24 Weeks

We finally made it to 6 months, I can hardly believe it. As of right now if I went into labor Baby Girl has a good chance of surviving. I feel like I can take a deep breath now. We find it so interesting that Baby Girl already reacts to things on the outside. This week we were watching Joyce Meyer and she got really excited and active, then after it is over she settled down. Every time we pray over her or read the bible to her she starts to move. I think it is neat that she recognizes God’s word. She also reacts to other things, such as Polka music and Czech food. I keep telling Mark she is definitely Czech.

This week has been really rough. Friday was one of the worse days I have had in a long time. My allergies are really bothering me and I do not think Clairton is working very well. I could not get up without getting dizzy or sick at my stomach. I also had a headache too and my sinuses were all blocked up. I think part of it is because I had a massage Thursday night, which was wonderful. My doctor had told me I had a lot of blockage below my ear and down my neck. I have had ear aches and my jaw has been hurting. I think during the massage it loosen up all of that blockage. Saturday through Monday has felt like a daze to me and I still do not feel 100%. We go see Dr. Rister tomorrow, so we will be able to find out if I can do anything else for my allergies.

This weekend was crazy busy. We had a wedding on Saturday, which was a lot of fun. Then we had our family reunion and a baby shower on Sunday. Everyone at the family reunion kept asking what baby girl’s name is and I told them they will have to wait for two more weeks. They were trying to trick me into telling her name by catching me off guard, but it did not work. We finally told the girls this week; however, it was not planned. It accidently split out, but we have wanted to tell them anyways. We told them they could not tell anyone until after the shower.

Other Updates: It finally rained yesterday!!! We received 2 inches of rain. On a side note, Mark hurt his hand yesterday. One of our cows is sick and we have her pinned up. She was trying to get her into the shoot to give her a shot and she decided not to go in. When she backed up she smashed Mark’s finger between a metal pipe and a post. One of our really good friends, who is a nurse, looked at it last night and did not think it was broke. She doctored him up and he has an appointment with the doctor today. Keep our fingers cross that it is not too bad.

23 weeks

We did not have too many exciting things going on this week. Over the weekend my big sister (from my sorority) and her family came to stay with us. We had a great time with them and their daughter. She has a 1 year old little girls and it gave us a chance to get us to having a baby in the house. We also were able to see how GiGi, our boxer dog, was going to react. GiGi did very well with Anne Marie. By the end of the weekend GiGi started to lay down on her own when Anne Marie was in the room. Annie Marie did get scared when GiGi would yawn or shake, but overall they got along very well.

Baby girl has been very active this week. I really enjoy learning her patterns. I laugh at her because if I am lying down and lean too much on my stomach, she will kick me until I move. I can tell she is already going to have a strong personality. She also did this the other day when our cat Belle laid on my stomach. She kept kicking at Belle, until I made Belle move off my stomach. She seems to like her space.

Other Updates: We did have some relief from the heat this week; however, we still had a few days over 100.

Not Pregnancy Related - Texas sets a new record

I know this is not pregnancy related, but I want to document a record breaking summer for my pregnancy journal.

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-texas-hottest-june-august-163258438.html

Texas has hottest June-August on record in the U.S.

Texas just finished the hottest June through August on record in the U.S., the National Weather Service said Thursday.

Weather service meteorologist Victor Murphy told The Associated Press that Texas' 86.8 average beat out Oklahoma's 85.2 degrees in 1934.

That Dust Bowl year is now third on the list for the three-month span, behind No. 2 Oklahoma's heat wave this June through August (86.5 degrees).

Both states and others in the nation's southern tier have baked in triple-digit heat this summer. Texas had its hottest June on record, the fifth warmest month overall, and July was the warmest month ever.

Oklahoma's July was the country's highest monthly average temperature ever, at 89.1 degrees.

Louisiana's heat this June through August puts it in the fourth spot all-time — 84.5 degrees.

The average figures are taken from the entire 24-hour cycle of the day, not just from daily highs.

The reason for all the hot, dry weather lies thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean. The La Nina phenomenon is associated with cooler sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. It brings dry conditions to the southern U.S. states.

Unfortunately, the forecast shows the likelihood of La Nina re-emerging.

Texas hasn't just been hot this summer. It's in the midst of its worst drought since the 1950s and enduring its driest single year going back to 1895.

The heat and lack of rainfall have clobbered agriculture. An early estimate shows crop and livestock losses at $5.2 billion. That figure was expected to rise. The drought and scorching temperatures have burned grazing pasture and rangeland, forcing ranchers to severely cull herds. Ranchers keeping animals are paying high prices for supplemental feed or the cost of transporting their animals to states with grazing land.

Producers who planted more than 2 million acres of cotton that rely on only rainfall to grow in the world's largest contiguous growing patch around Lubbock abandoned their fields.

Texas' economy will take a more direct hit. Agriculture accounted for $99.1 billion of Texas' $1.1 trillion economy, or 8.6 percent, in 2007, the most recent year data on food and fiber was available from the extension service. Losses in that sector have a ripple effect that's about twice the amount of the actual agricultural loss.

Grasses, vegetation and trees around the state remain tinderbox dry and wildfires have destroyed more than 3.5 million acres since last November, about when the drought started. Just this week, hundreds of homes were destroyed when wildfires raged southeast of Austin.

Fish and other wildlife are struggling as lakes and rivers are drying up across the state and more than 850 water suppliers have implemented mandatory and voluntary restrictions on usage. Two Central Texas springs relied upon for life by eight endangered and threatened species are perilously close to levels that will require an evacuation by federal wildlife officials.

The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday shows that not a speck of Texas is out of drought, and more than 81 percent is in the worst category. A year ago just 15 percent of Texas was abnormally dry, the least dry status on the map.

Other states in the southern U.S. also are in drought. Almost all of Arizona and Oklahoma are in some drought stage. All of New Mexico is mired in drought, with about 38 percent of it in the worst stage — exceptional. About 70 percent of Oklahoma is in exceptional drought.

22 Weeks

This week was a very eventful week. We finally confirmed baby girl’s Godparents. I could not think of anyone more fitting to be Godparents, than my best friends Lori and Father Will. We all have been through so much together and they have been there for me more than anyone.  We actually talked to them about being Godparents about three years ago when we first start trying for a baby. Part of the reason we talked to them is because we wanted to make sure that once Father Will became a priest, that he could still be the Godfather. Not only are we very excited about our choice, so are the new Godparents. The great thing is that Lori, Father Will, and Mark have become just as good of friends. I cannot wait for baby girl to meet her Godparents.

This is a picture of all of us at Will orientation ceremony when he became a priest

This is a picture at the rehearsal dinner for Mark and I’s wedding. We laugh at this picture and say we are three peas in a pod because we are dressed alike. No, we did not plan dressing alike either. :)

Also this weekend we went to Austin to stay with Lori. We went downtown Austin to see the bats fly out. The girls loved watching the bats fly out from the bridge, it was pretty neat sight. Then the next day we drove back into West and rested for the afternoon. Then about 6:30 pm, baby girl experienced her first Westfest. We had such a good time out there. Baby girl enjoyed a beer bread sandwich and some kolaches. We also listened to some polka music and Gary P. Nunn, which she seemed to enjoy. Mark and I also had a chance to dance a few times, which she seems to also like. I can tell you that all this moving about took its toll on my ankles. When we arrived home that evening, I had indentions around my ankles from my socks. Then Monday my ankles were sore most of the day. I just tried to stay off of them as much as possible. My ankles are a lot better now and I feel pretty good.

Other Updates: We had a record breaking summer. I want to Thank God for the relief we had this weekend from the heat. This summer we had 83 days over 100 degrees and 44 of those days were consecutively over 100 degrees.

The Pregnant Working Girls

Within my office at work, we have four pregnant women. Yesterday we decided to take a picture before one us ends up on leave. We were all matching because we had open house yesterday.