The View from Here

Before the baby comes, I wanted to share some stories and reflections that I don't want to forget about this pregnancy. It has been WAY HARDER than my first two pregnancies: more pains, more sickness, more tiredness, more nausea. It has also been extremely joyful as Margaret Mary is old enough to know what is going on inside me. She cannot wait to have another sibling and talks all the time about how she can't wait to hold the baby, how the baby is going to be so cute, and how she is going to be a big sister again. She sings songs into my belly, tries to feel the baby moving and gets a big kick out of being kicked by the baby. When she hears the baby's heartbeat at the birthing center, she yells "that's my baby!" John Henry is just fascinated at how big my belly is. He likes to kiss it (in fact, he will only kiss my stomach bare, not over clothes), drive tractors on it, hit it (with sincere affection), and hug it. I think he knows there's a baby in there, but I have a suspicion that he will continue to love on my belly long after the baby comes out. He also LOVES to help. If he hears me say anything like "okay Margaret Mary, lets go find some shoes," he will come running with her shoes, even if he is in the next room. If Margaret Mary falls and ask for help, he is the first one on the scene trying is best to pick her back up. If I could train him to refill my water bottle, I would be set!


I have found GREAT comfort in the many trials of pregnancy knowing how many of our good friends are going through the same thing. The Andersons, The Havens, The Langs, The Staudts, some friends here at church (and a couple others that haven't announced yet!), are all balancing kids, trying to cook good healthy food, educate our children, keep an orderly home, not let their kids watch too many movies, all while dealing with the exact same exhaustion that I am. So many moms laying down their lives for their young growing families; all doing it out of love for Christ, learning more and more each day that "to love" is the most important commandment. So you ladies have been such an inspiration to me as I lay on my couch watching my children destroy the house...this is the good fight. I love you ladies and think of you often.

Random Things I don't want to Forget:

* I have had the craziest food aversions with this pregnancy. I didn't have this at all with the others. I would feel the need to eat, open the cabinents, then the fridge and get grossed out at everything that I saw. When going out to eat, I wouldn't know where I wanted to eat and then I would have to have Jason order for me because everything on the menu looked unappetizing. When food was brought to be fully cooked, it always looked good, but for some reason the thought of raw ingredients made me sick. The only thing that I consistantly want is chili cheese fries from Bubbachinos. :) Don't judge me...

* I have had an obsession with swaddling blankets. Not recieving blankets, but blankets big enough to swaddle with in muslin and flannel. These blankets are pretty expensive, so I was super excited when I saw a flannel bed set on sale from target for 7$. My mom then made me a swaddling blanket from that material when she was in town. I had this plan that I would sew blankets and diaper wipes from this bed set, but have found that I have NO extra energy once the kids go to bed for such operations.

* I have had round ligament pain like crazy these last couple of weeks. It feels like a runners cramp, except you can't walk it off, you have to sit down and rest for it to go away. They always come when I'm taking the kids for a walk in the afternoon. Margaret Mary has learned that when I start pushing the stroller really slow I have a cramp and will yell back to me "Mama, are you okay? Do you have a cramp?" I love that she looks after me.

* The first time I got one of the said cramps, I didn't know that you couldn't walk it off. The cramp got worse and worse and I had to call Jason to come take us back to the house. I knew it wasn't a contraction cramp, but was treating it like one, leaning over the stroller, rocking back and forth, etc. I was so into dealing with the pain from the cramp that I didn't notice that Margaret Mary was holding her sippy cup upside down the whole time. When I looked up to see if Jason was there yet, I saw drops of water all around me and where I had been standing and rocking. I was in shock for a minute thinking my water had broken! Thankfully, Margaret Mary started complaining about being wet a minute later, so I was able to put the pieces together and calm down. It is so amazing how being pregnant with young children around makes everything different and exciting!

*My first instinct was that this baby was a girl, but now am leaning more toward boy. With my other two pregnancies, my first instincts were right, but I always changed my mind by the end of the pregnancy. We shall see! The baby's heartbeat was high at the beginning but is now a steady 140 beats her minute. Margaret Mary's heartbeat stayed high for the whole pregnancy (170's), and John Henry's stayed low (140's). The midwives tale is that high heartbeats are girls and low are boys. So, even though my first instinct is that the baby is a girl, the heartbeat makes me think its a boy. So exciting; we can't wait to see who is inside me!

* As I said earlier, I think this has been the hardest pregnancy pain wise; I feel like I have arthritis in my hips each night (which is totally normal and nothing to worry about). But Jason says I'm always in pain during the beginning and end of each pregnancy, and that I always forget how hard the previous pregnancy was. He thinks I'll have forgotten how hard it is a month after the baby is born and already be talking about wanting to grow our family more. I don't know if I will forget that fast, but maybe by next Christmas I'll have the "baby bug" again...

The following picture is a little out of focus (I was trying to shoot it from the hip, not looking through the view finder), but I love how it turned out. Henry playing with my belly and Margaret Mary on the couch, talking to her Papa. Just another day in the Craig household...



(I totally stole the blog title and picture idea from The Sivyers blog. Thanks Brittany for all your great ideas!)