22 weeks

The time is really starting to fly by now. I can't believe I'm over the halfway mark. I am loving feeling my baby girl move/kick/swim around! Last night, I know I spent a good 15 minutes just staring at my belly watching her body parts make my belly jump. She must have loved all the food I ate at Omaw's house yesterday!

Things are somewhat different this pregnancy. I am more uncomfortable at this stage of my pregnancy then I was with Carter. I don't remember feeling out of breath and feeling stretched apart across my ribs this early before. I don't think I'm that much bigger judging by my belly pics with Carter (ok, maybe a little bigger but I think my new camera adds 10 pounds!) but I definitely feel a lot bigger. I think for sure my boobs are bigger :) I don't expect that to last post-breastfeeding though! I told my friend Georgette this morning that I haven't enjoyed being pregnant as much as I did the first time. But I guess the more accurate thing to say is I do enjoy being pregnant, especially knowing the outcome will be our precious daughter but the novelty is obviously not there this time. I do however, LOVE feeling her move. I will never get tired of that, no matter how many kids we have.

I also don't plan on getting back on birth control pills....ever. I know that is a drastic statement to make and Theo and I have been discussing our "options" but I don't think we're done having kids yet so it's not much of an issue at this point. Since I wasn't able to breastfeed Carter as long as I originally wanted to and because my milk supply was terribly low even from the start, I'm for sure not getting on any type of hormonal birth control until I'm done breastfeeding. I'm not sure if that contributed to my low milk supply, but I want to eliminate all potential factors. Also, my not being in full-time graduate school doing clinicals a couple of days a week will also help I'm sure. I think the main reason I didn't have enough food for little man was because of the pure stress of trying to do it all and the pressure I put on myself to be a perfect mom. I have definitely let some of that go! I will have enough stress to deal with this time (remember, we’re moving across the country about 5 weeks before my due date) so I’m not going to add any more stress by trying to be perfect. I feel God has blessed me with my mothering abilities, they are a gift from God, and although I’m far from perfect, I’m doing a pretty good job if I do say so myself. Just don’t tell anyone we let Carter pee in the front yard this weekend! Shhhh…..





Carter's belly pic. What do you think? Am I bigger now? Uh, yeah, I think I am after looking at these photos!!