Week 23 -- Hello North Carolina

As you can see from the photo, the shirt I started out wearing for these photos back around week 4 is no longer covering my belly all the way. This is the case for almost everything now -- nothing fits even remotely close to how it used to. My winter jacket will hopefully make it though the season if I don't button all the buttons anymore.

I felt the baby kick my hand last Sunday (22w1d) which was a great feeling. Now if I could only get her to do those kicks when Emile has his hand on my belly! I'm sure that will happen soon.
She definitely seems to be more active after I ate or drank something cold. We'll have to focus on trying after those instances.

I've started getting leg cramps in the middle of the night which I have read can happen during pregnancy. I will definitely be increasing my intake of bananas as that's supposed to help. Luckily, I have yet to kick Emile or the cats during one of these leg spasm episodes. I'm starting to not be able to sleep as long as I used to. I'm not sure if that's due to being pregnant or if it's related to all that's going on right now in our lives. I have also noticed that the linea negra (line down the middle of a pregnant woman's belly) has started to form -- it's faint but definitely there.

This week has been incredibly hectic for Emile and I. I finished up at my job in Newark, NJ and packed up my office to start telecommuting from home beginning on Monday. The movers came on Wednesday, packed and loaded all our belongings, including the pump for the air mattress we were going to sleep on that night which means we now own two air mattresses. Thursday, Emile and I, with the two cats in tow, drove for about 10 hours to Durham, North Carolina (takes a lot longer to get down here when you have to stop to deal with cat issues!). We're now settled into our temporary apartment which is significantly better than what we had in NYC -- two bedroom, dishwasher, washer/dryer. The area is great -- a lot of stores nearby. So far in the two days we've been here, we've gotten new driver licenses, registered our car, picked up our car from storage, went out to walk through our new house again (we're so happy with our choice!), went grocery shopping at two stores (Trader Joes and Harris Teeter -- it is fabulous to have a grocery store nearby again that has a lot of selection), went to Best Buy twice, Petsmart, Sprint, and Target (yay!! Target is nearby again :). To say the least, we're exhausted. I think tomorrow will entail lounging around and reading on cloth diaper brands to choose from.