This week has been a real doozy. In a good way though. For the most part I’ve been a homebody, and I like to keep it that way when I’m not feeling 100%. Because my birthday, valentine’s day, and a family trip all fell in the same week, I’ve had to be a human being far more than I felt up to. I’m glad to be back home, but I’m so grateful for all of the things I’ve been able to do and people we got to see out-of-town. It didn’t start off that great when we got on the road Tuesday afternoon with a four and a half hour drive ahead of us. Let’s just say that every pregnant woman might indeed need a barf bag or two stashed in the car in case of emergencies. This is the third time this has happened to me, and I’m very glad that my husband suggested it when I first got pregnant last year. Pulling over on the side of the road isn’t always an option when you feel your breakfast, lunch, or dinner rising up.

My husband has some family in LV so this is our fourth or fifth trip together being able to see in-laws and nieces and nephews. It’s really crazy seeing the kids change drastically from one visit to another. My family is so different because our child will actually be the first grandchild to my parents as compared to my husband’s youngest niece already being the sixteenth (I believe) to his parents. Our time spent in Vegas is usually low-key with family outings, meals, and quality time in our hotel rooms. I’m not much of a party animal, so I always like going to Vegas to see the pretty lights and attractions, but my favorite parts are the more intimate ones.

We finally got to meet our niece who was born last summer and my brother and sister in-law that had her actually made us a diaper cake and spent time giving us advice and answering my many questions about babies and parenthood. Isn’t the cake adorable? It feels like our baby shower has already begun:

That was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Another awesome part of this past week was seeing friends once we got back in town. They treated us to the play and dinner and we had a great time in Long Beach. I always get anxiety when it comes to making plans because I hate cancelling on people and not really knowing how I’m going to feel once the date arrives. The last time we made plans to see a play with them it was to see The Nutcracker and I had to cancel because I was throwing up all day. *shakes fist* Although I needed to use my handy-dandy puke bag on the way there, by the time we sat down for the play, I was actually able to enjoy it. When dinner rolled around, I was pretty much feeling normal, and it was nice to talk about pregnant people stuff since our friends are also expecting a summer baby the same month we are.

If you’ve been comparing my belly photos to each other, you’ll notice that the bump has gotten much bigger in a matter of weeks. Oh my goodness, I can hardly believe it! I’ve been wearing more flowing clothes, so it’s been hard to tell just how much I’m growing, but a big mistake on my part actually helped me to see the drastic change. When I was packing for Vegas, I put all of my dresses in a wardrobe bag and hung it on the back of the door. When it was time to leave, I brought everything but that bag. I was planning on only wearing dresses, but packed a few other items like my biggest jeans and shorts just in case I was feeling fancy. Having to wear those clothes was very uncomfortable, and I will officially need some kind of maternity something if I ever wear pants the rest of this pregnancy. I really don’t know how some pregnant women are able to wear their normal pants all the way into their third trimester. My belly bump has stayed low this entire time with no signs of rising up and out of the way.

One thing I will say concerning the growing is that I feel really bad for the women who say how fat they look or how gross they feel during pregnancy. I think it’s such a beautiful and wonderful time. Of course I feel like an alien sometimes because my body is changing in ways it never has, but it’s not forever…and it’s not ugly. I’ve even seen people comment on my friend’s social media posts of their belly bump and mention things like “Uh oh, somebody’s getting fat.” and I’m thinking, “Can I please slap you across the face right now?” What are they thinking?

I think the worst thing about “expanding” is really just the discomfort. It’s kinda hard to breathe, sit, or sleep. That takes some getting used to and it’s not very lovely feeling. I joked with my friend about feeling like that character on “Malcolm in the Middle” who’s friends with Malcolm. He talks…(deep breath)…like…(deep breath)…this. Sometimes I have to just stop mid-sentence while I’m talking to my husband about something and lay down because everything takes so much effort and my pulse is constantly beating faster than the average bear. And don’t even take me up or down a flight of stairs…unless you want to be there all day. (All of this is normal, by the way. Please don’t call the ambulance for me.)

You’re probably tired of hearing about me being freaked out by the baby in there, but I have to at least post this. Yes, the baby is still tap-dancing and getting bigger and stronger. I think I said this before, but sometimes if s/he’s re-positioning, I can actually see my belly moving around. Lately though, something else happened. I’ll start it off by saying that I have the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” application on my phone. They have forums where other women who are due at the same time post topics and people comment on them. One woman posted a photo of her stomach looking very lopsided and one side was higher than the other. I was thinking “What the heck is that?!!!” Her caption was “Sometimes I wake up and my stomach looks like this. Lol.” Other women chimed in saying they also experienced that when the baby is nestled over to one side of the uterus. I was really hoping that wouldn’t happen to me because it just looked so weird and nobody ever told me that could happen.

Lo-and-behold, the other night I’m laying in bed flat on my back talking to my husband and I look down to see my belly way higher on the right side and I freaked out. I told him to put his hand over it like that would make it go away. Yeah, that didn’t work. So I kept saying how weird it was and poking at it while my super calm husband tried to calm me down. I tried to make it even out by laying on my left side and it kinda worked. I could feel the baby crawling its way to my left side–very weird feeling–and then I laid on my back again and noticed the lump just ended up way on the left side. The baby was probably thinking “Ummmm, could you stop? I really need to get some rest.” Oh, the adventures of pregnancy.

I look forward to posting next week and hopefully knowing the gender of our little lamb. Until then:

Age and size of baby:

19 weeks old, 6.5 inches long, 10 oz in weight.

Cravings:

Ummm, everything please. I think it’s pretty normal when you stay at a hotel to eat the worst stuff. I had my fair share of chilli cheese fries, nachos, pizza, ice cream and burgers. I’d probably at least bring some fruit or more water to have in the hotel room next time.

Morning sickness:

Ugh.

Stretch marks:

No new stretch marks at the moment.

Crazy hormones:

Feeling tired and nauseous and having so much to do really took its toll this week. It’s very frustrating and hard to stay calm, but I think I did a pretty good job keeping myself under control.

Sleeping habits:

I’ve been trying to sleep on my sides, but honestly, sleeping on my back with pillows supporting my legs has been feeling really good this week.

So, that’s that for now.  Be blessed and take time to make your dreams into your reality.

-Kytia L’amour