i love you, but i cantaloupe

how far along?  24 weeks

development: baby boy is about 10.5 to 11.8 inches long and weighs about a pound! his lungs are developing branches of the respiratory tree, his hearing is fully developed and most vital organs are well developed by now. until now, he's had very little fat and now he is accumulating more fat under the skin which will then help him maintain an ideal body temperature after birth.

from thebump.com

maternity clothes?  yes, and discovering other clothing that i haven't worn in a while, trying to get creative with what still fits.

sleep?  it's been interesting tracking my sleep with my jawbone up - my light and deep sleep alternates as it should in a normal cycle and i've seen a pattern develop with what time of night i'm getting the best sleep. 

stretch marks?  none yet.

best moments this week:  homemade saturday morning breakfast sandwiches, a la mcdonald's, compliments of anthony  •  a row 5 night out to a hershey bears hockey game  •  my homemade apple pie (pat myself on the back) ;)  •  loving my new hair color - and yes, it's safe. unless ingested, hair dyes pose very little risk to a developing baby (as i read on many trusty internet sources). i did it myself and used a semi-permanent color with no ammonia, even better. in fact, it was such a more pleasant and less stinky experience that i may continue to purchase the same kind in the future. bring on the red!

miss anything? no too much

movement:  yep! getting stronger - feeling movements throughout the day off and on. 

food cravings:  my weekly ciabatta bread and olives from the grocery store! i also got back on the weekday breakfast smoothie wagon - protein powder, oats, frozen fruit, frozen spinach and oj

anything making you queasy or sick? nope

gender:  baby boy... "every puppy should have a boy." - erma bombeck

pregnancy symptoms:  some back pain. haven't noticed any swelling in hands or feet yet. 

wedding rings, on or off?  on

happy or moody most of the time?  happy!

looking forward to:  enjoying thanksgiving with family and being thankful for what i have in my life  •  gotta look at registering soon for a hospital visit and child care classes in the next few months  •  two daycare visits next week and one the following week

notes from dad: Who is he? Baby names! This one's tough. You always want to pick just the right one. But what's the right one? Of course, we have heard the "Do not call your baby!..." names: Johnnie Walker, Herschel Walker, Luke Sky Walker, Jimmie Walker (DYNOMITE!). Then there are those names that are too "ethnic" or too trendy. Not to mention, I have a preconceived image of most names - "Nope, I knew this guy once..." Well, we have our master list growing and new names keep popping up. I cant wait to decide - I am so proud and grateful to be able to give a life a name. It has to be just right. Our little whoishe?

so, i had another checkup appointment today - quick and easy. just a check on my blood pressure, listen to the babe's heartbeat, and a measure of my belly. almost not even worth the trip there, but glad to know that things are seeming to be as they should. 

i was informed today to watch my carb intake and asked if i drink many juices, since those especially contain empty calories. (after returning to work, i was briefly discussing the appt with my boss, since he and his wife went to the same practice and he laughed when i told him about the juice issue - the two of them referred to that doctor as the 'juice nazi', haha). 

the doc was not overly concerned with my weight gain so far, but wants me to be conscious of watching what i eat from now on. guess i'll have to give my ciabatta bread a rest.

my next appointment is the routine glucose screening on 12/20 to check for gestational diabetes, and how efficiently my body is processing sugar.

^^ homemade apple pie... and a pretty darn tasty one, if i do say so myself. 

^^ hershey bears hockey at the giant center - a winning game!

^^ i recently downloaded an iphone app called ovia pregnancy, and i thought one of the coolest features was seeing how big our babe's hand is from week to week. the gray outline is supposedly how large his hands will be when born, and the pink shows the size now, at 24 weeks. cute, huh?

one month until christmas, and the end of the second trimester. week 24 down, 112 days to go (less than four months!). 

grapefruit... it's good for ya soul

how far along?  23 weeks

development: baby boy measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces - getting bigger! his face is fully formed and is hearing my voice, heartbeat and other louder sounds like living room rocksmith concerts and dogs barking (that's if fender voiced his little opinion more often, lol). baby's inner ear is also developed to the point where he has some sense of balance, and his pancreas is busy creating it's own hormones. his eyes are formed, except he still lacks pigment in the iris, and therefore an eye color.

from thebump.com

maternity clothes?  since i have just one existing pair of skinny jeans that i can hardly wear much longer, i went to motherhood maternity on saturday and stocked up on two more pair of maternity jeans, three shirts and another sweater. loving the long, flowy open cardigan sweaters lately! i should be good now (hopefully) with a mix of existing and maternity clothes to get me through.

sleep?  feeling pretty good overall - waking once or twice a night, though. i've also been having (or remembering more) weird dreams that don't really make much sense. i don't know if most usually do, though.

stretch marks?  none

best moments this week:  meeting a friend's five day-old newborn daughter • clothing shopping at motherhood maternity for some clothes that fit me and are comfy, and window shopping for our little man at carter's - so much cute stuff, but i don't want to go crazy with buying things (we've gotten quite a few clothes at consignment shops and other needed items as gifts, and i'm sure there will be more to come). with toys and other activity-type things, my opinion is that there can definitely be too much and i don't want a house filled with unnecessary 'junk' - we already have too much.

miss anything? a crisp, cold sam adams winter lager would be nice

movement:  small movements, usually in the afternoon or evening right before bed

food cravings:  chicken salad sandwiches on toasted bread, mac & cheese and pizza have been on my mind a lot whenever i'm figuring out what to eat

anything making you queasy or sick? nope

gender:  baby boy. tall oaks from little acorns grow. - david everett

pregnancy symptoms:  starting to notice my belly getting in the way, only i know this is just the beginning. things that haven't necessarily been hard to do, but that i've been mindful of lately with a growing belly: i've had to start propping myself up on my side before sitting up, or leaning on the couch for support if sitting on the floor, putting socks and shoes on, and i've been slower lately in zumba class (trying to stay closer to the ground with lower impact moves). in zumba especially, it makes me miss putting my all into it, but knowing that burning calories without overexerting myself will have to do for now.

have you started to show yet?  uh huh

wedding rings, on or off?  on

happy or moody most of the time?  happy!

looking forward to:  helping out this week as a volunteer zumba instructor at paxton ministries, a community for those with social, mental or emotional needs • next tuesday's checkup appointment • daycare visits in the next few weeks - already have two scheduled!

notes from dad: 4 months left in this pregnancy. We are putting into motion all the things we need to do - Karin keeps us on track, she is the best. I keep trying to do my part to make home a little easier. I washed and folded baby clothes for the first time. I had an "oh snap" were having a baby moment! I have had a couple of those moments lately - like when Karin was telling me about the cost of day care -  "oh snap," it costs what? We went and registered at babies r us a couple weeks ago. That was a big wake up call, too! I am really excited to get into the second half of this experience. Hopefully I will be able to feel the little guy more soon.

i have to give a ton of credit to anthony for putting so much time and effort into making our home what it needs to become, to meet our changing needs and family. he's working on the nursery and has moved my craft and sewing materials from that room into a cozy little nook in our laundry room, so it will still be accessible for those on-a-whim creative moments. now i don't have any reason to not get some laundry done at the same time. lol.

^^ i've had a love/hate relationship with this changing season - the cooler, comfortable weather was really nice for a little while, and i wish it would have stuck around a little longer without getting all wind-blown chilly out. but this getting dark earlier in the evening thing really isn't doing it for me, especially when i think about taking photos for this little bloggie. i dislike flash photography, unless there's some kind of purpose or effect - it's just so harsh and unflattering. so finding the right time to take photos has been a minor challenge. very minor, i know. if this were the worst thing in the world, the world would be a much better place. :)

^^ grapefruit... it's good for ya soul, according to jimmy buffett

week 23 down, 118 days to go!

southern style mama

how far along?  22 weeks

development: now that we're in month five, our little man measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches from head to toe, weighing between 12.7 and 20.8 ounces. he's a little over the halfway mark in growing in length, and then the majority of it will just be filling out that little chubby body. he's got more developed eyes and lips, looking more and more like a newborn, and is sleeping in 12 to 14 hour sleep cycles. his white blood cells are also developing, which will fight off disease and infection later.

from thebump.com

maternity clothes?  just a few things. might take another trip to motherhood maternity in the next few weeks.

sleep?  pretty much normal, sleeping through most of the night

stretch marks?  none

best moments this week:  everything about our little vaca south • coming home to our fender and cuddles on the couch • receiving cute, unexpected clothing/gifts for our little man

miss anything? no

movement:  mostly in the evening, not too noticeable to anthony yet from 'the outside'

food cravings:  need to stock up again on my cranberry and soda/sparkling seltzer mixers

anything making you queasy or sick? no, thank goodness! i read that i should probably avoid spicy and greasy foods to ward off the heartburn and/or indigestion. avoid spicy food? uh, no.  :)

gender:  boy: noun - a noise with dirt on it.

pregnancy symptoms:  achy belly muscles and some dry, itchy skin as it stretches. other than that, we're all good!

have you started to show yet?  yes!

wedding rings, on or off?  on

happy or moody most of the time?  happy!

looking forward to:  enjoying the next few months • getting ready for the holidays • picking out a crib and painting two dressers for the babe's room (or supervising dad, wink wink) 

notes from dad:  back to life, back to reality. the reality of things i have to do in the next four months is setting in.

catching up... here's a pic i took two weeks ago, right before instructing my last zumba fitness class. i will miss teaching my monday nights! i attended a class this past sunday and felt a little out of it, partly because i hadn't been there in a few weeks and maybe that i've got a few extra lbs weighing me down. ;)

and now for photo overload. loved, loved our trip south...

foodie highlights: a muffaletta sandwich (oh myy, the olive salad)... a fresh louisiana crab cake sitting atop a fried green tomato at the crescent city brewhouse... sweet, sweet southern pralines... a cold st. pauli girl na during the monday night football game at a local college bar (bears win!)...

and powdered sugar covered beignets and a cafe au lait at the famous cafe du monde in the french market (a tourist must in new orleans. i'm sure locals probably steer far clear of this place, haha)...

things checked off the 'to see and do' list: streetcar hopping... an interesting and touching few hours at the national world war II museum...

hoofing it through the french quarter past bar after bar, antique shops, courtyard art galleries and quirky little specialty shops in new orleans...

honey island swamp tour in slidell, louisiana...

a quick casino lunch stop on our drive through biloxi, mississippi... a day trip to pensacola, florida to the national naval aviation museum and a few days at the beach in gulf shores, alabama... whew!

if you ever get the chance to experience the city of new orleans, take it! this was my second visit, just as good a time as the first! (minus a tasty hurricane at pat o'brien's)

back to baby - next checkup appointment is in two weeks. glucose test is scheduled for december 20. week 22 gone, 126 days to go!