23 Weeks

I intended to post weekly updates on my pregnancy from the beginning, and have failed royally so far. Now that I am in a comfortable phase of pregnancy, however, I am going to make my best effort to report weekly on what I am experiencing. I know that someday I will appreciate these little notes.

So, I am 23 weeks, and still sort of in shock that I am more than half way to my due date (August 15th.) I feel surprisingly… good! When I wake up in the morning, it’s really important for me to have breakfast right away. If I don’t eat something within twenty-minutes of waking up, my stomach starts going nuts. Once breakfast is down, I feel great until lunch time, and again, as long as I eat regularly I am great.

My other big complaint since the nausea faded at 16.5 weeks was heartburn. I am not talking about mild heartburn, I’m talking killer, burning fire, can’t lay down to sleep acid. Luckily, my doctor prescribed me a medication for this, and my heartburn is totally GONE now. The medication is safe, and while I hate that I have to take it, I HAVE TO TAKE IT.

I’m starting to feel a few bodily aches and pains now, associated with my growing weight and belly. I feel this more as the day turns into evening. Some nights, by the time I crawl into bed, I feel overwhelmed by the girth of my growing belly. I can’t imagine how it will feel when I am even bigger as time goes on.

I’ve also noticed that the baby has his own sleep/wake schedule. He usually kicks a bit in the morning after I have breakfast, and then quiets down until dinner time. After dinner, it is play time until midnight or 1:00 a.m.  In fact, last night at about midnight he began kicking me so hard that I actually yelped and jumped up in bed (which made Zach wake up too, saying: “What!? what?!”.  The kicking was down VERY low, and it felt like several hard blows to the bladder. I can’t imagine what a kick to the bladder will feel like when he is even bigger… yikes!