Spoiler alert: there is nothing Irish about this post. Especially not me, but I am quite pale – does that count?
I really wanted to do a post last week about being half-baked (halfway through pregnancy; not the other kind of baked!) but, well, I didn’t. So here I am at 21 and a half weeks:
I haven’t been great about taking pictures every week, but here’s the progression since the last time you saw the bump (16 weeks).
To me it looks like it’s only a tiny bit bigger, but that it’s moving up. That means I can say with 100% accuracy that it’s either a girl or a boy. I’ll let you know in July.
Now let me answer some questions that I’m sure you are just DYING to have answered (borrowed from Ashley of Our Little Apartment).
How far along? 21 weeks, 4 days.
How big is baby? About 11 inches long and around 3/4 of a pound.
Total weight gain: 10-11 pounds, ish (my scale is horribly unreliable so I mostly just go by what my midwife tells me)
Maternity Clothes? DAMN SKIPPY. You can pry my maternity pants out of my cold, dead hands. I might never go back to regular pants. Ever. I also stocked up on some tops and dresses at a recent Gap/Old Navy sale and I feel much less like a stuffed sausage than in my regular clothes.
Stretch marks? Not a one, but it’s still early.
Sleep: Surprisingly well, other than having to get up and pee ALL. THE. TIME. I got a body pillow a couple months ago and it’s fabulous (just a regular body pillow, not a fancy Snoogle or anything like that. I was having terrible sciatica issues that made turning from one side to the other quite a painful production, but (thankfully) that has since cleared up.
Movement: Yes! I hadn’t been feeling much at all, but then Baby H kicked it into high gear about a week and a half ago. Will was even able to feel a jab last weekend, which he described as both “weird and cool.” I don’t feel much during the day, but then once dinner is over it’s time to PAR-TAY. If I’m feeling particularly needy and want to feel movement, drinking a glass of orange juice and lying down for about 15 minutes usually does the trick.
Food cravings: EVERYTHING. Except for one week when I ate three tubs of cottage cheese, I haven’t really had many specific cravings. Mostly I’m just HUNGRY and hoover up whatever you put in front of me.
What I miss: Spicy tuna sushi – even though it’s probably fine, my midwife has recommended that I stay away from the raw stuff during pregnancy. I still love cooked rolls, but I do miss my spicy tuna something fierce. Also? Running like I used to, and by that I mean not feeling like I need to map out restroom locations every quarter mile. I’m not doing too much, just 2-3 miles at a time, but that constant feeling of needing to pee as soon as I set out is really annoying!
What I am looking forward to: The end of winter, and cute summer clothes! I’m hoping to get a lot of mileage out of non-maternity summer clothes, like flowy skirts and dresses. Also – we’re buying a house! More on that later, since this is already getting kind of long, but we will most likely be closing at the end of April and I’m beyond excited to have laundry just steps away from the bedroom instead of down three flights of stairs.
Milestones: It feels totally surreal to be past the halfway point, so I’d say that is a BIG milestone. Same with feeling movement, both from the inside and the outside.
Oh, and THIS: I can give myself an outie belly button if I tighten up my (now non-existent) abs. Heh.
The McDonald’s cup in the kitchen really makes it feel like home.
