22 Weeks

This week we celebrated our 4th anniversary!  Well, we haven't actually celebrated it yet, we're planning to go to New York City for a long weekend in May.  I can't believe it's been 4 years since I walked down that aisle toward the love of my life.  A lot has happened in that time, and I'm so glad to share it with my best friend and husband!  I hope we never stop having adventures together.

In our biggest adventure yet, I am now 22 weeks.  Baby Xander is the size of an eggplant and weighs about a pound by now.  We got the results of our ultrasound back and everything looks great!  Praise the Lord!  His little organs all seem to be growing/working properly, and everything is right on track.  This is especially good to hear since I opted not to get the blood test that screens for chromosomal defects and Spina Bifida.  There is a high risk of false positives with that test and I didn't want to worry needlessly.

I've heard that in the next few weeks the baby is doubling his weight, and I am not surprised because I feel suddenly huge!  I can literally feel my abdomen stretching and pulling as it grows, and it's starting to get more difficult to get off the couch and out of bed.  It is also harder to get comfortable these days when I'm sitting or sleeping.  I've only gained 8 pounds so far though, which is great considering that we've had Easter candy and girl scout cookies in the house for the last month.  Fortunately I haven't had any swelling, and I'm hoping it stays that way.

I haven't had any cravings per se, where you wake up in the middle of the night wanting a certain food, but my favorite snack is strawberries dipped in Nutella with a glass of milk...so good! I actually ate a few spoonfuls out of the jar the other day when I ran out of strawberries, so maybe it does count as a craving. Also I've really been wanting iced coffee lately.  I need to figure out how to make some decaf at home.

Xander is kicking me a lot these days, and I love it!  Except for when he kicks my bladder, that isn't comfortable.  I can't wait till he's strong enough for James to feel.  Keep growing baby boy, we love you!

Boy oh Boy!

On Saturday at 20 weeks, I went in for my anatomy scan and we found out we are having a BOY!!  We are both so excited!  I really feel like God has been preparing me for a boy this whole time, because I've had a gut feeling since day one that he would be a he!  In fact, James and both sets of parents also thought it would be a boy, so we really weren't terribly surprised.  I had told a friend recently that if it was a girl, I would be very happy, but I'd have to adjust my thinking a lot.  I guess mother's (and father's) intuition is a real thing!  Anyway, it was so exciting to get to see our little man on the screen.  He was moving around a little and halfway through he had a huge yawn.  Its so exhausting to be a baby.  :-)  The nurse estimated him to weigh 13 ounces...almost a pound!

We are naming him Alexander James Shepherd, and we'll call him Xander.  We've had this name picked out since we got married, and it happens to be the ONLY boy name that we both love, so it was a pretty easy choice!  Alexander means "defender of the people" and I just love that.  I pray that he will grow up to be a man of God who stands up for the downtrodden and helps those who are in need. 

I am getting very excited about doing the nursery and getting baby stuff now that we know it's a boy.  We have had two Bradley classes so far, and it's been ok, although we did a really awkward and (in my opinion) dumb relaxation exercise at the last class.  I can't relax while lying on the floor with a group of people listening to a pregnant woman from the 80s wearing a hot pink and turquoise leotard talk about visualizing air flowing to your baby, and recognizing your inner goddess.  Hopefully it will get better!   

I can't believe we are halfway there!  I am feeling pretty good.  The weirdest part is that I can feel the weight of my uterus; it's a strange sensation.  The best part is that I can finally feel little kicks!  They are very low in my abdomen and feel like little jabs, or sort of like bubbles popping.  I just love it!  I can't wait until they are strong enough for James to feel. I was starting to get a little worried that I hadn't felt anything yet a few weeks ago, so it is very reassuring for me.  We can't wait to meet you little one!

18 Weeks

Me at 16 weeks

 

I am now 18 weeks, almost halfway through!  Baby Shepherd is the size of a baked potato this week; about 5.5 inches and 7 ounces.  I have started feeling actually pregnant now, and I caved and bought some maternity pants.  They are pretty awesomely comfortable compared to my normal jeans, which technically still fit, but dig into me all day.  They also smooth out my belly, making me look pregnant rather than just chubby, so that's a bonus.

I still haven't felt any movement that I can definitively say was baby, though I probably have felt flutters and not realized that's what it was.  On the doppler though the baby's heart is strong and he/she moves around, so I will probably feel it soon.

Baby has been giving me some unpleasant symptoms recently including shortness of breath and heart palpitations (all normal), but the worst is round ligament pain.  I had to call the nurse to see what it was because I thought I injured myself.  It feels like a pulled muscle on my left side and hurts every time I sit down, stand up, walk, or even breathe deeply.  It is very uncomfortable and makes me feel like I'm 80 years old hobbling around, but it's a very common pregnancy complaint and can happen throughout the second and third trimester...oh boy!  Apparently the ligaments holding my uterus in place don't like all the stretching that is required as baby grows.  But all in all, I'm doing great and enjoying the miracle of growing a life.

James and I are very excited to find out the gender coming up in a couple of weeks!  We bought a nice crib tonight off Craigslist for a good deal, so I am excited about that.  And we have signed up for a Bradley childbirth class that starts later this month.  There are so many things to do in the next 22 weeks so I'm glad to be checking a few off the list.  I can't wait for baby to get here, but I am thankful for the 9 months to prepare.

Lent

Ash Wednesday was a couple of weeks ago, and I had a hard time this year figuring out how to observe Lent.  I didn't grow up following the church calendar, so Lent is something that I choose to observe because I think it is a good way to ready my heart for Easter. In fasting from something in my life that is important to me, I am forced to have moments of discomfort, and in those moments I can stop and thank God for His ultimate sacrifice for my sins, and pray for those around the world who are in need.  Then when Easter comes, it is time to rejoice, because the sacrifice was paid, and Christ is risen!

This year I started reading a book called A Place At the Table by Chris Seay. This book encourages Christians to fast from actual food.  Not completely of course, but he suggests choosing the main foods of a third world country and only eating that for the 40 days of Lent.  His book also has 40 days of readings featuring people in poor areas of the world and the struggles they go through.  

I'm not following the book completely because I didn't think it was a good idea for me to eat only beans, rice, tortillas, etc., for 6 weeks.  Baby needs more diverse nutrients.  So instead I decided that I will make beans and rice once a week for dinner, and I will save any money that I normally would spend on myself for fun stuff and give it to a charity.  It's not much, but just a little bit helps me to remember what Christ did for me.

15 week update

I had my second midwife appointment last week.  It was fun because I got to hear the heartbeat! It was hovering around 160, which is a good number.  If you go by the old wives tale, that means I'm having a girl, but we'll see.  I don't put much stock in those...they are always 50/50! I still think I'm having a boy. We'll get to find out sometime in March.

I like my midwife so far.  She's natural birth/low intervention oriented, but still delivers in a hospital, which I think is the best of both worlds.  Hopefully it turns out that way.

Big news!



Our little blessing, so cute already!

So I haven't been very good at updating the blog this year, but I have a good excuse.  I'm pregnant!! I found out December 1st, but wanted to keep it a secret until 12 weeks, and since that was pretty much all I thought about for two months, the blog suffered.  But now I can talk about it!

We are so thrilled to welcome baby Shepherd (yes, just one in there!) this August! I'm 14 weeks now and past the ugly first trimester.  Actually, I didn't have it too bad, I was mostly just exhausted and nauseous if I didn't eat something every hour or so.  I had about a month of feeling pretty gross, but it definitely could have been worse, so I am thankful. I started to feel a little more normal around 11 weeks.

This week the baby is the size of a peach!  I am feeling good for the most part.  I am still tired a lot, and I seem to be always hungry.  I still fit in most of my clothes, although I had to retire my tightest pair of jeans today.  In about a month or so we get to find out if its a boy or a girl and I can't wait!  I have lots of ideas for the nursery.

Well it's time for me to go to bed, but I'll leave you with a couple of pictures.  And hopefully I'll have time/energy to post more often.

10 weeks

13 weeks

14 weeks, getting harder to hide the bump.

Snow!

 

We've been having sub-freezing temperatures lately, and it finally cooperated and gave us some snow!  4-6 inches is the most we've gotten since we moved here, it's so pretty! This makes the 14 degree weather a little more bearable.  And on the plus side, it's supposed to be in the 50s next week, yay!