Paint The Barn Red: weekly baby bumpdate / 19 weeks

let's not kid ourselves - my pants aren't actually buttoned.

19 WEEK INTERVIEW

How far along?

19 weeks and 6 days. Tomorrow we will be half way to baby! (:

Baby's size?

Baby is the size of an heirloom tomato (: About 8 1/2 ounces (over half a pound!) and 6 inches long!

How was your last appointment?

It was great! We got to hear baby's heartbeat again and baby's heart was going strong at 151 beats per minute (: I didn't have to have my blood taken, so I don't have any more exciting passing-out stories to share this week. But! I was able to ask a few questions I had, including wondering what the muscle spasms in my uterus were and if I should be concerned about them. It turns out I don't need to be as long as they aren't painful, and they hadn't been. What a relief! I was worried I had pushed myself too hard while working out last week. My fundal height measurement - it's as fun as it sounds - is a little on the small side, but my doctor said I'm still within the normal range. This really doesn't surprise me at all - there's many factors that play into carrying small including physical fitness prior to pregnancy. I was weightlifting and conditioning 4-6 times a week for years before becoming pregnant so there ya go. This baby is living inside a powerhouse of a mama! (:

Days until next doc appointment?

4 days! I'm going in for the second half of the measurements they took when I had my first ultrasound. (:

Total weight gain?

8 pounds

Maternity clothes?

There once was a time when I owned a belt from Forever 21.

I still own that belt if you were concerned due to the past tense nature of that sentence.

It's not the kind of belt you put through the loops on your jeans, but the kind of belt that you put around your rib cage to make loose fitting tops have some shape to them. They're great for early pregnancy because they show off the newly emerging bump as a baby bump instead of a, "I've been lounging around in bed eating ice cream and hot Cheetos way too much recently" bump.

There was a time when this belt fit me. However, I tried wearing it this past Sunday and...nope. Nada. Not a snowball's chance in Helsinki. Doesn't fit. And do you remember that sad, sinking realization that I may have to wear my snow pants everywhere come Winter? Well on a similar sad note played on the world's smallest violin, it's been snowing here and there since last week. So I've been wearing my Winter coat. THAT still fits. Thank goodness. But I only have about 3 inches of outward belly room before it won't.

And that is not going to last through Winter.

But if I wear it like a bolero....

Stretch marks?

None because I bathe in tubs of lotion 2 tons deep.

Sleep:

I've been sleeping pretty well! I'm starting to get used to all the adjustments of waking up throughout the night.

Best moment this week:

This past weekend was the beginning of deer hunting season in Canada. I decided to go along with Jason this year and I had a lot of fun! It was my first time "hunting"! (I was just a silent observer watching the pro haha) It was also our baby's first time hunting! Our little "deer"! (:

Also....

Jason felt the baby kick for the first time! I am just over the moon about it and I'm so happy he could finally feel the baby moving around. (: I was reading baby names out loud and could feel the baby moving a whole bunch (probably in disagreement to the names they didn't like) and I had Jason put his hand on my belly. For a few minutes, I was saying, "Oooh! Did you feel that? It was right under your thumb" and things like that. Finally after a little while of waiting, baby let out a kick big enough that I knew he had to have felt it! Right as I was starting to ask him, "Did you feel that?!" he said, "Whoa! I felt that!" (:

I also got to see baby kick this week! I was laying upright in bed (which seems to be when baby is most active) and the baby was moving around a bunch. I wondered if I could see the movement if I sat really still and breathed very calmly... Within seconds of looking at my bare stomach, I felt a kick and saw the part of my tummy move where I had felt the kick! (:

Movement:

See above (: Baby's been moving lots this week! (:

Food cravings:

Barbecue chips. Outside of pregnancy, I hate chips and want nothing to do with them haha

Anything make you queasy or sick?

Still not big on meat so I've been drinking protein shakes to help in that area!

Have you started to show yet?

I have no idea. Some days I look like it, others I'm really not sure haha

Missing anything?

Not really.

Gender:

We don't know (:

Labor signs?

None!

Belly button:

I was Skyping my sister this week and I showed her my ever growing baby bump. One of the first things she said was, "Your belly button is HUGE!"

She's 14. So...we love her.

The first thing she said was, "Whoa...I can still see your abs!".

See? We love her.

Wedding rings on or off?

On!

Happy or moody most of the time?

Happy as can be (: I have started to almost cry on occasion, which has been surprising and strange for me.

Weekly symptoms:

Mild headaches (with a few mind-throbbing headaches in between), very itchy bumps on my legs, can't really bend over to pick things up (squats all day), lots of pee trips, rhinitis of pregnancy (nosebleeds), acid reflux, vivid dreams, pelvic pain

Looking forward to:

I'm looking forward to Jason being able to feel the baby kick more now, and I'm excited to continue looking at baby names, and I'm looking forward to my next appointment and "seeing" baby possibly the last time before his or her big debut in March! (:

Would you like to see more?
Check out my other "bumpdates" below!