Pregnancy: “You Cantaloupe” “Watch me!” (A week late)

(If we could all just ignore the fact that it looks like my face was hit with a stinging-curse and has been turned all puffy, that would be great….really, really great).  

How far along? 24 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs
Maternity clothes: I need more.
Stretch marks: The ones I already had have gotten more pronounced.
Sleep: It really varies. Some nights, I feel like I slept really well, and other nights feel like I haven’t slept at all. 
Best Moment this week: Throwing my sister-in-law’s baby shower on Saturday. It was really fun and made me even more excited for mine!! Also, my best friend got married—she eloped! (Technically that’d be part of next week since she got married on Monday, but next week’s post doesn’t have the word “cantaloupe” in it, so there.)
Miss anything: Jake. A lot. Like, a lot a lot.
Movement: Oh yes. She’s a little dancer. 
Food Cravings: I’m back in see-food eater mode. It’s actually terrible. 
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing specific. 
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I’m back in more-or-less happy mode. 
Looking forward to: Thursday (Aug. 21): I have my next doctor’s appointment, and we always listen to Julia’s heartbeat, AND Jake comes home!

Pregnancy: A Grapefruit-sized little Girl

How far along? 23 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs
Maternity clothes: Yes. I need some new maternity pants though. These ones are starting to feel kind of tight. 
Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones (Apparently, lotioning up every day is working…for now)
Sleep: Five to six hours, but I just got a body pillow, so hopefully my number of sleeping hours will go up.
Best Moment this week: I had two: Thursday, I got to drive down to Utah and see a bunch of my cousins and aunts, and today (Saturday), I went over to Burley with my brother- and sister-in-law for a family reunion. All the kids that were little babies last time I saw them are running around and speaking in more or less complete sentences. Yesh! 
Miss anything: Jake
Movement: Oh yes. It feels like she’s doing summersaults in there. I’ve felt some definite kicks (or punches, I’m not 100% sure which). I think we may have quite the feisty little girl on our hands.
Food Cravings: Still hot fudge on vanilla ice cream; it’s actually kind of ridiculous how much I think about it.
Anything making you queasy or sick? My niece’s diapers…but they’d make a non-pregnant person a little queasy, so I don’t know that they count.
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I’m back in more-or-less happy mode. 
Looking forward to: Being able to put Jake’s hand on my stomach and have him feel her kick. Sorry everyone else, but no one gets to feel her until her daddy does. (It’s only fair. He helped make her after all.)

So, for those of you who don’t know, Jake has received a pretty cool opportunity to provide “opposing forces” for some marines in Utah. I don’t know how much I’m allowed to tell you (not that I know that much), but basically, the marines have some training that they have to do for new drills, and they need bad guys. Jake is getting paid to be a bad guy. He’s pretty stoked. They technically start tomorrow, but he left yesterday, so he could catch a ride down to Utah with his uncle.

On an unrelated note, here are some pictures from my fun with my cousins!

     

Pregnancy: Princess Papaya

How far along? 22 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs (or more…still don’t own a scale)
Maternity clothes: Yes. There are still a few t-shirts that fit, but I’m quickly coming to the end of being able to wear those.
Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones (Apparently, lotioning up every day is working…for now)
Sleep: Five to six hours.
Best Moment this week: Meeting up with a friend and possibly finding a birth photographer (keep your fingers crossed!)
Miss anything: Sleeping through the night…still  
Movement: Definitely. It’s still hard to know for sure what is her and what is gas, but I know she is moving. :)
Food Cravings: Chocolate. Specifically, hot fudge on vanilla ice cream….which I think I’m going to go dish up for myself…
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that didn’t make me queasy when I wasn’t pregnant.
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm still tending to be more moody.
Looking forward to: Feeling her kick, and knowing for sure that it was her.

And for those of you who are sick of all the pictures of me, here’s a picture of Jake:

Pregnancy: A Pretty Little Pomegranate

How far along? 21 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +13 lbs
Maternity clothes: Yes. I still have some non-maternity clothes that I fit, but that’s because that clothes was a bit big on me to start with.
Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones
Sleep: Less, much, much less than before. I think I’m getting around five to six hours a night, but it still feels like I'm awake, tossing and turning, all night.
Best Moment this week: We found out that (believe it or not) we are having a little girl! Jake and I were pretty shocked. We thought for sure we were having a boy, but this little girl proved us wrong. 
Miss anything: Sleeping through the night.  
Movement: I think so. At least, I'm pretty sure.
Food Cravings: I’m currently a see-food eater. If I watch a commercial for Olive Garden, I want Olive Garden. If I think (or see or smell) pizza, I want pizza. It’s kind of just everything all the time.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that didn’t make me queasy when I wasn’t pregnant.
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm still tending to be more moody.
Looking forward to: Feeling her kick, and knowing for sure that it was her.

Pregnancy: Banana Baby

How far along? 20 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +11 lbs at least. I haven't weighed myself lately. Someday we will get a scale...
Maternity clothes: I have some clothes now. I'm definitely away from the smaller end of my wardrobe.
Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones
Sleep: Less, much less than before. I must be getting at least seven to eight hours, but it doesn't feel like that. I feel like I'm awake, tossing and turning, all night.
Best Moment this week: I made, and finished, a count-down for the pregnancy (I added six extra rings that say "Any day now.")
Miss anything: Sleeping through the night.  
Movement: I think so. At least, I'm pretty sure.
Food Cravings: Artichokes, but maybe that's just because I've been thinking about them for ages.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that didn’t make me queasy when I wasn’t pregnant.
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on. My fingers feel fatter, but I’m really hoping that’s just psychological. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm tending to be more moody. I try to keep happy, but I'm pretty moody.
Looking forward to: Thursday!! We find out what Baby Contor's name will be. :)

Pregnancy: 133 days

How far along? 19 weeks (Mango-sized baby)

Total weight gain/loss: +11 lbs

Maternity clothes: I seriously need to go shopping. My wardrobe is slowly shrinking (and it’s because I’m slowly growing). 

Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones

Sleep: I think I’m actually sleeping more. I go to bed usually around 22:30ish, and I don’t get out of bed until around 08:30. That’s almost ten hours of sleep (I say almost because I usually wake up to eat or pee…usually both).

Best Moment this week:  Jake hugging me and telling me he’s excited for the day when he can feel the baby kick. :)  (I also got some hand-me-down maternity shirts! I’m pretty stoked about them.)

Miss anything: Sleeping on my stomach; everyone warned me this day would come, and here it is.  

Movement: Sometimes I’m sure it’s the baby; other times, I’m pretty sure it could be the baby, or it could be gas. Who knows?

Food Cravings: Still milk duds, and chocolate in general. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that didn’t make me queasy when I wasn’t pregnant.

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? Still on. My fingers feel fatter, but I’m really hoping that’s just psychological. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly still happy, but occasionally I get moody (I’m noticing the moody more now. I don’t think I’m moodier than before, just that I’m more aware of it.)

Looking forward to: Finding out if we’re buying blue bow ties or pink tu-tus. :) We find out July 24th!! (Jake says no tu-tus, and I say “What’s the point of having a girl if there are no tu-tus?”)

18 week questionnaire & some thoughts on becoming a mom

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +10 lbs

Maternity clothes: Still just maternity pants, but I think that’s mostly because the pants are the only maternity clothing I own.

Stretch marks: Still haven’t spotted any new ones

Sleep: Still about 6-7 hours. I even managed to figure out (or my body did) how to manage my water intake so I don’t have to get up every single night at 04:30 to go pee. Now it’s only every other night or so.

Best Moment this week:  I’d have to say that going to my WIC appointment was pretty fun. I learn new things every time I go, and I think that all the little hand-outs I get just makes it all feel more real. 

Miss anything: A non-aching back. Although, that could be due more to my poor posture and the added weight than actually being pregnant. I’m sure if I sat up straighter (like my mom has been telling me to do for years), it wouldn’t be as bad. 

Movement: I think so. I feel like I’m occasionally getting poked, but mostly I just feel something similar to cramps if I’m laying on a side that baby doesn’t particularly agree with.

Food Cravings: Not Olive Garden anymore! My wonderful husband took me there as a surprise. Now, it’s milk duds, well, just chocolate in general, but specifically milk duds.  

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that didn’t make me queasy when I wasn’t pregnant.

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? Still on. My fingers feel fatter, but I’m really hoping that’s just psychological. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly still happy, but occasionally I get moody (I’m noticing the moody more now. I don’t think I’m moodier than before, just that I’m more aware of it.)

Looking forward to: Finding out if we’re buying blue bow ties or pink tu-tus. :) We find out July 24th!! (Jake says no tu-tus, and I said “What’s the point of having a girl if there are no tu-tus?”)

 

I’m in an interesting stage. To many people, I’m not technically a mom yet. I mean, I don’t have a child that I have to feed all the time and change its diapers and so on and so forth, but I feel like a mom. I mean, I feel like a mom a little bit already. I’m already experiencing some of that parenting guilt—especially when I eat something I probably shouldn’t be eating (nothing harmful, don’t worry. I just mean eating junk verses eating good, healthy food). I’m already hearing about how the doctors say I should do this thing this way, and then, someone will ask how my appointment went, and I’ll tell them. Then it starts, “Well, that’s not how I did it…” “Are you sure that’s what he said? Because when I was pregnant…” I know they’re trying to help, but sometimes it’d be nice not to receive advice unless I asked for it; I guess that’s just part of being pregnant.

I think it’s interesting how being pregnant helps prepare moms for becoming moms. I mean, at least, I think it does. Like I said, this is an interesting stage. I’m a mom, but I’m not a mom. I feel like a mom because I do have a child. Can you see (probably) him? Can you hold (probably) him? No, not yet. But I feel (probably) him. I’m aware of (probably) his existence. There is a little person inside of me who depends on me to make healthy choices for (probably) him. I feel like having a cat has kind of prepared me. When I say this, I mean it in the sense that I went from having no one to care about other than myself to having a small, more or less helpless creature depend on me for her survival. If I don’t feed Guinevere, she doesn’t eat. If I’m not aware of the small objects I leave laying around, she could eat one and die. If I don’t pay attention to her and recognize signs that something may be amiss in her health and take her to the vet to address these issues, she could die, or worse, she could be living in pain for a very long time. Gwen doesn’t prepare me for a lot of things, like dealing with stares of annoyed people as my kid cries in a restaurant, or being aware for hours on end as I try to soothe my colicky baby and as (probably) he shows us what a healthy set of lungs he was blessed with. Having Gwen doesn’t prepare me for raising a child. Sure, I have to teach Gwen not to scratch the furniture or pee on the carpet (which the girl has never done in her life), but at the end of the day, she’s only going to live in my house. She’s only going to interact with my family and the family and friends we have over. She isn’t going to have to go out into the world and be a productive citizen. I think that’s the part I’m most scared about (in regards to pregnancy; in regards to labor, I have a whole long list): making sure my child doesn’t end up a psychopath, brat, or bum. I know those aren’t the only options, but the fact that those are even options kind of scares me.

I know that as long as Jake and I are a united front and that we parent our children like our Heavenly Father parents us, we can’t go too wrong.