Random Thoughts Masquerading as Cohesive Ideas...

Yeah. I'm pregnant. That is my excuse. FOR EVERYTHING.

19 weeks is pretty exciting, I must admit. Nearly halfway (or, well, probably halfway, considering I believe very strongly I won't go the full 40), and I'm really starting to feel pregnant. I haven't felt the baby move yet, my doctor has predicted I won't til 21 weeks or so. But I can feel my uterus if I poke my belly button, which, quite frankly, is just bizarre. I already have to get up twice a night to pee (I'm sure this has just as much to do with the fact that I'm drinking water like it's a competitive sport as it does pressure on my bladder). I've got one pair of jeans that still fits with no problems, and most of my favorite spring shirts are working just fine, but, well, there's no disguising the Belly (which, I'm kind of digging, but will dig more once it's *obviously* a Baby Belly). I'm not sleeping all that well during the night, but my schedule let's me do some solid sleeping from about 6am to 8:30, once Matt gets up and herds all the animals downstairs.

I had my first visit with my High Risk Perinatologist (thanks to my ol' pal, Daisy Bee Bees), since the pregnancy hormones will progressively complicate how my body processes food, glucose, and insulin. I don't yet love them like I love my OB (who I get to see in conjunction with the perinatologist and who will be the one to deliver my baby, yay!), but they're all very helpful and understanding. It sucks, of course, to not be able to binge on cookie dough or french fries, but the five months or so I have left are well worth the sacrifice for a healthy baby. My biggest fear about being a pregnant diabetic has nothing to do with birth defects (which are highly unlikely anyway), but more selfishly, to do with the fact that diabetic babies tend to be on the, um, LARGE size. I'd like to avoid a C-section if possible, but I'm also not excited about the prospect of pushing a line-backer out of me, epidural or no.

We're slowly but surely amassing more, well, stuff. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff that goes with babies, huh? The nursery is coming along swimmingly. After doing some measuring Matt and I broke out the graph paper (like the nerds we are) and diagrammed all possible set-ups for the furniture. We threw out our original configuration, and I think the new arrangement is much better. We also scored the perfect rug, on clearance, for about $20, and suddenly this room that was collecting furniture became The Baby's Room. We're still waiting on the crib *ahem, cough, Mom and Dad, cough* and we have to buy the shelves for the opposite wall, but the plan is in place. Several people have mentioned it seems like I'm really getting a jump on the nursery, which is true, and I tell them all the same thing--my plan is to finish it all in the second trimester, so while I'm gigantic and pregnant and uncomfortable in the unbearable heat of a Tennessee summer, my biggest project will be finding some air conditioning and the perfect position to prop my feet up and fan myself while I drink ice tea.

Work continues to be awesome--I love what I do, it's not stressful or hard for me, and I get paid well by people who appreciate both my work and my work ethic--truly, what more could you ask for? As a new business we're still working out kinks with scheduling and hiring and marketing, but those headaches seem minor in the larger picture, which I think bodes well for me and my future there.

And, it's Spring. Oh, how I adore Spring. The transitional season (Spring and Fall) have always been my favorite, and if it weren't for the horrific allergies I suffer through every year, Spring might just be the winner. Even with the sneezing and congestion and the itchy eyes, it's hard not to get a little rapturous at the weather and the sunshine and the greening grass and budding trees. Spring in East Tennessee is so beautiful, and I appreciate it perhaps this year like no other...