Surprises

Several things have surprised me about being pregnant and I just want to put them out there before I forget:

1) How similar my belly stretching feels to times before when I would push it out on purpose to see what I might look like when I was pregnant

2) How much my tummy itches (more and more)

3) How everyone touches my belly up high but I feel the baby down much lower

4) How infrequent the first movement was and how similar it felt to a pulse that would start and stop for a long time and how I could sometimes get myself into positions that I could feel it better- I really wasn't sure that was it, but now I think it must have been...

5) How the movement feels now, sometimes like going downhill or over a bump in the road really fast

6) Who asks about my growing belly and who hasn't said anything at all

7) How relatively little morning sickness I got (maybe because Juan Carlos shared it a little)

8) How much I have not had issues with sciatica (I have struggled with sciatica (pinched nerve) in my back for several years on and off and it hasn't acted up at all so far- what a blessing!)

9) My first experience with heartburn- I don't think I've ever gotten it before

10) My incredible appetite- I feel hungry all the time and I have throughout this pregnancy, even in the first trimester- people ask if I have cravings and my only real answer is I crave anything someone mentions. If someone says, "pizza" or "shrimp" or whatever, I just have to have it... so please be careful when you talk about food around me ; )

11) That I haven't gotten sick- I got sick at the very beginning, when I was only around 8 or 9 weeks pregnant and then I got a little stomach bug recently but overall, I've been really blessed to not have gotten sick yet this winter

12) Finally, I've surprised myself with how much I am taking this pregnancy one step at a time and really not thinking that much about the future- maybe a blessing in disguise of having experiences that the future didn't hold what I thought. For whatever reason, I like the change and feel like it is helping me to appreciate what "is" more and not worry so much about what's coming....