I am loving pregnancy, these days.
I have finally hit the golden age of my pregnancy. I have my energy back, my gross symptoms are at an all-time low, and my belly isn’t large enough to be an issue yet. If I could just hang on to this feeling for the rest of the pregnancy than I would be content.
In addition to feeling good, it is garage sale season! Huzzah! I have been hitting up the sales every weekend to hunt down baby clothes and other fun finds for my approaching gig as a stay-at-home mom. I have, also, been de-junking, and decorating our apartment like never before. I suddenly have the energy and desire to completely overhaul every room in our home, and I have been attacking it with a vengeance.
This energy thing is the best, you guys. Seriously. If you feel energetic today, than be thankful!
How far along: 23 Weeks which is five months! I am starting my sixth month of pregnancy. How did that happen?!
Due date: August 26-29th
Gender: It’s going to be a surprise!
How big is baby? Baby is as big as a grapefruit, which was a huge craving of mine earlier in this pregnancy. Over a pound! Baby will double his/her weight in the next four weeks. I am so excited! Baby L is becoming a real sized baby!
This week, baby: can now hear farther away sounds (not just my heart beating or stomach gurgling). Time to break out the ‘tunes I guess! Baby’s bone marrow is starting to make blood cells.
Exercise: Still sneaking in a few walks and some yoga every week! Starting to feel a little stronger.
What I’m mailing: this week, I finally mailed my pre-registration paper work for the hospital! Yay! Looking through the paperwork, and the glossy brochure packet from the hospital made me so excited to get to that point. Staying in a suite with a whirlpool, room service, and a flat screen tv sounds like a fun little vacation to me. There is that minor detail of the whole labor and delivery process, I suppose… 😉
Purchases I’ve made: I went to our church’s clothing exchange and loaded up on the baby clothes! Our church offers this twice a year, and I have been looking forward to going for months. I filled a huge black trash bag with lots of baby clothes (newborn, 0-3, and 0-6 month), a few pairs of shoes for myself, and a pair of jeans or two for hubs. I was so tickled by getting that many baby clothes for free! I really hunted out clothes that had good brands, weren’t used up, and scored high on the cuteness factor (I scored on a few sets of Winnie the Pooh onesies with the orignal illustrations from the books!). I packed away those baby clothes in reusable shopping bags in our closet until we get our dresser from my parent’s house, but I pull them out regularly to look through them. They are all so sweet!! That clothing exchange was definitely the highlight of my week.
How are you feeling? I am feeling AWESOME this week. Not really suffering with any major symptoms, I’ve managed to avoid my weekly headache/neck ache that I’ve been plagued with, and I have so much energy! I’ve been completely decluttering and decorating the apartment, and having so much fun crossing things off my list!
Maternity clothes: Yep. Last week, at 22 weeks, I succumbed to maternity jeans. Now I don’t know why I waited so long! I have started to finally put on a few pounds, and I’ve noticed that a few clothes are definitely tighter than they used to be. I am loving my maternity jeans, still wearing my regularly shirts, and wearing the most comfortable foot wear I can find.
Sleep: Sleep has been great! I have decided against getting a pregnancy pillow. Thanks for your input last week, sweet readers (especially you, Katie!).
Best moment this week: teaching my last day of classes. I am down to one job, and LOVING it!
Worst moment this week: all the comments about how I really don’t look very pregnant. So tired of hearing that!
Miss anything? being able to lift heavy things. I have to wait until hubs comes home from work to move the furniture around, and I want to do it now!
Cravings this week: raspberries, blueberries, and nachos.
Symptoms: difficulty breathing while sitting down, smaller stomach capacity, quick gag reflex, sensitivity to smells, and increased need to use the bathroom (every five minutes).
Looking forward to: Hunting for more baby stuff at garage sales. I’m all about the baby stuff hunt these past two weeks. Ha ha!
I feel so special getting a shout out. *blushes*
For baby stuff… I know you have done a ton of research, so just go with your gut. Buy what you think you’ll need or want. For me, I knew I didn’t want to spend money on a bassinet. But around 36 weeks, I felt a ton of pressure from people, “where is baby going to sleep??” When I said, “the pack and play has a little sleeping section,” I would get terrible looks from some family members, and I started to feel huge anxiety over WHERE BABY WOULD SLEEP. I knew a bassinet wasn’t for us, but around 37 weeks I just ordered one on amazon just to make the anxiety go away.
Anyway, long story short (too late!), we NEVER used the bassinet, we ended up bed sharing and Declan sleeps with us (in a king size bed) and absolutely hates (and has now outgrown) the bassinet. Waste of time and money, like I knew it would be.
So my advice is to buy what feels right to you. Also- I wish I would have spent the money for a nice baby carrier earlier, too. I, like you, have trouble making expensive purchases, but I wish I would have gotten a nice one sooner and had more chances to wear Declan when he was tiny. Baby wearing is like a constant hug, so definitely get one!
So exciting!!! I’m glad that you’re feeling good. For baby stuff, we went the very minimal route, because we have a small apartment and didn’t want stuff everywhere. Definitely a good swaddle blanket or two are awesome. Also, if you can get anyone to buy a Sophie giraffe (they are ridiculously expensive, and idk if I’d feel good about buying one myself!), most babies LOVE those things. Also, I don’t know if you plan to breastfeed, but if you do know that you need to figure out what makes you most comfortable. Some women love those breastfeeding pillows and buy them. I made myself a Boppy (because I’m frugal and didn’t want to spend money on one), but I’ve only used it for nursing a couple of times. I mainly put it to use when my baby began sitting up, so that it could cushion him and help him be upright.