30 Week Update (!!!)

How far along: 30 weeks 6 days

Size of baby:  Average = 2.5-3.8 lbs, 15.2"-16.7" long, or the size of a cucumber, but the paperwork from our 20 week anatomy scan said he or she was in the >97% size percentile, soooooo....!?!

Physical symptoms: A bunch of aches and pains. Constipation. Headaches. Restless legs are occasionally beating my hot water trick and keeping me up. And I'm having these really awesome dizzy spells. Usually if I get hot. So our A/C has to be cranked up constantly, which is going to be an awesome bill. ;) But yeah, I get dizzy and nauseous and either really hot or really cold and have to sit/lay down like right as it comes on or else I start seeing black spots. Super cute. If you Google those symptoms, it's either preeclampsia (yikes) or a vasovagal reaction. I was super concerned but E is in the medical field and has taken my BP and it's always pretty ideal (thank you, thank you), and he spoke to some doctors in his hospital and they all said it's probably just from the baby shifting and kind of pushing on a specific nerve, causing, BINGO, a vasovagal reaction. Soooo yeah that's super fun and not at all terrifying.

Weight gain/loss: According to my home scale I'm still up 20-22lbs.

Maternity clothes: Same- mostly maternity shirts, two denim maternity skirts while elastic waist skirts and normal nylons still somehow fit. Maternity dresses or old non-maternity empire waist maxi dresses. Sleeping in tank tops with "shelf bras". I stillll need to get some maternity/nursing bras but I'm still gonna push that off for a bit maybe. A few friends recommended the Bravado brand... any other suggestions out there?

Stretch marks: I don't think so. There still might be some thinking about happening on my hips but it's hard to tell.

Sleep: Pretty much able to sleep better than I have in months. The past couple of nights I had minor restless leg issues, and had to switch sides frequently throughout the night because one side would get sore, but I'd generally fall right back asleep. Thank Gd. I've still even woken up when E's alarm went off, had a mini conversation or even gone to pee, and fallen right back asleep. Amazing. And thanks to that shower trick I'm generally able to vaguely fall asleep when I want to, so, things are great right now. Still exhausted though.

Best moment since last week: Went on a double date with some friends out in Long Island on Wednesday night. That was fun! And Friday night we had "picnic shabbos" at home, just the two of us (some other plans fell through last minute and E had worked 4 nights this week anyway, so we welcomed the low-key, early night). And Saturday night we vegged and ate some junk food, so that was definitely enjoyable. :) Oh and I taught E how to use eBay this week and he got really into it and "won" us a brand new, organic Ergobaby carrier for like half the price of one in a store. Very cute!

Movement: Holy crap this kid is moooooving. I can feel elbows or something sliding along, there are BIG kicks or punches, he or she is really going crazy in there. I think I might be having some kind of uterine spasms every once in awhile, too... is that a thing??

Cravings/aversions: I still really like lemonade if it's in front of me but I don't really crave it. Same with root beer. I still really just want ice water All. The. Time. Otherwise there have just been momentary things- I really, really wanted whitefish salad for Shabbos. I really wanted those drumstick ice cream cones last week. I wanted pickles a few nights in a row. And Saturday night I wanted Goldfish crackers, chocolate covered doughnuts (Entenmann's style), a vanilla milkshake and fig newtons. And chocolate covered pretzels. Idk what the deal was that night but all I got was the doughnuts. Actually E also tried to get me a vanilla milkshake but it slipped out of his hand literally as he walked through our front door and spilled everywhere, so.... #epicfail

Plain Chicken still grosses me out. And most beef. And fish.

Gender: Confirmed!! But it seems like we're keeping it a secret...

Labor signs: Hopefully not anytime soon.

Belly button:  Innie!

What I miss: I'd still love love love like an extra 3 feet worth of internal body space. My ribs feel like they're going to crack from the internal pressure. There's just no room. 

And cocktails. I definitely miss cocktails. And sushi.

What I am looking forward to: Hopefully going to Canada for a bit sometime in the next month. E's entire family owns a lake cottage up there and E has visited it every summer of his life. :) And going to visit some friends for Shabbos in a couple of weeks too. And E's only working 3 nights this week so I'm looking forward to actually seeing him this week, haha. 

Here's a 30-week bump shot- I actually feel 10x this large:

And Idk if I posted this in the last post but here's a really crappy iPhone pic of how much I've narrowed the nursery paint color options down to!! #winning

25 Week Update

Posting this a day late (we're officially 26 weeks today!) because of everything going on in Israel. I just couldn't bring myself to post yesterday after the bodies of the 3 teenagers were found, murdered by terrorists. E and I are both heartbroken, enraged, scared for our many friends living in Israel, etc. It's been all of the feelings imaginable all at once and a numbness at the same time. Whenever anything like this happens, I tend to take it to heart and kind of shut down, so I'm trying to be aware of that trend and stay present and strong and.... Whatever. It's an enormous tragedy and completely infuriating and I wish the rest of the world would wake up and see it as such. 

How far along: 25 weeks 6 days

Size of baby:  Average = an eggplant?! But my homie's been measuring bigger. Also the uterus is supposed to be soccer ball sized- appropriate for the World Cup. 

Physical symptoms: Some nausea (some vomiting). MAJOR restless legs when I lay down. Therefore, EXHAUSTED. I actually was able to fall right asleep 3 nights in a row(!!!!) but that ended on Saturday night.  Peeing every 5 seconds. Irrationally emotional. "Pregnancy brain"- can't remember ANYTHING. Generally feeling like everything inside me has no room. HOT HOT HOT. Anxiety cityyyy. And omg heartburn.

Weight gain/loss: 17-18lbs

Maternity clothes: Mostly maternity tops. Non-maternity skirts and larger sized nylons still fit. Some non maternity dresses. Hit up eBay this week!

Stretch marks: Not yet! 

Sleep: Hahahahaha.... no. Actually did sleep 3 nights in a row and felt like a new person. But then the insomnia started up again Saturday night- we were out late with friends who were in town and I guess I missed my "sleep window" and barely slept. Sunday night I was EXHAUSTED but wired from a friend's daughter's wedding(!!!) and anxious about having jury duty the next morning so I slept less than an hour. Thankfully I fell asleep right away Monday night. 

Best moment since last week: On Shabbos, someone I'd seen the week before walked into the room and was like "WHOA- you POPPED!!" So apparently I'm realllllly showing now. Also, at jury duty the baby was kicking me reallllly hard and it was moving my whole belly, and the person two seats away from me saw it out of the corner of her eye, did a triple take and mouthed to me, "Holy $#!+!!!!", which made me laugh. 

According to the Jewish calendar, our anniversary was this week so on that day E made plans for brunch and then for us to take the train an a ferry to a little town up the Hudson River. But we got off to a late start and missed "brunch" and I was emotional and couldn't find anything on the lunch menu I wanted to eat. So we left and tried another place but I realllly just wanted breakfast food so we ended up going to a little hole in the wall place in our neighborhood that was still serving pancakes and eggs. And that was super nice. We go sandwiches to go, and ended up just going to Prospect Park because it was crazy hot (88* and humid) and I wasn't sure how long I'd last in the heat, etc. We didn't do much- just sat in a nice shady spot by a waterfall and chatted. When it inevitably did get too hot we walked to a 7-eleven and got Slurpees and took the bus back to our neighborhood, ducked into a toy store to buy a few board games, and played them all afternoon in the AC. Really nice afternoon actually. Here's a pic from the park:

Thursday night we also went to a goodbye party for one of E's friends from college in Manhattan.

On Shabbos, on the 3rd or 4th attempt, I finally beat E at Risk! We had a quiet Friday night meal at home, just the two of us. And for Shabbos lunch we went to friends who'd involved mutual friends who are movig to FL in two weeks. The Shabbos before a Jewish woman's wedding, it's customary to have a get-together for all the female friends and relatives, so I headed to my friend's house for that. There were a million desserts and yummy things there and tons of friends also attended. 

Saturday night we went out to dinner with friends who were in town from Boston. I wasn't feeling great but it was still fun. 

Sunday was this much-anticipated wedding and it was beautiful.  We saw  friends from Montreal, Long Island, Boston, western MA, NJ, Israel, etc. It was really nice.  Here's what I wore after the more summer-appropriate dress I'd planned on wearing turned out to still be too big and I had a total emotional meltdown over it, haha: 

Monday I had jury duty, and was there for 8 hours and almost got picked but didn't (thank Gd- sitting for that long was reallllly hard). Now I'm exempt for 8 years. Yes!

Afterwards, E picked me up and we grabbed dinner on the way home. This is what E got- he def made the best food choice that night (his lemonade/beer Shandy is in the background, I had a homemade ginger soda): 

Movement: Still kicking. A lot. And hard. It moves my whole belly most of the time now. :) 

Cravings/aversions: I gave up on the no coffee thing and was able to sleep those 3 nights this week, so I'm not going overboard with coffee but also not avoiding it. But the point is, I still hate homemade coffee.  

I still can't go near chicken or most other meat, or fish other than lox or whitefish salad. Apparently this kid is reallllllly Jewish.

Strawberry cheesecake has been my jam lately. I've only had it like 3x but.... Still. Also, these caramel chocolate balls. All healthy choices. I bought a big thing of berry-carrot juice and am going to try and drink that when I need something sweet but, y'know. 

Gender: Confirmed!! But Idk if we're going to tell...

Labor signs: Hopefully not anyyytime soon.

Belly button:  Innie but the skin around it is starting to get tight, so...

What I miss: Sleeping is definitely #1 on this list. I'd love an ice cold summer beer too. And like an extra 3 feet worth of internal body space.

What I am looking forward to: Since I'm posting late, we are 1 week away from the 3rd trimester- what!? That's terrifying and exciting all at once. I started slooooowly working on the nursery this week (a test swatch of fabric I'd ordered arrived, I hung some paint swatches on the wall to compare, I stuck a framed picture we'd bought last year up on the wall next to them for comparison, and we rearranged the furniture to make room for a crib- and E finally downsized the enormous amount of stuff his parents had dropped off when they moved last year!!!)

We've also got my cousin's wedding in NH and E's side of the family is throwing us a baby shower at the end of the month so those'll be fun. First time seeing anyone in our family, besides my father in law, since we started showing. :) 

23 Week Update

How far along: 23 weeks 6 days

Size of baby:  Average = large mango, length of green onion, eggplant?! ...but the kid has been measuring large for months. We have a Dr appt on Friday so I'll hopefully be able to report back next week with actually #s.

Physical symptoms: Some nausea (some vomiting). MAJOR restless legs when I lay down. EXHAUSTED. Insomnia (big time). Peeing every 5 seconds. Sore everything. Irrationally emotional. "Pregnancy brain"- I can't remember ANYTHING. I couldn't find matches before Shabbos this week and freaked out to E that the "candle lighters" were missing. Belly has really "popped". Generally feeling like everything inside me has no room- I had a full on crazy person moment this week bc I was hot and exhausted and just felt so full EVERYWHERE in my body and sat on the floor and cried from frustration. Which is awesome bc we've still got 4 months to go. But E was legit amazing and sat on the floor with me and helped me calm down.

Weight gain/loss: 13-15 lbs depending on the day but it's usually 13.

Maternity clothes: Mostly maternity tops. Non-maternity skirts and larger sized nylons still fit. I also have some non maternity dresses that still work.
 
Stretch marks: Not yet! 

Sleep: Majorly exhausted. Restless legs at night are still in full swing. Insomniac over here.

Best moment since last week: This week was kiiiind of uneventful. It kinda flew by, actually. A friend got married so I got to see one of my besties who lives in Canada, who's due a week before us, and also another bestie from NJ at the wedding so that was super fun. Check the pic from before that wedding at the bottom. :) 

And Father's Day. We didn't really do much but I made E "breakfast" (this afternoon) and we finished off my Birthday ice cream cake and we had a pretty sappy conversation about how happy we are. 

Oh and I got roped into going to a work meeting even though I don't really work there anymore, but I'm currently still on payroll and they promised me pizza. Except that there was NO PIZZA. But I got to see a bunch of old coworkers and they were all suuuuper excited that I'm pregnant (still SO WEIRD to say/type) and everyone touched my belly and it was weird and uncomfortable but also nice in an I-still-hate-this sort of way.

Movement: Baby is moving a lot! A little less than before, but still often. It's (mostly) more like a few kicks at a time now instead of like 15 mins worth of Irish step dancing now. But, obviously as I'm writing this, the kid hasn't stopped kicking me for like 10 mins straight.

Cravings/Aversions: Ob-freaking-sessed with iced cafe mocha from this coffee shop in our neighborhood. But it was getting out of hand so E convinced me to start making coffee at home this week (using the fancy "latte" maker he got me for my birthday last year). So we're experimenting with that- so far it's notttt quite cutting it in the craving department but it's saving us money. Whatever. ;) Still Kettle brand salt and vinegar chips and lemonade, but I haven't had any chips in like  week- I just want them so bad. I got a crazy craving for Parmesan cheese last night so I bought some tonight but puked before I could eat it so that's on hold. Cute. AND I've also been super craving these spinach/goat cheese/roasted red pepper wraps from the same coffee shop/cafe my iced cafe mochas are from, but when they didn't have any left the other day I bought all of the ingredients for them from the store and have eaten one (or two) almost every day ever since. E claims that I don't have any actual food cravings, I just have a spending-a-crapload-of-money-on-expesive foods craving. ;) Oh and I had a temporary but huuuuuge craving for watermelon at my friend's wedding and ate like 90% of what there was at the dessert buffet.

Last week's craving was that chimichurri dip, but I vomited after eating it once last week and haven't been able to go near it since. But we had 1.5 containers of it left so I've been putting it in E's sandwiches for work every day so at least he's happy!

I still can't go near chicken or most other meat. Although I did have a little bit of a cold cuts wrap at the wedding's cocktail hour and that was super good.

Gender: Confirmed!! But Idk if we're going to tell...

Labor signs: Hopefully not anyyytime soon.

Belly button:  Innie

What I miss: Sleeping. Sushi. Not having a million aches and pains at any given time. Being able to go 20 mins without peeing!

What I am looking forward to: Viability?! Our doctor appointment on Friday, definitely. And we might do something fun for our anniversary this week (it's actually on Saturday but bc of Shabbos we'll probably celebrate a couple of days early).

And here's a pic, as promised: 

21 Week Update

This was an overall amazing week. E worked Sunday, Monday and Tuesday overnights but then we went out to dinner Wednesday night (a dairy restaurant on the UWS), then walked to a subway station that's farther away because I was too full. We bumped into the Edge of Tomorrow premiere- actually, E wasn't paying attention and almost literally walked through it. He'd have been apprehended by the 30 security guards but he legit didn't believe me that there was a movie premiere happening until we saw this guy: 

Some quick Googling told me it was the Edge of Tomorrow premiere and that Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise were the ones the paparazzi were flipping out over. Pretty cool.

On Thursday we took the ferry to Governor's Island. They just started opening it during the week this month so we pretty much had the island to ourselves:

Then we went to dinner in Midtown to a steak restaurant. We spend a small fortune and it hurt but it was really good. Thennn on Friday we had a lazy morning and then walked around Park Slope and Downtown Brooklyn in search of a belly belt (more on that later) but couldn't find one (one store only had a larger size and another store had ones that were too small and two other stores had nothing!). We ate at home Friday night- a dairy meal, so we could eat a dairy ice cream cake for my birthday!! and then went to friends for Shabbos lunch on Saturday. Afterwards we walked to Prospect Park and got in some quality people watching. 

On Sunday we got breakfast with friends and then E and I went to DUMBO to his favorite used book store: 

 And we also went to the park there: 

 Got a ton of sun this week (no tan to show for it though, ha ha) and walked at least 3 miles on each outing (sometimes quite a bit more), so we're feeling pretty good. It was an awesome week. It was a nice welcome to "the big 2-9", which I'd been straight-up dreading.

Oh, and we got a new shower curtain. ;) (Gotta throw some "furbishing" in here occasionally since nothing major's happening lately!! I actually need to throw together a nursery mood board soon- we've got big ideas brewing!) 

How far along: 21 weeks 6 days

Size of baby:  Pomegranate, or banana/carrot. Whoa, nelly.

Physical symptoms: When walking for awhile, under my belly is crampy and feels weighed down- thinking of getting a pregnancy belt thing. Some nausea. Super constipated. Super bloated after eating. Restless legs when I lay down. EXHAUSTED. Super thirsty. Need to pee every 5 seconds. Some food aversions. Big time "Pregnancy brain". Feet are still killlllling if I'm standing/walking around for long. Dry skin; especially my chest- I got lanolin cream and that's a little helpful but when they hurt, they HUUUURT. Headaches, stuffy nose (allergies!).

Weight gain/loss: 10+ lbs.... I checked tonight and it was 17lbs and I pretty much cried a little, but I've been constipated for quiiiite a few days and I don't usually weigh myself at night so... y'know. Also, it was my 29th birthday this week so I may have overindulged for like 4 days straight.

Maternity clothes: Mostly maternity tops. Non-maternity skirts and nylons still fit somehow. I also have some non maternity dresses that still work.
 
Stretch marks: Not yet!

Sleep: I'm still exhausted. I actually was so tired that I passed out a couple of times without restless leg issues, but the other nights were still pretty lame in the sleep department.

Best moment since last week: OMG. E felt the baby!!!!!! The baby's been moving around a lot at night when I lay down, and I thought I could feel it from the outside so I showed E where to put his hand. I kept my poker face on to test him and he really felt when it happened!!! That was super nice and cute and emotional. E loved it- he put his cheek to the spot and felt it that way, and kissed the spot and felt it that way too. Ugh. It was adorbs. And then he sang some Irish/Scottish songs to the baby and I melted and died a little. Def my #1 moment of maybe Life.

Our next door neighbor also called me out this week- first person to do so. She saw us outside and was like "You lookin' a little puffy- When's Puffy due??" Haha. Look- if anyone else had called me "puffy" I would have slapped then, but she's well-intentioned and just, idk, the type of personality that can get away with that crap. Idk! That happened. 

Movement: Yep! Usually when I lay down at night, but also starting occasionally throughout the day too!

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still more grossed out by things than craving them. I haven't been super craving or wanting sweet things (I love love love ice cream cake and E got one for my birthday but when he brought it out after dinner Friday night I just ate some of the frosting and and "oreo" off of it and then we saved it for "later" but "later" hasn't happened yet!). But I kill for coffee. I'm not drinking it every day but I'm so much happier and well adjusted whenever I do. Eeek. I'm also kind of into mildly spicy things again.

Gender: Confirmed!! But idk if we're going to tell...

Labor signs: Hopefully not anyyytime soon.

Belly button:  Innie

What I miss: Sleeping. Mixed drinks. Laying on my stomach. Not having a million aches and pains at any given time.... although the massages I'm getting from E are still pretty awesome. Being able to go 20 mins without peeing!

What I am looking forward to: Viability? Idk. Everything.

And here's a pic of me looking super huge and bloated after eating junk food for pretty much 5 days straight. ;) Puh-lease IGNORE the super messy bathroom!

19 Week Update

Wow. This week actually kind of flew by. 


Did anyone get that Shutterfly email this week? I thought that the way they handled the really awkward glitch was so sweet. I read the email in the middle of the night and my eyes teared up and I texted E about how sweet and thoughtful it was of them to send out such an apology: 

Idk if it was the hormones, but it really hit me as above and beyond sensitive and I appreciated it. A lot.

Whew. I'm having some brain farts so let's just get on with this...

 How far along: 19 weeks 5 days (2 days till the halfway point!?!)

Size of baby:  Large tomato, mango

Physical symptoms: Bloated after eating. Headaches, stuffy nose (allergies?). Restless legs when I lay down- prettttty bad. Trouble getting comfortable and falling asleep. A little dizzy, some heart flutter action going on once in awhile. I had these really awesome surges of energy this week and actually got a bunch of stuff done around the apartment, but I needed to take breaks to lay down for a few minutes every once in awhile. Still constantly dying of thirst (and then urgently have to pee 2 seconds later... I literally pee before we go out, then go get my coat and by the time I get to the door I have to pee again. Constipated, like whoa (I've been drinking prune juice every few days and that helps but tastes nassssty). Prettyyyyy moody and emotional. Some food aversions. My face is broken out. Stomach and chest have still been itchy. "Pregnancy brain"- tonight in the shower I washed myself with my loofah, shaved, then couldn't remember if I'd washed myself with the loofah... until after I washed myself with the loofah for the 2nd time. Cute. And new this week is that my feet have started killlllling if I'm standing/walking around for too long (the other day we walked 3.5 miles and I could barely get up the stairs by the time we got home lol). I otherwise feel great, it's legit just my feet. Oh and super dry skin.

Weight gain/loss: Anywhere from 7-10lbs... eek. That's 5-7lbs this month alone? Whoops... We have a Dr appt on Friday and I don't think he's going to be thrilled...

Maternity clothes: I started wearing almost exclusively maternity on Tuesday... I have a few things that aren't maternity and don't make me look like I'm just gaining weight, but I found a bunch of clothes at Target and Burlington Coat Factory this week so I'm trying to live that up. Here's a pic from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens this week:

Stretch marks: Not yet!

Sleep: I'm exhausted. I have a really hard time falling asleep most nights but then I'll sleep for like 10-11 hours a few nights later but it's not helping. I'm taking a lot of mini "naps" where I don't actually fall asleep but I regain some energy. Idk!

Best moment since last week: We finallllllly hit our official "public" date. We have a custom to not "officially" tell people until we hit 4 months... and that was last Tuesday. So we told a few more people and I started wearing maternity clothes, even though I still feel like a poser in them. I got brunch with a friend on Thursday who'd also gone through yearssss of infertility before having her two kids, and found out that she used the same OB as we are (and loved him!!) and she has the same stroller as we got (and loves it). Woohoo! Today was Lag B'omer, a Jewish holiday, and there was a parade and a carnival in my neighborhood to celebrate. A bunch of friends came from as far as Boston to take their kids to it, so we got to see a ton of friends yesterday and today (we even went out to dinner with our Boston friends while their kids were with a babysitter). And we bought a glider this week!!! It was a floor model so it was only $100. I'm too excited about it:

Movement: I don't knowwwwww..... I need a really obvious kick or something to calm my nerves about this.

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still more grossed out by things than craving them. I'll go into the kitchen and can tell you exactly what I DON'T want, but have a really hard time finding something that I do want. I've been kind of having to force-feed myself every once in awhile. I've been eating a lot of melba toast with hummus for lunches though.

Gender: Going to confirm it at the 20week appt before we tell anyone, if anyone. 

Labor signs: Hopefully not anyyytime soon.

Belly button:  Innie

What I miss: Sleeping comfortably through the night. Cocktails, a little. Laying on my stomach. Not having a million aches and pains at any given time.... although the foot massages I'm getting from E are pretty awesome.

What I am looking forward to: Our 20 week appointment this Friday- full anatomy scan!? And feeling this kid realllly move (G-d willing). :)