I'm Gonna Be a Daddy! (Cross post from Just Visiting)

So I'm gonna be a daddy! We got pregnant in October and we are due around July 23rd. It's pretty crazy to think that I'm going to be in charge of another life! I'm going to be in charge of nurturing, protecting, and teaching another person. I will have a major influence on this person's life. I can influence their self esteem and identity and purpose. I will even influence what their likes and dislikes are such as what their favorite sport is and where they like to vacation. I will also affect their beliefs about life. I pray that God will help me to make all the right decisions and be the best father that I can be.

I am very excited about all of this as well! I'm looking forward to pouring out my love on this new person. I think I will enjoy protecting and caring for them. I want to share everything that I have learned in life with this person so that they can do even better in life than I have. I also can't wait to share good times with them doing various activities such as biking, backpacking, traveling, playing sports, etc. I also feel that it will be a privilege to introduce my child to my God.

I can't wait to meet this new person!

ultrasound (kendra)

The ultrasound was really cool too. It was amazing to actually watch baby moving around inside there! We’d decided not to find out the sex, which does make it a little difficult to choose a pronoun with which to refer to baby. But it will make it so much fun when baby comes out and we get to hear “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” Besides, I’d rather go with the neutral colors as we prepare for baby’s arrival. Yellow, green, cream…much nicer than having an entirely pink or blue wardrobe as far as I’m concerned. And the practical planner in me figures that this way we can reuse most of what we get this time around next time around.

baby kicks (kendra)

One of the neatest things about pregnancy so far has been feeling baby move around inside of me. It has taken quite a while to warm up to the idea that there is a human being growing inside my belly…in fact, it’s still crazy to me most of the time. I really wonder how God comes up with these things.

The first time that Jason was able to feel baby kick was really special too. The other day I read that at this stage, baby likes the attention when mom and dad are trying to feel him kick. That night after dinner, I was reading one of my pregnancy books out loud to Jason on the couch. He had his hand on my belly and before long, he was “playing” with baby…feeling baby move around and poking at my belly to get her to respond…and paying absolutely no attention to what I was reading to him. :-)

my husband

I am in love with my husband. I love that he makes me laugh…and that I make him laugh too. I am amazed by his humility and his servant heart. I love that he accepts and loves me even in my brokenness. I love that I can just be me around him without thinking twice. And that he loves even the goofiest sides of me. I love that I feel the safest I’ve ever felt when I am in his arms. And that I can trust and respect him without hesitation. I love that he takes such good care of me. He provides for me. He challenges me to aspire to new heights in all aspects of my life…but doesn’t pressure me to be who I’m not or do things I’m not up for doing. He is talented, he is dedicated, he is smart, and he is hot. :-) He has such a heart for God…to know Him and to make Him known. He has such a desire to be the best husband he can be for me…and he is. I am so excited to see him embrace his new role as father. I know he will be such an amazing dad to our baby.

sleep (kendra)

I have definitely had my share of sleep during this pregnancy. Being unemployed, I don’t often have reasons to be jumping out of bed first thing in the morning. So there was definitely a period when I would sleep until 9, 9:30, 10, and even later. Jason likes to make fun of me for it, but I know he’s just jealous. ;-) And I’ve been better lately. I was beginning to feel like I was wasting a good chunk of my day by sleeping so late. And though I was probably needing the sleep for a while, at times it seemed like it was interfering with my ability to sleep soundly throughout the night. So lately I’ve been getting up earlier and sleeping better during the night. But if I’m feeling too tired to get out of bed before Jason leaves from work, I don’t. As long as I don’t have anywhere to be. My sister says that I should enjoy the sleep while I can. And I know that’s true. It will be much harder to come by soon!

morning sickness (kendra)

Morning sickness, as most people seem to know these days, is a bit of a misnomer. It can hit you at any time during the day...or last the entire day for that matter. Personally, I hardly ever felt sick first thing in the morning. It was the afternoons and evenings that got me. And it was pretty miserable. I am thankful to be able to speak in the past tense about it! I never even threw up…nope, the last time I threw up was probably over 6 years ago. Not a big pastime for me, fortunately. But I definitely was nauseous. Nauseous enough that at times I had to rack my brain for extended periods of time in order to come up with some food that I could stand to eat. Nauseous enough that I could not understand how anyone in their right mind could say that they ENJOY being pregnant. Up to that point, I was not a fan. But sure enough, I fell into the category that the majority of pregnant women do, and my nausea began to subside as I transitioned into my 2^nd trimester.

my stint as a high school teacher (kendra)

When I found out that I was pregnant, I was nearing the end of a 3-month job as a long-term sub for a high school chemistry teacher who was on maternity leave (yes, a little ironic). The job was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done…for the most part, if I wasn’t sleeping, I was working. Thankfully, my amazing husband supported me through it all and pick up the slack around the house. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have eaten much during that job. As it was, I certainly wasn’t eating enough for two and knew that needed to change immediately!

Fortunately, I made it through the rest of the job without too much trouble. Morning sickness had begun to rear its ugly head, but I was able to push through and not let it get in the way too much. By Christmas, I was done being a high school chemistry sub…and extremely thankful for it. Jason and I headed home to CT for a refreshing time with family and friends.

why i'm here (kendra)

Well, I’m in my 23^rd week of pregnancy. Jason has been on me to start a blog for months now and I’ve finally decided to give in. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do. The plan is for this to be a joint effort, but Jason already has two blogs to keep up with so I'll probably be doing a bit more of the posting.

Pregnancy has been an interesting experience for me so far. It all started back at the end of November (well, technically the pregnancy started sooner, but you don’t need to hear about that) when I began to suspect that I was pregnant. We were in Vegas for Thanksgiving with J’s family and by the end of the trip, I was becoming more and more convinced that I was pregnant. On our way back into Boulder, we stopped and picked up an at-home pregnancy test and sure enough, it was positive! Even though I kinda already knew, the reality of it still took me by surprise. Since it wasn’t exactly in our plans for the time being, it was a little hard to swallow at first. There was some excitement, but it was mixed with a good bit of fear and shock as well. It took me a while to settle down and fall asleep that night. We definitely had some big changes ahead of us!