A Letter

To my beautiful, sweet little girl:

Today you gave us a gift. You finally kicked one of your tiny feet hard enough for your daddy to feel it. I'm so proud of you! You're getting so strong. While I'm sure there will be many more such moments to come, I wanted to thank you for sharing this gift. I'm so so happy for your daddy to be a part of the joy I've been experiencing the last few weeks.

I'm having so much fun getting to know you and am so excited to meet you, hold you in my arms and share you with the world. I hope you know how loved you are.

Your Mommy

24 Weeks

How far along? 24 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I don't know, but will find out at my appointment next Monday.
Maternity clothes? We went to Topeka last weekend, and Mike's mom had gotten me some stuff off the internet. I passed on a few pieces (one was too small in the boobs, the other was yellow), but most were really nice. I'm glad that some people are good on online shopping, because I am not.
Stretch marks? I just noticed more yesterday. sigh
Sleep: It's still better as long as I don't talk to Mike when I get up to pee. That's bad news for both of us.
Best moment this week: watching the sun rise with my wonderful husband
Movement: Holy cow! She's all over the place!!!
Food cravings: I had a huge craving for a soda the other day. All Mike had was diet...it sucked!
Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: Not even.
What I miss: taking good drugs when I have a headache
What I am looking forward to: Going to see the Wiggles with my mom and the boys this Saturday. I know that's sad, but it'll be a good time!!!
Weekly Wisdom: If all else fails, make a list.
Milestones: VIABILITY!!!

The Moby

I was so excited to get my Moby sling on Friday that I just had to try it out. The Moby is a long piece of fabric that can be wrapped for a variety of holds. I chose this sling because it is versatile, will work with toddlers as well as babies, and Mike could use it as well without adjusting straps or anything.

I decided that Bella would be a good candidate for helping me out with the first trail run. I figure that she's roughly the same weight as a young infant, so why not. Bella did not enjoy the process of being put into the sling, but once she was in, she was pretty content. She's such a snuggler, I don't think she would protest much about being carried around like that all the time.

23 Weeks

This is my first (very brave) bare-belly picture. I'm only slightly horrified.













How far along? 23 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I haven't the slightest.
Maternity clothes? As previously mentioned, I went shopping and got some new things last weekend. I think I'm done shopping for myself until the weather changes.
Stretch marks? Did you look at the picture? I think it's fairly obvious.
Sleep: much, much better lately
Best moment this week: Having a girls day out...shopping and seeing a chick flick.
Movement: I get to feel little kicks and punches every day. When I'm sitting down, I feel them up under my ribs a lot, most often on my right side for some reason.
Food cravings: I may or may not have gone to the store at 10:00 the other night for brownies and ice cream. It was very important. I'm still marveling that I went myself. Someone needs to tell Mike about how expectant fathers usually do that type of thing.
Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: No way!
What I miss: being able to sit comfortably in my arm chair and read or watch TV for more than 15 minutes at a time
What I am looking forward to: I'm anxious for Mike to get to feel some movement from the outside. He was trying the other night, and while Little Girl was cooperative and kicking back at him, he just didn't feel it. I hope it won't be long.
Weekly Wisdom: It may be time to start doing some hard-core planning.
Milestones: I got nothing right now.

. . . . . .

In case you think I've been neglecting Mike a bit, I now submit pictures of how 23 weeks looks on my dear husband. I informed him today that the mountain man wanna be beard had best be gone before I return home from work this afternoon.

Dreams and Other Things

On Friday night we had the weirdest thing happen around here. I had a really sad dream (don't feel like going into details), and towards the end of it, I started crying pretty hard. The strange thing is, though, that I started crying in real life. Crying isn't even the word...I was sobbing, loudly enough to bring Mike in from the other room to check on me. I guess he thought I'd gotten a phone call or text message that really upset me. Well I guess he said my name several times and then laid down next to me and touched me on the shoulder, which woke me up. I was so confused, still crying, and had to convince myself that it was all just a dream. How bizarre is that!? I am officially not a fan of pregnancy/hormone-induced dreams. Not cool at all.

On a happier subject, Little Girl is kicking me a lot today. I keep feeling her nudges under my ribs on the right side. Luckily it doesn't hurt yet since she's still pretty little, but it's really strange. I do like the little reminders that she's in there and doing well, though.

I went on a little shopping binge yesterday and today. Yesterday I went to Motherhood Maternity at Oak Park Mall and got another pair of jeans, two tops, and a cute dress (on sale). I ordered a bra today from Motherhood.com (they didn't have a great selection in the store), and also ordered the Moby sling that I wanted. I was going to wait on that last one, but I saw today that they had a limited supply of the color I wanted. I'm excited to be a baby-wearing momma!!!

22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I haven't the slightest. At least 7 pounds up (as of last Wednesday), maybe slightly more.
Maternity clothes? I'm still enjoying them. I'm now debating the bra situation, though.
Stretch marks? nothing new there
Sleep: Some nights are better than others, but I'm doing okay.
Best moment this week: Getting to see our little girl again and knowing that she's doing well.
Movement: I felt the first little thumps on Sunday. I think the little one was on a sugar high from my nephew's birthday cake. I felt a couple yesterday and more today.
Food cravings: nothing specific
Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: No way!
What I miss: Honestly, I'm starting to really enjoy things. I think I just had to get over that feeling of not having control and stop whining about it.
What I am looking forward to: more and bigger thumps
Weekly Wisdom: I got nothing right now.
Milestones: finding out the gender and feeling more than just fluttering

Sonogram Video