33 Weeks

33 Weeks Pregnant

Update from BabyCenter.com:
"This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood."

It is crazy to think about how fast this pregnancy has gone. Time really does fly! Can you believe that in 7 weeks we are due to meet our first baby!?

His movements have changed a bit. He still moves all the time but now they are more rolling, moving slowly, pushing, stretching kind of movements. No more hard punches and kicks, which is nice.

Date Nights are Important!!

Marriage Check- Up Date

I read a book not too long ago giving me ideas on how to make date nights fun and different without spending money. One of the chapters was on the Marriage Check- Up Date. In this date we spent time thinking about our goals, our likes, our dislikes, our favorite moments, of the past year of our marriage. It was a perfect platform to reflect and catch up. 

For this particular date I went a bit above and beyond. I hand-made and mailed a formal invitation for Mike. I enclosed "homework" cards for him to complete. I made one of his favorite meals and I decorated the living room to look romantic and special. (You can see my homework cards sitting on the table.)

I am not sure what Mike was expecting with all my secrets in regards to this date but this is definitely a winner! I would like to have this date every six months or so. I loved catching up on happenings, talking about our hopes and dreams, and just listening to each other for an extended amount of time. How often are we rushed to just "get it out"? This was a moment of total communication. All focus was on the other person. There was no agenda or schedule. We just ate at our leisure, shared stories, and went through our Marriage Check- Up questions. (Note, if you want me to send you my invite or homework cards let me know...)

I know it is imperative that we DATE REGULARLY! Our dates allow us to focus on our loved ones. It doesn't always have to be an "event." Last weekend we ate at Chick Fil A and got ice cream cones at Ikea. But we sat in the booth at Chick Fil A for a good hour just talking away. Dates are not a something we want... they are a something we NEED! It is so important to stop and to focus on one another in this busy crazy life and dates are a perfect way to do that.

So here is to six months from now... when we have another Marriage Check-Up Date to reflect upon our new lives as parents!

Me and My Shadow

32 Weeks Pregnant

BabyCenter.com Update:
"By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth."

Me and my shadow
Strolling down the avenue
Me and my shadow
Not a soul to tell our troubles to
But when it's twelve a clock
We climb the stair
We never knock
'Cause nobody's there
Just me and my shadow
All alone and feeling blue

 

For now its just me and my shadow, but in a few weeks there will be someone else!  I simply cannot wait!

A Picture of True Love

 

Now this is love...

My sweet husband spent an evening painting my toe nails red. I couldn't hunch over to do it myself so he did the hunching and painting. What an act of love and service! Some of you may see a picture like this and roll your eyes with a comment like "he is whipped" or "what a sap" but I am here to tell you that it takes more balls to serve your wife in creative ways that touch her heart than it does to grunt and ignore moments of blessing. Mike has always been one to bless over grunt. He is always thinking of little ways to make my innerds smile. 

I have heard marriage referred to as a 50-50 relationship, but those of us who are married know that it is a 100-100 gig. Mike often thinks of ways to go above and beyond in his love and this is just one example. Many of you have heard of the book The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman? Well in the book there are Five Love Languages that people have: Physical Touch and Closeness, Gift Giving, Quality Time, Acts of Service, and Encouraging Words. These are all ways in which we give and receive love. Mike is working on a masters degree in the art of speaking my love language. As am I. I hope this is something that we never stop doing. We all have to learn how to speak the language of love to our spouse, and for that matter, our children, and all those around us.

Because after all, we are on this earth to WALK IN LOVE! 

And I just happen to have pretty red toenails while I am walking... thanks sweet man!

9 weeks to go!

31 Weeks Pregnant

Update from BabyCenter.com:
"This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy."

Shout out to Daniel and Michelle who had their beautiful baby girl this week and Jim and Wei Wei who had their handsome little man this week. What a fun week of babies!

This week was a challenging week. My new job is a huge blessing because I do not have to work on grades or cope with parents or even take home papers to grade. However, physically I am not sure the pregnant body is up for walking around from classroom to classroom, teaching science on my feet all day long, while rolling a cart of science tools from place to place. Monday I came home in tears. Actually, I cried every day. You know how you see a child who needs a nap and they have the sleepy tears? That's what I feel like at the end of the day. Just a whimpering mess of a body.

But God is still sustaining me. (As he always will.) I press into Him each morning and ask Him to fill me with the strength to get through the day. I pray that he fills me with the capacity to not just make-it but to live in a way that He longs for me to live. He is teaching me persistence physically, how to move your feet when you feel like you cant move them anymore. I am imagining that this persistence lesson may come in handy when I go into labor.

All in all, I can do this. I am a daughter of the most high God and He has equipped me for all this and more.

God has ordered all my steps!

3D/4D Ultrasound

Here he is. Handsome right? His face is even cuter than I could have ever imagined.

I am overwhelmed with emotions when I look at his little face. After seeing him, I fell even deeper in love with Mike. This baby has both of us represented in him. God has divine purpose for his life and I love knowing that He chose us to be his earthly parents.

"For you were made in my image." Genesis 1:27

God sure makes a mighty image... 

To be honest I was worried that the little guy would look a bit like Frankenstein in the ultrasound. Boy was I wrong, he looks like a little man! His face is perfect in every way and I was instantly captivated by him. These high tech ultrasounds are amazing!
The only Frankenstein-ish thing that he did during his moment in the spotlight was suck on his own umbilical cord and pick his nose. And yes, we have it on video too!

3/4 of the way there!

30 Weeks Pregnant

Update from BabyCenter:
"Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he 's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)"

How you feeling?
This seems to be the question that everyone and there mother asks me. I usually respond with a good or alright response but here is the truth...
I feel fat! I know it is for good reason and that every pound means that he is a healthy boy. It just hurts to move, to sit up, to sit down. I wake up at least three times each night and sometimes cant fall back to sleep. The boy decides to have dance parties at 3am and doesn't stop until it is time for me to get up anyway. By 3pm I am DONE with the day and ready to be a zombie.
BUT,
I love this little man and I know that it is totally worth it! I would do this for the rest of my life (which is probably what will end up happening with Mike's super sperm) if that meant happy healthy God-given babies!