I'm getting verklempt... talk amongst yourselves

I have had a number of humbling experiences in my life.  Here are just a few:

• Running a marathon
• Being let go from a job
• Being called out for bratty behavior
• Disappointing my parents/boss/husband/friends/etc
• The moment I knew I was in love with Bret

There are good humbling moments and bad ones.  Marathons are emotional and painful, but that humbling is good.  It breaks you down to nothing so you can rebuild your spirit and keep going.  It is cleansing, cathartic.  When I knew I loved Bret, I knew I would love him forever.  I knew that there was someone in this world that mattered more to me than anyone ever had before.

Now I am a Mama.  This is crazy humbling.  My body is growing a little life.  And during moments when I wish I could throw back a beer, have brie on toast, or have the energy to do everything I could do before, I try to remember this.  That right now, my job is to grow a baby.  My time, love, and self-care are devoted to the upcoming birth of this child.

Speaking of humbling... on Thursday, we find out whether it's a boy or a girl.  Either way, the baby's name will start with an M.  So the bee's grandpop has started calling our child Baby M.

I Dream of Eating

I wrote this post sometime around week 14 (six weeks ago).

For several weeks, I thought being pregnant meant that my relationship with food would be on a 9-month hiatus.  I kept running into road blocks with my favorite dishes.  Because of one ill-timed soup I made, greens, soyrizo, and sometimes soup in general turn my stomach.  A lunch during the early preg haze has turned me against Torchy's avocado tacos, a meal I adore.  It was depressing.

Then after those weeks, passed, I noticed that I was craving certain things.  I now have a pantry and desk drawer stocked with new favorites: nuts, brown rice crackers, canned and dried fruit, and Preggie Pops.  I discover that not only am I not afraid of vegetables, but I love a crispy romaine salad topped with crunchy raw veggies and tart dressing.  I dive into a bowl of fresh cut raw veggies with abandon.  I can eat an entire carton of grape tomatoes in a sitting.

And...  Sometimes, I dream about food.  Usually it's not healthy.  My food dreams have included the following foods: pizza, doughnuts, unagi eel sushi (ew), cheese enchiladas, and ice cream.  And I wake up ravenous.  Pregnant hunger is, I've learned, a force to be reckoned with.

There is movement

It happens the most when I've just eaten...  the baby moves in little flutters and occasional kicks.  It started somewhere between week 14 and 15.  The frequency is picking up!  I'm sure that in a couple of months I will be tired of all the movement, but for now, it's magical.