Toni Braxton Hicks.

You know those Before & After puzzles on Wheel of Fortune? That's what I was thinking about, laying on my bed looking up at the ceiling fan this morning around 10am, amazed that at 23 weeks and 4 days I am already having Braxton Hicks (fake, preparatory) contractions. Again. I was impressed that I thought of anything else Braxton-related. (Thanks for any thoughts of Toni Braxton should probably go out to sixth-grade Jeff, who unthinkingly listed Un-break My Heart as his favorite song in the school yearbook, and was subsequently known for that for several weeks.)

Above are me and baby girl on the couch on Tuesday evening, laying down with the first round of this tummy-tightening weirdness. What you can't see is that, beyond the couch, her big brother and sister are eating a dinner of yogurt and apple slices. I was pretty proud of myself for not just giving them cereal for dinner. (They had just had frozen yogurt an hour before, so I really couldn't justify cereal-dinner that night...)

It happened again for a couple of hours last night, and made me nervous enough to get in touch with the nurse on call at my OB office. She told me to keep laying down and drinking water (I was already doing both because I remember that advice from the first two littles) and that it was normal to feel them this early with the third child. I will admit, it is still weirding me out a little. But baby girl is kicking away in there, constantly reminding me that she is healthy and growing, if a little squished.

Other new symptoms are cropping up, too. My joints are starting to pop a lot--especially when I get up to pee in the night (usually twice), and most noisily in my hips. Kind of an unnerving sensation! But one I remember from Charlie. There was something else, but I can't remember what it is. Probably because of pregnancy brain. :)

(Update: I remembered! It is Restless Leg Syndrome! So unnatural feeling, and so annoying! But I guess not TOO annoying since I forgot about it...)

I checked today and found out that the third trimester starts at 28 weeks. So we've only got a five-ish weeks to go to hit that new mile marker. My toes are gone from my arial view and I don't hinge in the middle too well anymore, and I'm already measuring 39 inches around. (!) Which, in combination, is maybe why this morning (before the Toni Braxton musings) I started cleaning out what we thought was going to be a playroom in order to prep it to be baby girl's room instead.