Pumpkin: Weeks 20 & 21

January 26th - February 8th
Half way there (give or take a week or two)!

How I Look
I keep forgetting to mention this, I've always heard about the hair and nails that pregnancy hormones and prenatal vitamins give you. Well a few weeks ago I could really see it in my nails but I'm really not experiencing that 'luscious' hair thing. I still shed just as much but of course do have some fun peach fuzz growing on my belly.

How I Feel
Great. After that week or so of being really uncomfortable, things have eased up and I often find myself thinking, this is the part of pregnancy that people remember when they say, "I loved being pregnant." I find myself saying that as well (but in present tense). I feel great, I look pregnant - no question about it, but I'm not huge yet (i.e., I feel 'cute pregnant'), and I have the energy and motivation to get some things done a few times a week.

My one notable complaint symptom: heartburn. It has really kicked into overdrive these weeks, and I just can't get a handle on the things that cause it (seems like everything!?) but I'm starting to eat less in the later part of the day and that seems to help more than Tums, papaya enzymes, cal-mag or sleeping slightly upright. It's the weirdest heartburn I've ever had, very different than my heartburn before this point. Always this pure acid burning sensation right under my UES (upper esophageal sphincter, the muscle that closes off your esophagus from your pharynx/throat). I'll confess, feeling that burning night after night does make me worry a little about esophageal cancer, which motivates me to try to prevent it/get a handle on the burning.

What I Feel
Stretching, kicking, pushing, rolling etc. You name it she does it. I'm fairly certain she's strong enough to feel her from the outside, I could swear I've felt her move with my hand on my belly, but Blake still hasn't felt her. It's hard to time it so that Blake and Pumpkin are awake at the same time and sometimes she'll kick only once or twice in a row. So I'll get Blake's hand on there just as she's done. I'm also still feeling round ligament pain occasionally.

What We're Doing
Thinking of names (remember, we're non-name sharers) and considering not having a middle name (not really, but we're having a hard enough time coming up with first names). I'm reading all kinds of books on natural birth and breastfeeding and reading everything I find on the ins and outs of cloth diapering. Oh, and I think I'm experiencing a little bit of that nesting thing. Thank goodness, I hope it sticks around while I feel pretty good. I'd like to whip these closets into shape!

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