Ah, the joys...

I'm learning that there are many joys of pregnancy...and some annoyances, too. But let's start with the joys! I felt the baby move - for sure! It was very cool and very definitive. I had been feeling some strange things in my belly for a week or so, but easily dismissed them as gas bubbles or other digestive mysteries. Then, Sunday night, as I lay down in bed I felt this new feeling that was definitely not my body but a tiny body swimming around inside of me. I've heard talk of "the flutter" that women often feel. This was more like a somersault! I imagined the baby flipping head over heels (like I often did as a child in a swimming pool), bumping the tiny head and rear end on the walls of its little home - my belly! I've felt "Sparky" (so lovingly nicknamed by our junior high girls at church) a couple times today - just tiny little bops in my belly that stop as quickly as they started. I wonder what it will be like when this child grows larger and stronger and bonier! I'm really excited for when Brad can put his hand on my stomach and feel the baby, too. I feel like he gets left out a little bit right now!

Now for the annoyances. I have to pee all the time! I'm so sick of making trips to the bathroom and washing hands that I almost want to avoid drinking...But that's not a realistic option b/c I'm always thirsty. Plus I bought myself this cool new water bottle with some of the birthday money I got and it's so easy to just sip on it all day! Maybe it's just the fascination of a new "toy" but I'm really excited about this. But anyway, the biggest frustration is that my morning walking has been disturbed by this new "frequent urination" joy. It seems like my body over processes any liquid in my system as soon as I get out and start walking. The last few mornings I've gotten about 10 or 15 minutes away from home and suddenly have to bee-line it back to the house, cutting my walk a little shorter than I prefer and having to, very uncomfortably, rewalk the same thing I just finished. Who in the world would choose an out and back trail over a loop trail? That's the same way that I feel about a walk! I would much rather see new territory on my walk rather than have to turn around a come back the same way I came. So, needless to say, my walking route is getting altered for the time being until this problem goes away. It just started last week at camp, so maybe it will go away for a while! Hey, I can always hope, right?