22 Weeks With Lots to Say

Andy and me on a day-off before campus life went into full swing. I'm 19 weeks in this picture!

It is hard to believe that I am over half way through my pregnancy!  I get weekly emails that inform me about what is going on with my baby, my body and my head.  In the head section, it said that at this point I will probably be getting anxious about the delivery- this has definitely been true for me!

At around week 18 or 19 I was confident that the twitches I felt in my tummy were the baby, and in week 20 Andy felt the baby kick for the first time!  Now we feel baby Iversen all the time, most often mid-morning or late at night.  We went to our first rugby match 2 weeks ago and the baby was moving around like crazy.  I think it was the noise of the crowd, but Andy's convinced our baby loves rugby already (just like it's Daddy)!

The headaches have basically stopped!!  Overall I feel really great!  Every once in a while I have a little pain in my tummy (mild ligament pain) and I definitely need a nap here and there because of exhaustion, but other than that I feel awesome.  I am trying to soak this up while I can because I'm sure this second trimester will go by fast and then I'll feel like a big, uncomfortable blimp!  (In a good way, of course :))

We went in to have our ultrasound and little baby Iversen looks healthy and cute!  We were so excited to find out the gender of our baby at this appointment, but our baby had other plans.  He or she was being shy, with legs all twisted up so we couldn't see whether it was a boy or girl.  This was actually a really hard day for me emotionally.  There are a lot of unknowns for us right now, moving to a new country and all, so I was confident and excited about our decision to find out the gender- one thing for us to be certain of!  I had set up a lot of expectations around it- Andy and I had a fun day planned including a cozy restaurant to talk about names and our first purchase of a gender specific outfit.  We even coordinated an international cupcake exchange where we were having cupcakes delivered to family, half with pink in the middle and half with blue, and our family was gathering together to be surprised by the cupcakes that revealed the gender.  This obviously didn't go as planned either!  I would say I got more upset than I needed to, but to be honest I think it was a day where living so far from family and friends was hard.  I think there was more going on than me just not getting my way!  Andy and I are learning to embrace days like this for what they are, and cling to Christ as we miss home.  We have loved and been loved much in the US- of course we will miss it!  But now we get to say new hello's in a new place where God has new things in store!  And soon we get to say hello to our new baby!!

Lastly, we have started piecing together the baby room which has been so much fun and makes the thought of our little one entering the world feel even more real!  I seriously walk by the room and turn on the light and look inside multiple times a day!  I gotta take a moment to thank the people that have so generously given to us.  First of all, we had 2 baby showers before we left the US and people were so generous in the gifts that they gave!  Not only were we given many of the items that we needed for the baby, we were also given cash gifts to enable us to buy things here that we need.  So far we have used some of that money to buy a stroller (known as a pram or buggy here), a loveseat for the baby room (for late night feedings and for mommy and daddy to sit on and read tons of books to baby), and a rug and couch cushions to bring in some color and add some fun!  And we got awesome deals on all of these things!  Who says you can't find a good deal in an expensive city like Auckland?!

Super excited by how this came together!  Amazing deal on loveseat and rug, which match perfectly with the beautiful quilt that Bobby Jo and Andrea made for us in the US!

On top of that, Kiwis that we don't even know well have given us so much including clothes, a baby tub (we don't have a bath tub in our little place), a dresser and a crib that is on it's way- people have been so generous!  It's hard moving to a new place and setting up a new home, and our moving expenses budget quickly diminished after we bought a fridge, washing machine, couches, a bed, etc, etc.  But God knows what we need and has provided abundantly.  He has even provided things we don't necessarily need but that contribute to making nesting really fun!  (like an orange Chevron rug!).

Dresser recently given to us through a Navigator connection and baskets that I found on clearance for about $4! My plan is to put a changing pad on this dresser.

Thank you everyone for all that you have given!

That was a more lengthy update than I planned!  Just one more thing- here's me and my baby bump (though this shirt doesn't show off the bump enough)!  I have realized that since my torso is so short, I won't have a cute little basketball-shaped bump.  Nope, this baby is going to need my entire torso to grow!