Welcome back to the blog! It’s been a doozy of a two weeks, so I haven’t written in a while. I actually might just make this a habit of posting every two weeks. One of my friends was posting progress photos of her bump on social media, and the last one she posted, everyone was saying how great she looked and she replied “I don’t feel great, and I’m really tired of posting these. I’m doing it mainly since my family in other states have been asking for them.” I thought I was the only one who felt that way. It’s been nice to have so many friends who are pregnant at the same time and share things that I feel like I’m going through alone. I also have a group text going on with four other women from church who are all pregnant, and the candid comments they make have me cracking up all the time. And the support and prayer is priceless.

When I began posting progress photos, it was exciting to share. Trying to be consistent and creative has made it feel more like homework. I don’t want to stop because I know I’m the type of person to re-visit my past journal entries and photos. I know future me, and my daughter and family and friends who are interested will really appreciate this, so it’s worth it…even when I feel like poo poo. It’s funny when people say to me “Wow, you make pregnancy look so cute!” and all I want to say is “You have no idea what’s going on behind the smile and cute outfit.” It seems so trivial to put on clothes and do my hair and makeup, but honey, when you’ve been puking and light-headed, anything extra thrown into the mix is like running a 5K. I’m not complaining, I’m just letting you know my personal experience, and I’m grateful for all of it.

I feel like the most slacker of a mom so far when it comes to getting things ready for our daughter to come. Maybe it’s because I have so much going on right now, but I’ve visited a baby store once. One. Time. And that was in the beginning of my pregnancy. I haven’t even begun to attempt a registry list. I’ve looked on Pinterest for nursery ideas once. One. Time. I played music for the baby because that’s what some people do, but I got over that really fast. Hahaha. One thing me and my husband have been good at doing is interacting with her. I have finally gotten over the fear of this little moving thing inside of me! Yes, that is actually something to be excited about! Even just a few weeks ago, if I had my hand on my stomach and she kicked really hard, I’d scream, jump, or even make the “Home Alone” face with mouth open in the shape of a scream and hands on my cheeks.

I’m not sure what did it–answered prayer–but I actually look forward to feeling her move and trying to guess which body part I’m feeling at the time. She must be in there wondering what is poking and prodding her, but I don’t mind. She likes to lay super low on my bladder, so bathroom trips are frequent, especially throughout the night. I still see her in a little lump when she’s all curled up on my right side. It’s funny because if I’m curled up on the couch, she won’t try to get away from any part that’s too confined. She’ll actually burrow into the crevice between my stomach and lap. It reminds me of stories my mom tells me about when I was little. If me and my family were on the couch, napping in bed, or anywhere being kinda close, I would find the tiniest space and crawl into it. “Oh, I see there’s a two-inch space between mommy and the brothers. I think I should cram myself in there.” Yes, I actually called my brothers “The Brothers” and that was normal to me.

Now that she’s getting bigger, the movements are more noticeable and sometimes it’ll look like a little earthquake is happening in my stomach. It’s very jiggly like if you were to poke a pile of jello or something. I want to get it on camera, but it happens so randomly. If I notice her moving around, sometimes I’ll tap or poke that general area so I can play with her. My husband does it too, and it’s the most darling thing. He’ll tap a few times and then pause to look, then she’ll tap back in that same place. He’ll also speak into my belly button–because that’s obviously where the microphone is–and say “Hi baby. This is your Daddy. I love you.” She usually reacts to the sound of his voice, which is amazing to me because she hears mine so much more. I thought it would take longer for her father’s voice to register as something familiar.

I can’t wait to hold this girl, but I’ll let her cook a while longer until she’s healthy enough to come out. I went out to dinner with my friends a few weeks ago and they were guessing how large our daughter was at that point. It was funny because they held up their fingers to measure the size of a shrimp or something. Yeah, we don’t really think how rapidly those little ones grow until we see it on a chart “as compared to food” or something else. I imagine how big she is and what she looks like at this stage, but in an unfortunate way I already know.

I visit online forums that are full of other mommies due in July. Two of them recently went into preterm labor. One of the babies survived because she was really close to the 24 week mark. If you’re not familiar with what that means, it’s basically the point where a baby is developed enough to be born and live with the help of doctors and special treatment. The mom actually posted a photo of her newborn daughter and she was so small compared to a full term newborn. But she was so big compared to what you think a child this young should be. God bless that little girl and her family. And God bless the other family whose daughter unfortunately went back to heaven immediately after birth.

I went to the doctor to take my glucose test to make sure I’m not showing signs of gestational diabetes. It’s a routine test, and basically what happens is they give you a sugary drink on an empty stomach and then take blood samples in one hour intervals. I think my doctor is really strict or something because what I read online is that you can have a light breakfast and the medical staff is supposed to take your blood once when you first check in and then an hour after you drink the nasty sugar drink. I had to fast before coming in and they had me there for two hours. I kept whispering to my husband “I gotta get outta here.” I was trying so hard to not throw up, be comfortable, get fresh air, and make the time go by quickly. At least now it’s done. During the visit, we also got a regular check up and the results of my anatomy scan a few weeks back showed that everything was normal with our little girl and she is developing right on track. Whew. Good times.

Speaking of clothes, I am definitely growing out of most of my wardrobe that doesn’t have stretch in the chest and stomach area. It was so nice of my mother-in-law and my brother to think of me without me even having to ask and they both bought me some easy breezy summertime dresses great for me and great for the weather. (I love living in Southern California!) Dresses have been convenient since I’ve started wearing a belly band from time to time if I expect that I’ll be on my feet more than usual for the day.I feel so blessed when I’m thinking about something, and then God sends other people who fill in that need without you even having to say something. I could have bought those dresses myself, but it’s extra special to be showered with gifts from people who care about you.

When me and my brother were shopping, he was asking me how I was going to dress our kids in the future. I have a thing for little girls who look like they just stepped off the prairie and little boys who look like old men who just stepped off the docks after a long day’s work. I also love any kid in a nautical themed outfit. For a water-lover like myself, it’s a must-have. (By the way how amazing is this nautical themed baby shower?!) My brother agrees, and that’s so cool because I don’t know a lot of people who are into that old-fashioned baby flair. I’ve found some cool things online as inspiration for baby outfits and I wanted to share them with you before I go:

Here’s some stats for you:

Age and size of baby:

23 weeks old, 8 inches long, 1.2 lbs in weight.

Cravings:

I’ve been craving very flavorful and filling foods. Lots of meat and carbs. I’ve also got my sweet tooth back on occasional days where I can stomach it.

Morning sickness:

I don’t know what happened. I had two days where I felt pretty much normal and then I’m back to puking up my food again. I’m not sure why I can keep down a sourdough burger and fries with an orange soda, but for some reason having water, a nectarine and pretzels sends me the bathroom. I’m over trying to understand it.

Stretch marks:

Still having more growth in the chest region with a few more stretch marks I think. No new ones anywhere else though. I have other stretch marks that I was blessed with during puberty, but I really don’t remember seeing any of them form. Seeing bright pink and purple marks on my skin is really odd, but I’m told that’s what they look like before they heal and turn into a normal skin color again.

Crazy hormones:

I feel like crying for no reason sometimes. Like I’ll be eating and just want to cry. Or I’ll be sitting down looking at the wall and want to start crying. I’ve heard of other women saying they experienced this, but I’m so used to having a reason for tears. This is weird.

Sleeping habits:

I’m getting better sleep and am able to get to sleep more quickly now. I’m so over the nocturnal phase, so I’m glad to be getting rest earlier than usual and having more sunlight in my life. Also, my back and hips aren’t bothering me as much, even with just a regular pillow between my legs, I’m pretty comfortable at night.

So, that’s that for now.  Be blessed and take time to make your dreams into your reality.

-Kytia L’amour