Week 19 – Easter and the Calm Before the Storm

Easter Nails

Puppy Pillow

Happy Easter

This past Sunday was Easter.  As usual, we went to church in the morning and then went to my Uncle Paul’s house for a family party in the afternoon.  I wonder how our holidays will be divvied up when our little one comes.  Since it’s just us traveling, though it’s sometimes exhausting, it really isn’t too complicated.  We’ve split up the holidays between my family and Trevor’s pretty evenly.  Easter and Mother’s Day we stay here with my family, since we travel to Trevor’s in April & twice in June for a couple of birthday parties and for Father’s Day.  Thanksgiving is usually here with my family because his family doesn’t always have a big get together.  However, we’ll see them all in October now for another birthday party, so that’s now evened out.  And Christmas has always been easy as both families celebrate on different days. 

Again, I wonder how that is going to change when we start to do our own family traditions.  I only have 2 cousins on my side that are married or have children, and every year we see them dramatically less often.  On Trevor’s side, only a couple of cousins have children but a lot of them are now married and things are quite different from when I first started going to his family’s functions.  I know traveling with kids is harder but combining that with juggling in-laws & the family that you’ve created makes it all the more difficult.  I’m curious to see how the next few years alter the traditions I’ve followed my whole life.

BK this week is 6 inches long, around 7 ounces big, and is the size of a large mango.  It is around this time that they can start to hear sounds from within your own body (they say “hear sounds” but it’s really “feeling vibrations”) – the heart beating, blood swishing, lungs filling, food digesting, and the tenor of your voice, especially if it’s lower-pitched.  Also this week, BK’s body coated in what’s called vernix caseosa; a greasy protective coating that protects the skin from amniotic fluid.  It will shed closer to delivery, though if born a little early, it may still have some.  I’ve been pretty good this week and really have been good for the most part since the sciatic pain subsided a few weeks ago.  The nausea from being in the car is also getting a little better too.  I think I felt the baby moving again.  It feels the same as it did 2 weeks ago when I thought I felt it the first time.  Unfortunately, it’s still too subtle for Trevor to feel anything yet.  He’s pretty anxious to experience those first movements for himself. 

I titled this entry “The Calm Before the Storm” because there really isn’t anything for us to do this week but wait for time to pass.  Next week is our 20 week ultrasound.  We don’t have room to pack and pile up boxes, so that has to wait until our closing date is nearer.  Ah, just looking at this to-do list for next couple of weeks is exhausting.  If only it were possible to stock-pile hours of sleep.

Trevor’s Note:  I really do have to admit that I’m jealous that Ashley can feel the baby and I can’t.  I know this will sound weird but I’ve never felt a baby kick in the womb before.  It’s not that I really wanted to wait; I just never had a really good opportunity before.  But now that my baby will be the first one, I’m really looking forward to it.