Week 24!

So I only have 3 more weeks in my 2nd trimester and then it's off to the final stretch! Part of me feels like this time has been flying by and the other part of me (the pregnant part) feels like this whole process is taking forever. I'm definitely feeling more and more ready for little Emily to get here. I'm sure as soon as she does I'll be begging the Dr. to put her back in, but right now I'm just ready to get this over with. I really want my body back to myself. It's so weird to feel her kicking and moving around. I wish I could see what she's up to in there. It still feels like a huge bird is stuck in my stomach and flapping its wings furiously to get out! The cool part though, is if I lay on my side or my back I can actually see my stomach move when she kicks (which is ALL THE TIME!). I want people to feel it but it seems as soon as I move or put someone's hand on my stomach she stops.

I have all sorts of pregnancy symptoms. Some bizarre and some expected but so far no swelling which is nice. I keep checking my rings to make sure they don't get too snug but I think I have a couple more months before that whole nightmare starts. At least I hope I do! I keep telling myself I'm not going to read about anymore pregnancy stuff on The Baby Center's website. Everything I read freaks me out and I've decided that I'd rather not know and just be surprised :) But then they send me these e-mails that have really interesting subject lines and I think "yeah, I wanna know what the 20 pregnancy myths are" No, Diana! No you don't! So one of them was "Is it true that my baby will resemble the size I was as a baby?" Well, since I was close to 10 pds when I was born, I was curious to know if this was true or a myth (fingers crossed for myth!!) Um, yeah. Of course it's true!! And they say it takes after the Mom's side too!! And then mothers commented that they had the same experience. So now I'm a little nervous. I don't want to give birth to some 20 pd kid! My parents still joke that I could hold my head up when I was born and people thought someone had left their baby in the hospital for a month as I lay in the incubator twice the size of the other newborns. And then they sent another e-mail titled "What will your body look like right after giving birth" and I think, okay. That can't be that bad to read. Maybe I'll just skip to the part where it tells me how much weight I'll lose in the first few days....WRONG! They spell out all kinds of creepy stuff that's going to happen to my body afterwards! I really need to stop reading up on this stuff. Again, I like surprises! If I don't know what to expect, I won't expect anything :)

Nothing too new is going on, my belly seems to be expanding at a very rapid pace. I'm eating like a little piglet. The kids' mom left for Texas this week so they were finally home, in their own rooms and beds. I was so excited to see them and spend time with them but Joli is taking it really hard (as usual). It's hard to stay positive and not get angry at her Mother when I see how upset her leaving makes Joli. It reminds me of being a child myself. When she's upset, I'm upset. And the worse part is that there's nothing I can do. There's nothing or anyone who can replace that sadness in Joli's heart when her Mom is gone and it's hard because I just want to fix it. Hopefully after a few days she'll be okay, but right now the house feels like a funeral home!

Oh, and I forgot to share in my past blogs about my new found anxiety towards pregnant women. I just don't like them. James and I did the hospital walk through with about 10 other couples. I know I did it early but I'm very nervous and wanted to be prepared and know what the hospital would look like, the rooms, the nursery, how to get there, etc. Well...these other women were ready to pop!! Most of them only had 2-3 weeks left in their pregnancy!! All I could do was look around the room at these women, paranoid that one of them was going to pop a baby out at any second. It got too much and we left early. Then last Saturday I got a much needed pedicure. As soon as I start to relax, a pregnant woman comes in to get a mani/pedi and sits right next to me. I hear her tell the lady that she is 37 weeks!!! That's like, due date week!!! What the hell is she doing out in public??? The rest of the time, I just stared at her wondering if she would give birth right then and there. So I've decided to try and avoid really pregnant women for the time being. They throw me into an instant panic!

HOW FAR ALONG:  24 weeks (the baby weighs about 1.5 lbs and if she's anything like me she's HUGE!)

SLEEP: Getting a little better. I still wake up easily, and it takes me a good 30 seconds to roll over.

FOOD CRAVINGS: FEED ME! I'm just hungry all the time and everything sounds good at this point.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: Having a 3 day weekend to spend with my family.

WHAT I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Emily getting much bigger. I wonder how I can convince my Dr. that she should come out once she weighs 6 lbs....

Love, Diana :)