30 wks

I am definitely feeling like a walking watermelon at this point. I'm constantly spilling things on my protruding belly and forced to pelvic rock to take away my back pain.

I've realized chairs and couches are overrated. I am more comfortable tailor sitting on the floor. I'm hoping that doing these exercises more will produce an anterior baby. 3rd times a charm right?! I'm willing to do anything to avoid back labor a 3rd time. Well, almost anything. I read something about walking around on all fours, even in public, to make sure your uterus is always hanging down. Haven't done that yet.

Besides the tossing and turning all night and frequent urination (I pee way more with this pregnancy than I did the others), I am super excited about the upcoming birth. We found a new doula, as the one we had with Vince is no longer practicing. We feel good about her and think her gifts and talents will definitely bless us during our birthing time.

I have been reading about the Bradley Method and hope to use a combination of their techniques along with some Hypnobabies and music of our own. I would take a Bradley class except for the fact that the closest one is in Charleston, SC (1.5 hrs away).

Now, that's it's cooled down, I've resumed walking again. Right now only 1/wk but, I hope to increase that to 2 soon. I signed Vince up for a swimming class next month and plan to do some prenatal aqua moves while I'm in the pool with him.

I aspire to be one of those women who are super active during pregnancy but, because of my intense sickness in the 1st trimester, I never fully recover. In my 2nd trimester I eat everything in sight because I'm finally not throwing up anymore and can eat anything and EVERYTHING tastes so good. My weight gain skyrockets 2nd trimester compared to 1st trimester. Maybe with the next pregnancy I will run a 5K or something.

I mostly want to be active during pregnancy so that I can have shorter labors. I thought it would help that I was active before pregnancy but, so far no.

Almost 21 weeks

I guess it's time for an update on this pregnancy.

I'm completely over the nausea and vomiting. The last time I threw up was on July 5th, at 16 wks. Ironically after I posted about how much better I was feeling :) I felt the baby move at 17 wks. I felt Vince move at 18 wks and Azure at 20 wks. So, I guess it's true that you feel them earlier with each pregnancy.

I haven't exercised since before the nausea hit so that has been hard. It is too hot to run, even at 8am. And currently I'm not a member of any gym. The heat,combined with lack of exercise, and pregnancy in general has left me feeling fatigued. I don't like the way I feel when I'm not exercising consistently so I know this has to change. I'm waiting for cooler temps. Unfortunately, at-home exercise videos have never motivated me. I've always been a gym-goer. Or amateur runner.

I've been eating a little bit healthier now that I have zero food aversions. I can't tell you how nice it is to not have food aversions! I can eat and digest food like a normal person. Such a huge blessing that I don't take for granted during pregnancy!

Some things I like to snack on are:

Almonds- raw and roasted
Cottage cheese or Greek yogurt w/ blueberries and/or strawberries (drizzled w/ honey if berries aren't quite ripe)
Grape tomatoes (surprisingly good just by themselves)
PB & bananas
Cheese & crackers (Ritz)
Turkey & avocado sandwiches (my obsession as of late)
Cake (shhh!)
Ben & Jerry's (we buy 10 pints when they're BOGO free @ Publix- this is why I need to exercise again)

I found this super yummy recipe on Pinterest for raw cookie dough bites with almonds and oatmeal. Pretty healthy, tons of protein, great for snacking. Did you know you should shoot for 100 grams of protein a day when pregnant?! {I used honey instead of agave nectar, b/c I didn't have any}

Braxton Hicks! Never had these w/ the first 2 pregnancies. This time around I get them a few times a week. To be honest, it makes me kinda excited to think that maybe my body has finally figured out this whole pregnancy/birth thing and perhaps I can actually dilate with each contraction, labor for less than 24 hrs, and push for less than 3 this time! That would be awesome!

Other than the sweltering heat and humidity, clothes that don't really fit thus having to layer which only increases the stickiness, things with this pregnancy are going great now. Sometimes I think about the months we tried with no success (if we conceived when we had first tired we'd have a 3 month old right now), and the miscarriage (my due date was Aug. 31), and I am extremely grateful and humbled that I am pregnant with a healthy baby BOY!

I feel so much huger than I really look!

I really thought it was a girl so I'm still recovering from shock. When Vince was 2 months old (April 17, 2010) I felt the presence of our unborn daughter while I was in the temple. Since then, I wondered if she was going to come next or not. And when we found out last Christmas we were pregnant, I really thought it was a girl. When we lost her in January, I knew that she would come back to me and I guess I just assumed it would be this time. But, apparently her brother beat her in line and she's still not ready to come yet :)

As soon as we can decide on a name, I know I will start feeling even more bonded to this sweet, little son of ours.

We're done!

Today I am 16 wks and I'm feeling TONS better! Haven't thrown up in over a week! Woot!

15 wks

Still super tired and not back to eating healthy like I was before this sickness started (minimal food aversions). I'm not as bothered by strong smells anymore that send me sprinting to the nearest toilet or trash can. Such a blessing to feel semi-normal again! I know the fatigue and *ahem* lack of fiber are correlated. I figured that out sometime in 2005. I think I mentioned some of that in this post.

Charles is done with his residency! *cue Hallelujah chorus* Things should become more normal again and we can actually work on all our family goals we've had on the back-burner this last year. Last Friday was his end of residency dinner- semi-formal. You know I love me a chance to get fancy schmancy so everyone can whisper, "Wow, that's Charles' wife?" I kid...kinda.

Back to Charles- I don't fully understand everything he does at work, obviously. Sometimes he comes home and says things like, "If you saw what I did at work today you would have died." Some of those things have included: assisting a patient with an impacted bowel, a large obese woman with gangrene who had maggots in her hospital bed, crazy surgeries with blood squirting all over the operating room, etc. I'm not one of those people that likes gross things so I don't ask for details unless my curiosity is really piqued, which rarely happens on the topic of maggots and the like. Hey, that's why I didn't go into the medical field. Because he's right, I would die.

He's all grown-up :)

So, it was really meaningful to have his co-workers come up to me at the dinner and say things like, "Charles is an outstanding pharmacist. He's a really hard-worker. We're so glad he's staying on. He's our favorite resident." And then to hear them talk about the research projects they've worked on all year and how much his research benefited the hospital and their protocol. I am one proud wife.

Sadly, we didn't have anyone take pics of us. But, Charles snapped this one of me when we got home.

To celebrate his 2 weeks off (his first vacation in over a year) he went with the scouts on a 50 mile hike up the Applachian trail. He loves backpacking and hasn't done it for years so it was perfect timing for him. I'm happy he got to go.

Tomorrow the kids and I leave to meet up with him in Asheville, NC and then we're off to DC to sight-see and visit Cath AND eat Cafe Rio. Can not tell you how excited I am for that!!! Then down to camp on the beach on the Outer Banks. Yay for beach camping- one of my fave things I haven't done since 1999? And then we'll visit Ev and Mike in Raleigh and then back home.