Happy new trimester!

TODAY, New Years Eve, marks the first day of our third trimester - wahoo! There are zero more trimesters after this one. We are in the homestretch! Here is the current pregnancy status as we begin the new year and new trimester:

• Hannah likes to kick a lot. And jab. And stick her head or butt or some large part of her body out so that I can see it from the outside, which is both weird and spectacular.
• My hands keep falling asleep. True, I am becoming more tired again all over, too. But for some odd reason my hands are out sleeping the rest of me these days.
• It is possible that the sweet little stomach sleeper is dreaming. Apparently brain wave activity measured in a developing fetus shows different sleep cycles, including the REM phase where dreaming occurs. She's dreaming about pacifiers and Pampers, no doubt.

Other great news about this stage in pregnancy is that she would have a good prognosis even if born premature because her lungs have pretty much reach maturity. However, she is welcome to stick around in there for several more weeks because I need her to keep growing and her nursery furniture hasn't come in yet!

How to glide peacefully into debt

A girl who isn't me doing what I did all morning

Who knew that gliders were so expensive? I spent much of the morning visiting Treasure Rooms and Babies R Us in Chesterfield Valley trying out a few glider/ottoman combos. Given how expensive they were, I thought I might get charged a quarter for a test sit! Just like with anything, it appears that you get what you pay for. Some of the chairs on the cheaper end felt like sitting on the monkey bars. However, some of the chairs on the more expensive end felt like sitting on an empty wallet. Yep, you guessed it: I feel a comparative spreadsheet coming on!

Progess report:

Hallelujah for workplaces that close the week between Christmas and New Years!  We have made so much progress in the world o' baby over the past few days and beyond. Here's the latest...

1. We took care of daycare. After a scrutinizing review process, we have chosen West County Day School as the place that Hannah will spend 3 business days a week beginning in July. We like everything about this place from the cleanliness, structure, fun environment, staff, and location. The price isn't necessarily free but it's not the highest either. Hopefully Hannah will enjoy her time there.......and if not we will yank her out of there so fast and write terrible reviews about them online. Wheeeee!

2. The registry is complete. We've made a few online additions since we first started this adventure, but I believe we have officially registered for just about everything but the kitchen sink at Target and Babies R Us. There are a handful of things we left off on purpose (sorry but I don't want anyone buying me breastfeeding apparatus) but we've made up for it by registering for everything else under the sun.

3. Bedding has arrived. And, holy crap, is it cute! I located this fancy little number at Pottery Barn Kids and it completely threw off my whole nursery direction, but that's quite alright because I was having a hard time getting settled with the original concept.


Stinking adorable

4. Nursery is in surgery. I can't wait to post pictures of Hannah's room when it's done. Today, Jason and I painted the top half of the room "royal plum" and we've purchased the wainscoting bead board and chair rail that will go on the bottom half of the room. I'm sorry, but it's going to look fan-flippin'-tastic. Yay!


Cute-cumber

Cute-cumber

At the ripe old age of 26 weeks, Hannah is the size of a cucumber! We have transitioned now into measurements spanning from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet (no more rump), so we're now talking 15" and 2.2 lbs. Big girl!

Speaking of big girls, here's the 26 week shot compared to the 16 week shot:

Week 16 vs. week 26

Poor yellow tank top. Poor, poor yellow tank top. What you can't see from this angle is the fact that the front of ol' yeller doesn't quite cover up my entire stomach anymore, so there's a tad of bump hanging out. It's attractive. I might just keep the tank top on and belly up to a bar somewhere.

A child is born! The greatest gift.

Luke 1:30-31 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

Today is Christmas Day, which happens to be a top 10 favorite day of the year for me. On this day, I think about the numero uno madre, Mary. As a pregnant person, I am currently consumed with the idea of being comfortable. I desire stretchy maternity pants to let my stomach jut out unrestricted, bigger shoes for my swollen feet, a body pillow to help me sleep on my side, monthly prenatal massages, and comfort food for my cravings. I enjoy the luxury of support from many generous and loving people. And when it comes to the idea of actually enduring labor, I have a nice, warm hospital suite waiting for me with medical professionals to tend to me and epidural cocktails to soothe my woes. With all of this, I will give birth to Hannah - the greatest gift.

Mary carried Jesus while bearing the glares of a judgmental society that likely didn't buy into the whole virgin story. She wore the same garb, trudged her swollen feet along in woven sandals without Dr. Scholl's inserts, and likely slept without a big fat body pillow. And, on this day thousands of years ago, she gave birth to the son of God...in a smelly farm animal infested stable on a bed of prickly hay. The greatest gift. There are plenty of wails and complaints from people in the Bible, yet I haven't been able to find one from Mary in regard to this situation.

I am blessed to know a lot of good mothers. I hope that all of them are aware of the appreciation so many others have for them and know that while situations aren't always going to be divine, they have, like Mary, found favor with God. Mary didn't desire a stable birth for her precious baby, but that's what she got.

Over the past few weeks my family has dealt with the deaths of two great mothers - my Grandma Walter who passed away the day after Thanksgiving and my Grandma Thro who died just last week on December 16th.


Grandma Walter

Grandma Thro

These two beautiful mothers were great gifts to me. I will miss my Grandma Walter's sweet manner and the way she hugged like she meant it. I will miss my Grandma Thro's desire to serve others, her cackle laugh and love of fun, and her position as a leader in my family. And she had cute little scratchy, wrinkly hands that I loved holding onto and will never forget their feeling.

As these two mothers aged, I also got to see the next generation of "mothers" step up and take care of them, and set a great example of what mothers do (some of them actually mothers to children, some of them not - so in this sense I mean caretakers). Mothers don't always choose their situations, but they are called to realize that they have favor in God and make the best of things. I pray that all of these mothers know how much their efforts were appreciated although as my grandmas aged and got uncomfortable it was probably hard for them to show it. What these mothers may not have seen was how their examples of love and sacrifice made tangible to others the importance of taking care of those you love and embracing a bad situation with an understanding of that calling, just like Mary.

My prayer for myself as a mother is that I will never forget the example set by these caretakers I just mentioned, and that I will know that I have ultimate favor with God regardless of the circumstance. My prayer for these mothers is that they remember to take care of themselves as well, because it is easy to lose yourself if you focus too hard on fixing everything and everyone else. And my prayer for everyone at Christmas is that they appreciate Mary and the precious gift she gave us - a modestly-born Savior who came so that we can live with more comfort, favor, and appreciation, which represents greater gifts than anything you'll ever find under a tree. 

Swift update

I've had a hell of week so far, so I've neglected to post. That and the What to Expect app has disappointed me again - apparently Hannah is still the size of an eggplant, although she has grown to 9.2 inches and 2 lbs. There's gotta be another fruit/vegetable that size, right? Lame. So I used another app called Baby Bump and apparently this one thinks my baby is a rutabaga. A what? Exactly. That's where I draw the line with that app. I had to look that thing up online. What the heck is a rutabaga? It's an ugly root vegetable that looks like a cross between a turnip and a punch in the face. I'm not posting that to my blog because it's just too terrible looking.

Since I'm slacking I might as well just post a photo of my basketball-sized belly without doing a comparison from previous weeks because I just don't feel like fudging with a collage! Here ya go:

Week 25

Thank you and goodnight!

Baby brain, part 2

Here's a small list of a few dumb things I have done lately that I am blaming on baby brain:

1. Ran an entire load of wash - with detergent added - without putting in clothing.
2. Pointed my car key at the elevator and pressed the unlock button, thinking that would make the elevator door open.
3. Spent half of a morning getting wrinkles out of a suit jacket for a meeting only to drop it in a heap on the way into the office and find it hanging on a random coat rack later, quite wrinkly and unwearable.
4. Closed the garage door on my new car.
5. At a lunch with some of my coworkers (4 female, 1 male, and one female being my boss), my one male coworker commented on another coworker's sandwich bun and how appetizing it looked. I then proceeded to ask him why he didn't prefer my bun, it was a perfectly good bun, is there something wrong with my bun??? Awkward.

Dear wine,

I'm sorry I've been absent for so long. It's not that I don't care about you or want you in my life. In fact, I could have used a nice big chalice filled with you a lot lately. I still want to be friends with you, but I need you to understand that while you're usually very good to me, you are bad for fetal people, and therefore I have to abstain from you. We've had a lot of good times together, you and I. We've danced recklessly at weddings and office holiday parties, done homework together until my essays began sounding like nutrition labels, carried inflatable men named Chachki through wineries, and dazzled many ears while singing mantras to fast food restaurants on stage together. You've always been there for me when I needed you, and even when I haven't. Please plan to have a glass of yourself waiting for me sometime around April 2012.

Your friend forever,
Mutherford

The egg planted and is now an eggplant

Many a month ago, the little Hannah egg planted in thy womb Mutherford, and now she is as big as an eggplant!

Egg planted

That equals 9 inches from top o' the head to bottom o' the bottom. She is approximately 1.7 pounds. She is taller than two stacked juice boxes and as heavy as four juice boxes. According to my research, her little nose-holes are opening up this week so she can start practicing "breathing" although there's no air up in that belly.

Here's what the host of Hannah looks like these days, and what I looked like halfway to where I'm at now.

12 vs. 24 weeks

There will be poop.

Trying to find a "perfect" daycare is really hard. I've been blessed by the fact that my employer has agreed to let me come back part-time after my maternity leave, so now my focus is on finding Hannah a cool place to hang on the 3 days that we're apart. Naturally, so far nothing is good enough or right. Plus, not all daycare facilities take infants part-time, so our choices have been slightly narrowed.

We looked at a place I will refer to as "Daycare A" a couple of weeks ago and my immediate thought when walking into the infant room on the tour was, "My lord, it smells like poop in here! I can't have my baby in a daycare that smells like poop!" Come to find out after turning a corner in the room, I had walked in right at changing time for one unlucky kid whose family must have given him something he shouldn't have had for Thanksgiving. It was a two-person jobber - quite the cleaning crew, scent, and spectacle.

The rest of the tour was actually great. Such a nice facility and cute mini people doing their thing, looking happy and un-traumatized by the joint. They had lots of entertainment and educational activities (even Spanish class, which might be a bit on the overkill side for me), and I even witnessed one tiny girl cleaning up after herself at snack time. At some point I had to come to my grips about the poop thing. There will be poop. Lots of it. Not just at the daycare - at my house, too. Oy. I guess that's not a deal breaker.

So the final drawback to Daycare A was the cost. I get two paychecks a month, and once I go part-time, pretty much one entire paycheck of mine would be dedicated to paying for this daycare.

Then yesterday I ran through "Daycare B" - and I'm serious when I say "ran"...I pulled a jerk maneuver and dropped in late on a Friday when they were pretty much closing up shop and the owner gave me a personal tour while her own 15-year old daughter scowled at me for extending their stay there. Whoopsies.

This place was a lot less state-of-the-art than Daycare A, but still a good size and felt safe. The major perks of this place is that it is literally half  the price of Daycare A and less than a minute from our house. But when we were on our tour and the owner was showing me around, she opened a cabinet where food/supplies were stored and a shelf was cocked and falling over. For some reason, that bothered me. And it bothered me that they had turned a closet into a tiny room with a toilet in case the under-2 kids were disciplined enough to give it a go. Do I want Hannah relieving herself in a tiny closet? It felt weird. Plus, the babies sleep in pack-and-plays and one of the dads picking up his kid smelled like booze. Am I being nit picky? Who cares if it's a pack-and-play or if some dad had a little Friday night sauce before picking up his kid, right? Are those deal breakers?

But, of course, in comparison to nice, shiny (albeit temporarily odorous) Daycare A, Daycare B felt like a downgrade. Yet, a fiscally responsible downgrade that's close to my house and would probably be just fine if I could stop being a snot.

There's still a "Daycare C" that we need to check out, but I already know the cost of C is close-but-slightly-less-than A and much higher than B, and I'm sure I'll see a kid picking her nose there and decide my sweet Hannah simply cannot associate with such despicable behavior. Heaven help me.

Baby registry: Stuff, stuff, and more stuff

Scary building with baby stuff in it

Tonight we took our friend Kelly - who is experienced with two young girls of her very own - along with us on our first ever baby registration adventure. Holy crap. We hit up Babies R Us and left no aisle unvisited. I'm overwhelmed. We registered for many an item and still have more to go. There were some things we didn't shoot with the registry gun because we have a little more work to do where research is concerned. Apparently, there's a lot of stuff for babies and since babies don't come with a manual, I'm trusting friends and the interwebs to tell me what I need. Otherwise, Jason probably would have used the registry gun to shoot one of everything. We're still going to go to Target to see what kind of crap they have and then probably adjust our list, but for the time being, here is our Babies R Us registry.

Getting corny

In her 23rd week of lodging at Rutherford Resort, baby Hannah is now approximately 8.5" from head to bottom (not including the feet that kick me) and a mammoth 1.5 lbs. Mama needs to lay off the sweets! She is approximately the size of an ear of corn:

Corny

 

At this point, the yellow tank top is actually getting a bit difficult to squeeze into. I'm going to do my best to wear it for the next 16+ weeks, but to be honest with you, there might come a time when I'll have to cut it down the middle just to get it over the gut. Heaven help me.

Week 13 vs. week 23

Spongebeck Squareback

I'm not going to claim that I had some sort of Gisele Bundchen figure pre-pregnancy, but at least I had a shape. My waist was cinched where it needed to be, and my butt was in suitable proportion to the rest of my body. Now? Well, I just checked out my backside in the mirror, and I have decided that I look like this from that view:

Spongebeck Squareback

From behind, I look like a rectangle on top of two tiny walking sticks. However, from the front, I kind of look like a snake that stood up in the middle of swallowing a whole watermelon. From the side, I look like an upright isosceles triangle.

I've decided to take the exercise up a notch. It's not too hard to take it up when your starting notch is zero. I was in a pretty good routine before getting knocked up, but that first trimester derailed any regimen I had. And then I went ahead and capitalized on my status much of the second trimester. I may have gone on a few walks, and it's not like I've been just sitting on the couch eating Twix all day. I've actually kept pretty active. But, with the way my legs have been hurting lately and the fact that I've already pretty much gained the majority of the target weight for a pregnant person at my starting size, I think I need to get it in gear or else I'm going to find myself sinking to the bottom of the ocean living in a pineapple.

Big updates regarding Hannah's haven!

We have purchased baby room furniture! Hallelujah.

The crib is the espresso colored Cocoon 2000 Series from Baby's Dream Furniture. We paid for the goods last Friday at Goodnite Rooms, and they were running a sweet little deal that landed us a free mattress (a Simmons ComforPedic dual-sided $250-value mattress, to be precise!). Here is a little look-see for you:

Hannah's nest

Double dresser that serves as changing table

While I was there, I may have also purchased a cute owl mobile:

Cute owl mobile

And now it is time to begin painting and decorating and figuring out what bedding and accessories we want! Pumped.

My papaya

Introducing: Hannah Sophia Papaya...

Hi-ya, papaya!

Pretty much looks just like a mango (which we should all remember because we had that fruit two weeks in a row when the app decided to be flawed). Only difference is the seed action in the middle. In fact, papayas, mangoes, spaghetti squash...they all kind of look the same to me in those photos I posted. Snooze. If I had an app to show baby sizes, I would venture beyond fruits and veggies. My app would tell people that their babies were sizes like steering wheels, coasters, Butterfingers, spoons, size 5 running shoes, venti-sized Starbucks cups, or bagels.

Here's a belly shot:

12 weeks vs. 22 weeks

Poor yellow tank top. You will never be the same.

Thankful

Thanksgiving has just passed, and I think it's about time I showed some gratitude. Here's a list of obvious things I'm thankful for:

• Babies. The bun in my oven, the buns in my friends' and family members' ovens, the buns that have already baked and are out of the ovens, and the buns that will someday make an appearance in an oven near you.
• The great hubster, Jason. He makes me so happy. We have a dumb amount of fun together, and he does too many amazing things for me to list here. Such a great husband and father.
• My beloved family. I couldn't imagine a world without my favorite people in it. I am blessed to have a group of people that I can trust with my life and count on for a laugh. Even though God has taken some of my family home, I am grateful to have even had a chance to know the sweetness of my Grandpa and Grandma Walter and the comfort and leadership of my Grandpa Thro.
• Tremendous friends. My non-blood extended family. Also good when I need support or a ridiculously fun time.
• All of God's blessings. Things I take for granted, like my house, job, vehicles, music, art, wine (again, someday), groceries, bills that are always paid, even my stupid dog who somehow both makes me nuts and brings me joy.

And here's a list of unobvious things I'm thankful for:

• Water heaters. I love nothing more than a good, hot shower.
• Coffee. I've given it up for Hannah, but still love the smell of it and I really can't wait to get back into drinking my daily cup(s) of wake-up juice post-pregnancy.
• Maternity pants. They may look ridiculous from the waist up, but God bless the person who invented them. Not sure I'll ever return to regular pants.
• Qdoba's chicken queso burrito. My mouth is thankful, my thighs are not.
• Christmas music. Sure, there hasn't been a new song introduced to the mix that's worth a damn since 1962, but I am cool with recycling all of the old holiday tunes. Turn on the instant nostalgia.
• Naps. Both the ones I take during the day and the really long ones I take each night.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means, just a few things off the top of my head. I am truly grateful to be alive, well, and part of God's grand plan.

MISSING: Belly button and normal human body

Pregnant bodies are weird.

I started off feeling sick...nauseous, fatigued, crampy, puny. Then a few weeks later, I was energetic and hungry, but the glory of leg cramps, sciatic nerve issues, and backaches kicked into high gear, making it hard to be mobile. In fact, one night I was rocked out of a deep sleep by an insane charlie horse in my right leg. I got the calf muscle to stop balling up but the pain in my leg crippled me for three days. Yes, I ate bananas. About 7 of them.

The other thing about my body that's weird is my belly button. It has officially disappeared. Nope, not an outie yet. Just flat space where a crater used to exist. And the adorable mole that used to do it's Cindy Crawford thing next to my button has now enlarged and headed west.

Adios, b.button

Additional pregnant body weirdnesses include super long talons (great for aesthetic reasons, bad for guitar playing), extra sensitive sniffer (good for cake, bad for dog butts), and hair that sheds easily because I'm anemic (good for bathroom floor tumbleweeds if you're into that, bad for already fine hair). Otherwise, glowing.

The best part of having a pregnant body? Hannah calamity. Baby girl is pretty good about letting me know she's there these days. I wouldn't trade that feeling for a fully functioning set of legs.

Sightings: Sasquatch and Squash!

Two phenomenal events this week...

1) We have SPOTTED Sasquatch:

Week 21 aka Sasquatch sighting


OK, maybe not the real bigfoot (because I believe in the real bigfoot!) but rather a big bellied woman who took a really bad picture in the face spot this week.

2) We have become a sPaGhEtTi SqUaSh this week (and by "we" I mean "Hannah"). Our little button has grown into an 8" piece of goodness:

Hannah the spaghetti squash

And in BIG measurement news, Hannah has now graduated from ounce measurements to POUNDS! She is now at the 1 lb. mark and growing like a weed. 

Photos inside a fallopian utopia

At last! The long awaited baby-in-womb pics. These portraits were taken on 11/7/11 but I have been a very busy oven lately so I'm just now getting around to scanning and posting them. Enjoy!

For the cover of Petite Vogue

Naturally, the jazz hand came out. That's so Hannah.

Side mug

The Thinker

Looks like 5 toes from this POV

Sleep Z's - growing exponentially is exhausting!

A little poem for my little unborn baby girl

My favorite thing I've never met

Our eyes have not connected yet

Our hearts have crossed at times, a beat

That sounds so soft, and real, and sweet

I know your dance, my voice - the song

Your fight to grow, your will is strong

Beyond desire to do my best 

The greatest gift with which I'm blessed



Crib crazy

Just because a mom-to-be makes an excel spreadsheet to compare cribs in terms of color, shape, size, brand, features, accompanying dressers or changing tables, and, of course, price - that doesn't make her crazy, does it?
Don't answer.

me thinking about cribs

So maybe I've gotten a little intense about the search for the perfect furniture set, but there are around 20 million cribs out there and I can't seem to narrow it all down. You've got cribs that convert to day beds/toddler beds/full size beds, regular non-convertible cribs, circle shaped cribs, wood cribs in every possible color, iron cribs, ornate cribs, sleek cribs, compact cribs...the list goes on. Couple that with the accompanying furniture - solo changing table or double dresser that serves as a changer? 4-drawer or 5-drawer dresser? with or without the hutch? - and I am exhausted.

And don't get me started on the price. When it comes to cribs, do you really get what you pay for? If that's the case, then Hannah's college fund just became her bedroom set. There are only about 5 places in St. Louis where you can pay a personal visit to a good number of cribs; otherwise, you're ordering online. But I like to open/close drawers and see where all the screw holes are, so I just don't know if online purchasing sight unseen is my style here. Seems risky.

Hannah accouterment

In what will go down in the books as one of the best days I've experienced in my pregnancy history, my gal pal Emily and I went shopping last Saturday for baby clothes. Emily is a fellow impregnated person, due January 4th, planning to have a girl, too! I had a lot of pent up need to purchase because so far I've been on my best behavior and not purchased a single unnecessary item. The theme of the day was 'baby girl sock shopping' but that all changed when the socks were on racks next to clothes. It became a day of many clothes purchases, and it felt so very good.

Here's a sample of what's now in Hannah's developing closet:

Monkey sleepwear

This fantastic monkey sleepwear puts the p-eautiful in pajamas. With easy-access snap-infused bottoms and a sock monkey emblem offering the illusion that slumber can be fun, this fabulous evening wear is sure to keep it hip in the crib.

Lamb head decor

To add some flare to the tiny little Hannah head, we've selected this faux wool hat complete with faux striped animal cloth. Sure, there's a lot of faux here, but I'm not going to put dead animals on my fragile baby's head, for pete's sake. This darling yet functional noggin decor will keep her looking sweet in the spring and feeling warm in the winter.

Bohemian baby dress

This bohemian baby dress is going to make Hannah look like she's nothing but peace, love, and binkies whether she's sitting in a rattle circle or simply crawling around amongst Mother Nature. When Emily saw this on the hanger, she said "That's so Hannah." Clearly, I agreed.

Evening ensemble

Every girl needs something chic to toss on when heading out for a late night bottle, and this gorgeous red-and-white polka dot cocktail dress just screams "It's 5 o'clock (a.m. or p.m.) somewhere." Pair this with a hot set of booties and she's sure to have some baby boys droolin'.

Casual crawl-wear

You never know what the day may bring, so you'd better be prepared if that day includes tennis, golf, napping, or enjoying a carseat sightseeing adventure. For that reason, Hannah will stay appropriately dressed in this gloriously dotted skirt with flirty layers, topped off with a plum polo inspired by her father (who happens to love himself some polos). What's not to love?

3D owl booties

As the grand finale to our runway show, here is the last but perhaps most critical element: owl socks. Owl designs are all the rage among both born and soon-to-be born babies, and these bold booties with fun, poofy owls will surely draw the eye right to her sweet tiny toes.

Granted, this is not the full depiction of all that was purchased, but this should serve as a quality sampling.

Hannah Banana!

You know how when you're naming a baby you start thinking about how other kids could use the name against your child? I was juuuust talking to my friend Emily about how the only nickname I could come up with for Hannah was Hannah Banana...I'm positive there will be a few kids calling her that, but if that's as bad as it gets, then so be it. At least we're not naming her Wenus.

So then - what d'ya know? - I check my phone app for the highly anticipated baby-in-fruit/vegetable size and it's a banana! Hannah freakin' Banana! Too funny.

Hannah Banana...har har har

I'm going to embrace it for a week. And I think you should too. And I think you should get it out of your system, because if you ever call my daughter Hannah Banana and it bothers her I'm going to nickname you and you're NOT going to like it. Trust me, I am good at rhyming, palindromes, and alliteration, and I will come up with a name for you and probably start a Facebook un-fan club page with your mean picture on it and rally millions of Facebookers behind the terrible nickname I've given you. Scared? You should be. You just made me make a crazy mom face and it's not pretty. Don't MESS with my baby.

OK, ok. Whew. Caaaalm down. Caaaalm down. Happy place. Beaches. Clouds. Kittens. Comfy socks and fireplaces.

Sorry you had to see me like that. I just got a little protective for a minute.

Good news is she's now 7" and 11 oz. Practically a toddler!

Halfway there!

halfway to the end zone

Today marks the midway point in my pregnancy! I probably should have spruced it up a bit for this milestone photograph, but give me a break, I'm pregnant!

20 weeks = halfway there

The 20-week point marks the perfect time to reflect on a few things I've learned in the past several months:

1. Your body is not your body. Mine is on loan to me from God and to be used for magnificent things...getting from one good place to the next, schlepping around a soul that needs to stay gentle yet resilient, and - most importantly - providing a safe place for one precious Hannah Sophia Rutherford to begin her path into this scary and amazing world.
2. It's OK to feel uncomfortable in your clothes when discomfort is happily outdone by the reason you feel it.
3. Appetites can consume you, both when you're too nauseous to tolerate food or craving something that you have to have rightnow.
4. Prenatal vitamins really do give you super long talons.
5. There are no boundaries to strangers when you're pregnant. Talking to a pregnant woman removes a person's filter that would have otherwise prevented them from telling you about their terrible labor stories, their unsolicited opinions about the names you're considering, how BIG you're getting, and how you should go about your pregnancy or parenting. Everyone is an expert.
6. Maternity clothes are expensive, so it's a great fortune to have friends who are willing to share theirs with yours so all you have to concern yourself with is a few pairs of paints early on.
7. Unless you are having a high risk pregnancy, you might only get a total of two ultrasounds during your entire pregnancy. It's hard not to be able to see your baby and probably one of the most amazing gifts in the world when you do get to.
8. Staying home and crawling into bed before 9 p.m. is a bit of heaven.
9. Hormones own you both mentally and physically. Take it from my tears during touching TV commercials and the crippling ache in my lower right back.
10. I am not in control.

So far pregnancy has been good to me and I pray that parenting is even better. I have a lot to learn still. Perhaps I shall start here?

Mother + birth + day = happy

Today's post is dedicated to my mother as it is her birthday! I only hope I can be as good of a mother to my daughter as she is to me. It's been a blessing to see her as a mother, and I can only imagine what a blessing it will be to see her as a grandmother.

Momma!