19 weeks & counting down...

It seemed high time for a quick update on my pregnancy now that I've passed the half-way mark. This pregnancy seems to be going faster, which is wonderful since I really don't enjoy this part of parenting. I'm one of those strange people that looks forward to labor & delivery since it signals the end of the gestation period that I'm more than happy to be done with.

Officially, I hit 20 weeks last Sunday and before I got up for church, Kendall let me know that she was alive and kicking, literally. I had felt periodic movements over the past week or two but nothing consistent. Since last Sunday, she's making her activities known on a daily basis, which is reassuring.

Overall, I'm feeling good and I've regained my pre-pregnancy energy level after getting over my week-long cold which usually arrives around this time of year. I felt like I was 8 months along -- I was so wiped from the internal battles going on.

The only condition ailing me now is a mysterious pain in the front of my left shoulder that began on Monday and by Wednesday had pretty much incapacitated me. I guess I should be thankful that it wasn't my dominant arm, but geez, I had no idea how much I use my left arm until this happened. It means I can't lift Riley into his car seat, drive a car, put my hair in a ponytail or get dressed without pain. I have to do each movement very slowly and awkwardly to get through it.

Thankfully, I have a chiropractor in the house and he's been giving me daily adjustments for my neck, back, shoulder and elbow. This has afforded me a slightly greater range of motion, but the tenderness in the shoulder is still there. Additionally, I have stopped sleeping on my left side as I've suspected that this may be due to my preference to sleep on that side (which faces my alarm clock). Anyway, J thinks that it may not be the joint, but rather the muscle that is inflamed. So it leaves me with acupuncture, massage and my Doc to find relief. I'll be looking into #1 & #3 next week if nothing changes this weekend.

I'm now at the stage where things started spiraling out of control with Riley -- mainly weight gain. So I'm trying to be better this time with my food choices and staying more active. I'm still running 2x times a week and up until last Tuesday, was swimming 3x per week. I'm really bummed about having to give that up due to the shoulder as I've been able to work up to 16 laps in 30 min. A big improvement from 6 laps when I started 2 months ago. I have to give up my weekly weight workout too until the shoulder gets better. So, I'm having to add machines to my weekly regimen, mainly the elliptical since I get the hardest workout on those.

After much fear and trembling, I decided to get the H1N1 shot on the advise of my midwives. I'm not a big fan of non-natural ways of dealing with disease, but in this case I made an exception due to my pregnancy. Since it's going deeper into the lungs and I'm losing lung capacity by the week, they convinced me that the risk associated with the disease may be worse than the risk of the vaccine. I've gone back and forth on my choice ever since, but what's done is done. Even though I have a natural immunity to the flu, I'd never forgive myself if the worst case scenario played out and J had to make the awful choice of saving me or Kendall if I succumbed this particular strain. I just pray that Kendall isn't adversely affected by my choice and entrust her to the Lord's care.

Emotionally, I'm both excited about expanding the family and yet wondering how we're going to manage two kids along with job, home & church responsibilities. I hear from others that you just figure it out as you go and keep adjusting the priorities.

(Housekeeping will remain on the lower end of the list...I'm sure of that.)

So, in conclusion...here's the 21-week belly shot:



















Shelby