Well, it's been awhile.

We are now 24 weeks pregnant and feeling good. I'm feeling Braxton Hicks, which is kind of cool because it's my first time experiencing it. And it's kinda not cool, because when I over-do it, they warn me (ok, they hurt a bit). Other than that, they're just there and it's obvious.

Another thing I'm noticing lately is the nausea and the almost getting sick in the middle of the night and waking up. It's not fun. I'm having my sister bring me an arm-chair pillow that I left at Mom and Dad's house so I hope that will help keep my head elevated. (I'm not in control of how I sleep when I'm sleeping.)

Also discovered pregnancy carpal tunnel syndrome. Very painful and discouraging, because I was definitely going to be working on my thesis that day, and it definitely put a damper on that situation.

We are leaving on Sunday afternoon and I won't be back until I'm 30 weeks pregnant, first weekend in August. But, I'll have a Master's degree, a husband waiting for me, and a newly painted house/nursery set up, and maybe even a new niece! And my Dad is going to come to my graduation, which is very exciting.

That's all for now. Phew...it doesn't seem long, but the content is extensive, no?

Many thoughts

      In 19 days, Joey and I are going to get in the Jeep and start our road trip to visit family and end up getting me to school. In 19 days, I will be on my way to finish my last semester of grad school. In 19 days. Holy crap. I literally have 19 days to finish my paper. I have 19 days to get my booty in gear and just think for crying out loud. I have 19 days to pack, to do things around the house I wanted to get done, to see my doctor another time, and to feel good before I come back and it's my third trimester. I have 19 days, and I am starting to freak out.
       In reality, I should be writing my paper right now. But this comes easier than writing that paper. I am only 1/2 of the way there, and I'm sure the content is nowhere near where it should be at this point. Thankfully, I am in dialogue with my advisor and I'm sure he will steer me in the right direction once he reads it. I just hope it's not in the ctrl+alt+delete button department...yikes...
        I'm also taking a full class load this summer, so I really want to be done with that paper before I leave. I realize the possibility of that happening is about 50%, but still, it's nice to try. Wouldn't it be great for me to just have to go to school and get my work done without having to worry about getting my paper/recital done too? I am so glad that I did my recital before I went up there, can you imagine me at 27-28 weeks trying to get that sound out? I don't even know if I'll be able to handle choir now that I think of it, so that is going to be an awfully interesting adventure.
         In other news, we will be painting the house this summer, might be patching up the fence, and Joey will obviously be spending his time at the house baby-proofing, setting up and painting the nursery, and getting some much deserved R&R. So many exciting things are going on, and they all take a special kind of energy.

Total weight gain/loss: Total of about 10 gained. Oh well. That's what jogging strollers are for.
Maternity clothes: Oh yes. And the minute I'm home for the day, the pants come off. It's fabulous.
Best moment this week: It was a pretty blah week. 
Movement: Yes, not as much this week as last week, but I didn't consume an entire watermelon this week. She's probably going through withdrawals.
Food cravings: I had a serious craving for cookies-n-cream ice cream the other night. Joey went out and delivered for me. It was awesome!
Milestones: It's kind of silly to put on here the things she's doing. Really, I have no idea. But the idea is that by 21 weeks, she has eyebrows. I hope she has her Daddy's eyebrows, and not mine!

Summer Heat

Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone, but the heat decided to stay. We enjoyed the weekend by staying local and being weightless in the pool for a few minutes! Our pool time was generously overcast so it wasn't as refreshing as I'd hoped it would be, but I am taking what I can get! Little girl definitely had a growth spurt this weekend, which made for lotsa discomfort for me. Totally worth it though, because I can now feel her moving around!

     

 Sunday mornings at work are getting tougher and tougher for me, physically, so I'm actually looking forward to getting off of my feet and sitting in class this summer! (And not leading worship on Sunday mornings for 3 masses...yikes.) I have 3 weekends left here in Florida, and then we're making the long drive north. We will be stopping in Tennessee to visit Joey's sister, and then heading up to Marquette Michigan to visit his family and help him paint his grandmother's house. His grandmother is a lovely lady and full of vibrancy. Her home is beautiful and comfortable and right on Lake Superior. I am looking forward to doing my assigned reading and taking it easy with baby girl on the beach for a couple of days, and trying to get my paper done too. That's something I AM concerned about, the next big chunk of time I have to work on it is this Monday, so let's see what my brain is capable of...15 pages?

Now, I'm working on 21 weeks pregnant, and as of this morning on the scale I've gained an extra 2 pounds. I know that it is to be expected, but I think the shock factor is what's getting me. Before I lost weight, the scale has been higher, but only slightly. Once we hit the next set of tens, I think I'll need some cold water to the face. Oh well.

On to the fun stuff...

Total weight gain/loss: Total of 8 pounds gained at 20/21 weeks.
Maternity clothes: Yes! Going shopping for some more shirts on Friday with a coupon. Pretty excited.
Sleep: Honestly, it's better. But it's best in my old bed. Don't know why.
Best moment this week: Spending time with Joey yesterday. Really going to miss that this summer...luckily my term isn't 6 weeks, but closer to 3 1/2!
Movement: SO MUCH! I love it. It's really funny because I feel like it's her personality coming out. Every once in awhile, she'll just FREAK OUT and everything is going crazy. Then she's quiet for awhile and then slowly creeps around. What a nut.
Food cravings: Milk and watermelon. I had 1/2 a watermelon this weekend and I'm not ashamed of it. Although, I'm sure it didn't help those 2 extra lbs on the scale this morning...lol
Labor signs: ha. no.
Milestones: She's grown so much. Also I love how active she is.

Crazy Dreams

       I've always had crazy dreams. If I wrote them all down, they would be full of details and weirdness and reasons for me to not be around people very often.
       This morning, I had a terrible dream (at least that is how I felt about it at that moment). I dreamed that I heard our little girls giggling in their room down the hall. I dreamed that I yelled "y'all better quiet down and go to sleep, or I'm gonna come in there swinging and I don't care who I hit!" (note: I'm not abusive. My mother used to say that to us four kids. A fly-swatter was her only defense behind a restful night's sleep. We deserved it.) Then, my 'dream-yelling' somehow made me realize, we don't have little girls. Then I got freaked out, and I heard the giggling right in my ear. After that, still sleeping, I dreamed that our baby girl was crying across the hall and she sounded SO scared, and I couldn't move. I couldn't even speak. I tried to wake myself up and couldn't even do that. Then, Joey poked my shoulder in his sleep, and I started the day off around 6:30AM with a scream and a good cry. That's the weirdest one I've had in awhile and it's left me feeling, well, the feels all day. I can't shake them. It probably doesn't help that I watched the season finale of "The Vampire Diaries" and wtf...but still. Crikey. Not sure how to shake it.

How far along? about 19 weeks. She's measuring big, so I'm done with the whole exact-date-day thing.

She'll be here when she gets here. 

Total weight gain/loss: I'm up 5 pounds as of last Friday. Meh.

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Sleep: It's hard to get comfortable because I'm having hip and leg cramps, and once I'm asleep I have 

strange dreams. So...

Best moment this week: Finishing my service recital. 1/2 way done with the 'requirements' to graduate!

Movement: More cramping than moving. And the battery for our fetal doppler died last night, so I took 

that as a sign that something is horribly wrong and that's probably why I didn't sleep well. 

Food cravings: Anything fried (sorry, heart) but still not much of an appetite. Especially for greasy 

unhealthy things, so this makes no sense. 

Labor Signs: haha. no.

Belly Button in or out? in

Milestones: She's the size of a large mango, over 1/2 a pound already. Next week, she'll creep up to the

size  of a cantaloupe which is HARD to believe! Man, I'm good at growing babies. Oh, and I think we've

settled on a name. :)

Week 18, and it's a...

Girl. I can't believe it! It's starting to make more sense to me, but I have to admit, I was in shock when I first heard it. I NEVER imagined myself having a daughter. Ever. Not that it's not a welcome surprise, not that I don't want her, but it's just completely a huge surprise. So much so that I don't have much to say. Just, wow.

We had our ultrasound on Friday before Mother's Day and didn't tell anyone about it. We wanted to make it a surprise for our Mamas for Mother's Day. We did get them good! And I kept my yapper shut, for the most part. It was a beautiful weekend and I'm getting more and more excited about having a cowboy princess, or an iron man ballerina, or whatever she becomes in her mind!

And I got some serious pool-time this weekend. Sunday (Mother's Day) was spent in the pool and Monday I got to spend with my bff in Titusville. I got some brown and red and some relaxation which is apparently just what I needed, because when I woke up this morning, my tummy/baby girl was bigger.


Here are some lovely memories from the past few days.

                                                             

17 Weeks

So...crazy fact.

I'm almost halfway there! I really can't believe it. This pregnancy has (fingers crossed) flown by. I've felt great and haven't had many symptoms to deal with. It doesn't hurt that I have an amazing support at home either.

I'm really excited about my maternity clothes. I bought four shirts and a pair of leggings (because, as we all know, leggings ARE pants when you're pregnant) and they came in the mail yesterday. They all fit and I feel really cute! hooray!

Also, the official countdown has begun to discover if Cletus is a boy or a girl! I can't believe it's just a matter of single-digit-days away! I've been looking up 17 week ultrasound videos on YouTube and can't believe our baby is that big now. It looks like a real life baby, just a little skinnier! I don't think I'll sleep at all this week because of the excitement (Ok. That's a lie. I'm going to sleep really well).

How far along? 17 weeks and a day

Total weight gain/loss:Bought a battery for the bathroom scale. Still no change. I'm going to ask the Doc about it on our next visit.

Maternity clothes? Oh yes. Old Navy has free shipping on orders over $50!

Sleep: Meh. Had some bad dreams this week.

Best moment this week: Looking forward to our ultrasound. I can't believe it's already here! I'm very excited.

Movement: Not as much 'feeling' as I did last week, but definitely growing. 

Food cravings: Milk

Labor Signs: nope!

Belly Button in or out? in

Milestones: The baby is the size of my hand, which is unbelievable. Cletus can hear our voices too. Guess we have to start watching our language ;) 

Oh yeah! I always forget the fun stuff...

How far along? 16 weeks and a day

Total weight gain/loss: No idea. Going to buy a battery for our bathroom scale today, so wish me luck. haha.

Maternity clothes? Oh yes. 

Sleep: Pretty good minus the weird dreams.

Best moment this week: I really think I'm feeling the baby move, but I don't want to admit it...isn't it too

early?? Meh. Whatever. I think I'm feeling the baby move!

Movement: Oh. Uh, see the previous question.

Food cravings: None

Labor Signs: nope!

Belly Button in or out? in

Milestones: The baby is the size of an avocado! Cletus can hear and sense light.