25 Weeks

In front of D's closet...lots of things ready to be organized!

How far along?  25 weeks

Baby Craun's size:  Don Juan is the size of an eggplant.
Total weight gain/loss:  I don't know how this is possible, but the scale this morning says I lost three pounds?! Clearly I'm huge. I've been eating frequently and drinking lots of water, and I probably have bruises inside me from all his movement last night that kept me awake, so no clue what's going on.
Maternity clothes:  A mix of both, but lots of maternity leggings and tights.
Stretch marks?  None but very itchy
Sleep:  Better if Brian doesn't snore! Last couple of nights I haven't gotten much sleep.
Movement:  Lots, especially at night. I think he's going to be a little night owl like I used to be.
Symptoms:  Heartburn, some lower back pain, exhausted the past couple of days - I think I'm beating a potential sinus infection (hopefully it doesn't turn into one!).
Labor signs?  Nope. And I still have no idea what a contraction feels like. I really can't bring myself to read the sections on labor and delivery in the books Jen, Amanda, and Mom gave me. I'll attack them a little bit at a time.
Food cravings:  Anything lemon. And gummy bears. Bri bought me a 3 lb. bag of them!
Miss anything?  Beer. Spiked hot cocoa.
Belly button in or out?  It's starting to get close to flatness. Eww.
Wedding rings on or off?  On
Nursery progress:  We're getting the paint this weekend!
Best moment this week:  Don Juan is strong enough now that his movements can be felt very clearly from the outside. He's kicked Brian in the back and Coco in the belly. The other day, he bounced a magazine around enough that I had to lift it off my belly to read. Pretty cool.
Weekly wisdom:  Both Brian and I find naked belly maternity pictures aversive - 1) no one else needs to see my poor stretched out Casper skin and 2) I can't stand my belly button! I liked my innie! Yes, babies are miracles and yes, some think pregnancy is sexy, but...Maybe we're slightly prudish. It's just weird. Because of our feelings, we weren't going to do maternity pictures; but then I found a shoe pic very similar to our shoe engagement pic so now we are definitely taking pictures (but don't expect naked belly ones). Bess is going to take pics for us sometime by the end of February, and I'll post my favorites of course. Thank you Bessie Love!
Looking forward to:  Sharing Don Juan's real name - When Bri and I talk about him, I refer to him by his real name. How the heck am I going to make it another trimester without accidentally revealing it?!

24 Weeks

How far along?  24 weeks
Baby Craun's size:  The size of a standard letter, only heavier. He weighs about 1.5 pounds now. He's starting to put on some baby fat so his skin is less see through. And he has eyebrows, eyelashes, and some hair, but that hair doesn't have pigment yet...Julie's hoping for brown or blond!
Total weight gain/loss:  No change from last week.
Maternity clothes:  Mostly in maternity pants and leggings, and wearing a lot of dresses a size up from what I normally wear or all the stretchy stuff from before.
Stretch marks?  Nope. I've been slathering on the lotion to keep the itching at bay, so hopefully it works for stretch marks too.
Sleep:  Could be better, but no complaints.
Movement:  Lots. Coco got freaked out by it the other day - ears back, looking at and sniffing my belly to try to figure out what the heck kicked her.
Symptoms:  Heartburn and an achy back every now and then. On the positive side, my hair is super thick! When I was getting my hair done my hair stylist told me that when she quit breast feeding, her hair fell out in clumps! Like I need anything else to freak out about!
Labor signs?  No but my doctor explained what contractions feel like and when I should go to the hospital - let's hope that's not for awhile yet.
Food cravings:  Lemon or peppermint anything.
Miss anything?  Margaritas. Peppermint schnapps. Beer. Can you tell work has been rough lately?
Belly button in or out?  No real change from last week.
Wedding rings on or off?  On
Nursery progress:  Jen gave us some of Laney and Brinley's gender neutral stuff so I started in on organizing things. And Brian and I (mostly me though) bought a few clearance items at Younkers and Target, so the closet has quite a few clothes already spanning from newborn to 24 mos. It's ridiculously hard to pass up Younker's yellow dot and items at Target for $5 or less. Also, Meg finished the painting that we asked her to do for the little guy - it's amazing! I'm seriously in awe of her talent! The pic below is a preview she sent before she put all her finishing touches on it.

Best moment this week:  There were so many wonderful moments this week that I can't pick just one! First, Adam and Ally were home from Texas, and Adam proposed to Ally while they were home! I'm so excited for them, but can't believe that my little brother is really old enough to get married. We also got to see my Aunt Pam, Uncle Ken, and Grandpa Lyle on Saturday. There was a lot of baby talk, and Laney is so excited for us. So much so that she told me she wanted to see the baby as she tried lifting my dress up! Sunday we celebrated Lauren's last birthday of her 20s with a yummy dinner (I love Mexican food) and a birthday cake I made (lemon of course). Brian and I both had Monday off so we went to Target to register. Those scanning guns are so fun! The long weekend was very busy and I'm so thankful that I've been feeling well most days.



Adam and I have the same size belly now!

Weekly wisdom:  Okay, I'm extremely thankful we're having a boy first. I had a moment of disappointment when we first found out the gender, but that lasted a nano-second. If Baby C was a girl, I think I would have spent a bajillion dollars on clothes, shoes, accessories, decor, etc already (not to mention how a life time of that will be!). When I'm out and about I'm always finding things that I would like in a little girl's room someday. I've found cute boys' things - obviously since I didn't really have problems choosing stuff for the nursery or clothing - but nothing close to the amount of girls' things I've found.

Looking forward to:  Finishing the nursery. I've done almost all I can before the painting weekend, so I'm getting anxious to get the walls and crib painted, and the art up. Especially excited after seeing Megan's awesome work!

23 Weeks

How far along?  23 weeks. Oh man, my belly's getting big.

Baby Craun's size: Apparently he's still the size of a papaya but weighs a little more.

Total weight gain/loss:  Gained a couple of pounds this week, so now I'm at +4.

Maternity clothes: Needing to wear them more often now. I all the sudden have what Brian calls a "mini-Jeff Carlson belly". Which reminds me, pretty soon I'll need to take a picture with daddio to compare his belly and mine like Jennifer and Laurie did.

Stretch marks?  Not yet, but I've been itchy. Bess freaked me out by saying that itches = stretch marks. I hope that's not true. Bring on the cocoa butter!

Sleep: Depends on the night and how tired I am. Work has been so busy lately that I just pass out at night.

Movement: Lots of movement, especially at night when I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep.

Symptoms:  My poor ankles have started swelling on some days. The double whammy of chronic tendonitis and pregnancy are going to make me crippled. I had what Laney called a nightmare that my feet and ankles swelled way up and I looked like I had elephantitis...she asked if I woke up shaking from my nightmare. I just woke up highly disturbed!

Labor signs?  No

Food cravings:  None really, just still missing cold turkey sandwiches and sushi. I never realized how much I actually ate those things until I got pregnant.

Miss anything?  Actually, I miss hard core workouts. I really miss being able to punch/kick a punching bag. I miss running a lot too. Who would have thought I'd say these things!

Belly button in or out? It's really shallow. Eww. For some reason this just really freaks me out.

Wedding rings on or off? On most of the time.

Nursery progress: Nothing new to report as you can see above.

Best moment this week: I visited Amanda and her new son Quinten earlier in the week. It's still so crazy to me that women are able to give birth - that a human being grows inside of us! He is super cute and didn't cry at all the entire time I was there. Hoping that our little guy has some of the same traits!

Weekly wisdom: I feel so blessed to have so many kind friends and family! We have been able to get so many hand-me-downs - a crib, changing table, a rocking chair, a highchair, a pack and play, and a bouncer thingy. Plus my crafty mom is able to make us pillows and a cushion for the window seat, and Megan painted one of the pictures we wanted for the room. We sure are lucky!
Looking forward to: Seeing Adam and Ally tomorrow and Grandpa Lyle on Saturday!

22 Weeks



In front of the Crauns' Charlie Brown Christmas tree

How far along?  22 weeks
Baby Craun's size:  He's the size of a papaya. Sounds yummy! What to Expect When You're Expecting says that he is one whole pound now and 8 inches long. They compare him to the size of a small doll - dolls are creepy!
Total weight gain/loss:  Gained about 1.5 lbs in the last week so at +2 lbs now.
Maternity clothes:  Found some old clothes that were too big for me before and they fit now - free new clothes!
Stretch marks?  Negatory
Sleep:  Depends on the night. Some nights are good and others aren't.
Movement:  Lots! He's rolling around, kicking, and punching all the time.
Symptoms:  My hips are hurting from sleeping on my side but other than that mostly okay. I'm starting to get out of breath a lot easier than I did before and I have heartburn more frequently. Oh, I'm also a huge space cadet. It's horrible. I'm sure there was something I was planning on including in this blog and forgot.
Labor signs?  Nope. But Similac, who has been sending me emails since I went to Motherhood one day a few months ago, freaked me out in this week's email...apparently Braxton-Hicks contractions can start as early as week 22. Yikes.
Food cravings:  Peppermint, sushi, cold turkey sandwiches, crab rangoons...I actually had a dream the other night that I was eating a cold turkey sandwich!
Miss anything?  Sleeping on my back. I feel like a broken record because it's basically the same thing every week.
Belly button in or out?  It's getting pretty shallow...I liked my belly button the way it was!
Wedding rings on or off?  Wedding band is still on but the diamonds are off only because they're at the jewelers getting re-tipped.
Nursery progress:  We scheduled the date for painting. I have one month to finish getting the room completely cleared out and cleaned. And I finished the caterpillar picture the other night. It turned out pretty cool! We also found our rocking chair - thank you soon-to-be Grandma and Grandpa Craun!

Best moment this week:  Brian got to feel Baby C move for the first time on New Year's Day. What a great way to start the year! We also had a ton of fun in Sergeant Bluff celebrating Christmas with Bri's family. We spent Saturday bowling, and of course Mr. State Champion beat everyone every single game. Then we went back to the Crauns' and I tried pheasant and wild turkey for the first time - not a huge fan.
Weekly wisdom:  Baby's are expensive! We went on our first day care tours this week and of course the first one we went to is only like the best ever. It set a really high standard and I'm a little concerned that I'm not going to be willing to settle for less just because the price tag is less. We looked at three centers in WDM and have been researching in-homes. The other centers are just as expensive and not as nice. The high quality, registered in-homes have no openings. So we might be going to the first place, but are going to look at a few other options. Anyway, I did a quick little budget for us the other night and realized how much we're really going to have to cut back on the eating out, drinking in bars (Bri), and shopping (me). Ouch.
Looking forward to:  Next weekend! Adam and Ally will FINALLY be home, and we're making a day trip up to Waterloo to visit Jen, Ryan, and the girls, and Grandpa Lyle will be coming too.

On another note, thank you all for the positive feedback on the blog! I've had fun writing it each week and sharing our progress toward parenthood.
~ Nicole