Week 20 Wrap Up

 No chalkboard this week! I decided that I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to get my 20 week picture at Disney World! The red button was for mine and JD's 2nd Anniversary. It's so fun having the cast members and random people in the park wishing you a happy anniversary all day. The yellow button on my belly was a 1st Visit button for baby Charlie :)

How far along? Finishing up 20 Weeks

Baby is the size of a: Banana

Total weight gain/loss: UP .8lbs. YAY! If you look at my graph on My Fitness Pal it's pretty obvious that I've plateaued at this point. Oh well! Total loss = 17.6lbs I eat like a dadgum cow these days. I take a lunch box full of snacks with me to work each day and eat on it in addition to my regular lunch. For example, today at lunch I had chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, green beans, a fruit cup, and a chocolate cup cake. After lunch I ate a cup of yogurt, a cheese stick, and a cup of applesauce. The picture below is the rest of what I packed for snacks after already eating what I did. I never make it through the whole lunch box (thank goodness), but I like to give myself options ;) NOBODY can say that I'm not eating enough!

 

Symptoms: Heartburn! Ugh. My prescription ran out so I had to get it refilled and even being off of it a few days really messes with me. Emotional as mess. ZERO lung capacity (Thank God for Albuterol and Dulera). Peeing all the time. You know, the usual stuff.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Belly Button in or out? In, but not as deep! It's a little more shallow every week!

Sleep: Pretty good...once I started sleeping with 5 pillows again. My arms have started going numb when I sleep on my side which makes me roll onto my back (no matter how many pillows I sleep with). Then when I wake up on my back I have a major headache from the reduced blood flow and such I guess. I miss sleeping on my belly SO MUCH. Ugh it's the only way I'm comfortable. :(

Food cravings: Caramel Apple suckers, apple cider, and hot chocolate. Maybe those aren't pregnancy cravings so much as they are just my fall staples. The cooler weather has finally made it feel like fall in Valdosta!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Oddly enough I got SO sick on Saturday morning! NOT the morning that I really wanted to be hugging the toilet. I was going to Disney World! Nothing was going to keep me from it! Honestly I think I just let myself get too hungry. We ate around 6pm the night before and I didn't eat much because I wasn't hungry at the time. I went to bed hungry and woke up famished. I just have to remember to keep eating something every little bit. As long as I do that I'm never nauseous.

Miss anything? I'm sure I did, but I can't think of it right now. Oh yeah, I just said sleeping on my tummy. So there's that. OH! And I'm a fan of all of those Bud Ligh -ritas. My favorite is the Mango-rita, but I've noticed that they came out with an Apple-rita. This chick doesn't care for anything pumpkin but I'll eat/drink anything apple flavored. So yeah, I'm the preggo that's missing be able to drink right now. I'm sure that sounds awful.... No shame.

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: SO emotional. TOTAL breakdown at work. Cried the whole Disney trip because "JD! Wishes really do come true if you just believe!!!!" and that new Garth Brooks song. DANG. I cried over TV shows. I cried over stories on the radio. I cried over Facebook. You name it I probably cried about it this week. 

Workouts:  Good stuff. Tuesday I hit the 20 week mark and did my hardest workout yet! Body weight squats, and new kind of shoulder press, modified step out burpees with a step up combo, two handed rows, and time on the elliptical. I felt AMAZING afterwards and was so proud of myself! Thursday Billy was gone so I made my own workout combination up of some of my more standard moves. Saturday we were in Disney and didn't workout, but I did carry my book bag the whole time and an average day in Disney usually = about 6 miles of walking. I'll call that a workout any day :)

The Bump:  40ish inches

Have you started to show yet?: Um do you see that picture of me at Disney??? Charlie is making his presence very well known!

Stretch marks? No stretch marks, but the veins are certainly showing up more and more. Road maps I tell you. Road maps.

Maternity Clothes? Still haven't gotten anything new. I need to hunt down a nice dress to be able to wear to The Fox over Thanksgiving break. I'll probably order some more stuff this week too. I'm still accepting any donations that friends might have ;)

Gender: Boy, oh boy! I'm still having a hard time getting excited about boys clothes. Like, a REALLY hard time. T-shirts and gym shorts all the time is NOT ok with me. Ugh it was so disappointing seeing the extremely limited selection for little boys compared to little girls at both Disney World and BuyBuyBaby. Y'all need to help me get excited here...........

Any Names Picked Out Yet: My little Charlie :) We still call him Charles or Charles David half the time, but Charlie it is.

Labor Signs: Yeah right

Movement: Oh. My. Goodness. This might be up there for best moment of the week. He is moving SO much. Like HELLO CHARLIE! He has finally woken up and is quite the wiggle worm! It made my hart so happy to feel him while we were at Disney. He kept giving me nudges while we were eating at Be Our Guest and all through the fireworks. I've come to expect to feel him at certain times of the day too. I also thought it was hilarious that whenever I would sit a certain way in the car he would start nudging me. JD says he thinks it's because I was squishing Charlie and he was just letting me know he didn't appreciate it very much :) I also think JD might have been just a little jealous of me feeling him! I would tell him whenever he was moving and he just seemed like he wanted that "connection" too.

Best moment this week: Best moment for me?? Disney. Hands down. Getting to share that special day with JD was so special. I absolutely loved it and it was one of my best Disney days ever. We never waited in a line for more than 40 minutes and that was without a FastPass! 

My best moment for my little family/pregnancy was finally deciding on and buying a crib. I know JD was not thrilled to come straight home from Disney and run to the store to buy it. He was even less excited about having to set it up that night. But it was fun to work on it together and see him get excited and involved. I think we rearranged the nursery about 8 times trying to decide on layout and furniture placement and such, but we finally got it how I want it. Now to just get my chair ordered and set it up! 

That was a pretty great moment too... We went to BuyBuyBaby while in Orlando and after sitting in at least 15 chairs I finally picked the one that I want :)

Looking forward to: JD being able to feel Charlie kick from the outside :)

Week 19 Wrap Up

I couldn't resist making a pumpkin belly shirt! The timing of this pregnancy was just too perfect not to!

How far along? Finishing up 19 Weeks

Baby is the size of a: Mango

Total weight gain/loss: Down 1.4 for a total of -18.4. I've decided not to stress over the weight so much. It fluctuates as much as 2-3lbs a day, or even in the same day! I'm eating like a pig because I'm always SO hungry now, so maybe Charlie is just using all my calories up for me.

Symptoms: HUNGRY and once again SO tired! Lower back has been tight off and on. P Brain.

Wedding rings on or off? On and spinning

Belly Button in or out? In, but not as deep! It's a little more shallow every week!

Sleep: I've been sleeping a lot better actually!

Food cravings: Hmmmmm.... Nothing in particular that I really remember!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really this week :) The second trimester is SO much nicer!

Miss anything? This week I really missed my mom and dad. They were in the mountains with super sketchy cell service so I didn't get to talk to them very much. Some days Mom and I didn't even text! I hated it.

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: Happy! I've been in a pretty good mood all week overall!

Workouts:  Tuesday we started changing things up (finally!). I told Billy I was getting bored with some of my workouts and felt like I had plateaued. Basically I wanted to keep working the same super beneficial muscle groups but by doing different exercises and challenging myself. Thursday my lower back was KILLING me so we did a completely new routine that included a lot of stretching between each move. It was my longest workout yet and took over an hour and a half. This workout also massively targeted my glutes, which while I was glad to work that area, I was SO sore the next day! Saturday it was only about 40 degrees when we got out to the shed and, long story short, my crappy lungs gave up on me. After a few puffs on my rescue inhaler I was good to go and able to finish.

The Bump:  40ish inches

Have you started to show yet?: Definitely.

Stretch marks? Not yet. Still trying to fend them off no matter how inevitable they might be!

Maternity Clothes? I've been looking at some more. I can't wear any of my pants without doing the rubber band trick. If anyone in Valdosta has some clothes they would like to let me borrow I promise to take good care of them and return each and every piece. Just remember that I am 5'9" :)

Gender: Charlie is a sweet little boy. I'm getting more excited about having a little boy every day. There are some things that have me really excited, but others make me nervous! Being a potential football mom in South Georgia? Yikes! "Boys will be boys"? Yikes! Mud and bugs and mess? Yikes! But then I remember that I get to have a mother son dance at his wedding, that I'll have a little hero around who wants nothing more than to help and protect me, and that I get to watch JD teach him not only what it means to be a little man, but also a man of God. Yup. Those things help me be more excited about having a boy :)

Names: Charles David, but calling him Charlie :) So many people have told me how much they like the name and several have said that it's a "good strong name." Makes my heart smile!

Labor Signs: Yeah right

Movement: Y'all. I felt "popping" and "flutters" this week like you've all been describing. They felt DISTINCTLY different than all of the other things I've felt. Everything before felt more like a tugging or pulling on a rubber band and quite frankly hurt/was uncomfortable. These weren't. They were.... Different. JD says he thinks the pulling feeling was probably just my body growing, which I've thought before too. But not this. Was THAT my baby?!

Best moment this week: Picking out bedding for the nursery and then finding it on eBay for over $100 cheaper than buying it in the store!!! I fell in love with a set from Pottery Barn Kids which never has been, and probably never will be, in my budget. I tried looking around online but the only other place that had something similar was Carousel Designs, which was still way out of my budget. I was devastated. I mean come on y'all. $180 for curtains??? NOT happening! Enter good old trusty eBay :) I got my whole crib set (minus bumpers. No bumpers here!) for a fantastic price! Now to track down some curtains....

JD also got bit by the nesting bug and already rearranged all of the furniture to combine the office/guest bedroom and rearranged the furniture in what is now officially the nursery. It looks so empty without a crib! Picking a crib has felt like picking a wedding dress! I've found hundreds online but keep falling in love with ones I can't afford! SO stressful!

 Baby Charlie's super adorable and just preppy enough bedding :)

 Current crib crush :)

Looking forward to: Finally picking out and ordering a crib... But I'm more excited about GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! We leave Friday afternoon, are staying in the Hilton thanks to some amazing online deals, and spending the WHOLE DAY Saturday at the Magic Kingdom before heading back on Sunday. Happy 2 year anniversary to us!! And it means I get to see Momma and Daddy since they are coming down to keep our dogs. Seeing them is always a plus :)

Week 18 Wrap Up

How far along? Finishing up 18 Weeks

Baby is the size of an: Sweet Potato

Total weight gain/loss: UP .4lbs! Another gain! Grow baby grow!! All concerns about baby being too small were shut down at this week's anatomy ultrasound. He is actually measuring a week ahead! He averaged out to be 19 weeks vs. 18, but the doctor says we don't have to move the due date yet because the 2nd trimester ultrasound can be up to 10 days off size wise. My little boy is happy and healthy and looked quite smushed in there!

Symptoms: Still an itchy belly. Congestion like mad. Peeing ALL the time! And HUNGRY!!! Baby is supposedly hitting some growth spurts so this is normal :)

Wedding rings on or off? On

Belly Button in or out? In, but not as deep! It's a little more shallow every week!

Sleep: The usual. I was up crazy late earlier in the week from working on decorating for the gender reveal party but I slept like I was dead from being so exhausted. I even slept great while we traveled to Clearwater!

Food cravings: Oddly enough citrus! I never really cared for oranges before this pregnancy but I've been loving mandarin oranges and clementines throughout. This week I discovered a new found love for orange juice! And I went back to eating pineapple! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really this week :)

Miss anything? Wearing some of my favorite clothes comfortably. The belly is big enough to have to start retiring some outfits. 

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: Happy but also stressed. I went into super planner mode for the Gender Reveal and was quite anxious about it all coming together. Fortunately it all came together really well. I definitely had a good time going out of town this weekend and spending time with both sets of family and our friends. 

Workouts:  Weak sauce. Well, kind of. Tuesday was a decent workout from what I remember. Nothing too special. We didn't work out Thursday since JD's family came in town. Saturday we were in Clearwater so we missed our Billy workout, but I still insisted on staying active like he always wants me to. We went for a 3 mile walk down the beach and it felt good to get my heart pumping and blood flowing.

The Bump:  39ish inches

Have you started to show yet?: Oh totally. A parent came in for lunch today and actually told me that she noticed my belly about a month ago but didn't want to say anything until she knew for sure :)

Stretch marks? Not yet. But the itching has made me start moisturizing more. 

Maternity Clothes? I need to get more but have to wait until my November budget. 

Gender: BABY D IS A BOY!!!! I was so surprised! I guess that statistic I posted before was right! How funny that everything I felt and all of those gender predictions were wrong! So many people were worried that I was disappointed or not excited. I can assure you that that's not the case at all! I am thrilled to be having a little boy and get more excited the more I think about it! Don't get me wrong, I was surprised, but I promise my tears were happy tears :) God probably gave me a boy just to spite me and prove that I can't plan everything ;)

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Yes! Baby's name is CHARLES DAVID! Charles was my momma's daddy's name, and David was JD's little brother's name. They both had sick hearts and went to live with Jesus earlier than anyone here would have liked. We thought it would be a sweet way to honor and represent these two special men from each family. I've said that we will call him Charlie, but I'm also not opposed to calling him by his first and middle name. Love me a good southern double name :)

Labor Signs: Yeah right

Movement: I don't think so... I'm ready for it!

Best moment this week: DEFINITELY our gender reveal party and sharing that special day with our closest friends and family. Will post specifically about the party later :)

  

Looking forward to: Starting to plan for the nursery and shopping for little boy clothes :)

 

Week 17 Wrap Up

How far along? Finishing up 17 Weeks

Baby is the size of an: Turnip/Onion. In my picture I don't have anything because the store was out of turnips, and I didn't see that another comparison was an onion until I had already gotten home. 

Total weight gain/loss: UP 1.8 for a total loss of 17.4. A gain! A gain! Hopefully my doctor is happy :) Although I have noticed my weight can fluctuate 3 lbs during one day...

Symptoms: My belly has been itching! I read that it's because the skin is stretching/growing as baby gets bigger. My beagle smell is still pretty super strong. Sent me running to the bathroom the other day :/

Wedding rings on or off? On, actually they're spinning from being quite loose!

Belly Button in or out? In, but not as deep! That surgery scar is definitely doing some weird stuff!

Sleep: The usual. Sleeping better, but waking up throughout the night. My hips have been hurting so I've started wrestling with pillows. Need to look into those special pregnant lady pillows maybe. 

Food cravings: Still lots and lots of sweets. Mainly Chick Fil A milkshakes :) I still indulge in pickles occasionally and always half a jar at a time. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just a few strong smells. I was tempted to ask one of my boys to go to the bathroom to wash off some of his cologne but I thought it might not be the best idea after all. 

Miss anything? Not really?

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: Emotional. I cry all. The. Time. Work's also been really rough lately which has me quite moody too. 

Workouts:  Tuesday I was running on 3 hours of sleep and lots of mental blah-ness thanks to work drama so I just got on the elliptical for 35 minutes. Plugged in my headphones and totally zoned out. Thursday was pretty standard. Saturday on the other hand was rough. It was really chilly Saturday morning and my lungs decided to rebel. I'm low on my inhaler so I'm only taking a quarter of my usual dose right now until mom can bring me another one. The cold air and the cardio did NOT mix well. 

The Bump:  39ish inches

Have you started to show yet: How funny that after last week's post my belly popped right out and has stayed out since! Definitely need to look into getting some bigger shirts. 

Stretch marks? Not yet. But the itching has made me start moisturizing more. 

Maternity Clothes? I need to get more but have to wait until my November budget. 

Gender Prediction: Girl, but getting more and more ok with a boy. Can't wait to have our ultrasound and our gender reveal next week!!!

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Yup! And after this week this question will be changed because WE WILL KNOW BABY's name!!! Blows. My. Mind. 

Labor Signs: Yeah right

Movement: So I just plain can't tell. Sometimes I'll think yes definitely, but other times I'll convince myself it was just bubbles moving. I think that until baby gives me a good swift kick I'm going to be doubtful. 

Best moment this week: Finding out that a sweet, sweet friend is having a girl! That means she will either have Baby D's best friend or his wife ;) And finding the perfect box for our gender reveal!

  

Looking forward to: Wednesday. SO ready to see Baby again! It's been 7 weeks! And maybe, just maybe, I'm a little excited to know if Baby is a boy or girl!!

Week 16 Wrap Up

How far along? Finishing up 16 Weeks

Baby is the size of an: Avocado

Total weight gain/loss: Down 1.4 this week for a total of 19.2. Grrrrr..... I ate brownies! And milk shakes! And lots of protein shakes! And donuts! Baby is just eating me from the inside out. Several people at work commented on how thin I look, that I'm still wearing normal clothes, and that I don't even have a bump anymore. They must not have read about what not to say to pregnant women. I might have worried that baby is too small just a few times. Just a few. Maybe.

Symptoms: Nothing really new this week. Honestly it was a pretty boring week as far as the pregnancy goes. But I'm not complaining! I'm LOVING feeling like a human being!

Wedding rings on or off? On, actually they're spinning from being quite loose!

Belly Button in or out? In, but not as deep!

Sleep: The usual. Sleeping better, but waking up throughout the night. 

Food cravings: Sweets! Lots of sweets!! and Cheetos!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not a thing! I felt so good this week! I still have this obnoxiousl sensitive gag reflex, but I'm learning to handle it.

Miss anything? Not really?

Happy, Moody, or Emotional most of the time: Emotional. I cry all. The. Time. 

Workouts:  Really good! I added some more weights!

The Bump:  39ish inches

Have you started to show yet: Yes, but it seems to fluctuate sizes! It freaks me out! Big one day, smaller the next. Like I said, people comment on the bump now, and I've had quite a few unwelcomed belly touchers. Let me remind everyone... If you didn't put it in there (JD) or your aren't helping to take it out (Doctors and Nurses) then DON'T TOUCH please :)

Stretch marks? Not yet. 

Maternity Clothes? A few things. The stuff I ordered last week all came in and fit so well! I'm excited to know that I have two store options for cute cheap maternity clothes already lined up. In fact, the dress I'm wearing in the picture is my first official photo in a maternity dress! Although I'm not sure what makes it maternity... Seemed pretty standard maxi to me. 

Gender Prediction: Still heavily leaning towards a girl. It just feels so right! I read somewhere this week that in moms that have no gender preference their intuition about baby's sex is right 80% of the time, but in moms that do have a preference their intuition is only right 20% of the time. Now we all know that most statistics online are just mumbo jumbo it seems, but if that one happens to be true then I think it looks like we're having a boy....

Any Names Picked Out Yet: Can't believe baby will have a NAME in just 2 weeks! We've been calling him/her Baby D so long that it will be so strange to start using a name! The funny thing is that we have started saying the two names that we have picked out around our dogs. Denver has NO reaction when we say the boy name. I mean none whatsoever. But when we say the girl's name OMG he lights right up! He starts going nuts! We've even tried saying it in all kinds of different tones of voice to make sure it doesn't sound like something else and he still goes nuts! Denver actually picked his own name this same way! He didn't respond to any other names that I listed off when I first adopted him, but he went nuts as soon as I said Denver! Maybe Denver is hoping for a baby sister too!

Labor Signs: Yeah right

Movement: Less than I had been... which I try not to let concern me, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't. Things like my weight continuing to drop and constantly waking up on my back despite  how many pillows I sleep with make me quite nervous that baby isn't developing like he/she should.

Best moment this week: Knowing that Baby D could hear my voice. I started talking to him/her a little bit more and praying for all kinds of things. I also loved that I knew he/she could hear music and that we had a great set list at the Porch! Haha! How funny that I wanted Baby's first Sunday of being able to hear the music at church to be a Sunday with a good set list :)

  

Looking forward to: Seeing Baby D on 10/22. I really need some reassurance that 1) all is well in there, 2) that his/her heart is happy, healthy, and strong, and 3) that we have a little he or a little she :)