Movin on up

Great news! It seems that pregnancy universe has taken mercy on me after my last week.

At my regular biweekly doctors appointment today I received a great boost in spirits. The conversation went a little something like this:

"Well let's see, everything looks good and you are 32 weeks and 3 days." says my Dr while tipping his glasses on his nose to read the computer screen in front of him.

"Wait, I'm what?" I asked in a confused and hopeful tone

"You're 32 weeks and 3 days. You are measuring out right between 32 and 33 weeks and we have you with a due date of October 17th." he states matter of factly.

"YES!" I said with the necessary fist pump.

I was on track to cross over into week 32 this week and still had a full 8 weeks to get through with an original due date of Oct 21st. Though I knew, I just knew I was further along than that and that I would never make it to the 21st.

So todays announcement was not only joyous to hear, it was also a nice confirmation that my intuition is working good and well.

Baby and I are movin on up towards our due date!

Let's Recap

I am now deeply rooted in my third trimester. In fact, in one more week I cross over into my 8th month. Which means that the "Glory Days" of the 2nd trimester are over. Very, very , over.

Within the last week I have:

Gone into full pregnancy melt down mode while arguing with my husband. He was pretty upset to, but I lost it! Lost it in a way only a pregnant woman can. We were on the road, so stuck in the car together, and we pulled over for a needed Starbucks stop. Once inside, beyond all of my best efforts, I could not pull myself together and was still crying by the time I got to the counter to order my latte. From this I learned that the people of Starbucks are extra nice to you when you are pregnant and have clearly lost control of your emotions. They get you your donut in a hurry!

Braved another Starbucks and proceeded to break a display mug. To be fair, I'm not certain that it broke completely. It had many pieces that would move and spin around the main cup part. But it did fall into many many pieces right on the counter in front of the friendly guy who was handing me my coffee. He too was very nice to me and didn't make me buy it.

Been taken down to the ground by a dangerous combination of Relaxin, the hormone in the body that relaxes all of your joints so that you can give birth, and a pebble at the dog park. While casually walking through the dog park I stepped on a pebble and my ankle gave completely out, popped like it does when its being sprained, and I fell all the way to the ground. Scraping up my other knee and lower leg though, so no belly falls to worry about. When I stood up I looked around and saw one guy, who clearly watched me fall, spin around and turn his back to me so as to seem like he didn't just witness the pregnant lady in an unmissable orange tank top fall all the way to the ground! I would've laughed too if I'd seen it.

Had my fist spontaneous nose bleed of my adult life. I was getting a much awaited for mani pedi and my feet had just been wrapped in a foot mask and three hot towels when I felt my nose start to run. I reached for a Kleenex just as the manicure guy was reaching for my hand to start my nails and I said out loud "My nose is bleeding". To that my friend I was with started laughing and I tipped my head back a little bit. The owner of the salon rushed over and starts to lean my massage chair back. At this an older woman sitting at a manicure table on the complete other side of the salon starts shouting "SHE CAN'T LEAN BACK! DON'T LEAN HER BACK!" I was startled at this and then when the salon owner shouted back "45 degrees. She can be 45 degrees!" and I lost it and both my friend and I started laughing hysterically while trying to get the bleeding to stop. Next the owner comes back owner and says "You chewing gum? Spit it out.....please." So I did, because he was serious.

Thank God I only have 9 more weeks. If I had to go around like this for many more weeks, crying, bleeding and breaking things, I'm afraid my neighborhood would call for my quarantine.

Long live the Family Camping Trip

Over the weekend we embarked on on final camping excursion of the summer. I do love camping...but I also love that I don't have to sleep in a tent again during this pregnancy! You think its hard getting dressed when you can't bend at the waist under normal circumstances, try it in a tent!After each time I had to change my cloths, which was often since we were at the beautiful Cove Palisades in Central Oregon with the standard mountain climate of cold to hot to cold, I would end by just laying on our tent bed panting with exhaustion like I had just climbed a mountain. Daren would hang around and laugh at the sounds of my trying to dress and then be there to pull me up to my feet when I was ready to get out of the tent. I was really grateful for that!

Aside from the dressing challenges and the uncomfortable napping, for a normal person this would have been sleeping time but at 7 1/2 months pregnant in a tent its a nap, we had a really great time.

The sights of this part of the state are some of my favorite. The huge canyons with the rivers running through them and the unique rock formations are incredible.

Daren was the king of the wake board,

his dad was the leader of the family ski team

Nathan was on guard duty with the giant water gun

and my mother in law, Judy, was on sunscreen watch

while I spent much of my time jumping into the cold waters of Lake Billy Chinook and calling the other people sissy's and big girls for not joining me.

30 weeks and a built in flotation device.

Caught up

I am caught up.

Caught up in my pregnancy. Caught up in my worries, my fears, my anxieties, my hopes and dreams, my symptoms, my back pain, cellulite and spider veins.

I mull over my hurt feelings, my emotions, my relationships, the changes happening to me.

The common thread in all of this is me. Just me. Not us, not he, not we. ME.

When all along I have this hot husband who, too, is about to become a parent for the first time and I can hardly tell you what he feels, thinks, or fears. I have been so caught up in me, in my pregnancy that I have neglected the WE.

With all of my heart I don't want to be that wife or that mom. The mom who only knows her kids and hardly knows her husband anymore. The wife who spends most of her mental energies picking apart the irritants or the things not done rather than acknowledging the good things done, the kind words or the help given. Our minds have a tendency to drift towards the negative, to believe the bad over the good and it is an individual responsibility to choose what you let your mind dwell on. And clearly, as of late I have not been ta

king this responsibility seriously enough.

And it has to start changing now. I have to remember that the reason I am with child is because of our decision to become a we. I want to strive to keep my marriage a top priority. I remember during our pre-marital sessions we were taught that in life your priorities should go God, your marriage, your children.

I don't know how to do that and our first baby isn't even here yet! I'm going to be honest, I don't know how hard this is going to get. I can only imagine how much more difficult this is going to become once I am actually holding my little bundle of baby in my arms and as we become busier and more sleep deprived than we have ever been.

But I am going to try.

I'm going to try starting right now.

In honor of my fresh commitment I am listing for you the top ten best things about the man I married.

1- I respect him. He is a man of his word who stands strong for what he feels and believes.

2- He is as loyal as they come. He has friends almost everywhere we go and they all tell me, when he's not around, what a great guy he is.

3-He strives for better. He is not one to sit on his laurels and stay stagnant. He like to push himself to meet new goals and exceed the ones he's already met.
4. He is sexy! His shoulders, his back, and of course those "Best Buns of '91 are still doin' the trick. Add to that his blue eyes and dimple and I'm sunk.

5. He is going to make a great Dad. He is going to be one of those Dad's who is wonderfully protective of our kids while letting them get ruffed up a bit and play in the dirt. I know he will find the balance between keeping an eye on our children and keeping me calm when I have the urge to over protect.

6. He is the type of provider that makes me feel safe. Because he do

es what he does so well and with such commitment I am able to have the gift of being a stay at home mom. This affords us the ability to raise our children ourselves with the values and the hearts that we want to instill in them, without having to struggle with the costs of daycare and influences we may not agree with or do not believe our children are ready for.

7. He is a wonderful husband who has never given me a reason to worry that he might stray. If I'm worried in the middle of the nights its for his safety, not about some other random girl. I consider this to be a huge gift to be that comes straight out o

f his solid character.

8. He is willing to learn, grow, and change. Even if its hard. I am so impressed by his commitment to meeting with other Godly men, getting up early to read and his journey to knowing Jesus in a new way.

9. He is trustworthy. I trust him. I believe what he says and trust h

im completely.

10. He loves me like I've never been loved before.

I am proud to be with him.

Pregnancy by The Numbers

30 Weeks

30 pounds

38 inches around at the belly button

3-4 average times up in a night for various reasons including bathroom, insomnia, hunger, and restless leg syndrome

1 times I've fallen into the toilet in the middle of the night due to the seat being left up

3 number of pillows currently used in a vain attempt to find comfort

2 times I puked on an airplane

2 bottles of tums consumed

12 orders of biscuits and gravy ordered off of any menu that has them

1 time I fell asleep in the bathtub at 2:00am

2 names chosen

1 time my husband made the "beep, beep, beep" noise of a large truck backing up as I was crossing the room

5 times I have cried about my weight

9 times I have visited the neighborhood baby botuique to just look at the stroller and car seat we will be buying

4 the number of Lemon Drop martini's I want right now

58 the number of times my honest answer to my husband has been "I forgot"

3 bra size changes

10 the number of weeks to go if we make it the full 40

3 the average number of questions I have for my Dr at any given appointment

4 baby books half read

2 jars of peanut butter and 1 full pack of Graham Crackers consumed within the last 3 weeks

2 ultrasound pictures on our fridge

1 baby playing pinball in my belly right now.

The Heart of my Father

I can hear his heartbeat. Low, loud, and strong. It thumps to a rhythm of it's very own and then stops, only for a second, then returns itself to it's sounds of strength. Over the years I come to learn that this is normal. This is the sound of His heart.

The bedspread is pink. Very pink. And shiny. It wasn't until this very moment that I ever thought of how irritating that must have been for him! A mans man, a tough guy, the leader of the pack sleeps under a hot pink shiny bed spread.

They had had that bed frame all of my life. For most of the lives of both of my brothers too. My Mother would often recall the early days when all five of us were crammed into that bed due to various nightmares and the monsters who were unquestionably under our own beds.

This is the safest place I have ever known. Here I am special. Here I am comforted. Here I am happy.

I lay with my head on his chest with his grown man chest hairs alternating between tickling my nose and totally grossing me out. We watch Star Trek and explains to me how no one can ever out do the beauty of the human form so they have to make them gross and scary. All of this I listen to while keeping one ear on his heart.

This how I spent so many nights growing up. It never seemed to matter the hour or occasion. Whether it be a bad dream, a poor race performance, exhaustion from another long rehearsal or a broken heart, He and his heart were ready for me.

I have always understood my Father's heart. It's steadfast determination combined with a quiet gentle way has always made sense to me. Even its needs for a moment of silence before powering forward, I understood and it taught me patience.

In this moment I was happy. I was loved. I knew that right there I was special. I understood him, and he understood me. We understood each other and we were happy.

Even if we didn't understand my Mother's choice of bedspread.