22 weeks

The weirdest thing this week- I am starting to make appointments that are now 2 weeks apart instead of 4 weeks.  I made my next two appointments for 4 weeks apart (end of October and end of November) and then it's going to start every 2 weeks in December.  That seems really crazy to me.

Wow, when I went to take the picture. I couldn't find the shorts I usually wear but I found another pair that doesn't have buttons/zipper. I used the same shirt from last week.  I'll post side by sides at the bottom- see if you think there is a difference. But I tried on my pair of pre-pregnancy jeans that even a week ago were so loose they were falling down and they are TIGHT. Clothes are the easiest way for me to tell if I'm gaining or losing weight. And yes I definitely, definitely have a belly now.

22 weeks - and our camera definitely makes the edges wider. I always look like I have an amazon arm that is bigger than my legs in these pictures. Believe me, it's not!

How many weeks: 22

Size of baby: A papaya and measures 20 cm or 7.9 inches. (This is crown to rump, not head to toe.) The baby also weighs 425-500 grams or 15 ounces - 1.1 pounds. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am down half a pound which pretty much just means I'm the same.  Overall that puts me at a gain of 9 pounds. When I had my appointment this week, I talked to the midwife about weight. I'm either right on track or slightly lower than I should be depending on what is used as my starting weight. (It should be pre-pregnancy before I lost any due to the pregnancy so even this one is higher than my real loss but I'm not going to change it now.) Anyway, she didn't seem too concerned; everything looks good, and she said that I'll gain weight at the highest rate between now and 28 weeks and then it will slow down. I think she was warning me not to freak out about gaining more than 1 pound a week. 

Maternity Clothes: I decided to wear all maternity clothes. My pants are all tight, maybe because I'm carrying so low? I tried the be band and I don't really like it that much- you can still see the buttons sticking out from my pants and I think it looks weird. Maybe I'm just using it wrong? Plus it seems like it might be a pain for going to the bathroom. Does anybody have any tips on using the be band? And since I'm wearing the pants I'm finding that most of my shirts don't cover the panel so I changed to maternity shorts. And boom, as soon as I did that I started getting comments about looking pregnant. :) 

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: I have to say, the movement is very weird at times. This is definitely a unique experience. I feel movement pretty frequently and am kind of at the point where if I realize I haven't felt anything for awhile, I pay more attention. The baby also seems to respond (I like to say play) to things. Dave had his arm around me one night and it was resting on my belly, right where the baby is. The baby poked/kicked right at his arm a bunch of times. I finally sighed, pushed Dave's arm away, rubbed by belly, thought "baby, it's sleep time now!" and the baby stopped. My cat, Tigger, also keeps sitting right on my belly and purring away. And the baby gets more active whenever she does that. I just hope he's not getting used to a cat sitting on his head. I had Dave put his hand on my stomach for awhile and he thinks he might have felt the baby but isn't completely sure. 

Sleep: Well, now the baby does wake me up at night moving around. I am such a light sleeper. I wonder if this is something I'll just get used to.

What I miss: Beer and wine. The givens. 

Cravings: None. 

Aversions: None. 

Symptoms: I feel movement... my belly is getting bigger... I need new workout clothes so I don't stretch out what I already have... Most symptoms have been already talked about. This is a good trimester. 

Best moment this week: It's getting cooler out, to the point that I turned on the heat in our house. And I put the down comforter on our bed. I love having the down comforter on, it's so comfortable for sleeping! 

Looking forward to: Dave's birthday is this week (tomorrow if I post this on Thursday) 

These pictures are only 5 days apart:

21 weeks and 2 days

Same as above - 22 weeks exactly

And no, the shorts do not make a difference. I swear. That's all belly. No wonder I'm starting to get comments at work! And I just thought it was the clothes. I am jumping up and down in excitement right now! And please tell me I'm not making this up.

One more for good measure, 22 weeks

Wright Brothers Memorial

The Wright Brothers Memorial is in Kitty Hawk, NC. Honestly, I'm glad we went a 2nd time. I went with my parents the other time I was in the Outer Banks and was a bit disappointed at how "short" the first few flights really were. But when you really think about it, it was an amazing accomplishment. When we were there we saw a video of pilots trying to redo the flight with a replication airplane and they didn't do any better, even with how much time has passed. They really were innovative people.

This is how long the first flight was.

The marker and information for the 4th flight. 

This is where the lane took off- that first big rock is where the plane took off, and you can see the first marker at the back of the picture.

We walked up to the memorial (it was a bit of a hike)

You can see those markers in the distance, showing the starting point and markers for all 4 flights.

Dave took this shot of the memorial at the top of the hill

And I got a picture of him taking the picture.

Oh and yes, you can see my baby bump somewhat in these pictures if you look closely! The combination of the shirt and the wind, it was actually showing up in pictures.

OBX Lighthouses

When we went to the Outer Banks, we went with some friends who go there every year. They've already done all the touristy stuff, but this was my 2nd time there and Dave had never been there before. So we went to 3 of the lighthouses on the Outer Banks.

First, we went to Currituck in Corolla.

Currituck Light House

Dave climbing the stairs

View from the top

That same day, we also headed to Bodie Island Lighthouse. We didn't realize it was under construction, which really is something you're not going to see very often. When this construction is done, you should be able to actually walk up it (they haven't allowed tourists to walk up because of structural problems).

Bodie Island Lighthouse

This lighthouse is right next to marshes and they had a little walkway to go out over the marsh.

Dave walking back towards the lighthouse

And another day we went to the Hatteras Lighthouse. This is the one you will generally see when you see a picture of a lighthouse in North Carolina. The drive to get there was nice, too. We were out of the commercial area and there were some places where you could pretty much see the ocean on one side and the bay on the other. Just beautiful.

The view from the top. They had to move the lighthouse because the sand is moved more towards the mainland and the other end of the parking lot is where it used to be.

Looking over the other side

I angled the camera down to get this one. This is the highest lighthouse on the eastern U.S. shore if I remember correctly.

Shot from right below

It was actually raining as we were driving and cleared up just as we got there, which made for some beautiful cloud cover.  I took this picture with my cell phone.

21 weeks

Since coming back from vacation, I've been so busy (mostly with work) that I didn't even realize I was at 21 weeks until I got the weekly emails. Then I did a double take and thought, wow, this week has just flown.

I usually read a few web sites that talk about what's happening in the upcoming week. One in particular just struck a chord with me. I've linked it before. But here is Week 21. http://alphamom.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-calendar/week-twenty-one/

She is on her 3rd pregnancy and even she is looking at worst case scenarios. But in particular, this paragraph:

"Just knowing that horrible things can happen in pregnancy will never “prepare” you for them, if they happen to you. It won’t make things hurt less or or make you fold your hands quietly in resignation while the doctor delivers bad news. It does, however, remind me to cherish every moment I do get with my baby, even the uncomfortable “is it October yet?” moments. If something were to go wrong and these weeks of pregnancy were all I ever got to experience with this child, that wouldn’t make him less real. Less of my ever-so-loved-already son, who has his big brother’s mouth and his own name and his own place in our family."

This actually makes me think back to previous pregnancies and cherish the time that I did have. See, this is an always growing process. Maybe I'm just being overly emotional right now. But I wanted to share. (And no, I am NOT freaking out about this pregnancy. I just have my bittersweet moments. I love this baby and it's just amazing to feel him moving around down there. Amazing and weird. Very weird.)

I put off taking a picture, so the rest of this post was written right at 21 weeks but the picture is 21 weeks 2 days. I'm definitely starting to show and starting to get comments, even since I typed up the rest of this post.

How many weeks: 21

Size of baby: A pomegranate (or carrot on another site) and measures 19 cm or 7.5 inches.  The baby also weighs 350-425 grams or 12.3-15 ounces. Wow. 16 ounces is a pound. Really, the baby is THAT BIG already?! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Oh my goodness. In the last two weeks (since I didn't even weigh myself last week) I have gained 5 pounds. That seems like a lot. I am now up overall 9.5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: After coming back from vacation, my work pants are too tight and it's mostly right where they button/zip up because I'm carrying low. I've been on the test floor after the first day back though so I've been in jeans and even there am trying to decide between a pair of regular jeans that are just too big (and falling down a bit) or maternity jeans (that actually after wearing a bit are also a bit big and falling down). I think I'll pull out the be band for sure, with my work pants.

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: I'm definitely feeling movement now and it's not always when I'm sitting still. I've been on the test floor at work, standing and working on stuff and feeling the baby thumping away. He seems to be pretty active already, and consistently in the same spot. I keep trying to get Dave's hand on my belly to feel it but so far he hasn't been able to. I have felt it from the outside with my own hand, though, so it's just a matter of timing now.

Sleep: During vacation I was pretty tired. Maybe part of that was basking in the sun. Since being back home I'm actually waking up pretty frequently in the middle of the night and surprisingly, I'm not too exhausted during the day because of it. Yet. I'm not sure if it's baby movements that wake me or just not needing as much sleep.

What I miss: I have to pee pretty frequently. And it's not because there's a lot there (sorry if TMI). But my bladder is definitely already squished. This does not bode well for the next 4 months or so...

Cravings: We finally went out and bought groceries to restock our fridge and cupboards. I'm not really craving anything. I'm going to try to be in general more healthy.

Aversions: None. Although I had Oatmeal just this morning and something gross texture wise was in it- maybe just a chunk that didn't soak in the milk. I actually gagged and almost puked.

Symptoms: Well, people are still saying I don't look pregnant. But I definitely feel it. My stomach feels a lot bigger. I have heard about popping but I don't know exactly what that means so... I guess I still haven't popped. And although I'm complaining about not having a stomach, at the same time I'm resisting putting on maternity clothes for some reason. I dunno, this all just still feels pretty surreal. But yeah, symptom wise, everything is good. I feel baby kicks and jabs, have some bleeding gums, have an ever growing belly area...

Best moment this week: The end of vacation since that overlapped with this week. I really needed it. Even with work being stressful, I could just tell I was more relaxed. Oh, can I add a 2nd best moment? There was a Pirate tailgate for work and I have to admit I was kind of dreading it because I wasn't sure who else was going (other than one friend for sure) and I couldn't drink. But I still had a lot of fun even though the Pirates lost (WHAT'S WITH THE PIRATES?!?!  GRRR)

Looking forward to: I have not even looked at my calendar to see what's going on. I have an appointment to get my hair highlighted on Saturday and I can't wait for that- it always makes me feel more fresh and I am long overdue. I haven't had any highlighting done since before the positive pregnancy test, so yes, it's been quite awhile.

It's a....

...boy!

Sorry I didn't post this a week ago when we found out but we were both just so ready for a vacation and wanted to make sure we told family first before we made it public. Here are some ultrasound pictures. They were taken at 19 weeks and 1 day.

You can see a lot of the leg and kind of the hand I think

Profile of our baby boy's face, such a cute nose already!

Looking right at us

Our vacation was super relaxing, just what I needed.

OBX Beach pictures

All of these pictures were taken from the house we stayed in, from one of the decks.

20 weeks

This week we've been on vacation in the Outer Banks with some good friends. It's been so relaxing and just what we needed. I don't feel like I've really relaxed since before I first went on the 72 hour work weeks, which was a year ago September. Crazy!

Excuse the typos- I'm posting from Dave's laptop and the keyboard is just different enough it really screws me up.

How many weeks: 20

Size of baby: A banana and measures 18 cm or 7 inches.  The baby also weighs 300-350 grams or 10.5-12.3 ounces. A banana is an interesting fruit choice- not as round as the rest of the fruits/vegetables have been so far.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I haven't been home so I have no idea what I weigh this week. I have a feeling when I get back and get on the scale I will either be the same or be up a lot because I've been walking a LOT but also eating a LOT. 

Maternity Clothes: I have worn a pair of maternity shorts a few times and I thought I packed a lot for vacation but I definitely didn't pack enough. I brought some maternity clothes and the be band but I'm not really ready for either. I'm at the point I definitely feel like I look like I've gained fat but I'm not obviously pregnant yet. My regular clothes are fine as long as they don't have a button and zipper. (I know, that's what the be band is for.) 

Gender: I know some of you have asked- sorry, we know, but haven't told yet. We just wanted to get out and take our vacation but will announce when we get back. Probably both via blog post and Facebook. Dave wants to post a poll for his status (asking what everyone thinks, boy or girl) and if he does he'll tag me in it so my friends can also vote if they want to. 

Movement: I think every so often I feel movement. I've been told to focus but honestly when I try I don't feel anything. The baby was moving like crazy during the ultrasound and I didn't feel any of it! It seems to be more when I'm sitting still and watching tv and now I see kind of what people mean when they say flutters. I'm pretty sure it's the baby, although it takes me by surprise so I can't describe it very well. I did try to put Dave's hand on my stomach to see if he could feel anything but he couldn't. 

Sleep: Oh I am definitely catching up on sleep this week. It's so nice. I'm still getting tired early and sleeping well. The sound of crashing waves actually is very soothing. We go to bed with the patio door open but usually in the middle of the night it starts to wake me up so I get up to close the door. (We can still hear it with the door closed, just not as loudly.) It will be interesting trying to get up for work Monday morning... I might have a really hard time dragging myself out of bed when the alarm goes off.

What I miss: This week has been a lot about drinking. I was worried about how hard it was going to be with everyone else drinking around me. I got cherries and sprite and have been making myself Shirley Temples. It hasn't (so far, still a few days to go) been as hard as I thought. I think the relaxing in the sun is making it much better. I even made 4 batches of jello shots for the crew. Rick brought the Jello. Mango jello with rum, lime jello with tequila, raspberry jello with whipped cream vodka, and berry blue jello with whipped cream vodka.

Cravings: None. And I have been eating healthier here, I think. More food, but healthier.

Aversions: None. I still haven't tried chicken but I bet I can eat it now.

Symptoms: Hmm... Offhand I don't really have symptoms. A growing belly, which I can definitely tell and feel as I try to move around. And with how windy it is here, sometimes that belly is looking prominent (not to mention when I'm in a bikini). My gums have been bleeding most weeks; I usually don't mention that. I did take advantage of the beach and do some scaled back runs and felt great doing that. 

Best moment this week: Just being away, sitting in the sun has been amazing. I've had some good cuddle moments with Dave as well. I love cuddling. I love feeling the baby move. 

Looking forward to: Continuing to enjoy the beach. I'm hoping to get one more run in before we leave. And with each run I'm running a little more than I walk, and getting a little faster. I'm not trying to push it but it's so nice to just be out there again, breathing in the fresh air and stuff. And out here just watching the amazing birds. I would take my camera if it wasn't so wet- I'd have some awesome pictures!

Family!

I saw some of my family in Connecticut a few weekends ago. Unfortunately, it was due to my Uncle's death. But we spent a lot of time reminiscing about him, and I loved that some of my family's memories reminded me of times I had with him that I had forgotten about. It does make me a little sad how spread out our family is. I grew up across the street from my grandparents, so I got to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins a lot.

ANYWAY, here are some pictures of us just having fun together.

Megan drank a maragarita for me. She wanted a beer but I insisted she have this since I couldn't.

The extended family who made it

My immediate family

Always climbing trees.  With stitches, no less!

Sisters!

Had to get a picture with Dave, too, of course!

Some baby bump comparisons

My latest picture was taken at 19 weeks.  I wore the same shirt/shorts at 11 weeks.  I wanted to see a side by side comparison.

So here it is:

11 weeks

19 weeks

Can you tell a difference?  Here are lifting shirt shots. Dave STILL says I'm sucking in my tummy but I swear it's because my belly button is indented or something. I even showed him sucking in my stomach and I'm not. (And I never posted the 11 week picture of my bare belly because I didn't like that I kind of pulled my shorts down a bit. I was trying so hard to show evidence of a bump.)

11 weeks

19 weeks

Finally, in my weekly post, I said that I look bigger in maternity clothes. So I had Dave take a few of me in some of my new maternity clothes to show that.

See? If I started wearing this now I bet I'd be getting some comments about looking pregnant. Or am I still on crack and wishing for there to be more of a belly than there is?  It's still REALLY low so I think that's part of the problem. (The stripes in this shirt might also make me look wider; I'm not sure.)

19 weeks

It has been a rough week (emotionally), and not because of anything baby related. But, with that said, on the baby related side, I felt the baby move for sure for the first time and went with my aunt to buy some maternity clothing! Yay for a pair of jean shorts I will be able to wear when we go on vacation (and clothing to wear at work when I am big enough to need it).

How many weeks: 19

Size of baby: A mango and measures 16 cm or 6.3 inches.  The baby also weighs 300 grams or 10.5 ounces. Growth isn't quite as fast and it seems to be more in weight than length right now. I read somewhere that the baby's development was devoted to its organs and so far the baby is REALLY skinny so now fat is starting to develop. That makes sense with the numbers.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am up one pound this week; overall up 4.5 pounds. With that said, though, I am now up .5 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight (since I'm comparing to the weight I was the day I got my positive pregnancy test).  They say to gain 25-30 pounds in the 9 months and I'm not sure which of those weights I should count from.  Maybe it doesn't matter because there's a 5 pound margin in there anyways, and the two weights I'm comparing are only 4 pounds apart. I'm probably overthinking this. This is the last time I'll mention the two different weights though. I'll just go with the starting weight the day of my positive test, even though I had already dropped weight and I'm pretty sure that was pregnancy related.

Maternity Clothes: I now own some maternity clothes, although wow do they definitely make me look bigger! Regular clothes have zippers and buttons that hold you in more and maternity clothes just let it all out. I also bought a bella band so I can keep wearing my regular clothes, as well as maternity clothes. It's so expensive to buy all new clothes so my wardrobe will be somewhat limited if that's all I wear. Thanks so much to Aunt Nancy for going shopping with me and stuff! She said I really should get a pair of shorts and I was reluctant- it's already September and should be cooling down. But they were on major sale because it was the end of the season and after trying them on I already wore them as soon as I got home. They were so comfortable! My jeans are the worst right now as far as fitting- both jean shorts and long jeans.

Gender: We will know TOMORROW!

Movement: One night this week I woke up at 4am and hadn't fallen back asleep. I can't remember what woke me up; having to pee or just a dream I had that I don't remember anymore. But as I was laying there I definitely felt the baby move. It was really cool! Nothing like what has been described to me. Sometimes my cat will hesitantly reach her paw out and just lightly touch me- for example if she wants to jump up on my lap when I'm on the couch and she's "testing the waters" to see if it's ok to jump up on my lap. Well this is what it felt like but from the inside.  It was on the same spot on my belly. The first one just hit me, I knew what it was and I counted 4 in a row! I was so excited. I refrained myself from waking Dave up to tell him, haha, but I did tell him when I said goodbye in the morning. 

Sleep: This was a very tiring week. But I'm sleeping well. We were away staying in a hotel; the first night there I didn't sleep well but just because of everything going on and being in a strange place. I was used to it by the second night though. And since the weekend I've just been exhausted. I don't know if it was all the driving, or what.

What I miss: This is going to get repetitive. I said in a comment response to a previous blog post: there's more that I miss, but beer/wine have to be the biggest. 

Cravings: I still need to try to eat healthy. I like ice cream and on Labor Day, Dave was agreeable to heading to get some ice cream. It was so yummy.

Aversions: I still need to try chicken and see if it's starting to taste better. I think everything else is fine though.

Symptoms: Things are pretty calm. I do get light headed once in awhile... and I've been more tired than usual. On Labor Day I got a lot of sleep the night before but still fell asleep on the couch in the late afternoon. I didn't even exercise, I was just feeling so tired.

Best moment this week: I have two- shopping for maternity clothes and realizing that they will look nice on me (I think!) and feeling the baby move for sure. 

Looking forward to: Tomorrow, our ultrasound! I can't wait to see the baby again. And I just can't believe we're far enough along to have this ultrasound. Time is starting to fly!

August Exercise Totals

I ran for the first time a few days ago. I did sign up for a 5k but due to a death in the family I will not be able to run it. So I'm already looking for another one. I'm hoping to up the running again a little bit.

I'm not tracking walking mileage, just the number of times I walk. I tend to walk around the neighborhood alone, with a neighbor, or with Dave, or at work with one of my coworkers.

And biking, yes, that 100 miles was on purpose. It was an original goal but I had some busy/tired weeks. I realized though, at the end, that I could get it if I pushed. So I did, and just got slightly over it! Future months, it would be nice to continue to get 100 miles. That will depend on how often I run, though.

August
Run: 4.98
Bike: 100.2
Walked 5 times (actually walked more but didn't start recording that until mid-month)

Total Run mileage
January: 60.122
February: 61.634
March: 77.715
April: 38.022
May: 23.28
June: 0
July: 0
August: 4.98
2012 total: 265.8

Total Bike mileage
January: 20.2
February: 52.7
March: 57.9
April: 22.3
May: 50.6
June: 34.8
July: 52.8
August: 100.2
2012 total: 391.5