Well, well, well.. here we are at 23 weeks! According to one of the weekly update emails I get, we’re now entering the ‘safe zone’. Meaning, if by some crazy reason our girl ends up coming early, she has a higher chance of survival now. PHEW!! Although, we’d definitely like her to stay put for about 17 more weeks. 
What Baby Is Up To:
“Your baby now weighs a little over one pound/ 500 grams and measures about 11.4 inches/ 29 centimetres from crown to heel. Her hearing is well established and she can make out a distorted version of your voice, the beating of your heart and your stomach rumblings. Loud noises often heard in utero, such as the barking of a dog next door or the roar of a vacuum cleaner, probably won’t bother your child when she hears them outside the womb.
Numerous studies seem to indicate that the unborn prefer classical music. Play Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons for your child and pay attention to her movements. Does she quieten down during adagio sections and speed up for the allegro portions? You may have a budding conductor in your womb.
In addition to advances in your baby’s hearing, her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing. She’s swallowing but usually won’t pass stool until after birth.
If your baby were to be born now, she would have a good chance of survival (about 85 per cent) with the right care. Advances in science and technology now mean that a 24-week-old baby can grow outside the womb if necessary.” From Baby Center
How I am Feeling:
I’m still feeling pretty great, although I’ve definitely been feeling a little more achy towards the end of the day. I try to get up and walk around as much as I can while at the office, but my less-than-stellar chair, and the fact that I’m there for 8 hours a day, doesn’t help matters too much. I’ve also been experiencing a lot of cramping/round ligament pain in the past week which made it difficult to do as many workouts as the week before. I said to Chris at one point in the week that I think our girl was/is going through a growth spurt and as you’ll see, I was right!
How My Body Is Changing:
I am SO in love with the fact that the only real changes are (and have been) all belly and baby!! I know that I’ve said this before, but I’m still at a stage where I really don’t notice a change in my belly from day-to-day, but as soon as I see my weekly shots together it’s quite the reality check! This girl definitely grew in the past week!
And just for fun, check out this crazy comparison!! It’s all still so surreal for me to look at these photos and realize that I really DO have a little one growing away inside of me.
Weekly Stats:
Weight Gained: 1.2 lbs in the past week, making it 10.8 lbs so far — (starting = 122.8 lbs/current = 133.6 lbs)
Food Cravings: On Saturday I had the idea in my head that I wanted to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip muffins. Yesterday, that was all I could think about so despite my lack of time before The Bachelor came on, I made up a recipe and hoped for the best. I ate 2 and they were amazing. (recipe will be up tomorrow)
Food Likes/Dislikes: Nothing major to point out here. I’m pretty much eating everything now wih no issues. 
Baby Items Purchased This Week: We didn’t buy anything for baby this past week, but my mother-in-law did have a hay day at Value Village and got the little lady quite the stack of clothes that will definitely be put to good use! (thank you again!) And Chris’ cousin brought us over this little number.. I laugh every time I see it! haha
Clothes: I took my grandma to the mall Sunday for a little shopping and decided to see if I could score any deals. I managed to pick up a decent top and sweater from Old Navy for $20 and then found my best score yet at H&M!! Check out these babies! They only cost me $7!!!! I can’t wait to start rocking these once spring gets here.
Workouts/Activity This Week: This past week I managed 3 workouts due to the aches & pains.. I did my prenatal pilates twice and lunged Chelsea once. Or maybe you can count it as 4 workouts if you count walking around the mall with my grandma for a couple of hours.
Movements: We STILL haven’t really been able to feel her much from the outside, but she is starting to move around more regularly, so maybe it won’t be much longer. I’m actually feeling her dance away right now as I type this and a week or so ago, she would have been asleep at this time! The little waves and bumps inside of me always make me smile and are hands down, the best part of pregnancy so far.
Appointments: We had our monthly midwife appointment last week and everything looks great! My blood pressure is still perfect and my tummy is measuring 20cm. This was the first time she measured my tummy and said that it’s going to be a regular thing now to keep track as to how our lady is growing. Speaking of our lady, her heart beat was nice and relaxed during the appointment so we figured she was fast asleep. We also spoke briefly about the official results of our anatomy scan. I say briefly because everything looked 100% normal and perfect! I’ve been told to just keep doing what I’m doing and we go back in February.
Amazing side by side comparisons look at that lil watermelon!
Love the pink top & the pants! You’ll be one stylin momma
She is growing! 23 weeks is about when I really started to feel like the baby was getting bigger too. The nurse said weeks 24-28 is one of the biggest growth periods.
I wanted to squeeel when I saw your bump pic this week! It just looks cute!
I have to say I love the jeggings! I saw some at Old Navy and tried them on, but with this ever growing belly and since i”m so short and nowhere for it to go, the skinny jeans were a no. But I bet they will look super cute on you!!