Insanity

No, I'm not talking about the work out program. I'm talking about that mental state you approach as you keep thinking to yourself "any day now..." I once thought that the 1st trimester must feel the longest with all the sickness--but no, the third trimester is the longest. I guess it is amusing at work now when people ask when I'm due and I get to respond, "oh, in 3 days!" Their eyes usually bulge and then they simply encourage, "hang in there." And that is what I am trying to do. 

39 weeks

Well, we have tried pretty much everything short of castor oil to get this labor started but I guess our boy is making a statement--he will come when he wants to come. We are nervous but very much ready to meet him and love him. In the meantime while we are still waiting, I'll put in a last photo dump of pregnant pictures.

 Love these ladies to the moon and back!

 Pumpkin fest at Grandma's. 

 Conference weekend in Park City (we didn't get ready but we were comfy).

We drove the alpine loop (as one of our labor inducing activities--the elevation changes didn't work) and I look ridiculous because Mitch said I had to bend over to get the picture lighting better, but this is at about 39 weeks--woot woot! 

Send some good vibes our way so we can get this baby here!

August

August came and went by in a blur!  Mitch's physical presence in my life has made me feel complete again. Among other fun things, we celebrated my 24th birthday and our 4 year anniversary. We went to  La Jolla Groves for dinner, and then did a dessert crawl instead of a pub crawl. (Mitch's idea)  We started at The Chocolate,

Proceded to the Sweet Tooth Fairy,

Then concluded at Gloria's Little Italy for some Gelato! It was delicious and a super fun date. Thanks babe!

My Mom also threw me a baby shower for family members.  She did an amazing job putting it together. The theme was nursery books and she made darling banners and the food table was unreal.

I'm so grateful for my family. Thanks to my sisters for helping with the yummy food. And thanks to my nieces for putting together the games--they did a great job. My family made me some amazing things like blankets, a perfect quilt, and the most amazing car seat cover you will ever lay eyes on. And he has a great library of books for us to read him (Mitch is super happy about that). Our baby boy is going to be one lucky dude!

On another note, Mitch has started his last year of law school and I am over 32 weeks along! Let's pray the next 6-8 weeks go by super fast because I am super uncomfortable. :)

Pregnant and Alone

Mitch has been in Houston doing an internship the past couple months. I stayed behind to continue working and be close to my OB. (Okay and to avoid the Houston summer heat). I'm glad he is getting back this week because we are never doing this again. Being pregnant and alone is tough. But there have been some fabulous things that have happened despite the loneliness the past few weeks. One of those things was that I got to go down to Houston and visit Mitch! (thanks Dad!) The sweet mother of the family he has been staying with took these pictures of me and baby on a Sunday afternoon. (I had no time to prep but at least I still had my dress on from church!)

Those pictures were taken at about 26 weeks. Since then I just keep getting bigger and bigger! My dearest friends Danika and Katie also threw me a baby shower with our childhood friends.  Now we actually have some cute clothes to start our baby's wardrobe. We won't have to bring him home from the hospital in just a diaper. :)

I can't believe how much we have grown up. I had to laugh looking at this picture cause I feel like we all look just like we did in high school--now some of us just have a baby in hand (or belly). Thank you so much girls for a wonderful time! I love you all so much!

24 weeks

My life is counted in weeks lately. How many weeks along I am, how many weeks Mitch has been gone, how many more weeks till I see him, and how many more weeks till the baby comes.

Pregnancy has gotten much more manageable for me after I hit week 18. The heart burn has kicked in now so I sleep with a bunch of pillows to keep me propped up, but I'd take that over the continuous nausea.

Lessons I've learned lately:
-Having your husband gone while you are pregnant makes you overly emotional.
-Everyone seems to have a vocalized opinion about you and your baby, regardless of if they know you or whether that opinion is very nice or not.
-Your brain dives into further mush as pregnancy continues. I really miss my old brain.
-Feeling your baby move frequently is fascinating and reassuring.

The last 24 weeks have been quite the journey. I am grateful for all that I have learned.

Road Trip

I'm driving down to Houston with Mitch this week. He is going to be doing an internship there for the rest of the summer. I'll fly back on Sunday and then be one lonely gal while he is gone! Good thing my little sister is moving in with me while he is gone. We will be stretching the drive across the whole week so we can take a detour to Bentonville, Arkansas and see Mitch's sister. I'm pretty lucky to get a long drive with Mitch to myself, even if we will have to stop every two hours when my legs go numb under my belly.

P.S. We are having a BOY!!! Or as my mom would say, "a little Mitch man." We cannot wait!

Image here

Pregnancy Journal

Pregnancy has been quite a challenge for me so far. In fact I feel like the marathon I ran last year was a piece of cake now. I don't intend to make this a complaint in any form about being pregnant--on the contrary, I know by the end it will be the most rewarding thing I have done. I am so blessed to be a woman and to be able to carry this child, and my heart aches for those who may not be able to experience pregnancy in this life. But I wanted to document things that I have experienced thus far in my pregnancy. And to be honest, most of it has been really bad, but some small bits of it are so amazing that it makes it all worth it. (A marathon was that way too--a lot of pain but rewarding.)

When I first started getting really sick, I kept asking "how do women do this more than once?" Many moms would respond to me, "you will forget by the next child and that is why you keep having them."  And I can see how it is true, I'm starting to forget some things I experienced in my first few weeks. I think God blessed us with the ability to forget so that we can keep doing hard things. But as a keepsake to look back on when my little sister goes through pregnancy and asks what mine was like, or when my children ask me, I want to be able to write down some things for them to know. So for the next 4.5 months I'll try and post different stories so that I don't forget them. I hope you enjoy them as well, but if not--well, tough beans.

I'll be 20 weeks on Thursday, and we are finding out the gender on Friday--just before Mitch leaves for Houston. I cannot wait. But the last few weeks have been really busy and rushed and when people started asking me if I had felt the baby yet, I sadly realized I hadn't. The doctor warned me it would be so light at first, maybe gas bubbles or tiny nudges. And I was worried that maybe I'd been to busy to sit and feel. But this morning was amazing. I usually get up at 6:20 now so I can hurry and get ready and eat something, and then have about 45 min- 1 hour of rest before I go to work. (Mornings are tough with nausea so I need the rest). This morning as I rested on the couch, I kept thinking "aw man, I'm having little gas bubbles in my stomach that make it hard for me to fall asleep." And then I realized--wait..these gas bubbles feel a little different! And then I noticed just to the left of my belly button these tiny little nudges. In that moment I had the most overwhelming feeling of love. What a miracle it is to be experiencing the gift of creating life. This moment is one of those small moments that makes months of throwing up and aching all worth it. (Mitch--I hope you are reading this so you can remind me of it when times get tough again!)