~ Our Story ~: THE PREGNANCY

TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

I decided to take an honest approach to this description. I know I don't have room to complain, I have been very blessed and know things could be much, much worse. I just need to remember why I wasn't able to do so many things like I wanted to. I didn't get a job after the semester ended (thankfully Kellen's income allowed me to do so), and yet I still have a hard time getting things done. I know it seems like I have all this free time so I should be a master on the guitar, have read half the library, and should have attended every function since I finished school. But this has been pretty hard for me to handle. I tend to be an independent person and don’t like having to rely on other people. I am used to having to do things for myself. So not being able to control my body very well has been a very intimidating, frustrating and humbling experience. I have learned to appreciate the simple things – like being able to go for a walk, cleaning my house, or cooking food, without getting sick. I have also learned to rely on God a lot more. That was the only way I made it through school and how I even make it through a 3 hour church session or sometimes a doctor’s appointment. I’ve had a hard time sleeping as long as I can remember, but even that doesn’t seem like a real trial anymore. I just hope this experience isn’t preparing me for something worse… :)

"OPPOSITION IN ALL THINGS"

So I have been pretty sick and miserable pretty much the entire pregnancy. I got a lot of headaches and migraines in the beginning, but they have since gone away for the most part. And if it weren't for the medication (Ondansetron/Zofran), I don't know how I would have been able to gain much weight or do much of anything at all. Especially when I was in school and when I found out I had gestational diabetes and I had to cut out many of the foods that my stomach tolerated the best. Eating is torture. I often wish I could just open my stomach and shove food in there so it doesn't have to go through my mouth. I only have 3 weeks left and I am to the point that I don't even care about the pain-bring it, I just don't want to be sick anymore. Even with medication I still throw up once or twice a day, constantly have an upset stomach, and have a hard time eating many foods. But without it, I am lucky if I get more than one meal down a day. I am also constantly getting dizzy and I am very congested. Why some women get so sick (and many sicker than this) while others seem to do fine makes absolutely no sense to me. You'd think evolution would have weeded out women who have difficult pregnancies by eliminating their possibility of offspring...

The baby seems to be healthy :) We had 2 ultrasounds that showed it is a boy and that he is a bit on the bigger side (possibly a week or so older than my due date suggests). He moves a ton and gets the hiccups a lot. He responds to sounds and me rubbing lotion on my belly :) I am getting pretty big. I have managed to gain about 30 pounds (mostly due to lack of exercise) and I am about 40" around. My uterus sits high and pushes up into my lungs/ribs and my skin is really tight. It hurts to breath sometimes. I finally had to take our foam topper off our bed because it was too soft and I had a hard time turning my body over. Our bed is next to the wall so I sleep on the open side so I can just roll out of bed :) I end up getting up about 3-4 times during the night to drink milk (the only thing that seems to help my "heartburn"), eat something (dinner never lasts in my stomach very long), and use the bathroom (lots of milk...).

Kellen has been amazingly supportive. I know I have been difficult because I have been limited in my abilities and I have been depressed/frustrated about not being able to do what I think I should be able to do. Now I seem to have longer stretches during the day that I can get things done. So that is definately a bonus. I am a bit sad that I wasn't able to do much this summer. I was really looking forward to our last summer without kids...at least we were able to do a few fun things :)

Michelle Dalton threw me a baby shower. That was awesome. My family all lives in Utah/Idaho/Nevada as does Kellen's (except his sister who lives in Chicago-Colby Curtis). So I didn't really expect to have one. My sister Cristi was going to try to throw us one when we went out there for a family reunion, but we weren't able to make it out because of Kellen's layoff situation. Anyway, many people showed up from our ward. It was so awesome. It really meant a lot to me...so many people who were so willing to help us out. Even people who don't really know us that well. We ended up with enough stuff that we don't have to buy much for our baby for the first little while. We are both so grateful for the amazing friends we are so lucky to have. And our families who have helped us out a ton.

But even through these so-called hardships, in the end it should all be worth it. I'll be sure to let you know... :)

THE BELLY PICTURES