Week 14

September 6 - September 12

How far along?
13 weeks and 4 days along and baby is about the size of a lemon (or about 3 inches long). Apparently this week the baby is growing by leaps and bounds and is starting flowing, continuous movements...but none of which I can feel yet. What I can feel are the random aches in my abs that FEEL like I've been working out too much (which certainly is NOT the case) but are actually my abdominal muscles moving and stretching to accomodate my growing belly.

What's circulating in my brain?
Volleyball, volleyball, volleyball. I've been having dreams about volleyball and my girls this week. I have a group of very talented 8th graders, but for some reason I can't seem to get them to gel on the court and so we've lost our first two games. I had to bring out the "mean" coach today and we had a silent practice - no talking except for calling the ball and encouraging your teammates. There were also lots of pushups and running as consequences for dropped passes and missed serves. I don't really enjoy being the serious coach and pushing the girls in this manner, but they have to understand the importance of focus and discipline. Although they're a fairly athletic team, they can't just rely on their athletiscm and there has to be a focus on the technical aspects of passing, hitting and serving. And then there is the "trusting" each other on the court aspect - I got really tired of seeing two people trying (unsuccessfuly) to pass a ball last night. Hopefully I have gotten my point across and after a few more practices like this morning, they will have a greater understanding of what I expect and we can strike the delicate balance of having fun and maintaining our focus. After all, when we focus we can win and what is more fun than that?

I have been struggling with keeping track of my "real" emotions and my "baby induced" emotions. So many times I have had to check myself with other people - is what I'm frustrated about a valid reason to be a little peeved, or am I acting irrationally? I feel more frustrated at this point in the season than I did last year and I'm not sure if it is because of external reasons or the internal reason that is residing in my belly right now. No one wants to be labeled the "crazy pregnant lady" so I am trying very hard to distinguish between what I SHOULD be frustrated or upset about and what I am just overreacting about because of my hormones. I can't tell you how many people have had to answer the "am I crazy for feeling this way" question and to all of their great character, they all answer very calmly, respectfully and most of the time agree with me...that I'm NOT being irrational.

Or maybe they're just trying not to upset the crazy pregnant lady.

How is Craig dealing with the crazy?
I married a good man. He came to the games last night and agreed - my team did not play up to their potential and I think he knew that I was very frustrated. It was so great that when I got home after a VERY long day (for more reasons than just volleyball) I was greeted so enthusiastically by a tail wagging Angie and a hot dinner on the table from Craig. He is so patient in listening to me in the evenings these past few weeks when I've been dealing with some issues at work...and he doesn't pretend like he always has the answers but instead confirms that yes, this is something I need to address, or no...maybe I should let this thing slide. I'm probably driving him crazy with my obsessiveness on certain topics but I'm just the type of person that can't let go of a subject until there is some sort of internal or external resolution.

This week's weigh-in was a little disappointing for Craig as he didn't lose as much weight as he was hoping, but I think it inspired him to hit the gym everyday this week to speed up his metabolism so that he can continue to lose bigger chunks of weight from his total weight loss goal.

What's Angie up to?
Not really that much this week - she is definitely more settled into her routine. I'm hoping the weather cools down soon so that on the weekends and the nights that I'm home a little earlier from school Craig and I can start taking her for walks again around the neighborhood. I think it would do us all some good to get out of the house in the early evenings and get some light exercise.