Monday, April 9, 2012

20 weeks (aka 5 months...how is this possible?!)

Halfway there. Halfway there. Halfway there. (Trying to let this sink in...so far, no dice).


Perhaps this week was the pop out week. WOAH. I really look pregnant.


And again. Yikes. I did take the 20 week pictures at the end of the day (usually it's in the morning) so perhaps that was the more popped out look. Who knows.


19 weeks for comparison.


And just for fun I thought it would be interesting to revisit 14 weeks. WOW. I can't believe I thought I was big then (I'm probably going to be saying that about 5 months soon enough...)

How I'm feeling?
I said it last week and I'll say it again- still feeling pretty awesome. Like my old self plus 15ish pounds (aka HUGE). I have decided that I really don't know what is good about being pregnant. You start off feeling sick, then you never shit, then you have terrible headaches, then you just feel "off", you can barely touch your boobs even with your shirts, then you grow and grow and grow and you are just HUGE and can't do half of the things you used to be able to. Oh yeah, and your poor husband is subject to much of the crazy emotions (understatement) added to all of the physical symptoms. I guess at the end of it all you do have a precious baby BUT I really don't know that there is much positive in the whole pregnancy thing. I know some of you ladies out there love it and for that, you have all of the respect in the world from me. If there is anything I can say about all of this right now at this point in time: I can finally see a GLIMPSE of why people might enjoy being pregnant. You are just mildly huge but you feel amazing, like your old self. No hormonal breakdowns, no headaches, no sickness, energy is back- and you are starting to feel the baby. All around the best time in the pregnancy so far, hands down.  

How I'm changing?
Still getting big (see pictures for proof). I discovered this week that putting on socks and shoes is getting to be quite difficult. Pretty soon I might need help here. I'm also sort of wondering if I have some weird pregnancy disorder where my boobs will not stop growing. Like last week, I'm still just baffled by the growth here. Starting to feel the baby move on a more consistent basis, like daily. It's pretty cool.  

Oh, another not cool symptom of pregnancy: backne (is that a word?) It is now. Seriously. I never had it as a teenager, never, never, never. But oh, hi, cool, I'm BREAKING OUT on my shoulders and back. GROSS. I guess it could be worse as it could be on my face. It would be fine if I was going to be in Seattle for the next few months as I can be assured I'll be living in sweaters, BUT I'm going to Hawaii in about 2.5 weeks. So, yeah, problem. Maybe the sun will help? Oh, and pregnancy glow. Haha. That's funny whoever coined that term.

I also woke up once this week in the middle of the night and got sick twice. WHAT was that about? I have no idea if it was pregnancy related or not but either way, not a fan.

Still worked out this week- lifted/ran three times, walked and did yoga. And by walked I mean I walked 8 miles with Justin on Saturday. It was gorgeous out in Seattle (try upper 60s and sunny) so it seemed like a great idea. By about mile 7, my hips were OVER IT. I was over it (thanks to my hips). The last mile was excruciating. It's extremely humbling to think "man, I used to run 8 miles easy"...now I have to really think about what walking 8 miles is going to do to my body.
What I'm eating?
Everything. There were really no trends this week. I did try to eat less sugar, including fruit. This was sort of as a result as some research my husband did on the topic so I can't blame the pregnancy for that. Still eating a lot and eating a lot more like I used to though trying to continue to get the protein my body/the baby needs.

Weight I'm gaining? 
About the same as last week. I weighed 132.something this week (forgot to write it down- stupid pregnancy brain- so, I can't remember where I was but somewhere between 132 and 133).  Not the two pound gain but I think I am definitely on track to gain 40 pounds for the pregnancy. I'm told that's normal for people that start out as what the medical world defines as "underweight" to begin with. The numbers definitely weird me out a bit but I know it will all come off.


How I'm sleeping? 
I slept really terrible this week. Sunday and Monday I barely slept at all, for whatever reason (well, one of those nights was the sick night) and then all week, I'd wake up at around 3am and be wide awake until the alarm went off (I call it "pulling a Justin" as this is Justin's nightly routine). I still had crazy dreams too which I think was part of the issue with waking up mid morning. 

What's the baby doing?
-The baby is about 6.5 inches or the size of a small cantaloupe (also in one report was compared to a butternut squash...take your pick)
-The baby's skin is becoming covered with a waxy-like substance called vernix which protects the skin
-The baby is also starting to produce meconium, the result of digestion which accumulates in the bowels until birth (lovely!)
-Other than that, the baby is just continuing to grow, grow grow (and will from here on out).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?
-I actually can't say that we did anything this week for the baby. In fact, I'm pretty sure we did nothing. We did talk a bit more about plans for post baby- IE: care, my time off, working with my work to see what's feasible, etc.   

Next week is the big ultrasound! We'll see if I can actually wait until Hawaii to find out the sex. I'm pretty sure I can but Justin has bets against me. If I'm being totally honest, he's probably right. I am not a patient person and I am dying to know!
Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)
I'm halfway through this thing. HALFWAY. That means that in the amount of time I've been pregnant, which, really, feels like no time at all, we will have a baby. HOLY CRAP.

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