Pregnancy: 20/21 Weeks

Ow ow! I’m past the halfway mark, which is very exciting! Baby boy is now the length of a banana or carrot, and around the size of a pomegranate, depending on what website you look at. I had a doctor’s appointment last week where we got to watch our baby moving around with the 4D ultrasound. Everything looked perfect, and he’s still measuring a little ahead of schedule with a particularly large head. I love getting to see his little face, fingers and toes – the 4D technology really blows my mind.

Feeling: Mostly good. A couple days of extreme headaches. A couple days of extreme nausea. A couple days of extreme exhaustion. But overall I feel pretty good. Pregnancy isn’t always comfortable or enjoyable, but for the most part it’s amazing and totally worth all the unpleasantness in the end.

Weight: I got a little slap in the face at my doctor’s appointment. She told me I’d gained 8 pounds since my last visit, which was only a month before. 8 pounds in one month. That’s a lot. My midwife told me it’s okay because I only gained 3 pounds before that and 11 pounds is right on track. It still bothered me a little bit and I can’t help but blame my terrible eating habits lately and lack of working out. I’m trying to be better though – I made it to spin yesterday and today am doing a little leg workout.

Comments: “When are you due?” You know you’re showing when strangers at the baseball game ask you this. I always really want to answer with “Uh I’m not” but I don’t have it in me. I’ve also gotten a lot of “You’re carrying really high it must be a girl!” comments. Sorry but no, it’s a boy, both the blood test and ultrasound can prove that one.

Skin: Out of control! One thing I read said that at this point in pregnancy your skin is producing more oil so it’s apparently normal to have more breakouts in this time? Sure. Whatever. Just hurry up and go away pregnancy acne.

Cravings: I’m still craving fountain coke pretty bad and trying to wean myself off of it because caffeine withdrawal does not help my headaches. Also give me all the chocolate in the world, I need it. I’m a chocoholic normally but pregnant me is somehow 10x as bad. Earlier today I was craving a Starbucks green tea frappucino and sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit and had to go get them. I don’t crave many other meats so I’m worried about my protein intake but I try to eat other foods that are high in protein to make up for it.

Sleep: I’m on the struggle bus in this category. Not only am I swamped with work for blogging, our social schedule, and housework, but I have several big projects around the house I’ve been working on for ages and I’ve got to get the rooms set up and done before the baby comes. I don’t have time to sleep. I’m not sure it would matter if I did, the times I lay down and try to sleep I find it almost impossible. When I do fall asleep I wake up constantly throughout the night and have terrible dreams. Today I woke up an houri before I needed to despite going to bed so late last night, and couldn’t go back to sleep which was the worse.

Thankfully Maddie Grace has been really good lately which is helping me out a lot. One of my favorite things is the last couple of nights she’s fallen asleep cuddling with my belly, and it’s near impossible to get her to sleep anywhere except her car seat and crib. I like to think she understands that her baby brother is there and she wants to cuddle with him. She will point at my belly and say “baby”… but she’s started doing that to other people too, like my husband.

Next Friday we fly out to Germany and I’m a little nervous about the 9 hour flight while pregnant – anyone have any tips?