Half Baked

Maybe Spencer and I are the only ones who will find the title funny, but I don't care because I am halfway done with this pregnancy! I am very very excited about this if you couldn't tell... It has definitely been a super tough first half for me, but this week things started looking up. I convinced my doctor to remove my PICC line on Wednesday and it has been amazing!!!! And when I say convinced him, that is exactly what I did. I knew that emotionally I could not handle

that purple tube inside me any longer. I felt like I wasn't good enough or healthy enough to carry this baby. I felt weak and handicap. I had lots of spare time to think and question my ability to be pregnant and become a mom and I found myself becoming increasingly depressed. So I began to work harder and focus on drinking water (thank you Julie) and to eat anything I could to become more healthy and to prove my ability. Even though I hadn't gained as much weight as was hoped for and I still do not exhibit regular eating habits (still so sad about this) my doctor listened to my concerns and granted me my wish. I now have the ability to itch my arm, a chore that I have never found so glorious! I will never take that for granted ever again! I am able to get more comfortable at night and therefore, I get more sleep. Not much, but a noticeable

difference. I don't have to worry about all those medications and IV's anymore, and deal with the fear that I may accidentally push an air bubble into my heart. And, perhaps the best part ever, I can also take a shower!!!!! I would like to believe that Spencer appreciates my willingness to bathe multiple times during the day just because I can. The down side of this blessing is that I

have this hole in my arm that looks super nasty ( I considered adding a picture here but it's just too nasty and graphic) and because my arm was covered with tape and all that good stuff for so

long, I have this lovely rash covering my arm. Pretty much looks like I have leprosy. This is why

long sleeves were created. But I am so so grateful to my doctor for freeing me of that experience

after 2 months! It was crazy watching the nurse take the two foot long purple tube out of my arm (of course I watched). The blood didn't bother me but the feeling of that tube sliding out of my body was just bizarre! My arm is still super sore and healing but I already feel

so much happier!

(It was very very sunny)

Since learning that I am carrying a little girl, I have become focused on choosing nursery colors as well as becoming super crafty and making bows for her in every color.

Since I am still weak and frequently nauseous, it has been wonderful to have something to pass time instead of just watching Netflix. I decided to have a black and white nursery with splashes of red and turquoise. Both Spencer and I agreed that we don't want to define our daughter with the color pink, and since she will be well accessorized with flowers and bows and colorful leg warmers and tiny pierced ears (I get to do this because I didn't want to know the sex of the baby and Spencer did, so this was my bribe) I think I can put her in green and blue and gray and people will know she is a girl. Pretty sure I will sock the first person in the face who mistakes my child for a boy. The Internet is amazing (understatement) and I have found so many patterns and ideas for baby girl Ahlstrom that I plan on staying fairly busy up until July 15th, or sooner (fingers crossed for July 4th). I am becoming increasingly aware that watching every season of Private Practice on Netflix is probably not the best idea since it focuses on pregnancy and basically everything that could go wrong... But it is so hard to stop watching it when I am in the very last season with only a few episodes left.

I am beginning to realize what an amazing Dad Spencer will be. He has been searching for the

perfect stuffed animal for our daughter (weird) and yesterday he found this adorable and ridiculously soft pink elephant for her.

He constantly rubs my belly when she is overly excited to calm her down and allow me to relax. He has shown so much love and concern for me and our tiny human, and he never fails to tell me how beautiful I look every day even though I feel like I look like garbage all the time! He's pretty awesome and I'm sure his awesome hubandness will transfer into awesome fatherness.

I have lately been feeling the need to be more wifey and motherly, even though I am still sick. So I have started making more elaborate homemade dinners. It's takes me 3 times longer than the

regular person to cook and I always have to bring over a chair from our table to the counter to sit while I make dinner, but Spencer has been loving it. Pretty sure it's pretty pathetic to have to stop and rest while you are sitting down and making food, but at least I'm getting dinner made. I have made fajita enchiladas, lasagna, homemade mac and cheese, and pizza. Only one fire so far.

(Yes, that would be me taking pictures of the flames and not putting the fire out. Don't worry,

Spencer was behind me hustling to take care of it). About 5 minutes later he gave me a hard

time for humming "We didn't start the fire", but I just couldn't help but to think about The Office episode where Ryan starts the fire... Oh well. It made Spencer laugh anyway. We have learned that I can definitely NOT tolerate tuna... I have tried it several ways sushi (you can eat it when your pregnant.... well my body doesn't let me, but normal people can), tuna melts, and tuna helper. Every time we got a bad reaction, if you know what I mean... And yes I asked my doctor before I ate tuna. There are so many crazy rumors about what you can and can't eat when you're pregnant. It gets a little exhausting trying to figure it all out. Thank goodness for useless

apps, like the one I have that tells me what I can and can't eat.

I have been amazed by pregnancy and the effects it has on my body. So far... this is what I have learned...

• I love eating anything orange and cheesy. (This is my daily snack... I cannot get enough
  carrots)
  
  
  
  
  
• I crave healthy, which is weird and totally opposite of what was expected. But I suppose that is probably a good thing.
• I get crazy restless legs at night. Warm baths usually will cure this long enough for me to fall asleep.
• I have the most bizarre dreams ever! I reawaken my past every night! Plus they are so vivid and crazy it just blows my mind.
• I get tired to quickly! Yesterday, Spencer and I wanted to get out of the house and we went to the driving range with my family... 1 hour out of the house usually requires about 3 hours recovery time at home. We have to make plans way ahead of time so that I know
  that I need to rest in order to be able to go out.
  
  
  
• I am super itchy! My entire body itches all the time especially my legs! I have never used so much lotion in my life, but WOW! Super annoying, the itching.
• I have absolutely no bladder control!
• Heartburn is the worst! I had no idea what this was or what it felt like, but after 3 days I finally figured it out. It was so bad that I was having trouble breathing. My doctor told me to take Prilosec and it started working on the very first day! That stuff is AMAZING!!!
• I have to drink I glass of juice in order to eat breakfast. I never use to eat breakfast, but if I don't eat it everyday I get super sick and nauseous. My favorite juice of the week is grape
  juice. LOVE IT!!!
• LENT is hard to celebrate while pregnant. Is celebrate even the right word? I have participated in LENT for the past 3 years and have always gave up soda and fast food. Well, only 3 years into it this year fast food went out the window. I'm still holding strong on no soda so that is going to have to work this year.
• In order to sleep I must where a breathe right strip across my nose, since my nose gets so stuffy that it becomes impossible to breathe.

I have never loved my body, ever, so I find it weird that I am actually embracing my body as it

increases in size. I love the way my belly looks... never thought I would say that ever in my life, but I am as comfortable as you can be being pregnant in my body! Clothes, well mostly pants, are starting not to fit. And I find that I mostly just wear sweats and t-shirts when I am at home.

I love love love my sweats. I also love that my little girl gives me the reassurance that I crave and that I need by constantly moving. I have already made her mad several times by playing music (Les Miserables) on my belly to wake her up so that I can feel her move. It wakes her up every time, but she retaliates by keeping me up when I want to sleep. I'm sensing a wonderful mother/daughter relationship.

Tired of reading yet? Thinking it's time to wrap this up... I just want to say thank you to all those people who have been so supportive and so helpful during my pregnancy so far. I am hoping the second half is easier and that I don't have to have so much help. The prayers have definitely been heard and have been a blessing in our lives.

In other news... our offical moving date has been set for April 14th!!!! Rexburg, here we come!

Also we walked into the Old Navy at Jordan Landing and walked into this... Seriously? Who does this? Yes, Spencer and I laughed. We are children. But still. Not something you expect to see when you walk into a store.