Week 21 Update + We’re Moving!!!

Yet again, I changed outfits for this week’s picture. I had to take a stereotypical “facebook-in-the-mirror” picture because we forgot to take a picture when Chris was home over the weekend. 

See? I do look pregnant! Just waiting on the really round, cute belly, but we’ll get there. :-)

AND for your viewing pleasure, looking into the future…my very own magic trick. You see, in my family, I’m fairly famous for “making myself look pregnant” (yes before I was pregnant…in the days of flat tummy land), but now it’s oh so appropriate BECAUSE I AM! I wonder when my belly will be “this” big? 29 weeks? 30 weeks? 33 weeks? I think it looks cute!!!! Unfortunately, shoving my belly out that far is super uncomfortable, so rather than walk around like that, I’ll just have to wait for baby to grow grow grow!

Also, a huge family update is that we’re moving this weekend! Chris has a job now in the Palestine/Frankston, TX area, so after LOTS of unsuccessful looking, Chris found us an awesome apartment in Tyler that’s a reasonable distance from his job. We’ll be in the apartment for a while, and during that time we’ll look for some nice land to build a house on (or find dream house on dream lot).

Chris moved into the apartment yesterday with the absolutely bare essentials until we could get a moving truck out there this weekend for the “big stuff”, and I’ll continue to bring “little stuff” over the next few weeks in my travel to/from Dallas. 

As if moving isn’t complicated enough as it is, here is some “fun” stuff going on right now:

1. Can’t find our storage room key. So…that’ll be fun….and expensive…to open up
2. Our anaerobic septic system is messed up/backed up/slow…something…which means lots of fun stuff. Like septic (yes, just think about what goes into your septic system) junk in our tubs and showers. (Chris cleaned all that out on Sunday night though)
3. Our toilets are not fully functional STILL (yes…from Sunday to Wednesday) and for NO REASON stopped working again last night. So imagine this…when your toilets don’t work…where do you go to the bathroom??? Don’t. Ask.
4.   For some reason, our master bathroom toilet shoots out water underneath the toilet onto the floor when it’s flushed. It’s clean water, so no worries about that. BUT STILL. Oh the towels....

So that’s cool, right? FUN FUN FUN FUN! It’s really actually funny. Because when we say “it’s been a poopy” day, it’s fairly accurate. Can’t help but laugh at that. Plumbers/Septic fixes are really expensive, so we’re waiting it out to see if something will just fix itself, but gosh, it’s not very fun right now!

If you’re having a rough day, just think, you could’ve had poop coming up through the drain of your tub.  Phew, don’t you feel better now?!?!?!  :-)

**Drum roll** It's a ....................

Well, you're going to have to wait for just a second. ;-) Although I'm sure most of y'all will just scroll down to the very bottom and be TOTAL SPOIL SPORTS, be patient, grasshoppers, and continue reading in an orderly fashion!

I had my 20 wk sonogram this week with an amazing sonographer named Julie. Everything checked out and baby is "normal" in all categories. Except one.*sigh* So, the sonogram was Monday. (I KNOW IT WAS SO HARD TO KEEP IT IN FOR SO LONG!!!) I was 20weeks1day. At 20 weeks, a typical baby weighs 10-11 ounces. What did MY BABY measure at?

                                15 ounces

Yes people, you read that correctly. According my research, that's usually about a 22 week old baby. So my nearly 1 pound baby is about 2 weeks ahead of the growth curve, if that measurement is correct. Oh My Goodness! So officially, I am growing a giant--a healthy, happy, giant baby.

Suffice it to say, baby is getting ALL the nutrition necessary (and then some, possibly?) from the supplements I've been taking...

Chris could literally barely contain his excitement when we into the cozy sonogram room; he wouldn't sit down.  In an instant, we knew the gender of our baby.

                                  Can you tell by these pictures??
   (no, I am not parading my baby's unmentionables on the internet! Just guess....pick beautiful or handsome and go with that!!)

 

So, now, the big announcement: It's a......

                                    GIRL!

                           

YAY!!!! We are so excited (yes, we would have had the same reaction if she was a "he", but STILL!) The sonogram was fun!!! She wiggled all over the place and made funny faces and played with her umbilical cord and kept rubbing her eyes...so adorable!

**side note, these awesome frames are from Hobby Lobby..so cute, right?!**

Okay so here are some video clips from the sonogram DVD. Yes, I did use my iPhone to record this from my laptop because the DVD format was being super lame. Yes, I am THAT low-tech.**The video requires Adobe Flash Player, down here**

                                          Clip1: Baby waves hello!

                           Clip2: Baby has a foot! And she likes to move it, move it!

                                 
                     Clip3: She is floating in outerspaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace

 

                         Clip4: An elbow, a kick, and arms all over the place :-)

I know I've used far too many exclamation points and words like "cute" in this post, but I'm sure y'all will forgive me for being just so tickled and excited and head over heels in love with her!!!!!!!!!! :)

Luke 1 and Motherhood

Part of the “Magnificat” from Luke 1 has been stuck in my head lately. Upon Elizabeth greeting Mary, St. John the Baptist leaps in her womb and Elizabeth cries out “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to see me?” To which, Mary replies:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.”

When Mary said this to Elizabeth, she was proclaiming the greatness of God and saying in humility that she had been chosen to carry the Living God, Jesus, in her womb. I would even extend this quote to all mothers. After all, God also says in Jeremiah 1:5

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”

So, to draw a logical, mind exploding conclusion, God knew our little baby before conception. God knew both Chris and I before we were conceived. He knew that He would give the child we created this particular soul to be these particular two people. We got to be co-creators with God to make a new, unique human life. We provided the body; He provides the soul. Cool. Stuff. 

I’ve carrying a unique, individual life that God specifically PICKED OUT for us to love, shepherd, and nurture for a time on this earth. What a responsibility and blessing! 

The beauty of it all is that I’m not special. It’s not just Chris and I and our little baby that get to take part in this divine partnership of creation. It’s every person ever created—those born AND unborn. 

So in my own little way, I feel (and hope other mothers feel too) like Mary when she said “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” because of this special creation I have wiggling around inside of me. A creation that is human and unique and has a purpose that I helped to make! The creation of life and soul are a testament to God’s existence and love for us. 

I truly “rejoice in God my savior”, because “he has looked with favor on his lowly servant”. I’m just me, just Rachel, a sinner, an imperfect person, but God somehow trusts that I can care for the beautiful little person growing within me. I look to Mary in her humble acceptance of God’s will and mission to shepherd the Savior of the World to adulthood and pray that I can mirror her life’s example, even if only .1%.  

Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!

20 weeks update: Ohhhh, we’re halfway there…. *cue song*

 Thanks Bon Jovi, for literally having the most perfect lyrics for week 20 of pregnancy...lol

This is quite the exciting week. You’ll notice I’ve changed outfits for my pictures. Some prego workout pants ($6 holla!)and prego top ($7 holla!) from Target. I thought this would give a more accurate picture of what I really looked like…you know…wearing really pregnancy clothes. Turns out, I was wrong. However, as I write this today (Wednesday), I can safely say that my belly is definitely sticking out a lot more since yesterday. 

The exciting part of the week is that Chris and I will be posting the results from my 20 wk sonogram!!!!!!!! Stay tuned to find out if we’re having a mini-Rachel or mini-Chris…I’m so excited!!! (As if you couldn’t tell, by the thrice use of “excited” in the post)

**also, I’m realizing more and more how many people I forgot to include when I sent out a message saying that we have a blog…pass it along to friends or family please!**

**alsoooo, at the bottom of the page, you can “subscribe” to our blog! Bookmark us and read often :-)

My Pregnancy Health "Routine"

In case anyone is interested....as much as possible, I’m trying to get as many vitamins/minerals/nutrients in as natural a way as possible throughout the pregnancy so that my body can absorb and benefit the maximum amount. That little sucker is stealing all my energy and nutrients, so this makes sense. In regards to my supplements then, they are all whole food based and/or organic. Much of this stuff can be bought at a health food store or online, and it’s honestly not too pricey (and I’m super cheap).

In the mornings, I take:

•  1-2 tbsp Black Strap Molasses, which is 20-40% of daily iron needed (I try to take this first thing with a TON of water because the taste and smell is wretched. But man, does it help with giving me enough energy!)
• 2 fish oil supplements (which I will discontinue around 36 weeks)
•  2 SuperMom vitamins (these I take 30 min before or after having any calcium, because I don’t want the calcium to block iron absorption. Since this is whole food based, it smells horrible and they are the size of horsepills! Bleh)
• 1 Cayenne Pepper supplement (I have to take this with food, especially yogurt or milk because it burns my belly!! The supplement is literally a capsule of Cayenne. I have low-ish blood pressure, so Cayenne is a natural remedy…and it works!)
• 2 apricot seeds (these are chock full of B-17, a vitamin we rarely if ever get, and this vitamin is known to have cancer fighting properties. Both Chris and I take them daily. No, we don’t have cancer, but we’re big on prevention and what could be easier that two little almond sized seeds)

Throughout the day:

•   I usually have 1 more Cayenne Pepper pill, if I remember
•   1-2 cups of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea (this stuff ROCKS. Read more here. It’s great for all women because It helps relieve period pain/heavy menstrual flow/helps nausea/strengthens reproductive system. During pregnancy it strengthens and tones the uterus, decreases changes of premature labor, increases milk supply, and enriches colostrum. Are you convinced ladies that you should be drinking this too? I HOPE SO! I bought a 6 pack of Yogi for $17 bucks on Amazon, so less than $3 per container, and at the store it runs $4-5. It. Is. Worth it!)
• Make sure I’m getting 80-100 grams of protein each day (I eat lots of beans, lots of cheese, lots of yogurt, sometimes meat, lots of whole grains)

 

At night

• Stop “cameling” down water (yes I invented that word) by 8 pm so I don’t have to pee 5 times a night
• I normally get hungry again around 8-9, so I’ll have a snack with calcium like milk and cereal or cheese and a piece of fruit 
•  Throughout this pregnancy, I have had trouble sleeping! So I take 2 organic calcium supplements around 8-9 pm to help promote restful sleep. Again. This stuff works like a charm!!!
• If I’m feeling indulgent, I’ll have a small cup of sleepytime tea, which I think tastes delicious. Again, Yogi is what I’ve been buying.

Yes, some of the stuff I take tastes pretty horrible (Blackstrap molasses and supermom pills), but I would much rather shovel down water afterwards or drink with milk (cayenne pepper) than taking a fake version of that same vitamin/nutrient. Doing this helps to prevent some unwanted side effects of pregnancy like constipation, and in general is better for you and baby.

All of these supplements are safe for women even when not pregnant. Even a lot of teenagers take SuperMom pills (basically a multivitamin) because they help with periods and low energy levels due to fluctuating hormones/poor diet!

Any questions? Just ask J