24 Weeks

Every day I wake up and think, "Wow, this really is happening!"  


I feel great.  I am still barely showing, it really depends on what I wear.  My regular jeans are no longer comfortable, so I am down to the couple pair that are still a bit too big.  I am nowhere near needing to even think about maternity clothes though.  I have the most (insert sarcasm here...) beautiful Stay-Puft Marshmallow foot/leg (due to insane swelling).  Yes, just one, the other is completely normal.  Seriously, my sock barely fits.  I can't wear my brace on my left foot, thankfully that is the foot that can do some things on it's own.  I have found a way to get the swelling to go down, somewhat.  I lay on the couch, propped half sideways with my swollen leg wrapped up over the back of the couch.  Looks ridiculous, but my foot certainly looks better after a few hours like that.  My back pain is gone for the most part due to a change in my desk at work.  I wear wrist splints to bed at night to help minimize the effects of the carpal tunnel that I've developed.  While the oddities of pregnancy are a bit annoying, I am still enjoying every bit of it, sleepless nights included.

 On the preparation front, we got all of the nursery furniture put together over the weekend!  The room is mostly set up the way we want it, we just need to decorate it now.  We had fun putting things together.  At one point, the decision was made that I was better suited to the instruction book reader while Brian handled assembly.  I almost knocked him out while we were trying to set up the high chair.  (I know, we won't need that for a while. I figured since we had it, we better make sure nothing was missing.)  We now have a pile of cardboard the size of Mount Rushmore.  The recycling guys are going to hate us...  We start childbirth classes next week.  NEXT WEEK!  

The most exciting part of this journey right now...I can feel our baby girl moving!  While she feels a bit like a frog right now, it is pure love!  Brian hasn't felt her much yet, he still thinks it's a muscle twitching, but it is certainly happening.  I am amazed how quickly the frequency and intensity increased.  I think that it's been less than two weeks overall since I really started feeling her.  Some days the movements are very few and subtle, but this weekend when Brian and I were together, she was moving around like crazy!


We've been talking about names, but have nothing to share right now.  We may just name her once we see her, but will have a list ready.  It is painfully evident that Brian and I have far different ideas about names, but we seem to be making some progress on landing somewhere close to one another with our choices.  


So, long overdue update completed...I think I covered everything!


While we are enjoying the most wonderful time of our lives, we're also saying prayers for those that are not quite in the same place in their journeys.  Know that all of you remain in our hearts and our prayers, your journeys and your challenges do not go forgotten.