Bumpdate || 23 Weeks!

Happy Halloween! Last night I went to a Halloween party at a friend's house and dressed up as Winnie The Pooh :) It was comfy and easy to put together! I painted a mason jar to be my Hunny pot, which I drank virgin Shirley Temples (thanks Cali!) and water out of all night, and I used some felt fabric and sewed the ears on a cheap headband. The tops were found at Value Village! I could only find a cardigan in the right orange/yellow colour, so I wore it backwards and simply folded a small red shirt over top. Couldn't find a dress or the right colour bottoms, so I opted for my jeans.

How far along: 23 weeks 2 days.

Gender: Girl

Belly Measurement: Assuming 23cm, but I'll know on November 15, my next midwife appointment. 

Maternity clothes: Definitely. Found a black tank top in my closet that still fits nicely even though it isn't maternity :) 

Sleep: Okay. Up once or twice to pee, as usual. My nose is constantly stuffed and I think having the furnace on now is messing up my nose, which in turn isn't letting me sleep as soundly. I was up early yesterday because I was super hungry, and up early this morning because my nose was plugged and my ears hurt. Time to try out a humidifier!

Best moment this week: Feeling movement with my hand for the first time the other night! 

Worst moment this week: My nose/sinuses! It constantly feels like I have a cold. I swear I go through a box of kleenex every week, especially in the mornings. I've been asked at work if I've caught the cold going around, but I really don't think I have. Just pregnancy fun!

Miss anything: Nothing I can really think of.

Movement: Quite a bit! Especially at night when I lay down, or any time I'm on my back really. She's getting stronger and I can feel her more, even with the placenta being anterior.

Cravings: Nothing crazy.

Queasy or sick: Apparently I still can't go without nausea meds. I realized on Thursday, when I suddenly felt like barfing everywhere at work, that I had forgotten to take my meds the night before. I've weaned myself down to only 2 pills at night, rather than the 4-5/day and I apparently can't miss them.

Looking forward to: Getting all the hand-me-downs we're receiving and organizing it all (we have the best family and friends!). Also, only 2 months until we're in BC for Christmas!

xo. Nicole

Bumpdate || 22 Weeks!

How far along: 22 weeks.

Gender: Girl!

Belly Measurement: K, so, I've changed this from Weight Gain to Belly Measurement because it's a huge (I hate using the word but...) trigger for me. It's hard seeing the number creep up after my almost 2 years of clean eating and exercising, even though it's a mixture of my uterus, placenta, water weight, breasts, etc.. I just don't think it's good for my mental health right now to focus on a number. My midwife agreed that it's best I don't weigh myself until around 37 weeks (for the hospital's knowledge just in case) and we will go by how I feel and my belly's measurement. I eat relatively healthy still and allow myself some treats. All that really matters is that my uterus and baby are growing according to my pregnancy. My body will also gain what it needs to gain for this babe. So, my belly is measuring 22cm as of 2 days ago, which is right on target!

Maternity clothes: Yep, definitely.

Sleep: Pretty good still. Getting 8-9 hours every night and down to 1 or 2 pee breaks.

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat at the midwife appointment.

Worst moment this week: Stepping on the scale at the midwife clinic but I'm ready to move on from that. 

Miss anything: Nothing off the top of my head.

Movement: Minimal, but hearing her heartbeat on Tuesday reassured me. She was moving around a lot after my 20 week ultrasound, then the past 4 days she moved maybe once or twice that I felt. I have an anterior placenta, so that may have a big part in it.

Cravings: It's random and if I smell something good, I want it. I can usually work past it and just deal with what I have in my lunch or what's in the house for dinner. 

Queasy or sick: Occasionally nauseas still. I'm weaning off my meds and usually only take the 2 pills at night.

Looking forward to: Halloween! My first Halloween with a baby bump :)

xo. Nicole

Baby Maxfield Gender Reveal!

Well, here we are in the 20th week of my pregnancy! I did a bumpdate for it the other day, but this week is especially special because we got to find out the sex! We had our family over for dinner last night before we opened the pumpkin to reveal either a small blue pumpkin, or a small pink one. Our friend Megan was given the sealed envelope, the big pumpkin, pink and blue paint, and the small pumpkin right after the ultrasound. She was sworn to secrecy, she wasn't even allowed to tell me!

Most of the Old Wives Tales pointed to a girl. I have gotten so many people telling me "oh you have this symptom so it's obviously a girl/boy!" Well, no. All of those Old Wives Tales are just for fun! When you think about it, they have a 50% chance of being right, so a lot of people end up believing them. The signs and symptoms, like carrying low, the heart rate, the amount of all-day puking, acne, heartburn, it's literally just how your body does pregnancy. Despite all that, it was still fun to use the OWT's to guess the sex before we knew!

I tried to keep decorations at a minimum because really, all of that work for a 2 second pull-the-pumpkin-out felt like a waste. I also kept a small pumpkin theme, as we were finding out what our little pumpkin would be :)

The ultrasound on Thursday morning was a long 45 minute one, but it was the anatomy scan. Baby was facing away from us and sleeping for most of it, so the ultrasound tech got plenty of the pictures she needed. She was determined to get the sex for us (and she needed baby to face us, or switch positions at least for the heart pictures) so she had me do some jumping jacks and try eating the candy that I had in my purse. Well, it worked because...

It's a girl! 

It definitely feels different, knowing the sex. It feels a lot more real knowing we have a baby girl arriving in ~4.5 months!

xo. Nicole

Bumpdate || 20 Weeks!

How far along: 20 weeks.

Gender: Unknown, we find out tomorrow evening at our Gender reveal dinner!

Weight gain: Last known was 6lbs, not sure right now.

Maternity clothes: Yep! Everything I'm wearing, except my cardigans, are maternity.

Sleep: Pretty good! Getting 8-9 hours every night. For the past 4 nights I've been getting up at exactly 12:51am to go pee and then again around 3:50...so weird.

Best moment this week: Seeing baby at the ultrasound this morning, knowing things are developing normally.

Worst moment this week: For the past 2 weeks I've had gas and stretching pains that would kick in when I'd stand up. All for good reason because apparently it grew 4 inches this week. Baby's measuring 16 cm as of this morning :)

Miss anything: This week has actually been wine! Once or twice I've wanted it, but nothing major.

Movement: Definitely. The ultrasound this morning confirmed that the placenta is at the front so it explains why I don't feel much, but I do feel the flutters really low. I can tell it isn't gas now!

Cravings: Nothing that sticks out this week.

Queasy or sick: Occasionally nauseas. Too nervous to stop my meds completely but I can usually skip my afternoon pill now.

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender tomorrow night! I've prepped a little chalkboard (well, foam board) and a pumpkin for our reveal. My friend is currently painting the pumpkin the appropriate colour and will put it inside the big one! :)

xo. Nicole