Little Buddy: 24 weeks!

Little Buddy is 24 weeks today!  And I suppose I can now say I am entering into my 25th week of pregnancy.  Only a few more weeks until I am in my third trimester, which just seems crazy!  I hate to say this and a part of me feels terrible for even typing it, but this whole pregnancy thing has been fairly easy so far and I am fully anticipating the HARD parts - the third trimester, traveling to Ireland, and LABOR, oh my!  I am still wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes, lots of dresses and skirts, but I am thinking it would be so nice to have a comfortable pair of maternity pants. So the shopping may have to start soon for those.  Any suggestions on stores?

Little Buddy is just growing away in there and he is now the size of a cantaloupe.  I keep looking down at my tummy and thinking...really??  Can I really have a baby the size of a cantaloupe in there?  I know he's there because I can feel him moving around, but it still blows my mind that he is THAT big!  I mean the babe went from the size of a blueberry to the size of a cantaloupe in a matter of weeks!  Isn't that crazy?  He is 10.5 to 11.8 inches and 12.7 to 20.8 ounces - quite a range, I know!  I am imagining he might be on the smaller end, but who knows.  They say he's gained 4 ounces in just one week.  And since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn all balled up), he's pretty lean at this point, but with time his body will start filling out and he will start plumping up!  And with every week he is getting closer and closer to being ready to survive, and thrive, in the outside world.  His skin is becoming more opaque and it's got a new pink glow, thanks to the capillaries that have recently formed!  His brain is growing quickly now and his taste buds are continuing to develop.  Wonder when little buddy is going to start craving vegetables?  I'm still not a huge veggie fan right now - I will eat all sorts of salads, but raw veggies, yuck yuck!

In regards to symptoms...still not experiencing any swelling or backaches really, and I haven't experienced any leg cramps since that one morning.  I have definitely noticed that my gums bleed much more easily, and every time I brush my teeth, I notice a bit of blood in my spit.  Sorry if that's too much information!  Just being honest!  I still have yet to notice the dark line on my tummy and I haven't spotted any stretch marks just yet.  But I did wake up one morning to a sharp pain on my right side, and I rolled out of bed and opened up my computer to google what it could be, and based upon various comments, I decided that it was round ligament pain.  Sounds terrible, I know - it was terrible, but during pregnancy, the ligaments stretch and thicken to accommodate the growing uterus, which sounds normal right?  I mean just imagine how much your uterus does stretch, it only makes sense that you would experience some pain every now and again.  So then I crawled back into bed with peace of mind and woke Peter up to tell him about it.  Poor man - it was 3 in the morning!

Things are going great on this end - the idea of having a baby in our arms in a matter of months is really starting to sink in and becoming more and more real to both of us with each passing day.  And we are so excited -don't get me wrong, I am slightly terrified, yet filled with so much anticipation.  Our lives as we know it are going to change forever, and yes, that thought still freaks me out!  But Peter and I are so excited to actually meet our little man, our little buddy, and we have over 100 days to go, which seems like SUCH a long time.  In the meantime, I will keep the posts coming!

Until next week,

Malia and LB