16 Weeks

It seems like a lot has happened this week. I was trying to get it all straight in my head to be able to write about it. On Sunday, we went to Henderson and Elsie, a cousin from our older generation, told the family up there that we're expecting a baby. In all honesty, it was such a different experience to have someone else taking the role of sharing, and in such a large setting, that I didn't listen well to what she was saying. And though they are family, I only know a handful of them. And while I don't mind them knowing, after the fact, Dan shared his feelings about all that Elsie shared and I was shocked. As I said, I wasn't really listening. Dan said he was surprised that she shared "so much." Elaborating, he said she talked about us being married for so long, remembering that it was 11 years. Not a problem. That's fine. But then she also shared some about us having trouble along the way and that we didn't know if we were going to be able to have children. That was incredibly and uncomfortably personal. There's nothing that can be done, but there it is.

Dan's bosses took us out to a nice dinner on Tuesday. We enjoyed the time with them, laughed at many stories, and had some delicious food. They also raved about how valuable of an employee Dan is. It warms my heart to hear him being appreciated the way I think he deserves to be. They even joked that people might be getting tired of Dan being pointed out as the example of how to do things correctly. Remembering how many jobs and difficulties it has taken to get here, I'm just so grateful. I can't wait for them to start selling onesies! His bosses also shocked us with a congratulations card with two Visa gift cards inside saying they hope their contribution will help with the nursery. I want to get a personal thank you card for them, which will feel so small and piddly in comparison, but they deserve to know our gratitude and how deep it runs. I mean this year alone, they've given us the opportunity to go to Harry Potter World in Orlando, invited us to their rented beach house to enjoy a day on their boat and in the pool, taken us to this fabulous dinner, and given us this gift to help with our nursery. Gratitude upon gratitude.

Yesterday, at the end of the work day, I ran an errand and was overtaken by a feeling of dizziness and a sudden headache. The experience left me feeling puny and drained. Dan stopped by at the store where I was on his way home so that he could make sure I was safe enough to drive. He followed me home, where I promptly took a nap to try and feel better. Then part of the evening was spent in the front bedroom. Dan worked very hard to clear out some of the main area and we discussed placement of the pieces of furniture we're anticipating in the nursery. It was special and surreal all at the same time. I think we have a decent idea of where we're going to start at least. Tonight we're going to try to pack up more of the front bedroom, begin cleaning under the bed, and potentially take the bed apart. This is all to help us prepare for Saturday and the purging and reorganizing of the storage unit. I hope next week that I can report a lot of progress.

As for Baby's development, here are some of the things I've learned this week: baby is likely kicking and moving a lot more. I should be able to feel him/her move any time now. My app tells me this can feel like a number of things including a flutter like butterflies, gas, or popcorn popping! We'll see what form my "quickening" takes. I've also learned that baby can detect light through my belly, which is a strange concept to imagine. Baby can also hear my heartbeat and may be able to hear me talking, so I've deliberately been speaking to Baby more and even playing music on my stomach. Baby is now the size of a dill pickle, about 4-5 inches long. And, while this may be super personal, constipation is a likely symptom at this time, and certainly one that I've been experiencing.

Something that happened a few weeks ago that I wanted to document occurred during our most recent ultrasound. I was around 13 weeks pregnant at the time and they did a lot of measurements during the appointment. They checked the diameter of the stomach, length of Baby from head to feet, the diameter of the head, and so on. Each measurement would be entered and shown on a very large screen in front of us. There was so much information up there that it was hard to take it in. And it turns out I missed something important. When we were leaving, Dan tells me that next to each measurement, there was an approximated gestational estimation. For example, next to the whole length of the baby, it might say "13 weeks, 2 days." Every measurement was similar. 13 weeks and 3 days, 13 weeks and 5 days. But the head measurement? 14 weeks! I knew Dan having a giant head would likely factor into pregnancy! And here's the beginning of proof of that. I'm trying not to worry too much about it yet.

Speaking of worry, though, I was started on insulin this week for my gestational diabetes. I have only been taking it a couple days, but it's very nerve-wracking still. I have to continue checking my sugar first thing in the morning and then two hours after each meal. But I will now have to give myself four shots a day as well; right as I'm about to eat each meal and then also in the evening. I keep chanting to myself, "Better for baby." I worry I'm going to have to have the insulin increased because my numbers for some meals are still too high. Overall, though, I think most of my numbers are near their goals for me. I was just called by the doctor's office and they want me to come in for labs. So I'm going to head off for now so I can head over to the office to have blood drawn. More soon!