Pregnancy Update - 25 Weeks

How far along (how big is baby): 25 Weeks!  It feels so good to be in the "viability" stage, but I sure hope she doesn't come early.  We are not ready!  Right now baby Mim is as big as an eggplant and weighs just under 2 pounds.  She has fingerprints, sweat glands and has developed that blink-startle reflex.  Her hearing is fully developed and she's working on getting her lungs She should already be favoring one hand over the other - will Ryan finally get his lefty?  

How I'm feeling:  Good!  I finally feel like some of my energy is back and my appetite is definitely improving.  I had a good weight gain at my last OB appointment and the bump is getting bigger by the day.  I'm finally to that honeymoon stage of pregnancy that I love where people are super nice to you and ask you questions about the baby (which I love).  Most people seem surprised that I still have 3+ months to go, which means I am probably bigger than I even realize. Although everytime I say something to Ryan about how big I am (or grunt while trying to get up off the couch), he laughs at me and makes some comment about how much bigger I'm going to get. Yes honey, I know...that doesn't mean I don't already feel giant, but knowing how much more growing is still coming is a little wild.  I also passed my glucose test the very first time (woo hoo!), which is huge.  I had to do the 3 hour test with Mac after failing the 1 hour test, which made me miserably sick for days.  I'm thrilled not to have to go through that again. My friend Liz just recently dealt with gestational diabetes, so I have a whole new respect for what that entails and the seriousness of it.  However, I did reward myself with a giant piece of lemon butter cake (recipe here) that was so good I nearly cried.  

Nursery Planning:  I'm starting to get really excited about her nursery. Ryan painted the room (a fresh coat of white) and I'm almost finished painting an old dresser of mine, which has been a labor of love.  I can't believe how much work it takes just to paint furniture.  I still need to add knobs to the drawers and a top coat of sealer, but we're getting close.  I've got the bookshelf assembled, but it still needs to be primed and painted as well.  I just put down the rug in the room and well...it's not quite the exact shade I wanted it to be.  I don't love it, but I am just going to have to live with it.  I'm not going through the hassle of shipping it back.  It'll work.  Still need to assemble the crib, order curtains and figure out the "glider situation."  I'm also working on a couple other projects for the room and slowly building up her wardrobe.  I'm gladly accepting hand-me-downs (thank you, Claire), so if anyone would like to contribute to Mim's closet, I'd be greatly appreciative (and will take you out to lunch/pedicures in exchange). Right now I have only have 2 hairbows and 1 headband, so I need to work on getting her some fun accessories.  I'd love to support small vendors, so if you have an Etsy favorite, let me know.  And speaking of accessories...moms of girls - how do you store/display/organize bows and headbands?  I've seen a couple ideas on Pinterest, but I don't really love anything that I've seen.  Anyone have an awesome way to deal with them? 

What I'm looking forward to:  I'm SO looking forward to all the photos that are coming our way soon!  The photographer that I've been using for the last year recently moved to Houston (sad), but was back in town for a couple days last weekend, so we had a quick family session (Mac's 2 year photos, really) at the Museum of Transportation (perfect for a train-obsessed toddler).  We've basically had this booked since November, but it still completely snuck up on me. I was scrambling for outfits and location ideas just days before the session.  Not my greatest hour. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my desperate plea for help picking out a top (I chose the white/navy striped one, in case you were curious) the night before the pictures.  Mac was adorable, as usual, so I hope they turn out well.  I also have an upcoming maternity "practice session" with my friend Jessica.  She's trying to build up her portfolio, so we are just going to play around with getting some bump shots that I can use for Mim's pregnancy book (way better than the ones I'm taking here with the tripod and remote).  Plus, I get to hang out with Jess for a while anc catch up, which will be awesome.  And I'm SUPER excited that I finally booked Mim's newborn photo shoot with the fabulous Kristie from L Photographie!!  I met Kristie at a Camera Love class she taught and developed a bit of a girl-crush on her.  Her photos are gorgeous (and you know I'm a photo snob) and she has a son just a bit older than Mac, so she'll know how to handle our wild child. We're going to do a lifestyle newborn shoot at our house, once Mim and I are home from the hospital and settled in, with the whole family.  I'm so excited!  

Differences in the pregnancy: Can I still say that nearly everything has been the opposite?  The biggest was how sick I was this time around compared to how wonderful my first trimester with Mac was.  Now that I'm finally feeling better, the differences are less dramatic, but still there.  I'm carrying this baby much lower than I carried Mac.  He was super high and I felt like he lived in my ribcage, which caused a lot of rib bruising and heartburn.  Mim is really low, which is less painful, but I also feel like she just going to fall out sometimes.  I constantly find myself wrapping my arms around the bottom of my belly to "carry" her around.  So weird.  I also have way fewer cravings this time around.  All I really want is lemonade...lots and lots of lemonade.  Actually, lemon-flavored anything sounds good.  My Pinterest board is filled with recipes for lemon cake, lemon muffins, lemon sorbet, lemon pie, etc.  I can't get enough citrus.   With Mac, I was tired during the day and awake at night.  With Mim, I wake up feeling pretty good, but am exhausted by 3:00 each day.  Mac's heartbeat was fast, hers is slow.  Mac was active during the day, she's active in the evening.  With Mac I craved salty foods, with Mim I crave sweets.  My belly with Mac was rock hard and I could push around on him all I wanted.  With Mim, it's big, but still pretty squishy and very sensitive - any pressure (even from clothes) makes me nauseous.  All these differences in pregnancies make me so curious to see how different they actually are once she gets here.  Since Mac is so much like me, I'm really hoping Mim's just like her daddy.  I could really use a laid-back easy-going baby.  

Thoughts, worries, fears:  Now that I feel her moving all the time, I think I'm much less worried/stressed about her physical well-being.  I still get nervous occasionally when I look at Mac and think that he's so damn perfect it's scary and how can I get so lucky twice, but I'm starting to get over it.  No matter what happens or how she turns out, she's going to be so incredibly loved, it won't matter.  Worrying doesn't help, so I'm trying not to.  I scheduled my c-section at my last OB appointment, so I'm slightly nervous about that, but less so than I was the first time around.  I'm really hoping I feel better after birth this time, since I won't have to go through 17+ hours of labor before-hand, but otherwise, I know what to expect.  I think my biggest worry right now is about breastfeeding.  I so want it to work out this time.  I'm hoping she's a champion eater and it works out for us, but I also know that if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world.  I'm going to try to be much easier on myself this time around.  And the stupidest worry I have is that someone will "steal" our baby name.  Actually, we don't even have an official name or anything decided, but every new baby girl our friends have eliminates one more name we could have used (hypothetically).  Even if it was a name I knew I didn't want to use, I feel like the pool of names is dwindling dramatically every day.  Isn't that ridiculous?  I'm possessive of names that aren't even ours.  Does anyone else think about this or am I the only crazy one out there?  I have quite a few friends expecting in the next couple months and part of me wants to just pick a name and stake our claim to it publicly so no one else can have it.  Although, even if someone else did pick "our" name, I'd be fine with still using it. Believe it or not, there's more than one Sara out there.  Shocking, I know! Such a silly thing to worry about.

Baby action: She's moving around like crazy these days.  I feel kicks and punches all over the place from all different directions.  I have no idea which way she's facing, nor does it matter, I guess.  Ryan's felt a few kicks here and there, but she tends to get shy whenever he tries to feel her.  She responds mainly to music and to Mac's voice.  Anytime she hears him talk, she kicks. This makes me so excited because I know she is going to be his biggest, most adoring fan someday, whether he likes it or not.  Last night she woke me up with hiccups at 4:30 a.m.  Super cute, but I wish she'd keep those to daytime hours.  I'm starting to be able to see movement from the outside, as she dances away in there.  Occasionally I'll get hit with a wave of nausea and then all of a sudden I'll feel her do a big flip and I'll instantly feel better.  Pregnancy is so wild!

Big brother's reaction: Mac loves talking about the baby.  Whenever we mention her, he asks to "see" her (which involves me showing him my belly button).  Sometimes now he'll just randomly pull up my shirt to see the baby, which is fine so long as we're not in public.  He always asks if the baby is kicking or sleeping, which I guess is all she really does in there.  He gives her hugs and kisses, which melts my heart.  He loves going in her room and saying "seesta room...pink!"  Whenever I ask him what he wants to name the baby he says "Boo Boo" or "Doo Doo."  He'll be disappointed to learn that those suggestions did not make our list.  Anytime we ask him if he wants a baby, he says "nooooooo!"  But he is very curious about babies and likes to look at them and pat their heads.  I'm hoping to take him to a big brother class at the hospital and maybe even get him around a newborn a little bit so he isn't absolutely shocked when she gets here. 

So, that's about it.  Sorry (not sorry) about all the ridiculously dorky bump photos, but I just can't help myself.  Loving the bump these days! Can I seriously just stay exactly this pregnant forever?