How far along? 24 weeks, 5 days!!
How am I feeling? HOT!!!!! Goodness, it’s 93 degrees today and not having AC + being pregnant is just cruel. But otherwise, I am feeling pretty good. Energy comes and goes, but that’s to be expected. Heart update below.
Total weight gain/loss: Officially up 4-5 pounds from pre-pregnancy.
Maternity clothes? Yes.
Stretch marks? Same. Nothing new, just a few on my breasts.
Sleep: What’s that? Caden likes to party at night! Some nights I am getting decent sleep, only up 2-3 times to pee. Other times I am up at 2am and if I fall back asleep around 5 for a couple hours I consider that a good night. Last night Caden decided that I was no longer allowed to sleep on my left side which is the only comfortable way for me to sleep lately. Every time I would lay on my side he would burry himself in my side and go to town kicking me. He would stop as soon as I rolled to my back but then if I rolled to my side again he would start back up. We went back and forth doing that about 5 times and he finally won. Silly boy!
Exercise: Walking and yoga when my heart allows.
Best moment this week: It’s been a couple of weeks since I have updated and there has been a lot of “best moments!” Feeling Caden move is always awesome, but being able to capture it on video to send to Dan is pretty special. I’ve also photographed 2 births in the last few weeks and being pregnant, it takes on a whole new meaning. Caden was a great cheerleader and cooperated nicely for Mama!
Movement: YES! So much.
Food cravings: Strawberry milkshakes. The struggle is real but I have limited myself to one a week. That’s pretty good, right?
Anything making you queasy or sick: No, but the heartburn is in full effect and it made me pretty sick last night.
Have you started to show yet: We are way past that.
Labor Signs: Noooo. Wayyy too early!
Belly Button in or out? Neither? Sometimes it’s more in and sometimes it’s pretty flat. I am waiting for it to just come out any day now.
What I miss? The same as usual. My husband, sleep, and wearing my wedding ring.
What I’m loving? The fact that it’s June and I can officially say NEXT MONTH I will see my husband! 🙂
What I am looking forward to? The above! 🙂 And hopefully making some progress on Caden’s nursery.
Wedding rings on or off? OFF. I am officially looking 15, not married, and pregnant (oh yeah, a nurse at the last birth I photographed asked if I was old enough to drive. Apparently she didn’t see my huge stomach and I look questionably younger than 16). But I had a pretty scary incident where my fingers swelled so bad I lost feeling in my finger and it was starting to turn colors. 10 minutes later I got the ring off and it’s not going back on.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Depends on who you ask? HA! I definitely have my moments, but I think I am pretty happy for the most part.
Weekly Wisdom: I don’t think I have anything for ya!
Milestones: My doctor has starting asking about my birth plan and I was given my hospital admission papers. That made things a little more real.

Heart update: oh my what a whirlwind this has been. I finally had my appointment with my cardiologist this past Thursday to get the results of all of my tests. As we suspected, my rate is very high and consistently spikes with minimal activity. My doctor said based off of my numbers she would normally recommend doubling my dose. However, increasing the dosage anymore would impose more risks on Caden. We went over several options, she looked at the current literature and consulted with the other cardiologists,  and ultimately we decided that I would maintain my current dosage, take it easy as much as I can, and trust that it’s not going to get worse as we get further into the pregnancy. When I see my OB this week we will talk about it a little further and try to get a better understanding of what’s going on with Caden when my rate is up. That’s still the question that noone can seem to really answer for us. But overall, even as scary as all of this sounds at times, we are both truly doing okay given our situation. We know that we serve a good God and He has been faithful in His promises, and we choose to trust in that! Oh, and let’s be honest, this little man is kicking me up a storm so he’s doing pretty good in there! 🙂

I think that’s all for now? As always, thank you for your continued prayers and for checking on us. We are so thankful for the support system we have, near and far!