Week 26

How far along: 26 weeks 

Sleep: I officially wake up through out the night at least three times, usually five.  Either because baby is kicking the heck out of my belly or because he's pressing down on bladder.

Maternity clothes: None. Probably won't end up buying any, if anything I need to get a belly band.  I really only rotate a few outfits more or less.

Cravings: Still the bubble drink and still haven't gotten it.  li hing mui too.

Symptoms I have: Occasional leg cramping at night when i'm tossing and turning.  I was having painful stabs at the top of my belly this week whenever I worked so after consulting my doctor, we agreed that I should get off the floor and switch to being strictly a cashier instead of a server.  Irritability? Not sure if that one counts but I've been irritable with everyone lately and that's not usual for my personality.  I don't really like how my boobs officially rest on my belly.

Movement: My little man loves to move around a whole lot.  His kicks are getting significantly stronger and I can feel him move in different directions.  It was nice to have my sister be able to feel him kick yesterday.  I love being able to push back on my stomach whenever he kicks.

Belly button: Officially an outie now.  my bellybutton is right up there with my tummy.

Best moments of the week: 

I've been appreciating the early mornings with Alex before he goes to work.

It was nice to see my sister as well and have her keep me company while I run errands.

Accomplishments:

Moved into our new apartment

Completely unpacked

Got new furniture and moved it all in

Spent time with my sister

Picked up our big canvas painting for our wall

Met up with our previous landlord, returned keys, received security deposit, etc.

Made Alex his energy bars

Took the glucose test and passed. I don't have gestational diabetes :)

Finished up the business cards

Upgraded my phone

Looking forward to: 

Still need to do those baby blankets

Setting up baby's room

Birthing classes Saturday :)

Shelby's baby shower

What I need to get done: 

Baby blankets

Insurance for new car

Put up curtains/curtain rod

Prego pictures WITH Alex in it too.

Find a coffee table

Week 25

Side View

Front View

Beach View

How far along: 25 weeks 

Sleep: Okay so we're back to not sleeping all that great but that is mainly because I have heartburn radiating from my knees out.  For some dumb reason I keep on eating spicy food which isn't helping at all.  I need to start eating VERY small meals because this heartburn is really ruining my groove.

Maternity clothes: None. I've been chillin in sweat pants/band tees this week trying to pack up to move.  On the flip side, i've also been living in bathing suits since we've actually had the chance to go hiking and to the beach a few times.

Cravings: I really really want a bubble drink.  Not just any bubble drink though.  I want one from the Ala Moana kiosk in the food court.  Strawberry coconut would be perfect. The biggest drag though is that it is just so damn far.

Symptoms I have: So. Much. Heartburn. and maybe hunger? I literally go from not being hungry at all one moment to being absolutely starving the next, like there is no in between stage of getting sort of hungry.  Constipation. :(  A whole lot of back pain, especially in the middle of my back.

Movement: My little boy has been quite active this week although I haven't stopped too long to really truly appreciate it.  I'm now at the point where I can distinguish different kinds of movement.  For instance I can tell if he's kicking vs. doing some serious somersaults.  He also likes to respond to his daddy when Alex is trying to talk to him.  He kicks a lot when Alex is trying to listen and mellows out whenever he talks, kinda like he's trying to listen.  I've also noticed that the movement is strongest after meals, so I'm guessing that's when he re-ups on energy too.

Belly button: Still an innie, but def getting there.

Best moments of the week: 

This week has actually been very enjoyable.  Normally Alex and I don't get to spend a whole lot of quality time together because we both work ALL the time.  As luck would have it however, we were both off this work week; he's in between job projects and I was given a lacks schedule since I worked the load last week.

That being said, we got to do lots of fun things that we haven't been able to do regularly since we dated.  I have a few favorites this week.

1.  Heading over to the south side and exploring random trails and what not which led us here.  Quite the beautiful place and we will def bring our son here when he's a few months old.  The water is very very shallow and perfect for small kids.  Not a widely known area either so it gets extra points for being more or less empty.

Alex was trying to get the perfect video of a small wave crashing.

2.  Waking up early on Valentines day to go watch the sunrise off green walls, eating some boots and kimos banana mac nut pancakes and chillin on the beach in front of our house. Happy fifth Valentines, love.

3.  Pictures, I really like that Alex is adamant about getting shots of me now that i'm bigger.  I really would like shots of both of us though, although setting the timer on the camera is quite the pain.

Accomplishments:

Got all the boxes we need in order to move.

We took several loads of our stuff to Kaneohe.

Got a whole lot finished for our business, finally got to run over to Waimanalo Feed and picked up a few things.

Finished taxes

Wrote out the thank you letters from the wedding reception

Bought a new car, cleaned it up really nicely and fixed small repairs

Finished the oil change for the truck

Paid off the registration for the car

Opened up a new checking account

Looking forward to: 

Still need to do those baby blankets, but first we need to finish moving and getting out of this place.

Setting up baby's room

Spending time with my sister since she's on break

We start our birthing classes next weekend :)

Shelby's baby shower

What I need to get done: 

Planning out meals, small meals that don't make me sick.

Finish moving boxes/cleaning out this place.

Baby blankets

Doctors tomorrow to do that glucose test, I don't appreciate the whole fasting thing much.

Doctors next week for regular check up

Business cards

Prego pictures WITH Alex in it too.

TheBus

In November, shortly before thanksgiving, I got into a car accident in which my little car was damaged beyond repair.  Since than my husband and I have been sharing one car, or rather one truck.  Anyway, we usually commute in and out of work together each day but today, considering the fact that I got off at one and he wasn't scheduled to get off until five, I decided that i'd take the bus home.  I waited for a little over an hour for thebus to arrive.

At the moment, I am a server by occupation and I spend hours on my feet waitressing and serving people.  Mind you, I am going into the seventh month of pregnancy, I had just got off of work and I was exhausted.  I got unto the bus and was not really surprised to see that it was completely full.  I was forced to stand up because there were a whole lot of young kids sitting down in the handicap/elderly section and beyond.

I am not really one for self pity and I do not expect people to stand up for me on the bus just because I'm pregnant.  However, I am truly appreciative when people do give up their seat for me because at this point in term, my balance truly does suck and my feet get tired from standing the whole way. What wrung my heart though, was that of all of the people on the bus who were of high school age to roughly mid-thirties the ONLY person who offered me his seat was an elderly kupuna (grandpa.)  I did not want to take his seat.  However he insisted and insisted that I sit down so that my baby didn't have to stress.  He told me not to worry because his stop would be coming up soon anyway.  I did give in and being an emotional wreck on top of everything for no apparent reason, his simple act of kindness made me cry.

He did get off shortly but I realized the reason that his act had made me cry is that of all the people on the bus who were physically capable to stand, the only one emotionally and ethically attuned to the need of this huge pregnant woman was this kupuna.  To some degree, I was torn between feeling a huge amount of respect and appreciation towards our elder generation but almost an equal amount of disgust with the current/younger generation whom for the most part are seriously lacking in values.  Many people turn a blind eye when others are in need and from my experience on thebus, most teenagers don't give up their seats to those who need them such as the elderly and/or the disabled.

With that, I would like to close this note in saying that I am looking forward to raising my son to be full of empathy, compassion and respect.  I want him to be able to access situations and do things not because he would get anything in return, but rather because he would know that he is doing is the right thing.  Even if the situation is a simple as giving up a seat for an elder or pregnant lady.

Belly shot for the day while I'm at it.  This is literally what I looked like on the bus just now.

Week 24

How far along: 24 weeks 

Sleep: Up until recently I was having THE most difficult time getting some sleep. I had put off getting a body pillow out of sheer laziness, even though all the mamas out there highly recommended that I get one.  Once I finally went out and bought one, I realized that it was an amazing investment and everyone was right.  I can now go back to sleeping great.  The only thing though is that I do wake up at least once a night due to the fact that I either have to pee or baby is kicking up a storm in my belly but usually both reasons are imminent.

As a side note as well, my dreams are extremely vivid now days and I can almost always recall them when I wake up. 

Maternity clothes: I really haven't bought any maternity clothes, if anything I just grabbed a couple of cheap tshirts (like the one i'm wearing above) in a medium instead of the usual xsmall or small. Due to my rapidly expanding belly I will definitely have to get some new pants/shorts and such now that i'm down to wearing my stretchy clothes.

Cravings: Ice cream.  Been trying not to indulge but I had it twice this week :(

Symptoms I have: The need to pee pretty much always.  Mild cramping in the lower abdomen during strenuous activity. 

Movement: My baby boy has been moving around a whole lot lately.  Some days he's more mellow than others but I can still feel him kicking and squirming in there by the hour.  I love love love being able to feel him move.  Also I find that he tends to be really active between after 2am-3am.

Belly button: Still an innie

Best moments of the week: 

When Alex was actually home during a really active period of baby's kicking and got to lay his head to my belly and talk to his son.  The first time Alex was able to feel the baby kick constantly.

Wedding reception.  We got to see plenty of old friends and family this past weekend which was a blessing made possible by my family.  Although I rarely get to see most of my friends I realized that no matter how much time we spend apart (in this instance roughly three years) it seems like nothing at all has changed when we get back together.

Looking forward to: 

Making baby blankets for all the expectant mamas.  I have four to make as gifts, two boys and two girls and a bunch to make for my own little man.  I just need to go find me some pretty looking fabric.

Spending time and catching up with old friends.  My goal is to MAKE time for friends this year seeing as to how I've been spending so much time on work/bills/husband/family.  I need more balance in my life and reuniting with them recently reminded me how much I miss everyone.

AC Ponics.  My husband and I run an aquaponics company here in Hawaii and I am looking forward to working on the foundations of the business and meeting up with my AG friends whom I also miss dearly.

Moving, and being able to set up baby's room.

What I need to get done: 

Find moving boxes

Look up a car so we can sell our truck

Open a new checking account

Get organized, seriously I need to get me a planner.

Make a daily schedule I can actually abide by

Prego to the Mego

Okay, I really wanted to just start this so that I personally have a reference for myself and honestly I don't really know how to set up privacy setting on this thing anyway.  I just wanted to use this blog as a kind of diary on how i'm feeling throughout the pregnancy.  So to begin I currently am at 23 weeks.

I didn't start documenting my pregnancy till I was 21 weeks, so really only recently. I started out pre-pregnancy at 108 lbs.  I gained 2 lbs between weeks 1-17.  All of a sudden between weeks 18-22 weeks I gained another 11 lbs.Holy geesh was that surprising, but than again I did go from practically not showing at all to having a nice round belly. My doc told me everything is all good but to obviously ease up on the weight gain. I'm not supposed to gain more than 25-30 lbs the entire pregnancy.

Prepregnancy picture, from our wedding (literally right before the start of pregnancy)
I'm not the type to take pictures of myself and such so I only have the wedding ones to reference my size right before I got pregnant.

Okay so here is the first prego shot of my belly that I bothered to take. These are at 20 weeks and 5 days.
Side view and front view

And seriously a couple weeks later, I got way bigger.  This is at 22 weeks and 5 days. Front and side view again.