Week 22

I have decided that I am definitely at the fun part of pregnancy.  About 2 weeks ago I realized (after the millionth person asked me how I was feeling) that I'm feeling fantastic!  I have that extra energy that I kept hearing about as part of the second trimester.  I've been able to stay up until almost 10pm some nights, which is a vast improvement over the first half of my pregnancy.  My only significant complaint is the ever-present back pain.  It can get really bad, especially if I've been very active.  The past few weekends Daniel and I have been working in the yard a lot and that seems to aggravate my back.  I also discovered that sitting on a bar stool without a back cushion is a very bad idea.  I am feeling Elijah kick harder and more often every day now.  Last week I felt him kick with my hand for the first time.  I was resting my hand on top of my baby bump while working at the computer, and he completely surprised me with a strong kick right where my hand was!  It was so exciting and made me smile for the rest of the day.  Today he has been kicking hard around that same spot on the top of my bump repeatedly.  It seems to always happen in the middle of the day.  I'm still waiting for him to do it in the evening so Daniel can feel for the first time.  I know that will be such a special moment.  I almost always feel him kicking either very low or very high.  I'm not sure if that's normal, or maybe the placenta is cushioning all his movements in the middle of my belly.  I can really tell that he is growing and getting stronger every day.

Last week we took a tour of the hospital that we are hoping to give birth at.  It's one of two hospitals in the area that our insurance allows.  This one is only 8 years old and it is beautiful.  It's way south of the city almost in the middle of nowhere.  You can see the entire Rocky Mountain range to the west from the entrance and many of the rooms.  The maternity ward has all private rooms with private bathrooms that all have a tub and shower.  There's even a fireplace in the waiting room.  It really seemed like a hotel more than a hospital.  The tour was fantastic and I'm very happy about giving birth there.  But for some reason, the tour also really freaked me out.  As it went on I felt myself getting more and more panicked.  At the end, I was fighting to stay calm.  I can't explain exactly why I freaked out.  I guess because it started to feel very real.  Like, I'm really doing this.  But when I think about it, I'm actually very excited!  And I'm not even that concerned about the pain of childbirth.  I know I'll get through it like every mother before me and I'll have a beautiful baby boy at the end.  I guess it was just one of those crazy pregnancy mood swings.  Daniel was very excited after the tour.  He loved the hospital as well, and I can tell he is so excited to hold his little boy.  

The nursery is almost complete now.  We have all the big furniture and most of the decorations.  Daniel's co-worker gave him a swing, and yesterday we bought and put together a glider.  His room is so cute!  I think it'll be just perfect for him.  All we need is the essentials to actually take care of Elijah.  But we're in no hurry to get those.  We stopped by goodwill to drop some donations off and decided to take a look at newborn clothes.  They had some pretty cute stuff, some of it even had the tag still on.  So we picked up about 8 things for $1 each.  What a deal :-)  I have a few rules that I'm sticking to with his clothing: no camouflage print, a variety of colors and styles, and limited words (like "Mommy's cutie pie!" or some other vomit-inducing saying).  I'm also trying to stay away from anything too stereotypically "boy" like dump trucks, dinosaurs, or cars.  I just don't think we need to emphasize his masculinity on his clothing.  Maybe I'm being too picky.  But for now, those are my rules and I'm sticking to them.

On Saturday we're leaving for our cruise!  I got a very cute maternity bathing suit that will hopefully counteract the feeling that I'm a sideshow attraction when I put it on.  I'm hoping that everyone will get to feel him kick next week (but Daniel first!).  And we get to see our wedding video for the first time.  I am entirely too excited for that.  So glad summer is here!