ellie belly update : 23.5 weeks

hey everyone!

i don't know about you, but summer already seems to be flying by. i know summer didn't officially start until a few days ago, but to me it's summer when memorial day comes and goes. i always start panicking by this time of the year that i'm not doing enough to take advantage of these long summer days!

while this is not a pregnancy blog and i don't intend it to be one, i do read a lot of blogs that do weekly updates with questions that they ask themselves to keep track of how they feel and what's going on each week. i haven't done this before and i may not do it again, but i thought it might be fun to keep track of the somewhat-midpoint of this pregnancy with a little dedicated blog post.

let's give this a go!

baby ellie is 57.5% baked :)

michael and i have been taking weekly pictures like the one above since the 9-week mark. this one was taken last saturday. it is so funny to flip them through them all and see how i've changed! i don't typically share them (other than with my mom and bff), so this may be the only one you get! enjoy :)

how far along?: 23 weeks and 4 days

maternity clothes: oh yeah. the dress i'm wearing in this picture isn't maternity, but it's really loose and forgiving so it's perfect right now! if i wear jeans, i'm wearing maternity jeans. i've tried a couple of days lately with my regular jeans and bella band, but there's just no comparison in the comfort level, especially for a full day at work. i can still wear a lot of my regular shirts that were loose-fitting originally, but i'm working in a good amount of maternity shirts too. i also bought my first maternity bathing suit! talk about a weird experience...

stretch marks: nope! i've been using palmer's belly butter every morning and coconut oil every night to try to keep those away. thankfully i hear they're mostly genetic, and my mom was able to avoid them during both of her pregnancies, so let's hope i do the same!

sleep: still good! i've been waking up more often for bathroom breaks, but i fall right back to sleep. i have been waking up about 20 minutes before my alarm goes off in the past week or 2, but that's not really unusual for me. i do use an extra pillow, but that's the only thing i've changed.

best moment this week: michael put the crib together and hung curtains in the nursery last friday, which was so exciting! my parents visited us on saturday and bought us what we needed to finish up the crib: mattress, mattress pad, sheets, blanket, crib skirt, bumpers, etc. it was so fun! the crib is so precious and i love it.

miss anything?: i miss sleeping on my stomach every once in awhile, and getting out of a low car without thinking twice. i didn't realize how much my balance was already affected until this past week when i almost fell out of our altima onto the sidewalk in front of our house. and yes, a neighbor was watching. :)

movement: all the time! she's most active in the morning, around 4-5pm, and when i get in bed at night. we're having so much fun feeling (and sometimes watching) her move!

food cravings: i haven't really had any cravings to speak of. i've wanted a lot of things, but i've been able to live without them, so i don't think that really qualifies. :) in the first trimester i wanted a lot of carb-y stuff like sandwiches and crackers, as well as my intense need for laffy taffy. i've always liked laffy taffy though, so i don't know if it was necessarily a craving or something i just really wanted! i'm still not craving anything, but cold things sound so good all the time (ice cream, italian ice, cold water, cantaloupe that's been in the fridge, cucumbers...i could go on). last night i couldn't stop thinking about ice cream so we went to dairy queen and i had a confetti cake blizzard...you outdid yourself with that one, dq.

anything making you queasy/sick: nope! i've been really lucky on that front too. i was pretty nauseous when i got hungry during the first trimester, but since about 12 weeks i've been feeling normal. 

exercise: still steady! i've been doing the tracy anderson pregnancy project video at least 3-4 times a week, and michael and i take the dogs for walks at night pretty often. feeling good about my exercise so far!

gender: girly girl :)

symptoms: my back will hurt randomly after a long day, and i have had a few days of swollen feet after especially active days at work, but that's about it. 

wedding rings on or off: thankfully on! i imagine this might become an issue later on, especially in the heat of july and august, but as of right now i can't tell any difference in how they fit.

looking forward to: our next major nursery purchase, the glider! we already picked out the one we want, so it will be exciting when we order it and add it to the growing furniture collection. also looking forward to my next doctor's appointment in july, even though it will include the glucose test that i've heard so many stories about!