How far along? 24 Weeks, Though I missed doing my 22 and 23 week update, so this is a sort of hodge podge of what has gone on.
Total weight gain: As of my last Dr.'s appointment, 2 weeks ago, I'm up five pounds. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll be up another 5-10 pounds this coming appointment, due to extreme hunger, and, you know, holiday gluttony.
Baby Bump? Oh yes. It's definitely apparent I'm pregnant now!
(Baby Girl and I, at 23 weeks!)
Maternity clothes? I finally got a second pair of maternity jeans, and I wear the two pairs every day. I've been given a couple of maternity shirts from people and will probably be living in those soon!
Cravings: Bread! and Milk! Both help my heartburn.
Symptoms: Really bad back pain. The kind that brings me to tears, doubles me over, and/or keeps me laying down as much as possible. I keep telling myself it's all worth it for our daughter (and it totally is!) but man, does it hurt!
Stretching, walking, heating pads, tylenol, and massages aren't keeping it at bay. Boo.
And...the heartburn. Starting in week 23, I noticed I would have heartburn for the 2-3 hours after breakfast. I have some antacids but I try not to take medicine at the first sign of pain, so I just let it run its course each day.
Then, starting about 3 days ago, it's all the time, 24 hours a day. Bleh. I've cut out citrus, chocolate (kind of,) tomatoes, tea, and coffee but it wasn't really helping. I just figured out today that milk is the only thing that really helps. I drink 4-8 ounces as an appetizer and as a chaser for each meal. ha!
(baby girl and I, side view, 24 weeks.)
Sleep: The nap is making a come back! I am so tired by the time school is over and I relish those 30-45 minutes a day that I get to nap. Sleep at night is solid though, and I love that!
Best moment this week: Seeing baby kick from the outside!
Movement: Yes, all of the time! I think her schedule is something like 11 am, 2 pm, 6 pm, and 11 pm. I'm not sure about an early morning one, though I often feel her move for a minute or two right when I get up at 8!
Ian still hasn't been able to feel her, even though I can feel her from the outside. He gets really bummed and frustrated, and I'm starting to think that his fingertip nerves must be totally deadened.
Gender: GIRL! We are so excited to welcome our daughter into our arms.
Belly Button in or out? In, and not really bulging or anything.
What I miss: Not feeling huge. I really feel big right now and I know I'm just going to get bigger!
(front view, 24 weeks)
Weekly Wisdom: Making wise financial choices now will help things when baby girl makes her entrance. We were supposed to be taking a real vacation to Jordan in January, but due to some circumstances, I'm not sure we're going to be able to make it :( When we sat down and talked about it though, we realized that the money we were going to spend on plane tickets, activities, and food would more than cover her crib, changing table, and possibly her wardrobe! I'm not sure if we'll have to buy all of that ourselves, but we definitely need to be saving in case we do!
Milestones: Reaching viability week! I'm not sure our hospital here would actually be able to keep her alive, but it's still a milestone, nonetheless!
I took the skytrain all by myself one Saturday morning at 5:30 am. It was completely empty for almost 6 stops. And very creepy. And I might have felt like I was going to be attacked. But it was still a cool experience.
I took the skytrain that early so that I could go downtown and support some friends of ours that were running in a half marathon! It was cold and rainy (hence the reason Ian didn't come, ha!) but one of the runner's wives and I entertained ourselves inside the expo center until the race was finishing up.
We explored Vancouver some more, and started a date night routine during this month. I love those times with Ian, out and about in Vancouver and will cherish them always. We don't get many date nights here because of the little issue of having no where to go! The one sit down restaurant that I told ya'll about 2 weeks ago CLOSED last week :( So now we will just have to wait until we live in another place to have real date nights out. For now, we'll get creative with date nights indoors!
I also made one of my best breakfast creations EVER. Stuffed Banana/Cream Cheese/Nutella French Toast. Only think I would do different would be to whip in a little bit of sugar into the mixture before stuffing it- the cream cheese made it slightly salty.
We also got to go visit a park with a free suspension bridge, trails, rushing river, and "swimming hole." We always meant to go back again for more but ended up running out of time!
