16 Weeks

I had another appt at week 14 and the midwife said everything was progressing “perfectly.” Yippee! Hopefully, it continues like that. She also said at 20 weeks I’d start to show, b/c my uterus would be at my belly button. Hmm, after looking at the picture below, I don’t know what to say about that! At the next appt, we get to set the date for the ultra-sound and find out the gender of our sweet baby. I can’t wait! I’ve had about a half dozen dreams about the baby and sometimes it’s a girl and sometimes it’s a boy. We shall see!

Every time I write that my nausea has subsided, it comes back. So, I have asked Brook to not let me write that anymore!!! At 16 weeks, I was hopeful it would be gone for good, but not so much. It does make things difficult, but I am learning to live with it and not let it dictate my life. For the first 2 months, I seriously wanted to hibernate. I almost had a phobia of going out or being around people. It was the weirdest thing and hard to describe. It’s still hard for me to plan things, b/c I never know how I’ll feel. Being pregnant has, for the first time in my life, taught me to live day-to-day and sometimes even moment-to-moment. I am a planner. It’s hard for me to “be in the moment.” But not now. I can’t even plan this evening, let alone next week or month! Our friends and family probably think we are just avoiding them (ok, not “we,” but “me” – Brook is just the poor soul suffering with me!) But really, that is NOT the case AT ALL! So, if you’re reading this and have thought we were avoiding you over the last 3 months, I hope you understand. Accept my apologies and know when I feel like I don’t have the flu every day, I will be more social. Speaking of the flu, it hit our house last week. Well, not really our house . . . just me. Lovely. Oh, and Brady also thought it would be a good idea to vomit a few times, as well. Really?

Though I am nauseous a lot, I have never known hunger like I do now. And it didn’t just start, either! Since about 10 weeks, I wake up in the middle of the night completely ravenous. That happens at least twice a night. My heart is racing and I can’t go back to sleep until I eat something. This is a change for the girl whose food motto was “After 8, it’s too late.” And when I wake up in the morning, I’m starving, too. An hour after a completely filling meal, I’m hungry to the point of pain. I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly and it is something I’ve definitely had to get used to. Extreme hunger and nausea are quite an interesting combination!

Even with all the "fun" pregnancy symptoms, I am ecstatic to be in this place in my life. And sometimes, I'm still in shock that I really am pregnant. Just yesterday, I thought, 'I'm pregnant!' and it took my breath away. There was a time, not too long ago, where I wondered if we'd have biological children. There were many tears and many prayers . . . and now, here we are. We sang this Psalm at Mass on Sunday . . . it seemed so fitting for us:

"I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God." (Psalm 40)

Mama and Baby are growing!

Stevens Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family on the 18th this year - it was the first time I didn't see my family on Christmas and took some getting use to on my part. Change is hard, especially on such a special occasion. It was great to all be together on this day, though. We had a great dinner, opened presents, played games . . . and of course thanked God for sending His son into the world so we might have eternal life. (You know, just a small part of Christmas, right? :-))))

What's a party without a pinata? This isn't a very good picture, but look at how Brook is standing. Maria whacked him at least twice with the bat. I was rolling on the floor, dying of laughter! Ok, ok, I DID have the blindfold on her at that point, but still. Haha! Brook is such a good sport.

An intense game of Wii Amazing Race!

He cracks me up!

Week 13 . . . and Some Rambling

Isn’t it funny how, when comparing the size of one’s unborn baby, most “experts” use fruits. Fruits and oh yeah, “medium size shrimp.” LOL. Baby Bisonet is the size of a shrimp this week. What an odd comparison. I read a hilarious article in American B@by magazine not too long ago and much prefer to compare our baby to the following: (again, this info is 100% from the magazine article)

Week 8: “Your baby is about as big a Hershey Kiss . . . you know, like the one your husband is feeding you as he tenderly rubs your feet.”
Week 10: (For the dads) “Your baby is the size of a golf tee.”
Week 13: “Your baby is as large as the Hostess Cup Cake you devour while crying over a car commercial.” (Forget the shrimp!)

Now, those are more like it, aren’t they? Speaking of cup cakes , candy and food in general, I am (knock on wood) starting to feel almost human again and not totally repulsed by food. I thought the nausea had passed at 10 weeks, but it came back with a vengeance. Riding in the car was especially hard, so that made all the travelling back and forth to Concord and Parma around the holidays tough. What makes it all worthwhile is listening to our baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler. Those things are a Godsend!

I am developing quite the gut. Yes, I’m pregnant, but if you didn’t know, you’d just think I ate a few too many sugar cookies this Christmas! My pants are definitely getting snug and I love my Bella B@nds – another Godsend!

Just about everyone I work with at the plant knows I’m pregnant. Since I work with mostly middle age men (who are engineers), I thought no one would really care. But what I’ve found is that 1) men do not gossip (everyone I tell is surprised and hasn’t heard it from someone else) and 2) each is genuinely excited for me. They stop by my office now and then to check in on me and sometimes bring me little gifts. Right now, I am sipping some ginger tea someone brought me. It has been a pleasant surprise!

I have also been surprised at how much some people have to say about certain things; mainly, finding out the gender and having pain-killer during labor and deliver. Yes, we are finding out our baby’s gender (but keeping it a secret) and I haven’t ruled anything out during L&D. I would love to have a completely natural birth, BUT I have no idea how it will go. So, I am going to do some research of my own and keep my options open for now.

Well, it’s a beautiful sunny day here on the lakeshore, so I’m going to attempt to go for a walk. You know, keep the “baby bump” to just that and not a “sugar cookie gut!” :-)

Week 13 shot, as requested by Lisa and Priscilla. Love you girls!

Cookie Making

Wes and Brook went to a Lions' game on December 12th, so my sisters and I (minus Hannah) got together to make Christmas cookies with the kids. Put a 4 1/2, almost 3 year-old and 2-23 month olds together to make cookies and you're bound to have a mess - it was a riot! Between Sophie eating the flour to Julia eating the sprinkles out of the container (I didn't take those home!) to Maria yelling at Sophie to quit eating her frosting - it was an adventure and something I hope we can continue each year.

Yup, we had a huge mess to clean up!

Notice the cookie he is holding -

that is his finished product! Haha!

Why is Sophie's finger in her mouth?

B/c she just licked the frosting off Ria's cookie!

Thanksgiving 2010

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's this year. The day was full of wonderful food and even better people. It was the usual bunch - Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Cheryl & fam and the Stevens' clan. Between my mom and her brother, there are 29 (plus 2 in utero) of us - I love it! Being part of a big family is so much fun! And growing up so close to each other, we are all like brothers and sisters. Such a blessing!

Checking out the Black Friday ads

Stevens Family Christmas Picture

All of us!

Baby Zack

The newest member of the Stevens family arrived November 6th . . . Zakarian (Zak-air-ian) Robert Stevens. He was a big boy, weighing 10lbs, 3oz and was 23 inches long! According to my grandma (who also had a 10 pound baby), I should have one, b/c "10 pound babies are really good." LOL! He IS a good baby and we love him so much.

Zack was Baptised on December 19th and we were honored to be his Godparents. He was a little fussy right before, but as soon as Father poured the (cold) water over his head, he settled down - just the opposite of what most other babies do!

A Little Visitor

While Veronica and Brandon were working on their house, we volunteered to take Sophie for the weekend. My dad brought her up to Grand Rapids Friday morning and I took her to the John Ball Zoo Boo. Since she loves animals, she was in heaven! Since she is a girl on the go, we kept her busy all weekend . . . took her to the park and shopping Saturday and then to Anna's gymnastics meet Saturday night. I was a tad nervous about this, since . . . well, Sophie likes to be involved in everything around her. She did really well (thanks to the coloring book, crayons and suckers) and Brook only had to take her out into the lobby at the end. Sunday, we went to Mass and then met my parents in Kalamazoo to drop her off. It was a lot of fun having her visit, but very tiring! Just a taste of what's to come! ;-)

What a character!

I love my Sophie Mae!

Out in the lobby with Uncle Brook.

"Let me in there, Aunt Chrystal!"