23 WEEKS

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 1 lb and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. 

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. 

Sleep:  Coraline has settled down at night, especially since my amazing pillow arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. 

Best moment this week: Spur of the moment photo session with bestie Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and getting the CRIB!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum

Movement: Oh yes! This week we counted about 37 movements in about 1 minute! Henry had his hand on my belly as she kicked about and finally he said into my belly, "Coraline, why are you so angryyyy?" LOL She was having a fit or something! But I loved every bit of it. <3 Especially because when she starts to move, the moment Henry sets his hand on my belly she freezes lol. Loved how he got to feel her A LOT! 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and for the life of me I can not find a great watermelon! Any tips for picking the best? I can pick them wonderfully if they are cut open, but a whole watermelon has been 0 for 7 lately. They aren't sweet or hard as heck!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. I am starting to wake up at least twice a night, and it's like I wake up and have to RUN to the bathroom! Bending over is beginning to get difficult, especially to tie my shoes or take my boots off. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Henry has been out of town a lot so getting someone to take a picture of the board has been hard. I really don't like calling someone over just to take a photo of me. SOOO I was beyond happy when Taylor showed up at my friends ranch with her camera for me to take photos of her, and I was able to get her to take photos of me too. Especially wearing what I thought was a cute outfit. <3

**NEW** About the Board: No board this week - again. I am sorry!!!

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: I am wearing an empire waist maxi dress from Victoria's Secret which can be found HERE. I am not completely comfortable with my boobs popping out of this dress so to make it more modest I tied a Chambray top from The Gap and paired it with a necklace from a local boutique. The gorgeous jeweled sandals are from Dillards - one of the few places that carry shoes for my big feet! <3

More photos from the photo session:

22 Weeks

No photo this week - see Symptoms and Thoughts below.

How far along? 22 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 10 lbs on the nose as of my last appointment. Our baby is two weeks bigger, but just because she is a big baby, not because they are going to change the due date. Yay! 

Maternity Clothes? Ok I have ordered a few maternity things from ASOS in the UK, however they are so cute and the way they are designed can be worn post maternity too. FINALLY somewhere that has cute maternity clothes for women in their 20s!! I have now bought about 5 dresses and a few shirts.

Stretch Marks?  As of week 21! I think I am getting one tiny one on my boob. TMI? I explained how my mom had red marks, but she said they went away. I freaked out and showed Henry, he says he can't see anything. Even after I kept pointing he said I was making a bigger deal than it really was.

Sleep:  She has started to settle down at night, especially since my amazing pillow has arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. I love it. Henry even "cuddles" up against it with me. haha

Best moment this week: This week sucked in all honesty. Miserable. Week.

Miss Anything? Sushi, raw tuna, raw salmon. I would kill for some RAW sushi! I am tired of this cooked crap. And then of course, Rum.

Movement: Lots and Lots and Lots of movements. She moves all the time!

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon), Sushi and Thai food

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. I have not dared try orange juice anymore since I threw up that last time, again. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Decreasing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. Remember when she was transverse last week and led to throwing up and blacking out? Weeellll, this week was worse. I went to get out of my truck and nearly collapsed! The pain on my left side was so severe I could barely walk or even breath. I called my doctor and she was in emergency surgery. The nurses advised I be safe than sorry and get to the nearest ER to make sure she wasn't under any stress or have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Of course Henry was out of town so I called him now crying because I didn't want to be over-dramatic and go to the ER, but then I didn't want to be stubborn and NOT go to the ER and something be really wrong. The post HERE:Stubborn Baby gives the full story. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I was just sick and miserable all week.

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Names? Well boy names are scratched. haha  Henry had been thinking a lot about it and decided Coraline would be best because he wants to call her "Cora-Lou" which I LOVE! I was so overwhelmed with the cuteness of the name I began tearing up at dinner when he told me. Henry looked at me all shocked because here I was grinning ear-to-ear and tearing up. He laughed and said, "OMG your eyes are tearing up!! It's just a name." Then I started laughing, "Its the pregnancy hormones! Don't judge!". We sat there laughing for quite a bit at my ridiculousness. Ugh! I love this little girl and Henry so very much! Week 21 gives more details on the name. :-)

Thoughts: This week has been terrible. She keeps going sideways and causing severe pain. I know - labor will be worse, yea, yea, yea! But that is then, this is now. She literally feels like she is trying to rip through my abdominal walls. I roll on my back in my sleep and immediately wake up from the severe pain. Anything that causes me to use my abdominal muscles or lower left groin muscle makes me lose my breath it's so painful. Lovely. This is why there is no board or photos this week. I was so miserable plus I was sick this week, that there was no way I was getting in front of the camera. 

Stubborn Baby!

Coraline is being one stubborn pain in my side. Literally. 

We had contemplated for a while waiting to pick a name - torn mostly between Claire and Coraline. Claire meant, "Clear, bright" and Coraline meant, "Precious growth of the sea: Coral". When browsing www.sheknows.com and their baby name meanings we stumbled upon these Expression and SoulUrge meanings. Claire's was, "SoulUrge Number: 6

People with this name have a deep inner desire for a stable, loving family or community, and a need to work with others and to be appreciated.

Expression Number: 3

People with this name tend to be creative and excellent at expressing themselves. They are drawn to the arts, and often enjoy life immensely. They are often the center of attention, and enjoy careers that put them in the limelight. They tend to become involved in many different activities, and are sometimes reckless with both their energies and with money."

 Coraline's said, "SoulUrge Number: 3

People with this name have a deep inner desire to create and express themselves, often in public speaking, acting, writing or singing. They also yearn to have beauty around them in their home and work environment.

Expression Number: 5

People with this name are excited by change, adventure, and excitement. They are dynamic, visionary and versatile, able to make constructive use of freedom. They fight being restricted by rules and conventions. They tend to be optimistic, energetic, intelligent, and to make friends easily. They may be changeable, restless, untidy, and rebellious."

So we agreed, we will wait until she is born and see if she looks like she is meant to be in "in the spotlight" or an "adventurous trouble-maker".

Well, Henry ended up picking the name Coraline a week later. There were so many reasons we fell in love with this name! Hearing Henry talk to her and calling her Cora-Lou just makes my heart melt. I mean seriously, here we are, two southern people with a soon-to-be baby girl named Coraline (Cora-Lou) Faye Johnson. You can't get much more southern than that! Henry's deep southern accent just makes it sound even better! I am talking Josh Turner-deep-voice. Yea Buddy! 

Ever since we started calling her Cora-Lou - she has been a stubborn pain in my side! All day long she chills, doesn't really move at all. At night when I lay down it's tap dances all around! "Oh you want to go to sleep? Well I slept rocking along in my cocoon all day as you worked your butt off, now I want to play! On. Your. Bladder. TEE HEE" 

Then there is, "Oh, I am two weeks ahead of the growth schedule? I am a big baby? I want to be transverse. Let me press right up against this artery and make you throw up and black out. Now let me switch my head to the other side and make it feel like I am trying to bust through you abdominal muscles." *Giggle, Giggle*

The ER doctor (yes emergency room) even moved her into the correct position and about 2 minutes later, "Just kidding! I am going back to being transverse." LOL The ER doctor wasn't fully trained except during his brief rotation with the OB/GYN on rotating the fetus, so now I have to wait until Monday when I see my OB/GYN to have her re-positioned, hopefully in a way that is more permanent than a few minutes. Dear God please let it be more than a few minutes!!!

I love this Little Lady more than anything, and understand the pain comes with the territory. I am just hoping she is getting most of this out of her system while she is baking to perfection, then will be a sweet little angel until she is 12. :-D

A girl can dream right?

Mama-To-Be Freebie!

For those of you soon-to-be Mamas, or perhaps you know someone who is going to be a Mom, you need to take advantage of this freebie!

It is hard to read because it was a screen shot:

1) www.NursingPillow.com

2) Click on "Shop Now" and select one of the 9 options.

3) At the shopping bag enter promo code "MOTHER" for 100% off your Nursing Pillow

4) THE CATCH: You pay the shipping. Thats it! See my order below.

Here is a picture of my order. Yes shipping is $12.95. My total is $17.90 because I chose to get a "Minky" pillow for an extra $5, but that is still cheaper than all the other nursing pillows! Boppy ($29.99 + $10.99 for a cover), My Brest Friend ($47.99 wtih cover), Comfort and Harmony ($54.99 with cover), Boppy Nursing Pillow ($49.99)...and the list continues.

The bonus on top of this deal - it then gives you the code "NPILLOW" for the same deal with a Carseat Canopy from www.CarSeatCanopy.com, Udder Covers for a nursing cover from www.UdderCovers.com, and a baby carrier sling from www.sevenslings.com.

I am not sure how long this deal is good for, but it worked for me today! (4/2/13)