Oh the joys of pregnancy!

So to be quite honest, the first 20 weeks of pregnancy were a piece of cake! I wish that's how it would be for the whole 40 weeks and for every pregnancy for that matter! But I know they're all different and how lucky I am to of had it so well ;) It wasn't even until round 22 weeks that I started to FEEL pregnant. Some new pregnancy symptoms I've picked up are leg cramps, slight swelling of feet and hands, and sensitive gums. I have yet to actually HAVE a leg cramp but of course in the middle of the night if I stretch my feet I can feel the muscle about to pull, so I immediately stretch my toes back to my calf to avoid the dreaded charlie-horse! I know many women who've experienced leg cramps during pregnancy starting around the 1st trimester so I guess I'm just lucky it's only beginning to happen now. And with me working on my feet 4+ hours 3 days a week and standing in the sun for 30-60 minutes at work, I find coming home that my feet and hands are a little swollen =/ Not anything crazy or to be worried about, actually to be expected given the circumstances, but still a bummer =/ I've opted out of wearing my rings and bought a fake $25 bling ring to wear on my ring finger for the time being. I miss my ring though :( The sensitive gums isn't even really anything either. I just notice they bleed more then they used to which is also very common and to be expected due to the greater blood supply to the gums. I have an appointment for a cleaning mid August though, thank goodness.

Other pregnancy changes would be the fact that my uterus has now grown up passed my belly button with my expanding baby :) She has been kicking a lot more frequently and her movements tend to be more-so during the day rather than at night like they used to be. I'm told this is a good thing seeing as how that usually means she'll be active during the day and sleep at night :) But I still have 15 weeks left so I don't want to get too excited because that can always change ;) But boy is she moving! Not just kicking but my whole tummy moves sometimes and it feels like she's doing somersaults in there :) Greatest feeling in the world! I know I'll miss that ;) She is however I'm assuming facing down already because the kicks are at the top of my belly button and there is definitely more pressure on my bladder! It sucks having to pee so frequently... I was a trooper though and toughed it out camping not just 1 but 2 weekends in a row! After having done it, I would not recommend it ;) But I did have a blast and it had been 7 years since my last camping trip and it was mine and Bob's 1st camping trip together so it was well worth it :) Another complication though was I had a bum knee for the 2nd camping trip =/ Yeah I'm now one of those women who have fallen while pregnant =/ In my defense though it would not have happend had it not been for my weak knees.

I've had knee problems in both my knees since I was a kid. They both lack the normal amount of cartilage on the insides to hold the knee cap in place so just the slightest pressure on the outside of my knees can cause them to give out :( Well Monday last week that's exactly what happened. A kid was knocked into my right side causing my right knee to give out. My knees giving out was nothing new but this time I actually had to pop it back into place myself =/ Only other time it hasn't popped back on it's own was in my car accident back in October of 2003. The muscle around my knee became extremely tight, tender, and sore and I was worried about it possibly swelling due to the extra weight I'm carrying or it giving out again. So I was taken to Sutter's Occupational Health Clinic to have it checked out. Yes I'm now also one of those people who have had to file workman's comp :( The Dr. told me to take it easy and wear a knee brace for the time being. After going back to work that Friday, I went camping on Saturday and only had mild discomfort but now it's almost back to normal :)

Some good news being that I'm 25 weeks along this week! 3 weeks shy of the 3rd trimester and starting to move forward in preparation for baby Abby :) Yup, not sure if I wrote it on here or not yet but we've named our daughter Abigail Elizabeth Clements :) Bob picked out both Abigail and Elizabeth, and Abigail I read means "my father's joy" which couldn't be more true and perfect :) He's so thrilled and she will be his little princess :) Denise and Eric got the keys to their house this week and will be moving in this weekend so that means we can tear down the guest room and turn it into a nursery! I'm SO excited about that part ;) Bob and I already decided we're going to buy the bedding (it's not exactly cheep), the glider (since that's more for me ;) ), and the bassinet (since that's also more for us and we'd rather have people buy the crib and not have to do both). Some items we've already acquired would be a play mat, a swing, and a soothing spa bathtub from my sister! Gotta love the hand-me-downs ;) And my father-in-law purchased us a new carseat and base for when my sister-in-law Joy comes to town this weekend! My niece Elli will use it when they're here so Joy doesn't have to worry about flying with one ;) The carseat is super awesome and we've already decided this one will go in Bob's car ;) And I think it's safe to say that I've pretty much completed our baby registries! We've registered at Babies-R-Us and Target. I've only done it online though (we haven't actually gone into the stores yet) and it's still kinda early so items might change but I'm pretty happy with what we've registered for so far :) One less thing to worry about ;) Well I think that is it for now. I'll leave you with a 22 week belly pic ;) I'm due for another one just haven't had the time :P