25 Weeks with #2

First of all — happy, happy birthday to Jose, my most awesome husband and partner in crime!

Size of the Baby: About 13-14 inches long (the size of an rutabega…which is what?) and 1.5 pounds.

Weight gain/loss: Enh, like 18 pounds, which is 4 lbs more than last time but I’m trying to accept that. I am starting to feel pretty large, and that feeling seems to have come on a lot earlier than last time. I’m somewhat worried about already feeling this way yet still having 3+ months to go.

Maternity clothes: I wasn’t planning to buy anything else, but I may need to buy another pair of work pants one size up. My black pants — which I’ve been wearing at least twice a week, sometimes 3 times — are feeling tight. This is also a bummer, since I wore them the whole way through last time.

Sleep: Unlike last week, we’ve had no tornado or flash flood warnings in the middle of the night this week and my sleep has therefore been much better. Except for the fact that I should go to bed earlier. Sigh. As much as I’d like to be one of those “early to bed, early to rise” people, I just seem to fall more on the night owl side of things.

Movement: This week I crossed my arms on top of my belly and felt her punch/kick them in response. I remember that happening last time, but this was the first time this pregnancy. So yeah, she’s getting stronger all right.

Food cravings: I’ve had a sweet tooth this week. On the positive side, Jose usually has a candy bar lying around somewhere. On the negative side, that certainly won’t help in the weight gain department.

Best moment this week? Maybe not “best” but certainly funniest: I was sitting with my group lead and branch chief for my yearly performance appraisal and talking about my upcoming work for the next year. As we were talking about me taking over a task from someone who will be retiring in January, I said “well, I’ll have plenty of time this fall to come up to speed on things.” My group lead gave me a funny look and said “um, remind me when you’re due?”

Yep, I had totally forgotten that I will be out basically all fall on maternity leave. Pregnancy brain I guess??

What I miss: Being able to bend over easily? Ha! I’m kidding…but only a little.

What I’m looking forward to: Jose’s mom arrives tomorrow and will be here just over a week. It’s always nice to have her around — Emma enjoys the time with her, and Jose and I bask in a bit of parenting respite that we don’t often get. I’m hoping to finish moving our office upstairs while she’s here. (That process that has been stalled for the last week or so.) When that’s done, I’ll be able to turn my attention towards getting the room ready for baby girl.

Milestones: This is going to sound crazy, but it’s only now, at 25 weeks, that I’m starting to realize that WHOA — we are going to have another baby soon. With Emma, I was acutely aware of each week as it passed, but this time around time is flying by. I know this is really common but still. Whoa.