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How Far Along: 32 weeks. Umm….holy cow!
Size of Baby: Baby weighs in around 4 pounds or so, and is about 19 inches long.
Gender: Girl – sugar and spice, probably a lot of spice!
Weight Gain: 18 pounds. 7 more pounds till I hit my “target” weight. 8 weeks of pregnancy left…I can do it!
Symptoms: Some hip pain, but I’ve been seeing a chiropractor, so on the whole my usual pregnancy-pain complaints are really few and far between.
Exercise: Slowed down a little this week due to life-craziness, mostly walking with the kids. I think I’m going to hang up my running hat and stick with walking until this baby comes. My last run/walk left me feeling pretty gross and tired for two days, so I’m thinking walking is in order, and perfectly okay.
Clothes: All maternity.
Cravings/Aversions: Ice cream. And fruit. I am eating peaches and blueberries like I’ll never eat them again.
Movement: Still pretty consistent. Getting into bigger movements, like rolls or pushing various appendages out.
Worries: Baby was head down at my last appointment, so I’m not worried about that. But, I am starting to stress about not knowing anyone to watch my other kids while I have this baby. Sure, we have some people who could drive and take care of the kids, but that’s looking at an hour and a half. So, we need to at least find someone who will watch them for a few hours until someone else can come…
Milestones: Baby is almost at her birth length, and is continuing to gain weight and work on practice breathing and swallowing. Also, less than two months left until we have a baby!
Best Moment This Week: We are finally starting on some preparations for this baby. We ordered a crib, mattress, and dresser (for Nathan’s clothes in the closet), and the crib has come! Its not put together, its sitting right in our entry area, but we have it.
While I’ve talked a good bit about this pregnancy here on the blog, I don’t think I’ve every explicitly said that this pregnancy was a huge, gigantic surprise (I mean, I figure that goes without saying when you get pregnant while your baby is seven months old, but still, surprise). So, I thought I would share how we found out about our super surprise baby, since it was a pretty crazy few days in our lives.
To start with, I never had a cycle while pumping; my cycle started again right at the beginning of January (one day into my first Whole30, which I do not recommend). So, when February 1st rolled around with no cycle, I wasn’t terribly worried. “It takes awhile for these things to get back to normal,” I told myself, “I feel like it will start any day now,” I thought, and I continued with my life, never suspecting a thing. I bought some new, tight, skinny jeans for my post-Whole30 body.
Fast-forward to Feb. 6th – still nothing. Meanwhile, I’ve been sick for a week, so I go to the doctor who prescribes an antibiotic (and eye drops because I also managed to magically get PINK EYE when neither of my children, who I took with me to the doctor, had pink eye). While at the pharmacy picking up my prescription I figure I might as well buy a pregnancy test just to confirm I’m not pregnant so I can happily take my antibiotics with peace of mind. Because, surely, I am not pregnant.So, we can all imagine my surprise when my supposed to be negative pregnancy test turns out to be very, very darkly positive.
So I did what any rational woman would do when faced with a positive pregnancy test, a sleeping eight-month old, and a three year old watching TV. I freaked out. I called my husband and said, “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?” “We aren’t doing anything,” he said. “That’s not what I meant! I meant, what am I doing to DO?” And we both freaked out a lot; I needed to talk to someone who wouldn’t freak out, so I asked him if I could call my mom. Blessedly, she did not freak out.
And, the next day, my husband lost his job.
Of course, we know that this story has a happy ending. My husband received several job offers, selected one, and started before February was even over. And our baby is healthy, growing well, and is a girl, which was statistically unlikely. And we are excited for her arrival!
I never would have planned this. And, while I know plenty of people have unexpected pregnancies, I declared a few months before this that I would never experience one because my husband was “too cautious and terrified of that happening.” I’m pretty sure I was on God’s Comedy Channel with that one. Its been an interesting time to be sure, but its been one that’s brought me a new life verse (at least for this season of my life): Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s purpose that prevails. -Proverbs 19:21
How Far Along: 24 weeks
Size of Baby: Baby weighs about a pound and a half and is the size of an ear of corn. Baby is also now growing at a rate of 6 ounces a week!
Gender: Completely confirmed girl!
Weight Gain: 11 pounds.
Symptoms: Still feeling pretty good, but it is getting HOT and that is not agreeing with me too much (mostly because I have to drink sooooo much water).
Exercise: None this week. I’m getting ready for a freezer cooking session this weekend, and that combined with a trip to our soon-to-be new town to check out preschools has pretty much consumed my life this week.
Clothes: All maternity.
Cravings/Aversions: Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream, frequently indulged.
Movement: Very consistent. Sometimes I’ll think its been awhile since I’ve felt anything, but I always seem to feel some movement shortly after that.
Worries: Moving. Which isn’t really pregnancy related, but the move is imminent, and I’m starting to freak out a little.
Milestones: Viability!!! I love this milestone; while I know so much can happen between now and delivery and that nothing is a guarantee, this milestone always makes me feel like we’re really having a baby, one that will come home and live with us and need stuff (like a crib!).
Best Moment This Week: Nothing particular comes to mind from this week. I’m just enjoying browsing girls’ clothes (so many choices, so overwhelming!) and looking at what we already have. We also ordered bedding a little while ago (we agreed on something and it was on super sale at Pottery Barn Kids, so we got a bumper, pillow insert, monogramed pillow case, and crib skirt shipped to us for what a bedding set from Target would cost. I do need two crib sheets, but I plan on picking those up from Target, which will be pretty inexpensive.), which came maybe two weeks ago, and I love it! It makes me wish we had a place to live and a bed for this child so I could set it up. But I know I have plenty of time for that.
22 Weeks – after my cousin’s wedding.
How Far Along: 23 weeks
Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a papaya and weighs over a pound!
Gender: Completely confirmed girl!
Weight Gain: Just under 10 pounds.
Symptoms: I feel pretty good in general, but over the weekend had some pain/discomfort I think we Braxton-Hicks. I think they were caused by a lot of walking with no sitting in the hot sun, so they should be reasonably avoidable. Since this past week has been VBS at church, I’ve had some back and hip pain, just from doing a lot of standing.
Exercise: Last week I got in two runs, plus a bunch of walking at the zoo. With VBS this week, I haven’t been able to get in any run. Lot and lots of running around, but no actual working-out type running.
Clothes: All maternity.
Cravings/Aversions: I really, really want some coconut-rolled dates. Our local co-op sells them, but I haven’t wanted them enough to drag the kids out on yet another errand this week. Also craving fruit; so glad its summer!
Movement: Getting more and more frequent, with a few movements I could feel from the outside!
Worries: Feeling good these last two weeks.
Milestones: Baby is beginning to fill-out a little, adding fat deposits. This also means her skin is becoming less translucent.
Best Moment This Week: We had a great family weekend at my cousin’s wedding. We went swimming twice, went to the zoo, ate my mom’s famous birthday cake, and just generally had a good time, all together.
How Far Along: 21 weeks
Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a banana. Baby weighed in at 13 ounces at my ultrasound Monday.
Gender: Completely confirmed girl!
Weight Gain: 8 pounds.
Symptoms: Still feeling really good! I feel the best I’ve felt since I was pregnant with Nathan.
Exercise: I’ve gotten in a 2 mile run/walk at a 3/1 interval and a couple of walks, but with errands for the boys’ party, my gym time has been slim this week.
Clothes: All maternity.
Cravings/Aversions: Nothing in particular comes to mind.
Movement: Getting more and more frequent, with a few movements I could feel from the outside!
Worries: I measured at 22 weeks at my appointment, which my doctor said was no big deal, and that really I was only 1.5 weeks ahead. I know nothing is really a concern unless you consistently measure three or more weeks ahead for three weeks, but in all of my pregnancies I’ve only measured a bit small or right on track. We shall see!
Milestones: Baby is starting to taste amniotic fluid, practicing swallowing and digesting, which means she is tasting some of the food I eat.
Best Moment This Week: After our anatomy scan, all four of us went to the mall to shop for clothes for baby girl. Everyone, except Nathan, was very into selecting outfits and had their own opinions about what we should get. And Colton is so, so excited. He has loved telling people about his baby sister and has been making tons of pictures for her room. And he insists we frame and hang them all. My sweet boy!
I am seriously falling behind here. I know these aren’t super exciting posts and I’m tempted to give them up, but I really do enjoy looking back on them and comparing my pregnancies.
Looking chubby before making it to the gym.
How Far Along: 20 weeks
Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a mango – about 6 or 7 inches long and weighing in at about 10 ounces.
Gender: Pretty much confirmed that this baby is a girl. Should be “officially” confirmed at my anatomy scan on Monday.
Weight Gain: 7.5 pounds. This is about two pounds under where I was with Nathan, and since I started this pregnancy about 5 pounds heavier, I’m reasonably pleased with that, I guess.
Symptoms: Nothing really comes to mind (besides ordinary tiredness and drinking crazy amounts of water).
Exercise: Doing better with this! We went for a 2+ mile walk yesterday; it took us forever (C walked some, stopped to watch people fishing, bathroom stop, etc.) but I’m encouraged to try to get more exercise in more frequently.
Clothes: All maternity. The medium clothes that I was so sure I would need soon are still a little big – I still wear them, but man is it nice to put something on and think “this looks a little baggy.”
Cravings/Aversions: Onion rings. We live sort of near a Hardees, and that is ALL I can think about every time we drive by. Yuuuuuuum. Strangely, cooked carrots are on my hate list. I adored them last pregnancy, and while they don’t taste bad, I don’t like them at all this time around.
Movement: Gaining frequency, but I can still go quite awhile without feeling anything.
Worries: That this baby will magically turn into a boy; I’ve been looking at girl clothes and man oh man, how fun! I would still be very, very happy to have a boy, but I’m kind of locked into the girl-thing now, and that would be a big adjustment. General worry about having three kids – I read some things about having two under two, and one of them put a lot of emphasis on keeping your older child safe while you care for baby. Umm, I have a hard enough time keeping Nathan from flinging himself off the sofa or falling off of something as it is. What am I going to do with another baby in the mix!?
Milestones: Halfway to meeting this baby! Also, if baby is a girl, her uterus is currently fully formed and her ovaries contain eggs!
Best Moment This Week: I was a training ultrasound for a local crisis pregnancy center, where I friend of mine works. I got to see this baby, which is always fun, but we also got to look for identifiers for gender. Although they can’t tell you gender there (they aren’t allowed to do anything diagnostic), my friend said, “I can’t officially tell you what it is, but I don’t see any boy parts.”
How Far Along: 18 weeks
Size of Baby: About the size of a bell pepper.
Gender: I referred to the baby as “she” the other day, so I’m still stuck on girl.
Weight Gain: No idea – I was at my parents’ and didn’t weigh.
Symptoms: One or two headaches this past week, but they haven’t been bad. Heartburn has started, and I haven’t been a fan of that so much.
Exercise: I’m trying to get in more purposeful exercise lately, which has mostly just been small walks pushing the double stroller. Its not running, but its something.
Clothes: Maternity! Including my very first maternity swim suit.
Cravings/Aversions: Ice cream! I really want sweets and I don’t like Chick-fil-a meals, but do love their milkshakes.
Movement: Seems to be more and more frequent and getting stronger!
Worries: I found a tick on my back one night, and then had a day with a terrible headaches and exhaustion and worried I had a tick-born illness (proof I am ridiculous).
Milestones: Finally starting to feel like I have some amount of energy!
Best Moment This Week: Spending time with my boys enjoying a little “vacation” time with my parents. Also, I didn’t have to cook!
How Far Along: 14 weeks
Size of Baby: About the size of a lemon.
Gender: My gut is girl.
Weight Gain: About one or two pounds. Woot! I’m not sure how long I’ll keep track of this, since I started out at a heavier weight than typical for me, and the thought of gaining 30 pounds (typical for me during pregnancy) is stressing me out. But, I did loose at least a pound earlier, which has never happened to me during pregnancy, and have probably gained about two since then, for a net gain of one.
Symptoms: More nausea than in my previous pregnancies, but still not bad. Serious fatigue, but that seems to be getting a little better now that I’ve hit the second trimester. I had a ton of dizziness at this point with Nathan, and I have that this time around, but it hasn’t been as bad (I had several times where the edge of my vision would go black in my last pregnancy, but this time has been much milder).
Exercise: I’ve tried to keep up with running, but since the Color Run two weeks ago, I haven’t done any. I’m struggling to find the time between taking C to school, N’s naps, and home showings. Plus the whole energy thing, but I’m hopeful I can get back on top of it this week.
Clothes: All maternity pants; my regular pants do still fit, but they get more and more uncomfortable as the day goes one, and especially after eating, so I just gave up. A few non-maternity shirts still work, but maternity tops give better coverage and the ones that aren’t gathered at the sides are baggier and I feel like hide things more if I want.
Cravings/Aversions: In general, nothing really grosses me out, but not a lot appeals to me either. Mostly all that sounds appetizing to me are things like ice cream or milkshakes, although in the last couple of days I’ve really wanted a plain bagel and cream cheese.
Movement: I think I’ve felt some, starting at about 12 weeks. It can been several days or weeks between thinking I can feel movement, but when I’ve felt something it has been when I’m sitting still, which doesn’t happen too often.
Worries: Like last time, lots of things worry me. I had some bleeding early on, which my doctor things was probably latent implantation bleeding. But that freaked me out a good bit. Also, I have a friend who was close to a month behind me, had a good 8-week ultrasound and found out a week later she had miscarried. So of course, that makes me nervous (and feel totally awful for her). Most of my other worries center around having three kids four and under, and just being worried about poor Nathan – stuck in the middle with a sibling 16 months younger than him and a high needs older sibling.
Milestones: Second trimester!
Best Moment This Week: This didn’t happen this week, but when we told Colton we were having another baby, he assumed it would be a boy. After my 12 week ultrasound I told him the baby *might* be a girl. He was immediately happy with his and declared, “we need to go to the mall to get Scout Baby a hair bow! Some stores have hair bows at the check-out.”
It’s a good thing we have three red chairs; the last one will be occupied in October. Crazy exciting!!!!
Longbrake Living 
