Week 22

Miss Mia is now as big as a papaya!

According to the "Ultimate Man's Guide to Baby Sizes" she is also the size of a

Mini Football

Sorry for the late post... now that Jimmy's back in town, my Friday nights have been busy! Week 22 was a memorable week. I had my ultrasound on Friday and I am so excited I now know that we are having a little girl! It's so nice to say "her" and "she" now when talking about her. We also like to call her by her nickname name too, Mia. I think Jimmy and I are still recovering from the shock of finally finding out the gender.

It's been fun telling our family and friends. When I first got pregnant, Jimmy and I were sure that we were having a girl. But then, I took that gender test (at 12 weeks) which gave me a "boy" result. Most of the "old wives tales" also pointed to boy, so eventually, Jimmy and I were sure we were having a boy. Pretty much everyone in my family thought we were having a boy too. In addition, Jimmy's family is heavy in boy department. We were happily surprised!

We've had the name Amelia picked out for like 10 years and we just love the nickname Mia. Jane is part of my name, Mary Jane and it's a custom in the Filipino culture to keep your mother's maiden name, so that's were the Gadingan comes in. It's not hyphenated with Lehman; Gadingan will just be a second middle name. That’s where we got Amelia Jane Gadingan Lehman.

On Friday, we both took the afternoon off after the ultrasound. Since the NIH is just across the street from the hospital, we stopped by to tell my coworkers the good news. It was neat too because I could finally show Jimmy around the campus, show him where I work, and introduce him to my coworkers. After that, we went out to lunch to celebrate. Then... we went SHOPPING! We were mostly just looking, but found a few irresistible girly outfits for Mia. Three out of the four items we bought had cats on them... we are such dorks!

I also finally had to give in and we went bra and underwear shopping too... Jimmy is such a good sport. I think it's cute when he helps me pick out patterns and colors. I didn't want to get cheesy, over-priced maternity underwear, so we just went to Victoria Secret and I got larger size bras and undies. I won't reveal my new bra size, but dang, they are getting huge! The fact that my body is seriously changing is definitely sinking in! I've already gained 14 pounds!!!

I have a new craving, but it's terrible and very unhealthy... ROOT BEEER! It all started when Jimmy and I went out to eat. I usually get water, but we were sharing a drink and he got root beer knowing that I couldn't have caffeine. Well, since that taste, I have been craving it so badly! I told Jimmy that he is such a bad influence on me. Jimmy thinks it cool that Mia craves soda...just like him!

I've still been feeling tired and it doesn't take much to get me tired if I'm not.  I've also noticed that my hands and feet get numb easily.  Sometimes, if I've been up on my feet all day, my fingers feel swollen.  I can tell because at night when I take off my rings, they are really tight.  I can't really tell if my feet/ankles get swollen, but I don't think they've gotten to that point yet.  I have a little redness and tenderness in my cheeks, but I'm not sure if it's because of my new moisturizer or the pregnancy hormones.  

23 weeks

23 1/2 weeks

I'm starting to look very big!