Pregnancy: 25 Weeks

I have about 3.5 months to go before Baby Girl arrives! We are still discussing names. I have a first name in mind but seem to really be struggling with a middle name that flows well with it. Her name has changed quite a bit over the months and so we still aren't telling anyone (not even family!) what we are thinking. When we first started telling people baby names, we got a lot of opinions (because we are choosing some unique and non-traditional) and I'd just rather not deal with that at the moment. We were confident with Kaiden's name but with Baby Girl's, I think I want to meet her first before making any final decisions. :)Baby Size & Development:Cauliflower. She is growing more hair and more fat on her body! She also can tell up from down. She now should weigh about 1.5 lbs and be a little over 13 inches long.Signs & Symptoms:Braxton Hicks Contractions. I don't think I noticed them very much until the end of my pregnancy with Kaiden, but all this past week I've felt them. They aren't painful but the best way to describe them is that that my belly becomes rock hard whenever it is contracting. I especially feel them when I exercise! They are completely normal, however, and are my body's way of preparing for the real deal.Baby Movement. Her moves are becoming more distinct feeling. Sometimes I jump up because of how crazy it feels.Best Moment This Week:I attended my first pre-natal yoga class and I love it! It's free on base and there is childcare for Kaiden, so I'll be attending twice a week. I'm not sure why they call it yoga because we do more aerobics and strength training than anything, but it feels really good to be moving around and staying in shape in the midst of pregnancy that makes me feel out of breath and out of shape.Worst Moment This Week:Go figure, it's Kaiden related. I'm still learning new things about him and it can be difficult to deal with when I have pregnancy hormones and a belly that makes it harder to get around. I know I'm not the first mom to go through this but it can still be difficult and has definitely been a learning process. Most importantly, it's taught me to depend on God more than ever before. His grace is something I'm trying to model and I feel like I'm constantly asking Him for wisdom.What I Most Look Forward To:My next pre-natal yoga/aerobics class. It's just so much fun :)

Pregnancy: 24 Weeks

This post is a little bit behind (as I'll be 25 weeks pretty soon.) Aside from feeling Baby Girl kick a little more than weeks past, there isn't too much new going on over here. I'm grateful that this second trimester has been pretty easy going but it could possibly be attributed to the fact that this is my second pregnancy. My body seems to remember just what it needs to do and so there haven't been many moments that take me by surprise. I'm really excited to start attending pre-natal yoga at our base gym this upcoming week. I did it towards the end of my pregnancy with Kaiden and loved it! (Though, I will say it's not just yoga. The first half is more aerobics and the second half is yoga.) I had to run around all this past week filling out paper work and updating shot records so that I could participate and so I could put Kaiden in the free child care at the gym. I'm so excited that I will be taking these classes twice a week and that Kaiden will have some social interaction (with people other than mom) at the same time!Baby Size & Development:Cantaloupe. Baby girl will start gaining about 4-6 ounces per week. Most of this weight comes from baby fat and developing organs. She is able to hear most noises outside the belly including dog barks and people's voices. I'm sure she is extremely familiar with Kaiden's voice! There's no pigment in her hair yet so she technically has white hair...weird!Signs & Symptoms:Lower abdominal aches. Since everything is being pushed out, I find random aches and pains occur every now and then.Side sleeping. Long gone are the days of me being able to sleep on my belly or flat on my back. My pregnancy pillow is my night-time cuddler and helps me feel a lot more comfortable.Best Moment This Week:I've started attending a weekly women's Bible study (I'll be blogging more about that later!) and I met a girl around my age that is expecting too! When I asked what her due date was, we found out that our due dates are only one day apart. I thought that was pretty awesome. I don't know why but I think it's so much harder to make friends with other girls than it is for guys to befriend other guys, so I'm pretty pumped that we have something pretty major in common. :)Worst Moment This Week: Kaiden was dealing with both a cold and teething symptoms, which resulted in a rough few days for me. Thankfully, he seems to be past both issues and feeling back to normal.What I Most Look Forward To:I'm just really excited to meet her and get to know her personality. So far, I'm thinking she will be a lot more chill than Kaiden. She doesn't kick nearly as much as he did. I do think she is a bit stubborn, though. When the nurse was trying to find her heartbeat, she kept curling up her body and hiding. Anytime the nurse would push a bit on my belly, she would give a strong kick as if she were telling her to stop.

Pregnancy: 23 Weeks

Well, I have less than 17 weeks (just about four months) until my due date. I can't believe January is already over and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Kaiden keeps me busy and our week's schedule seems to fill so quickly, it's no wonder all of it has flown by. I'm happy to report that I've been feeling great lately. I feel Baby Girl moving around quite a bit and most of my pregnancy symptoms are low on the uncomfortable scale. My OB doctor says I'm a boring patient, which is a great thing because that means everything is going smoothly. Even the ultrasound tech was impressed that everything looks normal and her size matches up perfectly with our due date. Thank the Lord for blessing us with such a healthy baby and allowing me to endure such a smooth pregnancy so far.Baby Size & Development:Grapefruit. Baby Girl is able to hear my voice, heartbeat and even loud sounds from outside. She is starting to gain a little bit of fat so that her skin isn't so transparent.Signs & Symptoms:Turkey timer. My belly button is starting to pop out!Less mobility. I was reading Kaiden a story today that said things like, "Touch the floor." or "Wiggle your hips," and I definitely had trouble doing both. This belly of mine is getting bigger!Pregnancy brain. I'm even more forgetful than normal...but at least I have an excuse.Warmer body temperature. I remember being pregnant with Kaiden and always having to crank up the AC at our house. Whenever friends would come over they would be shivering but I would be just fine. I've actually started wearing shorts and tank tops around the house, so I'm pretty sure that sustaining this little life keeps me warmer than normal.Best Moment This Week:Cuddling with Kaiden. He has always been a cuddly little boy (depsite his energy levels.) Somewhere in the midst of all his par-cor and monkey moves, he finds time to hop on the couch next to mommy, curl up in a ball and rest his head on me. I see how fast he has grown and I know I won't have these moments forever so I'm enjoying them while I can.Worst Moment This Week: When I woke up with a terrible muscle spasm in my back. I thought something was seriously wrong with the baby but thankfully it just an extremely tight back. I get bad back pains when I sit with no back support for a long time and I spent an evening at someone's house sitting on the edge of a couch...bad, bad idea.What I Most Look Forward To:The moment I know what it's like to have a daughter. Having a little boy has been life changing. Although, I may not love cars the way he does or have the same dare devil desire to climb and jump everything like he does, we have such a special mother-son relationship. I'm really excited to share a similar bond with our little girl but experience totally different adventures with her. I'm sure there will be many different characteristics she has and I can't wait to experience them all.