23 Weeks

If I were a superhero, my energy would come from the sun. We've had five beautiful sunny days in a row, and I feel like a new woman. Last week, I made it to the gym four days, and I made it back again this morning. There is just something about waking up to daylight at 7am that makes the whole work-out thing a lot easier and a lot more fun. And as the weather continues to warm up, I look forward to taking evening walks around our neighborhood, showing off my ever-growing baby bump.

I feel my little girl moving around in there every day now. Two, three, four times a day. And sometimes, when I lay on my back and lift up my shirt, I can actually see my belly poke out from her little kicks and punches. The other night, I was eating Sour Patch Kids, and the little one went absolutely wild. I'm not sure if she was protesting, or begging for more, but I'm over the craving for sour candy now. Although, I must say, my sweet tooth has officially returned.

In my first trimester, I suddenly stopped caring about sugar. It was the strangest thing, coming from someone who could eat a brownie sundae for dinner. Instead, I wanted SALT. Buckets and buckets of it. I'm now disgusted by the measures I took to satisfy my craving. Ramen noodles. Noodle soup. Chips. French fries. Popcorn. Oh, the popcorn! As my pre-pregnant self, I always bought low-sodium popcorn. So when my SALT cravings hit, I'd add about a cup of SALT to my low-sodium popcorn, and when all the popped kernels were gone, I'd suck on the leftover un-popped kernels for that extra bit of SALT. No wonder my feet and ankles are now swelling daily. I've probably got enough built-up sodium in my body to last a lifetime.

The swelling is manageable, really. Some days are worse than others. Like two weeks ago, when I had to abandon my search for maternity jeans early because my ankles were rubbing against the top of my shoes and I couldn't walk another step. But most days it's minor, and my ankles are back to normal in the morning. Fresh and ready to swell again.

There is heartburn and indigestion too. Again, some days are worse than others. Good news is, Tums seems to work, and it's on the list of "safe" medications I received from my doctor. So these pregnancy symptoms are manageable too.

I have a regular check-up appointment with my OB on Wednesday. Can't wait to hear the little girl's heartbeat again. She should be about the size of a large mango now, and weigh just over one pound. Four weeks ago, at The Ultrasound, she weighed 11 ounces. Speaking of The Ultrasound, I had one of her 3D pictures blown up for John to put on his desk. I also have her picture hanging in my cubicle. I can hardly believe that beautiful little baby is growing right now in my womb.

I have a child. Geez la-weez, I am a mother.