I announced our pregnancy news over 8 weeks ago on the blog, so I figured an update was due. It’s mostly for me to remember things later, but hopefully you’ll enjoy this little update too!
How far along? 23 weeks 1 day
Size of a? large mango – According to an app, the baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over 1 pound. Still so tiny!
Due date? May 1, 2018
Gender? It’s a BOY! If you know me personally, you know I’m very girly and love decorating with a classy/elegant/glam style, so of course I was seriously hoping for a girl, so I could decorate her room oh-so-girly, but I knew deep down it was a boy early on. I tried to hold out hope, but honestly, I was 99.99% sure we were having a boy. It was confirmed on November 28th that we’re having a boy, and we’re both thrilled! He seems very healthy and is very active already. We’re already in love with him and he’s not even here yet!
Weight gain so far? 8 pounds. I was already a little over weight (about 10 pounds), so I think I’m doing okay with gaining for my size. Although, every time I have a doctor’s appointment, I fear he’s going to tell me to slow down. HA!
Exercise? Ugh. I was doing really well until about the beginning of November, but life got busy, and we’ve been out of town or super swamped every week since then. I’m planning to start walking again though, so that’s my goal for exercise for now. We did go to NYC for a few days in December and walked a ton every day, so that counts doesn’t it?!
Maternity clothes? I’ve bought some pants, but I haven’t worn them yet. I moved up one size in my jeans so far, but I think I have quite a bit of room to grow in them. Some days I feel great and like my clothes fit, and other days, I feel as big as a house and should just stay home in my pajamas instead of trying to find something to wear. That’s pretty much every girl though, am I right?!
Sleep? Lots of waking up and turning over. I am so over this sleeping on your side business! It gets old. Only 17 more weeks to go. HA!
Food cravings? Honestly, I don’t really have cravings, which is so weird because before I was pregnant, I always craved food, and now I’m pregnant and don’t really crave anything. However, I have been eating a ton of pizza throughout this pregnancy. It’s like I can’t get enough of it. Luckily, I haven’t gained too much weight, so I’ll keep eating the pizza for now. 😉 I also eat a lot of candy: sprees and sweetarts mostly. I try to stay away from chocolate as much as I can, but I do love reeses and m&ms.
Movement? This little guy kicks a lot! We finally felt him move on the outside on Christmas Eve morning. It was so exciting… although I think Jacob still doesn’t believe it was him kicking me. He felt it again just the other night and now he knows for sure that’s what he felt the first time. I like feeling the kicks because I know he’s having fun in there. I used to not feel him kick until I was really still at night, but lately, I’ve been able to feel the kicks when I’m walking around, sitting, driving, etc and it’s quite often these days!
What I miss? Sleeping on my back! Like I said earlier, this sleeping on the side all the time is so annoying. I just ordered a pregnancy body pillow, so hopefully that’ll help me sleep better.
What I’m loving? Feeling him moving more and decorating his nursery. We’ve been working on it for a few of weeks now, and my plan is to finish his room before the third trimester hits. So far, we’re making great progress and should finish early… actually we’re like 95% done. I just have one thing left to figure out, and then the room will be officially finished. It’s really come together exactly how I envisioned it, and I’m so pleased. Jacob says it doesn’t look girly at all, so woohoo for that!!
I’m also loving shopping for him. I waited a really long time (19 weeks to be exact) before I bought anything for him or his room, but now I think he has a ton of clothes for the first 6 months or so (probably too many… oops!). I can’t get over how tiny the clothes are! They are all so, so cute though! He’s definitely going to be very stylish if I say so myself!
What I’m looking forward to? Getting this glucose test out of the way (it’s at my next appointment), seeing him at my 30 weeks ultrasound and of course, meeting this little one in person in just 4.5 months! Eeek!
Best moment this week? Feeling him kick on the outside! It was so neat! Now we’re just waiting until we can see actually the kicks. It should be soon I think.
Words of wisdom? Picking a baby name is hard. We’ve decided on one, but some reactions from others have made me shy away from sharing his name with anyone else right now… and it’s not even a weird name. His first name actually has a special meaning to us, and that’s why we picked it. So, my advice is: be confident in your choice. It’s the name you and the father picked and everyone should say they love it (even if they don’t). I’m trying to follow my own advice now, but I’m not going to lie, telling others our baby’s name and then them showing that they don’t love it (either by their words or facial expressions) is hard. Just be nice. Say you love it and move on. That’s really all it takes!
For me, this pregnancy has been amazing! I seriously cannot complain about anything at this point. Everything has been going really well, and I feel great! I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to have had such an easy pregnancy thus far and fingers crossed that trend continues. It’s so amazing how much your body changes when you’re carrying a baby. It’s kind of unbelievable to me how the body just “knows” what to do. It’s amazing.
Only 4.5 months until we meet our little guy, and I cannot wait! In the meantime, I think it’s time to start taking all the classes and reading as much as I can before he gets here because I feel clueless about everything right now!
Oh, and in case you were wondering… I do have a bit of a baby bump now. It tends to pop out more throughout the day, so I think I may have a bit of a food baby, too! 😉 Here’s a photo I took at night last week in a tighter sweater dress so you can actually see the bump. I’ll try to post another update soon.
P.S. While I was trying to take a photo of the onesie for this post, this dog just had to get right on top of it! She’s a mess. I don’t know if she knows what’s going on, but she seems to follow us around more and hang out in his room with us if we’re in there… and she always seems to be in the way lately. I guess she just wants to be included. Love that Hallie girl!
So happy for you and Jacob ! Please know that I’ve included you in a special intercessory prayer for expectant moms and their unborn child EVERY night since learning about y’all’s little miracle!!
Thank you so much for all of the prayers, Donna! We really appreciate all of them!