the things i don't want to forget

The absolute amazement of watching my belly get bigger by the day.

Having cars stop on a regular basis to let me cross the street.

Being the only one who feels this baby's tiny kicks and nudges.

Being completely naive about this whole pregnancy and child birth experience, which means every single thing is a first.

Anticipating when Sunday afternoon rolls around and we can read the next week's chapter in our pregnancy book. Dameon always reads aloud while I listen.

Then listening to Dameon pause and comment when he reads something that really knocks his socks off like, "This week your baby has eyebrows and eyelashes."

Enjoying people's reactions when we tell them we aren't finding out the gender. "There's nothing like that kind of surprise!" they say.

Seeing the baby open and close it's mouth to practice swallowing on the ultrasound.

The anticipation of making my parents grandparents for the first time. Can't wait for that! Mom is already stocking up on baby gear that will stay at their house.

The feeling of hearing the doctor say, "Everything on the ultrasound looks perfect and healthy."

Embracing the sticky-up little hairs cropping up all over my belly.

The priceless look on Dameon's face during the ultrasound this week. A perfect combination of love, pride, and awe as he stared at that screen.

Remembering the feeling of hearing Dameon refer to me as "my wife" the first few times after we were married and realizing I'll feel something similar again soon when he says, "my son" or "my daughter."

the one where i use bullet points

• Internet connection is moody, so I'm making this quick.
• LOVE feeling so good these days. Started seeing a chiropractor (my cousin) and I am pain free almost 100% of the time. Crazy how good God is!
• Appetite is increasing quite a bit but I get full really quickly, so I have to eat in shifts. Around here we like to call it first lunch, second lunch, etc.
• My belly button is halfway popped, which I've been fretting over for quite a long time. I have belly button fears. I get past it by making Dameon put the lotion on it and averting my eyes when I change my clothes. Weird, I know.
• My weight gain is at a good place. I've gained 9 pounds since finding out I was pregnant. That will, of course, increase more quickly now that the baby is getting close to the one pound mark.
• Strangers are now asking us when we're due. I can tell they think I'm really big for 20 weeks. And they're right. But that's what happens when you're five feet tall :)
• I can feel the baby moving like crazy. It feels like twitching and nudging. Dameon can't feel it yet but he tries really hard. He also sits for long periods of time with his ear smooshed up against my belly. I think he's hoping he'll hear a heartbeat. It's pretty much adorable.
• We have our 20 week ultrasound tomorrow. It will take about an hour because they check the baby's organs and all that good stuff. Can't wait to get a glimpse of the tiny babe. I'm really hoping for a profile shot so we can see some features!
  

Update...Winterset style

**I must apologize for this blog having no pictures. I can't, for the life of me, find our camera right now. I even remember packing it and making a mental note of exactly where it was placed. Crap.

Well, we have officially been Winterset residents for 6 days now and we're enjoying our new little town. The move went quite smoothly, thanks to the rockstar help of our family and some old (and new) friends! I was a touch "out of commission" during portions of the move, but I'll get to that in a bit. If you didn't know, we are staying in a one-bedroom apartment (above the Ben Franklin, no less) until we can move into our new house in September. Yes, it's a bit of a bummer, but luckily Dameon and I really never get sick of each other so we're making it work. The worst part is always having to walk the dog right in the middle of the town square. Ya know, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Ah, anonymity.

Dameon has basically had to jump right into his new job, while also continuing to work on drill writing in his free moments. I think it's a weight off his shoulders to actually be here in town and have face-to-face contact with his students. He's getting things squared away in his office and preparing for marching band camp next week! Even though it's a crazy nutty time of year, I love marching band season!!

Okay, now for the little bump in the road. Baby Place is thriving, which we are incredibly grateful for, but I'm learning that mental toughness is going to be key. Early Monday morning I woke up with a bad pain on the right side of my middle back. It only lasted about 20 minutes or so, but I mentioned it to my OB the next day at my appointment. She didn't say much about it and I didn't think much about it. By the time I got home from my appointment, the pain was back and it was worse. I ended up calling back to the clinic and talked with a nurse. She said it sounded like deep muscle pain and suggested I try a heating pad. She told me any problem with my kidneys would have shown up in my urine specimen earlier that day. I was finally able to find a comfortable position on the couch, but continued to battle the pain the rest of the day and thru the night. The next morning I got up and drove to my meetings for work, which were held about 45 minutes away from here. By noon the pain was so bad, that I knew something was really wrong. I felt like something inside was going to burst. I called Dameon and told him I needed a doctor. He thought I should call my OB first to see what she thought I should do. After speaking with the clinic, I drove back to Winterset to get Dameon and we headed to Des Moines (where our clinic is). The baby's heartbeat was the same as the day before, so no trouble there. The doctor examined me and determined there was likely something going on with my right kidney. She sent me on to have an ultrasound of both kidneys to find the problem. During the ultrasound, the tech gave us a sneak peek of Baby! That kid just never stops moving!! He/she kept flipping from back to front so we'd see face and then spine. It looked a little alien-like, but we could definitely make out eyes, nose, and mouth! So incredible :)
The doctor called the next day to fill me in on what the ultrasound showed. She said I am experiencing some kidney nephritis. (By the way, don't google that. It'll just freak you out.) Basically it means my uterus is tilting a little to the right. It's pushing on spot where my kidney empties and is causing my kidney to swell. It causes me to feel like someone has punched me really hard right in that spot. The bad news is there's really nothing they can do for me, besides encourage me to lay on my left side as much as possible. This problem is very common in pregnancy, but it isn't likely to get better. Probably just worse until the baby is born. The good news is that this condition doesn't affect the baby at all. SO thankful for that!! So for now I'm just taking things one day at a time. I do find relief laying on my side and not staying on my feet for too long. Yesterday I went to my work meetings all day and only had two bad bouts of pain. We have our big ultrasound on August 23rd and our 20 week appointment after that, so they'll take another look at my kidney to see how things are going. The doc said in rare cases, they put in a stint to drain the kidney, but right now my kidney is draining pretty well, so no need to worry about that.
Still, we'd appreciate your prayers that I will learn how to manage the pain when it does come. And also prayer that no kidney stones develop. Thanks, friends!!