Thursday, September 23, 2010

Whoa There Nellie...

Now that I am only feeling disgusting once in a blue moon, the time has come to start hauling all of our old baby clothing, bottles, and other necessary items out of the spare room and attic. So far, I am feeling slightly overwhelmed, in that whereintheworlddoibegin, head-scratching way. So here is a little idea of what has been going on in our house...

Not only are we preparing for a new addition to our family, we have been trying to make necessary improvements on our house now that my hubby has graduated from college and is making decent money. Things like gutters. Flooring. New furniture. So we have decisions to make: Do we spend money on baby things that we know we need, or spend money on things for the house now, and let the baby stuff come later? And just pray that all of the house things get done before the baby decides to come?

Somebody told me recently that I shouldn't worry about getting anything done for the baby. "You already got what you need to feed it. The good Lord blessed you with those. You don't need a crib, my baby slept in a draw for two months. Put a real soft blanket in there. He'll be fine. Besides, I can guarantee he won't remember it."

WHAT?! What in the WHAT?! I expected that to come from some one named Bobbi Sue, with a missing front tooth, giving me advice on the front porch of her trailer with a hound out front. But no, this was a well-to-do member of our church, two nice cars in front of her nice house, with her nice kids, and her nice husband. 

Still scratching my head on that one, I decided to wash the linens to the Moses basket, make my wish list for IKEA, and work on the house.

Then there is the matter of naming the child to be. Jose and I have been tossing around names for weeks since we found out it was a boy (okay, 2 weeks, but it seems like a long time). Jose HATES calling him "the baby", or even worse, "it", so we are hard-core name hunting. So far, we have batted around the following:
  • Liam- "will, desire and helmet, protection"
  • Colby- "coalworker" (darn that it doesn't mean something extravagant!)
  • Mattis or Mattias -"Gift of God" (prounounced the Spanish way - Ma- teese or Ma- tias)
  • Levi- "combined" 
  • Reed- "red or reeds, cleared land"
  • Jasper- "treasure; spotted stone"
And a plethora of  other names have been shot down! I have a feeling that unless something divine happens, we won't be naming "the baby" until we see his tiny face. SO hard for us, since we knew Micah was Micah before he was even conceived. By the way, let me know if you have any rad names...we are open to suggestions!

One last thing- I read an article on pregnancy and the second trimester that slightly perturbed me. Now, I know pregnant women get all "don't mess with me" because of hormones, but I believe this was legitimate perturb-ation. "Are you suffering from these symptoms during pregnancy? Backache? Indigestion? Swollen ankles? Moodiness?" The list went on and on, and then proceeded to talk about different spas, treatments, things to prevent heartburn, and support groups for mothers-to-be feeling the same way. I was almost angered. Suffering? Since when did one of the greatest blessings of all time become akin to SUFFERING? Since when did women need a support group to discuss their 'plight'  of pregnancy? 

Taking a few minutes to take it all in, I thanked God for my little unnamed belly wiggling around. I thanked Him for having a house to bring him home to- even though it's in shambles and being remodeled. I thanked Him for the joys of big brother Micah, who is already planning their adventures. I love my life, my husband, our crazy quests, and where God is taking us. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Week 20 Update

How Far Am I: As of today, 20 weeks, 2 days. BEYOND HALFWAY!! Woot woot! 

Baby's Gender: It's a boy! Jose strikes again...I told him that if we get a dog, it has to be a girl, because I am completely outnumbered.

How Much Weight Have I Gained: Net: - 4. Still haven't made it back to my pre-preggers weight, but I have plenty of time to get there. I am not really pushing the issue of gaining weight. My body has more than enough reserves for the baby...

Baby Movement: Moving much more at night, or an hour or so after I eat. I am still somewhat sleeping on my belly (more on my side) and when I lay like that, I can really feel the wiggling. Every time Jose puts his hands or head on my belly, the baby completely stops moving! Poor hubby hardly ever gets to feel it.

Feeling Pregnant:  Definitely feeling good still, which never ceases to amaze me! I keep waiting for the relapse...last night I had french toast for dinner (we eat breakfast for dinner sometimes). An hour later, I was not feeling so hot, but I never once threw up. I just can't believe it- last time I would have been laying my head on the cool porcelain, thinking, "when will it ever end?!" 

What Micah Thinks of the Baby:  During the ultrasound, the tech asks me, "Can you tell what you are having?" Right away, I knew it was a boy again. She told Micah he was going to have a baby brother, and he crossed his arms, pouted his lip out, and almost started to cry. He told me later, "It was supposed to be a girl, Mommy! I like girls better!" We had to have quite a chat on all the exciting, rowdy, dangerous things that brothers get to do...he is starting to warm up to the idea. Last night, he kissed his baby brother good night and hugged my belly. So sweet.

Baby Prep So Far:  Now that we know what we are working with...Let the organizing begin! We have decided that they are going to share rooms, and it helps that Micah wants bunk beds so badly. We are going to take a trip up to IKEA in the next week or so to get some new storage stuff for their room, as well as for the rest of the house. We gave away a lot last time, so it's taking some time to go back through everything and figure out what we can use again, the big stuff we need, etc. Some one asked me when I was going to register, but I thought you don't do that the second time around. I didn't even think you had a shower, but my mother informed me I was wrong...I think she wants an excuse to spoil the next one!

Plus Sized and Pregnant:Thank God for skirts and goucho pants, because I am just not feeling like wearing maternity jeans all the time. It is amazing how much quicker you show the second time around compared to the first. We got a glucometer (to monitor blood sugar) for home, and I have been checking it a few times a week just to make sure that it's not crazily high. My thyroid (or lack there of, since it was removed) medication is back under control, and I am feeling MUCH better. According to my husband, I look great being pregnant, but I feel like I am just at the stage where it's questionable to someone that doesn't know me. I just look like... a pregnant heifer :)