Just Sayin'

This time last year I was putting the final touches on my first 5k run. This year, my feet are swollen and I can't see my toes anymore.

23 Weeks

From Babycenter:
How your baby's growing:
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

Here it comes

I've finally gotten over the weird headaches and fatigue I had last week after a nice restful weekend at home. I am a third of the way through my midterms, and I'm starting to feel the stress piling up. I go through these phases where I feel like I have everything under control, and then all of a sudden I feel completely swamped. My feet and hands are swelling constantly, especially after 6 hours of classes. I've upped my water intake to try and combat the swelling, but without much luck so far.

I'm going to get my hair done tomorrow and in total pregnant form, have decided on a new haircut based off the model in the latest issue of Fit Pregnancy magazine. I'm excited about it. I work from home tomorrow, so it will be nice to break up the day with a hair appointment.

I've been finding a lot of enjoyment in just sitting in silence feeling the muchkin kick and move around. Every chance I get to lie on my side and pay attention to nothing but my belly is just amazing. I love feeling him move and kick around. It's by far the most enjoyable experience of this pregnancy to date. I wish I could tell which way he is situated, but I am afraid he is still breech given the location of the kicks and punches. I've been doing some reading on c-section births just to prepare myself, but he has plenty of time to turn, so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Sick

After successfully defeating the head cold I got while I was in NY (mind you, it took me a solid week to get over it), I am dealing with border-line migranes and overall horrible fatigue the last two days. I went into work yesterday and was out the door by 9:30 curled up in bed. After class last night and some awful attempts at sleep, I woke up feeling awful again today and took the day off. With work and school going on, I am nervous to over-extend myself and get myself really sick or do something to stress or hurt the baby. I have a ton of PTO days at the office, and although I feel bad about not being there, I feel good about my decision to take care of myself.

I only have 9 more weeks left of school, and surviving that while keeping up with work is the most important thing to me for the next 9 weeks. Sometimes one of them has to give. This week, it was 2 days worth of work. Here's hoping I can make it through work tomorrow and have a restful, relaxing weekend to straighten out whatever is going on with my body and my mind.

In other news, I found a great website called BabyFit, which provides meal plans based on my gestation, weight, expected weight gain, and fitness level. It's been a great refresher for me to view these meal plans and track my calories and nutrients again. I've only gained 12 lbs in 22 weeks, but I want to make sure my little man is getting all the good stuff he needs and comes out begging for spinach instead of chocolate cake. Now that I feel like I have this pregnancy thing under control, the focus is on health and fitness for sure. Too bad I still can't go near eggs. I am still enjoying my two pregnancy DVDs (one strength and one yoga) but I've been laying low this week since I've been feeling awful. It's all coming together.

22 Weeks

From Babycenter:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

St. James Consignment Sale

Wow! Our office is closed today to give everyone a break from the event we held last weekend (that I missed..yippee!), so I decided to take advantage and stop at St. James, the church down the street from us. They've been advertising a Kid's Consignment Sale for the last month or so. All I can say is wow!

For $60, I purchased:
-Graco car seat base for Zach's car
-Moby sling wrap with instructional DVD
-Infant/toddler sling bath
-18 bibs (10 'baby's first holiday' and 8 regular ones)
-2 fitted crib sheets
-Musical mobile
-10 washcloths
-2 outfits
-A sleeper gown
-2 pairs of pants
-A velcro swaddling blanket
-10 hats

I am amazed! I honestly already want to go back! The baby's room is filling up fast.

Bibs:


Clothes:


Hats:


Mobile:

Doctor's Appointment

So I had my monthly doctor's appointment this morning - fresh off a long trip to New York. I had a wonderful time at the shower and at Karen's wedding and will do a nice long post about both when I get Karen's pictures and the items from the shower arrive here in Atlanta.

We had our final ultrasound with our doctor today, and I am happy to report that Preston is still very much a boy. The tech spent a lot of time measuring each organ and ensuring it was functioning properly. I can't believe my little boy can't even fit in the ultrasound screen anymore! Preston is weighing in at 14 ounces and a had a heartbeat of 131 bpm. Based on his weight and all of his measurements, the doctor changed my due date to January 26th from January 15th. This means I am 21 weeks pregnant again! Haha.

Preston and I got a clean bill of health as my blood pressure was great (100/70) and I've gained a total of 12lbs in 21 weeks. I'm happy with that, but now that I am pretty much back to eating normally again (aside from eggs..) will be tracking my food again.

The doctor did say the placenta is lying on the front, which may muffle his kicks and movement. My eyes widened when she said that, since this little guy is getting strong. Thank goodness the placenta is there to soften the blow! I apparently have a kickboxer on my hands.

Preston was clowning around as usual during the ultrasound. He still is breach (and by the way only has 15 weeks to move or that means c-section for Mommy!) and is obsessed with putting his feet over his head and sucking on his hand.

I'm not real happy with the pictures that we got today - the little man just wasn't very photogenic today. These are all profile shots, showing the little guy with his mouth open and in one picture, with his hand coming up to his mouth. I will be scheduling our 3D imaging appointment soon, which will probably be our last glance at the munchkin until sometime in January!

21 weeks

I'm recycling my earlier picture from this week. It's been a long weekend already with Fred.



From Babycenter:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.