19 & 20 Week Bumpdate - Halfway There!

This poor baby will have to live without a picture of her (in bump form) at 19 weeks gestation. Last week I think my professors all got together to play a cruel trick on the first year students, and decided to make a ton of big stuff due or tests on the 28th.  I honestly don't know how I survived it all in that time frame, but it feels good to be on the other side of it with that stress behind me!  Anyway, I thought it wouldn't be the end of the world if I just did a 19&20 week update at the same time.

The Bump:

I'd say it's looking less like a big meal, and more like a baby bump!

Comparison shot:

Milestones:

If you missed it, we found out the gender on Friday, and it's a GIRL!  I had a feeling it was a girl the whole time, and all I could picture was a girl. I had many dreams about girl babies, and only one dream about a boy baby.  I'm sure it's just coincidence, but I like to think it was my intuition.

Also, everything looked great at the anatomy scan!  Her heart is beating away at 154 beats per minute and she weighs approximately 10 oz, which is right on track.  I've also gained about 10 lbs so far!  And while I think that is on track too, it's hard to believe that only 10 oz of that is the baby!  The ultrasound tech couldn't see certain angles of the heart that she needed to, so I get to get another peak at baby S at my next appointment!  And here is a little peak at her sweet face from one of the 8 pictures of the ultrasound we got to bring home:

Oh yeah, did I mention she has a name?!  I think we are still finalizing the middle name for sure,but she definitely has a first name!  I'm debating whether I want to share it on the blog or not (we're not really keeping it a secret).  I'm so excited to share her name and why we chose it!  I will probably end up spilling the beans on that in the next few days if it's okay with Luke.  We will see!

Symptoms:

• Leg cramps.  Apparently there is no definitive reason why pregnancy causes leg cramps, but it is a symptom.  Who knew?  Not me until I woke up in the middle of the night multiple times last week feeling like I wanted to chop my legs off.  Okay, that was a little dramatic, but it was painful!  I've been increasing my water intake and trying different stretches, and that has seemed to keep them at bay the past few days.  
• Still sleeping great, but I wake up feeling achy most mornings, especially in my back.  This is probably due to the fact that I usually sleep on my back, but now that the baby's getting bigger, that is not an option since it can constrict the blood flow to my heart or to the baby. I think it might be time to purchase a pregnancy pillow, because I can imagine this is only the tip of the iceberg of what I will feel in the next few months!

Cravings:

• Just in time to find out we are having a baby girl, I started craving sweet things!  Ice cream is my weakness right now.  And Starburst Jelly Beans, especially the apple and strawberry ones!

• As always, I'm still craving beef.

Aversions

• Nothing new here.  same old, same old.

Fun Stuff:

• Obviously it is very exciting knowing our baby is a girl!  I can't remember the last time I was this happy (aside from finding out I was pregnant of course!)  I'll just be going about my day when it will hit me again:  I'm going to have a daughter.  And I literally feel like my heart is about to burst from all the love and happiness I'm feeling.  Me and Pinterest have spent some quality time together this weekend pinning girly things, that's for sure!
• The little missy, once again, is already so spoiled!  I do believe that once the announcement was made that she was, in fact, a girl, the aunts and grandmas were instantly shopping!  Here is her first little girl thing that my mom delivered on Friday night:

• I am starting to feel baby S more and more each day.  And I can now attest to the fact that I'm pretty sure those little flutters I was feeling in the beginning, were in fact the little lady.  I went from feeling her a few times a week to feeling her about once a day, to now feeling her multiple times a day.  And those little punches and kicks are definitely getting stronger.  She must have been liking hearing her daddy play the drums at church this morning, because I think she was dancing in there all through the service! (Oh yeah, and she can probably hear now!  How exciting!)  I wonder how long it will be before I can feel her from the outside too, and not just the inside?

It blows my mind that we are halfway to my due date!  20 weeks down, 20 to go (give or take a few).  I am absolutely enjoying every minute of this part of pregnancy.  From the kicks, to the aches and pains, and even the sneak attacks of nausea that happen about once every two weeks now.  I love it all, because it is all proof that there really is a baby inside of me!  Sometimes I still can't believe it!