Pregnancy Update – 24 weeks
I had my 6 month check-up yesterday and after last month’s check-up, I was very nervous about the weight-gain. After gaining 6.5 pounds in one month, I was afraid if I kept that up, I may get way too big and have a hard time getting the weight off after FBB arrives. Of course, while pregnant I’m not dieting or anything, but I finally had a month that I wasn’t having strong cravings for heavy and fattening things, so that helped! At this appointment I actually lost 2 pounds, but my belly has still grown. I wasn’t eating too light or anything, they said that some months will be like that so it washes out the high weight-gain months. Phew. So, I’m right on track. They didn’t do an ultra-sound this month, so no new pics of FBB to share 😦 But I’m sure he’s getting bigger and cuter every day (just like two other rug-rats I know). Next month they’ll do some testing for gestational diabetes, but so far I’ve had no symptoms for that.
I have still been feeling wonderful and sometimes pregnant-high, which I LOVE. However, some new back pain has greeted me in the evenings. Now pretty much every day around 4 or 5pm my back starts to ache and feel really tired on the sides and middle. It isn’t a pinched nerve or lower back pain like before, but a whole new kind of back pain. I guess that is just my thing during pregnancy – unescapable back pain. It has been bothering me a little overnight too, so my nights of happy sleep might be behind me. Other than that, I’m tiring out a little more easily, but still feeling good. It is probably a good thing that we went to Paris when we did — nice job hubby!
Cravings — So, although my beef craving is gone, I now have a new craving — lemony things, particularly Chick-fil-A lemonade. I’ve made several drives out to Flatirons just for it. I have a new found love of lemonade, lemon muffins, anything like that. I’ve never been much of a lemon person before, so this is kinda fun. Tonight I’m making lemon chicken for dinner. Other than lemony things, I’ve been wanting lots of fruit, which isn’t anything new, but still going strong. Also, it is Cadbury Egg season, so I constantly want those, but I don’t thing that has anything to do with the pregnancy 🙂
We just had some painting done around the house. Delaney’s room is now lavender, FBB’s room is now a very light blue, and we had some touching-up done too. So, all kids now have colorful rooms! In the beginning of March, we’ll hopefully decide on some baby furniture, then it will all be coming together for the little guy to arrive.
We have started birthing class, which seems like a waste of time. It is 2.5 hrs on Tuesday nights for 5 weeks. Each class could easily be done in one hour. About half of the time, the instructor just babbles on a lot and tells stories about when she was pregnant and then she goes around the room and asks each couple the same stupid questions. The videos I could certainly do without. I don’t know if they are designed to scare us or prepare us. But, there is no turning back now! David has been great, it is nice that he already knows all the important stuff, so then when I get freaked out and cry about how scary the labor looks, he can talk some sense in to me.
FBB’s kicks have definitely been getting stronger. Frequently now, instead of a little flutter, when he kicks or punches or does acrobatics in there, I feel my entire belly convulse. It is pretty bizarre, but I love it!
So, that is what has been going on lately. We are really getting excited to meet our little man.
Snow-shoeing in Breckenridge with the Hermans
We had the Hermans and Camerons up to Breckenridge for a weekend of fun in the sun and snow. While the Camerons were out teli-skiing, we opted for some snow-shoeing (with the dogs, of course) and enjoyed the beautifully sunny and mild January Breckenridge weather!
Pregnancy update – 22 weeks
Soooo, I can honestly say that I LOVE being pregnant. If it weren’t for the minor back pain and the twice daily injections (damn blood-clotting disorder), I could stay pregnant forever! I feel great, I’m sleeping well, I love feeling FBB kick and move around (some kicks have been strong enough for David to feel now too!). I am a sacred vessel. Knowing and feeling that FBB is in there is really amazing, comforting, and empowering. Of course I’m also excited for him to come out, but I feel very complete with him in there.
14 weeks 22 weeks
My cravings have definitely subsided. While I still like beef, and am turned-off by chicken – the life-or-death need to eat beef is mostly gone. At my last check-up, I found out that I had gained 6 pounds during the previous month (doc said that it is normal to have gained a lot in that month because there was so much development…but still!). That was the month that I ate at least one hearty-beefy meal every day! So, it is a good thing that those cravings have settled down. Now I’m focusing on eating tons of fruits and veggies and drinking lots of water. Except for the Paris trip (come on, I couldn’t skip out on sweets on vacay), I’m trying to avoid sweets and soda, since FBB can now taste what I’m eating and he can possibly develop a liking to what I consume. He is now bigger than a coconut, can suck his thumb, and has developed most major organs and systems – he mostly just needs to grow. Grow baby, grow!
I’m about to start working on his room. I have a painter coming next week and need to start ordering furniture. Can you believe there is not a single children/baby furniture store in all of Boulder? And there are only an unimpressive few in Denver – I guess the only options are online/catalog furniture stores, or am I missing something?
I have had to give up tennis 😦 It was just too much impact on my joints with all my softened cartilage and tendons. So, I’m sticking to my routine of doggie walks and small hikes, personal trainer sessions, and prenatal yoga. Hopefully that will keep me from becoming a beached whale in the next few months!
David has been really cute about FBB lately. How lucky am I to already know that he is a great dad? Marrying a man with kids does have it’s perks, I suppose! He has also been really supportive and a great comfort when I have my crazy preggo mood swings and crying outbursts. And the babymoon trip to Paris earned him some major daddy-points too!
Now that we are certain that FB is a boy, we are working on baby names. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment. We could use some help!
8 weeks 16 weeks 20 weeks
So, that is the latest on me and FBB!
Babymoon in Paris
I have the most thoughtful husband EVER! For my birthday, David surprised me with a babymoon trip to Paris. We left for a week in Paris in the end of January. He had planned it out perfectly so that we’d go before I got too big and uncomfortable. Genius.
We stayed at the Relais Christine in the 6th district http://www.relais-christine.com/ based on the referral by the Paris expert, Amy Batchelor. It was wonderful. A small, boutique hotel in a prime location. Just out the door we were surrounded by narrow Parisian alleys full of brasseries, patisseries, creperies, chocolatiers, shops, pubs — anything you could possibly want! We were also very centrally located to all the sites, walking distance to the Louvre, Champs Elysees, many museums, Notre Dame, and many beautiful parts of Paris.
Just a little street outside of our hotel
The first day we went with a small tour group to Versailles. I loved it. It was amazing to see the size and extravagance of the palace and get an idea of how the royalty of that time lived. My favorite part was the bedchamber of Marie Antoinette. Just being in the room where she lived and delivered her 3 children was definitely amazing.
We also had several fun days of exploring the city by foot. We did a night-time city tour by boat to see Paris light up, hiked up the Arc de Triomphe (close to 300 stairs, not bad for 21 weeks pregnant), browsed the Champs Elysees, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (holy shit that was higher than I thought!), explored the ‘Napolean in Egypt’ exhibit at the Institute of Arabs, hunted down the best creperies and chocolatiers, wandered through Notre Dame, and toured the Louvre. We got in at least 2.5 hours of walking each day as our daily exercise (gotta earn those crepes and sugar waffles!). I came down with a pretty brutal cold on our second to last night there, so our last day of museum exploration had to be sacrificed. So, we didn’t make it to the Musee d’Orsay or the Georges Pompidou, which we would have liked to see. But, I didn’t want to overdue it with FBB – I was defintely tiring more easily (with about a 12 pound weight gain, it’s like I’m carrying around a bowling ball all day) and being out in the cold every day caught up with me. I think we covered a lot of ground and we experienced all of the main sites that we had wanted to check out!
Stairs up the Arc de Triomphe
It was a wonderful trip. I’ve been to a lot of exotic places in the world, but Paris has always been at the top of my list and I’ve never made it there! So, it was really sweet of David to plan this trip for us and I’ll cherish the memories!
David took some videos while we were there – check em out: http://dgcohen23.posterous.com/
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