Pregnancy Journey - 20 Weeks

Hello!

20 WEEKS!!! Halfway point!   Now that I'm here, it feels like the time has just flown by.  I found out I was pregnant at the very end of November and now it's almost April.  Holy cow!

This week has been great even though I fought a head cold all week.  I won't say getting through work wasn't tough, but I did it.  I really think the Miso soup each morning and lots of liquids throughout the day helped lots.  I feel a lot better, so I hope I'm over it.  I still deal with congestion daily, but I know that's a common symptom, so I'm not expecting that to go anywhere.  Onto the updates!

 Total Weight Gain:  It was 10 pounds last week at my appointment, so maybe 11 pounds now?

My Body:  My skin is the best its been.  And I mean that overall.  I feel like it's glowing and happy.  Now I could say this and then I go back to having acne tomorrow (like I had in the beginning of my pregnancy), but as of today my skin is fantastic.  I am just going to cherish it while it's like this. 

On Friday night I really think I felt our baby boy moving!  Now I probably shouldn't even say "I think" because I definitely felt something.  I was laying in bed and I felt a movement, so I put my hands on my stomach and I felt it a few more times.  Our baby boy was moving around in there!  It was truly incredible.  Each day since then I've felt it too although sometimes it's so quick.  I tried to have my husband feel right after I feel the first movement, but a lot of what I feel is internal, so it was tough for him to feel it.  I love feeling our baby move.  I think I've been feeling it for a bit now, but sometimes it's so quick that it's hard to distinguish. 

Cravings:  Real food!  

Apple cider vinegar tofu over a salad - recipe here!

 I've just been wanting lots of veggies, grains, tofu, whole wheat noodles, fruit, etc.  This week involved a lot of delicious food and we had my absolute favorite meal of sesame tofu with sweet potato and kale on Sunday night.  That definitely satisfied my craving the best. 

I could eat this everyday!

And then I made vegan chocolate chip cookies for dessert...YUM!  I use this recipe, but made it vegan by using earth balance, flax egg, and grain sweetened chocolate chips, and healthier by using whole wheat flour.  They are so tasty.

  
I am truly inspired to eat the best that I can.  I want to provide as much nutrition to myself and the baby as possible.  I just wouldn't feel right eating junk.  Pregnancy has definitely further inspired me to eat natural, whole foods.

Some eats from the week:  Sesame tofu, massive salad with black beans/tomatoes/avocado with lime vinaigrette, pesto soup (made from cauliflower and basil) with chard and gnocchi, peanut sauce stir fry with a mound of broccoli, rice chips with hummus...

Maternity Clothes:  Maternity pants all the way and some maternity shirts.  I can still wear a lot of my normal shirts and dresses though.

Sleep:  Sleep started out rough this week.  I was up a few hours one night that left me exhausted, but I slept like a champ over the weekend, and one night I slept from 10PM to 6:45AM, no interruptions.  It felt really good and I was pretty amazed I slept that long without getting up.  Last night I was up from 3:15AM to 4:30AM - luckily I did get back to sleep until about 6:30AM though.

Relaxing with Jax.  He's been such a snuggle bug lately.

Best Moments This Week:  Thanks to my wonderful parents, this weekend we got the crib for our baby boy!  My husband and dad put it together.  It converts to a daybed and full size bed as well, which was a feature we wanted.  The men did a great job building it.  Now my husband and I will peek in the room and smile because it's just crazy awesome that there's a crib in there.

The grandparents have been so kind already getting clothes for our baby (THANK YOU!).  We are so grateful.  There are no words for the cuteness of the clothes.

A few other great moments include discovering that tcby serves dairy-free frozen yogurt.  My husband and I went Sunday to go to see Divergent and we got frozen yogurt before.  I was SO EXCITED when I saw that I could get some because there was a dairy-free option.  And before the movie we did some exploring at the mall.  I think those sneaks (pictured above) are so adorable.  We didn't buy them, but I just had to take a picture.

Goals:  As always, exercise more.  I want to continue with healthy eating and trying to get solid sleep.

I know I still have a ways to go, but I'm really so excited to meet this little boy.  I want to enjoy each moment of pregnancy because as I can already tell, the time just flies.