23+6

23 weeks pregnant -- weight of a mango

This week Ravenna is tipping the scales at just over a pound. Her cute little body stretches to a length of more than eleven inches. My uterus is also now the size of a soccer ball! Holy moly! No wonder I am starting to show! As you can see from the picture, I am starting to look more pregnant, which is definitely a welcome change. I have gained nearly 20lbs since the start of my pregnancy :-0, which is crazy to think about! Just compare my pictures from Week 23 to Week 7! It is crazy how much this process can completely transform a woman's body. Fortunately, if I continue to gain weight at this rate (about a pound a week), I will end very close to where I had originally hoped for (35 pounds). We are taking bets on when my belly button is going to pop. It is getting pushed farther and farther out by the day!

According to BabyCenter, Ravenna is able to feel my movement now so Don and I have been trying to dance when we can. Also, her cochlea (the inner ear mechanism that houses all the components of hearing) is fully formed, which means she hears what we hear but simply a muffled version of it. I feel sorry that she has to listen to her mommy's terrible singing voice now!

The latter part of my second trimester has definitely proved to be a lot more enjoyable than earlier in my pregnancy! I feel happier (probably due to not feeling so sick) and more energized (although not entirely back to my old speed!). Although despite the improvements, I still have some pesky symptoms of pregnancy! In the past week or two, I have been dealing with foot pain and edema. I think the swelling is a result of the heat and I've read that foot pain is likely a result of my weight gain causing the pressure on my feet to shift. I also presume my foot problems are definitely not helped by being up and about all day for teaching. My feet are screaming in agony by 2nd period! I must say that a foot massage has never felt so good! Other than my feet sorrows, my only other recent unpleasant symptom that I've been feeling is that I think I may be getting a bladder infection. This sensation just started today. I researched that bladder infections are common for pregnant women because of the growing uterus pushing on the ureters restricting urine flow and the increase in glucose in the urine. Luckily, Don and I just made a trip to Safeway to get a jug of cranberry juice which I plan on downing over the next couple of days to hopefully ward off the infection!

Update about my blood pressure since last post: during my last visit, my blood pressure proved to be completely normal! It was at 110 over 60. What a relief! I was really stressed that it wasn't going to be normal and that it would complicate the pregnancy! Fortunately, we do not have to worry about that right now. My next appointment, which is at the end of May, will test for gestational diabetes and anemia.

Other exciting news in the world of pregnancy: I finally got some pregnancy tea! So yummy and such a treat to have something warm to drink in the morning :) (Maybe not the same kick as coffee, but I'll take what I can get!)

22+2

I just had the hugest craving for browned butter and mizithra spaghetti from the Spaghetti Factory and after eating a whole plate of it, I am feeling stuffed! Since I am feeling so full and lazy, I thought I would update my blog!

Things are going well here on my end. I am finally getting into a stage where I am actually enjoying pregnancy. I am feeling Ravenna kick like crazy, which definitely continues to make this whole experience seem so much more real. In fact, she is kicking right now! I think she is trying to say "hi" to everyone! Friday was my birthday and I got the best birthday present ever: Donald was able to feel Ravenna for the first time! (Not exactly true, because he felt it once before but he didn't believe me that it was her kicking! He told me I was just gassy!) This time though she kicked hard enough that he couldn't deny it! It was a magical experience to get to share that with someone else. We are so ecstatic to be becoming parents and are so thankful to be on this journey together. We love spending our time sharing our hopes and our fears of having a new child. Even more exciting than FEELING her kick, on Sunday we SAW her kick for the first time. It just looks like little spasms in my belly and Donald agreed that it is like popcorn popping. I like to just have quiet moments where I lay and Iwatch my belly and see her dance around. It is so cute and makes me giggle! Ravenna especially loves when her daddy reads her nighttime stories -- this is her favorite time to do martial arts!

In addition to having Ravenna kick for Donald on my birthday, I received a new body pillow from my mom! It has made sleeping so much more wonderful! I still don't enjoy sleeping on my side nearly as much as I like sleeping on my back, but having the pillow has improved my sleep drastically! It has the best fuzzy cover on it too, which makes me feel like I'm hugging a giant version of the dog. What could be better than that! I also got some really beautiful maternity clothes from the Bushells and Mom/Matt. They are really comfortable and it is refreshing to have things in my wardrobe that actually fit. My belly is continuing to grow and it is fun to finally be at a stage where I can feel like I can show it off instead of just looking like I ate waaaay too much! On top of these awesome presents I received, my husband treated me to a couple's massage at Ummelina. It was sooo relaxing. Afterwards, we got to take a shower to rinse all of the body lotion/oil off. The shower was incredible and had shower heads on all sides and you could control the temperature down to the very degree. I fell in love with their face wash, but unfortunately it cost 80 bucks for the set! I also drank pregnancy tea there that was very yummy. I plan on going to Teavana soon to see if they sell any pregnancy teas that I can indulge in.

In other exciting news, we signed the lease on a house that we are going to rent which sits right between Covington and Kent. It is 4 bedrooms and 2,000 sq. ft. We are looking forward to the extra space for our growing family! Although I am sad to be leaving our current townhome, I feel ready for this next step in our lives. We realize that this is farther away from our friends, who mostly reside in Seattle. However, we made the realization that it would be unlikely for us to find a place that fit our needs and desires as much as this home did and we also accepted the fact that our lives will be changing dramatically in the coming months and consequentially, we won't be commuting to Seattle like we used to anyway! I can't wait to get the keys because it means that we can finally start preparing physically for Ravenna to be here! We've (well mainly I have!) been searching for the perfect bedding for our little baby girl. We have also picked out a nursery set that we are anxiously waiting for to go on sale! We are thinking of painting her room a mint green. We think it is a fun, bright color and both of us aren't too keen on painting a color that is too "girly". I want her room to be bright and playful!

Another decision we've come to in the past weeks is that we have decided to do 100% cloth diapers and cloth wipes. We have talked about it at length and have come to the conclusion that this is the best/right choice for us. Our decision became easier when we came across this brand, Charlie Banana, which makes what they call 2-in-1 diapers. Basically these diapers mainly serve as normal cloth diapers using washable inserts, but can become like disposables simply by switching to disposable inserts. This is perfect for going out of the house or if people are watching Ravenna who aren't comfortable with using cloth! I love the duality of them! I have done a lot of research on these diapers and they have received exceptional reviews. People recommend getting the one-size adjustable versions over the sized versions (S, M, L, XL) because this eliminates leakage. The only major hurdle of cloth diapers is of course that all of your diaper expenses are now upfront! They aren't spread out over two years like they normally would be! However, we know that in the end using cloth diapers will prove to be much more economical. We will need to get somewhere between 24 to 36 diapers. They are sold in sets of 6. If you are looking to help us out in our baby adventures, this would be the perfect thing to gift us! They sell Charlie Banana diapers at Target and again we are looking at the one-size versions.

Only 18 more weeks until we meet our beautiful baby girl!