The Craziness Continues: Weeks 24 and 25

As the third trimester rapidly approaches, I sometimes find myself wondering how we're ever going to pull off this whole parenting thing, especially with the crazy busy-ness we've been experiencing the last few weeks. Between traveling home for Easter, school and work obligations, social engagements, church functions, childbirth classes, and appointments at the Birth Center, I feel as though the only thing our mortgage payment has gone to for the last month is a place for us to sleep at night. As I'm running to and fro, several times I've stopped and thought to myself, "How are we going to do this when we have Molly?" I guess we just won't do as many things as we used to. Truthfully, I'm kind of looking forward to it. It'll be nice to have an excuse to slow down, relax, and just hang out as a family for a while. I can't wait for August when Eric and I will both have the entire month off to just bond with Molly and not worry about anything else.

Our Easter week in upstate NY was a chilly one, but the time with family was long overdue. It was a wonderful time of laughter, fellowship, and good food with my sisters, parents, nieces, nephew, and old friends. We climbed to the top of the Grafton firetower, which overlooks the mountains and farmland of NY, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It was chilly at the top, but the view was gorgeous.

My mom and my sister, Jennene, hosted our first baby shower while we were home, an open house event attended by most of my extended family and several childhood and high school friends. It was so good to catch up with everyone, especially because we live so far away. We received lots of gift cards for Target and Babies-R-Us. I can't wait to go on a shopping spree and stock up Molly's nursery because, currently we have nothing but a few onesies, a bib or two, and a few pairs of shoes. It doesn't feel like a baby will be living here in 3 months!

On the way back to lovely, warm North Carolina, we got to practice many of the relaxation techniques we've been learning in our Bradley childbirth classes. We experienced a total of 1 flight cancellation, 2 delays, and probably about 6 hours in airport terminals. But Eric was a hero the whole time. He saw I was getting tired, tense and travel-sore so he whipped out our Bradley workbook and reminded me how to get into my relaxation poses. I have a feeling he's going to be a superstar during labor. I don't know how anyone goes through this whole process without a strong, close companion to love and and take care of them. Over the last 5 months, I've felt closer to Eric than ever before. Between doctor's visits, childbirth classes, and those special moments when we both feel our baby belly dancing just for us, I've realized there's no one in the world I'd rather share this time with. I'm truly blessed.

During all of our travel and busy days, Molly has been transforming from a skinny, wrinkly creature into the chubby, cuddly baby we've been seeing in our imaginations. She's been adding 6-8 ounces each week for a total of about 1.75 lbs and a length of about 13 inches. She's been adding layers of fatty tissue under her skin to give her that plump, less-wrinkly look. Over the last two weeks, tiny air sacs lined with capillaries have been developing in her lungs. They're beginning to produce surfactant, a substance that will help the lungs expand in the first moments after birth, allowing her to take her first breaths. Molly's tiny eyelashes, eyebrows, and perhaps a sprinking of hair on her head have fully developed and pigment has started to turn this hair a specific color, although this color could change before or after birth, or at any time during childhood. Everyone's been predicting a tiny girl with lots of dark curls...but I wouldn't be surprised if God used his sense of humor on this one and gave us a tall blonde with stick-straight locks. The genes are there...it could happen. We'll just have to wait and see.

Busy Times: Weeks 21-23

This photo was taken in the soon-to-be nursery at 22 weeks. Yes, the walls are orange! Eric and I both love bright colors and took a big plunge when we painted this room orange, but we LOVE how it turned out. It's a very bright and happy room, probably my favorite room in the house. We're decorating with ABC's and 1,2,3's, and lots of tiny critters (frogs, bugs, turtles, butterflies). I can't wait to see what it looks like when we're all done. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures.

Speaking of pictures, this blog post should have lots of pictures of our recent adventures. But, as you'll see, it does not. Unfortunately, our computer decided to die on us and has deleted every file we've ever saved, including hundreds of pictures. Fortunately, I have many pictures backed up elsewhere or printed out in hard copies. However, there are so many that have fallen through the cracks over the years and the only place I had them was on our computer. So a vivid description of the adventures of the last 3 weeks will have to suffice for now.

We took our first "family" beach trip to the Outer Banks 2 weeks ago. We went with another couple from church who are also 5 months pregnant! It was a lot of fun to be at the beach in the off season. The wind was cold and the waves were extremely wild, but the ocean had a different kind of beauty than you see in the summertime...the beauty of awesome power being unleashed over and over again. Both mornings we were there, we saw amazingly beautiful sunrises. I wished that Molly could be on the outside to see what we could see, to smell the salty air and feel the wind on her cheeks. I think it's a trip we'll definitely be making again in the future!

Last weekend, Eric's parents came down from Pittsburgh for a visit and we spent a great couple of days together. We went to the Museum of Science in Raleigh and saw tons of amazing exhibits. I think that one will become another family-favorite once Molly is here on the outside to enjoy it with us. This week we are in chilly upstate NY to celebrate Easter with my family. So far we've enjoyed a couple April snow flurries to remind us what Spring Break is really like in NY :-) All in all, it's been an extremely busy 3 weeks with lots of fun crammed in around our regular work weeks. I think Eric and I are sub-consciously trying to get lots of sightseeing, traveling, and eating-out done before July because we know how much harder it's going to be once we're a family of three!

While we've been doing a lot of traveling over the last 3 weeks, Molly's been doing a lot of growing and changing. She is now almost a foot long and weighs in just over one full pound! She is becoming very aware of the world outside her warm, watery home. She listens to the sounds of our voices, the music we play, the TV, and anything else we're doing, whether it's vacuuming the house or listening to the sermon at church. She can also sense the differences in my movements, whether it's dancing, walking, yoga, or sleeping. Pretty soon, my daily routines will affect her daily routines as she develops definite periods of sleepfulness and wakefulness. Right now, I feel like it's mostly the latter! She enjoys her exercise! The squirming that I could feel deep in my abdomen before has grown into full-blown acrobatics visible to anyone staring at my belly. Eric and I were both amazed as we were lying in bed on Saturday morning, belly-watching. We could actually watch her doing somersaults and rolling herself from one side of the belly to the other. It's better than TV! This week she is growing thousands of tiny blood vessels in her little pink lungs, preparing them for the big job ahead of breathing those first breaths in about 16 weeks. She's also beginning to fatten up a bit, making her skin a little less transparent and a little more chubby!

We're looking forward to next week: 24 week check-up and Daddy's first trip to the birth center! We'll keep you updated.

Half Way to Birth Day

We've reached the 20 week mark, the half-way point of this amazing journey. We figured we'd better start preparing the way for little Molly by making a trek to Target and Babies-R-Us to register for baby items. What an experience! It was so overwhelming to be standing amongst aisles upon aisles of onesies, washcloths, diapers, carseats, and blankets. There were at least 5 varieties (if not 50 varieties) of every item on the "checklist". How do you choose? We eventually completed the task and, I think by the end, both Eric and I had more questions than ever about what exactly a baby needs, what is an absolute necessity and what is a complete waste of time and money.

After this week, I believe we're destined to raise a future olympic gymnast. This child does not stop moving for anything. She kicks, flips, twists and somersaults her way through the day. I think she's found every inch of my belly, back, bladder and stomach at some point this week. I told Eric that it feels like I've swallowed a big live fish that's flopping around in my belly...kind of a Jonah-in-reverse situation. Molly even had the midwife laughing this week at my check-up. She was trying to use the Doppler to find Molly's heartbeat. She would finally find it, but no sooner than she started counting beats, we'd hear this thunderous "WHAP!" as Molly kicked the Doppler away and moved to a new location. It took several tries before we got her to sit still long enough to count her heartbeat for 10 seconds. I fear we may be in line for a spirited child :-)

Our baby girl has hit quite the growth spurt this week. She now weighs about 12 ounces. She's around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. Now that her leg muscles and joints are fully formed, she can fully stretch out, a motion I can definitely feel. Her uterus is fully formed and her ovaries are holding about 7 million primitive eggs. My uterus, on the other hand, is growing larger all the time to accomodate Molly's growth. It has now reached the height of my belly button and is pushing my stomach and intestines into new positions, a change that has resulted in some nagging heartburn. However, this is a small price to pay for providing our little girl a safe and warm place to grow and mature until we meet her in July.

It's A Girl!!!!

The verdict is in and we couldn't be happier! We're expecting a little girl named Molly Joy. The ultrasound was such a fabulous experience and one I'll never forget. Molly was very active, squirming all over the place and putting on quite the show for us. The 3-D images they have now for sonograms are so amazing. I felt like she was right there in front of us and we were looking at her adorable little face. I definitely think she has my Corbin-family chin and perhaps a Frueh-family nose. As soon as I can find a scanner to scan the pictures, they'll be up here and you can see what you think for yourselves.

Both Eric and I are very excited to have a girl. Coming from a family of all girls, I feel better prepared for parenting a girl. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a boy! And this will make an even 3-3 split of boy and girl grandchildren for my parents. From Eric's perspective, he's coming from a family of all boys and he's looking forward to something a little different. Plus, there's just something about that Daddy-daughter connection that is so special. AND I can't wait to shop for little pink socks, hair bows, and dresses!

Molly is right on track for growth, measuring in at 6 inches in length and 11 ounces in weight. As she showed us at the ultrasound, she loves her daily workouts and is exercising those muscles for sure. I can feel her squirming and bouncing around all the time now and I never tire of it. She is especially active in the evening after our dinner and walk. Every night at 7:00, Eric reads aloud to me and Molly and she absolutely loves it. As soon as I lay down on the couch, she starts her squirming and kicking and for a full half hour, she keeps it up. The other night I even saw a little tiny foot or fist poke out of my belly. Even Daddy can get in on the fun now. When she's at her wildest, he can feel her as well, which has been such fun!

There was one small problem detected during the ultrasound that we're hoping will resolve itself before too long. The doctor found that my placenta is very low and partially covering my cervix, a condition called "placenta previa". A low placenta is detected in about 10% of pregnancies during the 2nd Trimester. The good news is that, in the vast majority of these cases, the placenta moves upward as the uterus grows larger. In all likelihood, that's what is going to happen, but we'll go back for a 30-week ultrasound just to make sure that it has moved up and is no longer covering the cervix. 90% of the time, that's what happens. In the unlikely case that the previa persists into the 3rd Trimester, I could find myself on bedrest for the last month and welcoming our little Molly with a C-section. Fortunately, that's a rare situation, but I'd still appreciate your prayers that my placenta would trek its way up there a bit higher.

"...A Time to be Born and a Time to Die..."

At this moment, I am caught in a place that I don't know how to understand...a place of joy and a place of sadness. I am celebrating the amazing life that is growing inside me, but I am also mourning the loss of a great life...my Uncle Jim. He went home to be with the Lord on February 28th and the week since has been a rollercoaster of emotions. I know that he is celebrating with our Savior and drawing in full, sweet breaths of clean air for the first time in a decade and for that I'm so grateful. But the hole he's left behind is going to be a difficult one to fill.

It's interesting to look at the pieces of a life that are left behind when that life is gone. Uncle Jim's house is filled with interesting trinkets, books, newspaper clippings, and lots of Ralph's dog hair:-) But amongst all of the random bits, we found Uncle Jim's daily life lines, the items that made their way into each day he lived in that cabin: his Bible and his prayer list. As I opened the Bible, I found a list of Uncle Jim's favorite verses, bookmarks in special passages, and devotionals that were meaningful to him. In his little yellow legal pad, I found the prayer list of a man who's faith I can only hope to emulate. Page after page of names...friends, relatives, neighbors, church family...all with specific requests listed next to the names. I could see where he'd added new petitions as time went on. He also recorded in red pen the date and way that each request was answered. What a blessing to find my name and know that, each day, he was praying for my health and spiritual growth!

Yes, a great man of faith has left this Earth and it saddens me greatly that our child will never have the chance to meet their Uncle Jim. They'll never see his perpetually bare feet, never receive a children's book for Christmas or a birthday wrapped in the Sunday comics and signed "Love Uncle Jim", never hear him tell his crazy stories of days gone by, and never hold his hand in prayer. But what a great example he has left for me, even in his death. Here was a man who had plenty of reason to feel lonely and sorry for himself...but he didn't. He, instead, spent his time recording what he was thankful for, praying for the needs of others, poring over God's word, and singing his worship to the Lord...even hours before his death. I can only hope that I can be the same kind of example for our child.

As I was grieving the loss of Uncle Jim this week, our precious bundle chose the perfect opportunity to cheer me up with a few swift kicks! I've been waiting and waiting to feel those first movements and they came just a few days ago. It was definitely the most amazing feeling in the world, and the perfect pick-me-up. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my lower back that lasted for about 15 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, I felt it...something like popcorn popping deep and low in my abdomen. Then, just as suddenly as it came, the pain in my back was gone. I guess our little bambino found a nerve to sit on for a few minutes and then, thankfully, decided to find a new position. Since then, I've been enjoying our little baby's movements several times throughout the day (and night). Right now it kind of feels like someone's giving me a belly massage, but from the inside. I hope his or her movements stay this gentle for the next 20 weeks, but, from what I hear, I fear that may not be the case. Ooooh, there was a bit of swift punch just now...guess I spoke too soon:-)

Since the last post, our baby has grown quite a bit. He/she is now 6 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs over 1/2 pound! The arms and legs are now proportional to the body, which is probably why he/she is making swift use of them to massage Mommy from the inside. Gotta get in those calisthenics each day to build those big muscles. The brain has had quite the workout as well; it is busy specializing areas to process sensory information about sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. And Baby is already processing sensory information that he/she gathers in the womb, such as Mommy and Daddy talking, pokes to the belly, and changes from dim light to bright light.

I thank God every day for the opportunity He is giving us to bring this life into the world and I pray that I would live and love and pray in such a way that our child will see Christ in me the way I saw Christ in Uncle Jim. Give thanks today for the blessings God has given you.