16 Weeks, 3 Days

This is a pregnancy specific post. If you're not in a good lace, please feel free to pass. Take care of you!

This is a few days late. Oops! Time is getting away from me and in more ways than one. On one hand, I feel like our IUI was forever ago and March is coming up fast. On the other, I look at the title today and say, "We're still in the teens! This is taking forever!" I swear, never happy...

Our anatomy scan is scheduled for October 9th at 10:00 AM. I can't wait! Obviously, we will be looking for a report of health, kidneys, brain, measurements, etc. But we are also excited to (hopefully) find out what kind of Smudge is hanging out in there!

We felt Smudge moving around for the first time Wednesday night after church! The best part was that both of us were able to feel it. S/he was hanging out pretty low, right at the top of my pubic bone. Very cool!

Of course, since then I've barely felt Smudge move at all. I know that feeling the baby move last week was extremely early and it was lucky that we were both able to feel it. Whenever I try to feel around on my abdomen, I pick up MY heart beat right away which seems to confirm the anterior placenta idea and helps explain why I'm not feeling much. I'm working hard to avoid any negative thoughts and am hanging on for the ultrasound to confirm that the baby is healthy.

Even with all of our walking, I've been struggling with my weight the past few days. I hit a wall the end of last week and had some Krispy Kreme. And then we had a movie night at home, so there was candy. And then R made chocolate crackers yesterday. *sigh* I'm afraid to step on the scale right now.

I tried to make good decisions yesterday. We always go to lunch after church on Sunday and I just ordered a small chili. R grilled some burgers for dinner and I cut mine in half lengthwise for more of a slider-style burger with only a small portion of sweet potato fries. Little K and I took our bikes out after church yesterday and did the parade of homes in our neighborhood, so I got in some additional exercise.

Today has been a whole-grain english muffin and 6oz. of calcium-fortified OJ at 7:30 AM, a small bowl of raspberry granola with skim milk at 9:30 AM. I'm planning on making a big batch of homemade spicy black bean sweet potato burgers for my lunches this week.

Something I'm really proud of has been my cooking the past month. I've been making dinner at home 6 days per week, which is huge for me. And I've been making my breakfasts and lunches those days as well. I've been eating vegetarian for just about every lunch. I'm trying to fit in an egg with breakfast but I'm just not hungry enough most days. Our dinners have been mainly chicken, although I've been trying to up my red meat just a bit to increase my iron intake. I'm making sure that every meal includes protein and at least one fruit/veg. It has taken some planning but it's getting easier.

Every once in a while I start to worry about adding a baby to our lives. Like this morning, after sleeping eight hours without waking and still being completely exhausted. Like yesterday when Little K was so frustrated that her friends were unavailable to play and knowing that even my play time with her will be reduced with a baby to care for. Like last Thursday after gymnastics when I didn't want anyone touching me or needing me and knowing that it will only be exacerbated by having a baby attached to my hip and breast.

So many prayers these days. For financial provision, for health and peace, for patience, for confidence to rest in God's plan...