My 23rd week baby bump story

23rd week

How far along: 22 weeks 6 days
How much do I weigh: 52,7 kg (+ 3,9 kg)
Belly size: Growing, luckily.

Baby Bump Week 23 - 22w6d
Baby Bump Week 23 – 22w6d
Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: Getting up once a night for the bathroom. Sometimes I manage to sleep through until 6am though.
Food (non) cravings: Nothing unusual
Symptoms: Backache from lifting too much, I figured that out now. So next time I use the back machine I need to put on much less weights.
Maternity clothes: Pants
Stretch marks: None
Miss anything: Nope
Looking forward to: Hm, looking forward to my Christmas vacation in four weeks which means only 18,5 days of work 😀
Best happenings this week:

  1. We narrowed our baby names down to six each
  2. I finally made it to my French Course on Monday eve without falling asleep before
  3. Had an OB appointment on Friday, everything is good!

Movement: Yes, daily.
Gender: Baby Boy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy
Sports: Twice a week, on the cross trainer for the warm-up, then 45 minutes strength endurance, then stretching as a cool down.

My 22nd week baby bump story

22nd week

How far along: 21 weeks 6 days
How much do I weigh: 52,2 kg – let the weight gain begin (+ 3,4 kg)
Belly size: I’m loving it <3 [caption id="attachment_3094" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]Baby Bump Week 22 - 21w6d Baby Bump Week 22 – 21w6d[/caption] Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: Good with the usual once-a-night toilet visit
Food (non) cravings: The usual, nothing extraordinary.
Symptoms: None
Maternity clothes: Pants and I bought a classic sweat pullover with hoody and zipper for my expanding belly.
Stretch marks: Nope
Miss anything: No, I got used to eating cheese not made out of raw milk and not eating fish sushi and not eating different types of sausages like Salami.
Looking forward to: My next OB appointment in five days!
(Best) happenings this week: Luckily this week hasn’t been too busy.

  1. Thursday: We looked at hospital #2. A huge thing in the middle of the city. It’s an teaching hospital and medically it’s got everything. It’s got an intensive care unit for babies which is a good thing. But I didn’t feel comfortable in the delivery room and in the hospital generally. We’ll see, we’re planning on looking at two more hospitals.
  2. Friday: We finally changed the tires on our car, we’re now winter approved. We also went to the baby store again to get informed about the price on the stroller we’re interested in. The bubby cooked a lovely Thai dinner for us.
  3. Saturday: Rest day, I did go to the gym for 1,5 hours though, cross trainer for 20 minutes and a bunch of weights for shoulders, legs, arms, back. It felt good. The boyfriend and I made lasagne in the evening, so good!
  4. Sunday: Nice German dinner at my parent’s place. It seems like ages we all ate together (yes, it does).
  5. Actually seeing our baby kick. It’s amazing although I have to admit I’m a bit scared when big-boy has 1+, 2+, 3+ kg and is kicking the insides of my belly.
  6. I figured out I only have 47 more days to work. Wow, that’s less!! Can’t imagine not working but I’ll guess I’ll get used to it. Plus I’ll be having a baby then I’ll want to spend every minute of the day with!
  7. We’ve narrowed down our baby-boy names to 18 each.

Movement: A lot, mostly. And not only do we feel it move, we see how my belly creates bumps because the baby’s butt or feet (or head? or nose?) is kicking against it. Loving it 🙂
Gender: Baby-Boy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy. I’m pretty sure we decided on which stroller to get so that’s one point less to worry (not that we ever worried). I’m moody (or annoyed) when it comes to people telling me that “at 5 months pregnant I didn’t have such a big belly” or “your baby is getting to be a real chunk”. I’m short (160cm) and petit. If I don’t gain on my belly where else should I gain? Hips? Legs? Butt? My belly did grow rapidly from week 16/17 on, true, but I’m happy my boy is growing (and being neither too big nor too small for his “age”). But I don’t like it in general when people compare people to other people. Everybody is unique – why compare?!
Sports: I’m going twice or three times a week for strength-endurance and cardio. I love how my tight gym-tops shows off my belly. I’ve never seen a pregnant woman at the gym before except me 😀

My 21st week baby bump story

21st week

How far along: 20 weeks 6 days
How much do I weigh: 51,9 kg (+3,1 kg)
Belly size: Getting bigger day by day! My colleagues are like “whoa, where did that come from?” almost daily 😀

Baby Bump Week 21 - 20w6d
Baby Bump Week 21 – 20w6d – BA NA NAAAAAA
Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: Pretty good
Food (non) cravings: Nothing unusual, I like to eat.
Symptoms: None
Maternity clothes: Pants only
Stretch marks: I hope not
Miss anything: Nope
Looking forward to: Finally deciding on which stroller to buy.
Best happenings this week: We saw our Baby-Boy again on Thursday at 20 weeks 5 days to have another big scan. Everything is very good with him, he was quite active again. On Thursday he weighed 372g, he’s finally getting fatter.
Baby Boy at 20 weeks 5 days
Baby Boy at 20 weeks 5 days
Baby Boy in 3D at 20 weeks 5 days
Baby Boy in 3D at 20 weeks 5 days

Movement: Almost daily I’d say, no specific time
Gender: Third time approved – we are getting a baby boy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and undecided, regarding the stroller.
Sports: Started again, finally, lifting weights for strength endurance.

My 20th week baby bump story

20th week

How far along: 19 weeks 6 days
How much do I weigh: 51,6 kg (+ 2,8 kg)
Belly size: See my weekly baby bump photo

Baby Bump Week 20 - 19w6d
Baby Bump Week 20 – 19w6d
Belly button in or out: In, but not as far as it used to be
Sleep: Pretty good. I usually just need to get up once.
Food (non) cravings: I eat a lot of fruit and veggies and salad. But also meat and yogurt and bread and cereal.
Symptoms: None
Maternity clothes: Still way too long pants
Stretch marks: Nope
Miss anything: I baked a cake last night and I missed licking the dough off the mixer.
Looking forward to: Seeing my family today
Best happenings this week:

  1. On Sunday morning we both (the bubby and me) felt our little baby kick in my belly. My boyfriend was excited and can’t keep his hands off my belly now anymore.
  2. Bubby and me exchanged baby names last Sunday. Let’s just say we have a very different taste and it won’t be easy finding a baby boy name for our son. It would be so much easier if he’d just agree to every name on my list *sigh*
  3. On Tuesday we got a quite cheap diaper changing dresser from my co-worker which I am till painting white (2-4 layers). It looks nice.
  4. We went to the first birth info-evening at the closest hospital to us on Thursday. It was good, not scary, full of pregnant women and their partners (about 150). The head of the department was telling us what to expect at the hospital when we are going in for labor. The presentation took two hours and then we looked at the delivery rooms.
  5. On Saturday (today) it’s All Saints’ Day here, so my sister, my niece and me drove out to the grave of our grandparents and met with the whole family. It was nice because a lot of family members visited, so we all drove to my parents and went for coffee and cake afterwards. It was nice seeing them all again.

Movement: YES, felt it for sure Sunday morning, at 19 weeks 1 day.
Gender: A baby boy
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!
Sports: Still no, just the regular walk during my lunch break.

My 19th week baby bump story

19th week

How far along: 18 weeks 6 days
How much do I weigh: 50,6 kg (+ 1,8 kg) – I weighed 53 kg at the OB which almost made me faint (it was right in the morning), BUT I had all my clothes and boots on. The last times I always wore summer clothes but this time it was pretty much winter here.
Belly size: It’s getting bigger day by day it seems. Sorry, my hollow-back is showing again, I’ve always had problems keeping my back straight. My trainers at the gym tell me all the time 🙁

Baby Bump Week 19 - 18w6d
Baby Bump Week 19 – 18w6d
Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: Pretty good. I wake up once to go to the bathroom but fall asleep easily
Food (non) cravings: No typical (non) cravings, everything as usual
Symptoms: The uterus is stretching and I can feel it. It didn’t hurt as much this week like it did last week.
Maternity clothes: The pants. They’re a bit too big and I don’t feel too good in them, plus I need to get them shortened. I think if I’d feel comfortable in my maternity pants I’d feel more comfortable with my big belly. I might buy one more pair of pants at a different store.
Stretch marks: Nope
Miss anything: Nope
Looking forward to: Seeing my baby again in two weeks 😀 I’m also looking forward on picking up the diaper changing table in three days and painting that.
Best happenings this week:

  1. Seeing our baby! He’s so active which was nice to see, read about it in the gender reveal post.
  2. Meeting the midwife. She dropped by yesterday afternoon and the bubby and I could meet her personally. She’s very nice and friendly, it seems like she doesn’t want to press her opinion on the mothers but also wants that the moms feel comfortable with their/her choices. She’ll help me after the birth, showing me how to breastfeed, weigh the baby and things like that. I can call her anytime I want before the birth as well but if all goes good with me and the baby, the next time I’ll see her is in February 2015.
  3. Moving the big couch out of the baby room into the living room 🙂 Now we have space for the baby furniture and a huge sitting area in the living room. The colors of the couches don’t match (one is brown, the other one grey) but oh well. It’s the best and only solution.

Here are some photos of our baby

Baby at 18 weeks 5 days
Baby at 18 weeks 5 days
Baby boy in 3D at 18 weeks 5 days
Baby boy in 3D at 18 weeks 5 days
Baby boy in 3D at 18 weeks 5 days
Baby boy in 3D at 18 weeks 5 days
High Three
High Three
Movement: Hm, not sure. This morning in bed I thought I might feel the baby kicking, but nothing obvious. My OB thinks I’ll be feeling him kick very soon. She’s usually right with her thoughts.
Gender: A baby-boy – 100%!!
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy! I don’t think I’m too moody, but you’d have to read the blog of my boyfriend for his opinion. He doesn’t have a blog?! Dang…
Sports: What now?

Boy or Girl? The gender reveal post

At 18 weeks and 5 days baby had its big organ scan.

Before the OB checked the baby, she checked my female parts using a vaginal ultrasound. She checked if my cervix is closed (which it is) and measured how long my neck of the uterus is, which was 4,2cm I think. So all good there. Phew. She also checked the sex of the baby just in case she couldn’t see it in the belly ultrasound. So I knew 100% but my boyfriend, who was waiting in the next room, didn’t. When the OB and me came out of the doctor’s office that was his first question – “what is it??”, so of course, I told him :).

Then we went over to the belly ultrasound to get a good picture of the whole baby. All was good, my OB measured baby’s head, belly and thighbone to figure out the weight which is around 230g.
Then she checked the whole body, started with the brain, the face, the heart, the torso, the arms & legs, hands & feet (he only showed us one foot) and also the blood flow, the baby’s and mine. She turned on the sound for the heartbeats, first the baby’s which is quite fast (wumm.wumm.wumm.wumm.wumm), and then mine. I felt like a big elephant with my slow heartbeat “wumm……………. wumm………….. wumm”.
Everything good, everything there, everybody happy.

The baby was very active and moved around lots. We saw it kicking against my full bladder, ehem 😉

While the OB was checking baby’s heart it was making a somersault. The OB didn’t move her ultrasonic device and all of a sudden, instead of the heart in zoom the baby showed its genital area, it was a sweet and funny moment, especially the comments of my doctor.

Baby really wanted to let us know that it’s a boy!

It's a boy!
It’s a boy! Can you see? 😉
I think he wanted to tell me “Hey Mom, no pink Hello Kitty stuff for me, I know you love pink and Sanrio but, I’m a boy, see?!” It was very sweet.

So I guess I’ll just have to buy pink Hello Kitty stuff for me (but there’s also blue Hello Kitty stuff) and not for my baby, sigh, but I’ll get over it ;). Last year I even bought a new carpet for our office/baby room which is turquoise, so that’s perfect! We are very very happy that the results are all good and that our baby boy is healthy and growing and sportive, just like his parents, hah 🙂

Now we can narrow down our baby names, we already agreed on one name but I’d like to have two or three names we both like and then maybe decide on the final name when our son is born. I also want him to have a second name and that’s something we didn’t talk about at all. But, we have time 🙂