26 weeks

Hello baby bump!  I had a cashier at Walgreens call me a "little momma" this week.  On the flight back from Belize the flight attendent gave me one of the snack options when I almost cried after she said they didn't have sandwiches (we hadn't had a meal since breakfast due to Belize's airport not having a restaurant and the security lines at Dallas left us as the last couple of people boarding so no time to pick anything up- it was a long day).  Dan added the baby gear into budget.  The skin on my face got really splotchy from the sun instead of tanning, this has happened to a small degree every since our trip to Hawaii but it was on a whole new level this time - not a cool pregnancy side effect... a dermatologist appointment will be made after baby.  Otherwise, a quiet week as we approach the end of the second trimester. 

On non-baby-related topics - Dan and I just read the same book at the same time and are starting the second one (the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books)... kind of like we are having our own little book club.  It is fun.  Shelby gave us a scare by having some back problems while we were on vacation - poor girl.  We finally tried the Cuban restaurant that is about a block away - it was super good and of course during the walk home we commented on how nice it is to have places so close to our door again.

25 weeks

Oh baby was week 25 a good one.  Our much an anticipated vacation finally arrived.  We celebrated Dan's birthday in Miami.  Then spent the next six nights in Belize - baby went with me to hike up a ruin, hike up a very steep jungle path, and snorkled at the second largest reef in the world... and plenty of time swinging in the hammock too.  The pregnancy was a frequent topic of conversation from the other travelers and the manager at Black Rock.

I got the call that my glucose screening came back completely normal so that was a relief.  The baby has gotten more and more active - I feel it majorly moving around in there for a large percentage of the day and night.  The movement is quite visible from the outside - baby kicks have now made my kindle jump.  The baby house is seriously growing - each week I can't believe how big I am.

24 weeks

 

"Everything is perfect" according to the doctor at my appointment this week.  Baby kicked the doppler when they were doing the heartbeat.

Twice someone (women) have offered me a seat on the CTA.

The first couple of people (and only two thus far) that I don't work with and isn't a friend or family member noticed and commented on my pregnancy - the dental hygenist and the dog groomer.

Scheduled an appointment where we had to factor in Dan being home to watch the kiddo - umm, hello this is getting real.  ;)

Freaked out about weight gain and then did the math to figure out should be in healthy range... and then realized I will be way less than Jessica Simpson's 170 lbs (same height) for her pregnancy - not even going to pretend that didn't provide a little bit of relief.  And it also helped that the doctor said my "weight gain is perfect" - so no more worrying about that.

Non baby fun stuff this week - Dan made corned beef and cabbage (turned out super good) and D&L came over for St Patty's day dinner, made a walnut spice cake for Dan's birthday to celebrate early (to b accurate- doing that tomorrow), rented a lens, wore a dress without tights and no jacket in early March.

23 weeks

This week I found myself in need of self-imposed bedrest.  And I think it was due to a growth spurt.  After noticing that my belly seemed to be bigger from the previous day last Friday I progressively became more and more worn out.  By Wednesday after work I was convinced I must have caught the bug that Dan had earlier in the week, I felt pretty terrible leaving work and was asleep by 7.30 that night.  So Thursday became a bedrest day and after one day home napping and working from my home office I woke up Friday feeling 100% back to normal.  I have yet to be sick while pregnant so was pretty worried about the little one on Wednesday but all appears to be fine.

This little kiddo has regular dance parties.  We finally were able to get the timing down so that Dan could feel a kick and be certain it was the baby.  He felt the first one in the end of week 19 but he wasn't convinced (it really was the baby).  During bedrest-day I was on my laptop in bed and while typing away saw the sheet jump - crazy kid.

Maternity clothes shopping has gotten easier over the past month.  I caved and bought some full price jeans, then ordered a bunch of basic tanks and tops from an online shop, and now that I have enough stuff to dress myself most days (with a little help from my pre-preggo wardrobe - see photo from week 22) it is less stressful to just pick up an item here and there.  I also decided that it wouldn't be a total waste if I only wear it for four months - they will be there if we have a second kid.  I know that this seems like a topic hardly worthy of writing about but it has been a big thorn in my side so it shall be documented.

I used the money from a few recent photo print sales to purchase a rug for the baby room this week.  It is yellow and white - so there will be yellow in the nursery.  I am letting the nursery evolve with the big items and not really going with a theme.  I am also getting pretty anxious to get started on pulling the room together.  Dan is going to have a project manager pestering him pretty soon.

I still don't have true cravings or aversions (other than coffee).  But I have been eating sweets again. For the first half of the pregnancy I really didn't want sweet treats - no aversion, just didn't really feel like eating them like usual.  Now I am eating some kind of sweet treat almost every day.  Leftover chocolate tartlettes, girl scout shortbread cookies with lemon curd, whopper mini eggs, and starburst jelly beans have been the treats most recently.   Past weeks it has been hagen daz strawberry ice cream, girl scout cookie thin mints, and chocolate chip bars.

We created a baby registry.  Totally weren't going to do this.  But people were asking for it.  And this way we can get a 10% completion discount on the stuff we were going to buy anyways.  At least it was painless since we did it at home while watching TV on amazon.

Non-pregnancy related fun stuff - Dan's parents came down to see the new place and have brunch.  Figured out our Village Tap replacement, which is maybe too close by.  Dan made me laugh until I cried at lunch.

22 weeks

Over the past two weeks quite a few people at work have commented on how they hadn't noticed that I am pregnant or that you can't tell because I am so small.  What!?  Come on people, I might not have been the skinniest pre-pregnancy but I think there is quite a noticeable difference between now and what I looked like in October.  And then there was the male coworker that kept obviously looking at my belly while we were talking... it was entertaining.  Being pregnant is like getting to do a long term behavioral psychology experiment - people are funny.  I tend to think that these comments come from people thinking of all pregnancies as that last couple of months where you are at your biggest instead of the gradual growth.  And Dan was quite right in his response that no guy is going to comment unless they know you are pregnant on the chance that you have just gained weight... but those side glances aren't subtle!!!

I think that the baby must be gearing up for a growth spurt as we start the 22nd week.  On Friday night after dinner with friends, where I could barely find room for half a burger, I was convinced that my belly had grown since Thursday, Dan also thought it was bigger.  I am selfishly hoping that the growth spurts continue to be gradual over the next couple of weeks so my swimsuits still fit when we get to Belize! 

One of the reasons that we have been keeping up this blog is so that we can turn it into a book someday to have a printed copy of some of the stories from these phases of our lives.  And this week it occurred to me that the kiddo might read these pregnancy bits and get the impression that it has all been smooth sailing thus discounting the "I carried you for nine months!" statement that could come in handy.  So I feel compelled to share some of the not totally awesome things like...

• I am losing my belly button.  At first it was just getting shallow and now it is looking like it is going to pop out one of these weeks.  Ugh.
• I burp like crazy and do not love that.  I have surpassed Dan as the gassy one in our family.  Not cool, baby.
• It is really freakin hard to not sleep on your back.  Sometimes when I wake up and my hip hurts from sleeping on my side I have a silent temper tantrum for not being able to sleep on my back like I would really love to do.  (Also, did not realize that I am such a back sleeper until I couldn't do it anymore.)
• Speaking of sleeping... I know that I won't get a full night of sleep after the little one is here so I could totally go for that now. 
• Having to turn down a super yummy freshly made aioli for dipping fries - this is so good at Owen and Engine and I had to go with the freshly made ketchup with a sigh.  And I had to be that person that ask for their burger to cooked to the point of little pink - of course I prefaced it with "I hate to do this but..."
• Not knowing if everything is going okay in there.  I assume for the best but the slight chance of something bad happening can be stressful.

I still feel fantastic and am happy that this is all I can come up with for a list of grievances.  We are 2/3rds through the second trimester and all is good.

Fun non-pregnancy stuff this week: dinner with friends, a progressive dinner with another group of friends, having 9 photos requested by Getty.

21 weeks

This was a quiet week for baby stuff.  Still strong movement from the little one.  Still consistently working out.  Still no bad side effects.  Still no progress on the baby's room.  Still no one has offered me a seat on the CTA.  

I did get Dan into a Carters as they were having a sale on baby clothes - a few yellow and white newborn outfits picked out by me and a couple monkey outfits picked out by Dan.  

We did make a tiny sliver of progress on the childcare.  We are going to look into finding a nanny. 

Fun non-pregnancy related stuff:  Ray and Missy delivered the treadmill today... it was great to visit with them.  (And it will be so nice to have a treadmill for quick runs while the baby naps.)  Went for a walk in River North with the dogs - can't believe we are this close to that part of town.  We are less than a month out from our next travel adventure.  Can't wait.

20 weeks & half way

We reached the halfway point!

We had the big appointment this week - the anatomy scan ultrasound.  In the words of my doctor - everything looks perfect.  The kiddo is in roughly in the 50-75 percentile so while it is very early for this type of estimate - this is roughly tracking towards in the 7 pound range. 

We almost cracked on our resolve to be team green (not finding out the gender)... curiosity was killing both of us but we held out. 

During the ultrasound the kid was kicking up a storm.  And while they were trying to do facial measurements the baby kept its hand up resting on the cheek... after sticking their tongue out at us. 

Dan was his usual inquisitive self by asking things like why is the image shaped with a curve and calling things out like the spine and arm bones.  He also discovered that my doctor gets his sense of humor so couldn't help himself but to ham it up during the prenatal appointment following the ultrasound. 

While I can't say that this pregnancy has been rough on me at all, it has been extra fun lately with being able to feel the baby move.  This kid moves constantly.  I'll be sitting in a meeting at work or watching tv or reading or whatever and the kid will be doing somersaults and roundhouse kicks.

This week I had the first person who I am not married to touch my belly.  Someone at work whom I barely talk with rushed up to me and put their hand on my belly and then told me congratulations.  It was very odd. 

Fun non-pregnancy related stuff: date night - walking to a new restaurant in the new neighborhood.

Dan's 2 cents:

20 weeks down...916 weeks to go before the kid is 18!  The list of things to do and purchase is long, but being handled by the project manager (aka...Tara).  Painting the new apartment is quite the task as the paint fumes aren't good for the baby so she gets to supervise. 

A few weeks ago I was blown away by the little handheld device the doctor uses to listen to the heartbeat, this week I was blown away again by the larger more advanced Ultrasound thingy.  The doctor did the long study of all the baby's anatomy to make sure everything is in proper working order and we got to watch not on a small screen but a large plasma tv.  Nothing could prepare you for when they clicked on the 3D image though, the kid looks like a kid...not some blob.  It was pretty exciting and scary.