23 weeks

My nice hubby was really getting in to camera taking, so I had to show off for my "paparazzi".

Not much to update since last time. Baby is still kicking quite a bit, and made it hard for me to sleep in on Wednesday (my day off). I can foresee my sleep diminishing from this point out!

Here is what baby is up to this week (according to babycenter.com)

Baby's sense of movement is well developed by now.
She's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango)
Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world.
Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner (wouldn't it be nice if my baby heard this...it would mean my house would actually be clean!)— probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Have a great weekend. I have to work : (

Happy Hubby

I was laying in bed last night and the baby started moving a lot, which I was happy about b/c baby had been pretty still for the last day and a half (and I was beginning to worry). So I yelled at hubby to hurry in the bedroom. Every time before this, the baby stopped kicking right when hubby put his hand on my belly. But not this time! Hubby was very excited and felt quite a few little kicks. And baby was doing quite the acrobatics today! I was working with my belly against the counter, and I could feel the baby kick the counter. It felt quite strange.
Anyway, just wanted to give you that update.

Grow Baby

Sorry, a little behind on the picture post. The belly is getting ridiculously large. Of course, I know there are many weeks to come, eek. Enjoy your week.

How far along? 22 weeks 3 days *in my 5th month
Maternity clothes? Yes. Although some of my old workout clothes still fit, but I'm afraid I look like I have a "beer belly" in them.
Stretch marks? No new ones yet/
Sleep: Last night was bad, but only b/c I read a pregnancy book right before bed that told me to not sleep on my back as it could cut off circulation to baby. So every time I woke up, I was on my back, and I had a slight freak out.
Best moment this week: Nothing special.
Movement: More movement most days of the week, but baby has been lazy this weekend.
Food cravings: Buffalo Wild Wings. or any wing sauce for that matter. Tonight I covered my chex mix in wing sauce, yum!
Labor Signs: Nope.
Belly Button in or out? Still in
What I miss: Seeing my feet when I look down. My old clothes.
What I am looking forward to: Letting hubby feel the baby. He always misses the big kicks.

My latest craze...vinyl wall decals!

Now that I've decided to really think about the nursery...I've gone crazy. Not buying, just looking... at vinyl wall decals. Since I can't paint, these are the next best thing in my mind, and they aren't too pricey, so I won't mind when I have to take them down to move. So here is what I've decided (which isn't much at all). If I go with the woodland creature fabric.











I would love you have one of these on my walls.



















But if I were to choose this,












then I would want one of these on my wall:













If there only weren't so many cute fabrics available, I wouldn't have these problems!


Baby Update:

22 weeks

At 11 inches and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Baby Momma Update:
This week has been so-so. On Wednesday I have some more horrible pains. They were on both sides this time, but worse on the left. Round ligament pains, or the worse gas pains ever, it has yet to be determined. Thankfully, it was close to my lunchtime, so after laying on my office floor at work for a while, I went home, took a warm bath, and laid on the floor for about an hour. My nice mom brought some Tylenol by my house. Thankfully, the pain subsided, and I haven't felt any discomfort since.
In better new, baby is kicking a lot these days. From about 10-11am each at, then around 3-4pm, during dinner, and around 9pm.
My latest craving: buffalo wing sauce.

Oh, the nursery! ::Panic::

Well, as you can see, the room that will eventually be the nursery is currently not very babyish, It is, however, further along than it was 3 weeks ago. The queen-sized bed has been destructed, and is sitting against one wall. Unfortunately, the bed is serving the same purpose it did when it was put together: holding my clothes (to my credit, my hubby put those clothes there...but I have been know to exhibit the same behavior).

Anyway, last week, one of my friends asked me what the "theme" is for the nursery. I responded with a blank stare..."Ugh, I don't know". I have been putting off any decisions for a few reasons: we are hopefully going to be breaking ground on our house in March, so hubby and I have been spending our time doing house things, we don't know sex of baby, which makes anything decorative a little more challenging, and I am overwhelmed by the immense amount of decisions to make (baby and house) that I have chosen to make no decisions. While eventually this last decision will come back to haunt me, it is working for me now.
Part of me is fine with not having any of this figured out because the baby will sleep in our room (in a bassinet) for a while and we aren't purchasing a crib or any matching furniture until baby needs it, so the nursery will be nothing more that a space holder for all baby stuff. Despite all that good reasoning, the other side of my brain started to panic a bit. I think I may at least buy some fabric to make new curtains for the nursery. Below are some of my (current) choices, please let me know what you think:

A: Elephants
B. Dick and Jane retro fabric
C. Forest Animals
D. Jungle Animals
E. Woodland animals
Maybe I'll do these polls and you all can help me decide everything!
Have a wonderful week. Hopefully Baby Cady will not be so cantankerous this week.

21 week picture as promised

Baby Cady is growing! (that sounds a lot better than...wow, I feel huge!)

Baby Cady is the toughest fighter

Baby Cady is taking after Auntie Zarah (the toughest fighter ever...according to herself). Too bad Baby Cady is fighting me! While Baby spared me the dreaded morning sickness that I've heard so much about, I am currently dealing with bouts of Round Ligament Pain. In essence... it feels like Baby has a dagger, which he thrusts into my groin region for an hour every week or so.

What is round ligament pain? (from babycenter.com)

Round ligament pain generally refers to a brief, sharp, stabbing pain or a longer-lasting dull ache that pregnant women commonly feel in the lower abdomen or groin, starting in the second trimester.

You may feel round ligament pain as a short jabbing sensation if you suddenly change position, such as when you're getting out of bed or out of a chair or when you cough, roll over in bed, or get out of the bathtub. You may feel it as a dull ache after a particularly active day — when you've been walking a lot or doing some other physical activity.

The round ligaments surround your uterus in your pelvis. As your uterus grows during pregnancy, the ligaments stretch and thicken to accommodate and support it. These changes can occasionally cause pain on one or both sides of your abdomen.

You may feel the pain starting from deep inside your groin, moving upward and outward on either side to the top of your hips. The pain is internal, but if you were to trace it on your skin, it would follow the bikini line on a very high-cut bathing suit.

I know, you are all jealous now! The slightly comforting thing is that I got checked out by Dr. and he said that this is very normal, and hopefully it will go away in the next few weeks. He also told my hubby that he had give me the occasional back rub (however, I seemed to walk away without a script for this, silly me!)

In other news. We hit Week 21 tomorrow!

How Baby Cady is growing: Week 21

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

I definitely feel baby kick around 2-4 pm, and then around 9-10:30pm. I think baby also kicks all night long, I am just not conscious enough to know what is going on, I just know I'm uncomfortable. I felt the baby from the outside yesterday, so I hope to catch him when I'm close to hubby so he can feel also.

Baby Cady's heart beat continues to be right in the middle 155bpm, 136, 144. (Normal is 120-180 bpm). I believe that the wives' tale is that a heart beat is <150bpm = boy. However, I have switched to thinking it is a girl...partially fueled by all the cute dresses I saw at a friend's baby shower.

I'll try to take a belly picture tomorrow. Don't worry, Baby Cady is growing quite nicely.