Nothing new

No fun exciting news for me this week. Mostly just complaints. I haven't been sleeping well for a few days. I can manage to fall asleep fine but I always wake up at 4 a.m. and it isn't due to the fact that I need to go to the restroom. Instead of laying in bed for an hour or so waiting to fall back asleep this morning, I got up and ate breakfast, folded laundry and read for awhile. I finally fell back asleep around 6. I have also been unusually hot at night and from what I hear it will just keep getting worse. The sad thing is it isn't even warm in Logan yet but our friends Kerri and Rob have offered us their air conditioner so I will be able to survive the summer. Thank you.

I worry about getting toxemia and I know I should exercise more and Liberty said I should prop my feet up in the evenings and drink water but sometimes doing all three is hard. But I took the initiative today and drank 16 oz of ionized water this morning and I have already consumed an additional 40 oz so that puts me add 56 oz. I might be able to reach my 80 oz by the end of the day easily.

In regards to exercise, I didn't do a formal workout yesterday but I cleaned my kitchen, vacuumed, changed the sheets on the bed and considering how winded I can get I am counting that as exercise. On Sunday Mike got his family to do a timed mile to motivate them to participate in a 5K in a few weeks. I actually was able to run the whole time but not as fast as my usually self. I did the mile in 9 minutes 55 seconds. Not as impressive as Mike's 6 minutes 18 seconds and not as fast as my old time but I am definetely happy I could still run.

Some people say that pregnant women have a glow. I don't think I am one of them. Sometimes I feel unattractive and would rather not leave the house. Personally I think my complexion is worse than it was. I think my hair is sometimes unmanageable. My hair is really thick already and now that it grows faster and less is falling out it is like madness on top of my head. Luckily I get a trim later this week and I will be able to ask my hairdresser to thin it out again.

Good thing is I haven't seen any stretch marks but I have experienced the belly itching this week. Mike thinks I need to step up my regiment of putting lotion on my belly 3 times a day. I am thinking my belly is going to itch whether I change from my routine 2 per day belly lotion sessions to 3. My belly seems to be growing at an amazing rate. Right now I am at week 18 and it seems like my belly has doubled since week 16. I'll post a belly photo next week when I reach week 20.

The exciting thing that did happen which is not baby related is I got to chat with Liberty through the facebook chat option earlier this week. That was really nice because I haven't talked to Liberty in months maybe a whole year. The last time I actually saw her was probably at her wedding luncheon back in 2000.

Mike's mini-triathlon

Mike did a mini-triathlon last Saturday. He swam 6 laps, biked 4 miles and ran 2 miles. I thought he did really well for his first triathlon event. He really didn't train for it. He ran the half-marathon the week before, he hasn't rode his bike for years and he barely started swimming the week before. I don't know his official time yet but I think it was around 37 minutes 24 seconds. Here are some pictures of the start of the swim, Mike getting out of the pool, Mike transitioning to the bike portion, Mike finishing the bike portion and Mike finishing the race.

I am a little jealous that I couldn't do the half-marathon and mini-triathlon with him. If I didn't get Mike into running last fall he probably wouldn't be doing any of these events. Oh well. I can always plan for next year.

My dream on Monday...

My friend Michelle asked me if I had any dreams or intuition what the baby was and I have always felt that it was a boy. On Sunday night/Monday morning I had a dream that the baby was a boy. It was the first dream I have had about the baby since I have been pregnant. Later that day I got my feet zoned and even though I am barely 4 months Kathy said it felt like it was a boy. I won't see visual confirmation from an ultrasound for 2 more weeks but I am pretty confident that it is a boy.

On Monday afternoon my pregnancy pillow arrived. It was huge and Mike didn't like how much room it took but I have enjoyed it so far. Between me, mike, a blanket and the pillow it was like a sauna last night. I am thinking Mike will have to be in a separate blanket while I use the sheets only. My only complaint about the pillow is it is a lot bigger compared to my down pillow so my neck hurts a little but the benefits outweigh the neck pain.

I haven't been feeling so great this week. I finally experienced achy feet. Not fun. It is a double edge sword because when I am sick I don't want to do anything but I know that if I could exercise I probably would feel better and have more energy. Oh well. There is always next week to feel better and start working out again.

Mike's half marathon

Mike ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon on Saturday. He finished with the time 1:46:45 which I think is pretty good considering he didn't train at all. His cousin Molley and Tim ran it too. Here are some pictures from race day:

Happy Birthday to Mike!

Happy Birthday Mike! I am actually 2 days older than Mike. It is kind of fun to have our birthdays so close together. Here is a picture of Mike being goofy.

I tried really hard today to be nice and friendly but I find it hard sometimes since I have been sick. The more sick I get the grumpier I feel which isn't a good pattern. I have to apologize to Mike all the time for snapping at him. The good thing is he knows I am not normally this moody. I bet he will be relieved when the old Sandy is back.

For Mike's birthday we went to the movies. We watched "Horton Hears a Who" which was very funny. Then he had a basketball game afterwards which his team lost unfortunately. We were both so tired and exhausted we didn't do much for his birthday but this weekend he is running the half-marathon in Salt Lake.

Pictures from the Wind Caves

Here are pictures from our hike this April. The pictures are not very flattering but I decided to post them anyway. Now everyone can see how I look without makeup, without doing my hair and how hot and sweaty I get during a hike.

Here are some pictures from our hike to the wind caves last November.

Mike and I bought some flint and we found some dried brush and built a little fire in one of the caves. Mike just wanted to check how well the flint worked.

Happy Birthday to me!

I got behind in posting on the blog because I have been sick this week. Monday was my birthday and Mike bought me some beautiful flowers and card.

We went to dinner at Olive Garden which wasn't a smart choice by me. The food gave me wicked indigestion and I haven't felt good since then. After letting our food settle, we went swimming at the Sports Academy which was pretty fun.

Wind caves

This past weekend spring decided to come to Logan and it was beautiful. Mike and I hiked the wind cave trail and there was still some snow and it was muddy in a few places but it was nice to be out in the sun. Hiking this trail was a lot harder than when I did it last fall but I was able to make it to the top without taking a break. I made a goal last fall that I will hike the wind caves every month that I am pregnant until it is next to impossible. I'll keep everyone posted and hopefully I can make it to August.

1st scrapbook page which includes my 4 month belly photo

I am exhausted

So I thought during the second trimester I was suppose to get my energy back which hasn't been the case. Even though during the first trimester I would have to wake up and go to the restroom 2-3 times a night I was still able to fall asleep quickly afterwards and never had problems falling asleep at night. For the past week or so I have had difficulties falling asleep and I haven't manage to sleep through the night even though I have stopped going to the restroom. I usually wake up around 3:30 AM and I have to toss and turn to find a comfortable position. I don't know what I am going to do once I can't sleep on my back or stomach. Plus my dreams are still very vivid.

When I woke up this morning, I felt more exhausted than I did when I went to bed. What a conundrum...

Charlie Horse

I forgot to write about this last week but I experienced my first charlie horse during my sleep. It was slightly uncomfortable but nothing to complain about. I think I have had a charlie horse 4-5 times in my whole entire life and I usually get them in the arch of my foot.

Mike starting running again this spring and he asked me if I wanted to go on a hike/walk yesterday. We did the Bonneville trail and he ran and I walked. It isn't anything strenuous but it is quite hilly. It is about 2 miles one way so we both headed off and when I met Mike coming in the other direction I turned around. I probably finished 75% of the trail before we met up which I considered pretty good even though I didn't have to do the killer steep part at first dam like Mike. So I decided on my way back I could run and it wasn't too bad. I did walk the steep parts though.

Later that night while I was reading in bed, my first charlie horse hit. Not too bad. Then another one in the middle of the night and the last one hit this morning. I couldn't believe it. Hopefully this won't be a regular occurrence but I have read that leg cramps are very common in pregnant women. I would love to hear any stories anyone has about their experience with muscle cramping.

Scrapbooking

I do love to scrapbook but it takes so much time and can be really messy and expensive. I had a few people recommend digital scrapbooking and I finally looked into it and decided I would have to be crazy to go back to the traditional scrapbooking. Before I would have to take the pictures, upload the pictures and order the pictures and wait for them to be printed. Then I would have to pull all my scrapbook supplies out and start designing.

Now I can download the pictures onto my computer and design a page in a few minutes and the printing is very affordable. Plus I don't have to worry about cutting the wrong shape or size because it is all digital.

The biggest challenge is I do not take very many photos which will hopefully change once the baby is born. I bought a digital scrapbook kit today called Baby on Board and hopefully I can get a few pages designed to journal my pregnancy experience. Hopefully this will motivate me to finally take some photos of my belly. Plus I will have somewhere to put pictures of my ultrasound from next month.

Weekly update and then some

I had my second doctor's appointment yesterday and it went well. I was worried for a bit because I was spotting for a couple of days but the doctor said if I do too much sometimes that happens. So I am thinking maybe going running last week probably wasn't the brightest idea so I will have to take it easy this week.

I am 14 and a half weeks but when the doctor felt/measured my uterus he said it looked like a 16 week uterus. I am not surprised. Even though I haven't gained any weight yet my stomach has grown a lot in the past 2 weeks. I know I am going to be enormous. I am so short the only place the baby has to go is out.

So sleeping is starting to be uncomfortable these days. I feel like my stomach weighs 50lbs when I roll over and the muscles are straining to contain it. I have been having a hard time falling asleep and my dreams are really vivid so sometimes I feel so exhausted in the morning.

Even though it is still freezing in Logan I am so happy it is April. Here is my list of reasons I love the month of April: General Conference, sorority activities, family and friends birthdays (Celestial, Kanika, Liberty, Karston, my birthday, Mike's birthday 2 days later, Emily's birthday), Cambodian New Year.