18 weeks!

almost halfway there.
138 lbs, gaining weight rapidly

i'm kinda sad that nothing super exciting is happening with the pregnancy. i haven't felt the baby kick yet, and i think most women have at this point :(. hopefully that will happen soon. i had a dr.'s appointment last friday and heard the baby's heartbeat, so at least i know he's still in there. sometimes i wonder when i can't feel or see anything.

i just read the story of sarah palin's birth with baby trig--v. interesting. apparently her water broke when she was in dallas (why she was traveling that far when she was 8 months pregnant is beyond me), and she still gave a speech a few hours later. instead of then going to the hospital in dallas where they could safely deliver the premie special needs baby, she decided to fly back to alaska. she did not tell the flight crews that her water broke and she was in labor (what?) and then drove from anchorage (again with a well-equiped hospital) to the small town of wasilla to deliver the baby. that is crazy! unless she wasn't the one really in labor. i realize this doesn't really matter in the election, but the story struck me as odd.

ahhh, i am so ready for obama to win. i agree with obama more than mccain on almost every issue, and i am so excited he is leading in the polls. several mccain supporters sent me forwards this week that make me want to scream. i don't understand how someone can solely rule out obama because he is pro-choice. i get so frustrated when that is the only issue christians talk about. haven't we learned from bush that christian beliefs do not necessarily equal a great president?

in high school, 28 out of 28 students in my a.p. politics class were democrats. we had many great discussions about the true issues in politics, and i miss those days. i've read studies that the more educated a population is, the more liberal they become (which explains why lawrence, the most educated city in kansas, is in the only democratic county in the state).

if the emails i received were about mccain's education plan, tax plan, etc. i might read/consider them. if they argued school vouchers' success instead vs. widening the education gap by depleting public school resources, i might support them. however, ignorant emails about mccain being God's choice and obama being a socialist, terrorist, anti-christ are rediculous! ahh.

it's so hard for me not to lose respect for mccain supporters. i am working on it, but it makes me cringe when i read facebook statuses that say "name is voting for mccain because he does not kill babies!!!" i'm trying to understand how so many republicans can be so ignorant of all of the issues besides abortion and gay marriage, and i know there are some educated mccain supporters out there, so props to them. i think part of the problem is that we've shunned political discussions from work, church, social scenes, etc., and the presidential debates are merely sugarcoated scripts that don't yield much education.

end of rant. this is long. i think i am the only one who is actually a little sad that the presidential race is over. oh well, football season is still going strong :)

17 weeks

136.5 lb ?? (my scale is going crazy. last thursday i was 135 then friday morning 139 then friday night 135 again... i might look into getting a new scale even though i know weight fluctuates throughout the day)



my lil' sis and her boyfriend came to visit last weekend. we had a great weekend being active--playing golf, doing the ropes course, boating at Beaver, and iceskating. i had the great idea during iceskating to see which couple could race to the opposite wall the fastest, and i didn't think about the logistics of the dare until i slammed into the wall full-force. i probably should be more careful with our little one.



i closed my eyes for dramatic effect. i really am a good mom and care very much about the safety of our child. however, after surviving ecuador and severe malnourishment and viruses, i'm sure he can handle a little iceskating blunder.

there were a couple of other pregnant moms on the sidelines of the iceskating rink. i talked to them for a little while, but as i skated around the rink, i could feel judgement palpating from their eyes. i know they thought about my irresponsibility as a pregnant mom risking injury on the iceskating rink. however, i think part of their judgement stemmed from a slight jealously of wishing they had enough energy to skate around the rink with child in belly. either way, i am trying to be as active as possible to stay in good shape throughout the pregnancy.

james and i have a book that we read daily that describes what is happening with the baby and mom that day. several times it has warned about gaining excess weight during pregnancy. i'm not too worried about it because i've never really had to watch what i eat and i want to make sure the baby is getting enough nutrients, but it is in the back of my mind. this entry is getting long. until next week, love you all!!

16 weeks, ahh.

135.5 lbs (.5 lbs gained this week, 7.5 total)

starting to show!

My friend Molly Hobbs came over this week (she has a one year old) and convinced me to use cloth diapers. Although both James' and my mom used cloth diapers, I wasn't sold on the idea until I found these:

Bum Genuis Cloth Diapers

Not only are they more economical and environmentally friendly than disposable diapers, but they are also much healthier for the baby. I never really thought about how many chemicals are in disposable diapers, but reviews reveal how many rashes result from disposable diapers. When baby Kehrli is first born or traveling, I'm sure we'll use some throw away diapers, but I'm ready to get my hands dirty with cloth ones as well.

Time to take cookies out of the oven. Love you all and thank you for the comments! One more picture from week 13, which is near to my heart:

In a few more weeks we will have our 20 week ultrasound and get a much clearer picture of our rapidly growing baby, but for now, this makes me smile :).

still not showing

15 weeks! almost 4 months along (and i'm still not showing)
weight: 135 (7 pounds gained total)

although i'm gaining weight and james thinks it is obvious that i am pregnant, apparently others do not. earlier this week i went to our hospital (northwest medical--bentonville) for a tour of the labor & delivery wing, and the RN asked me if i was applying for a job. no, stupid, i am pregnant and i want to see where i am going to have my baby! perhaps it's the polite thing not to assume women are pregnant, but i am touring the labor wing!

at our softball game on tuesday (yes, i still play coed softball with a bun in the oven and it doesn't make me a sinner) i told my teammate's little girls that i am expecting, and they replied in their brutal child honesty, "you don't look pregnant." i have yet to hear, "aww your belly looks so cute," but i guess that can wait. numerous others have mentioned that i look without child. luckily i saw the baby moving in the sonogram, so i know he/she's in there!!

part of me kind of enjoys not looking pregnant. i read an article in "pregnancy" that said often women with strong ab muscles do not show as much initially because the baby rests closer to the spine. i'm sure this isn't the reason i'm not really showing, but for now i'll let myself believe it is. all of my pre-pregnancy clothes still fit, albeit tighter, but still a blessing. i have no desire to wear materity clothes until forced.

in other news, it's going to take james and me a long time to pick out names. girl names thrown out inlcude chloe kehrli, carly kehrli, and kansas kehrli (k.k.). boy names i'm fond of are striker kehrli or blaze kehrli. my husband vetoes both. we both kinda like aiden, but it's kinda boring and too trendy. until next time (when i promise i will post a picture), love you all!!!

14 weeks

Ahhh, finally writing :).

14 weeks exactly today (due date April 1)
132.5 pounds (4.5 pounds gained)

I am starting to feel better. Monday night I got sick again, which was kind of frustrating because I thought the morning sickness would magically disappear when the first trimester ended. However, I've had ample energy during the days as long as I eat a constant stream of food. My current food schedule is:

7:30am--1/2 PBJ and glass of Cranberry Rasberry Juice right when I wake up
8:30am--string cheese and cashews while driving to work
10:30am--Subway or Quiznos chicken & bacon sandwich
2:30ish--snack when I get home, varies
6:00--Chicken Noodle Soup & frozen pretzel

I am trying to eat as much protein/iron as possible because the doctor said I am borderline anemic. My blood was tested right after we returned from Ecuador when I had been constantly throwing up and stopped eating for a few days, so I'm hoping the low red blood count was due to temporal malnourishment.

In other news, we had our first ULTRASOUND! So exciting! Before I experienced an ultrasound, I did not understand why parents-to-be got so excited about grainy black and white pictures with unidentifiable objects semi-resembling parts of a baby. However, an ultrasound is so much more than the subpar pictures--it is the first time a mother and father get to SEE the baby in all of its glory moving around in the womb. Our little munchkin was hyperactive (sign of things to come?) and flipped all around showing it's body to the camera. The look on James' face was priceless--I've never seen him so fascinated with a little computer screen! Everything looks healthy so far--we saw all 5 fingers on each hand and a straight spine!

This is probably enough for now, but hopefully I can start writing on a regular basis and document the days before our baby's arrival!!!