Week 24

 Week 24

How far along?  24 weeks
Maternity Clothes?  I did cave and buy a couple more things but mostly because I had to go out shopping for new bras.  All I'm going to say is that I sure hope I'm the damn Dairy Queen once this baby comes because this is my third bra shopping trip since finding out about baby.  But before I share way too much on the internets, back to the clothing. The inexpensive options are so limited.  The local Old Navy doesn't carry maternity clothes and I'm finding that my size varies wildly depending on brand/style (I'm talking everything from medium to x-large) so ordering online has been a challenge.  I also think I now own just about all of Target's maternity basics.  I really don't want to trek to the Destination Maternity store again because of the prices.  I may try to wait until I get a little bigger and the options are even more limited.  The local consignment shop was having a sale on dresses over the weekend and I was able to get into a non-maternity dress.  It's a little "young" for me but it was so soft and comfortable that I intend to wear it around the house this summer...and it was only $5.
Have you started to show yet?  I think that's a given at this point but I do have a work event this weekend and I'm sure I'll be getting some looks.  I'm curious to see how many people just come out and ask.   I feel like its some kind of social experiment.  It will also be a challenge for me because I'm supposed to wear a suit for 2 days.  We'll see what I squeeze into!
Symptoms:  Over the weekend I noticed that I really have more and more limits.  I think I did a little too much on Saturday and ended up feeling crappy all evening/night.  I was exhausted, all of my joints/muscles ached.  I even got some nausea that I haven't had since the first trimester.  I'm a little worried about the next 5 weeks.  We have non-stop stuff going on.  I think I'm just going to have to force myself to take more breaks...and learn to say no.  Boo.
Activity:  There was a 3-mile shuffle and then more pre-natal yoga.  Better than nothing...
Best moment this week:  The kicks are getting stronger and stronger.  We also hung up all of the "artwork" in the nursery.  And put together the crib.

The crib is a story in itself.  One that I will admit that I have cried over.  My brother and sister-in-law offered to give us their crib.  This was last summer...before baby Megatron came into the picture.  Since we had moved into the house and had plenty of space in the basement crawl space, we went ahead and took it.  So once we found out we were pregnant and the news sunk in a little, The Pilot went to the basement to bring up the crib.  He asked me where the parts (bolts, etc) were.  I figured they were right with the crib...but they weren't.  I didn't really help move the crib into the house other than hold the door so I don't really remember ever seeing a bag of parts.  There was a vague recollection of them sitting on the kitchen table at some point but nothing after that.  My brother was certain he brought them...it's just that no one knows where they went from there. 

I wasn't too worried yet.  I figured The Pilot and I would go through the basement and find them.  Nope.  Both of us separately tore apart the basement.  And when they didn't turn up, we tore apart the ENTIRE house.  I mean we were looking in places that made NO sense at all (the garage, under the bathroom sinks).  Still nothing.  We went to the internet only to find that the crib is no longer made (its 10 years old) and the company doesn't carry the spare parts anymore.

This is when I started to get really frustrated.  Especially since I rarely lose things.  Like never.  I might temporarily misplace something but for the most part, I'm pretty organized and have a decent memory when it comes to those types of things.  Except for this.  I was embarrassed to admit to my brother and sister-in-law that we couldn't find the parts!   It was sort of a joke that anytime someone asked someone else in the family for something, there was usually a comment that whatever it was was probably with the crib parts.  Funny...until it wasn't anymore.  I had visions having to spend hundreds of dollars on a new crib or have our baby sleep in a dresser drawer.

But, thanks to The Pilot's persistence and no fewer than 4 trips to various hardware stores, the crib is together correctly.  We are still waiting on a recall kit from the manufacturer (which they still carried) because it is a drop-side crib which I guess is a no-no these days but we do have a safe place for baby to sleep (once he moves out of our bedroom).
Miss anything? Sleep....Have I mentioned this before?  :)  It's getting worse again thanks to the fact that rolling myself over in bed is quite a production.  And not something I can do without waking up anymore.  There have been a few nights when The Pilot has been home that I've wanted to grab onto him for leverage.   I don't quite understand why rolling over has suddenly become so difficult!  I suppose this is just the slow preparation of things to come.
Movement:  He's definitely getting bigger and stronger because the kicks are getting more and more noticeable.  I could do without the dance party when I'm trying to fall asleep but it's still fun when I feel him moving.
Food cravings:   Two pounds of strawberries went missing sometime between Saturday morning and Tuesday at lunch....  I also get random cravings for french fries but luckily I've been able to push through those for the post part...by eating more strawberries.  Only about 5 more weeks until the local farmer's market opens...I wonder if they will have strawberries.  Or maybe I can diversify with the farmer's market nectarines that I swear the farmer sprinkles crack on right before I buy them...
Gender: Boy!  Still fussing over names.  The Pilot was ready to "shake on it" for one name in particular recently but I just wasn't ready.  I honestly didn't expect it to be this hard, especially since I'm usually pretty decisive. 
Looking forward to: Picking out a name...sharing nursery pictures!  I wanted to wait until we got at least one sheet to put on the crib before taking photos.  :)
What I'm not looking forward to:  It just occurred to me that I'll be the "most" pregnant over the summer months.  As in shorts weather.  And I'm already having trouble tying my shoes.  So you know what else is difficult?  Shaving my legs.  Yeah.

Milestones: Mr. Man is the size of a cantaloupe.  We ran to the grocery after Saturday's walk (and after a trip to the bathroom of course!) and happened to walk by the cantaloupe.  I've never been a huge fan of melon in general so when I picked one up, I was surprised at how heavy it was.  No wonder my lower back always hurts...I've got a cantaloupe pulling on my front.

And just for giggles...this little princess doesn't seem to mind too much that my lap is getting smaller, especially when she can use the belly as a pillow.  She hasn't been kicked in the head yet though so we'll see how long this lasts.