Live. Love. Workout.: Pregnancy: 22 Weeks

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Am I an elephant? Because they endure pregnancy for 3 years and that's how I'm feeling right about now. People who say their pregnancy went by so fast... bunch o' liars! Ask my son, he'll vouch for me. "IT'S TAKING FOREVER, MOM, WHEN IS THE BABY GONNA BE HERE!?!?" And we are just barely over halfway. How am I ever going to make it without going crazy!?!?

This baby's movements have really picked up the past week. Yesterday she moved and squirmed alllllll day. I've decided that either she only sleeps at night, or she is a crazy sleeper like my other two kids and just kicks and wiggles in her sleep. OR... she never sleeps at all. Thinking back on Jordan's early days (years...) that's probably most likely.

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Today's Date: 8/22/17

How many weeks: 22 weeks 6 days

Trimester: 2nd

How big is the baby?: About the size of a spaghetti squash (at our ultrasound last week she measured about 11 inches, approximately 1 pound.)

Weight gain: 18 lbs. Y'all. I'm gaining so fast that at this rate I'm going to put on MORE than I did with Jordan... WHICH WAS OVER 55 POUNDS. I did so good the first 18 weeks. And now I'm packing on up to 2 pounds EACH WEEK. My body loves being pregnant and packing on the fluff. OH WELL I'LL GET OVER IT. Right!? This baby seems to be taking up space in my thighs, butt, face, back, and boobs... really, kid!? But I'm going to keep tracking it and taking all the dumb bump photos so that someday I can look back and appreciate what my body has done. As for right now, I'm just super annoyed and self-conscious... LOLTKFC (laughing out loud to keep from crying)

Food cravings: Nothing specific... just ALL THE FOODS.

Food aversions: None. Like literally. Feed me anything, I'll be fine.

Gender: Girl!

Diet: I watch what I eat. I watch it while it's on the fork/spoon all the way to my mouth. HA. But no, really, I'm still tracking all my food on MyFitnessPal. They say 2nd trimester your body needs about 350 extra calories a day... not sure I believe this considering how my body is reacting to all these "necessary" extra calories. But I'm also grateful for the excuse to eat more, because I'm hungry. All the time.

Breakfast: usually coffee (with coconut oil, milk, honey, and vanilla extract).

Mid-morning: I'll have a snack, like a banana, apple, protein bar (I was eating peanut butter all the time but I ran out and refuse to bring another jar to work with me... I can't be trusted)

Lunch: chicken, rice, and grilled veggies (whatever I have on hand - usually always bell peppers, carrots, onion, tomato). And I usually add pepperjack cheese! Mmmmm.

Afternoon snack: Protein bar, fruit, or veggies with some ranch.

Dinner: Everything that exists in my pantry. I usually cook and we have family meal in the evenings, but it's definitely my "heaviest" meal of the day. Meat, potatoes, vegetables, BREAD. And I tend to eat wayyyy too much.

Evening snack: Even worse than dinner. Ice cream, cereal, popcorn, fruit snacks... sometimes just one of these, sometimes all of the above. HA!

Exercise: The "want to" part of it is getting harder, because it's physically getting so much harder and ugh... I get so HOT and I SWEAT soooooooo much. If you know me, you know that on a normal day, pre-pregnancy, I would sweat more than the average male. Add the extra weight/blood supply/whatever else goes on... and I'm drenched before the workout starts. It's embarrassing. BUT... I'm still doing it. I just do it reallllly slow and my breathing feels like it's louder than the music and I leave a puddle of sweat wherever I go.. but I still do it.

Aches and pains: Back, hips, legs, feet, knees... But mostly hips. And my shoulder.. LOL I don't think I can blame that one on pregnancy, though...

Maternity clothes: YES. I can still fit into a lot of my dresses and SOME of my [super stretchy] jeans... but I realllllly need new clothes. Even my "big" comfy shorts are getting tight. JOY.

Favorite moment this week: ULTRASOUND! (technically this was last week but I'm behind, here). This little baby is a SQUIRMER, just like her brother was. The nurse had a hard time getting all the anatomy measurements because she wouldn't stop moving around.

As you know, it's a GIRL! I had a feeling it was (not because of my stellar maternal instincts, those are broken). This pregnancy has been so different from last time, so I suspected it. But still... hearing "It's a girl!" was a shock. A girl?? Ali is almost 12 and I came around when she was 3, past the "baby" phase of her life. What on earth does one do with a baby girl? Is pink mandatory? Do I have to make her wear bows? LOL All I know is dirt and cars and sports and He-Man and Power Rangers... even growing up, I was a tomboy... what an adventure this will be!

Looking forward to: Baby Showers! Really... just anything to distract myself from how long this is taking. 16-17 MORE WEEKS.