Hellobee

When I first got pregnant, I thought I was going to take bump photos all the time. And, being married to a pro photographer, there is no shortage of fabulous cameras in our house.

But, with life, work, mood swings and sometimes pure laziness, we didn’t keep on track with week by week photos. While I wish we would have been more consistent, I’m thankful for the pictures we have taken (and continue to take!). Seeing them all together like this not only reminds me of how much my body has changed, but will give me wonderful motivation to make to back to my pre-pregnancy size after Baby Hopscotch arrives!

Oh, and don’t think I’m a terrible crazy person for cutting my head off in all of them! Some of the photos we took were close up, some far out, so I tried to make them all pretty similar here so you could see the changes with the bump.

Check out the ever expanding belly and I’ll meet you back at the end…

It’s also been fun seeing the changes in our lives as we’ve taken these pictures. As you can see in week 17, we were packing up our belongs and getting ready to move into our new home! From weeks 20+, we were settled in the new house and were in the process of painting and making/hanging curtains. So many changes!

Pregnancy overall has been wonderful for me – I feel so incredibly lucky that I have felt so great. I mean, have I felt like my normal, non-pregnant self? No, of course not.

During my first trimester I had pretty bad nausea, especially while on the train (I have a 40-minute commute each way to work). I had mornings where I thought I’d have to race off the train and throw up. Fortunately this never happened, but I was always severely anxious and stressed out about the “what if.” I traded in my morning coffee for sparkling water… nothing better than bubbles to settle the stomach!

My second trimester has been a great relief because the nausea went away, but I did have extreme exhaustion early on. Falling asleep by 8:30pm was the norm, and I felt like a complete zombie all the time. But by week 14 or so that finally went away, and since then my energy level has been great (which was a blessing when we moved!).

As I’m entering my third trimester, I still feel really great. I get occasional heartburn but nothing extreme. What I am feeling, however, is the extreme heaviness that a pregnant belly brings. Flipping over from my right side to my left feels like a huge task, and I feel a general ache around my midsection as things continue to expand. My last midwife appointment was at 26 weeks, where I’d gained a total of 23 pounds at that point in the pregnancy (I gained 10 pounds just over the holidays!). Now that I’ll be going to my midwife every two weeks, I will be able to keep better tabs on my weight gain. Pregnancy hunger can hit you so fast and midnight snacks just call out my name!

What I do feel at this point in the pregnancy is that I have – so far – succeeded in giving Baby Hopscotch a happy, healthy place to grow! I feel lots of kicks and hiccups as the baby moves around from one part of my belly to the other. It’s exciting as we’re starting to get on more of a schedule. When my alarm clock goes off in the morning, baby wakes up! I can’t wait to see what is in store for the rest of the pregnancy.

Have you managed to take weekly “bump” shots?