Weight gain

Daddy-Bear and I went to our monthly midwife appointment yesterday. The baby is doing well. When my midwife checked the heart beat, we could hear the baby swimming around in my womb. She is very active! If I went by all the old wives tales, I would swear I was having a boy. I have been craving sweets ( sign of a boy ) I think I am carrying low ( boy ) The baby has a super sttrong heart beat ( boy ). The ultrasound tech did say he was 90% sure the little one is a girl. Plus I was having dreams from the start about a little girl, so we will see.

Anyway, back to the appointment... I have to give a weight update everytime I go. Well when I told her my weight, there was an awkward silience in the room. Our midwife was trying to find a nice way of telling me I am packing on the lbs lol. OOOPS. It was good to hear though. I need to watch my diet a bit better. Cut back on the Pecan mudslides from DQ and the tartar sauce from every restaurant we go to.... Oh boy Daddy-Bear hung me out to dry. He ratted on all of my bad eating habits.

Needless to say, we ended up at the gym lastnigt, and then had a somewhat healthy, homemade dinner. Man I am getting hungry thinking about food.

At 24 weeks and 5 days along, the baby's heart rate is 140 bpm. Last month her heart rate was 158 bpm. The drop in bpm is normal from what I have read.

bellybutton

My belly button is slowly but surely becoming an outy. Its very strange to see. Hmmmm will it return to an inny after the baby is born? I have read that from here on out, the baby will be growing quite a bit and, in turn, so will I. At the moment, the baby weighs about 1.3 lb and is about 30cm from head to heel. Wow thats the length of a ruler! this baby must be really squished in there. They say the baby could gain 1/2 a lb this week alone! Her little ears are fully formed, she is developing tastebuds, and is pretty much a perfectly formed miniature baby. Her little nervous system, organs and all other systems are still developing. I noticed in the last few days that I have become a bit more emotional. I tear up at all sorts of things. My hips and glutes seem to bother me a lot, same with some back aches. I get tired easily again. For the first 3.5 months I was beyond exausted all the time, then my energy came back, and now Im tired again... oh joy lol. Snuggles on the couch are getting tougher as Daddy-Bear and I both gain our pregnancy weight. We may need a bigger sofa. I am not compliaing at all. As a matter of fact, I can't believe I only have 3 months left to be pregnant. I will miss it. Just letting you know whats going on.

I have wanted to have a baby for so long. Now that it is actually happening, I am a bit, ok a lot nervous. So many questions pop into my head. I want to be a good mom. I want to teach my child to be artisitc, confident, creative, compassionate and caring and sooo many other things. The strangest thing I am worried about is school. I know I have many years to go before I have to worry about sending my baby off to school. Even still, its on my mind. I was never a big fan of the place myself. As a matter of fact, I think I still feel a small amount of anxiety when I drive by one. But there are so many options out there. I like the idea of a montessori school, or a private school that encourages an individuals creativity.

Nenad and I went to a local childrens store a couple weeks ago. I know I have the big belly, and feel the baby kicking all the time, but walking out of that store was a wake up call. We really are going to have a baby soon! So many things to research and prepare before the baby arrives. Its all so exciting. I do wish I was in closer proximity to my family and friends, so I could share every minute of this experience with them. My sister came for a visit which was so nice. She did a massage procedure on me called "Unwinding". It was interesting. It did make my back feel better. She is amazingly talented. She is going to plan my baby shower. She is so sweet. She is keeping it all a secret from me. I know my older sis would love to be involved in the planning as well, so hopefully they will work it out.

Chewing my nails has been a very bad habit of mine since I was young. The moment I got pregnant I broke that habit without even thinkibg about it. My nails are so long and strong now. Its almost a nuisance to type with them! I know, its an odd thing to write about, but Im amazed by it. People have offered me money to stop chewing my nails, I have put fake nails on to stop myself, even painted them with the bitter tasting polish, none of it ever worked. So I recommend if you have this habit, get pregnant.... it worked for me *smiles*

This is the baby's most recent pic. We went for another ultrasound on May 11th. This is one stubborn little baby. Every time the technician had a perfect view of the baby's face, she would flip over and show us her back! Silly baby. Almost like when the baby is kicking and I put my hand on my stomach to feel and she stops kicking.

When you go for an ultrasound after 21 weeks pregnant, you have to drink 750 ml of water an hour before going. Well I didn't measure and drank about 2000 ml. I have never had to pee so bad in my life. Even the technician told me my bladder was TOO full. Oh boy, next time I will know better.

This morning I made a delicious smoothie with Banana, strawberries, apple, kiwi and blueberries, mixed with some fruit juice, water and yogurt. It was tasty! Its no milkshake, but for this little baby I will eat my fruit. I had an awful feeling of morning sickness shortly after, but thankfully it passed.

My belly is growing so fast. I need to get some type of lotion so I don't get any stretch marks. Hopefully I will be like my mom and older sister. Neither one got stretch marks. I am not a fan of cocoa butter, and I need a lotion for sensitive skin, so I am on the look out.... any suggestions?

I have been researching baby bottles, cloth diapers, baby monitors, baby carriers.... Oh boy, I keep thinking I have found the perfect brand and then I read more about these items and I'm completely confused. I would like glass bottles instead of plastic. I was positive I wanted to buy bornfree glass bottles, but now think possibly Dr. Brown might be better. Then I thought I wanted Gdiapers, but there are sooo many brands out there. Some people like kissaluvs others Kanga, baby genius, fuzzibunz..... help!!!

expanding belly

OMG pregnancy brain strikes again! I couldn't remember my blogger password for the life of me. 45 minutes later, here I am with a new one. I drive Daddy-Bear crazy with my pregnancy brain. Im constantly mixing things up. Im say White Spot when I mean Wendy's, or Burger King when I mean A&W, Earls when I mean Milestones, right vs left.... He should know what I mean though haha. Ok we do eat out a lot, but I do attempt to eat healthy food. I made myself a yummy fruit smoothie this morning, and am about to make a turkey sandwich with avocado, lettuce, tomato and swiss cheese.

I thought I would post a couple pics of my ever expanding belly ( and double chin eecks). The first was taken April 10th ( just after waking up) and the second one was today May 16th. Wow, quite the difference. On April 22nd my waist was 32"and now I am 33.5" ish. Thats about belly button level, the narrowist part of my waist.

On Mothers Day I went to Home Depot, and the girl at the till said "Happy Mothers Day" to me. I was so excited. I actually look pregnant. Its funny, every time I walk passed another pregnant lady, we stare at eachothers tummies.

Daddy-bear and I went swimming a couples days ago. Its the first bit of exercise we have had in awhile. It was fun. We will have to go more often. Its a bit of a squeaze, fitting into my bikini, but what can a girl do. As I floated in the pool, with my ears under the water, I wondered if this is what it would be like in the womb. Daddy-Bear went in the hot tub, but wouldn't let me go in, I was only allowed to put my legs in. I said 5 minutes wouldn't hurt the baby, but he is right, better safe than sorry. He is so adorable when he gets all worried and protective :)

Speaking of... He felt the baby move for the first time last week. They weren't super strong kicks, so I think he is still questioning what he felt. I love when she is moving around a lot with strong kicks. Although sometimes she kicks what I suspect is my bladder, or some other internal organ, and well, Im less a fan of that haha.

I wish I had super strong cravings like some women get. I have the hardest time deciding what to eat for lunch or dinner. Well, I do have some. I just went through a spell of wanting tartar sauce all the time. Mcdonalds makes the yummiest tartar sauce. Ooh Wendy's had some really good tartar sauce and a yummy fish fillet burger, but they are no longer selling it :( booh hooo. Other than tartar sauce, I crave any type of asian food. I had some terrible chinese food the other day that cured my chinese food craving for sure ickkk.