21 weeks

So, happy 21 weeks to Owen today. Mommy celebrated turning 21wks along by throwing up her lovely breakfast while on the road this morning and peeing in her pants a little from all the wretching...an activity that I thought I had left far, far behind me, somewhere around 15wks. Not that I should be surprised as these last few nights have not been much easier -they've been filled with a lot of difficulty getting comfortable....I've tried each side, with pillows, without pillows, sitting, leaning, stretching, and my poor husband has developed a permanent hand cramp from rubbing my lower back so much. So, I'm back at home now, all showered & cleaned up in my 2nd outfit for the day. Anyone who says that pregnancy is all sunshine, puppy dogs, roses or rainbows is seriously either on happy pills or a huge liar...and if they're on happy pills, I would love it if they would share on days like today!

Okay, so ranting over. Owen appears to be doing fine despite his mommy's discomforts & complaints. Week 21 = the approximate size of a banana...and this confuses me as going from a canteloupe to a banana seems like moving backwards. He's moving all around these days - our next appointment isn't until the end of next week and I'm very curious to see what my weight is. Normally, I would shudder at this thought, but with being 5lbs DOWN from pre-pregnancy weight at my last visit, being at a gestational age where technically I should be gaining 1lb/week and now with the threat of returning vomiting, I'm just a tad concerned. Maybe my OB will be a doll and let us have a quick growth US just to check on Owen.

Cory spent most of his weekend working in Owen's room - he got everything moved out (which was a huge feat in itself), taped off all the walls/doors/windows, spackled a ton of holes in the walls and put one coat of primer on. We ran into a snag with getting the actual paint colors this weekend, as it seems the color NAVY is too "dark" for any of the paint machines to color match - ugh! So, we picked up about 50 paint swatches and have narrowed the navy color down to 2 possible types. I'm thinking now that the navy wall will need to be on a different wall in the nursery than what I had originally planned b/c since it won't be an exact match, I don't think I want it up directly against any part of the bedding. The sand color was easy to pick - so we'll do one more coat of primer and then hopefully this weekend get the actual color up. I'll post pics then, since it's nothing much to look at right now.

In non-pregnancy or Owen related news, I received my official packet from the NCC (our WHNP certifying body) with my board examination results on Saturday! I had this irrational fear that even though they told me I passed the day I took my test, that my packet would come and they would say "sorry, we've made a mistake, you didn't really pass"! However, I was pleasantly surprised when I reviewed my results. They don't give you answers to the questions you missed, but rather tell you about your areas of testing strength & weakness. I was seriously blown away when I had a "very strong" result in the primary care/pharmacology/diagnosis/treatment categories - as I've never considered those to be my strengths, ha! I did well in the OB & Gyn categories as well, but bottom line is I passed and it's all done with! Since passing the test changes my credentials, I spent most of Saturday totally re-doing my professional portfolio, CV, resume and other professional documents. I found this hugely ironic since in a matter of 3 more weeks I will be a stay-at-home-wife until Owen comes and then a stay-at-home-mom until December '09. This of course all stems from the fact that Owen finally decided to be a sticky baby when it would make him due right when Purdue's fall semester is starting -I mean really, there is no way I could teach OB clinicals at 38+ weeks, then go on leave 2 weeks into the new semester OR if Owen was born early, go back to teaching 2 weeks after he was born. Because I cannot start the semester due to Owen's due date, Purdue has decided to allow me to have the semester "off" with the offer to return in January '10 and resume teaching. I feel so fortunate to be given the opportunity to return and I think being able to stay at home with Owen for a short period of time will be priceless.

This week I'm not teaching since my students have a mandatory leadership conference to attend on Friday, so I figured the best way to fill that time was by scheduling my first pre-natal massage!! I have a gift certificate which makes the price much more appealing and Cory's hands are thankful for the break, ha! Then on Saturday, my parents are coming down for their first visit in months! It will be nice to have them here & see all the changes we've made in the house...and maybe even the changes in my belly since they've not seen us in about 2 1/2 months. Then the following weekend, Cory's parents are visiting from New York :) It's just one of the downsides to both of us having moved away from home - we don't get to see family a lot....maybe that will change once Owen arrives.