24 weeks

Every time we visit my OB, he reminds me to eat well and exercise. Whenever he mentions this, he says "remember: women who stay active and eat well during pregnancy have easier labor & delivery, and healthier babies. We all want that, right?" It always makes me smile because I think, who would hear that and say "yeah, I don't know if that's what I want." Still, I've realized it's probably not common knowledge what foods are considered "eating right" during pregnancy. So I thought I'd share a few things I learned that are very important for baby and where to get those nutrients in food: 

Folic Acid - This is a B vitamin that helps prevent neural tube defects, and serious abnormalities of the brain and spinal cord. You need about 400 to 800 micrograms of folic acid a day during pregnancy. Foods that are high in folic acid include: Spinach, Beans, asparagus, peanuts, and oranges. 

Calcium - Calcium is good for both baby and mama for strong bones and teeth. Calcium also helps circulatory, muscular and nervous systems run normally. If you don't get enough calcium during pregnancy, the baby will leach it from your bones (I just like using the word leach, haha!). You need about 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day during pregnancy. Foods high in calcium include: Yogurt, orange juice (fortified with calcium), cheese, milk, salmon, and spinach. 

Protein - Protein is crucial for baby's growth, especially in the second and third trimesters. The recommended daily amount during pregnancy is 71 grams. Foods high in protein include: poultry, cottage cheese, fish, eggs, lean meats, and peanut butter. 

Iron - This one was big for me, because I started getting terrible headaches and dizziness around my second trimester and realized around that time my prenatal vitamin didn't have iron. As soon as I switched to one with iron, I didn't have the headaches or dizziness anymore! During pregnancy, your blood volume expands to accommodate changes in your body. Your body is also making about 50% more blood to help your baby form their blood supply. This means a pregnant woman's need for iron practically doubles. The recommended daily amount during pregnancy is 27 milligrams. Foods high in iron include: iron fortified cereal, beans, spinach, trail mix, red meat, and poultry. 

As you can see, spinach is a great superfood for a pregnant lady! I have green smoothies every morning that I add 2 cups of spinach to, and I highly recommend green smoothies as a way to get spinach, fruits, and nuts (I will grind up almonds and add them to my smoothies) into your daily diet. There are lots of great websites with delicious recipes, but my favorite is myhealthydish.com. 

How far along: 24 weeks   

Fruit comparison: A cantaloupe! (seems pretty ginormous if you ask me). About 11 inches in length, 15 ounces in weight.   

Total weight gain: 16.5 pounds 

Baby's new developments: Lungs are fully formed, and baby's see-through skin is becoming more opaque. 

Sleep: I wake up every so often, but can usually fall back asleep pretty quickly. I tease Martin because when he pushes against my body pillow in the middle of the night, he ends up pushing towards the edge of the bed! I told him it's a bad idea to push a pregnant lady out of the bed ;)  

Best moment of the week: Baby has been kicking and moving around so much of the time, it's still so fun to feel. My favorite part was when he started to tickle my ribs with his little feet! I'm sure it won't feel so ticklish in a few more weeks as he gets bigger, but it was making me laugh this week. 

Miss anything?: Not really. Pregnancy has had its ups and downs, but I can't think of anything in particular I miss at this moment. 

Movement: He's moving all the time it feels like! This is an exaggeration, but he does squirm quite a bit after I eat and whenever I lay down. 

Food cravings: This week I had the typical ice cream pregnancy. Just no pickles with it ;) 

Symptoms: Well it turns out my nausea has not really gone away (bummer), but it still isn't every day so that's something to be thankful for! Other than that, occasional leg cramps. 

Looking forward to: Winter camp is next weekend with our high school youth group, so I'm excited to spend a weekend with our small group girls in the mountains! 

23 Weeks

I've been getting asked a lot why I chose to include my weight gain on my blog. Considering this is something most pregnant women dread, friends of mine have asked why I would share such a personal detail on a public forum. Well, the short answer is: weight gain is a part of pregnancy, so I wanted to document those changes as I would the other ones. The more in depth answer is: I think women are too hard on themselves when it comes to weight gain in pregnancy. On average, a woman gains 40 pounds during pregnancy. This means some women will gain more, and others will gain less. I don't want to obsess over how much weight I'm gaining, and worry about gaining too much, or how I'll lose the weight after the baby comes. I eat well and exercise a couple times a week, but I still enjoy ice cream and cheesy bagels every now and then. And I'm ok with that. Because pregnancy is hard enough as it is, my friends. Women go through a lot to carry a child for 9 months and then bring them into this world, it's incredible how God has designed our bodies to shelter life! I want to celebrate this gift God has given us, not worry whether or not I'll be able to wear my skinny jeans a month after giving birth. (Spoiler alert: I won't.)
To my pregnant friends: I hope you are encouraged by this small act of transparency I'm including in my blog. Pregnancy isn't pretty sometimes: morning sickness that lasts all day and beyond the first trimester, glowing skin being code for extra oil production and acne, and crying hysterically at the Sarah Mclachlan animal cruelty commercials. But guess what? There's a BABY developing and growing inside of you! That's pretty phenomenal. So give yourself a break. This is the verse I have been meditating on lately "consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4.

How far along: 23 weeks   

Fruit comparison: A grapefruit: 10.5 - 11.8 inches in length, 12.7 - 20.8 oz.  

Total weight gain: 15.5 pounds 

Baby's new developments: Ears start to develop and eyes are forming! This week, baby can hear my heartbeat and voice, and can even hear sounds outside of the womb that are loud enough, like dogs barking or cars honking.   

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well through the night most nights, but baby usually kicks me a bit when I first lay down. A couple times he even kicked me awake! But it was in the morning, so I'm not mad about it ;) 

Best moment of the week: I went to the dentist this week and didn't have any signs of cavities! Woohoo!! That was a big concern for me, because I know oral hygiene is so important during pregnancy. So it was a big relief to know that (without x-rays, anyway) my teeth were fine. 

Miss anything?: I've noticed when I exercise lately I have a harder time breathing than I used to. It just means I have to take it easy, but I do miss feeling like workouts were challenging. Sort of ;) 

Movement: He's quite a mover, that's for sure! He usually starts kicking and moving when I've eaten recently, and when I sit down for awhile. Some of his kicks are getting to be so strong, I can see my belly move! 

Food cravings: Bagels and strawberries. Also raspberries. I bought the berries at costco this week because I knew I go through them in just a couple of days. 

Symptoms: I only really had nausea twice this week, thank the LORD! Maybe I'm finally starting to get past the nausea, I hope! Other than that, my breathing is getting heavier during physical activity. I also get sleepy almost every afternoon, so I usually have coffee after lunch instead of in the morning, to keep from falling asleep at my desk at work. 

Looking forward to: We have another doctor's appointment Monday, so I'm excited for that. We will also be having my high school girls over monday night to start a small Bible study methods class for a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the time with them! 

22 weeks

Another week has gone by, and I'm constantly reminded that being pregnant is different from anything else I've experienced thus far in my short life. One minute I'm feeling on top of the world, happy as a clam, and the next I'm nauseated and exhausted and considering life as a hermit. It's crazy how wide a range of emotions you can go through in a day! I always think of that scene in the movie "Mean Girls", when they are all in the assembly and the girl who doesn't go to the school says "I just have a lot of feelings." That about sums it up. 

Just this friday, Barbara and I had decided we would hang out and I literally texted her at least five different times in the hours before she came over saying either "I can't wait for you to come over, I feel great right now!" followed maybe 30 minutes later with "or maybe don't come over . . . now I feel awful." Then another half hour passes, and I send "you know what, just come over. This is ridiculous." Haha! Poor Barb. Because she is pretty much the best friend a girl could ask for, she came over with Mean Girls, some new nail polishes, and asked if she could give me a pedicure! Yes, you heard that last part right: SHE asked ME if she could paint my toes! She also gave me a manicure and helped me pick out fabrics for the triangle quilt I'm going to make for baby boy! I am so blessed by her friendship; she knows exactly how to many a pregnant lady feel loved. Did I mention she's planning my baby shower? It's going to be epic. 

The patterned fabrics Barbara helped me pick out for baby boy's quilt. I can't wait to start making it! 

This isn't the best baby bump shot, because I'm wearing a pretty loose top. But I like that you can see even in loose shirts now I look pregnant! 

How far along: 22 weeks, or 5 months. 

Size comparison: A Papaya: 10.5 to 11.8 inches in length, and 12.7 to 20.8 oz. 

Total weight gain: 13.5 pounds

Sleep: Mostly I slept fine this week, but friday morning when I woke up and stretched I got an AWFUL leg cramp. The last few days my leg has still been a little sore since :( 

Best moment of the week: This week there's been a couple: Martin feeling the baby kick like crazy one night, and Barbara coming over and pampering me and helping me pick out baby's quilt fabrics. 

 Miss anything?: Tying my shoes like a normal person. My belly is starting to get in the way, so I have to get creative when I put on my tennis shoes. 

Movement: He's quite the active little guy! Almost every time I sit down for awhile, and after I eat something, he reminds me he's in there! Some kicks are small, others are pretty strong. He's definitely my child with all that energy ;) 

 Food cravings: Three different times this week nothing sounded good to me except for very specific foods. Twice, it was a cheese bagel from panera, and once it was ice cream. Which was pretty annoying when it was ice cream, because I was trying to go to bed but I was still so hungry and starting to feel nauseous. Of course, I didn't want to eat anything and finally decided "Fine! If all I can eat is ice cream, then so be it!" I know some of you probably think that's no big deal, but it really is annoying when everything else makes you want to gag except ice cream at 9:30 PM. It's not my night time snack of choice. 

Symptoms:  Indigestion, still occasional nausea and fatigue. I burp a lot more than usual. Which is saying something, because I have gastritis so I burp a lot after meals, haha! 

Looking forward to: Beginning the work on baby's quilt! I'm so excited to be making something so special for our little guy. I love that my mom gifted me with the sewing machine I have, and look forward to using it to make special things for our little man. 

21 weeks

I know I'm only 21 weeks, but it's already starting to feel pretty tight in my abdomen space-wise. Baby wiggles and moves around a lot more, which is fun but sometimes uncomfortable if he sits on my bladder or pushes against my stomach. However, I am very happy to be half way through and know that we have about 19 more weeks (give or take) til baby will finally be here with us! So close, and still so far away haha ;)
We got a couple of cute baby outfits on clearance at Target this week, too! Martin found a dinosaur onesie set with a clearance label as $6.98 (originally $14.99), but I asked Martin to price check them because sometimes it's actually less than the sticker price, and sure enough, they were only $2.98! So we got the dinosaur onesie set, and a set with sea critters (my favorite!). We also found an adorable sweater outfit with grey slacks (or the baby equivalent of slacks, anyway) that we got for $4.50 on clearance and with a 25% coupon. I love bargain shopping, and it was fun to get a few things for our little man while still being able to pay rent, haha!

How far along: 21 weeks 
Size comparison: A pomegranate: about 10.5 inches in length, and 12.2 ounces weight. 
Total weight gain: 13 pounds
Sleep: Still getting occasional leg cramps, but I try to drink a big glass of water before bed and I have no idea why but it helps. Or maybe it doesn't actually do anything, haha! 
Best moment of the week: I was sitting at my desk thursday reading some emails and had my arm resting on my belly, when the baby gave a big kick and it actually made my arm move!! I thought it was so funny I had to tell Ronda (our receptionist) what just happened. 
Miss anything?: Not dealing with crazy pregnancy hormones and symptoms. It's great to have the privilege of carrying this baby, but sometimes I'd like to have a day where I don't feel like a ray of sunshine one minute to a lethargic, mope-y person the next. 
Movement: He moves around a bit after I eat, and especially when I'm sitting down for awhile. It's pretty fun, I always feel him kicking on the right side. Of course, whenever I try to get Martin or anyone to feel him kicking, he stops.  
Food cravings: Almost every night this week I wanted a popsicle, but we didn't have any. Sad times haha. 
Symptoms: Leg cramps at night, indigestion (at least often times I feel like my food is "stuck" in my esophagus for a little while), still occasional nausea and fatigue. Isn't pregnancy fun?! ;) 
Looking forward to: I really want to start getting stuff set up for baby around the house! But we don't have many baby things, haha. So I need to be patient.