23 Weeks: Milestones Every Week

Weeks: 23 . . . one more week until we're 6 months along!

Weight Gain: Still +5 lbs. from pre-baby weight

This Week's Cravings: Still stuck on croissants. Today, I actually didn't get a croissant and boy, have I been thrown off all day! Also, towards the end of last week, I dreamt one night of an Oreo cream pie. Seriously. I had a DREAM about it. I dreamt it in so much detail that I woke up salivating for it. I ignored it the whole entire next day, but the craving got the best of me, and I found myself at CVS at 11:40 p.m. buying Oreos. It wasn't necessarily just Oreos that I was craving; it was something with Oreo crust. I wanted cold and creamy and the Oreo crust. For now, Oreos and vanilla ice cream are holding me over, but I have to be honest, I don't know how much longer it will. I may actually have to go out and get or make an Oreo cream pie.

New Maternity / Baby Purchases: As expected, the pesky delivery service I mentioned in last week's post did a similar mishap with Baby B's bookshelf. This time, they didn't update their website correctly, and from what I saw {and the phone calls I made}, the bookshelf arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, but was not actually delivered until this afternoon {Monday}. For people who are very much on top of the boudoir building, you can imagine how irritating this is to us. Still, I am happy to report that it is now standing proudly in Baby's room. We also bought a side table the other day, and today, we ordered her monogram, which should arrive in a week or so. Also, last week, Baby Gap released their exclusive line designed by Diane von Furstenburg and needless to say, I was there on the first day to make sure that my daughter got her first taste of DVF.

On top of that, her Daddy couldn't help himself and bought ANOTHER pair of TOMS for her. This baby is starting off with more shoes than she has clothes! {Well, that's not entirely true. She has a lot of clothes already}

On top of all that, on Saturday, I received a text message from my dear friend Kacey of Lowdown on the Lowreys, letting me know that Toys R Us / Babies R Us was having a big sale on Pampers diapers that day. If you buy two boxes, you get $25 off the purchase {so you come out with two boxes for the price of one}. Needless to say, J and I rushed off to Babies R Us and purchased some newborn and Size 1 diapers. Of course, that trip was not without grabbing a few clothing items for her {and I swear, I wasn't the only one grabbing clothes off the racks!}.

Moment of the Week: On Monday evening, J and I were laying on the couch together watching The Voice {LOVE that show. Like her mommy, this little one seems to also be taking a big liking to Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. She goes crazy whenever Blake Shelton's songs come on my iTunes playlists}. J had his hand on my belly when Baby B let out a big KICK!! We just looked at each other and giggled! Then, as if to make sure we knew it was her kicking, a few moments later, she did BIG follow up KICK! It was the first time her Daddy felt her kick. {All this time, only I could feel her movements} Since then, we'd made it a point for J to talk to the belly closer and wait for movements every night, and sure enough, Baby never disappoints. She is a Daddy's girl already.

This Week's Pregnancy Cheat: I wasn't going to say anything, but last Monday evening {a couple of hours prior to the kick event}, J's cousin, Ashley, came over for dinner {I made pan seared chicken, broccoli, and homemade macaroni and cheese, if you were wondering...} and I had a sip of wine. I gotta say, as much as it was my favorite white wine {a Pinot Gris from Paso Robles called Two Birds and a Sheep} and it really was so delicious, I had a hard time even enjoying the sips. I was so paranoid of hurting the baby that I flushed it down with lots of water and cran-grape juice.

Things to Look Forward To: I have my Pre-Term Birth Prevention class this week, and I'm really looking forward to having my mom and brother come for a couple of days. They haven't seen the nursery in person yet {just via FaceTime}. Another event this week, although it's not necessarily a point of real excitement, is Aubrey & Finley's birthday on Thursday. Can you believe it's been a year since we had and lost our little girls? We can't. We are still trying to figure out how to commemorate that day. Do we celebrate? Are we somber? All I know is that we will be laying low that day and thinking of our missed little angels.

Sleep Pattern: I was really thrown off on Friday evening when I went to bed at 9:00 p.m. and woke up at 10:00 p.m. with really horrible heartburn and indigestion. I was awake until about 12:40 a.m. when I finally woke J up and asked him to come with me to CVS to get some Tums {which we checked about 6 times if it was pregnancy safe or not}. All weekend since, my sleep has been thrown off and I'd been sleeping in until past 10:00 a.m. everyday. Eck.

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23 weeks! Where has the time gone?! Each time I look at my What To Expect iPhone App and see that there are now less weeks to wait versus weeks that have passed, I still can't believe it. We are so close! It's hard not to be scared and anxious, and I think my next sigh of relief will be until at least 28 weeks when viability even with preterm labor goes up to 90%. Other than that, we hold our breaths and our hands will continue to be locked in prayer and in hopes that our little one will arrive safely come July.