23 Weeks!

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Oh, how true the above is. Sprout is squirming like crazy lately. I can see his movements more and more everyday. I can even feel him when I'm driving, and he's poking around in there! I love this part of pregnancy. I'm starting to feel the weight of my belly, yes, but seeing the movements, and not feeling like a whale (yet, lol).. love this. Sprout now jumps when he hears a loud noise. One of my children came in the back door the other day, still using his outside voice, and before I could shush him, Sprout jumped from the noise of my son yelling so loud! It was funny, though it shocked me for a moment, to feel the baby jump like that.

I'm to the point of having to eat every two hours. I've noticed that lately, but the other night I ate a large meal for dinner. Bad idea. BAD BAD BAD. I felt terrible for a good 12 hours following, from how bloated and large it made me feel. Oops! ;) Small meals from now on!

The baby reacts to certain things I eat as well. If I drink water that is ice cold, he wakes within ten minutes of my first sip. I typically sip from my water bottle all day (refilling it multiple times), so I don't have ice cold water much. I kind of feel bad when I have that or a bit of ice cream, and a few minutes later it hits and he wakes up from the cold. (It's proven babies can feel the cold!)

I am back in major nesting/planning mode. I've been making lists, for my husband even. Thankfully he takes it in stride, though I know he's rolled his eyes at me a time or two (or three).

Right now I'm planning on breast pump supplies. I'm slowly getting some here and there, as I find sales and such. It's kind of exciting, though I admit that pumping is far more work than pregnancy is, I think. I've heard friends say the same, though! It's definitely a lot of work at first, pumping every 2-3 hours, getting up to pump at night. It's worth it, though. There are so many obvious benefits for the baby, but a some for me as well! It gives me something to plan for, which is nice.

I'm definitely feeling a lot better after the ultrasound last week. I'm still taking it easy! We have some projects we want to accomplish in the house over the next month. Poor hubby will be stuck with the heavy lifting, of course. Hopefully my cleaning out closets makes up for this, haha.

Happy 23 weeks to Sprout!