Week 33: Christmas Joys

What a joyful Christmas we were able to have. Does Christmas ever not feel like Christmas to you? I mean, as I've gotten older, I've often commented on how Thanksgiving and/or Christmas just don't feel like they should. This Christmas was different. It totally felt like Christmas though I'm not sure why. Christmas eve we took it easy. We enjoyed some KFC for dinner (aka no cooking, a blessing from my inlaws. The kids were allowed to open one gift each as we do by tradition. When the kids awoke the next day, James read the story of the birth of Christ to them. Then they opened gifts and had a blast. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and followed that by watching a movie and playing with the new toys. We lazed around the house all day. I cooked a Christmas ham for dinner and we enjoyed our family time. It was a very restful day and enjoyable to spend as a family.

The only downside to Christmas was the usual - being sick. For some reason, I'm sick every year at Christmas. It's usually nothing big, and it wasn't this year either. The kids and I were just full of snot and slightly sore throats from drainage. I slept horribly Christmas Eve simply because I could not breathe out of my nose at all. Two Christmases ago, we were at Kosair's Children's Hospital with Hannah because she had purple lips and was having a hard time breathing. In the end, they couldn't come up with any diagnoses other than a nasty virus. So.... I guess colds were better than hospital visits for sure. We're still getting over the snot. And many of our friends had the stomach bug this Christmas so I'm thankful we didn't have that issue.

For the most part, my back felt better this week. That was a blessing. I've started getting fatigued way easier than I was though. It's everything I can do to run an errand or two with the kids and not feel completely wiped out afterward. Honestly, I don't even have to go anywhere and I feel wiped out most days before lunch. Guess that's just the point in the pregnancy.

One of my very good friends delivered her first baby boy yesterday (they had 2 girls first). She was due 5 1/2 weeks before me. So I'm definitely getting very excited as the day draws quickly near!!!

Until next time...
Take Care,
Terra

Christmas Pictures

Lots of Christmas pictures added to my December Album on Facebook. Check them out here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=251053&id=607147099&l=4d06f7af91

Week 32: Belly 'Fun' and Back Pain

This week brought the end of our holiday craziness. By God's grace, from now until the new year begins, we have very little on our calendar. And that is simply fantastic!

The weather around here has been a little nutty. We had a decent amount of snow about a week or two ago. Then shortly after that, we got a good deal of ice to slick things up a bit. Now I've heard they are calling for another 4-6in of snow on Christmas Eve. Fun stuff. I took lots of pictures and a few videos for those of you interested, see my last post. It started melting today, just in time for the next batch I guess.

James and I went to a nice, formal Christmas party on Saturday. This was our 3rd year attending and it's always fun. See pictures at the link in my last post as well. I borrowed a maternity dress that worked perfectly. I actually felt cute in it. Kind of hard to feel that way at this point. I feel like I've swallowed a basketball and my face is starting to look like a little round ball itself. :)

So more baby stuff... My midwife appointment was another short and sweet one. Gained 2 more pounds (up 29 now). Blood pressure still great. She didn't comment on the measurements but said everything looked and sounded good. I'll be back again next week. I did ask her about the contractions and she told me it's normal for just about anything to cause contractions at this point. I figured it probably was but wanted to ask just in case. I was actually having a great deal of contractions at our formal event Saturday but after I drank a bit of water they stopped. Guess I was a little dehydrated. I'm trying to stay on top of that.

I've continued to have a lot of back pain: location and intensity dependent on the day. Most of the pains are from the spasms I get on my right, mid-back. Sometimes it's the typical low back pain anyone gets at this point in the pregnancy. For the last few months, I've had the habit of waking up on my back with my arms overhead. (I fall asleep on my side). I have NO idea why I'm sleeping this way or how to stop. But when I do, I often wake up with back pain. Weird.

Anyway, I think I've written enough for the week. Until next time!

Take care,
Terra