15th week

So, I am in my 15th week!

And, amazingly, Matt has A negative blood!! yay!! no shots for me.:) We were both thrilled, relieved and so grateful to not have to go through that. Although modern medicine can set your mind at ease, its still annoying to have complications, etc.

So, onward thru the pregnancy! I bought some maternity shorts and ofcourse they are too big. The belly band helps with this clothing-awkard phase..holding on both big and small pants:)

This week has been Neighborhood Bible Clubs (our version of VBS) and I've been helping lead the songs at our club. Its has been really fun to get to know people I've gone to church with for years, and reach out to kids in their community that had never heard the gospel..ever! Needless to say, its taken all of my extra energy. Yesterday, I curled up in the darkest room in our house (thanks, rachie!) and slept for 2hrs straight...no problem! It felt great.

Lastly, my new favorite pregnancy food: GREEN monsters. Through a series of blog recommendations, I've finally tried this amazing drink. Even more amazing, Matt and I split it..he loves it! If you check out the recipe below, that means my husband is drinking approx 2 cups of spinach! I am so happy.:) And I just can feel the baby getting vitamins when I consume it...I'll post a picture next time.. here is the recipe:

Green Monsters: (Boudreau version)

1 c almond milk

1 frozen banana

1 spoonful almond butter

4 c fresh spinach

handful frozen blueberries
a few cubes of ice

that's all for now:) We have our next prenatal July 17th and shortly after that we find out the gender!

till next week,

13 weeks and 3 days (14 weeks?)

Hi All, Today was our 2nd prenatal visit to the Austin Area Birthing Center. Matt and I met Roswitha and she looked over my diet diary and said it looked good, especially the cheese and eggs (which is good, cause besides OHs! cereal, I feel like that is ALL I eat:) I gained 2 lbs since my last appt four weeks ago, which is good since its an average of a pound a week, but she said the baby will have growth spurts and some weeks you gain more than others. I need some bigger pants for sure!

And we got to hear a strong heartbeat today!!! 160 beat/min sounded like the galloping horses that people often compare it to. amazing! HE/SHE is in there and doing great:) This was our first time to hear it, since we just saw it last time, and it was very exciting to us both. We were both laughing in amazement!

The other big news from our appointment is that my blood type is O negative. This is a rarer blood type and we may need some extra precautions in week 28 if Matt is a positive blood type. So, he got his blood taken to see what we'll do next. I have some research to do, but if there is a chance the our baby will have a positive blood type (since I'm negative) they will give the me a preventative RhoGAM shot to ensure that my blood doesn't become hostile to the baby's, should they mix.

So other than that news, all is well. I am still pretty tired most of the time and must be vigilant about eating constantly to avoid feeling ill, but otherwise am getting more excited about being pregnant! I had my first baby dream last night and where I was holding the baby! I am working on a photo story for this pregnancy, so this looks more like a mug shot, but oh well...

till next week.

13 weeks

I am so tired! I feel like I could sleep all day long...or at least any moment now...at my desk.

Lately I've been feeling more pregnant; strange cramps that come on at random times, having to pee ALL the time, not being able to zip up ANY of my pants, eating constantly or else feeling the sudden drop in blood pressure and the IMMEDIATE need for food.

The other day I was remembering when Matt and I were in Pasadena, CA doing the Perspectives class with HSL and Joel's sister Leila was STARVING after church. We didn't know where we were or where to eat and everything in the area was super expensive. I remember the distress and panic in her eyes...and now I feel like I finally, truely understand.

Yesterday I had a tea/baklava with Jessica at the Ethiopian resturant. I had to go to the bathroom apprx. 4 times during our 2 hrs. there.

Saturday was Mandy's shower! It was so fun and so exciting to see all the stuff that Zoe will be using/wearing very soon. It does make it more real for everyone somehow, seeing all the 'stuff' for the new person.

Next Monday is my 2nd prenatal appt. I am keeping a food log this week...just ONE more thing to love about the Austin Birthing Center-they care about what you eat! They are so holistic in their approach...which makes sense and is so refresing!

Here is a pic of my belly last week. To be fair, I had just eaten A LOT, but still, things are growing! Miles or Isabella???!?

10 weeks

I finally had my first appointment at the Austin Area Birthing Center yesterday. I found out that I am only at 10 weeks, not 11 as I had previously thought...I had blood work and a whole physical exam...plus an ultrasound! They don't do them (ultrasounds) normally, but we weren't sure if we could hear a heartbeat at this point, so we opted for the ultrasound. Matt got there just in time and were able to see our little, little baby! The bright spot to the left of the circle was beating VERY fast...and we could see it pumping. It's little heart!!

It was very exciting to have some physical confirmation that he/she is there and is growing!

The morning sickness seems like it is waning. I am getting more energy slowly and am very excited to start prenatal yoga and swimming!

One final note from John Piper:

God Forms Persons (Psalm 139:13)
Another pointer (to the early church) was the profound conviction that what is happening in the womb is God’s unique and sacred person-forming work. Psalm 139:13 puts this in terms of God’s very hands-on work in the womb: “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” This is God’s doing. Not ours. It is his to make. And his to end. (See also Job 31:13–15.)

(for more: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/47_Abortion/3528_The_Baby_in_My_Womb_Leaped_for_Joy/)

9 weeks...

I think I am in my 9th week...according to my calculations. If that is accurate then the baby is the size of a grape. Also in the 9th: "Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth"

amazing!! even more amazing that we-people, Americans, women-ME- don't know this stuff, the intimate details of life until it is happening to our bodies. I just find that wrong.

Not just because I am ignorant, which I am, but because desperate women do desperate things because of ignorance. Because someone told them, "it is not alive." It, meaning the life that is growing in their body!!

Before I was sick all day long, I would fantasize about having a conversation with someone about abortion, while I am with child. My goal is to use the ridiculous logic that if I was hit by a drunk driver, the driver would be charged with double homicide. But, if I wanted to get an abortion, no one would press charges. BUT, what about the double homicide? The driver that took TWO lives. Well suddenly, if I deem that second life 'burdensome' then its not a life. So the thing inside of me is defined by its termination. If I wanted it to be gone = not alive, if I had baby room plans and registries set up for the little tyke = alive. THE LOGIC HERE DOESN'T HOLD!!!

So, thanks for letting me practice and conversation I PRAY I get to have soon:)

Sleep, nausea, and garlic

Sleeping is what I did all day Saturday.
Nausea is what I feel if I'm not sleeping or nibbling on something at all times.
Garlic is my former adored homeopathic remedy, now turned nemesis....

I left work early on Friday. I really, really thought I needed to vomit. Alas, every time it has been a false alarm. I forced down food all day and felt better after each meal. It reminds me of when I was in middle school and dreaded every day of school. I couldn't eat AT ALL in the mornings because I was soo nervous. The doctor thought I had anemia or something...

Anyway, I slept most of Saturday to avoid the nauseous feeling and it was so easy...usually I can't sleep through that much of day. Apparently, my body feels like I've just run a marathon, only I haven't gotten off the couch:) But, there is a baby being built, so I guess it all evens out...

And garlic. Oh the cure-all, loved by all other cultures for its immune building properties and infection fighting abilities. I would buy it at the farmers market, have it on at hand at all times, and cook with at any given chance. It was even destined to be in my fall garden line up....Until the Romano's Macaroni Grill + create your own pasta bowl + my handsome husband, all collided this Saturday night. What Matt and I didn't realize on this lovely evening with an old friend, was that the FORTY or so cloves he was ingesting would soon be coming out his pores-making me (through my SUPER sensitive pregnant sense of smell) extremely nauseous!

In one of Matt’s first acts of sacrifice for baby + baby life, were the remedies I forced upon him after I realized this garlic was haunting me. Baking soda, peppermint tea, steam showers, Febreeze, dozens of incense, and white vinegar made all our senses go nuts!! Needless to say, it’s been about 36 hrs and we are almost garlic free.

6 weeks already

Hi, I have been encouraged that this [blogging] will be fun and good for us all. We'll see...

Good Friday this year was exceptionally good. Matt and I saw not one, but two big positives on the pregnancy tests! We were blissfully surprised and excited. I've never been pregnant before and I was in disbelief for a loooong time. But, yesterday when I felt sick-ish all day long, it helped to convince me a little bit more that I am REALLY PREGNANT!

I've loved reading about my friends on their blogs and I check them more frequently than they update them, so I figured what better to do while waiting...than to write>.