I’m back! I’ve been MIA a couple weeks and I hate combining posts like this, but I fell really far behind because of our travels lately. We’ve been on the road since Thanksgiving, we decided on a spontaneous trip to Tampa to surprise Dan’s whole family the day after Thanksgiving, so we were gone for three days then got home late Sunday night and boarded a plane bound for California Wednesday morning. We’ve spent the last 9 days cruising the Cali coast and just got home so now I am playing catch up. I’m going to recap the trips we’ve taken over at my new blog adventurewiththemags.com so check that out soon to hear about those recaps.
As for baby news, I haven’t had a doctors appointment since before my last post, I go again tomorrow and have my glucose test! (Yuck!) Hopefully that goes well. The baby moves like crazy all the time and she either really liked taking off and landing in an airplane or really hated it, because she would go nuts, probably the cabin pressure changes or something, but we’ve had 8 flights in the last 2 weeks and I’d feel her going crazy every time.
I’m just going to post one survey questionnaire below and answer generally for the last three weeks, not much is different week to week right now, and I can probably sum it all up together. I do actually have bump pictures from every week though, I was actually pretty good about that! I have a lot of other great bump pictures as well, that’s one thing good about traveling is that I was taking lots of pictures!
I didn’t actually get an “official” bump pic for 23 weeks, we were in Tampa that week, we left the day after Thanksgiving but we enjoyed Thanksgiving at my parents house and then lots of Family time the next day when we left for Florida at 4am!
Here is the survey for the last 3 weeks and then I’ll have more pictures to share!
How far along? Officially 26 weeks and 2 days as I write this post, but recapping week 23, 24 and 25
Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, haven’t weighed myself and haven’t been to the doctor! I would say up a good amount by the size of this bump I have now!
Maternity clothes? Yes, mostly everything. A lot of my long sweaters and shirts are not maternity, but all pants, aside from leggings. Had a hard time finding stuff I could wear for vacation, all my maternity clothes from Ada were from summertime, but for some reason I just didn’t feel good in nearly anything, Mostly because of my belly button which I am so self conscious about.
Stretch marks? Nothing yet!
Sleep: Sleeping pretty good. Had a few very rough nights when we stayed with my sister in law in Cali and I had to sleep on a very uncomfortable pull out sofa. I woke up with bad back aches and just tossed and turned all night, partially because I was sleeping with Ada too and that girl dominates a bed! Now that we are home, I’m sleeping great again in my own bed, which I am obsessed with!
Best moment this week: Hard to say, over the last 3 weeks we’ve had some really great moments. I think surprising Dan’s family in Florida was at the top of the list, they really had no idea we were coming, (Which neither did we until the day before, lol) They were so surprised and happy to have us all together for the weekend! We had a lot of fun in Cali too, it was nice to have one last trip with just the three of us before our family changes forever!
Have you told family and friends: Yes
Miss Anything? I’m starting to miss just feeling comfortable and in shape, moving is hard, bending is impossible, stairs are exhausting, we did so much walking the last few weeks which was probably really good for me, but I’m just tired and achy all the time. I can’t wait to have my body back. Although I will say that I feel like this pregnancy is flying by. I seriously can’t believe we only have like 14 weeks left, which seems like a lot, but the weeks go by so fast!
Movement: Tons of movement all the time, starting to get the Braxton hicks more frequently and a little more intense. I think I said in my last post that they didn’t start with Ada until about 25 weeks, so we’re about the same this time, I think they started a little earlier though. I’ve seen some movement from the outside, but no alien like punches visible form the outside just yet, waiting for that as I know by the amount she moves, its coming!
Food cravings: No cravings, just really the same as always, see food want it, always hungry type things. Definitely more into sweets then I ever usually am, but with the holidays I’m just letting this one ride and taking advantage of the fact that I’ll have to lose the weight anyway, so just enjoy!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Got sick once on vacation actually in the most epic, public way possible. I’m not sure if it was pregnancy related, travel related, or maybe just exhaustion, but thankfully being pregnant gave me an excuse if (I mean, when) people saw me!
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender prediction: Its a girl and another major development over the last few weeks is that we are pretty set on a name for baby girl. We are once again keeping it a surprise until she is here. We’ve been flipping around a lot, so it wasn’t a positive thing, but I think we’ve made a decision that we are both really happy with!
Labor Signs: Just some Braxton hicks starting up, otherwise not yet!
Belly Button in or out? Out, way out! Visible through almost everything I wear. I usually wear a belly band folded over to create two layers, sometimes over my maternity jean band, and a tank top under my shirt just to keep things looking flat. I can still usually see it which make me crazy. Hasn’t been painful, but it has its moments. I really can’t wait to get this taken care of after the baby is born.
Wedding rings on or off? All rings are still on and still comfortable. Gives me hope that I haven’t gained too much weight yet.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy, a little moody. Traveling through a different time zone with kids is rough and can test your patience, as can just traveling in general. Ada has been a little out of whack with all the traveling and I can’t blame her, she lives on routine, so its definitely been a tiring few weeks. I would say I’m more tired then moody. Now that we are home and in the Christmas spirit, we are all doing much better. I’m glad I’ve had so many distractions though between our trips and the holidays because it’s made the second trimester FLY by!
Looking forward to: 27 weeks next week and then we move on to the THIRD trimester! Looking forward to Christmas and a couple weeks of fun holiday parties and activities! We’re hosting my best friends baby shower at my house the week after Christmas and I’ve almost got the entire nursery set up complete, so I feel good about where we are with everything! Lots of fun in the next couple weeks!
Here are some bump pics for week 24 and 25 while we were in California!
The first picture was our first day of vacation and the second one is the last day! I feel like I look so much more relaxed in the second one, haha!
And just a few more pictures to share showing off some more bump love from Ada, me relaxing from our amazing balcony with a view and a cool silhouette we took on our last sunset in San Diego! Gotta love vacations!
Hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for the holidays! I’ll be back soon getting on track with posts again!
-Stephanie
All Kinds of Happy 