22 Weeks...

...It seems like time is flying by. Maddie (we're thinking that's her name) is growing quickly and becoming quite the squirmer. It seems like every time I try to sit still, she wants to rock-n-roll. She's also found a vein or nerve or something in my lower left pelvis that she sits on and with every pulse there's a sharp, stinging pain. It only lasts for about 5 minutes, but its not comfortable.

Last night Lane and Aubrey put together a little dinner for Brian and me (to celebrate Maddie, as well as our one year sobriety). It was good times with good folks :o) Anyway, we all went to a meeting last night together after dinner where the topic was "fear." It was definitely a meeting I needed seeing as how I'm allowing so many fears (mostly related to my pregnancy) to hamper me lately. I heard some great things at the meeting, like "Fear is the absence of faith, and faith is the freedom from fear," or something along those lines.

My biggest fear is that Maddie will have to go through some of the nastier parts of life that I went through. I keep thinking to myself, "If my parents were ALWAYS around and I still had these things happen, how am I going to protect her?" A very wise friend, Kathryn, provided me with the slap-to-the-forehead-of-course answer that I needed. She said, "It's not your job to protect her, God will protect her."

Thank you, Kathryn, I needed that.

Things are going pretty good. The only complaint I have is excruciating back pain all the time. My back throbs constantly and I don't really know what to do about it. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of (Tylenol, heating pads, prenatal massage, belly bands, body pillows, shape-up shoes, belly wedges) and nothing seems to work. It's a pretty steady throb and it makes it painful to sit, lay down, or walk. Not sure what else I can do, but I'm at the point where I'm willing to try anything. The good news is that according to everything I've heard and/or read about it, it pretty much goes away with the birth of the baby. So here's looking forward to dirty diapers, sleepless nights, crying babies, and NO back pain...I can't wait :o)

For dinner, Debbie (Brian's mom), Joey, Gina, Brian, and I went out to eat at Macaroni Grill, which was excellent. Afterward, Gina and I got to work on a diaper cake for Tracy's baby shower tomorrow. Tracy and her husband have decided not to find out the sex of the baby (she's due in June, I think) so they're going with a Noah's Ark (animal) theme. The cake came out great, but since you can't eat it, we made animal shaped candies too. I love projects!!!