Jonathan's Back!

Today we have reached the 20 week and 4 day mark, and we are very excited for our appointment on Thursday where we get to find out if it is a boy or a girl. Jonathan is really hoping for a boy to carry on the Nichols name, but I am crossing my fingers for a girl. I have my niece Lydia on nightly prayer duty for a girl, because she is really wanting a girl cousin after having two brothers. I almost feel bad hoping really badly for something, because I don't want people to tell our little boy (if we have one) that mommy wanted something different :). I'll be happy either way, but girl clothes are sooo much cuter to me! I figure God gives you what you need, and we don't really know what we need until it happens all the time.

Jonathan is back from Special Forces Selection, and he made it so close to the end but got injured. Right now he's in the re-evaluation phase to figure out if he wants to go for it again or if he wants to pick a different job within the National Guard. He's been looking into flight school and a few other jobs. Right now we are getting ready to move into a new apartment, I'm trucking along at work, and Jonathan is figuring out next steps after completing Selection.

19 weeks

Today I have reached the 19 week mark...almost half way there!!! I wanted to post a picture for people who don't see me all the time :) I barely ever take pictures of myself, so it's a shocker for me even to see how much bigger I have gotten. I guess when you see yourself everyday you don't realize how much you have started to change. Once Jonathan gets back in town on June 26, he won't have seen me for 3 weeks, so I'm interested to see if he'll be surprised by how different I look from 17 weeks pregnant to 20 weeks.

Yesterday evening I had a little bit of a scare. Amy, Jayne (sisters-in-law), and I went to Tokyo Joe's, because I wanted sushi and they sell cooked sushi. While eating the shrimp roll, my tongue started to go numb and swell up, which has never happened before. I pride myself on having no allergies :). Luckily, some paramedics had pulled in to get some dinner, so one of them evaluated me for free while Amy went to the Walgreens next door to get Benadryl and check with the pharmacist if it was ok. I also called my obgyn to make sure everything would be ok with the baby. I had no idea whether or not having an allergic reaction would do anything to the baby. The doctor said benadryl was fine and to just stay away from shellfish until I could get allergy tests after pregnancy. I found it a little bit funny that I may have had a reaction to shellfish, because Jonathan has a raging allergy to shellfish that requires him to carry Epi pens. Now I'm carrying part of his DNA and I suddenly react to shellfish possibly. The doctor said a baby does not cause allergies, but I thought it was a funny coincidence!

Fun Pregnancy Survey

I tried a prenatal yoga video for the first time 2 days ago, and I realized I am not really a yoga person. Deep breathing and stretching just don't really turn my mind off or do anything for me. However, yesterday I got an amazing facial that Jonathan gave me as a gift before he left for Special Forces training since I've been having some breakout issues since getting pregnant. That was much more of a relaxer for me than yoga could ever be. The girl who did my facial is 23 weeks pregnant with her first baby, so it was fun to talk to her a little bit about what pregnant life will be like about a month from now. Amy (my sister-in-law for those who don't know) and I went to Gap Maternity yesterday also to make some exchanges, but of course I walked out with 4 new shirts. Overall, it was a great Saturday!!

I found this survey on a friends blog, and I thought it would be fun to do...

How far along: 18 weeks and 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: +14 poinds
Maternity clothes: I bought maternity pants at about 12 weeks and love them. They are so comfortable! I've been going in between maternity tops and nonmaternity, but most of my nonmaternity tops aren't fitting anymore.
Sleep: Great! The first 3 months I fell asleep at about 6 p.m. each night. Now, I'm on a normal sleep schedule like pre-pregnancy, but I fall asleep a lot easier.
Best moment this week: People commenting on how pregnant I am looking.
Movement: I had thought I started to feel it around 16 1/2 or 17 weeks, but the doctor said it's probably a little bit early. I'm not so sure, but I haven't felt much for about 2 days now.
Cravings: Watermelon and chicken fingers.
Gender: Unknown. Set to find out on July 1st.
Labor Signs: None.
Belly Button in our out? In.
What I miss: Being able to suck in my stomach to get between tight spots.
What am I looking forward to? Just about everything! I'm looking forward to finding out the gender and getting to feel those first big kicks.
Weekly Wisdom: Stretch those hamstrings and don't sit in one spot for too long to help with back pain.
Milestones: Making it out of the first trimester successfully after a kind of scary one, and upgrading to medium maternity shirts instead of small in preparation for the big stretch.

Getting this Blog Started!

I'm so excited to get this blog started, and I'm hoping that I can stay consistent about posting. We have a lot of exciting things going on right now that can be completely life changing. Jonathan is down at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina right now at Selection for the Special Forces with the Army. The Selection process lasts for 3 weeks, and he just left on Saturday June 5th. It's a lot of physical tests, rucking around the woods with 70 pounds on your back, land navigation in the pitch black night, obstacle courses, and academic tests while totally sleep deprived. So overall it sounds like a blast!! We're not able to talk at all since they took away his phone, so I'm just praying for him every day that he's doing well and doesn't get injured. He's been working sooo hard for this and has gotten himself into amazing shape.
Another update in our lives is that we are having a baby! I'm 18 weeks and 1 day pregnant right now, and the baby is due around November 10, 2010. Jonathan is hoping this due date sticks since that is the Marine Corp birthday :). We have our 20-week appointment (which will be my 21-week mark) on July 1st where we get to find out if it is a boy or a girl. I would put an ultrasound picture up with this post, but our last one was a month ago, so I'll hold off until the next appointment. I just started to feel the baby move with little flutters about a week ago, so it is all starting to become more real now.
So, those are the major things right now, and we'll keep everyone updated on how Jonathan does at Selection and baby progress.