Week 24

This post is a little bit (like a week) late... blame trying to catch up from Hawaii coupled with another trip to the midwest and I am totally behind. In fact, I just told someone today I was only 24 weeks pregnant when tomorrow I will be 26 weeks. There goes those two weeks! Luckily, thanks to handy iphones, I still have all notes from week 24 so here is the back track:

Week 24, view 1.

Week 24, view 2.

And week 23 for comparison...sidenote: I MISS HAWAII.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. I'm just going to say this from here on out, deal?

Week 24 was spent partly in Hawaii. I discussed some of it in the week 23 post but here's the remainder: while in Hawaii, we spent a lot of time at the ocean. You know what? Pregnant people have more sensitive skin. WHO KNEW. I swear, I put on about a bottle of sunscreen every 2.5 seconds but I still burned the hell out of myself. I even had a hat on and we sat under an umbrella. TORCHED. Part of this was due to when we hiked through lava fields (meaning no shade) for about 10 miles... it was windy so I didn't even think I could burn. Yep, I burned. Bad. Skin cancer risk = increased. Whoops.

We also went on the same hike we went on in August last year after we got married. We did it pretty much in the same amount of time that we did last August. For 6 months pregnant that's pretty good. I will say it was MUCH harder. MUCH.

Also: swimming is awesome. Your body feels weightless.

How I'm changing?

I have noticed that my hair has finally caught on to the whole pregnancy thing... it's thick and luscious! YES!

 

What I'm eating?

I ate my weight in pancakes in Hawaii. They were AMAZING. Definitely an indulgence but seriously awesome. Other than that, I spent much of the time in Hawaii eating fish and other Hawaiian foods. One of my favorite dinners there was grilling out on our lanai with Justin- some steak and vegetables. It was not really a typical Hawaiian meal but after a day of hiking and playing in the ocean, it was so good.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I weighed myself post Hawaii and was at 138, about where I expected...I think maybe part of that is the pancakes. I am almost to the 140 club which still blows my mind. If I was "supposed" to be 120 when I started, does that mean I've only gained 20 pounds? We are going to go with that. My starting weight seems to be creeping up the more weight I gain... funny how that happens.

How I'm sleeping? 

Pretty awesome... I think the vacation has something to do with it.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is 12.5 inches long or the size of a piece of corn and weighs 1.25 pounds. Um, that means my kid is a FOOT long?? No way.

-The baby's respiratory system continues to grow and develop in preparation for breathing even though for now most of the oxygen still comes from the placenta.

-The baby still has translucent skin but that will change soon.

-If the baby is born, he/she is officially considered viable if born (meaning it would live).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-Nothing! We were on vacation! (so we were mostly enjoying this last long distance pre-baby trip).  Yeah, we should probably get on the ball for doing stuff soon... post Hawaii...

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

We decided while in Hawaii that post baby we are going to fly my parents out to Washington or give Justin's parents a "treat" to stay at our house with the baby so we can go on post-baby alone vacations. I think this is a genius idea!

Where we've been...

I think everyone already knows... but Thursday April 26 we left this:

BARF.

For this:

A nice little birthday and pre-baby vacation. Full report on the trip coming soon. Especially if the weather continues to be crappy in Seattle and I need to remind myself that there IS sun somewhere out there...

Week 23

Week 23, from Hawaii. Jumping right in with pictures.

View #1. And yes, I was definitely the preggo lady in a bikini. Whatever.

View #2.

And 22 weeks for comparison.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. A constant. 

I also had a resurgence of small bladder syndrome this week. When we were in Orcas, I had to pee about 4 million times. Part of the issue could have been that I took a shot of cranberry juice which really cleared me out. Or it could have just been the way the baby was sitting on my bladder. Either way, I have never peed so much in my life. It made the 6 hour plane ride to Hawaii interesting as well, especially since I had a window seat. Sorry, annoying pregnant lady coming through... 400 times in an hour.  

We have hiked several times and I feel really good for almost being 6 months pregnant. Still some pelvic bone pain which the midwife told me is normal as your bones are softening and shifting. I've officially stopped running. Just shy of 6 months and it is no longer an option, I've conceded. In 4 months, I'll be hitting the pavement again I hope.

Other than that, feeling great. Again, I can totally see how this is the "best" part of pregnancy. You are getting huge but aren't technically huge HUGE yet and you don't feel the tiredness and yuck of the first trimester anymore.

How I'm changing?

I don't really think I've changed very dramatically this week other than I'm getting bigger. The bigger my stomach gets, the smaller my ass and boobs look so that's one good thing of the growing stomach.

 

What I'm eating?

Since we have gotten to Hawaii, I've eaten the normal Hawaii foods... fish, breakfasts, etc. The only thing missing from this trip is alcoholic fruity drinks but the non-alcoholic versions have been tasty. I decided before I left for Hawaii that I am CRAVING mexican food. And not spicy Mexican food as was normal in my pre-pregnancy days but rice, beans, cilantro, pico de gallo and beef (I KNOW, who am I?) all mixed together. Like a giant Chipotle burrito bowl. I pretty much crave this every night without exception.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I still don't really know... haven't weighed myself. Probably around 135-136 still. I will weigh myself post- Hawaii which might be a terrible idea since this week is my birthday week and I am definitely eating cake...and pancakes.

How I'm sleeping? 

Pretty great. The issue with sleeping this week has nothing to do with pregnancy but more to do with the 3 hour time change from Hawaii to Seattle...meaning, we are waking up at 3:30am Hawaii time.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 11.5 inches long or the size of a large mango and now weighs over a pound (so it grew .5 inches and gained .1 pound this week? Sheesh. And sidenote- logistically, I am still boggled by the fact that something that big is in my stomach).

-The baby is picking up it's activity and as it gets bigger, you feel it more often and more intensely (NO KIDDING. He is big enough now, that you can actually see my stomach move as he moves. It's pretty funny.)

-Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing and the hearing is becoming more keen

-The pancreas is kicking into gear this week also

-Good news this week is that the baby is ALMOST to the point where he would have a fighting chance of surviving if he were to be born this early.

-Mostly the baby continues to grow and grow and is moving all about (seems like this will be the constant until birth).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We went to our midwife this week and everything looks great. They measured my stomach for the first time and I am at 23 (I am not sure if this is inches, cm, or mm) but the number should correlate with the number of weeks pregnant I am, so, right on target. The heartbeat is still around 160 which is right where it should be. We talked more about the birth and they are big proponents of not cutting the cord until it stops pulsing, feeding right away, and handing the baby right to me for skin to skin contact. A big plus of using midwives as hospitals don't always practice these things. Next midwife appointment is the appointment where I drink the sugary crap to test for my risk of gestational diabetes. It doesn't sound fun, and it is optional, but we're doing it in the case that I do have to go to the hospital for some emergency during labor (the hospital will assume you have gestational diabetes if you have nothing that shows you tested negative which will often put you as "high risk" in the eyes of the hospital even if I truly don't have diabetes. So, better to just do it and not have to worry about the what ifs).

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

Flying while pregnant is not super fun. I peed a lot and my feet and legs got super swollen (pregnant ladies are more prone to blood clots, but luckily I just had the negative side affect of swollen legs and feet). We have two more flights before baby- one in a couple of weeks back to Iowa/Missouri and then another in June at 7 months back to Missouri. At least we won't have anymore 6 hour flights, at least not pre-baby. I'm thinking a post baby trip back to Hawaii might be a good idea.....

Birthday trip #1

For a little pre-birthday surprise, Justin took me up to Orcas Island for a weekend getaway. It was a gorgeous weekend, especially for Washington in April, and the trip out of town was much needed. I have a great husband. Pictures will show the quick trip best:

Saturday morning, April 21 we headed to the ferry. The day was already looking sunny and beautiful.

Down by the water waiting for the ferry in Anacortes (it was about a 1.5 hour drive to Anacortes).

The little car all lined up and waiting for the big boat.

Once on the ferry, it was a little chilly but we had great views of the puget sound and surrounding mountains (like Mt Baker, above).

...And of course, other islands within the sound.

We had a quick stop at Lopez Island before heading on to Orcas. Lopez is another island we'd like to go back to camp at. It was about an hour and 15 minute ferry ride to Orcas from Anacortes.

Once we got off the ferry, we headed to a quaint little place in town for brunch that Justin had spotted called the new leaf cafe. It was AMAZING. We tried to walk around a bit in town but it was a bit windy and chilly.

We headed to the east part of the island to a Moran state national part where Mt Constitution is. We headed up Mount Constitution and again, had phenomenal views of the puget sound. The weather may actually have been nicer here in April than it often is in the summer months. BIZARRE.

The tower at Mt. Constitution. Pretty cool and lots of history, too, which was pretty fun (for history nerds like us).

One more shot of the sound from a top the Mt. Constitution castle.

We then decided to go on a 5 mile hike from the top of Mt. Constitution. Above I am peeing in the woods as hiking 5+ months pregnant does not bode well for the squashed bladder.

After checking in to our suite, we cleaned up and eventually made it to dinner at the Inn on Ship Bay. Continuing with the views....

Justin at dinner.

The menu at dinner. Mmmm.

And our wine glasses. One empty, one not. Oh how sad.

We watched the sunset over the water...

While one of us enjoyed wine, and the other two of us ate asparagus soup.

Justin chomped on a butter leaf salad.... and then we both had salmon for dinner which we were too enthralled with to take pictures of. It was AMAZING. Everything here is grown locally and the menu is seasonal. So good. After dinner, we headed back to our suite. It was very quiet and woods-y there as I'm pretty sure no one else was on Orcas that weekend.

The next day we went back to the new leaf cafe since it was so amazing before we headed out on the ferry. It was the perfect start to my birthday weekend- couldn't have asked for a better surprise.

22 weeks.

22 weeks. IT IS GOING TOO FAST. That is all. I need more time to mentally prepare. I guess that's what the next 18 weeks are for.

22 weeks shot angle 1.

22 weeks shot angle 2.

And 21 weeks for comparison.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. And getting bigger. Seems to be the status quo these days. My hips are still moving around and hurting a bit but I've come to accept that is just normal. Justin and I played tennis this week and it was actually a lot of fun. I was curious to know how it would be to run around out there with a little (lot) of extra weight and a tummy... it was sort of weird. I'd run after a ball but would keep going because I'm still not totally used to the whole balance thing or the fact that I do indeed have a lot more weight leading the way. Justin said I looked funny running around but, hey, at almost six months pregnant and I'm still smashing a tennis ball around, I'll take it. Workouts were kind of more lax this week. I was busier at work so I only lifted once and I really didn't run at all. I walked a lot...and played tennis. I figure that is better than nothing.

I am also in need of new clothes again. All of my shirts are starting to look like crop tops. So I go home from work, put on a shirt that used to fit that is now a crop top, soon to be a tube top, sweatpants that are slightly too tight and socks that may or may not match. I'm looking a little WT when at home these days (call before you come over... or just come over and laugh, whatever, I'm past the point of caring). One of the days this week was particularly rough trying to get ready for work so instead I ended up ordering shoes online. Um... like 5 pairs..and heels. I figure shoes will always fit, right? It helped at the moment.

Later in the week, I conceded and I did go shopping to buy some actual clothes (no shoes) that fit better since I am now apparently in a new stage of growth. I ended up getting quite a few things at target, surprisingly. But hey, it's cheap, and I know in another month, I'll be back to needing new stuff again so I can justify the short life with the cheapness factor. I bought a few maternity things but most are so ugly that I ended up just buying bigger sizes of "real people" clothes that are actually cute. A lot of the stuff I bought was for Hawaii next week.

Backne has turned into shoulder-ne. GO THE HELL AWAY!! (I'm told this is due to the testosterone due to the baby boy). Who knows, but it sucks.

I'm also back to severe pregnancy brain. I can't remember what I was saying two seconds after I started saying it, I forget people's names, I talk and sound like I have some sort of disorder because my words are all jumbled. It's the weirdest thing.

How I'm changing?

Can we talk about boobs again? Do we talk about them too much? Let me just say: I had to buy a new bra this week. As in a NEED. The old ones no longer fit. Or, well, it was pretty much like wearing pasties. So I go in to victoria's secret. They measure me. TWO FULL cup sizes bigger. And still growing. Are you kidding me?

Oh, and maybe another slightly off color topic- my bladder continues to shrink. And shrink. It's really common for women to piss themselves when they are pregnant, sometimes without knowing it... whether it's due to pressure on the bladder from the baby or just the way the bladder is positioned. Some women have pretty severe incontinence during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. Lovely, right? Well, I thought I was one of the lucky ones and I wasn't going to have this issue. Ha. Ha. Haha. I sneezed this week and experienced my first little leak. UNCOOL pregnancy gods, UNCOOL.

 

What I'm eating?

Pretty much I'm back to eating what I normally used to eat. It is SO nice. I eat oatmeal with walnuts and flax for breakfast, something lighter for lunch (salads are totally acceptable to my stomach still, thank god!) and then whatever for dinner. We have been doing a lot of rice and lean meats with salads or vegetables. I also don't hate peanut butter anymore like I did in the first trimester so I've been snacking on that some too. Some people say you shouldn't eat peanut butter during pregnancy (or anything else for that matter) but to these people, I think they would be better served to lock themselves up in a padded room for 9 months because they are so paranoid. On the flip side, I've read that if you DON'T expose the baby to potential allergens (nuts, gluten, dairy), then the baby is much more susceptible to developing allergies once born. I just go with what sounds good to me and know that my body will tell me if something is not ok.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I have no idea actually. Since I didn't really lift weights this week, I didn't weigh myself. I would guess I'm 135? Up a pound from last week? We did see a energy/chakra/healer person recommended by our naturopath for Justin this week (another post entirely) who told me not to gain more than 30 pounds based on how my pelvis is (more than 30 pounds will = a big baby). I'm thinking that a 30 pound gain would put me at 150-155 pounds at birth since my "normal" weight should have been 120-125 but I was about 8-10 pounds underweight when I got pregnant. We'll see what happens. I'm eating well, working out and no longer eat like crap since I am well out of the first trimester "eat whatever you can to survive" period.

How I'm sleeping? 

Not too shabby. One night last week as we were falling asleep, the baby was doing serious gymnastics. I put my stomach against Justin and he could feel everything, too. He was like WHOA, that's got to be so weird. Yeah. It is. 

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 11 inches long (almost the size of a ruler- WHOA) or the size of a spaghetti squash. The baby is about 1 pound.

-The baby is continuing to develop its senses, including it's taste buds and touch

-The baby looks like a miniature newborn (no longer like an alien!) His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are more distinct and tiny tooth buds are developing. The eyes have formed but the irises still lack pigment.

-Mostly the baby continues to grow and grow and is moving all about, especially since there is still alot of room for him in the womb (NO KIDDING)...

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We didn't really do that much this week. The only thing I can really think of is that I had an insane pregnancy moment when Justin left the house for a few hours last weekend... I think my "nesting" kicked in. I thought it would be a good idea to start moving out the office furniture out of the office (IE: baby's room). This involves a rather heavy desk but I didn't think it would be an issue getting it down the stairs. Um, it sort of was. Justin came back to a pretty torn apart house a couple hours later and was all "WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU INSANE? YOU KNOW YOU ARE PREGNANT, RIGHT?" Uh....yeah...

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

Emotions are weird (theme of this whole thing). The craziest thing lately has been the fluctuations between, ok this is pretty cool (IE: feeling the baby move) to total anxiety about actually having a baby. And not so much the actual birth but the raising of a PERSON. I know a lot of it is hormones but man.... it would be nice to have a few days that aren't like the craziest hormonal roller coaster ever. Although I will say, I will take these ups and downs versus the bawling fests of the first trimester any day.

Birthday surprise #1

I came home the other night to Justin making me dinner- a nice big Thai dinner... from scratch including a miso vegetable soup plus a chicken pasta peanut dish. AMAZING. He says that it was my first of my "birthday" surprises. I think I'll keep him around.

21 weeks

21 weeks. I keep thinking "it's all downhill from here, right?" I mean, we are technically on to the "second half." But then I have to check myself and remind myself that, oh, yeah, I have been pregnant FOREVER already which means I still have FOREVER to go. And somehow my stomach is going to double in size again. I can't even fathom that right now. How about pictures? 

21 weeks.

21 weeks view #2.

And 20 weeks. I look bigger at 20 weeks. Remember I said I took the 20 week picture late in the day? I think that makes a difference.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. But I can't even go there for fear of how I'm going to feel in about 2 weeks... or two months. Seriously, I'm going to get bigger?!

I also had a resurgence of headaches this week. What is that all about? It was only at the beginning of the week and then I pushed it when we did our chest/triceps workout so I strained my neck. I do this about once a year as is when not pregnant and somehow because of, really, sheer stupidity and a changing body I have managed to strain my neck THREE times already while pregnant. And this is where the sheer stupidity gets even more stupid... by doing this to myself WHILE pregnant, there is absolutely ZILCH I can do about it. All of the ointments/muscle relaxing creams are basically out, advil (which usually solved the problem quickly before) is out... (and side note here: this was the ONLY time I'd ever take advil, so you know it's bad).

Basically, all I can do now when I strain my neck is sit there and want to die. Oh yeah, and have my husband practically break his hands by rubbing it. It's like rubbing giant rocks. Not pleasant. I mean seriously, this is the WORST of the worst headaches I ever get- all caused by neck strain. STUPID. So I did this monday and by Tuesday, I really wanted to just shoot myself and be done with it. It hurt SO bad. So much so that I found a bengay bottle and OHMYFREAKINGLORD, it didn't say "not for use in pregnant women." Somehow I think bengay somehow paid their way out of this one as I'm fairly sure all of my natural ointments (like topricin) had that "don't use if pregnant" or "ask your doctor if pregnant" warning but I'm also fairly sure the natural ointments are much more natural than bengay. Whatever. At this point, I did not care. At this point I'm also pretty delusional so I have Justin put a TINY dab on to hopefully help it out. Of course we did heat and ice and all that shit too but yeah. No dice there. And no dice with the bengay either. I TRIED to sleep that night. Tried. I woke Justin up eventually and told him I was dying (I know, I know DRAMA, but I really thought I might die). I literally was about to the point of puking (which does = dying in my book). You know if I'm to the point of wanting to throw up, it's bad. I do not throw up. Ever. So, Justin started talking to me and helping me breathe, talking me through the pain (perhaps like he will do when I'm in labor?) and I kid you not, he helped me calm down and relax enough to be able to get to sleep. And just that little bit of sleep helped my neck to relax to the point where I no longer was going to hurl my guts out and have to die right then and there. I have the best husband. It was really shitty but at least I learned that little lesson, as if I didn't already know- my husband is amazing.

After that little adventure, I felt pretty great all week.

How I'm changing?

Still getting bigger and bigger and bigger. That's about it. I continued my workout regime this week and it felt pretty great (minus the neck strain). My hips still get pissed off if I do too much walking or running but I've accepted that comes with the territory.

What I'm eating?

Pretty much still everything that I used to eat as a "normal" (aka- not pregnant) person. I'm back to eating not much gluten or dairy, just because I seem to feel better when I don't eat much gluten or dairy. But I craved both my first trimester (and sometimes together ala mac and cheese). I wish I could go back to not eating meat but I really need the protein right now so I'm still sucking that one up. I've also been eating a lot of oatmeal. Pretty much my morning trend. Steel cut oats, walnuts, flax, and cinnamon. SO amazing. I did have a black tea this week, the day after my neck incident kept me awake all night and I was basically a zombie the following day. I figured it was ok since it technically IS ok to have one cup of caffeine during pregnancy a day, but I just haven't been drinking any since I got pregnant, mainly because at first it repulsed me and then I just never started to drink it again. After this cup? OH MY GOSH. It was like I'd taken speed. I was jittery, shaky, felt like I was high as a kite- and I didn't even finish the thing. HILARIOUS. Guess my body has acclimated to the no caffeine thing....

Weight I'm gaining? 

I gained a pound from last week... 134. Holy crap 134. That blows me away. I have almost gained 20 pounds already. It's good that it's been a bit stagnant the past couple of weeks as I'd really like to keep the weight gain under 35 pounds. We shall see. I've been eating well and exercising so my body (and the kid) are sort of the sole dictators in what stays on or doesn't right now...

How I'm sleeping? 

I slept pretty crappy with the whole neck/headache thing but later in the week slept ok. Oh, until about Thursday night when I was jolted awake by someone performing gymnastic stunts in my belly. Cute, kid, cute. But not at 3am.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 10.5 inches or the size of a banana (um, last week it was compared to a small cantaloupe.... is it me or doesn't a banana seems smaller than a cantaloupe?)

-The baby's digestive system is still developing and he is swallowing amniotic fluid and absorbing some sugar

-The baby mostly occupies himself by sucking on his thumb and moving about in the womb (YOU DON'T SAY)

-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?

-We went to hypnobirthing this week... our last class until our update right before baby. Was great, as always. Now to practice until the big day.

-I lost a bet. The bet where I would wait to find out the sex of the baby. OF COURSE I couldn't wait. It's a boy as I'd thought all along. You can see the blog post by clicking here if you missed it.

-Other than that, not much else. Big ultrasound and hypnobirthing were pretty big deals in my book.

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

Justin and I were sitting on the couch one night this week. It was Friday night at the end of a fairly busy week as we'd had friends over for dinner one night, which we always love, and then had other things going on throughout the other weeknights. On Friday night we were snuggled up together and I was feeling my little kicker kick (or punch) the crap out of me. I put Justin's hand on my stomach and for a while, the baby settled down. All of a sudden though, POW!!! then a few lessor pow! pow's! At the big POW! Justin and I both jumped. He was all WOAH! And I laughed. We laughed. It was so cool to be able to feel together this little thing inside of me that is ours. I loved sharing that moment with him.  

It's almost (maybe?) summer in Seattle...

The signs of summer were all over this past weekend. We went for a long walk on Saturday where we wore SHORTS and t-shirts. In APRIL (this might be a new record). We had an awesome BBQ with friends on Saturday night where we only mildly were freezing our butts off. We had another dinner with friends who live in Alki Beach in West Seattle on Sunday and it was gorgeous out. Oh, yeah, and the true sign of summer? Justin shaved his hairy legs to prepare for bike season (it's a biker thing). Which also means? Now I have to start shaving mine more regularly. It is seriously not cool if your husband's legs are smoother than yours. Pictures:

Yes, I really just posted a picture of Justin shaving his legs. HI honey! It is a biker thing and this picture is PG, so all's fair.

Goregous Alki beach.

And another shot. It actually looks relatively empty here. It wasn't. It was PACKED.

And one more. I'd like to say the trend of summer-ness has continued but alas, now we are back into the 50s with rain predicted. Perhaps this past weekend was just another good old Seattle tease.