26 week update and DOUBLE digits!

Here's a quick (but lengthy) update for 26 weeks:

I am in shock that third tri starts this week! Baby is somewhere between 2 and 2.25 pounds, and around 14" long. I'm in maternity clothes most of the time--some tops are still too big, but most are starting to fit really well. I'm up about 20 pounds, and after two straight months of 7-8 pound gains, my weight gain has held steady for the past two weeks. But that means I definitely don't fit into my bathing suits from last year anymore--so I got some new bathing suits last week. It's been in the high 90's here for a few weeks now, and they are C-U-T-E! I decided to eschew true maternity suits in favor of bigger-sized bikinis, and I'm so happy I did. DH and I both LOVE the suits I ended up with, and they're mix-and-match (prints/solids), so I have the equivalent of four new suits, but only had to buy two!

Speaking of weight gain, I've started to notice a few teeny stretch marks, but they're just white-ish and not noticeable unless onlookers are staring at my side-hip right above my hip bones. I've continued moisturizing like crazy, and have even started using Mederma in the hopes they don't get any worse. (I'm very thankful our birth center has free samples :) ). Belly button is still in, but getting wider and shallower. I don't know yet if it's going to become an outie, but that possibility really weirds Mr. MB out. It's funny!

I'm sleeping better now than ever before in this pregnancy. I've finally started to figure out the whole liquid-consumption-before-bed thing, and have realized that if I stop drinking for the night about 8pm, I'll be able to get to bed at 10:30 and only wake up once or twice to pee. It's awesome!

Baby Magnolia Bud is moving around pretty consistently. I feel him/her up around my belly button, and also on the left side, about halfway between my ribs and my pubic bone. Mr. Magnolia Bud loves feeling the baby move, and he gets so excited every time he's able to feel him/her. He talks to the baby most days before we get out of bed, telling him/her things like "Baby, this is your daddy. We can't wait to meet you, but not today. Today you need to keep kicking around inside mommy, but not too hard. Have to go now, I'll see you tonight. Bye baby." It's really adorable, and makes me love him even more than I already do.

My food cravings and aversions have pretty much eliminated themselves. I'm eating frequent, small meals, and trying to make most of them healthy. I still don't remember to take my vitamins every day, but have been eating loads of fruits and veggies to help compensate.

Overall, I really enjoy being pregnant. I get asked occasionally if I miss anything about not being pregnant, and I don't really. Pregnancy hasn't changed much about our lifestyle, and we're going to strive to continue that trend once baby arrives. Our friends that do have kids are really flexible, fun people, who have been able to maintain lives that don't revolve around their kids--but where their kids are involved, treasured, and loved. That's what our goal is.

Here are a few things I'm looking forward to over the next few weeks:
-Next week, Mr. MB and I are spending 4 days/3 nights in Asheville from Thursday to Sunday. I have to be there for work, but it's my work's biggest program of the year, and spouses get to come too. When I'm not working, we're having some great dinners out with friends, taking a hike, going to a black-tie dinner/dance, and relaxing by the pool. He's also participating in a golf tournament and a 5K while I'm working.
-The week of June 27, we're going on vacation all week to the Outer Banks. We're going with Mr. MB's mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, uncle, aunt, cousin, and our niece and nephew. We have a huge house right on the beach in Duck, and I'm so excited to spend a week sitting on the beach, windsurfing, swimming, and hanging out with DH with no commitments.
-My next appointment is June 27. I have my glucose tolerance test that morning, and then my 28-week appointment just after the test. That appointment marks the start of every-other-week appointments until 36 weeks!
-My first baby shower is July 9! That's 3 weeks from Saturday! I'm going to post separately about the baby showers and registry observations, but I can't believe it's coming up so quickly!

I'll leave you with two thoughts:
-Second tri FLIES by. When my girlfriends told me it would, I didn't believe them--at 13 weeks, it feels like nothing will go quickly. Well, of course they were right. We got so much done over the last 13 weeks, but there's still so many small things to do before baby arrives. I think I'll post separately about home improvement projects we're undertaking over the next 14 weeks.
-Pregnancy really starts to get fun during second tri. You start to look pregnant, you've told everyone, while the worry is still present, it subsides greatly (especially after 24 weeks), and I don't know about the rest of you, but I've really been enjoying being pregnant.

Sending all of you lots of love!
Magnolia Bud