Size: Banana {6.5" long}
Gender: Don't know yet, but we find out next week!
Baby Names?: We think we have some, but I think once we find out the gender, we will probably scrap everything and start over haha.
Cravings: Chicken burritos, Tang
Aversions: Salsa, Home cooked chicken, and pretty much the same stuff as last week.
Symptoms: I still have dry skin and I get dehydrated REALLY quickly. I've been having to drink more and more water everyday because of weight gain {I need to drink half of my body weight in ounces of water per day} and that's been really helpful, along with the collection of skincare products I use.
Movement: Lots! Peanut cannot hold still. The nice thing is that since it's still "early" in my pregnancy, Peanut's kicks aren't keeping me awake or waking me up at night. Crossing my fingers this lasts for a while longer!
Nausea/Sickness: I don't feel well if I don't eat consistently throughout the day or if I don't eat enough fruits and veggies. I definitely can't eat as much at one time as I used to {I need to eat more frequent but smaller meals} so if I eat too much I feel pretty crummy the rest of the day.
Sleep: Sleep is good, but I wake up with occasional back pain. I've been blessed to not have to get up a lot in the middle of the night during my pregnancy so hopefully it'll stay that way.
Maternity Clothes: Oh yes. They are so much more comfortable now. Maternity pants are still a little big on me, but my normal pants don't fit at all unless I use belly bands. I have one pair of jeans though {my favorite pair} that still fits. I thought it was weird, but then I realized they're a little too big because I have lost pretty much ALL the muscle in my legs. It's pretty sad, so I now have more motivation to go to the gym.
Wedding Ring On or Off?: On :) Hand swelling hasn't gotten to me yet.
Best Moment of the Week: Going to see my doctor. We heard Peanut's heartbeat again and it is such a comforting sound. Our baby's heart rate fluctuates anywhere between 150-152 bpm.
Worst Moment of the Week: The anticipation of finding out the gender and seeing my specialist. I am so excited, but the anticipation is KILLING me. I am nervous about my visit with my Perinatologist, but it is a very necessary visit so I'm eager to learn what's going on with my pregnancy.
Perinatologist: An obstetrical subspecialist concerned with the care of the mother and fetus at higher-than-normal risk for complications. {Medicine Net}
Looking Forward To: Finding out Peanut's gender of course! I feel like there isn't too much more I can do to prepare for Peanut until I know the gender. I have the nursery theme, but there are certain things I want to include that definitely could have more of a Girl or Boy vibe so I can't wait to officially start planning.
21 WEEKS
I realize that the "Baby Updates" are a bit repetitive
from Week 20. Peanut is growing and improving
in all aspects of life every week, so I'm happy! Also,
my Updates haven't changed much either, and I'm totally
okay with that :)
Size: Carrot {10.5" long - legs can now be incorporated into measurements}
Gender: We are so excited to announce that it is a surprise for now! Haha sorry...but we found out this week and are super excited! We thought we were prepared for anything, but as soon as the technician told us the gender, we couldn't contain our excitement. Kurt and I were prepared for either one but now that we actually know the gender we've scrapped a lot of our name choices and ideas for the nursery because it's so much more real now. The best part {for me} and the worst part {for Kurt} is that I can finally start buying clothes!
* I feel like having a baby is very similar in a way to planning a wedding haha. You've pictured everything in your head on how it's going to be, but when you actually get engaged/pregnant, life completely changes and you scrap all of your "plans" because it's so much more real than it was before.
Baby Names?: We have one and are so excited! We have been trying not to use it too much because we want to make sure it's the right name. Even though we have a name picked out, we're pretty sure we'll be calling our baby Peanut for the rest of our lives haha.
Cravings: Chicken burritos, Pizza, Bagels.
Aversions: Same as before - which I could complain about but I won't since I'm glad I'm not adding to the list.
Symptoms: I still have dry skin, but I guess I haven't explained that I've really been able to manage it. I have to use a lot of skincare products, but they've been miracle workers so I've survived.
>> Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks: I started getting stretch marks at around 17 weeks and I really didn't like having them. After using this for only a few days they faded and you can hardly see them anymore. Plus I haven't gotten any new ones!
>> Peaches Skin Care- Flawless Exfoliator, Classic Cleanser, & Perfect pH Toner: All this stuff is a bit pricey {which makes me sad because I'm running out of it!!!} but I'm obsessed with it. My older sister went to Peaches in Santa Barbara to get facials all the time and started using this stuff. Naturally my twin sister and I followed and got facials there too and now I'm hooked. It's prevented my having break outs during my entire pregnancy. I obviously won't complain about that! The Flawless Exfoliator is gentle enough to use everyday which has been so great for me because I have the driest skin and my face peels all the time.
>> Mia 2 Sonic Face Cleansing Brush by Clarisonic: Pricey but it's a miracle worker. With this in combination with my Peaches Skincare products my face has started to peel and dry out less and less to the point where my face is only peeling about once a week {and usually because I get lazy and skip washing my face one day...which is obviously a bad idea!}.
>> St. Ives Timeless Skin Collagen Elastin Facial Moisturizer: I absolutely love this stuff. It's perfect for morning or night use which is great for me because I don't like using too many products on my face. Also, I have this giant wrinkle on my forhead that I've had since I was around 13 years old and it's gotten way less noticeable because of this stuff. Thank you, St. Ives!
>> Freeman Charcoal & Black Sugar Facial Polishing Mask: I started using this stuff about 2 weeks ago when I read about it on another blog and I am hooked, especially since the price makes it such a steal! I use it twice a week before I shower and it's changed my face completely. My face has gotten so much softer that even Kurt has noticed. That's what I call success.
>> EOS Smooth Sphere Lip Balm in Sweet Mint: I've used all the flavors, but Sweet Mint is my favorite. My lips get so cracked from being behind a face mask at work and this stuff is a game changer. I can put it on at night and wake up in the morning and not have dry lips. It makes Good Morning kisses much sweeter.
>> Weleda Pregnancy Body Oil for Stretch Marks: My older sister bought me this stuff and it's become one of my go-to products to use every night. I like using it at night because I don't mind putting on oily products before bed. It's a little more difficult to use during the day {so I use Palmer's}, but it's also smells like essential oils so it helps me feel relaxed before I go to bed. Thanks, sis!
>> True Blue Spa Refreshing Citrus Body Scrub: This has been the only body scrub I've used that has actually worked on the dry skin on my torso and legs. I like how large the grains are in the scrub so I feel like it does a good job without over exfoliating my skin. The first sign I get before stretch marks come is dry skin. I think this scrub has really helped prevent me getting more and maintain my moisturized skin.
Movement: Like last week, Peanut just can't hold still. But the kicks are now strong enough that Kurt was able to feel them! I love that Kurt can now be a part of Peanut's milestones. We love feeling our baby move.
Nausea/Sickness: Only if I don't drink or eat enough. Fortunately I've learned how to take care of myself and learn what my body needs so I haven't had too much nausea.
Sleep: It's been great. I'm on a terrible sleep schedule though so I really need to work on changing that. I need anywhere between 10-12 hours of sleep right now (because I don't nap during the day). I've gone to bed so late the last week that I'll wake up at 10:00-11:00 am.
Maternity Clothes: I love how comfortable maternity clothes are. I wish all clothes were this comfortable. I'll need to buy some new scrub tops soon because they're so tight around my rib cage.
Wedding Ring On or Off?: On.
Best Moment of the Week: Seeing Peanut for the first time and finding out the gender. Peanut is seriously ALL legs! It makes sense because Kurt and I are all legs, along with the rest of our families. We are going to have a tall baby!
Also, we went to the temple and that made me feel so much more calm about all the craziness that seems to be going on in life. We've been able to keep up with our goal going to the temple every month during my pregnancy, so we feel very blessed.
Worst Moment of the Week: Nothing was all that bad this week, but seeing my Perinatologist was really nerve-racking because I had no idea what to expect. The best part was that I got ANOTHER ultrasound, so I got to see Peanut again. The worst part though was learning about my high risk pregnancy and the worst-case-scenarios that come with it. The Perinatologist said I don't have much to worry about at this time, I just need to get more blood tests throughout my pregnancy to make sure Peanut and I are doing alright. If I'm not doing alright, it means I may have to deliver early. Crossing my fingers in hopes of having a healthy pregnancy, a healthy baby, and carrying Peanut full-term.
Looking Forward To: Getting ready for baby! I finished my Baby Registry at Target and BuyBuyBaby weeks ago {I'm too much of a planner haha}, so now I'm just tweeking them a bit. If anyone thinks there is a Must Have baby item out there, please let me know! We've been looking at dressers for Peanut's room and trying to get the bedrooms organized so we can move things out of our second bedroom and put it in our room so we have more space for baby stuff. Also, does anyone know of good but inexpensive places to buy cute baby clothes? I don't want to spend a fortune on a baby wardrobe so any help would be great!
This week has really consisted of getting things organized for baby to come. Since I do have a high risk pregnancy and the way my body reacts to the antibody has a big impact on when I deliver, we have been trying to get the apartment as ready as possible to make things less stressful as I get further into my pregnancy and closer to my delivery date. We've found a dresser {just need to buy it} and we are in the market for a TV Stand. We currently just have our TV sitting on a table, but that won't be very stable once we have a crawling baby.
I've been working on decluttering the apartment, and it's been really nice. I've thrown so much stuff out and I just couldn't believe we actually had stuff to throw away. We decluttered so much when we moved to our new apartment that I didn't think we had more to throw away. I went and bought big storage bins so I've been working on packing those up with things we don't use everyday {textbooks, clothes, old sets of church books and scriptures, random trinkets, etc.}
Also, Prayer is real my friends. We've had our ups and downs in life during the last couple of weeks but we've been praying for opportunities to figure things out and make life easier and our prayers have been answered. We are so grateful to have a God that answers prayers and takes care of His children.
