Pregnancy Update - Week 22

Pregnancy: 22 weeks, 4 days

Weight Gain: -3 lbs total (and possibly as a repeat, I didn't gain any with Lucy until I was 6 months, so this is my normal)

Sleep: Fortunately, it has been much easier for me as of late to go to sleep at night. I do still get more exhausted than normal but I attribute that to Lucy's energy. I'm still taking naps a couple of times a week when she does, but overall, I feel like I'm improving in the sleeping area.

Gender: It's still a GIRL! :) I know I mentioned last time that I was a little apprehensive about buying much until I had my next appointment (because my doc does an ultrasound everytime), but I had nothing to worry about. So let the buying begin!!!

Names: Audrey as a first name for sure, but we're still not certain between Alexandra or Cassandra for her middle name. Thankfully, either will commemorate Nana Graves and we have a few months to decide.

Feeling: Since she's moving more and more, things are getting more and more real and I, in turn, am getting more and more excited. I just can't wait to meet her and get to know her personality and temperament. Thankfully, we aren't nearly as nervous this time, because we have gotten our feet wet a little bit. :)

Health: The most annoying of my pregnancy reoccurring themes is leg cramps that wake me up in the middle of the night. I did ask my doc about that today and he suggested that I begin taking a calcium supplement 2x a day, which he feels will take care of the problem. If it does, I'll have the most pregnancy ever, because that's really my only complaint! Otherwise everything is going quite well. I still feel good and all my stats are still great.

Movement: Gary has still yet to feel her moving, but he's seen it from across the room! Like I said before, she's a mover, but she seems to already be on a schedule with her movement, whereas Lucy was just a wild woman all the time. 

Belly Button: normal

Cravings: I'm still craving dips like crazy and I've been loving all kinds of fresh fruit. Otherwise no crazy late night Taco Bell runs or anything.... yet. :D

Next Appointment: July 22nd - This visit will include my glucose test, which I'm hoping does not show that I'm borderline diabetic again. He did ease my fears a little by saying that because I was borderline with Lucy, that does not include me in the 50% of women that develop diabetes later in life as a result of gestational diabetes. Praise the Lord!

vacation is coming

Our family vacation is coming up quickly, YAH! I'm totally a beach/pool bum and will spend as much time sitting by one of those with a book in my hands as I can arrange. That being said, can anyone recommend any good, fun beach reads?

crockpots

Since most of the recipes I post are designed for the crockpot, I'm sure most of you have gathered that I think these are one of the best inventions of all time. I have three, I'm like an addict. I have a small one for warming dips and such. I have a medium because I bought it for super cheap one year at the day-after-Thanksgiving sales. And I have a large (ok, make that huge) one that I registered for when we got married and was quite delighted to receive. And it's nice and fancy, with the digital timer, the attached lid that you can just open and not have to find a place to put it while stirring, etc. Unfortunately, this one is about to bite the dust. The metal has been scratched (don't ask me how, I have boys clean-up my kitchen after dinner each night and I'm blaming them), and the lid that attaches has lost a screw and it stripped anyway so I can't use that part properly. The timer and warming are still great and intact but the fancy has worn off. But when I'm making ribs and forget to thaw them, it doesn't matter, this monstrous thing holds them anyway and that makes me still love it. And so, unless I find a killer deal this year after Thanksgiving, I'm planning to keep my slightly broken but beloved huge crockpot, because I couldn't be good wife or mother and make yummy meals nearly as often without it. :)

could I just sleep, please?

As you can see by the crazy hour in which I'm posting, my sleep schedule is a bit odd right now. With my last pregnancy, I went to bed early and got up INSANELY early. And things started out that way this time around too, but have taken a completely different turn. I don't know if Audrey is already trying to assert how different she will be from Lucy, or if my hormones are just different, or there's no good explanation and I just can't sleep well when I want to. I have to say, it's pretty annoying. I spend most of my days chasing an almost-two-year-old and feeling run down. More than once a week, I take a nap when she does, but not everyday, because I do have to get SOMETHING done around our home. :) But no matter if I nap or not, I seem to really wake up around 7 or 8 pm and then really fight to get some rest. I get pretty restless just trying to make myself go to bed and in turn get up after 30 minutes of sitting here waiting for sleep to overtake me. I then get up to read or peruse the interweb... It's extra annoying that reading no longer puts me to sleep and more than once I've gotten sucked into a book and stayed up even later. All of these sleep issues wouldn't be such a big deal if not for a) Lucy and her sleep schedule and b) feeling like doing anything during the day when everyone else is awake and wired. I feel like I'm not there, even if I am, because I walk around all day so drained. I even tried not napping for an entire week to reset my internal clock, but found that it helped not at all and made me feel worse overall. I hope this isn't a sign that Audrey is going to be a nightowl baby for a super long time. Oh how I love sleep, I just wish right now I felt that it loved me!

excited

I was super productive today and to reward myself, I've been "window shopping" online for entirely too long this evening. I've looked at everything from more clothes for Lucy (which she definitely does not need), to ideas for her birthday party, to new baby items for Audrey, and home decor items for our little renovation. I love the satisfaction of shopping online because I get tons of ideas and I compare prices and I plan my real shopping trips this way. I'm getting giddy with excitement about preparing for Audrey and all the things we need to do between now and October. Unfortunately, for the first year or so of her life, she won't be able to wear any of Lucy's hand-me-downs, but I think I can do my necessity shopping on a tight budget and I'm excited to find all the new tiny clothes again. Because I'm slightly paranoid about all the people around me lately that received incorrect gender predictions the first time around, I think I'll wait until after my next appointment and ultrasound to actually start buying anything. I'm also really excited to be spending so much time at the pool and with my girlfriends this summer. Lucy's already having a blast and getting such a beautiful brown tan. I'm jealous of her skin tone, it's so beautiful!