{ 30 weeks }

I'm not really sure how we went from an acorn squash baby to a cucumber baby... but whatever! ;]

My midwife appointment went well. Not really too many "new" details to share; we're still keeping an eye on my ketones and weight gain (or, well, lack of)... I've been starting to get really stressed out and frustrated with the situation, which isn't necessarily good, either. I explained to Jenny that I just get really frustrated that my urine keeps showing ketones when I feel like I've been really trying hard and doing the best I can with eating more... but yet it's just not enough. She understood and just encouraged me to keep trying.

I really, really need prayer regarding the pelvis/hip pain. It has gone from the point of painful but tolerable to barely tolerable... and I typically have a pretty high pain tolerance. This pain is no joke and it makes me feel pretty worthless... I have a few good hours every few days where I'm able to get some "house things" done, but other than that, most things are too hard on my body to accomplish and that's really hard for me. I actually ENJOY cleaning and organizing so not being able to keep a tidy house and prepare meals for Jake... it's just frustrating to me. Walking, sitting, getting dressed, rolling over in bed (or finding a comfy position in the first place) are all nightmares to do. So I would really, really appreciate prayer. I can't do this for the next 10 weeks... but I know that God will give me the grace to get through it.

We got the dresser from Ikea set up and stained, and I put all of baby's clothes in it; washed, folded and organized. Maybe it's too early for me to be doing that... but I don't care. Honestly, with all this pain... I want to get as much done now as I can! But I think that's all we really have to do. Other than the few house projects that I want to get done before baby comes. We're still "planning" on doing those. Hmph. We'll see. ;]

Random annoyance... I think my house smells like poop and I cannot figure it out... it's driving me crazy. I took out the garbage (it could have been a stinky diaper, maybe) and searched for the odor... but it's no where. Maybe it's in my head? I lit a candle and the smell has either gone away, or I'm just used to it because I've been in here all day... ha.

CRAVINGS... this is probably a bad idea to post pictures of what I'm craving right now... *starts to salivate*

apples

tortilla chips

raspberry milk shakes

...aaaand that's pretty much it. 

I took a "field trip" with my mom to the thrift store today. I just HAD to get out of the house today. I think I spent the most today that I ever have at a thrift store, but it was really fun to find some treasures. I found a toy organizer for Ryan (one like this), a fun tunnel for him to crawl in, and a little wooden stool to sit on. He found it in the store and we carried it all over, and he sat on it while I looked at things... it was perfect, haha! I got a few Christmas decorations and a fall wreath for the door. Oh, and a couple books for Ryan. All in all, it wasn't an expensive trip (and everything was half off, except for the toy bins), and it was fun to find some neat things. 

Not very much else is going on around here... Ryan is doing really well and has REALLY started to talk in the last week... I mean, he talked quite a bit before, but he repeats a TON of stuff now and it's so much fun! He has quite a few two-word sentences  too, which has been cool. "Socks on/off," "thank you," "excuse me," "get down," "all done," "help please..." I'm probably forgetting some. I'm not even sure what his single word vocab is up to now. He hasn't learned any new signs (rather, I haven't taught him any) because I've felt like the ones he knows have been beneficial enough and haven't really felt the need to teach him more. He is so much fun to be around, though... writing about him gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies because he is just such a joy. What a little blessing!! 

Can you believe he is 21 months now?! 

[phone pic; eating carrots and dip!]

[phone pic; riding his truck around]

[phone pic; testing out baby's new carseat with Lamby {"Me me"}]

And I'll leave you with one more picture... of da belly. 

{30 weeks}

Please remember to pray for me! I really need it.

{ 28 / 29 weeks }

And here is it, the third trimester! We're on the homestretch, baby!

I had an appointment with my midwife last Monday. {Mostly} everything looks great! I'm still having issues with ketones being in my urine and we aren't really sure why. I'm sure it's from not taking in as many calories as I "should" be... but it's very hard when you don't have a big appetite.

I've also been having SPD issues... SPD is basically where you have too much of the relaxin hormone in your body and it makes your joints feel super loose. It hurts, a LOT. There are some days when I just want to tie my legs together at the knees so I don't have to move my hips. It basically like someone took a sledgehammer to my pelvis...not fun. I typically have a pretty high pain tolerance but this is definitely the worst I've felt (yes, worse than Ryan's labor/birth!). Going up/down stairs, walking, sitting, putting on pants, stepping over something, carrying things, picking up Ryan... simple, every day "life" things have become pretty painful. If it isn't one thing, it's another, huh? I must just be meant to have pregnancies that are... interesting.

The nausea has lessened to an extent but it's still around, here and there. I've been nauseous most of the day today, and night time has been pretty awful. Baby, you are so worth this! But that doesn't make it "fun" or easy.

I was up a 1/2lb at my last appointment, so still 3lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. Blood pressure was good, like 108/70 or something like that. She also did the gestational diabetes test, which I kicked in the pants ;] Instead of having to drink that nasty glucose beverage (oofta, that made me so nauseous last time), I got to eat 18 jelly beans. They've been tested to have the same amount of sugar and it's a more "pleasant" thing to eat. It still wasn't the most enjoyable (I'm not a huge fan of sweets/jelly beans), but it was way more tolerable than the awful orange drink! Then we waited an hour and my midwife checked my blood (finger poke). The blood sugar needed to be below 140 (but she prefers 130), and it was 102. We were kind of wondering if maybe the GD test number was high if it would give us an idea of what's going on with the ketones in my urine, but that obviously has nothing to do with it.

I went to go into the lab and get my blood drawn yesterday. My midwife tried to draw my blood again at this last appointment and my veins are just too difficult! Their urine tests are more sensitive so maybe it will give us some insight on the ketones. Otherwise if I continue to have issues with it, she may want me to see a regular OB to make sure she isn't missing something. I'm hoping to avoid that... but if it happens, it happens.

The birth is starting to feel so much more real... I was given a list of things to purchase! It's so surreal. I think it will feel that way until I'm in labor. Or until the baby is here :] But it's starting to become very, very real and I am SO excited!!

I was hoping to post a picture this time, but every time I am "photo decent" (which, let's be honest, is not every day at this point), I forget to ask Jake to take a picture. Oh well... next time! Next appointment is November 5th. :]

{ 27 weeks }

Last week of the second trimester! Things seem to be flying by. Jake and I were just talking the other night about "all" the things we need to do before baby arrives. The main thing I want to do is to finish our bed room! We just have to sand the walls and prime/paint them, but finding the time to do it has been a problem lately. It's definitely at least a weekend project, if not more.

In the last post, I mentioned having some trouble deciding on the name... well, our trouble just got a bajillion times worse and now pretty much every name has been nixed due to one reason or the other. I don't remember having this many problems with Ryan's name!! Ha. Oh well. It'll happen.

I had an appointment with my midwife on the 10th. Things are well! I was measuring at 27 weeks (I was 26 weeks at the time), up 2lbs from my appointment a month ago (but still -4lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight), baby's heart rate and my blood pressure were all great. The only "thing" was that I had ketones in my urine... which basically means that my body was  (is?) using stored fats instead of what I'm taking in, because what I'm taking in isn't enough. Ketones in your urine are good if you are on a diet but not during pregnancy!! I haven't been too sick lately, just some nausea here and there... but I literally have not had much of an appetite at all. I'm not one who can "force" myself to eat when I'm not hungry (the thought of that makes me feel even worse), so if I'm not hungry, I can sometimes forget to eat. It's not intentional by any means, and it's frustrating when people tell me "JUST EAT!" Sometimes I just can't.

My next appointment is October 22nd... which is actually really soon! We started doing every-other-week appointments now, to make my appointments line up with when she wanted me to do some tests (if I chose to). At this next appointment, we are going to do the GD test. I have to eat 18 jelly beans (ugh, but better than the nasty glucose drink), wait an hour, and then she'll do a finger poke to take a blood test. I don't remember what number it needs to be under (140 or something?), but with my last pregnancy, it was 91... so I'm not worried about it.

Still having quite a few BH contractions... since like 20 weeks now, I think? My midwife said that she wasn't concerned so much with the number of them, but more so if I was having bleeding or if they started to get really intense. Well, I dunno what "really intense" means, but some of them have been pretty uncomfortable! Not painful, and manageable, but not the most comfortable thing, either.

The midwife's assistant, Kate, started phasing out of being a student with Jenny and started working with a midwife who had a busier practice. Kate will still likely be at the birth as Jenny's assistant, unless Jenny has a new student by then. I hope Kate will be able to be there! It's just nice to have developed some sort of relationship with people so I KNOW them and know who will be there.

I'm getting so very excited about a home birth!! All the little details are falling into place and it's just very exciting!! We need to get going on ordering the birth tub and the supplies... not sure how long shipping will take for that stuff.

Nap time... hooray!!

{ 25 weeks }

Hello 25 weeks :]

Things have been going well... hence the lack of updates, because things have been "boring"! I don't have an appointment until the 10th. After that, we start going to bi-weekly appointments, so then maybe I will have some things to talk about. It's a little early to do the bi-weekly appointments, but we are doing it this way to make things line up the right way for when she wants to do some tests and things.

I have been having a LOT of braxton hicks contractions lately, though, and they've been annoying! I really do think I do too much some days, and they could be caused by that... but also not drinking as much water as I really should be. I'm trying to keep a full bottle of cold water near me at all times to make it easy to stay hydrated. Yesterday I made myself sit on the couch and not do anything (but play with trucks and read books with Ryan, of course!) because I felt like I was having too many. I figured resting and hydrating myself would help, and it did. If it wouldn't have gotten better, I probably would have called my midwife. But it's fine for now.

Baby names... oy! I'm pretty sure this child just won't ever have a name. I mentioned a name to Jake last week and it's been "the one" for him since. I feel like it's too popular, though... so I don't know. Ryan turned out to be a more popular name than I thought it was going to be (#25), although we don't have anyone in our friend group with that name at all. There are a few other names I like (that Jake doesn't really care for), but I keep trying them out on him in hopes that he will maybe soften up to them. Give me suggestions, I'm all ears! We try to avoid super popular names and we really don't like "trendy" names... but we'd like to stay away from super old names, too.

Ryan seems to be really excited about the baby in my tummy. We'll see if that excitement lasts once baby is outside of my tummy ;) He gets mad when I don't let him lift up my shirt to pat my belly, haha! He likes to give the baby kisses and hugs. I tell him, "The baby is hiding! But soon the baby will come OUT!" Then he runs around and says "Out, out, out, out."

I don't know if I'm really seriously "nesting" (because some say that is an indicator of labor, which is definitely not right around the corner for me), or if I just like being prepared and looking at baby things... but I have a serious itch to wash all the baby clothes and put them into the dresser. We bought a small, unstained dresser at Ikea recently (did you know they have unstained furniture now?! So you can stain it to match your decor!!) and Jake just needs to assemble it for me so I can fill it with baby fluff. The only other thing that we "have" to buy is a car seat, since I sold Ryan's that was a travel system (we hardly used the stroller). I'd really like to figure out cloth diapers, too, but I suppose I don't need to rush on that because I don't plan on using them right away anyways.

That's all for now. Ryan is napping and will probably wake up soon... we just had a stretch of sleeping really horribly (and I'm talking that I maybe got three random hours of sleep per night for 8 days in a row) because he is teething... and I think things are kind of getting back to normal again. Thankfully! I felt so bad for him, and I was getting to be absolutely exhausted. Anyway, we're going to go outside and play in the leaves with the kitties after lunch. It is SO BEAUTIFUL outside!

Haha, speaking of... I just heard him over the monitor ;)

[25 weeks]

{ 19 weeks }

19 weeks! The average baby is the size of a mango. It's hard to believe that baby is that "big..." I still don't really feel any movement at all yet. I'm so excited to, though! I get to schedule our ultrasound tomorrow... so excited for that, too!

I honestly don't have much to say this time around... I almost wonder if I should only post bi-weekly or when we have our appointments so that I will have more interesting things to say ;]

.../end boring and short post... maybe I will edit this if I can think of something else to say... but it's 9:30pm and I'm tired ;]

{ 18 weeks }

Linking up with:

This is my reaction to being 18 weeks:

18 weeks... already?! Pretty sure I was just peeing on sticks and video taping Jake's reaction. And here we are, almost half way! I think it feels like it's going so fast because there is a "weekly countdown." If I only counted months, it probably wouldn't feel like it's going by so fast! 

Right now, at 18 weeks, the average baby is the size of a sweet potato:

Things are going well. I had an appointment on Monday and it went great! We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat this time (since baby was too wiggly last time), which was fun! Even though I'm not "showing," I'm still measuring at 18-19 weeks. You can definitely see a little belly when I lay down on my back. I'm still able to sleep on my stomach, which is good, because that is how I always sleep until I just can't any longer. ;]

My midwife thought my bruise was the craziest thing! She thought I was going to have some scary story to tell along with it... but no, I only had a simple tale... she said it was the worst she has seen from a blood draw. Hopefully I won't bruise so bad next time! I'm not sure why it took so long to heal (it's still healing)... my blood work all came back wonderfully so there's no concern there.

She is going to call the sonogram place and have them call us to schedule an appointment, probably around my 20th week. I'm very excited! I've gone back and forth on getting one done... I've read some pretty interesting articles about the pros/cons of ultrasounds and that there might be potential dangers... but I'm still on the fence about it all. I guess I just don't really know. So as of right now, we're going to do it but I want it to be done quickly... just checking on the major organs and development and stuff.  Ryan's ultrasound here in the States was oober long, like almost an hour... but I think a lot of that was just dinking around for fun. I'd rather just check on things and then be done this time.

Everything else was good... I gained a pound, but lost 6 last time... so I'm still -5. Fine by me. :] BP and everything else were good, too. Praise Jesus for a healthy pregnancy! The last two weeks have been pretty good sick wise, minus a few days here and there.

I was also finally able to get in to see my chiropractor friend this week... what a blessing! It was painful to be adjusted but I feel better today. She said she didn't doubt that I was having muscle problems as well as the sciatic pain... I was VERY tight. She wants me to come in again early next week and she gave me some exercises to do (which reminds me... I should DO them, haha!). Hopefully this will get things in the right place and will help the sciatic nerve pain.

My favorite things right now: 

...notice a trend? ;] I like mint.

Also:

...can you say "YUM"?!

{17 weeks}

17 weeks (and some days) already! This pregnancy is going by so quickly. It's very crazy to think that in less than three weeks, I'll be half way there. Well, give or take. Who knows if I'll go early or "late" (again) this time.

We have our next appointment on Monday. After that, we get to schedule our ultrasound! I'm so excited for that. Jake and I are planning on a dinner date after the ultrasound... not exactly sure how that will work yet, but we'll figure it out. We hope to have the ultrasound tech write down the gender on a piece of paper that we get to look at later on our date. I think it will be fun!!

I finally got in to the lab and got my blood drawn, per my midwife's request (since she wasn't able to do it). It was super quick and easy. Needles don't typically bother me at all, so it was easy peasy. I didn't even feel it this time; the tech did a great job... probably the best job anyone has done trying to draw my blood. It was probably the first time anyone has ever gotten me with the first poke, too (I've been poked and re-poked so many times that I finally established a two-poke rule... if you can't get me in two tries, it's someone else's turn!).

The next day I had an icky bruise. I never usually bruise this bad, but I did this time.

And this was it yesterday:

Slowly but surely going away! People kind of look at me funny when they see it...

I think that's all I'll share for an update... nothing else is really happening and nothing else has changed (I'm still sick and tired, ha)... so I'll just leave it at that until my next appointment. I'm tired and am going to go to bed... unfortunately I am going to bed alone! Jake is still working and I have no idea when he'll be off. It'll be another looong day tomorrow, too... boo. I miss him!! But I am so thankful for such a hard worker... God has blessed me!

{ 16 weeks }

How far along are you? ~16 weeks :)

Best Moment This Week: Spending time at the county fair with my husband and son. I wasn't able to enjoy much of the food (which probably wasn't a bad thing) but oh well. We had a really fun time checking out all the animals. Ryan just about freaked out when he got a balloon... that totally made his day because he loves balloons!

Prayer requests? I have been having a lot of sciatic nerve pain which has been on and off and basically impossible to deal with. I really need to make an appointment with my chiropractor! I also have still been sick, just really nauseous all the time. I'm feeling pretty good at the moment, though!

What scripture is speaking to you this week? Better than last week, I was in the Word two or three times as opposed to... none... the previous week. So I think just reading in general has been speaking to me; it's crazy how something can be SO BENEFICIAL to me and my day but yet I don't do it as often as I should. You'd think I would learn...

Baby's growth? Supposedly baby is the size of an avocado. MMM, yummy... one of my favorite foods (just not right now!). 3.5oz, 4.5in... still so tiny, but growing!!

Weight gain (or loss)? No official weight check yet, but I don't think I've gained anything.

Cravings: Sometimes lemonade. That very quickly goes away. Sometimes mints. Sometimes milk. Sometimes... hmm, that's it.

Food Aversions: Pretty much everything...?

What Made Me Cry This Week... my husband working 70+ hours and not being able to be home much. He is a very hard worker for which I am blessed, but he is also very missed! I also watched some home birth videos and they made me cry too ;)

Sleep? Ryan has been sleeping better, so I have been too. Teething comes and goes and those nights are rough, but for the most part, he sleeps 10ish hours straight.

Maternity Clothes? Not yet! 

Gender? Unknown to us at this point ;)

Movement? Like I mentioned in my last post, I felt baby move for the first time around 15 weeks. I've been feeling him/her move a few times since then, but not too much.

What I miss... having enough energy to be a good wife to my husband. Praying that it returns soon! But yet trying to understand that this is just a season. 

Something I'm Excited About... two more weeks until our next appointment! And then maybe two-ish weeks after that, we'll find out the gender...!! ;) 

{ 15 weeks }

I'm 15 weeks pregnant this week... and I felt the baby move for the first time!! I had been questioning it for the last week, whether it was really baby or not... and this time there was no doubt. Of course I haven't felt him/her since, but that's okay... there's still a lot of room in there for the little orange-sized baby to move around!

I'm linking up with My Joy-Filled Pregnancy's Pregnancy Journal... she posts each week about her pregnancy and allows other pregnant mamas to link up to her blog and share about their pregnancy experience. All along the way, she hopes that we will go to other pregnant mama's blogs and encourage them and pray for them. She posts a list of questions to answer each week... since this is my first time answering them, I'll probably copy/paste the whole list, but I won't answer all of them every week since they'd be the same answer.

How far along are you? ~15 weeks... I'm not giving specifics because this time I'm not telling people my due date... HA! 

Best moment this week? Snuggling with Ryan on the couch in the early mornings.

Prayer requests? I've still been pretty sick, which can be both easier and harder when there's another little one to take care of. It's nice to have have the distraction, but it's also hard when you feel so awful. Jake is working a lot, too, so I'm trying very hard to have the energy to be a caring wife and make dinner most nights... but doing anything besides getting dressed (if I'm lucky), reading the same book 300 times over to Ryan, or picking raisins out of the couch is pretty exhausting most days. 

What scripture is speaking to you this week? In all honesty, I haven't been in the Word nearly as much as I should. And I don't pray as often as I should, either. But the first step is to see that and understand it needs to change, right? So I'm going to make more of an effort to "pray continually" and refresh myself in the scriptures more than I am. 

Baby's growth? Baby is the size of an orange this week, supposedly... 4.0 inches and 2.5oz. These fruit/veggie comparisons always throw me off... maybe I buy ginormous oranges, but these never seem too accurate ;] 

Symptoms? Sick, sick, sick. I feel super nauseous more often than not. I've been getting a few more headaches, lately, which is different than when I was pregnant with Ryan... my headaches went away then! But I think the heat gets to me, and it's definitely worse when I don't drink enough water. And that's my reminder right there... *guzzles water*

Medical Stuff? My midwife tried to draw my blood at my last appointment, but my veins weren't too cooperative, so she's sending me to a lab to have them done. I just have to have it done by my next appointment (August 13th). Other than that... nada!
  
Weight gain (or loss)? I was down 6lbs in between my last two appointments (3 weeks apart), probably mostly due to having the flu, but it doesn't help that I'm just not able to each much. I think I might be down a few more pounds even now... so I'm not sure what she'll want me to do. 

Cravings? Food Aversions? I don't really have any cravings, but I definitely have aversions. I don't want anything hot (unless it's soup, which has been my main source of calories lately...), heavy, or tomato-y. Hot coffee definitely makes me sick, but I really only drank it because I liked it (not for the caffeine), so I've been fine doing without. Basically... nothing sounds good, ever. Unless there is the rare occasion that something does, and then it goes away as soon as I've made it. AHHH. 

What Made Me Cry This Week? Well it wasn't this week, but it was last week... as I was rocking Ryan to sleep, I just got this horrible feeling that all my special moments with Ryan were over and that I would never have any ever again! He was sleeping in my arms and I just bawled. I guess the emotions of preparing for our 2nd are harder than I anticipated. I know there will be change, but change is hard for me... even if it's for good reason! 

Sleep? When Ryan sleeps, I usually sleep pretty well... but he's teething right now, and is a drooling, sneezing, watery mess and he just isn't able to rest very well at night. Thankfully he started mostly sleeping through the night last month, so more often than not, he sleeps well. Just not right now :] 

Maternity Clothes? Nope... and since I've lost weight, I don't think I'll be in them for a while. I didn't wear them at all with Ryan so we'll see how I carry this one... 

Gender? We plan to find out, but we won't be telling anyone ;] That was our compromise. I wanted to find out, but Jake was on the fence... his stipulation was that if we find out, we can't tell ANYONE. I guess I'm fine with that rule as long as *I* get to find out ;] 

Movement? Like I said earlier, I felt the baby move for the first time this week!! So exciting!! 

What I miss.... being outside! The heat makes it unbearable for me, so we stick indoors most of the time. It just makes me feel so much more sick when I'm hot and sticky. I'm so excited that a majority of my pregnancy will be in the fall; I LOVE FALL and we will be outside as much as we can :] And the garter snakes will be gone then, too... YAY! 

What I'm looking forward to.... feeling the baby move more :] 

Something I'm Excited About.... . getting a printer this week! Now I get to print labels and calendars and meal plans and grocery lists and get organized... I'm so excited!! 


...I think that's all for now! :] No "pregnancy photos" yet as I'm not really even showing... at all... and the one photo I have isn't really blog appropriate, ha. So you'll have to wait. ;]

14 Weeks // 2nd Trimester

This week I am 14 weeks pregnant... welcome to the second trimester!! At 14 weeks, the average baby is 3.4" long and weighs 1.5oz. So tiny, but so rapidly growing!!

The Bump says, "Hungry much? Not that you're not feeling so queasy, you're probably enjoying eating. A lot."

HA. Not so much. Still feeling queasy, thank you... maybe not quite as often, but it's definitely still there. If I'm sick, it's in the evenings. So much for morning sickness!! So often people ask me, "Are you feeling good??" And while I don't want to complain, I don't want to lie, either! I'm just so thankful it's for a good reason. This would be super lame if I was just sick all the time for no reason at all.. but there is a very good reason and blessing being nourished within my body right now, so I'll take it!!

I had my second appointment last night with the midwife. We weren't able to catch a reading on baby's heartbeat this time, although we did hear it for a split second. It's not of concern, baby was just moving around too much in there to get a good reading. Everything else looked good... my blood pressure was a lot lower this time, 110/75... it was 130/80 last time; I think it was because I was so nervous! I remember when I was pregnant in Kenya, they had to take my blood pressure twice every appointment... once in the beginning, and once at the end... it was always much lower at the end. ;)

I've lost about 5lbs since my last appointment three weeks ago, probably because of the fact that I had the flu two weeks ago, and I also just haven't felt all that great. My midwife didn't mention it as being a problem (but her assistant was the one who took the weight so I don't know that my midwife saw while I was there), but hopefully I can maintain instead of lose right now. Of course I have a few pounds to spare... ;) but now is not the time to be losing weight. I probably need to be eating more, and I definitely need more protein... it's just so hard sometimes!

My midwife tried to draw some blood for labs last night, but since she doesn't work in a lab for 8 hours a day, she obviously doesn't get as much practice... she tried once but didn't want to keep poking me... how kind! ;) My veins just did not want to cooperate. So I'll have to go into a lab sometime soon and have them draw the blood for her instead. Not a biggie.

My next appointment is in August... the 13th, I think. Time seems to be flying by... this is weird!

Blog Addition

Notice any changes to the blog??








It's just a minor change.








But it's a major LIFE change. :]

This, friends, is the reason why I've been pretty absent lately. It's a good reason ;] Between being sick, tired, and chasing an almost 17 month old around... let's just say, I've been a little busy! But hopefully this pregnancy will be "normal" and I won't be sick the entire time, like I was with Ryan... and maybe I can get back into this blogging thing. 

The details: 

...I'm ~11 weeks pregnant

...I'm due mid-January 2013

...We heard the heartbeat last night at our first prenatal appointment!!

...We are planning a home birth, assisted by our midwife from New Birth Midwifery (blog: here)

...and we are obviously very excited ;]

Here is the video I posted to FB last night...

We are so thankful and so blessed... God, thank you for this precious gift!!

Ryan's Bedroom

Wow, hello neglected blog... oops. I have been so busy with Ryan that I keep forgetting to post here!

I thought a fun post for today would be to share Ryan's finished bedroom. When we first moved in, his room was light blue. It wasn't ugly, but we wanted to make it more gender neutral since he (hopefully) wouldn't be the only one sleeping in that room. We painted it a green, and it looked really nice with the first coat... but we had to add another one... and that's where things went downhill. It was dark, obnoxious, ugly, neon... just ew. Remember the pictures from our house tour?

It wasn't the worst color it could be, but it was definitely not what we wanted. It just didn't seem like the room even belonged in our house, because the color was so "out there."

Anyway, so we did a lot to his bedroom since then... we re-painted, built cornices to go over the windows,  I made curtains, a mobile, and a fun blanket, added shelves, put a dandelion decal/sticker on his wall, got a dresser and lamp from Ikea... I think it looks very cute, and the color is much more "normal." 

We forgot to paint the inside of the closet (it's still blue), but I think the different color is kind of fun. 

My last project to do? I have a white glider that I bought for $10 in the basement that needs to be recovered... when I find the time (and fabric I like), I will recover it and it will go here in Ryan's room. This glider will go out in the living room since the wood matches out there better. First room in the house... complete!

Ryan Joseph's Birth Story

{ Ryan Joseph }

born Thursday, February 3^rd, 2011 at 9:10am

8lbs, 2oz – 21 ½ inches long

We’ll start from Wednesday, the 2nd. I was 40w3d and feeling like I was never going to meet the baby. I had been having several possible “signs” of upcoming labor during weeks 37 and 38… but during the 39^th and 40^th weeks, I felt like I had gone backwards.

I had an appointment with my midwife, Linda, that afternoon, and we talked a little bit about an induction and how that would take place. If baby had not come by that weekend, I was to go in on Monday for a non-stress test and ultrasound to check on baby to make sure that he/she was okay. If baby had still not come that week, I was going to be induced that next weekend. I don't think I would have shown up for the induction... but that's another topic ;]

Linda swept my membranes during a check of dilation. I was still a little over 3cm dilated; same as the previous 3 weeks. Linda talked to the baby and told him/her that she was on call on Thursday night. She gave baby a little pep talk and said that she would really like to meet him/her. She told me that sweeping the membranes would either put me into labor... or do nothing. I was expecting the latter.

Jake and I spent the evening together, talking and processing through emotions… I was upset at the thought of being induced and did not want to go that route if possible. We prayed and asked that the Lord be glorified in the delivery, no matter how it was to take place.

We went to bed around  9pm. I laid awake in that “half asleep” state, just thinking and trying to rest. I was having some cramping but they didn’t feel like contractions. Around 12am, I noticed that they were getting more intense. I didn’t time them because whenever I started to time contractions in the past, they always went away. So I laid in bed and relaxed through the contractions as much as I could. They were uncomfortable, but very tolerable.

I got in and out of bed several times, going to the bathroom and getting something to drink. I ate some toast and wandered around the house. Around 3:30am, I woke Jake up because I didn’t feel like being alone. I still wasn’t convinced that anything was happening, but I knew I felt kind of miserable and I wanted some company. Jake insisted that we start timing the contractions and I finally said “Oookay.” I told him I wanted to take a bath, so we filled the tub. I didn’t last long in the tub… I was just uncomfortable and hot. I started throwing up so many times that my throat was getting a little raw feeling, and I was feeling very “shaky.” I kept trying to drink fluids and keep them down.

Jake was putting a few last minute things into the hospital bag. I, between contractions, was checking the handout sheet of “How To Know If You are In Labor” several times because I was still worried that maybe I was wrong. We called the on-call midwife around 4:00am and let her know what was going on. At that point my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, lasting 45-65 seconds. She said that we could come in if we wanted to or stay at home longer. I told her that we would stay at home for some time and then call when we were on our way.

The contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart at 5:30am minutes apart when we decided to go to the hospital. Jake had already started the car so it was ready to go. We had to stop for gas on the way there, and Jake decided he needed coffee, too. :] I had a few good contractions in the car and was wondering what the people pumping gas next to me must have thought as I was reclining completely back in the front seat of our car.

During our drive, I told Jake that everyone else was driving faster than him and THEY didn’t have a wife in labor! He was trying to be careful with the bumpy roads, but I wanted him to drive a little faster, "but don't speed!" When we pulled into the hospital 25 minutes later, I said to Jake, “What if I’m not in labor?!” Jake kind of laughed at me and said, “Laura, you ARE in labor.”

We went to the Emergency entrance since it was after regular hours and met with a nurse. "Can I help you?" she asked. "I'm in labor," I replied. "Ooo-kay," she said, giving me the "are-you-sure-about-that" look. She called up to the maternity care center and a different nurse walked me upstairs, and I was admitted at 6:15am. They got me settled in a room and started to put the monitors on. My midwife had always had a hard time finding baby’s heartbeat during my appointments, so I was dreading that this could take some time. 10 minutes later, they finally found the heartbeat and were able to monitor it and my contractions for about 20 minutes. I kept asking the nurse how much longer I had to be monitored… being in bed was extremely uncomfortable for me. The midwife who was on call checked me, and I was 4cm dilated. She said that she didn’t know how quickly things would move along, but that she expected me to labor for some time.

Another nurse asked me if I’d like to labor in the bathtub, and I said yes, so she started filling it. It was an immediate relief to my aching body. I laid in the tub on my back until a contraction came, and as soon as one was starting to peak, all I could think to do was to basically squat facing the side of the tub and hang myself over the edge into Jake’s lap. He was so encouraging and supportive. As soon as the contraction ended, I laid back down into the water. I was starting to fall asleep between the contractions. I remember nodding off several times and almost falling over into the water.

At 8:38am, my water broke. It felt like a big “pop” inside of me, and instantly I felt a ton of pressure and felt like I had to push. The nurse casually said that she was going to go get the midwife. The midwife came in and said that she was going to check me. I laid back in the tub for her to check me. She said I was completely dilated and that I needed to decide RIGHT then if I wanted to have a water birth or a land birth, because the baby was coming really soon. I could not decide and remember saying, “I don’t know what to do!” So she decided to set up the room where I was for the delivery.

She asked me how I wanted to deliver, and I said, “Any way but on my back!” They set the bed up for a modified squatting position, where I was sitting on the bed but leaning back. Jake was right by my side, whispering encouragements to me and rubbing my neck.

I started pushing at 8:42am. The pushing itself wasn’t hard work, because I didn’t feel like I was doing it; my body just took over. The hard part was the pain that came with each contraction. They felt so different than the contractions I had been having before, and they hurt. It was a strange feeling to have pain and relief at the same time. My midwife told me that his head was coming out and asked if I wanted to touch it. I hesitated, and then did. I wasn’t in a contraction at that time, so I must have been feeling humorous as I greeted my little “walnut head.”

Another contraction came and a good portion of his head was out at this point. He was still posterior which caused a lot more pain, but surprisingly, I had not had any back labor. One more contraction came and as my body was pushing, my midwife kept telling me, “Easy, easy!” and I said, “I’m not doing it! I’m not trying!” Baby decided to be born that second, so with that contraction and one push, the rest of the head and body slipped out. The midwife literally had to catch the baby in her lap because it came out so fast. It was 9:10am.

Baby was immediately placed on my chest and covered with a blanket. The nurse sucked out some of the fluid from the lungs and gently wiped the little body. Someone in the room asked, “So what is it?” and the gender was announced… a BOY! [of course Jake and I already knew that (hehe), but I was very relieved that baby had not been playing tricks on us].

I don’t remember what happened in the few minutes that happened immediately after birth. I was so in awe of this little one laying on my chest… I did it, it was over… and our baby was finally here! Jake was instantly in love with his little boy.

The placenta was delivered a short time later, at 9:21am. It felt weird but was painless. 

After about an hour of looking over our baby and spending some skin on skin time together, he was weighed and measured. 8lbs, 2oz... he probably would have weighed a few more ounces if we had weighed him before the explosion of poop he covered me with. Such a good sized, healthy baby... kind of surprising with how "small" I was.

It didn’t take long for him to start rooting around, and he started breastfeeding not long later. I still could not believe that he was finally here. We finally decided that we wanted to stick with our original name, Ryan Joseph. We had been playing around with a few names the few previous days since we "weren't sure." Ryan just seemed to fit him. It was neat to finally be able to call him a name, a real name.

That first night in the hospital, before we went to sleep, Jake and I just stood in front of his bassinet, completely in awe of the blessing God had entrusted us with. We felt an overwhelming sense of love, but also a very big responsibility. We prayed for Ryan, that he would grow into a godly man who has a passion for the Lord… and also for us, that we would be the model of Christ that we were called to be as parents.

I can’t even describe the emotions that run through my heart when I just look at him. I absolutely love being a mom. I love the feeling of being needed when he cries for me at night. When I talk to him, he completely stills and looks right at my face; it just melts my heart. I’m so excited for the journey ahead!

  

39 weeks

Well, here's another update... and baby has still yet to arrive... all in the Lord's time!

I had my 39 week appointment yesterday. It went well. I lost a little over a pound again this week, so my midwife said that if my nausea/vomiting doesn't go away after the baby comes, then we should look into gall bladder issues. She said it was nothing to worry about, but just that the gall bladder would be the first thing they look into if I was still sick. I'm still taking the Zofran [anti-nausea medication] but it really only takes the edge off off it and doesn't nearly take it away.

Baby's heart rate sounded good, and she thinks that the baby is anterior this time instead of posterior [basically a better position for birth]. My BP was a little higher than normal [for me] but not high enough to even begin worrying about. She also said that I'm a "very very healthy" 3cm dilated and that my body is "very ready." Obviously dilation numbers don't really MEAN much... you can either stay at a certain dilation for a while or dilate really fast, but it's nice to know that she thinks my body is getting super close.

She also used the "i" word... induction. That word freaks me out! But, it was nothing I didn't already know... she just mentioned that we would begin talking about it at my 41 week appointment if baby hadn't come by then, and that she wouldn't let me go further than 42 weeks [which is typical]. I honestly don't think I will go that long, but I don't know if that is just wishful thinking or a reality. I feel like it should be soon because my body has just been absolutely teasing me with some crazy contractions and other "signs" that labor is on the way... and then they disappear. The "baby-having" dreams at night time don't help, either! I guess we'll see :]

So, my due date is Sunday. Or Monday. The 30th/31st... the 30th was my date, and I've just kind of been using that one, generally... but the 31st is my midwife's date. Only 2-5% of babies are born on their dute date, though, so keep that in mind when asking me where the heck my baby is, if I pass my due date ;] You might get a reply like, "Oh, crap, I forgot to bring the baby AGAIN..." complete with an eye roll. :]

Time to go bake something... or clean something... or do something nesting-related!

"Nesting"

"Nesting is the term used to refer to an expectant mother’s instinct which gives her a surge of energy which prompts her to clean and do various chores around her home. Nesting usually arises as the mother nears her due date." 

I guess apparently I have been nesting. A lot. I've been ready "emotionally" for baby for a long time... the thought of labor and delivery doesn't scare me [yet], because I'm so excited to meet our little one. I'm trying to keep in mind [and I also have a very good encourager in my husband] that the pain that comes with labor has purpose. It just seems different when you don't fear the pain that is to come; fear just seems to make it worse. There's such a huge bonus at the end, too... a baby! 


So anyways, today, I had the ambitious urge to cook lots of things. And cook lots of things I did. I made beef enchiladas, chicken alfredo with peas and corn, and wild rice soup. They're all put into containers, labeled and ready to be frozen. I also baked chocolate chip cookies, muffins and dinner rolls... those will be frozen, too.


And then I made myself a raspberry smoothie and plopped down on the couch, where I plan to spend the rest of the afternoon. :] 


Other things I've been up to... 

[organizing baby clothes]

[making a place for baby to sleep]

[packing the hospital bag]

[gathering 'diapering necessities']

[preparing my 'mommy station...' many hours will be spent in this chair; rocking, feeding, reading, loving]

...so, I've been staying busy. So what's left? Just: