Crying and Hunger and Aches, Oh My!

The top picture is from three months, and the one below it is my new four-month belly picture! It looks rounder, more like there's a baby in there as opposed to just ugly fat. Size-wise, they look the same in these pictures, but I really do stick out more these days, to the point where people can actually tell I'm pregnant, even when I'm wearing looser clothing. And since people now notice, I have experienced what my sister has warned me about. There's something about a pregnant belly that makes people want to touch it! Maybe there's a magnet in there somewhere, I don't know. The other day we were at a church fellowship that a family in our church hosted, and they had some people there that weren't from the church, so I didn't know them. When they were told I was pregnant, suddenly their face lights up and I hear "Ohhh! that's great!" As they say this, their hand reaches out and gets closer and closer until contact is made. In my head I'm thinking, Um, I don't even know you, lady! I really don't mind if people I know touch my belly--it's the strangers that touch that's kinda weird. See, with people I know, like family and friends from church and stuff, I know that they are excited right along with us, and I guess there's just something incredible about being so close to a miracle. So yes, personal space is a nice thing, but bring on the belly rubs! (within reason, of course) :)

My second trimester is easier than the first in comparison to having the I feel yucky days. Ah, but don't be easily fooled, because new things have cropped up, which of course just add to my all-round experience as a first-time pregnant lady. Where shall I begin? Let's talk about food. I like food, and I seem to be hungrier for it these days. Say I have lunch, like any other normal person. But for me, and hour or two later, I'm hungry again, just as if I'd not eaten at all. And on Sunday nights before I was pregnant, I had no problem waiting to eat supper after church. But now, I am hungry half-way through the night and I feel like I'm gonna die if I don't eat! Ok, it's not that extreme, but it's there just the same. I need to start packing granola bars in my purse or something, because I can get grumpy if I haven't eaten. Oh, and with the hunger comes impatience. Sunday morning after service I needed to practice a song with my pianist. She told me she needed to get a drink and would be right back, so I went to the front of the church to wait for her. Well, twenty seconds into waiting I was so ready to just leave and go home to eat. I didn't want to practice, I didn't want to wait any longer--all I wanted was food. And it's not like I was mad at her for keeping me waiting. Food was just more important to me at the time :).

Talking about food leads into my next subject--I don't cry over spilled milk, but this weekend I did cry over squashed brownies. Josh and I were on our way to the church fellowship I spoke of earlier. We brought a bottle of 7-Up that I put on the back seat, and I also made a lovely tray of brownies with Reese's PB cups interspersed on the plate. These I put on the floor of the car. So, this is basically all my fault, but that's besides the point. Josh had to stop fast on the road, which sent the soda pop right onto the floor and flattening my brownies. Josh retrieved them and handed them to me and I just stared at the mess. Two levels of brownies had been crushed into one, and at that moment, it was the most devastating thing in the world. I broke into many tears.

Josh, they are ruined! They were so perfect and they looked so pretty and now they look retarded!

And my wonderful husband just took my hand and said It's ok, you don't need to cry over it, it's ok.

He just kept holding my hand and rubbing my fingers until I calmed down enough to realize how stupid I am for crying over brownies. Then I just laughed at myself, cause somebody had to do it :)

And for my final new experience, I ache like and old woman sometimes. My back gets sore, my neck gets tight, my hip feels funky. I'm falling apart and I'm only 24! The aches aren't always there, but they do like to come and go as they please. Sometimes I'm slow to get up after sitting for a while, or I get stiff if I've been standing too long. And lately I just can't seem to get comfortable in bed when I'm trying to sleep. It's been frustrating, but I know it's a sign of things to come. When I look more like a whale than a human, I'll wish these little inconveniences were back. I can only imagine how I'll feel carrying around a 9-month belly :).

Appointment Today

Well, our little Buckeye is doing well. His/her heartbeat is 156, and my blood pressure was normal. As for my weight, well, I won't dish out actual numbers to you, but I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost a couple pounds in the first trimester, so I'm doing good for now. Hopefully I can stay on track and not suddenly inflate like a balloon :).

My belly is starting to stick out more. The other day I had on some Nike shorts that have an elastic waist, and after a couple hours around my middle it was uncomfortable, so I maneuvered them a little lower to get relief. It was funny to me to see my belly sticking out over the shorts. I look like I'm fatter, but it's good stuff, baby fat :).

Let's see, what else? Morning sickness is pretty much non-existent, not that I had much of it to begin with. I've had heartburn lately, which isn't fun, but it could be worse, so I'll take it happily. I've also been congested a lot, and I don't think it's allergies, cause it hasn't lined up with the weather we've been having. My doctor told me I could use saline nose drops for some relief. I have Tylenol allergy medicine, but I don't want to use that all the time, so I may have to go get me some nose drops soon.

Next month's appointment I'll have another ultrasound, and it's on Veteran's Day. This works out well, because Josh already has that day off. If the baby cooperates and doesn't have his legs crossed or anything, we should be able to tell the sex of the baby! We're both dying to know, and so are others. Maybe I'll post the ultrasound picture and have you guess what it is?

That's all the news from baby land!

Puerto Rico

Josh had a business trip to Puerto Rico this past week, and he very graciously (and wisely) bought me a ticket so I could join in on the fun. And that's all we had to pay for, besides the souvenir magnet I found on the last day. The company paid for the hotel room and the food, so it was a pretty cheap vacation. But, you get what you pay for ;). Don't get me wrong, we had a good time, but it wasn't a real vacation, you know? I mean, Josh worked during the day, so when they finished up, most tours would be done for the day, and then it would start to get dark, so seeing the sights was minimal. We did get to enjoy some things about the island, but if it was a real vacation, meaning we had whole days to do stuff, it would have been a lot more fun. We also think we got a bum deal on something, but I'll explain that later. Let's begin with the beginning of our journey.

The first part is embarrassing, but Josh gave me permission to tell the world. We missed our flights! We set the alarm, I promise! And it was on, I promise! It was scheduled to go off at 4:50 am, only it was set for 4:50 pm (oops!). Needless to say, we woke up at 8:30 wondering why it was light out. Yeah, we freaked out. I kept my cool though ;). No, not really. I was just more reserved in my concern. Josh was louder, but he got it all out, and then he got online and on the phone, and we were able to get flights for the afternoon. Instead of arriving in Puerto Rico by lunchtime, we landed at 10:30 pm. But hey, we got there, we were all in one piece, so it's cool. It's kinda funny thinking back on it, but I don't know if Josh thinks it's quite funny yet. I'll have to ask him.

Oh, on the plane ride there, we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not into the Harry Potter movies or books, so I probably didn't catch everything, but I guess it was good. It was something to do. And on the plane ride back, they showed Evan Almighty, and that was pretty funny. Steve Carroll is quite hilarious, though I don't get the humor of The Office. Maybe I would if I worked in an office.

Ok, funny story while we were in the airport. In Atlanta, they have these subway systems that take you to the different concourses so you don't have to walk, and we were packed in there like a bunch of sardines, literally. Anyway, a recorded voice tells you to hold on cause the train is going to move. There was no pole around me or anything to lean on, so I grabbed the leather strap that was hanging from the ceiling. Well, a couple ladies next to me did not hold on, and when the train lurched forward, one lady stumbled and fell on the other one. Then she fell on me and I swayed back. There was nowhere to move my feet, so all I could do was hope my arm was strong enough to hold us all. We looked hilarious, cause they couldn't get their balance, so for a couple seconds I'm bearing the weight of two ladies and holding on with one arm. Josh came to the rescue and helped them up. I'm just glad I was holding on, cause who knows how far human dominoes would have gone?

Puerto Rico is a beautiful island, and it's also an American commonwealth, so we technically never left US soil, but it sure felt like it. All the signs were in Spanish, but some had English on them, only it was below the Spanish words. I've never felt like a minority before, and it can be a little overwhelming. But the guy Josh was going down there to see is a native, so having him around helped a lot. And we finally got the hang of some stuff, like asking for an English-speaking waiter, and we even picked up a little Spanish. "Salida" is a popular word on the highway... it means "exit." :)

They have a lot of the same restaurants that we have. We ate at Taco Bell, Macaroni Grill, Chilis, and Juan (the local) took us to a more local restaurant so we could try new foods. That day I was picky with my food, so I ordered rice and french fries. But I did learn something about their cuisine. They eat a lot of fish and pork, and they can prepare a plantain a dozen different ways. A plantain is like a banana, only sweeter. It can be fried, dried, fresh, mashed, made into a soup, and the list goes on.

Our hotel was inland, but they had a nice pool that I sat out by one day. I took a couple books with me to keep me busy, and the room had HBO and TBS stations, so I could watch familiar shows or movies. I watched a chick flick, In Her Shoes, and I saw part of one of the newer Star Wars movies. One day I was particularly tired, so I napped for that afternoon.

The guys (Josh, Juan, and Michael, who is Josh's traveling buddy) took an afternoon off, and we drove to one of the highest points on the island. We took these narrow and very bumpy back roads, but we got to see a lot of countryside and how the people lived. Once we started going up the mountain, I thought I was going to be sick. It felt like we were going in circles, and the turns were very sharp, so I was glad when we reached our destination. There was a lookout tower, which you'll see pictured below. The mountain does go higher, but it's like a couple hour hike to the top. Not a good idea for a pregnant woman :).












Pretty, huh? There was a waterfall on the way down the mountain, so we stopped to take some pictures there. Oh yeah, Josh likes to take pictures of flowers, in case you are wondering :).











Word of advice, don't ever leave planning to two guys. This was what a lot of conversations sounded like:

Where do you want to eat?

I don't know, where do you want to eat?

Doesn't matter to me, what are you in the mood for?

I don't know, we could just drive around and find something.

And then it would happen all over again when we were deciding what to do. It's a good thing I was there. Not that I was much help. I had a tour book, but a lot of the cool things were an hour or two away, or already closed, and supposedly the town we were in (Caguas) had a whole list of things to see, but we never were able to locate them. San Juan had forts and ports and the old part of the city, but that was by the airport, and by the time we ate dinner, it just didn't make sense to trek up there. We ended up just doing a lot of driving around and taking in the scenery.

On the last day, we headed to San Juan so we'd be near the airport, and also cause we wanted to see the beach. Well, it was beautiful. And get this, here's the bum deal part. In the pics below you will see a lovely hotel right by the water. This was our original reservation! Juan had us change to a hotel nearer to him (inland) so he wouldn't have to drive as far. So yeah, all these beach pictures you see, that could've been me sitting out there every day. I think it would have felt more like a real vacation if we stayed here.