Prenatal yoga, Smart Ass Husbands and Mini Bathing Suits

I've been fast-walking a lot for exercise but finally hit up a yoga class at the gym the other night for the first time since I've been pregnant. Yoga for a party of one is challenging enough, but holding poses with a squirmy basketball firmly attached to your front is 1) not that fun and 2) just straight comical. Not to mention being in a room made up of mirrors for 90 minutes. Ugh. 

I'm four days away from starting my third trimester and the (albeit minor) aches, pains and general discomfort of pregnancy are starting to set in. I don't complain about them often, but when I do, Mark thinks it's just hilarious to respond, "shouldn't have eaten the apple..." without even looking up. It's funny now, but I have a feeling it will be much less so in the labor & delivery room.

And this...

 
Now I just need my water baby to get here so I can dress her up and take her to the bay!

6 Months

Wow, the difference in the belly between the fifth and sixth month is quite marked, check it out:

 

She's kicking, punching and flipping like crazy these days. I first felt her little flutters on Thanksgiving Day, those sweet butterfly kisses have turned to strong punches and kicks. Mark, my mom and Becky have all been able to feel her move. She kicks and punches Mark's back when we're spooning in bed, much to our entertainment and delight. I don't think we'll ever tire of marveling at how active and strong she is.

She's responsive to sounds now too. Mark had a horrible cough all last week. His coughing fits actually woke her up before they woke me up. But don't worry, her kicking made sure I didn't miss out on the party. When we talk to her and say her name she gets active. She knows Mark's voice and my voice and laugh. I was at my women's small group the other night and we were all cracking up about something. The cackling really got her going. I think she wanted in on the girl time. She goes especially crazy before bed and right when I wake up, even if it's just waking up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, which happens a few times a night, it must be very exciting for her.

Music either calms her down or makes her active, according to what kind it is. I've been putting one earphone up to my belly and the other one in my ear every morning for a couple of songs. The other morning I just kept thinking how surreal it was that if someone asked me what I was doing at that moment my answer would be "Oh, just listening to music with my daughter."

Ava Shay, you're already entertaining your mom, dad, grandma, and good friends, cracking us up and amazing us on a daily basis. You are a true joy and all we get more and more excited about meeting you every day.

Extreme Baby Room Makeover

We're painting Ava's room this weekend. "Sweet 16" pink, with one accent wall of "Chocolate Cupcake"  brown. Yes, we did kinda choose the colors based on their names. I like pink and we both like cupcakes!

This is her bedding, but her crib will be dark wood and placed against the chocolate brown wall...

with these vintage bird cage decals hanging over it.

 Ava means bird. Sometimes, when Mark's talking to her in my belly he calls her "Ava bird." It's really cute. 

He felt her really move for the first time last night. Each time I've had him hurry up and put his hand on my stomach to feel her move, she's either stopped and he's not patient enough to wait until she's active again, or it's been faint movements, so faint that he's not sure if he's feeling her or imagining it because he wants to feel her. Last night was unmistakable kicks and punches. Strong ones. His eyes got huge and his face lit up. It was so fun to watch his excitement.

Baby.doc

I just found this document named "Baby" in my personal folder at work. It's dated August 16th, 2010. Very funny to look back on 5 months later as I sit with a growing belly in my lap...

Baby

Reasons to have one now:

1. I want one
2. We’d be younger (otherwise it’s waiting until Mark's done with residency, that's 2 more years before we'd have one)
3. I want to have one while we’re in our Roycroft house. It’s perfect for a baby (big enough, friends in our neighborhood with kids for support, great park, great places to go on walks, great neighbors nearby)
4. A lot of my friends are pregnant or have babies/kids (the Errecarts/ the Swansons/ The Boyds/ The Davis'/ The Whitacres)

Reasons to wait:

1. Mark would have more time off when he’s done with residency
2. He’d be making more $
3. I’d have more flexibility in my job after being there longer

Apparently having a baby now won by one reason (despite one of the reasons to wait being highlighted, which you'd think would count for something). Probably the first one. It's a pretty good reason.

5 months

Oh! Just What I Wanted!

We'll post ultrasound pics as soon as we get them scanned in, but I had to express how just plain happy I am that we're having a girl. The feeling of getting exactly what I wanted is exhilarating.

I'm humbled that the God of the universe would take my requests into account. He's given me the desire of my heart and I'm so humbled and thankful. He didn't have to do that, but did. James 1:17 has come to mind over and over again this week. It says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."

You know those moments where you just can't believe how amazing your life has turned out? That's been me for the last... well, three years. I've always been blessed, but God has outdone Himself in the last couple of years. And now this, I've been walking around with a goofy smile on my face for days. I'm beside myself. Giddy!

I'm excited about a lot of things when it comes to having a baby girl. I've been doing a lot of planning and dreaming in my mind since before we even knew she was a she; but mostly I'm excited about the daddy she's going to have. It makes me tear up when I think about all the love she's going to be drenched in by him. Much like I got from my own dad. What a gift.

I surprised Mark with a cake that said "It's a girl!" the night we found out. I got him champagne and Martinellis for me ; )

Recent Highlights

1. I look pregnant. And please don't tell me I didn't. I get irritated when people say, "I thought you said you popped?! You can hardly even tell you're pregnant." Because this is not normal.

2. I feel GREAT. Like pre-pregnancy great. I have energy, can eat more than Asiago cheese bagels from Panera, and don't even want to bite the head's off innocent strangers and husbands for no apparent reason at all. Praise the baby Jesus! I started getting a little panicky there when I was waiting for that second trimester energy boost to kick in and instead week 12 and 13 were some of my most lethargic and I started puking for the first time. Ya, that's a story. It involves loosing it on the very popular 2nd Street in Long Beach THREE times, not one of which I managed to make it to one of the trash cans they have on every block. Ooops. It was 10am on a Saturday morning after taking down an original-sized Jamba Juice. That's when you wish they made t-shirts that said, "I'm not still drunk from the night before, I'm pregnant.

3. We have our anatomy and gender ultrasound appointment scheduled. We'll know our fate on Dec. 20th. We're not one of those couples that say we don't care what gender the baby is. We both really want a girl and aren't very good at hiding it if one is supposed to. Maybe it's because Mark's family is all boys and it's time for a girl Russell, or maybe it's because Makayla was (is) a girl, and she's the closest thing we've been to being a family of three, or because my idea of a boy is my brother; rowdy and a bit of a hooligan at times. Although I will say, I'm becoming more and more team "as long as the baby's healthy" the closer we get to knowing, which is a relief, because I really, really didn't want to cry in front of the ultrasound tech.

...still praying for pink.

4. I can feel the baby move. I can only feel it from the inside, not with my hand's on my tummy yet, and only tiny little movements, but it's still an incredible feeling. I love the reminder that this is all really happening, that something really is growing and living inside of me.