update: 22 weeks

i'm twenty-two weeks.

weight? last i checked i had gained 7 lbs. i'm trying not to eat like crazy and make healthy choices.  ronnie does a good job of making sure we have fruits and vegetables to snack on and i make sure we have ice cream.  hopefully, it balances out. he also bought me pickles because he heard pregnant women liked them, which i thought was hilarious and yet i find them to be a good snack.

cravings?  nothing new.  i don't freak out about really wanting something.  the things i've always liked, i still do. and the things i never really cared for, i still don't.  my biggest challenge is still soda.  i think this is the longest i've ever gone without it and i still totally miss it.

side effects? the last time i did an update was a month ago and i was bragging about not really having any side effects.  i felt good... no, i felt pretty great.  now, the tables have turned.  a week ago saturday, i started getting back pain and it literally has not stopped.  it's constant, its painful and a couple days ago it moved to my abdomen as well. it feels like a pulled one giant muscle that wraps around my body.  not cool.  i finally called the doctor office this morning because it had been 10 days and nothing was really working.  she suggested what i already do: tylenol, lots of fluids, and a heating pad. i seriously have been living with my heating pad. it goes with my everywhere.  i plug it in at work and at home. but the pain never fully goes away.  my nurse did make one more suggestion. a pregnancy belt.  i ran out as soon as i got off work and bought one. have you seen these things? they're hideous, but if it works i'll most likely be sporting mine for the next 4 months. ohhh sexy.

baby? according to my baby books, the baby will have broken the 1 pound mark by now. wahoo!  i can officially blame a pound of my weight on her.  and she is about 8 inches long - butt to brain. she also has eyebrows, eyelashes and some hair. it makes me wonder if she will come out with a lot or a little hair.  my mom still talks about how she was always the last mom to get her baby after i was born because the nurses were putting bows in my massive amounts of hair.  i'll have to ask ronnie's mom what his hair was like.

preparations? i bought some maternity clothes, my back belt and i used some coupons i got from motherhood maternity for a car seat cover, breast feeding cape and a wrap. i got them all for $30, so they might be crap, but i'm excited to get my first purchases in the mail.  besides that, i know my friends and family are working on baby showers for april, so i have a ways before i need to register.  ronnie and i are still discussing names but while on a dog walk tonight, ronnie did refer to her as brette.  score one point for me!

the best thing? i still fit into most of my dresses so my wardrobe has not suffered completely.

the worst thing?  the tube of pain i seem to be wearing.  pray that this belt thing i bought tonight works. in fact, i think i'm going to go try it on.

so there it is. 

 

me at 22 weeks.

 

 

seventeen weeks vs. twenty-two weeks

 

wanna see my amazing back belt?

just picture a weight lifting belt... it's pretty much the same.