Baby Bump: {24 Weeks}

Or rather: brunette, blonde or red head? I posted this photograph on Facebook last week and had many comments from my red head friends, and considering the fact that my fiance's beard has a slight ginger tinge when it gets a bit long and I had strawberry blonde hair up until I was about 8 years old, I really should have thought of including that option!

Here's a quick little recap of what little Bean and I have been up to this past week...

Drinking: As much water as humanly possible! After my latest scan, the sonographer mentioned that little Bean was a bit squished in there (already?!) and that I could help create a little more room for him by upping my liquid intake and trying to down two litres of water every day. Easier said than done, especially when you're already struggling with a smaller bladder!

Reading: What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff has literally not left my bedside table since I first discovered I was pregnant. It's my go-to guide for every little dilemma I may face along the way (how else might I have known that sharp, shooting pains in my abdomen are, in fact, round ligament pain and not the onset of early labour?) and I love reading up on how Bean is developing each week. My aunt recently gave me a gorgeous book called With Child: Wisdom and traditions for pregnancy, birth and motherhood by Deborah Jackson. I've really enjoyed paging through this book before bedtime, reading up on other cultures' beliefs surrounding pregnancy and birth.

Thinking: More and more about Bean's upcoming birth. With roughly 16 weeks to go, this has been top of my mind lately and to be honest, I'm feeling just a tad apprehensive! I'm not sure whether labour has anything to do with genetics, but considering that my mom went into labour at 38 weeks with me, 36 weeks with my brother, Justin, and 37 weeks with my brother, Dylan, I'm thinking that Bean may arrive sooner than expected. Fellow moms, what do you think - do labour 'patterns' run in the family?

Looking forward to: some much-deserved rest and respite after our wedding, but before Bean arrives. Yes, weddings are stressful. Even more so when you have pregnancy hormones running rampant through your body. I am honestly quite surprised that my fiance still wants to marry me, even after all the crazed mood swings and teary outbursts he's had to endure over the past few weeks. I'm really looking forward to a bit of quiet downtown once all the wedding hoopla has calmed down, so that my fiance and I can just relax and bask in post-wedding joy and enjoy the calm before the storm! (That being said, I've also decided that planning a wedding should be enjoyable, so I'm banning wedding stress for the remaining 8 weeks or so. Smooth sailing from here onwards... )