Thoughts

Bruce and I spent last weekend in Arizona with my extended family. My parents flew directly there from Virginia, I drove down in stages by myself, and Bruce flew in on Thursday. We all drove back together on Sunday in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my parents and siblings. While we were in Arizona, my aunts threw me a baby shower and I now have a nice little stash of baby things set aside for June. It was so fun to just visit with my family. I have never been to one of the family showers because I live out of state, so it was a special experience for my mom and me to be there.

Bruce and I also spent some time scanning old pictures from my grandpa's collection. I'm hoping to print and frame some of them so that our children will have a visual of their ancestors.

One of the highlights of our trip was being able to see my dad's younger brother Richard who is very sick with cancer. We don't know how things are going to go in the next few weeks or months and so we were very grateful to be able to spend an hour or so with him at the ER. He looked amazing (he's only 51 and has been in great physical shape up until this cancer diagnosis earlier this year) ... it's hard to believe that he is so sick when he looked so well.

It's hard to watch my dad preparing to say good-bye to another brother (my dad's brother Steve passed three years ago). Even though I know death is inevitable, it still feels unnatural and just wrong every time. One would think that with all of the generations that have past we would get used to this conclusion, but I think we must feel instinctively that we are all of us older and more lasting than a mere mortal existence. Death just seems to go against all that should be.

And I believe that it does. I believe that death has and will be conquered for everyone. That is the universal gift from a heavenly father who loves us all. God is not a respecter of persons and I know that there is healing and life ahead.

Mild, he lays his glory by

Born that man no more may die 

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth 

Hark! The herald angels sing: 

Glory to the new born king! 

"Oh, death, where is thy sting, oh, grave, where is thy victory?"

More on this here and here.

  

2nd Prenatal Appointment Report

Bruce and I went to our second prenatal appointment today. I'm at about 14 weeks (early 2nd trimester) and we got to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time! I think our doctor forgot that he said he would do an ultrasound and since I didn't really mind I didn't remind him. Hearing the heart beat was good enough for me! (btw, for those interested, I'm including some 'stats' at the foot of this post: most of which would have meant nothing to me before I was pregnant, of course. ha.)

Happily, the doctor said everything is GREAT. My weight gain, blood pressure, sugar and protein levels, etc. are all totally normal / clear / good. It is so wonderful to have modern medicine to measure these things. I can't actually feel the baby yet, so it's extremely comforting to have other ways to monitor that the baby is alive and well. There are so many steps along the way where things could go wrong that I just feel incredibly grateful every time I receive any kind of confirmation that things are well.

We scheduled our next ultrasound (which is when we will find out baby's gender!) for Wednesday, January 16th. I'll definitely post something here to let my very loyal readers know. In the meantime, Bruce has christened the baby "Squirt" so that we aren't always referring to the baby as 'it.' Having a nickname has definitely helped us feel that this is a very real person who will be joining our family soon. It is still so bizarre to consider that some day we will know this person so well, yet right now we have no idea 'who' he or she is! 

Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed thinking about all of the changes that are and will continue to happen with having a baby. Okay, often! At other times life just seems completely normal and perhaps this pregnancy is just something I've made up in my head. But every now and then we get a glimpse of glory - what an amazing thing it is that my body can do this and that this baby will be a person who will grow to be an individual personality just like each of us.

As for morning sickness, I'm starting to feel a LOT better. I still have to make sure I'm eating regularly or I can get quite sick, but overall my energy is increasing and my food aversions are dwindling. I actually had a protein shake today for the first time in months! So great! My goal now is to focus on eating more nutritiously - more like what I was before my pregnancy symptoms started - and to get back into my exercise routine. Hooray for the promised land AKA 2nd trimester!

2nd Prenatal Appointment Stats:

my weight gain last month: 3.5 lbs

my blood pressure: 118/82

my uterus: 16 cm

baby's heart rate: 162 bpm

Quote of the Day

You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him find it within himself.

Galileo

Thoughts

In emailing my friend Mark today I remembered this story of his family. Mark was my home teacher for a while when he lived here (he has since moved) and is someone I enjoy spending time with and admire very much. He is also one of my adopted cousins since he shares my married name :)

My heart is tender thinking of his family and the trials they have gone through. Their faith inspires me deeply.

Here are a few quotes from the story I linked to above that seem appropriate especially as Christmas Day approaches:

...We laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. Death is our universal heritage. All must pass its portals. Death claims the aged, the weary and worn. It visits the youth in the bloom of hope and the glory of expectation. Nor are little children kept beyond its grasp. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “It is appointed unto men once to die.” ¹²And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, His birth fulfilled the inspired pronouncements of many prophets. He was taught from on high. He provided the life, the light, and the way.

The simple pronouncement, “He is not here, but is risen,” was the first confirmation of the literal Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The empty tomb that first Easter morning brought comforting assurance, an affirmative answer to Job’s question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” ¹⁹To all who have lost loved ones, we would turn Job’s question to an answer: If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. “I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke the Master. “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” ²⁰Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so. 

Thomas Monson