Baby Bump | 25 Weeks

Nearing the 3rd trimester now! I imagine myself starting to develop what I have always expected would be my “third trimester” feelings. Things like nesting, of course, and imagining holding my baby in my arms even more. I had a dream about him the other night and that hasn’t made it any easier to wait. Even though I feel more and more miserable on the outside every day, I am getting more and more excited and happy on the inside. Part of me just wants that day to come SO SOON, but another part of me realizes how totally unprepared I am.

Over the weekend Steven and I spent many busy hours with his family since his sister, Leslie married her sweetheart, Eddie on Saturday. It was so fun and I love the thought of little Baby Tarchala being surrounded by such amazing people and family on both sides.

The wedding was beautiful! My sister, Bethany came up to help me for the day since I was the photographer and I am ridiculously grateful to her for her help. I couldn’t have done it without her. I won’t lie, I was a little worried that my body wouldn’t be able to hold up for a long day of wedding picture-taking. With prayers and the sweet concern everyone showed me over the weekend, I am happy to say I survived and it all turned out wonderfully! We arrived to start the day around 11:45 a.m. and it wasn’t until mid-reception time that I felt my body really start to give up. My feet and hands are still sore and I slept very soundly that night, but it was all so worth it. Both for the incredible experience, and to prove to myself that I could do it. Haha.

Other exciting things: Steven’s aunt Peggy had this adorable top made for me! Isn’t it cute? Also, we have a crib!!! It’s not yet in our possession, but we will be picking it up in the next week or two once we empty the guest room completely and have access to a vehicle that can haul it. I’m really excited to see it all start coming together. Last week, after my insane decision to re-organize my guest room closet was both initiated and then temporarily abandoned, I decided I needed to save my energy for the wedding. So we have been living surrounded by semi-organized piles of things designated for storage and garage sale and a few “I don’t even know” piles. This week I have some “work” work to tackle, but I’m hoping to mix it up a bit so I’m not sitting too long at my computer and also not on my feet for too long at a time. I have learned my lesson. A quick list of some things this week will be featuring: Design work, Wedding photo sorting and editing, Kitchen and bedroom cleaning, Continued pile organizing, Sewing and crafting and lots of eating. Mmmm… I think I’m hungry.

The Bump
 

Baby’s Size| An Average Rutabaga (wow… that’s an odd one)

How far along | 25 weeks

Sleep | I could pretty much say: See Symptoms. Because when I have to wake up several times to pee they are such a harsh reality, my feet feel bruised and achy every time I step out of bed. The last few nights, even though I’ve still had to get up anywhere from 2-5 times a night, I still feel like I slept really well and for that I’m happy.

Clothes | The usual. I finally dressed up a bit over the weekend for the wedding and other events and it was nice to do that for myself. But I still am struggling to find comfort with clothes. I also went swimming for the first time last week and I had to piece together some old swimsuit bikini tops and bottoms and top them with shorts and a maternity tank. I will not elaborate on how very little that bikini top covered.

Cravings | A few here and there. My two featured cravings have been: Hot wings from KFC and mint chocolate chip ice cream in a waffle cone from Bankin Robbins. Both developed last Thursday. Thank you, Beth. No. Really. THANK YOU.

Food Aversions |  I don’t think I’ve had any this week.

Symptoms | Oh the wonderful things I have to look forward to. I am terrified by these responses “It will only get worse”… “just wait” because I don’t want to imagine how much worse it gets. My feet and hands are so swollen I can barely use them sometimes. My joints feel like I’ve been clenching heavy things tightly for hours. My feet hurt with every step I take. My back is sore from sitting in any position except in the car. My hips hurt if I walk too much. And I have 15 more weeks of this!?!? Or of this + “worse.” Sigh. Don’t get me wrong, I deal with the pain. But I won’t pretend I’m not feeling it, lol. Because I hate sounding so negative and whiny here are the positive things that I can say about all this:
1) Swimming is incredibly relieving and I’m so grateful to have that option.
2) I feel confident that having experienced a 10 month roller coaster of miseries, even several gruesome hours of labor won’t be the end of the world.
3) My husband and others have been really sweet and considerate.

Doctor’s Appointment | Perhaps this week? Lol.

Movement | Monday morning I woke up to him dancing around in my belly. He’s been in pretty much the same position for a couple weeks now, but starting Monday some of the movement has shifted and I’m feeling him all over the place. Most of my movement up until this point has been low, at least below my belly button. But I had a couple moments where I thought I might be able to see his movement since it was higher up and pretty distinct. No luck yet, but I’m still watching.

Belly Button | We are milometers away from being completely neutral.

Gender | DUDE

Best moment of the week | Here are my highlights: Wearing Makeup for the first time in two weeks on Friday, Eating (devouring) a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone Sunday night, Seeing my sister and other family over the weekend, Leslie’s wedding, Swimming with Beth. Yeah. Those were great times.

What I miss | This has been said before, but I miss my body. Even my pre-pregnancy body that I was already not that happy with sounds like a dream. I miss my old feet and ankles especially.