BMSU, vol. 4!!!

Hello, BMSU fans! The next installment is finally here. I have to apologize again for the extreme delay in writing this latest issue...I checked and it's been over two months since the last one.

My excuse is that I've been trying to be very faithful to my daily program¹ and there just isn't blogging time scheduled during the day. So, I'm taking a little time out of my regularly scheduled activities to quench your thirst for BMSU news.

Right now I'm 27 weeks and at the tail end of my second trimester...I'll be 7 months pregnant on Wednesday. I have to say that the second trimester has been great--it was as everyone predicted: no nausea, bursts of energy, plenty of pregnancy-related glowing. Part of the reason why I haven't been blogging is because I've been busy getting so much done!

Attached is probably the coolest development, which is our ultrasound picture. I honestly can't remember when we had it--22 weeks maybe? Sorry, time is really flying and I can't keep it all straight! I will explain the picture just in case you can't figure out where the baby is. Ignore the two globs on the right. That's placenta and womb I think. The baby is facing to the right and has his (or her) arm over his face. His head is at the top of the picture and below it you can see the baby's ribs. We are keeping the baby's gender a complete surprise, by the way!

Names, oh names! Everyone wants to know 1) if we've thought about names, and 2) if we admit that we have, they want to know what we're thinking of. We don't have anything definite picked out yet, but I can say that we have a list going and Joel has some definite favorites! I won't post them here yet though...we're still in the beginning phases and I don't want too much influence from the outside world.

The baby is kicking a lot and that's been one of the most fun things. Joel can feel it easily--you can even see the baby kicking from outside my clothes! Sometimes he kicks so much that it startles me. It really helps Joel and I realize there's a real live person in there!

Cravings...well, sad to say, the cravings have pretty much abated...I still have them, but they are mild and nothing like the "I have to have it...NOW" impulses of before. Still having meat aversions, although I have to say I still haven't gotten than salami I was wanting back in March and it's stuck with me ever since (I never think of buying it from the grocery store though). I would say that the biggest thing I'm craving is soda (or SMODA), which is rough because I really can't have too much of that. Just thinking of it is starting to make me crazy...

On to the next topic! One of the biggest projects I've undertaken is getting the baby's room in order. It was packed with boxes and miscellaneous other things when I started cleaning it out (most of it is my junk that I've been carrying around for years). I have made a lot of progress in the past couple months but it is still very far from being baby-ready. Now that my energy is waning I'm just hoping I can make enough progress that we can paint the room yellow before the baby comes!

Over the past few weeks, though, (as I just mentioned) I have noticed a huge drop in my energy level. A nap in the morning is pretty much a must. I imagine I'll only get more and more tired, but it's hard becuase I feel like I have so much to do that I can't afford to sleep any more!

My ankles? They're gone. Probably floating around somewhere in the mass of flesh that has appeared around them. The summer heat has brought on the exciting time of swelling...my watch won't fit either! I'm hoping to rediscover my ankles sometime in September. For some reason I didn't think that leg aches or feet hurting would happen to me, but that is probably the latest development--within the last week. I can see how pretty soon, walking from the computer to the kitchen to get a glass of water will be the equivalent of high-impact aerobics.

Speaking of exercise, though, I have been pretty faithful to my daily walk, and I have to say that I think it's been a huge help physically. People have been telling me I look great, and I really think it's thanks to that bit of physical activity every day. I just hope I can keep it up!

I know it seems like I've listed a bunch of physical maladies, but really, I love being pregnant...having a little person inside of me is a true miracle and it's been wonderful. Any of the funny physical things that are happening are more interesting than annoying, and TOTALLY worth it when you consider that soon there will be a new baby in our home!

And last, but definitely not least, Daddy Stein! He's doing great, and the biggest piece of news is that he just got a new job as the web developer for Catholic Youth World Network (a part of the Regnum Christi Movement) and will start on June 19. One of the coolest things about the new job is that he will be working from home! We're really excited.

Well, I really could write a lot more (since I have over two months of pregnancy chronicles), but this is long enough already so I'll leave it here for now. But I do promise to blog more soon. It's likely that I'll be spending more time on the couch so I'll just get the laptop and type away while I'm resting.

Pray for us; we'll be praying for you!