Holy crap, we're having another baby!: Week 23 (photo catch up!)

I can't believe it's already week TWENTY THREE! Less than 4 months to go! Our due date feels so close now. I know time will continue to fly this next month with the holidays and the trips we have planned. We're off to Vegas for Thanksgiving to see Aron's family and off to Seattle to see friends and then Moscow to see my family for Christmas. The Christmas trip will most likely be our last big trip before the baby is born. We may do a babymoon in January, but we'll probably stay close to home...a Bed & Breakfast in Julian or a fun weekend in LA. We'll see how energetic I feel at that point. So far everything is going along great so we've been cleared to travel/fly right up until the end of February. Knock on wood that nothing changes and everything continues to progress perfectly.

The best thing to happen in the pregnancy the past few weeks is the start of little baby Lum's belly acrobatics!! I feel him kicking all the time now and it's still thrilling me each time! He usually gives me a nudge or two hello right when I wake up, and then he's quiet until after lunch, when he starts his afternoon exercises. Then there will be another lull, and he's really active in the evening and after dinner. This is the window when Aron's been able to feel him kick quite a few times. Which is soooo cool! I love watching Aron's reaction and seeing the surprised and amazed look on his face when he feels the baby. Because the pregnancy is going so smoothly right now, there are times when I forget I'm pregnant and I'll feel baby boy kick and be momentarily surprised. As I type this baby just kicked (or punched, or elbowed) me twice! I think he can feel my happiness.

A not so fun part of the pregnancy the past few weeks is the heartburn. I only get it at night, usually right before bed. It's like my body knows I'm winding down and wants to give me a little kick in the chest to top off the day. I've taken Tums a few times, but mostly it hasn't been too awful and I've been able to ride it out. Some nights I fall asleep propped up a bit but that's about as inconvenient as it's been. More inconvenient to my sleeping is the body pillow I'm sleeping with. I've been a back sleeper for as long as I can remember and having to sleep on my left side now has been horrible. I got one of the big u-shaped pillows to keep me wedged in on my side but I still fight my way out of it most nights and end up on my back. I've never been a restless sleeper so waking up 2-3 times a night is annoying. Oh well, I'm sure soon enough baby will be keeping me up or I'll have to pee all the time and it'll be the norm to wake up that many times anyways.

Aron and I have been really bad about taking pictures with all of the exciting things that have been going on the past few weeks, but we did manage to snap a few shots. This is our Week 17 produce picture...the last one we took! And it's kind of blurry; I blame the mint green walls in the background (yes, this is the color of some of the walls in our new house!). The camera has no idea what's in the background and can never focus...and this color is impossible to match, decor-wise. Believe me, I've been trying!

Week 17 and baby is the size of an onion! A lot of the websites say turnip, but I was not buying a turnip just for the sake of photos. I found one site that said onion, and an onion we will always eat. Spanish tortilla, baby!!

Here's my Week 18 belly photo:

And here's the Week 21 belly photo...where I am QUITE a bit bigger!

Holy cats, my belly looks BIG! I'd say it's officially "popped." It also might have something to do with the jump in weight gain this past week. I finally managed to put on a few more pounds, putting my total weight gain at 9 pounds now. I can tell some of this weight is going to my arms and face though...argh. :) Time to start the push-ups! Side benefit - stronger arms to haul around baby boy! Overall I'm pleased to be up 9 pounds. In the next 17 weeks I hope to gain 11 more pounds, 6-7ish of which better be all baby!! According to the books, little baby Lum is only just over 1 pound now. But already a foot long! It's amazing that I can already feel something so tiny moving around inside me. I can't wait for baby boy to put on more pounds so I can really see his baby kicks and punches.

Aron and I went to a gala for my work last week and luckily I still had one dress from party season last year that fit me and my new belly. Courtesy of my friend Michaela, who gave me awesome maternity clothes, now I have a few more options to wear to the two other holiday parties we have on our calendars this year. So I don't have to rock this same dress all December. :) I do love this dress though, even sans the cute belt that normally goes with it!