How Far Along: 24 Weeks! Well, 24 and a half because I'm lazy :)
Size of baby: Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn),s he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
Total Weight Gain: 13 pounds according to the doctor's scale.
What I miss: Not much, really.
Sleep: I have started putting a pillow between my legs and it rests a little under my tummy. I actually slept all the way through the night last night, but my body is clearly on a schedule, because it is rare that I don't wake up at 6:30. During the week I stretch out and turn the TV on low and sometimes fall back asleep, but on the weekends for some reason I can't do it!
Symptoms: Feeling completely normal minus the growing belly that some days seems like its growing a lot and some days I feel like I am not getting big at all.
Cravings: I was thinking about this earlier...I really haven't had any major crazy cravings at all. I love anything Mexican - mostly the combo of black beans and corn, and the other day I was thinking about a big ole hunk of good bread from this place near my grandparents, Mazzaro's, but it wasn't so bad that I just had to go get some bread or anything.
Aversions: I've said nothing all this time, but peanut butter has been the last thing I want! I've never been a huge PB eater, I mean, on a PBJ sure, or smushed between some Nilla Wafers, or on celery, but I'm not one of those people who has ever eaten it by the spoonful (coughJAREDcough). But every time I think of peanut butter, I just turn up my nose. People keep posting pictures of the PB oreos...GAG. No, thank you.
Gender- GIRL!!
Movement: She is a MOVER! I am able to see her move through my clothes sometimes, and almost any time of the day all I have to do is poke my belly and she will move around some. My parents both got to feel her move last weekend, so that was cool.
Maternity Clothes: Same as last week...still wear some tops that aren't maternity, mostly tan tops, but other than work out shorts, my pants are all maternity.
Best Moments this week: I guess the appointment. 24 weeks is pretty boring, though. Doctor said my belly measured perfectly and my weight gain was on track. That was about it. Oh, I also took the GRE because I'm a crazy woman. I hardly studied, but I still made slightly above what the "average" score is, so I'm pleased with that.
What I'm looking forward to: We are going to Alabama in a few weeks to see Marcus' family and will have both the boys! Riley has not ever been and we haven't been since Christmas 2011. I can't believe its been that long!! We wont get to go for very long, just about 4 days but we will hopefully get to see everyone. Hopefully we will plan a trip after our sweet girl is born :)
Milestones: Everything but the dresser has been picked out for the nursery. That room is still the guest room, and there is a TON to be done in there, but I feel better knowing that the only thing we have to do is find a dresser. We are all registered, too!
I've been working to de-clutter our house this summer. We have been in this house a year, and its amazing how much STUFF we can accumulate. When we moved in here, we took bags and bags of stuff to good will and to the trash, and I have gone through things on what I thought was a pretty regular basis but still, the house just felt/feels so disorganized. So, I made the goal to de-clutter and organize the house this summer. Our house seemed to get messy so quick, and it felt like there was NO WHERE to put anything. So far, I've done our room, the office, the kitchen, and the hall closet. It already feels a lot better to have cleaned out a bunch of drawers and gotten rid of so much un-needed stuff. Our kitchen felt so full, but just by organizing it, we now have two cabinets empty! So now, we will have room for bottles ;)
This weekend I am going to clean out the pantry and then the boy's room. I try to go through their clothes on a regular basis because they grow so quick! So, hopefully the only room left after this weekend will be the future nursery. Marcus' mom is coming to stay with us for a week when we come back from Alabama, so I would like to have a lot cleared out of there before she comes, that way over the last two weeks of summer we can completely empty out the room and then start painting and preparing. Once we have the crib and are able to paint/set some stuff up, I will post some pictures of the fabric and color scheme.
In addition to all of this, I also have to plan for the next school year! I am moving to 8th grade, which I am excited about, but that means I also need to start planning. Hopefully Monday that will start.
