21 Week Update

How far along are you:  21 Weeks- which is seriously blind blowing to the woman that is spending half her days in pregnancy denial.

Fruit: Pomegranate... pretty cool

Baby bump: Augh.... I wore a purple lace dress to an event last week. I looked like a purple people eater in pictures... So yeah, it's there

Maternity Clothes: See above

Gender: I'm still very much leaning towards boy

Stretch Marks: Other then what is already there, nothing new

Sleep: Either really good or really terrible. There is no inbetween

Cravings: Ice Water

What Makes Me Wanna Gag: Empty stomach

Exercise: Toddler Chasing

Mood: Relaxed

Movement: We have a mover and a shaker in there. It's super cute

Favorite thing this week: Seeing my OB this week. He put any fears we might be harboring to rest for the time being. I hate to say we are just waiting for something to go wrong. But essentially, we are. We have been/ continue to be as proactive as possible. Now we just wait and see what happens.

Excited For: The big ultrasound in a couple of weeks.

In other news...
Bring on the weekend.

Mr. Berg is painting our basement so we don't have to stare at ugly red walls anymore. 

Lately...

Life in bullet points and small paragraphs:

• On Monday I had my 20 week doctor's apt with my OB. Prior to Monday I had been visiting everyone else in the practice and had yet to actually see my doctor. Needless to say, I was excited to see him and get his thoughts on my pregnancy and our plan. As of right now, there is no plan. There isn't even a need for a plan. All my labs look great, my blood pressure is lower this time then it was last time (and at this point last time it was low) and there is absolutely no need to worry until there's reason to worry.
• Thus, we are not worried.... okay, I'm worried but I'm trying to ignore my worries and focus on all the good things that are happening.
• My partner is crime at work is off all week and I am not dealing.... She does all the stuff I don't like doing. Thus, I'm doing all the stuff I don't like doing begrudgingly.
• Mr. Berg is doing the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. He's on day 3 and he's rocking it. Why is he rocking it? Because I'm cooking all his food and preparing all this snacks.... Okay, I kid, but I am doing the cooking and the prepping- with his input. It's been pretty fun. 
• Since the holiday sugar rush is over, I'm trying very hard to focus on pretty quality meals and snacks. I think the 24 Day Challenge is rubbing off on me :)
• Ryan is really into talking and singing lately. It's pretty hysterical. He loves to sing the ABC song, however, he adds 13,14,15,16 in around L,M,N,O,P. Too funny
• Alright, lots to do and zero time in which to do it.

Have a great day.

Half Way Point- 20 Week Update

How far along are you:  20 Weeks! We could totally do a happy dance and say "Half Way Point Party" but I was reminded this morning that Ryan was 8 days overdue and could have easily stayed put for another week had he not been evicted. So there's that.....

Fruit: Baby is the length of banana

Baby bump: It's there. 

Maternity Clothes: Yeah.... still doing the maternity clothes deal.

Gender: A friend of my mine guessed girl the other day. But I think that's more wishful thinking then anything.... My guess is still boy.

Stretch Marks: Nothing new

Sleep: Pretty well

Cravings: Ice Water

What Makes Me Wanna Gag: Other then the empty stomach problem, nothing really bothers me.

Exercise: Chasing Ryan

Mood: Feeling better good

Movement: This kid is starting to really move and groove. It's really cute.

Favorite thing this week: Mr. Berg finished painting our half bath, Ryan's room is finally finished.... he's almost 2 1/2, that's beside the point..... All of our Christmas decor is put away and our house is finally feeling back to normal.
Oh and we bought a new dishwasher to replace the crappy, half broken one we currently own.

Excited For: Grammy and Grandpa are taking Ryan for the weekend. Sleep, glorious sleep!!

In other news...

Here are some of the random observations that have been floating around my head lately:

I used to think Baby Berg v2.0 was just a quieter kid then his/her older brother. Then I looked back on posts from this point in my first pregnancy and I realized that Ryan didn't move that much at this point either. We are just getting into the moving portion of this pregnancy.

I also had it stuck in my head that Ryan's heart rate was faster, it was not. 
He was always in the 140s, same as Baby Berg v2.0.

I'm much sorer at this point in my pregnancy then I was last time. My hips and pelvis are sore most of the time. I feel bad even mentioning it because I know it will probably get much, much worse before it gets better.

Food is the least exciting thing in my world right now. This happened last time too and it's annoying. I typically love to eat, I love new restaurants, I love to try new things. Right now: nope.
Mr. Berg and I are getting ready for a weekend getaway and I'm supposed to pick the restaurants. I can't even get excited about them. Nothing looks appealing. It is so sad.

I'm getting more and more excited every day to find out who's really in there. 3 weeks from Friday!!

19 Week Update.... a day early

How far along are you:  19 Weeks... depending on how the rest of this pregnancy goes, this very well could mark my half way point. My doctor isn't against inducing early should my blood pressure start to act up.... again.
 

Fruit: Mango! (fun fact: my husband is allergic to mangoes)

Baby bump: I currently look like I'm shop lifting a bowling ball.

Maternity Clothes: Yup, which the exception of a couple of sweatshirts.
Thankfully, I got a couple of new things for Christmas that will hopefully see me through to May.

Gender: I'm still thinking boy most of the time. 

Stretch Marks: Nothing new.... lotioning liberally in an effort to prevent them.

Sleep: Waking up around 4:30 most mornings and cat napping until my alarm goes off. While this hadn't been happening for awhile, it's not unusual for me for general.

Cravings: Ice Water

What Makes Me Wanna Gag: Empty stomach, the smell of breakfast foods- like a bacon, hashbrowns, etc. (Although, that isn't beyond the scope of normal for a non pregnant me)

Exercise: Toddler Chasing

Mood: Relaxed

Movement: I felt one outside punch but other wise lots of flutters and taps. This baby is quieter then Ryan was at this age.

Favorite thing this week: Working 2 1/2 days in the office 

Excited For: Spending another long weekend with my family.

In other news...
I am just so excited to see who's in there

For Christine

It was about this time three years ago I joined a Facebook group of moms who were all due with babies in July 2012. I don't remember who got me involved, or how exactly I became active in the group. i think over time it just happened  

At first I was afraid to post anything. What if they didn't like me? What if I spelled too many words wrong and said the wrong thing? They all seemed so much cooler then me and much more with it. Before long, I learned that my fears were unfounded and they like me, were just trying to make their way in their own worlds. To be good wives, good mothers, good people. I have found more support in that tiny group of women then I have any where else in the world. Although I don't know a single one of them personally, nor have I ever met a single one face to face, they are my tribe.

We have lifted each other up through the death of parents, friends and spouses. We have rallied when one of us is down or has  a sick child or a broken family. We do, not because we feel obligated to, or because it's forced, we do because we believe in each other. We believe in the gift of friendship and motherhood and that fact that it takes a village not only to raise a child to but to keep ourselves together as well. They are amazing and I am just lucky to be a part of it.

Yesterday we learned that tragic news that we lost one of our own this past weekend. Christine's life was taken by the hands of her husband, who then took his own life. She leaves behind two children and an extended family who all loved her more then words can ever say. I cannot imagine what that night must have been like for her or what the following days have been like for her family. I am just dumbfounded by all of it.

Christine was funny, witty and smart. She was a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a friend and a follow member of my mom tribe. The beauty of having a friend on a facebook group is that you can research and find past posts in moments. You don't have to wait for a memory to find its way back to the front of your brain. It's all right there.

I spent my evening reading back over posts Christine had started or commented on. She was hysterical. I saw a lot of myself in her and I'd like to think if we met in person we probably would have been instant friends. She was quick with her opinions, steadfast in her support of all of us and quick to say what others were thinking. She was my kind of girl.

But she, like so many of us, held a secret. Things weren't always good at home and the one who vowed to love, honor and cherish her didn't always honor those vows. While a few of us knew there was some dysfunction, none of us knew the extent of the issues or how bad it really was. She painted a pretty picture, just like we all do, and we believed it for what it was, just like we all hope with our own.

I wish we could have done something. I wish we could have helped in some way. I wish she would have said something, anything....

I wish I had the magic to create the words that needed to be written that could heal our broken hearts and return Christine to her children. Unfortunately, that type of magic just doesn't exist and its just plain not fair.

Wrapping My Head Around 2014

Wasn't it just New Year's Eve 2013?

Certainly, that just happened last week, right?

Obviously not.

There is a huge part of me that's having a hard time dealing with the fact that 2014 in nearly over already. Didn't I just celebrate my 32nd birthday..... in September?

This whole time getting away from me deal should come with zero surprises. I'm still hyperventilating over the fact the baby I gave birth to in 2012 will be 2 1/2 in a couple of weeks.


HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?


Clearly, time and I have a strange relationship.


 But, if I really, truly think about it. 2014 was a bit of a whirl wind.

There were trips to Virginia, Massachusetts, Delaware,  The Bahamas and South Carolina.

Friends got married, had babies and announced pregnancies.

My brother got engaged.

Mr. Berg knocked me up once again in no time flat.

My Pop-Pop passed away as did my Step Grandmother.

Sophie joined Bob in heaven.

We decided we're ready to move but then decided we're too poor to actually do anything about it.

We finally got around to painting the half bath we're been talking about painting for the past three years....

The basement is still a red paint nightmare, but maybe 2015 will hold a solution for that.

I lost a lot of weight, gained some of it back, got pregnant gained even more of it back.
I remain a hippopotamus going into the New Year....  

I never did learn to cook half the things I said I would.

I never did clean out those dresser drawers I keep putting on my to-do list.

The cardboard box of books sitting in my son's bedroom? Still there.


But our house filled with more love and more laughter then in was when the year started. We've grown in ways you can't measure with a yard stick or measuring tape.

We've experienced some incredible highs and some seemingly endless lows. All the while, we have survived them... all of them.

While there are days I still find myself standing in my kitchen wondering exactly how I  got here, I know it wasn't by accident.

It's been through hard work, happenstance and a little bit of luck. 

My life is a good one.
This year has been a good one.

Bring it 2015..... Bring it!

17 Week Update

How far along are you:  17 Weeks... unbelievable!
 

Fruit: Alright neither of these are fruits- The Bump says the size of an onion, Baby Center says a turnip.... So, a fruit somewhere around that size... Orange Maybe?

Baby bump: It's definitely there, there is no questioning it.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and I'm already bored with them.... fantastic!

Gender: Every time I look down at my belly I think, that's a boy. Only time will tell... The big ultra sound has been scheduled.

Stretch Marks: Nothing new and no changes to the ones that already exist.

Sleep: Sleeping through the night, unless I have to get up to pee, which happens from time to time.

Cravings: Ice Water and Ice Tea mostly. I got into Christmas Tree Cakes there for a minute, similar craving from last time.

What Makes Me Wanna Gag: An empty stomach and lately my fish oil pills which I desperately need so I'm pushing through it

Exercise: Oh exercise..... more on this below

Mood: Somewhat stressed about Christmas and all the things that need done. But mostly excited for all the exciting things to come.

Movement: More and More

Favorite thing this week: The big ultrasound is scheduled for Friday January 30th at 9:20am. Nothing that I'm counting down the days or anything.

Excited For:  Taking a few hours off this afternoon to finish Christmas shopping and getting a jump on wrapping.

In other news...

I'm going to kill my brother! He's and his finance scheduled their wedding for exactly 3 months after I give birth to Baby Berg Jr.

3 months.

Yeah, he's dead.

I'm going to look like a hippopotamus.

Guess who's going to make a point to get back into exercising come January.

Again, he's dead!