Pride

I don’t know if I have mentioned before that my husband is in the National Guard. He has been serving in the Guard for 11 years, and he is currently working towards becoming a Military Chaplain. Part of his training to become a Chaplain requires getting his Masters in Divinity and going through a military training program. He is currently completing the first half of the military training program, which means he gives up 6 weeks of his summer and has to be away from family and friends, oh yeah, and his pregnant wife. He also gets to re-hash a mini basic training (for the benefit of his co-trainees who don’t have prior military experience) in 90+ degree weather in the South, i.e. extreme humidity. We are not from the South, so while we do get 90 degree weather at times, it is always dry. Humidity adds a whole level of misery to high temperatures.

Along with working full time, he is also a full time masters student. When he isn’t working, he can often be found reading a heavy theology book, listening to lectures or writing a paper. He is definitely the more outgoing social person in our relationship. But, he often has to turn down invites to hang out with friends or visit family in order to get homework done. It’s not easy, but he usually makes school one of his top priorities. It is a tough balancing act. There are times that I just want my husband all to myself, but it just isn’t possible. I know that he makes a big effort to try to keep a healthy balance and make me feel valued and appreciated.

I say all this, not to brag or gloat, but to say I am so proud of the sacrifices he makes to follow his calling, and to give glory to God for giving him this calling. If you told R 5 years ago that he would become a Chaplain; he would have gotten a good laugh. He was not even remotely heading in that direction. And yet, when he felt God leading him down this foreign path, he followed whole heartedly. It has been outside of his comfort zone in so many ways, but he doesn’t seem to let that deter him. I have so much respect and admiration for the way he jumped into this and hasn’t looked back. Yes, it has required sacrifices on both of our parts. But knowing that my husband is growing spiritually and leading others along that path is amazing, and beyond my wildest dreams. I love supporting him on this journey and getting to see his heart for service members and their families.

25 Weeks and Weird Dreams

The first dream was on Monday night. I had one short dream that there were big spiders in my bed, and I was trying to kill them all. I think I forced myself awake from that dream. When I went back to sleep I had a stressful nursing dream. I dreamt that I just came home from the hospital and I was trying to nurse my baby. As soon as she would latch on and I felt like we were figuring it out, I would get interrupted. People kept stopping by the house and interrupting me each time I would get settled again and start nursing. At one point, my nieces and nephews were crawling on my while I was trying to nurse, and I just kept trying to find a private place to nurse again. Weird! I have no idea what brought on that dream.


Then, last night I had such a bizarre dream about giving birth, but this one wasn’t stressful. I dreamt that I had just given birth to my baby. She was bundled up in a blanket and laying on a table, while I was laying in bed trying to remember giving birth to her. All I could remember were these little snippets or flashes of the birth. From what I could remember, it wasn’t painful at all. And right after the birth, I didn’t feel pain or soreness or anything. My mom came in the hospital room and went to pick up my baby, and I realized I hadn’t even held her myself yet, so I asked her to bring her to me so I could hold her. Then I watched a video of the labor to see what had happened, since I couldn’t really remember. In the video, my husband and I were in the hospital room with a couple friends of ours (no idea who they are in real life) and we were drinking. I was totally drunk in the video (which is not like me IRL, even when I’m not pregnant) and I had these faux sleeve tattoos on and apparently I was having a great time and not at all concerned with the effects of my drinking on my baby. The drunk part explains the pain free birth and not being able to remember it. So, strange!

Another weird part about these dreams is that even though my baby is in the dreams, I’m not really paying much attention to her. I don’t remember really looking at her and seeing what she looks like in either of the dreams, which is kind of a bummer. After the nursing dream, I vaguely remembered seeing my baby’s face and thinking she was pretty, but I don’t remember any of the detail of her face.

So here is my 25 week belly picture, actually taken at 25 weeks 1 day. I didn’t think I would be taking any bare belly pictures. Not because it bothers me when other people do it, but because I didn’t think it would be very cute. I have to say, I think my belly is pretty cute right now. So, I figured I better take advantage of this stage in the pregnancy, before it’s not so cute and has stretch marks.

The only thing different about week 25 is I have been feeling a bit nauseous/queasy again. It definitely isn’t as bad as during the first trimester, but it is affecting my appetite a bit (not that that is a bad thing). I have also had a few nights where I wake up around 2 and then sleep kind of restlessly after that. It’s not that I am all that uncomfortable; I just can’t seem to fall back into a deep sleep. The last two nights have been much better though. I do wake up a couple times, but quickly fall back asleep.

I almost don’t want to write this, for fear that I will jinx myself, but I still don’t get up during the night to go to the bathroom. It is wonderful! But, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone this far into their pregnancy that doesn’t have to get up at least once, usually multiple times at night to use the bathroom. My mom says I must be dehydrated and need to drink more water. But, I don’t feel dehydrated, and I often drink a glass of water right before I go to bed. I don’t worry too much about it, mostly I am super thankful to be getting such good sleep still.

24 Weeks

Here I am posting a 24 week update about one week late, but at least the picture is from 24 weeks 2 days.

I am still feeling pretty good, but my belly is starting to feel big and tight, especially at the end of the day. Is it really possible for it to double or triple in size before I have this baby?!

Heartburn set in during week 24. I actually woke up at 2 am with raging heartburn. I couldn't understand why I would all of a sudden have heartburn in the middle of the night. It continued off and on the next day, but it has been really minor and short-lived ever since then. I can't figure out anything out of the ordinary that I ate to cause the heartburn, but I figure it is just par for the course at this point in my pregnancy.

I have noticed that I have had less of an appetite over the past couple of weeks, especially in the afternoon and evenings. I'm not sure if it because I have had a cold or just because the baby is crowding my stomach.

Baby girl continues to be a bouncing bean, especially early in the morning. I love feeling her move in the mornings and during the day at work.

I went to some yard sales on Saturday and hit the jackpot at one. I bought probably 15 pieces of clothing from newborn to 9 months. I found some really cute onesies and outfits that were in great condition. I am excited to be starting my baby girl's wardrobe!

Here are a couple pictures from 24 weeks:

I drove to see my family for Memorial Day weekend. I was so looking forward to seeing my newest baby niece who was just born a month ago. Tuesday before Memorial Day weekend I started getting slight cold symptoms. But it didn't feel like any cold I had ever had, so I thought maybe I am getting seasonal allergies (even though I have never had them before). By Thursday, I knew I officially had a cold. But, it still wasn't bad and I wasn't all that congested. On Friday I got to see my oldest nephew compete in the state track meet. Because I live so far from my family, it is a total treat to get to see my nieces and nephews in their sporting events. It was great!

I also got to see my closest friend from high school. We don't see each other very often and are really bad at keeping in touch, but when we talk or see each other it is as if no time has passed. She is very pregnant with her 4th child; she had less than two weeks left until her c-section. She doesn't know if it's a boy or girl!

Here we are in all of our pregnant glory together:

Isn't she cute?!

I saw my sweet baby niece on Saturday, but becasuse I had a cold, I wore a medical mask and still didn't feel comfortable holding her for very long. She has the sweetest little face. I could just look at her all day while she makes her faces.

Sunday the cold got worse. My mom and dad took care of me and made sure I took lots of vitamins. I also had my first experience with a neti pot. It was.....interesting. I felt bad exposing my grandparents and niece to a cold. I just tried to keep my distance and I wiped down all the door handles and surfaces with lisol before they came over for dinner. As far as I know, no one got sick this week, so that's good.

I can't wait to see my niece again when I am healthy and can really snuggle with her.

Monday, I drove the 9 hours home, which somehow turned into more like 11 hours. I had to stop and do a little shopping while I had the chance. :-) 

The cold has finally started to improve over the past few days. I feel much better and the congestion seems to decrease a little each day.

I have under 4 weeks until I see my husband again. I miss him a lot, but thankfully I have had great friends and family who have been checking in on me and inviting me to do fun things to help pass the time.

What A Week!

Last week, my husband and I drove 2400 miles across the country. R had to be in South Carolina for a military school, so we decided to make a mini-vacation out of the drive out there. We started planning this trip before I knew I was pregnant. I wasn't sure if it would work when I found out I was pregnant, but as the pregnancy progressed without complications and after talking to my doctor, we decided to go ahead with it. We took our time and stopped to stretch a lot, and overall, I felt great during the whole trip. 

I love road trips with my husband. It takes away all the distractions and we get to really connect. We also saw beautiful parts of the country, did some fun things and ate some good food. Our first major destination was Chicago.We spent two days there, starting things off with a Chicago White Sox game. The WS are R's favorite baseball team, and they won. It was also bring your dog to the park night. All of the dogs and their owners paraded around the park before the game. It was so cute! We stayed in a hotel downtown and walked around downtown the next day, even though it was rainy and windy.
I had my first Chicago deep dish pizza, and it was Ah-mazing!

I had several different strangers comment on or congratulate me on my pregnancy for the first time in Chicago. It was kinda strange, but it felt good. It's amazing how complete strangers will smile or talk to a pregnant woman. It somehow softens people. I don't quite understand it, but it's really interesting.

Our next stop was Kentucky to visit R's aunt and uncle. They live right in the heart of hourse racing country. It was beautiful, and I so enjoyed our time there. Finally, we made it to South Carolina. Before I had to fly home, we had time to explore the Fort where R will be spending the next 6 weeks. It wasn't until I was packing my bags that it hit me, I won't see my husband for 6 weeks. I had been so pre-occupied with planning the trip that I didn't have time to think about the 6 weeks that would follow. I know many military families go much longer separated from their loved one, and I know 6 weeks is a relatively short time, especially in the scope of a life time. But, I did break down and cry when I thought about being away from my best friend, my biggest supporter and my other half. And, when I got home to an empty house (well besides my animals who were very happy to see me) I cried off and on all afternoon.  But, I haven't cried since then. I know these 6 weeks will go by fast for both of us. R is so busy, he won't have time to think about the clock ticking, and I have several things to do. I am planning to drive to visit my family and new niece this weekend, and my mom is coming out to visit me in a few weeks. I also want to start getting the house ready for baby. I started feeling like I have a cold yesterday, but it isn't a full blown cold and not the typical cold symptoms. I am wondering if I am getting seasonal allergies. I have never gotten them before, but I have heard that it's possible to start getting allergies while pregnant. I really hope it doesn't turn into a full blown cold, because if it does, I really shouldn't being visiting my niece. I guess time will tell.

One of my goals is to do weekly updates with pictures, mainly so my husband can see my belly growing while he is away.

I had my 23 week appointment on Monday and everything looked good. My doctor commented on how much my belly/uterus has grown, but he said it is right where it should be. Little girl was moving all over the place while we tried to listen to her heartbeat. I don't really know if our baby moves more than the average baby. I just know that she moves A Lot, and I love every second of it. I also got the bottle of orange syrup for the blood glucose test at my next appointment. How crazy is that?! It is one of those milestones that I wasn't sure I would ever see.

I don't have a 23 week picture, but here are a couple pictures from 21 weeks. I will definately have a new picture within the week.

We have a very fiesty girl growing in my tummy

I had my 20 week ultra sound on Monday afternoon, and we found out that we are having a girl!  She definately made the ultra sound tech work to get the "money shot", but we finally got it. She was such a wiggler. She didn't stop moving for the entire 30 minute ultra sound. As soon as the u/s tech would try to get a shot of her heart or kidneys, she would twist and turn. That was probably the best part of the 30 minutes, just seeing her move all over the place. R and I were both surprised that she isn't a he, but we are so excited. I have to say, knowing that we will have a little girl makes it so much more real. I find myself getting teary eyed when I hear father daughter or mother daughter stories, because I can start to imagine R and I raising a little girl.

The first question I get from people when I tell them that we found out we are having a girl is, do you have a name picked out?  And the answer is, no, not even close. We thought it was a boy until yesterday and we didn't even have boy names narrowed down. We haven't talked really seriously about names yet. For me, I think this was partly because I was afraid to think too far into the future. I just wanted to take one day at a time, which meant not committing to a name or buying baby items. It is really starting to sink in and starting to feel like we will really be holding a baby in 5 months. I think we better start getting serious about baby names. We both think that we will have a few names in mind but we will wait until we see our baby to know for sure what her name should be. I am really into name meanings too. The meaning of a name is just as important to me as how it sounds. We have a long road trip coming up, so I am planning to bring the baby name book and start digging in to baby girl names.

48 Hours of Labor!

My sister-in-law is amazing! She went into labor on Sunday morning at 1 am. Her contractions started at 20 minutes apart and by Sunday afternoon they were 6-10 minutes apart. She called her doctor and he said to go ahead and go to the hospital and get checked out. Since they have a 40 minute drive to the hospital they didn't want to wait too long. When they got to the hospital, they found out that she was only dilated 2 cm, so they told them to come back in 2 hours. They walked around and got some dinner, and then returned to the hospital. She hadn't progressed at all, so they were sent home at 11 pm Sunday night. She continued to labor all night at home. They went back to the hospital Monday mid-morning, and she had dilated to 4 cm, so she was admitted. This poor girl labored all day without pain meds. By that evening her contractions were right on top of each without a break in between, and she was still only dilated 3-4 cm. She really wanted to have a natural birth, but finally decided to get an epidural when things weren't progressing. Thankfully, the epidural helped her to rest and relax, and she began dilating. She had her baby girl at 2 am on Tuesday morning, after 48 hours of labor! I am so proud of her and overjoyed for her and my brother! My sweet little niece is healthy and everyone is doing well. They are very proud parents, and my goodness, what a story my SIL has to tell!

My sister-in-law is in labor!

My younger brother and his wife are also pregnant. I mentioned thier pregnancy announcement back in September. My SIL is due on May 8th and had a wonderful pregnancy. I just heard this afternoon that they were on their way to the hospital after SIL had been in labor since earling this morning. I am so excited for them!

I drove the 9 hours to visit them and go to SIL's baby shower a few weeks ago. It was so fun to see each other pregnant and get to share that special day with her. She got so many adorable girl outfits, so fun! SIL's mom made the most amazing cupcakes. They were almost too beautiful to eat.....almost. :-)  My mom made SIL a baby quilt that is adorable and goes with the colors in her nursery.

My mom and my aunt took a picture 30+ years ago when my aunt was days away from giving birth to my cousin and my mom was holding my oldest brother in her arms. They are standing back to back, my aunt pointing at her belly and my mom pointing at my brother. I have always loved this picture, so I knew I wanted to get a back to back picture of my SIL and myself. Hopefully we will get another one when I am almost due, with SIL holding her baby girl.

Here are some pictures from the shower. I was 16 weeks pregnant at the time and SIL was 36 weeks. The maternity dress I was wearing makes me look VERY pregnant. I don't look that pregnant in other outfits.

Can't wait to get word from my family when my niece is born!