Baby Dale Bumpdates: Weeks 21 & 22

Happy Wednesday! I know I slacked off last week and forgot to post an update, but that just means you get double the fun today. Enjoy the recaps of weeks 21 & 22!

Week 21: April 11 – 17

Baby is now the size of: a carrot!
Weight Gain: 1 lb.
Belly Measures: +4.5 inches

I’m Feeling: it was a momentous week! Not only did Walker feel the baby move for the first time (yay!!), but we also started transforming the guest room into the baby’s room! We got rid of the guest bed, as well bought a vintage rocker and hamper for the nursery. Very exciting to see our little home making room for baby!
Physical Symptoms: finally passed my pre-pregnancy weight! However, despite that seemingly low weight gain, I have noticed that I have actually gained a steady 0.5-1lb a week since week 17, which was my lowest weight in the pregnancy. These numbers are very normal for the second trimester (and baby was a perfectly healthy 13 oz at the 20 week scan), so I am finally feeling good about my weight gain progress. Because of morning sickness and healthier habits, it seems like I was losing weight in other places, while gaining normal baby weight, therefore essentially maintaining my weight for the first trimester. I feel like the past few weeks have been an indication that I will gain weight much more quickly as I move into the second half of my pregnancy.
Movement: I felt the baby moving around a ton this week, especially after meals and in the evenings when I am relaxing. I started to feel the kicks from the outside as well, which eventually led to Walker getting to feel the baby kick!
Sleep: sleeping like a log!
Food Cravings: no specific cravings other than the usual, but my appetite has definitely increased!
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick? another sick-free week! Wooooooo!
Miss Anything? not our guest bed! The room is starting to show the first signs of becoming a nursery!

Can’t Live Without: Craigslist! Besides managing to sell off our old guest bed in one day, we scored a beautiful vintage rocker for the baby’s room for practically nothing.
Best Moment This Week: Walker feeling the baby move for the first time!! We were sitting on the couch, watching TV after dinner and our nightly walk with Bo. The baby was being very active, so I thought maybe if we could get the timing right, Walker might be able to feel something. He put his hand on my belly, and after a minute or so he thought he felt a kick (and was able to point to the spot on his hand where he felt it, which lined up where I felt it inside). But he was still not sure, so he kept his hand there for a few more minutes. Then, he/she decided to give him a few good, hard kicks right in the center of his palm, and he looked up at me with wide eyes! There was no mistaking those kicks! Such an amazing and emotional moment for both of us. It felt so special to finally get to share with him the movement I have been feeling!
Looking Forward To/Excited About: our baby shower! Can’t wait to surprise family & friends with the gender of our little _____!

Notes: Walker felt the baby move for the first time on Thursday, April 13, at 21 weeks and 2 days along.

Week 22: April 18 – 24

Baby is now the size of: an ear of corn! Our little Cornhusker!
Weight Gain: 2 lb.
Belly Measures: +4.5 inches

I’m Feeling: grateful and spoiled! Invitations went out for our baby shower, and immediately we started to get boxes showing up at our doorstep! We have started stacking them in the nursery until after the baby shower, so the room now looks like a storage room. Baby Dale is already so loved! Seeing the stuff start to accumulate also makes it feel a little more real… soon there will be a little boy/girl using all of that stuff. So exciting!
Physical Symptoms: my belly is getting so big! The measurement around the middle is the same, but I look completely different in pants than I did last week (and I did manage to finally get my hands on some maternity jeans at the end of the week). I think my belly has really started to fill out below the belly button, since our little Cornhusker is growing quickly. He/she is supposed to cross over the one pound mark this week, but something tells me he/she did that last week, given his/her weight at our 20 week scan. Grow, baby, grow! Otherwise, I have been feeling great!
Movement: the baby moves around a lot all day, mostly in the early mornings, after meals, and in the evenings.
Sleep: once again, I have been sleeping very well, especially thanks to less restless legs over the past couple weeks!
Food Cravings: still citrus, citrus, citrus! That and a sweet tooth for anything fruit related (or fake fruit like Fruity Pebbles)!
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick? I got sick one morning this week after brushing my teeth, but was fine otherwise.
Miss Anything? the reality of the cost of infant child care has hit me hard this week, so now any time I spend money, I get a twinge of guilt while a little voice in my head tells me I should be saving more money now instead of spending it on (fill in the blank with something non-essential). I miss being able to buy myself a (decaf) latte without feeling guilty! Something tells me this feeling will never go away until the baby graduates from college…

Can’t Live Without: my little family. My sweet hubby and silly pup bring sunshine to my day! I can’t wait to add our little bundle of joy to the mix. He/she is a lucky guy/gal to get to enjoy these two as much as I do.
Best Moment This Week: we had a wonderful, indulgent pre-baby weekend. We filled our time with things that may not be as feasible (financially or time-wise) when our little one arrives. Saturday was Record Store Day, so we went to a couple of record stores looking for the special releases on our list. Then I had a prenatal massage, which was AMAZING. We spent the rest of Saturday barbecuing with family. Then on Sunday, we went out to lunch at an amazing new restaurant, followed by seeing The Graduate on the big screen for its 50th anniversary. Music, food, and movies… life is good.
Looking Forward To/Excited About: we have a few very exciting weekends coming up! We have another movie and a concert next weekend, followed by an out-of-town wedding the weekend after that. Then one weekend to relax before it is time for me to head to the east coast for the baby shower! Eeeeee! Lots of fun things on the horizon!

Notes: nothing noteworthy this week!

Baby Dale Bumpdate: Week 20

Week 20 was one of the best weeks yet! Not only did we find out that Baby Dale is healthy and developing as expected, but we also found out the gender!! Unfortunately for you, we still have some family & friends to surprise, so for the time being, any indication of gender from my journal entries has been replaced with blanks or both pronouns in my blog posts. Sorryyyyyy! But just a few more weeks and we will be able to share our news. In the meantime, here is a recap of the wonderful week 20!

Week 20: April 4 – 10

Baby is now the size of: a cantaloupe!
Weight Gain: 0 lb.
Belly Measures: +4 inches

I’m Feeling: over-the-moon happy! Besides the fact that we hit the epic halfway point milestone this week, we also had our 20 week scan, where we found out that Baby Dale is healthy, developing as expected, and A _____!!!
Physical Symptoms: I can proudly say that this is the first week that I have had absolutely NO morning sickness! Wooooo! I am feeling great… and getting BIG! My belly has grown a lot over the past two weeks. I am also starting to experience a little “pregnancy brain” as they call it… I have been losing track of what I am doing in the middle of doing it! Space cadet!
Movement: I have been feeling the baby move a lot this week! At the scan, the ultrasound tech told me I have an anterior placenta, which is why I may not have felt any of those early flutters (just the full on movement and kicks last week). This is because the placenta is positioned in front and acts as a barrier, making it harder for me to feel the subtle early movement. By the end of the week, I could feel the baby moving and kicking a ton throughout the day! So exciting!!
Sleep: slept like log this week. I have been very tired, so even when I have a good night’s sleep, I still want more!
Food Cravings: my appetite has grown over the past few weeks, which is great! Same old citrus cravings… especially OJ!
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick? thankfully, no! It has been a queasy- and sick-free week.
Miss Anything? not even at all… too happy to think of anything but the wonderful things with which we are blessed! :)

Can’t Live Without: once again, technology! It was so incredible to see every little detail, measurement, and movement of our babe. Not only did it make us happy beyond all words, it was also a huge relief to see he/she is developing well.
Best Moment This Week: easy… THE 20 WEEK SCAN! We had been excitedly awaiting this moment for weeks now, so it was very emotional and wonderful when it was finally time. We were inexplicably nervous going in (in a good way!), just because of all of the anticipation we had built up. When we got in the room, the ultrasound tech asked us if we wanted to know the gender. We said YES, and she replied, “Well then let’s go looking for that rump!” The baby was very cooperative, so she found the money shot right away… and there was no mistaking that Baby Dale is a _____! The ultrasound tech spent the rest of the scan showing us every organ, artery, finger, and toe. It was absolutely thrilling… and fascinating. I am so in love with our little one already. I could have stared at him/her all day!
Looking Forward To/Excited About: getting the baby’s nursery going! I have had an eye on Craigslist for some of the vintage finds I have planned in my head, as well as fine tuning the registry as the design becomes clearer. Somehow even just seeing the Moses Basket bassinet in the spare room makes me SOOOO excited for our little babe to get here!

Notes: at our 20 week scan on April 6 (which took place at 20 weeks 2 days), the baby was measuring measuring 20 weeks 6 days, four days ahead. The ultrasound tech said it may move my due date up a couple of days, but nothing significant. The baby was 13 ounces and had a heartbeat of 150 bpm!

Baby Dale Bumpdate: Week 19

I exactly halfway through my pregnancy today: 20 weeks! It is so crazy how the time flies. Baby Dale will be here before we know it. In the meantime, I am trying to savor every minute of the pregnancy… and week 19 was certainly a very special one. <3

Week 19: March 28- April 3

Baby is now the size of: a mango!
Weight Gain: -0.5 lb.
Belly Measures: +3.5 inches

I’m Feeling: so thrilled! I felt the baby move for the first time (for REAL!), and have felt it a little every day since!! I also bought our first baby item this week: a bassinet! It’s getting real!
Physical Symptoms: started the week with a few abdominal growing pains, but by the weekend I was actually feeling the baby move and kick! I felt great this week, with a only a couple mornings of sickness after nights without much sleep. Me getting sick is definitely related to how tired I am… I don’t understand the science behind it but the correlation is absolutely there. Also, my belly REALLY popped this week. I think it may be time to finally invest in some maternity jeans!
Movement: I FELT THE BABY MOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON SATURDAY!!! At first, I just noticed that the baby was putting pressure on a new organ or something, as I felt pressure in a different area than usual. Come to think of it, I felt that same thing in the couple days before that but just figured the baby had shifted. But when I stopped what I was doing to really focus, I could actually feel the baby moving! It felt like a fish swimming around, brushing against the uterine walls and doing somersaults. I wasn’t 100% certain that was what I was feeling, but I was pretty sure. Then later in the day, after walking around all morning and then finally kicking my feet up to relax, I felt the baby move again, this time accompanied by little kicks! Those felt like little muscle twitches or someone lightly poking me from the inside. SO AMAZING… and a very strange sensation! I was just so happy that it happened when I was home with Walker so we could celebrate the moment together!
Sleep: I lowered my Benedryl dosage to a half pill before bed. It helps me get to sleep without making me groggy in the mornings. However, it means I have woken up very early some mornings and have been unable to get back to sleep.
Food Cravings: besides the usual citrus cravings, I craved (and devoured) about ten tons of pickled ginger this week!
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick? just a lack of sleep can cause some issues in the morning.
Miss Anything? sushi! I went out to eat with coworkers and wanted some serious spicy tuna. At least I got to have ginger!

Can’t Live Without: Walker & Bo! I love my little family so much, and these two made my weekend so special (as they always do). Baby Dale is going to be one lucky babe to hang out with these two boys every day.
Best Moment This Week: feeling the baby move, of course! It put us in the best mood, and we had a wonderful Saturday enjoying our growing family with a trip to the farmers’ market, long walks in the sunshine, and delicious home cooking.
Looking Forward To/Excited About: our 20 week scan!! We are so close! Just a few more days until we get to see our little peanut and find out it is a boy or girl! Eeeeeeee! I am so happy that it is a long anatomy scan, because I can’t wait to just stare at our little one for as long as they will let me! :)

Notes: felt the baby move for the first time on Saturday, April 1, at 19 weeks and 4 days along.