My Pregnancy Journal

Dear Charlie,

My friend told me this great joke, that I thought was appriate to share here.  A husband leaves for work and sees his pregnant wife on the couch.  He comes home from work and finds his wife in the same spot on the couch that she was in when he left.  The husband says to the wife, "What have you been doing today?"  The wife replies, "I made a lung today.  What the heck did you do?" 

This is how I looked and felt during my first trimester.  I wasn't very nauseous, but I was incredibly fatigued.  I didn't want to get up off the couch, and I wanted to just sleep all day long (even though I really couldn't).  Ella was only four months old when I became pregnant, so she was still gettiing up in the night and waking up early.  However, I was grateful that I wasn't throwing up and that I was still able to be a mom to Ella and do my first year of Science Alliance.

I didn't have many weird pregnancy cravings, but I did drink a lot of orange juice.  I have never cared much for OJ before, but I drank a jug of it a week during my first trimester.  I read online somewhere that Vitamin C helps with iron absorbtion, which is probably why I was craving the OJ.

This picture was taken at the end of my first trimester on 4-28-11.

The second trimester was great!  I loved being pregnant during this time.  (Well, I really did love being pregnant the whole time, but this period was the best).  I started to feel you move when I was about 20 weeks along.  I loved being able to eat a big meal, wear a fitted shirt, and not be embarrassed at all.  No one could tell which part of my belly was the food baby and which part was you.  I found that I couldn't eat too late at night before I went to bed because I would get acid reflux and be woken up choking on my own vomit.  That was probably my least favorite part of being pregnant.  I used to have to sleep on the couch in a semi-reclined position.  I also remember around this time that you loved to hang out right under my right rib cage.  The pain of it used to wake me up in the middle of the night.  I could feel your big head, foot, butt, ok I'm not really sure what body part it was, but it was always lodged up high on my right side.  You didn't move a lot, and I think that is because I didn't give you a lot of room to move.  Sorry Charlie!  Overall, I had very minimal discomfort during this time.  I had a lot of energy, and I never felt like being pregnant impeded me from doing the things I wanted to do (other than sleep).

This picture was taken in the middle of my second trimester on 7-8-11

(Just after Uncle Chad and Aunt Ashley's wedding)

My third trimester was also pretty smooth sailing.  I loved feeling you move around, and I loved knowing that I was helping to create life.  As my belly got bigger and bigger, people were giving me all kinds of advice on what I should do to go into labor.  Although I appreciated that everyone wanted to help me, I was terrified of giving birth and quite content toting you around in nature's Baby Bjorn.  I will spare you the grusome details of all of the recommendations given to me and just say that we tried some of them, but I said, "No thank you," to most of them. 

This picture was taken during my third trimester around the beginning of August.

The Monday after you were due (you were due on Sunday, September 18th), the doctor asked me if I would like to be induced the next day, and by that time I was ready.  I agreed, and he said that the hospital would be calling me to let me know what time.  He gave me their number to call in case I didn't hear from anyone.  I called my mom and told her to drive in to Yuma so that she could be here for your delivery.  Unfortunately, the hospital never called me.  By the time I got ahold of them, they told me that there was no room for me and I would have to reschedule to be induced on Sunday the 25th.  Grammy had already driven to Yuma from San Diego, so she decided to stay until I went into labor.  Twice a day, your Grammy and I would go out for walks, and while we were walking we would say to you, "Chaaaarrrrllliiieee.  Come on, Charlie."  We kept trying to talk you into coming out because we really wanted to meet you face to face.

The rest of the story about your birthday will be in my next post.  Thank you for making my pregnancy a wonderful experience for me.  You were such a sweet easy baby even before you came into the world.  I love you so much, and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to take care of you from the very beginning of your life.

Love,
Mom