23.5 Weeks

In just a few short days, I will hit the 6 month mark! I can't believe I've been pregnant for nearly 1/2 a year. Despite how sick I was and how much I hated being pregnant for those first four months, this really has flown by. I know the next 3.5 months will fly by as well with the holidays approaching.

I am feeling great these days. Sleeping isn't as easy or comfortable as it used to be. I used to sleep like rock (and through my alarm), but now I'm awakened by the smallest thing. I also can't get comfortable. I always slept on my back or stomach, two positions that aren't allowed or possible any more. I kick (literally) my poor husband out of bed almost every night now, and I wake up to find him on the couch. So much for getting our good sleep in now! Although, as long as I am not spending my days/nights with my head in the toilet, I'm a happy camper.

Here's an updated survey:

How far along?: Almost 24 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: + 5 lbs

Maternity Clothes?: Yeah...squeezing into my old jeans is a distance memory, although I have a couple of pairs of stretchy pants I can still wear. Still wearing all my normal tops.

Sleep: so so

Best moment this week: weighing myself and finding out that I am only up 5 lbs from my pre-preg weight after all the sickening Halloween indulgences I've had over the last few weeks. I was scared to step on that scale!

Food Cravings: Thanksgiving food! I can't wait for stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pecan pie!

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Nope!

Belly Button in or out?: In, for the moment

What I miss: Cocktails! So far I've been to three weddings, several nights out with friends, and a raging Halloween party, and I miss being able to have a drink or two with my friends. I also miss feeling energetic. I tend to fade around 9pm and I hate how boring I've become!

What I am looking forward to: Getting the house ready.

Weekly Wisdom: Exercise! I haven't been doing it enough, but I feel so good when I go on a long walk (hey, at least it's all uphill!). I have more energy and feel better overall

Milestone: having a healthy pregnancy so far, feeling good and being able to enjoy these last few weeks!

And, here's a recent pic

Nursery

It's getting to be time to start the best part of pregnancy: nursery decorating! Originally I had wanted to do a black, white and teal room. I didn't want anything too girly or pink. I've never been too much of a girly-girl, and didn't want my house to explode with pink because we were having a girl. I found some adorable black and white damask patterns that I was going to incorporate into the room, and teal/turquoise was going to be the accent color. Last weekend my mom and I paid a visit to The Baby Guy and man did he live up to my expectations! He had so much adorable stuff to choose from. I found perfect damask fabric for the crib bedding, but didn't love the teal choices. They all looked too boyish to me, even with a girly damask pattern. J and I talked it over and decided that a little pink wouldn’t kill us. We ended up designing adorable custom bedding-black and white damask bumper, with pink, damask, and polka-dot accents. The bedding I designed is a combo of the two below. It will have pink accents like the picture below. The skirt will look like this one, but reversed. The main pattern will be damask with the smaller trim being polka dot.

And the damask pattern like this pic. The difference is there will be soft pink in place of the blue, and no satin ruffle trim along the border.

I can't wait to see the finished product. It's always been hard for me to picture how designs will turn out without any visuals, but I know this will be adorable. We also plan to to wainscoting 1/2 way up the walls, and paint the top half a soft pink similar to the picture above.

As far as furniture, we know we want black. It will look great with the color scheme, and will work if we have a boy in the future. It's actually pretty hard to find nursery sets in black. Most sets we loved are only offered in white or brown/espresso. We picked some we liked at Bergstrom, but we haven't made any final decisions yet.

We sold all of our guest room furniture, so as soon as that's picked up we can get started. I'll be sure to take before and after pics of the whole process.

Wish us luck!

Week 20-Half Way Baby!

I've made it to the half way point! I feel like this pregnancy is flying by! I am finally feeling wonderful, and I love it. No more sickness or nausea, and my energy levels are back (although I still fall asleep early every night despite my best efforts to keep my hub company). It's been awesome to feel like myself again...I hope this lasts! About two weeks ago, I felt the baby move for the first time. Now I can feel it all day long. It's really cool. I still haven't had any specific cravings, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas food, but that happens to me every year around this time. Here's a little survey with more updates:

How far along?: 20 Weeks!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: None to date...I lost a few pounds in the beginning, and have put one or two of them back on, but I'm still right around my pre-prego weight. I'm sure that will change now that I'm feeling better, tho : /

Maternity Clothes?: Yes! I had to go buy a new pair of pants because most of my jeans are getting too uncomfortable. I tried a paid of maternity jeans on and they were like heaven! I am still wearing all my normal tops for now...

Sleep: Pretty good. I wake up a lot through the night, but that's more to do with my cat jumping on my head and less to do with the bambino.

Best moment this week: NOT throwing up at all! A week is the longest I've made it since I found out I was pregnant, so that is definitely the highlight of my week!

Movement: Yes! I can feel little kicks and punches. I can always feel her right after I eat, and then at night when I'm sitting still on the couch.

Food Cravings: Nothing specific, although I have a real sweet tooth lately. And that's strange for me because I really don't eat sweets. I'm usually a salty and savory kinda gal.

Gender: Still a girl

Labor Signs: Nope!

Belly Button in or out?: In, but it's less deep than it was, which means it's on it's way out...eeek!

What I miss: Sushi, big time. Also, I've missed working out. I've turned into a hibernating slug over the past 5 months, but now that I am feeling better I'm stepping back out into the exercise world!

What I am looking forward to: My "nesting" urge to kick in (see "hibernating slug" above). I am seriously dreading getting the baby's room ready. It's currently our spare room, so that means we have to clear out all the furniture in there and figure out what to do with it. The closet in that room also currently serves as my "overflow" closet, and it's full of excess clothes and other crap that I didn't find a place for when I bought this place about five years ago. Needless to say, it is going to be a project. But I will be happy when we finally bite the bullet and get it done.

Weekly Wisdom: Now that I'm not tossing my cookies all day long, I need to cut out the cookies-literally. I haven't been really worried about weight gain too much since I haven't been able to eat much. It's tough to pack on the pounds when you only keep 1/3 of your meals in your belly. But, now that I'm better I need to start monitoring my intake-especially with the holidays around the corner!

Milestone: Feeling her move, picking out nursery furniture

Week 18

Well, it's no secret that pregnancy has been hard on me. As excited as I am about having my very own mini-me, these past 4.5 months have been rough. Thankfully everything is healthy and progressing nicely, which is awesome. I just wish I was feeling good enough to really enjoy being pregnant! Here are some updates on all things baby:

I'm a little over 18 wks along with this little lady. We had an early ultrasound at 15 weeks to find out the gender, but the hospital confirmed that this is indeed a girl at my anatomy scan this past week. It took the first place we went about an hour and a half to determine that she's a girl since she was being so shy and protective of her privates, but this week was a different story. The tech confirmed gender within about 10 seconds of turning the screen on. Those legs were wide open! She is doing great, and even though she's not letting me eat much or keep much down, she is growing right on track. I, on the other hand, am not growing much yet. I have been taking some pictures of my belly, but feel silly because there is no really belly there yet. I can notice it, especially when I'm in the ol birthday suit, but I could still get away with hiding it if I had to. I have not had any substantial or weird cravings, but I have definitely accrued a list things I CAN'T eat. Meat is on that list. I can barely stomach any kind of meat, and if I can get some down, it has to be drowned in sauce so I can avoid the meaty taste. Funnily enough, I have been loving pickles. I haven't had to send John off for a pickle jar in the middle of the night, but when we go to our local bar, Roscoe's, I always have to indulge in their giant, fresh pickles. Mmmmm

That's about all that's new and exciting in our little world. I've been so bad at taking pics lately, so I'll try to get some up and documented next time!

Survey Says

About You

Name: Tracie
Age: 28
Height: 5'7"

About The Father
Name: John
Age: 28
Height: 6'
Are you still together: Yep, Married 1 year 2 months

About Your Pregnancy
Is this your first pregnancy: Yes
When did you find out you were pregnant: End of June
Was it planned: Ummmmm, nope!
What was your first reaction: Shock, then panic, then excitement
Who was with you when you found out: my cat-haha J was out of town that weekend
Who was the first person you told: Of course John, but the first person other than him and I to know was my BFF Brooke
How did your parents react: They thought we were playing a mean joke on them...once they found out we were serious, they were ecstatic!
How far along are you: 16 Weeks
What was your first symptom: Late
What is your due date: Feb 29th, 2012-a leap year baby!
Do you know the sex of the baby: Yes-Girl!
Have you picked out names: Ryleigh = )
How much weight have you gained: As of right now, I'm down about 5 lbs from pre-pregnancy...all that sickness and all those food aversions!
Do you have stretch marks: No and I'm hoping it stays that way!
Have you felt the baby move: Not yet.
Have you heard the heartbeat:Yes, so cool!

About the birth
Will you keep the baby: Seriously? Only if she's cute ; )
Home or hospital birth: Hospital all the way!
Natural or medicated birth: I want every drug offered.
Who will be in the delivery room with you: Husband
Will you breastfeed: Yep! Great for baby and a great calorie burner!
Do you think you'll need a c-section: No reason to think that yet
Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time: I don't cry easily...
What's the first thing you might say to him/her: Hi-nice to meet you. Why were you so mean to me for your first four months in utero?!
Would you let someone videotape the birth: Who really wants to see that?
Are you excited about the birth, or scared?: My only real fear is of pooping on the delivery table...it panics me to think about that happening!

God Help Us

Well, much to our surprise, we discovered yesterday that Baby Hall is Baby Girl Hall! Lord help us! We both had boy in our heads-me because I had a feeling and can just picture myself with a house full of boys, and John, well because he really, really, really wanted it to be a boy. At least this little lady will be joining a large posse of girlfriends-all of my friends with little ones have girls, so she will fit right in!

Let the decorating begin!

Leapin' Lizzards!

We had our NT scan this week. This is the scary ultrasound that tells you if you have an increased risk of having a baby with genetic abnormalities. Thankfully, the munchkin looks great and tested negative for everything. We did get our due date moved back to what I had originally calculated before my first ultrasound. Looks like we are scheduled to have a leap year baby! The official due date is Feb 29th, 2012. I know that chances of having a baby on its due date are slim, but it would be a pretty cool birthday...

Here's a glimpse of the little guy or gal looking much more like a person, and much less like a flickering glow worm



Thumb-Sucker Already

And here I am at 14 weeks...where are you baby?? We have proof that you're there, but I hardly show any evidence of it yet!

We get another close up moment next Thu when we have our gender ultrasound. Crossing my fingers that this kid uncrosses it's legs! I'm already saving for the therapy my husband will require if they don't see a penis...eeek!