Details for this week:
New symptoms: We'll keep this one short and sweet because I don't want to over share too much, but holy moly my digestive system has seen better days. Not sure what is going on, but apparently the baby is squishing all things related to my digestive system. So much fun. On the upside- still no stretch marks, still lots of energy doing every day activities (for the most part), and I still have a normal looking belly button. :) Some websites say I might notice swelling of my ankles by now, but so far I have no noticeable swelling on my limbs. My wedding rings still fit perfectly!
Sleeping: Well, let's just say I haven't had a great night's sleep in quite some time. I'm not uncomfortable or anything, and I have no problem falling asleep, but I literally wake up every 2-3 hours (sometimes more if I forget to stop drinking water in the evening) to go to the bathroom. It's so annoying! I fall back asleep pretty quickly, but still, waking up 3-5 times every night where I actually have to get out of bed is so annoying! Half those times I have to feel my way to the bathroom because I can barely open my eyes I'm so tired! And I have a confession: when I'm at work, I often lay down to try and nap while the babies are napping. And usually, I actually fall asleep. He he.
Weight gain this week: 1/2 a pound. Yay for not 2 pounds a week!
Total weight gain: 6.5 lbs. Supposedly the next few weeks are "growth spurt weeks" so we'll see what that means.
What baby's doing now: This week baby has officially reached one pound, and according to one website, is the size of a small baby doll (whatever that means exactly...). Supposedly my uterus is now 1.5 inches above my belly button (which I think is accurate since I can now feel baby kicking above my belly button, whereas before it was much lower below my belly button). Average weight gain for pregnant women at this point is between 10-15 lbs, so they say. Apparently Braxton-Hicks contractions might start occurring around this time. Yikes! I mean, they are supposedly painless and are meant to prepare for the upcoming labor, but I'd just rather not have anything "contraction-like" for many weeks to come. Other than that, baby is doing a lot of growing and adding fat to her body!
Exercise: This week I had decided to return to my exercise "routine," which is really not a routine at all. Basically, I try to make sure every day I have a very active day (i.e. not sitting on the couch and watching TV or surfing the internet all day!). Most days this is pretty easy, since we have tons of work to do outside in the yard, and I while I'm at work, I take the babies on walks (and pushing a double stroller up and down all those hills definitely counts as exercise!). But I am going to be adding some light weights to this routine, and I've decided when I get to the 3rd trimester, I will start swimming and doing yoga rather than being on my feet as much. We'll see how that goes!
23 week photo(s): If you are so inclined, you can click on the photos to enlarge... I prefer to look at them small. :) The first photo I thought was funny because you could see my stomach pop out when I was wearing my jacket. The middle photo is my lovely self portrait in the bathroom, and the last photo is me pushing my belly out as far as I could after dinner time (so a belly full of food and baby)! Not really how I look on a daily basis, and Mark says that's cheating, but I'm sure I will look like that in a few weeks without having to try!