23 weeks pregnant!

Once again, late at posting this, but at least I'm not skipping a week completely! :)

Baby Growth: This week, Kynslie is measuring in at about 12 inches and weighs just a little over a pound, but she's probably bigger now because she weighed 1 pound, 1 ounce at our last visit a few weeks ago. Her brain is also starting to develop a little more this week. The area that controls emotions (the cerebrum) is now rapidly forming. This means that our little girl is learning to feel things like hunger, thirst, sadness, fear, and even happiness. Her hair, skin, and eyes will all start to get their pigment this week. Also, her head is now proportioned to her body! Kynslie can also hear lots going on in there – she can hear my voice, the voices of those around me, my heart beat, and my tummy!

 

My Symptoms:  My back hurts constantly which obviously will probably not go away. And the spot on my right side still hurts bad too. It's become so hard for me to get comfortable, especially at work. It seems no matter which way I sit, lean back, stand up, I'm still not feeling great. The best I feel is when I get home at night and can lay back on the couch and stretch out.  


Weight: Still at a total of 16 pounds at 23 weeks. Still freaks me out, gaining that much but trying not to let it bother me!


Belly Pictures:

Gender: Girl, girl, girl!!!


Maternity Clothes: Starting to wear more of these now. Julia brought me a HUGE bin of clothes this week and it has been so fun going through them all! I love having friends who having shopping addicitons :) So, now I have many more shirts and things to chose from! I am really not a fan of the jeans with the elastic panel, I would much rather have the full panel that covers my entire belly. The other panel seems to cut into my hips and makes my stomach look more like a muffin top than a prego belly and makes me look bigger than I really am. Ughhhh for always being hippy!

I also finally upgraded to an old woman, grandma bra! It was getting unbearable to wear the wired push up style that I always have worn because it was cutting into that painful spot. So, I got a nice, comfy, big bra with bigger shoulder straps for extra support and no underwire. It's totally unattractive, but seriously, am I trying to be hot right now? I think not! Poor Merlin, haha :)

Movement:  WOW, this chick can move and kick! The movements are so much stronger now and almost take my breath away sometimes when she kicks me hard! It's so visible now from the outside and she makes my whole belly move, which is really cool to see! Shes still pretty low each time I feel her and I think she is kicking my bladder sometimes because I usually have to go potty right after she does that. It's still such a strange feeling but I'm loving every minute of it!


Sleep: Still pretty good, although I'm starting to wake up more on my back again and it is starting to make my belly hurt when I wake up that way. I'm also getting much hotter when I sleep so I've just been sleeping in panties only to make it more comfortable! :)


What I Miss: this seems to come up alot, but what I wouldn't give for a glass of horse creek blueberry wine right now! And a fully caffeinated cafe dulce from Ellianos!


What I’m Looking Forward To: Next weekend is my 10 year reunion so looking forward to hanging out with old friends, seeing the school again (its SO different now), and going to a football game! Also can't wait for the weekend after because we are going to go visit Myron and Christie in Athens and let Kynslie experience her first GA game! :)


Cravings: Thanks to my wonderful friend, Kim, I had to have some pretzel bites from the pretzel place in the mall! We were talking about it during the week and it got it my head and I couldn't stop thinking about them. I can't tell you how long it has been since I've had those but they were awesome!


Best Moment of the Week: Finally deciding on the color we are going to paint the dresser. We are going with the baby pink that will be on the accent wall. I was thinking about a hot pink, but I just really like the calming feeling I get with the soft grey and soft pink so I'm just going to do the bright pink in her curtains and accents so it's not on a big piece of furniture. I also bought the rest of her fabric and gave it to Kim, who has been the best and offered to make her curtains and crib skirt and all! We couldn't be more thankful for wonderful friends that do so much for us!


My Concerns or Questions: Nothing in particular. I do have my glucose test next week at my appointment and I'm slightly freaking out about it. I just pray everything comes back fine because I want to be as healthy as I can for my baby girl!


Goals for the Week: Enjoy my not to busy weekend and relax and rest some! The last couple of weeks at work have been crazy busy so I need the weekends to regain some energy!