(Week 23) Sunday, May 31, 2020 According to the “What To Expect” App, the baby is growing quite a lot over the next couple of weeks! I have been a bit more tired than usual. I’ve been taking daily naps for the past few days which I haven’t done since around week 10-13. I have also been waking up quite a lot at night still. I get charley horses almost each night before bed which is really common. Luckily it goes away after a couple of minutes. I definitely am starting to get to the point in my pregnancy where people would either think I’ve gained weight, or they suspect I am pregnant. It’s that awkward time where you don’t want to ask someone if they are pregnant and offend them, however.

We painted the baby room this past week. I am in love with the colors and theme we chose. We went with calm sea foam green and gray color. On one of the walls we painted mountains and they turned out so awesome.  Looking forward to seeing how the whole room turns out! 

On another note, I am really starting to wonder what this world is coming to. We are bringing a baby into the world and there is basically a war breaking out in the city of Minneapolis. Last week, a white cop arrested and suffocated a black man. This was not the first time this happened. Black men have been killed by cops multiple times in this city. The protests are big this time, and the rioters are lighting buildings on fires. It’s really scary to know this is the world we live in. We can only bring a child into this world and teach them to respect every type of person. Teach equality and love. That is exactly what we plan to do. I know that many people in our generation are going to raise children like this, so there is hope for the future. But for now, we fight. 

(Week 26) June 19th Wow, I am about to enter the third trimester of pregnancy. I can’t believe it! The time seems to have gone by really fast. Maybe part of that is because I’ve had a fairly easy pregnancy thus far? Either way, I am very grateful that my pregnancy has been healthy and well so far! 

We have successfully completed our annual trip to the Boundary Waters. I was worried about going pregnant. Andy was a bit worried about having a pregnant wife in the Boundary Waters and needing to deal with any issues that arise. We are happy to say that we had no issues. We did plan an easier than the typical route for us. I had plenty of energy to paddle and portage to the sites. I did enjoy a nap in the hammock a handful of times! I slept the best that I have ever slept in quite some time. The fresh air did a lot! I didn’t wake up nearly every hour. It was the most peaceful sleep. Thinking about putting the tent up in the backyard to have peaceful sleep the remainder of the pregnancy! 

Some symptoms I’ve experienced in the last few weeks are heartburn but only at night. It never lasts too long and I haven’t needed to take any medicine for it yet. 

Many people are telling me I am finally starting to have a belly. I think over the next few weeks the belly is really going to pop and it will be obvious. 

I have still been able to work out regularly and it feels great! The gyms re-opened last week since COVID. I started going to the gym again. I was worried about going back to a gym especially with being pregnant, but since I’ve seen the protocols of the cleaning and sanitizing the gym takes in between fitness classes, I feel much more comfortable. People are spaced 6 feet away and I always bring my own mat. 

(Week 29) July 6, 2020 It’s hard to believe I am in the third trimester now! I had a 29-week appointment last week, and everything is going as it should. There was some trouble getting good images in the ultrasound of the head so it seemed to take longer, but once the technician was able to get it everything went smooth. The baby is growing well, and the baby is now measuring at a due date of Sept 19 (instead of Sept 21.) I cannot believe it’s only 2 months away! 

I am still feeling good. Last week I started to finally feel some real kicks! Prior to last week, I was feeling little bubbles/bumps that felt like heartbeats. I watched a girl on YouTube who reassured me that this was normal for someone who has a front-facing placenta (anterior) like me. For this reason, mom doesn’t start to feel the kicks until later. 

I was so happy when I did start to feel kicks last week because it was another reassurance that everything is going well! Baby is really active at night between 9-10:30 so I feel the kicks as I am trying to fall asleep! Sleeping has been a huge challenge lately. I wake up about every hour and cannot seem to get comfortable enough to stay in a deep sleep. I often wake up with charlie horses too. I was able to see my stomach moving from the kicks for the first time after I did some yoga the other morning. The stomach was moving so much! Another awesome reassurance that baby is in there and saying hello. 

We have the nursery looking pretty good! It is painted, the furniture is in there, and I have been washing clothes. I got a huge collection of free clothes off Facebook marketplace so we are set for the first few months of the baby. They are fairly gender-neutral clothes, too.

(Week 30) July 13, 2020 I cannot believe I’ve made it to week 30! That means there are only 9 weeks to go…or less if the baby comes early! The kicks are getting so strong. Last night Andy had his arm over my stomach and the baby was kicking his arm so hard. I think it was the baby’s way of saying the arm was too heavy. 

People keep asking what it feels like inside my stomach.  It’s those butterflies and motion feelings you get in your stomach when you are going down a big roller coaster hill. I think that happens when the baby is turning. I still have had no awful symptoms. I am much less tolerant of the heat. I was in a yoga flow class this past weekend and the temperature was what it’s normally at, 80 degrees. I was sweating so much harder than normal! After class I asked the yoga instructor if she cranked the heat up. 

I am also realizing that my time outside in the sun is less tolerant too. We had a baby shower this Saturday outside, and my face was beat red for a portion of it. So I am here to say it’s true when pregnant women have a low tolerance to the heat! Speaking of the baby shower, it was a perfect baby shower hosted by my parents. We had it at our house since we have the space to do it outdoors. Some of the family did not attend due to COVID, but we were able to have them join in on zoom and watch gift opening and I gave them a virtual tour of the baby nursery.