I'm 23 weeks pregnant!
We kicked off this week with a tour of the maternity ward at the hospital that we are going to deliver at. I know I say it every week, but these moments are still pretty surreal to me. There were so many times if I wondered if I'd ever get to do these things that pregnant people do to legitimately prepare for a baby...it still just feels crazy that I am now doing it. I feel so lucky. I digress! I was probably the least pregnant person in the tour group, judging by the bumps around me, so I'm not sure if I'm just really on the ball or way ahead of schedule. I'm impressed with my hospital. They encourage natural child birth and if even if you're not going natural (I'm probably not for a bunch of reasons- see next paragraph), they still do a lot of what I consider to be natural birth processes, such as encouraging labor techniques, an hour of skin-to-skin contact following the birth, and such. The birth suites are amazing, fully decked out, yet homey feeling, and all but a couple of them have Jacuzzi tubs if you want to use one for labor. I think we'll be pretty happy at our hospital and I'm glad I had the foresight like five years ago when I chose my OBGYN to make sure they had privileges there.
Just to further explain my decision to not go natural (no epidural), in case you're wondering, I don't really have strong feelings about laboring one way vs. the other. I have heard the pros and cons of both and listened to my friends' stories of births both ways. I'd be open to natural if we had the time and ability to schedule something like a Bradley method class, but it's really impossible with Greg's schedule, and I would have to probably hire a doula or something in order to have a coach to help me with natural labor. There's a very real chance that Greg might not even make it to the birth with his type of schedule. He got two weeks of vacation starting the day before my due date, but of course we really can't predict when I will go into labor. Of course we hope that he will be there, but it's a possibility he could miss it, so I can't really do anything that requires me to definitely rely on him. The other reason I'm likely to go with the epidural is that I sort of felt labor pain when I had my first miscarriage and tried to go the drug route to expel my pregnancy. I don't know if it was particularly bad because of the drugs I was on or what, but I ended up in the emergency room after feeling the worst pain I've ever felt which caused me to vomit, shake uncontrollably, and feel like absolute crap, so if that's what I have to look forward to for labor, I think I'll take the epidural. I do know that epidurals and drugs have their disadvantages and risks too, and I'm not taking any of that lightly, but I still think it's the most logical decision for us with the circumstances we are dealing with.
The nursery is in great shape! I give all the credit to Greg. He got the bookcase and dresser set up this week, so it really looks furnished now. We also picked curtains that I am going to order soon. I bought some frames for our prints, but I'm not sure they are big enough, so I want to look around more for bigger frames- probably 11 x 17 with an 8 x 10 opening. The ones I got are 8 x 10, and I feel like the prints go right up to the edge of the frame and look pretty small on our expansive wall, so something bigger might be necessary. Now it's just going to come down to all the other decor and details to finalize it.
I had a pretty indulgent pre-Halloween weekend, and I think I gained about 2-3 pounds this week. I'm sure it had something to do with the four cupcakes and handfuls of Tootsie Rolls I ate this weekend. Yikes. I'm realizing that the next few months are probably going to be challenging with all the fun/delicious holidays between now and my due date. I need to practice some restraint around all the goodies. I think I've been slightly under normal weight gain though, so it's not a huge deal that I gained a little more than usual this week, it's just something I don't want to get too out of control.
I am still walking, and I also tried a new prenatal workout video over the weekend- Summer Sanders. It was interesting. I haven't done a workout video in a while and everything feels so different. This is sort of the opposite of a Jillian Michaels video- so laid back. I think it'll be good to do this about once a week when I'm sick of walking and with the weather getting colder, but my attention span for videos is kind of limited so I think once a week is probably realistic.
I went to Jessie's baby shower over the weekend, which was fun.
She's about 6 weeks ahead of me to I like seeing where she is with the process and what I have to look forward to. Right now, it's looking like we might hold off on having my baby shower til the beginning of January to avoid the craziness of the holidays. I sort of hate to wait that long, but I think it'll be easier than trying to plan around all the Christmas madness and I doubt many of my friends that would travel in would be able to come if I tried to have it in December.
I feel pretty good, but I echo what I said last week. I notice being physically tired more easily. Saturday night I was standing for a while at a Halloween party, and I got pretty tired. I feel slower and bigger. I honestly think I have more fatigue in the second trimester than I did in the first. I never really had that consistent tiredness that a lot of people talk about in the first tri. I had a little heartburn this week, but nothing major. It doesn't seem consistent enough to warrant worrying about it, I just take a Tums on the nights I get it and I'm fine.
How far along? 23 Weeks
Maternity clothes? Mostly maternity, but still some normal tops- less these days though.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Symptoms: Physical tiredness, heartburn again, feeling BIG.
Best moment this week: I'm still pretty excited to see the nursery come together more (don't worry, I'll post more pics when it's more finished).
Miss Anything? Running, beer. Need to find some non-alcoholic beer.
Movement: Yes. Still want to feel some stronger kicks, but I can feel it more distinctly now.
Food cravings: Tootsie Rolls, potatoes in any form, cheese burgers, and carbs in general.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Toothpaste.
Have you started to show yet: Yes, pretty much no doubt what's going on there now.
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: No, thank god!
Belly Button in or out? In
Mood: Good!
Looking forward to: Working more on the nursery, registering, feeling more movement and kicks.
That about sums up week 22!
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