Week 25

How far along: 25 weeks – began September 11, 2017.

Size of Baby: Napa cabbage (14 inches long, 2 pounds)

Milestones: BB's lungs continue to develop and his nostrils are starting to open. His hair is thickening (although, there's a chance he might be a bald baby like me!) and he's developing a sense of balance, which will help him rotate toward his birthing position eventually. Based on the way I feel him move, it seems like he still prefers lying sideways like he's in a hammock.

Best Moment This Week: Lately, I've been feeling different movements such as an individual limb shifting back and forth and what I believe to be flipping. There have even been a couple times when I swear he was spasming. I was a little worried at first, but saw online that a lot of people experience this sensation and it can anything from BB's developing nervous system causing him to twitch to a case of the hiccups... so it's totally normal.

What I’m Looking Forward To: I'm excited to send out all of my baby shower invitations this weekend. I meant to get them out earlier, but I changed venues at the last second and had to redo the invitations. You should be receiving yours soon! Originally, we booked the library since it's one of the only free locations in town, but it didn't end up having enough space to fit everyone. Thankfully, my friend told me about the Raygun Community Room and it's so much nicer and has pretty much everything we need. The seating and tables are eclectic and there's all of this great photography of local musicians hanging throughout the space. It's perfect, and I'm so grateful for everything my friends and family are doing to help make the day memorable.

What I Miss The Most: As time goes on, everyday tasks become more difficult. The other day, I lifted a relatively light bag of laundry and ended up pulling a muscle and hit the bottom of my belly on the table when I sat down for dinner. No harm was done, but it's challenging being so conscientious of my shape and limitations all the time!

Symptoms: Getting some aches and pains in my belly muscles and for a couple days, I was severely exhausted to the point where it felt like I wasn't even getting enough oxygen. I attribute this to the growing pressure on my lungs and BB taking all of my energy to grow. I checked my blood oxygen and that looked good, so even though I'm feeling winded, it's not as bad as it seems. Also, getting a little nausea from time to time, but that's also probably from BB starting to push on my stomach. Friday at work, everything started to smell overpoweringly perfumy and I thought that it was all in my head when one of my coworkers said she didn't detect anything. I began to chalk it up to sinus issues or a phantom smell, but I checked with another staff member downstairs and she said an individual was dosing herself in perfume near the lobby, so I was just picking up on it from second floor. My nose hasn't been very powerful since first trimester, so I was surprised the super sense of smell came back so strong! At least I wasn't imagining things.   

Cravings: White Cheddar Cheese-Its have been my go-to, but I've also been eating figs, apples, bananas, and a variety of desserts. One of my favorite sweet treats this week was coconut cream pie! Still working on eating lots of healthy protein and fat to help fuel BB's brain development!