19 Weeks

Nineteen weeks already! This pregnancy is almost half over, and I feel like I am behind on a lot. I don't even have a pregnancy memory journal yet! You'd think since Chris and I are both second kids that we'd be more on the ball to make sure that we had everything just as organized for this baby as for the first, but we just don't have the time anymore! I am planning to start the journal in the next couple of weeks.

Here are a few updates on the pregnancy:

- The baby has been moving a lot, and even rolled over for the first time last night. I forgot that feeling until it happened. When I say moving a lot, it is still just a fraction of the performance that Josiah put on when he was in there! We are hoping this means that the new baby might be calm?!

- I am still having a ton of appointments, usually at least one a week. It's a bit tiring, but I am thankful for the care at the same time. I am considered high-risk because of my heart issue caused by a birth defect. The symptoms have just surfaced during this pregnancy and I have not been feeling well because of this. My heart is functioning around 40%, which explains the extreme fatigue and weakness (in addition to the usual exhaustion that comes with pregnancy). After the baby comes, I will likely have heart surgery. This has increased my anxiety...a C-section followed by heart surgery. Not looking forward to the summer!

- Next week is our 20 week ultrasound. I am excited, but very nervous. There is so much that can go wrong, and I am hoping for good news. So far, the baby seems really healthy, but because of the heart issues I've had happening I'll be relieved to have proof that the baby is developing well.

- Chris and I are torn on whether to find out the gender or not. We didn't for Josiah, and it was such an exciting surprise; however it would be much easier this time around to know...we'll see!

- Josiah seems to be getting more excited about the baby. He's been talking to my belly a lot. A couple of weeks ago, he came over and said, "BABY! I want you to come out and play now. I'll share..." He went on to list all of the toys he would share. When I told him the baby would have to stay in for a little while longer, he tried to climb on my stomach and said that he wanted to go in too!

- I have narrowed my name choices down to three or four for each gender. I love the girl name I have picked out. The boy names are harder, but they were last time too. I don't think that Chris has given much thought to names yet, or maybe he just hasn't shared with me yet. He has given some suggestions for middle names that he likes.

- Although (as most of you know) I really dislike being pregnant, I am finding myself sad thinking that this might be the last one. Chris and I had talked about having two, so it seems like this will be it.

- It is really nice this time around to not be focused on stuff! I found when I was pregnant with Josiah that I was so preoccupied with getting things ready (because we had so little). This time, I feel prepared, so I am more focused on the baby than the room!

- In preparation, we have gotten Josiah a new bed a a new dresser so the baby can move into the nursery set when he/she arrives. We were so fortunate to have found a bed and dresser on a second-hand website. So far, we have only spent $200 on all furniture and bedding. Although the bed and dresser are not a perfect match, they are very close, and work really well together. Here is Josiah helping me wash the new dresser:



He was a little upset in the car after we picked up the dresser because he thought it was another new bed. He kept saying, "No thank-you...I don't want it..." After he realized it was drawers, he was happy! When we got home, he ran into his room and started pulling clothes out of his old dresser to put in the new one. I guess he won't be sad to leave his baby set to his younger sibling!