23 weeks and counting!

Holy cow, am I really 23 weeks along already?? I guess time will only go faster as summer arrives and I get closer to my due date in September. The past two weeks have been really great- a lot of time with friends, and a little bit of travel. The next month will be even crazier with travel (Tuscany, Norway, and the US), so I need to rest up!

At 23 weeks I feel really healthy. A little tired this week, but that's to be expected. It seems like Bambino has been growing a lot in the last 48 hours, and is supposed to be about the size of a large mango. I feel everything inside of me stretching to make room for him/her. Last weekend in Montagnana was really fun because our friends were able to feel Bambino move! The looks on their faces when they felt the little kicks was fantastic and it was fun for me to be able to share that with them. They just couldn't believe it and were so excited.

Other than feeling healthy, I have had some pains in the past couple of weeks. I keep waking up in the middle of the night, around 4-5AM, with pains in my hips. At first I thought it was the way I was sleeping with all of that extra weight when laying on my side, but I think it's my hips adjusting to make room for Bambino. Pre-pregnancy I had pretty narrow hips, so I was expecting them to widen. Actually, I was hoping that they would!! Delivery will be a lot easier if they can widen a bit. But, the process isn't so fun... Last night I had to get out of bed and walk around the apartment a bit to loosen my left hip. I may have to start keeping tylenol next to the bed!!

In addition to the hip pains, I have also had a strange pain in my middle back on my right side. It's always in the same place. There are a few things that could be contributing to this- my purse and bag with teaching files, Bambino, slouching... But I think it's just something that comes along with pregnancy. I just try to sit up straight as much as possible and that helps, but the end of the day is when it's the worst. In the evening I just can't get comfortable. Hopefully this will be short lived! But again, tylenol may become my best friend if it gets any worse! For now though I'm just trying to stretch a lot and avoid any pain meds.

Cravings... I've been craving white peaches! They are starting to be in season here in Italy and I am so excited!! They are like eating candy and soooo delicious. Summer is the best because of all of the different kinds of fruit available here. I can't wait :)