Sweet Baby D... Worth the Weight!: 21 weeks

News: Himal and I went on a short trip to visit some of my extended family for Easter. We had a nice time with them, and my cousin Emily who has 2 little boys really helped by answering a ton of my questions. Thanks, Emily! Her boys were also good practice for my Little Man. Her youngest let me hold him, and her toddler showed me how to play cars and other boy things. Here is her cutie pie toddler:

Best moment of the week: Seeing our Little Man, finding out his gender, and shopping for him!

Baby bump status: I feel like my belly popped out quite a bit this week, but I don’t think strangers can tell that I’m pregnant. Here's a funny view looking down to my toes:

Baby is the length of: A carrot

Total weight gain: 10.4 pounds (change from last week: +1.2)

Days until due date: 132

New or unusual this week: I woke up one morning with a horrible cramp in my calf and had to call out to Himal for help. My calf was sore for a few days after that. My mom got those when she was pregnant, so I’m expecting many more before Little Man is due.

This week, I’ve had a few moments of feeling completely overwhelmed. Between growing a baby, working full-time, completing my dissertation, getting the house ready for Baby D, feeling so exhausted, and trying to have some down time, it sometimes seems impossible to do it all. And in those moments, I freak out, and poor Himal has to deal with me. Thanks for calming me down and not freaking out, too, Himal!

Symptoms: I actually slept better several nights this week, and my back isn’t hurting as much as it used to. However, it’s hurting today; I assume because of the 6 hours I spent in the car this weekend. That doesn’t bode well for the two 7+ hour car trips I have planned in April and May.

Cravings: Himal mentioned the other day how he hadn’t had to make a midnight run anywhere to fulfill any of my cravings, and he sounded a little disappointed about it. LOL. I don’t think I’ve had any real cravings like I expected to during pregnancy. Sure, I want sweets a lot or French fries sometimes, but I haven’t really had a gotta-have-it-RIGHT-NOW moment.

Gender: BOY! I grew up with a sister, so this is definitely going to be an adventure!

Baby’s movement: I love his dance parties in my belly, and when he goes awhile without kicking, I miss it and it makes me sad. Little Man often gets rambunctious around midnight and then again in the morning. I love lying in bed and just feeling him kick. It's my favorite time of the day.

Looking forward to: Little Man’s grandmama and granddaddy are coming to help set up his nursery in 2 weeks. That will be fun and exciting! We are also counting the days (3 weeks) until we get to see him on ultrasound again. Hooray! That’s a nice little bonus that we weren’t expecting.

Gifts this week: Baby D’s aunt and uncle already love him to pieces and went shopping right after they learned his sex. Here are the adorable outfits they sent him. Thanks, Auntie M and Uncle Shane!

His Great Aunt Susie and Great Uncle Billy got him his first gift off of his registry, his high chair. That was exciting. They also got him an Easter shirt and a hand-me-down shopping cart cover. Thank you, Great Aunt and Uncle!

My cousin Emily gave me her extra Moby-type wrap and showed me how to put it on. Thanks, Emily! I’m a little nervous that my little guy will fall out of it the first few times I try it, but Emily assured me that he won’t.

Purchases this week: It was so much fun shopping now that we know the gender. In addition to picking up his changing table, we bought all of this stuff: