22 Weeks

Here at 22 weeks, I feel closer to our due date than last update (even though it has only been a couple of weeks).  Eighteen weeks remaining just sounds less huge than twenty.

Not too much has changed!  I am feeling about the same (sleepy a lot but OK overall) and those baby kicks keep on growing.  For a few days, Jack must have been positioned weird because my lower back had a pinching feel like he was hitting a nerve.  It hurt to bend over or sit a certain way or anything, really, but it wasn't too horrible.  And it has since grown less intense, so he must have moved a little.  I rarely feel like eating and fill up super fast.  Lately, I've been getting some heartburn too, so it's on to the Tums, which I always put off.  Chris makes me take them and they aren't so bad, really.

Chris has said he could feel Jack's kicks for a couple of weeks, but this past week Jack gave such huge kicks that we all knew for sure.  In fact, he is tumbling around now some and I almost think I saw it through my shirt.  Maybe!  I think it is so cool when I can feel him kick on one side and punching on the other at the same time.  I love those baby kicks, but I know I'll be whimpering over how painful they are at the end.  Eliot left me feeling bruised on the insides!

Speaking of Eliot, it is crazy to think that with him, we would have just found out the sex here at 22 weeks.  I am so glad we did the early ultrasound.  I have loved knowing Jack is a boy a month earlier than last time--I wish I could have done this with Eliot too, but it was like $200 in Lynchburg and only $80 here!  Chris talks about all of the things he going to do with his boys.  Apparently, they're going snowboarding--and I'm not.  They'll go surfing all the time together until Eliot is old enough to drive and then Chris will let them go by themselves but worry the whole time.  And Chris is going to buy a boat for just him and the boys--I get seasick in elevators so I will only go on boats on a lake.  He even has plans for when they are grown and how they will all sit together and discuss literature, theology, and politics.  I'm not sure if I'm invited in on that conversation either.

In the beach photo above, I feel like I don't look very large.  I almost look the same as 18 weeks, but I guess it is all the angle, what I'm wearing, and so on.  Sometimes Chris will say little things like, "You're really growing."  And he doesn't mean to imply that I'm fat or anything, just that sometimes, whoa, I suddenly have an obvious baby poking out.  Still a long ways to go, but, yep!

Even though I had a rough first trimester (but not that rough), I feel like this pregnancy hasn't slowed me down too much.  I've been on the go, playing with Eliot, keeping the house clean, and cooking a lot.  Last time, I remember that eventually I would come home from work, lay on the couch, and stare at my stomach all night as I waited for Eliot to move.  I thought it was so neat (and insane) to watch my whole stomach change shapes and shift.  That was enjoyable in its own way, but getting going and out of the house has helped to liven up my mood.  That stomach staring was probably later on, so it probably will come to that as I grow more... huge.

There are moments when I feel so eager for summer to be here so we can meet our boy and transition to being a family of four; however, I know those feelings will only intensify and take over my entire brain near the end.  Right now is about focusing on staying healthy, growing a baby, and preparing our hearts and home.