Ch-ch-ch-changes!

So many changes happening around here!  We are in the final months of this pregnancy and it's hitting home that in just two months there will be a little lady in this house.  It's becoming more and more real as I see my belly growing, and even more so as I feel the discomfort that often times accompanies the third trimester.  I'm feeling aches and pains that I never experienced in my pregnancy with Sam.  This little one is already measuring bigger than her brother did at this point, and she's sitting pretty head down.  This is all great news to me as I would really not like to have another c-section if at all possible.  I'm often calling my sisters and asking - "Is this normal?!"  I feel like I'm a first time pregnant lady because things are so different this time around.

I wanted to share a cool experience I had a few weeks ago.  I have been experiencing some spotting with this pregnancy - nothing like I did with Sam, but still to be safe, my Dr. told me that I need to call or go in and have the baby checked when this happens.  It always seems to happen at the most inopportune times.  Like at our Christmas Party for Mike's family, for example.  It was Christmas Eve, we had driven into Salt Lake from Vernal, and I noticed the spotting at the beginning of the party.  I was determined not to let it ruin my night, so we waited until the party was over before making the decision to head to IMC in Murray.  The drive there, both Mike and I were frustrated, wondering if this was going to be our life every week - making little trips to the Dr. just to reaffirm what we already know, our baby is fine.  I told Mike, I would just really like to talk to someone who understands my situation - my exact situation! Dr's try their best, but let's face it - my situation is different.  Not every woman has two uteri!  When we got to the IMC, our nurse was getting me ready to see the Dr., and she asked me to explain what was going on. I promptly went through my spiel on how my anatomy is different, my baby is in my right uterus, I've experienced preterm labor with my previous pregnancy, etc.  At that point, she asked me if I had heard of the lady about two years ago in Murray, who had two uteri also and was pregnant in both.  I laughed and told her that I had and that I got many phone calls from people wondering if that was me.  She then told me that the woman is actually one of their labor and delivery nurses.  When our nurse's shift ended, she sent Angie - the one with the two utes - in to be my nurse.  What commenced was about an hour and a half of questions from me and very relevant answers from her.  Here was someone who knew exactly what I was going through.  Her pregnancies (all 4 of them!) were all very similar to mine.  She experienced issues with her situation just as I had.  It was the most comforting conversation I could have asked for. And as we left the hospital, I realized that my prayer had been answered.  Only my prayer was never spoken in the form of a prayer.  It strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father not only hears our prayers but knows our hearts, our fears, and our frustrations.  And sometimes, he will send us tender mercies - not necessarily in response to those prayers, but as an arm reached out to surround us to remind us that he knows us and loves us.  I will never forget that.

Here we are at 30 weeks. 10 more to go.

 My goofy, big boy.  Sam is just growing up way to fast these days.  In an attempt not to rock his world too much, we decided to go ahead and move him to his big boy bed now, rather than when baby sister gets here.  I was nervous, but my kid is a rock star.  He's not only sleeping well at night, but taking his naps like a champ too.   He'll come to the door and knock and cry for about 5 minutes, but then he'll crawl back in bed and go right to sleep.  He also graduated from the high chair to a booster seat and doesn't like anyone really doing anything for him!  He also LOVES to say "no" and will use it when really he means "yes".  We're trying to encourage other words than "no" because I swear that's all he says all day long.

 Out of boredom one day, I decided we needed to change things up. I stuck him in the tub with food colored pudding and he had a blast.  He ate it all.  I'm glad I used something edible.

 Loving his rocking horse Nani and Papi sent from North Carolina.