An Update

Hey guys! Oh man, it has been awhile since I last posted anything substantial! I’ve missed getting on here, but I have had good reasons for my absence-some good and some not so good.

First, and most exciting, is that I’m pregnant! Ultrasounds can be pretty difficult to make out but I feel like the image above is pretty easy to see even if you feel you’re ultrasound-illiterate (as I do). It’s just a baby noggin with a hand waving hello! Hi, baby! We found out I was pregnant mid-late January and shortly after that I started feeling pretty darn junky. I haven’t decided if I’m going to do huge pregnancy by trimester posts like I’ve done in the past but as for basics, this has been my most difficult pregnancy yet, with lots of nausea (but no throwing up, thankfully), exhaustion, and an exhausting insatiable hunger. I have to eat every 1-2 hours which is not nearly as fun as it sounds, especially when you’re nauseous and have no desire to even think about food. I’m currently 16 weeks and the hunger remains, although the nausea is dissipating, so eating isn’t quite such a terrible chore. No hard and fast aversions or cravings but I feel much better eating whole grains and lots of protein and I haven’t been able to eat sugar, like, at all. It makes me feel terrible but I have been eating lots of fruit. I’m due mid September. And we will be finding out the gender in about a month! Those are the basics in a nutshell.

To kind of illustrate this insane hunger I’ve been experiencing, when I was about 10 1/2 weeks along, I passed out. I woke up that morning and thought “Man, I better eat something or I’m going to pass out.” I hurried to the kitchen to get some food but just couldn’t get it fast enough. I called for Ben to help me, luckily, and he was holding onto me to help me over to the couch when I lost consciousness. He took me to hospital and they just confirmed what I already suspected: dehydrated, not enough calories. So that was crazy. And now I religiously wake up in the middle of the night to eat a snack. Pregnancy. Fun stuff.

Another reason I’ve been absent is that we got CoVid. A couple days before I passed out, I got a very mild cough and thought it was nothing, but by a couple days after I passed out, it had morphed into a truly awful cold that left me barely able to get up off the couch. Now, you do have to remember that I was piling CoVid symptoms on top of already pretty terrible first trimester symptoms so I’m certain that just doubled the amount of awfulness. Ben also got it and, in my opinion, he seemed to manage it a lot better. He had a couple days where he mostly just rested, but he was still able to attend class and get a bit of work done (hopefully I don’t have to mention but I will that he did this all from home via Zoom). For any mamas who’ve been worried (although, obviously everyone handles it differently, but I personally find it a bit comforting hearing when things turn out okay), our girls were only sick for one evening each (not even a full day) with a mild fever (100.3) and a runny nose, but otherwise they seemed unaffected. We’ve all recovered. Oh, and it seems everyone’s curious: we have no idea where we got it.

And then after most of my CoVid symptoms were gone, I developed a red, itchy rash on my torso that I suspect came from some sort of medical adhesive from the hospital (I’ve gotten a rash after each labor and delivery). But the rash didn’t show up until like 2 weeks after I was actually in the hospital…so can someone explain that??? Because I have no idea. It’s gone now, though, thank heavens.

So anyway, now you might be able to see why I’ve not posted for a couple months. Things have been a bit crazy. Onward and upward, right?

In other news, this semester for Ben has been so crazy and so stressful. I imagine it’d have been crazy without getting CoVid but with it he’s had to spend so much time trying to catch up while also trying to stay on top of what’s being assigned every day. It’s been nuts. But, good news: He has officially screened into his program. For those who don’t know what this means (because I know I sure didn’t), basically PhD programs are weird (at least this one is; they’re all different) and he does two years of work and then has to write a letter saying he’d like to be admitted into the program. When they say he’s in (screened in), he can start doing dissertation work. Years and years down, another 2 to go! (And as I write this, I’ve got a deranged look in one eye and the other eye is twitching. Just kidding. Kind of).

As for our girls, they won’t stop growing, those little stinkers, but otherwise they are doing very well! Wendy started going to preschool. I will tell you she loves it and just understand that that is an understatement. She tells anyone who will listen to her for more than two seconds, “My name is Wendy and I’m four and I’m already in preschool!” Her favorite part is snack time and she didn’t even mind when, for the first several weeks, she was the only girl in the class (now the only girls are her and Greta). She also has been very excited about this baby and very, very interested in baby’s growth and how the heck my body is growing a baby anyway. She asks all about it and has learned more about umbilical cords and uteruses than most four year olds, I’m sure.

Greta is a big three year old now. When I asked what she wanted for her birthday, presents-wise and food-wise, her response was always, “Everything. All the things.” She didn’t, in fact, get all the things but I think she had a great birthday and felt very loved. I wasn’t sure if she’d want to join preschool with Wendy after her birthday, and she actually told me she didn’t want to go. But this week when we were going to drop Wendy off and Wendy was talking preschool up like she does, Greta changed her mind. Luckily the teacher was happy to take on another kiddo, so we let Greta have a test run and she loved it too! I don’t know what I’m going to do for the couple hours a week where I’m childless, but I’m sure I’ll fill the time (blissfully) somehow ;). My favorite weird but hilarious thing Greta has been doing lately is that when Jaeger dog growls at the girls, Greta will face him and start barking at him. It is so weird but so darn funny. On our walk today, a dog was barking at us through a privacy fence. Greta was not going to have it! She turned to the fence and “Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!”ed for a solid minute. Haha, that’ll teach him!

I don’t think I’m alone in that I’m getting awfully excited for summer! Our winter seemed to be colder than usual so I am ready to soak up some delicious sunshine, even if some of my favorite activities will be less likely to happen since I’m pregnant. Ben’s semester is over at the end of this month and I’m also super excited for him to get a bit of a break. He’ll still have stuff to work on, but he’ll be able to breath a little easier. We only have one little trip planned but I’m sure we’ll make more plans as soon as Ben’s able to devote some mental capacity to non-school related things.

I think that’s about all as far as news goes around here. I guess I will say that I’m not sure what my blogging will look like over the next while, especially since sewing has been…well, I was going to say hit and miss but that’s not true…it’s just been miss until I had the matching Easter clothes tradition to uphold. I will admit that I have very little desire to make maternity clothes, mostly because I have a lot of RTW maternity clothes that will fit the bill for the next 5 months or so. I’d like to continue sewing, as energy permits, and I do have a couple of garments I’ve been considering making. But I’ve also been excited for the opportunity to focus on other sewing projects, especially quilts and maybe to try my hand at bag making. We’ll see. I’m not going to stress too much about sewing output and as a result you may see less of me around here. But I promise I’ll share anything I do make. And I do enjoy posting so I’ll try to at least not be a total stranger. At the very least, I’m planning to share more about our Easter dresses, so something to look forward to!

Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope everyone’s February and March was a little less…happening, ahem…than ours. But in any case, good things to come!