[caption id="attachment_1768" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
This was made by my dear friend's sister, Leslie. Isn't it adorable?[/caption]
I had intended to be much better about updating this blog during my pregnancy. After all, it is a pregnancy after so many years of waiting, and for all we know, it might be my only one. But it was difficult to post regularly in the first trimester because 1) I was continually scared that something would go wrong. What if I posted a happy blog post and then lost the baby the next day? and 2) I felt so awful and exhausted most of the time.
And then the very day that I entered the second trimester, when my chances of carrying this baby to term increased greatly and I was all of a sudden supposed to feel much better, I caught a wicked cold. I am very low on vacation time, so I had to work through the sickness, and I also had to teach my Wednesday night chemistry class (which is now over, woohoo!). That was about all I could do, so blogging wasn't high on the agenda. It's been 4 weeks, and I am still recovering from the cold. It turned into nasty respiratory issues, which caused my OB to prescribe an inhaler last week. I was nervous inhalers weren't safe, but she said what is NOT safe is the baby not getting oxygen. So I've been using the inhaler religiously, and I seem to be on the mend, slowly but surely.
So anyway, I am still here and still pregnant. And we now know that our baby is a GIRL! We were able to get one of the brand new cell-free DNA tests (where they look at the baby's DNA in my blood--I love science!) at 13 weeks, and the next week our results were in. Our doctor told us to pick up the results and open them over dinner, to make it special. We do not have the discipline for that, so instead Tom called first thing in the morning to get our results and then called me with the news. I was 99% sure we were having a boy, but I wanted a girl so badly. I don't know why, because baby boys are awesome, and I was planning on being thrilled with the news of a boy. But I will never forget for the rest of my life the way I felt when Tom said "We are having a little girl." It was so special, even if the news was received over the phone in my dingy basement cubicle.
My belly has been steadily growing. I am on track for weight gain, but I am not even close to being one of those women who haven't gained any weight yet. This baby likes her food and likes her space. I lost weight with my first pregnancy, so I figured that might happen with this one. But nope, turns out that healthy pregnancies make me fat. I am ok with that.
Here are the belly pics I have taken so far. I did not plan for this outfit to become my picture-taking outfit, but since I used it for the first photo, I decided to use it for the rest for comparison. I stopped actually wearing the shirt out at 12 weeks, so I have been taking the pictures on Saturday instead of Monday when my weeks technically reset (I don't have time to put on an outfit I don't plan on wearing on a work day). The 8 week photo was taken so I could document my huge belly of bloat already. It looks quite small now, but I do remember how gross and bloated I felt that day. At least now I am in the part of my pregnancy in which I am supposed to look pregnant.
[caption id="attachment_1760" align="aligncenter" width="400"]
8/10/12 weeks[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1756" align="aligncenter" width="400"]
14/16/18 weeks[/caption]
So, here we are. 18 weeks pregnant with a little girl. I have started to feel her move, which has been incredible. Even Tom has felt her a few times! She's quite the wiggly girl. I love being able to know that she is alive in there; it's so much better than waiting 4 weeks for each new appointment.
We are still afraid, but we will always be afraid. So we are doing our very best to trust Jesus with every moment and every day. Trusting him doesn't mean it will all go perfectly; I know there are no guarantees of that. But it does mean he will be with us. And I'm so very thankful he is with us on this journey.
This was made by my dear friend's sister, Leslie. Isn't it adorable?[/caption]I had intended to be much better about updating this blog during my pregnancy. After all, it is a pregnancy after so many years of waiting, and for all we know, it might be my only one. But it was difficult to post regularly in the first trimester because 1) I was continually scared that something would go wrong. What if I posted a happy blog post and then lost the baby the next day? and 2) I felt so awful and exhausted most of the time.
And then the very day that I entered the second trimester, when my chances of carrying this baby to term increased greatly and I was all of a sudden supposed to feel much better, I caught a wicked cold. I am very low on vacation time, so I had to work through the sickness, and I also had to teach my Wednesday night chemistry class (which is now over, woohoo!). That was about all I could do, so blogging wasn't high on the agenda. It's been 4 weeks, and I am still recovering from the cold. It turned into nasty respiratory issues, which caused my OB to prescribe an inhaler last week. I was nervous inhalers weren't safe, but she said what is NOT safe is the baby not getting oxygen. So I've been using the inhaler religiously, and I seem to be on the mend, slowly but surely.
So anyway, I am still here and still pregnant. And we now know that our baby is a GIRL! We were able to get one of the brand new cell-free DNA tests (where they look at the baby's DNA in my blood--I love science!) at 13 weeks, and the next week our results were in. Our doctor told us to pick up the results and open them over dinner, to make it special. We do not have the discipline for that, so instead Tom called first thing in the morning to get our results and then called me with the news. I was 99% sure we were having a boy, but I wanted a girl so badly. I don't know why, because baby boys are awesome, and I was planning on being thrilled with the news of a boy. But I will never forget for the rest of my life the way I felt when Tom said "We are having a little girl." It was so special, even if the news was received over the phone in my dingy basement cubicle.
My belly has been steadily growing. I am on track for weight gain, but I am not even close to being one of those women who haven't gained any weight yet. This baby likes her food and likes her space. I lost weight with my first pregnancy, so I figured that might happen with this one. But nope, turns out that healthy pregnancies make me fat. I am ok with that.
Here are the belly pics I have taken so far. I did not plan for this outfit to become my picture-taking outfit, but since I used it for the first photo, I decided to use it for the rest for comparison. I stopped actually wearing the shirt out at 12 weeks, so I have been taking the pictures on Saturday instead of Monday when my weeks technically reset (I don't have time to put on an outfit I don't plan on wearing on a work day). The 8 week photo was taken so I could document my huge belly of bloat already. It looks quite small now, but I do remember how gross and bloated I felt that day. At least now I am in the part of my pregnancy in which I am supposed to look pregnant.
[caption id="attachment_1760" align="aligncenter" width="400"]
8/10/12 weeks[/caption][caption id="attachment_1756" align="aligncenter" width="400"]
14/16/18 weeks[/caption]So, here we are. 18 weeks pregnant with a little girl. I have started to feel her move, which has been incredible. Even Tom has felt her a few times! She's quite the wiggly girl. I love being able to know that she is alive in there; it's so much better than waiting 4 weeks for each new appointment.
We are still afraid, but we will always be afraid. So we are doing our very best to trust Jesus with every moment and every day. Trusting him doesn't mean it will all go perfectly; I know there are no guarantees of that. But it does mean he will be with us. And I'm so very thankful he is with us on this journey.
A GIRL! How exciting!
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