wearing my first maternity shirt on St. Patrick's Day!

It’s always fun to look at the pregnancy websites and mobile apps during the first trimester. It seemed like each week the baby pulled off another heroic feat. I could just imagine Sweet Pea waking up every morning, stretching any newly acquired limbs, and announcing “No big deal guys, just made myself an arm today.”

Now that all body parts and organs are accounted for, Sweet Pea has one major goal to complete: get big! Of course, she always adds one or two new things to her repertoire as well. This week, she’s creating meconium – otherwise known as baby poop.

Luckily, Sweet Pea is keeping her poop to herself for now. It’s not released until after birth, and in some cases, during labor (but let’s not do that, okay?).

At 10 ½ inches long, she’s now the size of a banana and weighs about ¾ pounds. That’s almost one pound and one foot of baby growing inside of me! (source, source)

Sweet Pea at 21 weeks - waving hello to all her fans

I’m starting to feel like a real pregnant woman now, and the bump must be more noticeable too, as three different strangers have asked about my pregnancy this week.  I also went on a maternity shopping spree this weekend, and I think the new maternity shirts definitely make my pregnancy more obvious.

It’s so nice to have maternity clothes to wear. While I can still get away with wearing some of my old shirts, they just don’t look that great anymore. I was lucky enough to receive tons of clothes from my friend Stacey, too. I can see myself needing a few more things to last until the summer, but hopefully not much more.

Total Weight Gain: Up 11 pounds!
Symptoms:  Aside from an awful stomach virus that kept me in bed for a day, I’m feeling pretty good. I do have to watch how much I eat in one sitting though. I have a tendency to still eat bigger meals and it makes me feel so uncomfortable for hours after. Bradley recommends two of everything – two breakfasts, two lunches, and two dinners, and of course smaller portions during each meal.
Movement: I’ve tried to track Sweet Pea’s movements this week since I’ve read that babies have established regular sleep and awake patterns by now. It seems Sweet Pea would rather be a spontaneous little bee however, as he still moves around whenever he pleases. Every day is different!
Baby Stuff Bought: This waterproof mattress pad thanks to a $50 gift card from Pottery Barn Kids. They sent the card our way after a small shipping incident occurred with our crib a few weeks ago.
Best Moment This Week: I love that strangers actually think I’m pregnant now. It used to feel like I was walking around, carrying this big secret that no one knew but me. Now I’ve got the belly to prove it!