23 Weeks

I wrote a huge post about a week ago but deleted the entire thing. So much can happen in a week, even little things that change your outlook on everything.


This week is 23 weeks - and 22 weeks was hard! I made my monthly work trip to Batesville and Mt. Home this week and realized that the trip is getting harder and harder each month. It took me an entire day to recover. Not to mention that I set home on Wednesday with a 3 hour drive ahead of me and realized my scrub pants were cutting off my circulation. I almost had to pull over, it was so uncomfortable, but I made it home and promptly went and got new scrub pants the next day! I am excited to not have to suffer anymore with pants that are cutting into me!


But that means, yes, that I am growing quite a bit (of course!). My good friend Rachael that lives a few houses down brought some maternity clothes down for me to borrow and I am so excited! She also introduced us to her 4 (now 5) week son, Weston, and gave us the low-down on how life with a newborn has been for her.


Andy spent the past 2 weeks nesting (yes - nesting!). I came home one day to him cleaning out the entire attic and some of the closets! I was so excited that he tackled this because it has been something on my "To-Do" list forever now, except now Andy refuses to let me climb up into the attic or on a ladder to get up in some of the closets. He also began painting Emory's room as well as ... the kitchen! We have had the kitchen paint for probably 6 months at least. I think seeing my growing belly has made him more anxious to get going! I think, also, since he has had some time off of school, he has had the motivation to get some of the projects done that we have been thinking about.


I'm feeling great and can't complain, though the 20 weeks are going a lot slower than I'd like. I think part of this is that for the past two years, I have taken a vacation in July or August, which is when I start to get burned out at work. So, I'm eager to have the baby for obvious reasons but also because I am craving some time to regroup - as well as to enjoy the holiday season, which I can't wait for!


So...here is a new list of things that I am discovering about pregnancy.


1) Men nest, too! Who can complain about this!?


2) Pregnancy advice never ends, and most of it is quite obvious. YES, I realize that I will be busy when I have the baby and will want to eventually get out of the house, but NO, that does not mean I still don't want a break from working full time and being in school!


3) I have realized why pregnant women and pedicures go hand in hand...when I painted my toenails about 2 weeks ago, I realized it would probably be the last!


4) The bigger this little one gets, the harder she kicks! And, she has discovered how to kick my bladder...which gives me instant feeling that I have to pee.

5) It is amazing what cute clothes can do for a pregnant woman's confidence!


I'm sure there are more, but my brain is a little frazzled right now. Here are some recent pictures.

22 weeks 5 days. This is not a good picture, taken after a day of cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning!




23 weeks! Still looking tired.


Isaiah 41:10
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Halfway to Being a Mommy

Well, a little more than halfway as I will officially be 21 weeks in just two days; however, this week I am 20 weeks and halfway there!! I am so excited to make it this far and am discovering new and exciting things all the time that are making me even more excited for the future. Wednesday Andy and I went for our 20 week ultrasound and check-up. It was exciting but not as exciting as our last two ultrasounds since we already knew that we were having a little girl. We did tell the ultrasound technician that we had already had one from a friend and that we were pretty confident it was a girl. She went right to the area, found the "parts" and confirmed again that it is a little girl. She also did a quite in-depth look at her head, spine, kidneys, bladder, heart, and extremeties and said everything looks good and that from all we can see now there are no abnormalities.

It was so neat to see Emory on the screen this time because I could actually see AND feel her at the same time! I saw her punch my stomach a few times. She loves to keep her arms up around her face and eyes and even in a "boxer" kind of motion. She also kind of yawned at one point and smacked her lips a few times again. It is so neat to really see her in there, but at the same time a little bitter sweet since she is "so close but so far away" for lack of a better cheesy term.

I was especially interested this appointment in my weight gain since I have grown A LOT in the past week. Over the 4th of July weekend Andy and I really noticed my protruding belly and now it just seems to get bigger and bigger. I had gained a total of 13 pounds and Dr. Garner said this was a great weight gain for how far along I am. I then had to (ugh) get another Pap Smear since I am on a 6 month rotation after my previous diagnosis and removal of cervical dysplasia.

Besides that update, all is about the same. This week our cook has been out at work and so we have been trading off between 2-3 people covering the responsibilities. I had one disaster this week that almost set off the fire alarms, but we were able to get the smoke cleared out before they went off (thank heavens). It only smelled like burned food for about 4-5 hours :P I am so happy our cook will be back on Monday! Cooking for 90-100 children is not easy!

Overall, I'm feeling great this week and ready for the next 20! (almost 19). Tomorrow we are going to register and are very excited about this. I am also in week 2 of 6 weeks of my two classes; these are my last two of the program that are mandatory. The two I have signed up for this fall are electives, so I don't think I will feel as pressured as I do now.

Below are my two 20 week pictures, though they were taken today at 20 weeks 5 days.

Growing more and more every day! Sorry this blog is a bit boring...hopefully more interesting things will come in the next few weeks. Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Psalms 1:24
"Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD."