Four Months Already...

Disclaimer on this week's picture! Texan and I and eight of our dear friends went to Italian food after church where Texan and I shared a calzone (and I ate a salad of my own). So PLEASE excuse how big my stomach looks. I mean, yeah...I'm pregnant. But when I saw the picture I couldn't believe my eyes! It has since gone down, but we took the picture immediately after returning home as we were leaving to hang out with some fun people. I don't know. This stomach thing is weird.


Anyway...here's what's happening this week.

This past week was my first full week not working. I know I won't be working more than a couple days a month, if at all, once Little Texan arrives. But I would like to work until he/she gets here as long as I can. But we're trying it out, because of many things all culminating to this month led to us deciding that I should at least take the month of July off and see how things look once the school year starts. And this week sure did go by slowly. I could've got a lot done. I could've finished a scrapbook or sewed some of  my belly bands. But I figured if I'm not working, I don't really want to be out driving around spending money on crafts and whatnot. I'll save that for later on...

So, I cleaned, made delicious dinners, made an organized grocery list and stuck to it. I played with my dogs, watched way too much Netflix, and made business calls that Texan can't because he's too busy at work some days. This was such a busy week for my sweet, tired hubby. I'm glad we had a nice Sunday together with friends.

As far as the pledges I committed to in last week's post--I stuck to them! I did speed walking on Monday, and walk-jogging on Thursday and Friday. This entails speed walking broken up by running in small intervals. It felt great. But here's what I'm noticing about my body this week:
I get sore really fast. For instance, my legs are aching from my workout, and my back is sore from walking the dogs.
I'm not sleeping as soundly as usual. I have a hard time falling back to sleep once something has woken me up.
I need to be very cold to sleep comfortably.
I have times of extreme thirst. I take advantage of these times and drink copious amounts of water.
I am getting better about reading my  body's hungry signals. There was a week where I would get to the point of sweating and feeling faint because I would push past the point of hunger...hunger that turns itself on and off like a light switch. 

Here's something not about my body that I'm noticing...I am really tired of people telling me things that I'm going to hate about motherhood. I'm getting really testy with all the "just wait..." talk. I get it. Being a mom is hard work. But it's what many of us are called to do. We grow our families and stretch out our hearts until it's like each of our children is a piece of our heart walking around outside of our body.. It can be terrifying.  It can break us. But I also believe it will be the most incredible bearer of joy that no other calling in life could bestow upon me. Now let me get off my soapbox and finish up with a picture.

Small Update

Today I made the big appointment for our second ultrasound. This is the big one! This is the one where we will learn the sex of the baby. It is in precisely one month, and I feel like that is just around the corner. Time is going to fly by. When I started this blog, I mentioned that there might be a change of insurance part way through the pregnancy, and I might have to change doctors. That hasn't happened yet, but in the event that it does, the ultrasound will probably not be on the same day as it is now. However, I don't foresee that happening. But, for the sake of "What ifs..." I will keep the ultrasound date on the down-low until we are closer and know for sure that things are staying the same with our doctor.

But, for now, I love my doctor. I went in today for my 15-week  checkup where I was given the option to test for chromosomal abnormalities and spina bifida. I opted for "no, thanks," and we got to skip right over to hearing the baby's heart rate again. It was 150 bpm this time. And the most exciting thing happened while Doc was pressing the little heart rate wand on my belly. We would hear about 5 strong beats and then lose it, then he would move the wand, and hear a few more shortly before losing it. The baby was moving around! Finally he got a good count, but I wish I could've felt it. I spend a lot of  my standing up time pressing my hand against my belly to feel something, but nothing yet. My mom said that every time she was pregnant, the first feeling with each of my and my sisters was while leaning against the bathroom counter brushing her teeth. I'm taller or my counters are too low, so that won't work for me. But I'll wait patiently until I feel it.

For now, I played a few songs on my guitar for the baby and have been singing more than usual around the house. And despite my energy being a lot more than it was in my first trimester, I have been bogging down lately at random parts of the day. For instance, last night at approximately 6 o'clock, I took a two-hour nap. And I still went to bed at 11:30 like it was nothing. Not to mention, I was dragged out of a dead sleep at 8:30 am by a text from my dear, sweet friend who was on her way to her appointment to find out the sex of her baby. I know the details, but I'm sworn to secrecy!

Heart burn starts between 6 and 9 every evening, and it radiates to my brain. Headaches and heartburn are the only negatives I'm dealing with right now. My doc offered a pain prescription for the headaches and encouraged me to stick to Tylenol, but I prefer not to take anything. If 2 Tylenol doesn't cut it, oh well. I'll just drink some water and lie down. No need to fill my body with anything extra. Maybe I should quit staring at the computer screen for now, and go get a little nap before Texan comes home.

Tah, tah.

Week 15...Bump Alert!

I did not work out once this week.*
I slept until 12:35 one afternoon this week.
I spent more than the normally-allotted time outside in 100 degree weather this week--about 2 hours. I got a pedicure this week.
I wore nothing but dresses all week.

In the coming week...
I will work out 3 days.
I will wake up at a decent hour every morning, unless the baby absolutely insists.
I will keep my windows open as much as possible because we're supposed to have highs in the 70's!
I will give my husband a wonderful foot-rub.
I will continue to wear nothing but dresses because pants are overrated and none of my shorts fit me.

In baby news this week, he or she's ears are now capable of hearing so we are planning on reading to and saying lots of "I love you"s to the wee one. We have also officially decided on a boy name (in case it's a boy). I thought we would never agree, but it finally happened. We will probably wait to announce the names until we find out the sex. That way no one steals our names...just kidding!

Here are a few of the books I plan on reading to my baby in-utero.

This is Texan's favorite from his Aunt Shoe. We have it somewhere tucked away and we bought it for our nephew, Jack a couple years back.

This was one of my faves as a kid (but I'll probably say that about all of them).

And here I am at 15 weeks. On Friday when my parents got into town, my dad rubbed my belly and said, "You're looking pretty pregnant!" And my mom followed up with, "Look at the baby!" So, yeah. Bump alert!

*Does cleaning the whole house including mopping all floors count as a workout?
*This is my goal for the rest of summer.

Week 14

Leave it to me to wait until Thursday to post, and now I've forgotten everything we did this past weekend. Well, not completely. It was a holiday weekend, and Texan had a four-day-weekend generously bestowed upon him by his wonderful boss. Beginning Thursday, Texan was in relax mode. We spent the fourth with friends. Texan went for a 40-mile bike ride with a pal, then they went for breakfast while that pal's wife and I worked out and went to see The Heat in theaters. I love movie theaters. And I definitely had popcorn for breakfast that morning. Here are some strange things I have noticed recently about myself. I'm sure they are probably caused by my pregnancy, but maybe not all of them.

I sneeze at least 8 times a day. Every day. It's ridiculous. I can be inside, outside, in my car, in my bed...I sneeze all the time. I have these crazy sneezes that I can't even anticipate and they interrupt me mid-word. I don't have any other allergy-like symptoms or a cold. It's just weird.

My skin is really sensitive. After shaving my legs, they burn, they itch, they are majorly uncomfortable.

My lips hurt real bad* Seriously, when I was enjoying my movie popcorn the salt was killing my lips. I've been having to layer the chap stick on thick.
(link hiding below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkaDZb-QZl0

I have a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen. Yesterday Texan came home from work and gave me a big hug, and I had to push him away because he was pushing too hard on the lower portion of my belly. It didn't hurt but it was definitely strange. I've never experienced it before other than when laying flat on my belly. This led to Texan talking to the belly and saying "I love you" to the baby.

We spent Friday night through Sunday afternoon in McKinney with family. My mom bought me a couple of maxi dresses, which I plan to grow into quite nicely. (One of which I am wearing in my photo this week)

And, here it is. Week 14
<br>

Week 13...Hello, Vomit.

As of Sunday, June 30, I am 13 weeks along! It was the roughest Sunday I have had since being pregnant, though. Usually Sundays are a day to rejoice because not only are they the only guaranteed day off for Texan and I to have together--Saturdays are a toss-up--but we get to go to church, and of course we get to take our weekly belly pic! But this Sunday was destined to be different.

I was awoken at 5 am by extreme hunger. But I was too tired to get out of bed and eat, and I do not like eating at strange times, so I quickly fell back to sleep. Then, as we were driving to church at 9:30, I remembered just how hungry I really was! I told Texan when we got to church, "I need to go to the café and get something to eat, or I won't make it through service." So we went down to the café where they usually have muffins or donuts for 50 cents. But alas, they were all out. "There are some delicious breakfast burritos that someone made, though!" encouraged the friendly café attendant. Wow, all of a sudden a breakfast burrito sounded great. Texan and I each grabbed one and scarfed them down, sharing a Sprite. Then we went to service where we shared a piece of bubble gum, and everything seemed fine. But when prayer circle began at 11 am in Sunday school, I got terribly hot. My hands felt like they were on fire, and my sweet friend's perfume or deodorant or something was making me nauseated. My mouth filled with saliva, and I dropped hands with my friend on one side, and Texan on the other, exited the room, and knelt over a toilet. Thank GOD the bathroom is right next door to our classroom. But nothing came out. I waited five minutes, then decided that maybe I was mistaken. As I took my seat again in class, prayer circle was over and someone was reading scripture aloud from  2 Corinthians. Someone passed me a trash can. Thank GOD most of the people in our class know exactly how I'm feeling (or they know how it feels to be married to someone who feels like me). But as soon as the trash can hit the ground, I was off and running to the bathroom again, where I was sick for about 10-15 minutes. That burrito leapt out of me uncontrollably until I was dry-heaving over the bathroom sink as a tried to rinse my mouth out. Texan took me home, where I ejected the lining of my stomach on the front lawn, then took a 3-hour nap after snacking on some grapes with cheese and crackers to settle my stomach.

This is by far the fastest onset of sickness I have experienced in my pregnancy. And I feel fine today. At work this morning, someone told me that I am definitely having a girl. Apparently my symptoms and past cravings are very similar to her FOUR pregnancies with girls. I'm not sure I believe her, but she has a 50/50 chance of being right, and 7 kids at home, so I'll nod and smile.



Tomorrow I have my 13-week checkup! No ultrasound this time, but I may be able to hear the baby's heartbeat. I am also taking dinner and dessert to a family in our Sunday school class who just gave birth to a baby girl. We had two births in our class in the same weekend! Both girls. I am taking diapers to the other family. It's very nice  to know that these are the same people who will be there for us when we have our little one. We are very blessed.

Emotions this week: Testy with people at work. Little patience. Quick temper. I have to stay in the word and keep praying for patience.
Eating this week: Normal, ate chicken for the first time at dinner tonight. Two or three bites. Still loving my milk and really cant wait to go buy cereal tomorrow. I would love some Cheerios right now. Wow, leave it to me to write about my eating habits and make myself hungry in the process.

And here is our 13-week picture. I'm rocking a post-work disheveled look. Belly is small, clearly sticking out to Texan and I. But no one else seems to notice.