The Truth About Pregnancy

O.K. Here it is, the honest truth. Pregnancy. Like it? Love it? Hate it? How about all three? First I thought I would start with everything I have loved about being pregnant, and to be honest, I have thoroughly loved being pregnant, for the most part:)

The thing that I have loved the absolute most was just knowing that I had a little person inside of me. I have to admit, that sounds a bit science fiction, but it's the truth. I have loved knowing that Grace and I are bound together, that she can hear my voice and my heart, and that some time in the near future, my body (with some help from Ken:) is what brought her into this world. I have LOVED feeling her move. I think I posted about this before, and even though she moves frequently, I am still in awe.

I have absolutely loved sharing this experience with Ken. Yes, I am corny. But, I really have. It's added a new dimension to our relationship, yet at the same time, it's exactly how I pictured it. (Alas, I could not share the weight gain part of this experience with Ken, which is really a tragedy if you ask me.) I have loved talking about names. I have loved daydreaming together about her. I've loved lounging around our house with Ken on the weekend. Although this is obviously something we have done prior to being pregnant, I have really cherished those moments during the last 8 months. (To be honest, they have been few and far between, being that the both of us have been really busy this year, the ones we have had have been pretty great.) I have loved laughing about Donna, our nurse:) And, I've loved watching the ultrasounds together.

Sharing this experience with Fenix has also been pretty amazing. He is so excited to have a baby sister and he is going to be such a wonderful big brother. I loved watching his face the first time he felt Grace move. He is already so protective of her. This is embarrassing, but the other day I tripped and landed on the stair coming up from our family room. I was completely O.K. and I caught myself. I was more embarrassed then anything. Fenix heard me fall and ran out to check on me. When I got up he put his hands on my belly. He was concerned about the baby because "sometimes when the mom falls it can hurt the baby." How amazing is Fenix? I love him.

Let's see, what else have I loved? Preparing her room. Buying her clothes. Sharing the news of my pregnancy with my students, my friends, and my family. There have been days when I have loved realizing how much my belly has grown...

Which brings me to what I hate about pregnancy. Weight Gain:( Weight gain, the fact that I can't have aspirin, and those obnoxious shots that I get once a week. That's really all that I hate, but the weight gain is the big one:) I'm 33 weeks tomorrow. That means I have 7 more weeks to go. 7 more weeks of weight gain. Blah. I'm hoping I'm one that just stops gaining after 36 weeks when there really isn't much more room in my belly for the baby to grow. Weight gain has been my biggest dislike about pregnancy. I am in no way, shape, or form, wishing away time with Grace, but it will feel good when I get the go ahead to work out after she's here. I'm sure at that point, I will be hating the weight gain part even more. It worries me. I know I am being shallow and I keep reminding myself that's it's about something much bigger. It most definitely is well worth it, sometimes it's hard to swallow though.

So there it is, the truth about my pregnancy:) Oh, another dislike is my impatience! Although I have cherished the time I have now with Ken, I think we're both just ready for her to be here!:)

Grace's Room

We've begun working on Grace's room. So far the crib is put up and the bed made, clothes are in the drawers and in the closet (at least some of them are), and the rocking chair is in the corner waiting to help rock Grace to sleep. Unfortunately my old desk is still crammed into the corner and overflowing with books and papers that I have no idea where to put. My school has spring break in a little over two weeks and so my goals is to get the desk cleared out of there and most of the room put together. I was going to work on that this weekend, but instead decided I would work on this:






I painted a shelf as well, which we are going to hang above her bed with her name on it.

My Seemingly Always Expanding Belly

6 Weeks Pregnant. Sadly, I was never all that thin to begin with. I have a feeling that come June I'll be missing this body though.



12 Weeks


16 Weeks


20 Weeks


26 Weeks


26 Weeks


28 Weeks.
There is a huge difference between 26 and 28 weeks. It kind of frightens me if you want to know the truth:) There is definitely no denying that I'm pregnant now:)

Just a Few Things That Have Been On My Mind Lately...

*I'm going to have a baby in less than 12 weeks! I'm in awe of how quickly this time has gone by and I'm so excited for her to be here. I had my wisdom tooth removed yesterday and on the drive to the dentist's office I was incredibly nervous. In fact, I was so nervous I started crying. I was petrified that having the procedure done would somehow harm Grace. I realized on the drive to the dentist's office that my life is forever changed. Grace isn't even here yet but she's already a part of me, figuratively and literally. I feel really blessed with the amount of love I have had in my life from my mother to my husband; Fenix, my niece and nephew, my friends, and now Grace. It's like my heart is being opened in an entirely different way. I can't even explain it. I'm just so grateful to have her and now that she's on her way there's no way I can imagine my life without her. In some ways I feel like she was a part of me long before Ken and I even become pregnant. She's not even here yet and Ken and I have already discussed how he'll be walking her down an aisle one day.

*I have an amazing husband. I really do. He has been so good to me. He's taken on so much at the house, especially since my tooth has been bothering me. He's done pretty much all of the cooking and cleaning in these last few weeks. He's rubbed my back constantly to help me fall asleep. He has put up with my temper tantrums (and believe me, I've had them) when I've gotten frustrated over my tooth flaring up. He hasn't been disappointed when I've had to cancel plans or dinner. The bottom line is, he has really taken care of me. I know that's his role as a husband, so I'm not surprised, I'm just so grateful for him. It's not even just these last few weeks, it's how Ken always is. The other day we were doing some quick shopping at the store that he works at and we ran into one of his elderly customers. Ken and introduced us and she told me what a good husband I have and what a great help he is to her. This isn't the first time that this has happened either. I really appreciate my husband's compassion.

*I'm lucky to have the friends that I do. Friends that pray for me when I need it and friends that stop by with a milk shake and to check up on me when I've had a procedure done. I really appreciate my friends. I am very fortunate.

There really is no reason for this post, other than to say that I've been feeling very grateful lately.

2 in the morning!

Well, this is a little rant that I wrote a few nights ago, while waiting for my mouth to feel better. I never ended up finishing it, so I didn't post it. In retrospect it makes me laugh. My intention was to write more than just about my tooth, but I never got that far:)

Two in the morning. Yup, that's right, I am currently blogging at 2 in the morning. For those of you who know me, you know that the act of me blogging at 2 a.m. or really the act of me doing anything other than sleeping at 2 a.m. is beyond absurd. I'm a sleeper. In fact, I'm one of those who generally falls asleep around 10, unless I am actively doing something. By active, I mean up and about active. If I put in a movie then there's a possibility I'm out as early as 9. It's kind of sad really, but I've learned to accepted the fact that I have the sleeping habits of someone twice, possibly three times my age.

So, you are probably thinking what could possibly be worth blogging about at 2 in the morning? Well, to be honest, nothing! However, for the last three days I have gotten nearly no sleep due to a little issue with my wisdom tooth. I've gone from being nearly narcoleptic to an insomniac in a span of three days So, while I wait another two hours until I can take more pain killer, I've decided to blog. About what? Not sure, so I'm going to start with this:

I hate my wisdom teeth! They have NEVER given me trouble until I was pregnant, and even now it's just one of them. I never thought a tooth could cause so much trouble, but let me tell you it has. I am talking pain like I have never felt before! (Yes, I know, I'm going to be experiencing child birth in three months, which I am sure will replace my wisdom tooth on my list of things that have caused me immense pain, but for now, this has probably been the worst pain yet.) Who would have known? It's a tooth for crying out loud! This is pretty much how my day has gone: Crazy pain, lots of salt water, antibiotic every 8 hours, pain killer every 4 (approved by doctor, so it's baby friendly.) Unfortunately for me the pain killer only works for an hour and that is not an exaggeration. So far, I've used that hour to sleep. I'm not sure what I'll do for the remainder of the weekend, because at some point I'm going to need that hour to do something constructive like school work. Right now my mouth is giving me some weird, unexpected reprieve and is only causing me slight pain. I ate a popsicle, which for the time being has helped. I am hoping that by the grace of God, he takes pity on me, and magically makes the antibiotic kick in. If not, I'm hoping my dentist (who I am begging to see me tomorrow) can somehow get me set up for an emergency extraction tomorrow, so that I don't end up in the looney bin.

Enough about my tooth...

While I had a few minutes I thought I'd post a few more photos of Grace. These were both taken at 21 weeks. I have one from 24 weeks as well, I just need to get it uploaded onto the computer. As busy as my many doctor's appointments have kept me, I've enjoyed catching extra glimpses of Grace from time to time.

Well, as of yesterday, I am officially at 25 weeks. This time has flown by! It's hard to believe that in a little over three months she'll be here. Ken is hoping for a Cinco de Mayo baby. He's been saying that all a long actually, I just never gave the thought any credit until today. Grace measured 5 days a head of where her due date put her at our 20 week ultrasound, and my fundal height (I believe that's what its' called) consistently measures a week a head as well. So maybe, just maybe, Ken will get his wish:) Poor Grace may be spending all of her birthday dinners at a Mexican food restaurant. In fact, if she is born on Cinco de Mayo, I think she may be be getting her first sip of a non alcoholic margarita on her 1st birthday as well as her own cake:)

For the past 2-3 weeks now we have been able to feel Grace move from the outside of my belly. Each night I lay on the couch or my bed with my shirt up waiting for her to move so that I can watch and feel it. It has been one of the neatest experiences ever. I can't even describe it. It has me grinning every time. I keep thinking that the complete awe of it will wear off, but so far it hasn't. Last night I had Ken try to hear her heartbeat by placing his head by my belly (I read online that at this point in the game, you can sometimes do that). Well, we had no luck with him hearing the heart beat, but Grace did give him a few swift kicks in the head:)

I Came Across This Photo Today...

and my gosh did it make me laugh!