Pregnancy recap: month 6
weeks 22, 23, 24, and 25

Highlights
-Another successful doctor’s appointment on the books. The Bean’s heartbeat continues to sound great and strong and as cute as a heartbeat can sound. The doctor said that I was measuring a little bit big but that we would monitor it and order another ultrasound to check things out in a few weeks if necessary, and that the most likely culprit was just a big ol’ baby and nothing wrong medically. I asked him if the birth weight of the parents was any indication of what we could expect with the Bean, and he said ‘most definitely.’ Justin and I were both large-and-in-charge babies, so we’re anticipating a lot of media coverage in the hospital for our 14-pounder.
-We got to spend a lot of time with friends and family this month, between the 4th of July festivities and our trip to the Cape. My celebration styles differed a little bit this time around (strawberry lemonade took the place of Dark n’ Stormies and, I’ll be honest, there were more cookies involved than in past years) but we had a great time.
-We have started to really dive into researching baby products and put together a list of necessities. To say that the number of options out there for everything baby-related is overwhelming would be a vast understatement. There are, like, 75 different options for pacifiers. Come on – is that really necessary? They say that stress isn’t good for the baby, but plant a preggo in front of a literal wall of pacifiers and tell her that only 1 will work for her baby, and she had better pick the right one or else the baby will most definitely have colic and see what happens. I’m starting to lean towards the shut-my-eyes-and-choose-blindly method. The good news is, whenever I start to get overwhelmed with the options, it’s just a short stroll to the baby clothes section and looking at baby booties always seems to calm me down.
-The Bean is seriously moving and grooving nowadays. I think that we’re looking at a very gifted dancer based on how much bopping around he does.

Symptoms
-Breathlessness would probably be the standout from this month. I’m not surprised when I get out of breath from activities like climbing a few flights of stairs or walking up a hill (even if that hill is the same one that I ran up when we were down the Cape last year – my, how times have changed!), but I am surprised when I get out of breath from things like reading out loud. Stationary, calm reading out loud. Luckily my doctor had mentioned that, depending on the baby’s position,  it’s normal to get out of breath even if you’re not really doing anything strenuous.
-Some light swelling of the feet and ankles. Between the heat waves that we’ve had this summer and the fact that we’ve been running around a lot, there have been a few times that I’ve had to kick up the old heels at the end of the day. I have found that there’s usually a correlation between the swelling and not drinking enough water throughout the day (usually on the weekends when I’m out of my normal routine), so I’ve got to keep an eye on that. Nothing that some rest and a boatload of water can’t fix, though.
-Sleeplessness. My sleep wasn’t great during the first trimester, but then got back to normal during the past couple of months. Recently I’ve gotten back into the habit of waking up super early and not being able to fall back asleep. It might just be nerves/excitement about the house-hunting that we’ve been doing, so hopefully once things start to get settled, I’ll be back into my old sleeping patterns.

Cravings
-Watermelon is still at the top of the list in a big way. Other fruits like cherries and cantaloupe have joined the ranks, but watermelon still holds the title of #1 craving.
-Cottage cheese with fruit or crackers.
-Still loving the staples like cereal with very cold milk, and soft serve ice cream. Occasionally black raspberry hard ice cream just to switch things up.

Aversions
-Goofy old garlic, but only sometimes. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I think I’m going to love it only to find out that I actually don’t love it at all.
-Red onions. Get out of town, red onions.
-Cooked zucchini. Not sure if it’s a texture thing or a taste thing, but I’ll pass, thank you.

Missing anything from your former, non-pregnant life?
-Sleeping easily. Sleeping options are kind of limited to my right side or my left side (though the left side is really recommended for optimal blood flow and kidney function). I think that Justin is probably have some sympathy pregnancy sleeping issues as well since I’m always flipping around and since I’ve got approximately 73 pillows on the bed to try to get comfortable.
-Giant, trough-sized iced coffees.

6th month takeaways
I know that I say this every month, but I’m serious this time: I can’t believe how quickly this pregnancy is going by. I’m already in my 7th month? What the heck?! Part of me is pumped that it’s flying by because that means that we’ll be meeting the Bean before we know it, but the other part of me is feeling a little anxious that I don’t have enough time to prepare. I think that’s a pretty common sentiment, though, and I’ve heard that one can never fully prepare for the arrival of the first babe, so I’m trying to just do what I can and enjoy the ride. Luckily (and I’ll stress luckily), this pregnancy has been easy to enjoy since it’s been such a breeze.