How Far Along: 21 weeks
Sleep: I'm sleeping normally. No issues falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night. Thank my little self.
Food Cravings: Vegetables, particularly carrots. Fruit, particularly green apples. I feel awesome indulging in these.
Food Aversions: Meat. The texture, the taste, the idea that it was an animal. Weird.
Symptoms:
SWOLLEN FEET/ANKLES - freakishly swollen. Like when I walk, I feel the fluids swishing around. They're double their size and look monsterous. I hate them. I hate the way they look and how they feel. I asked my mom if she had this issue, and she said not until she was a month away from her due date. She worried me into thinking it was preclampsia, so we rushed to Wal-Mart to check my blood pressure (116/69 - excellent). I think it's just my only "real" pregnancy symptom. I got away with no nausea and no frequent bathroom trips (oh yeah, my bladder is doing great. I did a 12 hour car drive and only peed twice!).
Doctor's Appointment: Not until mid-April.
Movement: Wow. I feel him all the time, even stronger than before. I've felt several big kicks, and during the Chicago trip, I could feel him during shows. One show had really loud music for short bursts about every minute or so, and at each loud burst, I could feel him move. I think his first sound that he heard besides me may have been the Second City Mainstage Show. Awesome.
Bryan's been able to feel the baby, too, and that's awesome to share it with him. I try to tell him when I feel the baby, so he is included, and Bryan really finds it hilarious to knock on my belly or jiggle me around - especially after I tell him that the baby is probably sleeping. Hilarious, I tell you.
I feel him mostly in the morning after I get to work and begin my morning emails, after eating and normally on the couch. It's most often right after eating that I can feel him the strongest.
Gender: Boy! A handful of favorite names, but I've got no idea what will be his name.
Best Moment of the Week: Putting together the nursery with Bryan. It's just one of those things I remember daydreaming about when I was little and when I was dating Bryan. I thought about what it would be like to put together a crib with my husband with me pregnant. I thought about what it'd be like to fold baby clothes, to joke about what we'll do with a baby, to move the furniture around until it looked just right. It was so surreal. I remember feeling the same feeling on my wedding day, looking in the mirror at myself in a wedding gown.
These huge milestones in my life, that I knew (and hoped) would happen are happening. My life is actually happening how I dreamed about: I married a sweet man and here we are, three years and some change into marriage preparing for a baby. It's so weird how normal it is because it doesn't feel normal to me. Come on, we're Bryan and Alyssa. We're ridiculous adults who eat macaroni and cheese three nights in a row because it's 89 cents and easy, so we can watch hours of tv and only break for five minutes to make it. We're crazy kids who still do improv and travel around the country to do shows that are totally made up. We stay up late playing stupid indie board games. We don't do laundry until we have no underwear and our laundry baskets (when we use them) are too full to put more dirty clothes in.
We are ridiculous. How are we supposed to be parents? I just found it all too sweet and hilarious to be sitting on the floor eating cookies watching Bryan put together our son's bed. It's a memory I will hold onto for forever.
What I'm Looking Forward To: This weekend. I need a chance to relax. To catch up on tv. To find my checkbook (where the heck did I put it!?). To clean my room. To clean the bathroom. To pick out paint colors for the nursery. To take the car to the car wash. To sleep.
What I Miss: Being close to family. I call my mom almost daily, but I wish she could come over and help with some laundry and dishes and vacuuming. I've been gone basically this whole month in China and Dallas and Chicago. My house is a mess! I need some help!
What I've Bought For Baby: Lots! We bought a crib, a changing table, crib sheets, two miniature cardigans, two sweaters, a few onesies, some socks, a little Bryan hat, some shorts, a few button ups and the most adorable plaid onesie in orange (Go Tigers!). We bought a nightlight, a stroller toy, two cute maternity dresses, some adorable khaki pants for baby, and some frames for his room. It was an awesome buying week. Now we've got to just enjoy what we've got and wait for the gifts before we buy anything else. Two baby showers coming up, and I can't wait to see what cute things he gets!
I'm loving being pregnant. I feel wonderful, I look pregnant and I feel happy. I also love being able to feel him moving around inside me. One of my best friends in Oklahoma is due to have her little girl next week, and I'm so excited for her. She's terrified of the labor and delivery (as am I), and has invited me to be her female companion through it since her family lives in China and her husband's family lives in California. I'm honored and excited for this sneak peek into what will be my future in 4 short months.
I will be posting nursery photos later this week. It's adorable, I tell you. And it's so cute to walk down the hall and see a little baby room. The room is right next to ours, and I love peeking in and imagining what it will be like to have a baby in our house. He's gonna fit right in to our crazy little family.
No comments:
Post a Comment