The Belly, II

It's been three weeks since the last belly update. The belly is coming along quite nicely! Sarina is in her 17th week of pregnancy, and supposedly our child is 5 in. long. Huge! (considering what it started as, of course)

Here's our question though: how can such a small thing make so many clothes not fit so fast? It's ridiculous. I thought that when you bought maternity clothing, it was something that you did once to replace enough clothing to make it through the nine months. I had no idea that buying maternity clothing would be a "process" that had to be repeated.

Case in point: the Electrical and Computer Engineering department is having its annual winter "ball" on February 10th. Obviously, Sarina needs a new dress, but here's the irony: whatever she buys won't fit her in perhaps as little as four weeks. It's good that we don't have too many formal outings planned between now and July. Whatever we buy won't be a maternity dress-- it'll be a maternity dress for weeks 16-20.

Wonderful Brett

Today my legs were bothering me. They were driving me nuts, actually. It felt like the only thing that would make them feel better would be if I ran a marathon. When I told Brett about my legs, he suggested that I do the stairs a few times (we live on the third floor of an apartment building). So, I put my running shoes on and went to the basement. Then I sprinted up the stairs...and repeated three more times. I felt much better. As I caught my breath, I went in to tell Brett that it helped. When I told him that I had sprinted he was surprised and laughed and said that he hadn't intended that I do that. Then he got a concerned look on his face and said, "You probably won't be able to sprint for much longer." (He knows that when the belly gets bigger that I shouldn't be sprinting up stairs for various reasons.) I smiled and agreed. Then I said that I might go again and he said, "Some women have to go on bed rest at 16 weeks. I'm not saying that you shouldn't go, but just that you should be careful." I smiled and decided not to go. Some might think that Brett was intrusive, but I think he's wonderful. He's so involved in the pregnancy process that he knows the sorts of things coming up and the sorts of things I should be aware of. It takes a huge burden off of me because, since he knows so much and reads about pregnancy, I don't feel like I have to know all the risks or solutions to things, etc. He's been so great.

Another way to dote on Brett is to tell you about his attitude about his involvement in the pregnancy. I have been much more tired lately so I do not have the same window of opportunity to do all of my work during the day or night. Brett has responded by helping around the house so much. Brett has always shared the household tasks with me, but he has been doing so much more lately. I was feeling very guilty about this, especially when I was nauseous and couldn't go near the kitchen. Brett responded by saying that this was his way of participating in the pregnancy. I have to carry the child so he takes pleasure in making food, helping me figure out snacks, and doing other chores so that I can rest or get my homework done. He said that if I wouldn't allow him to do these things then he would feel like he wasn't able to participate in the pregnancy. So, yay for Brett, the best husband ever!

Snow day

Winters in Pittsburgh aren't really winters at all, much to my disappointment. However, it does increase my joy over a simple dusting of snow.

I took this picture today. The building pictured here is where my office is on the CMU campus. The taller building in the background is the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus.

The snow fall and the fact that we're pregnant got me thinking about what winter meant while I was growing up, and how winter might be different for someone growing up in Pittsburgh. When I was growing up, winter meant fun: there are a multitude of fun things that you could do in the winter and couldn't do any other time of the year. Of course, this is only true if 1) it's cold enough and 2) it actually snows. Winter without these necessary elements is just lame and annoying.

Will our children grow up thinking that winter is just lame and annoying? I hope not. I hope our children grow up with a sense of the beauty of winter, and an excitement about all the things there are to do when it gets cold out. Then, with any luck, when our children will be able to go to places like Pittsburgh they'll really confuse all the people they talk to this time of year, just like I do. Why? Because they'll actually look forward to snow and ice, and will be sad when they don't linger.

Feeling Better

I'm officially 14.5 weeks now so I'm into the second trimester. I feel so much better! I was really nauseous (with a chance of throwing up), tired, and starving during the first trimester. Now I have energy, I'm not nauseous at all anymore (and there's no risk of throwing up), and when I get hungry I don't feel like I will die if I don't eat something in the next five minutes.

Everyone always asks if all I want to eat is pickles and ice cream. The irony is that I used to eat Bill's dills all the time, but last trimester I couldn't stomach them. I was panicking! None of Brett's Dad's pickles for a whole nine months? I already have to give up beer and wine and coffee...but no pickles??? Well, yay for the second trimester because I can eat pickles again! In terms of cravings, I haven't had any weird cravings yet. The main thing I'm craving now and have been craving for the last couple of weeks is Mexican food. If only I was in CA. *sigh* Karina's guacamole recipe has come to the rescue several times, as well as a refried beans recipe that I have modified from Hannah's. If you know any quick and easy Mexican food recipes, send them along or post them as a comment. :-)

I'm glad I'm feeling better. It makes it easier to do my homework and feel like a normal human being again.

Heartbeats

We had our second prenatal doctor's appointment today. Everything is fine! We got to hear the baby's heartbeat again ... just amazing. You can hear it for yourself here. It's really amazing that there is a little, person growing inside of Sarina, a person that already has a functioning heart.

We got a prescription to schedule our ultrasound today! We'll have 3-d imaging of our baby done sometime in February. Friends of ours a couple months ahead of us on the pregnancy time line recently had a 3-d ultrasound of their daughter done, and it's really, really cool. They were given a copy of all the images on a CD, too. Provided we're able to get a CD as well, I'll post pictures along with an announcement regarding whether we're having a boy or a girl.

Exciting, isn't it?

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully made wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14.

Back in the swing of things; The Belly, I

The week we've had in Pittsburgh since the holidays has been nice. Sarina has started class again at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and I've returned to work as well. Sarina is in the fourth week (of ten) of her winter term, and only has one more term to go before graduation! Since I've finished my coursework at Carnegie Mellon University I'll be spending my time doing research for my dissertation ... which should be done some time in the next couple of years (ugh!).

The baby won't arrive for a while, but until then there are other things we take can pictures of. Like Sarina's belly, for instance. Sarina is just now beginning to show, though it may not be obvious to anyone but us.



We plan on taking one picture a week to chart the change. We've been reading a pregnancy book that describes what's going on with our child day to day. Though we can't watch that development, it's very exciting to begin to see the changes we can observe.

In the beginning ...

This blog was dreamt up while we were in Madison over Christmas in 2006, when I realized just how useful a blog might be to keep family and friends up to date with what's going on with us.

Especially now that Sarina is pregnant.

!!!

The baby is due on July 10, and the coming months will bring a lot of change to our lives here in Pittsburgh. We will attempt to use this blog to provide updates and, of course, pictures, so you feel like you're in the loop.

Enjoy!