Grace, your Grandma Celia (above with me at the beautiful shower she hosted for you a few weeks ago) has been so helpful telling me about what happened when she carried me in her belly.  So, here are some things I’m sure you’ll ask me about someday… in the very distant future!  Things I want to remember about this beautiful blessed time you were growing in me.  First of all, it has been so much better than I could have every dreamed.  Yes, the first trimester was the worst I’ve ever felt in my life, but these last months have been a blessing x 10000.  The first 16 weeks hit me like a freight train.  I’ll never forget being on vacation with your dad in Grand Cayman and spending the entire time in bed in tears because I felt so sick.  I survived those weeks by the grace of God… pun fully intended.  They say that the sicker you are, the healthier your baby will be.  I don’t know if there is much science to that, but I definitely know you are one strong kicker!  The first weeks, I couldn’t eat much.  Everything smelled terrible and tasted terrible and all I could get the energy to do was sleep.  I actually lost about 6 pounds.  I quickly got myself on a plane (which was a feat in itself when you feel that sick) to spend some time with your Grandma Celia.  She and your Grandpa Dave helped take care of me and fed me all sorts of home-cooked goodness for a couple weeks.  We may have also gone through the McD’s drive-through for soft-serve about three times.  It was the only thing that soothed my tummy.  Your Grandma would walk with me in the mornings… many times it was at a snails pace.  She was so patient.  Your Aunt Emily was so encouraging during that time.  She kept telling me, “Just wait until 16 weeks.  I promise it will be like it all magically disappeared and you will feel like a million bucks.”  I didn’t believe her at first, but she was 100% right.  I was like magic.  I woke up one morning - almost 16 weeks to the day - and felt like the world was brand new.  I could get out of bed and slowly but surely I felt like going to the gym again.  And then I felt like eating!  A lot.  Lose 6 pounds when you get pregnant and your body knows just how to put it back on.  Food-wise though, pregnancy has been very different than I imagined.  I envisioned all the things you see on TV happening to me - craving pickles and ice cream, midnight runs to the grocery store for whatever was on my mind, major mood swings, etc., etc.  There were some of those things but only once or twice.  Overall, I’ve felt so peaceful and I’ve craved all sorts of goodness while you’ve been in me.  Grandma Celia says that when she was pregnant with me she ran every day till she was 8 months (I haven’t done that, but I’ve at least walked every day around the lake by our house) and she ate mostly cottage cheese and all organic food.  (Side note: when I was little all I wanted to eat was cottage cheese. I hope you don’t start craving Luna Bars before the age of 2!)  She didn’t eat anything processed.  I haven’t been that clean with my eating, but I have had a ton of organic fruit (cantaloupe, blueberries and cherries are my favorite!), mostly hormone-free meats, lots of Luna Bars (as usual), green things at least three times a day, my usual oatmeal and protein powder for breakfast every morning and your dad and I love the organic frozen yogurt place down the street.  We go to Whole Foods and your dad breaks out the BBQ a lot for bison burgers so I make lots of red blood cells for you.  I’ve had only two consistent cravings this entire time:  sparkling water and ice.  I love it.  But that’s about it.  You’re not done growing in my belly though, so who knows what will happen in the next 8.5 weeks!  My saving grace during pregnancy has definitely been the purple pill… Nexium.  I’ve never had acid reflux before, but it came on like wildfire right around week 3!  I don’t know what I would have done without this stuff.  I don’t take a prenatal vitamin because the Luna Bars I eat add up to one.  And then there are the other things… like not sleeping.  I get up about 20 times in the night, but I’ve gotten used to it by now.  I can’t sleep without my big body pillow since I’m not supposed to lay on my back (my blood circulation gets quickly cut off).  I’ve had a few leg cramps in the night here and there.  Your Grandma had those, too.  Pregnancy brain - yes.  Check check!  Like the time I put a half of a cold cantaloupe in our pantry instead of the fridge.  Or the time I ran my forehead straight into a ledge in our closet.  I have a lovely scar to prove it.  I’m sure you heard me crying like a baby (sorry) during that one!  I’ve had a little anemia too, but thanks to those bison burgers, it went away.  There was about a week I couldn’t walk from pain in my back when you were going through a growth spurt.  That was scary and your dad almost carried me down a hotel hallway when we were on a trip to DC, but that passed, thank God.  And other than my tummy growing like crazy, your funny hiccups (that you have right this minute) and your dance parties in my belly, God has made this very easy the last months.  I’ve gained about 25 very happy healthy pounds so far with several more to go.  I thought I’d be freaked out by my growing belly too (OK, sometimes your dance parties freak me out because they are so funny!), but I love it.  I’ve never felt more in my skin.  Your dad is still convinced that you’re so tall and big that I’ll have to have a C-section, but we’ll see.  I’m up for whatever you want!  Keep growing not-so-little Gracie! Love, Mom

Grace, your Grandma Celia (above with me at the beautiful shower she hosted for you a few weeks ago) has been so helpful telling me about what happened when she carried me in her belly.  So, here are some things I’m sure you’ll ask me about someday… in the very distant future!  Things I want to remember about this beautiful blessed time you were growing in me.  First of all, it has been so much better than I could have every dreamed.  Yes, the first trimester was the worst I’ve ever felt in my life, but these last months have been a blessing x 10000.  The first 16 weeks hit me like a freight train.  I’ll never forget being on vacation with your dad in Grand Cayman and spending the entire time in bed in tears because I felt so sick.  I survived those weeks by the grace of God… pun fully intended.  They say that the sicker you are, the healthier your baby will be.  I don’t know if there is much science to that, but I definitely know you are one strong kicker!  The first weeks, I couldn’t eat much.  Everything smelled terrible and tasted terrible and all I could get the energy to do was sleep.  I actually lost about 6 pounds.  I quickly got myself on a plane (which was a feat in itself when you feel that sick) to spend some time with your Grandma Celia.  She and your Grandpa Dave helped take care of me and fed me all sorts of home-cooked goodness for a couple weeks.  We may have also gone through the McD’s drive-through for soft-serve about three times.  It was the only thing that soothed my tummy.  Your Grandma would walk with me in the mornings… many times it was at a snails pace.  She was so patient.  Your Aunt Emily was so encouraging during that time.  She kept telling me, “Just wait until 16 weeks.  I promise it will be like it all magically disappeared and you will feel like a million bucks.”  I didn’t believe her at first, but she was 100% right.  I was like magic.  I woke up one morning - almost 16 weeks to the day - and felt like the world was brand new.  I could get out of bed and slowly but surely I felt like going to the gym again.  And then I felt like eating!  A lot.  Lose 6 pounds when you get pregnant and your body knows just how to put it back on.  Food-wise though, pregnancy has been very different than I imagined.  I envisioned all the things you see on TV happening to me - craving pickles and ice cream, midnight runs to the grocery store for whatever was on my mind, major mood swings, etc., etc.  There were some of those things but only once or twice.  Overall, I’ve felt so peaceful and I’ve craved all sorts of goodness while you’ve been in me.  Grandma Celia says that when she was pregnant with me she ran every day till she was 8 months (I haven’t done that, but I’ve at least walked every day around the lake by our house) and she ate mostly cottage cheese and all organic food.  (Side note: when I was little all I wanted to eat was cottage cheese. I hope you don’t start craving Luna Bars before the age of 2!)  She didn’t eat anything processed.  I haven’t been that clean with my eating, but I have had a ton of organic fruit (cantaloupe, blueberries and cherries are my favorite!), mostly hormone-free meats, lots of Luna Bars (as usual), green things at least three times a day, my usual oatmeal and protein powder for breakfast every morning and your dad and I love the organic frozen yogurt place down the street.  We go to Whole Foods and your dad breaks out the BBQ a lot for bison burgers so I make lots of red blood cells for you.  I’ve had only two consistent cravings this entire time:  sparkling water and ice.  I love it.  But that’s about it.  You’re not done growing in my belly though, so who knows what will happen in the next 8.5 weeks!  My saving grace during pregnancy has definitely been the purple pill… Nexium.  I’ve never had acid reflux before, but it came on like wildfire right around week 3!  I don’t know what I would have done without this stuff.  I don’t take a prenatal vitamin because the Luna Bars I eat add up to one.  And then there are the other things… like not sleeping.  I get up about 20 times in the night, but I’ve gotten used to it by now.  I can’t sleep without my big body pillow since I’m not supposed to lay on my back (my blood circulation gets quickly cut off).  I’ve had a few leg cramps in the night here and there.  Your Grandma had those, too.  Pregnancy brain - yes.  Check check!  Like the time I put a half of a cold cantaloupe in our pantry instead of the fridge.  Or the time I ran my forehead straight into a ledge in our closet.  I have a lovely scar to prove it.  I’m sure you heard me crying like a baby (sorry) during that one!  I’ve had a little anemia too, but thanks to those bison burgers, it went away.  There was about a week I couldn’t walk from pain in my back when you were going through a growth spurt.  That was scary and your dad almost carried me down a hotel hallway when we were on a trip to DC, but that passed, thank God.  And other than my tummy growing like crazy, your funny hiccups (that you have right this minute) and your dance parties in my belly, God has made this very easy the last months.  I’ve gained about 25 very happy healthy pounds so far with several more to go.  I thought I’d be freaked out by my growing belly too (OK, sometimes your dance parties freak me out because they are so funny!), but I love it.  I’ve never felt more in my skin.  Your dad is still convinced that you’re so tall and big that I’ll have to have a C-section, but we’ll see.  I’m up for whatever you want!  Keep growing not-so-little Gracie! Love, Mom

Posted 8 months ago
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