Baby P Weekly Update – 19 Weeks

Weeks Pregnant: 19

Baby is the size of: A mango!

Symptoms: My hip has gotten a lot better this week thank goodness! Other than the hip thing, my consistently growing belly, and feeling Baby P kick, I don’t even feel pregnant!

Baby bump: I feel like it grows everyday! Lying on my side is getting a little bit less comfortable, so putting lots of pillows to good use.

Movement: Baby P’s kicks are getting more and more frequent, and they feel like little muscle twitches. It’s a weird feeling but it’s really comforting too.

Stretch marks: As far as I can tell, none yet.

Cravings: I’ve been eating a TON of sushi lately! For those of you who worry about what I should and should not be eating, I’m being sensible about it – only vegetarian sushi and cooked crab for me! I cannot get enough. Not sure if that’s a craving though because I was like that before I got pregnant too!

Maternity clothes: Still living in my maternity leggings – I don’t believe I’ll ever stop wearing them! So incredibly comfortable.

Eating habits (healthy/unhealthy): This week I have not been as well-behaved with eating healthily. My downfall has been the bag of jellybeans I bought last week. Thankfully they’re all gone and I will not (fingers crossed) be buying anymore. Other than that I’ve been doing pretty well. For lunch I usually have Steamfresh meals by Bird’s Eye – mushroom and green bean risotto, tomato pasta, and wild rice with vegetables. Those are all really good.

Memory of the week: Going to the doctor on Thursday was lots of fun! It was really good to know that everything is still healthy, the baby is growing at the right rate and that we are on the right track! We also received our first gift from our Amazon registry and that was the nicest feeling in the world! Thanks Redwood family!

Most excited about: Finding out the gender NEXT FRIDAY! We can’t wait and just hope Baby P cooperates and shows us the goods 🙂

What do you think – Boy or Girl?! (plus latest bump pic!)

We want to know what you think! To help you make your choice, here’s the most recent ‘bump pic’:

Our Baby Registry

For our friends and family overseas who have been asking about a baby registry, we’ve set one up on Amazon so that things can be bought from anywhere in the world and delivered straight to our home (or in this case, Chris’ parents’ home for now). You can find our baby registry by clicking HERE. Please don’t feel pressured to buy us anything, this is just for those of you who have been asking us about it!

PS we are so excited about our very first doctor’s appointment, happening on Thursday at 2:30pm! We may find out the gender of Baby P, then we can stop calling it an ‘it’!

Baby P Weekly Update – 18 Weeks

Weeks Pregnant: 18

Baby is the size of: A bell pepper!

Symptoms: Still having a lot of hip pain, although last night was a good night’s sleep. Other than that, things have been peachy!

Baby bump: Very much showing now, people are starting to notice so that’s kind of fun! Have only had one unwelcome belly rub so far so that’s not too bad!

Movement: This week there are definitely stronger kicks coming through, although nothing compared to what it will be like as he/she grows! Every time Baby P kicks it’s a nice reminder that he/she is still doing well.

Stretch marks: Still no stretch marks…we shall see.

Cravings: Not craving anything in particular, but my appetite had picked up and I’ve been really feeling the need to cook all the time (Chris is loving it!)

Maternity clothes: Most days I wear maternity leggings/skinny jeans. When I don’t, I can’t button them up without feeling a lot of discomfort so there’s that. Still in regular shirts.

Eating habits (healthy/unhealthy): My favorite snacks right now are celery/carrots with hummus, whole wheat tortillas with melted Italian cheeses, and gluten-free whole grain Rice Krispies. When I eat fried foods I feel awful and too much sugar gives me a terrible headache. My one big weakness is candy (skittles, anything sour, chewy sugary sweets) so I’ve been trying to lay off of all that!

Memory of the week: Last night I was digging around on my belly and could definitely feel where the baby was, so Chris got to experience that which was great because he obviously can’t feel the kicks yet!

Most excited about: Still finding out the gender. And hopefully a doctor’s appointment before too long to see if everything is where it needs to be!

Baby P Weekly Update – 17 Weeks

Weeks Pregnant: 17

Baby is the size of: About the size of my palm, not including the legs (roughly 5in long and roughly 5 oz heavy)

Symptoms: Nothing other than an increasingly annoying tingly left hip/upper thigh when I lay down to sleep. I now have a system in place where it kind of eases the discomfort enough to sleep.

Baby bump: Most definitely starting to show! Especially in shirts that are a little more fitted than my flowy ones. It’s really funny because half of my belly button has already started to pop out!

Movement: All the time! Not so much kicks, but more like weird pressures and kind of flutters, but stronger than that.

Stretch marks: Nope – slathering the cocoa butter stuff on like crazy!

Cravings: In the beginning I craved berry juice, but haven’t desperately wanted anything since.

Maternity clothes: Sometimes. No need for maternity shirts yet, as most of my shirts (especially for work) are pretty flowy anyway. I have purchased some maternity leggings and one pair of rust colored maternity skinny jeans (love them!). For my normal jeans/work pants I am having to use the hair tie trick!

Eating habits (healthy/unhealthy): I am very blessed that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth at all, so I have always eaten pretty healthily. I have been eating lots of veggies and foods high in iron, fiber and protein too. My appetite is slowly starting to increase again so that’s good!

Memory of the week: Two in particular – feeling Baby P squirm around is pretty cool, and another really precious moment was Chris reading to him/her since he/she can now hear things outside of my belly!

Most excited about: Finding out the gender. If we don’t get our Medicaid through by February 11, I have a free ultrasound scheduled at a local college to determine the sex – yippee!

So Far So Good!

So far, Baby P is healthy as anything! Now that I’m 17 weeks, I can feel him/her moving around – not so much kicks, just movement in general. When we went for an ultrasound at 11 weeks the technicians and nurses were so surprised at how active he/she was! I wasn’t surprised a bit, as Chris had a bit of a reputation for high energy during his childhood (including inventing a sport called ‘pew diving’ during church services).

We found out that I was pregnant in Lynchberg, Virginia at my aunt’s house. It was lovely because lots of family were in town for my cousin’s wedding – my grandparents from Cyprus, my uncle from LA etc. So to find out and be able to tell them all in person was the best experience! I was so sure that I wasn’t pregnant since I had taken several tests a month or so before and been disappointed every time, that I’m not sure what prompted me to take this one but I’m so glad I did! After it sank in for a minute, I went downstairs and told my Pappou (grandfather) and I won’t repeat the exact word that he said but he was ecstatic! This will be the first great-grandbaby on both of my parents’ sides of the family so needless to say, this child will be spoilt! We sent an email with the picture below to my parents/siblings in South Africa, on the shared family  email account, and waited….and waited. I sent an email to my 13 year old sister’s personal email address saying “Check the family email!!!” but the only reply I got was “Ami, does Justin Bieber live in Atlanta?!” and “Does ATL stand for Atlanta?” and “How far away are you from Justin Bieber in Atlanta?!” So no luck there. Then eventually, on the way home from Virginia that day I got an email from Mom saying “Are you joking???!!!” (which is quite funny because it seems that every big thing that happens in my life, she thinks I’m joking about, like when I sent her a picture of my first tattoo). So I emailed back and said “No, but why on earth are you awake?” (it should have been the middle of the night there). Turns out, I had completely forgotten that my email had not been read because my parents were flying to Turkey for a conference! They happened to have a layover at another airport in Turkey and were able to skype (me on my iPhone in the car, and them on their iPad in the airport lounge – LOVE technology). It was so wonderful – it will be their first grandchild so it’s quite a big deal for them too. Mom was so funny though because she said “Well, I haven’t told your dad this but I had a feeling, so I’ve already been and bought some baby pyjamas a few weeks ago!

I must share about our wonderful ultrasound experience. Our Medicaid application hadn’t gone through yet (still hasn’t!) and we could not afford to go anywhere to check if the baby was healthy and growing correctly, so someone (can’t remember who – sorry!) suggested giving Asheville Pregnancy Support a call. I did and it was such a wonderful experience! They provide free ultrasounds for those who can’t afford them just to confirm the pregnancy and make sure the baby is on track. Not only did they do that, but once they found out our religious beliefs they gathered around Chris and I and prayed with us! I was blown away and it made our first ultrasound experience so special. They have called every month since then to check up on me and to see if there’s anything else I need or anything they can help with – these ladies really do go the extra mile! One day when we have some extra money floating around (if!) I am going to send them a big fat donation. Seeing the baby was the most bizarre experience because at that stage I couldn’t feel it, but he/she was kicking up a storm and then flipped over! It was so comforting to know that there actually is a baby inside there and that he/she is healthy and energetic. What a wonderful experience.

We decided not to announce our pregnancy publicly (at least, over the internet) until I was 14 weeks pregnant and past that ‘danger zone’ that everybody talks about. This was just our personal preference because if we had announced it on Facebook and then miscarried a little later, we each have so many friends all over the world that we’d have to explain it to, it was just easier to wait! When we did eventually post a picture on Facebook to announce it, your response was overwhelming! The love and support from each and every person was so heartfelt and genuine, it was lovely.

We will do our absolute best to keep you all updated with the pregnancy and Baby P’s progress on here – much easier than little snippets on Facebook – so if you like you can scroll to the bottom of this page and ‘Follow’ this blog. If you have an account with WordPress already, it will show up automatically in your feed after clicking the button. If you don’t, no need to create one – you can sign up and receive our new posts via email. Don’t you just love technology?

That’s it for now, sorry it was so long-winded – won’t be like this all the time!

love the three Pruetts

Hey Everyone!

Hey there friends and family! Sorry it has taken so long to do the whole ‘preggo blog’ thing – I’m already 17 weeks along! But, better late than never and I know that most of you will not be seeing me in person throughout this pregnancy so if you’re interested in our progress, stick around!