24 Weeks, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  We had an amazing week with our families.  Here's a little recap of what's been going on:

In all honesty, other then the horrible nausea and fatigue during the first trimester, this pregnancy has been wonderful.  Of course there's a few complaints here and there of this or that, but I think I'm going to be one of those women who really misses being pregnant when the baby is born.  I love feeling the baby kick and bonding with the baby.  Hopefully this feeling isn't coming to an end...

The last couple of nights have been a bit more difficult trying to sleep.  I'm naturally a side/stomach sleeper.  I don't sleep completely on my side, nor completely on my stomach, but somewhere in between.  Well, I think that position is now out of the question.  The best way I think I can describe sleeping with a baby growing in my belly: at times it feels like I'm sleeping on a bag of tennis balls.  Okay, maybe not an entire bag, but at least one or two balls.  I've also noticed that the baby is so much more active at night, kicking and moving around like crazy.  When I'm awake during the day I always try to take a moment with the baby when it's moving around inside, connecting with him/her as much as possible; trying to decipher, "was that a foot kicking, or a hand punching?"  It's become somewhat of a habit.  So, when this is happening in the middle of the night, my hand immediately moves to my belly to connect with our little one.  Well, that's all fine if it's 2:00 in the afternoon, but a 2:00 in the morning it's a totally different story!  Needless to say, I'll be making some adjustments during my sleeping hours to try and get a full 8 hour in.

This week we are at 24 weeks.  Baby is the size of a cantaloupe, the skin is becoming less translucent and more hair is growing on the head.  I had a doctor's appointment the day before Christmas and since Jeremy was working, my mom came to my appointment with me.  I had to do a Glucose Tolerance Test to test for gestational diabetes.  I've heard and read horror stories about how absolutely horrible the drink tastes.  Honestly, it tastes like flat orange soda.  Not so bad.  An hour after I drank it, they took 4 vials of my blood and will be calling me back with the results within the next week.

I loved having my mom there with me, she's such a great supporter.  My dad and grandma had planned on coming, but it didn't end up working out with the sequencing of the test during my appointment.  I'm planning on bringing my grandma to the next appointment though.  We saw the nurse practitioner who weighed me, measured the belly, and let us hear the baby's heartbeat.  I'm measuring at exactly 24 weeks and even though the belly looks big, I'm right on track with my weight.

Last thing to update on is our amazing time spent with our families during Christmas.  I feel like we spend so much time prepping for this day, and then it ends up going by in a flash.  Every Christmas Eve we spend it at my grandmother's house with my family.  This year we went over to Jeremy's parent's house a few days after Christmas.  This is such an amazing time in my life, and very selfishly I absolutely love it.  I can't get enough of the attention and love everyone has for Jeremy and I.  I know once the baby is here, all of that will shift on over to the baby, so while I'm pregnant I'm trying to take full advantage of this!

Christmas at the Bowden's

Christmas at the Rials.  Loved our homemade gifts from Texas and Mike LOVED his Bug-A-Salt!

One of the most wonderful gifts I received this Christmas was a spa evening with my mom.  She got us both massages at Dolce Salon and Spa in Chandler.  How have I waited so long to get a prenatal massage?!?!  It was absolutely amazing, but went by entirely too quickly.  I'm sure you're wondering how on earth does a pregnant woman get a massage?  Well, she started me out on my back, raising the head and foot of the massage table to allow me to get into a very comfortable position, putting pillows all around me to make me as comfortable as possible.  She massaged my neck, then arms and hands, and finally legs and feet.  She evened out the table surface and had me move to my left side, again surrounding me with pillows, and worked on my back.  There were definitely a few spots that were quite tender, especially my low back and hips.  I tried to drink a ton of water after, but was still a bit sore the next day, which was to be expected.  Think I'll have to work this into my schedule at least once a month until baby is here!  I also can't wait to sleep with my Bump Nest Melissa gave me!!!  Hopefully it'll bring me some relief.

All in all we had an absolutely amazing holiday week with our families and couldn't ask for more.  We were completely spoiled, not only with goodies, but with love as well.  See you all next week!