Officially halfway there!!!!!!! Of course the easier half is behind me…
Baby Growth: Blitzen is now the length of a banana (from head to butt) so 6 1/2 inches long. He or she is about 10 inches from heal to head and is weighing around 10 1/2 ounces.
Belly Picture: Zach had to leave in a hurry this morning so I was thankful Ashley came over so she could snap my picture for me (she did almost all the ones when I was pregnant with Kye too!). I feel like I don’t look 20 weeks pregnant, and no one has commented yet about asking me if I’m pregnant. Even today at Chic-Fil-A a lady had a new baby and I took Kye over to see it (any opportunity to expose him to babies I take!) and I said “you’re going to have a baby like this at home soon” and she totally asked me if he’s already a big brother? Like she couldn’t tell I was pregnant! I really think from the front you can’t tell, but from the side it’s pretty obvious at this point!!!
I’m wearing my Stella and Dot Toujours Necklace, Toujours Earrings and NEW Corso Cuff
I thought this was cute of Kye looking up at me from his car he was riding around
I’m also wearing my weekly sticker!
My Symptoms: The most ANNOYING thing is my skin. I totally have discoloration on my upper lip and I HATE it. And knowing I’ll have it for 20 more weeks (or more) makes me feel a little depressed. I feel like it’s worse than my last pregnancy, but it’s probably b/c I’m in the sun more and sun makes it more noticeable. It’s annoying that there isn’t anything you can do about it while pregnant.
I’ve had one headache this week that was a legit pregnancy induced migraine. It’s wasn’t too bad but even my caffeine and Tylenol cocktail didn’t help.
I have been a little nervous this week…I get these random pains in my lower abdomen that scare me. I read that it’s normal and it’s the uterus stretching but I don’t like it at all. Like it’s sharp enough pain to where I go “oh!” out loud when I feel it and stop what I’m doing. Has anyone else had that? I just don’t remember that at all with Kye. I also think I may have peed myself this week…which is another first for me (book I found that discusses each week of pregnancy, called Your Pregnancy Week by Week
, said it’s typical to pee yourself a little starting this week but it’s still so GROSS). I was in the kitchen making Kye’s dinner and laughed and had to go change my underwear! It’s a negative of not being able to smell b/c I don’t know if it was pee or clear discharge or what. But since then I’ve been nervous about it. I have had more discharge than normal and I think I read somewhere that if it smells funky that’s a bad sign? I guess poor Zach will have to smell it next time it happens! It’s something I plan to ask Stacy about for sure and it’s actually crossed my mind to call up there and ask. The pains combined with the discharge/pee junk just kinda scares me! I really do think I’m just a LOT more nervous this time around.
I’ve been more tired this week than I have been lately and I think a lot of it is due to the three nights in a row I stayed up past midnight over the weekend. I took Kye on a walk to the park yesterday morning and it’s a mostly uphill walk. It only takes me about 8 minutes to get there and I was DYING. Like exhausted. And drenched in sweat. I’m so nervous about Disney!!! Not that I won’t tough it out, but that I won’t get to FULLY enjoy it the way I really want to ya know?
Weight: I’m annoyed. I gained 2 lbs. this week. And I just don’t understand! I’m not dieting but I’m being SO cautious about what I’m eating. Zach started back at Weight Watchers this week and I planned to do the same but when I looked it all up, I should be eating MORE points than I am each day! I know I always heard Michelle Duggar did Weight Watchers while pregnant with all her kids just to keep her weight gain in check and I LOVED the idea but how many points should I be eating? I refuse to eat MORE! I don’t see how that would help me manage it? I am thinking about trying to drink 32 oz of water a day. Right now I’m not drinking any…I have milk at breakfast, koolaide at lunch, and typically a caffeine drink at dinner. I feel like the caffeine drink isn’t help my weight gain so I’m going to stop doing that unless I feel a headache coming on. But would drinking water help??? Now that Casey’s engaged and getting married most likely at the end of March I CANNOT gain as much weight as I did last time. I simply cannot go through all that again with weight loss. I need to probably step it up with the exercise too? I know if I got into the routine of walking to the park with Kye it would help and it would prepare my body for Disney but have you WALKED outside? It’s beyond hot. Any suggestions from anyone would be VERY helpful!!! I know the books say I should have gained 10 lbs by this point and then gain 1 lb per week from here on out. I just remember last time I gained majority of my weight at the end of pregnancy 🙁
Gender: This week Kye said the CUTEST thing. If you ask him he consistently says he’s going to have a brother and the baby is going to be a boy. However, we were laying in his bed (we cuddle non-stop now…HEAVEN!) and I told him that I love him and that I love the baby in my belly. He said “I wanna go hear my little sister” I asked what he meant and he said “when I got the sucker.” So he was referring to the ultrasound. It was SO precious to me that he remembers “hearing” the baby (guess the heartbeat?). And even today he said he’s going to help me carry the baby and bring it home. I’m excited for our 4d ultrasound that I scheduled for September! I’m also to the point where people who know I’m pregnant ask what we’re having since they know I’m far along enough to know! It’s so fun to say “I could know but we don’t like to find out.” When I booked the 4D ultrasound the girl even said “I’m assuming you don’t want to know the gender since you didn’t with your first one right?” That’s RIGHT! oh! One thing I forgot to mention…I think we have a full girl’s name decided! And we’re pretty sure on the full boys name too, still want to hunt for other ideas to make sure but we’re the closest we’ve been yet to having Blitzen a REAL name!
Maternity Clothes: Nope, still Bella Band! Shirts are getting tighter and I’m more selective about which ones I wear b/c I am starting to fear stretching things out. I’m hoping on my way to Atlanta this Sunday I can find a couple new dresses at the outlets b/c they really are my favorites.
Movement: I am seriously going to miss it SO MUCH. It’s like my favorite feeling in the WORLD. It’s so often and so constant and I just adore every second of it.
Sleep: When I’m out, I’m OUT. I’m waking up very sweaty though and we’ve been lowering the thermostat to 73 at night for awhile now (keep it at 75 during the day) but I think the time has come to lower it even more…Zach probably won’t be too pleased about that. I hate waking up all sweaty though, especially since I shower at night. I still need new sports bras too as my breasts will hurt in the mornings.
Cravings: No new ones to report! Still all the same. I eat peanut butter almost every day…don’t have as much of a seafood craving either and the other day the strawberry koolaide wasn’t as yummy. I’d say Cosmic Brownies are still my main one. This week I’ve also wanted a lot of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
What I Miss: With Kye being SO sweet to me and cuddling with me so much and being so loving, I get a little sad. Soon the day will be here where I can’t lay in his bed with him for 30 min after his nap just loving on him and being silly together. I’m zero percent worried about sharing my love with another child..I just feel sad to have to share my time. I know with preschool the baby will get plenty of alone time but what about Kye? I’m thankful the baby will nap so often at first so we can spend special time just the two of us during Blitzen’s morning and evening naps!
Best Pregnancy Moment of the Week: Kye saying he wants to hear his little sister 😉 Best overall moment was Kye FINALLLLLLLY said he loves me for the first time EVER! He’s a stubborn kid and simply refused to say it. The other day we were cuddling and I said “I love you” and he hugged me then said “I love you.” MELTED my heart. Yesterday he even said “I love Mommy” when he hugged me and said “I love Daddy” to Zach which made his day 😉
Questions/Concerns: The whole pee/discharge thing, the random pains. Also I have printed off some stuff and been reading up on birth plans to write mine – with Kye we had him stay in the nursery at night and only be brought to me for feedings, I’m thinking of having the baby stay in our room this time. Has anyone done that? Was it a good experience? I’m also thinking I’ll stay more days in the hospital. I only stayed exactly 24 hours and I think it might be better to stay more and let people visit us there instead of worrying with a clean house with visitors? Any opinions on that? Of course that means that Kye would have to stay with someone for that time which I’m not crazy about either! So many decisions!!!
Goals for the Week: I’ve started working on doing kegals to help with this potential pee issue. I have ALL the Bradley stuff out I just need my coach to go over it with me and get this thing started! Before I got pregnant I swore I’d start it all right when I got a positive test…then I swore right after the first trimester started…then I swore right when I hit the halfway point. Well I’m NOT waiting until I’m 8 months pregnant again like I did last time so the time is NOW! Also need to get this birth plan rolling. Hoping to find all the house stuff needed with Danielle this week to get this place DONE. I’m over decorating! I feel EXCITED to be halfway done with my pregnancy but a little stressed too as I realize I have SO much left to do before Blitzen arrives.
Notes from Pregnancy #1: This time last pregnancy I didn’t have any headaches but I was feeling very unattractive (I know that feeling!). I also got a mini-nesting itch and started hardcore organizing our kitchen to make room for everything baby. And I started having the same sweat issues at night sleeping like I am now! Zach felt the baby move for the first time and I got to show Nana (we went down to Melbourne) our ultrasound video and she cried. So special. It was my last birthday celebration with her involved, so that’s special to me now. All our nursery furniture came which was exciting! I spent an ENTIRE day online looking up baby things to register for. Ahhh…the days of having ZERO life!!! haha. We also decided Aunt Karen and Barry would be the caregivers of our child if something were to happen to us and we met with them to discuss it before drawing up a will (if you don’t have one YOU NEED ONE!!!!).
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ummm, how do you drink zero water? or did I read that wrong? I down 32 oz before lunch, easy! I drink so much water it's not even funny. Today at work (i drive all around and work out of my car) I forgot to pack my water bottle and ended up at 1:00 going to the gas station and buying the BIGGEST bottled water they had, opened up right there and chugged half of it b4 I even paid for it (total tacky, I know). lol! YES, drink more water!Also, I would totally agree that having visitors at the hospital are totally easier, and helps the hubby stay entertained. We totally don't mind helping out with Kye, why would it bother you that he has to stay with someone while you are in the hospital? you guys travel a lot?
Drinking more water would definitely help. Shoot for 64 oz. or more per day to help flush out the excess. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that extra pound is purely excess water. You look adorable though!
I remember having those round ligament pains right at 20 weeks…they were HORRIBLE! But thank goodness they only last a week. I kept a heating pad nearby and it was the only time my entire pregnancy that I took Tylenol. Also, I stayed at the hospital for 48 hours, per the pediatrician's request, but I am glad I did. It was nice to have the extra help since I had no clue what I was doing. I decided not to room-in with Preston so I could rest, but I wish I had kept him with me. I feel like I would have had a better start with breastfeeding. They didn't bring him to me every 3 hours like they were supposed to so I think it definitely had a negative impact on us working on his latch. Also, definitely drink more water. I didn't gain anything until the end, but I still only gained 16 lbs. I took a Bubba Keg to school and drank at least one of those while at school, then another one at home. I was so busy I didn't have time to snack, but I did keep unsalted almonds at my desk since they were a good source of protein.
You'll have more round ligament pains with each pregnancy. Also, please drink water. I think pg ladies are supposed to drink like 60 oz a day. If you don't it can cause dehydration which can cause pains and contractions.You look fantastic and as long as you're eating well then you're doing what you can.
Emily- For exercise i ride my bike everynight with my son who is 2 1/2. He loves it. I am 19 weeks pregnant. It makes me feel better when i exercise. I also had round ligament pain in my left side it hurt so bad i had to leave work one day this week. I was freaking out of course.. called my midwife and she just told me plenty of water & rest. I love reading your blog. Kye sounds like a sweet little boy.. My lil guy is a total mama's boy.. i loveee it!
1. Round ligament pain sucks but is totally normal. I didnt have it with Mack, but with Rhyan it would almost make me cry 🙁 But try not to worry about it! It really is normal!2. Girlfriend, you have GOT to drink more water. Koolaide counts for koolaide… not water anymore! haha! You, and that sweet baby, need some pure, no sugar added water for sure! 60oz a day is what they say you need when you're NOT preggo! I worked to make sure i got in 40oz per day w/ Mack of just water (i'm not good at drinking it, either, so i sympathize!). But yes, work on that!3. I know you dont want to gain too much weight, but my dr says the biggest weight gain usually comes between 20-28 weeks (i think i gained 9lbs in those 2 months… i thought i would DIE!… but i only gained a total of 32 so i guess it all evened out). If you're eating well, i would try not to worry. 4. I would stay in the hospital longer this go round. YOu'll appreciate the help. And i'd let the baby stay in the nursery at night. I tried keeping mack w/ me and omgosh, i was exhausted. You'll need the rest even more with having to come home to Kye!5. I'm with Chrissy… why would it bother you for him to stay w/ someone? It'll be great for him to get some last minute attention thats all about him and let you guys get some rest before it all gets crazy 🙂
wow 20 weeks already!!! It seems like just yesterday when we found out you were pregnant!!!
my babes sleep in the nursery at night and they bring them to me for feedings,,poor Titus came every hour it seemed like, haha!
you are looking adorable… and look forward to following along!