Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Baby Butler is 17 Weeks!

Baby Growth:

Baby Butler is the size of an onion….or a turnip! I love getting these e-mails and reading all about his development each week!

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My Symptoms: Woo hoo! My sinus junk seems to be FINALLY subsiding…thank the Lord! I’m sleeping better, but still feel pretty wiped out most of the time. My face is still breaking out, but my skin is very dry on my face. My tummy felt really uneasy Friday afternoon/evening, but I felt better by Saturday. My boobs feel so full & heavy, and my belly button is definitely flattening out.  My hair is extremely long & thick.

I’ve also noticed that I CANNOT eat big meals. My tummy gets SO full & I’m miserable…so I’m just grazing all throughout the day.

Weight: The battery is dead on  my scale at home (I have batteries in the cabinet, I just haven’t changed them…ha, how lazy!), but I weighed at the gym and was up around 12ish lbs (with shoes on) since the beginning of pregnancy. I need to change the batteries on my home scale so it’ll be more accurate.  That puts me at about 7 lbs during 1st trimester and a lb a week so far during the second.

Gender: Lovin’ our little man already!! I think we have a name too, but Jon said he is not 100% sure and it may change…(but I love it!)

I’m SUPER, SUPER excited about having a little boy!!! I think my mom & siblings may have been the only people I told I wanted a boy, because I TRULY would have been happy either way, but a big part of me really wanted a boy! I think girl nurseries are way cuter (if you can’t tell from my Pinterest boards…), but I LOVE all the little boy clothes! And you always hear about how much little boys love their mamas! Plus, I’m excited Jon has someone to carry on the Butler name.

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Maternity Clothes: Some of my pants are still zipping under my belly, and some of them I just leave unbuttoned and unzipped and rock the Bella band. 

Movement: I had only felt movement once until Saturday, and I felt movement a few more times during the day. This time it felt a little stronger than the flutters I felt the first time (the movement is very low). I felt them again last night…but they weren’t as strong this time. This time it felt more like flutters again. I can’t wait till it’s strong enough that Jonathan can feel it too…

Sleep: I know everyone raves about how pregnancy pillows have changed their life, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around how a pillow can make that much of a difference. And then I got one.  I asked for one for Christmas because I’m too much of a cheapo to buy one for myself, and my MIL decided to spoil me and give me one early.

(**This is the one I have…it’s awesome!)

I have slept SO much better (besides waking up to potty) since having the pillow! THANK YOU, Donna!!! 

Man, between that and the half cup of organic tart cherry juice before bed, I am falling asleep easier and staying asleep better. In fact, I have to DRAG myself out of bed in the mornings. Jon comes in about 5 times (I hit snooze a lot) before he leaves for work to gently try to wake me. Bless his heart, I’m glad he still loves me. (I may or may not be a little grumpy in the mornings.) I know that’s not quality sleep at that point, but who wants to get out of the warm, cozy, comfy bed??

Saturday afternoon I took a whopping 3 hour nap too and IT WAS FABULOUS. Serious business!! Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy it now because I won’t get to do that after the baby is born. Honestly, most of my friends with little ones get plenty of sleep because they have their kids on awesome schedules & they sleep through the night and take naps throughout the day.  Also, I KNOW parenting is hard work, and it’s going to take a while to recover from pregnancy and let my body adjust to being a new mom & breastfeeding, but I can’t imagine that my body will be too much more exhausted than it is now while MAKING another human being!

Cravings: Cookies! I have wanted warm, home baked cookies all week. That is so random…I wonder if maybe it’s from seeing all these delicious pins on Pinterest? I tried to appease the cravings by making cinammon rolls one night, & Jon bought some vanilla Oreos yesterday….and don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed both, but they didn’t quite hit the spot.

Seriously….I want to eat these “pins.”

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What I miss: My hubby! He’s been working late almost every night, and while I’m thankful I married THE hardest working man I’ve ever met, I still really miss him in the afternoons.

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Work Outs: I worked out a few times this week. I just walk or do the elliptical and do some light lifting. We decided we are going to start going to the gym 4x a week (mostly for health We are going to work out Saturdays & Sundays between services, so that just means we have to squeeze it in twice during the week.  Since Jon’s been working late, I have no interest in going to the gym without him (obviously this is pregnancy is slowing me down…I used to be so hard core that I’d go no matter what!). I keep telling myself I’m going to do my DVDs at home….but that hasn’t happened yet. Nope, not even once.

Best Pregnancy Moment This Week: I got a facial and a prenatal massage, and it was fabulous! I traded out some photography sessions for them… totally worth it!!

Questions/Concerns: I can’t help but wonder if I’m not a little further along than we thought. Guess we’ll find out what he’s measuring at our appointment next week!

It seems like most of my other friends who are pregnant have more energy than I do, so I am concerned about that just a little. I feel completely exhausted and can barely get out of my chair at work or off the couch at home. I get up long enough to cook dinner & do a few things that need to be done, but I feel like it takes everything out of me! I try to hold off and wait for that one Spark a day, because that gives me a solid 3-4 hours of productivity….

I’m also getting nervous about breastfeeding because I had a dream one night that I couldn’t…and it made me so sad! This is absolutely a non-negotiable…so I don’t want to put too much pressure on the issue, but at the same time, I REFUSE to give up or quit. (People who knew me well know that when I make up my mind about something….that’s it.) Starting to pray it goes smoothly…

Goals for next week: I wonder if I need to get in bed earlier?? I know I need to get a few Christmas presents done (we aren’t doing much this year anyway, but I know I need to get on it! normally I’m DONE by this time each year!). And of course drink more water & eat more veggies! Oh, and the 4 workouts a week.

Thoughts:  The first trimester seemed to REALLY drag on and I feel like this one is totally flying by!  I cannot believe I am almost 5 months!!! I am SO ready to enjoy Christmas break!!

9 comments:

Tara said...

Breastfeeding was definitely a non-negotiable for me as well, but because my son wouldn't latch on after an extended NICU stay, I had to pump.

That being said - you can totally pump exclusively and not use formula, its just a little more work than plain ole' breastfeeding. So don't have nightmares or worries, if you want to breastfeed you can find a way :) Don't let that stress ya out!!

Erin said...

That pillow looks seriously amazing. How sweet of your MIL to give it to you early so you can enjoy it now ;) I'm not even pregnant and I think I want one, so I can't imagine how nice that must be for ya!!!

Our Little Family said...

Breastfeeding was the only option for me too! I would not even consider giving formula. I worried a lot that I wouldn't be able to. Try not to worry about it!

Kate said...

Don't stress about breast feeding ... If your dedicated it will happen. I do recommend doing your research prior and if a lactation consultant on your area offers classes take them. I had the same pillow and loved it... I think my husband loved it more (sympathy).

I was exhausted my whole pregnancy.. I got some energy at the end - maybe more nerves kicking in... But I could have slept 20hrs a day and still felt exhausted

Ragan said...

Now you know why I still have a pregnancy pillow and take it everywhere!! So happy for a nephew! Yay!!!! Just give me a hint about the name...is it on my list???? When you have a baby its a whole new kind of exhausted but you are so in love it doesn't matter.

Amanda said...

My energy level was in the tanks at that point too. It did get better though. I felt the best between 6 and 8 months! If you can stick with breastfeeding for the first 2 weeks then the rest will be a breeze! Go ahead and go visit the lactation center and discuss any concerns. They really are great there. Good luck! Enjoy the sleep :)

Olivia said...

Take advantage of the lactation consultant...if it wasn't for her I would have given up!!! I had a hard time nursing with my first, but I was bound and determined not to give up. It took a few weeks and several visits with the consultant until my daughter could latch on. After that it was smooth sailing:)

Erin said...

So excited for you! I think almost every mom to be stresses out about breast feeding, society has a way of doing that to us. We took every class possible and I still was stressed about it. My daughter ended up really sick and was hospitalized when she was ten days old. Due to her stress and mine I could not breastfeed ( and I tried everything). I ended up putting her on organic formula. I still felt guilty for a long long time, but she actually had a great immune system ( never got sick again til after 18mo).
Our hospital had an amazing website that had video tutorials that you could look at any time and really helpful spread sheets to help with time.

Chelley N said...

Pregnancy is so different for every single person, so don't worry too much about your energy levels. I tend to be very low energy throughout much of pregnancy as well. Growing a human is hard work!