the poll has arrived

As I mentioned before, I am stealing an idea from my good friend Kelsey (who by the way needs to let Lila come into the world very very soon so I can meet her!).  We have decided that since there is so much debate about whether or not this little one is a boy or girl it would be fun to put up a poll.  So cast your vote and after Monday January 4 we will let you know the actual results!

pictures with the family

aren't my sisters cute?

I love my family!

of butterfly wings and popcorn

As an excited almost-new mom, I get four or five weekly newsletters to my email updating me and telling me how big Juan(ita) is getting, one type of food s/he could be comparable to and also any new pains or discomforts I will be experiencing that week.  Two weeks ago my email newsletter said that soon I should beginning to feel fetal movements.  A friend of my mom's a month ago had asked me if I had felt the "butterfly" movements yet.  The emails mentioned the fluttering of a butterfly's wings or little popcorn popping feelings.  They also said that first-time mothers often miss the first movements because they don't know what they are trying to pay attention too.

With the challenge set before me to notice baby Juan(ita) kicking or stretching or moving I became a student of any weird movements in my belly.  There were a few times at night when I would wake up to go to the bathroom and feel something.  I would be sitting in the morning reading and spending time with Jesus and feel weird movements.  I never knew if it was my imagination or if it was the baby.  Most of the feelings I outruled because they were above my belly button and little Juan(ita) is not that big yet to be able to reach all of the way up there.

Finally, last Monday (the 9th) I woke up in the middle of the night and in the right area I felt something that felt like butterfly wings.  I laid still to try to feel more.  Nothing.  But then again in the morning while I was reading, I distinctly felt something in the right area that I have never felt before!  It was baby Juan(ita)!  Since then most days for a little bit I feel our baby doing many movements.  It is exciting to have this little connection with baby Juan(ita) and I can't wait for more!

development of the baby bump

For all of our friends and family outside of Des Moines...

week 12

week 17

even Jon has a sympathy bump!

...for Marissa

The other day my friend Marissa said that she checks the blog every day waiting to see any news about baby Schreiner.  So this post is for you Mar-Mar: happy reading.

I am now officially in the second trimester and am 16 weeks along.  What this means for anyone that does not read pregnancy sites once a week like I do is that this is the easy trimester.  I have been extremely thankful though because nothing has been too difficult so far.  First trimester is supposed to be full of morning sickness but I experienced a few weeks of nausea and nothing else.  However, two days before passing the first trimester mark I had my first (and only?) vomiting experience - and really that was my fault for taking prenatal vitamins on a virtually empty stomach.  The best part was that I had mixed reactions: I could not decide whether or not I should be upset or excited that I finally participated in what most pregnant women go through.

We had our third appointment Monday and our baby's heart is still beating and my belly measured me to be at 17 weeks.  So I think that means everything is going okay.

On Wednesday the Downtown Church had a parenting night with a panel of some of the pastors of Walnut Creek.  It was great to hear from these men whom Jon and I have gotten to see their lives and their now twentysomething age kids lives closely.  We learned some good foundations but also know the real learning will come when our "Juan(ita)" is born.  

Sometime soon I will get to feel our baby kick and move around.  The websites say that at first it just feels like a butterly or gas so at every little feeling in my belly I gasp and try to figure out if it is the baby saying hi.  But as far as I can tell, nothing so far.

Well, Marissa, hope this satisfies your excitement of the little one inside of me.  :)

the heartbeat

On Monday, we had our second doctor's appointment.  In my mind, this was the big one.  We were going to get to hear the heartbeat.  Up until Monday, the baby inside of me had been a huge elusive mystery, possibly even a trick.  It began to feel more real when we began telling people.  However, in the back of my mind there was always this feeling that I was making it up.  I felt like maybe the symptoms were all in my head; my jeans were tight because I was just gaining weight, the tiredness was just lack of sleep, the need to go to the bathroom all of the time because I was drinking more water, and so on.  And then there was the possibility that our baby had miscarried.  So, to Jon and I, Monday was a big appointment.

For such a big appointment, it sure was quick!  After waiting a while, we got into the room and soon after the doctor came in and had an instrument gooed up ready to detect the heartbeat.  She placed it on my abdomen and began searching for the heartbeat.  After a daunting 10 seconds, Dr. Roose found the heartbeat!  The heartbeat was so fast!  She said it was at 160 bpm.  Then she said that if I was a betting woman that I should make bets that the baby is a girl!  (Which followed with the stat that she is right 50% of the time.)  Then the appointment was over.

So that brings us to the next subject, will the baby be a girl or a boy?  So far, Jon's brother had a dream that our baby was a girl, while my sister had a dream that we were to have twin boys.  Be on the lookout for an idea I am going to steal from my friend Kelsey where we are going to have a poll as to if our baby is a boy or girl.

I was encouraged this week about the reminder of God's role the development of our baby, the delivering of the baby and then the growth of our child.  In Psalm 71:5-6, 17-18 it says:

"For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O LORD, from my youth.

Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

you are he who took me from my mother's womb.

My praise is continually of you...

O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and still I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come."

I am amazed at how our God can form us in the womb.  It is truly such a beautiful science to learn about each week: to learn about the toenails, the fists opening and closing, that the synapses in the brain are starting to function... We have a powerful and loving God!

babies and the boundary waters

In case you don't know... we are going to have a baby!  The baby is due April 12th, which means that I (Jenny) am 11 weeks into this whole pregnancy thing.  

So, just in case I haven't gotten to really see you much I am going to fill you in on everything that has gone on so far.

Way back at the end of July, Jon was preparing to go on a man trip to the Boundary Waters with a bunch of the guys from Campus Fellowship while I was getting ready for the easy life of tanning and boating at the Ozarks with the girls from CF.  As Jon was packing tents and I was figuring out meals, I began to do the math and realized that, while Jon was gone for 10 days without being able to communicate, I would know if I had gotten pregnant.  So I tried not to think about it.

So on a Thursday night Jon went up north while I went down south.  To make a long story short, I found out the next Tuesday I was pregnant and had to wait until Saturday to tell Jon!  There were a few days of craziness as I had nightmares about Jon dying on the trip.  But during that week at Epicenter there was a message about not being anxious so I began to trust God with my fears.  

Saturday arrived and Jon came home a few hours earlier then expected, and just as he expected, I told him that we were going to have a baby. :)

Since then I have been introduced to many random pregnancy symptoms that I never knew existed - cramping, tiredness, an increase in the sense of smell, ligament pain and some other things I will spare you from.  I have been thankful because there has not been "morning sickness" - just the need to eat every two hours like clockwork to keep from getting sick.  

We have had only one doctor's appointment; next monday is our second one and we get to hear the heartbeat!

Jon and I are excited about our little baby growing inside of me.  It is amazing to think that this week marks a year since Jon proposed and now we have been married for five months with a baby on the way!  It reminds me of a verse I read today describing Jesus as being "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20).  I can't wait to see what God is going to do during this new stage in our life.