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…

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?!?