The Mama: I feel like I finally have back a lot of the energy I missed the first 20 weeks. Naps were my best friend and a full day teaching nearly killed me there at the beginning. I still am more tired than usual, but it's totally manageable. I puke every day still. Once a day if I'm lucky....morning and night some days. This is the perfect example to me of why I take all advice and tips and personal stories with a grain of salt.Every body is different, every baby is different. It's getting pretty old, I must say, but then I look at it as prep for parenthood: in a few months it won't be MY vomit down the front of my shirt on the way out the door. Ha. I am on anti-nausea pills and they are a life saver (when they work). Of all pregnancy symptoms to have, truly, I feel blessed that this is my worst one. I have gained about 12 pounds and my goal is to keep it under the 25 area. I'm honestly not too concerned about it, though. I have my whole life to focus on being fit and trim and carrying around an extra human really isn't the time to be stressing about it. I wasn't exactly at peak physical condition when I got pregnant so I'm going easy on myself. I am trying to eat as many fresh foods as I can and try ("try" being the operative word) to limit my intake of sweets and treats. I crave fruit juice, chick fil a, anything spicy, and cereal. Feeling her move is without a doubt my favorite part so far. It's like our own little language. I want to tear up and cry tears of joy with each tug, pull, and little movement. That's another thing: the tears. Oh Lord, I am like broken floodgates lately. I cry when I look at her clothes, I cry when we pray for her at night, I cry when I think about her, I cry when I practice my labor breathing. I cry over pretty much everything: good and bad. I am so overwhelmed with this miracle that I just can't help it! Also, hormones.
Dad: Swoon. This guy. He gives our girl a little pep talk each morning and he is the best dad already. He worked super hard painting her room and he loves reading to her at night. He had a work meeting in Park City a few weeks ago and came home with a bag from Carter's. He bought her three outfits while he was up there and was so excited to show me each one. He is getting very into the idea of being a "girl dad" and she already has him wrapped around her finger. He says he's most excited for late night feedings when the two of them can snuggle up and watch ESPN together.
Baby: Baby girl is doing well! She's a mover and a shaker and is weighing in at just under 2 lbs. She is most active after meals and I love feeling her dancing around right before bed. If music has a good beat, she dances! We cannot wait to meet her and we are actually excited that we never got a good ultrasound face shot....her pretty mug is a mystery and we can't wait to meet her. Every doctor's visit we have she suddenly gets shy. It took a while at my last appointment to get a steady heartbeat count because they'd capture it for a second and then she'd squirm away again!
The preparations:
We finished up our Hynobirthing class and have another one day birth and baby class this summer. I really loved this class. I am not saying 100% that we will have a Hynpobirth(honestly, I'm thinking no), but whatever ends up happening, this baby has to come out somehow and I know I learned skills and techniques to assist me, AJ, and baby. Basically Hypnobirth is about getting back to the roots of birth as a natural, safe part of life and reducing fear and tension and having a calm, relaxed, experience. Learning about birth in other parts of the world fascinated me. And the history major in me enjoyed learning about the way birth used to be conducted. Not too long ago, men were told to go home and came back "when it was all over." Can you imagine?? The breathing exercises and visualization techniques were wonderful and I am glad I have a few more months to practice them and finish reading the book from the class. Overall, I loved the message of birth as part of a divine plan. God created our bodies to do this and sometimes, we just need to listen, relax, and let nature take over. I am in awe over the human body and not only what it can do, but what it just knows to do at the right time! Miracle is really the only word for it.
Nursery: AJ painted the room a light gray color (it's been a saga. Seriously, gray is a hard color to get right. It's not exactly as I was envisioning, but after much debate, we are leaving it the way it is. It'll have furniture in the room soon and more color pops/things on the wall so we won't just see.....paint color ) and we are thinking peach and coral as the main colors with gold accents. So.....my wedding color palette. I like what I like! I want her room to be cozy, elegant, and cute. I have my eye on some accent pieces already. This weekend we are hitting up Ikea for a dresser and bookshelf and to browse a bit. It's been very fun nesting. I'm already a bit of a "nester" by nature (I love being home, cleaning, and organizing) so getting her room and things prepped has been so fun.
School: I have been busting my butt on maternity plans for the start of next school year. The person who subs for me will either love me or hate me. They are...a bit....detailed....not necessarily my daily lessons, but more like protocol/classroom management/tips for beginning the year. I know I need to relax and let it go, but at the same time, I don't want to walk into chaos when I return. Honestly, I was dreading getting them ready but a few things helped me: 1) I've been teaching the same grade for 7 years. I pretty much know what I'm teaching and when 2) I spent $5 on a maternity plans template on teachers pay teachers and it served as a great guide to make sure I was including everything. They haven't been used yet, so there's no telling their usefulness but I worked hard on them and am glad I don't have to spend all summer on them like I originally thought I would. I have just a few weeks left this school year and am so thankful and ready for it to be over. I'll be honest, I have felt some guilt over exposing my baby in utero to my stress from this school year. I'll be 30 weeks when summer break begins and am so excited for the time off to rest, destress, and pamper myself before I'm a mommy to an outside baby.
I firmly believe pregnancy is a time not just for the baby and my body to get ready, but for AJ and I to get our hearts and minds prepared for parenthood. This season of life is a little uncertain, extremely exciting, full of learning and new understandings, packed with questions and wonderings, sort of uncomfortable sometimes, always an adventure, and most of all, full of pure, immeasurable love.
I firmly believe pregnancy is a time not just for the baby and my body to get ready, but for AJ and I to get our hearts and minds prepared for parenthood. This season of life is a little uncertain, extremely exciting, full of learning and new understandings, packed with questions and wonderings, sort of uncomfortable sometimes, always an adventure, and most of all, full of pure, immeasurable love.
Here's to the next 15 weeks, sweet little lady! May you grow strong, chunky, and full of the love your "fan club" has for you.
And because people have asked.....yes we do have a name. It's been on our radar since before Little Miss was conceived. We love it and unlike our boy name choices, we were both 100% on board with this one and agreed.
And because people have asked.....yes we do have a name. It's been on our radar since before Little Miss was conceived. We love it and unlike our boy name choices, we were both 100% on board with this one and agreed.
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