Too much excitement!

For those of you who know me, I have never been one to do things the easy way. And it looks like pregnancy is no exception!

I had a bit of a mishap the other day. It had rained for the first time in what seemed like forever! I had just gotten home from work and after pulling the car into the garage, decided to walk across the street to check the mail. Now, let me stop here and give you a little background information. I have been dealing with rather swollen feet, all thanks go to our beautiful baby girl; and the only shoes I can get my feet into, and barely into for that matter, are my flip-flops. Now I have been wearing them for so long that the traction has completely worn off and they can get quite slippery when wet. So, back to my original story, I had just walked across the wet pavement of our driveway and back into the dry garage. Now, I haven't done the splits since I was a little girl, but somehow I managed to do the splits at that moment. My left foot shot out in front of me and my right knee came down (really hard!) on the cement floor of the garage. Thankfully I was able to catch my self from falling completely on my face and belly by sticking my hands out in front of me. Kiara must have felt like we had gone on a roller coaster! I was able to gather my belongings and hobble my way into the kitchen where I proceeded to drop everything and hop to the sofa in the living room. Now most people know that pregnant women can get quite emotional and I praise God everyday for a husband that puts up with me. I called Zach in hysterics and told him what had happened. At the same time, I was watching as my knee was swelling to twice its size and developing the most colorful bruise I have ever seen!

After getting off the phone with Zach and calming myself a bit, I called my OB doctor to let them know what had happened. Since Kiara was still moving around like crazy and seemed quite content in my belly, they determined that she was probably just fine and I should take some Tylenol for the pain and get some ice on my knee. I followed their directions.

By the next morning, my knee was in more pain than the night before and it was very sore to walk, bend and put any weight on. Zach took me to the urgent care where we stayed for the next two hours before we were able to see a doctor. He was very sorry for my injury, but due to the fact that I was pregnant, he did not feel comfortable doing an x-ray. After feeling my knee, he determined that I hadn't shattered my knee-cap (a very good thing!), but he wasn't sure what damage I had done to it. He suggested that I get a knee brace to wear, use lots of ice, keep it elevated and stay off of it. He said that my bursa was quite swollen, which would give me a lot of discomfort but there was also a good possibility that I had a hairline fracture in my knee-cap. We won't know for sure unless we decide to do an x-ray later.

So, for now, I am trying to follow the doctor's directions and we will just wait and see. It could be a long waiting game. Pregnant women tend to take longer to heal since the baby is always taking what they need from the mother, like calcium that would help with healing bone. It also doesn't help that I will continue to gain weight since the baby is growing, and this will just add extra pressure on my knee and make me even more unstable than I was to begin with.

I am asking everyone for extra prayers for healing and pray that it is just really swollen and not broken! The last thing I want to deal with when I have a newborn is a broken knee! Been there done that, and I don't feel like repeating that.

I hope you are all doing great! We love you all and thank you for your prayers!

Reflections on Pregnancy

I thought I would take this time to jot down some thoughts, memories and reflections on the past few months. I am officially in my 27th week of pregnancy. It has been just flying by. This means that after this week, I will be starting my third trimester! Scary! I never imagined that this time would go so fast! I am trying to cherish every tired, sick and swollen moment.

I truly feel blessed that while I did have some bouts of morning sickness, I don't think I had it as bad as a lot of women. The only things that really set me off were listening to other people eat and the sight of raw meat. On the other hand, I have been battling with high blood pressure and swollen hands and feet. It has gotten so bad that I actually had to remove my wedding ring, after a five minute soapy battle. This has helped some but I feel so bare without my ring! I also don't feel like I am setting such a great example walking around town, huge as can be and without a wedding band. I have gotten some looks...oh well.

I really do love being pregnant. I enjoy the late night cravings of ice cream or honey nut cheerios. The times when a craving hits while I am at work and can't do anything about it...like the time I suddenly starting craving yams! As soon as work was over I made a bee line for the store and bought the biggest can of yams I could find. Let's just say that Zach wasn't too pleased to get home and find that the only thing I had made for dinner was a huge dish of yams with brown sugar and pecans...he really hates yams! I kind of felt bad, but I was really enjoying my yams! I think that was the strongest craving I have had this whole time.

To tell you the truth, I really love maternity pants! They are so comfortable! Too bad all jeans can't be this comfy. I don't like the fact that I had always looked at the maternity clothes with envy before I got pregnant, thinking "why can't they make non-maternity clothes that cute?", and now that it is my turn to shop for them...I am finding nothing cute! I am truly grateful to my mom who has found me some really fun tops, I don't know how she does it, but without her I think I would be walking around in sweats and Zach's over-sized t-shirts! Not exactly appropriate for work.

Now that I am nearing the final months of the pregnancy I am starting to wonder if I have enough time to accomplish everything! We are going to start our childbirth education classes in a week and a half. I am really hoping they are informative and helpful. It is my goal to have a natural birth. I know it will be painful but I think I am more terrified of the epidural needle than I am of the pain of childbirth. So, we are praying that the classes teach us some good focusing techniques and strategies. I am trying to read as much as possible and cram as much information into my brain as I can. I think there is more to learn about pregnancy and childbirth than can be crammed into a nine-month time frame! Oh well, I am doing my best.

At this point, I am planning on going back to work after our little girl is born. I have started looking into childcare and I am really disappointed in what I am finding. I don't think I will ever truly feel comfortable leaving my child in the care of another person that I don't really know. I want to make sure that my baby will be safe and really cared for! It feels strange taking tours of childcare facilities. It brings me back to the years that I spent teaching at one. I feel odd being on the other spectrum of things.

Well, I guess I have been babbling for long enough. I know that God has a plan for everything and it will turn out perfect in the end. I am just anticipating the day that Zach and I get to meet this precious little bundle of joy! Love you all!

It's a GIRL!

Our little girl's feet!

21 Weeks and feeling huge!

20 weeks

Our sweet baby girl!

It is official! We are having a little girl!!! We are so excited and can't wait to meet her...but not too soon! :) I am in the middle of my 22nd week now...more than half way done! She is very active and likes to punch her mommy! That's okay, I still love her!

We have started planning her nursery...it is a lot of fun! But first we have to tear down the puppy dog wallpaper that was already in there. Cute, but just not right for her. We haven't totally decided on a name yet, we have an idea but we want to keep our options open.

I will keep you all updated as often as I can. Love you all!

15 Weeks!

The baby bump at 15 weeks! Getting bigger and bigger all the time! Finally having to use actual maternity pants now...I tried to make my other clothes work for as long as possible :)

Our First Home!

Our front yard. We love the red door!

Our kitchen from the family room.

Kitchen and breakfast nook from the formal dining room.

The entry from the formal living room.

The formal living room from the entry.

The formal dining room from the kitchen.

The family room.



Welcome to our new home! After many months of searching and many, many houses...we have finally found the one! It is a quaint little rambler, located on the East hill in Kent. It has three bedrooms and two baths...perfect for our growing little family! We have started shopping for new flooring. We are replacing the carpet in the family room, and taking the carpet out of the kitchen and breakfast nook and replacing it with a very pretty vinyl. Our goal is to have the flooring done before we move in, near the middle of June. We have a nice fenced in back yard and the house is located in a nice quite development.