21 Weeks

I had a great weekend with my sister!  Friday night, Chrissy and I went to the JBF Sale.  It was not as good as I excepted but we still got some cute stuff.  When we got home to show Jeff all of the items we found, we realized that we had bought a total of 17 baby hats!  Whoops.  I guess I had baby hats on the brain. We had no idea that we had bought that many (some came in bags of 3 or 4).  Considering she will be born in July makes it even more ridiculous.  :) 


On Saturday we watched "The Business of Being Born".  I bought it so that I could share the information with any family or friends who are interested in learning about or understanding my choice for wanting a natural childbirth.  Chrissy's bf Vinny was a good sport and watched it with us.  They both really liked it and we had a good discussion about the documentary and what my birth plans are.  Jeff was glad that we watched it again (since the last time we watched it was over a year ago).  It renewed our excitement about giving birth in this way.  I am so glad that I am informed about the options that I have.  I am super excited to give birth!

Childbirth is not a physical function. The drama of the physical manifestations has blinded its observers to the truth-the birth of a child is the ultimate phenomenon of a series of spiritual experiences, from fantasy to fact and from fact to fruition.

-Grantly Dick Read, MD-Childbirth Without Fear

Here are pictures of just a few of the things we got at the sale:

At 21 weeks, I am feeling pretty good.  I am still not feeling her move, but I am hoping to feel her soon.  My next appointment is March 10th so I will ask the midwife about it if I still haven't felt her by then.  She is definitely growing, my belly is proof of that.  Her heartbeat is going strong.  It's crazy how quickly I can forget that I am pregnant.  At home when I am wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants I can't see the belly, then I put on regular clothes and I surprise myself when I look in the mirror.  Sometimes my body feels pretty normal and other times I am surprised at feeling the denseness of baby girl low in my uterus.  It's so hard to describe, but I assume that maybe it has to do with how she is positioned at the time.  My one constant reminder is of course that I have to pee ALL THE TIME.


Sweet baby girl, I can't wait to meet you. I can't wait to hold your little hand in mine.  I can't wait to nourish and protect you.  I can't wait to see you on your daddy's lap, to hear your laugh, to dry your tears.  I promise to love you forever.  I pray that you would know the Lord as your Father and King.  You are His daughter and he has amazing plans for you.  I can't wait to see them unfold. 


Here is my 21 week belly:

20 Weeks and Growing!

"You're at the halfway mark — congratulations! Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (The way your baby is measured changes now.) He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system."


I can't believe I am half way!  And yet there is so much growing left to do!  So far I've gained 7 lbs.  I have 20 or more left to go.  I am still able to wear my normal pants, at least with a belly band or hair tie.  But I will need to invest in some maternity pants soon.  I can no longer sleep on my back or my stomach which makes some nights hard to sleep.  I also get up about twice each night to pee. 


We have a name that we like but I am still keeping my ears open for other names.  I have been searching the web for unique baby girl names.  I have also been sketching up plans/designs for the nursery and working on a spreadsheet of baby items that we need to buy and register for.  I have gotten some great advice from several mommy friends.  My sister is coming in town this weekend to see my belly and go to the JBF Sale with me!  I can't wait to see all of maternity and baby stuff that they have.  I am hoping to not be too overwhelmed.  :)


Here are some pictures from this weekend:

belly

I love how I can feel you now.  When I lay flat on my stomach I can feel you push up deep inside my abdomen.  When I lie on my back or side I place my hands over you and wait to feel those first flutters of movement.  (I haven't yet but I know I will soon.)  I can feel you growing and taking shape within me.  My stomach feels heavy and solid.  I can't hold you in anymore.  There you are, making your presence known.  Making your way into the world.

It's a Girl!

""I was not sure where I was going, and I could not see what I would do when I got there. But you saw further and clearer than I, and you opened the seas before my ship, whose track led me across the waters to a place I have never dreamed of, and which you were, even then, preparing to be my rescue and my shelter and my home."   ~ Thomas Merton

18 weeks!

Psalm 139:13-14 (The Message)

   Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
      you formed me in my mother's womb.
   I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
      Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
      I worship in adoration—what a creation!
   You know me inside and out,
      you know every bone in my body;
   You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
      how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
   Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
      all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
   The days of my life all prepared
      before I'd even lived one day. 

Tomorrow morning we find out if we are growing a little boy or a little girl!  I am beyond excited.  I've been thinking about it all weekend.  I am so thrilled to get to know this little person better.  Here are some pictures Jeff took of me today at 18 weeks.

"Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's becoming amazingly mobile, passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, sucking, and swallowing — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born."

16 & 17 Weeks

I haven't posted in a while because we were in Grand Cayman for 8 days!  We had the amazing opportunity to go on a winter vacation.  Friends of ours generously invited us and several other couples to join them at a house that they had rented on the beach of Grand Cayman.  It was an amazing trip, and I will post more pictures and stories soon.  It's crazy to think that we went from laying on the beach to being back in MO just in time for a blizzard!

But it was a much needed break from the cold and snow.  I've been cooped up in this house for most of January with snow days.  I was getting serious cabin fever!  Sitting in the sun for a week and swimming and being active was SUCH a blessing!  And at a perfect time in my pregnancy- not nauseous anymore but not huge and tired either.  I felt great all week.  I even looked pretty good in my swimsuit with my little baby bump starting to show!  That's right, I checked when we got home from the trip and I finally gained some weight!  3 lbs!  It's a weird in-between.  I am ready for the bump to get big enough that you can tell it is a baby bump and not just bloating or eating too much for dinner. :)

What I can't believe is that we will be finding out the sex of the baby in less than a week!  Next Monday we will have our sonogram!  I still don't even feel pregnant most of the time and we will find out if it's a boy or a girl?!  CRAZY!

I had some good reflection time with the Lord as I sat on the beach early one morning, watching the waves roll in.  They were the most peaceful moments, sitting on the shore, listening to the waves, and feeling the breeze and the sun on my face.  I wished that we could live right there, but then I know that I wouldn't appreciate it, I'd take it for granted.  Anyway, I was journaling praises for all of the blessing in my life and thinking about Jeff and I becoming parents, when I realized that we are already parents!  We already have a child, growing inside me.  We are getting to know him or her every day, every week, every time we hear the heartbeat, or read about how he/she is developing.  We are already taking care of him/her.  We will continue to grow in our love and getting to know our child as we see them again on the sonogram, find out the sex, as my stomach starts growing, as I feel him/her flutter and move and kick within me.  We are already parents.  A mom and a dad to this child.  What an amazing and indescribable gift.


Stand still and consider the wondrous work of God.
Job 37:14