So, I'm terrible at blogging and I'm going to use the pregnancy brain card on this one. I feel like there is so much to do in so little time - and time is flying by!!
I am now 22 weeks pregnant (5 1/2 months) and I'm having a little girl!! Yes, the dreams were correct! It's wonderful to know who this is moving around and kicking inside of me. It's a funny feeling, the kicking. It's like I have a pocket in my belly with someone dancing in it. She likes to kick whenever I sit or lie down. I suppose I rock her to sleep when I'm moving around. Soon, I'll be able to see her pushing outward and distinguish a hand from a foot and head from butt - or so they say.
I've begun nesting - getting the house ready for baby. It seems a bit easier now to organize and prepare since I have a focus and purpose behind it. It also feels very instinctual, hence the term "nesting." I have set up a co-sleeper that my sweet friends, Rod and Jill, have let me borrow. I laid out a few layettes and shirts in it to remind me there will be a little baby girl sleeping there very soon. It's fun.
I'll be registering this week at Babies R Us with a dear friend of mine who has three children and knows her stuff! She'll be able to tell me what is necessary and what is cute but a waste of money. After looking over a budget plan for the first year of a baby's life, I realize how important it is to register! Diapers alone will be such a huge expense - I never realized we will be changing over 2,700 diapers in the first year alone! (I feel for my friends who are having triplets.)
I have sweet friends in Nashville and LA that are excited to throw me a baby shower and are already planning the details. It's an exciting time!! I always love throwing baby showers for my friends and it's going to be a wild and humbling experience to be on the receiving end of that. I feel very blessed.
Let's see, what else! I'm growing daily with a belly that is finally past the "beer gut" stage. At least now people can feel confident enough to ask me when I'm due and not have that "Is she pregnant or just fat?" look on their faces. I no longer fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans, which is a little sad but expected. At least that allows me to make room in my closet for baby items and maternity wear. I'm in stretchy pants now and I don't have to wear a rubber band on my top button anymore! Ha!
I really do love my pregnant belly because it's where my baby is being formed! It really is a powerful experience to be pregnant - knowing the hands of God are knitting my baby together in my womb (Job 10, Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1). I get to be the vessel that brings this child to life and I get to raise this child into the woman she is meant to be! Wow! I feel so honored and privileged to play such a huge role in this girl's life. I pray that I am a nurturing and loving mother who guides and teaches my child to be a light and a gift to this world. I pray that she loves God and knows Him well, she respects her elders and peers, discovers her strengths and talents and pursues them with passion, seeks wisdom and education, loves her family and the world, and lives life to the fullest with laughter and adventure. I want to be a part of it and set her free when it's my time to let her go.
For now, I'm so excited to meet this special baby and see what she looks like and hold her near to my heart. I know Brandon is already in love with her and will be such an amazing father.
We are starting to form our birth plan - training for a natural birth, but flexible to the best route for the health of the baby. I'm taking Prenatal Yoga and will be taking Childbirth Education, Hypno-birthing, Baby CPR, Parenting Education, and Lactation classes. It's all so important for me to prepare as much as I can to birth and raise this child. Of course, most of all, I am gathering wisdom from my friends who all have wonderful birthing and mothering experiences and I'm praying daily for God to prepare my heart and mind for this little one.
So that about covers it for now. We still have 4 1/2 months, but it's right around the corner. My house and my life aren't quite in shape yet for a baby, but my heart is ready and longing to meet this child. The rest will catch up soon enough.
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