Update - Week 16

Wow, four months pregnant! I read something today about approaching the half way point. This hasn't even really hit me yet. I mean being pregnant has but not the fact that I'm going to have a baby. The pregnancy stuff is all about me me me. But soon the attention will be on little martin jr. or heather jr. I try to imagine what life will be like. I realized that's just impossible. Not so much because it's so different from anything I've ever experienced, although that is true. But because each child is so different. I have no idea the temperament of the child. Like will I be able to take the baby with me to the grocery store? Sure, I see moms at the grocery store with babies in baby carriers strategically positioned on their buggies (shopping carts for you non SWPA-people). But I have no idea if I'll be able to do that. At least at first. And of course that's just one example. Will I be able to sleep? And those are pretty benign questions...what about harder ones like, what if my child has a serious health issue or what if I end up on bed rest? Uncertainty is always a challenge for us planners but it's even more than that when it's such a lifestyle change in one's home life. Like, moving to a new place involves lots of changes (commute, possibly new friends/church/job) but you know that when you come home at night you will still have a similar routine to what you have now. With having kids (I guess this is true for marriage too but I don't think to the same extent) normal routines will change. But uncertain times are always blessings in that they cause us to rely more on God and draw us closer to Him. I'm not even going to pretend to know what I'm doing. It's all going to be God.

Something that will be particularly hard for Martin and me is having to slow down. We put a lot of effort into being efficient and getting things done quickly. Our expectations will have to change a lot now.

Told the STEP folks this week. And some more people at church. I think I can say for sure that I'm feeling better. More energy and not nauseous, but I still can tell I'm pregnant - can't do as much, uncomfortable sitting and laying down, etc. I can tell that I'm feeling better though because I can actually bear to stand on the way home on the metro. Before I was way to queasy/dizzy to stand all the way.

One more week til the next doctors appointment and a week and a half until I tell my boss. I'm starting to get my speech ready.

Walked about 5 miles on Saturday but haven't done much else in the way of exercise this week. :( I really need to start strength training. I bought 2 pregnancy workout tapes on eBay this week so hopefully that will motivate me to get back into a routine.

Gotta give total props to my mom who cleaned our refrigerator, oven, microwave, and shower this past weekend and to both my parents for getting our front and back porches ready for summer with beautiful flowers! That was truely a blessing and a relief to me.

Update - Week 15

Feeling a lot less nauseated this week. Although I'm having a hard time finding food that tastes good to me. At least anything healthy. Make grocery shopping really hard. My cold is gone and I had no excuse not to exercise this week but I didn't. Maybe my body wouldn't feel as tired if I exercised.

Martin and I did go for a hike on Saturday though. I barely made it through. It was supposed to take 2 hours and it took four. I just couldn't get my muscles to move. That was frustrating especially since this is the best time of year weather-wise in DC to be outside and I know how much Martin likes to bike and hike. Plus, he (and I too) feel like we want to do so much BC. If we do anything like that on the weekend them I'm too tired to do the housework I need to do.

I haven't gained any weight yet. I can tell that my stomach is different (protruding outwardly more) but with most clothes I wear you wouldn't be able to tell that I'm pregnant, especially looking at me from the front. At least that's my perception. I could be totally deceiving myself. My boss left for vacation today so I won't be telling him for at least another 11-12 days. I'm thinking on making June 5th my target for telling him. I can't be showing that much more in 2 and a half weeks, right?

Told a few more Harvest people this week. Still have some people I want to tell in person or on the phone and haven't gotten a chance to contact them since we've been so busy. We had/will have had 3 different sets of house guest this week.

Sorry for complaining so much. I need to focus on the positive and fun things. Only 5 more weeks until we find out the gender of the baby! Oh, and my pregnant friend Laura (who has the same doctor as I do) and I scheduled a maturnity ward tour for the 30th! That will be fun. And my brother is coming to visit with my parents this weekend. This is only the 3rd time he's come to DC in the 5 years that I've lived here. Until next week....

Security Clearance

Last night I did my 5th security clearance interview for a friend (I have really trustworthy friends). Anyway, by this time I got the drill down. I could probably even rattle off all the questions they ask. So I made sure to check the guys' ID this time (before I let a stranger into my house). If you've ever done one of these you know they find people with NO personality to do these interviews. Just the facts ma'am. This guy wasn't so bad. He smiled once in a while. He told me I needed to put away my snow shovel that's still propped up in my front entry way. As he was leaving it started raining really hard. Well, he was in such a hurry to get to his car, that he got into my car instead! It was so funny! I'm watching at the window as this guy gets into my car and closes the door before he realizes it's not his own! He was also driving a silver car but I'm pretty sure it was much bigger than mine. I must have left my car door unlock since I was on the phone with Martin when I got home. So much for security.

Update - Week 14

Well, I couldn't tell if the pregnancy sickness has gone away yet because I had a cold most of the week. Stayed home from work on Monday. Feeling better now. I seem to have more of an appetite now which is good.

Martin's been out of town this week which means I've actually had to cook and take the garbage out and get up to get my own glass of water (gasp!). It's been rough but I'm making it through.

This week the baby is the size of my computer mouse, so says a pregnancy website. Looks like the size measurements have gotten away from food (peanut, bean, grape, lime, jumbo shrimp). I kinda liked the food references though. I'm not sure how my computer-moused-size child is fitting in my belly though. I used to be astonished at people who found out they had grapefruit-sized tumors in them without knowing. Like how could you not know? Now I understand.

At Bible Study last night a few of the women were talking about when they first felt their babies. They said that with the first one, you wouldn't recognize the feeling anyway if you did feel it - you'd just think it's gas. So last night I'm lying in bed and I felt this like buzz. So now I'm wondering if that was the baby. Or if I just thought that was the baby because of what they were saying.

Still haven't told work. But did tell Denise and Cara on Sunday and Nancy S. and Denny and Nancy M. on Monday and Dave M. and yesterday.

Poll numbers mean nothing...but boy or girl?

Living in Washington long enough, one gets quite sick of polls. While I don't think it will have any predictive value, I'm going to start one anyway. So, boy or girl? Let me know what you think. We're going to find out the gender if we can at the sonogram at 20 weeks and we'll let y'all know. So you have 6 weeks to get your final answer in. If you've already told me your prediction please vote officially on this post. Like any good poll, I'm going to try to influence your answer: so there hasn't been a girl born to a Etner male in 55 years, heartbeat was over 145bpm which some say indicates a girl, timing of conception would lead one to conclude it is a boy, but apparently the husband eating lots of green leffy veggies could increase the chance of a girl and Martin has been eating a salad everyday for the last year. Have fun!

We heard the heartbeat!!

150 beats per minute. Apparently that's really good. Saw a different doctor this time. He is really really nice and personal. He really took time with us and answered our questions. Also got a better idea of the philosophy of the practice regarding the necessity or lack thereof of screening procedures and birthing. And we got a schedule of the doctors appointments. Everything else was good too. Next appointment is June 2nd.

After the appointment, Martin and I went for a 17.66 mile bike ride! It was great. Slow but great. I wanted a t-shirt that said, I'm three months pregnant, what's your excuse?

Update - Week 13

Well, my sickness didn't magically go away last week, but I guess it's getting better. I feel some more energy this week although I had one or two bad days. Monday I had a headache all day. I think it was dehydration though. Then I threw up my breakfast yesterday but I think that's from my prenatal vitamin. Going to start taking that at night. Weighed myself this week. I lost two pounds. This is the least I've weighed since college. Oh the irony. Not worried, I'm sure the weight gain will come soon enough.

Tomorrow is our next doctor's appointment. I'll write again to let you all know how it went.

This week was more telling people, but we're not done. Told my book club and then Chris P. at church and Melissa S. and the rest of my college friends. Gotta get around to telling the rest of the camp folks and the Winstons!

Talked to my mom about her childbearing experiences. She was in labor with me for 14 hours although she didn't go to the hospital until 7 hours into it. Apparently your mom's experience is a good indicator of what your own will be like. She went natural except for some pitocin to help things along. But with my sis and bro she didn't have any meds. By the third child she didn't even know she was in labor. She had Justin an hour after getting to the hospital. Funny, the way I remember it, we were waiting for HOURS for them to call with the news. Of course, I was only 4, so I guess it seemed like hours to me. Melissa also shared her child birth experiences with me. I'm encouraged by all these 8 hours or less labors. I thought you were lucky if it only took 12 hours.

Man, I can't wait to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl.

Lots of people ask about a nursery. Since we'll probably move next year and we'll have the baby in the room with us for a while, we're not going to decorate the second bedroom too much. But I did have this crib set picked out: Clover fields. Lambs and bunnies. The light green matches the bed spread in the spare bedroom. It's gender neutral. I'll probably still want to buy all the stuff in case we do want to use the borders, etc. one day. I picked this out when my sister showed me what she had picked out last fall. I guess Martin hasn't seen it yet so it still has to go through his approval.

Decided to wait and tell my boss as late as possible - hopefully June.

Well, time to eat my yogurt...until later....