24 weeks.

24 weeks.

I am 24 weeks pregnant. My cousin & I were chatting about breast feeding & after birth horrors yesterday, & then she asked me if I was nervous. Well. It doesn't feel real yet. At least not all the time. But when it does feel real, holy moly. The nerves are unstoppable, & usually so are the tears. I suppose since I'm actually looking pregnant now it feels real a lot more often than before. It's weird to think that there's a baby in my uterus. & that my uterus is big enough to hold a baby. & that in about 15-16 weeks she'll be taken out of there & we'll have to take care of her. It's just so weird! & terrifying. But don't worry. We're also excited. But sometimes the nerves outweigh the excitement. It's hard for them not to. I'm just being honest. I don't think pregnant women share that often enough, & it makes other pregnant women feel like their nerves are abnormal. It's okay to have nerves. If there aren't nerves, then I think there might be some unrealistic expectations in there. But I am really excited. She's gonna be so cute & loved. =] & a pain. But a cute pain!

The first two days of this week were lousy because I allowed myself to run out of Zofran (morning sickness stopper & miracle pill). But I got a refill & I've been unstoppable ever since! WOO! So glad second trimester energy finally hit me about a week & a half ago. Such a beautiful beautiful thing. I finally emptied the last 2 boxes that were in our room. It's amazing how much nicer our room looks. & I also did an assortment of other productive things, like sending out baby shower invitations (to family & close friends that I know cannot attend, but I'd like to still include), & finished up getting registered!!! YAY! Finally. That was a very intense & stressful thing for me, but I had to finish it because the baby shower is 3 weeks from today. 

In a previous post, "Registered," I gave all that info. Well here it is again, just in case you'd like it. We are registered at TARGET & AMAZON.COM. You can find the registry under my name...Alexa Staples. I've made sure of it. It's definitely under that name...now. 

Gabe finished something this week as well. The dresser that's going in baby girl's room!!! It's SOOOO adorable. The most recent post, "The Dresser," is all about that. Shows the before & after. But I couldn't resist posting the after picture in this post as well cause it's soooo pretty. It's way prettier in person, but it still looks awesome in the picture. I love it. It's going to look so good in there. 

My mom gets here on the 29th & I'm so so so excited. I wish my dad could come, but since he just had another shoulder surgery, he's unable to make the trip. But hopefully he'll be able to come out at Christmas time when baby girl gets blessed. But I'm certainly happy that my mom will be here. My baby shower is this early because it's when she could come. So I'm glad.

My sister-in-law, Gabe's sister, had her baby girl this week. She's the second Staples baby born this year. Two down, four more to go! All of them are girls. Crazy how many baby girls are being brought in to the Staples family. My brother's wife is due at the beginning of September. She's having a boy. It's weird to me that my big brother & I, even though he has three kids already, the oldest being 7, are going to have kids the same age...or separated by just a few months. Very strange.

Anyway. It's been a really good week. So so so happy!

Here's this thing.

How far along? 24 weeks.

How big around? 35 inches. Which is smaller than last week. But my belly size changes every day according to where the baby is. She keeps moving around & making my belly look different. A few days ago I was carrying high & was 36 inches around, today I'm pretty low. Even lower than that picture up there cause that was actually taken yesterday. Plus, I haven't eaten yet, which also boosts my belly size.

Total weight gain/loss: I want to say 13ish lbs. But I haven't checked in a couple of weeks.

Maternity Clothes: Yeah. I really need some shirts.

Sleep: Restless. They took my melatonin away. Ugh.

Best moment this week: Gabe finished the dresser & I finished the registry! WOO!

Miss Anything? Milk. I ran out & forgot to buy more. Dangit.

Movement: Most certainly. Gabe can feel her now!

Food cravings: Currently, milk. Dangit.

Anything making you queasy or sick: After I've walked around for about 10 minutes in the morning I get sick. Thank goodness for Zofran.

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Labor Signs: Nope.

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: This week, happy! Aside from the occasional mental breakdowns.

Looking forward to: My mom getting here on the 29th!

That is all.

- Alexa