The last month

Yep, it’s been quite a long time since my last post. I blame it on two things. One, no one needs to hear my complaints that often. Two, the last few weeks have flown by! I don’t know exactly what I have been doing, but am happy that they have gone so quickly.

I am going to start this post with a list of all the positives right now. I am trying to focus on the happy things and really enjoy this pregnancy as it comes to an end. It’s not easy for me to do right now. This list will be a form of therapy for me!

• I LOVE feeling baby girl move! It brings a smile to my face every time.
• I love thinking about the day we will meet her! I cry every time I think of her tiny fingers, toes, nose and lips!
• I had an absolutely AMAZING baby shower from some unbelievable friends here in Riyadh. It really brings tears to my eyes when I think of the people we meet living abroad. It’s impossible to explain how you get so close so quickly unless you have experienced it. I have lived here and known these women for only 9 months and it feels like I have known them forever. I never expected so many gorgeous friends to come to my shower. It was truly overwhelming.
• The five ladies that organized, planned and executed the shower mean SO much to me! Krystle, Tracy, Marcelle, Allison and Liz are true friends/family that I could not appreciate and love more!!!
• I have been wanting a comfortable glider since I learned I was pregnant. I really didn’t know if this would ever happen. Thanks to the shower planners and Lisa, a teacher friend that will be taking over my class during my maternity leave, I am getting the one I wanted straight from the US of A!!! I can’t explain how happy that makes me. It will be at my house tomorrow.
• We have a crib! Baby girl won’t sleep in it until the fall, but we have it. For now she will sleep in a rock and sleeper next to our bed.
• Thanks to the shower and our friend Jonalee, who gave us tons of clothes from her daughter, baby girl has quite the start to a beautiful wardrobe.
• The amazing Taylor Krugler saved the day by retaking maternity photos for us! We had some done by a professional photographer and I cried when we got them back. They were just not what I wanted or expected. I immediately emailed Taylor, another teacher friend, and asked if she could take some for us. She was super excited to do it and the results are just perfect!!!
• I went to the doctor Saturday and learned I am 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced. I know that doesn’t mean much and labor is still probably weeks away, but it was nice to hear that my body is preparing for the arrival of this miracle.
• The moms will be here sooooo soon!!!!
• The deck is coming along. Travis and Ian are working really hard on it and it looks great!
• Tracy and I held book club last week and it went really well.
•  This past weekend was a four day weekend and was AMAZING!!!

So there you go, quite a lengthy list of positives. I should read that daily!

Here are my pictures from these weeks:

Here are some pictures from the shower:

 The shower planners: Liz, Marcelle, Allison, Tracy, Krystle and Allison’s daughter Laila

This game made guests guess how big my belly was with string.

Here are a few maternity pictures that Taylor took for us:

Mama, Daddy and Baby:

• Mama’s latest craving is a bagel with cream cheese. She even stole bagels from Liz!
• Mama has the pregnancy walk down! I weeble wobble all over our school campus.
• Mama had a little scare when baby didn’t move much for two days. We went to the ER and they found the heartbeat immediately. Monitored it and told us it was excellent. I am so glad we went. It made me feel much better!
•  Mama feels a lot pressure at the bottom of her belly and gets a pain that feels like a shock down there.
• Mama’s back gets sore from sitting for too long, laying down for too long or walking too much. She has to change positions often. 
• Daddy loves to feel baby girl move and rub mama’s belly.
• Daddy is still working very hard in the backyard.
• Daddy is saint right now! He deals well with mama crying, freaking out and getting irritated.
• Baby is about 20 inches, the size of a melon.
• Baby is probably between 5 and 6 pounds now.
• Baby could (and hopefully will) come any time now! Wishful thinking...

Rock Stars

I am just going to start by saying that pregnancy is NOT easy. Anyone who has been pregnant is a rock star in my eyes. I had absolutely no clue how much your body and mind would go through while pregnant. For me it’s been a roller coaster ride since before I even conceived. I wanted to get pregnant so badly and it was so hard to see so many others sharing their exciting news. I would be so happy and excited for them, yet so discouraged that I wasn’t pregnant, even before we started trying!

The day we found out I was pregnant was the most exciting day I can honestly remember. I can picture everything like it was yesterday. The first couple weeks were great. I was growing a baby, yet felt like normal Christy. Then week 6 hit. I was sick every minute of everyday. Nothing made me feel better. That continued for about 6 more weeks. Next, you get to the second trimester and you feel like you conquered a dragon! You feel great, your bump is starting to grow, food tastes better, you’ve told the world, everyone is nice to you, life is good. This lasts for quite some time. When the third trimester comes, you almost forget about how awful the first one was. Then it hits you. Your bump is getting extremely large, your ankles are swollen, your breasts are the size of Mount Everest and even your maternity clothes aren’t fitting so well anymore. The best part, you still have almost 2 months left of this joy! You want to walk to stay fit, but it’s so hard just to pick up your feet.

Then there is your mind. Before I conceived, I was so worried that I would never be able to have a baby. There was no reason behind my thoughts, except that I know so many amazing women that struggled for years or simply can’t get pregnant. It didn’t happen right away for us, and this only made me worry more. I did acupuncture, I drank special teas, ate certain foods, drank less alcohol, you name it, I did it. Nothing helped. It finally happened when I calmed down a bit. Shocking, I know.

Once you are pregnant, you can’t say anything. You worry that something will go wrong. You worry that you are not actually pregnant that it is all in your mind, well at least until you get morning sickness and start falling asleep as you are walking. The first trimester is so scary and you are holding it all in. Again, all is well during the second trimester. As the third trimester hits the worry comes back. Is she moving enough? Is she in the right position? Will she come too early? So many questions pop back into your mind and make you worry about the growing baby inside of you. It’s not easy I tell you, and I had NO idea! That is why I think anyone who has had a baby or is currently pregnant is a true rock star in my eyes! So when you see a pregnant lady walking around, even if you don’t know them, tell them how awesome they are and how strong they are.

And I haven’t even given birth yet…that’s when women are REALLY heroines!

31 and 32 Weeks

I’ll start with the good, and see where I end up this week. My favorite things right now are feeling baby girl move and watching baby girl move. It’s still hard to believe that I am having a baby in less than 8 weeks. I can’t believe how much my bump has grown, especially over the last couple of weeks. Just the other day I was back from walking the indoor track and was wearing bike shorts and a tank top. Travis walked in the door and the first words he said to me were, “Wow, you look a little pregnant!” I look more than a little pregnant! My belly is definitely out there and can’t be missed. He likes feeling the baby move just as much as I do. Lots of nights and mornings we just lay in bed and he puts his hand on the right side of my upper belly. She kicks me there quite often. We both laugh at how much she moves and just marvel at how amazing it all is! While in Istanbul she was moving like crazy and kicking really hard. He had his hand on her so he could feel. His exact words were, “holy shit!” They were some hard kicks and he understood a little more about how I feel sometimes when it hurts. I also find myself just staring at my belly. It is really a crazy feeling to see her moving and know that my baby is in there doing that and that soon she will be out and in my arms!

On the other hand, sometimes she kicks a little too hard and it hurts. She also punches me in the lower left side. I read that she probably sleeps around 18 hours a day right now. I would like to know when she could possibly get those 18 hours in! She rarely stops moving. I find myself talking to her and asking her to just lay still. I think I am seeing into my future…Music soothes her and so does my hand when I rub where she is kicking or punching.

My symptoms lately are peeing every 15 seconds, rolling out of bed like a bug stuck on its back, walking like a snail in mud, breathing like I just ran a marathon and eating every 30 minutes while gulping water as if I have never had it before. It hurts to sit too long, to stand too long, to lay too long and to walk for too long. It’s a joyous time in this pregnancy. I really never knew how hard pregnancy would be. I know it’s different for everyone, so some of you probably think I am a wimp while others think I am crazy. I think I am both right now. Oh, I also find that I start to tear up for no reason. Good times. Good times.

I am trying to walk as much as possible to keep up my stamina, but boy it is rough. I am trying to do yoga, but since our internet is so slow, I can’t download much. I think I have finally convinced Travis to upgrade so it will work properly. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Other than that, I have 35 teaching days left until my due date, but who’s counting? This year has truly flown by and I cannot wait for the summer!

Here are my pictures from these weeks:

Mama, Daddy and Baby this week:

• Mama still loves to eat her ice cream!
• Mama walks very slowly now.
• Mama talks to baby girl a lot more lately.
•  Mama feels a lot pressure at the bottom of her belly.
• Mama has a very sore back and varicose veins.
• Daddy loves to feel baby girl move.
• Daddy is working very hard in the backyard this week and is also planning on putting together the dresser for baby girl.
• Baby is about 19 inches, the size of a head of lettuce.
• Baby is getting close to 4 pounds.
• Baby is probably sucking her thumb.