I realized I didn't blog nearly enough during my pregnancy. I don't really have a good excuse why I didn't, but it is what it is, I guess! In all honesty, though, it's probably a good thing I didn't blog. I was VERY fortunate during my entire pregnancy. I had a very uneventful pregnancy. I felt really good the whole time (obviously there was the nausea at the beginning and heartburn throughout, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle or anything dangerous for me or the baby.) I always felt like I was one of those annoying women who was always so happy during pregnancy and who had it "too easy". Have you ever seen the movie "What to Expect when you're Expecting"? Matt always said I was like the woman on there who sneezed and her baby came out. I don't know names or anything, but we always make jokes about that. I don't really know what to say though… Pregnancy was really good to me. I was very, VERY blessed and I am fully aware of that. :)
The weeks leading up to baby were pretty uneventful. I was able to fly out to Utah to have a family baby shower, and that was so much fun! My sister, Angie, was in town from Colorado, so we took that opportunity to fly me out to have a baby shower. It turned out SO cute and my sisters (and sisters-in-law) did such a cute job with it. The theme was "Little Man" and all of the decorations and everything were so cute! I know there are pictures on my mom's camera, but I haven't gotten my hands on those yet, unfortunately. It was such a fun weekend in Utah though! We shoved everything we possibly could into those few days. I flew in Friday afternoon, went to dinner with my friends on Friday night, Baby shower Saturday morning, General Women's Conference Saturday night, Ryker's baby blessing Sunday morning in Smithfield, Grandpa and Grandma Stanley's Saturday night, and then I went to a funeral Monday morning before flying back to Missouri. Even though a weekend was much too short, I am still so glad I was able to fly out to Utah to see some family. I love all of my family (both mine and Matthew's) SO much, and I am grateful every time we get the chance to spend some time with them. I am grateful to my sisters and mom for throwing me such a fun shower and grateful to everyone who came! It was such a fun weekend.
The hardest part about playing catch-up blogging is that I don't give as many details on everything as I otherwise would. It makes me sad sometimes, but I just need to do the best I can. I wish I would have documented more during my pregnancy, but I will just have to remember what I can. I was so fortunate to have such good friends willing to throw me baby showers. I had one from my friends in Utah around Christmas, my family shower, a friend shower here in Kirksville, and then my coworkers even threw me a surprise shower! Matthew and I have been so blessed and felt really lucky and loved around that time.
I am also blessed to have a good friend here in Kirksville who is a photographer and takes wonderful pictures! I wanted to get the pictures done sooner when I was still "cute pregnant" and not huge, but it just didn't work out with our schedules. So… we actually ended up taking maternity shots the DAY BEFORE I delivered. We had no idea I would be delivering the next day, but it was pretty funny the way it all worked out. We love how the pictures turned out though! They will definitely be a fun memory to have.
I was a pretty big pregnant lady, but I was so fortunate that I felt good my whole pregnancy. Even with how big I got and the weight I gained (and even despite some… shall we say… "less than thoughtful or compassionate" comments by others), I still had very high spirits throughout the whole pregnancy. I think the "secret" (at least for me) was the knowledge that I was doing everything I could to remain healthy (working out regularly, trying to eat well, etc.) but also to always remember what exactly my body was doing! It's such a miracle to be able to be pregnant and create another life inside of your body and no number on the scale is going to change that for me. I am very blessed in a world full of infertility to be able to create life, and that is why I tried to always remember that and not complain about some discomforts of pregnancy, because some women would kill for those aches, pains, and nausea. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have much to complain about compared to most pregnant women, so not complaining wasn't a huge task for me, but that thinking helped me when those moments did come up.
Ok, that is my pathetic "before baby" catch-up… My next post will hopefully be the birth story of our little guy. That is a definite must-do when you have a baby, but then I will start to try to document his life a little better and keep things up-to-date for family. (Famous last words!) Until next time!