Baby Bump: 24 weeks

My how time flies ... and how Baby Kelly is growing!  Topping out at about a pound and a quarter and 12 inches long (length of an ear of corn) we have a mover and shaker.  I started to feel distinct and regular movement last week and the baby seems to be most active in the afternoon / evening.  My doctor assured me this week that I won't feel anything strong at this point, but will notice more active movements over the next month as the poundage is packed on. 

I had a pretty good 23 week appointment ... a bigger weight gain and another slightly elevated blood pressure, but candidly I haven't been eating or working out the way I should be.  I needed to hear that to literally get my butt in gear and exercise will help with both.  A regular 4-5 days a week doing cardio or yoga and focusing on portion size and quality of food (fruits and veggies and not giving into the sweet tooth as much) should be just what the doctor ordered.  Otherwise I'm measuring right on track and we heard a very healthy heartbeat.  Next month is the initial glucose screening and hopefully I "pass" the first round and don't have to advance to the 3-hour test. 


Baby Kelly continues to move through the produce section ... carrot to spaghetti squash to mango to corn.
** All sizing pictures courtesy of BabyCenter.com **

"Fun" (but totally worth it) side effects include the beginning stages of waddling, indigestion like no other (this baby better have a full head of hair!!), being out of breath much easier than before and more regular headaches.  Regarding the gender ... we still don't know the details, but I have had two distinct dreams about delivering a baby boy. Mike and his Mom have also had dreams that I had a baby boy, so more often than not we default to calling the Baby a "him."  We'll be elated either way, but it will be interesting to see if our minds were playing tricks on us or not : )

This weekend we painted the nursery and ordered the crib and I am really excited to see it all come together!  The nursery has been a bit of an exercise in patience for me, with three out of town weekends in a row in January and unexpected extra work required with the wainscoting.  I may or may not have had a nervous breakdown last week over the fact that I HATE having an unfinished project.  I'm a bit OCD as is, but mix in pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep and you would have thought the world was coming to an end.  Luckily a full blown crisis was averted by a supportive husband : ) Stay tuned as we finish the nursery, start birthing classes and continue to tour daycare centers, and in the meantime, enjoy some "bump" pictures.