Growth Spurt

She's growing! This whole week I've been totally convinced our little diva is having a growth spurt, and yesterday my prediction was confirmed!

Why, do you ask, am I so convinced she's growing faster than normal? Several reasons:

• I've been really tired during the 2nd trimester, but this last week has been killer. No matter how many hours of sleep I get at night the next day I can't do anything but yawn and stare into space. This bun is taking some serious energy to bake.


• My belly button has been changing shape by the hour. Not to mention my belly as a whole.


• and My round ligament pain has been a lot more frequent the past several days. Oh joy.

And how do I know my prediction was spot on? On Wednesday I had said to Deke "Man, I swear she's growing faster than normal..." and then Thursday my maternal instincts proved correct. On my way to work I felt little punches somewhere I hadn't felt before - right below my sternum. It was a crazy sensation! She now literally takes up my entire belly. Her body now streches from my ribs all the way down to, well, below. It kind of threw me off guard, and I wasn't sure at first if that was what I was really feeling, but by about the 8th or 9th punch just below the xiphoid process, I knew our little peanut was spreading out like never before (whew! was that a run on sentence or what! and did I totally impress you with my stellar usage of the word xiphoid process? kudos to myself for remembering an 8th grade health vocab word.).

This whole adventure we call pregnancy never ceases to fascinate me. I'll be honest, there were some times when I was nervous I'd never get the chance to be a mom, but here I am, and I'm trying to savor every little second of it. (ok... so not so much the first trimester, but everything since about week 13 ;) ) You just never know what life will bring your way, and if by some tiny chance this were to be my only pregnancy I'd want to be sure I had fully relished and appreciated each tiny little flickering sensation, emotion and change that comes with a growing baby bump. I wish there was a way to take a physical snapshot of a feeling or sensation. Wouldn't that be incredible? For now I guess closing my eyes and remembering will have to do. I've really been trying to apply Pres Monson's talk 'Finding Joy in the Journey' he gave at last October's General Conference to my life and I find it's more applicable than ever right now. We are so anxious to meet our little girl and can't wait til she's finally here, but at the same time I find myself wanting to slow down time and try to savor all the beautiful gifts the here and now have to offer. It's definitely a daily process. :)

P.S. Did you notice the new poll that now adorns this blog? There are so many names out there! I'm not sure we'll ever be able to narrow it down to one. Our plan is to go to the hospital with 3-4 names and then pick the winner once we meet her. We'll see how that goes...