Something is LIVING inside of me!

Ok, I have to admit... I'm still a little weirded out that there's a human being living inside of my body. At first it was just in theory. I mean, she's been there since I was 2 weeks pregnant, but I couldn't feel her. Now that she's getting bigger-- probably 12 inches long-- I can feel her moving around all of the time. It's a little distracting now that she's strong enough to make my entire upper body move when she really karate chops (or whatever the heck she's doing in there).
One of my acquaintances from college (and my friend Ashleigh's friend), had her baby a few weeks ago. She was due in March just 2 weeks before I am due. I've been following her blog of her baby in the NICU, and admittedly, one of the first things that went through my mind when I saw her little girl is 'I have a baby the size of that baby living inside of me.' It's not quite the same to do what the pregnancy book says to do: go to the grocery store, pick out a 2 pound steak, and imagine that that is your baby. The mom, Holly, is an inspiration to me on trusting God's timing and plans. John and I are very blessed that our little Olive is growing as she is supposed to and that she has the opportunity to be protected inside of me (though it's weird) until God is ready for her to come out.

My belly

Since I've been asked to share a recent photo of me, John took a photo of me today. Here's my belly and pale skin.


And while I'm at it, I may as well show what our new house is going to look like when it's done being built. The one below is a light gray version of the house that we're doing. Ours will be blue.

Thank you Zarr Family!

I still owe everyone updated photos of my big gut, but in the mean time I wanted to share what John and I spent most of the Visa gift cards on that the Zarr family gave me...


Yes, that is our new infant car seat! We got at Babies R Us when they were having their Cyber Monday sale. It's one of the more expensive items that we'll be buying along with a crib, pack n play, breast pump, and stroller.

You should have seen us trying to figure out how to take it off of the base. We looked like monkeys trying to use a computer. It didn't come with instructions and there are lots of buttons on that thing.

Thank you, again! Love to you all.

Belated

I haven't started writing quite as frequently as I had planned or hoped in the beginning. I intend to change that coming up, now that I'm feeling better! Yes, you read that correctly... I've been feeling much better for the past couple of weeks. I've only had a handful of bad days. Things are looking up!
The only downfall that I'm currently facing is that I wake up multiple times a night to go to the bathroom. Somehow the bladder I was once proud of has turned into the size of a pea. I'll trade nausea for a tight bladder any day, though.
John and I spent last Saturday doing some maternity clothes shopping. Madison just has a couple of department stores that carry maternity, Target, and Motherhood Maternity. We'd browsed Target and JC Penny feeling a little let down. Everything just looked so big and run down. Motherhood Maternity was a different story, and it was quite a successful trip. I've started to wear the clothes, but my belly isn't quite ready for photos yet. It's in the in between is-she-getting-chubby-or-pregnant stage. Considering I'm now 19 weeks along, I'm surprised that there's not much more to share. I saw a few pictures of an acquaintance's belly from when she was 12 weeks, and she was bigger than I am. Hopefully that means I'll have less to work off in the end. ;)
Well, in a couple of weeks I'll be going in for the big ultrasound to make sure that the little one is developing as it should. If it cooperates, we'll also get to find out the gender. Can't wait!

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.