Baby Blogging

It has been a long time since I last blogged. And in that time we have had a lot of changes. Tim started working at GRCHS this fall as the Applied Business teacher; we went on a long vacation out west for backpacking, mountain biking, and mountain climbing; went on a mission trip to Costa Rica; and the biggest change of all: we're pregnant! Okay, I'm pregnant, but Tim is along for the ride and has to suffer my random cravings, morning sickness, back pain, pregnancy hormones, crazy moods, etc. I was asked by a few friends to start blogging again so that they can keep up with the pregnancy and our ever changing lives, so here it goes.

Baby Westrate-Stapert at 11 weeks 2 days

Currently I am 11 weeks and 5 days pregnant according to the doctor. However, my pregnancy tickers keep telling me that 11 weeks and 3 days even though they both have the same due date: April 4, 2012. It's a little confusing, but I'll go with the doctor. So let me catch you up on the past few months: morning sickness but no throwing up, gagging, insomnia, food sucked, severe fatigue, growing pains, pregnancy brain, early back pain and back muscle spasms, and a whole lot of worry.  Obviously worry was a big part of this pregnancy early on considering the previous miscarry. Though Tim and I were very excited and decided to tell family and work early on so that we could have support just in case, we both worried a lot. I avoided anything that could even possibly hurt the baby and prayed constantly for the health and life of this baby. Now that we are coming up on 3 months along, and almost to the 2nd trimester, I'm feeling less worried. My first appointment with the doctor was this week and she tried to use the doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat. After a few tries she couldn't find it. They rushed me into the ultrasound room and found that my uterus is tipped, which is why they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat, but the baby is healthy and fine. In fact, the baby was moving so much that the tech couldn't measure the heart rate. She called the baby a runner - like daddy :) It was so amazing to see the baby move that way. It made something that almost seemed to be in my imagination, real. Our baby is real - and ALIVE! I love this baby, I love the baby's daddy, and I'm so excited (and nervous) to bring this baby into our lives forever.

10 weeks 5 days pregnant

Some things we could use prayer for:

• My tipped uterus seems to be causing a lot of back pain and stress on my ligaments and of course there is the worry of possible miscarriage with a tipped uterus (though that's rare, and the doctor doesn't seem worried about this). Because of this there is worry about back labor, especially with the amount of lower back pain that I've been having.
• Lack of weight gain - Okay, I'm not against not gaining a lot of weight, so it's more like I need prayer that I can start eating again - and enjoying the food. The baby needs me to eat 300 more calories than I used to but it seems that I'm eating significantly less than before. Also, I forget to eat, always have, and that causes me some worry on making certain that the baby is getting all the nutrients (s)he needs.
• That we make the right choices for our baby. From choosing equipment based on safety or cost, to things like which vaccinations to get and which ones to avoid. There seems to be two sides of these things, especially with regards to equipment, and Tim and I seem to be on opposite sides. I'm more of a mind that I'd rather air on the side of safety, Tim prefers to air on the side of cost toting the line that most of the safety regulations are new and probability of safety. I see his point, and mostly agree, but I tend to have anxiety issues and have difficulty sleeping because of anxiety over things like this.
• Motivation - something that seems to come with pregnancy with me is a sudden lack of motivation. Pray that I get the things done that I need to both at work and at home, and that I re-find motivation to do those things.
• Non-pregnancy things include Tim's job (that it continues to go well and he continues to find his routine as a teacher), and my job (that I keep doing things the way God wants me to rather than what is easiest for me).