Project Baby: 26 Weeks

The last week has definitely been crazy! We had new technology installed in my building at school and, for someone who uses technology in every class DAILY, hooking everything up took quite some time! Little Sargie and I were at school until 9:30pm on Friday night organizing and cleaning up the mess from all that had to be moved. Upwards and onwards, though, right?

By the way, you can see I finally remembered to wear my Project Baby pregnancy shirt for pictures! I couldn't believe how much tighter it's gotten since I last wore it at 22 weeks. Check out the difference!


Thoughts this week:

• HEARTBURN! I have to be VERY cautious about what I eat right now because it seems like everything is giving me heartburn. I honestly am feeling a little frustrated because the foods that don't give me heartburn are so limited. I mean, even carrots are giving me heartburn right now. YIKES!
• More and more I'm able to tell how much weight the baby has gained. Not only is my stomach bigger, but it just feels like it is weighing more. Sometimes at night before I go to bed, the lower part of my abdomen just feels sore because of all of the weight pushing down on it.
• I have lost my balance twice this week (granted, I was getting down from standing on a chair). I guess I need to be more careful! It's weird realizing I can't jump up two stairs at a time like I normally do... well, I can, but where I once could EASILY spring up the steps, I now am feeling the weight gain when I do it!
• I may have mentioned this last week, but my stomach is also feeling heavier in the night. Moving from side to side, I can definitely feel how much more the baby is weighing! I also am noticing in the night how much my stomach muscles are getting stretched. Every time I get up in the night to get a snack and go to the bathroom (usually 2-3), I have to be careful not to turn to fast otherwise I stretch my stomach muscles a little too far!
• Everything else is going fine. I feel fairly normal, besides the major heartburn, which is frustrating, but I'm able to deal with it. I honestly just feel SO GRATEFUL to be pregnant and that I've made it this far. Each day, I thank God that I have this opportunity and that I'm able to carry the baby one day longer. After my miscarriage last summer and hearing from so many of their struggles, I realize how truly blessed I am to have this opportunity in my life! :)

26 weeks pregnant and I can still do this! :)

Project Baby: 25 Weeks

This week was a crazy week as far as pregnancy goes! I don't know why, but the pregnancy symptoms I was feeling in the first 16 weeks or so feel like they are coming back again... with a vengeance! I'm wondering if it's because our little guy is moving up and cramping my innards even more so than before. I'm sure that is definitely why I've been experiencing the heartburn that really hit 2 weeks ago and hasn't much abated.

(NOTE: The picture below probably should be an outtake, but I thought it was too funny not to share. I was motioning for Evan to give me a kiss! It turned out to be an okay side view, so we kept it!

Other notes:

• On Thursday night, Evan got FINALLY got to hear this little guy's heartbeat with a stethoscope! Evan has been trying to use hear his heartbeat via stethoscope probably since week 16-17, but to no avail. At week 23, I mentioned that little "Sargie" (the baby's nickname) was kicking the stethoscope every time Evan tried to listen to his heartbeat. Well, Thursday I was getting kind of worried because I hadn't felt the baby move as much as I normally do at night-time after dinner. (Granted, I'm pretty much worried about the baby all of the time, so maybe that goes without saying!) Evan and I kept prodding my stomach to get Sargie to move and he wasn't moving (not usual). I was getting kind of worried. Evan decided to bust out his stethoscope to listen to his heartbeat. Sargie FINALLY cooperated and let us hear his heartbeat via stethoscope. It really comforted me and made me feel so much better! So grateful for a level-headed husband who loves me in spite of my worries and still thinks I'm beautiful and sexy in spite of the weight gain!
• I have been overly emotional the past week. I haven't cried in months, but in the past week, I've probably cried... well, I let's just say I cried Wednesday, Friday (twice!), and Saturday (twice!). I don't know what to blame it on other than the pregnancy hormones. Gotta love them! Once again... grateful for Evan who takes it in stride and just loves me through my tears and emotional craziness.
• I started gagging again every time I brush my teeth. WHAT?! I thought I was done with that 10 weeks ago! However, like I mentioned earlier... I don't know what has all of a sudden changed the past couple of weeks, but I feel more nauseous again. I still have to limit my diet to certain foods. Mostly, I really try to avoid dairy at all costs and processed sugar if I can help it, plus any foods that trigger heartburn. I also haven't been able to eat bananas since I threw them up in January. All the fun things pregnancy does to a person!
• Because it's so hard to feel like I can eat foods I would NORMALLY eat, I honestly feel constantly hungry and like I'm not eating enough food! When I find something I can actually eat, I eat a lot of it. I also find I keep eating the same things, which I'm starting to get sick of. I pretty much eat a lot of apples, only peanuts fresh ground peanut butter that I grind myself at WINCO, carrots, granola bars, chicken, asparagus, and orzo pasta. I still am gaining weight, probably because of the amount of peanut butter I eat!
• NOSE BLEEDS- I have had 2 nosebleeds in the past week! Let it be known that prior to this pregnancy, I had never had a nosebleed in my life. The other night, I woke up to go to the bathroom and felt this gush in my nose. I thought it was because of allergies and didn't think much of it, but decided to turn on the light in the bathroom anyway to check it out. Thank goodness I did!
• I haven't been exercising as much as I'd like. I was trying to walk daily, but I at least go once a week. I noticed that I have gained weight in my legs and my arms (not including my chest and stomach). Since I know I can't TRY to lose weight while pregnant, I've just been trying to eat as healthy as I did before I was pregnant. Once this baby is born, I can't wait to get back into hiking, running, rock climbing, etc.
• Yesterday, I was thinking about our little baby boy as I was cleaning and doing laundry. I am SCARED TO DEATH of how much our lives are going to change with this baby boy. Our lives literally will never be the same. But, I also felt so excited that this little boy is going to be our first-born. He is going to be the older brother. He is going to be a HUGE part of our lives and we're going to learn so much together. I keep telling him that we're going to be buddies when he is born. I am so excited to meet him, hold him in my arms, kiss him, see who we looks like and how much hair he's going to have. I feel so blessed to be pregnant, even if the prospect of how much my life is going to change is not yet comprehensible to me.

All of these pictures were taken on a walk today on a dirt/forested road right by Evan's parents. As you can see in the picture below, Evan always knows how to get me laughing!

Trying to see my Sargie belly

 This one was taken for my friend, Christina. She wanted to see if I look pregnant from behind... I don't Christina, do I? What do you think? 

Technological Distractions & Facebook

(Read this great article about the positives and negatives of screen time. 

I used it in a youth lesson a couple months ago and it has some great thoughts!)

image via HERE

It wasn't all that long ago that I did not have a cell phone (got my first one in 2003), there was no Myspace and certainly NO Facebook. No one knew what a blog was and other social networking sites (the few there were) were rarely used, if even available to the public. There was no Craig's List. No Pinterest. No Netflix. No immediate digital gratification. There was no texting. People couldn't get a hold of you at a moment's notice if you weren't at home. Checking your phone to see what a play-by-play of what your friends/family are up to was inconceivable. None of these things were around. And, frankly, they weren't missed. Life went on. We lived without them because they simply weren't around. What did we do with all of our time back then? I don't know about you, but I read more. I spent more one-on-one time with the people around me. In fact, I spent MOST of my time with the people around me forging relationships. I wrote more. I accomplished more. I lived more. I achieve my goals.

I look at the world now and see how in such a short time technology has changed the way we spend our time and the way we interact with each other. Some of that has been a blessing. For many, it's great to keep in touch with otherwise-hard-to-reach family and friends. However, for MOST, technology has become a major distraction. Rather than calling people and having meaningful conversations, we simply text to get quick messages across. We read about what our family is doing on Facebook rather than actually spending time with them TALKING about how and what their lives are like. We get distracted by blogs, Pinterest, Instagram, and thousands of other media! I, personally, don't want TV at all and very rarely watch movies nowadays, but that is another way technology has served to distract people from what is important. At the touch of a button, movies and TV shows are instantly available on our phones, tablets, even on our TV screens. (Love the video below that talks about screen time... the pictures and words really hit home.)

Have you ever calculated how much screen time you use in one day or in one week? I considered this recently. If we only spend 20 minutes a day online, watching movies/TV, etc. that means we'd be spending 140 minutes a week on those activities. equals 2 hours and 20 minutes.WOW. And that is if we only spend 20 minutes a day on those activities. What if we spend more. It shocks and horrors me to think of what I could be doing with that precious time to better myself and to uplift those around me. It also makes me think: Why are people saying that they don't have time? Of course, it must be admitted that we do need time to relax and unwind. But, what happened to good, old-fashioned books? What happened to calling friends rather than just reading their status updates?

FACEBOOK:
Last year, I got a Facebook account. Many of you (MYSELF AND MY HUSBAND INCLUDED!) were shocked at this news because of how vocal I have been about not wanting to be on Facebook. I actually got the account because of our Germany Exchange Trip. I got an account so that I could create a Facebook group for parents/students to use while the German Exchange students were here and while we were in Germany. I intended on getting an account using my professional name only ("Frau Stout") and never accepting any friend requests. If you read the above linked post, you'll see that my fear of Facebook was not in vain. It looks like I knew myself too well. I abstained from Facebook because I didn't want to lose control. Never getting an account meant not having the temptation to use said account. I didn't want to waste what precious time I have on the internet, because it means taking away time from things I love like family, friends, writing, reading, hiking, running, sewing... the list could go on.

A year later, I see both the positives and negatives of Facebook. First of all: I will say it has been an AMAZING tool for my German students. I created private class groups for students and parents. We share links, we speak in German, we share class pictures. It's wonderful. Sure, it has also been great to connect with people that I otherwise wouldn't have much interaction with. It is nice to get instant feedback to questions or to share photos/life stories with family and friends.


But, there is a downside too. Even without ever using any of the apps or playing games one Facebook (I don't have a Smart phone), I still find myself checking it all too often during the work week. (Weekends, I'm generally out and about too busy to be online.) Even if it's only 5-10 minutes at a time, Facebook has served as a distraction for me from doing what I want to do. 5-10 minutes here and there throughout the day add up to TOO MANY MINUTES online.

I guess what I'm saying is, I really want to get back to where I used to be in my life. While I still feel productive, I don't like the distraction that the internet plays in my daily life. It sucks time away in small increments here and there. It keeps me from doing the things I want to do and becoming the person I want to become. I have lost sight of the goals that I want to achieve and have just been living the daily grind not improving as much as I'd like.

So, this week, I'm going to calculate how much "screen time" I am taking. For me, this means seeing how much time I use checking Facebook, Pinterest, and Google Reader as these are the 3 things I spend screen time using. (As mentioned, I don't have a Smart phone and also don't have TV.) I truly hope I'm not appalled at the end of the week at how much time I have been unproductive. I will report back next week.

Anyone want to track their screen time with me?

Project Baby: 24 Weeks

Okay, okay... so I'm actually posting this on my changeover day to 25 weeks, but the pictures taken and the information is from Week 24. That's got to count for something, right?! Needless to say, the past few days have been insane. I really enjoyed my Spring Break last week and, apparently, so did the baby! It must have been the extra sleep I got and the rest I took because this little guy definitely has grown bigger!

NOTE: The pictures included in this post my sister took. We were over there for Easter dinner on Sunday and I asked her to take my pictures this week to get a new perspective. She is so talented with a camera! Also, I forgot to bring my Project Baby shirt with. That's a few weeks now without it... I'll wear it next week!

Thoughts this week:

• Heartburn came on with a vengeance this week! With it, came back the nausea I felt the "first" 18 weeks or so. I have been so grateful to eat relatively normally for a few weeks. It was awesome. I almost feel back at square one again! At least I haven't thrown up, even though I keep thinking I'm going to.
• I had my 24 week appointment last Thursday. I had to drink this NASTY sugar juice which I hardly kept down for the hour I was supposed to before getting my blood drawn to test for gestational diabetes. It gave me the WORST headache and made me so nauseated for the remainder of the day! It also made the baby's heart rate go up to 153 (normally in the 140s) when the doctor used the doppler.
• At the doctor's appointment, she told us his head was down. I hope that he remembers this position when it comes to the end of next trimester!
• Good news I found out on Friday: I do not have gestational diabetes. BAD NEWS: I am now anemic! That explains why I've been so tired recently. I have to take an iron supplement to combat this on top of the probiotic I take because of digestive issues that have come up with pregnancy, a calcium supplement,  AND prenatal vitamins. I can't keep all of the supplements straight!
• Not only has my stomach grown in size, I can feel that my stomach is weighing more, particularly when I switch from my right side to my left in the night. If I thought I couldn't lay on my back before, it is DEFINITELY very uncomfortable now! I use a Boppy pregnancy body pillow and two other large pillows on my other side. I try to cuddle with Evan for at least a little while until he falls asleep so he doesn't feel so alienated in the night!
• Speaking of sleeping... I have been struggling to sleep the past week. It's a combination of allergies, hip aches from sleeping on my side, headaches I get from who knows what, thirst/hunger, and the need to go to the bathroom. I guess all of this must be preparing me to have sleepless nights when this little guy comes!
• Even though our little guy has definitely gotten bigger and started pushing all of my guts around more and more (thus the heartburn), he still is hanging out relatively low! He has, however, taken a liking to kicking me really hard on one side. In fact, the past few days, he has kicked me so hard in the same spot that I felt like my insides were being kicked raw. Silly kid! He is going to give us a run for our money, I can just tell!

Evan was making me laugh so hard!

Evan punching my "Sargie" belly... he's so silly

This week's outtake... My sister was trying to get a picture from above of my belly, but it didn't work out as well as we would have liked. Hey, she gets an A for creativity! :)

Spring Break In Pictures

Truthfully, this post only contains pictures from the FIRST day of our Spring Break. Evan and I both had the week off of school and it has been AWESOME! Monday, we took a road trip to visit his grandma, to go on a ferry ride to San Juan Island (we both had never been there), and just to have a fun adventure! All of the pictures are from that adventure. We had a great time seeing his grandma, enjoying the brisk wind and stunning views of the ferry, touring the island, hiking a little bit, walking around the quaint downtown area, and, last of all, eating at Kung Fu Pizza. How could a person go wrong eating at Kung Fu Pizza?! You're right, you couldn't. Enjoy the pictures of our adventure!

I drew this free-hand... I'm pretty talented! Or, should I say Picasa makes me look talented?! :)

Me and my "Sargie" belly :)

Evan brought along his black and white film camera

So many cool boats around the islands...

So many birds were happily cruising with us on the ferry ride! 

I call this one dirty bird.

On the island trying to spot whales... Mostly, we just saw HUGE kelp that we thought were whales.

Lighthouse... that's Canada in the background!

Tuesday- Ate breakfast at our local diner (we walked the 1 minute there), played games, walked to the library, cleaned house, enjoy being home together.

Wednesday- I worked at organizing my classroom with my nieces and nephew. We got a lot done! Evan went skiing up near Camp Muir (base camp for Mt. Rainier). That night, Evan changed my oil, I played games with my sister's kids. It was fun!

Thursday- Doctor's appointment... I had to drink sick nasty glucose syrup juice to test for gestational diabetes. Tried not to throw up. Went to my sister's house and ended up being there for 8+ hours playing croquet, eating, watching a movie, playing games, and just having fun as a family! Love my sister's kids!

Friday- Spent time at home working out a budget and trying to decide where we're going to move before the baby comes! I found out I don't have gestational diabetes, but I am anemic. That's why I've been so tired! Evan is heading out to go climbing for the next few days, which means I get to read and write alone today and work in my classroom have a family Easter get-together tomorrow. Awesome. I love when I don't have to work!

Project Baby: 23 Weeks

What an adventure this week has been! Months ago, I decided to take some of my students to German Immersion Camp (where we speak, eat, play, dance, sing, laugh only in German!) for the weekend. I wasn't considering at the time that I'd be nearly 6 months pregnant when I went and that sleeping on a little camping cot in a cabin would not provide very restful sleep! We still had fun in spite of the no sleep issue... and the German food was DELICIOUS! I ate so much over the 2 days we were there!

All of the pictures this week (besides the green shirt one taken last Tuesday on my 23 week changeover day) were taken at Evan's parent's house. We go over there for Sunday dinner nearly every week. This week, we brought our niece and nephew with us so Evan's brother could watch his wife play violin in an Easter concert. You can see Jordan pictured below feeling the baby kick! After he felt him kick once, he kept asking me every 5 minutes to feel the baby kick again. he already loves his baby cousin! :)

Other notables this week:

• I can already tell that our little guy LOVES his daddy. Last Wednesday, I came home from a LONG day at work. I walked in the house and as soon as Evan started talking, our little guy just started kicking and rolling. The entire time Evan was talking, he just kept moving around. He was so happy to hear his daddy's voice! The same thing happened on Thursday too. I have started to notice that the baby moves around when Evan talks. :)
• Today (Monday, 4/2), I cuddled up with my belly next to Evan after we both woke up. For about 25 minutes, our little guy just kept KICKING and PUNCHING and ROLLING around! Evan has felt the baby move since Leap Day, but he felt the baby move more in those 25 minutes than all of the previous last 4-5 weeks combined!
• After the baby was kicking so much, Evan decided to get his stethoscope to see if he could hear the baby's heartbeat. He's been trying to do this for several weeks without success! I think I've mentioned before that this baby does NOT like to be squished or prodded. No sooner had Evan put the stethoscope on my belly, but he heard the baby punching/kicking the stethoscope. He moved the stethoscope to the opposite side of my belly... the same thing happened! He did it a third time and then we both just couldn't help but laugh that no matter where he moved the stethoscope, the baby would just roll/kick/punch/move around to get away from that pressure! This all happened within about 10 seconds... this baby is going to have fast reflexes! :)
• Since the beginning of week 23, I started wearing maternity shirts. I can still fit my regular shirts for the most part, although my chest is getting pretty big to fit some of the shirts and dresses I own. For whatever reason, I woke up one day thinking I should try out some of the maternity shirts my sisters both gave to me. I think they look pretty cute on! Of course, give me a few weeks and I'll be sick of wearing them!
• This week, I have noticed more and more how much my stomach muscles are getting stretched out. Turning sometimes will just pull a muscle a weird way and cause some pain. I'm definitely not into that!
• I am having a hard time fathoming how HUGE my stomach is going to get. I'm nearly 24 weeks and feel like my stomach is already pretty stretched. I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when I'm full-term! Although I'll miss those little kicks and movements, I will definitely be glad to move like a normal person again!

I stopped in the middle of the photos because little Sargie (the baby's nickname) was kicking me so much! I stopped to feel him kick and Evan snapped a photo.

2nd time wearing a maternity shirt from my sisters... Evan insisted when I got home from work on taking pictures of me and my "cute" belly! :)

This week's outtake... Evan decided we should try to take pictures in full-sun. He didn't realize, however, after finishing up our photo shoot that his shadow was in every picture! This picture would have actually been cute if it weren't for his shadow! :)