21 weeks and baby girl is doing great!

How far along? 21 weeks. We are now counting down the weeks...19 to go!

Baby size? 10-1/2 inches long.

Total weight gain/loss: +8 pounds since first prenatal appointment

Maternity clothes? I am loving the fall weather while being pregnant! Wearing maternity pants/leggings and mixing up the maternity and non-maternity tops/sweaters.

Stretch marks? None yet. Still using Mother's Special Blend oil. 

Sleep: Sleeping much better. I sometimes wake up with tightness in my hips, but a little extra stretching seems to help.

Best moment this week: Doctor's appointment this morning. Our doctor told us that she reviewed the 20-week ultrasound and baby girl is measuring perfect and everything is developing normally. Our baby is healthy and strong! We also got to hear her heartbeat again and it was strong! Melts my heart.

Miss anything? Sleeping on my stomach or back; cold turkey sandwiches for lunch

Movement: She is moving so much more and I absolutely love it! I'm starting to notice a pattern to her movement. When she's moving, I love to just sit with my hands on my stomach and imagine her moving her little arms and legs.

Food cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing that I can think of. But I definitely cannot eat as much as I used to (at least not in one meal). Smaller, more frequent meals are the way to go.

Have you started to show yet? Yep! And I love it! And the doctor said I'm measuring perfectly.

Gender prediction: Little girl!

Labor signs: No.

Belly button in or out? In. Although it's not as "in" as it used to be.

Wedding rings on or off? On. Hopefully this won't be an issue since it's winter time.

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy. Although, I have been more emotional recently. It doesn't take much to make me cry, it seems.

Looking forward to: Ryan feeling the baby move (more than a faint kick); registering, name choosing, and nursery decorating! I am also looking forward to more fall weather and the holidays!

(I didn't mean to arch my back... I think that's just how I stand.)

I cannot tell you how excited I am to know we are having a little girl! To be completely honest, I think I was in shock when we found out we were having a girl. I was so convinced the baby was a boy. I'm not entirely sure why, but most of our family and friends also thought boy. I was in shock for a day or two. I think part of the reason is that up until that moment when the technician said "girl", I wanted the baby to be a girl just as much as I wanted it to be a boy. Ryan and I have both said that we would like at least one of each at some point...and to me, it didn't matter which came first. And now we know!

When the technician told us girl, I cried...a bunch. In that moment, everything became so real. Now I can picture our little girl kicking inside me. I can have conversations with her or about her without saying "it" or "the baby". And I can picture her in our life and cannot wait to hold her in my arms. Ryan has always been so amazing with our nieces and it brings a tear to my eye to think about him with our own daughter. He is going to be such an amazing daddy...and she is going to have him wrapped around her little finger!

We had waited to find out the sex of the baby before looking at names and nursery ideas...and now the planning is in full swing! I have picked out the bedding for the nursery and have starting pinning my ideas on Pinterest. We started looking through baby name books on Sunday morning and found a few names we liked. We may keep her name a secret until she's born... but we'll see! And we bought her nursery furniture! We found a great deal on a used set (great condition) and my parents picked it up for us on Saturday. Here is the collection we decided on (My SIL also used this collection and loved it!): Munire Urban Collection. We bought the crib, double dresser (which we will also use as the changing table), and the armoire in espresso. My parents will bring it to our house when they come to visit for Thanksgiving!