We had our third baby appointment last week and had a great time as usual. After 14 weeks it's finally beginning to settle in that this is real life and not just a dream. (Speaking of dreams--I heard (and Chris read) that all the hormone madness during pregnancy can cause some really strange birth-related dreams and I totally had one where I birthed some sort of animal..don't remember which one, but it's totally the first birth dream I've ever had and it was supa-weird.) We heard the heart beat again and finally got an official measurement of 160 bpm...just chuggin away in there! Also good to note that this little lemon sized baby can PEE, suck it's thumb, and will be able to sense light next week. Awesome and somewhat intriguing to think about a baby that's inside my uterus...peeing. Oh, pregnancy--such a creative and fascinating thing it is.

This was our third appointment over all but our second at the birthing center (!) Did we announce that via blog earlier? Maybe not. We're so excited that we've switched to a birthing center for many many many reasons. We also believe that this decision and process is hugely personal and we don't feel better or braver or any such things for going this route. We truly feel that this is the best fit for our family. To tell you the truth, I'm mildly terrified of labor but also hugely comfortable with being terrified. I don't feel brave but I feel equipped and I secretly feel challenged in deep and intense way in which I know the biggest battle I will face won't be against the pain but against my mind and my fears. We'll be happy to post some of the main reasons we switched soon, but to list without explaining, our main reasons are atmosphere, intervention protocol, and comfort. And for peace of mind (for others)--the center is a mile away from a hospital in case of major complications.

I used to get on here quite often and brag about my husband, and I realized today I haven't done that in a while. I can assure you that it's not because he's gotten less awesome but because I've gotten less awesome at posting things up here. Mainly because I work full time I suppose. But I literally am reminded daily of how sweet this marriage has been and how deeply it has grown just in the past 1.6ish years. I often feel like the not-as-cool spouse because literally I feel like he is serving me 100% of the time and I am not reciprocating. I know this is a lie but in the midst of feeling incredibly incompetent in marriage sometimes, I am reminded of our conversations from so so long ago when we were dating and we would say things like, "I just want to do life with you." I reminded Chris of it the other day and got so giddy about how this IS what we're doing--it's finally here. We're doing life together. And it is so so dreamy that the person I get to do life with is such a selfless man. Our kids are going to learn such great things from him.

Also also also ALSO: let's all cheer because I FINALLY have a noticeable (when I wear tighter shirts which is never because modest is hottest) baby bump at 15 weeks. I never thought I was so influenced by media until I realized that every pregnancy related movie shows a scene where the couple finds out they are pregnant and then bam, fast forward to month 7 or something when she's huge. I felt like something was wrong with me until I realized that little humans can't just manifest themselves into the size of a watermelon overnight. Imagine that. Here is the dumbest myspace-esque picture ever where I couldn't even make a normal face because I felt ridiculous and also it will never be normal to take mirror pics in the bathroom. K, enjoy this awkward photo and have a great night. :)