Baby and I are doing wonderfully. Tonight I am 18 weeks and one day pregnant, and our baby is the size of a nice big Russett potato...about 6 inches long, and 7 ounces. Every day I wake up more grateful for this new little presence in our lives. I treat my body very well, and have been blessed with (mostly) good health throughout the first trimester and on into the second. We did have a bit of a scare last week when I began experiencing new cramps and different symptoms that led me to head down for a quick Friday morning visit to the midwife. After a thorough physical exam and heartbeat monitoring, she put my hand on my belly and let me feel how my uterus sits...apparently the cramps have been it growing up and out of my pelvis, creating the belly I've been so happy with. The neatest part of the visit was the hearing the heartbeat; she held the Doppler about an inch away from my skin and we heard the heartbeat clear as day, like a galloping horse, da da dum, da da dum, at about 145bpm (I had coffee and she knew it)!
My first, and readily apparent, craving has been eggs. Eggs scrambled in a tortilla with salsa. Eggs over easy with Mom's bread toasted to golden perfection. Eggs with that mango-jalapeno sausage I love so much. It's ridiculous how many I've gone through, like two dozen in the last week and a half. They're farm-fresh from our chickens and wicked delicious, but still...that many eggs...? Now it's winding down, and I'm wondering what the next wave will bring. As my friends say, "what Bun wants, Bun gets!" :) Fortunately the only unhealthy thing I've wanted as of late has been gummi worms, and THAT want doesn't get satisfied too much. Since we conceived I've lost 12 pounds and gained back two, which is interesting considering how big my belly's become.
Charlie has been working so hard lately, bartending, store-tending, looking for houses/apartments for us...this has been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, being pregnant away from my rock. Skype and phone calls have made the distance slightly more bearable, but we're counting down the weeks (five!) till I am able to fly home, back into his arms where I feel safe, where I belong, where my home is. We have grown so much throughout the course of our relationship, coming to heavy realizations about ourselves and each other, our pasts and our exciting new beginnings. I am so excited to parent with him...so many things tell me he is going to be a heck of a father, and life partner. Easter was wonderful, as I received a beautiful basket of goodies from my in-laws (pickles and pregnancy tea!), and Charlie sent up a package with an incredible gift...a storybook in which he was able to record himself reading to our little one! With every turn of the page I hear his voice and the love behind it. What an amazing thing. Do you know how many boxes of Kleenex I went through when I opened it? I let the baby listen to it every night before we sleep.
Five weeks. Five weeks to pack up a life I have loved in exchange for a brilliant future with the man I love, and the baby that we created out of that love. In no way did I anticipate my life journey traveling this path, but every day brings more joy, more awakeness, more understanding of what it means to truly live. For this chance to love more than I ever thought possible, to the point of feeling like my heart will swell to bursting with the love inside it...I am forever grateful.
1 comment:
We're getting all sorts of "warm fuzzys" here. Glad you are so happy and feeling great! We too are anticipating your arrival back in Minnesota... Woo Hoo!
Love,
Dad and Peggy
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