Blessings and Opportunity

Last night I was feeling HUGE, but of course, I like to believe that it is in my head because surely this baby/my belly cannot be growing in the way or at the speed that I am feeling it. Standing at the side of the bed, about to climb in for the night Jeremy just looks me up and down and exclaims, "You have got way bigger!" (Thanks honey) I made sure to clarify, "Since when?", to which he did nothing to ease my "I am having a gigantic baby fears" by replying something along the lines of, "Pretty sure you weren't that big yesterday."

Now, in fairness, it was the end of the day and I know that everything starts to swell and bloat much more but even so I was feeling validated for feeling so house-like.

In spite of my size, I am still feeling pretty great most days. I seemed to have had the tapas bar of pregnancy symptoms. I had mild nausea for morning sickness, I had some fatigue early on but even then it was mild and not every day, I have had a sprinkling of sciatica but again, it has come and gone in manageable spats. I feel very blessed. I might even consider doing this again one day - if we were given the blessing :)

Day to day, this baby boy is kicking and squirming all the time! At night he is especially busy but I treasure those precious times when it feels like he and I are having a moment just to ourselves. He also responds to me if I am upset or anxious which is such a comfort.It's nice to know he's already got the starts of being a mama's boy :) I can live with that.

I wish I had been better at recording the milestones of this pregnancy, I know I will want to look back and remember when he started kicking, or when I stopped feeling sick, I jut hope the notes I have jotted in my pregnancy journal will have covered all the major events. I am also trying to be better at taking belly pictures, because it really does seem like I am growing daily! I know the doc will have words for me if I gain too much weight before my next appointment so I am trying to be better at not eating my late night ice cream, and have been really good at not buying chocolate and treats so I am not tempted to snack on junk during the week. Sadly, the Frappuccino happy hour (which has not finished) got me in a nasty habit of drinking a meals worth of calories and fat in the mid afternoon. That is something I need to stop before it gets to be habit...or need to stop because it has become a habit. But seriously the Java Chip and the Mocha Coconut Frapps are just to die for!

I am continuing to practice my driving with J's Dad, and have been more adventurous. Even getting out ont he freeways a little. I am still nervous about merging and lane switching and have some slight issues keeping my speed while trying to do either of those things but overall I am gaining confidence as I spend more time doing it. I just hope the other drier continue to be gracious...I am choosing to believe any horn honks are simple cheering me on in my efforts to learn :) I will say my parallel parking is getting much better and anyone from here knows that it's a skill that's very necessary in Seattle. We set up a space like the one I will have to test on right out front of our house with some garbage cans and a plank for the curb, so now I don't have to go far to get in practice!

My belly is certainly making driving less comfortable but I am starting to have hope that I might actually get to test taking level before baby arrives. For a while, even though I said that was my goal, I was not convinced that I would get there because it was scary and I wasn't doing a good job at making time to be in the car - especially because to drive with J, I had to do most of my practicing in the evening when I am most uncomfortable and super tired. Not ideal. We are so thankful for his dad's willingness to help me, and I am praying that setting this time aside in the week will  make the difference, even though it forced me to be much more productive with my school work in the rest of my time! Only four more weeks of the quarter to go after this and I am so excited.

With the end of the quarter, driving practice, birthing classes, setting up the nursery, growing a person and also keeping up with day to day life, you could say "life is busy" and you would be right. But it's full of such blessings and opportunity and we wouldn't change it.