Week 28 and one week closer!

August 26 - September 1st

Oh my how this little girl is growing. 

And it's already September!?!

This week she is about 15 inches long and weighs almost 3 pounds!
I can't believe how big she is getting.
We improvised with this fennel because I refused to go to more than 2 grocery stores to find a squash or eggplant or some sort of veggie that was long enough. 

The measures I take for these pictures ;)

This week I took my glucose test. Everyone talks up this horrible orange drink.

It was not that bad, although I certainty did not enjoy chugging it in 5 minutes. 

It's like drinking the syrup you would use to make snow cones.

After not eating for 6 hours before the drink and then putting so much sugar in my blood, I did have slurred speech, headaches, dizziness and could not think straight.

But a few blood tests later - I don't have gestational diabetes! 

I also experienced my first consignment sale this week.

We have a friend that helps put on the sale so we got to be one of the first shoppers. 

Let me tell you, VIP treatment at a sale this big was wonderful. 

No lines, first look at the huge selection, no crowds.

It was amazing. 

Now the only big needs I have are all my reusable diapers. I have about 5 but a good collection is 24-36 (depending on how often you want to do laundry). So I have a ways to go. But most of my big items are purchased!
Let the nesting begin!

Ok, this picture was a joke.

No, my best friend and my twin sister are not pregnant...

Although that would be so much fun!

This was an attempt at solidarity.

I want those around me to 'understand' as best as they can what this whole thing is like.

Even though my husband has felt Genevieve kick countless times, I still grab his hand to feel her every time she moves. I like sharing it all. 

So we improvised using mixing bowls filled with 3 pound bags of flour tucked into belly bands, maternity pants and maternity tops. 

I loved it!

They experienced the weight of the belly and the difficulty of doing minor tasks.

I had them doing yoga exercises, shifting positions in bed, bending down to pick things up, getting up off the floor, the whole nine yards. 

I think they also started to grasp why 'the belly' becomes the focus of all our conversations and pictures. It is just so prominent and hard not to talk about. 

Pregnancy is an experience difficult to describe. 

On one hand, I feel like the most special person in the world. 

I am creating life. 

I am growing a human inside of me and she moves and wiggles and flips.

I am like some "Earth momma warrior princess" connected to nature and all things living.

I feel like I am going through the most miraculous process a human can go through.

And while it's so sacred and singular, every human on this planet arrived through this experience.

I will share this event with most women on this Earth.

It is so holy and yet so ordinary.

I think that is why I love it. 

Pregnancy, this pregnancy, is very unique to me. 

I make of it what I want and it is really just shared between me and Genevieve. 

And on the other hand, I am beyond blessed to 'join the club'.

To compare stories and symptoms.

To look at another pregnant woman and say, "I totally understand!"

I find myself drawn to all the women in my life that are pregnant or new mothers.

It's a special camaraderie or some womanhood community that I feel honored to be a part of. 

It is still so much for me to process.

The emotional, hormonal pregnancy symptoms are just now hitting me - hard.  

Her movements in my side are more painful and shocking than sweet. 

I really do feel sad when I think about my life not being just me and Michael. 

We are about to raise a child! 

It's a lot. 

I cry a lot.

I get really excited a lot.

I feel impatient most of the time.

And I want time to slow down.

But I am allowing myself to feel it all.

One day this season will seem so far away. 

I am trying to soak it all in!