25 weeks!

How far along? 25 weeks, 6 days
 
Total weight gain/loss: After hitting a weight standstill last week, I think baby has hit a growth spurt (or at least, I'm blaming it on her anyway). Earlier in the week, I weighed in at almost 115! Which means total weight gain is eight pounds. Woot!

Maternity clothes? I broke out a pair of maternity skinny cords this week! My other pants are still fitting, some with the BellaBand and some without it, too. As for tops, most of them are working just fine; just a button down or two that I've had to set aside.

Stretch marks? Still none! Although I had Andy inspecting my belly with me this week because I thought I could see a few starting... he thought I was being silly, and apparently I was, because I can't even see what I was looking at before. So false alarm! I'm hoping genetics is my free-pass for no stretch marks, because my mama had zero after having four kids. Either way, I'm still slathering on the mommy lotion a few times a week.
 
Symptoms: Dreams, dreams, dreams! Non-stop. I swear one night I had 10 different dreams. I'm also peeing non-stop it seems. In one 30 minute prep time, some days I go at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of my prep... it's crazy. And a sore upper back, especially on the right side.
 
Sleep: Still going well -- just lots of dreams that sometimes can make me feel as though I haven't slept a wink!

Best moment this week: Getting to see baby girl's super cute quilt that my mom made! It's almost completely finished, and is even cuter than I'd imagined. I can already imagine it laying on the floor with baby girl on top of it. Eek!
 
Miss Anything? Not one thing! I love this baby and I love being pregnant!
 
Movement: After feeling lazy for a few days, baby girl has kicked it in to high gear again! Lots of kicks, and kicks that are getting higher and higher all the time. They say at this point, the uterus is larger than the size of a soccer ball... and I can definitely tell that it's gotten a whole lot bigger, because she's kicking up in the rib vicinity lately. It's pretty awesome.
 
Food cravings: I realize I haven't been giving credit where credit is due with regard to cravings. Let's be serious here: prior to being pregnant, I really wasn't a milk fan. We went through less than one gallon of milk each week. And, prior to being pregnant, I probably had Oreos a total of ten times in my life. Just didn't really care about them. Now, we go through two gallons of milk per week (which likely means I'm drinking that extra gallon all on my own, because the hubs hasn't upped his milk consumption in the least) and almost an entire pack of Oreos on a week as well. Every night around 10:00 p.m., you can find this pregnant lady parked on the couch, dunking Double Stuff Oreos in her red mug 'o milk. Deeelish! So anyway, cravings? Oreos, milk and PB&J sandwiches.
 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing, really. Just a disinterest more so in some foods.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes! This week, complete strangers asked me when I was due -- which was awesome. However, I have really wanted to tell those strangers I'm not pregnant when they come out and say "when are you due?", just to mess with their minds. C'mon, wouldn't that be hilarious to see the look on their faces when they find out that I've just eaten too many Oreos and that I happen to gain weight in my gut? But, I haven't yet. For two reasons -- one: I forget (dang, pregnancy brain!) and two: I'm too excited about this little love in my tummy to not share her with the world!
 
Belly Button in or out? Still in!
 
Wedding rings on or off? On
 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
 
Looking forward to: I know I say this every week, but that OB appointment coming up in just two weeks is just too fun not to look forward to... can't wait to see baby girl again! And you know what else is neat about that? This is the LAST time I will have a four week time span between appointments, because two weeks from tomorrow, we will be starting the THIRD trimester. From what I've heard, this means I'll start seeing my doctor (and sneaking a peek at baby girl!) once every two weeks... and that makes one happy mama.

In other, non-baby "looking forward to" news, I'm also ridiculously excited for the new Wizard of Oz prequel that's coming out on March 8th. So I'm trying to give myself "milestones" -- first, I get to see the Wizard of Oz prequel. Then two or three days later, it's baby time! Doing this helps keep me patient :)

 

24 Weeks!

How far along? 24 weeks, 6 days
 
Total weight gain/loss: Still holding steady at 113. At my appointment this week, my doctor requested I kick the eating up a notch. She recommended (for the second time) eating a bowl of cereal any time I wake up to pee in the middle of the night. Now, I don't see myself doing that (I'd be wide awake if I did that!), but I have upped my daily snacking repertoire. Think: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, snack, supper, snack, snack, snack. Eating that much is expensive, by the way!

Maternity clothes? I finally opted to break out a pair of maternity skinny jeans from Old Navy this week. It was pretty awesome due to the comfy factor :)

Stretch marks? Still none!
 
Symptoms: My upper back hurts pretty much all the time now -- not an excruciating pain or anything, just more of a feeling that I can't get comfortable when I'm sitting, standing or laying on the couch; pretty much only when I'm lying in bed. Therefore, a heat pack is quickly becoming my best friend. Dreams continue to be pretty extreme this week. Woke up twice crying this week -- one of the culprits for the tears was a dream where my students were drinking Keystone Light and I was so distraught over it that I went on a crusade on television about underage drinking. Anyway, I ended up crying like a baby on the ground because all of the public laughed at me for having such an issue with underage drinking. So bizarre. And last night included probably ten different dreams in one sleep. Pretty wild.
 
Sleep: Still going well -- just lots of dreams.


 Best moment this week: Receiving a Valentine from Baby Daddy this week. Instead of picking out a card for mama, he opted to choose one for EKB. The card was enough to bring tears to my pregnant eyes, but the message inside was definitely enough to melt my heart. He is going to be a fabulous papa.

Also loved having our OB appointment this week. Baby looked so fabulous. We got an adorable profile shot with her sweet little nose and lips :) We are so in love. You can tell she's starting to pack on some pounds (er, ounces) now -- baby girl had a nice, strong arm that she proudly showed off! The doctor said she looked perfect for growth and like she will be a beautiful baby. And I'm sure she tells everyone their baby will be beautiful, but I'm going to stick with the thought that she only says it to us :)
 
Miss Anything? Not one thing! I love this baby and I love being pregnant!
 
Movement: No shortage of movement here! When sitting at my desk at school, I can look down and watch her little kicks throughout the day now. A few of my students even saw her little jabs from their seats, too :) She's definitely getting stronger! I did notice earlier this week that for a day or two, the kicks were more few and far between. This worried me (did you expect any different?), so when my OB's nurse called to let me know my prenatal labs looked good earlier this week, I mentioned she'd been kicking less than usual. She explained to me that baby is running out of room now, which means I might feel a little less for a little while -- but it'll likely pick up again soon. She said to expect it to calm down a little bit toward the end of pregnancy as baby becomes even more cramped, too. Anyway, baby kicked it back into high gear again shortly after that phone call and has been a ninja ever since.
 
Food cravings: None to speak of, except for PB&J sandwiches from time to time.
 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing, really. Just keeping the Papa Murphy's pepperoni pizza, canned pineapple and Snicker's Peanut Butter Squares out of sight and out of mind.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes!
 
Belly Button in or out? Still in!
 
Wedding rings on or off? On
 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
 
Looking forward to: Already looking forward to our next OB appointment in another three weeks -- and another "big" ultrasound two weeks after that! I just l o v e seeing our little peanut! She is so beautiful!

We're also looking forward to childbirth classes. We probably will change our tune about it after the first session, but for now it seems like an exciting rite of passage :) Plus the brochure says we get to tour the birthing suites... exciting!

23 Weeks!

How far along? 23 weeks, 6 days
 
Total weight gain/loss: I think I'm at 113 pounds, which puts me up a total of six pounds. I have my next appointment on Tuesday, so I'll find out more official stats then.
 
Maternity clothes? None yet! Just that Bella Band. And I did have to retire my first shirt this week on account of it being unable to button around my belly :)

Stretch marks? I inspected earlier this week, and all is well! None yet.
 
 Symptoms:  Nothin' -- still just having vivid dreams every. Single. Night. In fact, they've been so vivid the last few nights that I feel like I haven't slept because the moment my head hits the pillow, I'm dreaming things that seem incredibly real. Weird (think me, shaving my face with a dull razor in a former male teacher's home... that kind of weird), but very real feeling.
 
Sleep: Still going well -- aside from those dreams that make me feel like I'm not sleeping.
 
Best moment this week: Over last weekend while at my parents' house, baby girl was kicking like crazy, and kicking really high, too. So Auntie Jenny, Grandma Kathy and Papa Wayne all got to feel baby girl's strength -- they were impressed :) It was pretty awesome.
 
Miss Anything? Not one thing! I love this baby and I love being pregnant!
 
Movement: Lots of movement throughout the day, especially in the morning hours. I think she enjoys the commotion of my third graders starting the day :) She quiets down around snack time and seems to stay pretty quiet until the afternoon. I've loved that lately, I've had zero days where I don't feel her a whole lot. There have been days the past few weeks where I hadn't felt her much, which always made me worry a little. But now she must be big enough to be letting mama feel a whole bunch of little 'jabs' throughout the day. 
 
Food cravings: None, except for Cheetos one day after seeing a Cheetos commercial... but that definitely happened when I wasn't pregnant, too :)
 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing, really. I've been steering clear of the big three I've mentioned in previous postings.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes!
 
Belly Button in or out? Still in and holding strong that way.
 
Wedding rings on or off? On
 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
 
Looking forward to: Our next OB appointment on Tuesday... can't wait to see her! We are ridiculously excited. This last week has felt like an eternity while we've waited to go back. Hoping to see a healthy, growing baby again!

22 Weeks!

How far along? 22 weeks, six days (super slack attack this week -- but we've been busy kids lately)!
 
Total weight gain/loss:When I checked earlier mid-week, I was around 112, maybe 112.5 -- which puts me up a half to a full pound compared to last week. Total so far: +5.5... and rumor has it, baby girl makes up one pound of that :)
 
Maternity clothes? I almost broke out a pair of maternity jeans on Friday this week. They are a teensy bit big, though, so back on the shelf they went. Still relying on that BellaBand for my dress pants, but my jeans have been fitting fine still (low enough rise to go just below the bump)!

Stretch marks? Still nothin', and this mama is growin'... time will tell.
 
Symptoms:  Not a darn thing, aside from spending half of my waking moments in the bathroom, thanks to baby girl break dancing on my bladder.
 
Sleep: Just dandy. No complaints here -- getting more and more used to being a side sleeper. I usually wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (break dancing, even at night! She's going to be a party animal, apparently) and then spend a few minutes on my back when I return to bed to sneak in being able to feel a few kicks :) She usually never disappoints.
 
Best moment this week: After a long search, we finally found a rocking chair! In Fargo last weekend, we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to see if they had any diaper bags (yes, still on the search for just the right one...) and saw the perfect rocker sitting right when you walk in. It's an upholstered glider that's super comfy and it even reclines -- which was much less a big deal to me than was to baby daddy, but I knew the rocker was "the one" when he kicked up his feet and pretended to hold a baby in his arms. It took zero effort for me to envision the two loves of my life sleeping in the rocker -- which brought me more joy than I could have ever expected. Anyway, we were sold! So we special ordered it in the fabric we wanted, and it's being specially made just for baby girl's nursery as we speak. It should be here in mid-March. Hopefully we'll have a home to put it in around that time...
 
Miss Anything? Nothing! Loving every moment.
 
Movement: Remember? Break dancing! She's miss busy-body now and am I loving it.
 
Food cravings: Nothing too much to speak of, really. I'm such a boring pregnant lady.
 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Just the usuals: Papa Murphy's pizza, canned pineapple (blech!) and Snicker's Peanut Butter Squares.
 
Have you started to show yet:  Yes! It's tough to hide now :)
 
Belly Button in or out? Still in... but becoming more shallow I think.
 
Wedding rings on or off? On
 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
 
Looking forward to: Our next OB appointment in just about one week now -- wahoo!! And is this weird? I'm also looking forward to my glucose tolerance test as well. I'm not concerned about passing (should I be?) and instead kind of see it as a pregnancy "privilege" that I feared I'd never have. I could do without drinking the sugary drink and all, but that's okay.



I'm also looking forward to being 24 weeks pregnant... just for the simple fact that I can't believe I'm going to be that far along! And -- how cool is this -- around 24 weeks is when a baby would be viable outside of the womb (with lots of help, of course). Isn't it crazy to think that little, just-over-one-pound-EKB is big enough to do that already? Not that I want her to! It's just pretty insane to think that.