Whoa! Where has the time gone? I am in shock that I'm already half way through this beautiful pregnancy and am getting more excited than ever to meet little Baby O. As most of you know from my last post The Big Move: Minnesota to Colorado, we are in for a huge adventure these next couple of weeks. Time is flying by each day as we prep our lives and the house for the big trek. If pregnancy wasn't already a big whirlwind, why not throw in a move across states? We are big family people and truly can't wait to get closer to the people we love most. The first 3 months of pregnancy moved so slow because I was basically in hiding from the world while trying to keep the secret and now that it's out + the secret about the move is out time seems to be going by so fast. I am trying to enjoy ever little day and moment of this pregnancy and continued to throw blessings up to God for what he has gifted Kirby and I. Here's a little 20 week bumpdate to keep you babes in the loop of what I'm feeling, what I'm craving and so much more!
He/she is the size of a banana (Yum!). My app states the the baby is 6.50 inches and 10.1 ounces however when we had our appointment Tuesday they let us know that Baby O is growing rapidly and already at 11 ounces. Big ole' baby! We are measuring at about 2 days ahead of schedule, but our due date has stayed the same.
I've gained about 15 pounds which is extremely hard to believe. Growing all these new curves isn't easy. I have good days and bad days, but overall knowing the baby is 100% healthy is truly what's most important.
We This family owned company is truly doing a beautiful thing. I feel honored to be working with them. Can we also talk about how adorable Scout the Deer is?! Each doll is hand knit with natural, high-quality cotton so your baby is safe on sound with their new friend. They are all made by woman in Peru allowing them to gain sustainable and fair-trad income. However, the best part of all, for every doll sold 10 meals are donated to children around the world in need. To date they have donated almost 4 million meals and to me that is one of the most beautiful things ever. No child should ever go hungry. The family behind Cuddle & Kind are amazing people.
We finally got to see the babe looking like a baby and not just a blob. It was crazy to see the movement and truly how much is going on in there at all times. Kirby was just blown away and it was super special to be at the appointment together. There is really a human growing inside of me haha! We got all of the organs and major things check out and see the profile of the baby's little face was unreal. Baby O already seems to be a crazy little one because the movement happening was real. The nurse laughed and stated that usually every baby moves around, but our's was extra busy. I am finally starting to feel some of the movement this last week which is a crazy feeling. It's not consistent yet so I am always questioning it. Even when we were in the middle of the ultra sound I felt something and the nurse confirmed that yes she just saw the big kick. If this baby is seriously as busy as he/she was after birth Kirby and I are in for it!
The second trimester is dubbed as the best one. After feeling exhausted and basically hung over every day of the first trimester it's a relief to feel more like myself. I will be honest, I have been such a worrying because of feeling normal. It's kind of weird, but you expect to feel off or sick throughout pregnancy so when you feel alright you almost start to panic. I've read everywhere to just enjoy it because the exhaustion will definitely kick in again. I feel lucky as I have had a pretty easy pregnancy and I'm glad the second trimester hits over the time we are moving. I'm getting a ton done with my blog + the blogger community and trying to stay on top of it as much as possible while I can because between moving, wedding showers, baby showers, weddings, bachelorette parties and more, this summer is going to be jam packed!
Let's just say Kirby is absolutely loving this whole pregnancy cravings thing. I have always been a really healthy eater and Kirby has been kind of forced into that routine over the past few years. I mean, if I could be like him and basically gain no weight ever that would be beautiful, but my body just doesn't work that way. While I still eat very healthy for the most part with added in protein, fruits, yogurt, spinach and more goodies that help give the baby everything he/she needs for a healthy growth, I am a little bit more prone to splurge then ever before. I just figured, it's the one time in my life where I actually have an excuse and I'm going to use it. I listed out below the biggest cravings I've noticed so far. nothing has been super weird like pickles and ice cream or anything like that, but I have 20 weeks to go so we'll see!
I never ever liked these before pregnancy. I have just a weird thing with eating things right off the bone mostly because I hate getting my face all dirty, but boy has that changed. I love wings now and the week after we found out I was pregnant I finished 12 all by myself. I told Kirby if we hadn't know already we maybe would have guessed then!
This to me is no surprise at all. I have always been a huge lover a pizza and we would always splurge on it however now Kirby know's it's a bit more easy to get me to agree. I actually heard on the Pregnancy Confidential podcast that pizza is the #1 thing pregnant woman crave!
I've never been these biggest sweets fan. I do love all of these things pregnant or not, but the craving to have them is extremely high now. The funny thing with pregnancy is when you get the itch to have something it doesn't go away until you get it, even if it's days after you originally wanted it.
Let's just say we have made a few stops at Chick-fil-A these past weeks. I don't know what it is, but fried chicken is basically always on my mind. My mom laughed because that was a huge thing she craved too so I guess it runs in the family.
This is one of the strangest things for me. My whole life I've never been a big breakfast fan. My mom used to have to force to eat a sausage or piece of toast before heading out to high school. I transformed into a smoothie girl the past few years, but that was about as far as I would go. I hated pancakes and waffles and really disliked eggs. Well, all of that is out the door. I could eat breakfast all day everyday now. From my favorite lemon poppy seed pancake recipe, to eggs every single day, Eggo waffles, cereal, a packed yogurt bowl and basically anything else. So weird how the body works!
My lower back is definitely feeling the pain. It obviously makes sense with having to carry this extra weight around, but it's the biggest pain (pone intended). Yoga has been a huge help for this and something I am tying to get better at doing 3 times a week. I had a prenatal massage this week and kind of want to try to make it monthly just to help relax and ease the pain. With my stomach pushing more and more out as the days go by I find the my back arches which definitely doesn't feel great. Also, I find when I stand for long periods of time it makes it worse so I've had to remind myself to sit and relax when I can.
To be totally honest I think a lot has gone into the lack of sleep I've gotten. We have had a ton of stress on us these past few months with trying to find Kirby a job, trying to find a place to live, trying to plan when we can move and then all the daily struggles of life. It has been a lot. On top of that it's just really hard to get comfortable with being pregnant. At 18 weeks you're advised to stop sleeping on your back which is way more of a struggle than you'd think. Being stuck to the sides is no fun and with all the added curves it can be a bit uncomfortable. Add in having to get up and pee all the time I feel like I was getting 5 hours max of good sleep which is extra hard when growing a human. I will say, this past week now that the move & job are figured out I have found that my head doesn't run as much and night and I am definitely sleeping much longer.
If sleep wasn't already difficult enough the weird and crazy dreams do not help. I can't even explain to you what happens in these dreams and have no idea where the thoughts even come from! One time I had a scary dream where I think I basically wrote a scary movie in my head and when I jumped up in the middle of the night I was actually terrified to get out of bed and go pee. I've heard weird dreams happen when pregnant and it is no joke!
I have to say this is probably my least favorite part about being pregnant. It seems super random, but it is so annoying. Every single day I am stuffed up. I go through tissue like its my freaking job and I swear it has been here from day one of finding out I was pregnant. It doesn't help that I'm mid allergy season and live in such a dry climate so I have my fingers crossed that the humidity in Minnesota will take some of this away.