Sunday, June 29, 2014

Week 20 Pregnancy Update


Hello, dear friends!

I'm writing this during week 19, but I know that I will be well into week 20 before I get around to publishing - if not later - so this is my "official" week 20 update!

I probably will not publish my journal entry for weeks 18-19. Firstly, I forgot to journal most of week 19. Secondly, I was very down and dismal during week 18, and my journal was extremely depressing. Just imagine a lot of complaining, and you'll be pretty close.

And so... here are some random notes about this pregnancy's progression - and life in general!

- On the NVP front, I am feeling anywhere between "eh" and "crummy." Nausea is still constant, around the clock, but most of the time it's manageable. I am managing to stay up-and-going most (or at least some) of the time. I continue to maintain a mostly very-low-carb (VLC) diet - as long as no one mentions the nachos I cadged from the boys' plate tonight. Yum.

- I'm still extremely tired, and my brain is GONE - Second-trimester energy spurt, where are you? And even when I do have the energy to do something, most of the time I spend it wandering around the house wondering what on earth it is that I should be doing! Oh, pregnancy brain! Gotta love it!

- My main food right now is a snack plate of cheese, lunchmeat, tomato, pickle, and cucumber "crackers." I'm eating that three to four times a day, and not much else! There are many other things I'd like to eat, but they all require cooking. Too tired, too nauseated. Cold non-prep foods reign supreme.

- As far as the family, they're subsisting on the super-easy things I can manage to make - spaghetti with jarred sauce, etc. They're looking forward to having my nausea subside too!

- I am thoroughly enjoying my favorite thing in the world - baby kicks! I've felt movement for two months, but now we're getting into the super-fun time of well-defined kicks and getting to watch my stomach bounce. We have one very active baby! This is pretty much my favorite part of pregnancy - or life in general!

- We're going to the homeschool conference! I'm so excited! Behind my excitement, though, is the question of how on earth I am going to manage to make it through two entire days of a high-energy convention - not to mention all of the prep work beforehand to get ready! I'm praying that I will feel much better over these next two weeks!

Last year's homeschool convention! 

- Week 20 is the deadline I have set for myself to get moving now on all of those pre-baby projects. Do I feel up to them? Not at all. But I am trying to get started! Here are my first couple of projects:
  • Refinishing our newly inherited kitchen table! I cannot tell you how tired I am of the {table pad - table cloth - plastic cover} routine, especially with two babies who routinely pull it off countless times per day! I am DONE! But our new table needs something more than the finish it has in order to stand up to six-times-per-day meal/snack use, homeschooling, and children who are as careful as a troop of rampaging soldiers when it comes to avoiding scratches. Have I ever done any woodworking before? Not at all. But I'm already tired of my endless refrain - "Don't set anything on the table! Careful! Don't scratch it!" I'll let you know how that all goes.
  • Surface Decluttering - Part of my pre-baby nesting routine is going through all of our drawers and cabinets. However, this time I need to start with surfaces - tables, freezer tops, etc. Too much stuff! I already feel better with the progress I've made. Though I have regretfully concluded that I cannot gain the skills denied by nature - that is, an ability to decorate - I can feel peaceful and comfortable if my space is decluttered. Really, I can handle just about any stress as long as my living space is clean, tidy, and clutter-free. On the other hand, I cannot handle even tiny bits of stress if my space is dirty and cluttered. Thus, onward and upward!
  • Gathering birth supplies - Yes, it's that time! I love this job! 
Birth supplies at our last birth! 

I have a full (i.e. huge) and growing list of before-baby things to do, and I'll post that soon. In the meantime, those are my beginning projects!

- We've finished our first term of school! - Yes, our first school term (of six) of the year is now behind us. If all goes as planned, we'll have four of six completed before baby arrives, and then we'll be able to take off about six weeks before finishing the school year. I managed to work up to *almost* full speed, leaving out only our daily family time. Hopefully I'll be ready to start that next term (which starts in.... two days - I'd better hurry!).

- Baby's Gender - I am absolutely certain that baby is a GIRL... which means that we're having another BOY! Hurray!!

Boys are wonderful! 

- Baby Names - Yes, we really should think about this sometime! We do tentatively have a boy name, but it's very close to one of our existing names, so I'm not sure if it'll work out. But we need to get a move on, especially with as long as we take to pick names!

And there you have it, folks! Life at twenty weeks. I'll check in again soon!


6 comments:

  1. Wait, do you mean that you thought it was a girl, got an ultrasound, and it's a girl, or that when you think it's a girl it's always a boy?

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  2. I hope that your convention is so fun that your nausea and exhaustion are able to be temporarily suppressed enough for you to enjoy it. I'm not as sick as you are, and I have significant hope of feeling better in a month or so, so my situation may not apply to your case at all, but this time around I've found that whatever chemicals course through my body when I have good reason to be excited or happier than usual (not contentment--general daily contentment doesn't work) gives me a little break from the daily fog and illness of early pregnancy. So I'll pray for you to have the same blessing--even if only briefly.

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  3. Hey! I just found your blog and I am 20 weeks pregnant too! I look forward to keeping an eye on your blog as we progress together. I find out today if it's a b or g!

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  4. Are you taking the family along to convention? I've never done that, it is usually me or me and my sister. Have fun either way!

    I finally had to set specific dates for things I was putting off and I'm not even pregnant at the moment. In the next 3 weeks we'll be painting all 3 bedrooms. That means we're scrubbing walls, mudding, sanding, and decluttering so the process is easy when paint day arrives.

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  5. Hello, everyone! Thanks for visiting!

    llamaofdoom - I should have been more clear! Sorry about that! No, no ultrasound - what I meant was simply that I have been convinced that each of our children was a girl, and each has been a boy! Being that I am once again thinking and speaking of this child in the feminine, I'm guessing that it will be boy #4 for us! :)

    aflyonmyhomeschoolwall - I have experienced the same thing, and I sure hope I will have that boost at the convention! I guess the real question is how long it will take to recover, LOL!!

    Bunny Sun - Congratulations on your new little one! How fun that we are so close together! Did you find out BOY or GIRL?? :)

    Tristan - I'm so impressed! I've never painted anything!! Wow! :) And no, we're not taking the family to the convention. We do end up taking under-one-year-old babies with us (so we're usually accompanied on alternate years or so), but taking the whole family is beyond me. I know many people who do - including one friend who takes all seven - but I simply cannot pay attention when my eyes are going in twenty different directions keeping tabs on children. And we always end up in the hallway with a cranky baby anyway! And despite my best effort, I do NOT have picture-perfect children who sit through lectures without a peep. I try, but no. Also, DH and I use this time as our yearly "get-away." It's really fun that way. Thankfully we have grandparents who were able to sit for us at the last minute, so hopefully they'll live through the experience! Neither set of our parents is used to the non-stop activity/energy any more. :)

    Thanks again, everyone!
    Diana

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  6. Aflyonmyhomeschoolwall - Also, I'm so glad to hear that your little one is doing well! Hurray for that, and all of my hopes that you feel better soon!! By the way, my summer plans have gone by the wayside too - even my trimmed down plans that I posted a few weeks back. Nope, not gonna happen (unless we wait till September or October, which is still summer here). :)

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