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.