I haven't written in a little while because I haven't really had anything new to report. I had my 16 week check up a few weeks ago, and everything is just fine. What we're really excited for and can hardly wait to find out is the gender of our little sweetheart. We find that out during my first ultrasound on April 8th, when I'm 20 weeks along. A week from this Thursday. Other than that, I just continue to get bigger and enjoy being able to have an appetite again. I thought I would never feel better, but it's really true that around 16 weeks the nausea goes away, and the appetite comes back. I have enjoyed every bite of it.
However, now that I'm feeling better, I need to start watching what I eat. That, unfortunately, is a lot harder to do with all the delicious Easter candy staring me in the face. And while I indulge every once and awhile and eat a Cadbury cream egg (yes, the cream kind, in it's original size. None of this caramel/fudge mini-sized mockery), I've been pretty good about switching to whole grains and lots of veggies. My sister Liz sent me two excellent books on eating during pregnancy, and I have loved trying out the tasty recipes. This weekend Brenton and I bought a bunch of ingredients to make several soups from the books, and froze what we wouldn't need this week to have for later meals. So far each recipe has been delicious.
As the baby grows, and so does Mommy, I have found that little jr. loves my right side. He/she uses my bladder for a mattress and my ligaments as stuffed animals to snug, making it very painful for me to move, or even just sit. Friday night it got so painful I tried to gently massage my right side to get him/her to move over and give me some relief. Sure enough, the baby moved and I felt great. For three minutes. Then with an obvious lurch, our little pumpkin rolled right back to his/her favorite position, and I was in pain all over again. I let out a pathetic whine, and looked over to see Brenton just beaming at my tummy. Frustrated, I glared and said, "A little sympathy would be nice, you know." He sweetly replied, "I know it hurts sweetheart, and I'm so sorry about that, but I think it's just about the cutest thing I've heard all week that our baby already has a personality and a favorite spot to snuggle." I realized he had a point, and it was pretty darling when I looked at it from that angle.
But I still couldn't get the baby to settle down. He/she kept squirming and tugging, and the night was getting later. So Brenton suggested that I try sitting in the rocker and rocking the baby to sleep. I was desperate and willing to try just about anything. So I sat down and rocked for a few minutes. After awhile I noticed the squirming stop, and the pain slowly subsided. I had rocked my baby to sleep for the very first time, and started to cry. I don't care if it was all in my head, I thought it was so special. And then I had to get up and deflate the baby's mattress by peeing and wake him/her up again. Sigh, it was so sweet while it lasted
But I appreciate the perspective my husband presented as I grumbled through the pain. He looked so excited I couldn't help but share his enthusiasm. And it's helped whenever I feel the baby move to his/her favorite spot. I simply smile and thank my Heavenly Father for sending us one of His precious little children in the first place. Even though I can't hold him/her in my arms yet, I can still rock my baby to sleep, and that means the world to me.
