Baby Cheese Pregnancy: 24 Weeks

Yesterday marked 24 weeks of being pregnant with Baby Cheese. I was excited to reach 24 weeks considering that it's a bit of a milestone because from now on if something should go wrong, and the baby is born early (not that it will happen, but just saying), then the medical team will do everything they can to save the baby.  Up until this point the chance of survival outside the womb was not great enough.  For some reason, this milestone is a relief to me, even though I have no desire to have the baby any earlier than when the doc schedules my c-section.  Babies need to grow and develop the way nature intended, if possible.

My pregnancy book says the baby gained at least 4 ounces this last week.  I believe it.  Once again, I'm having round ligament pain, which is always an indication to me that the kid has outgrown his space, and is working on expanding it.  Last night I glanced in the mirror and got a good sideways view of my growing belly, and said to Nate, "Holy cow, I am getting so big.  Seriously, how can I get any bigger?  I have 3-1/2 months left!"  He was like, "Yeah, I know.  I'm wondering the same thing.  You're getting to that, 'Oh, honey' stage."  That was not consoling.

I'm almost in entirely new territory as far as the weight scale.  Since I started this pregnancy 14 lbs heavier than I was when I got pregnant with Cooper, putting me in the "overweight" category (ugh) my goal has been to only gain 20 lbs my entire pregnancy.  I feel I've been doing ok with this goal, considering I'm at 24 weeks and have only gained 10 lbs.  That gives me another 8 lbs. or so for the baby to get to his probable 9 lb weight, and a few pounds of pregnancy whatnot to add to it--totally doable, I think.  But I'm not happy about seeing the scale climb.  With a goal of 20 lbs total gained, that will put me at 10 lbs over what I was at the end of my pregnancy with Cooper, which means 10 digits higher on the scale than I've ever been before. I have 2 more lbs to go, and I'll be at that heaviest point, and will still have another 8 to go.  Sheesh.  I probably shouldn't stress or be bothered by it so much, but I am because I want myself and my baby to be healthy, and I want to be able to lose all this baby weight and then some before I ever have another one, or more like within a year of having this child.  I'm disappointed in myself for being overweight to begin this pregnancy, but then again, at least I'd lost 10 lbs last year before getting pregnant, so it's a lot better than it could have been.  This is all more of a personal vent for me about this than anything else.  It's just something that's been weighing heavy on my mind (no pun intended).

Aside from the typical pregnancy discomforts and these little stresses, things are great.   Last night Cooper was playing with a cup and I put it upside down on his head and called it a hat.  He knocked it off, so I picked it up and placed it on my belly (I was laying down), and said, "Look Coop, Cheese is wearing your hat."  Cooper thought that was hilarious and started to laugh.  Then I said, "Cheese thinks it's funny too, and wiggled my belly so that the hat wiggled and bobbed.  Coop giggled all the more.

Then last night as Cooper and I snuggled on the couch before bedtime, I was laying kinda half on my back half on my side, a position which is not very comfortable right now without belly support because the baby shifts to whatever side is down.  So I could really feel him on my left side, the side closest to Cooper.  I told him where the baby was, and he felt my belly on the right side where there was "no" baby, and then again on the left side where most of the baby's weight was at the moment.  He was excited to feel the baby, and then I said, "I think he just wanted to snuggle with you too."  To that Coop leaned down and kissed my belly and said, "I love you, Cheese."  Then Cooper proceeded to tell me some of the things he is going to teach his brother to do when he gets big, like ride his bike, and kick balls, and such.  I love that these brothers are already developing a bond.

One other noteworthy humorous moment was the other night during family prayer, Nathan was giving the prayer, and he was asking for the baby to continue to grow healthy.  But he didn't say "the baby," he said "Baby Cheese."  We all started giggling, and Nate quickly ended the prayer.  He said he didn't mean to do that, and felt it was probably disrespectful to the Lord, but that it just came naturally because that is what we call this child.  I told him God probably understands. :)  This poor kid, he's probably going to be called "Cheese" by our family for his entire life.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

What to do on a 70 degree VERY windy day? Why, fly a kite, of course! Coop and I were able to let out all the string and keep it up for about 15 min, until Coop lost interest. Pretty fun!

To My Friend, Melodee

Ten days ago my bestest long-time friend, Melodee, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  The news was shocking, and the last 10 days have been a whirlwind for her, since she starts chemo this Wednesday.  With all this, I have been thinking so much about Mel and our friendship.  You see, even though we've been friends since 7th grade--21 years and counting (wow, that makes me feel old), and she currently lives in TX and I in NC, we still keep in touch.  Can't believe it's been that long!  But no matter the distance in miles or the time that passes between talking to one another or seeing one another, whenever we do get to talk or meet, it seems like no time has passed because we just go on being friends.  

In 7th grade we had a few classes together, and one thing led to another, and finally one day she invited me over to her house for a few hours after school.  I remember going in her house for the first time, and meeting her mom and her brothers and sisters, and going in her room for the first time.  It was covered in roses and dolphins and posters, and I was SO jealous of her having a mom who would let her decorate her own room like that.  I still shared a room with my little sister at that time, and our room was much more traditional and boring.  It wasn't long before we had our first sleepover at Mel's house, and that night we watched the movie Beaches.  I remember watching it on her couch, and both of us crying our eyes out, and hugging each other, and vowing to always be friends as we fell asleep that night.  It's a vow we've both kept to this day.

Mel has always been there for me, no matter what I was going through.  She is one of those wise souls who always knows just what I need to hear, and will tell me, even if I don't want to hear it.  There is only one time in our life when we fell out of touch for awhile, and ironically it was when we were roommates, house-sitting for my parents while they were in Boston.  We'd just graduated from high school, and had two other roommates.  We both got into trouble of one kind or another, and kind of avoided each other for those few months because I think we were both ashamed of our choices, and we knew the other one would call us out on our faults.  By the time I moved back from Boston, Mel was off to Texas, and it has been a long-distance friendship ever since, but it hasn't mattered.

We started calling each other "Twin" in high school, because we would often show up at school wearing very nearly the same outfit and have our hair done the same.  It was always coincidental, but happened so often that it seemed we were planning it.  That year we bought matching Dr. Seuss "Thing 1 and Thing 2" t-shirts, and I still have mine to this day, even though it's a tight belly shirt now, but I just can't throw it out because of the friendship it represents to me.

Not many people can say they have a friend like Mel, and I'm not just talking about the length of our friendship.  She has lived her life in a way that I can look to her as an example, and can pattern my life after hers.  It's true that the friends we choose impact where we end up in life.  I am so glad I had her as a friend during my most impressionable years.  She kept me strong, taught me so many lessons, laughed and cried with me, and shaped so much of who I am today.  I feel so blessed to have such a great friend.  She is a pretty amazing person with many talents and abilities, and unbelievable character and spirituality.  Some things I've always loved about Mel are her incredible intelligence (I swear the girl never had to study in high school or college), her creativity, her amazing memory (she can often recite lines from movies/commercials after seeing them only once, and she remembers many more details of our friendship years than I), and her whit and sarcasm.  I've often said I married the male version of Melodee, since Nate's sense of humor mirrors hers.  She is truly an amazing person.

While I am aching inside for the challenging journey she and her family are facing for the next year, I know she will come out victorious, beating this cancer, and being even stronger.  I love you Mel.  Thank you for being my friend.  Here's to many, many more years of a wonderful friendship.  You've got this, Girl!

Chrystal, Melodee, and Amber (all friends since 7th/8th grade--1991/1992)  Picture taken Jul 2012 when we all happened to be in Utah at the same time for a day.

Chores, Movies, Snuggles, Trains and Target Practice

With freezing rain falling all day, turning our driveway and grass into a very slippery mess, we stayed indoors all day, except to take the trash can to the curb, and to pick up the mail. Coop thought it meant we could go ice skating. Ha!

Being indoors all day is rare for us. Even yesterday when the wind chill made it feel like low 30s, we were at the park for two hours, and even had a picnic. We were frozen, but enjoyed being out. So today was a bit of a challenge for me with no outside time to entertain Coop and vent some of his energy.

This morning Cooper was upset that Nate had to work, so Nate sat him down and explained responsibilities and how we all have things we have to do, but may not like to do. This also coincided with the moment Coop was whining about having to brush his teeth. Having overheard this little lesson, I explained to Cooper each of our responsibilities as family members: Daddy works to provide for us; Mommy takes care of the children, the house, and the meals, and then I asked Cooper what he thought his responsibilites in our family might be. He thought about it, and said, "Pick up my clothes and my toys, and help Mommy with the house." You better believe I jumped on that opportunity, since today was a heavy cleaning day for me. Coop worked right alongside me all morning, helping me sort laundry and put it in the wash, dust the upstairs furniture, clean both upstairs bathrooms, make beds, and vacuum the rugs downstairs. He had his own cleaning rags, and did pretty well for a 3 year old, I'd say. Every time I vacuum now, I have to let him have a turn first, or a tantrum is guaranteed. He's quite the little helper.

After all those chores it was time for lunch. Then he wanted to snuggle, so we headed upstairs to snuggle with blankets on the couch and finished watching "Mary Poppins." He loves the penguin part, and asked to watch that segment and the carousel horses three times.

After that we made chocolate chip cookies, and he helped me do everything except put them in the oven. After such a domestic day, it was time for some BOY stuff, so we played trains for awhile, then trucks, and then my favorite...target practice with the dart gun and books! I LOVE this activity and find it's a big stress reliever for me, and Coop loves it too. We line up all the paperback books, and see who can shoot down the most. So much fun! Ended up being a great day despite the yucky weather.

The Boy in the Moon

Cooper learned about planets yesterday at preschool. We were talking about them, and he asked who lives on each one because we live on earth. He was confused when I told him no one lives on them.
Later in the afternoon, it was still blue sky, but the nearly full moon was visible in the sky. Coop excitedly pointed it out and then said, "And I know who lives on the moon, Mom."
I said no one lives on the moon either, to which he said, "Uh-huh! That boy lives on the moon!"
"What boy?"
"You know, the one who is fishing all the time."
Thank you, Dreamworks, for making my child think some poor lonely little boy is stuck on the moon and all he can do is go fishing all the time.

What Color is Daddy's Hair?

Tonight at dinner Coop said I had red hair. I told him mine is brown, but what color is daddy's hair. He responds, "Um....gray." I almost died laughing. Nate was not so entertained.

23 Weeks

Today marks 23 weeks pregnant with Baby Cheese. It's going by so quickly, which is great! The developmental information for this week says he should be about 11 inches long and weigh just over a pound. He's getting big!

I already have a bond with this baby, just as I did with Cooper before he was born. I know the approximate times of day that he'll be awake and moving, and I find myself looking forward to those times when I can feel him. His most active time is about 10 pm. That's when he usually gets to kicking. Since he's still head up, it's hard for others to feel him kick or move, but last night Nate felt him move for the first time.

When I was pregnant with Cooper, his little bottom was right where I'd naturally rest my hands on my belly, and when he was frantically kicking, I used to pat my belly right there, as if patting his bottom. This usually calmed him and stopped the kicking.

Baby Cheese finally turned around, and now his kicks are more at my back, but that also means I can feel his back on my belly. I can't find his bottom, so for now when his soccer practice gets out of hand, or I'm trying to sleep, I rub my belly right along his back, and it calms him. I wonder if after he's born whether he'll like to have his back rubbed just as Cooper liked to have his bottom patted whe he was fussy.

Tonight at dinner Nate made the comment about having two boys at the table soon. He was coming at it from an overwhelmed perspective. I agreed, but also shared how ready I am for our family to grow. I feel ready for another child, in a very calm way. I'm excited to have another personality added to our mix, and to see what Cheese is like. I'm also interested to see what he'll look like. Seems with our genes that there's lots of possibilities, seeing as Coop is blonde haired, and blue eyed, yet neither of us has either of those traits.

On a different pregnancy subject, I keep forgetting that I want to record some of the strange/ funny food cravings/ aversions I've had this time around. So far:

First trimester: Couldn't look at meat; could hardly even open my freezer for other things because I'd see or smell the meat. Eating or cooking it was out of the question. I did however eat an entire jar of pickles in one sitting. That was at my parents' house back in Oct, and my dad said, "Boy, you ARE pregnant, aren't you." Also couldn't get enough cheese, and craved grape koolaid once for a few days like nobody's business.
Second Trimester (after morning sickness went away at 17 weeks): Ham, ham and more ham. We've eaten so much pork in the last month or so. One week every dinner and lunch had pork except for two. Still love cheese. Do not like salad much.
Have gone to Olive Garden three times and eaten little or no salad, but polished off an entire appetizer plate of calamari by myself as my dinner entree. Wow that sounds good right now! I also went through a 2-week period where I couldn't get enough of Taco Bell's Nacho Bell Grande with no refried beans, and extra meat. This past week or so has been all about carrots--not the already peeled baby kind, but the peel on, long, fresh kind. I eat them raw as snacks and at dinner. One day I'd eaten 4 whole carrots throughout the day, before dinner. Every night before bed I have to eat, or I wake up at 2-3 am starving. So I wait until 11 pm and eat a bowl of Corn Flakes or Special K with sliced bananas piled so high they nearly fall off. I also can't get enough strawberries, which has been with me from the beginning of this pregnancy. Would love to eat Pralines and Cream ice cream every night, but I know that's not healthy, and so only allow myself that luxury every so often. Have also craved orange soda a time or two, but after a swig or two, that was enough, and I didn't want any more. Still don't really like to eat chicken.

It fascinates me that pregnant or not, your body will tell you what it needs. Someimes I need a banana like it's the last thing on earth, and the carrot craving has seemed to coincide with the baby's eyes developing (according to my pregnancy book). I am amazed that my body can grow another human being with little or no active participation from me. Creation of life is such a miracle, and I can't wait for the next 16 weeks to fly by so I can meet our little Cheese.