Baby Bump Week 24

How far along are you? 24 weeks/6 months....WOW!!!

How are you measuring? When I went at my 18 week appointment baby was measuring as a 17-week old. I go back for another sono this Tuesday (which means another day off work...woo hoo!)

How big is your baby? According to Babycenter.com Audrey is over a pound and about 12 inches long...again, I'll know more on Tuesday

What major developments is your baby undergoing this week? Her body is pretty proportionate at this point, but she's about to start getting chubby!! Taste buds continue to develop, and lungs continue to develop and mature so she'll be ready to breathe oxygen when she's born!

Heartbeat: 158 beats/minute

Total weight gain/loss: +14ish lbs...I forgot to weigh today, but I weighed on Friday, and I think it had only gone up a few ounces (yay!). When I went to the OB last week the doctor said that she was very happy with my weight gain...I'm not gaining too much or too little which is always good to hear!

Maternity clothes: Yup...I'm wearing more and more maternity shirts with each passing week. It's also partially due to the fact that my regular shirts aren't always long enough to cover that lovely paneling found in maternity pants

Stretch marks: None yet! Fingers crossed!

Sleep: This week it hasn't been too great. I keep waking up at 6:30 or 7 (on my weekend) and I'm awake. The other night I woke up at 2:00 to go to the restroom, and couldn't fall back asleep for almost 2 hours!!

Movement: She has her days of moving like crazy, and sometimes she's really still. The night that I was awake from 2:00-4:00 she was having a dance party in my belly which didn't make it any easier for me to fall asleep. Ever since then she's had much less movement. Apparently her dance party even wore her out!!

Food cravings: Sweets :( Not good, but I love everything sweet (and chocolate!) And I do still love my Starbucks Frappuccino. 

Gender: A sweet girl!

What I miss: Sleeping soundly, not having heartburn...heartburn really sucks!

What I'm looking forward to: 8 working days left...and this week is just a 3 day week for me, and then I have 4 1/2 days with the kids, but one day is also our end-of-year party. Then I'll be on SUMMER VACATION!!! And most people already know this, but I did resign from my job, so I'm excited that come September I'll start a new job as a stay-at-home mommy! It doesn't pay well, but I know that I'll get SOOOO much out of it!

How are you feeling: Pretty good...I have had some issues with some pretty painful heartburn this week. That would be my only complaint.

Baby Bump Week 23

How far along are you? 23 weeks

How are you measuring? When I went at my 18 week appointment baby was measuring as a 17-week old. I go back on Wednesday, but am not scheduled for another sono until next week

How big is your baby? According to Babycenter.com Baby Z is 11 inches long and weighs over a pound now! She should be around the size of a large mango

What major developments is your baby undergoing this week? Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare her for breathing in 17 (hopefully) weeks, and her hearing is getting better and better

Heartbeat: 158 beats/minute

Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs...eek!! It's getting hard for me to want to step on the scale and see these numbers continually going up and up. 

Maternity clothes: Most definitely! Maternity pants are needed 100% of the time and I can still wear some of my shirts, but some are definitely getting tight! A sweet friend from church loaned me some of her maternity shorts that fit great, and I went to Ross on Saturday morning and bought 4 new tank tops so I'm much more ready for summer. The rest of the school year I can make do with non-maternity shirts, and the 5 work-appropriate maternity shirts that I already own.

Stretch marks: None yet! Fingers crossed!

Sleep: Ehhh...I wake up feeling rested, but it takes me a long time to fall asleep and when I get up to use the restroom it takes me awhile to fall asleep again.

Movement: I feel her a lot...especially when we lay down to go to bed, but the kicks and movement aren't so strong that I can't sleep because of them.

Food cravings: I'm gonna say a Frappuccino from Starbucks. If I could I would stop daily; instead I go at least once a week (but it's usually twice!)

Gender: A sweet girl!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach, not having heartburn (it's not fun)!

What I'm looking forward to: 14 working days left...3 of which I have already taken off, plus the last day is a half day, and we have end-of-year parties in there, so in my head I'm already on summer vacation!

How are you feeling: Good! Can't complain :)

Maternity clothes

I have been SOOOO blessed with not having to buy many items of maternity clothes! Earlier this year when I was still comfortably wearing my regular clothes, Old Navy was having an awesome sale on maternity clothes, so I bought a few items. I think I ended up with one cotton black skirt, 2 short-sleeved tops, a sleeveless top, and a pair of jeans. However, my mom's co-worker had her final child about a year ago and the best thing is....the woman is MY SIZE!! She's my height, about my same size in pants, and carries the majority of her weight in her lower half, so all of her maternity pants were practically tailor-made to fit me. They have been awesome! However, school is almost out, and my need for work pants is coming to an end. Also, as my belly is expanding my regular shirts are getting less comfortable, plus they're not always long enough to cover the oh-so-sexy panel that makes maternity pants what they are. A sweet friend from church also loaned me some maternity shorts, so I'm pretty good on bottoms (though I may still need/want another pair of shorts). What I'm really in need of are tops. It will be summer time, and we're going on a vacation in the Hill Country of Texas, so I would love a few more tank tops, but I also don't want to spend a huge amount of money on them. So my question is where did you get the best bang for your buck when buying maternity tops? Do places like Ross and TJ Maxx sell maternity?

Baby Bump: Week 22

How far along are you? 22 weeks

How are you measuring? When I went at my 18 week appointment baby was measuring as a 17-week old. I go back next week, but am not scheduled for another sono until the end of May. Hoping I have a petite little girl though!

How big is your baby? According to Babycenter.com Baby Z is 11 inches long and weighs almost a pound (about the size of a spaghetti squash)

What major developments is your baby undergoing this week? Baby Audrey looks like a very tiny newborn baby! Her lips, eyebrows, and eyelids are becoming more distinct. Tiny tooth buds are also forming below her gums.

Heartbeat: 158 beats/minute

Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs...I gained a pound and a half this week, but I just weighed myself today...I think it could have been the rich food that we've eaten this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day!!

Maternity clothes: Most definitely! Maternity pants are needed 100% of the time and I can still wear some of my shirts, but some are definitely getting tight!

Stretch marks: None yet! Fingers crossed!

Sleep: It's been OK...I try sleeping on my stomach because that's my preferred position, but I get kicked a lot when I lay on my stomach. I've been sleeping on my side and I don't sleep nearly as soundly. On a more positive note, my cat enjoys sleeping in the crook of my arm now that I'm on my side. 

Movement: I can feel her and it's the best feeling in the world!! Last week she was much more active than she's been this week, but she started getting more active today (maybe her Mother's Day present to me??)

Food cravings: I haven't really been craving one specific thing...sometimes certain things just sound REALLY good and I can't stop thinking about them. On Wednesday it was a vanilla ice cream cone from McDonalds. I asked Michel to stop when we were on our way home from small group :)

Gender: A sweet girl!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach

What I'm looking forward to: 19 days left until summer vacation!!

How are you feeling: Blessed...Michel made my first Mother's Day incredibly special for me!! I'm so lucky that God put us together!

Baby Bump: Week 21

How far along are you? 21 weeks

How far are you measuring? At my 18 week gender appointment, Audrey was measuring almost a week behind....here's hoping for a petite baby!!

How big is your baby? According to babycenter she should be about 10 1/2 inches long and measuring almost a full pound....holy cow!! However, since she was only 7 ounces a couple weeks ago, who knows? Though I do think she's gone through a major growth spurt because last week there were days that I was incredibly hungry even though I was eating filling, nutritious meals!

What major developments is your baby going through right now? Her movements are becoming stronger, and according to babycenter, her fluttery-like movements will soon turn to full-fledged kicks (they already have started!!). Also her eyelids and eyebrows are now present.

Heartbeat: 158 bpm (almost 2 weeks ago)

Weight gain: +10.3 lbs

Maternity clothes: I'm wearing maternity clothes most of the time...Some of the maternity clothes that I received are a little big for me, so I went back to wearing my regular pants with the Bella Band. I also have one pair of jeans that are pretty much completely stretch jeans, and I can still wear them regularly (no Bella Band or anything!). And they were still comfortable at the end of the day. We'll see how long that lasts.... :)

Stretch marks: No, not yet :)

Movement: On Thursday at school (generally I only feel her at the end of the day when I'm being pretty still), I felt her KICK! Not fluttery, bubble-like sensations, but a real kick! And later that same night while Michel and I were watching TV he felt her kick, too! They were strong little kicks! It was the most awesome feeling ever, and I'm so glad that Michel was there to feel it. We both felt her kicking again this morning, too! I'm sure there will come a time where she's kicking me while I'm trying to sleep, and maybe it will be a little less exciting, but right now I love feeling her move and kick! It's so....indescribable! 

Sleep: I generally still get up twice to go to the bathroom, and Audrey does not like me sleeping on my stomach AT ALL! I can get her kicking me pretty good if I try to sleep on my stomach! I must be squishing her, and she's letting me know it :) So I sleep on my side now.  

Gender predictions: It's a precious baby girl!! Audrey Grace Zoutendam

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach. I feel much more restless on my side - like I'm not getting a good sleep.

What I'm most looking forward to: Six more weeks of school until summer vacation!! Once summer vacation starts Michel and I can get our nursery set up, and my sister is going to come spend a few days with us and help me create some Pinterest and Etsy-inspired crafts!!!

Best moment this week: Michel being able to feel his daughter kick for the first time, and seeing him so excited by it! And also having a girl's day yesterday with my mom, sister, and niece shopping in First Monday and getting a ton of awesome things for Audrey, and her nursery!

How are you feeling: A little bit old lady-ish to be honest. I get some bad back pain that really feels like it's more in my butt (sorry if TMI). I looked it up online, though, and it's actually a common place to get back pain during pregnancy. It's called posterior pelvic pain. I used to think it was exercise-induced, but I was pretty lazy/exhausted after work this week, and only worked out twice, and I didn't even work out that hard. The days that I wasn't working out is when I had the worst back pain. I can usually just wait it out/sleep it off, but I walk like an old woman (slowly) when my back is hurting. Also, our mattress is sooo comfy, it's seriously difficult for me to sit up now. Again, I look like an old lady when attempting to sit up in bed :) 

First Monday Fun

A couple of weeks ago I asked my mom and sister if they wanted to go to First Monday in Canton with me this weekend because I wanted to buy some baby things for Audrey's nursery, and I know that First Monday would have an AWESOME selection of handmade one-of-a-kind things. I feel like I totally hit the jackpot today!

First, we could not have asked for more perfect weather! It was such a pleasant day to spend all day out walking around. It was crowded, but not overly crowded. It was just us girls - my mom, my sister, my niece, and myself. Michel and my dad drove us to Canton where we met up with Janette and Karys, and then they continued on to Longview so that they could spend the day with Ryan and Zane (and Michel visited his grandfather who lives there as well). So we broke up as guys and girls today and had a lot of fun!

I told Karys that I wanted to buy things for Audrey, and I needed her help finding cute girly things. She likes shopping, so she was ready! She actually is the one who spotted the booth where I found some adorable bows and headbands! I only bought one, but I think it's super cute!

I also bought this sweet frame that will hopefully look really cute amongst all the pink and gray I'm planning for her nursery. 

One of my favorite purchases today was this cute owl diaper bag! I will say that I was hesitant to buy it at first. I was afraid that it was too girly and Michel wouldn't carry it (we had been searching for diaper bags that we would both carry for awhile), but they embroidered it for free, and it was just too cute! So I bought it. I'm glad I did because it keeps growing on me, and even Michel said it was cute, and it was a good price for everything I got with it (a dirty clothes bag and a changing table pad). 

My sweet sister has been picking up clothes and burp rags for Audrey at garage sales and consignment stores and filled a gift bag with them to give me today! I really feel so blessed that my mom and sister are so excited about Audrey, and are blessing us beyond belief with baby items!!

Not pictured: I bought a cute "A" that I will paint over the summer to hang in Audrey's room, a sign that says "You & Me" to put in Michel's and my bedroom, and an adorable name sign for Audrey's room. The name sign has to be made and shipped to us. It's going to be REALLY adorable, though! Oh, I also bought a new hair straightener. I've had mine for about 10 years, it doesn't always turn on, or stay turned on, and it's got a frayed cord :( So, I really did need one, plus I may have gotten suckered by their sales pitch. Oh well...

I'm sad that today's fun has come to an end, but I'm nice and worn out now, happy with my purchases, and excited for the summer so that we can put Audrey's room together. Right now, it's really just mass chaos of baby things. 

Diapers

After being inspired by Alicia, who has already started buying diapers and wipes for her baby, Michel and I decided that was a brilliant idea and so I bought one box of size one diapers today when I did our weekly grocery shopping. This brought up so many questions, though.

1. What brand of diapers did you prefer and why?

2. Are all wipes made equally? (Wal-Mart brand vs. name brand)

3. Did you buy a full box of Newborn-sized diapers, or a small package? I know it all depends on the size of the baby, and how fast he/she grows...

4. Do you know anything about diaper deals on websites (diapers.com, amazonmom, etc) Do they really offer amazing deals on diapers?

Again, any suggestions/advice you can give is appreciated!!!