Pregnancy Week 24 update

We are rounding the corner on the second trimester; only a few more weeks left before we are into the final stretch.  This past week we had our 24 week checkup with the midwives.  I already vented about having to deliver downtown as opposed to out west like we wanted to.  We did get our prenatal class moved to downtown.  We were able to change it from a five week class to a fast track version of the class.  We will have one Sunday in July we will attend class from 1:00 PM to 6:30 PM and get a tour of the birthing unit following the class.  I'm looking forward to starting our classes next month, we also have a baby finance class in July.

This week I'm thankful for awesome friends who paved the baby path before us.  We have awesome friends we have been able to get some baby gear from!  This little girl has a growing pile of gear in her nursery.  Last weekend I boxed up a ton of stuff to donate, and we were able to get that out of the nursery this weekend.  We took six boxes of clothing and miscellaneous household items to donate on Saturday.  I tried to be a ruthless this time around when going through my clothes to get rid of.  I had a lot of things I only wore once.  I hadn't wanted to give them away because I kept telling myself I might wear them again.  If I hadn't worn it in the last year, it was donated.  I also donated many work clothes that I hadn't worn in the two and a half years since I started working from home.  There are very few occasions I need dress pants for these days, so I probably didn't need to keep twenty pairs on hand. Slowly we are getting things moved out of the nursery and getting it ready to paint next month.

I have finally reached the point in this pregnancy where I decided it's time to get real and face some facts I have been avoiding.  The biggest thing I have been avoiding to this point is finding daycare.  To be honest, daycare was probably one of the largest factors if not the single largest factor in why we have waited until this point to have a baby.  Babies cost money.... for those of you who are parents, I know I don't have to tell you that.  We started looking into daycare options long before now; we needed to know how much money we were talking about.  I thought I was going to have to pick Andrew up off the floor the first time I told him the rates I was seeing for daycare.  Heck, I was pretty certain we just weren't going to have kids at that point.  I have seen anywhere from $150 per week to $300 per week for ONE CHILD.  I really started to understand why so many people with multiple children have one parent stay home.  It isn't because it's a luxury, it just makes financial sense. 

I emailed one daycare about a month ago and was told they had a waiting list in their infant room through March 2017.  I was seriously confused how they could have a waiting list through March 2017... those children haven't been conceived yet.  That was the end of my daycare search for a few weeks.  I have been asking around for recommendations from people who know providers and centers locally.  We would like to do an in home daycare, but I don't want to go in blindly.  Ideally it would be someone we know or someone who comes highly recommended by people we know.  This has probably been the single biggest cause of stress so far in this pregnancy.  That being said if anyone locally has any recommendations for daycare, please pass them along! 

Other fun pregnancy stuff this week included ankle swelling.  I'm convinced I'm not going to see my actual ankles again until this pregnancy is over.  Thank you summer heat and humidity.  I was also up on my feet a lot toward the end of last week for work, which didn't help.  My sweet tooth is still in full gear, but I'm trying to keep it under control.  Now that I'm back within a few pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight (thank you first trimester morning sickness), I want to keep my weight under control and make sure and stay healthy for the remaining trimester of this pregnancy.  I'll try to keep my ice cream intake under control during the warm summer months

And finally, the week 24 growing bump picture...

I can tell definitely tell the bump is there now.  This little girl is quite active, but Andrew has yet to feel a full on kick from her.  He has been able to catch some little movements from her here and there.  She does tend to favor having her feet on my right side; that seems to be where I feel her kicking the most.  She's typically most active in the morning after I eat breakfast and again at night when I sit down to relax.  Luckily, she hasn't been a total stinker and has let me sleep at night.  I'm also grateful I haven't had any issues with heartburn like so many people have talked about having.  For the most part, my second trimester has been a pretty easy one!