24 weeks

How far along? 24 weeks = 6 months, whaaat?!?

Size of baby: He is about 11.8 inches long, 1.3 pounds and roughly the size of a papaya.

What's baby up to? He's perfecting his lungs and packing on the pounds. He'll gain ½ pound this week alone.

Total weight gain/loss: +18 lbs... so much for only gaining 20 lbs the entire pregnancy, sorry doc!

Pregnancy symptoms: Getting bigger and harder to bend down, get off the couch, etc. My feet ache after I've been on them for more than a few hours no matter what kind of shoes I wear. I did get a pair of Crocs this past weekend and they are so far the most comfortable shoes. The hubby HATES Crocs of all kind and sent me this funny text when he came home and found them in the closet.

Maternity clothes? Yes, but still a few non-maternity tops and dresses

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Eh, some good nights and some bad nights. I've been sleeping on my side and wake up in the middle of the night with very sore hips.

Best moment this past week: Found out my brother and sis-in-law are having a little boy too. She's due about 2 weeks behind me, wonder who will come first???

Miss Anything? Feet that don't hurt.

Movement: Yup and it I'm starting to learn his daily pattern.

Food Cravings:  Nothing really, still love anything Mexican. I eat a lot of chicken tacos.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Labor sigs: No

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody: Happy

Weekly Wisdom: STOP weighing yourself every morning. It'll drive you nuts. And start asking around about child birth classes.

Looking forward to: Hopefully passing my glucose test next Friday!

Nursery

Ever since we found out Baby C is a he I've been asked about nursery themes and decore. I had already looked around a little on Pinterest, but hadn't seen anything I just loved. Boy nursery themes are hard, unless you want sports, whales, cars/trucks or basic blue and brown.

After looking and looking, I finally came across this cute modern little nursery, and fell in love! All the bedding is custom made, but I'm super lucky and both my mom and mom-in-law are excellent at sewing.

I ordered swatches last week to make sure I like the colors in person before ordering yards of it and am looking forward to getting them in the mail this week. The fabric is by Premier and I've found it on fabric.com - best prices I've seen so far.

We also ordered the crib last week and are going with this fun modern one, the Babyletto Mercer 3 in 1 Convertible Crib, ordered from Amazon.com. I am a little worried the grey walls wont look right since we'll have brown in the furniture with the two-toned crib. Hummmmm...

We already own the trusty Ikea Expedit bookcase (like the one in the photo below) and use in the current guest room as a faux dresser. I plan on keeping it in there and adding colorful cloth baskets for drawers and putting a changing pad on top so it'll be both a dresser and changing table. The hubby isn't thrilled, he thinks we need a proper dresser, but I think this will work just fine.

Stay tuned, I'll post photos of the progress.

23 weeks

How far along? 23 weeks

Size of baby: A large mango

What's baby up to? Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing. Baby's hearing has gotten better and loud noises like the dog barking or the vacuum cleaner are becoming familiar and wont faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

Total weight gain/loss: +16 lbs.

Pregnancy symptoms: Swelling is still an issue. My feet and toes swell too and apparently it is causing me to get blisters on my toes when I go on long walks.

Maternity clothes? Yes and just ordered some cute stuff from Old Navy.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Yes, please!

Best moment this past week: We went to a Cake concert for the hubby's birthday and had a great day together in Raleigh, NC.

Miss Anything? Feet that don't hurt.

Movement: Yes, here and there. Getting stronger but not as strong as I had thought it would be by now.

Food Cravings:  Nada

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Labor sigs: No

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody: Happy

Weekly Wisdom: I now look obviously pregnant and have been caught off guard how many people, complete strangers, stop and ask me about my pregnancy or just want to offer well wishes. It's sweet, but is something I wasn't expecting.

Looking forward to: Baby C's crib should be arriving this week, excited to set it up and start putting the nursery together.

22 weeks

On our way to the CAKE concert in NC

How far along? 22 weeks

Size of baby: He's about 11 inches now, the length of a spaghetti squash and just over a pound in weight.

What's baby up to? His lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but the irises (colored part) still lack pigment.

Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs.

Pregnancy symptoms: Swelling in my hands when I walk a lot.

Maternity clothes? Yup.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Doing ok.

Best moment this past week: Just enjoying every day. It's crazy how fast they pass.

Miss Anything? A waistline :)

Movement: Here and there.

Food Cravings: Not really.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Labor sigs: No

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody: Happy

Weekly Wisdom: Start working on your registry, I've been amazed at how many people have already asked me where we are registered at.

Looking forward to: Week 23!

21 weeks

How far along? 21 weeks

Size of baby: He is about the length of a carrot.

What's baby up to? His skin has changed from being translucent to opaque as the skin cells grown and stretch in preparation for the fat deposits, which will soon form under baby's skin. As he grows, his wake and sleep cycle begin to form. Mom's activity level and eating patterns are normally what rules his, as he can now hear all that does on around him. It is now that we'll start to find out if we have a night owl or an early bird.

Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs.

Pregnancy symptoms: Getting bigger and getting harder to move around, I know this is just the beginning.

Maternity clothes? Yes, but still ok on larger sized regular clothes too.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Gone ok this past week. Been really tired though, where is this second trimester energy???

Best moment this past week: Of course finding out our little 'it' is a he. The hubby got to feel baby move last Thursday night and his eyes lit up, it was very sweet.

Miss Anything? Not really, but a cold beer sure does sound good.

Movement: Nope

Food Cravings:  Nada

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, doing pretty good here.

Have you started to show yet: Yes, for sure.

Gender predictions: It's a boy!

Labor sigs: No

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or Moody: Happy and irritated.

Weekly Wisdom: Be prepared for the onslaught of phone calls, emails and messages when you announce baby gender. It was a bit overwhelming, but we felt very loved that so many were excited to know too.

Looking forward to: Picking out the nursery.

It's a...

I have felt like a five-year old waiting on Christmas morning for the past few weeks. I even tossed and turned last night from all the excitement and anticipation. This was the day we were going to find out if we were going to have a son or daughter.

When asked what we're hoping for, we have both been quick to answer, "Just a healthy baby." And that is the God-honest truth.

From trouble conceiving to scary test results showing an increased chance for Baby C to have down syndrome, it has been an emotional roller coaster I wish upon not one person.

So first, we are beyond excited to announce that we do in fact have a very healthy baby. All the measurements looked good and there were no areas of concern. Still does not rule it out, but at least our risk factor did not go up.

Now for the answer to the big gender question. We are the proud parents to a beautiful and active baby boy.