Life Update

Blessed Easter!!! It has been awhile since I have written. Life has been pretty busy lately. I am now 26 weeks pregnant and we learned baby Crow is a boy! This all seems to be going by so fast and I can't believe that in about 3 months we will hopefully be meeting our little one and bringing him home. To catch you up on what has been going on I am going to break it down by an acronym we use in teaching the Creighton Model called SPICE which stands for spiritual, physical, intellectual, communicative/creative and emotional. 

Spiritually I have been pretty consistent with my morning prayer time which has been great! I wake up and grab my missal to do the daily readings or I read part of a spiritual book to get some focus. My spiritual director suggested I read through The Secret of the Rosary as well as The Imitation of Christ (this one was for Holy Week) and those have been helpful to focus on. I also have in the mix a book on going through pregnancy from a Catholic perspective which has been so nice to explore pregnancy from a spiritual perspective. There is also a Fulton Sheen book I am going through slowly about anxiety and peace. My nightstand has about 5 books plus my Bible so, each morning I discern what God wants me to focus on each day.

Physically I am feeling OK. I can get tired pretty easily and my back has been acting up off and on. I had back issues before baby but I had been feeling so much better with diet and the right kind of exercise. With baby the pain flares up more often so I have been seeing a chiropractor that specializes in pregnancy. I could be more consistent with my exercise and stretching so that is something to work on. Typically in a good week I go walking 2-3 times a week and do the Dia Method prenatal workouts 1-2 times a week. Some weeks are better than others though. My belly is growing and there is no hiding this pregnancy ;) It is so funny to look down and see that there is a bump there. Baby boy likes to move often so that has been a different experience all together.

Intellectually I have had a lot more trouble remembering things if I do not write them down or feeling spacey at times. This is weird for me because I am usually pretty sharp and quick mentally when it comes to work and now I have to slow down and make sure I am saying the right thing. There are a couple of medical articles that Pa Crow saved for me to read so I am looking forward to reading those and hopefully my brain will function long enough to retain the information!

Communicative/Creative. Communication wise it has been hard to communicate my needs to JJ lately because they can change so quickly. I am working on taking time to evaluate what I need and if I need help (mostly physically like grabbing the laundry from the dryer) to ask for it. Creatively I have been explored making more yeasted gluten free dough. I made hot cross buns for Good Friday, which were amazing, and will be making homemade pizza this week! Another creative venture I am trying to pursue is making all knotted rosaries. Last year at vacation bible school I helped the 100+ kids we had make their own rosaries out of beads and using a knotted technique to keep them on. The rosary makers ministry at our parish taught me briefly and I really enjoyed it. I made one for JJ while I was in Alabama last August and so far it has held up. I have not attempted making any all knotted rosaries yet but, I plan to during third trimester.

Emotionally I can be all over the place. Most of the time as long as I pray, exercise and don't eat too much sugar I am ok and my anxiety/depression symptoms are low or non-existent. I think there is just a lot going on emotionally moving from infertility to welcoming our son into our home soon. There have been a lot of feelings of guilt for not being super happy all the time or when I need to rest due to fatigue and feelings that there are others who "deserve" this blessing so much more than I do. I know this is all normal to go through so I am not too hard on myself  and JJ has been a great support! Most of the time though I just have a huge feeling of gratitude for this blessing but mostly for my relationship with Jesus and JJ :)

So that is where I am at as far as SPICE. Work has been busy since I am trying to get all my clients new and current into their follow ups before I go on maternity leave in late June. Also, Ma and Pa Crow have had more medical appts to go to and I am the scheduler for those and I also go with them to any doctor appts. or tests they need to do. Basically I am there medical liaison. So scheduling has been quite hectic and has kept me busy lately.

Plus we are preparing for our baby shower that will be at the end of this month! We were not sure we wanted to have one but we ultimately decided to. We see it more as a celebration of life and to get together with family and friends before baby boy arrives. So, we are having an optional rosary time with our guests as well as making it a family a event so husbands and children are welcome. I definitely did not want a baby shower where it was just me and a bunch of women because those always made me uncomfortable while dealing with infertility.

That is what is going on and if you made it this far in the post, God bless you! I hope you all are having a blessed Easter octave and basking in the mercy of Jesus Christ. Pax!