Pregnancy Week 21, A Prayer

In my yoga practice this morning, my yoga teacher, Amy, began the class with a story about her 10 year-old daughter.  As they were on their way to school the other morning, her daughter exclaimed, "Watch out world!"

Amy asked, "What do you mean?"

Her daughter answered, "Watch out world, because I'm awesome!"

We took a cue from Amy's daughter for the rest of the class, meditating on that feeling we have when we are young and confident and without self-consciousness, when we laugh uncontrollably, dance without embarrassment, and unabashedly celebrate our awesomeness.

That's one of the qualities I pray Bubbles inherits or absorbs or learns from Elie--a confident sense of self. It's one of the intangibles that first attracted me to Elie and part of what makes him such a great husband and human being (and soon-to-be-Daddy)--confidence without arrogance, a self-assuredness that makes him willing to take risks, to make himself vulnerable without a fear of losing anything.

As a small example, whenever we're traveling in another country where the native language isn't English, Elie always makes an effort to learn some of the language. He doesn't care if he mispronounces a word or uses a phrase incorrectly--he keeps asking questions and practicing until he can communicate. As a result, we've have some wonderful experiences with people, learning their language and culture.

When I was growing up, I was very confident at the things I was good at, but very self-conscous at being bad at something.  And so I would be hesitant to try new things in front of anyone, limiting myself from learning new experiences. To this day, I am still uncomfortable at playing a sport or engaging in an activity I don't know, for fear of not being any good.  I'm working on getting better at being bad at things--of making myself vulnerable--but I'm still a work in progress.

My prayer for Bubbles this week is that he or she learns to live wholeheartedly, just like his or her Daddy, to embrace his or her awesomeness with grace and greet each day boldly and fearlessly as an opportunity to experiment and seek new learning--to accept both success and failure as an opportunity to keep stretching and growing.

I'm definitely feeling the nesting urge coming on strong, so these photos are some I took of fall decorating, which mostly consists of simple pumpkin arrangements and foliage gathered from the garden.

Pregnancy at Week 21

This part is mostly for Elie and me, to be able to look back and remember the details of this time, as we wait for Bubbles to arrive. But, you are more than welcome to read and follow along with our pregnancy updates! I know I love reading other people's blogs and learning from their stories.

This past week, Elie felt Bubbles kick (or punch) for the first time, an exciting milestone since I've been able to feel the baby moving for a few weeks now.    

My nausea has stayed away, for the most part, although I'm convinced the second trimester energy boost is a myth.  I'm still really tired, although part of the tiredness may be because I'm not sleeping well.  I'm often very uncomfortable at night, and it's hard to find a good sleeping position.  It's a good thing Elie is a sound sleeper, so my tossing and turning doesn't bother him.

I never knew I could get out of breath just climbing a short flight of stairs.

To stay active, I'm practicing yoga a few days a week and walking four miles a day, although the four mile walk definitely takes me longer than it used to. As the relaxin causes my hips to stretch, my hips and lower back ache, which slows me down.  Yoga helps, and massage. 

I don't have any particular food cravings or aversions any more, although I'm still eating more 'sweet' things than I used to--smoothies, yogurt and granola, etc.  I'm trying to limit desserts, although the molasses cookies I made this week are awfully addictive.

Thanks for following along!

xoxo
Lisa