We are officially past the halfway mark! I keep saying that it feels like the next ~19 weeks will take so long, but everyone assures me they will fly by and our baby will be here before we know it. I’m so torn between wanting the time to pass quickly and being mindful of enjoying the last few months Aaron and I have all to ourselves!
In case you’ve forgotten what I looked like before being visibly pregnant — I know I have — here’s a fun comparison. My face is definitely filling out more, in addition to my belly!
After our 20-week anatomy scan last week, we saw our doctor for a regular monthly checkup at exactly 21 weeks, and she said I’ve gained 9 pounds overall. About a pound of that is the baby — the ultrasound tech estimated during our scan that she weighed 14 oz. — and this week my pregnancy app says she’s about 10.5 inches long. We somehow forgot to ask how long she actually is!
Healthy pregnancy weight gain for a woman with a normal pre-pregnancy BMI is 25-35 pounds overall, so I’m feeling good about where I am — although I’m being more mindful about how many treats I eat, since my doctor also gave me the glucose-tolerance beverage I’ll need to drink before my next appointment to test for gestational diabetes. I’m still enjoying all the deliciousness of the holiday season, but not eating dessert after every meal anymore.
A few fun things that happened last week that I didn’t mention were that we picked up a Baby Einstein jumper/activity center thing for $20 from our neighbors, and we finally bought a changing table/dresser!
Aaron had been checking Craigslist every day for the past several weeks looking for the perfect one, and he finally hit the jackpot last weekend! We love that the top railing can be removed once we’re done using it as a changing table, and it has drawers for clothes but also open space for quickly grabbing diapers, wipes, etc. It doesn’t match the crib perfectly in terms of color, but we’re not Pinterest-picky. We paid $115, bringing our grand total for nursery furniture to $215 ($50 for the crib, $50 for the glider).
We already have some artwork hung, too, as you can see. On the far right is a print of Kermit the frog riding a bike, which we saw in a Seattle art-shop window a year-and-a-half ago and Aaron is obsessed with. Above the changing table are four of Ryan Berkley’s animal portraits that we bought from Etsy as a mutual wedding-anniversary gift. I fell in love with these quirky portraits when I saw them at a gift shop in Portland several months ago, and Aaron thought they were just as hilarious as I did. It was so hard to choose our four favorites!
Side note: We currently use the nursery as an office, and we have nowhere else to put Aaron’s desk and computer, so we’re leaving them in there. Baby’s first iMac! I also have a ton of crap in those plastic drawers that I need to go through. That’ll be exciting.
Anyway, Aaron has collected those bike prints over the past few years with the intention of hanging them in a nursery someday. That day has arrived!
And here’s the other side of the room, currently home to the glider, side table, carseat and Christmas presents!
We’re not going to paint the room, since we live in a rental and don’t want to put in the effort of nicely painting the super-tall walls (it has vaulted ceilings) when we could very well move in the next year or two, so I’m hoping to add some fun color via curtains, crib bedding, and maybe a rug. We’ll start on all that after the holidays!
Another fun purchase: Aaron found this amazing, huge teddy bear on our local buy/sell Facebook group for $15 and we had to have it!!!
Even this photo doesn’t properly show the scale. If you stand him upright next to me, he’s about as tall as I am… which is 5′6″. His name is Frank, and he’s currently hanging out on our couch for us to snuggle with, as he is so amazingly soft and comfortable.
I also had to spring for a maternity coat, as the long, puffy coat I currently wear clearly isn’t going to fit through my entire pregnancy. It’s already getting uncomfortably snug through my chest and belly, so I decided to take the plunge on a different one before I got to the point of being unable to zip it!
This one from A Pea in the Pod is pretty similar to my existing coat and has all five-star reviews, but I didn’t want to pay $200 for a coat I’ll only wear for a few more months. Miraculously, I found the exact coat in my size on eBay for $69, and Aaron — being the eBay expert, in addition to the Craigslist expert — won it for me! The description says the owner only used it for the last three weeks of her pregnancy and had it dry-cleaned afterward, so I hope it’s pretty much brand-new. In any event, I’m happy to have it for less than half of what it costs new.
Enough about stuff; how am I doing? Perfectly fine! The most common question I’m asked is, “How are you feeling?” and I have no exciting answer for it. I am noticing it’s a little more difficult to stand up from being seated, and I catch myself sighing with relief as I sit down. It just feels so good to sit down and get comfy.
A bit of exhaustion has crept back in this past week, too. Aaron and I tried to watch the first three Star Wars movies this weekend in preparation for seeing the new one, and I cannot stay awake to watch one all the way through — even in the middle of the day. On Saturday, I fell asleep from 1:30-3:30 in the afternoon, and again around 8:30 before waking up on the couch at midnight to go up to bed and sleep until 7:30 Sunday morning. It’s almost like I’m sick, but I feel perfectly fine. Just the nature of baby-growin’, I guess.
Oh, and I’ve been thirsty, thirsty, thirsty. I’ve always been a big water-drinker, but starting this past week, I can’t seem to get enough.
I guess I do have an answer to how I’m feeling after all: tired and thirsty!
I only went to the gym twice this week, as I found myself stressing about getting our holiday cards in the mail and dedicated a few evenings to doing that rather than working out. I’d been hoping the latest episode of the Serial podcast would motivate me to get on the treadmill, but no such luck!
That’s all for this week. I’m so excited for Christmas this year, as I’ve pretty much only requested baby stuff and can’t wait to see what’ll be under the tree!
I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and happy holiday! Please drink lots of wine for me! 🙂
Dev on Running 