23 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 23 weeks

Weight Gain? From my last appointment, it seems I’ve gained about 4 pounds! Baby is starting to grow A LOT faster and you can tell! I’m poppin for sure!

Size of baby? Baby is now the size of a bunch of grapes! And her little lungs look like the tiny grapes on the vine :)

Maternity Clothes? I’ve started wearing yoga pants more often and trying out some maternity bottoms here and there.

Pregnancy Symptoms? HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPO over here! Haha it surprises me how many snacks I eat before noon. And I wake up starving every morning! I’ve never been able to eat much in the early hours of the day but even though I eat breakfast around 7 a.m.,  I power through 2 big bowls of dense/ hearty cereal without a problem.

Sleep? I’ve felt so much more energized compared to last week! Still tired but not quite as exhausted as I was. Sleep has been pretty good but there are still some nights where I wake up restless and can’t fall back asleep for whatever reason.

Cravings? GIVE ME ALL THE CARBS. Haha nothing in particular really but if it’s a bagel, muffin, piece of toast, sandwich, or pasta… COUNT ME IN!

Anything making you queasy?  I’ve found raw fruits and veggies give me heartburn more than anything else, which is probably why I am all about the carbo goodies right now. Hoping this doesn’t last long because I need to eat healthy for this little girl but it’s hard to make healthy choices when they make you feel sick :( How twisted.

Baby movement? Yes! She’s awake more than I thought because I can feel her spinning around throughout the day! It’s such a fun reminder of what my body is doing.

Best moment this week? Going up to Pocatello to watch General Conference with Kendal’s dad. Sadly for us, Lucy was visiting Marci in Arkansas so we didn’t get to see her, but it was great to be able to be with some family for conference weekend. And of course spending the whole day in sweats, wrapped up in a cozy blanket, cuddling with my honey wasn’t too bad either ;)

Weird pregnancy moment? I’ve been wracking my brain on this one for about 10 minutes and can’t think of anything super weird?? I mean, the daily developments in my belly button are pretty hilarious (I’m more than half outie at this point) but that’s nothing new! It’s the best I’ve got this week.

What I’m looking forward to? I know I’ve still got a lot of waiting to do for this… but I can’t wait to see who this baby looks like! I’ll be looking forward to that until we get to meet her squishy little self (plus a few weeks post birth since newborns all look the same). Speaking of which… do newborns look the same when it’s YOUR baby? I bet I’ll be saying “oh she has my lips!” or nose or ears or something the second she’s born just because she’ll be mine…. but let’s be honest before I’ve just gone through labor or delivery and I’m amped up on that new mom adrenalin….. All newborns are really just aliens. Hahah

22 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 22 weeks

Weight Gain? We will find out at my doctor’s appointment in a week!

Size of baby? Baby girl is now that size of corn on the AND apparently has a layer of fine hair just like corn silk! Crossing my fingers she is born with a full head of hair like Kendal :) But we will still adore her even if she is a baldy like I was haha

Maternity Clothes? Most jeans still fit BUT I did start wearing some of maternity clothes this week and I must say… those pants are sure comfy! I might as well make the transition over to straight maternity but honestly I find myself testing the limits with all my clothes every morning just cause I want to see how long I can make even my tightest jeans last. Haha not sure why (yes I do. PRIDE.) because I am sure I would be much more comfortable if I just let myself be.

Pregnancy Symptoms? Super dry skin, EVERYWHERE. Even my eyelids are dry… what? Baby is sucking all the moisture out of my skin. Send help and lotion! Oh and not to mention I had my most exhausting week to date. I seriously fell fast asleep before 6 every night. I can’t describe how tired I felt but let me just paint you this picture… on Tuesday morning I woke up and started crying because I felt too tired to go to work. ONLY TUESDAY YOU GUYS. And on Monday morning I texted my manager that I would need to come in late because I wasn’t feeling well and that was AFTER I had gone to bed at 9 pm. So yeah, I slept almost 12 hours straight Monday and then still cried over my exhaustion Tuesday morning. PREGNANCY WILL TURN YOU INTO A ZOMBIE FOR REAL.

Sleep? Sleep was fine this week besides the fact that I could never get enough!

Cravings? All I wanted this week was a classic Thanksgiving dinner, especially the stuffing! However, I never got it :( I was going to make a package of stuffing I had bought at Sam’s but I came to realize that the mix was actually not a mix and I was supposed to buy celery, onion, chicken broth, ect… and I was too tired to go back to the store. Sad day. I even tried looking up any restaurants in town that sold Thanksgiving dinner as an entree but the picture of the meal for each restaurant looked like lunch meat turkey and it just turned me right off. Shucks! Luckily Thanksgiving is only a month away and I can treat myself to a whole delicious feast then :)))) ← that’s my smiley face with lots of double chins lolol

Anything making you queasy? Nope but it seems like anything I eat in the evening gives me acid reflux.  

Baby movement? YES :) The little flutters and twirls are getting much more consistent but they are still very little. Sometimes I think I can see my stomach moving but I am pretty sure it’s just my own heartbeat pulsing through my abdomen hahah. But I do a darn good job convincing myself otherwise!

Best moment this week? Starting to look more pregnant than chubby! Haha it was funny because the other day at work some people who didn’t know I was pregnant found out and one girl was like, “I was totally thinking you might be the other day but I was too scared to say anything!” Hahah welp I am glad she knows so she doesn’t just think I have a beer gut!

Weird pregnancy moment? My emotional breakdown over exhaustion was pretty weird. Hahah I was just in the middle of getting ready to leave and I was talking to Kendal about normal stuff and then all of a sudden I started crying about how I was feeling and I couldn’t stop. Ay-carumba, pull yoself together Claire! Haha later in the day Kendal texted me and said it was really cute. Oh boy. That one is a keeper I tell you! He is the nicest and sweetest and best and never ever questions me when I ask for a foot rub. This little girl and I are the luckiest!

What I’m looking forward to? I am looking forward to DEFINITELY seeing baby move from the outside because videos of that crack me up and make my heart swell! Also I’m just so excited for when Kendal can see/ feel her moving. It’s the best part of pregnancy for me and I want us to be able to enjoy it together!

21 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 21 weeks

Weight Gain? Approximately 10 pounds and counting!

Size of baby? Baby is a baby bok choy!

Maternity Clothes? Nope. But that doesn’t stop me from bi-weekly DI runs to check out the maternity section. I have already scored some killer deals to use for when I need it!

Pregnancy Symptoms? Acid reflux for days! Before pregnancy, I had never experienced heartburn. It seemed like so many people got it and I never understood what they were talking about. As it turns out, it feels EXACTLY like it sounds. Like my organs are swimming in acid… and it’s no fun. Hoping it’ll stop once baby is here and not become a common thing like it seems to be for the average human.

Sleep? My body has gotten into this weird habit where I randomly wake up in the middle of the night feeling completely energized and ready to go for about two hours (usually between 3:30-5:30 a.m.) but then I eventually fall back asleep and feel utterly EXHAUSTED when my alarm goes off for work at 6:30. Part of me is wondering if it has something to do with baby’s sleeping habits inside of me? I’ll go into this more a few questions down, but I am pretty sure I have started to feel some of her movements (YAY!) and oftentimes it’s when I am awake during those hours of the night. If this is the case, I am already nervous for those sleepless nights when she active in the wee hours of the morning! YIKES! Oh motherhood :)

Cravings? Alright, this is probably my “weirdest/ most exciting” craving to date. The other day I was making spaghetti with meat sauce and thought to myself, “hm this would be tasty if it was spicy!” so I threw in some red chili flakes. Correction… a lot of red chili flakes. And gobbled up spicy spaghetti for dinner. Is that strange? For me it is because I have never been into spicy foods but I feel like the idea of spicy spaghetti isn’t too bizarre. Right? Let me know what you think!

Anything making you queasy? Cuties. I THINK. It is bumming me out so hard because I LOVE CUTIE SEASON! The other day when Kendal and I went grocery shopping I saw that those big bags of tiny orangy goodness were on sale and of course bought it without remembering that in the early stages of this pregnancy I threw up every time I ate a cutie. Well, I remembered  how nauseous they made me a few months ago when I ate one at work the next day. Luckily I didn’t throw up, but I spent the rest of the day feeling like I was back in the yucky part of the first trimester, almost WISHING I would just throw up. Sigh.

Gender? PINK!

Baby movement? Ah, here’s the exciting stuff! I have started feeling just a little bit of movement down there :) It’s not strong or consistent or often but it definitely happens on occasion! The first time was after I got home from the gym and was sitting (slumping is actually way more accurate) on the couch and was looking at my phone with one hand while the other was placed on my stomach resting. Out of NOWHERE I felt this little BLIP right under my hand on my stomach and was like woah that was totally a human kicking my insides. It was so remarkable and thrilling! So then I started pushing back from the inside out to make her do it more (haha sorry baby) and sure enough, she responded with a few more little chops! I just sat there, talking to my belly, trying to get her to keep doing it, but she’s just a tiny baby afterall and must have got tired from all that rowdiness! Haha. I couldn’t wait to tell Kendal when he got home. We spent awhile trying to make her do it more together, and though I could feel some twirling sensation inside of me, it was nothing that could be felt from the outside. I don’t even think those first few kicks and punches could really be felt from the outside, even though it seemed like that to me! You know, it’s that weird perception when you touch your own arm with your finger and you’re like… is that my finger feeling my arm or my arm feeling my finger? Do you get what I mean? Haha or am I the only one who that makes sense to? Anyway… those little blips continued on at spontaneous moments during the week and each time I just stopped what I was doing and sat there in awe like “WOAH”. It’s so cool because a lot of people say those first movements feel like popcorn popping or butterflies or even just gas bubbles… but what I felt was unmistakably a human being inside of me swooshing around! JUST THE BEST EVER. On one of my sleepless nights (described above) the way it felt was exactly this: Haiiiiii - YA! Hahaha that’s the best way I can express it. It felt like she was winding up with a little “haiiiii” and then boom! Came the “YA!” The next morning I told Kendal we might just have a wild party animal on our hands who like to do karate before the world wakes up!

Best moment this week? Hands down feeling life inside me (if that wasn’t already obvious from my novel above) haha!

Weird pregnancy moment? Feeling life inside of me definitely doubles for the weirdest pregnancy moment of the week! I was just so prepared to wait much longer after learning that the placenta is placed right between my skin and the baby… it totally caught me off guard… in the BEST way possible :)

What I’m looking forward to? Strong enough movements that Kendal can feel it! Everytime I put my hands to my stomach after saying “woah”, Kendal eagerly did the same but was always so disappointed when he couldn’t feel all the fun. I know it’ll  take a few more weeks to get that point but if there is anything pregnancy has taught me, it’s that patience is key.

20 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 20 weeks

Weight Gain? At my doctor’s appointment I asked about weight gain and if there is anything I should be doing to put on the pounds because I felt like I hadn’t gained as much as I should have… But it turns out I’ve gained 10 pounds already which she said is right on track! Phew! I have been concerned about that this whole time because even though I saw my belly growing, I was comparing myself to some other girls who are due around the same time as me, and they are showing a lot more! I’ll always have my mama’s genes though and she said people didn’t really know she was pregnant until she was about 6 months! So things are good. And now I feel better about exercising regularly because I was super nervous I would lose when I am supposed to gain.

Size of baby? A juicy mango! My absolute faaav! No wonder this week was the best yet :)

Maternity Clothes? Most of my jeans still fit, although they are definitely a little snug. I’m guessing it won’t be long but who knows! I keep surprising myself because I would have assumed I would have needed some expandable belly bands by now… but not quite!

Pregnancy Symptoms? Mostly the typical exhaustion and occasional heartburn.

Sleep? Sleep is good! I asked my doctor if I should be worried about sleeping on my back because that is what I’ve heard, but she said as long as I am comfy, anything is fine! She even said I could lay on my stomach if it felt okay. I was so surprised to learn this. Just another lesson to demonstrate everyone is totally different and to not take everyone else’s opinion too seriously.

Cravings? Nothing comes to mind this week!

Anything making you queasy? I felt kind of queasy after eating just two itty bitty bites of the cake balls from our gender reveal. Rich sweets are not my friend. Who would have thought??

Gender? WE ARE HAVING A BABY GIRL! Ah! I was seriously sooo shocked when we had our big ultrasound. I have been totally convinced this entire pregnancy that it was a little boy growing in there. All the old wives tales matched up! Here’s the story: Kendal and I decided we wanted to find out at the ultrasound so we could have the moment to ourselves, to completely savor the surprise together. I am so glad we did this even though sooo many people wanted us to do a “trendy” gender reveal where we find out in front of all our friends and family. The whole experience was incredible. I wish I could have an ultrasound every week (heh-hem, or every day!) so I could see that sweet little baby’s developing face and body! She was asleep the whole time so the tech had to push around on my tummy to get her to move haha! It was so cute seeing her all cozied up in there. Her arms were crossed over her face and her legs were twisted around each other. When the tech pushed on my stomach she’d quickly move her arms up to expose that little face of hers but then immediately put them right down for snoozin. Haha I’m so in love already :) But when it came time to find out the gender, the tech was worried we wouldn’t be able to find out because, like I said, her legs were completely criss-crossed and she would NOT move them! (Once we found out she was a girl, Kendal said “Aw.. she’s already a little lady!” *LOVE SIGH!) Anyway, after much prodding we finally got her to open up a little and the tech said, “you see those three little lines?” and I was like yeah it’s a boy! I was right! cause , ya know, 1 pee-pee + 2 family jewels = 3! BUT then she said, that means you’ve got a baby girl in there! And I immediately started crying because I was just so shocked and excited and overwhelmed with more love than I can describe! Keeping the secret to ourselves was practically impossible for the next two days but I had to keep it shut because we had a little gender reveal planned to surprise everyone else :) Oh! I also wanted to note something else funny that happened at the ultrasound. The tech was measuring the baby to see if she was growing at the right rate and when she got to the legs she went “Wow those are some long femurs! No surprise there…” and winked at Kendal and I. Hahah we’ve got a little athlete in the making! Hopefully she gets Kendal’s coordination! lol

Baby movement? Still nothing :( And after our big ultrasound, I finally know WHY I’m not feeling baby girl move around in there… the placenta is RIGHT between my skin and baby! That really bummed me out because I can hardly wait to feel life growing inside my body. The ultrasound tech said this is no concern but it will just take a longer time for me to feel anything because now baby has to be big enough to punch and kick through several layers, instead of just one. Shucks! I wanna feel that little baby dancin in there!

Best moment this week? Our big ultrasound of course! And having a little party for some of our loved ones to share the news with them. Big thanks to my cutest soul sister Emily for throwing us a little gender reveal. Kendal and I made strawberry flavored cake balls covered in chocolate for everyone to bite into at the same time! I thought it went super well and had the best time hanging with some friends I don’t get to see very often.

Weird pregnancy moment? Everything feels so much more real now that we know what we are having! I even got a whole bundle of tiny baby girl clothes off Facebook classifieds! I couldn’t help myself once I found out! Plus it was such a killer deal that I really could not resist. Thriftiness is my weakness! Anyway, as I was looking at those tiny onesies it just hit me that it will soon be filled with a real life baby that has mine and Kendal’s DNA and I will be a MOM and my husband will be a DAD. There is nothing more weird than realizing this, my friends. NOTHING.

What I’m looking forward to? Feeling baby girl moving and grooving!

17, 18 & 19 Week Bumpdates

I've combined these three weeks because I never got around to doing a full write up on any of them (#kickingmyself!). We were in the midst of our big move from New York back to Utah and readjusting to life in Logan with new jobs, ect. and I failed to thoroughly document everything. So, here are the little bits and pieces that I did fill out because some is better than none!

How far along? 17 weeks

Weight Gain? Don’t have an exact number but I totally started popping this week! Yes… mostly when I push out everything I got but I HAVE A BABY BUMP :D

Size of baby? A tangy pomegranate!

Maternity Clothes? Even though my bump is starting to pop, I am still comfortable in most of my clothes.

How far along? 18 weeks

Size of baby? A sweet little sweet potato :)

Pregnancy Symptoms? Acne gone wild

Gender Prediction? Beginning to think it might be a little girl because my skin is totally out of control and I read online that “girls steal your beauty”. Haha so in that case… that has to be what’s going on! But of course… ya never know! Can’t wait to find out for sure in just TWO WEEKS AH!

Weird pregnancy moment? There were two pretty funny stories from work this week. The first is having someone totally touch my belly, which caught me off guard and made me laugh because I know that is something I will have to get used to. People just love the bump! It was fine cause I know her so it wasn’t a complete stranger (I'm sure that will happen eventually though!) And then this second one makes me LOL everytime! Haha so we have had some new people helping out in my department and one day when I walked in one of the new guys said “Hey, I just found out you are pregnant! Congrats!” and then immediately followed it up with “The other day I was thinking, dang… that girl sure goes to the bathroom a lot… but it all makes sense now!” HAHAHA omg I felt my face flush so hard because this stranger had noticed all my pee breaks! But, I  mean, it’s true. I sure do go to the bathroom a lot… can’t help it! Hahaha oh the things people say...

What I’m looking forward to? Honestly, I am majorly looking forward to getting back on birth control after I have this baby so I can regulate these crazy hormones and get this acne under control! I feel like I am in the 8th grade again :(

How far along? 19 weeks

Size of baby? A zesty zucchini!

Cravings? Chocolate chip pancakes

Anything making you queasy? Nothing really! Just HUNGRY ALL THE TIME!

Gender Prediction? This week I am still thinking baby girl because of the blemish factor I mentioned last week! Haha ALSO my sweet cravings are definitely back. I think about chocolate chip pancakes all the time which is back to how I was pre-pregnancy lol. And apparently that is another symptom of baby girl.

Baby movement? We flew to Wisconsin to see my BFF Abby and go to an Aggies football game in the Wisconsin stadium and I THOUGHT maybe I had felt baby moving around as we were landing… but I think it was just the usual butterflies that happen during the pressure change. I wanted to convince myself and Kendal that’s what it was so bad… but I just honestly can’t be sure!

Best moment this week? Our entire weekend in Wisconsin was incredible! We ate so much delicious food and did so many fun activities. The trip was a mixture of a birthday gift to me/ living out one of my dreams of visiting Abby out at her college (we’ve been talking about making this trip happen since she decided to go there during our senior year in high school)/ living out one of Kendal’s dreams of going to an away game out of state/ and babymoon since we don’t have any other big trips planned before our little one gets here. It was wonderful to spend time with one of my best friends who I don’t get to see very often. Wisconsin is such a beautiful place and ohhhhh boy those cheese curds were to die for! I don’t usually like cheese curds (the squeakiness freaks me out!) but when in rome, right?! We went hard on all things dairy because we weren’t about to pass up an authentic Wisconsin culture experience (we kinda consider ourselves foodies because we loooove trying new things).

Weird pregnancy moment? We were walking past some stores with glass windows and I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror and realized I was looking quite pregnant! This little baby is certainly growing in there :)

What I’m looking forward to? We find out baby’s gender NEXT WEEK!!!! AHHHHH!!!! Last thoughts anyone? Boy or girl?!