A sight to make eyes sore

Over the past 5-6 days, I seem to have developed an allergy. I think it's an allergy to birch pollen, the level of which the newspaper says is "high". Having never had an allergy before, I find myself quite troubled by the constant runny nose and runny, itchy eyes. I will have soon used up my precious box of Puffs, which means I'll have to resort to scratchy tissues made for not-so-sensitive Scandinavian noses.

The midwife says that pregnancy can bring on allergies, as the immune system is a bit weaker. I hope this is the only allergy I get -- and I hope it rains soon to get rid of some of the pollen.

At the moment, though, with the sun shining and the birch trees budding and leafing all over the place, I look at the mirror in fright. At the center of my face is a bright red nose, and my eyes constantly look as if I've been crying. No amount of makeup or smiling make this pregnant woman pretty. What is all this take about the "pregnancy glow"? My nose looks like a stop sign!

Shwew, Shwew, Shwew goes the little heart

Had our second visit to the midwife today and learned that she is actually head of our city's midwife center. I absolutely love her. She takes her time, laughs, is bubbly, and explains everything to us. She answers all of our questions and seems to be nearly as excited about the baby as we are.

We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time today -- "shwew, shwew, shwew"... if you say that 142 times in a minute, that's what it sounds like. It has to be one of the most beautiful sounds in the entire world. For me, it's a confirmation of life. It was one thing -- an amazing event -- to see the baby on the initial ultrasound 6 weeks ago, but somehow the heartbeat is so much more real. Almost halfway there, baby.

Test results: normal blood pressure, and normal iron and sugar levels. Learned that I don't have syphillis or HIV. However, I was surprised to learn that I don't have conclusive resistance to rubella, although I'm pretty sure I was vaccinated as a child. Therefore, I have to be very careful (although it's not very common anymore, knock on wood). I will be vaccinated at the hospital as soon as the baby is born.

The uterus is growing as it should, although I feel like a big balloon. I've gained around 10 lbs, which is more than I did this early (18 weeks) in the other pregnancies, but there is no apparent reason behind it. My typical meals consist of yogurt and bran flakes for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and a regular, healthy dinner. I'm still walking an hour a day, at a minimum. So who knows...

We've talked about trying to come up with some names this weekend, before next week's ultrasound. There is a chance the technician will tell us whether baby is a boy or a girl (any votes? make them now!), and then it won't be necessary to pick both. Crazy, but I want to pick both a boy's name and a girl's name before then.

In the meantime, we're in the midst of reporting season, which means hours and hours of work. It's going very smoothly, though, and I really like the group of people I'm working with. Besides, I have just over a month left before I start my maternity leave (yes, it is definitely a good thing to have a baby here...) The first 4 months will be leave that I get to take for Lucas (I get one year of leave that I can take before he turns 8.).

And I'm making a list of places I want to see and places I want to eat while in the US. Life has its priorities, you know!

Easter Eggs

16 weeks and 2 days now... time is flying by. I haven't felt any movement yet, despite my impatient waiting and long discussions with my stomach to try to convince the little one that it's about time. We spend most of our baby-talk time discussing possible names. The boys have come up with some good ones. We'll see where we end up.

In the meantime, we celebrated Easter, so in this entry you'll find photos of Lucas and Matthew during their Easter Egg Hunt, and one of Matthew sitting in our back yard. I thought he looked so sweet sitting there for twenty minutes or so contemplating the grass (actually, he was trying to convince a cat to come over to him, but the picture doesn't tell the whole story).

The next visit to the midwife is the 27th -- I can't wait to hear the baby's heart beating!

Until next time, here's a cheer for sunshine, new babies (congrats Nicole and Tony with A.J., and all of our many friends and family who are expecting), and to the warmth and love of families.

p.s. Leave a comment with your name suggestions!!!!