Twenty One Weeks



21 Weeks. baby is as long as a banana and loves to kick!



How far along? 21 weeks, 2 days (less than halfway to go!)

Total weight gain: 16 lbs as of doctor's appointment today. 2 lbs above my personal goal, but I'm not shedding any tears over it.

Maternity clothes? Heck Yes! All regular pants and skirts have been traded in for maternity wear. Shirts are hit and miss. Some of my old stuff still fits. Love all the maternity tank tops and cami's - would wear them every day if it wasn't frowned upon in the bank lobby where I work.

Stretch marks? No. Thank you mom for that great hereditary trait!

 

Sleep: Sleeping great still, had to recently start sleeping with a pillow in between my legs to keep my back from aching.

Best moment this week: Buying the crib bedding! (and Registering) Target and Babies R Us if you are interested  ; )

Miss Anything? Maybe one day I will be able to put something BESIDES beer, but I'm sticking with that for now.

Heartburn: stupid, stupid heartburn. My arch nemesis of the moment

Food cravings: Cereal, cold drinks, sweets

Anything making you queasy or sick: The thought of missing my next meal :)

Have you started to show yet: See picture above.

Favorite thing about pregnancy so far: Feeling my sweet little girl kick and move. I'm starting to figure out her patterns. Whenever she wakes up, I always think - "Well good morning Sunshine!"

Least favorite thing about pregnancy so far: Not being able to get comfortable. Word on the street is this is going to get worse so I'm mentally preparing. Seems like right now she is either kicking my ribs or moving around my intestines to where it feels like there is alot of pressure on my lower ribs.

Belly Button in or out? In

 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Enjoying lots of pool time this summer!

Twenty Weeks

PHYSICAL CHANGES: How much time do you have? :)
First and foremost : the belly is really starting to show now! I'm feeling so giddy to finally be entering this phase! No more awkward chubby stage and I am clearly into maternity clothes (which I L.O.V.E.) Seriously, where were this pants after Thanksgiving and Christmas each year??
Starting to pee more as the baby takes up more space, heartburn is rearing it's ugly head and my face continues to break out like a 13 year old. But hey - at least I finally look pregnant!

Overall, the second trimester has delivered all the wonderful things I was promised: energy, nesting and an appetite that should make me ashamed.

CRAVINGS: COLD THINGS! Can't get enough sherbet ice cream, diet cherry limeades from Sonic and Popsicles.  Ice cold water is a must as well. I even have cold turkey sandwiches for lunch. My body temperature hasn't even gone up yet (knock on wood) it's just that cold things are so satisfying to me. Doing my best to buy all the sugar free and diet frozen foods I can so that I can still fit through a door in October.

SWEET BABY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: So many sweet things have happened now that we found out our little baby is a girl!

1. To coincide with her gender reveal, she has really starting kicking and moving around a lot to make her presence even more known. It the joy of my day when I get to feel her. It's like a tiny glimpse of the happiness she will bring when she is actually OUTside the womb
2. We decided on a nursery decorations and even ordered the baby bedding today (pictures to come later). Sneak preview: no real 'theme' just a mixture of fabrics and colors. Black and white damask, pale pink accents everywhere and black and white polka dots. No bright pink walls or anything like that. Her room will be an extension of our house for now and then we'll let her go crazy with whatever theme she wants once she gets older.
3. If you thought Casey and I talked about our baby before, we just can't control ourselves now! Talk about proud mama and proud papa!  

It's a girl!

No more waiting :
Sonogram revealed It's a Girl!

Daddy is over the moon with joy. Mommy is scared to death. I know the scared part will pass, but if I wrote a letter to my daughter right now, here is what I would say :

Sweet Angel,

It was such fun getting to see you in the sonogram today!  You were sleeping with your hand behind your head like your daddy does sometimes. (so cute, by the way) Then we got to see you yawn and stretch and wake up. Quickly after, you were kicking and squirming big time. The sonographer said " She's a fiesty one" Music to a mother's ears. Daddy was busy counting all your fingers and toes. The TV was mounted on the wall and he was standing less than a foot from the screen, taking in every one of your little features. We can't believe how detailed you are already. What a spiritual experience!
As over the moon as we were to find out you were there and healthy, mommy immediatly starting panicking. What if I'm not a good role-model?
I've never been great at cooking - how will I be able to teach you?
I know you are going to get your sweet heartbroken multiple times and that breaks my heart already just to think about it.
I don't consider myself a "girly-girl", will that be ok for raising a little girl?
I cried big crocidile tears of worry when I thought about you not liking me when your a teenager... and the list goes on.

Maybe the fact of just seeing you today, made it that more "REAL" - but whatever it was, it just hit me:
What have I gotten myself into?  How will I ever live up to being a great mom for you. I have so many character flaws and sometimes just flat don't act like a lady. What kind of example will I be setting?

I know it's going to be fine because I have faith in God and His plan has led me here and His plans are all good. But please know when you get older, that I did not take your happiness lightly - infact from the second I found out about my little pink princess, I was concerned about being the best mom and friend that I could be to you. Man, I hope I don't mess it up.

All that being said, You'll be pleased to know that your dad has got it all under control already. He can't wait to take you to football games and says goodmorning and goodnight to you already. So have no fear : mommy may freak out like this sometimes but we've got a rock in dad. He'll keep us (and our hormones) in line. We'll just need to give him a break every once in a while and let him play x-box to rejuvinate his patience.

Little girl, the bottom line is this : We love you. We love thinking and talking about you. But we don't consider this a light task and we are commited to making your life the very best it can be. We can't wait for you to join our fun family.I think you'll like all of our silly time and jokes. I can't wait to show you all the things we love to do - there will never be a dull moment, I can assure you that!

Don't worry, I'll get my fears in check and by the time you are old enough to read this, I hope to be a smooth-sailing mommy. And if I'm not - you can just thank your lucky stars that you have your dad!

xoxo,
Mommy

Eighteen Weeks

18 Weeks. Will Baby Zimmerman be a Boy or Girl?

Here we are.... only 5 days left until we find out the gender of this little creature growing inside of me! It is more nerve wracking than prom and college finals all rolled into one. It's a fun kind of nervous - hard to explain. I can tell you right now that Monday night will C.R.A.W.L. by. Good thing I'm so good about being patient (sarcasm).

So in good fun, we have looked at all kind of Old Wives Tales to get a hint as to what we are having. Nothing is giving us a clear indicator though. Check it out:
Chinese Gender Prediction Charts say : It's a boy
My face has been breaking out more, so : It's a girl
I crave salty over sweet, so : It's a boy
Heart beat was fast, so : It's a girl
But then the heart beat has slown down since our first appointment, so: It's a boy
Pencil/Thread/Needle test says : It's a boy (and possibly twins!)
Carrying mid-high, so : It's a girl
Wasn't very sick in my first trimester, so : It's a boy

Looking forward to sharing next week what our little bundle of joy reveals in the sonogram! Will they be wearing a tutu or a football jersey to A&M football games ? Only 5 days left until we know!

Seventeen Weeks



17 Weeks. Don't Cry! Baby Z is the size of an Onion


PHYSICAL CHANGES: I am happy to report I finally have my energy back! Thought that was NEVER going to happen and then one night we were hanging out at the house and I realized that I hadn't been tired in like 5 days straight. Hallelujah! The streak is over!
Getting some minor lower back pain, but usually only after I've been standing for a while. Nothing too serious- just enough to complain about and get a good back rub from Casey : )   My man is so good to me.
Went to a regular OB checkup on Tuesday and found out I gained 10 lbs so far in this pregnancy. 10 lbs in 17 weeks. By my calculations, I'm going to end up gaining over 30 by the time this is all over. After having a mini-stroke, I've decided to make peace with my body. I mean I might as well give it a break, it is creating another human being after all. So, I've adjusted a few of my food choices that haven't been so wise and am keeping up with my walking and giving the rest up to God. I mean, I'm making it seem like I didn't have a meltdown and totally beat myself up, but you get the point. I eventually got to the right answer after a day of throwing a temper tantrum and that is all that matters - right??

CRAVINGS: Still Fruit. Also added to the menu: Coke Floats,Popsicles, and Sherbet ice cream. (oh, and Hummus)  I think I'm definitely trending toward all things cold. Speaking of being cold... I am fearing I'm never going to get cold at night again.... Been waking up sweating in the middle of the night the last week or so. Geez it's going to be a beautiful summer.
SWEET BABY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: We learned the baby is already a good listener. Well, sort of.....
This week I could have sworn I felt the baby jabbing at one of my internal organs. Don't know how to explain it but it was just a jabbing/pinching sensation right around my uterus. I was in the car on the way back from work so I called Casey on the car's speaker phone. I told him what was happening and he said in a booming voice: "Baby: Stop kicking Mommy" I kid you not, like 2 seconds later the pain stopped and I haven't felt it again. Sure, it could have been gas bubbles, but I'm going to think that my baby is already taking to authority well. Here's to wishful thinking!