Is it me or do I look significantly bigger this week than I did last week? I can’t tell if it’s the leggings or a different closer lens I used…
STATS:
How far along: 21 weeks.
How big is baby: The size of a carrot. She’s kicking a lot now and has grown eyebrows.
Total weight gain: 2 pounds (147lb) this week, for a total of approximately 11 pounds from the start of the pregnancy.
I have something to say about this whole pregnancy weight gain. I now see how women gain 50-60 pounds during pregnancy ( considering the actual baby/pregnancy weight gain is about 25lbs). It must be that a pregnant woman’s body hangs onto every calorie, because the ONE week that I let myself have more sweets than I normally do was the week I gained more than normal. I had hubby buy frozen white chocolate macadamia nut cookies for me, but instead of making just 2 of them at a time like I asked, he would make a batch of 6. Well, those things are INSANELY good ( but ridiculously bad for you), so being right in front of my face, I’d slowly eat all six in a matter of a few hours. And then he’d make more the next day. It is hard to resist something so “comforting” when you feel crappy ( and let’s admit something here, pregnancy is no walk in the park and “crappy” describes most days) and when you have the excuse (albeit, a wrong one) of “eating for two”….
And while I never fooled myself with the whole “eating for two” notion, it was still a lot harder to resist those cookies that it would be in a non-pregnant state ( or at least I felt worse about eating them, than I would if I wasn’t pregnant). So the point I am trying to make is that for 8 weeks of my 2nd trimester I have been gaining the appropriate pound a week, and the one week I “let myself go” ( by my definition), was the week where I gained 2(!!!) pounds. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
It is way more important to me to make sure my baby girl gets the right nutrition (and cookies aint it) and I stay in shape than to have a minute long enjoyment of some over-processed cookie. Before pregnancy, I loved the phrase “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!“, now it has taken on a different meaning for me. It’s about my unborn child’s health and also about realizing that while I might not see the benefit of NOT eating the cookies RIGHT NOW, since I am getting bigger every day, but that delayed gratification of losing the baby weight fast and with no problems is worth a lot more to me than the sweetness of an extra cookie.
Sleep: Lots of bathroom breaks but good overall.
Maternity Clothes: Maternity jeans because they’re comfy and cover up my legs when I am too lazy to shave them haha. It’s way too hot for jeans though, so I only wear them when I know I’ll be inside most of the time. Otherwise, my old larger shorts and capris + leggings and all of my tops still fit.
Best moment of the week:
This week has been pretty much full of work. I try to stay away from the stressful part of it, but this evening it really got to me. That’s another reason to take it easy and do something mundane and non-stressful: taxes, marketing, etc. Once you get involved, you can’t just pull away. So I had a really bad afternoon with some work stress and then I go on the my Facebook page and there’s this sweetest message from Mitch! It sooooo brightened up my day!
Food cravings : Those damned macadamia nut cookies. Though, to be honest, I couldn’t have resisted them, but oh no, I had to learn my lesson.
Food aversions: I think I am back to normal self as far as eating goes. At least I am working really hard on my past aversions mentally.
Symptoms:
Heartburn – mild and occasional
Round Ligament Pains – I finally felt real round ligament pains. What I thought might have been them was really just gas pains or whatever else. The suckers hurt when you get up, but they feel exactly like little muscle cramps/pulls
Rash – Oh goodie! I got my first non-standard wonderful symptom, a rash. How wonderful! So far it’s all over my boobies, and slowly spending onto my back and itches like hell (doesn’t appear to be PUPPS though). I am doing some Jedi mind control to prevent myself from scratching it and am trying to completely ignore it in hopes of it going away. My skin has always been very eager to release histamine at any scratch and this isn’t an exception. So the less I scratch it, the more benign it seems to be. I am really really hoping, it’ll go away soon and isn’t one of those things “only cured by delivery”. Anyone had something similar?
Movement:
This girl is a kicker and mover. She has a specific pattern now and is very active during those times.
The other day, Andrew put his ear onto my stomach to see if he can hear her heartbeat without a doppler, and Alexis KICKED him in the cheek! I laughed soooo hard, because the kick literally came out of nowhere. She also can definitely hear us and reacts when we try to talk/sing to her. If she’s moving around and kicking and hears her daddy’s voice, or me singing to her, she stops immediately, and doesn’t resume until we stop singing/talking.
Gender: Girly girl!
What I’m looking forward to:
So since last weekend was a bust ( hubby forgot to pick up the paint from the store), this weekend we’re loaded with barely violet paint and ready to go. I am really excited about the color and how toned down it is and should have photos posted next week.
What I miss:
Sushi! It doesn’t help that all my facebook and instagram friends decided it is sushi week and proceeded to have sushi daily and post pictures of that. Ugh!
Next appt: October 6th
you have THE cutest bump!!! It’s definitely there!!!!! <3 I can't wait to see that little girl!
So, so beautiful! I agree with you, you do look bigger than this week. Well, not you, but your belly 😉 It looks more defined, but you still look all baby. Have strangers started noticing your belly when you are out and about and asking about the baby? I’m sure loving your leggings, I think I need some and I’m not pregnant!
Can’t wait to take a peak at the nursery! Have fun with it!!
That was suppose to say *I agree with you, you do look bigger this week than last.
Ohhhhh 🙂 The belly is definitely bigger, yet so cute!
Awww Elena you look so good! The belly is so cute 🙂 if i eat sushi i promise i won’t post it on facebook!
I went out for sushi a few weeks ago, and made sure to have cooked rolls (tempura) and/or artificial crab. Maybe some of that can fit into your cravings? It really helped for mine.
I don’t like the idea of eating fish at a restaurant during pregnancy, because I don’t know how they handle it, and it’s such an easily spoiled thing. Though, man, I’ve been tempted ….
I really need to make a roll myself, but I am so lazy!
It’s extremely offensive that you don’t know that it’s “Jedi,” and not “Je-di.” Have you never seen Star Wars?
Ahahahahah! That’s too funny! Not sure why I put a dash in Je-di. And yes, unfortunately, I have seen Star Wars ( hubby made me) and sorry, but not a fan at all.
It does look bigger from week 20 and it looks crazy bigger than week 19. It is amazing how the belly just all of a sudden pops.
I would just stop weighing yourself. You sound like you’re getting obsessed with food and your weight. Just feed the baby mostly healthy stuff, and don’t beat yourself up over a cookie. Be happy she’s healthy and your pregnancy is going well and don’t sweat the small stuff!
I got random rashes throughout PG bc my skin was more sensitive. PUPPS was a whole other nightmare (somewhere in my blog I have pictures.) If it didn’t start on your belly, it’s probably not PUPPS. Try some moisturizer and mention it to your OB/midwife if it doesn’t go away.
Not really obsessing… Just expressing my thoughts. I will start obsessing though if I gain 5-6 pounds in a week. So far I am just fine.
And it’s not really about feeding Alexis healthy stuff, which is what I do. It’s about eating useless calories and that give me a minute of satisfaction but will take a year to burn off post partum. If I gain weight from eating all healthy stuff, I am ok with that, but knowing that the weight gain comes from something that is not even benefiting Alexis…that’s a different story.
As far as Pupps, I read a lot about it a few months ago, and to be honest was very scared I might get it, since my skin is sort of sensitive. I read the horrors women go through and I’m just really hoping it’s something I avoid.
The other msc rashes that you go, how long did it take for them to clear up?
Wow, you must be really tall! I started at 134 with my pregnancy, but you look great!! (I’m 5’8″)..I ended up gaining 33 lbs..I craved sweets like crazy! After my Brixton came, I lost 16 lbs. in one week! THAT was great…but my body is still holding onto about 7 lbs..those darn sweets no doubt..
Yeah, I’m 5’11”. I was 134 before pregnancy, and made sure to gain 2 more pounds before we started trying to get into the “normal” BMI out of the “underweight (just in case). I’ll probably gain about the same amount if I continue gaining the way I’m supposed to ( 1 pound a week). I’m very curious how weight loss will work for me after birth. I’ve never had trouble losing weight, so it’ll be interesting to see how my body react to the whole pregnancy/birth thing.
I’m sure you’ll be fine..I’ve been lazy about losing weight..but now my jeans don’t fit and I’m not about to shell out for the next size up (because that’s where those compromises in life begin..if you know what I mean)! I also cross my fingers for you that you won’t get any stretch marks!
OMG, I really hope I don’t get stretchmarks. I’ve been moisturizing like crazy since before I was pregnant, with the best oils I could find. I see my skin stretching quite a bit at my belly button, so it’s quite possible I will get stretchmarks, but what are you gonna do… I’ll be happy if I don’t, and I’ll do everything I can to prevent them, but if I get them I just have to live with them. 🙁