Weekly Pregnancy Post

Twenty-two weeks. 22 just so happens to be my favorite number, too. While I wouldn't mind if she decided to make her debut a week or two early, I think 2/22 would be a good birthday for baby girl. If she decided to arrive on my birthday I wouldn't object either :)

This post will take on a little different format. I feel like I've hit the point in the pregnancy where I've really begun to process the fact that in 18 weeks (give or take) I'll have a daughter. Dave and I will become entirely responsible for the well-being of a little human being. Everything we do - every decision we make - will impact her life. Talk about responsibility. These are things that we talked about before we even decided to have a baby but suddenly, when you become pregnant and you watch this tiny life grow inside of you, the future becomes so much more real.

We've been spending time talking about our hopes and dreams for our daughter. We talk about the values we hope to instill in her, the type of parents we hope to be, and what we think her future might look like. We reflect on our own childhoods - what were our favorite parts? What did our parents do while raising us that we will or won't do? What family traditions will we have? I enjoy thinking about all the things I hope to do with my own daughter. I think about my relationship with my mother and how thankful I am to have her as one my best friends. I look forward to watching her relationship with my daughter grow, too - I think she'll be the most wonderful grandmother and I know she'll share an extra special bond with her the way that only grandmothers can.

This week I've realized that pregnancy has heightened my sensitivity towards others, especially the poor and lonely. The homeless man in the park who watches as Dave and I enjoy our lunch on a nearby picnic table; the elderly lady behind me at the grocery store who didn't have the money to pay for her bread and potatoes; the woman who sat alone in front of me on a Saturday night at the movie theater - each of them broke me in a way that was different than before. The hormones have also instilled some crazy emotions and fears in me. I worry now more than ever before that something is going to happen to Dave, leaving me alone with a baby and leaving our daughter without a father. I suppose these are all normal parts of pregnancy but this week I've noticed them more than others.

My favorite part of this past week was hearing people say that I finally looked pregnant. Not just on one day, in a particular outfit, but every day. For weeks people have been telling me that I just don't look too pregnant yet - that sometimes if I wore the right shirt, you could maybe make out a baby bump. I hated that in-between phase. But this week, the baby bump just grew and grew. I told Dave that sometimes I felt like it grew from the time I got dressed in the morning to the time I get ready for bed. It's certainly fun watching the progression and reading about how she's growing in there. And her kicking is really starting to increase. Dave got to feel a few good kicks this week but she still keeps the strong ones just for her mommy.

Week twenty-two. I'm so happy we're more than half-way to meeting our daughter.