Pregnancy: 24 Weeks

24 weeks down, about 15 weeks to go! That still feels like a LONG TIME to wait! But, with fall just around the corner, I think (pray!) that the next few months fly by! I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR. I love cooler mornings and falling leaves... I love Halloween decorations and trick-or-treating... I love Thanksgiving dinners and getting together with family... I love the Christmas season and decorating the tree... AHHHH How could anyone not love September through December!? Best time of the YEAR! Plus I'll have several breaks OFF WORK. I have 8 seminars to put on this semester and 1 four-day conference to attend... I am going to be (already am) SWAMPED over the next few months! With all this stuff going on, I'm sure time will go by much quicker and before we know it, baby girl will be here!

One last thing: NO, WE HAVE NOT PICKED A NAME! And don't expect one anytime soon; it's so much pressure! 

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Today's Date: 9/1/17 (y'all, for real, I typed out 8/32/17 at first...)

How many weeks: 24 weeks (+1 day...)

Trimester: 2nd

How big is the baby?: About the length of an ear of corn... approximately a foot long and weighing in at over a pound!

Gender: Girl!

Weight gain: 18 lbs. That's all I'm saying.

Food cravings: One day last week... I wanted salad. That was weird. Now I'm back to normal, so no cravings.

Food aversions: In the evenings now I want to EAT and I am SO hungry, but nothing sounds good. It's weird. Nothing makes me sick or turn my head, it's just that sometimes nothing sounds very appetizing. It's a foreign thing for me to experience...

Diet: I have done a lot better the past couple of weeks. My daytime meals are basically the same, but in the evenings I've stopped eating the entire pantry. Most nights, between 8-10 when I would normally consume 600 extra calories in cereal or ice cream (you think I'm kidding?), I've started drinking decaf coffee instead. It usually keeps me from overeating right before bed and ruining the whole day. 

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

Mid-morning snack: Granola bar or banana

Lunch: chicken, rice, sweet potato, and cooked veggies (bell peppers, onion, broccoli). I top it off with cheese.

Afternoon snack: Protein bar and an apple.

Dinner: Protein source, like chicken, tuna, steak, eggs... Carbs, usually white bread. Not the greatest but it's better than ice cream, right?

Evening snack: Decaf coffee, prepared just like my morning coffee. If I'm still hungry afterwards I might have a package of fruit smiles (but I throw the purple ones in the trash! Yuck!) or crackers, mayyyyybe peanut butter ;)

Exercise: Hanging in there! Going to the gym 3-4 times a week, modifying when necessary. This week I did Fran at RX! It was slower than my fastest time, but faster than my slowest ever time, so I'm calling it a win! Trying to focus more on strength these past couple of weeks because of some odd pains I've been having when I do a lot of cardio... see below...

Aches and pains: Pelvic pain. Yes, for real. Also butt/lower back pain. These both get worse when I do anything jarring, like running or jumping (even if I go slow... sometimes even walking hurts!). This has been realllly difficult to cope with because I love workouts that incorporate a lot of running, but last weekend I almost had to stop during the workout because of the pain in my pelvic bone. Google (a reliable source, I've heard) says it isn't uncommon. Well for me it is! I didn't have this issue with Jordan! I was also a lazy sloth with him, too, so maybe that has something to do with it. I'll ask my doc at the next appointment. 

Also my normal other stuff, like hips and knees. Heartburn has gotten worse, but not terrible.

Maternity clothes: I ordered more! I can still wear my stretchy skinny jeans, but they're getting too tight in the LEGS AND BUTT.

Favorite moment this week: Feeling her squirm and kick, I'd forgotten how magical it feels to carry around another human being inside of me 24/7. You just can't ever forget about being pregnant. I'll be in the middle of a meeting at work, or working out at the gym, or eating lunch... and there she is, kicking and making her presence known!

Looking forward to: Going to the farm this weekend! I haven't visited my parents in a while (work work work), so we're packing up to go down and spend a couple of days. Few things beat drinking a cup of coffee while sitting on their front porch with my mom. It is so peaceful.

I definitely have a noticeable BUMP now!
My butt is doing a heck of job trying to keep up...