Week 19: Rut.

We will call this a half and half week. Half good, half bad. (and another half ugly ;)

The good:

Still riding the high of the first ultrasound! Slowly telling a few people. Kind of feeling blah about facebook lately because of all the posts "everybody should live exactly like this one way" "the ONE thing you have to do to be whatever" "why people that do this whatever are the worst in the world". It is annoying. So I haven't posted it there... I hope the link to my post will be sufficient for those who care. ? Meh.

Sorry about that mini-rant...

Deidre and I hardly let any time pass before we started on nursery planning. For those that care to see, this is how it's shaping up so far. We are meditating on a tranquil forest idea. I am about halfway done with a crochet bear rug.

The bad:

Despite many searching sessions, Kaio and I have hardly made any progress on the baby naming. If we can't agree on anything, her name may end up being Rut. It would be an accurate description of where we are in this whole baby naming business.

The ugly:

The change in elevation and humidity has been a rough change on our lungs. We have been cycling between colds and one rather nasty cough took hold this week. Kaio coughed nearly all night and it sounds terrible. I have been lucky to only have a sore throat and mild cough. There has been a lot of vegging this week. Rest and fighting of headaches and ickiness.

But let's end on a happy note!

I am finally starting to show! Although it is still the maybe pregnant-maybe chubby looking stage, at least it is something! My 4-year-old niece gave me a hug when I left her house the other day and her face came right up to my belly. Knowing that I am pregnant, she decided to give my little bump a kiss. It was adorable. 

Week 18: Ultrasounddddddd

My parents visited this week! Fun! Dad talked about his new ham radio contraptions and Mom tried to buy me things that I "need".

Originally, I invited my parents to come so they could be there when we went to find out the sex of our baby. But then the transfer to our new insurance plan was a disaster and we don't have coverage until February. Really, in the scheme of things, not a big deal. My momma said she would come out again if she had to [and my dad wasn't really all that interested in attending the ultrasound anyway (he doesn't like it when families show up when he does examinations so he didn't want to do that to another doctor)].

BUTTTTT my sister who is in Ohio was just dying to know the sex of the baby. She text me a link to an elective ultrasound service that is nearby us. The text said, "Please do this with your parents and Kaio. Or I'll die."  Ha. So, momma and I ran a few extra errands in order to get all the logistics worked out for doing the ultrasound. It really felt like all of the odds were against us... even the weather was terrible and made us 30 minutes late for the appointment. Luckily, everything all worked out fine! We went and it was wonderful! I was particularly grateful that my dad was there because he could assure me that everything looked good and normal about the little peanut.

Momma and I made an ultrasound display

It's a baby!

Baby girl! (Sorry girlie, I'm already the embarrassing mom, showing your junk to the whole internet)

After the appointment, we called my sister to make sure she didn't die of anticipation. We have since decided that she should be a professional celebrator. If you are excited about something, and you want someone to be - not just equally - more excited than you are, call this lady. She is easily the best person ever to talk to about great news!

Haha. You are so adorable, sister.

Now, we have 22 weeks to fight about baby girl names...yaaaaaaaaaay.? Haha.

The main issue now will be to figure out how to hold the floodgates of things that my mom will try to buy now that she knows what to buy! Many a little flower bows were almost purchased the next day.

Week 17: "Your butt is crushing me!!"

Nothing very exciting this week? Can I just opt out of a post?
Here's what happened this week:
School
Naps
Back Pain
....uhhhh.

I guess I did make homemade crafting clay for school. The boys loved it and are really excited to learn new things in our art class.

Also, I have been thinking about claustrophobia. The more my little bump grows, the more I am certain that my organs have claustrophobia. AND WHY WOULDN'T THEY?!? It is literally a claustrophobic's worst nightmare.... the walls are slowly closing in.

After talking to a few moms, everyone assured me that this feeling was only going to get worse. Believe it. 

And finally, a made a pie and didn't eat any of it! Kaio took care of it. Yay me! (This would be quite the accomplishment if it weren't for popsicles I ate instead.)

Week 16: Back pain and lemurs

It has been busy! I started helping teach homeschool for the kids that travel around with us. Four hours a day, along with another lady (my sister-in-law, bonus!), we teach three first grade boys. It is an adventure!

I've been having pretty bad lower back pain and I'm trying to figure out something to soothe it. Kaio recommends icing it... but I just don't like ice. (it's cold)[YEAH]. So, I've just decided to be a weenie about it. At about 2 or 3 pm, I'm out. No more picking things up or bending over for me. For example: yesterday I went to the zoo with some friends and their kids. One little boy in his stroller threw off his hat while we were all standing around a lemur display. Rather than just picking it up and putting it back on him (which would have been normal and easy to do), I just had to pathetically point and say hey... hat....on the floor. AKA I'm not picking it up and STOP JUDGING ME. In reality, it probably wasn't awkward for anybody else and nobody noticed except me.

So whee! Just trying to sort out the disaster that comes from quitting a job and moving and changing insurance and being pregnant and not living in the place that you will give birth because you know you will move again. But I think I am almost there. The only casualty of the whole ordeal is that I won't be able to get my mid-pregnancy ultrasound when my parents are visiting in a week. Which is definitely a total bummer.

Week 15: more family love

I stayed in IF for a couple extra days after Kaio left. Although I was sad to see him go, I was extra thankful for the extra little bits of time with my family (especially those I don't get to see as often!).

We were able to go to the temple together, take the kids to a pizza-arcade place, and just enjoy each other's company. I filled up any extra gaps (provided by me being the only one without a baby to tend to) frantically finishing up a crochet moose for a good friend whom just had her third baby!

The moose turned out so cute! Almost cute enough to deserve the love of this handsome fella

I had a great time talking with all my sisters and with my mother about their different birth experiences: what they liked, what they didn't like, what they would do differently, the things that seemed the most important, and all the technical details of giving birth these days. We have all been blessed to have great experiences and healthy babies. In the end, I could see that each of these beautiful women were successful in their births because they were in a place where they felt comfortable, a place where their heart and mind could be at ease. As we talked, I felt more comfortable with my decision in having a baby a birth center. Not because I think poorly of any other way. I just know that I will feel most at peace at the location I found. 

And once again, altogether, being pregnant has been awesome this week! I sit when I get tired or a little dizzy. I rest when I feel like I need to rest. Everything is good! Making babies is work, but good work. Happy work. And the result still doesn't feel quite real yet! Soon....

Week 14: Christmastime

CHRISTMAS! Yay!

This was a fun pregnant week. We were busy busy busy trying to get all the things done to be able to go to Idaho for Christmas! And we did, which was a miracle.

I feel most pregnant when I sit down? Is that weird? Because I feel normal most of the time and then I sit and my body is like, hey! remember you've got an alien in your belly? Also, I feel really lame when I try to work out. The first five minutes are super motivated and determined and then the rest of the time is me just trying to keep my body moving at all (and that is if I even make it to the point of moving in the first place).

Christmas also brought our first surge of baby things into the house. Cute and fun.

I'm hoping soon we will be able to sort out insurance to find a doctor here in Colorado so we can find out the sex (sorry, Bern, I never remember correctly). But what's awesome is I think I found the perfect place to have the baby! We will be in Dallas by then... and three doctors during one pregnancy is kinda complicated. But after talking to all the cute ladies around the house about their experiences, I decided for sure that I want to go to a birth center. The one I found in Dallas is great.

I am so excited now. Before, I tried to not think about it because there were so many unknowns. Now, I feel pretty sure about the big decisions about all the baby things.