Here I am, more than half way through my pregnancy! I wish I felt like a lot of women do at his point, like it’s flying by, but I don’t. Instead I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever and how is it possible I’m only in my second trimester?! September-December usually goes by quickly with the holidays and all the preparation that goes with them, so I hope that is the case this year. If you can’t tell, I’m anxious to have this little boy in my arms!
How I’m Feeling
Last week, while on vacation, I felt great. It’s easy to feel great on vacation, right? This week I’ve had a few tough days where I had intense headaches and more fatigue than usual. By the end of the day I can tell I’m carrying around extra weight; my body is tired! Overall, though, I can’t complain about how I feel. I’m not nauseous, throwing up, or so exhausted that I need a nap everyday, so I am happy.
What’s Happening with my Body
What I’ve noticed the most is my stomach. It’s getting huge! Obviously, it’s going to get bigger, but for some reason I feel like I’m 31 weeks along rather than 21 weeks. What do you think? Does it look as big as it feels?
The absolute best part of being pregnant is feeling Baby Bean move. He is an active little guy and I often stop, hands on belly, and just enjoy feeling him move inside me. I feel much more movement at this point than I did when I was this far along with Meghan. I only started feeling flutters when I was 20 weeks along with her. I can feel all out kicks now and can even feel him move from the outside already. It’s amazing.
Doctor’s Visit
I had my regular 4 week check up this week. It was actually 5 weeks since my last check up since I was on vacation last week. These appointments go so quickly now; there isn’t much to them. They check my urine for sugar and protein, take my blood pressure, weigh me, and then we listen to the heartbeat. That’s about it. Everything looked and sounded good and I found out I gained 6 pounds since my last check up for a total of 14 pounds gained so far. According to Your Pregnancy Week by Week my weight gain by 21 weeks should be between 10-15 pounds. I just squeaked in the “acceptable range”. 🙂
Your Pregnancy Week by Week also says that most babies are around 10 1/2 ounces at 21 weeks. Well, when I had my ultrasound the tech reported that Baby Bean was 12 ounces and I was only 19 weeks. Yiiiiiiikes. That might explain the big belly.
Welcoming Baby #2
I don’t think Meghan fully understands what’s going on with me, but we have tried to explain to her that she’s going to have a new baby brother in December. She loves to tell people that “Mommy has a baby in her belly” and look at the ultrasound pictures and say, “There’s baby brother”. I know that no matter what it’s going to be a huge adjustment for her as she’s used to being the center of our universe. 🙂 I also know that she’ll be a great big sister.
Thanks for reading along and sharing my pregnancy journey with me. Please let me know if you have any questions you’d like me to answer in next week’s update.
now i am 20 week and so happy to see u but i am worried about my child it’s my first.
It’s easy to be worried when you don’t know what to expect. Good luck to you!
You look amazing! And the pictures of you and Meghan are precious:)
Aww, so cute!! Congratulations on your pregnancy! Can’t wait to follow you through the rest of it. 🙂
I was just trying to post a pic on here from when I was 16 weeks… but I can’t figure out how. Anyway, I just looked back at pics, and at 14 and 16 weeks, I was the size you are now, so don’t waste one minute thinking you’re too big! 🙂
Thanks, Elizabeth! I really am not thinking I’m too big, just feeling like my stomach is big in general. I guess that’s just part of being pregnant! For some reason I can’t remember what it’s like to have an even bigger stomach than what I have right now. Pregnancy amnesia??
Oh my goodness, to me you look tiny and cute! 🙂 I was on a STRICT diet during my pregnancy, drank about 70 oz. of water each day, exercised daily up until the day I gave birth, and I still gained 88 lbs. NO LIE.
At 9 months postpartum, I was back to my pre-baby weight, and I didn’t do anything crazy to make it happen… just breastfeeding, eating healthfully, and moderate exercise like stretching and walking.
During labor, the only thing that felt good to me was yoga and stretching, so I spent 1/2 of the time twisted and balancing, lol, much to the amusement of the birth center staff.
My point is – there are no right or wrong numbers – just healthy or not healthy bodies. Keep doing what you’re doing and just focus on getting that baby boy the nutrients he needs! 🙂 You look great!
You are absolutely right. I have seen people gain as little as 20 pounds and as much as you gained, and they were all beautiful! I know I am not over-indulging or eating unhealthy foods (well, most of the time I’m not…) and that’s what is important. Thanks for your insight. 🙂
You look great! I know how ya’ feel…..I always felt so HUGE when preggo! But you look so cute w/ the little Bean growing in there 🙂
Those pictures of you and Meghan are so cute.
You look SO incredible. I think you win the cutest preggo ever award! And that pic of her kissing your belly is priceless. 🙂
I remember I always felt like I had such a growth spurt during this time of the pregnancy. My belly seemed to turn massive overnight! And actually I did have growth spurts in the weight gain at this time. I gained 5 lbs in one week with M and 7 lbs in one week with B in week 20. That’s 1/4 of each of my total weight gains in one week. LOL
You look beautiful pregnant, and no I do not think that you look “big”! I love the pics this week, my favorite is the one of Meghan talking to your baby – he is going to know his big sister by the time he is born 🙂
Did I tell you that my son is December born too! December will come before you even realize. Loving your pregnancy updates.
you are by far the cutest prego woman every!! 🙂 Such a cute little belly 🙂 Glad things are going so well! I am so excited for u and your family!
Thank you so much for sharing this, it makes all of us who love you all feel connected when we are far away.
You are welcome, Fran. Thank you for reading! 🙂
Aw, the pictures of you and Meghan are so cute 😀 I don’t think you look as big as you feel. I do remember feeling huge even though I wasn’t very big though, so I completely understand where you’re coming from 🙂 I’m so glad you’re feeling good overall now!
Aww that picture of meghan by your belly is too cute! Like she’s trying to tell em something 🙂
So cute! Is it the second pregnancy thing where you get/feel so much bigger than you did at the same time with the first? I wasn’t even showing at my 20 week ultrasound with my first son, but with my second, I was–verrrry much so. Regardless, you look awesome, and I”m so glad you’ve been feeling pretty good too.
I’m so glad that vacation was awesome! You said that your head hurt; what do you do when your have such bad headaches? I know that taking advil and such is a no go. So, what do you do? Sleep it off or just push through? ….. I bet she will be such a great big sister! Handing you all that you need and just loving on her new baby brother!
Tylenol is acceptable during pregnancy, but I don’t use it. I’m just not comfortable using any medications unless absolutely necessary. I basically just “push through”. Ugh!
I had really bad headaches with all of my pregnancies…pretty common due to the rising hormone levels, according to my research.
I am not a big fan of medication, especially during pregnancy, but I found that a BIG glass of VERY COLD ice water (drink it fast, no sipping) did the trick.
I figured it was a win-win remedy…made my headache go away, and kept me hydrated at the same time. 🙂
It’s worth a try! Next time I get a killer headache, I’m going to chug some ice cold water. I will be so happy if it works! 🙂
Love the pictures, and you look fantastic! I never worried about my pregnancy weight as long as I ate healthy. I gained 40 lbs for the first one, and about 45 for the second. I’m sure that was above the “acceptable range”, but I felt good, and I lost it all and more afterwards. – Knowing your eating habits, you have nothing to worry about. Eat healthy and enjoy your Baby Bean!
I don’t think you look as big as you feel. I was looking at some pregnancy photos of me from past weeks- I am so amazed at how big I thought I was at certain points when my belly looked so small! I’m 28 weeks along and I think I look a lot bigger than you do! Of course every pregnancy is different. I’m not aiming to play the comparison game:-).
Also? You look great! So healthy, vibrant, and beautiful.
You’re 7 weeks ahead of me, and that’s a lot in pregnancy. I look at pictures from me 7 weeks ago and my stomach has grown a ton since then! Actually today I looked at a picture from when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Meghan and I was like, “Oh, wow! Now that’s a big belly!” 🙂 I can’t imagine being that big again, but it’s gonna happen!
No stretch marks! I’m so jealous. You look great! 🙂
The photos of you and Meghan are so precious! 🙂
I was just about to say the same!
Sure your belly is noticable, but I don´t think it looks huge. You look lovely!
Thank you! I look at the pictures and don’t think it looks humungous, but it just FEELS that way I guess. 🙂