a new beginning

And here begins what I hope will be the start of a new blog about my pregnancy and life thereafter. My dear friend Courtney was sweet enough to send a devotional to do during the pregnancy; it's called Nine Months to a Miracle. I flipped through the book skimming through different passages to try to find a meaningful blog title. I didn't know what I wanted as the title, but I knew what I didn't want: anything with "baby", "pregnancy", or my name. About an hour passed as I read through so many great scripture passages before I came across two verses that say "Wonderful Joy Ahead." I'll share the 2nd verse at some point in a future blog. The first verse is the one that I already have in the header, but since the header may at some point disappear when I do something more creative, I'll write it out here:

There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while... Trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it-- and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. 1 Peter 1:6-7

What an appropriate way to describe what I'm going through right now! It gives hope for the future and acknowledges the absolute agony that my body is currently putting me through. I had absolutely no idea what some pregnant women go through during their first trimesters. I had never felt as exhausted as I did during weeks 3 through 9. I couldn't make it through the full workday without a nap, even though I slept at least 8 hours at night.

The unpredictable appetite is a completely new feeling as well. Going from eating almost all veggies and meat with little carbs to almost all potatoes and bread was a little confusing at first. Indigestion, nausea, and exhaustion do not make a good combo! John has had a lot to adjust to, and I give him a lot of credit for being patient 99% of the time and pull both of our weights. It'd be hard to be in his shoes and have to take care of a spouse for months at a time.

Even though all of this is miserable, there is wonderful joy ahead! I got to see a small glimpse on my first trip to the doctor. She did a portable ultrasound so that I could see the heart, and it beat faster than I can move my finger. The little one jumped, and I got a blurry picture to take home to show John our blob baby.

More good news is that I'm technically healthy even though it doesn't seem like it since I'm not eating a very varied diet. My iron is low and I look pale, but other than that my tests come back normal. Here's my first photo at 3 months and 5 days (today), weighing a few pounds less than when I started... but that will change.