Kicking Babydolly!

I've been feeling the baby kicking for a while now. It started around week 17, I think… I felt small movements like muscle spasms- a quick flutter- and then nothing. Now, at almost 23 weeks, I feel her move all the time. She was kicking me in the bladder all day. I love feeling her kick and knowing she is doing well in there! I've been hoping that Phil would feel it soon, too…but every time I put his hand on my belly, she would either kick and he wouldn't feel it, or she would stop kicking. But yesterday she was kicking a LOT and hard! So I called Phil to come into our room and that she was kicking… He literally RAN into the room and DOVE on the bed and put his hand on my belly and right then she delivered a perfect little kick right into his palm. His eyes lit up and he said "I felt that!" It was such a precious moment that we shared… Such a simple but beautiful thing to experience together. He immediately updated his facebook status (of course!) with "HOLY FIRE, I JUST FELT MY BABY KICK FOR THE FIRST TIME!" Hehe. I love my man and his enthusiasm for our daughter. :)

Pregnancy Belly

As time goes on, I keep wondering how big my belly will get each month. Found this helpful chart:



Here is what I look like right now, at about 21 weeks (a little over 5 months):

Exhaustion

Exhaustion. That is what I have been dealing with every day. I am so tired I could most likely fall asleep wherever I am. I go to bed at 9:00 or 9:30 pm now, as opposed to 11 or 12. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning as well.

I cannot wait for rest. At the end of the month I will be going to NY for my baby shower there and I will spend a week at home. I will hopefully get some rest while I am there. Then we will hopefully take our vacation in the beginning of May, and get ample rest on the beach just the two of us.

I don't know exactly when I will stop working. I don't think I wanna work until the day I go into labor. I think I want to set a date like July 1 to start working from home. June will be a little more difficult of a month because it will be so hot and I will be so far along. I just cannot wait to rest!

I know everyone keeps saying to rest now because when the baby comes it will be hard to sleep and get rest at night because of the feedings. I think as long as I don't have to get up for work I will be okay... Or maybe not.

I just want to rest and relax!!! Ahhhhh!!! I am so tired of working 50 hours a week and being preggers.

Today someone told me that a pregnant woman's body works harder than a mountain climber's.... I believe it!!

Family Trip vs. Baby Moon…

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about taking a nice little babymoon. Lots of people are taking them now, it's a nice chance to get away before becoming a parent and starting a new life filled with midnight feedings and diaper changings, no sleep, etc.

Even Wikipedia has an article on babymoons, calling it "a final romantic fling before venturing into parenthood": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babymoon

Originally, we had planned on going to the beach with Phil's family. Before we found out we were expecting, the trip was planned for July. Since I am due in mid July, I wouldn't be able to go. Then the trip was rescheduled for mid-June. After giving it some thought (and lots of people giving me advice about it), I have been thinking that going to the beach with my husband's family at 9 months pregnant may not be the best idea. Here are the reasons why:

1. If I go into early labor (which is common for my family), I will have astronomical bills due to having to go see an out of network provider for the birth.

2. I will be 36 weeks at the time, which is exactly the cut off of when my doctor said I am not allowed to travel anymore. It would be a huge risk.

3. I will be a huge, sweaty, waddling, 9 month preggo beached whale… NOT the best time to be in a bathing suit.

4. I will most likely be exhausted and uncomfortable, wanting to sleep a lot of the time rather than play in the waves.

5. I am dying to take a vacation with just my husband… A romantic getaway for just the two of us to bond as a couple even more before the baby comes.

So we are still making the decision, but the more I think about a babymoon rather than a family vacation, the more excited I get. I have looked into going to Tybee Island, GA as well as Siesta Key, FL. I'd prefer Siesta Key, but we shall see. I'd like to go in early May because I wouldn't be too large yet, and it will most likely be warm enough to actually go in the water and swim. I'd also love to find a hotel with a pool. They say swimming feels great when you're pregnant, and although I love riding the waves of the ocean, a pool would be more subtle and calm.

Here is a map of where Siesta Key is… It is only 8 hours driving distance, and I found great hotel prices online!!!

Food Cravings

So I wrote a post about my food aversions, but haven't written at all about cravings!

In my first trimester, all I wanted at all times was chicken alfredo pasta. I could have eaten that every night for weeks. We only really made it once a week, but I craved it a whole lot. In fact, I craved Italian food in general, wanting pasta with marinara sauce often.

I also reverted back to a childhood diet. I ate lots of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chocolate milk, popcorn… I just didn't want anything hot/spicy/ethnic (which, if you know me, is my favorite type of food).

One night I woke up DYING for a chicken buffalo wrap from Gonzo's Grille, which is on Long Island and absolutely inaccessible to me.

Right now, in the second trimester, I have craved chocolate and candy bars. My newest favorite candy in the whole world is Peanut Butter Snickers. It's like they have taken my two favorite candy bars (Snickers and Reece's Cups) and put them into one. Love it!

HALF WAY! Banana Baby!

In two days I will be at exactly 20 weeks, which is 5 months, and also half way. I've been wanting to write and update, but I have been super tired and worn out. Baby Selah is growing fast. She is now the size of a banana!



Recently, I have been feeling the baby move. Yesterday I felt her squirming around in there a whole bunch. To me, it feels like muscle spasms. Others say they feel like a fish is swimming around, or they feel a "flutter." It is such a quick, light feeling right now but I know it will increase as she grows. Phil keeps wanting to feel it but I know he wont feel it just yet. :)

I have gained 14 pounds so far, which is not too bad I don't think! My belly has popped out at around week 18-19, and is now very noticeable in clingy shirts. In loose fitting shirts, you might still think I am just getting chubs, and gaining weight around the middle. I am still wearing the same jeans I bought within the first month of my pregnancy, which are the same size I wore before I got pregnant, but they are comfortable and stretchy. They are quite possibly the most useful purchase I have ever bought!

I am looking forward to painting the baby's room, although we don't even have any other rooms painted in our house! I think it is the whole "nesting" thing that is persuading me to pick out paint colors. I cannot wait until the room is painted and the crib is put together. It will feel so much more real.

Tonight is our first birthing class. We will be learning the Bradley Method, which is a natural childbirth method. The class focuses on teaching nutrition, exercises, relaxation exercises, coaching for the fathers, and mostly just what exactly is going on in your body. We have an excellent teacher, Lindsey, who is an OM wife and mom and apparently a genius on everything baby. I'm looking forward to meeting the other women in the class who will be due around the same time as me.

Tomorrow is our last ultrasound, and I am really looking forward to it! This ultrasound will be more in depth, and they will look at the organs and how they're developing. I can't wait to see her again. It's unbelievable seeing her move and turn over, like she is just hanging out in there! Pretty crazy that I have a living human being just chilling in my tummy right now.

Recently I have been so tired. Just so utterly worn out and exhausted. Between OM and nannying, I have been working 50 hours a week, and I come home and just lay on the couch not wanting to do anything. The weekends are now a time to catch up on rest and laze around the house whereas I used to want to be out and about at all times on those two precious days off. So many people told me I'd have this superhuman energy in the second trimester... I don't know what they were thinking!

Heartburn, I hate you!

Lately I have been experiencing heartburn/acid reflux for the first time in my life… what a nightmare! It burns all the way down my esophagus, and in my throat. I have been trying to eat less acidic/spicy/citrus things, but that hasn't helped much. This is yet another sacrifice a mother has to make for her unborn child, albeit a small one. They say that heartburn comes and goes until the baby is born, and oftentimes get worse during the second half of the pregnancy… Bad news bears! (hehe I don’t know why I have a love/hate relationship with that saying).



In terms of the symptoms of pregnancy, acid reflux is not the worst. I'd say it's about 5th on the list (#1 being the worst):

1- nausea/morning sickness
2- bloat/weight gain/stepping on the scale and cringing
3- fatigue/extreme exhaustion no matter how much you sleep
4- lack of sleep due to the discomfort of a belly and the need to pee every couple of hours!
5- acid reflux/heartburn
6- vasovagal responses/passing out
7- acne from the extra oils your body produces

I am sure there are more unpleasant bodily experiences I have yet to have, but I sure hope not!