The Bump II {4} - Recap: 20-24 weeks

Energy & Motivation

I've been so busy the past few weeks so I can't say I've gotten a lot done but I have definitely gotten back some energy. I'm so glad this has happened because for the past few weeks I have successfully planned our weekly menu (lunch and dinners) and followed it about 75% of the time. To go from literally eating the same (separate) meals for months on end to this is amazing (This couldn't have come at a better time. Dare I say I was getting sick of tomatoes...) I'm really enjoying the time to figure out what we could have and then come up with a grocery list that goes about the store most efficiently. One thing we need to work on is to determine other items we need to buy for the week too, like toiletries and other house supplies. We've always bought those items on an as needed basis but that always meant we were more likely to grab food items that we didn't necessarily need. With this little babe on the way, we need to be better about all that extra spending!

I'm anticipating a few more brain cells to free up now that Owen's birthday has come and gone so I will be making and following our preggo and eggo to-do list closely. I've got some exciting ideas rolling around up there and now is the time to get some of these things done!

Cravings

Cravings with this little mister have gone from greasy to salty to sweet. For about 17 weeks it was all about the hashbrowns and literally just that. I could have eaten those at every single meal. Then came the insane desire to have my dad's homemade beef jerky. I was sooooo ready to tackle that one myself but he cautioned me against it and then so did my doctor. Well fine. This was during the time I was horribly unmotivated to do anything so I ate pasta and tomatoes for just about every evening meal. That got old at about 20-21 weeks and luckily so did my desire to have beef jerky. Instead, that craving was replaced with all things sweet. I'm trying to not indulge quite as much but that's just plain difficult when your co-workers bring in lots of treats or there are leftovers from events. At home, it's pretty much been powdered donuts. At work, if I truly can't help myself, I go grab a king size of peanut butter M&Ms that specifically says to "share" on the package. I'm pregnant - does that count as sharing? I can tell he likes it because he'll move around like crazy when I eat them.

Pregnancy Symptoms

Looking back at the symptoms I had when I was pregnant with Owen, I think I'm pretty lucky. I haven't yet experienced heartburn or acid reflux which I hope continues. That was pretty awful and annoying. That has been replaced by the occasional massive headache and some joint pain that comes as goes. Sleeping isn't too bad these days either which has been nice. I'm not completely bothered anymore if I wake up and can't fall back asleep right away. One night I just turned the lamp on and read until I got tired enough again. Gspice just sleeps right through it. Darn him.

Owen did get sick a few weeks back, which was manageable. But then I got sick. That was no fun. I'm not 100% sure it was exactly what Owen had but if it was, I was pretty contagious so I opted to stay home for a few days. I was well enough to work a little from home which was nice. What I didn't appreciate was the massive number of fever blisters I got on my lip - holy cow that was brutal. I could tell they weren't cold sores that I am used to getting because that usually is just ONE and I can typically address it before it gets too out of control. With these, I put on Abreva like it was my job and they still got to a pretty terrible state. Ew. Ew. Ew.

Movement

Baby movements are still pretty limited even though I know he's busy squirming and moving about. I can feel lots of hiccups and some really soft kicks and punches. I've had Gary feel a few times but the little stinker decides to be stubborn and stops whatever movement he's doing. I think that means I just need to eat more peanut butter m&ms :)

Ultrasound!

We had another ultrasound at 20w2d which confirmed this little boy is healthy and progressing like normal. They estimated he was about 13 oz at that appointment and his heartbeat to be right around 150. We never heard the weight estimation with Owen but I suspect they were similar in size. Let's hope - I loved Owen's squishy newborn size! 

This may be the most unusual gender photo I have ever seen....

Bump Update
I have definitely grown a bit faster with this one. I've only gained about 5-6 pounds at this point but man, this is quite the bump! It hasn't bothered me one bit but a few people have expressed surprise knowing I'm only so far along. Yes, I know. March is still 3 1/2 months away. I don't need you to remind me :) However, when I look at the bump in the mirror, I know there's a lot of growth left to happen. I was huge with Owen at the end and I'm nowhere near that uncomfortable stage yet. I'll admit, I'm not really looking forward to that!