21 weeks

How far along? 21 weeks.  The home stretch!

• Total weight gain: +2 lbs.

• Maternity clothes? Definitely pants. And I’ve been noticing some of my normal shirts don’t work anymore.  Too short.


• Stretch marks? Not yet.

• Sleep: Definitely worse.  It’s hard to stay asleep all night and getting comfortable when I first go to bed.

• Best moment this week: Watching my stomach shake and move with the baby’s movement!


• Miss Anything?  Movement – I’m noticing that this belly is making some things a little harder.  Bending over, squeezing in between things that I’d normally fit between.



• Movement: A TON.  I think Aaron’s hand has lost all sense of feel – the baby is moving and grooving and he is just oblivious.

• Food cravings: Ice cream, baked potatoes

• Food aversions: Nothing I don’t normally dislike.


• Gender: Unknown.
 




• Labor Signs: Not yet.  But I’ve been stiff, sore and crampy once in a while.

• Symptoms: Getting aches and pains in my mid-section and back.


• Belly Button in or out? It changes, I’d say closer to flat, but the it looks like it’s going to be out soon.

• Wedding rings on or off? On.

• Looking forward to: Spending a whole weekend with Aaron in Duluth over the holiday weekend!


Went to Houston again for work this week.  The no lifting thing sucks when you’re traveling alone.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE traveling, but I’m thinking vacation traveling is much more fun that work traveling.  And I’m noticing I get exhausted a lot easier than I normally would.

Also found out this week that my clinic (where I see my Dr. and awesome nurse) no longer plans on working with the same local hospital.  The birthing center shut down and all association between the two is done.  I now have to switch hospitals, which normally wouldn’t be a big deal.  BUT my Dr only seems to be available at the neighboring town hospital.  I’ve heard sub-par reviews of the place and really would prefer to not go there.  But I really don’t want to switch Dr’s.  Besides that, my MIL works at that hospital and does the billing and census information.  So she’d know the second we arrived for labor&delivery and would also see all our billing information.  This alone makes me very uncomfortable.  I do not want anyone to know I’m in labor until the baby arrives.  I don’t want an audience or a crowd anxiously waiting.  If I choose to differ from this, it will be my decision and made at the time.  I don’t want the MIL calling the FIL which then phones the entire.freaking.family.  And I think regardless of the major HIPAA violation – this would happen.

Ahh… see my dilemma?  I have another appt next week w/ my Dr., so I’ll have to ask if she goes anywhere else.  From what I can tell online, that’s a no.  Which means I may have to switch Dr.’s.  Boo.

Some 21 week pictures from the hotel in Houston. Sorr for the poor quality.

See what I mean - some of my normal shirts are getting pretty snug.

Half-baked. And a 3D image.

How far along? 20 weeks.  HALFWAY ALREADY!
• Total weight gain: +2 lbs.

• Maternity clothes? Definitely pants. And I’ve been noticing some of my normal shirts don’t work anymore.  Too short.

• Stretch marks? Not yet.
• Sleep: Definitely getting worse.  Have a few restless nights.

• Best moment this week: Our ultrasound!  And getting a 3D view of our baby!

• Miss Anything? Physical activity.  Found out I have placenta previa, and I got strict instructions from the Dr. that I had to limit any physical work.  No lifting, no mowing the lawn, no working out, and no grocery bag lifting. 
• Movement: A ton, and the babe is getting much stronger!! Still haven’t gotten Aaron to feel it yet though.
• Food cravings: Ice cream, puppy chow

• Food aversions: Nothing I don’t normally dislike.

• Gender: Unknown.  I did the whole wedding ring/strand of hair test and it says girl.  We’ll see…
• Labor Signs: Not yet.  But I’ve been stiff, sore and crampy once in a while.
• Symptoms: Back pain, stiffness and sore middle section.

• Belly Button in or out? Pretty much level, not out yet, but I’m guessing it will be soon.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: Spending a whole weekend with Aaron in Duluth over the holiday weekend!



Aaron’s been working a ton, so my limited activity instructions suck.  Aaron doesn’t have time to mow the lawn and do a bunch of stuff for me.  It annoys me that I pride myself on being stubborn and independent, and now I can’t even get groceries alone.  Grr…



BUT, with that said, if there was something wrong, I’m glad it’s placenta previa. Baby looked big, healthy and organs/limbs were all intact.  12 ounces already!  It was measuring almost a whole week bigger than our due date.  But she/he has been a good 4-6 days ahead of schedule since our first ultrasound.  I have to go back in 6 weeks for them to check the location of the placenta. Pictures below.



I still can’t believe we’re halfway done.  If the placenta doesn’t shift upwards, we could have this baby 3-4 weeks early too! I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

19 weeks... and GROWING

How far along? 19 weeks.
• Total weight gain: Back to my starting point.

• Maternity clothes? Definitely pants. I started wearing a few of my shirts too.

• Stretch marks? Not yet.
• Sleep: Not too bad, getting up to use the restroom once in a while.

• Best moment this week: Watching my stomach expand!

• Miss Anything? Not being so stiff and sore after too much movement.  I mowed the lawn and was done for.  I could hardly move afterwards!
• Movement: A ton!
• Food cravings: Nothing in particular

• Food aversions: Nothing I don’t normally dislike.

• Gender: Unknown….
• Labor Signs: Not yet.
• Symptoms: Feeling less pukey and more stiff and sore.

• Belly Button in or out? In, but getting shallow!
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: Our 20 week ultrasound!!

I noticed a big difference in the size of my bump this week.  I'll include my mid 18 week-20 week pictures below so you can see the changes!! (And my obsession to document it every few days!)

18w3d

18w3d - View from above!

19w

19w3d

20 weeks - and much bigger than a week 1/2 ago!

20 weeks!!!!

18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks.
• Total weight gain: -2 lbs.  

• Maternity clothes? Definitely pants.  I started wearing a few of my shirts too.

• Stretch marks? Not yet.
• Sleep: Not too bad, getting up to use the restroom once in a while. 

• Best moment this week: Feeling all the movement!  A few times I was able to feel it on the outside too – still trying to time it right so Aaron can feel it kicking.

• Miss Anything? Not puking everyday.  This week was rough.
• Movement: A ton!
• Food cravings: Ice cream, bread/sandwiches

• Food aversions: Nothing I don’t normally dislike.

• Gender: Unknown… but I have a feeling it’s going to be a pink fall.
• Labor Signs: Ha, thank God no.
• Symptoms: Lots and lots of puking.  At one point this week I was out to lunch with a group of coworkers and had to take off running for the bathroom as our food was arriving.  Talk about embarrassing. 

• Belly Button in or out? In, but getting shallow!
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: Starting to talk about names, painting the nursery and our ultrasound in just over a week!

I had my 18 week appointment this week.  It went well, except they took my blood again.  I mentioned how often I was throwing up, and my doctor didn’t seem too concerned.  As long as I can keep some food down (and I’m not getting dehydrated) I should be okay.  She did mention that she will be making a note in my file to watch my weight.  I haven’t even gotten back to my starting weight, but she’s sure I will start tacking on the lbs. in the next few weeks.  Oh, great.  I didn’t care about the weight as long as baby is okay.

We got our bedding this week too.  It’s really cute!  But it doesn’t match the already existing green walls, so we’ll be painting.  I’m eager to start organizing all the things we need to do/decide on, but a little overwhelmed by how much we do need to do.

At one point this week I had a stranger congratulate me!  I was really confused at first, until he pointed to my stomach.  When I laughed and explained that no one else had said anything about it without prior knowledge of the baby, he got pretty embarrassed.  He was thankful he didn’t make a mistake, but really red by the situation.  I’m just excited that people can finally tell I’m preggers and not fat!