So… I realize that bump shots just haven’t happened this time. I’m going to work on it and have a real bump shot next time, but until then, it’s the best I have…
What Fruit are you? Carrot! Yes, I had to look it up. 10.5 inches head to toe and about 3/4 lb. She’s practicing swallowing and has eye lids and eye brows.
Due date: May 9, 2014 (Hailey was induced at 10 days past due, so I’m interested to see how this labor will develop. Luckily, I still have time!)
How far along: 21 glorious weeks- over half way. I can’t believe it!
Gender: All girl!
Total weight gain/loss: Up 10 lbs. I was up 13 lbs at this point with Hailey. It’s so funny to me to compare the pregnancies.
Exercise: Whew, well after almost a week battle with the stomach bug when I was 19 weeks, I’m happy to report that I feel great again! This past week I’ve gotten in 4 wogs (walk/jogs) ranging from 2.2 miles to 3.7 miles. A 12:30 pace feels the best to me, but I take plenty of walking breaks, too.
Last night after 2.2 grueling miles (haha), my legs ached so I threw on my compression socks. Great idea!! They really helped.
I only did one strength session this past week, but those always make me feel mighty. Love ‘em. Looking to get at least 2 in a week, plus FINALLY start prenatal yoga when the new year begins.
Cue terrible, awkward gym selfie snapped quickly while no one was around (cringe…), but at least you can see the bump more clearly.
Stretch marks: Not yet… do your thang, coconut oil!
Swelling: None.
Maternity clothes: All maternity jeans but some non-maternity shirts still work fine. I got a new stitch fix (affiliate link) and two of the shirts worked out great! Still, I’ll need a few more true maternity items to get me through winter with a bigger belly. Especially workout clothes. I’m looking for those within the next week.
Belly button: In for now. Pretty sure it won’t stay that way the whole time.
Sleep: Grateful that it’s still good! I’m in bed asleep by 10 and am usually ready to get up when the alarm goes off at 6:30. Occasionally I’ll wake up for a bathroom break, but it’s rare.
Food cravings: Steak! After meat sounding ‘eh’ to me for so long, this past week my need for red meat has been intense! The ribeye on Christmas was fantastic and I ate the leftovers cold yesterday before making a meat sauce to go on spaghetti squash for dinner. Baby must need some iron?
Symptoms: Besides the growing belly, I feel really good. Occasionally I’ll get a tiny wave of queasiness or feel the need to sit and rest midday, but for the most part, 21 weeks is great!
Oh, and acne. I guess it isn’t terrible, but as someone that has been spoiled with good skin, the breakouts are pretty frustrating.
Movement: Yes! She was a busy girl on Christmas day and must have worn herself out because she was more quiet yesterday. I’m getting to the point that I worry if I don’t feel her, even though I know it can be inconsistent at this stage.
What I miss: Wine, but only because of the holidays I think. I haven’t missed it as much this pregnancy, but certainly look forward to a cold Blue Moon when summer rolls around!.
What I’m loving: That I’m feeling good! What a blessing.
What I’m looking forward to: This is the year all my friends turn 30, so I’m headed to Georgia on Saturday to celebrate with my best friends. Can’t wait for some girl time!
Best moment this week: Finding out that another pregnant friend is having a girl! I know a lot of ladies due around the time I am and all of them are having girls- how fun!
Words of wisdom: Enjoy all the wonders of pregnancy. This might very well be my last experience with it and I want to savor it
For fun: 20 weeks pregnant with Hailey
Now let’s talk about… NAMES.
David and I found out Hailey was a girl at a fancy dinner when I was 18 weeks. We named her THAT night after we decided we both just really liked the name Hailey. Well, here I am, 21 weeks, and baby girl still doesn’t have a name.
We talk about it quite often, but nothing seems to stand out yet, as there are several names I like. I actually love the name Taylor, but it’s my niece’s name. Too weird? Probably.
I keep thinking there is a name out there that we haven’t thought of yet, so the search continues. My question to you…
At what point of pregnancy or birth should a baby have a name?
What are some of your favorite girl names?
jenn says
My last baby wasn’t named until 5 mins after he was born! My other two at least had names before they were born, but was only 2 or 3 weeks before. Naming a child is so hard to me! Lol. Best of luck!
Brittney says
I think I knew for a long time we would name Allie Allison in the end, but didn’t want to finalize it til she was born and I could look at her and KNOW it was the right name for her. We considered other names but always came back to that, it was definitely the front runner for most of my pregnancy. I think names are so tough though. It feels like a lot of pressure to give someone the name they will live with their whole lives. Good luck!
Jinxyjen says
I think when you come across the right name you will know!
That’s awesome you have some friends that are preggers too- I didn’t have that and I wish I did.
By the way, you are looking great!!
katie says
A friend of mine didn’t name her baby girl for a couple days after she was born. Wait until you know! I wouldn’t do Taylor, but if you love it, go for it!
John J. says
Brianna would be a nice combination of your name, Brittany Ann. I’m sure she would have your dance skills!
P.S. Is the “check in the mail”?
Sarah says
We chose not to find out the gender of my son and now I’m 10 weeks with our second and we’re doing the same. But the first time, we had definite names picked out. With my son, if he was a boy, he was going to be a junior (Christopher Eric). My favorite girl name is Julia Marie.
With this baby, we’re sticking with Julia Marie if it’s a girl, and trying to convince hubby that we should name a boy Benjamin Evan. I keep reminding him that our son is a junior, so I should get to name this one without question!
Parita @ myinnershakti says
Oh baby names! We don’t plan on having kids for at least another 1.5 years but still debate names at least a few times a week!
I love simple names like Anna, Emma, Zoe, Lily. I think it’s because my traditional Indian name always got butchered in school. I will not be doing that to my kids!
MC says
If Ann is a family middle name (I think you said it is), what about making Taylor the baby’s middle name? That way she has something tying her into the larger family because her and her cousin will share the name, like how you all share Ann. Then you pick out a first name that’s all hers 🙂
Lee says
The only girl name that Jason and I agreed on was Hannah. I really liked Harper, but it’s too trendy, I think. Plus, we’re having a boy anyway.
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
Great name! Though I might be slightly biased ;).
Caits says
We named our first at 37 weeks and this time we named our baby at 36 weeks. Such a hard decision!!! 🙂
Kate says
We tossed around the same five names for months, but weren’t 100% on any of them. My husband tossed out a new name, maybe around 30 weeks, and we both loved it but weren’t ready to commit to it. Finally, around 35 weeks we decided that the new name would be it.
As for favorite names, I like simple/classic: Grace, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Isabelle, Victoria… And our little one, who doesn’t really fit the “classic” description: Mila.
Swiftie22 says
I like the name Taylor because of Taylor Swift (huge fan of hers right here!), but maybe it might be a little awkward to have two Taylors in the family. Other names I like include:
Audrey, Heather, Maia, Kristen, Jennifer, Olivia, Caroline, Katy, Sarah, and… I have always liked the names Brittany and Hailey, but those are already taken 😉
By the way, my name’s Andrea. 🙂
char eats greens says
Since we didn’t find out the sex when we had Nia, we had a boys names picked since before we were even married, but the girl’s took forever to pick (that’s clearly why we ended up having a girl haha). If Nia wasn’t Nia, my other pick was Quinn (still love it!) and Tyler’s was Amelia. I hope you find something you both immediately know is meant to be!
Katrina says
Love that picture of you and your girlfriends!
I don’t know if there’s a particular point in a pregnancy when a baby SHOULD have a name.
My cousins always were in between two names right into their third trimesters. I wasn’t named until I was at LEAST a week old, but I was two months early- (Mom says I didn’t give her fair notice) 😉
As for Taylor, it’s a classic name. I wouldn’t feel odd about naming your baby the same name as your niece at all! It’s a beautiful name– good taste must run in the family 😉
Marjorie says
Looking good Mama! Are you loving the bread machine? I need to get mine out. It’s been way too long!
We settled on my son’s name some time in the 3rd trimester. The name we chose was always in the running, but we didn’t “decide” officially and tell everybody until 3rd trimester. I have a friend who didn’t decide until the baby was born and they had to put something on the birth certificate! Ha!
kristi says
I’d skip Taylor since there is another one in the close family. A friend of mine has an Audrey which is a classic but not all that common (a good thing)! I also like Brooke 🙂
Jessica says
We find out the sex of our baby early next month. 😀 If its a girl we are using Olivia for the first name but are still undecided on middle names… maybe Noelle or Kaitlyn.
I also like: Eve, Ava, Eva, Charlotte, Samantha (Sam), etc.
Kaitlyn @Keeping up with Kaitlyn says
My name is Kaitlyn Noel! Too funny!!
Jennifer Lopez says
I totally can relate! I say don’t rush it! We named Ellie (Elizabeth Mackenzie) in the waiting room after finding out she was a girl…we felt the need to make the decision with baby girl #2 so we (now looking back on it) settled on Baylor Ann. Our baby shower announcement even said “Baylor” but I just wasn’t 100% that it was the perfect name for her and at 38 weeks we changed it to Peyton Claire. We LOVE her name now and we decided we will not rush into a name if we are blessed with a #3!
Heather @ What Does She Do All Day? says
A baby should have a name before leaving the hospital. 😉 Neither of my girls were named until after they were born. It’s hard coming up with a second girl name since you already used your favorite name on the first girl.
Nancy says
I like traditional/classic girl names: Mary Katherine, Charlotte, Caroline, Elizabeth and Julie.
jodie says
I love Evelyn bc of my grandmother but my “niece” (long term boyfriend’s niece) has that name.
I love classic names with boys. I find girls names harder.
Jodi says
Love love Grace. We both loved it but if had a boy would have named him Grayson, so couldn’t use it. I love Avery and Emerson but I would have loved a little girl named Grace! I really like Harper and Alexis. I would have shortened it to Alex or Lexi probably. I always was trying to think of sisters names that sounded good together too. Like hailey and ???. I think another h name might be nice!? Good luck!!
Jen says
I’m so glad you’re feeling better! You look adorable and great job on the workouts!
Girl names are SO hard! We had a second boy’s name picked out and Wyatt’s was so easy, too. We thought we named this one a few weeks ago, but I worry the name we like is getting too common — and plus I never loved it. So now it’s back to the drawing board…
Morgan says
We went back and forth on my son’s name until the day he was born (Caleb) Even then, I wasn’t sure it was “the one.” My daughter was named from 20 weeks on and we picked Hannah. If I had another girl I might pick Avery, Madelyn or Isabelle.
Allison W. says
I think Hailey and Taylor is a little hard to say together fast…How about Hannah, Charlotte, or Riley? I think those all sound great with Hailey.
Kaitlyn @Keeping up with Kaitlyn says
Well I’m not married (nor close to it) but one day, if I do get married and have kids I only want girls! ha so I have all my girl names picked out! Here are my favorites:
Blair, Kennedy, Quinn, Harper, Addison.
Kiki says
I have three boys but had any of them been a girl, Alden was the name. However we are done… No girls for me…..but I love my guys!!
Heather says
I had my first baby, a girl, in October. We named her Lydia, a name that we decided on when I was probably 30 weeks pregnant. The other names on our list were: Adaline, Addison, Katelyn, and Lauren.
Lia says
I’m obsessed with baby names and have all of my future kids named. Here are some girl names I love:
Clara
Ada
Cecelia
Lucia
Regan
Layla
Charlotte
Ruby
Adair
Helena
Rowan
Good luck!!
Michelle says
It’s funny to think I was in your shoes to almost the exact day last year (Evan was due on the 8th — he arrived on the 12th!). It was a LOOOOONG holiday season – lol.
As for names — Hailey was in our top 3 when I had Livie. Love it. Girl names are hard though. We ended up having Violet and Isla picked out with E, but it took WEEKS of negotiation and we went to the hospital still uncertain. Thankfully Evan was a boy and we didn’t have to make a choice!
Chantal says
Gosh girl names. We had a boy name set, and then Penny wasn’t named for 12 hours after she was born! We just can’t agree. I love a lot of names, he doesn’t. It came down to two names with her… Victoria or Penelope… and then we took out the whole big list, and then got back to Penelope lol.
As for the next one, if it’s a girl, I’m set on Violet, Arya or Olive. Hopefully it’ll just be a boy 😉
Dominique @ Eat, Pray, Lift says
You are just the most adorable pregnant mama! Gives me hope that my short torso won’t look horribly awkward if I ever decide to have kiddos! 🙂
Names? Ahh, I love names so I’m terrible at picking, but I really love more unusual names like Genevieve (Gen for short?) and Petra.
Natasha Carneiro says
Baby names are hard to choose…
I only have boy names really, but I’ve heard a few nice girl names that stuck;
Alexis
Mia Jo
Kaylenn
Kaitlyn
Jessica
Angelique
Charlotte Anne
Meylene
Hencha
Thezelle
Sarah Jane
Liz says
with my first pregnancy (we opted not to find out the sex ahead of time), we picked out our boy name somewhere around 5 months along. we didn’t have a girl name until 3 weeks before my due date! he turned out to be a boy, so I should have taken it as a sign!
I’m currently pregnant again, about a month behind you. we are keeping the sex a surprise again, but are already 90% sure on names. we’re thinking this babe will be Rory whether it’s a girl or a boy! different middle names, of course. 🙂
Liz says
oh, and our girl name for #1 was Iris. still love it, but it just doesn’t feel quite right with this one.
Brittany says
My little cousin is names Aurora and we call her Rory. I was the first one to call her Rory and now it has stuck with the whole family.
Laura says
Just to chime in about using the same name as your niece. I have the same name as my aunt, and, growing up, I hated it. It made things really confusing. I still tease my parents about it because she had married my uncle before I was born, and they could have easily chosen a different name. But, if you really love the name maybe make it her middle name? Or name her Taylor and call her by her middle name.
Maria says
Have you heard of Nameberry? It shows you similar names to the name you like. (Don’t ask me how I know this). Here are names similar to Taylor that it suggests: http://nameberry.com/babyname/Taylor/girl/similar
Also, you look fantastic 🙂
Colleen says
I rarely comment, but just wanted to let you know that I love your blog! Been reading for years, I feel like we’re friends 🙂
Girl names I like:
Sierra, Zoe, Ruby, Grace (my grandmothers name), Seneca, Jade.
Leila Dishes says
We were set on a name from 18 weeks, (when we found out we were having a girl) until 38 weeks when we made the mistake of letting a few family members know our choice. The reactions weren’t what I’d hoped, so I had a freak out and had to change it to our second choice. Meh, now I can’t imagine Genevieve being any other name 🙂 Long way of saying you have plenty of time! Maybe use Taylor as her middle name?
Kelli says
Molly but that’s only because I have a Molly 😉
Paulina says
We took so long to decide on a name this time. I’m 38 weeks and we just (finally) agreed on Eleanor Kelly. We knew Ellie would be her nickname long before choosing Eleanor. Other front runners were Elena, Elizabeth, Elaine… my husband was really set on Eleanor but I took some time to come around. I think its harder to choose a girl name when we already had chosen our daughters name the first time around. Of course we had a boy name picked out before I was pregnant.
Laura @ Mommy Run Fast says
You look fantastic! I’m so glad you’re feeling so good, too. We had a short list of names going into the hospital but weren’t able to narrow it down until after she was born. Looks like some great suggestions in the comments!
Amanda says
I’m love the name Alexis. Also Isla, Ava and Berlin.
Matt @ Runner Savvy says
Names:
Matt
🙂
Avery @ YoungAspirations says
Love the bump shot! Taylor is a cute name! We picked our name pretty early, but we chose not to share it with anyone, mostly because we know our family is (lovingly) very opinionated, so we thought it would just be better just to share when she gets here. Of course some of our parents don’t love that, but others said we were smart to do so! I just downloaded a baby name app and would often toss around all sorts of combinations until we found one we just loved. Good luck! 🙂
Haley says
I totally had to chuckle that you like the name Taylor, as my brother and I are Haley and Taylor! I think it’s a good combo 😉
Emily says
Girl names are always harder. It would be cute if your next girl had an H name too and my favourite H name is Harlow, it also follows well after Hailey 🙂
Nikki says
I am 15 weeks pregnant and I refuse to even look at names until week 20 when I know the gender so we can cut it down.
Lindsay Ingalls (@NaturallyFamily) says
We are at 32w4d and our name list seems to be growing for both a boy and girl …..i’d like to see it shrink down to a max of 5 each before it’s go time!