WEEK 22

22 Weeks in Grand Haven, MI

How far along? 22 Weeks!

Total weight gain/loss:  I’m not good at weighing myself at home, nordo I really have much confidence in what my scale at home tells me.  I’m always surprised when I hop on the scale at the DRs office.  I learned that in thenext 4 weeks, baby will double in weight, so I’ll probably feel a little heavier very soon!

Maternity clothes?   My favorites are still long maxi dresses and I can still get away with my belly band and my pre-pregnancy clothes.

Stretch marks?  Nope!

Highlights this week: 

Painting Furniture: I took the safest approach that I couldwithout limiting my option to paint furniture for baby B’s nursery: I chose LOW VOC LOW ODOR Primer, and a heavy duty face mask for paint odor and sanding painted surfaces.  I also painted outside in our big pole barn where it was well ventilated. Will mentioned that he couldn’t even smell the primer, and he has a sensitive nose.  Safety First!  Because of all that precaution, I have a clear conscious and won’t worry aboutthe what-ifs.   And, I had so much fun! Iwas bold and creative and adopted cousin Jacee’s idea by painting the drawers a different color (the same color as the walls in the nursery- Gecko Green).  I painted a dresser that I inherited from my grandma after she passed away.  She’d be proud of the new face on it and that I’m still using it.  Here it is, not completely finished, I still need to paint the drawer knobs/handles and put them back on, but I’m really happy with the way it turned out!





rawr!



BEFORE (drawers in backround)

Almost complete!  Just needs knobs!

New baby items : I found the blanket pattern that I’m going to use to crochet for baby, got my yarn and started it!!  I’m about halfway done with the blanket, which means I get to share it with you all very soon!  It’s becoming very expensive.  I bought my yarn at a yarn shop and typically their quality of yarn runs better and more expensive.  I didn’t realize how many skeens of yarn this blanket would take, bought 5 and already ran out, so, I’ll be making trip two to grab more yarn here soon.

Movement?  YES!  More often now, nothing that is uncomfortable yet.  You can see the kicks through my shirt slightly at times too.  Sometimes, when the baby starts to kick, I’ll rub or pat where the baby kicked, and the baby will stop till I’m done, and then a few seconds after I stop the babykicks again.  Yep, mommy and baby play games together already!!    Will is having fun catching some kicks too!  I’m glad he can finally feel them and experience the fun with me.  Baby mostly kicks around 9am and 10:30pm right now. I’m convinced Baby sleeps the rest of the day, and during the night right now.  A friend told me to pay attention to baby’s kicks because you can guess that pattern might be similar to baby’s sleep pattern after being born.

Miss anything? Doing yard work without feeling like I got hit by a train the next day.  Bending over and balancing is a whole new cup of tea when you have a baby in your belly.  I planted sunflowers this week (first time ever…always wanted my own sunflowers, so hopefully they’ll grow big and tall and bloom so pretty!!)  I also planted some perennials given to me by a coworker and a neighbor! Will has been helping me pick up my piles of weeds and throw them on the compost pile. He’s also finding and moving these huge rocks and using them for pretty landscape.   Yay for a pretty yard we can enjoy!

Food cravings?  Still the same old yogurt, milk, dairy, all fruits.   I still choose BLTs if they areavailable (this baby is gonna LOVE bacon!). And, of course chocolate.

Gender:  we don’t know for sure but I did another gender predictor this week:

hehe

My mom and dad both think boy, mainly because how I’m carrying so far (low and out front). 

Belly button in or out? Flat, still.  And, that thing is super sensitive so don’t try to tickle me there or anything, WILLIAM HENRY BURNS V (daddy)!!  That feeling is worse than nails across a chalk board…  I’m all about other people grabbing my belly, long as they don’t touch the heart of my belly button!

Wedding rights on or off? On! 

Mood:  Positive and happy.

Looking forward to:  FL with the girls!!!  We’re going for Natalie’s bachelorette party!  I can’t wait to document the whole weekend completely sober! It should be a super fun time and a nice getaway in some beautiful weather rockingaBIGbelly!!!

Also looking forward to the arrival of baby Adelie! She’s still cooking in mommy’s belly, evenafter we went to Grand Haven to try and walk her out last weekend!www.ittybittybabybeck.blogspot.com 



I don't even look pregnant compared to Jacee's ready to pop belly!

Fitness Report:   I’ve been trying to run/walk more during theweek and Will will come along with me too, and run my pace with me (a lilslower than pre-pregnancy).  I’ve reallythought hard about how I’m going to complete a half marathon during thispregnancy, and it doesn’t look likely, unfortunately.  WAAA.  Ireally wanted to say that I ran a half marathon during my first pregnancy (haha),but I know I won’t feel any less of a runner if I don’t.  There have been too many breaks in my fitnesspattern lately that every time I get back into it it’s really tough (my bellyis getting bigger).  I just don’t want toput myself into labor any earlier or put unnecessary stress on the baby.  Who knows if that would happen, but mywhat-ifs have been kicking in.  I will stillrun and walk a ton, just not 13.1 miles. J  There, now that that is off of my chest…

What I’ve learned: 

I learned all about painting furniture!   This dresser was my first time ever painting furniture and I learned a lot!  I learned that primer is your friend for already finished wood if you don’t have a hand sander.  I learned that hand sanding finished wood won’t get you far at all. I learned that there is no primer with ZERO VOC, but there are low VOC and low odor options, AND that the VOC in paint has improved compared to paint many many years ago (safer).  I did some reading on painting and priming while pregnant and there are no direct links between VOC and health problems with infants. But, common sense tells you, fumes aren’t good for ANYONE to inhale.  

A waitress  from a nearby café told me about her pregnancy experience, she has a 9 month old baby. It was comforting to hear that her pregnancy was as easy as mine so farand that her labor was amazing.  She gave me some helpful advice including: “don’t ever say never” She said she had a plan about how she’d raise her first child and it just didn’t start out that way, and she is completely OK with it.  So, although I have an idea of how I’d like things to go, I’m happy that I have an open mind and should be able to easily adjust.