Pregnancy Update: Weeks 17-20

How am I 5 months pregnant already?!

I know pregnancy seems to drag on for most women, but I feel like time is flying by. The fact that I'm half way through this pregnancy is mind boggling to me. This past month of pregnancy has been the best so far and I'm embracing this 2nd trimester energy for as long as I can.

I've decided to do pregnancy updates every month versus every week because not much is changing week by week these days. That could definitely change during the third trimester, but the past 4 weeks have been pretty similar and overall easy. So let's jump into the details of the past 4 weeks, shall we? 

Size of the Baby:

Our baby is currently the size of a banana, weights about 10 ½ ounces and is 6 ½ inches long from head to bottom. 

Bump Update:

Sorry again for any of you not wanting to see this much of my stomach, but I feel like it's the only way to see the subtle changes in my bump from week to week. 

In once sense, I'm surprised by how little I'm showing 5 months into pregnancy. I know with most women's first pregnancy it takes longer to start showing, but I can still cover up my little bump easily with a baggier t-shirt. However, this past week (week 19) I saw the most growth happen in a short period of time, so I'm expecting my stomach to pop dramatically any day now! All these photos are taken right when I wake up--hence the sleepy face--so my stomach is as flat as it can be, but believe me, after dinner I'm definitely rocking a bigger bump!

Food Cravings and Aversions:

Ah food! I love all my favorite foods again and have thankfully been able to eat a colorful, whole food diet most days. Every week I seem to have a new food I'm obsessed with, some of which are pictured below and include: Caesar Salad, sweet potatoes, Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding, avocado toast, rice bowls with avocado and nutritional yeast, sautéed leafy greens and apples with cinnamon.

I've started to enjoy sweet foods as well again. Things like warm oatmeal in the mornings and double chocolate banana bread are fun treats that I enjoy often. 

Symptoms:

Overall this month has been fairly symptom free, except for a few random mentions (If any guys are reading this post, this part might be be TMI):

• bigger appetite
• lactating (yes, this has already started. What the?!)
• morning exhaustion
• poor digestion
• peeing a lot
• clear skin

Because our little guy (or girl) is growing a lot faster this trimester, my appetite has definitely increased. I find I need to eat a little something before bed in order to not wake up in the middle of the night starving. 

And yes, super early on I started lactating. I didn't even know that was a thing during pregnancy, but apparently it is. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but thankfully it's only happened a few times and while I'm at home. 

This past week, I've also had a few mornings when I felt super exhausted right after I ate breakfast. I don't know if it's because the baby is going through a growth spurt or if it's because I didn't sleep as well as I thought, but I've had to take naps a few times right after breakfast. Grow, baby, grow!

As for my digestion, it has thankfully been overall amazing throughout my pregnancy. However, this past week I had some days of intense bloating, which wasn't very comfortable. The days afterwards I just chose to eat less fiber and that helped a lot. 

This past month I also entered the I-feel-like-I-have-to-pee-all-the-time phase. It's definitely not my favorite feeling in the world. It's also super annoying when you feel like you're about to pee your pants, rush to the bathroom, and only produce a trickle of pee. I don't understand. 

My skin has been the best it's ever been since getting pregnant, which is know is the opposite of most pregnant women's experience. I have a feeling after I give birth I'll develop horrible acne, but I'm embracing my clear, smooth skin for the time being. 

Exercise:

I'm so grateful for energy and joy to exercise. Every day is different, but I usually workout ⅚ days a week. I like to rotate between running, walking, weight lifting, hiit workouts and using a stability ball to strengthen my pelvic floor. I'm feeling strong and healthy and am praying I feel this way for a lot longer. 

Other Random Mentions:

My friend gifted me her Doppler so I was able to hear the baby's heart beat this past week. What a gift!

I am probably the least emotional pregnant woman ever. I'm a pretty even-keeled person in the first place, but even since getting pregnant my emotions have been really stable. I expected to cry a bunch, but not a single tear has been shed, except when laughing. And I'm okay with that and I'm sure Brett is too:)

In 2 ½ weeks I'll be in Thailand and we hope to find out the sex of the baby while we're there. So far all the Chinese theories say it's a girl, but I'll be thrilled either way!

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Thanks so much for keeping up with my pregnancy. It's so fun for me to have a place to document my journey and to share my ups and downs with you all.