Category: Pregnancy

All right, you guys – if you can’t see this stomach growing now, then I’m going to have to say it’s not me, it’s you…

• How far along?  23 weeks, 6 days
• Total weight gain:  22.5 lbs. as of yesterday morning. Up a pound and a half since last week?? Ugh. What am I growing in there?
• Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely. Tops – for the most part.
• Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
• Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet. And I am finding that I’m getting sorer and sorer each time I wake up lying on my back now too.
• Best moment this week:  Getting a day and a half off in the middle of the week for the 4th of July and being able to spend that time going out to an adults-only lunch with Ryan on Tuesday, then celebrating all day at home together on Wednesday.
• Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up. And the Summerfest wine coolers.
• Movement:  Rolls and flutters/kicks are getting stronger and a little more frequent, so that’s a good sign. He/she especially likes it when I eat.
• Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
• Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
• Gender:  Not finding out.
• Labor signs:  No.
• Symptoms:  Pretty much nightly heartburn (still mild though, thankfully), SI pain (though hasn’t been as bad this week as it had been), my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain. I didn’t notice this one so much with D, but this time it’s ridiculous. I often find the completely incorrect words falling out of my mouth for no apparent reason other than there is a tiny human being lodged in my uterus.
• Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
• Wedding rings on or off?  On.
• Looking forward to:  My next doctor appointment next week, and seeing a bunch of girlfriends at a baby shower this weekend. Hooray for babies!

Did you like my D vs. Dv2.0 picture comparison from last week? Good. Here’s another. Left side is me at 23w2d with D; right side is me at 23 weeks with Dv2.0. Please excuse the stupid arm-on-hip pose in my picture with D. I hate that pose, but I think I was trying to hide my ever-expanding behind. This time it’s just wide out in the open for all to see. And bump into as I pass by.

Ok, so apparently I’m a liar, because I don’t really think this week’s pictures look any different than last week’s.

• How far along?  22 weeks, 6 days
• Total weight gain:  21 lbs. as of yesterday morning. I’m still not excited about the fact that my weight is already over the +20 lb. mark, but at least I’m only up 1 lb. since last week. 1 lb. per week is an acceptable gain rate for this point in the pregnancy.
• Maternity clothes?  All right fine, I think I’m completely in maternity bottoms now. But most regular tops are still ok. I have been wearing more skirts and dresses than usual, too, since they’re nice and loose. Plus they feel good when it’s 90+ degrees outside, as it has been the past couple days again. I will admit, the maternity dresses I’ve gotten this time are actually quite cute, so I don’t mind having to wear them so much at all.
• Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
• Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet.
• Best moment this week:  Seeing the baby move from the outside and enjoying the long hours of summer daylight. I was also thrilled to discover that my regular size L underwear does still fit. I thought I had been remanded to the world of giant sail-sized maternity underwear for good. I know it’ll be a long while until I see those regular size Ms again, though.
• Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up. And not looking really bloated.
• Movement:  Rolls and flutters/kicks are getting stronger and a little more frequent, so that’s a good sign. He/she especially likes it when I eat.
• Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc. This week pizza has sounded really good too. That may or may not be pregnancy-related though. I’ve never been one to pass up some good ‘za.
• Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
• Gender:  Not finding out.
• Labor signs:  No.
• Symptoms:  Heartburn is now a nightly occurrence (thankfully it’s quite mild), and the sacro-iliac pain is still alive and well. I don’t even have to be really active during the day anymore for it to flare up, it’s pretty much there all the time now. Superb. And the left side is the culprit, not so much the right. I asked my trainer, and it seems this is because my left hip is much more flexible than my right. Weird. Also, the hair retention has begun in earnest. I barely shed anything when I wash and brush my hair now. I’m dreading those nasty postpartum months when it falls out in heaps again.
• Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
• Wedding rings on or off?  On.
• Looking forward to:  Seeing almost everyone on my mom’s side of the family this weekend, plus my dad again for lunch on Saturday. These large family gatherings get fewer and farther between all the time, so I’m very excited for this one. We also have a 4 day work week next week for the 4th of July. Yippee!

I’ve been wondering for awhile how I compare size-wise to my last pregnancy, but it’s been kind of hard to tell since I’m not really showing that much yet. I looked back at my D pregnancy pics and I don’t have any from 22 weeks, so here’s a side-by-side from 21. The one on the left is me at 21w2d pregnant with D and the one on the right is me at 21w1d pregnant with Dv2.0.

What do you think? Any difference?

Maybe I’ll try this comparison shot again next week too. I do have a 23w picture from D.

Have a great weekend!

I promise, a well-pronounced belly will be coming soon. There is definitely a baby in there…

• How far along?  21 weeks, 6 days
• Total weight gain:  20 lbs. as of yesterday morning. So much for the weight gain leveling off. And I swear I’ve eaten the least amount this week out of all of them so far. Boo. Maybe it’s water retention from the multiple days of 90 degree heat we had this week… Maybe?
• Maternity clothes?  Bottoms pretty much exclusively, but most regular tops are still ok.
• Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
• Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet.
• Best moment this week:  Feeling the baby move from the outside and enjoying the long hours of summer daylight.
• Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up. And not looking bloated.
• Movement:  Rolls and flutters are getting stronger and a little more frequent, so that’s a good sign. He/she especially likes it when I eat.
• Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
• Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
• Gender:  Not finding out.
• Labor signs:  No.
• Symptoms:  Heartburn has become an almost nightly occurrence, and the sacro-iliac pain is alive and well. Especially if I’m really active during the day, it hurts my butt to stand up and walk by nighttime. Literally. My lower back has been pretty sore this week, too.
• Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
• Wedding rings on or off?  On.
• Looking forward to:  Seeing my dad and his girlfriend this weekend and having them play with Della.

Just wait until next week’s pictures – I have a feeling I’m going to quickly start looking much more pregnant.

Oh, and Della did say “yes” this week when I asked her if she wanted a little brother or sister. Whew.

Here comes the bump, do-do-do-doo…

• How far along?  20 weeks, 6 days
• Total weight gain:  17 lbs., same as when I weighed myself before the ultrasound last week. Yay! The exponential weight gain is finally leveling off! Maybe there’s hope to not gain 100 lbs. this time after all.
• Maternity clothes?  Bottoms pretty much exclusively (except for some gauchos and shorts), but most regular tops are still fine.
• Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
• Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet.
• Best moment this week:  Hmm, it was a pretty good week, so this is tough this time. I’ll go with dinner out with the girls on Wednesday night and getting a completely surprising but great visit from one of my cousins later that same evening.
• Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up. And not looking bloated.
• Movement:  Rolls and flutters are getting stronger and a little more frequent, so that’s a good sign. He/she especially likes it when I eat.
• Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
• Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
• Gender:  Not finding out.
• Labor signs:  No.
• Symptoms:  Still a little heartburn off and on and the sacro-iliac pain. Especially if I’m really active during the day, it hurts my butt to stand up and walk by nighttime. Literally. My back was pretty sore earlier in the week too, but fortunately that has subsided a little. I’m trying to keep up with my push-ups and ab exercises to keep my core strong to help prevent that. Unfortunately I’m not doing a very good job of keeping up with anything else in the exercise department; I need to work on that.
• Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
• Wedding rings on or off?  On.
• Looking forward to:  Spending a nice weekend at home. I’m making a delicious breakfast casserole for Ryan for Father’s Day that my grandpa used to make, so I hope he likes it. It’s been one of my favorites my whole life.

Halfway, people! Dang. Actually, I’m probably definitely past halfway since I’ll be 21 weeks tomorrow and I’m pretty doubtful I’ll go the full 40 weeks anyway. Della came 8 days early, so we shall see what kind of arrival #2 has in store. I just hope I make it past October 13 so I can attend my high school Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Tomorrow is halfway – woah!

• How far along?  19 weeks, 6 days
• Total weight gain: I weighed myself Wednesday morning since I had my next appointment that day, and I was up 17 lbs. God, that still sounds like a lot. I think I was only up 16 by the doctor’s scale, though. 😉
• Maternity clothes?  Bottoms almost exclusively (those shorts i’ve worn in the past couple weeks’ pics are not maternity, though. they just seem to keep fitting well so far). I’m all about comfortable, well-fitting clothes right now. No more trying to squeeze into non-maternity stuff just to prove I still can and feeling like a sausage. With D I didn’t wear maternity pants exclusively until 22 weeks, but it’s looking more and more like I’ll miss that mark this time. Regular tops are still fine.
• Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
• Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet.
• Best moment this week:  The ultrasound on Wednesday. This kid was wiggling around like nobody’s business! It lasted a good hour, and I got to watch baby the whole time. Except when I looked away so as not to ruin the gender surprise. The tech said baby’s heart was beautiful, we watched it beating away strongly, and she took many pictures of it.
• Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up. And having to wear a belt.
• Movement:  Rolls and kicks/punches are getting a little stronger and more frequent, so that’s a good sign.
• Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc. I’ve also had hankerings for salad sandwiches at lunch lately – egg, tuna, chicken – which I don’t usually eat that often.
• Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
• Gender:  Not finding out.
• Labor signs:  No.
• Symptoms:  Still a little heartburn off and on, but it’s pretty fleeting. I have started getting sacro-iliac pain already though, which is much earlier than I experienced it with D. Especially if I’m really active during the day, it hurts my butt to stand up and walk by nighttime. Literally.
• Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
• Wedding rings on or off?  On.
• Looking forward to:  Seeing Roger Waters perform “The Wall” down at Wrigley Field tonight and spending tomorrow at my mom and stepdad’s house. It’s gonna be HOT this weekend, so I’m sure D will thoroughly enjoy running around in the sprinkler in their yard.

And just because you’re all so wonderful, here’s a sneak peek at Dv2.0. I wasn’t joking when I said this baby was moving – look how blurry the profile head shot is. I love the little foot!