2012

I celebrated my 1st Mama’s Day last week by having a conversation with God about mamahood. I learned a lesson in selfless love and that made some of the decisions that needed to be made a lot easier. So we chose a new birthing center, scheduled my first appointment with a midwife, and even scheduled our gender sonogram. Forward movement! And peace!

I read my first pregnancy book. It was an informative introduction to birthing with a midwife. Because it was written by a secular author there were moments when I cringed at the lack of value for life, but all in all, I found it inspiring. And of course I am now hungry to read, read, read.

I re-evaluated our son’s name about a million times this week. It’s been chosen for years and I just wanted to make sure it’s the perfect impartation of destiny that he needs. I discovered how much honor his name really holds and how much purpose God has for his life. I can’t wait to be able to call him by name in 5 weeks on this blog when we finally confirm his mini manhood.

That pound I officially gained I officially lost. I worked 31 hours at a cupcake bakery this week and all that time on my feet must have done me good! Staying active is important to me as it helps build endurance for a healthy birth. I really should be walking everyday, like I intended. Hmmm, goal for this week!

Over the past weeks I had developed a strong aversion to the smell of undiluted vinegar and boysenberry coffee. This week my body shifted into not being able to handle spicy sauce. Believe me, I tried twice to make sure. That was NOT a good idea, haha.

Look at your pinky finger. That’s approximately the length of our baby this week. At this size, I would be able to recognize every bit of his little formed body if he were in my hand. I find that amazing beyond words! He is producing testosterone now. How manly. And if I press on my abdomen, he moves in response. Although I can’t feel him yet.

I miss his face, even though all I saw at 9 weeks was the outline of his head. My heart longs to see him again! That has me thinking about the gender sonogram. Do we do the responsible thing and wait until 20 weeks to make sure we can confirm his gender? Do we risk it and go at 16 weeks because this mama needs to see her boy? Or do we go the sentimental route and try to see him at 17 weeks 3 days on J’s 41st birthday?

Would you believe I haven’t purchased a single item for my bear cub yet?! Here’s a picture of the onesies that have been gifted to us. Because who doesn’t love baby clothes?

Last week I had a hard time sleeping on my stomach. I officially gained a pound. And my husband asked me if I wanted a glass of wine, without thinking. Haha But mostly, it was my freakout week. Which I followed with a major meltdown today. The baby decisions have begun!

<3 MrsLoveDove

Little love dove is the length of a lime and as heavy as two sugar packets. There is no webbing between his fingers or toes anymore. His bones are forming. And his effortless movements compare to water ballet. I had to laugh at that last part. Pregnancy blogs are definitely written by women for women.

As the weeks pass by, his nicknames have started accumulating. His first was obviously little love dove because he is a branded part of this business. But that’s not something we actually ever call him. Others call him hope baby, jellybean, and a two letter combination of his first and last name that I refuse to repeat because I am boycotting it. But last week he finally got his nickname from us. It morphed from a new nickname his Daddy got when I caught him walking from one room to the other slouched and scratching. Manbear. Which J turned into boybear for our son. My bear cub.Cuuuuuuuuute.

Some have wondered why we already refer to our “son”. What if we’re pregnant with a girl?!?! We believe God told us we are expecting our long awaited boy. And if most of the old wives tales are correct, that’s exactly what a sonogram will confirm. A few of the tests did say girl. Like the one about the heartbeat over 140. His was 182 when we saw him at 9 weeks. But I did a lot of reading on that particular myth and it’s the most debunked one of them all. Scientific evidence shows the heartbeat plays no part in determining gender. I did side on the sweet side of the salty/sweet test, which is supposed to suggest I am having a girl. But my friend who was administering the tests also craved sweets with her boy. So we threw that one out too. This morning I read some more hilariously ridiculous ones that involved which way my pillow faces or whether or not my nose has spread. But I think I’m done with assessing my breakouts and seeing whether I eat the heel of a loaf of bread.

I bled a little this past week. Again. This is the second time during this pregnancy. I share that because apparently it’s a thing. I am not suggesting that bleeding isn’t sometimes a serious sign of complications. It just isn’t necessarily that. I didn’t know this!! And I want you to, if your body is a bleeder like mine. While bleeding can be incredibly unnerving, it doesn’t always have to be a health scare. I am learning to trust God with the life of this child, every day. And rest in His words of peace.

My absolute favorite pregnancy symptom has been having vivid dreams. It’s the one thing I know I will miss come November. I live these crazy amazing adventures at night that would make any movie look B rated. I’m telling you, God could win an Oscar with the things He is doing in my imagination. I wonder if this is how babies dream.

This week thebump.com said we should start planning our babymoon. That’s definitely something we are already dreaming about for our 9th anniversary in August. J wants to go back to Miami, where we spent our 7th anniversary and found out we were pregnant for the first time. I think that would be amazing and redemptive in the sweetest way. But at this point, we’re still in the dreaming stage.

I was reminded this week that boybear will be 9 months old when we mark our 10th anniversary with a vow renewal. Can you imagine his cuteness?!?!?!?!?! My bear cub crawling down the sandy aisle towards us as we recommit our lives to one another. I can’t even stand how adorable that is.

And with that thought…I will see you next week…for the last week of our 1st trimester!

<3 MrsLoveDove

Last Friday we celebrated reaching 9 weeks with our first ultrasound! Our hope baby has a perfect heartbeat and is measuring 4 days bigger than we expected. How’s that for healthy growth?! GLORY TO GOD. Here he is, facing towards us. His little arms and legs are tucked tightly into his chest, like a rolly polly. I thought I wanted to see his profile because that would have made for a clearer image. But there’s something magical about knowing that I was staring into his sweet face. I couldn’t take my eyes off him the whole time.

<3 MrsLoveDove