's a pic:

They are so cute and comfy, and they look awesome with my new maternity leggings!  I can't wait to wear them once the weather is cool enough!

I'll skip the survey this week, since not too much is new.  If I get some more pictures from the ultrasound on Monday I'll post them asap!

Snapshots...

There's really no doubt about it...

Baby Girl is getting BIG in there!

I'm starting to wonder...if this is what I look like at just past halfway, what on earth will I look like at full term?!

Just for fun, here is some artwork that I've been working on for Abby's nursery.

I can't wait to get it all up on the wall!

HAPPY MONDAY!

20 Weeks!

We've officially made it to the half way point!!!  Wahoo!  Does anyone else want to belt a little of Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer with me?  :-)

Oh yeah!  I really am so excited that Abby is half-way baked.  It feels like it's taken forever to reach this point!  Hopefully that means that the next 18-20 weeks will fly by ;)  Here is my 20 week pic:

This week Abigail is about the length of a banana!

Until about 20 weeks, babies are measured from the crown (or top) of the head to the rump (or bottom). This is because a baby's legs are curled up against his/her torso during the first half of pregnancy and very hard to measure.  Now that I am 20 weeks, Abby is measured from head to toe.  This week she supposedly weighs about 10.2 ounces and measures about 10 inches long!

Here's my pregnancy survey for the week:

How far along: 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: minus 11 pounds as of this morning!  Still feeling GREAT about that #.
Maternity clothes: I'm still wearing dresses because it's warm out, but I'll be making the switch to maternity clothes full time pretty soon.
Stretch marks: Nothing new
Sleep: So so.  I've had some bad round ligament pain this week which makes it hard to get comfortable.
Best moment this week: The kids I nanny for going BACK TO SCHOOL!
Movement: I feel her quite often, although it's still not as often or as big of movements as I thought I would be feeling by now.  She is very active though, especially in the evenings.
Food cravings: Still just sweet stuff mostly.  I had "evening" sickness a few times this week and haven't had too much of an appetite the last few days.
Gender: GIRL! 
Labor Signs: None.
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: I still miss wine...I really don't think that's going to change.  I sound like an alcoholic!
What I am looking forward to: A quiet weekend at home.
Milestones: Half baked today!
In the next few weeks I hope to get started on Abby's baby quilt.  I haven't really done much at all with the nursery or any sewing projects lately, so I'd like to get back into working on those things.  I also would like to find some inexpensive frames to hang on the wall above the changing table in the nursery.  I'm planning to make a gallery wall there and so far have found 4 cute prints to frame and hang.  I also still want to do something with her name above the crib, so I want to buy the supplies for that too.  Lots of crafting to do soon!  Other than continuing work on the nursery, my biggest goal for the next few months is to get some EXERCISE.  I have been absolutely terrible about getting any sort of exercise this pregnancy.  Now that I'm back to not working until 11am, I have plenty of time in the mornings to at least get in a long walk, some time on the elliptical, or the prenatal yoga dvd that my sister sent me ages ago!  Thankfully, I walk the dog daily at work, which is at least a little bit of activity.  The nice thing is that I am on my feet moving at work all day, except for an hour or so in the car, so at least I'm up and around.  I still don't feel like it's enough though, and I feel like my back especially would really benefit from some regular muscle strengthening.  So, those are my upcoming plans so far!

Anatomy Scan Ultrasound

We had our big anatomy scan on Friday at exactly 19 weeks.  Abby is healthy and most definitely still a little girl!  She was measuring a little small for her gestational age, but my doctor was not concerned by this at all.  She basically said that since I'm not a large person she doesn't expect me to have a very large baby!  The ultrasound tech was not able to obtain all of the pictures of Abby's heart and pelvis that she wanted, so we are going back in two weeks for another ultrasound.  Hopefully baby girl will cooperate and they can get all the shots that they need to ensure that everything is totally healthy and normal.  Dr. Horton said that there was absolutely no cause for concern, she just likes to be absolutely certain when it comes to things like the heart.  She did not see anything that would concern her, but she just wants to get all the angles that they normally do.  I hope that everything turns out ok!  Here are a few pictures and video clips from Abby's ultrasound:

We went up north this past weekend with friends and rented a cabin on the lake, which is something we've been doing with them for a number of years now.  As always, it was a great time!  It was a bit different for me this year because I couldn't drink.  Instead, I slept a TON!  Our friends brought their 5 week old son with them and it was so wonderful to spend so much time with him.  I couldn't get enough snuggles!  It made me want Abby to be here sooo badly!  Next year will sure be different up at the cabin! :-)