I can’t believe we’re already half way through our wait to meet this sweet baby girl! Dishing on everything related to this pregnancy 20 weeks!

How is the wait to meet my sweet baby girl already halfway over?! I’m not complaining or anything, but I just want to soak in every minute of this pregnancy and it seems like it’s flying by!

So I’m going to dive right on in with everything that’s going on with a this sweet baby and this pregnancy 20 weeks!

Time to register (not for me, but for first time moms)! 

Obviously I am not lacking in the baby item department. LOL However, when asked, I usually recommend registering after the 20 week ultrasound. Not only can you find out the gender (if you want to), but you also have a little peace of mind knowing your baby is growing and is healthy.

Check out this post for all my Baby Registry Essentials List. This isn’t my first rodeo people. I have had 8 years and 4 kids (almost 5) to determine what baby items we love. I discuss why we chose certain items, and whether or not they might be right for you! I took an entire year to write it after we had Mara, and I just refreshed it a month or so ago!

Symptoms

Sickness. 

Thankfully my morning sickness has subsided substantially. I still get queasy every once in a while, but I stopped throwing up in the mornings around 18 weeks, and am SUPER grateful for the reprieve from that!

Movement. 

I am finally feeling a few little baby flutters! I’d say it started around 21 weeks! My placenta always seems to be positioned in the front of my uterus, which means that I don’t feel baby until later in my pregnancies than most people. It’s still pretty sporadic and inconsistent, but we’re getting there!

Baby Belly 

It seems like the more babies I have, my belly always grows really fast in the beginning and then levels out. Like I said in my pregnancy announcement, it was obvious to anyone who knew me that I was pregnant by like 11 weeks. And I definitely look more pregnant now than I did then (obviously), but growth has slowed and I feel pretty normal and am measuring on track!

Swelling

Ok! I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in my first post about this baby! But one morning, early on (I’m talking like 12 weeks) I woke up and couldn’t get my wedding ring off! Thankfully I rubbed coconut oil all over it and was able to pull it free, although it did NOT feel great.

I have never had this problem before. I literally wore my wedding ring through all four of my other deliveries! I seriously was in shock! So far my fingers are the only part of my body that get swollen, but I am ready and expecting for more to follow!  I even ordered a fake wedding ring so I didn’t have to walk around for the next 7 months ringless! haha!

This is one of the reasons I am grateful for monthly OB visits! I thought that the swelling had to mean something was wrong! But my blood pressure is great (low like usual) and everything else looks fine! Grateful for that piece of mind every 4 weeks!

Aversions

SUPER grateful my aversions have calmed down too! Now I can eat just about anything and actually want to eat. I won’t go near any sort of seafood though. Ritch and I went on a date and the first course was a salad that had dried shrimp in it (somehow I missed that component on the menu) and it ruined the entire meal for me. LOL

Cravings

Even my cravings have subsided a bit! When I was pregnant with Bethany I explained to Ritch that I had two types of cravings…

1. The “Sounds Good Craving” occurs when I see a restaurant, photo, etc. of food and say, “ooOOoo that sounds so good.” Using the words “sounds good” means that I don’t necessarily want to eat it, but it sounds very appetizing to me at the moment. For example, we drove by McDonalds and I said, “Oh man, dipping french fries in a chocolate milkshake sounds so good to me right now.” I didn’t actually want Ritch to pull over so I could purchase and consume said combination, but the feeling was strong enough that it was definitely worth exclaiming out loud. Most of these “sounds good” cravings are nostalgic….milkshakes, chicken nuggets, frosted animal crackers, etc. etc.
2. The “I want it” craving. When I say, “Ohh I really want a (fill in the blank) right now” that means I have crossed over from just thinking something sounds delicious, to actually wanting to eat it. Some of these have been donuts, cheese fries (still), Nutella (so much Nutella), guacamole, kale salads and Slurpees (I actually still haven’t satisfied this one yet lol). When I say “I really want a….” I will almost definitely get it within a week or two if the feeling doesn’t go away!

Exercise

I’m feeling SO much better now, and have been able to get back into a workout routine I feel really good about! I do a couple workout videos a week, and walk the other days! It’s getting a little dark and cold in the mornings for my liking, so I’m about to switch to the elliptical/pool at the gym in the next couple of weeks!

I do have to say that it’s so important to listen to your body when you’re pregnant. I choose not to run because I just don’t think it’s good for my body or my baby when I’m pregnant. But that’s a personal choice.

Your body should change. 

Remember your body will change, a lot, and that is a good thing. You want to look pregnant when you are pregnant. That means that your baby is growing, your body is working and you are healthy.

I notice that hormonal changes also play a role in my body composition during pregnancy. My thighs and lower regions (LOL) get a little thicker than they normally are, but my upper body stays pretty much the same. All I can say is to embrace it.  Don’t spend your pregnancy killing yourself trying not to look, or to look a certain way.

Exercise is important during pregnancy. 

However I also want to say that I do feel that exercise is an important part of pregnancy. Just getting your blood flowing and keeping yourself in shape helps tremendously during labor and delivery.

You would never wake up one day and just decide to run a marathon if you had never run before in your life, right? Of course not! The training is the most important part of the race! Well, in the same way, labor is one of the most physically demanding things you will ever do in your life. So to think that it will go swimmingly without any preparation is not wise. I highly recommend some form of activity or another during pregnancy (unless ordered otherwise by your doctor)!

My other kids

The kids are still very excited about this baby girl! Bethany asks me every 5 minutes if I can feel her move, and if SHE can feel her move yet! However the novelty has worn off, because let’s face it, 9 months is a lonnnng time for a kid to wait for something. We still pray for “the new baby” every day, and the kids have given me their suggestions for names which include (but are not limited to): Mary (like the mother of Jesus), Ruth, Angel, Star and Shimmer.

My thoughts

After the 20 week ultrasound this pregnancy really started feeling real for me. I know that it has been real for the last 5 months. But with confirmation beyond a shadow of a doubt that this baby is definitely a girl, and peace of mind knowing she is healthy and happy, I just let myself start to get really excited!

I keep dreaming about snuggling her and wondering what she will look like. I can’t wait for her to meet her siblings and for them to have another sweet baby to love!

Mom of girls. 

I said it before and I’ll say it again. The more I think about raising a gaggle of girls the more excited I get about it. I’m so blessed and grateful to have my sweet boy, but I loveee that my girls will all have THREE sisters! What a joy and blessing for them!

Also, I get to be the mother of the bride four times (SO FUN), and my daughters’ go-to for all things woman-related! I mean, who always flies out for the births of my babies? My mom. I love my husband’s mom too, but she’s not my momma if you know what I mean?!

There’s just something comforting about having your own mom around during huge life events. And the trust that is there knowing she will love me no matter how emotional (or hormotional is what I like to say, a cross between hormonal and emotional) and vulnerable I am. I am just excited to get to be that for my girls one day!

Do you want to have more kids? 

No. And Yes. And I don’t know. Some days I feel totally at peace about our family being complete with five kids. Other days I think we absolutely will end up with six. And other days I just have no idea.

Ritch is happy either way, although he is totally content with 5, but is open to more. All I know is that we’re definitely not ready to take any permanent measures to ensure our family is complete (no matter how many “Family Complete?” Facebook ads pop up in my feed…..LOL).

So for now we’ll say that we’re very excited for this baby, and we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds when the time comes!

Wearing

The only other child I was pregnant with in the summer was Bethany. But since she was my first baby (and my uterus wasn’t already plenty stretched out lol), I didn’t need maternity clothes until well into the fall/winter.

So this time around I definitely needed them earlier, but I wasn’t willing to buy warm weather maternity gear that I’d wear for a few weeks and then (possibly) never again. But it’s cooling down now and I just pulled out my bin of clothes (yikes, I may need to update a few pieces after all…it has been 8 years since #1 lol). But here are a few staples that I have worn every single pregnancy!

Maternity Tank Tops

I HAVE to mention these Isabel Maternity Tank Tops from Target. I have been wearing them nonstop ever since I had Bethany 7+ years ago (pregnant or not). They are long, comfy, durable, and the BEST to wear under clothes. I literally wear one every day. I have multiples in black and white and they are an absolute staple in my wardrobe!

Maternity Jeans

These are my all-time favorite maternity jeans….also from Target. Seriously their maternity section is amazing and affordable. These jeans are only $29 and I wear them all the time! They work well with sandals, flats, booties and boots! The ideal jean for all seasons!

Maternity Leggings

You might think you can wear your regular leggings throughout your pregnancy…they do fit, after all. However, I learned my lesson the hard way when I wore my favorite pair of workout pants throughout my first pregnancy. They got super stretched out and then didn’t fit me after Bethany was born.

Ever since then I buy a new pair (or two) of maternity leggings every pregnancy, and they’re so worth it. They’re cheap and I consider them disposable, because I wear them so much they’re usually done by the end of my pregnancy! LOL!

Click on the photos to shop this post!

Pregnancy Products

Cocoa Butter Lotion:  AS SOON as I get a positive test I run to the store and buy cocoa butter lotion. I grease up my belly every morning and every night throughout the pregnancy. So far it has worked and I’ve made it through 3 babies without any stretch marks {however there is nothing wrong with stretch marks, I think they’re beautiful}!

Well that’s all she wrote (I think)! I’ll keep you guys updated throughout this pregnancy! Please let me know below if you have any questions I didn’t address in this post!

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