23 Weeks and a Sneak Peek

Things have felt a little overwhelming around these parts. When I'm not at work, for the most part I need to be working on my portfolio for graduation...which is really inconvenient when all I want to do is organize the baby closet. I have received some of the most adorable clothes passed down from other mom friends, as well as so many gifts. (Also, let's be honest. I haven't been able to leave Target without a few outfits since I found out we were having a girl.) When her furniture arrives this weekend I'll be able to start organizing drawers, and deciding what will need to go in the closet. This is going to be one spoiled little girl!

Baby girl's bedding and some girly clothes

On the left: Sweet little dress from my co-worker. On the right: The striped dress is from one of my best friends, auntie Brittney, and it came all the way from Paris, ooo la la

On the left: Little sailor jammies from my little brother - Uncle Spencer.

How Far Along: 23 Weeks (that is almost six months for those of you who hate when pregnant women tell you how far along they are in weeks)
Size of the Baby: About a foot long and a little over a pound (fatty).
Maternity Clothes: still wearing a couple of my regular pants with my belly band - but they are getting more uncomfortable. I still need to get my maternity pants hemmed so I can wear them!
Stretch marks: not yet...but I have reoccuring nightmares about waking up to find they are covering my body.
Weight gain: I think I'm up 14 pounds (give or take). This has been the least fun part of my doctor's visits lately. I hate that they want to weigh you every time!
Sleep: I still won't complain because I know that it will get worse! :-)
Best Moment of the Week: Feeling this little girl move! Her movements are getting so strong. Brandon and I were able to watch my dress twitch with every kick. It's an amazing feeling.
Movement: All the time :-)
Food Cravings: Everythinggggg lately. One minute I want a rootbeer float, and the next I want french toast. There is no rhyme or reason, I basically just want everything I see on a commercial.
Gender: GIRL!
Belly Button in or out: in but getting shallow
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope (still so happy about this!)
Labor Signs: No
Wedding ring on or off: On but the heat lately sure has been making my fingers swell up - so I've taken my rings off a few times.
What I miss: Laying on my stomach! I plopped down on the couch the other day (on my stomach) completely forgetting and it hurt! It feels like I'm laying on a squishy tennis ball, or hard water ballon.
What I am looking forward to: Our baby furniture gets delivered this weekend :-) I'm looking forward to getting the nursery painted, and furniture set up!
Emotions: Not as bad as it could be but I sure do cry easily. I was working on my final portfolio over the weekend, and I started sobbing while typing. I just felt so sorry for myself. I'm so tired and I want this project to be completed so badly. I also want a cleaning lady that will scrub our bathroom from top to bottom every week. I know, first world problems. 


Don't mind the trash can. I realized at the last minute I didn't have a week 23 picture.

 xo,

Feeling grateful

Most of my evenings and weekends have been dominated with working on my final portfolio for school. I spent seven (sunshine filled) hours on Saturday cooped inside the house writing and feeling sorry for myself. I decided on Sunday I would give myself a break. Brandon and I packed up his bronco and headed to the beach for a couple of hours. The bump and I sat on the sand, soaking up the last bit of summer and watching Brandon surf.

The bump and I watching dad surf

I don't know if it was just the break from staring at the computer, or if the weather really was that perfect - but I could have sat there all day long watching the man I married surf in the water and being so thankful for the time we've had together - just the two of us. An overwhelming feeling of "I married the right person" came over me and I thought back on the last five months. The look on Brandon's face when I told him he was going to be a dad. How he listened to me cry every day about how many times I threw up and how I felt like I was going to die and told me each time that this would pass and one day I would forget how awful it was. How he made sure to leave me slices of muffin, or plain toast on my nightstand every morning so I could get something in my stomach before sitting up. How he did the laundry and the grocery shopping and the cleaning and cooking for three months. How he set alarms on my phone to tell me to eat whether I thought I could stomach it or not. How he reads his favorite stories from childhood (The Chronicles of Narnia Series) to me and the baby before bed. I know that our daughter is going to have the most amazing dad in the world. I have never been so sure of something in my life.

21 weeks

How Far Along: 21 Weeks
Size of the Baby: Spaghetti Squash (About 10 inches and 1 pound)
Maternity Clothes: I'm still mixing maternity clothes with non-maternity. I am dying to wear my new maternity leggings with boots and sweaters but the weather is not cooperating.
Stretch marks: not yet - I'm still slathering on Palmer's and Burt's Bees Mama Bee cream twice a day.
Weight gain: 10 pounds total (give or take depending on the day).
Sleep: Aside from switching from side-to-side every hour - sleep is good!
Best Moment of the Week: My parents took me to pick out our nursery furniture! We ordered the crib and the changing table. I'm still on the hunt for a glider :-) Thank you Mom & Dad!
Movement: Every day :-) Feeling her little pushes is the highlight of my day!
Food Cravings: Lately, I want something sweet every evening after dinner.
Gender: GIRL!
Belly Button in or out: in but getting more shallow...
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope (still so happy about this!)
Labor Signs: No
Wedding ring on or off: On...but when I get really hot it gets really tight. Eeek, I'm hoping this isn't a sign I should stop wearing it.
What I miss: sleeping on my stomach :-)
What I am looking forward to: Our trip to St. Thomas in exactly four weeks!
Nursery: We're making progress! We finally decided on a coral, gray, and white color scheme. The furniture we picked is gray and has a shabby chic finish to it. Our bedding is white and coral. I'll post pictures at the end of this month when it's all been delivered :-)
Emotions: School is draining but overall I'm feeling really good.

Five Months - Half Way!

How Far Along: 20 weeks - half way!!
Size of the Baby: The length of a banana - and about 10 oz. (although two weeks ago we were told sweet little girl was weighing in at 10 oz already -- the 90% percentile. Gulp. The technician assured us this is no indication of how big she'll be when she's born.)
Maternity Clothes: For the most part, I'm still wearing my same clothes. My amazing parents bought me a couple of shirts, dresses and leggings which I'm excited about wearing. I got my first pair of maternity jeans from H & M and oh.my.gosh. Will I ever be able to wear normal jeans again? Maternity jeans are heavenly! Why don't all jeans come with an elastic band at the top?
Stretch marks: not yet.
Weight gain: +10ish pounds total
Sleep: I can't really complain - I'm still sleeping through the night (minus getting up to pee at least once).
Best Moment of the Week: The few days the weather cooled off!! I was dying in the 90+ degree weather. I normally love summer but not so much lately. I'm fully ready for the fall chill to grace the air. Boots, scarves, football, candles, fires - bring it on!
Movement: Still pretty sporadic. Last night I felt three little pushes in a row, not just flutters, but actually pushes. It was the best feeling in the world :-) 
Food Cravings: I eat Rubio's almost daily for lunch.
Gender: GIRL!
Belly Button in or out: In
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope (still so happy about this!)
Labor Signs: No
Wedding ring on or off: On
What I miss: The jacuzzi!!!! I don't know if it's because now I know I cannot sit in one for fear of boiling my baby, or what, but I think about it almost nightly.
What I am looking forward to: I'm going baby furniture shopping with my parents this weekend!
Nursery: I am torn between two color schemes! Once I make a decision, we're going to paint (and by we're I mean Brandon, haa).
Emotions: Well, I made the mistake of watching not one, but THREE live births on Baby Center. One natural, one epidural and one c-section. As beautiful of an experience as it is to see the baby come out and the mom hold them for the first time, I just don't ever want to see a vagina being stretched and torn in that way ever again. And I certainly don't want to think about my own looking that way. I think I still might be in denial that this is the only way this little one is going to come out.  

It's a ....

GIRL!!!!!! 

We could NOT be anymore thrilled! From the very beginning, Brandon and I have both had the strongest feeling that it was a girl. I just couldn't picture anything else. We had an elective ultrasound at 14 weeks, 5 days and they confirmed it was a girl, but I knew it was still early so I wanted to wait until my 18 week ultrasound to confirm. The sweet words, "well, she's definitely a little girl" were like music to my ears. It's weird how knowing the sex makes the baby more real. I felt closer instantly just being able to refer to her as a her, and not an it.

I finally got to splurge at Target and pick up all of the cute baby girl outfits I'd been eyeing. Oh my goodness, all of the little summer dresses and rompers and sandals are killing me! I can't wait to see her chubby little thighs peeping out the bottom. Both of the ultrasound techs mentioned that she already has long legs, which makes this stubby legged mama very happy :-)

Little legs with her ankles crossed :-)

Her little 3D face head on. She's smooshed there directly in the middle. Can you see her? I think her little nose looks like Cindy Lou Who from Whoville :-)

The best news of all is that she is perfectly healthy! I was so nervous going in for the appointment because they check everything. Brain development, the four chambers of the heart, the spine, the kidneys, the bladder, the bone development, the nasal bone. Everything looked great :-)

In good/bad news, I start my very last class of my Master's program on Wednesday. I'm so excited that it's my last one, but so burned out already that I don't know how I'll finish. I need to summon energy from somewhere, but after working all day the only thing I want to do is pin baby stuff haha. For this last class I have to put together a portfolio of all of my papers and projects and demonstrate to my advisor that I have met all of the objectives of the Master's program. Wish me luck! I will need all I can get.