Graduation and Tiny Kicks (22 and 23 weeks)

I'm sorry this is a little late! This is an overview of week 22 (and half of 23). I was busy this weekend with graduation and family being in town that I didn't get a chance to update my blog.

Big news this week is that we are now able to see Harper's tiny kicks from the outside. She was kicking around the other day and I was staring at my stomach when I saw a tiny portion of it jolt suddenly. I had Justin come over by my head and watch and he saw it too. She has to kick pretty hard for you to see it (and I think she also has to be close to and facing the belly) but it's really awesome when you can!

I find baby girl is awake between 10:00pm or so and 1:00am and then again from 9:00am to around 12:30. Sometimes she'll wake up for a little bit during the day and afternoon, but not for very long. Interestingly enough all the times she's awake are the times I'm either sleeping or just waking up (she might be my very own alarm clock).

It was a lot of fun to have family in town this last weekend for graduation. Harper already has lots of people who want to love on her. She was causing me some problems, though...like heartburn and back pain. Sitting in the chairs at graduation was super uncomfortable and caused a lot of pain in my back that put me out for the rest of the night and the next day. But that was okay. It just means she's growing healthy and strong.

Here's a bump photo from this week, taken just a couple days past 23 weeks:

 My favorite thing about my bump is that it's all in the belly. I haven't gained any weight in my face, legs, neck, ect yet and so she's the center of all attention. I feel amazing and I feel truly beautiful.

This is one of my favorite photos from graduation. We wanted to make sure Harper's presence for the event was well documented!

Overview This Week (So far, and all of last week):

The Bump: It's super cute and I love it. It's also starting to move! Well...we can see it move when Harper kicks, at least. 

Symptoms: Heartburn, back aches, one day of morning sickness when my family was here (of course).

Cravings: None. Although I really wanted tacos again. But only because my dad was in town and he makes really good tacos.

Aversions: Eggs.

Looking Forward To: Baby shower! Doing a 3D ultrasound if we end up deciding to do one. 

Heartburn and Hair Bow Madness

Today is the start of week 22!

Baby girl is still moving quite a bit, though she definitely has quiet days and times of day she's more active than other...specifically when I'm trying to go to sleep. ;)

New this week...Justin was able to feel one kick from outside the bump...but the vast majority of the time you still can't. It was still cool to have it happen once, though! Baby girl still enjoys being talked to and sang to, so we make sure to make a habit of it.

As for new symptoms, I'm definitely getting the heartburn now. Old wives tales say heartburn means she will be born with a lot of hair, but I'm not counting on it. I'm pretty sure she just likes crushing organs that force the acid up into my esophagus. 

The taco craving continued this week but tapered off later in the week. Believe me. I still love tacos. But I did manage to want to eat some other things this week.

I found a great labor and delivery essential oils package, complete with a list of how and when to use everything. That's enormously helpful since I really didn't know where to begin. I'm super excited about it. Also purchased a lot of bows this week...I'm a little obsessed. Justin calls the amount of bows we already have "madness."

One thing that happened this week that is great is Gift of the Heart Exchange. It's put on by the Business and Law Schools Spouse Associations and is free to all students. Basically they collect a ton of donations of clothes, toys, strollers, household goods, ect. and you can go stock up on whatever you need. It required waking up at 8am on a Saturday but it was definitely well worth it. I was able to come away with a lot of cute items! Including bows. And shoes. Adorable.

Going to and staying asleep is getting harder. If I roll onto my back I will wake up because it makes breathing hard. So we shoved the bed up against the wall and I sleep with 3 pillows between my back in the wall, 2-3 under my head to help with heartburn, and 1 between my knees and wedged under my belly. Going to bed is now an adventure. I found a good deal on a maternity pillow that should be here next week and I'm really excited about it. I hope it makes bed time a little easier. My favorite thing about going to bed, though, is feeling Harper kick the pillows, blankets, or mattress, if they are putting pressure on wherever she happens to be resting. She's such a silly little girl!

We're getting to the end of our Hypnobirthing class and I still love love love love it. It's just so informative and I can tell it will be really helpful, no matter what "type of birth" I end up having. It's perfect if you're planning an at home-medicated birth...or a planned induction or scheduled c-section birth. It truly is a universal technique that can benefit anyone. I even use the techniques now to help with relaxation in other contexts. I really recommend it to all those who are expecting.

Not a lot going on this week, but feeling great and healthy!

Overview This Week

The Bump: About the same as it has been, but it makes it harder to sleep these days.

Symptoms: Heartburn. Oh the heartburn.

Cravings: Sandwiches.

Aversions: Eggs.

Looking Forward To: Baby shower. Holding my baby girl!

Tacos, Tacos, Tacos

**Ultrasound Photos Below**

I think the title of the post says it all. This week I have been craving nothing but tacos. And when I say "craving" I mean it's all I ever want to eat. Ever. For every meal. It's absurd. In the last 7 days I have eaten tacos 10 times. Yes. 10. That's more than once a day. This has been by far my most intense pregnancy craving yet. I wonder what week 21 will bring.

20 weeks was sort of an eventful week for us! We had the big mid-pregnancy ultrasound where they measure all the baby's measurements and check all the organs for functioning. It's also typically when you find out gender, but since we had already done that it was no surprise. Actually, I was glad we had done it earlier because baby girl was not cooperating and had her legs entirely crossed. We were able to confirm she was a girl but it was much harder to see than before.

We haven't received the call from the doctor with the results yet, but the ultrasound technician said she did not see anything that raised any concerns. Baby is measuring pretty much right on schedule (she was measuring one day behind, but that happens since ultrasounds aren't 100% accurate). Her little organs look strong and her heart has gotten so big! It was so fun to see all four chambers clearly beating in her little chest. Her spine looked perfect and her little hands and feet are super adorable. One thing they check is the nose and lips to check for a cleft lip and other possible problems, and every time the tech would move the probe to her face she would quickly move her arms up and cover her face. I'm telling you...this one will be a firecracker.

She was super active the entire time we were getting the scan done. She kept punching and kicking and stretching and waving. It was really neat to see her movements and feel them simultaneously. Her movements are much stronger now. She still has more active days and less active days, but when she is active boy do I know it.

I will post some ultrasound photos, and a new bump photo, at the end. I was sort of upset at the ultrasound place. First, we got there 5 minutes early to fill out paperwork and then weren't called back for 45 minutes because an employee had taken the probe out of the facility. Weird. I know. Then the whole scan was rushed at first until she started checking the more vital organs and such. I really wish I could have seen more of my baby girl. I watched what pictures she took, but when she printed some out for me, the ones she chose were super random. They aren't very good pictures and it makes me sad. But at least I have them. It can just be hard to distinguish what you're looking at.

Nothing else to report on this week. I've been busy with school and finals coming up. My last day of classes is tomorrow, then in two weeks I graduate. Then the summer is dedicated to studying and taking the bar, and then Miss. Harper will finally be here! It's going to go by so fast.

Alright. Time to start dinner. I'm making tacos. Seriously. I am.

Overview This Week

The Bump: Still growing! See below for a comparison!

Symptoms: Really nothing. Other than a little soreness and difficulty sleeping.

Cravings: Taco.

Aversions: Eggs.

Looking Forward To: Finishing school! Graduation. Family. Feeling movement from outside the bump!

Her head is to the right of the photo. The dark circle is her heart.

Nose/Lips are the bright white diamond shape on right.

Arms. And that may be an impolite finger.

Her spine is so cool looking!

12 Weeks                                           21 Weeks

Trampolines and Runnin With the Devil

On to week 20! That means I am officially halfway "done." Of course...I don't really know that because a due date, especially for a first time mom, isn't really going to tell you much. As far as the medical world goes, though, tomorrow I will be closer to birth than I am to conception. Scary. Crazy. Exciting. 

This week Harper is kicking a lot. I mean so much so that it sometimes hurts or keeps me awake. She's my little soccer player! She doesn't move all day yet, but at least every 2 hours or so I will feel her roll around, kick, or punch. It makes it easier to know where she is and how she's positioned. Her favorite pastime is standing or stretching into various organs near my pelvis. I often feel like she is using her feet to push off my insides like a trampoline. It's pretty crazy. But sometimes she's clear up by my belly button. At 20 weeks she measures 6.5 inches head to rump and nearly 10 inches head to toe! Wow! She's also weighing in at a whopping 10 ounces. My girl is getting so big! 

Baby girl loves her daddy's voice. She always moves when he talks to her. She also likes the songs "Footloose," "Greased Lighting," "I Feel My Savior's Love," and "Runnin' With the Devil." She's going to have very diverse tastes. I love that last one, because my mom told me awhile ago that my brother Ryan used to kick around when that song would play when she was pregnant with him. I hope that means she takes after her uncle! 

She also always kicks me if I am laying on my back (which I can't do to sleep anymore, sad!) or if I'm laying a bit on my belly (but I can't lay flat on my tummy anymore, either.) I don't think she likes it. She loves food, though, and goes crazy for it. 

We had a checkup on Tuesday and everything is looking great! I'm healthy and baby's heartbeat is still strong. Prior to the 20 week ultrasound, and in subsequent visits after they take measurements on ultrasound at 20 weeks, they measure baby's growth progress by making sure the size of the uterus is where it should be at your stage of pregnancy. So they know baby is growing great. We do have the big 20-week, ultra-diagnostic, they measure and check everything, ultrasound next week. But since we also had one around 17 weeks I'm not too worried about them finding anything "wrong." 

This week I cried a lot. I cried when KFC was out of extra crispy chicken and only had original. And I cried upon hearing some really great news from a close friend. I cried praying for another friend's dad who was incredibly sick. And I cried at General Women's Conference. And I cried randomly in the bathroom doing my hair because Harper was super active and I just love her so darn much! 

Other than that, nothing new to report in pregnancy this week. I was pretty symptom-free, which was nice, especially since her movements are more frequent and are able to reassure me in place of symptoms.

Overview This Week

The Bump: Huge. I feel like a moose. I've had to adjust more the things I wear and things like sitting down and standing up are harder. I love my growing belly so much, though! It makes me feel beautiful. I know it will only get bigger as baby girl grows, but I already feel so big!

Symptoms: Most just emotional, though this may be my most symptom-free week! I did cry because KFC was out of extra crispy and only had original left, but we'll just not talk about that...

Cravings: Fried chicken. Carne Asasa Fries- thanks to a lengthy discussion on a friend's wall about the joys of Mexican food in San Diego and the sadness that is "Mexican food" in Utah.

Aversions: I still don't want eggs anywhere near me.

Looking Forward To: Family coming to town for graduation! They will get to see the bump, hear the heartbeat, and when my mom and I get together we can't help but gush over cute baby things! We are also going to be looking for our crib, which my parents are so wonderfully and generously gifting to us!