two different bumps

Thank you so much for the excitement and congratulations following our baby news! We are so excited as well and can't wait to discover who is coming to join our family this year. These pictures were taken during week 12 when my baby bump decided to make its grand appearance. I woke up on a Sunday morning and there it was, daring me to try and suck it in. I tried and failed.

I am already planning to dig out my maternity pants and get nice and comfortable. I've decided there is no need to force myself into my regular jeans (even though they can still be buttoned up at this point) just to be reminded of how they don't quite fit the same anymore. At times it's hard for me to think about how much I've worked these past couple of years to get back into shape only to have to do it all over again after this baby, but my past pregnancies I have felt really good in my skin so I am hoping this one will be the same.

To help with this I plan to start exercising once more. With Lark I worked out almost every day until I was 8 months along. That is when I pulled a muscle reaching for something (not even working out!) and had to stop. For the past four years up until we moved I was part of a group of moms in my neighborhood who would meet at the church every morning to exercise. We would bring out the nursery toys for the kids to play with on one side of the gym while we exercised on the other. We did zumba, yoga, circuits, tabata, pilates, and more and always had a great work out... but what made it my favorite part of the day were the conversations. So many women touched my life in that gym through their stories and friendship. It was such a strengthening time for me both physically and spiritually and I really miss it. I won't be able to replace it, but at least I can get off my tush and start moving again and bid a fond farewell to my first trimester laziness.

Lark got a bump all her own a couple of weeks ago as I'm sure you noticed in our baby announcement pictures. She was standing on a chair when it tipped and the edge of the end table caught her fall. I was there and immediately put my hand to her forehead not knowing how bad it was and rushed her upstairs to the bathroom. By the time we got there my arm was covered in blood and when I peeked at the wound for the first time my heart dropped - it was deep and gaping. After panicking, calling Husband to hurry home, and wondering if I should drive her to insta-care bleeding on my lap, I discovered that the blood flow was actually stopping rather quickly and that helped calm me down. She was pretty shaken, but calming down as well so I cleaned us both up, put a band-aid on it, and held her tight. By the time Husband got home she was back to her normal happy self and it no longer seemed urgent, although I still felt sick that my baby was hurt. It was right around dinner time so we made the kids fast and easy grilled cheese sandwiches and then drove to insta-care afterwards.

I was unsuccessfully holding back tears in the waiting room as the scene replayed in my mind, thinking about how I should have gone over there and grabbed her off the chair rather than just telling her to sit down. Then we were called back. They wrapped her in a blanket and began cleaning her laceration and poking her what seemed way too many times with a needle to numb the area. She didn't like that at all and I don't blame her,  it was the worst part for both of us. When the doctor came in we tried to explain to her how he was going to help and she locked eyes brimming with tears on me and I could see that she understood enough to trust us.

While the doctor put in six stitches she held perfectly still.

My brave little baby girl. How I wish I could prevent you from ever being hurt again.