This Guy...

 This guy right here.  This guy is my little buddy.  (Although he's over 50 pounds, so he's not exactly "little").

This is Levi, my 4.5 year old Border Collie/Australian Cattle Dog Mix mutt.  We rescued him when we lived in Ohio, and he moved all the way across the country to Seattle with us, and our 2 ferrets (both of which passed away over the last couple of years, sadly). He's incredibly social, and has an innate need to be with us, no matter where we are.  He would come into the shower with me, if I let him, ha ha.

Levi is a little high-strung, and he's a big scaredy-cat, afraid of loud noises and sudden movements.  But he's my protector, my running buddy, my naptime heater, my shadow, and my best friend.  I take care of him, and he takes care of me. 

His ears are HUGE and velvety-soft, which I adore.  And his coloring is lovely: with the brownish-red mottling all over, with various patches of white.  People stop us all the time and comment on how cute he is.  People also assume he's a girl, and say things like "She's SO cute!  What's her name???" 

But I don't tell Levi that people think he's a girl.  That might damage his sensitive male ego.  That's the only secret I keep from him. 

I'm interested to see how Levi reacts to having an infant in the house.  Levi's "pack" of humans is expanding, and I think he's going to do great with our baby!  I tell him all the time that "Mama has a baby in her belly" but he doesn't really understand.  But I tell him his little world is going to be turned upside down in about 3 months.  But I think he'll love the baby just as much as he loves us, and that's all that matters.

A LOT has happened since I last posted here.  The biggest news is this:  After about 8 months of trying to conceive, I finally became pregnant around mid-July!

I'm about 5.5 months along at the moment, and everything is going great! My first trimester was extremely difficult for me, as I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in September and being pregnant seemed to increase my painful Fibro symptoms by about 1,000 percent.  I was so nauseous, so constipated, and suffering from so much all-over body pain & soreness, that I was basically an invalid and couldn't get off the couch for 3 months. 

It sucked.  It was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I prayed constantly that the Lord would just let me get through it.  And He did!  Now I'm at the end of my 2nd trimester, and I'm very pleased to report that I feel SO much better.  My Fibro pain has returned to what it was before getting pregnant, and the intense all-day nausea is completely gone.  I'm occasionally still constipated and my back hurts sometimes, but it's actually been a fairly enjoyable experience. 

I didn't start to show until last week or so, and everyone I met took one look at me and said, "You don't look pregnant!" And that always made me chuckle.  For some reason, (maybe because I'm "big boned" and fairly tall for a woman), my belly did not grow very much and I did not look pregnant until very recently.  Which I'm very much okay with, because this has prevented up until now a lot of common, uncomfortable pregnancy side effects, like stretch marks, weight gain, swollen ankles, and back pain.  I don't have any stretch marks so far, and I've actually LOST several pounds of weight, but that's because I couldn't eat much during my first trimester. 

So over the next few months, we'll see how many of these common pregnancy ailments hit me.  But for now, I'm just enjoying the ride, savoring this weird and miraculous experience, and constantly trusting the Lord that He knows what He's doing with me and my baby.