There is a baby in there!

It’s a girl!!!

Week 20. Halfway there

How far along? 20 weeks

Updates on baby:  (Thanks to BabyCenter) Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He’s also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby’s legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the “crown to rump” measurement. After 20 weeks, he’s measured from head to toe.)

He’s swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He’s also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion.

Maternity Clothes? Why didn’t I buy new clothes sooner?!? I have felt so much better this past week wearing the few new items that I got over the weekend. Above is a dress that my sister gave me as a gift and I LOVE it! Like most of the new clothes, it isn’t technically maternity but just fits in a looser and more flattering way to my body.

Sleep?  My bed is my most favorite place. Ever. Even when I am not sleeping I just love to lay in bed. Right now I am laying down in it right under the AC with my pup at my feet before I start dinner. It just feels amazing to lay down after a long day!

Eating:  I am hungry and thirsty all the time. It is to an annoying point again where I have to eat every 2-3 hours. But I am definitely not complaining about wanting food. It has been interesting though to note the difference between being physically hungry and having an appetite, if that makes any sense. I feel physically hungry very often; my stomach growls and my blood sugar gets lower. However I rarely feel like I have much of an appetite… when my body wants food it is hard to find anything that sounds really good to eat. So most of the time I just try to eat something healthy and hope that it sits well.

Exercise: Sitting has become uncomfortable so I find myself walking a lot more throughout the day to help my back relax a little. I have been better this week about lifting weights a few times and doing some ab exercises. Crunches are out of the question at this point, but I have been doing planks (SO MUCH HARDER!) and incorporate a lot of pilates-type core exercises which don’t require me to lay flat on my back.

Movement? Baby H. is moving as I type and I have begun to be able to feel it from the outside! David has felt our little one move on two separate occasions and it has been really awesome to experience the excitement and wonder that those nudges bring together.

Food cravings? Ice cream. Special K fruit and yogurt cereal. Lattes (I limit myself to one a day). Maybe I am craving dairy? I also drink mass amounts of ice water every day, but it is about 100 degrees outside so that could explain it.

Food aversions? Eggs, meat and yogurt are things that I still cannot stand but that I miss eating. They are such good sources of protein and were staples in my pre-pregnancy meals, and it is a bit difficult to adjust to the new tastes while still maintaining a healthy and balanced diet.

What I miss: My back has definitely started to give me some difficulties when I sit for long periods of time. I am very grateful that my full-time research job will be finished in about a week because by the end of the day my lower and middle back aches noticeably. As I said above I try to take breaks to walk around during the day and after work I try to be either on my feet or sitting with my feet propped up.

What I am looking forward to:  Tomorrow at 8 a.m. we will know the gender… CRAZY! I can’t express how excited I am! Tune back in tomorrow for the results :)

My baby bump has popped!

July in Kentucky

Last summer when we got Rooney this was his response any time that we tried to take him for a walk. For a while we worried… Is he just lazy? Will he be a dog that doesn’t like walks??

Every day for the past 4 days or so I come home to Rooney who has been in his cage all day, put his leash on and we bound outside together. But as soon as we get to the end of the street where there is a tall tree he replicates his puppy plop. As he lays there in the shade he looks up at me and says, “Are you kidding? It is July in Kentucky. It is 100 degrees! There is no way I am walking”.

Together we turn around and head back inside to the AC where he uses all of his pent up energy to chew up our recycling until 8 p.m. rolls around, bringing a decent temperature along with it. I guess I can’t say that I blame him though. It is just too hot.

Nineteen!

This is a few days late but the end of last week was really, really busy and I had a packed birthday weekend which I will write about later. However, I don’t want to miss a weekly update even if I am currently closer to being 20 weeks pregnant :)

How far along? 19 weeks

Updates on baby:  (Thanks to BabyCenter) Your baby’s sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don’t be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Total weight gained: I went to the doctor on Friday so I finally got weighed again. I am finally above my pre-pregnancy weight by 5 pounds! I am feeling SO MUCH BIGGER lately… I really feel like my belly has popped a bit. But I guess it is about time since I am almost halfway through.

Maternity Clothes? Yes!

As I said above I have definitely been feeling like my body is changing lately and by changing I mean growing like crazy! It is so strange that I have gained 7 pounds total in the past 4 weeks… my body has never, ever changed that drastically before. Even put the weight gaining aside and I feel like there are still lots of changes just in my shape and proportions. It has been a bit hard at times to grow out of clothes and watch my middle expand, but when I reflect on all is going on in there and when I feel our baby kick me from the inside I love my body so much more than ever before. It feels like it has so much purpose now; a larger purpose than looking good in a bikini and it is actually really empowering and inspiring. However some things are strange. Something I have been noticing lately is the difference in my blood flow. Your body produces a lot more blood during pregnancy and apparently at this point in the pregnancy it really increases. Thus I have leg cramps just about every day and my veins are popping out like crazy. It is like my skin has become translucent! It looks kind of creepy… but again all of these changes are there to support our little one as it grows.

That whole paragraph was a bit off topic, but I feel like the maternity clothes section is the place to talk about all the ways my body is changing :)

Last week was a bit rough because I was definitely starting to notice a difference in how my clothes fit me. I just no longer felt that my shirts and shorts flattered my body and although I have lots of cute dresses that still work well I needed some practical every day things. So when I received some birthday money in the mail I decided the first place that it should go is to some new clothes. I went to the Gap Clearance Store for a little bit on Saturday just to take a peek and ended up walking out with 3 bottoms and 6 tank tops for 30 bucks! Only one pair of the shorts is actually maternity… it has the big elastic panel and looks funny but is is SO comfortable. I got one pair of jean shorts which had an elastic waist and a cute skirt with an elastic waist and I just bought one size up in these. All the tanks are normal Old Navy and Gap tanks that are just a size up and they look so much better on my growing bump (and the rest of my growing mid-section). I feel so much better after getting just these few things. So my advice to any pregnant readers out there is to not put off buying new things when you feel like you need them because it is very much worth feeling confident and comfortable. It only took a few items which I feel really good in right now to make a big difference in how I view getting dressed each day. I have decided I can’t stress about if they will fit in 4 weeks because my body is changing… fast… and it will continue to do so.

Sleep?  I am still loving my sleep and appreciating every second but I have definitely noticed an increase in my energy lately which has been great!

Eating:  This has become more enjoyable lately. My doctor said I should continue to try to wean myself from the nausea medicine. I plan to try to do this the week between vacation and the start of school when I don’t really have any plans in case it back fires. I still don’t feel like I have the desire and love of food that I used to but my appetite has significantly increased which I take as a good sign.

Exercise: Still walking a pretty good amount but it has been approximately 1,000 degrees lately so I can’t walk a whole hour or I get too hot. I am really planning on getting into more of a workout routine once I start school, i.e. when I am no longer working 9 hours a day and I get a free gym membership :)

Movement? Still convinced that there is nothing better in the world than feeling my baby moving. I fall more and more in love with each flutter, kick and turn.

Food cravings? Anything and everything sweet and cold. If you have any good recipes which combine these two qualities I would appreciate them :)

Food aversions? I should probably just take this opportunity to become a vegetarian because most of the time I just don’t want any meat. Also, I used to love leftovers but I am noticing lately that when I try to eat anything which isn’t fresh it doesn’t taste very good. A bit annoying since leftovers are so convenient!

What I miss: Nothing really that I can think of. I LOVE being pregnant. It has been a really good week :)

What I am looking forward to:  OK get ready… we have our 20 week ultrasound on FRIDAY MORNING! That means there are less than 4 days until I get to see our little one moving around in my belly, hear its heartbeat loud and clear and possibly find out the gender. Remember that time when David and I thought we wanted to wait until the end to know the gender. Well, you see, as it gets closer and closer and Baby H. moves in me more and more we really, REALLY want to know if it is a boy or girl! I mean, who doesn’t?!? And why wouldn’t we find out?? We are currently trying to remember why we ever wanted to wait and we keep having a hard time remembering what our motivations were. So I guess you will have to wait and see what we decide on Friday. But either way I am super excited for the ultrasound.

Sorry this was years long. Lots of things are changing and happening lately! I just love it. I finally feel pregnant… like for real! And it is so crazy and amazing. I am so blessed.

The Battle with my Body

Currently I am laying on my couch, not at work, because I have a terrible headache for the third day in a row and my head is spinning. The dizziness has decreased from this morning and since Tylenol has no effect on my whatsoever I am hoping that some rest will help me to feel better. Don’t worry… I have called my doctor and it is all normal.

You see with hormones everything is “normal”.

Since becoming pregnant I have learned about all of the many things that hormones affect. From the expected, like headaches and nausea, to the unexpected, like causing ear aches, congestion and those horribly painful calf cramps that you get in the middle of the night. I have obviously been getting the question, “So, do you like being pregnant?” a lot lately and I never really knew how to answer it. I felt like I would come off as a terrible person if I blurted out, “Actually, no because I have felt AWFUL!”. But at the same time, these past few months have been really hard on my body and on me. On the way to vacation I was expressing these mixed and guilty feelings to David and we had a long conversation, and since then I have been reflecting a lot on it.

I realized during our talk that I had never felt so disconnected from my own body before. Obviously my body is a part of me, but as soon as I got pregnant it seemed that the physical me had some different goals, desires and priorities than the rest of me. Many times it felt like I was at war with my own body… that I had to fight against it just to get though the day. It was such a strange feeling to be pulled in different directions and to have such conflicting feelings and interests.

I have decided that I LOVE being pregnant and that I wouldn’t trade anything that I have experienced for the world. And this change in heart has just come from a change in attitude.

Here was the message to my own body at first:

Dear Body,

Please do your best to create a perfectly healthy baby inside of me. As you do this I expect you to continue you to do all of the things that you have in the past and I also expect that you do it all without affecting my every day life.

Thanks, you’re the best!

Ashley

Obviously, these expectations were way too high. The fact is that pregnancy affects you so much because there are so many things that are changing and happening to create a new human life inside of you! Clearly that is not an easy job. It is nothing my body has ever come close to doing before. So no wonder it is freaking out a little bit. I believe that I have been created by God with the blessing of the ability to have children and that one of the highest purpose of my body is to grow and deliver this baby. However, I can’t expect it to be easy on me.

Rather than feeling at war with my own body I need to start being more understanding. Growing Baby H. inside of me hasn’t been easy so far, but such an amazing thing shouldn’t necessarily be easy! I should just be grateful that I am blessed enough to be carrying this baby and that, with all things considered, I have remained pretty healthy.

I may not be enjoying my food much lately, or be able to exercise like I used to, or be able to work as hard and long as before but I will gladly give all of these things up for these 9 months for the honor of meeting our own child at the end of it. So here is my revised letter to my body :)

Dear Body,

Please do your best to create a perfectly healthy baby inside of me. As you do this I will give you all of the nutrients and rest that you need. I will also continue to strengthen you and build up your endurance as we get ready for labor and delivery. As you change I will cherish it and I will try my best to clothe you well.

We make a great team!

Ashley

Vacation: Charleston, South Carolina

A week ago today David and I were spending our second day of vacation on the beach in Isle of Palms, South Carolina (about 20 minutes north of Charleston). We are so blessed to have families who completely spoil us and take us on vacation. Isle of Palms is the traditional vacation spot for David’s dad’s side of the family and we have gone there 4 times together now. We arrived last Saturday morning and were able to stay until early Wednesday morning. We both had to work Wednesday afternoon/evening but it was wonderful to have a full 4 days on the beach and with our wonderful family!

This is our view from the beach house that we all stay in together. The ocean is only one block away from the house and we have our own pool right off the deck. It is awesome. I LOVE beach vacations… they are just so relaxing and peaceful. And here in Kentucky I sometimes feel very land locked.

The beautiful ocean! David and I love swimming in the ocean together and riding in on the waves. I am not one of those girls who lays out very much. I love to walk along the shore, dive into the huge waves and swim in the salt water. The water and weather were just perfect all week.

And here is the classic, squinty beach picture. I have very small eyes when the sun is out.

On Monday David and I went riding on a power boat with two other couples in the fam.

And we didn’t only ride… we drove. In fact the guy whose boat it was gave us a 10 minutes tutorial and then left the 6 of us to it! We were pretty nervous at first, but we eventually got the hang of it.

There is Charleston from the water! Such a beautiful city.

Below is the historic Ft. Sumter.

Some dolphins came by to say hello :)

All of the girls…

We all got fried and were famished and exhausted after 4 hours of boating but it was so, so much fun.

Other than boating we spent our days playing on the beach, laying by the pool and hanging out with our family. We got to read and sleep a lot, and hold a bunch of babies! Once our little one is born there will be 4 babies under a year old on David’s side of the family. We are so excited to have our son or daughter grow up with such an awesome set of cousins.

On our last night there, all of the girls went out for a nice dinner while the guys stayed in and ordered pizza. What a pretty family!

All in all, it was a fantastic vacation. We are looking forward to going to Destin, Florida in a couple weeks with my side of the family. Even though working full time makes the summer VERY crazy, it also makes vacation a lot nicer in some ways. It is when you are really busy when you could use a vacation most… and those 4 days without math, chores and responsibilities were so wonderful.