Twenty-Five.

How Far Along: 25 weeks

Total Weight Gain: I'm up to 19 pounds now.  I don't think this whole 25 pound limit I imposed on myself is going to happen.  The problem I'm facing (other than simply just not caring about eating whatever treats I want at any given time) is that the way I normally stay in shape/at a good weight is by counting everything I put in my mouth and limiting that to a certain number of calories (or points) a day.  On top of that, I run and do classes at the gym at work.  Well, I'm not really capable of doing any of those things right now.  I can't do weight watchers while I'm pregnant, which I personally think is completely ridiculous, why can't they make a "healthy pregnancy" program?  I can't run because it was 4 million degrees all summer so I quit running and I really shouldn't/can't start again now.  Walking is all well and good but it just doesn't get my legs in shape like running does.  And I can't really do my class at work anymore because I have to modify basically everything that they do in there.  That leaves me to come up with my own modified workouts at home which just isn't quite the same, and it's harder to force myself to do stuff when I get home from work than it is to just go down to the gym at lunch.  So...come December when my ass is the size of Africa, please don't judge, and just pray for me that it will go back down to semi-normal size by approximately March of next year.

Maternity Clothes: My work pants are getting tight.  See above rant.  And yes, I'm still wearing 4 inch heels. 

Sleep: I have reached the point of maximum frustration with the lack of sleep.  I know this is Mother Nature's way of preparing me for when the baby comes.  Quite frankly, I do not care.  I literally sleep in half hour to 45 minute segments and then I'm up for 15-20 minutes trying to fall back asleep because my back hurts so bad.  I'm pretty sure, unless I end up with the curse of a horribly sleeping baby, that when I'm up for feedings I'm not going to be up every 45 minutes.  It's going to be every several hours.  That is so NOT the same as the crap I'm dealing with now.  I think I have convinced Jake that next weekend we need to go buy a memory foam mattress.  It will be one of those things that I will super appreciate now, and we both can appreciate for the next 15-20 years.

Gender: No real girly stuff this past week.  During my staycation in a few weeks I'll probably do some more bows and work on the nursery a little bit more.

Best Moment this Week: Reds clinch the NL Central for the 2nd time in three seasons!!!  WOOOOOO!!!!!!  We didn't get to see the game at GABP like we did in 2010, but it was still really cool watching it at home, knowing we already have tickets available to us for the postseason.  Yay!!

Movement: Jake felt her kick for the first time last week.  It's still really faint and it's kind of a sit-around-and-wait game, but he definitely felt it a few times. 

Food Cravings: Ice cream.  Cookies.  Caramel popcorn.  Frostys.  Lucky Charms.  Brownies.  Cupcakes.  Donuts.  A spoonful of sugar.  You think I might have trouble passing my glucose test?   Yeah, I'm going to have to go cold turkey on the sugar the week before my next appointment.  Yikes!

Symptoms: Major, major, major, did I say major? back pain.  It hurts pretty much all day.  I couldn't really tell you the last time I went for more than 20 minutes feeling comfortable with my back.  I have GOT to call a massage place and see if that will help.  Doc recommended a foam mattress topper, hence the discussion with Jake about buying a full on foam mattress.  I'm really hoping that will help, since the pillows between my legs, under my belly, behind my back, under my knees (you name it, I've tried it) have done nothing to help.  By 1:30-2pm at work I just want to go home and lay down because I'm so uncomfortable I can hardly stand it.  The back support cushion I have here at work does, at best, a mediocre job of making any pain go away.

What I Miss: I miss any semblance of a good night's sleep that I can remember from 6 months ago.  As weird as it sounds, I also would give anything at this point to have a total ball-busting, ass-kicking, sweat dripping from everywhere on my body workout right now, but that's just going to have to wait until next year.  Wah.

What I am Looking Forward to: Two more weeks until my staycation begins.  It cannot get here soon enough!  I desperately need to recharge my motivational work battery.

Exercise: This week was a major fail.  I walked one day last week during lunch, and did a 5k walk on Saturday morning for pancreatic cancer.  I definitely need to step it up this week.  Hopefully with Jake out of town the first part of the week I'll be bored enough at home by myself to do my little workout video.

Noteworthy Items:

-Due to the (hopefully) impending expensive mattress purchase, we have decided to go with a cheaper rocker/glider.  We went to Furniture Fair on Saturday and I (gasp) looked at recliners.  They all made me want to vomit on myself because they are so #*$%-ing ugly, so we promptly left.  I think we'll just keep shopping around until we find something that's affordable and doesn't make me want to puke. 

-I think Callie has figured out something is different with me.  She is way more cuddly when I get home from work, and it seems she always wants her head on my lap, which ironically is awfully close to that little baby bump.  Maybe she is claiming her territory?

-Sometimes when I'm walking around or when I run into someone I haven't seen for a while, I feel like a farm animal, or perhaps a museum exhibit.  It's like the eyes instantly go to my belly.  It doesn't really bother me, especially when it's friends or family members who I haven't seen recently, but the random stares in the elevator at work are pretty obnoxious.  One of these times when I've gotten less than 4 hours sleep I'm going to look at them and be like "yes, I'm pregnant, do you want a picture of my stomach to take home with you?"!!!

-One of those old people pocket catheters is sounding pretty great the more Samantha squishes my bladder.  Just saying.

-I was thinking recently about how a lot of my relationships with my friends will probably change once she gets here, but I really want to make a conscious effort not to let it get too out of control.  I'm trying to combat it now by not being a pouty pout about going out and staying sober.  I'm not saying I don't actually pout about not getting to have a beer, because that's EXACTLY what I do.  However, I'm not going to sit at home like a party pooper just because I can't partake in certain festivities.  Hopefully this will carry on when it becomes obnoxious to find a babysitter or worry about my kid the whole time I'm out.  Fingers crossed!

-Jake is in Philly until Wednesday for work and I hate it.  I don't know how people who travel every week for work manage to maintain any sanity.  I miss him already and I just saw him this morning.  Wednesday can't come soon enough!