Pregnancy Notes

I've had a great pregnancy thus far and am so thankful. The 3rd trimester has brought about some new changes (is it that time already?!):

-My hair is completely not my own. It's curly, thick (even more than before) and unruly. I currently have no style to the hair. Isn't there a name for that? Oh yeah, it's called "mommy hair"?

-Last week I noticed two tiny stretch marks that I didn't have before, and upon seeing them I realized how vain I truly am. I always said that stretch marks and vericose veins are the battle scars of bearing children, and if/when I got them I really wouldn't mind. Guess I was lying to myself, as now I'm pondering how many more I'll get and how big they'll be, will they ruin my nice soft belly and of course, the main thought--they'll be there forever...bummer.

-No skin blotches or blemishes other than the above. Another nod to the vanity I didn't think I possessed.

-My left ankle is swollen a bit. Yes, just the left one. Maybe I'll be lop-sided or maybe the right one will catch up, who knows. I did naively think that I'd skip this part of the process...another lie.

-I haven't gained much weight and I'm glad, but at times I get anxious that I'm not doing enough or eating enough for the baby, and that this pregnancy isn't normal. I need to remind myself that I'm resting in God's hand, and so is this baby. All will be well in the end.

-Baby is moving all the time, and I'm certain that it'll come out with it's hands by it's head...there is constant poking "down there" and I don't like it!

-I want sweets, almost all the time. Not good.

-I have trouble sleeping more nights than not. I now need a pillow on each side of me (one of which Jeff usually ends up stealing w/ his leg) as well as the one for my head. I wake frequently to tell him to move over, gimme the pillow, etc. and therefore don't think he's getting too much sleep either. And although I'm not supposed to be on my back too much, this is still the most comfortable position for me. That leads me to:

-Leg cramps. Yay. My upper thighs ache lately and so the walking must start. Let's see if bananas help too. I hope so! I have noticed that if I sleep on my back with a pillow under each leg, the cramping gets better and I sleep great. If only that were a recommended position...

-We got our first baby shower present in the mail the other day, a mobile from PB Kids with the moon and stars on it. Of course, it plays Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. How sweet.

-The baby seems to respond to both mine and Jeff's voices, and that's totally awesome.

-I spend a lot of the day thinking about who this person is, and how life will be once he or she is here. I daydream a lot.

-I also think about the delivery and wonder if I'm cut out for it. Never have I wondered this, as I totally believe my body was made for it, but as the date gets closer I admit I worry a tad. I'm hoping the childbirth classes and my midwife will help instill the confidence I lack. Jeff's been doing a good job of that, keep up the good work, honey!

-We are going to order the crib and rocker soon, which makes everything more real...wow.

-28 weeks has flown by, I can't imagine how the next 10 will go. What a time!

Summertime '06

I can't believe that we're already heading into mid-August. Wow, time really does fly, doesn't it?
Let's see if I can recap the past few weeks:

We went to Buffalo in July to celebrate my second niece's graduation from high school. It seems like yesterday that she was just a baby pounding on boxes at her birthday party, instead of playing with the actual toys inside them. And it seems like just yesterday for me, when I graduated with wide eyes as the world was spread out before me! The past 10 years since my graduation has flown by, and the past 18 has made Samantha a beautiful woman. I'm so proud of her!

As always, it was good to see family, extended "family" at the party, friends and in general, the Buffalo scene. I miss it still, but the longing seems to have faded a bit.

Upon returning, Jeff went on a business trip to KY, TN, GA and NC, which he really enjoyed. I would've gone, but the thought of being in the car for about 3 days at 6 months pregnant really wasn't appealing to me. I stayed back and listened to his travel stories as he told them with excitement each night. He had never seen those parts of the country, with the exception of NC, and so I think it was really neat for him to travel by himself as he explored and put names to faces.

Last week, we spent some time vacationing on the Eastern Shore of DE with the Knapps. We had planned on going the whole week, but as time got closer and we realized we'd still be living with them once vacation week came, we opted to go for only a few days. Wise decision.

It was a good trip, and the perfect week to go because it was soooo hot out. I'm not entirely fond of heat, but can handle it best when near the ocean. So we sat on the beach and read, took some walks, and just plain rested. It was so nice to be at the ocean together. The only other time we've been to the ocean together was on a road trip to CT for a wedding where Jeff did some business in MA. We took a detour just so we could see the water. It was dark and cold out, but still nice to get a glimpse of it with each other. :)

Back to the beach story...I forgot to mention that we spent some time in the water, too! I have to admit, I'm not crazy about swimming in the ocean--unless it's clear--since one of my bigger fears includes sharks. But I've never heard of shark attacks in DE so I "bravely" went in. There were jellyfish all over, and we do live in (and were vacationing in) a prime crab location, so I wasn't too thrilled to be wading in unknown waters. After the first dip, I noticed a bunch of people swimming fearlessly and went to ask one of the guys about the jellyfish. He told me the little ones (of which there were a ton of) were harmless, it's the big ones you have to look out for. You know, with color, or tentacles. So that pretty much put me at ease and I then became an ocean dweller for the day. There were moments that a larger jelly would float by, and then Jeff would pick them up with the frisbee and fling them out to further sea. Such a boy! I'd then make the "weeee" sound as if they were enjoying this ride in the air, and we'd all laugh. The best part was not when Jeff got bit by a fellow ocean dweller (crab) but when I snuck up behind him and scared the crap out of him when I "bit" his bum with my sharp nails...too funny! Oh, and I must mention that I finally got some nice color, and on my legs, too!

We left there on Monday night so that we would miss the traffic coming across the Bay Bridge in the morning. Good choice. We unpacked and slept in our own bed--ahh--and then on Tuesday morning headed up to Wegmans for a big shop. My Mom and sister Tracy, along with my 3 nephews were headed our way for the week and they arrived about 3ish, just as I had finished unpacking groceries and cleaning the house. Perfect timing!

We spent the time enjoying the familiar company in an unfamiliar setting. This was the first time any of my family came to visit, and I was so excited to be able to show them this new "life" of mine. We took them to get some awesome crabcakes, and showed them around a bit. We also went to the Baltimore Children's Museum (rated 4th in the country for when you parents come visit) and my favorite exhibit there was Mr. Roger's World. I loved that show. They actually had his shoes and sweater there! We hung out at the house a lot too, it was so darn hot and the kids (or maybe it was us adults!) were beat by the heat. On Friday, we headed to Annapolis for lunch on the Bay and then took a boat tour of the waters and surrounding areas, including the Naval Academy, which Matthew loved.

I thoroughly enjoyed the visit. We laughed and laughed, played lots of games, the two little ones ran circles through the house and they got to feel my kicking belly. Mom's first comment to me upon arrival was, "I see a belly!!!" I'm so glad they made the trek down, even if it was one of the hotter weeks of the year!

And oh, I was able to rearrange my prenatal appointment so that they could come with me to meet my midwife and hear the baby's heartbeat. All is well again, and I'm thankful. The hearbeat was 144 this time and I swear Mom's eyes just about welled up with tears when she heard it. Evelyn said that I'm measuring about 2 weeks early, so who knows what that means. All looks good though, and I didn't even have to drink that nasty drink for the glucose test! I got lucky and had the choice to eat a banana and drink some oj.

So Mom and Tracy left on Saturday, and I went back to bed as ordered by my husband, due to extreme crabbiness. When I woke at 10:45, the entire house was clean. I'm talking the beds were stripped and made again, the floor was washed, the works! I was so grateful. An hour later, the Knapps came home and we headed out on a date together to catch up, just the two of us. Since then it's been back to the old grind...

Emily left for South Korea this morning and although it's been nice to have her around this summer, I'm glad too for the days where I'll be by myself again. I've finally started my projects that I set out for myself when we moved here, and I'm eager to get them done. We're looking at a few places this week and I'm hoping one of them will pan out. They are all apartment building/condos, which is fine with me at this point. Of course I would love to have a little house like we did in OP, but time is moving along and before we know it, baby will be here and we really need to be in our own place. And we keep remembering that it's not forever, it's just temporary. So, we'll see what happens!

We go home again (wonder when I'll stop saying 'home' and start saying Buffalo?) in a few weeks for my baby shower. I love showers-whether they are my own or someone else's. I just love presents! So I was thinking that when we got home, I wouldn't be able to set up a nursery like I thought I would. I can't wash and fold and put away cute little clothes, put books on a shelf, or make up the crib. All of the beautiful gifts will just sit for hopefully a little while longer until we settle into a new home. But this doesn't make me mad or sad, and I'm so pleased with that. I think my usual response would've been one of those feelings, but the Lord has renewed my patience lately and I'm OK with not being able to set up the room like originally planned. Weird.

I suppose that's it for now. I haven't blogged in so long and have even been debating about whether or not I'll continue to. But it feels good to type today.

Here's to Summertime '06 coming to a close right before our eyes!