15 Weeks...

I took this picture with my camera propped up on some books and using the timer. That's why there's a lot of ceiling above my head!

Can you believe I'm only 3 1/2 months? I feel HUGE. I didn't gain any weight during the past week, though, so that's good. I was worrying about gaining almost a pound a week! It was freaking me out a little.

Here's what Baby Bruce is up to this week:

She's about the size of an orange this week, her ears have migrated to the sides of her head, and her eyes are moving to the front of her face. Plus, your little smarty-pants can now wiggle her fingers and toes and make breathing movements in preparation for life outside the womb.

-whattoexpect.com

I've had a few people leave comments and ask if we're finding out the sex and we are not! I wasn't sure that I'd be able to contain myself, but as more time passes by, I am getting more and excited about not knowing. I think when Baby Bruce arrives in November, it will be the most awesome surprise! However, I do have my hunch, but what do I know? I've never done this before!

Also, on Tuesday, I was feeling like I was feeling the baby kick around. It is a little bit early, typically, but not impossible for me to feel it already. Judging by the ultrasound, we have quite an active one! It was a weird feeling that I've never had before...fluttering. And it lasted for about 20 minutes or so, off and on while I was sitting at my desk after lunch, working on things. We'll find out in the next few weeks whether that was it or not when I really do feel the little peanut kick.

This really is such an exciting time. I feel like every day, I watch my body change a little bit. I'm hoping I last another 2 weeks with my non-pregnancy work clothes and my belly band. It was really warm yesterday, into the low 80's and my belly band was H-O-T. When I took it off when I got home, I had a little patch of heat rash on my side. It itches.

Strangely, this week, I have been more tired than ever and I've been reading that my sleepiness should be subsiding. I am really hoping that kicks in soon. Oh, and I just read about weight gain in the second trimester...one pound per week is average! My appetite isn't as huge as it was about 3 weeks ago, but it looks like it will come on strong again soon.

I'm not complaining!

Video of a Video...

It's the best I can do. I recorded the ultrasound on the computer screen with my camera. It actually turned out better than I thought it would!

Look for: Kicking of the legs, the heart beating, mouth opening and the hand going in, both sides of the brain, vertebrate of the spine...and just the fact that this little blessing is only the size of your fist!

The Coolest Thing Ever...

We met our little Baby Bruce on the screen today!

He/she brings greetings from another planet...

Everything looked really good and healthy! The pictures are from the 4-D ultrasound that we had done, but we actually thought the traditional 2-D (black and white) ultrasound showed us more detail. We were able to get an amazing video on our DVD that we brought with us that is the black and white version. We can see the spine, two arms and two legs kicking about, and the heartbeat fluttering away! It is awesome to see something that is the size of your fist with so much detail.

It definitely puts Pro-Life at a whole new level! To think that some people don't believe that at this stage, there is a baby, living and developing in there...is just unbelievable.

I will try to upload the video on Monday at work, where the internet is a little bit faster than it is here at home. No promises, but I'll try.

We went to get pizza after the appointment and Huzz and I kept saying to each other, "There really is a baby in there!" We could not be happier or more excited.

Rude Kids...

I read this BreakPoint from Charles Colson today. As a teacher and witnessing these kinds of kids every work day for the last 6 years, I don't think Mr. Colson could have said it better.


Rude Kids The Fruits of Overdeveloped Self-Esteem
May 21, 2009

A recent report on MSNBC suggested that parents’ pre-occupation with their kids’ self-esteem may have produced “rude” children who lack compassion for others.
According to MSNBC, “many experts say today’s kids are ruder than ever.” The word “rude” encompasses a variety of behaviors, from selfishness to deliberate malice. In one example, a pre-schooler deliberately tripped a woman in a crowded restaurant and then bragged to her mother about it. In another, a child continuously insults his mother in front of his mortified grandmother.
In both cases, the parent neither says nor does anything.
Apparently, these aren’t isolated instances: a 2005 Yale University study found that “preschool students are expelled at a rate more than three times that of children in grades K-12 because of behavioral problems.”
It isn’t only preschoolers. The media has documented the behavior in the workplace of those born between 1980 and 1996. Words used to describe the behavior of the so-called “Generation Y” include “self-centered” and “arrogant.” As one management professor put it, “They don’t know when to shut up.” And having grown up questioning their parents, they now question their bosses.
Whether or not today’s kids are actually “ruder than ever,” the article and others like it reflect the sense that something has gone wrong in the way we raise our children. Specifically, it has to do with “popular parenting movements focusing on self-esteem.”
These movements produce parents who “[respond] with hostility to anyone they perceive as getting in the child’s way.” By “getting in the child’s way,” they mean doing anything that might make the child feel less-than-wonderful about him or herself—in the classroom, among their peers, or on the playing field.
So today we have a generation of children who believe that the world revolves around them and that they are entitled to feel good about themselves.
Expecting children raised this way to be compassionate or even polite betrays a profound ignorance of human nature—the same ignorance that led to the “popular parenting movements” that created the mess in the first place.
These movements were inspired by the ideas of Romantic Enlightenment thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau. According to Rousseau, “There is no original perversity in the human heart.” So, he says, “when children’s wills are not spoiled by our fault, children [desire] nothing uselessly.” So parents and teachers should strive to produce children who are “authentic, self-sufficient, and autonomous.”
According to E.D. Hirsch, this Romantic ideal that “each person has a natural and uniquely divine spark, which, if nurtured, cannot go wrong,” is behind the emphasis on self-esteem. The problem, as Hirsch points out, is that there is no proven connection between high self-esteem and actual achievement.
In other words, feeling good about yourself isn’t enough to make you good. You have to be taught right from wrong and made to feel bad when you deserve it. As the Scripture says, true parental devotion includes the willingness to correct our children.
The alternative isn’t “authenticity”—it’s spoiling their wills in the worst possible way.

14 Weeks...

I am now fourteen weeks!

The past week has been a rough one, but I've survived. I'll only talk about pregnancy challenges in this post and I'll write another post and tell you all about the other things that are making my life a trial right now.

Here's my bump!


I really wasn't wild about posting a photo of myself this week because I think I look absolutely horrible. This is mostly due to the fact that I am too exhausted to shower in the morning and actually do my hair. I barely manage to get out of bed thirty minutes before I have to leave and I get dressed, pull my hair back, and eat some breakfast.

This week, Baby Bruce is a lemon!

Welcome to the second trimester! With any luck, your breasts aren't quite as tender as they were last trimester and your energy level is making a comeback. More good news on the horizon: less morning sickness and fewer trips to the potty to pee. You might find yourself feeling pregnancy aches on the lower sides of your abdomen about now as the muscles and ligaments that support your growing uterus stretch. And though it might be a pain in the — well, lower abdomen, it's pain with a gain — and a sign that it won't be long now until your body finally starts to show that you're expecting. Meanwhile, your baby is about the size of a clenched fist and he's sporting a downy coating of hair (lanugo) that keeps him nice and warm. Not to worry — you won't give birth to a monkey; baby fat will accumulate over the next few months, keeping your baby warm and toasty — and allowing most of that hair to shed.

- whattoexpect.com

Now that all you male family members who read this know that my boobs have been sensitive...

I'm hoping that all of the above becomes true for me during the next couple of weeks. My nausea has been worse than ever this past week, which has been really hard. It's mostly brought on by my major sensitivity to odors. I got sick 3 times this week just because I smelled something and ran to the bathroom. This is very unfortunate for me because we live in an odor-filled place. The hallways and elevator in our apartment building smell like raw sewage. Horrible sewage-type smells come up through the sink drains in our apartment. The kitchen has always had a weird smell to it, which I think is from the pipes in the walls. And because we don't have a garbage disposal, all garbage goes into the trashcan. So, that constantly stinks to high heaven. Please, help me.

Meanwhile, my baby is a furry little monkey right now! Let's just hope it all sheds before the little peanut makes its entrance. Haha!

We went to a clinic yesterday to get my first ultrasound done, which my friend Katy, had scheduled for me. I was sooooo excited to get it done for obvious reasons, but also because I had probably the worst day, professionally, I've ever had yesterday. Unfortunately, whoever scheduled it with Katy wrote me down on the wrong day and they had me down for Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I am rescheduled to go tomorrow after work, so I'm really praying that it all happens.

We had no choice to shake our heads and say, "This is Kazakhstan..."

Trust me, I am extremely tired of having to say this to comfort myself. All it does is remind me of how much I am ready to leave here.

Anyway, I am trying to stay positive and I'm counting down the days! I am so thankful that I am pregnant with (as far as I know) a healthy baby. I know that My Father is going ahead of me in everything and He is in control.