Clearing the Cobwebs

Wow. It's been a long time. I think I just need to jump back in to this. Thank you Christy for the little push, knowing someone is interested always makes updating easier.

Alot has happened since I last posted and there's no way I can really go into depth about everything now but I will try to at least touch on everything.

The biggest thing that's happened is that I finally am feeling like myself again. The first trimester (ahem, 17 weeks) really knocked me over. The severe nausea started gradually going away around 14-15 weeks and then by 17 weeks I think I finally felt really better. I still throw up in the mornings if I eat too fast or just if I am feeling a little off, but I'll take that any day over the constant nausea. Slowly I felt the fog clearing, and I now feel like I've really returned to being a participant in my own life again.

My belly finally popped about a week ago. That's not to say I had no belly before that, just that I looked more lumpy than pregnant until then. I went on a maternity clothing shopping spree yesterday to celebrate and it felt great to get clothing that I feel cute in. And wow, customer service may not really exist in Israel (especially in the Jerusalem mall) but walk into a maternity store and it is a whole other world. I highly recommend it. I had gotten all the basics when I was in the states (ga*p jeans, and lots of tar*get stuff) so this time I just filled it out with some cute tops and dresses. I really have no need to do anymore shopping now.

We found out that we're having a girl at our early ultrasound (I think it was at 15 weeks). We're both incredibly excited (and relieved, neither of us wanted to have to go through a brit (circumsicion)), and knowing that it's a girl has really helped me connect to the creature growing inside of me. I've even been feeling her move for the past two weeks or so. Nothing regular or distinct, but lots of bloops and taps. I was really scared to feel her, I was worried that it would freak me out, but in the end I love it.

And lastly, I started my new job finally. I just finished my first week, and so far I'm very happy with my decision to take the job. It feels good to be doing something I actually have the education for again. I'm officially an engineer again. It's kind of exciting and wierd at the same time, I had really convinced myself that it was ok that I left all of my education behind. I've just been lucky enough to find a job in my field that I am enjoying. Really it comes down to a good boss, and a good working environment, so far so good. Though, I think I'm going to have to tell my boss that going to hard core construction sites is going to be out of the question soon. My balance is not great now and if I fell it could be very dangerous. A couple of days ago I went with my boss to check the steel in a third story floor that was about to be cast in concrete. I think all of the workers' (all Arab) eyes almost popped out of there heads when I climbed up to the roof. When I went to climb down, suddenly I had 20 men standing around me asking me to hold their hands so I wouldn't fall. I have to say it was very sweet. Having babies is a big deal in Arab culture as well.

So that is what's been happening in my life. Now that I'm feeling better I want to keep this up again. I really have no excuse. I'm at this stage right now where I feel like I'm really coasting. It feels good.