I thought this was cute! It's amazing how something the size of an onion can make me feel like pregzilla and have to pee every 5 minutes.

Pregotron is on the loose

17 weeks and 3 days preggo today. I feel H.U.G.E. And NOT in the right places. I've gained about 4 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight but I honestly feel like Jabba the Hut. Is it possible to carry pregnancy weight in your arms, thighs, and neck? I seriously cannot wait for some sunny days so I can start walking.

I had my prenatal appointment with last week. I meant to blog about it sooner but I've had a horrible, no-good, very bad WEEK (more on that later) and was distracted. The appointment went great though, the midwives stayed for almost 2 hours and we talked about everything under the sun. Including my irrational fear of not going into labor. I know it doesn't work that way, and If I were talking to one of MY clients, I'm sure I would know just what to say to make myself feel better. There is something about being the one actually pregnant though, where all your knowledge and experience seems to go right out the window and you just feel more vulnerable and like you are the first person in the history of the universe to experience it. Hows that for a run-on sentence.

Anyway, she had some insightful things to say and is bringing me some books to read. She is going to bring me some kids books about birth and getting a new sibling too, so I can read them to Elijah. We should be able to hear the heartbeat with the fetoscope at my next appointment (I'll be 5 months! Halfway done!) in April. I'm not going to be using the doppler (same reason as the no ultrasound thing), so you have to wait a little longer to be able to hear it with the fetoscope, which is basically a glorified stethoscope.

I've had a super stressful week at work getting ready for an annual file review/site inspection. I have to get through today and tomorrow and then I'll be all done and can breathe again.

I have nothing witty to say to wrap up this post, I'm fresh out of wit sorry.

I am 15 weeks and 1 day pregnant today. My baby doesn't look like a lizard creature from one of Jay's video games anymore! Yay. The movement I've been feeling for the past few weeks is getting stronger too. It's still easy to miss because I'm still pretty early to be feeling any movement at all. I've been feeling definite tickles/flutters down low for the past two weeks or so, but it's starting to feel like she's rolling around in there. Kinda like someone took a butter churn to my uterus. It's crazy to be feeling it so early, I didn't really start feeling Elijah move until about 22 weeks or so.

I can't believe that I'm almost 4 months already. I have my next midwife's appointment on the 1st. At that appointment she will be taking blood for my prenatal blood panel as well as an extra vial to run my RH antibody screen at my request. I'll probably have to do that a few times throughout this pregnancy since I will be declining the rhogam shot. I'm not comfortable with it since it's made from parts of blood, not to mention the usual preservatives and nastiness that is in vaccines. My blood is RH- and Jay is RH+, so there is a decent chance that this baby could be positive as well. As long as the pregnancy and birth go smoothly (no major accidents etc) than all should be well. If for some reason my blood mixes with baby's during delivery, there is a chance my body could recognize the RH factor in the baby's blood as a foreign agent and could create antibodies against it. It won't hurt the baby, but if that happens then we would likely make sure that this was our last child, as it could be a danger to future pregnancies. There is a vaccine normally given automatically to pregnant women who are RH- to prevent the creation of these antibodies. I'm declining it for the reasons I mentioned.

We're still looking at baby names, but so far haven't really found any new contenders.

I've been taking walks when the weather is nice, and I'm going to try to find some kind of prenatal fitness DVD and maybe a prenatal yoga DVD as well. I cannot wait for spring to come full force. When it's nice out, its SOOO nice. It makes me want the warmer weather to stick around rather than coming in spurts so I can spend all my time in flip flops and flowy skirts. I also can't wait for summer because of all the fresh produce!!! Watermelon, nectarines, freshly picked strawberries still warm from the sun (and the obviously obligatory strawberry shortcake, DUH!), my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'm also excited for BBQs with corn on the cob and spending insane amounts of time at Silver Falls where they have the little swimming hole. Is it summer yet? *sigh* I never thought I would want summer while being pregnant but I'm actually really looking forward to it. I think I'll take it over having to don nasty frumpy maternity sweaters and struggling to put on boots. We'll see if I still feel that way in August.

Elijah news: Elijah has lost his first top tooth and it is SO.adorable. He looks obnoxious and grimy (he is on spring break and therefore outside all day and that = dirty) just like a 6 year old boy should. We also got him his first new bike yesterday. I still don't have a camera but I will borrow Mom's or Nana's and take some pics to post in the next few days.

Cannot wait to see everyone in June!!! It's getting close!

Go ahead and tell me I'm nuts

It's true, I am.

I'm thinking about enrolling in school full time. When would I start? Right around the time the baby is born. Am I going to quit working? Nope. Am I going to cut down my hours? Double nope. Did my mother drop me on my head as an infant? Actually yes, why do you ask? Matter of fact, I fell off the roof of the car while strapped into my infant carrier and....waaaiiit a minute I see what you are getting at buddy!

Everyone knows my ultimate goal has been to become a midwife. The fact is, that is a very long road to take...and taking it while having small children is even more difficult. Add this to the fact that it will take me awhile even once I finish my schooling/apprenticeship to even start making a living on my own practice. It's still my passion, but my family is just as important and if I am not going to be able to practice midwifery anytime soon, well I figure I might as well do something that helps my family.

I'm looking for some measure of security. In two years, I'm going to have a 9 year old and a 1 1/2 year old. I'm going to need more space, preferably a house (preferably one we own, although that is only marginally important) and that means a different job. I am currently blessed with a measure of flexibility that I am very grateful for. My mom and grandmother live a few doors away, I work/live all at the same place, and my job is pretty flexible and secure at the moment. Jay is only going to be working 15 hours a week and will be available to help take the load off a bit, and I feel like I *should* have done this SO many times already (e.g. before I had kids, or before I was married, or before I was pregnant again...pick one) and I don't think I should wait any more.

So I've pretty much decided, back to school I go. I've chosen Human Services/Social Services as a major and can graduate in 2 years with Associate of Applied Science in Social Work. I may or may not choose to proceed to get my BA after that. I currently plan to (heck if I am doing this, I might as well really DO it, right?) but of course barring time and unforeseen occurrence. We will have to re-evaluate after two years. I'll be the ultimate bureaucratic paper-pusher. Yay. Actually I think I will be really good at it thankyouverymuch.

I've already filled out the admissions form and the financial aid paperwork and all I need to do now is take my placement test and meet with an advisor.

Here's to making it work!

Some pics

I don't have much time but I wanted to post these pictures of Elijah. His Montessori school keeps online albums of the pictures they take, so I downloaded the ones of E and figured I'd post them here so you all can see him in his element :)

Widgets

Just FYI, I removed the naming poll widget because it turns out that you can only pick ONE name to vote for and also I couldn't figure out how to view the results! If I can't see the results, it's kinda pointless! I also removed the little baby counter because it always turns into an ad right away. Grrr.

Second Trimester

Wooohoo, I am officially in my second trimester. I am 12 weeks 3 days pregnant today. I'm feeling pretty good overall, my indigestion and nausea has eased up SO much! I still get a little nauseous if I don't eat for awhile, but my appetite is making sure that doesn't happen often, haha. I'm still really tired, especially in the afternoon and evening, which makes it hard to get anything done since that is pretty much the only time of day I have available. But even so, I'm grateful for feeling well.

I had my first official appointment with the midwife (Lennon) on Tuesday. It went great! Mostly we spent the entire hour just talking about different things, what supplements I am going to take, etc. We did check blood pressure which was great (110/79). I'm really happy about that since I hadn't had my BP checked in a loong time and was curious.

Jay has a big belt test on Saturday morning. He is going for his Green belt and the test will probably last a whopping 3.5-4 hours!!! Anthony is testing for his blue stripe, but his test probably will be quite a bit shorter.

I'm home from work sick today, woke up with a cold :( Speaking of which, I think I'll go take a nap now! See ya!