Week 23: Growing (Belly and Baby!)

I'm now in my 6th month of pregnancy. Yesterday when I got home from work, Josh pointed out the difference between week 5 (when we found out I was pregnant) and now at week 23. The baby is about 1 lb. now, so we'll both be getting a lot bigger between now and September!

  

On the night of 29 April, I was out of town. I had been preoccupied with work earlier in the day, as I was presenting at a conference. However, I definitely felt a movement like no other before! Luckily, it was the first of many baby movements. I now feel several more throughout the day, but the baby is more active later in the day than in the morning. Hopefully the baby won't be such a night owl after birth!

Right around that time, I was finding it very uncomfortable to sleep. After hearing about pregnancy pillows, I finally found a Boppy Pregnancy Pillow at our SuperTarget. With the cover, it cost about $70, and it was worth EVERY PENNY! I definitely wake up many times each night, but it helps keep me sleeping on my left side, and makes sleeping much more comfortable. The pillow is also great for sitting up and reading, so I'll likely end up using it when I pick up the baby blanket I'm about 25% done knitting, and even post-pregnancy.

On 12 May, I was at the halfway point in the pregnancy. Josh and I went for my ultrasound. I had no idea it would take about 70 minutes, or that I would be able to see organs in such detail. About 15 minutes in the ultrasound, we found out that we are having a baby boy! At that point, James was the likely boy name, but all of a sudden, it just did not seem to fit.

Besides initiating the "name game," we also went to SuperTarget to do our registry. Talk about overwhelming! As a first-time parent, I know the basics, but not much more about what we'd need or want. I still have a lot to learn! This past weekend, I went to Babies'R'Us with my mom and registered. Having that perspective helped, and it was very fun. It's tempting to buy all of the cute baby boy clothes now, but so far I've limited myself to only items like the Boppy pillow and Classic Pooh decor / playpen for the nursery.

Dogs in the Garden

Sadie and Perry did not like it when I was out of town for my Vancouver trip. The day after I returned we visited my parents, and they got a chance to play in their favorite part of the backyard.

Since I returned they have been having "turf wars" with each other, so hopefully increased activity and a steady supply of braided rawhides will curb this new behavior!

 

 

Vancouver & Whistler

Last week, I was in Vancouver for a business meeting. I was spending a large part of my time planning for this meeting (poor Josh - every night I'd come home with another thing to find or do for the meeting, mainly on his one week off before his BAR preparation course began). The weather forecast indicated that almost every day there would be cold (by Texas standards) and rainy, so I was pleasantly surprised when the weather was overall great - especially when we went to Whistler for our team event.

On the way to Whistler, we stopped by Brandywine Falls.

 

In Whistler, I spent some time shopping in Whistler Village before having dinner at Dusty's. One of the highlights of the dinner, besides the spectacular view, was a few bear sightings!

 

The last afternoon after finishing up meeting clean-up, I was able to do some sight-seeing around Vancouver with a couple of my co-workers. I was in a hotel with a harbour view, and was able to walk from there to Gastown to see the Steam Clock.

 

After walking through Gastown, I walked up to Granville Island, which is a market area with small shops. You actually need to take a ferry to get across the water. Once I had a great cheese biscuit, I walked along the coast to Stanley Park, with a beach view.

 

 

Vancouver was a great place to visit. However, after 8 days away from home, I was ready to get back!

Josh's Law School Graduation

On 9 May, Josh graduated with a J.D. degree from UH!