22 weeks with baby #3

I'm 22 weeks as of November 2nd! I get asked almost daily how I'm feeling and to be honest, this is definitely the hardest of the three pregnancies, but I do think that's understandable considering:

a.) I somehow get older every single year.

b.) I'm a stay at home mom of a 3.5 year old and an 18 month old.

c.) I only exercise once a week so I'm not as active as I once was. 

and

d.) My 32 year old body sometimes acts much older than it is.

All in all though, I cherish every moment of every day and despite aches and pains, I love being pregnant. Tom is an amazing husband and daddy, and I often take him up on his request for me to sit down and put my feet up. Um, gladly. If it weren't for these darn varicose veins, I'd feel like a million bucks. 

I'm also an emotional mess. You know those new commercials from Hancock Next where they leave you hangin' and then you can go view the three possible endings online? I was sobbing at the old man entering the nursing home. (From "The Ride" commercial.) Tom really gets a kick out of my moments like this. I also completely overreacted when Conrad didn't get into the church nursery for the second Sunday in a row. I had to walk away rather abruptly because I had a giant frog in my throat. 

I just wanted to sit peacefully in church for the first time in a month. 

It was ridiculous. These hormones I tell ya....they're CRAZY right now.

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along: 22 weeks as of November 2nd.

Total weight gain: Thinking I'm probably pushing 12 lbs by now. This is considerably more than I had gained at this point with Conrad. Eeeek! Tom's explanation for this is that "you're two years older." 

Um....what?! Love him.

I'm definitely bigger than I was with Conrad and Gwendolyn at 22 weeks. (Love seeing the comparisons! Can we talk about how young I look with Gwendolyn? And how not stretched out my belly button looks?! Ha. Darn belly button ring.) 

Maternity clothes: Since 14 weeks! I just ordered another pair of yoga pants b/c I hate to stretch out my favorite Gap pair. 

Gender: Oh man...I LOVE dreaming about this. It's super hard not knowing, but I love the anticipation. I can see it going both ways, but the itchy legs would lead one to believe it may be another little blond-haired, brown-eyed boy.

Movement: Baby isn't super active so I'm thinking he/she will be really calm. :) I do love feeling him/her though and love sharing the excitement with Tom and Gwendolyn. Conrad pats my belly, but really has no clue. My favorite time of the day is right after I climb into bed and if I don't immediately drift off, I lay there with my hands on my belly taking it all in. 

Sleep: We're getting the best sleep ever right now. The kids sleep through the night (on rare occasions Sissy will have to go potty) and we're often heading to bed around 10:00 or 10:30. It's amazing and we love it. And not taking it for granted. 

What I miss: I miss being able to take legit pain meds. I had a few weeks where I had a constant headache and Tylenol is almost funny. I take it regularly just in case it helps in some little way, but I'm not sure that it does much. Thankfully the headaches are gone! Growing a human is hard work!

Cravings: I'm not sure I'd call them "cravings" but I love my cup of tea first thing in the morning, orange juice, cereal, grapes, and I treat myself to a pop every now and then. (Is it me or does pop taste incredible when pregnant?! How cruel. And I'm not even a pop drinker!)

Message to baby: Hi baby! We love you and think about you constantly and pray for you daily. Gwendolyn loves talking to you and saying "wake uuuup baby!" and Conrad pats my tummy with a smile on his face. You have several nick names (and Gwendolyn is always coming up with more names to name "her baby") but mostly we call you "Clea" around the house. If you're a boy, we apologize. "Cleo" would be more appropriate in that case so sometimes we slip that in just to keep it fair. There are lots and lots of people who are excited to love on you once you're here. I was looking at pictures of Conrad after he was born and while we were in the hospital the other night, and I absolutely can't WAIT to see what you look like. Will you look like Sissy or Brother?! I'm so excited to find out!