Weekly Update :: 22 weeks!!

WEEK: 22

MONTH: 5

TRIMESTER: 2

GENDER GUESS: 50/50 – I basically have no idea. Many women say they just “have a feeling”. I really don’t, other than trying to use old wives’ tales to guess, or use logic about ovulation date vs. trying dates. So I’m torn this week!

BABY’S HOMEWORK THIS WEEK: Baby’s skin is a bit saggy and hanging from its body, cause the skin grows faster than the fat can fill it in – but starting this week the baby starts to really put on more weight (it weighs a whole pound right now!!!)! And this is kind of strange and I didn’t realize this, but the baby’s skin is translucent right now still – so all the organs and bones can be seen through it. When the baby starts putting on more fat the organs will be less visible (via What to Expect). Baby’s sense of movement is now well-developed, so it will be able to feel me dance and move around! And this week the blood vessels in the lungs are developing to start prepare the baby for breathing, and its sense of hearing and touch are getting much more refined! (via babycenter.com).

BABY’S SIZE: The baby weighs a whole pound now!!!! I’m so excited, I feel like this is a big milestone, passing into the world of pounds after all these weeks in just the ounces!!! And it’s about 8 inches from head to bum!!

BABY LOOKS LIKE: Baby is getting so big now!!! It’s still hard to believe it’s that big inside my little belly, but my belly definitely looks pregnant now!!!

BELLY PHOTO: I haven’t had any time to take a belly photo this week! I’ve been so busy! I’ll try to have Jody take a quick shot of it tonight when I get back from a shoot, as long as it isn’t already too dark. But it really is bigger, I swear! And round and perfect right now, I feel pregnant! And if I don’t have time then I promise I’ll take a photo for next week (and after all, I’m almost 23 weeks now anyway so I kind of missed my window already for 22 weeks)!

WEIGHT GAIN: I actually forgot to weigh myself all week, I know so bad! I was busy, that’s my excuse! Next week!

SYMPTOMS: I can feel the baby now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I’m sooooooo excited about it!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s one of the most exciting things ever and something I’ve looked forward to since I was a teenager and would sometimes dream of when I’d be married, in love and expecting a baby! So far the feelings aren’t very strong, and definitely not strong enough for Jody to feel from the outside, but they’re getting stronger by the day I feel like! I actually just 20 minutes ago felt movement for the first time in the middle of my belly – before that it had only been very very low in my belly (I’m sure underneath where the placenta is attached). So I think this actually started a little over a week ago, but I really did think it was gas for the first few days, even though I also wondered if it was the baby. I felt the little pop/bubble-like feelings when I’d be lying in bed about to fall asleep. Then in the middle of last week, after feeling that for 3 or 4 days, I also felt a couple other little sensations, almost like a tiny foot was softly kicking across from underneath a few layers of blankets – that’s the only way I can describe it cause it definitely wasn’t like a pop or bubble but felt like actual contact movement. I was sooooooooo excited cause then I knew FOR SURE that I was feeling the baby!!! And since then, I’ve felt a bunch of those little movements almost every night, and a couple times earlier in the evening when I’d recline a little on the couch, and then just now for the first time in the middle of the day!!!!! Yay!!!! And that means baby is getting more active and stronger, too, since I keep feeling it more and more! And I LOVE that I just felt it in the middle of my belly cause that means for the first time I’m feeling it through the placenta!!! So these little moments during the day, when I feel the baby move, are now my favorite times of the whole day! I love it now, and I also so look forward to when I feel stronger movements, and also especially to when Jody will be able to feel the movements through my belly!! I’m so happy!!!!

(OMG, update 45 minutes after I finished writing the above paragraph: I can feel some movement in my belly with my hand on top of my belly!!!!! I just read in What to Expect that when I stroke or rub my belly the baby may be able to feel it now, so I was just rubbing lightly on my belly and I keep feeling a jerky little movement of some kind even from the outside!! I happened about 5-6 times, and it was in the middle of my belly, toward the right side. I just felt it again! It almost feels like a hiccup, I know babies can get them by this age, I just don’t know if I can feel them already through my belly or if it’s some other movement! Soooo exciting, now next time I feel this I’ll see if Jody can, too!!)

And other than that, my symptoms of last week aren’t quite so bad this week. Still bleeding of the gums, still instances of insomnia many nights, sore back, and sometimes sore hips when sleeping. The acid reflux hasn’t been as bad this week (although last night Jody made some slightly spicy pasta and I got bad heartburn for the first time during the pregnancy). And I haven’t had any ligament pain this week, well maybe late Friday night I did, but luckily it was gone on Saturday morning (I had a wonderful wedding that day, and I actually woke up during the night a few times very nervous that the pain would be really bad all Saturday, but there was no pain, yay!). So I think that’s all! I’m just sooooooooooo excited that I’m starting to feel the baby move a little now!!!!!! It’s the coolest thing EVER!!!!!

CURRENT MOOD: Very happy (because of feeling baby movement!)! And also happy and excited that the baby weighs a whole pound now!!! It keeps seeming more and more real and more and more exciting!!! And I’m happy too that my belly is really showing now and definitely round, that makes me so happy! I bought a few cute summer shirts on Friday too so I’m excited to wear them. It was actually a little cold on Sunday and today so I’ll have to wait a few days until it warms up a bit more, and then I’ll be sporting my new cute maternity shirts!

CURRENT FAVORITE FOOD OR CRAVING: Nothing much, I wonder sometimes if I’ll ever have really strong cravings during this pregnancy. I think I have the same appetite as I did before I was pregnant, although sometimes now I get a hungry feeling before bed or in the middle of the night and need to eat a snack. And of course I still love my sweets (chocolate especially) but that’s no different from how I was before!