Back from the Beach

Belly at (almost) 23 weeks
Lookin' prego at the beach
I miss the waves already
We love the beach! What a view, right?!
Last week's 22 week belly picture

So I have been delinquent in my blog post since we have been on vacation. I can't believe we are back already...it was the fastest week ever. Why are vacations always like that? We spent the week in Topsail Island, NC. Overall it was a really great week and I have a nice little tan to show for it! I got just a little burnt in places, but not bad.

As for Baby, she is rapidly growing and becoming more and more active. She would be very active at nights at the beach when I was really tired. She would also kick a lot if I was just sitting in the sun, but calmed down the minute I would go out in the water. Today on the flight home, she must not have enjoyed the pressure change because she was kicking me HARD once we started descending. The little papaya in my belly will do a lot of growing and finally weigh about a pound or more by now. She should still double in length before she is born and her little face is now completely formed. My next appointment is this Tuesday and I'm expecting a good report!

I was surprised how much the vacation actually wore me down. It was totally different than working, but I experienced more back pain and swelling than I ever have. By the end of my work week before we left, my feet were sooo swollen. Being in the ocean really helped, but they were really swollen yesterday because of the high heat and humidity. Nathan kept rubbing them and putting aloe on them because they were on fire and it felt like I had bugs running inside my feet. It was terrible! The flight also increased my swelling a lot so I need to spend lots of time with my feet propped for the rest of the weekend!

I also had a very emotional week this past week. The beach was so peaceful and therefore gave me a lot of time for reflection and anticipation. The realization that she will be here in 4 short months is unbelievable. The realization of how my body is really starting to change now is also very emotional and I just don't tolerate things the way I did when I wasn't pregnant. Food, activity, stress...it's all different now. I have to hand it to my hubby...he handles it very well when I'm emotional and I think this week really brought us closer and gave us some good energy to build up until baby arrives.

We are scheduled to paint next week and we have a lot of preparation to do in her room before we are able to do that. Here's hoping for a good, productive week!