sayonara month six

What can I say about the sixth month of pregnancy.......

I really enjoyed it! I think it will be my best month of pregnancy for many reasons. One being that people could tell I was pregnant :) and so they talked to me about it which is always fun. Most of my clients also started asking and so I got some funny responses...

My favorite:

As I walked into my clients house he very seriously says "you are getting chunky". I say "i'm pregnant". He says "oh that makes sense. i didn't want to ask you that in case you weren't and it offended you." I say "and calling me chunky was less offensive". he says "well now that you say it probably not". we then proceded to have a conversation about appropriate communication!

Another client found out I was pregnant and said to me "I thought you were just getting fat. i'm glad that's not the case".

Just like all the books say I felt good physically this month. I still had energy and was able to get things accomplished. Unlike the first trimester when all I wanted to do after work was lay on the couch, this month I enjoyed the summer and got some projects accomplished.

In addition the baby was so active this month and so Michael got to experience him more too. Michael started talking to him more at night and trying to get him to move. In addition the baby started really enjoying church and generally had me jerking and giggling during service because of all the punches and kicks.

I'd say my biggest complaint about the sixth month was heartburn. In my lifetime I have already had my fair share of it and religiously carry around Pepcid Complete.....however this heartburn was like no other! At times it was radiating in my back and shoulder blades and I thought for sure I might die. I am happy to report that has subsided some and I'm hoping it stays that way!

As I write all this, I am already over halfway done with the seventh month which has infinitely more negatives :-) I can't believe how fast time is flying. It seems when you are pregnant you focus on how many more weeks until d-day. Looking back today reminded me that I need to enjoy this experience. I will only be pregnant with my first child one time. And although i'm sure each pregnancy is special, I have a feeling the first is extra special.

Thank you God for the miracle of pregnancy.

Month Five Down

This was fourth of July weekend around 22 weeks

This was just last weekend.....can you believe how much he's grown in 3 weeks :)

This month has not been as eventful but it has been very stressful. Everything with the pregnancy is going well. We got to have another ultrasound because baby was too active in the first one and they could not get enough heart photos. He was a lot bigger so we enjoyed it. I can also feel him now so everytime he moved in the ultrasound I could feel it...that was cool. Everything looks great according to the doctor. And he's definitely a boy :)

So you may be wondering....why has it been stressful? One word can sum it up...WORK. I work in Illinois and many of you may have heard on the news about the budget crises Illinois is currently in. Starting at the end of June we began getting emails stating that many human services programs could be cut as a way to eliminate spending and reduce the deficit. The other option for Illinois was an income tax increase to create revenue to reduce the deficit. Of course most people do not want a tax increase so basically we were preparing to lose our jobs and for most of my clients to return to homelessness and instability. It was very scary because the clients I work with everyday are pretty much as low on the pole as you can get and the cuts would have devastated their life and any progress they have made.

So we(all of us in the human services field) have been advocating all month for a new solution to this problem because the cuts to human services would likely just create more problems. So the solution Illinos congress came to.....borrow money. This solution is hilarious in a sad way to me because it is so American.....lets not deal with the financial problem we are in but instead lets just take out more debt and postpone the inevitable. Needless to say it buys some time for an agreement to be made and allows human services to stay up and running.

As many of you know my job is stressful, emotionally and mentally, on a normal day. Somedays I get off work and think "what am I doing?", "does this even really make a difference", "why should I spend sleepless nights dreaming and worrying about my clients when oftentimes it's their bad decisions that got them there", "why do I even care". All this additional stress has been difficult. We have worried about what will happen if I do lose my job and therefore my insurance. Who would hire a 6 month pregnant woman?

Michael and I are being reminded to trust God and trust that he will provide. We have been praying for the ability to deal with whatever happens, good or bad. We are praying that we can say "blessed be the name of the lord" no matter our circumstances. We are praying for my clients that they could find God and be released from their bondage.

For now that's all I know. I'll keep you posted.

Month Four Escapades

So I realized I have not blogged in forever.....in a couple days I will be 20 weeks (5 months)...which is the half way point! I have had a very busy fourth month so here is what we have been up to.

First things first....ITS A BOY! This is me right before the ultrasound...i was sooo excited I couldn't concentrate all day at work. Michael got jammed up in the parking garage at the doctor's and told me under no circumstances was I to start without him. So the technician came to get me and I told her I had to wait for my husband....they got a kick out of that.

Baby and I were in a wedding....and we did a funny bridal party dance at the reception.

We went to a Cardinal's game...and they won!

Amber came to visit!
And we went up in the arch....630 feet!
We were ambitious and finally got hardwood floors put in. It was two weeks of our house being a complete mess but it was worth it. We decided that this definitely needed to be done before baby is born and before I got too pregnant.

So this is before......
This is during......after we got up the laminate that you see in the previous picture we realized we had some problems with the subfloor. Thank goodness for family!

And here is the finished product!!

So far pregnancy has been an adventure. It's so cool knowing I'm doing all these things and baby is experiencing them too (in some way i guess). Only 20 or so more weeks and we will get to see him and his reactions to new experiences!

Grass, Mothers Day, and 15 Weeks

This was our yard when we bought the house last August. What a hideous bush! This spring none of the already sparse grass grew back :) 

So we planted sod and this is what it looks like now! Also notice my vegetable/flower bed to the right although all the plants are too small to see in this picture. 

This was my first mother's day (kind of). I spent it with my mom and grandma. I like this picture because it's four generations although the fourth is still growing. I can't wait for baby to meet these amazing women in my life. They have shown me what it means to persevere, even when times are difficult. 
And last here is baby at 15 weeks :). Just a small bump now but my pants have gotten tight and uncomfortable. It is so fun each week to read about baby's development and it's amazing to think that it is happening inside of me. I don't see how people could not believe in God after going through pregnancy. Every part of this, even the seemingly annoying things, exist to protect and nurture the baby. Thank you God for this miracle of life. Thank you for allowing me to experience your creativity, sovereignty,  and love through this process.

My first blog ever!

This weekend was crazy! On Saturday I decided to go for a walk with my dog Sammi. We were almost home in the alley behind our house when a stray dog came up behind us. Before I knew it Sammi and this dog were fighting and Sammi was the underdog. I know you are not supposed to break up a dog fight, but because Sammi is the closest thing we have to a child I was not rational. All I could think was "I have to stop this". I was kicking the dog and screaming ( I know probably making the situation worse) and after a few minutes which seemed like forever I pulled Sammi up by her leash and ran home with this dog jumping on me to get at Sammi. 

Maybe because I am pregnant or because it was traumatic I instantly starting crying....and crying......and crying. Once my adrenaline went down I realized I had been bite. Eventually I regained some composure and called my OB and she eventually recommended I go to the ER. Because I was hysterical Michael left work to come with me. I am fine and my bite is healing nicely. Animal Control has not found the dog yet but the ER did not seem to be concerned about rabies. 

So we finally got home and had some errands to run and some friends were coming over so we got ready for that. Then before they got there we realized Sammi was not acting right. The vet was already closed and so we chalked her weirdness up to her being traumatized. Well as the night went on she kept getting worse, hiding under everything, panting and shaking uncontrollably. Eventually I called the emergency pet line but they recommended we wait until Sunday morning and take her to our vet. They told us to watch her gums and make sure they were pink......the start to a very long night......

Sammi was in a lot of pain, moaning, and crying, and she kept standing on our heads and moving around. Every hour I'm turning on the flash light to look at her gums :)  Needless to say we did not sleep and were worried sick. At 7:30 this morning I was laying there with her on top of me, with her face literally laying on my face, listening to her very labored breathing, thinking "if I will go to all this for a dog I can't imagine what I will do for my child". We eventually did get her to the vet and she was injured pretty bad. She is still acting very strange but is on antibiotics to deal with the infection and pain meds to reduce the pain. 

Anyways the point to this very long story is this.....I've only know you baby for a few weeks and already I know I will go to the ends of the earth for you. I know I will stay up all night when you are sick and fight for you when others try to hurt you. I thank God daily for you and the life you will have. I pray he continues to keep you safe and continues to prepare us to be parents that serve Him by raising you to know Him