It feels so strange to be past the halfway point, and so, soooo good at the same time. Here’s how 22 weeks has been looking and feeling! Oh, also, it’s a boy! A healthy, squirmy little boy whose name will be Alexander!
FOOD:
I pretty much eat everything all the time. I’m at a point where I’m pretty much hungry every 2ish hours. Sometimes 3 hours, some times 1.5. It’s dependent on a lot of factors – If Alex is having a growth spurt (I can usually tell when it’s happening based on a few things), if I ate enough the day before (particularly busy/active days I don’t tend to eat enough because my hunger gets blunted… and it just becomes increased the next day when I’m less busy). Sometimes throughout the day I’m constantly starving, so constantly eating, but then by mid afternoon I’ve lost all interest in food and dinner won’t happen for 4ish hours and I just won’t be that hungry for it.
It waxes and wanes. It all evens out I’m sure. I did find out at my last appointment a few weeks ago that I’d lost weight and pretty much hadn’t gained anything for my entire pregnancy, so I’m trying to eat more calorically dense things like lots of nuts/fats/umm chips 😉 because more volume isn’t an option for me.
Fun fact:
When I was 16 my stomach ripped open from an angry ulcer, and I had many other ulcers eating away at it as well which lead to emergency surgery (hellllooooo almost dying) and the removal of a good portion of my stomach along with digestive issues for years. While all of my digestive issues are solved, I still don’t have the same stomach capacity as most people. Some days there seems to be more room for more volume in my stomach, most days there isn’t as much. So frequent eating it is!
Anywho, cravings/ preferences as of late are:
Indian food. I just make it at home because I try to save money by not ordering takeout most of the time and because I like cooking. Lately we’ve had butter chicken, beef vindaloo and tandoori chicken thighs with saffron rice.
Rice. Having a weird moment with rice. I just want to eat it with every meal. I don’t, because I do try to get a lot of variety in our diets, but daily rice has been a thing. Not sure why.
Chips. Always chips. That never changes.
Lots of fruit like always, almost always with cheese. Roasted asparagus (finally in season here).
Mixed nuts. I seem to have a preference for almonds and cashews, and miraculously when I started eating lots of those, my leg aches and cramps went away, so I’m assuming it’s the magnesium content that my body was after. So smart, the human body if we just listen.
Shreddies with whole milk. Not sure where that one came from but I love it.
Burgers. I eat them probably 4x a week at this point. Sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner. I don’t care when, just gimme burgers.
Cold bubbly drinks. It’s been hot and I’ve been really active. Cold bubbly drinks are just more refreshing it feels like. Also Ice cream.
That’s pretty much it right now. I’m still eating a pretty big variety of things mostly so I don’t get bored, but also so that me and Alex are getting nutritional variety. Yesterday I was very much wanting one of those super cold deep n delicious chocolate cakes from the freezer section along with brownie ice cream. I honestly haven’t had one of those cakes since I was a child. I think it’s just because I was hot and it was cold. I didn’t go buy one… I actually think I’d hate it now, but my husband did come home with some ice cream so yay.
BODY:
Lots of belly growing happening. I still only have stretch marks on my boobs, nowhere else. TBH other than my belly, nothing had gotten bigger, so I’m assuming that’s why. I imagine at some point my legs will. I AM starting to feel puffy, which I’m attributing to the extra fluid volume I now have plus it’s hot out a lot and I tend to get puffy when it’s hot even not pregnant. Still drinking a crap ton of fluids to keep hydrated.
I have some aches and pains sometimes, but generally just when I’ve pushed my body too far. I’ve had the odd braxton hicks but it isn’t very often and they don’t last long. Some mild back pain here or there that’s relieved with a stretch or two.
I have it pretty easy, I think, from what I’ve heard from a lot of women. I have less energy than I’d like to have, and I tire a lot easier which frustrates me sometimes. I definitely don’t have the bounds and bounds of energy they say you have in the second trimester, but overall it’s pretty good. I just need better sleep. Getting comfortable is next to impossible. I try to nap when possible, but the cat likes to join which doesn’t help.
Getting maternity shirts and shorts has me feeling a lot more comfortable in the clothing department at least, so glad I finally did that!
BABY MOVEMENTS:
He kicks constantly. Usually my right side. He punches lower down in my pelvis. He tumbles sometimes. He swims around. He treats my bladder like a bouncy castle. It’s all wonderful and strange. You can feel him kick on the outside and that’s all unicorns and rainbows.
MY MOVEMENT:
I walk for 60-90 minutes a day and I’m still doing all my usual life things and cooking/baking a lot. At least one day a week I do almost nothing because my body is just done, so I rest. Most of the time I’m very much still happily moving my body lots.
MOOD:
Up and down. I’ll cry or get sad easily, but I’m also just as easily happy/overjoyed or content. I think the sadness/frustration/blahness more comes from lack of sleep since I toss and turn all night, but most of the time I’m pretty good emotionally. Just really impatiently waiting for his birthday and trying to enjoy this time as well. Excited for the summer!
NURSERY:
We painted! It took 4 days which was annoying and tiring (covering dark blue with pale green requires many coats) but I love it. I love it. We’re going woodland themed. So far we have nothing in it but his bassinet and the odd clothing items we’ve been gifted. A crib, stroller, car seat and many clothing items have been purchased by family, but they won’t be in the house until August. We need to look for a good rocking chair for me… so that will be next on the list I suppose.
I think that’s about it for now. A mix of emotions, lots of different bodily sensations/changes, lots of gratitude and impatience, lots of beauty, lots of food, lots of relishing the time we have now and counting down until our son is here. Lots of being extra social now while it’s still easy to do things/go out on my own terms, HA.
Cheers, friends!
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