Week 23: The size of a mango!

Ok, I know I've been slacking on my weekly posts.
Turns out, being unemployed seems to have left me short of more time than I thought.
There's lots to accomplish in a day while not working.
I have a new-found appreciation for stay at home mommies!

Anyway, there's a lot to catch up on so I'll get down to the fun stuff!
PS... I definitely have a baby bump to show off now.  :D

HOW FAR ALONG? 23 weeks.  I had my scheduled anatomy ultrasound in the middle of July.  At this appointment the doctor decided that my baby is definitely ahead of what my estimated due date was.  Therefore, I've officially shaved an easy 11 days off of my pregnancy (granted baby comes on time).  They've moved my due date from December 11th to December 1st.  We are honestly hoping for an end of November baby though.  I know with a 1st time pregnancy that isn't likely but we can sure hope!

 

THIS WEEK, THE BABY IS THE SIZE OF A: The size of a large mango and weighs over 1 pound now!

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS/GAIN: I have gained a total of 16 pounds.  I'm more than half way through the pregnancy though and the doc seems OK with that so I am pleased too.  Besides, James has gained more weight this pregnancy than I have so I have something to validate my gain against!  :) 
 

MATERNITY CLOTHES? YES!  Best thing I could have done last weekend, honestly.  My pants were getting tight and uncomfortable.  I can still wear my regular jeans and do the elastic trick to hold them up but it really isn't that great compared to actual maternity pants!  I HIGHLY recommend purchasing maternity pants as soon as you think they're necessary.  Don't hold off on this!  Comfort from maternity pants is amazing when your belly starts to get big!
 

SLEEP: I've been sleeping pretty well.  I turn a lot when sleeping though and have noticed that doing so sometimes causes the sensation of a pulled muscle in my belly.  That usually wakes me up because it's a big ZING near my groin area and up the side of my belly.  Oh, and nightly bathroom breaks (at least twice these days) are necessary.
 

BEST MOMENT THIS WEEK: Feeling the little guy move around so much. :)
 

MOVEMENT: Lots!  We've got a very active boy on our hands!
 

FOOD CRAVINGS: I still claim that I haven't really had any.
 

SYMPTOMS: My nose, still.  I hope that it changes after the baby is born.  Also, I have finally experience dreaded hemorrhoids.  I have NEVER had them before and honestly though I'd get away without experience this issue while pregnant.  WRONG!  They suck.  End of story.

GENDER: Most definitely a boy.  The anatomy ultrasound confirmed this for us 100%.  :)
 

FEELINGS TOWARD PREGNANCY: Everything has been great.  I have had a very pleasant experience.
 

WHAT I MISS: A glass of wine!  James bought a couple bottles this past week and it made me very jealous.  He's not even a big wine drinker so I swear he was doing it just to make me jealous.  ;) 
 

WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: More baby shopping!  It's harder to do know that our budget it tight though.  I've just got to be creative on our budgeting.  

Week 8: Doctor's visit #1

Onto week 8, month 2!  The baby is now the size of a raspberry or kidney bean.  We are nearing the end of the first trimester! Wow! That's crazy to think. I realize that there are still 4 more weeks before that but those weeks creep up on you in a hurry. Before I know it, this little fella or gal will be here!

Anyhow, today was my first visit to the doctor to check things out. Exciting. I was looking forward to it all week.  As the time to go got closer, I was a bit more nervous than I thought.  Things went well though.  Got a flu shot.  Had 5 vials of blood drawn.  The best part, we got to see the baby.  This early in a pregnancy, they do an internal ultrasound.  They take this long, stick like thing and insert it through the vagina, into the uterus.  Don't worry, it's not bad at all and doesn't hurt.  I say long too, but they don't insert much of the stick thing either.  We saw the baby's heart beating at an incredible rate.  We didn't hear it yet but you could definitely see that the heart was beating away.  Totally cool.  James is already wanting to know when we can find out the sex of the baby.  We still have a ways to go there!

As far as any changes in how I'm feeling... nothing too different, other than more frequent trips to the bathroom (I'll touch more on that in a minute). Still have acne. Still get nauseous from time to time. Nothing that isn't manageable though.  I have noticed that my two tender ladies aren't quite as tender anymore.  They are feeling somewhat normal again.  WOOHOO!  I have been told that it only gets worse when your milk comes in though.  I dread that day. 

About my excessive need to pee all of the time.  I have always seemed to have a small bladder and had spent a good amount of time in the restroom.  Yeah, that was nothing compared to this.  I wake up at least once a night, sometimes two.  The mornings seem to be the worst.  After breakfast I'll take a potty break and then, no joke, not even 10 minutes later I seem to have a full bladder!  The other day I was in the bathroom 4 times all within an hour.  I guess tinkling is better than spending my time in the bathroom puking my brains out!  I'll take this over that!  I must say, I'm doomed when the baby is big enough to be putting pressure on my tiny bladder though.   

I have noticed that some of the muscles in my stomach seemed to be getting a bit tight from time to time. I noticed this as I went to roll over in bed the other night.  It has made me realize that my nights of belly sleeping will probably soon be coming to an end. I probably sleep on my belly 90% of the night. I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a new favorite sleep position when the time comes.  Maybe a body pillow will come in handy.

All in all, this week has been a good week.  I'm more excited today than I was when I found out.  Like I've said before, I have KNOWN that I was pregnant, just never really FELT it.  I know there are symptoms that I've nagged about but still.  Maybe it's just me.  Seeing the baby today was the official confirmation for me though.  I AM PREGNANT!  I am going to be a mom.  And so my journey continues onward.  :)