It has been a very busy week for all three of us! Baby boy Lamb has been especially active with all his kicking, punching, twisting, turning, poking, prodding and headbutting! And we've been enjoying every minute of it. The best part is when he kicks or punches me whenever Im sitting or laying in a position that is uncomfortable to him. One night, he woke me up with a powerful kick to tell me to roll a little more on my left side! Picky picky!

We had our 24 week check-up this Tuesday (September 11). We didnt do much this time. I weighed in and was happy to see that I only gained 1.6 pounds since my last visit. My certified nurse midwife was thrilled! She told me to keep up the good work!

The highlight of the visit was getting to hear our son's hearbeat for the first time. The CNM didnt realize that we hadnt heard it yet! Anyway, it was a beautiful and strong rhythm at 147 bpm! It was pretty awesome hearing some audio from our unborn son!

My next appointment will be at 28 weeks. I will be tested for gestational diabetes, which is a standard procedure in prenatal care. Im not looking forward to drinking that overly sweet concoction first thing in the morning!!

After that visit, we will start seeing the CNM every two weeks. Sometime in November, we will probably have a 3D/4D ultrasound scan. We're looking forward to seeing who the baby looks like!!

Anyway, I added some pictures from our baby shower that my friends threw for us over Labor Day weekend. I will post a new belly picture soon since I will be 25 weeks tomorrow (Friday). All I can say is that m tummy looks much bigger than it did 4 weeks ago!!

Symptoms:

back pain, changes in vision, dry eyes, appetite changes (sometimes Im starving, sometimes Im not even close hungry), aversions (cottage cheese, orange juice, leafy greens, water, perfume), cravings (sweets, junk food,  fruit, red meat, tea), difficulting staying asleep,  major fetal movement!!

Total Weight Gained:  21.6 lbs, according to the doctor's scale. 22 lbs according to my scale.

Its been a busy two weeks!!

Last Friday marked 23 weeks, which is also known as the beginning of month 6 of pregnancy. It also means that this is the last month of the 2nd trimester. Unbelievable!

Allen and I took a mini-vacation over Labor Day weekend (August 31st - September 3rd) down to Florida.  As soon as we got into town, we headed over to Destin to meet up with my parents on their boat. We spent a good 3-4 hours sitting around talking and catching up. It was so nice relaxing on the boat as the sun set. Afterwards, we ate a late dinner at McGuire's Irish Pub. Allen had his all-time favorite peppercorn burger and Irish fries and I had a mushroom & merlot sauce hamburger and Irish fries!  So yummy! However, I didnt sleep well after that meal (severe heartburn)!

Saturday, we spent the day at my parents' house, enjoying some much needed peace and quiet. We watched my Gators win big over a newly acquired Division I A school known as Western Kentucky. As soon as that game finished, a few of my friends dropped by to visit and eat Hideaway Pizza with us (Hideway is a landmark institution in my hometown). Yum!! Afterwards, we watched Allen's Georgia Tech Yellowjackets humiliate the Notre Dame Irish. It was beautiful!

Sunday, Allen and I woke up early and headed to the beach. We figured it would be safe, since it was so cloudy and cool out. As we took our long walk on the beach at Okaloosa Island, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out. The water was so warm and pretty! Afterwards, we did some exploring further down Highway 98. We ended up on some small gorgeous beach in Walton county. We took lots of pictures there and found it very difficult to leave such a breathtaking view! 

By the time we got back to Destin, it was time for lunch. We headed to my favorite waterfront seafood restaurant The Lucky Snapper. Since it was so nice out, we sat out on the deck, which hangs over the harbor. As we waited for our meals to arrive (we both got the fried shrimp, but I got green beans and slaw in place of the fries), we watched all the expensive yachts and cigarette boats go by. Off in the distance, we saw my parents' boat anchored down. So cool!

That evening, we got ready for our first baby shower!! My dear friends, Andrea and Hollea, co-hosted our co-ed baby shower at the Ivy Leaf Tea Parlor. I had never been to this venue, so I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with how warm and cozy the place was. I immediately felt at home! We started off with some fresh brewed teas, lovely scones, chicken salad sandwiches, cayenne pepper brownies, and various other bitesize treats. Then we played a few games and opened lots of cards and gifts! We ended the evening with some yummy homemade cake (decorated as Classic Winnie the Pooh, of course!) and small talk. We enjoyed it so much! Once we get our copy of the photos taken that evening, I will post them on here.

People in attendance: Andrea, Kathleen (Andrea's mom), Hollea, Jo Ann (Hollea's mom), Heather (Hollea's sister), Kevin (Hollea's husband), Stacy, Vicki (Stacy's mom), Selena, Alex (Selena's youngest son), Allen and me.  

Also, while we were home, we discovered a ton of beautifully wrapped baby gifts left behind from my parents. They spoiled us with all kinds of goodies for our son! And they say there is more to come!! Wow, huh? Anyway, after attending our baby shower, we realized that we may not have enough room in our car to take every thing back home with us! But we managed to get everything to fit!!

In other news, we're all doing well. I'm feeling the baby move pretty regularly now. Its nice feeling him so often. The cool thing is that I feel him move very strongly in several different places at once. Allen has been able to feel him move more often now, which makes me so unbelievably happy! 

Next week is our 24 week check-up. Im kinda nervous what they will say about my weight this time. I did pretty well on keeping the gain to a minimum this month, so hopefully, they will be proud of this accomplishment. Im not sure what all we're doing at this appointment, though at this point in pregnancy, the mom-to-be is tested for gestational diabetes. Oh and for the first time, we wont be seeing our sweetie-pie on the ultrasound. Hopefully, we'll at least get to listen to his heartbeat!

Symptoms:

lower back pain, occasional round ligament pain, leg cramps, dry eyes, changes in vision, occasional headaches, slight fatigue, scatterbrain, cravings (fast food - Arby's and Chickfila, chocolate), bizzarre dreams, realistic nightmares, difficulty sleeping (increasingly difficult to find comfy sleeping position), nosebleeds, stuffy nose, heartburn, mood swings (been depressed all week).

Total Weight Gained: 21 pounds  

22 weeks today!

This has been one hectic week!! We're short handed at work so I've been busy taking care of my duties as well as someone else's. The busiest day, however, was Monday. I had to attend a conference past downtown Atlanta. Normally, I commute to work on a bus, but had to drive to the conference since public transportation doesn't travel that far south of the city. It took me 90 minutes to drive 36 miles in rush hour traffic! How do people do that every day? One morning of that stop and go traffic drove me absolutely nuts!

All went well at the meeting until they served us lunch. In the past years, they served deli sandwiches and chips. Not this year! Instead we each got two pieces of fried chicken, cole slaw, a biscuit, potato chips, and two bite size desserts. It was all soooo good, except the slaw (Im very finicky when it comes to slaw). So much for eating healthy!

Baby boy Lamb enjoyed it though - he was kicking up a storm! Its been fun feeling him kick, especially in the last week. My belly shakes when he moves now!! And sometimes, I can see my tummy jut out a little bit when he kicks really hard. When he does that, its very easy for me to feel him with my hand. His Daddy was finally able to feel him kick. However, most of the time, our little stinker likes to settle down once Daddy starts touching my belly. Oh well, at least Allen now has proof that the baby is actually in there!

I have been doing well since I was told to cut back on dairy products. Im not missing them as much as I thought I would. Thank goodness! I guess the whole weight gain thing tends to put my wants and needs in perspective. I've seen a dramatic change in scale readings since last Tuesday.  My weight gain has come to a standstill this week, which makes me very happy! Hopefully, I can keep up the good work and keep the gain slow and steady from here on out!

In other news, we finally got our Target baby registry up and running. Its quite a list, but  Im sure we still managed to forget something!!    

Symptoms:

lower back pain, round ligament pain, occasional leg cramps, frequent potty breaks, mood swings, difficulty sleeping (its becoming increasingly difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position), bizzarre dreams, cravings for breakfast foods like pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, muffins, doughnuts (but I've only indulged on two eggs and 3 slices of reduced fat bacon this week!)

Total Weight Gained: still holding steady at 20 lbs. YAY! 

Well, we had our 20 week check up yesterday.  After the nurse weighed me and took my  blood pressure, she asked me if I had any questions or concerns. The one thing that had  been weighing on my mind was my weight gain. The nurse asked me if the CNM had mentioned anything about it and I said "no". Then she says, "well, she'll probably say something about it this time."

So, naturally, I was nervous about what Ginny, my CNM, would say regarding my weight. When she came inside, she said every thing looks good with the exception of my weight gain. She told me thats all she would say about it, but I proceeded to ask her what I could do to slow it down. She asked me what kind of fluids I was drinking. I told her that I was drinking at least 3 cups of skim milk and about 8-10 cups of water per day. She told me to cut back on the skim milk (only 1 cup/day) and chew 2 Tums twice a day to fulfill my calcium needs.

I also told her that it has been difficult to exercise due to the 100+ degree temperatures outside. She told me to wait until the cooler temps returned before resuming my walks and to focus on eating a healthy portion controlled diet.  She told me again that if I cut back on the skim milk that I should be back on track in no time.

It was hard for me to believe that just cutting back on my milk consumption would really slow weight gain.  After I did some calculations, I discovered that I would prevent about 2 pounds of weight gain per month if I limited my skim milk intake to 1 cup a day! WOW!

Afterwards, we talked about labor and delivery policies, since Allen and I are just beginning to write up our birth plan. From what we discussed, it sounds like our needs will be met in an agreeable fashion.

Then, we finally got to move on to the exciting part of the appointment - the 20 week growth and development scan!! The first thing Sandy, the sonographer, looked at was his heartrate - a healthy 142 bpm!  Secondly, she noted that he was in a breech position (head up and feet down inside uterus), which is ok at this stage of pregnancy. Then she moved on and took a closer look at his major organs - kidneys, stomach, heart. It was so awesome seeing his perfectly formed 4 chambered heart pumping away!

Then Sandy looked at his major bone formations. It was pretty amazing to see his individual limb bones, his tiny fully veterbrated spine, and little skull. Then she checked out his gender (there's no question that he is a boy!), his umbilical cord (looked like thickly weaved rope), and the location of the placenta (on the right side of my uterus).  At the end of the scan, Sandy informed us that he weighs 15 oz, which is one ounce shy of a pound. WOW!!

My favorite part of the whole ultrasound was seeing his little hand sitting under his chin, which looked similar to the famous Thinker statue. The reason why I like this particular image of him so much is because his daddy often does the same pose for the camera!! Like father, like son!!

I've added some new photos to the album. However, I do not like the belly picture of myself (I cried when I saw it, YUCK!). Thankfully, the rest of them are wonderful! My favorites, are the ones of my two Thinkers!

Anyway, now that I know Im overweight for this stage of pregnancy, I will set some goals. My primary goal is to decrease my dairy intake (skim milk and cheese, which will be hard since I crave the stuff big time!) and get my calcium from other means such as Tums and dark green veggies (which is hard, since I despise the stuff right now!). My secondary goal is to exercise whenever it is safe (lower temperatures!) to do so. Hopefully, by combining these two changes, I will slow the weight gain down some. Wish me luck!

Symptoms:

mood swings, occasional dull headaches, round ligament pain, lower back pain, leg cramps, cravings (fruit, dairy, cereal), nausea at bedtime,  itchy/dry eyes, fast nail growth, nosebleeds, stuffy nose, frequent potty breaks, some sleeping difficulties

Total Weight Gained: holding steady at 20 pounds