24 Weeks

I had my 24 week appointment today and it couldn't have come soon enough.  Over the last 4 weeks I've been having increasing pain and intense pressure in my lower half and over the last few days haven't been able to stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time.  Yesterday, against all my natural leanings, Ava and I had a "PJ day" (mostly because I couldn't bear to sit on the floor and attempt to change her) and watched a lot more TV than I would normally prescribe.  I laid on the couch or in bed as much as possible and by the evening I was feeling a little relief.

Thankfully my blood pressure is normal and the doctor said that though this is unfortunate for me, there are no pressing health concerns for me or the baby.  Hurray (I guess).  What I described he said was not unusual for second pregnancies as the body doesn't hold up quite as well as it did the first time around.  Being that this will probably only worsen over the next 3 1/2 months, he advised me to rest and get help with Ava when I can, but I'm grateful to know that no real harm is being done.  Though I wanted to say, "Are you sure, because I'm pretty sure this baby's head is already halfway out and my legs might burst open at any moment."

The other good news is that my weight and girth (Brian Regan anyone?) are almost exactly in toe with what I measured with Ava, despite my feeling twice as big and cumbersome.  It's the small victories!  And once again, somewhere in between taking the above picture and uploading it from Photo Booth, the magical circuitry has made me look much less huge than I actually am.  You will not hear me complaining about this.  Since I don't know how to work the timer on Blair's camera for a more accurate photo, I'm happy to display this and then shock you all with the real thing later.

We got to hear the heartbeat and when the doctor asked Ava, "Are you going to have a baby brother?" she lifted her shirt and pointed to her belly, "Yeah, and I have a baby Jesus right down here in my heart!"  It appears that teaching her about pregnancy and the Holy Spirit at the same time might have caused a little confusion.

All in all, though some days are better than others, I am feeling very weary and ready for this pregnancy to be over.  I am praying for mercy in the weeks to come (and an early delivery date would be magical).  I am however SO thankful for my loving husband and best friend who have rallied to help me as much as they can.  Today after my appointment, Blair dropped Ava off at Erin's house and will be picking her up this afternoon and taking her on a daddy-daughter dinner date while I rest.  Now, let me just say that I haven't had 8 hours (or 2 hours) to myself in almost 3 years and I'm not even sure what to do with that amount of quiet time!  I'm sure I'll think of something (probably involving jammies and hot cocoa) and I feel so blessed to have people in my life who care about me and my baby boy.