Since I have only a week of pregnancy left (give or take, hopefully sooner than later!), I figured I would document a few pregnancy memories for journaling purposes. I haven't done a very good job of journaling and need to write some things down before Baby Girl comes out and makes me forget everything!
We started trying to get pregnant really randomly. One day we calculated when our China tour would be in May and decided we would try in December or January so I could still go and if we couldn't get pregnant we would wait until after tour and try again. We discussed it lightly for only a few minutes and felt really good about it. We had never felt like it was right before this time and BINGO! It was. It took only a day or two of trying. Baby Girl really wanted to come down from heaven quickly!
We knew that we were pregnant long before I missed a period because I was already having lots of telling symptoms (can you say, growing two bra sizes?). We could hardly wait for the time when we could take a home pregnancy test- Thomas was so giddy when there were two pink lines!
I began throwing up at about six weeks and continued to throw up a few times a day until about 24 weeks when things eased up. I still had to be careful afterwards and would throw up every couple of weeks until the last month. I got my "morning sickness" mostly in the evenings for the first half of pregnancy and had to mostly stay in bed moaning in pain at night. I didn't throw up involuntarily- I could basically time my inevitable throw ups to get the misery over with temporarily. After 14 weeks or so I got sick in the mornings and had many an incidence of cold cereal out the nose! Throwing up was much more unpredictable those days.
I knew that Baby Girl was a girl long before our ultrasound at 20 weeks (at least I felt like I knew). We were already calling her a girl and referring to her by her name before we knew officially! Before this time Thomas decided her fetus name was going to be Buford (much to my dismay).
I had to buy maternity clothes really early- at about 12 weeks- because any pressure on my abdomen was insanely uncomfortable from conception. I spent all of midsemester tour before this with my pants all the way unzipped with long shirts to cover. I was big enough at this time that strangers could tell I was pregnant. I got really big really fast- (people in China thought I was eight months when I was only five). This slowed down by the end of my seventh month after which people said that I was carrying really small and compact and I should be grateful.
I first felt Baby Girl kick at about 20 weeks. I felt little flutters for a few weeks before this but really felt her kick when we were on the plane taking off for China. She did not like riding on the plane and would go berzerk with pressure changes! She also would get really hyper during dance shows when the music was really loud. For quite a while, every time Thomas tried to feel her move she would be still as a rock- Thomas was afraid he was being rejected. Now that it is late in pregnancy he LOVES to spend time just holding my belly and pushing on her little feet or bottom to feel her move. My favorite is when I can feel and see the outline of her little foot from the outside!
My least favorite things about this pregnancy:
-Prune juice. No more details are necessary.
-No sleeping on my stomach, many a sleepless night, and sleeping on the couch.
-Puking in nearly every bathroom on the BYU campus, puking on the bus, puking on the plane, puking in abandoned parking lots and the kitchen sink.
-Feeling exhausted. Why did I move into a place with TWO sets of stairs? I miss dancing!
-Carpal tunnel and swelling. My hands hurt like the dickens and even my nose is swollen.
-The addition of another chin.
My most favorite things about this pregnancy:
-Feeling a cute little life growing and wiggling inside of me. I couldn't wait for her to start kicking!
-Having an extra snuggly Butter Cat around to keep me company. He would often come and sit by my legs while I threw up in the bathroom and would snuggle me on the couch when I was feeling extra rotten. He was my best companion besides Thomas!
-Swimming- ah the weightlessness!
-Baby hiccups. All day long. (This was a bit like Chinese water torture, but it was still cute).
-Having an excuse to buy all the food I want to eat, when I want it. For a while all I could eat was Creamies, yogurt, string cheese, strawberries and ice cream. Of course these were all off limits to Thomas, which he hated.
-Patting my tummy and getting a very excited (or annoyed) reaction from Baby Girl.
It has felt like the longest nine months of my life. I am SO EXCITED to meet our little girl and to be her mommy!
