25 Weeks

25 weeks and still doing great!

I've maintained my vegetable obsession. I am eating a lot of salads! I also could probably eat my body weight in french fries and ketchup. Fortunately, I don't indulge in this semi-constant craving very often.

And I can't wait for WATERMELON to be in season! I'm too cheap to buy it now when it's still pretty pricey!

I am usually eating every 3-4 hours. I've moved past those normal/large sized meals and now I pretty much just eat small meals all day if I am at home. Especially after eating a salad - it doesn't stick with me for very long!

I like how I started this post by talking about food. :)

Now that the weather has kind of turned a corner and daytime highs are much nicer, I *try* to go on a walk almost every day. Duke gets to come with me once in awhile. The last time I took him with me, he saw a squirrel and tried to take off running, jerking me to the left. Fortunately, I always have his leash wrapped through and around my wrist, so I didn't hurt myself. But it got me thinking that I need to be careful when I walk him, even though 99% of the time he walks very nicely right next to me. When I go for a walk with my neighbor, Duke is usually not invited because he gets too excited and has a really hard time walking in a straight line, making me exert WAY more effort than I should have to on a walk.

The last couple of times I have gone walking, my lower back has ached during and after the walk. Ava is sticking far enough out of my belly that it has changed my posture, causing the lower back pain. So it's a little disappointing to feel discomfort while exercising because my goal is to be "in shape" for Ava's arrival. I hear that recovery is much faster/easier if you have exercised during pregnancy.

I do feel ligament pain occasionally, mostly in my pelvis (don't widen too far, hips!) and sometimes in my shoulders. Not only should pregnant women not lift heavy items because it could harm the baby, but because our joint and ligaments are loosening, so it would be easy to pull, strain, or even dislocate something.

The other day I got a new pregnancy symptom...pregnancy hives! It was almost unbearable for a few hours. The whole episode just lasted for about 72 hours. I believe it may have been triggered by my perfume that I wore for the first time since being pregnant. I showered right before a night out with Chris and put on the perfume. It wasn't until the next afternoon that I felt itchy, in random places on my body. The next day, I was scratching like crazy! I finally looked at the itchy areas in the mirror, and I had giant hives were I'd been scratching! My back, arms, legs, and my right hand. Not my belly, though! I was itchy first, then the hives appeared where I'd scratched. And it was a very intense itch! I started googling what it was and how to get some relief! Basically what I learned is that pregnancy causes so many hormones to be flowing through the body that sometimes it can cause skin irritation. There really is no definite cause or solution to pregnancy hives. I read that applying witch hazel and then a good lotion can help. It did, it almost had a numbing effect on the hives, but it took like 30 minutes to work. My itchy hand was the worst - it was all red and a little puffy, so I iced it. Later, my left hand started to itch and my right hand subsided. Right after I got into bed, both my feet felt like they were on fire! I got up to put witch hazel and lotion on them. Thank goodness the itchiness pretty much completely disappeared and I was able to sleep soundly. I did get a little more itching the following night, despite my thorough shower and ample application of Bio Oil and Palmer's Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks (I love both of these products - I intend to give a full review towards the end of my pregnancy). And now, a few days later, I am itch-free.

I really hope that pregnancy symptom never comes back!

We had a joint baby shower this past weekend with another couple from the troop, and Ava got some more cuteness for her and her room! I am almost ready to take some photos of her room - I've got about 75% of the wall decorations up, the dresser is about halfway done in the garage, we have a cube organizer for her toys and books that I picked out at Target that I am in love with, and the curtains are semi-hung (I have the curtain rod resting on top of the vertical blinds - that's good enough for now, right?!). We are still looking for the perfect glider chair for her room! We are selling our old couch and loveseat to make room for the new set, so hopefully we can find a chair with that cash. Her room is really coming together, and it always gives me the warm and fuzzies when I am in there. I have found myself just sitting in there for a bit after organizing. I tell Ava about her room and that I can't wait for her to be in it!

Wow, this post is turning into a novel!

We get to see Ava again next week for a growth scan. She still enjoys moving around a lot! I think her legs are way over on my right side. I feel like she has these little spaz moments where her movements make my whole belly move! On the inside, I feel it over on the right, and then down lower kind of on the left, like maybe she is moving her arms and legs at the same time. If you watch my belly, you can see when she moves! It just looks like a "bump" across my whole stomach. I can also feel movements other than kicks and jabs. I can feel when something moves across my belly, like if she were moving her arm up and down or rolling over.

I've discovered Ava can do a "disappearing act". Standing up, I have a very noticeable basketball belly:

When I lay down flat on the floor, she disappears!! Sorry for the picture quality - its a selfie!

You can't even tell I'm pregnant when I lay down flat!

Random people at stores have started to be really smiley and nice towards me. Around every corner, workers will ask if I need any help. If I have just one thing in my hands, they will ask if I need a cart. Strangers (females) give me lots of smiles.

I didn't quite put two and two together until one day I thought, oh duh, it's because it is obvious now that I am pregnant. And with this nice weather, I'm not bundled up in a coat anymore, so my bump is not so hidden anymore.

And this pretty much sums up my afternoon...

I'm playing candy crush while watching March Madness, while avoiding vacuuming.

Oh yeah, and Duke is staring at me.

As always.

:)