23 weeks

At the beginning of my pregnancy, I wanted so bad to look pregnant.  I knew in the back of my mind that eventually I’d be big and uncomfortable and wishing I wasn’t so obviously pregnant, but I didnt care – I wanted to have a ‘baby bump’ NOW!!   I defintely didn’t think that at 22 weeks I’d be trying to look ‘not pregnant.’  However, when I had a job interview last week, I knew the last thing I wanted was to go in looking obviously pregnant.  Below is a picture of my attempt.  My husband kindly told me that if he hadn’t known I was pregnant, he’d just think I was chubby.  It’s probably one of the only times that would be a good thing to say!!  I can’t say how effective my attempt was, because even though I made it to the final two, they offered the job to the other candidate 😦

Trying not to look pregnant...

This is my “belly shot” at 23 weeks.  I don’t see much difference in the pictures, but I can tell when I’m getting dressed – you could even see my belly a little when I was wearing a big hooded sweatshirt the other day.

23 Week Belly Shot

Little Miss Chloe Mae has become quite a mover and a shaker in the last few days – or she’s just gotten big enough that I can feel her a lot more often.  DaddyMort says she had the hiccups the other night.  He woke up at 5AM, rolled over and put his hand on my belly.  He told me the next morning that he could feel her very rhythmically and that he almost woke me up – I told him it was the right decision to just tell me about it the next morning 😀   The good news is that if it wasn’t hiccups, we’ll have a little girl with great rhythm!!

As I’ve heard is quite common, Chloe Mae tends to move around after I eat.  For a while, she was only moving after I ate certain foods, like bacon, ice cream or cookies.  I justified eating those super yummy foods, because Chloe liked it!!  I still made a big effort, and was egged on by my husband, to eat lots of fruits and veggies, but those just didn’t seem to get her going as much.  On Sunday morning Aaron made some Banana Nut Muffins, following a recipe from a book about eating well during pregnancy that I have from the library, and it suggested to serve them with fruit or yogurt.  So he decided to make a fruit salad with yogurt for me.  Well, she went crazy while I was eating breakfast, so I can no longer justify my bad eating choices by saying that it’s what Chloe Mae likes!!

According to BabyCenter, Chloe Mae’s sense of movement and hearing have developed quite a bit recently, so she can feel me dance and hear all sorts of sounds – probably most commonly, the dogs barking and me yelling at them.  She weighs about a pound, and is about 8 inches from crown to rump or 11 inches from head to toe.  I’ve read several “warnings” aimed at me, suggesting that stretch marks will probably appear soon and I’ll start to swell.  So far, I’ve been gaining weight pretty steadily (which I’ve heard is one of the only things you can do to try to avoid stretch marks) and I’ve been trying to stay active and hydrated (which I’ve heard can help prevent swelling.)  I’m still expecting both though…

Papaya anyone?

This is me at 21 weeks.

21 week Belly Shot

This is BabyMort, aka Chloe Mae.  Well, sort of.  She is about the size of a papaya now.  Last week the ultrasound tech guessed her weight at 12 oz, which is right on target.

It’s been a fun week.  I’m loving the prenatal yoga – it feels so good to stretch/exercise and not feel self conscious, because everyone else in the room is pregnant as well.  We got to have our ultrasound and have been able to look at and share her pictures with friends and family.  I feel her move around all the time and Aaron usually gets to feel her at least once a day as well.  Tonight, we even saw her move!!

I checked out a few books on nutrition in pregnancy today to get some ideas for well balanced meals for Chloe and I.  I also got one on the Bradley Birthing Method.  I’m not sure that this is the method we’ll use, but I want to start educating myself now on our options.

I’d like chips, but…

Aaron (aka DaddyMort :-D) was going to refill his coffee this afternoon and he grabbed my cup to refill my water.  Then, on his way out the door, he asked if I needed anything else.  I responded with, “I’d really like chips, so could you grab a plate for the apple??”  He was out the door for about 3 seconds before he came back in to say, “What?!?”

I explained that while I was craving chips, I knew that I should eat fruit instead.  My theory was that if I ate the apple with peanut butter, then I’d be satisfied and no longer wanting junk food.

Well, I ate the apple with peanut butter, but I wasn’t satisfied and I still wanted chips.  So…I ate chips.  But I had fruit first!!  That’s a step in the right direction, right?!?

My name is Blakely, and I’m a junk-food addict…

I’ll start out by saying that I know that I’ve made some ‘less-than-stellar’ nutritional choices over the last few weeks.  But, if I’m hungry and the only thing that sounds even relatively edible to me (also see: doesn’t make me want to immediately throw-up) happens to be a cheap Totino’s pizza or a double decker taco from Taco Bell, then I’m going to eat a cheap Totino’s pizza or a double decker taco.  Unfortunately for my wonderful husband, my food cravings/aversions end up deciding most of our meals for us, and while pizza or mexican for 90% of our meals is fine by me, he’s not so pleased…

As I’m entering my 13th week (both sites I look at agree that BabyMort is about the size of a peach this week!!) I think some of my nausea/morning sickness problems are going away.  But since I’m still not feeling 100%, I’ve promised my husband that he won’t have to eat more than 1 meal a day that’s pizza or mexican.  That’s not to say that I won’t though 😀

When I’m not feeling sick, I do try to fit in my fruits and veggies for the day and I make sure to take my vitamin every day, so I don’t feel like I’m doing too bad.  Although that may just be me in total denial!!

“What would you like for breakfast??”

This isn’t a funny question, right??  Unless of course your husband follows it up with, “A smokie sandwich or a poop-tart??”  Ok, then it sounds disgusting, right??  But he was really being quite nice and sympathetic to my current bloated and constipated state.  When he went grocery shopping yesterday, he bought Fiber One Toaster Pastries for me.  So, it’s a brand of toaster pastries, or “Pop Tarts” as they’re commonly known, that are meant to get things moving.  Hence the lovely name my husband gave them.

Fiber One Toaster Pastry, Chocolate, 11-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)

I don’t know if they worked, but they made me smile 😀

10 down, 30 to go!!

According to BabyCenter, BabyMort has officially entered the fetal period!!  BabyMort is about the size of a kumquat (see picture below), fingernails and toenails are starting to develop and limbs can bend.

I really enjoy reading the little updates on what’s new with BabyMort this week.  At this stage in the game, it’s really nice to get a little extra motivation/reminder of why I’m feeling so crappy.  I’ve been struggling a lot with constant nausea, constipation, fatigue and trouble sleeping – not a good combination!!  In the 11 hours I spent in bed last night (I ended up going in to work late this morning, because I just felt too bad for a Monday morning) I had to get up 5 different times to use the restroom.  Come on!!

However…then today I read that BabyMort has peach fuzz growing on its tiny little body, and fingernails and has its little arms crossed over its body, meeting at its heart.  That’s just the little boost I need to say, “So what if I’ve become a human peeing machine?!?  And so what if half the foods I used to love sound repulsive to me and my sense of smell is so heightened that I can’t escape our gassy dogs?!?  We’re lucky enough to get an amazing little baby out of all this.  I can deal – especially since I’m 25% of the way through the pregnancy!!”

I apologize in advance.

I feel like they should have some sort of support group for pregnant mamas.  I’d walk in and start with something like, “Hi, my name is Blakely and I experience mood swings.”  I think the worst part one of the frustrating aspects is that I’m generally aware that I’m experiencing a mood swing and being irrational, but there’s really nothing I can do to stop it.  Generally, my poor husband is on the receiving end when my mood ‘swings’ from good to bad (or bad to worse as the case may be) in a split second.  I try to bite my tongue sometimes, and just let it slide, because, again, I realize I’m being irrational, but it’s a strong force, one that I just can’t control sometimes.

 

In general, if I’m in a bad mood, I eat chocolate.  I realize that studies have shown that sweets don’t actually elevate mood, they actually just cause a high followed by a crash, but my life isn’t a study and it works for me.  BUT, if you can believe this, I just haven’t felt like eating many sweets for the last few weeks.  A couple days after we found out, my husband offered me a cookie, which I turned down, and it was then that he finally realized, “Whoa!!  You really are pregnant!!”  So the old chocolate/candy/cookie standby isn’t effective right now.

Alas, I apologize in advance to my husband, and anyone else who might be affected, for my changing moods.