Baby’s size: 10 inches long from head to toe and weighing about 10.5 ounces! This is about the length of a paper airplane. Her little heartbeat was 170 bpm at our ultrasound and 160 bpm at our general 20-week appointment.
Maternity clothes?: No, but the tight jeans are officially retired for now. I’m still just wearing regular pants I had that were a size up from those. There’s still plenty of room in the waist, but otherwise, the fit is kind of baggy, so I’m really hoping to get maternity pants that are the right size this week. All my tops still fit, but my running pants/shorts are all starting to get a little awkward and ride up on me constantly- and it’s so hard to find maternity running clothes, so I’m just going to size up for those, too.
Gender: It’s a girl; it’s a girl; it’s a girl! I’m so happy to not have to wonder who the little person growing in there is anymore, and I am loving saying “SHE” instead of “he/she”, “the baby”, or even the awful “it”. I have odd moments still when I imagine having a new baby around and subconsciously try to picture it both ways, with either a girl or a boy, as if I forget that we already know. Oops! I look at my belly in the mirror each morning and just can’t believe we have another sweet little princess growing in there!
It’s been so fun to hear people’s reactions to the news of our fourth girl, which usually consist of something like, “Aw, you guys have the cutest/sweetest girls!” Of course I’d have to agree! 😉
It was also really interesting to hear people’s logic behind guessing girl or boy before we knew. Some people were sure the “girl streak” had to end, and others straight out told us that it had to be a girl because “that’s all we make”. Ha! So funny.
Sleep: Sleep is so much better than it was, although I still have the weirdest dreams when I’m pregnant. One recent dream had me taking a test at school that I didn’t study for, and then running a 10k that felt impossibly hard. Why do I have to dream I’m struggling when I’m supposed to be resting?!
Movement: She’s kicking a whole lot more now and I am just loving it. She’s still got her feet on my right side, but I’ve felt little hands in my midsection/left lately as well. It still seems like she’s just in her little curled-up ball on my right, so she doesn’t do any crazy acrobatics or anything like Kaya and Nella did. So far, she acts more like Kaelyn!
Cravings: Chocolate-chip cookies and Cheetos. Seriously, I don’t even care about Cheetos when I’m not pregnant, but I had some this week and they tasted like heaven.
What I miss: Nothing right now. I’m feeling so good!
Anything making you queasy or sick?: I’m still brushing my teeth after every meal, and salad dressing is a sensitive thing for me… but I’m making myself eat my salad every day. I’ve had my nauseous moments, but lately I’m really doing great overall. I’m 3 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight now and feeling so much healthier.
Belly Button in or out?: In.
Exercising?: Ran 24.2 miles (longest run was 7.5 miles); walked 3.2 miles. Best pace this week was 9:34 min/mile. Fitbit total steps: 78,287. I’m hoping to get more steps in each week, but I’m honestly just so grateful that I can still run these longer runs and keep up my pace. I don’t know what is making me faster as the weeks go on, because I’ve never had that happen with my other pregnancies, but I feel so good and I’m loving it.
I also tried to use my support belt on one of my runs this week, but I think I’m kind of still in that awkward stage where my belly is bigger, but maybe not quite big enough for the belt. I ended up having to take two bathroom breaks during my regular run because it just added so much pressure to my stomach.
Mood: Now that we’ve seen the baby and know the gender, I feel like I’ve really been able to bond with her a lot more this week. I mean, of course I loved her before, but just knowing a little more about who is coming to our family (and seeing that cute, cute face!) has me feeling smitten.
Best moment this week: Hearing from my doctor that everything on our ultrasound looked great. That is really all I could ever hope for.
Looking forward to: Gosh, there’s so much to look forward to at this point… finalizing her name, making her a blanket, planning out the room she’s going to share with Nella (that’s the current plan, anyway). I’m also excited to pull out those teeny tiny baby girl clothes again!
Big sisters: Kaelyn just still loves to ask me what the baby is doing, and usually she hypothesizes, “I think the baby is getting a drink!” They are both still thrilled to have another sister coming. Nella has been practicing pushing her baby doll around in the toy stroller and putting her in the high chair. Hopefully she’ll be a big helper for me, too!
Comparison: 20 weeks with Kaya; 20 weeks with Kaelyn; 20 weeks with Nella.