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pregnancy update: 23 weeks

It’s still pretty surreal to me that I’m talking about being pregnant on the blog.  I’ve always loved following along on other bloggers pregnancy updates, but when I write these posts I feel like i’m writing about someone else’s life.

I’d say the majority of pregnancy has been positive + a wonderful experience AND there have still been some less than glamorous parts.

I’m finding I’m someone who doesn’t 100% love being pregnant.  I’m grateful for what pregnancy is bringing us, but this week I drooled on myself twice in the middle of the day…like not while I was sleeping.  I was just sitting at my computer.  I read some women have increased saliva production in pregnancy and that could explain the drool.  Also, I feel like I have a different smell.  Like I want to take a second shower everyday at noon.  It just hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows.

I’m also definitely more emotional / overwhelmed feeling / can feel myself wanting to freak out about nothing.  With my “freak outs” I just get really quiet.  Something I learned a year into marriage was that Andrew’s love for me is not determined by if he can or can’t read my mind.  I have to use my words.  While I had become pretty good at expressing myself pre-pregnancy, I’ve notice myself getting quiet again and I’m really having to be intentional about processing through my emotions with Andrew / my sister / my friends as I need to.

Being pregnant is amazing and I’m so grateful to get to be growing our baby.  You can see baby girl kick on the outside of my belly now.  And she sleeps and wakes up at roughly the same time everyday…awake first thing in the morning until an hourish after breakfast – sleeps until afternoonish – wakes up after dinner – asleep again by 10pm.  When she’s awake she’s extremely active.  At our 20wk ultrasound I was glad Andrew could see on the screen that she really does tumble…rotating from her left side being down to her right side being down.  That’s what it felt like she was doing, but it was nice to have it confirmed on the ultrasound screen.  Feeling her roll around inside me is magical.  That part is all unicorns and rainbows.

Here are some fun pregnancy updates from lately: 

Maternity clothes

My recent maternity clothes purchases have included the green dress in the first photo from Asos, these maternity jean shorts (I thought that I would like them because they fit below the bump…but I actually would prefer them to have the stretchy panel most maternity clothing comes with) and the below dress from Asos.  

I got the below dress for a baby shower! I love it so much.  I think I’m going to get the next size up just to be on the safe side.  I imagine my upper body is still going to need some space to grow in the next month and the dress is pretty snug now.

Birth Plan

A lot of people are like, “don’t make a birth plan because nothing is going to go like you think it will.”  But that doesn’t sit well with me.  I know I don’t have control over the birth and how things will go, but there are a lot of birthing resources I’m super interested in.  So my approach is: Anything I’m curious about I’m gonna try out.  Right now I’m curious about Bradley classes (so I’m taking steps to sign up for those) and prob will end up getting a Doula if I find someone I connect with before birth day comes :)  I’m also curious about epidurals and have a doctor friend who’s opinion I really value.  We shall see what happens.

Things I’ve done

Spoke with a photographer friend about shooting a maternity photo shoot for me.  I didn’t care AT ALL about getting bridal portraits done, I just wanted to be married.  But I really want a maternity photoshoot.  And I want it to be over-the-top natural, earthy, flowy dress filled and flower-crown-in-my-hair-esque.  This is my current inspiration…

 

I ordered my breast pump through Aeroflow.  Many family friends had said you could get a breast pump through your insurance company, but you had to wait until after the baby was born.  I was like, “umm there has to be a way around that.”  And there is! Aeroflow is awesome.  You put in your insurance info and they let you know what pumps you’re approved for and then you order your pump through them.  I heard about them through The Birth Hour podcast.

Had / Having very vivid dreams.  Notable dreams include:

  • The one about how our freezer doesn’t have enough space to store my breast milk and all the lasagnas I pre-made before baby came.  I told Andrew about this one and he was like “how much milk and lasagna are you imagining?!”  I guess I’m all go-big-or-go-home in my dreams because there way a lot of lasagnas involved lol
  • The one about how baby girl is bored in my belly right now and has nothing to do all day.

Moving my body.  Before I got pregnant I figured I’d just do yoga + walking for my entire pregnancy, since that was the movement I’d been enjoying most.  Then the knee pain happened, which led to physical therapy, which led to the recommendation to stop doing yoga, which led to me having to rediscover what movement is joyful and pain-free for this stage of life.  My movement now involves going to the gym, putting in my headphones before I walk in so I don’t have to hear any annoying gym talk, doing whatever exercises sound fun and then leaving.  

Sometimes I’m there for 20 minutes.  Sometimes I’m there for 40 minutes.  Sometimes I only do weights.  Sometimes I add in some cardio.  It just depends on how I’m feeling.  On days I feel like moving, it feels so good to move.  On days I feel like resting, if feels so good to rest.  On days where I have too much to get done, but I know it’d feel good to move…I realize there isn’t time to move that day and on the weekend there will be plenty of time to move if I still want to then.

I registered for upcoming baby showers! I’ve gotten 3 requests for where I’m registering / what I’m registering for.  I’m using BabyList to register and I love it.  It allows you to register for stuff from Target, Walmart, Etsy shops, etc all in one place.  If you’re pregnant and wondering what to register for, here’s my list.  (and yes.  I registered for a ridiculously expensive stroller and bassinet.)  

One of my pregnant friends has a lot of friends with babies and they sent her a list of baby-must-haves…and because she’s great she forwarded the list to me.  Most of my registry is filled with things that were suggested on those lists…and then I picked some stuff that just looks pretty (aka the stroller and bassinet and all the clothing.  hehe).

I bought this EPIC soft / fluffy rug for the nursery.  Growing up we had a small sheepskin rug and it always kinda creeped me out…and now here I am with a giant one.  Maggie is in love with the thing.  I really like the layered rug look and am excited to see the nursery come together once we get the crib / more nursery stuff in the next couple of months.

I also ordered two of my favorite children’s books of all time: Rainbow Fish and A Bad Case of Stripes.

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend planned! I was hoping we could go to Austin for the weekend to visit Hamilton Pool, but it looks like you have to make a reservation weeks ahead of time.  Fail.  So not sure what we’ll be up to! 

28 comments

  1. you just reminded me that we had the bath time version of the rainbow fish book for my son when he was a baby! it’s a cute soft bath book so if you love it, try to find it for bath time too! 

  2. It’s got to be so amazing to see and experience all the changes and weird and wonderful things going on with your body right now! I’m nowhere near being ready to have a baby, but I’m really enjoying the updates from you on what it’s been like so far!

  3. So exciting that you can see the baby move from the outside now! That was one of my favorite things :) I actually loved being pregnant, but I think I had a really easy pregnancy, hardly any morning sickness or anything.

  4. Being pregnant was hard and pretty awful (I got sick daily through 22 weeks and off and on til close to delivery), but miraculous and amazing nonetheless, and feeling our daughter move was definitely the best part! I think it is super normal to be grateful that you get to experience pregnancy but to not enjoy it, and I think it’s really important to allow yourself to feel those feelings. I think women carry a lot of guilt about how they “should” feel about their pregnancies because we are all so aware that there are lots of women who would love to carry a child, but can’t.

    I won’t offer lots of opinions about things because you can get a multitude of those I’m sure. I will say that I got an epidural and I am so thankful that they exist. :)

  5. the rainbow fish!!! i had completely forgotten about that book. also, you are an inspiration and thank you for the posts you write :) that baby shower dress looks stunning

  6. I absolutely love that first photo!! You are radiant, and that dress is certainly your color. The second dress is gorgeous. I love your transparency, and I’m glad you are open about your experience. Thank you for sharing!

  7. Rainbow Fish was one of my favorite childhood books! I know, it’s kinda lame that Hamilton Pool does that now. It’s not bad once kids are back in school – you’re actually able to register a week ahead of time instead of weeks ahead. And I think they don’t make the reservations mandatory after sometime in September or so?…Not sure on the dates. It is a BEAUTIFUL place if you’ve never been. And there are plenty of other wonderful areas near Austin to visit. The Greenbelt has plenty of areas with waterfalls to hang out.

  8. Boppy is a MUST! Suggestion for milk storage bags: use Ameda brand. They have easy tear corner when you’re ready to use it that makes it easier to pour into a bottle, and they also come with this part that attaches to your pump, so you can pump straight into the bags. Less risk of spilling that liquid gold!

    You’re glowing! Wish you the best!

  9. Total cuteness! I have never been pregnant but can imagine it’s not all fun like some like to make it out to be! I mean, someone is taking over your body for like 10 months (I believe it’s 10 months technically…?) so that has to be pretty crazy at times.

  10. I highly recommend both a doula and Bradley method classes. I’m so grateful I had both with my pregnancy/birth. And Bradley is super beneficial for your husband too, my husband has mentioned more than once that he’s glad we went to our classes. I think it’s valuable to have a plan for what you want so you can advocate for yourself through the process. Having a plan doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible when you need to be, just that you are informed and know your options. Congratulations!!

  11. I love that you’re so honest about how you’re feeling about your pregnancy. I have never been pregnant, but I feel like I just KNOW I won’t be one of those people that love it. I think it’s great that more and more women are feeling as if they can finally come out and say this. I think it’s been so taboo in the past.

  12. HI Kylie!

    I absolutely LOVE all of your items on your registry! So so cute! Thank you for the updates on your life. I love hearing about them! :)

  13. I’m curious- are you planning on pumping only or do you plan to nurse? I know that during the first month if you pump too much it can throw off your milk and ability to nurse because it doesn’t stimulate your breast the same way the baby does and that can throw off your milk producing hormones. It is great you can get a breast pump through insurance! ? Love the rug and the gorgeous maternity photo ideas!

  14. Hi Kiley,
    I don’t know if you’ve tried this yet, but there is a prescription your dr can give you for morning sickness. I was nauseous 24/7 for 40 weeks and the pills, a mix of antihistamine and vitamin b, were a lifesaver! Best of luck for a healthy pregnancy and congrats!

  15. I laughed so hard at the lasagna freezer dream. You have PLANS, girl. ;) <3

  16. loooove that dress and those photoshoot ideas!! i know the idea of a shoot sounds kind of strange, but you’d be so beautiful and the photos would be such a wonderful memory! and i totally remember that book – it must be SO much fun getting ready for baby to come! i imagine there are many parts of pregnancy that are not fun (as you’ve mentioned) but decorating the nursery definitely sounds like it would be :)

  17. True story: I filled up a huge deep freeze with breastmilk. There was no lasagna…just milk. It happens.
    Secondly, you should look into signing up for Dolly Patton’s Imagination Library. They send you a free children’s book every three months that is age appropriate once! That’s how we filled all our bookcases for our three kids. It also comes addressed to your child, which is super sweet.

  18. SO fun! I love how you are taking it all in. What a gift to be able to observe your body’s different needs, as well as changes in the way to move your body. I think it’s fantastic that you are open-minded about birth but confident enough to stick to your guns about your ideas. I was a supportive partner for my friend as she learned the Bradley method for her first born and the lessons were really neat. Additionally, I wanted a natural birth but ended up with a surprise breech (and a doctor who wouldn’t deliver naturally because of that). It was a difficult surprise, but having a doula at my cesarean was incredible and I couldn’t imagine it without her. You truly won’t be sorry if you interview and find a good one! Excited for you!

    P.S. Can I just throw it out there that you and Robyn from Real Life RD should have a podcast together? That would be incredible!

    • Glad to hear you had such a positive doula experience! Thank you for sharing, Emily!

      and hehe Robyn and I get that podcast request a lot:) We have had a conversation about it. It’s just figuring out timing / feasibility of it for both of us. Maybe!

  19. The comment about using words to express feelings is so wise, and applicable to all of us, married or not.

    Thanks for sharing.

  20. Thanks for sharing the information about Aeroflow! I’m 30 weeks pregnant now and love reading your pregnancy updates. Can’t wait to see your maternity photo shoot photos!

  21. So glad that Aeroflow worked out for you! Love them! You’ll have to come share your birth story when little one arrives!

  22. Thanks for the Aeroflow tip – I had no idea you could register for a breast pump now! One less thing to do later, right?!

    I love both of your dresses in this post!

  23. That’s the best stroller. It can hold 3 kiddos (with the glider attachment). It’s definitely saved me a time or two. :)

  24. I love love love your blog! Just had to say that first. What breast pump did you end up getting? I had one for my first that I didn’t like at all and I’m pregnant again. Looking for some ideas on good ones.

    • Welp I did zero research on the one I got (i’m super impulsive). I went with this one –> Lansinoh Smartpump Double Electric Breast Pump :)

  25. Pingback: August Pregnancy Update: 27 weeks – Yeah…Immaeatthat

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