Pumpkin: Weeks 24 & 25

February 23 - March 8

It seems like every week up to 20 weeks took forever, but now it seems like every week after 20 has gone by so quickly!

How I Look
Still growing but I do feel like I'm staving off the 'beached whale' look for now. Oddly enough, my perceptions have change. While I'm still surprised when strangers publicly acknowledge my pregnancy, others clearly think it safe to risk the comments. When I walk past a class lined up in the hall I hear them exclaim, "Did you see that lady!? She's going to have a baby!" "What, where?!" "I saw her!" "Ohh, that lady is going to have a baby! I bet it's a [insert gender]!"  Cracks me up. When I made a comment about being surprised that strangers boldly ask about my pregnancy, people generally respond with: "um ya, have you seen yourself in the mirror lately!?". I don't know why I still feel like there might be a question (e.g., maybe she's just fat).. but other people sure seem to all agree that there is no questioning what's going on in my abdomen. It's a baby.

I'm belaboring the 'how I look' section but this is something I always wondered before I was pregnant, so I'm making a note of it now in case I forget later or in case someone has the same question and happens to stumble upon this blog post. I always wondered what happens to your pre-pregnancy fat when you get pregnant. Does it disappear (I wish), does it get spread out, does it hang out at the bottom of the bump etc. In my experience, (although still within the normal BMI range prior to pregnancy) I had a good 10 lbs of fat I would have liked to lose before getting pregnant (I did lose some.. but not all of it). At first it stayed put and just got pushed out. This caused me to not take any pre-bump pictures because I kind of looked like I would in a few weeks, except at that point it was just fat... I regret not taking them anyway. As my pregnancy has progressed, I've found that the fat really has stayed evenly distributed across my bump, similar to its disbursement prior to getting pregnant (i.e., a little more toward my lower abs, less toward the top, a little on the sides). At any given point, regardless of how hard my belly gets (it varies) I can still pinch a little bit of fat. As my bump grows, it does seem to continue to spread out, again, with a similar disbursement. I'm guessing that once I'm full term, it will all be spread pretty thin (assuming I don't add too much to it) and it will be harder to get enough to pinch.

How I Feel
Great! These weeks I've truly felt great! On two occasions I overdid things (e.g., stood in the kitchen baking too long, tried to move heavy things, vacuuming etc.), which definitely brings on sciatica (shooting pain down my bottom and legs) and Braxton Hicks. I also notice an increase in Braxton Hicks contractions when I'm not drinking enough water. The contractions are still painless, just noticeable and kind of annoying. I also have more energy lately (most of the time) and have gotten some things crossed off the to do list. Additionally, I'm getting pretty excited as we get into more baby prep and talking about baby showers etc!

What I Feel
It's fun to start to figure out/guessing which parts of her are moving and what makes her move. I also realized that a certain movement is hiccups! Funny :). I say this every week but man she is getting so strong! That's about it really, just that Pumpkin girl getting her grove on!

What We're Doing
Shopping! We've done some practical shopping and some not-so-practical shopping :). We had SO much fun (and when I say we, I truly mean we. Blake is more of a sucker for cute baby girl clothes than I am!) going through Baby Gap with some friends last weekend. They are having a boy, and I'm sure they are saving a ton of money doing so! I know, I know.. don't buy yourself clothes, everyone will give you more clothes than you can handle but if you saw the adorable soft pinks and creams in the Peter Rabbit line for Baby Gap, you'd have taken advantage of the sale too. We also received our first major gift from Blake's dad. He bought us some major nursery furniture which includes a dresser/changing table, co-sleeper/portable crib and full-sized crib. We've had so much fun putting things together and rearranging our room (again, I say honestly, we are having fun doing it, even if Blake is doing all the heavy lifting) ;). I got our closet organized and it's ready for more baby clothes as is the dresser! We are just converting a corner of our master bedroom into a nursery, and she'll sleep next to our bed for quite a while, so we might not actually set up the crib until she needs it. But it's so fun to see things coming together and to have a little space that is dedicated 'baby'.

: :

Next baby post: Pumpkin: Weeks 26 & 27

Previous baby post: Pumpkin: Weeks 22 & 23