moving right along... {23 weeks}

 My ever growing belly.

The power of clothing...I think my belly looks the smallest at 23 weeks!

Chris keeps telling me I need new gym clothes...

I don't know what he's talking about!

Baby girl's profile.

The bubble in front of her mouth is the umbilical cord.

We went back for the second ultrasound a couple weeks ago and baby girl was still in the same position.

After an hour of some serious poking and prodding we finally got her to move enough to get the views they wanted of her head and brain--everything looks great.

It felt like my abdominal muscles were bruised for 3 days after...glad I don't have to do that again!

But we did love seeing our girl again and watching her move around.

She kept putting her hand in her mouth and her arm behind her head...so cute!

Appointment:
Had an appointment last Friday and everything looks good and right on track.
Baby girl is healthy and she is measuring a little ahead of schedule (probably thanks to the tall genes from both our families) but no change in due date.
The doppler actually picked up her heartbeat this time, so no ultrasound for the first time ever.

Best news so far:

Every pregnancy symptom I've had so far has a solution!

Lower back pain = back exercises and stretches.

Pinched nerve in leg = working out and stretches.

Slightly swollen ankles = working out and drinking lots of water.

I feel great these days, mostly thanks to working out.

My only complaint:

I feel a bit tubby because my appetite has been O.O.C. (out of control).

Still looking for a solution to this symptom....

Best moment of the past few weeks:

Going to Mission Impossible 4. 

The movie was pretty good. 

The best part was the show going on in my belly, baby girl was kicking up a storm.

I think all the loud action sounds kept the poor girl awake, but it was awesome to feel her moving so much for so long.
We love feeling her kick!

My belly:

Feels like it is growing so fast! I keep waiting for the stretch marks to appear...
I've been getting some comments about my belly so I think I am FINALLY out of the "is she fat or pregnant" stage.
A couple people were even brave enough to come right out and ask if I'm pregnant at church on Sunday.
I guess eating a granola bar during relief society might have been a dead give-away...
I just can't make it 3 hours without eating!
Chris is also obsessed with my belly. He thinks it's so cute--I definitely can't complain!

Favorite comments from Chris:

(Referring to my t-shirt in the 2nd picture up top):

C-"You're not wearing that to the gym...are you?"

H-"Yes. Why? What's wrong with it?"

C-"You can't wear that! Your belly's showing!"

H-"No it's not, not if I keep tugging my shirt down!"

(I was in denial for awhile...)

C-"Oh no, when your like real preggers, we're going to go broke on toilet paper! Cause you'll be peein all the time and you use like an eighth of a roll at a time!"

(I get in trouble all the time by the T.P. Nazi for using "too much" T.P! Hello, I'm a girl!)

C-"Wow, you really are pregnant!"

(After putting on a dress that really showed my belly.)

I hope all my future pregnancies go as well as this one has so far!
People are always asking how I've been feeling...it makes me think this pregnancy thing is supposed to be hard or something?
No complaints here...let's hope it stays that way!