Week 22 and all the changes

This past week has brought on some new pregnancy symptoms. I'm still feeling fantastic and am really enjoying being pregnant right now. I've had a few hormonal outbursts the past week, but all in all, I've been happier than ever! =)

Symptom: waking up with numb arms every night. No matter how I manage to sleep, my arms are numb when I wake up. The uber-tingles are not so much fun. I guess it's better than my legs falling asleep so I don't fall when I get up to go to the bathroom.

Speaking of bathroom, I am back to trimester one symptom: constant trips to the bathroom. Since Emma is lying sideways, she uses my bladder like a waterbed/trampoline. I will feel like I have to pee gallons and will rush to the bathroom to find I only have a shot glass worth. Her increased weight and activity have definitely decreased the bladder capacity. Larry and I were out of the house for barely three hours today. This entailed two trips to the bathroom while at Costco, and one at Von's. I would have also gone at Blockbuster, but they didn't have a bathroom.

Symptom: Karate kicks. Emma's kicks are much more noticeable now and much more frequent. The other day I was sitting on the couch looking at my belly and you could SEE where she was kicking. They don't hurt at all, it's just funny to watch. With her kicks getting stronger, Larry FINALLY got to feel her kicks for the first time. I'm not sure if he thought it was as cool as I did, but I've been dying for him to experience her movements. Emma decided to finally stop being stubborn and say hello to dad. =)

Symptom: Braxton Hicks contractions. While totally painless, this sort of freaked me out at first! My stomach would mound into a giant hard ball and then within a minute or so, relax back to its regular self. At first I thought it was the baby pushing out, but apparently these type of contractions can begin in the second trimester. The tightness was a bit weird.

Symptom: Teenager skin...again. Ugh, I had been free of breakouts for awhile, but low and behold, back to looking like I'm 13. Not a big fan of this at all! One month shy of turning 30 is not the ideal time to start experiencing what it's like to be a "pizza face".

Symptom: Tears...rivers of tears. I went through some patches where I didn't cry as much, but man, I'm back at it again. I see newborns, I get all choked up. I was watching "Bringing Home Baby" on TV the other day and was bawling when this couple brought home their twin daughters. Little girls sure are cute! We have been trying to plan out Emma's nursery. Not being able to find that perfect nursery idea make me cry thinking I would have an un-ready room for her. Fortunately that has passed. We have decided to go with a Hawaiian theme which I think will be super cute. The colors will be black, white, and lavender. I'm sure Larry can hardly wait to paint! =p

Symptom: Growing belly. Well, this one is pretty obvious. I wouldn't expect Emma to get bigger and my belly to stay small. I still don't feel too humungous yet, but I think I finally look undeniably pregnant. Here are some updated photos. I know it's only been a week since I posted the last one, but I figured my parents would appreciate the treat of having some pics a week before expected! =) Some people have asked if I have started getting the line below my belly button (the "linea negra"). While it looks like I have, I have also had a scar there for the past 10 years from a surgery, so in my opinion it still looks the same to me. Oh, and one more symptom. In this week's "mirror" picture, my hand is on my waist to cover my new found enemy....back fat. Gross. Black sure is a forgiving color for those extra pounds!



My repeat ultrasound will be in a couple of weeks to get better views of Emma's heart. Then my monthly checkup will follow a few days later. Ugh all of this will fall in the same week that I have to return back to the dreaded SDSU.