22/23 weeks

22 weeks

23 weeks
How far along? 23 weeks


Size of baby? 11.5 inches long and weighs 1 pound !!

Total weight Gain/Loss? Up 13/14 pounds

Maternity Clothes? I am in dire need of these, haha. I have no maternity bottoms and only 2 actual maternity tops. (both of which I am wearing in the pictures above, lol) It's hard to spend money on something that I'll only need a few months, especially when they are so darn expensive. Within the next few weeks I'll have to break down and buy some new clothes though.

Gender? It's a Boy!

Movement? All the time.. and on my list of top life experiences. There's just nothing like it. I am finally starting to feel actual "kicks" too, rather than just tumbling. He can be felt on the outside now so Tyler is finally able to be involved :) Although, the little stinker will stop whatever he's doing as soon as Tyler tries to feel. I've heard a couple mentions from other pregnant ladies about getting kicked in the ribs.. and I have to say sometimes I would like to be kicked in the ribs... he is soooo low, I feel like I need to push him up sometimes, haha. Weird.

Sleep? I am starting to get slightly uncomfortable. Good thing I have my Snoogle =) Not to bad though, I sleep superbly (is that a word?), just the usual wake-ups for the bathroom and it's back to snoozing.

Symptomns? Still have major nasal congestion along with light nosebleeds. Lots of bathroom breaks. And I mean lots. The sciatic nerve pain has still not come back (yay!) but I have had, I guess, ligament pain on my belly. It lasted about 2 or 3 days. And (from the research I did) I think it came up from working out. It's hard to find the right balance of "staying active" versus "resting and relaxing" .. both of which I am supposed to be doing, ha. And I have the dry eyes too. Nothing major and overall, I feel great!

Belly Button? It's hard to describe, haha. Not an outie, but barely passing for an innie!

What I am looking forward to? Getting the bedding set this week, thanks to Tyler's Aunt Terrie and Uncle Paul! And my first baby shower back in Texas from Tyler's family is in less than 3 weeks!!! I can't wait! My mom bought me the dress I am going to wear, while we were at the mall last weekend. She said that way there will be a "piece of her" with me =)
 
Next baby check-up is September 17th. But look for a post on the progress of the nursery to come next! It has begun! Our goal is to have it complete by the time I am 30 weeks.

A Little Bit of Everything...

Is it just me or did August absolutely FLY by? Probably because it has been my best month of this pregnancy so far, lol. =) School starts back up on Monday so I will be back to Lowe's during the day, then Grace Lutheran School for Extended Day with my Pre-schoolers and Kinders. I am a little worried, but then I remember that I somehow got through it back in the Spring dealing with morning sickness (at all hours of the day) everyday. And I really, really LOVE working at Grace (also our church) so I am looking forward to it... we'll see how long I can go.

Well, I plan on doing a 22/23 week update tomorrow, but realized I have a bunch of random pictures I wanted to post so I am doing this separate post just so I can blab about some pictures.

As you know, we found out we are having a boy on the 9th. I have a calendar in the kitchen that I wrote "2:15... BOY OR GIRL?" for our Dr. appointment. Just the other day I noticed that had been erased and my funny husband had replaced it with this....

We have been working on clearing out Tyler's (old) office/man cave so it can be converted into a precious nursery =) (He's having a hard time with it but is proud that, "It will still be a man's room!!") Here are some 'in the process" pictures of what a mess it looked like this past week.

We got rid of an old recliner that my mom rocked my 13 year old brother in!!! Sold a desk, office chair, and TV. And gave the desktop computer to my little brother. Two bookshelves and all the books are now in the guest bedroom, and all of his JUNK (hehe) was put in other closets or brought to the garage. It is now an EMPTY bedroom with 3 bibs and a few outfits hanging in the closet!!! ....

Now it is time to really get to work! After weeks of discussion, I broke down and let Tyler pick out the "theme"/bedding set. It will not be anything close to what I had imagined it would look like, but as long as we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy in it .. what more could I want?
It will still be precious and we are so excited to start putting it together.

And lastly, I just had to take some pictures of the outfits we have. I can not get over the cuteness. Last weekend when we were in Georgia with my family, my mom bought these...

It says, "Whoo's too cute!" and look at that little guy with his bib and tie, awww!!

Is that not so adorable for a little baby boy?

And this is my favorite one!!! It says, "Mane Man" ahhhhh, so cute!!!!!

This last one was from Tyler's Aunt Debbie.. she gave it to us back in June before we knew it was a boy =) I love it.

Look for a weekly update tomorrow!

It's A......

BOY!!!!!

(But you all already knew that.. haha) And here is the proof....

(see arrow)

AND WE ARE THRILLED!!! Of course, we would have been just as thrilled either way to hear our babe was growing and healthy, regardless of gender. But deep in our hearts we both desired a little boy.. how awesome is He. We are overwhelmed with thankfulness, just as we were when we discovered I was pregnant. We are having the time of our lives =) Here is another picture of our little guy....

His arms/hands were chilling up behind his head. The ultrasound tech said, "He looks like a thinker." lol His heart looked great. His head measured 1 week ahead and his leg bones measured almost 2 weeks ahead. Either that means a) he will be a big baby or b) he will come early..... OPTION B, PLEASE! My favorite quote though, "You couldn't ask for a healthier baby." *sigh* Music to my ears... We got a DVD of the entire ultrasound she recorded for us.

I also had a regular check-up this week. Everything checked out good there too! The last blood test they did (the MSAFP) came back normal, my blood pressure was right on, my weight gain is still at 1 lb. a week, and Dr. said I look great. He said I'll probably gain 25 pounds and I'll lose it all by my 6-8 week check-up and everyone will hate me. Ummm, I don't know what makes him think that but let's hope he's right, haha. (well except the hating me part) lol
Of course it was great getting to listen to the heartbeat again =) I'll never forget what he said (I already wrote it down in my preggo notes).... "This little boy is going to turn your world upside down. He is jetting around all over the place in there!" We would be listening to the heartbeat, then we would hear a "swoosh", then we would hear it again followed by a "swoosh", ect. I rarely feel an actual kick. It is more like "swimming around" ... I'm hoping that means he'll like swimming ;)

And lastly, an update on the sciatica. I recognized that I was waking up constantly in the middle of the night on my BACK, which is a big no-no apparently while you're pregnant. Well, Tyler insisted on buying me a SNOOGLE - Total Body Pillow .. (I couldn't see spending that much money on a silly looking pillow, but we bought it nonetheless) It has kept me from rolling onto my back while I sleep, and I have had absolutely no sciatic nerve pain since then. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence.... ? But I am glad =) I am sure it will show up again, but for now I am feeling GREAT!!

Next appointment is Friday, September 17th. After that one, appointments will be every 2 weeks, December will be here before we know it!

20 weeks?!?!

This week I am celebrating 20 weeks... the half-way mark!! In a way, I can not believe I have already made it here. On the other hand, I can not believe I still have 20 weeks left. hehe More than anything my heart is FULL of thankfulness. All my check-ups have come with good reports and I've haven't had any complications.
In case you forgot..... the big ultrasound is in 6 DAYS!!!! SO. EXCITED. Once again praying that baby is healthy and well more than anything!! Still trying to figure out how we are going to let all the family (both sides) know the news.

Here's my 20 week belly....

Along with the lovely bump has come the lovely sciatic nerve pain (insert sarcasm). Which has really put a damper on the awesome working out I was doing. Sometimes just walking brings with it stabbing pain down the right side of my body. I guess if it's not one thing, it's another =) No matter how much pain I'm in, I feel that baby tumble around and all is well in the world!!!

P.S. What do you think about my new background? I am loving it!