23 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 23 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is about the size of a large mango; more than 11 inches long; just over a pound

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 12 pounds (holy cow – at this point in my pregnancy with Chloe I had only gained 6 pounds!  But I did start about 6 pounds heavier so maybe it all equals out)

Maternity Clothes: A mix of both, but I’ve been wearing all maternity pants lately.

Gender: Boy!

Movement: A regular occurrence, although there have been a few days when the evening rolls around and I realize I haven’t felt him much/at all.  Then as soon as I think that, he starts kicking away.  I love that.

Sleep: Not my best week.  Have to be careful rolling over already (I forgot it started this early on) and just keep waking up a lot during the night.  Haven’t had to get up to go to the bathroom though.

What I miss: Getting up from either laying down or sitting down quickly and easily.

Cravings: We might have made another pan of brownies this week…

Symptoms:  I had one day of bad stomach pain, but that’s it.  I’m excited I don’t have the rash I developed this time during my pregnancy with Chloe – I’m hoping that stays away.  The dry throat continues and I think that’s part of my problem sleeping.

Best Moment this week:  These are hard to come up with.  We aren’t getting the nursery ready, we have a lot of gear already, so there isn’t a whole lot of prep work to be done.  The biggest thing is picking out baby boy’s name which we are no closer to coming up with than we were weeks ago.  If I had to pick one I would say JJ getting to feel the baby more regularly.  And seeing my stomach move on the outside now when he kicks.

 

22 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is about the length of a spaghetti squash; 11 inches long; almost a pound

Total Weight Gain/Loss: guessing probably around 7 pounds

Maternity Clothes: I’ve been wearing a mix of maternity pants and tops lately, but mainly because I desperately need to do laundry (see, I told you I hate doing laundry – what am I thinking getting into the world of cloth diapers???)

Gender: Boy!

Movement: Yep, it’s a regular occurrence now but I look forward to feeling even stronger movements.  They are to the point now though where I can see my belly move.

Sleep: Sleep was a little better this past week.  I slept on the couch once, and the guest bedroom once, but JJ was to blame for that. J  I’m most comfortable on my back propped up a little, but I do try and lay on both sides throughout the night, being careful when rolling over.

What I miss: Being able to get up quickly and not feel pain.  (This is the same as my pregnancy with Chloe).

Cravings: Brownies!  Always that sweet tooth.

Symptoms:  I was going to complain about these stomach pains I’ve been having lately and how I didn’t think they were normal, yet I looked up my update from my pregnancy with Chloe, and I wrote a whole paragraph at this point on how my stomach hurt.  So I guess it’s not all that different, but I don’t remember the pains lasting so long.  I could hardly move all day Sunday.  Laying down, standing, walking, sitting, nothing eased the pain.  I was all prepared to call the doctor on Monday and of course the pain went away.  Based on my old post, it seems as though the doc said this is normal and to expect pains and twinges due to growing.  I’m also still dealing with the dry mouth during the day and at night.  I looked it up online (mistake I know) and saw it’s a common symptom of GD.  Great.

Best Moment this week:  Adding this to Chloe’s bedtime routine – now when she gives us kisses goodnight as she’s standing in her crib, we tell her to kiss the baby and she kisses my belly.  So sweet!!

21 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 21 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is about the length of a carrot; 10 1/2 inches long; ¾ of a pound

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 5 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: I finally broke out the maternity clothes over the weekend, got them all washed, and have been wearing the pants to work this week.

Gender: Boy

Movement: Still feeling slight movements a few times a day, but not too often yet.  Still very low kicks which makes me think he’s breech

Sleep: Sleep has been a bit tough.  My throat has been really dry (see symptoms) and JJ’s schedule has been way off, not coming to bed till 4 am or later.  I always wake up throughout the night if he’s not in bed.  Then when he is in bed, he’s been snoring really loud which keeps me from being able to fall asleep.  Then my mind starts wandering and I can’t shut it off.  Being a little more careful when I roll from side to side so I don’t pull anything.

What I miss: Nothing really.

Cravings: I’ve eaten ice cream a few times in the last week, haven’t had it in quite a while.

Symptoms:  Dry throat!  I don’t remember this before, but my throat gets so dry especially during the night.  Drinking something and even chewing gum doesn’t seem to help.  It almost gags me during my sleep.  Had a day of a sore belly again, but overall the symptoms aren’t too bad.

Best Moment this week:  Nothing big happened this week really.  Still trying to come up with a list of names we like.  Why do boy names have to be so hard?

20 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 Weeks – half way there already!!

Size of baby: Baby J is about the length of a banana; 10 inches long; 10 1/2 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 5 lbs.  Now I’m back up to my normal weight

Maternity Clothes: My new maternity clothes came in on Friday so I wore two new shirts this weekend, but I’m back in regular clothes for work.  I desperately need to wash all of my maternity clothes and get them back in my closet though.  Shirts are still fine as long as they are long enough, or I layer, but the pants are what’s too tight.

Gender: Boy!

Movement: I’m still feeling the baby move several times a day, and it usually lasts a couple minutes.  I haven’t found much of a pattern to the movements yet.  Chloe seemed to move a lot at bedtime, this baby is real random with his movements

Sleep: I’m sleeping ok, but between JJ’s snoring and my dreams, I wake up several times a night. 

What I miss: Clear skin! 

Cravings: I baked some chocolate chip cookies and have eaten my fair share of those over the last several days.  I think I might be low on iron again because I picked back up my habit of eating ice.

Symptoms:  My stomach was very tight and sore last week.  I think it was my first experience with round ligament pain because anytime I would stand up from laying or sitting down, I would get real sore and the pain would linger.  Luckily that has gone away but it had me a bit worried for how I will continue to feel as I get further along.  I also feel like I popped (maybe again) in the last week.  Pregnancy brain seems to be back too, I have been more forgetful lately.

Best Moment this week:  I was sitting on the couch with Chloe on my lap and felt the baby move.  I have no idea if she felt anything, but just the thought of my two kids so close together was pretty special.  I can’t wait until she can actually feel movement and see her face when she realizes mommy’s tummy is moving. 

19 Weeks and Gender Reveal

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is about the size of a large heirloom tomato; 6 inches long; 8 1/2 ounces (actually weighed 9 oz at the doc today)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 5.5 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: After almost a month of not wearing work clothes, I realized today I will be pulling out my maternity clothes very soon!  The pants I wore today were way too tight around my belly

Gender: BOY!!!!!!  A bit surprised, but very excited!  I know JJ is too. :)

Movement: Feeling the baby move several times a day, and several movements at a time.  I did find out the placenta is anterior which surprises me I was able to feel movement so early on, but the doc said not to worry if I don't feel movement every day right now.  Further on she said I'll feel it regularly just like last time.  Currently he's feet down facing my back.

Sleep: Sleep has gotten a bit harder because I'm trying to not sleep on my back.  I seem to switch sides a lot throughout the night.

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: Those old school wafer cookies, the ones that are layered with creme.  Especially the strawberry ones.

Symptoms:  My stomach has been hurting the past few days, not crampy or upset, just almost sore and tight.  Not sure that's a great description either though.  That kink in my back has been gone for several days.  Just tonight my boobs started to itch.  Weird.

Best Moment this week: Finding out that we are having a little boy!  We all were in the ultrasound again today and it was a nice long appointment as the tech got all the measurements she needed.  She said everything looked great, we heard the baby's heartbeat twice, and saw the goods.  JJ's face sure lit up when he heard the news (I think he was tending to Chloe when the picture first popped up on the screen).

18 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is about the size of a bell pepper; 5 1/2 inches long; 7 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: will find out at my appointment next week

Maternity Clothes: Still in my regular clothes, but I did take advantage of the after Christmas sales and bought some new maternity clothes

Gender: one more week till we find out!!

Movement: Feeling the baby every day now.  Usually it's at night while lying in bed.  I lay there with my hand down my pants (ha, nice) and resting on my lower belly.  I almost always feel the baby.  And I can even feel it sometimes if I'm sitting in such a way that my pants are pulled tighter against my belly. 

Sleep: Sleep is going well.  Still haven't had to get up to go to the bathroom during the night which is nice, and Chloe is doing a good job sleeping through the night also which helps.

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: No cravings really, just sweets as usual.

Symptoms: I've had bad lower back pain for a couple weeks now.  I don't know if it's attributed to pregnancy or not, but I'm hoping that goes away soon.  My face has broken out in the last week too. 

Best Moment this week:  Celebrating Christmas with my family of three knowing we will be a family of four next year.

17 Weeks

How Far Along: 17 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is about the size of a turnip; 5 inches long

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Will find out at my next appointment

Maternity Clothes: Still no maternity clothes yet.  The last week we’ve been able to wear jeans to work every day so I’ve been soaking that up.  I’m sure once I go back to work after the holiday break I’ll be in some maternity pants.  I am having to wear layers on top for some of my sweaters that are a little too short.

Gender: 2 weeks! The countdown is on.  So far I think we are gonna be able to pass the time and not go too nuts thinking about it.

Movement: Yes!  I’m feeling movement at least once a day now.  The other night I was lying in bed with my hand on my stomach and felt three movements.  I called JJ in and he thought he felt it too. 

Sleep: Still having nightly dreams, but luckily we got our good sleeper back in Chloe so that is helping. 

What I miss:  Nothing

Cravings: No major cravings, but not into the frozen dinners I usually eat for lunch.  I just pretty much snack all day long.

Symptoms: Sleepy, but I think that’s about it.   

Best Moment this week: Feeling more movement and JJ thinking he felt something too.