Week 24

week: twenty four

fruit size of baby: cantaloupe 

cravings: colby jack cheese on crackers, salad, french fries, pizza and every meal has to end with a christmas cookie, starbursts, or something sweet. basically any and all food again as baby goes through a growth spurt.

aversions: the smell of andrew's deodorant. 

weight gain: 14 lbs

exercise: i've been walking every day on my morning and afternoon breaks at work. 

sleep: its been a lot better than it was. i haven't even been waking up as much to use the bathroom at night.

belly: getting bigger and tighter. i basically have no belly button now. no stretch marks yet.

clothes: maternity clothes are all i wear except a few longer shirts here and there that are a size bigger than i would usually wear and leggings.

movement: our child is a mover! sometimes i wonder if she ever sleeps. she moves all day and if i wake up at night i feel her moving then too.

gender: we are having a baby girl! we broke the stokes streak of boys! we cannot wait to meet her!

names: since we know it's a girl now, we have started to make a list of girl names we are both ok with. my favorite names are drew's least favorite and his favorite names are my least favorite. But, we have a small list forming!

worries: staying healthy during cold and flu season. 

what i love: feeling the babe's movements all day. knowing she's a girl and praying specifically for her.

what i am looking forward to: christmas, my birthday, registering for baby girl.

milestones: drew and others feeling baby move, finding out the gender

best moment of the week: revealing the gender of our babe to friends and family. it was a lot of fun to see everyone's reactions!

amusing comments from the general public: while taking a walk and texting on my break at work a random man walking by says, "you shouldn't text while pregnant your doctor wouldn't like that!" 

baby mama drama: a lady in the lunch room at work asked me when i'm due. i told her april and she replied, "oh my gosh that's so far away and you're already that big!? - thanks lady because it's not like i feel like  a whale or anything as it is.

Baby S is a....

Andrew and I are so excited to announce that we are having a...

GIRL!

We could not be more excited to be bringing the first Stokes girl into the world in 63 years. We have broken the Stokes "boy curse"! 

It was so much fun to gather family and close friends to announce the sex of Baby S. We passed out pink and blue balloons to everyone - their color choice was their guess on what Baby S was. On the count of three we had everyone blow up their balloons. Only the pink balloons blew up/stayed inflated announcing to everyone that we are expecting a little girl! Everyone was so shocked and excited for us. Here are a few more pictures of the night:

Showing off their guesses

Andrew's family and my dad next to me

Baby S' great grandma Neetsy - Andrew's grandma

Grandpa Dave - my dad
 

My bestie Kelsey and baby girl's future prom date

I set up a table where people could see my old wives tales and guess the gender, date baby will be born, and how much baby will weigh and measure.

Here are some of the guesses:

So excited for Baby S to meet all these lovely ladies!

Week 22

week: twenty two

fruit size of baby: spaghetti squash

cravings: cheddar chex mix has been my go to. i also started doing my green smoothies again 

aversions: blood when i cook meat or if i crack an egg and there's blood in it. makes me gag until i almost puke.

weight gain: 13 lbs

exercise: i've been walking every day on my morning and afternoon breaks at work. sometimes at night drew and i will walk the halls of our apartment too.

sleep: its been better than it was. still waking up at least once a night to use the bathroom

belly: getting bigger. i basically have no belly button now. no stretch marks yet.

clothes: maternity clothes are all i wear except a few longer shirts here and there that are a size bigger than i would usually wear.

movement: our child is a mover! sometimes i wonder if it ever sleeps. it moves all day and has even woken me up at night. movements are definitely getting stronger

gender: will find out on Dec 12th! we cannot wait!

names: pretty confident in two boy names, girl names we have a couple ideas, but can't really agree on.

worries: staying healthy during cold and flu season.

what i love: feeling the babe's movements all day.

what i am looking forward to: finding out the gender, gender reveal, holiday parties, christmas

milestones: getting better sleep at night again

best moment of the week: the night we decorated for christmas i didn't sleep very well. i ended up going out to the living room and laying on the couch by the christmas tree soaking in the meaning of the holiday season while feeling babe kick wildly inside me. it was a sweet moment.

amusing comments from the general public: not really any comments, but people have started to touch my stomach. i am definitely looking more pregnant lately. can't wait for others to feel baby kick.

baby mama drama: they took away the "expecting mothers" parking spaces at my job… not a happy mama!

Week 20

maybe one day I'll get these posts out on time. i was 20 weeks on saturday! half way to meeting our babe!

week: twenty

fruit size of baby: banana

cravings: french fries, hard candies, cheetos, gummy bears/worms

aversions: not really any aversions. mexican still doesn't sound great but i'll eat it.

weight gain: 11.5 lbs

exercise: i take a 15 minute walk up two time a day at work. 

sleep: not like it used to be. i wake up multiple times a night tossing and turning and needing to use the bathroom. it has been so dry and stuffy too making it hard to fall back asleep.

belly: getting bigger. no stretch marks yet. belly button is almost non-existant.

clothes: wearing mostly maternity now. the only non maternity i can still fit into are t-shirts that are long and stretchy, and two pairs of non-maternity jeans if i wear a belly band with them.

movement: baby is a mover. moving all the time when i'm sitting or lying still, or when i have music playing. andrew hasn't felt it move it. he has tried and he can't wait to feel it.

gender: will find out on Dec 12th!

names: pretty confident in two boy names, girl names we have a couple ideas, but can't really agree on one yet.

worries: if i will get sleep at night or not.  

what i love: feeling the babe move, especially at night when i can't sleep.    

what i am looking forward to: thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays), holiday parties, finding out the gender, christmas!

milestones: making it to week 20! half way to meeting our babe!

best moment of the week: my craft fair! it was a huge success and so fun to see some people i haven't seen in awhile.

amusing comments from the general public: not too many comments lately. lots of comments about "my cute baby bump" but that's about it. 

baby mama drama: nothing really

Week 18

week: eighteen

fruit size of baby: sweet potato

cravings: pickles, corndogs, mcdonald's french fries, any fried food I can get my hands on. i finally gave into corn dogs… they were on sale and i had a coupon. it was a sign.

aversions: not really any aversions lately.

weight gain: 9.5 lbs

exercise: i've been lacking in the exercise department again. 

sleep: sleep has been harder the last week. i am a back sleeper and the doctor told me it is time i start sleeping on my sides because of the weight of my uterus is getting heavier which can be dangerous if i sleep on my back. i also get really stuffy at night which makes it hard to sleep. i still only wake up maybe once a night to use the bathroom.

belly: getting bigger. no stretch marks yet. belly button is slowly starting to push out.

clothes: i borrowed a pair of maternity pants from a friend… best choice i've ever made! so comfortable! i've borrowed a few maternity shirts and bought a few on garage sale sites.

movement: i felt baby move for the first time on 11/2 at 17 weeks and 1 day. i randomly feel baby move when i'm relaxing or sitting still. it feels like little pitter patters or bubbles.

gender: will find out on Dec 12th!

names: pretty confident in two boy names, girl names we have a couple ideas, but can't really agree on.

worries: nothing really at this point. 

what i love: getting to park in the "expecting mothers" parking spots by the door at work.   

what i am looking forward to: lunch with family on sunday, my upcoming craft fair, thanksgiving and finding out the gender.

milestones: feeling baby move for the first time!

best moment of the week: Randomly feeling baby move, and the purchase of a body pillow. 

amusing comments from the general public: i've had a couple strangers say things to me about expecting. one cute old man pointed out that it looks like i'm eating for two. his friend looked at him and said, "you can't say things like that unless you're sure!" the old man replied, "it's obvious! she's glowing!"

baby mama drama: nothing really 

Week 16

week: sixteen

fruit size of baby: avocado

cravings: pickles, corndogs, mcdonald's french fries. i have not given into the last two.

aversions: spicy food, mexican food - although i did eat Chipotle over the weekend.

weight gain: 8.5 lbs

exercise: i've been walking every day on my afternoon breaks at work. i need to start going to our apartment gym.

sleep: i've actually been sleeping really well. no dreams as of yet. only waking up maybe once a night to use the bathroom.

belly: getting bigger. no stretch marks yet.

clothes: still wearing my normal pants although i don't know how much longer i'll be able to do that. i've borrowed a few maternity shirts and bought a few on garage sale sites.

movement: no feelings of movement yet. i hear it can happen any day now.

gender: will find out on Dec 12th!

names: pretty confident in two boy names, girl names we have a couple ideas, but can't really agree on.

worries: nothing really at this point. 

what i love: getting to park in the "expecting mothers" parking spots by the door at work.   

what i am looking forward to: thanksgiving and finding out the gender.

milestones: no big milestones lately

best moment of the week: (in week 15) over mea break andrew took me to stillwater and we stayed in a bed and breakfast. we ate at yummy restaurants and explored the town. we also got to see some good friends we rarely see. we also went to Minnetonka orchards with some good friends and ate cider donuts, drank apple cider, and walked through a corn maze. it was a great weekend!

amusing comments from the general public: in the elevator at work a lady was talking to me about needing caffeine to survive. i told her i go every day without it. she awkwardly scanned my body and i told her yes, i'm pregnant and she replied, "i thought so but didn't want to ask because there's always that fat stage.

baby mama drama: i cried over not being able to agree on girl names... even though we don't even know what gender we're having yet. i told andrew our child is going to be nameless. i blame pregnancy hormones.

Week 14

week: fourteen

fruit size of baby: lemon

cravings: bacon, chicken noodle soup

aversions: ground beef, mexican food

weight gain: +7 pounds

exercise: none at this point. i'm hoping for more energy soon so i can start going for walks again.

sleep: nice deep sleep. waking up about once a night to use the bathroom.

belly: getting bigger. no stretch marks yet. 

clothes: starting to get uncomfortable to wear my pre-baby jeans. some shirts are no longer long enough to cover as much as i'd like. thinking about investing in some maternity clothes staples

movement: haven't felt the little peanut yet, but hoping to one day soon!

gender: boy or girl? we will find out 12/12

names: we have a couple lists. we have two boy names we love. we cannot agree on a girl's name.

worries: nothing really at this point.

what i love: actually starting to look pregnant (in some clothes). 

what i am looking forward to: finding out the gender

milestones: making it to the second trimester! we are officially one third of the way to meeting our sweet babe.

best moment of the week: going to the wild game with my friend cassandra. 

amusing comments from the general public: haven't really had any yet. probably will have more as i get bigger.

baby mama drama: lately at night if i wait too long to eat dinner, i start gagging until i eat something.