week 24

cravings:  nothing much

aversions:  chicken, especially when raw, but cooked doesn't really appeal to me either 

symptoms:  UTI and the horrors that accompany, nightmares, heartburn, kidney-pelvis-rib jabs as V explores her cramped quarters, itchy skin

movement:  She moves so much with so much strength that it can be painful. She's running out of room in there and letting me know it. The belly is itching like crazy so hopefully it will give a little throughout the week so that we can both have a bit more room. 

weight gain:  just a pound shy of my starting weight! Doctor is happy, so we're happy too. 

fears:  Slight early labor scare this week that ended up just being a weird UTI. Apparently the symptoms with pregnancy are slightly different than they've been my whole life, so it took some time to catch. But this is so much better than actually going into labor this early. Bring on the cranberries. 

general mood:  I've been very stressed this past week due to finals and other things, but I've submitted all my papers which is a huge burden off my back. Today will be a happy day.

sleep:  Haha. I dreamt of editing papers, forgetting about papers, and rushing to complete papers all week long. Luckily I slept rather solidly the last night or so because I was getting no rest. 

surprised by:  My lacking of stretch marks (knock on wood). I got a couple teeny ones on my hips early on, but I've been lathering with raw coconut oil and/or Ghanaian karite oil once or twice daily and taking vitamin E and fish oil since I first saw them. And so far the only marks on my belly are a star-shaped flat belly button and some peach fuzz. 

looking forward to:  My dad is coming this weekend! And Bobby and I will be making some pretty huge baby-prep steps over the next couple weeks that I'll be sharing here soon ;)

best / worst moments:  The very best moment of the week will be disclosed in a day or two, but a close second was submitting my final pre-baby paper. Twenty pages. So nice to be able to focus on V for the next few months. The worst moment was a really sweet nurse taking all of my stats as she mentally prepared me for labor before her tests were concluded (the tests that came back to reveal that I was actually not about to have a baby). She freaked me out a bit and made me feel extremely unprepared. 

bobby is:   A total gentleman. He helps me down the stairs safely when the rail is dirty, he pulls me out of his (very low) car seats, and he literally helps roll me out of bed when the basketball on my torso prevents me from sitting up on my own. I have a feeling he'll soon be tying my shoes too, reaching my feet requires me to hold my breath and grunt. 

maternity clothes:  I will be in the market for some shorts and long tanks this weekend. It is so too hot for pants, not to mention I'm just really really over pants, especially with this UTI.