Pregnancy Update: Week 25

How far along?  25 weeks

Baby size?  a head of cauliflower; somewhere between 13.6-14.8 inches long and weighing around 2 pounds!!!

Baby progress?  Baby Obie is becoming much more viable, as his lungs are developing more strongly.  His hair is thickening and now has a color!!  (I can't wait to see if he actually has hair on his head, what color it is, and what color it'll be when he's older!)  Little Man's nostrils are starting to open and the air sacs in his lungs are continuing to develop.  Since he's now producing surfactant (the substance that helps his lungs inflate) it means that (God forbid) I went into preterm labor, he could probably survive the premature birth.  (That's a huge sigh of relief, but of course, I want him to cook much longer!).  He now has a sense of balance and can tell which way is up and down (which he'll use to, hopefully, rotate himself into the correct position to get ready for birth).  

Weight gain?  Maybe 8ish pounds??  (I will know better during my 27th week update because that is the next time I go to the doctor.

Stretch marks?  Still none!

Sleep?  Becoming difficult to get sleep.  I'm not super comfortable, but the reason I have trouble sleeping is the same as last week.  Stress and anxiety from my job.  Which really sucks that I'm letting it get to me, but I can't seem to not stress about it.  I'm well into busy season and each day is more stressful and difficult than the last!

Symptoms?  Other than the same ones as last week (back and tailbone pain being the main ones), I now have bleeding gums.  This is really common.  People have been asking me this entire pregnancy if my gums bleed so I guess I'm lucky that it didn't occur until this point.  I already use Sensodyne (yep, old people toothpaste) because chemo made my gums and teeth incredibly sensitive so I don't know that there's much more I can do for the bleeding gums aside from proper teeth hygiene, which I do.  This week, my belly has also started becoming more tight.  Not contractions, but some days, it feels very tight all day long.  Not just my skin (which also feels crazy tight) but the entire belly.  And I don't like this feeling at all :(

Maternity clothes?  Still just jeans and dress pants for work, the few I bought while at home, and still squeezing into some of my old clothes.  But those are dwindling.  

Cravings?  Zoe's Kitchen Chicken Salad.  They have the best chicken salad ever!!  When it comes to chicken salad, I like it simple.  Don't put shit in it.  No nuts, grapes, huge chunks of celery, etc.  

Movement?  Tons.  And strong.  I'm now able to easily see him moving from the outside.  Here, take a look!

Workouts & Activity?  Still none!  Although we did go to the zoo, and I lasted the entire time!!! So that was a good activity, even though it was just walking all day.  But it's more than I usually do and it took a LOT out of me!  (Thankfully my husband gave me almost an hour long massage that evening.)

How are you feeling?  Still feeling great!!!!!

Best moment this week?  My husband coming home with these...in the same day!

He stopped by Dunkin Donuts on his way home with a variety of strawberry and chocolate sprinkle iced, glazed, and brownie batter filled!!!!!  And as if that wasn't great enough, our Girl Scout cookie order came in!!!!!!  

Worst moment this week?   Getting my sweet tooth back, because clearly all that sugar is not healthy for baby.  And it's getting harder for me to have some discipline when it comes to sweets...like those pictured above!

What do you miss?  Sleep.  But again, that's not due to pregnancy as much as my job.

Things that suck?   Fitting into my own clothes.  My shirts don't really fit anymore, which is why Nick's wardrobe has now become my wardrobe

Things that don't suck?  Due to my insomnia, I'm getting caught up on all the shows I've missed the last few weeks (and months) due to working 12-14 hour days.  Always gotta find that silver lining, right? ;)

Looking forward to?  Seeing him again!!  We've scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound session and I cannot wait!!!  Only two more weeks!

I don't normally post bare belly photos but I've yet to do so.  A few people (mainly family and my closest friends) have asked for those (usually in text messages) so I have finally grown the balls (ha!  kind of funny since "I" am growing balls inside of me.  Technically Baby Obie is, but still lol).  As I was saying, I've finally grown the balls to share one with you.  I've been struggling, like, greatly struggling with how I look like, naked, while pregnant.  I KNOW it's a baby in there and that's why I'm so big, but I'm still not on that "omg I love my body!" train that some women are on when they're pregnant.  I've promised myself I would start working on this and stop being so negative.  And thus, a step in that is sharing a bare belly photo with you.  Probably the last one you'll get though.  So enjoy!

(Can you see the scar on my arm that I attempted to hide with concealer and bronzer??  Here I am preaching that I need to accept my body and I'm covering up scars with makeup.  There was no luck for that bullet hole looking scar on my belly :(  That poor scar is getting deeper as my belly grows, which is so weird!  (That scar is from the feeding tube I had in 2006 just after my surgery).)