Getting to Know Me…

…til my due date.  Wow.  It’s gone so fast; I can hardly believe that it’s almost time to add a third person to our family.  Her room is ready, the car seat has been installed and inspected by the fire department, and I’ve purchased the last minute stuff that I think we’ll need.  The hospital bag is packed with the exception of some things that we’ll have to add last minute.  We have the call lists ready to go, too.  Now it’s just a waiting game.  People keep saying, “I bet you’re so ready to not  be pregnant anymore.”  Truth is, part of me feels that way, but part of me has thoroughly enjoyed this whole process and isn’t in a hurry for it to end.  God’s timing is perfect, so when that moment finally comes and it’s time to head to the hospital, I will know it’s the right time and will be eager to get going.

I have no idea what to expect after she arrives.  Plenty of people have told me what it’s going to be like, but I think it’s one of those things you really can’t grasp until you’re there.  I know we’ll both be plenty tired, and I’ll probably be emotional from changing hormones, and there will probably be lots of times that we just sit there and stare at her, wondering if she’s really ours and being amazed at everything that had to happen to get her here.

I’m planning to post pics on here soon after she’s born.  We will have WiFi in the hospital room, so it should be easy to upload them and get them posted.  Most of you who read this will either receive a text message or a phone call…or an e-mail at the very least.  My list is fairly comprehensive, so hopefully I don’t leave anyone out.  If so, I’m sorry!

Don’t know much else for now; will write more again later on.

I woke up last night (this morning) around 2:30 for my nightly trip to the bathroom.  After I laid back down, I could tell Ladybug was awake.  A couple moments later, I felt this rhythmic movement.  After it continued for a bit, I realized she had hiccups!  It was the first time (that I’m aware of) she’s had them and also the first time that I’ve had any idea of how she is positioned in there.  I could only feel that movement on my right side, so I deduced that she was curled up sideways with her back along the right side of my stomach. 

For some reason, that was one of the sweetest moments in my pregnancy so far.  I wanted to wake Ben up so he could feel them, too, but I refrained.  It was just so amazing to be able to put my hand on my stomach, and know that it was also right on her little back.  After the hiccups stopped, she moved again so I’m back to not knowing exactly how she is situated in there.  But for those few minutes, it was pure bliss.

My tummy tenant is quite the kicker.  Day and night, night and day.  As I’ve already told several people, I suspect she is trying to figure out how to escape.  It would really not surprise me at all if she came fairly early, for no reason other than impatience.  I don’t know how much you can tell about a baby by how they are in utero, but Ben and I both suspect that she is going to be quite a lively baby.  I predict she’ll be walking by nine months just because it will get her where she wants to go faster. 

I will not be disappointed if she is a week overdue and doesn’t walk until she’s a year old, but I just think she has a determined spirit which will drive her to accomplish things sooner.  Time will tell, I guess!  In the mean time, I delight in all those little movements.  I laugh out loud sometimes as I watch my belly move about nonstop for several minutes.  I guess she eventually wears herself out, because then all is calm for a while, until she is rested enough to start all over again.

So many people have told me to enjoy my pregnancy, that I will miss this once it’s over, and I think they are probably right.  I’ve had such a great pregnancy so far that it has been easy for me to enjoy it.  I have yet to utter the words “I wish she’d just hurry up and get here!”.  Maybe that comes later, but for now I am content feeling her inside me and hoping she is happy and comfortable in there.

Well, once again time has gotten away from me and it’s been quite a while since I posted my last update.  I guess I haven’t really been inspired to write about anything in particular.  However, I would like to give everyone a quick update on the past few weeks.  I had two baby showers two weekends in a row.  Mom threw one for me in the Tulsa area, and then Sam and Melinda did one for me in OKC.  Both of them were wonderful.  Ben and I are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in our lives.  We have spent very little on baby stuff so far — just bought the crib and the changing table — everything else has come from friends and family.  We’re both blown away.

It’s hard for me to believe that in six short days I will be THIRTY WEEKS PREGNANT.  It just boggles my mind.  Being in the thirties just makes all this even more real.  I am posting a picture that we took a little over a week ago when I was 28 weeks.  Quite a difference from the last one I posted!

Other than working on the baby’s room and trying to get all the gifts put away and thank you notes written (which is DONE, by the way!), there has not been a whole lot going on.  Mom and I went to a women’s conference at church this weekend, which I will write about more later (probably), and that is about the only non-baby thing I can think of that’s been going on!

I will write more again later — hopefully this week!!!

28 Weeks

So for the past month or so, I have been looking for a dress to wear to my baby shower(s) next month.  I have looked at Target, JC Penney, Motherhood, Amazon, David’s Bridal (online),  and others.  Kohl’s doesn’t even have a maternity section, at least not that I’ve been able to find.  I started looking way in advance because I didn’t want to have to just buy the first thing that came along because I was in a hurry.

I expressed my exasperation to my hubby yesterday (who is a genius, by the way).  He pointed out that I probably don’t have to have a “maternity” dress per se, but rather a loose flowy dress that should do the trick.  Huh.  I realized that my favorite “maternity” shirt is actually not maternity at all, but rather an empire-waisted shirt that I found in the Junior section at a department store.  So I think he’s on to something.  So my plan B is to scrap looking at just maternity stuff (because most of it’s hideous, anyway), and just start looking for an empire-waisted dress that is nice and flowy.

We’re going to be in San Antonio soon for a conference he’s attending, so maybe while he’s at work, I’ll start my search for a non-maternity maternity dress.   I’m almost excited again!

One thing I failed to mention in my post the other day is that the jeans I am wearing in that pic belong to Ben.   We were getting ready for church, and I realized that basically all of my three pairs of maternity pants were in the laundry.  Ben to the rescue!  He offered to let me wear a pair of his, and he actually had a pair of jeans that were the same brand I wore in high school (Men’s Arizona Jean Co.–it was a looooong tomboy phase), so I knew they would fit great, and they did!  He totally saved the day.  So thanks to my awesome hubby for coming to my rescue yet again!

(Oh, and on a side note, I knew that during this pregnancy my weight would eventually surpass my husband’s — but it’s ALREADY happened!  It happened probably a month ago!  I guess I thought that when it actually happened, that I would be like seven or eight months along, not just five.   Sigh.)

Here is a pic of what my belly currently looks like.  It’s DEFINITELY bigger than it was, but I don’t look pregnant as much as just looking like I’ve been eating too many pastries!  But nonetheless, here it is.  Also, the other morning, Ben finally got to feel her move for the first time!  He was resting his head on my belly, and she punched him right in the face — three times!  I’m so glad he finally got to feel her — makes it more real, I think.

My belly at 23 weeks!

So here I am, halfway through week 22.  I have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow.  I know they’re only once a month, but they seem like they’re every week and a half or two!  I guess once I start going that often, it’s just going to see like I’m there every day!  I don’t really mind, though.  We get to hear her heartbeat, and that’s always a welcome sound. (I do a great impression, by the way!) 

Still not much to report in regards to symptoms, size, or anything else.  I still feel great, and and still not really showing.  I have started to develop a little bit of a tummy, but I still don’t look like someone who’s 5 1/2 months along already!

We bought the crib and changing table this weekend…they are lighter wood than we’d wanted, but as it turns out, it matches the trim and doors in the house (and in her room) almost perfectly.  So that’s one less thing we’ll have to paint.  Painting should begin next week.  Sage green walls.  I can’t wait.  After that we’ll get the furniture put together and then I’m sure more stuff will just start appearing in there!

I’ve made a conscious effort to not buy much for her yet.  I bought her a sleeper with big, bright polka dots on it, and a couple pairs of pants and onsies that are all interchangeable.  Anna bought her one, too…super cute.  Gotta love Target and their $3 clothing items.   Other than that and The Little Red Hen, we’ve bought nothing but the furniture.  That’s quite an accomplishment! (I’ll go ahead and pat myself on the back…) 

A few friends and family members have already given us some things for her.  Dad and Mom brought the cutest little Ladybug outfit when they came to visit last weekend…absolutely precious.  Can’t wait to see her in it. 

I realized the other day that I never started the food diary that I said I was going to.  I guess PLANNING on it was enough to get me headed in the right direction.  I started exercising again and eating better, and it’s amazing how quickly I feel the good results of that.  Awesome!

Anyway, that’s pretty much an update for now.  I’ll write more when there’s more to write.

So I know in my mind that I’m pregnant–16 weeks now.  But I don’t FEEL pregnant!  I just feel fat.  My ‘baby bump’ is nothing more than a tiny tummy pooch that no one else can even tell is there, and it’s jiggly, along with just about every other part of my body that could be jiggly. 

My sore boobs, nausea, exhaustion, and every other early symptom I had is now gone.  I feel pretty much like my normal self, and look pretty much like my normal self, other than being pimply, pudgy, and pale!  So sometimes I’m not really sure there’s a baby in there.  I can’t feel it move yet, so I have no proof!  I guess it’s a little bit like faith…I can’t see it or feel it, but I know in my heart he/she is in there. 

I feel really awkward when people ask me how I’m feeling, because I feel totally fine.  Shouldn’t I be irrationally emotional, or having odd cravings, or throwing up–or SOMETHING!?  Also, people inevitably look down at my stomach to see how big it is.  They seem slightly disappointed that there’s really nothing there to see yet.  Luckily no one has started feeling my stomach yet, since there’s nothing to feel.  Not really sure how I’m going to handle that yet…at least with strangers.  With anyone I know, it’s totally fine.

I guess within the next few weeks I am supposed to feel the first kick (or punch, whatever the case may be), so that is what I am currently looking forward to.  Then getting another sonogram at the end of the month to see if it’s the boy that I’m convinced it is.  (That is the top prediction right now–only a few are predicting a girl).  Until then, I’ll just keep telling myself that yes, there really is a baby in there.

I found out that I was pregnant when I was about four weeks along…pretty soon, really. I had sore boobs, was tired, and of course my period was REALLY late. I was in Mississippi, about thirteen hours away from my hubby. I send him an e-mail with a picture of a figureing that I’d bought him (of a pregnant lady) and made him open the e-mail while I was on the phone with him. I was still in a state of shock myself, and I think he kinda shared that sentiment.

Not long after that, the morning sickness (yeah, right…more like ALL DAY sickness) set in. NOT FUN! I never threw up…just always felt like I was going to. I think I would’ve preferred to go ahead and vomit so I’d at least feel better. Thankfully, it only lasted about three weeks. However, it totally derailed my exercise habit. It’s been a real struggle to get back in the gym and continue working out.

I had my first sonogram in Mississippi when I was about 8 1/2 weeks along…got to see the little bean and hear his/her heartbeat for the first time. Everyone asks me if I cried when I heard it. I didn’t. It was awesome to hear it, though. I heard it again this week at the doctor’s office. Ben missed both of them, but he’ll get to hear it at the end of August when I go in for my next sonogram. That’s also when we will (hopefully) be able to find out if it’s a boy or girl.

I have a strong feeling that it’s a boy. I think I’ll be quite surprised if it’s not. I’m totally fine with either, though…I don’t really have a preference.

Everything seems to be going smoothly right now…I still get tired by mid-afternoon, but I think that’s more just boredom than pregnancy. Maybe a mix of both.

I think that should catch everyone up on what’s going on with me right now. I’ll write more again soon!