Mile marker 17!
I was looking very forward to my 17 week check up, since it has been since 3 weeks since my last. Not long in the grand scheme of a pregnancy, but plenty long when I know the further along I am, the closer we get to meeting our little one.
Apprehension set in the night before, as I went back to the journey God has taken us down. I knew I was feeling the baby move, but I just needed that confirmation through a heartbeat. I was thinking about how quickly God took those first two, but through that, we were okay, and God saw us through it all. I know deep down that no matter what happens in this pregnancy, we will be okay (as we talked a lot about with Brenda). We pray unceasingly that this child will make it into our arms, healthy and strong, but we have given this complete pregnancy to God. And that is why I think I have not been worried overall about this pregnancy. Maybe glimpses of God reminding me of who IS God, but this all happening so fast, I have not been nervous or worried, which is definitely good for the blood pressure!
All that to say, my appointment went VERY well! My blood pressure 112/70, got the good ole flu shot, and have a few other tests done, heard the heartbeat which was at 160, heard movement, uterus in perfect shape, and my weight gain is spot on. I couldn’t be MORE thankful for all of those good results! I didn’t think I was gaining an enormous amount of weight, but after all of the cereal I eat, I wondered!
Now we look forward to my next appointment, which is in 1 month, where we will hopefully find out what we are having! Many have asked if I have an inkling, and I really don’t. Dan had a dream that we had a girl, but I seriously have NO CLUE. If you told me I was having a boy, I wouldn’t be surprised and if you told me I was having a girl, I would say “I can see that.” I have no experience with what a boy or girl feels like, so we will take whatever they tell us :). We do have names picked out, but we are not telling. Though, we ARE going to be sharing what we are having! We are just as eager to find out and as you all know, we can’t keep a secret (except for the baby’s name).
Then hopefully the registering can begin, which I was SO overwhelmed with before, but am feeling a bit more confident about. Have you recently walked through the aisles of a baby section? How in the WORLD is one to have all of that stuff in their home? This probably doesn’t surprise you, but I want to keep it simple. We do not have a home that can fit a lot of items (not even sure we can even fit a high chair), so simple is what we are going for. Granted we don’t want our child to be bored all of the time, but we know what we grew up with and I would have to say we turned out pretty normal (for the most part I suppose :)).
Recommendations from people are DEFINITELY helpful, so if you have any recommendations of what you would suggest putting on a baby registry, let me know!
Dan and I also look forward to getting away on one last trip before the baby comes! We were thinking about not, but then numerous people told us that it is a good idea – to just step away for a little while. Plus, for Dan and I to truly get a break, we often have to flee our home. So we decided to shop around for great trip deals and found some!
Thank you for walking this journey with us! We appreciate already, having a “village” raise and pray this child through!