20 Weeks! Halfway!

Originally written October 5, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a banana, 6.5 inches and 10.1 ounces in weight! Yesterday at the anatomy scan, they were estimating Baby J actually weighs 12 ounces right now.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 172.5 , up 12.5 pounds so far. Yesterday at my 20 week check-up with Dr. Martin, I asked if I was in the normal ballpark for weight gain at this point, and she said yes. So I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.

Best Thing This Week: Seeing our beautiful baby girl at the anatomy scan. She kicked, flinched, and flung an arm around, possibly in reaction to the ultrasound wand pressing on her. And we got to see a zoom in on her little nose and upper lip. I know I'm biased, but it was the most beautiful little upper lip I've ever seen.

Maternity Clothes: I finally feel comfortable wearing some more form-fitting things that show I actually have a bump. Yesterday I sported a black t-shirt dress with a big, light yellow scarf draped around my shoulders and down my belly.

Movement: I have felt baby a couple of times this week. One afternoon I got hungry around 3:30, so Ashley and I walked to Arby's to get mozzarella sticks. As soon as I ate them, I felt baby girl kick quite a bit. Right before the appointment on Wednesday Ashley grabbed me a grilled cheese sandwich, as soon as I finished eating, she gave me a few kicks, which was so comforting on my way to the doctor appointment. On Thursday, the day after the appointment I felt Baby a lot. I think it's because I had just seen her.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my back. My hips are getting sore in the night from being on my side.

Cravings: Bean and cheese tacos. Over the last 2 weeks, I've probably gone through 10 cans of refried beans.

Symptoms: Heartburn. The wrist brace from Amazon has been helping with the carpal tunnel.

Best Moment this Week: Getting a good report from the maternal fetal medicine doctor.

What the Doctor Said this Week: Baby girl looks healthy. She was in the 39th percentile for size at 20 weeks, which is perfect. He said ideally you would want somewhere between 10-80th percentile. If she stays on this projectile, she should weigh between 7 and 7.5 pounds at birth.

He told me I have an anterior placenta, meaning it's in the front. There is nothing wrong with this, it's like being left handed or right handed. It just means that I'm not going to feel baby as soon as people with a placenta located elsewhere. When she kicks or moves it has to be strong enough to go through the placenta, uterus and then up to my skin.

Through the last 5+ years, I've collected a few outfits for our baby. My gut intuition that I would have a little girl has ended up being correct.

Moments with Dave: Camping while pregnant! We finally had the perfect weather the weekend of September 29th to go camping, so we went for it. Not only was it special, because it was our first time camping while pregnant. But when we woke up on the morning of September 30th to enjoy the sunrise, we also got to remember our first Baby J who would have been celebrating their first birthday with us if they had made it through the pregnancy and been born on their due date, September 30, 2016. We didn't really get sad, but we talked about how excited we were when we had our very first positive pregnancy test in January of 2016. We were soooo surprised and didn't imagine anything wrong happening with that pregnancy. We were just 100% delighted.

Here are the pictures from our camping trip.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing all of my family in Houston and going on Dave's and my last big trip together before baby girl arrives!

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: I was super anxious about the anatomy scan this week. So I carried this in my heart all week leading up to it.

18 and 19 Weeks

Originally written September 21, 2017....and September 28, 2017

Size of Baby: Week 18 - Baby J is the size of an artichoke, 5.59 inches and 6.70 ounces in weight!

Week 19 - Baby J is the size of a mango, 5.98 inches and 8.50 ounces in weight. Over half a pound now!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Week 18 - 171.5 , up 11.5 pounds so far. I still feel somewhat normal when I wake up in the morning. But by the end of the day, my bump is quite out there.

Week 19 - 171.5, holding steady at 11.5 pounds so far. I no longer feel normal when I wake up in the morning :) The bump is there first thing. Pre-workout photo this morning!

Shocking Thing Week 18: Seeing my reflection in mirrors and windows. I look pregnant now.

Shocking Thing Week 19: We went to Buy Buy Baby Sunday to look at 3 things...gliders, cribs and car seats. And we got to park in the "Expecting mother" parking spot. It felt kinda funny, because we were headed to the gym right after and perfectly capable of walking far, but we took one of the 20 spots labeled like that anyway.

Maternity Clothes: Half and half. All pants are maternity pants. I'm mostly wearing normal dresses. Work maternity tops are still too big. And my normal work tops are tight in the boobs. I'm in the awkward in between stage on the tops.

Movement: No! And I'm SOOOO ready to feel my baby.

Sleep: So-so. Some nights I sleep really hard and wake up to use the restroom only twice. Other nights I've had a hard time going back to sleep after the 3am-ish bathroom break. One night during the 19th week, I woke up at 3:50, couldn't go back to bed so hung out in the living room on the couch. I fell back asleep right at 5, and then Dave's alarm woke me up :) Luckily, that hasn't happened again to that extent.

Pregnancy Myths I'm Busting Left and Right:

1)The pregnancy glow - I don't know what this is. I look in the mirror and see exhaustion every time. I do feel like I've had some good hair days, but other than that, no glow. That is for sure.
2) Energy goes up at 2nd trimester - WHAT? Not at all for me. Are other girls making this up?
3) Nausea goes away after first trimester. - Now I will admit that I don't get randomly nauseous very often anymore. But I still vomit after I brush my teeth every so often. I'm up to 7 times this whole pregnancy, which is nothing compared to a lot of women. And I'm SO grateful for the frequency of my puke sessions. But it sure hasn't gone away in the second trimester. I puked just 2 days ago, at 18.5 weeks pregnant.

Cravings: 18 Weeks - Milk, which is so bizarre to me. I don't even usually like milk. And now cold glasses of milk sound amazing.

19 Weeks - Meat and cheese. Sounds like the baby is craving protein to me :)

Symptoms: Week 18 - Heart burn. I'm munching on antacid chews every so often.

Week 19 - I threw up again this week. Another case of tooth brushing to blame.

Best Moment this Week: Week 18 - We went to the zoo with Debbie and Nathan on September 16 and had a really fun time. I loved seeing all of the little kids and was imagining going at this time next year with our little one.

Week 19 - I had a really really crappy day at work on Monday. Dave called me and said we got a gift from Rita and Eric. I thought he was confused, because they had probably sent a card with Baby Ryan's baby announcement. But sure enough I got home and there were 2 beautifully wrapped gifts. A Texas book! And baby's first piggy bank from my accounting friends :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: The anatomy scan on October 4. I want to see this baby again.

Moments With Dave: I caught him using the Boppy Pregnancy Pillow parts Amanda gave me : )

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next appointments are October 4 - anatomy scan and regular Dr. Martin appointment.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: I've eaten tons of popcorn over the last 2 weeks. I stopped and bought myself some fancy cinnamon popcorn and almond toffee popcorn. And some popcorn I had ordered months ago from a coworker's child showed up on my desk - white cheddar!

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Still stuck on Psalm 139 - "You knit me together in my mother's womb." God is literally forming this baby daily to His exact specifications.

17 Weeks!

Originally written September 14, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a pomegranate, 5.12 inches and 5.90 ounces in weight!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 169.5 , up 9.5 pounds so far. I still feel somewhat normal when I wake up in the morning. But by the end of the day, my bump is quite out there.

From early morning this week.

Shocking Thing This Week: This morning as I was getting ready for work, it hit me again. I said "Dave, I just can't believe this is happening." And it's true, I am having such a hard time believing this is happening to us. It feels like I'm living out a dream, and I so desperately want to soak up every second of it. At first I was desperate to make it through the first trimester so there would be diminished chances of miscarriage. But now, at week 17 and I think last week too, I just want to relish every second.

5 years of praying for this very thing to happen and here it is. And this might be TMI, but when I started my period on Mother's Day hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, I really felt as if the Lord was telling me to let it go, let the dream go. We might not be biological parents, but there will be something very special for us to do with our lives, with another child or friend's children, or something. But I read Him wrong. Really, God was saying, 1 more month. Just 1 more month of waiting. I actually love how our story played out....(today I love it, other times I'm still irritated it didn't happen on our timing...just being honest here.) I love that both Dave and I were able to get to a point of peace about not being parents and still know that life would be good, either way. And I especially love, that now, we are getting to enjoy this gift of pregnancy. So yes, still, 17 weeks into pregnancy, I find it shocking that I am actually pregnant!

Maternity Clothes: I finally feel comfortable wearing some more form-fitting things that show I actually have a bump. Yesterday I sported a black t-shirt dress with a big, light yellow scarf draped around my shoulders and down my belly.

Movement: I'm not sure. Although every once in a while, I think I'll feel something, and then I think, nah, must just be my stomach. What I feel is like little pops of popcorn going off in my lower abdomen, usually along the sides where my ovaries are. Last night when I was sleeping, when I turned from my left side to right side, I felt lots of discomfort in my lower right area. It was either round ligament pains or an angry baby. So I turned back to my left pretty shortly.

Sleep: Eh, it's been hard this week because of my cold. I think I've only had one really great night of sleep.

What I Miss: Coffee. This week was the first week of the pregnancy where I thought coffee smelled SO good again, and I splurged on some decaf at a restaurant on Saturday. Confession...today, day 1 of week 17, I've mixed half a mug of milk with regular coffee at work. It's the first time I've had regular coffee this whole pregnancy.

Cravings: Still caesar salad. I'm trying really hard to eat fruit again. Up to this point, most fruit has just tasted too sweet for me to enjoy it. But I've had a couple bananas and oranges this week.

I could still eat pizza for every meal. Although, I can't say this week I've really craved it.

Symptoms: Most annoying symptom so far, and I can't believe I'm about to admit this. Carpal freakin tunnel! I thought this only happened at the end of pregnancies. But I woke up with a super sore wrist Saturday, and by Monday I was ordering a carpal tunnel wrist brace off Amazon. I can't believe how painful it is.

Best Moment this Week: Saturday, Melissa, Mike and Olivia brought over her playmat and swing that she no longer uses. When I woke up Sunday morning and walked into the relaxation room and saw baby things, my heart literally exploded with fireworks of joy. I spent years not knowing if this day would come.

Milestones: This past week I've had my first cold with baby. It is SO weird to not take anything. Usually I'd be taking Nyquil and probably Dayquil. But now I'm gargling with salt water, doing a nasal spray, drinking tons of water and hot water. Sometimes, just plain hot water, cause I don't want to overdo it on the tea. And sometimes lemon gives me major heart burn. I actually adore all of these pregnancy symptoms. I still can't believe I'm experiencing them!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Enjoying every single day of having this sweet baby in my belly.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: I got nothing. So I'll go with Something New I've Thought About This Week....registries. Holy toledo, thinking about registering is overwhelming. So I've got a few of my momma friends making me lists. Lists of must-haves and lists of absolutely do not register for x because I never use it.

Also, baby showers! This week both the dates for the San Antonio and Dallas showers have been set. Saturday morning, Dave and I sat down and listed every weekend between now and the end of January. Between our upcoming Utah National Parks trip, having a February baby, which means eliminating the holiday weekends (so Thanksgiving and pretty much all of December) and being a tax accountant (eliminating the first 2 weeks of January), there weren't that many open weekends left. SO CRAZY!

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next appointments are October 4 - anatomy scan and regular Dr. Martin appointment.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: Tuesday night I wasn't hungry when I got home from work. But around 8pm, I heated up some frozen meatballs in marinara sauce - alot of them...and I had some frozen mozzarella sticks. That meal was delicious!

What the Bump.com update said for this week: I swear I thought the people that wrote this were reading my mind when I woke up. The one thing that really stood out is it said "Mom will be having weird dreams." Ugh, yes. Last night I was SO angry in all of my dreams. And most of them had to do with food, and people taking more than their fair share of food we were supposed to be splitting. It's so embarassing. But I swear I woke up from one dream with tears in my eyes I was so mad. I remember screaming in my dream "I'M PREGNANT. I NEED THAT SANDWICH!" :) Weird dreams deluxe.

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 18:32 "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."

16 Weeks

Originally written September 7, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of an avocado, 4.6 inches and 3.5 ounces in weight!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 167.5, up 7.5 lbs so far.

Maternity Clothes: All about the maternity pants. Haven't started wearing maternity shirts yet.

Movement: Eh, nothing concrete. But one time in Colorado I felt like I got a little kick under the belly button. Maybe with both legs at the same time. Could have been my imagination.

Sleep: This week started off in Colorado! I loved being at Barbara's bed and breakfast again. And I especially loved the Niwot Inn and Spa. I only slept poorly the last night at Barbara's when we were in Thumbelina's Cottage. The bed definitely sank in the middle, and that did not work well for me and Dave.

What I Miss: Beer. There is so much awesome craft beer in Colorado, so that was hard.

Cravings: Still Caesar salads and meat. I ate at least 2 caesar salads during week 16.

Symptoms: Heart burn. It was so bad one night in Colorado that it woke me up. I kinda thought I might get sick. I also think it gave me another new symptom this week...a canker sore on the side of my tongue. It has hurt like hell.

And I threw up again this morning, right after I brushed my teeth. Hopefully I will be able to eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch again one day.

Best Moment this Week: Yesterday!!! We got to see our baby and found out that it is more than likely a little girl :)

Moments with Dave this Week: Niwot and Estes Park, Colorado!!!! We hiked and hiked and hiked. We saw so much wildlife this time. We saw a bear (the same bear several times), big elk - male and female, a coyote, marmots, deer and big horn sheep (female only).

Milestones: There is no more hiding the bump. After seeing baby one more time yesterday. I decided to go ahead and wear my Oxy tshirt to work today. So I've had to come clean to the people that didn't know I was pregnant yet. All to find out most of them have been suspecting it since last week :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Enjoying every single day of having this sweet baby in my belly.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: When we were buying a caramel apple in Estes Park, the cashier (an 18-ish year old foreign girl) asked me if there was a baby in my belly. When I said yes, she reached across the counter and rubbed my belly. I asked her if she thought it was a girl or a boy, and she said that it was a girl. And she had lots of experience because she has 7 nieces and nephews.

What the Doctor Said this Week: She said baby was looking right on track for 16 weeks and that she was 93% sure it is a girl. She looked long and hard and at lots of different angles between baby's legs.

Baby's heart rate was 156.

I asked her if I need to stop wearing underwire bras, and she said no. I asked if I can take baths, and she said yes, just not too hot. I asked if I can get a massage, and she said as long as it is prenatal. I asked what I can take for my canker sore, and she said to get some canker sore gel at the Walgreens :) She asked us if we wanted to do bloodwork for Down Syndrome and we declined. She said she also skipped it.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: This isn't super weird because I'm pregnant. But one morning in Colorado I woke up STARVING. Luckily I had packed a baggie of Wheat Thins in my purse for the trip. So I snacked on those around 4:30am in bed and then went back to sleep.

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 139 "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." I love it, the whole chapter! Same as last week.

15 Weeks!

Originally written September 1, 2017

Size of Baby: Baby J is the size of a navel orange, 4 inches and 2.5 ounces in weight!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 165.5, up 5.5 lbs so far. Same as last week.

Maternity Clothes: So far this week I wore a normal dress Monday, maternity jeans Tuesday and today, and yesterday black maternity work pants a friend gave me. I loved them. They were SO comfy.

Movement: Still too early to feel movement.

Sleep: My snoogle has helped alot. I'm only getting up twice in the night to pee, and most of the time I'm sleeping pretty hard in between those 2 wake-ups. My dreams have continued to be outrageous. One night this week I had a dream about my Varsity cheerleading squad being asked to perform somewhere so we had a week to pull a routine together. I came up with the whole thing in my sleep, and I was the only girl who couldn't fit into my cheerleading skirt from Jr year of highschool.

What I Miss: Jimmy John's! We had a work meeting yesterday, and Roger suggested we order JJ's, but I asked if we could have pizza instead so I wouldn't have to make a big deal about heating up my sandwich.

Cravings: Still been thinking about Caesar salads. Lunch meat, which is ironic. And yesterday, I started craving the cream cheese red pepper dip that Debbie makes. It's so delicious. And served with big Fritos scoops. I will be making myself some of that for this weekend.

Symptoms: Still dealing with some nausea. Heart burn. Headaches, about 2 this week. Raging hunger sometimes. Oh, and the one no one talks about...constipation. Time for me to break out the Miralax again.

Best Moment this Week: Amber sent the sweetest pregnancy box. It had tons of teas, ginger chews, Baby Wise and oils and lotions.

Moments with Dave this Week: We did Baby's First 5K together on Saturday morning in Muskogee. We had no idea before we got there, but it ended up being cross-country style. Thankfully I was already decided on walking the whole thing. But when it started as running across a football field and then going into random fields, I was super glad I was just walking. It was the perfect set-up for twisting an ankle.

I still managed to keep under 45 minutes and did it in a 14:33 pace, or something like that.

Dave and I have also been purging stuff from the house and Saturday we went through alot of pictures. Please look at how cute he was.

Milestones: Dave finally told Kevin and Hannah at family dinner on Sunday night! I'm so glad that cat is out of the bag. They were our last big people to tell before we do a FB announcement.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing if the nausea and exhaustion really go away with the 2nd trimester :) Cause so far, no dice.

Favorite Quote from a Stranger this Week: Hmmmm, can't think of one. So I'll tell you my food aversions instead. Sugar, fruit, specifically pineapple (although I did eat some on pizza yesterday), ground meat (makes me gag). And pizza pretty much sounds good for all meals, 3x a day.

(East Village Bohemian Pizza Monday night for Dinner Club)

What the Doctor Said this Week: N/A Next doctor's appointment is September 6.

Weirdest Thing I ate this Week: I skipped dinner altogether last night because of headache plus exhaustion. And then I woke up this morning to read The Bump update and baby is growing more than ever and needs nutrition. So today I've had raisin bran with milk, a butt load of Chex Mix (trying to keep nausea away), yummy Hide-Away salad leftover from yesterday, and cantaloupe. Oh, and one piece of pizza :)

Verse I'm Clinging to this Week: Psalm 139 "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." I love it, the whole chapter! Same as last week.