30 week update!

12 weeks. This was right before we told Mason's parents we were expecting! I think it's the first pregnancy picture I took.

18 weeks, about to go play tennis with Mason!

20 weeks. Baby's first beach trip! Also, note how I'm barely showing. The next two weeks were productive ones for my belly, as you'll see down below.

22 weeks

Showing off the 23 week bump at Time Out for Sistren

The bump, in all it's glory. (Actually this was at like 29.5 weeks, but it's close enough!)

Today marks 30 weeks of pregnancy for me! Overall, I feel like I've been pretty lucky with this little one: we've both been healthy and everything's been normal so far. Here's some of the awesome parts of this pregnancy:

• My tummy still doesn't itch or have stretch marks (at least, that I've noticed)
• I haven't really thrown up at all
• I haven't had to buy any maternity shirts or dresses, thanks to Jenna and Megan letting me borrow a ton of their maternity clothes! 
• My feet and ankles have only swollen up a handful of times, which is so nice. 
• My hair is thick and luscious! For the first time in my life! I wish it could stay this way forever!
• I feel more motivated to eat vegetables so the little one can get her nutrients, but I ALSO don't feel guilty when I eat ice cream, because I figure maybe it's just a craving thing those people always talk about. Plus, it makes her do flips and it's fun to feel! 
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I feel her kicking all the time! Sometimes it is so crazy I wonder if she's trying to tell me something, but I think she's just a wiggle worm! It is so fun when Mason feels her. One time he laid his head on my tummy and she immediately kicked him right in the temple! It was hilarious. We both like to watch my belly move as she does her calisthenics. Now that I'm bigger, we are both starting to get more and more excited to become parents. 

As far as the not so great parts of pregnancy:

• There were a few weeks where my hips and back would kill me every night when I was trying to sleep. Luckily the back pain was only for a couple weeks, although the hip aching has stuck around for quite a while. 
• I get out of breath fairly easily and feel like I am the most out of shape I have ever been in my life. 
• Body image is an on and off struggle. I keep telling myself no one else notices the things I do, and that makes it a little better. (Although, sometimes I love the way I look with this bump!)
• In the night, I normally wake up around 3 no matter when I go to sleep, and I feel wide awake and it's nearly impossible to go back to sleep. Usually I take a long morning nap after Mason leaves for school. 
• My gag reflex when brushing my teeth is INSANE
• My fingernails grow at a rate of about 1 millimeter per second. I have to cut them ALL THE TIME.
• My fingers got too big for my wedding ring at like 25 weeks. I miss wearing my rings!
• It's getting REALLY hard to roll over in bed.
• Hormones. The biggest challenge for me the past 30 weeks. I have crazy mood swings and find it hard to let things go. Poor Mason. 

See? It really hasn't been that bad. Also, two of my dear friends in our new ward offered to throw me baby showers! They're going to throw me one together. Right now it looks like it will be on January 18. I'm excited. Time to get cracking on our registry!

Also, I can't finish this blog post without mentioning that today, Thursday, December 5, 2019, my sister Megan had her baby!!!!! She did great and they are both healthy and her little angel is SOOOO CUTE and I think she looks just like her older brother and sister. When Megan showed her to us on the Marco Polo today it was kind of a shock to me that she was so REAL. Meg was prego just like me for so long, and then all of a sudden there was a real baby! That means there's a real baby inside me too! And she's due to come out in 70 days! I have so much to do! I'm so excited! And nervous! And every other emotion! Pray for us!

Oh Baby!

It's the truth, I'm pregnant! I am 19 weeks along today, and the baby is the size of an heirloom tomato. Due February 13, 2020.

I took a pregnancy test when I was a day late, and saw the second line appear really quickly, and really clearly! It was so fun. Mason was at school, so when I went to pick him up I said, "Want to see something I discovered when I was cleaning our house today?" And then I showed him this picture:

To say he was surprised would be the understatement of the century! I think he went into shock. It took us both a while to get used to the idea of me actually being pregnant!

I told mom when I was about 8 weeks along, I think, and it was so fun. We both cried.

We decided to tell Mason's parents on our last trip down to Las Vegas, when I was 12 weeks. 

We gave this card to his Dad as a late birthday present, but told Mason's parents it was for both of them. We included a lime in the gift bag.

 I have never seen them so excited! Michelle screamed and got up and danced around and hugged us both. It was so fun to tell them! They were very surprised, and started to brainstorm what they want to be called as grandparents. They are cute.

Then I called Dad and told him the next day.

We announced it to our families with this text:

 And everyone was so excited!

Here's a picture (taken right after supper) of the bump that is finally beginning to emerge:

Then we had our first ultrasound! It was fun seeing what everyone's guesses were. I think the total ended up being 17 guessing girl and 11 guessing boy. I told Mason if he didn't guess, he couldn't come with me to the ultrasound, so he just picked boy. I did too (even though I had 2 seperate dreams that we had a girl.) We were wrong! It's a girl! It was amazing to see her inside me! We saw all of her bones, and the valves of her heart, and the lady said she must have peed at some point because in the beginning her bladder was full, and a few minutes later it was empty! Crazy! We saw her brain, her tiny feet, her legs crossed at the ankles, and her mouth opening and closing. We also saw her shaking her booty around a LOT. It will be fun to have her as my little zumba partner some day!!! Her face was sort of buried in my right hip area, and we didn't get to see it, so the ultrasound lady told the doctor we need another ultrasound in 4 weeks because of "sub-optimal face viewing" or something. I am not complaining about that!

We announced it to the world a few days ago with this announcement:

And have received a lot of love and support and encouraging words already! 

Today we started talking about names, and that is really fun. I love thinking about what we'll name her! We aren't going to tell until she's born, so stay tuned for that!

So, how has the pregnancy been?

Overall, great. The only time I've thrown up this pregnancy was when I was brushing my teeth one day when I was like 15 weeks along. My gag reflex has been really easily triggered when brushing. 

I was extremely tired my first trimester, and still don't feel like I'm up to my full energy capacity most days, but it's better now than it was then. 

The biggest challenge has been mental. It took me a long time to get what little of a bump I have, and I had some body image issues for a few weeks where I just felt super fat. But now it's starting to poke out a little more and I think I may actually look pregnant some day, so that's encouraging! 

In addition to the body image issues, my hormones have made me soooo moody. I have gone through a weepy phase, and a phase where the littlest things make me super angry. Hopefully that will wear off as I get further and further along. I asked Megan if that was normal, and she said yes, it's like a never ending PMS week, but that it will get better.

I started feeling her move at about 18 weeks. Everyone said it would feel like flutters, but it has never really felt like flutters. It feels like a distinct pushing from the inside. Like little feet and fists are pushing into me. It is crazy and amazing and I can't wait for Mason to be able to put his hand on my belly and feel it too!

I have also been feeling so grateful for this opportunity. It's amazing that I'm growing a little person. It still hasn't sunk in all the way, but it seems more real as the weeks go by. I feel really blessed to be a woman, and to be able to carry a child, and to one day be a parent together with the man I love. It almost seems too good to be true! It just feels like an amazing miracle and I feel so humbled to have this opportunity.

I so look forward to meeting our little one!