This is the last week of my sixth month of pregnancy! This is the last week of my second trimester! Where is time going? Baby Bird has been a lot squirmier this week. So much so that we've been calling him/her "squirmy". The kicks and punches are stronger. It's becoming easier to tell where the baby is in my belly. Brian loves to play "find the baby" and gently pushes on my belly until he finds the hard spot where baby is hanging out. He was touching my belly as we watched a movie the other night when I felt baby squirm and he looked over at me and said, "What the?!?" Apparently he felt the baby roll over and move, not just a swift kick! He was pretty shocked and in awe of the tiny person living inside me! Baby Bird seems to be most active in the late evenings and also the mornings when I'm waking up. And it's nearly always kicking on the right side of my belly. One morning, I was holding my tummy as I woke up for a little mommy and baby time, and I felt Baby Bird stretch out a little hand or foot and push! There was a tiny hard spot pushing out against my hand for about 20 seconds. It was crazy! I am noticing that I am a tummy rubber. I feel like I am constantly touching my tummy. It's getting bigger, and baby moves so often, it's difficult not to! But my justification is that baby is developing a sense of touch now and will even respond to my touching and gently pushing on my belly.
This week, Brian and I traveled to Chattanooga, TN with over 200 college students from Campus Outreach Minneapolis for a national New Years Conference. It was really awesome. It is always a "fire hydrant" of information pouring at you and you can only drink so much while the rest flows over your head. The theme was One Life. We had speakers like Matt Chandler, John Piper, Harry Reader. Brian and I were able to spend the week with students which was so refreshing after the past few months of raising support. We loved the dinner dates, gospel centered conversations, and processing the talks with students. If you want to read more information about the Conference and even hear some of the talks, visit: conationalconference.com
Pregnancy wise, it was an interesting trip. We took a coach bus all the way from Minneapolis to Chattanooga. That is an 19 hour trip. We stopped in a hotel somewhere in Illinois on the way down. When we got to our room and I changed into my pajamas, I looked down at my feet and I was astonished! I no longer had ankles! My calves seamlessly transitioned into fat feet! Swollen is an understatement! Brian was beyond sweet and rubbed them as I slept with them elevated on pillows. They were fine the next morning, only to swell again during our second traveling day. It was pretty much a battle all week as we spend most of our time sitting in sessions, or on our feet walking long distances. Traveling home was a whole different story. We drove straight through without stopping for the night! For the most part, it was okay. We watched several movies, played games with students, and ate fast food for every meal (yuck!). I expected the aches and pains in my back and the swollen ankles. The hardest part came around 2am when I simply could NOT find a way to sit that was comfortable... let alone be able to sleep! I shed a couple tears in a pity party for myself and then Brian reminded me the truth that we have so much to be thankful for. We played the "Polyanna Game" and listed the blessings. While that didn't help my aching back and sore ribs, it did give me some perspective. In the end, I think I was able to sleep a couple hours. This has made adjusting back to "normal" life somewhat difficult as we feel jet lagged.
It sure is good to be home... mostly! We got pretty spoiled spending a week in sunny, warm, Southern California and then a week in the mild and generally warm weather of Chattanooga. So when the windchill was 3 degrees our first day back, we spend a lot of time snuggled under blankets with hot tea. When we did venture out, I donned my maternity jacket. I feel as though I look obviously pregnant in my regular clothes. I'm glad that "is she just fat?" stage is over. But I still feel like it's hard to tell in a jacket. Well, apparently I've reached the stage where I'm obviously pregnant no matter what I wear! A woman I've never met ooed and awed over my preggo-ness when I was wearing my coat. I feel like the "wow, you must be due any day" comments are just around the corner! I have heard that the third trimester is uncomfortable physically and emotionally as everyone feels the need to comment on your size. It time to prepare for that I guess haha. It will all be so worth it in the end. The last two days, we have had two friends give birth to their new babies! The whole process is so exciting! Only a couple more months until we get to meet Baby Bird!
(L) Balancing oatmeal on my baby bump. (R) Watching a 3D movie on mom and dad's TV and enjoying theater style popcorn!
(L) Mom and Dad's pretty Christmas Tree. (R) Mom, Stacey and I got matching coffee mugs so we can think of each other when we drink from them wherever we are!
(L) Last photo of 2011. (R) First photo of 2012.
(L) Attempting to sleep on 18 hr bus ride. (R) Holy swollen ankles!
(L) Matt Chandler speaking to 5000 Campus Outreach students. (R) New Years Eve Party with 5000 college students!
Hothouse cucumber is an English cucumber. Usually wrapped in plastic wrap at grocery stores because the skin is very delicate.
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