Healthy Heartbeat

13 weeks, 6 days. Today has been a good day. It started out a bit rough; dearly beloved woke me up at 7:25 insisting that we had slept in, and by the time we had sorted out what time it was, he felt as though he couldn't sleep another wink and proceeded to carry on with the morning. I wasn't really in the mood for 7:25, and spent the next 90 minutes of sleep being silently disgruntled at him for waking me and leaving, in a way only a sleeping person can be. Naturally, by the time my body had decided it was done with sleep for the night, my mind still harboured a blurry sense of resentment and the ensuing breakfast procedure was injected with unwelcome tension. Really on the whole, it was very selfish of me. I have been very spoiled for the past countless mornings by my husband who, upon almost without fail waking up before I do, habitually embraces me for thirty minutes or more until I manage to remember life beyond the dreaming world. With breakfast out of the way this morning, my husband suggested we try starting things over, and eventually our "cranky morning" turned into the loving interaction we've come to expect.

Before I get too caught up in today's events, I should mention that the orange ice cream-jello turned out much more tasty than scary. I probably shouldn't have been so apprehensive about it in the first place, but I have had an awful lot of food in the past few months that has turned my stomach. Besides, it's hard to trust anything quite that orange.

The crowning moment of the day would have to be our visit to the obstetrician's. After not hearing little junior's heartbeat with the doppler four weeks ago (not that we were too worried; we were only about 10 weeks), we heard it loud and clear today! Right on 150 bpm. The nurse plopped the device down and there it was, in sharp contrast to all the unsuccessful fishing around of last visit. We actually think we had heard it momentarily 4 weeks ago but the nurse didn't seem to notice anything then. The only regret: dearly beloved wanted to listen longer. I wouldn't have minded either.

Since our obstetrical excursion took us out and about (a less common occurrence for me these days), we decided to take full advantage. We took the day and had a mega-date: lunch, movie, dinner, and a stroll through the park. There are a couple perks to exam time. We saw "Clash of the Titans", which initially I had been a bit apprehensive about because, truthfully, I cope very poorly with suspensful, violent movies. We took a bit of a chance with the 14A rating, since we avoid movies with sexual content or brutal violence, and there are plenty of inaccurately rated films out there. Thankfully, the movie was a winner. Romantic allusions weren't sexual, and the violence fell within my realm of taste. There was a bit of blood, some exciting fantasy-based battle scenes, and some swordplay. I generally go for the fantasy/action genre, but I found that the plot resolution was a bit too simple. I walked away feeling like the movie was decent, but short. I suppose if I was the filmmaker I would probably be shooting for something more epic. Dinner was great; we became repeat offenders at a little independent Thai restaurant with amazing curry. I indulged in a little seafood. I've decided that the odd properly-cooked shrimp isn't going to kill me, and that the protein and flavour variety acquired is a fair trade for trace traces of mercury. If I didn't ever eat or do anything against the rules, I'd be malnourished and oxygen deprived. Despite my closest relative or friend with a taste for cigarettes being thousands of kilometers away, not a day passes I don't find myself spluttering on second-hand smoke. Don't worry, I choose my rule-breaking very carefully.

Thought of the day: don't let yourself be grumpy over something you've been taking for granted.

Thanks for reading :)

Baby Blogging

After spending a few months deciding whether or not I was actually going to do this, here I am. I'm 13 weeks and 5 days pregnant. My husband and I are both students. Yes, it's planned. Yes, we're very excited. Yes, we do understand finances. Sometimes there are higher reasons for doing things than what seems logical to the rest of the world.

So far things have gone really well, relatively. I mean, after all, I am pregnant. I made it through the first trimester without throwing up, which I consider an achievement, seeing as I spent the last two months of  it *feeling* like I needed to. Badly. The shining, hopeful rays of the 12 week mark came, and just as I reached out to bathe my hands in the playful light, I caught my husband's cold and broke my non-hurling streak. Repeatedly. Thankfully, cherry flavoured throat lozenges aren't so bad on the way back up. And naturally, due to my pregnant immune system, the cold that came and went in a single day for dearly beloved has plagued me for a week. I think I'm almost over it.

But wait! Life isn't all doom and gloom! This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me, finally surpassing marriage and temples, which at that time had finally surpassed joining the Church. Which... no, I'll save the life story for later. Sorry folks! As I was saying, though, I'm excited about life right about now (mine and little junior's). The summer is approaching, my husband and I are flying back to our hometown (barring that cloud of volcanic ash wreaking much more havoc), he's starting a new job, we'll get to see our families, and I am looking forward to excusing myself from running faster than I have strength and enjoying this time. Back home I am looking forward to sister-in-law #1's third baby (she's due any time now), comparing notes with sister-in-law #2 (who is expecting her third near our due date), and helping sister-in-law #3 prep for her impending wedding to her army-man fiance. It's hard on her to plan with him still overseas.

On a more immediate note, we are saying our temporary goodbyes to friends out here, and getting the apartment prepped for its alone time. There's nothing worse than returning to a messy apartment, except perhaps trying to find a new one that's decent these days. We're braving it at our parents' places this summer to avoid paying double rent. Dearly beloved made his amazing Indian shrimp dish with coconut rice for the missionaries tonight, but apparently it didn't agree with his stomach as much as it agreed with our taste buds. Here's hoping he just overate. I made a concoction of orange jello and ice cream earlier today (used the ice cream to let it set instead of cold water). I'm not entirely sure if I'm brave enough to try it yet (the baby might not like it), but I didn't wait for it to set for nothing! I'll get back to you on that.

For a closing thought, I am going to steal from the missionaries' message tonight, which was based on the famous account of King Nebuchadnezzar and the God-fearing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Paying attention to Daniel 3:17-18, the three answered the King that if it be so that they should be cast into the furnace, God would deliver them from the fires and from the King. Further they state that if they are not cast in, they will still maintain their religion. Tonight's thought on the topic is that even though we may not know what path our life may take, it is important to seek the will of the Lord in each outcome. That said, I think I'm going to go check on dearly beloved.

Thanks for reading :)