Welcome to week 16. Our little kidney bean from week four is now the size of an apple and is approximately 3.4 inches long! It is amazing to think we only have four and a half weeks to go before we are half way through this pregnancy! Holy Cow.We've had a rocky couple of weeks. Our baby's great-grampie, Jack, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away an short six weeks later, on December 19th. It's been a blessing and a curse to experience this. We've spent much more time with Jason's family, including his two uncles, Scott and Jay, who live out of state, and his extended family (great-aunts & uncles, cousins, etc..) as well as his Mom & Grammie, and, of course, Grampie. For that we can only feel blessed, despite the unfortunate reason we were all gathered together. Many of the wonderful qualities I love so much about Jason are certainly a product of spending so much time with his Grampie, and I can only hope these are passed onto our little one as a everlasting reminder.
We had our third prenatal appointment on December 15th and everything was great. Jason found the baby's heartbeat like a pro (in fact he was faster than the Dr. when he tried a little while later) and it was 153. Dr. Heniser says this was perfect. How many times do we need to remind him that our baby is perfect, in every way? Seriously. :0) The Dr. squashed all my concerns about gaining too much weight, being too tired, feeling "down" and not fitting into ANY of my own clothes anymore. He actually implied he thought maybe I was joking about some of my questions...... I assured him I quite serious. He reminded me, "You are pregnant." He said he thought we were "fun" and he "couldn't wait" to deliver our baby.
Pregnancy has been very kind to me in the last 15 1/2 weeks. I had morning sickness for only 4 weeks, nothing has begun to swell (except my belly) and I don't have any pain. I have been craving only two things: Everything Bagel Thins toasted with whipped cream cheese and Chicken Burgers with Swiss, lettuce, tomato, pickles and extra mayonnaise. Thank God Gott's Store in Bass Harbor makes an AMAZING chicken burger with the perfect amount of each ingredient I require for ultimate happiness. As for the growing belly, I fast outgrew my own clothes. I tried to avoid the inevitable and dragged out a pair of pants I had, that were size 14 instead of the 12s I normally wear, and wore those three days a week so I only wore the preggo pants twice a week to work. Alas, at 14 weeks I gave up the fight and have not looked back. I have been blessed with the best friend ever who gave me a tote of maternity clothes which I have been wearing quite happily. After I suffered, quite uncomfortably, through an 8 hour day in WAY TOO SMALL pants so I could look nice for our Christmas Concert on the 11th one would have thought I would have known they would not fit on the 16th for a Christmas Party. However, I was undeniable surprised to find I would not be able to fasten, let alone breathe in, the beloved black pants for the next 6-9 months.
Despite the craziness of the previous month we have managed to get our Christmas tree up and 99% of our presents purchased, wrapped and ready to go. There's Christmas cards galore on the door frame from friends and family, and we are looking forward to spending time with family on Christmas. From our little family to yours -- Merry Christmas and Happiest New Year. May 2012 be as exciting for you as it is bound to be for us.
Much Love,
Joelle, Jason & Baby Ingalls <3
