24 weeks down, 16 to go!

Total Weight Loss/Gain: When I went to the doctor on Wednesday last week, it said I was up 8.5 pounds! I was wearing my Converse, which are pretty heavy, but I'm still pretty amazed at how quickly things are moving along. And that was before stuffing my face at Thanksgiving. According to my scale this morning, I'm up 7.5 pounds, but that is without the Converse. I'm guessing I've gained at least a pound since last Wednesday. I'm actually pretty on track with what they recommend gaining, but all bets are off once Christmas Cookies enter the equation!
Size of Baby: She is apparently the size of an ear of corn. I'm not sure I understand these food comparisons, but that's what they tell me.
Maternity Clothes: Yes. I actually have to dress like a professional 4 out of 5 days this week, so my mom and I braved the crowds this weekend and she helped me pick out a couple of very cute pairs of dress pants at Motherhood Maternity. It's nice--I wore some nice pants a couple of weeks ago with my belly band and I felt very uncomfortable. This is better.
Sleep: Is great right now. She does like to move around a lot right before I go to sleep, which always puts me in a good mood. Not as many crazy dreams.
Movement: Is good. I have a hard time distinguishing what people can feel from the outside and what I can feel on the inside. Everytime baby kicks, I try to get somebody to feel it (if I'm at home or amongst family) and then they feel...nothing. I think our baby is playing possum once someone else comes around!
Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: A lot of my cravings were satiated over Thanksgiving. I got to have yummy turkey, dressing, scalloped potatoes, rolls, etc. My mom also had a Thanksgiving Eve dinner which seemed centered around meeting my cravings for things like hot dogs and onion dip. It was a very food-filled holiday, and I loved it!Also, I'm loving Blue Bell Ice Cream right now. I don't know why, but every year, I get hungry for Ice Cream when it's cold outside. I'm a weirdo. I'm on the search for the Blue Bell Tiramisu flavor which I've heard rumors of. Does this really exist? If so, can someone please get it for me for my birthday? Thanks!
Aversions: I'm dealing with more and more heartburn, so I'm trying to avoid foods that aggravate it over the last couple of days. Although, yesterday, I stopped at the store to get some necessities (toilet paper, milk, potato chips and ice cream) and came across one of my favorite things..a loaf of warm french bread. I bought it, thinking we could use it for dinner that night and I ate about 1/3 of the loaf on the way home (I'm all about honesty on this blog). That bread, which is about the least acidic thing I can think of, caused me heartburn most of the night. Really?
Anyway, I'm sticking with light and bland for the next few days in the hopes that I will get the heartburn under control.
What I miss: Feeling comfortable. I have a hard time getting comfortable when I'm just hanging around these days. I can only imagine how I'm going to be feeling 10 weeks down the road.Gender: A sweet baby girl!
Moods: I've been dealing with some anxiety un-related to the pregnancy. I cried my eyes out on Thanksgiving about something not very important. I'm feeling very protective of Corey and our baby girl. Most of the time I'm in a great mood, but when it turns, I can be difficult to deal with. I'm not sure that all of that can be blamed on pregnancy or just the insensitivity of other people and the mega-sensitivity of moi.
Milestones: We've now hit 24 weeks, which is considered viability by most doctors. That means if, God forbid, baby came tomorrow, she has a decent chance of living. I'm happy for her to stay in for quite a while longer so that she can come out fully cooked!
Medical concerns: None to speak of. I'm a little nervous about the Glucose test, which will be done at my next Dr's appt on 12/21. I'm not too worried about the drink that everyone complains about, as I've had to drink my fair share on contrast over the years with multiple CT scans, so I doubt it can be worse than that crap and I know it's not as much volume. I'm just worried about the results. Everything has been so perfect so far with this pregnancy, I feel kind of spoiled and I keep waiting for some kind of complication. Knock on wood, hopefully it won't ever come. If I have gestational diabetes, I have it, and it's better to know and deal with it. I have no reason to think that I will, though.Anything else you'd like to share or vent about? More information from my doctor's appointment- Dr. O said that they have found that babies born after 41 weeks have a higher risk of being stillborn, so they would be encouraging me to induce if I go over 40 weeks by the time I reach 41 weeks. She said the latest they would want me to have this baby would be March 27th. This makes me happy, although I don't like the idea of having to be induced and I'm hoping it will come naturally. But whatever happens, happens, and I'm going to go with whatever is best with my baby. I 100% trust my doctor and what she recommends.
I have to share a really cute story-last night, I asked Corey to read to Lil Buns. He picked out the Poky Little Puppy, one of the books he bought for her, and read it with his hand on my bump. She loved it! She kicked and kicked! We were both laughing at her response. I think storytime is going to become a nightly routine. Our little girl is so lucky to have such a great Daddy!
What I look forward to: I'm getting really excited about the baby's room. We found the perfect glider chair and ottoman this weekend for 20% off. My wonderful parents are giving us the chair as a Christmas gift. I'm thrilled! It is so beautiful and it will be custom made for the nursery! We got to sit in the model we are getting and see the fabric that we want on another chair. The fabric is gorgeous and durable and the chair is so super comfortable, which will be nice during those all night parties with our baby girl! It will be ready in about 6-8 weeks. I'm pinching myself - I feel so lucky that we get to have that beautiful chair!
We think we have found the perfect color for the walls in the nursery, but the paint that we ended up with does not look the same on the wall as the sample did, so we are going back to ACE hardware again to get that fixed--they must have just mixed it wrong. It will be repainted before too long, but I've asked Corey to make sure and paint half a wall, then let me see it. I'm crossing my fingers this will work.
Here is a not so great picture taken of me last night in our currently blue-gray nursery. Bump is growing!

Have a great week!

Elizabeth