Pregnancy Update

I'm in my 26th week of pregnancy and thought it was time for an update.  So here are bullet points of how I am doing now and pictures of the growing bump over the past seven weeks (once I really started showing).

--Every time I visit the doctor I find out that our baby girl is as healthy as ever and everything looks great. We feel blessed and keep praying everything stays so positive.

^^19 weeks.  Out shopping for new clothes because I was struggling to fit in to  most things I owned^^

--I found an OBGYN in San Jose after a long search.  It was so much easier to find a doctor in the babyland that is Provo but my doctor is incredibly sweet.  He's Korean and taught at Stanford for a long time before going in to private practice.  I haven't whipped out my two Korean phrases on him yet but I plan to wow him next visit with my words ("Hello" and "Let's pray") as well as my love of bulgogi.

^^20 weeks wake boarding in St. George just after moving out of Provo.^^

--Bathroom stops are fewer than the first trimester but still pretty frequent (sorry, do you want to know about the frequency with which I visit the bathroom?  I feel like if this is to be a true pregnancy update I must mention something about it).

--People often ask me, "But, how are you feeling?" with a concerned, sympathetic look on their face.  I find this very sweet and I feel almost bad letting them down and saying that I feel great.  My first trimester had nausea and exhaustion but I have felt free and clear of that for some time now.  Other than this expanding belly, I don't really feel pregnant and can go about my day without a worry.  Occasionally I get a pretty bad headache at night, which I've pretty much traced to when I haven't gotten enough sleep or when I didn't eat right during the day (either enough or too much sweets).

^^23 weeks and she's the size of a mango!  We were shopping at Costco to stock up our fridge just before moving in to our new apartment^^

--This baby girl is active!  It feels like a mini torpedo inside of me quite often.  I love guessing if her jabs were the throwing of an elbow or a drumming of her hands or the kicking of her feet.  Aaron can definitely feel her moving now, which is the greatest thing.  She's most active at night, which has made it fun to lay in bed and have Aaron feel her kicks.  He said this morning, "Man, I just want to hold her.  Why do I have to wait three more months?"  And when he says things like that I get all sappy about what a good dad he will be.

--I've been checking books out of the library on anything having to do with having and raising a baby.  I'm starting to feel a little anxiety about becoming a mother.  It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that I have nooooo idea what to do once I actually have the baby.  Breastfeeding, sleep schedules, bathing, etc. etc. It's a lot to take in, and although I know that I will figure it out, I really am overwhelmed by how much there is to know and do.  Being pregnant is easy, having the baby and then keeping her alive is a whole different ballpark.

^^23 weeks and both happen to be taken in San Francisco but on different days.  On the left was when we stayed at the St. Francis hotel and on the right was just outside the Ferry Building.^^

--I was pretty anxious to get in to our apartment to start setting up the nursery (even though we still had four months to go I was feeling the urgency) but I have not done too much actually.  We have a dresser and a rocking chair that are in the room but we are mostly using the room now as an office.

^^24 weeks in the bathroom of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.  I had just found out that my Utah teaching license would transfer to CA much easier than I had previously thought.  Very happy news!^^

--Call me crazy but I actually like it when people ask to touch my belly.  I think this growing belly is the coolest thing!  I haven't had any random people just reach out and touch me so far, which maybe would weird me out, but who knows.  I think it's just so great and want people to share in the excitement that there is a real live baby in there!

--Thanks to a shopping trip with my mom and hand me down clothes from my sister-in-law Chelsea (she's having her baby TODAY!!) I have a pretty good assortment of maternity clothes to wear.

--I've been trying to do pregnancy pilates at home.  The woman in the workout video is 36 weeks pregnant and I think she is seriously a pregnancy ninja--the way she moves is inspiring!

^^25 weeks at home, planning out picture hanging in the background.^^

--No real pregnancy cravings, but if anything, I would say I prefer fruit more than ever before.  It always sounds like the perfect thing. And I would say sushi too because I do actually crave that but sadly cannot satisfy that craving for a while (although I'm scoping out sushi places already for some future date).

--As of Saturday, I officially started feeling huge.  Beyond cute and into bigness.  I can't squeeze in to spaces I used to be able to.  When I bend over, I am reminded that I have a huge pumpkin belly in my way.  And much of the time spent at home is with my shirt inching up and I've stopped trying to fight it, like so:

^^I don't know this boy (picture found off google here) but between his rolled up shirt and his holding his belly, I sure feel like I can relate to him^^

Overall, I feel like I have become that pregnant woman who loves being pregnant and who frequently takes cell phone pictures of herself in random mirrors.  I recognize that I have been blessed with good health myself and a healthy baby so far.  My hat is off to every woman who has had to throw up constantly throughout her pregnancy or dealt with the stress of finding out something is wrong with her baby's health.  These women are among my friends and family and I think that they are heroes.  Who knows what is in store for the next 14 weeks but we are praying for the very best and looking forward to the day we hold baby girl McKell in our arms.