23rd Week Update

This pregnancy is moving so fast! I'll be 23 weeks tomorrow. Received fat comments from family and friends, don't care. I had my routine checkup this Wednesday and my doctor recommended I take probiotics and vitamin D. The probiotics did magic instantly-- my stomach [throughout this pregnancy] never felt better. I was constantly bloated and my digestive system just wasn't functioning smoothly prior to taking probiotics. I wish I had taken them in the first trimester because I had a horrific experience. I was only told based on my blood test that I was vitamin D deficient, which explains why I'm always tired (even prior to this pregnancy). It also explains the hip cramps. I'm also friends with fish oil because I'm too lazy to prepare fish. Wow that is a lot of supplements on top of my prenatal vitamins.

22 weeks, but this dress doesn't do my bump justice.

I picked up some maternity leggings at Motherhood Maternity during their Black Friday sale. Wasn't satisfied with the quality, but I subscribed to their mailing list and received all these coupons and gift cards. I feel like they're items that you don't necessarily need, but who knows... I will keep then just in case.

I've been in a war with caffeine the past weeks, and I would say it's a fair war. I stopped consuming coffee, but still drink tea. From my knowledge, tea is healthier and when brewed, contains less caffeine content than coffee. Even when I had coffee in my diet, the amount of caffeine is not harmful, but I would still like to limit caffeine as much as possible.

Being pregnant doesn't mean that I should be ignorant of my appearance. I don't think I should be gaining 40 pounds, and I feel like it will happen. I gained about this much in my first pregnancy because I was super underweight to begin with. But this time I started with a healthy weight, so I should be gaining about 30 pounds in total. I've already gained about 15 pounds and I am a little paranoid. I eat for two and I eat healthy, but I don't exercise. As a matter of fact, it's easier for me to quit coffee than to exercise, and I'm talking about the long-run. Perhaps I'm wrong, so my goal is to exercise... three times a week to begin with. Aside from maintaining a healthy weight gain, there are other benefits of exercising during this time, such as increasing energy and heart health. It also benefits the baby. Every step you take matters, and there is no harm in exercising, unless you harm yourself. I would really like to incorporate exercise in my lifestyle too, and this is a good time to motivate myself.