31 weeks!

Well, I had my doctors appointment on Monday and I am measuring at 32 cm, which is a little big since I am only 31 weeks. My last appointment I was measuring small. All is good, he also told me the baby's head is down, and I was excited about that. Blood pressure is good. I guess I am right on track.

I have been looking back on this pregnancy and it really is not your typical pregnancy. I never had morning sickness(other than a week and a half where I just felt sick if I didn't keep anything in my stomach), I have only had one craving, and that was for Pork n Beans, and that only lasted a few days. Haven't had any since then.

I sleep wonderfully with only one bathroom break(and that is only because I set my alarm to wake me up to go to the bathroom because of an incident I had in my first trimester), and I am usually asleep within a minute or two of getting back in bed. I don't sleep with any kind of pillow besides under my head. I have had relatively no back pain.
And one thing I really love is having clear skin. I contribute this fact to my skin care, I use Mary Kay and before I got pregnant, I ran out of my moisturizer and so I was using Cetaphil facial moisturizer. I started breaking out and getting more zits than I have had in years. So, after I got pregnant I quit that and started using Mary Kay moisturizer again, and my face cleared back up and has stayed that way. So, can I just say I LOVE Mary Kay, I just use there basic skin care line. I use there day and night solution, moisturizer, and 3-in-1 cleanser. Love it!

30 Weeks and Maternity Jeans!

I am at 30 weeks now, and still feel the same size. I only have 2 more months to go, which does not seem like very long. Kind of scary to think about. This past week I had a small pain on my belly right next to my belly button, so every time the baby would kick or move over that spot it would just hurt. Called the doctor and it is nothing to worry about, and it has since gone away. Probably just a pulled muscle, it sure was uncomfortable though. I will update again after my doctors appointment on Monday.

I have been sleeping good so far, with one bathroom trip during the night. Can't complain there, although last night I had my second leg cramp that woke me up at 5:00a.m., whoa those are painful. Other than that I have been enjoying this pregnancy, it is still so much fun to feel and see the baby moving around. She is quite active!

I am really starting to get down to cleaning out the nursery room and getting it all organized. I am on my way. I got a whole bunch of storage totes from JJ Cole this past weekend at their warehouse sale, and they are so very cute.
I really don't have much to update this week. We did have a good weekend with family and my sister in law was able to pick me up a pair of maternity pants I was looking at online at Gap. My first pair of maternity pants, it is very exciting and they actually fit. I have never had Gap pants before so I was not quite sure what size I was and how they would fit, but they fit and look wonderful. A tad short, but I guess I can live with that. They are so comfy! You were all right, I feel so much better in them than regular jeans.

29 Weeks and Bedding

Last Thursday my bedding arrived, and I was so excited because it was not supposed to arrive until Saturday. I opened everything and tried it out, it looked good so I put the sheets, bed skirt, and the drapes in the wash. Then I ironed them and was ready to put it all together. The sheet was the hardest thing to put on, I have to take the whole mattress out to get the sheet on. What a pain. After getting it all put together, I then put the mobile together and fastened it to the crib. Everything was complete and it looked amazing. Here is the finished product, although the room is not complete yet, so here is just a picture of the crib. I plan on painting the walls and getting new blinds and hanging pictures, but for now I will just post a picture of the crib, the big reveal will have to wait. Although, I don't think it will be that big of a reveal once everything is complete.

I am so excited, it is so cute and I love it. The colors are just so fun, not quite what I had in mind when I first started looking at bedding, but I always came back to this crib set, it just popped out at me and so I finally made up my mind and got it. And babies love color, don't they?

Here I am in week 29, and I am feeling some backaches and some fanny pains, and some all around stretching. I know most of you won't believe this, but I have gained 25 pounds so far, and if I keep that up and gain a pound a week until I deliver, I will have gained the amount the doctor wanted me to gain. Yeah!

I found a pair of maternity jeans from GAPmaternity that are long enough, but they are around 80 dollars, is it really worth that much money to buy them for my last 3 months of pregnancy? I just don't know, probably. It is not like I am only going to be pregnant once, I guess I will be able to wear them again.
Yeah, I have a coupon code for Gap and now my pants are only 55 dollars, I think I can handle that price a lot better. Yeah for sales!

28 Weeks (3rd Trimester)

Well, I am starting my 3rd trimester today, so very exciting! I am starting to get a little bit of heartburn, but not to bad yet. Just enough to be annoying and cause discomfort. My stomach muscles have been starting to hurt a lot more. On my walks for the past two days, I cannot walk as fast and it takes more energy. I also feel like my stomach is weighing a lot more, and I just want to hold it up. She is still moving like crazy, which is so fun to feel. And no maternity clothes yet, other than Downeast maternity shirts. I still can't find any pants, so I guess I will have to make do with what I have or just where sweats all the time. Only 3 more months left anyway. Here is the 28 week picture:

Tuesday morning I heard on the radio that the Health Department got a new shipment of H1N1 vaccine in. So, I checked my phone to see if Rob had heard, and there were 4 missed calls. Rob left a message and said that he just got the vaccine and that there was no wait. My mom also called and told me about them getting more vaccinations in. So, we drove the bus over there after our morning run, and got there about 9:00, my driver dropped me off and went and parked the bus. I walked around the corner and there was a line, so I thought I would be waiting for a while. The line was actually moving pretty quick and we were out of there in about 40 minutes. So, now Rob and I are vaccinated, but we still need to be careful(they say it takes about 10 days for your body to become immune to the virus). I am just glad we finally got it. With so many kids getting sick on the bus and some of our families actually getting the swine flu, I was a little nervous going to work.
I am excitedly awaiting the arrival of my crib bedding, and once I do I will post pictures, but just of the crib, I do not have the room done yet. I just want it to be a surprise, so maybe I won't post pictures at all until I am totally finished. We shall see!
On another note: Rob is wonderful, it is so much fun to see him get so excited about everything. He is going to be an excellent Dad! He says he can't wait 3 more months, and I just tell him that he is going to have to because this baby has got to stay in there until she is good and ready.
He got his sleeping pad that goes with his sleeping bag today, and so he put it all together and was so excited to show me that he could fit into it with his legs straight. Here is my little goof ball.

We have been making these Jamba like smoothies every night for a while now, so I can get more fruits in me. I like the freshest fruit and if it is not fresh I do not buy it. So, next best thing is frozen fruit, and what do you do with frozen fruit. You mix it in the blender so there are absolutely no chunks, with other yummy things to make a smoothie. Mmmmmm, they are so good, Rob looks forward to it every night. And frankly, so do I.
They are super easy, all I do is mix orange juice, with creamy strawberry(or whatever flavor you have) Yoplait yogurt, and mixed fruit. I never measure, I just through everything in and blend away. You should try it! So healthy for you also!

27 Weeks

Well, Monday, Rob left for four days to Virginia for a business trip and so I was all by myself. Since it was supposed to snow on Tuesday I asked my parents if they could come over and pick my apples off of my trees. They did and we got 3 boxes of red apples and a half box of yellow apples. Thanks so much mom and dad!

While they were picking apples off of the tree I mowed the leaves and grass in the front yard, I could only make one swipe around before the bag was full and I had to empty it into the wheelbarrow and dump them in the garden in the back. Kind of tiring, but I got half the front yard done and then the other half was a little too thick with leaves, so my mom and dad were raking and my wonderful neighbor Martha and her son-in-law and daughter came over and also helped. They put the leaves on a tarp and hauled them to the garden. What great neighbors, and I surely appreciated the help. I finished up the front yard and then put the mower away since it was getting dark. I was hoping to get the backyard mowed, but I was grateful to be able to get all the leaves off the front yard before the snow came. There was not too many leaves fallen in the back yet.

So after that my parents left and I ate some dinner and then I took my sister to the Pumpkin Walk, we got there and were going to park and we noticed the line was out the front entrance and around the corner and all the way down the sidewalk. I said, no way can I stand in that line for that long, being that it was cold and I was pregnant and had just worked myself in the yard, so my stomach was kind of sore. We turned around and headed home and decided to go on Tuesday.
So, on Tuesday I woke up to snow on the ground and freezing temperatures, and all the rest of the leaves that were on the trees fell. After work, I picked up my sister Katie and we went to the Pumpkin Walk. Guess what? No lines, we got started just as it started to snow pretty good, so I used my umbrella and we walked around pretty quickly since I forgot my gloves and my hands got pretty cold from holding the umbrella. We were done pretty quick. My pant legs were soaked from the snow and we were pretty frozen, but I was able to get a few pictures. We had a good time anyways, even though it was COLD!

The snow that was falling, kept on falling and we got a good couple of inches. The rest of the night I didn't feel like doing anything, so I didn't. Just call me lazy. I talked to Rob and went to bed.

On Wednesday, I finally got some Halloween candy for all the little trick or treaters. And, I am now 27 weeks, Rob usually takes a picture for me, but since he is gone I will have to wait until he gets home Thursday. I am still feeling good. My doctors appointment went well, I am measuring small, around 25 cm, but because this is my first pregnancy, my muscles are not stretched yet. Which probably is why I don't feel like I am getting any bigger. Everything else is going great!

I also had to do the Gestational Diabetes test, which meant I had to drink the orange drink. The first little was not bad, but having to drink all of it was a little challenging, but I got it all down. The baby sure does like to move around, it is super crazy how much she rolls around.

Thursday, Rob came home from Virginia, and I was so happy to have him back home. He was super tired since he had to get up at 2:00a.m.(our time) to catch his plane home. He got home about 3:00p.m.! We just had a lazy evening together.

On Saturday we purchased a mattress , and also the Baby Bedding. Yeah! Two more things to check off my list, I will have to post pics when I get it all put together. Oh, I am so excited!

26 Weeks!

Here I am at 26 weeks:

I swear I look the same each week, maybe at the end I can get Rob to make a digital flip book of all my pictures so you can see my belly grow right before your eyes.
I am still feeling great, other than the minor aches and pains. She is getting a lot more active, and does rolly-pollies in my belly all the time. It feels so strange to have something moving around inside of me and giving me the tickles, she just makes me laugh, especially watching her movements from the outside.
I have started reading all about Labor and Delivery, and the stages of Labor. I am not going to get scared, the more scared you are the more tense you are, and then the more you can't relax and the more pain you will have. I have decided to have a natural delivery. I say this, but that doesn't mean I am ruling out an epidural either. I want to believe in my body and my ability to handle the pain of labor and we will see how it goes. I also want to be free to move and walk around, using the natural methods of pain relief.
During my next doctors appointment I have to do the Gestational Diabetes test, and I get to drink the orange colored drink. I am so looking forward to this!

Look at this picture, do you see ALL of these clothes:

These clothes were given to me by one of the bus drivers we have lunch with. They are mostly brand new(still have tags), or very slightly used. She just gave them to me. It was so much fun looking through them all and laying them all out over my couch. Most of the sizes are 9 months or 6-9 month sizes. Lots of onesies and summer one piece dresses. There were also some sleep sacks, and pants. Thank you so much, I don't even know if she will be able to wear everything before she grows out of them.

And we had a fun night last night visiting with the Board of Directors from Robs work that came for a few days. They had a barbeque for the Board of Directors, and they invited all the employees spouses. We had such a good time visiting with all of them, they were all such nice people.

Prevent Swine Flu

This is some information I received today that certainly would not hurt to give a try.

Neti pots and sinus rinse kits are available at the drug store and relatively inexpensive….under $15.

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital, Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

25 weeks!

I am 25 weeks and I have 15 more to go, that sounds like forever to me!! I REALLY need to find me some maternity pants or some pants that are just a little bit bigger. Things are getting rather snug.

I was so annoyed yesterday, I heard yesterday morning that the H1N1 Vaccine was now available in inject able form at the Health Department, so right after work Rob and I went, there were tons of people waiting. I only made it to the door because they had a sign posted that said the inject able vaccine was unavailable, but they still had the mist form. I was just mad, is there really that many high risk people in this valley. I am sure there is, I am just mad that there was not enough this time, now they won't get more in until the first of next week. We have had so many sick kids on the bus this week that I just want to take work off until I can get the vaccine. I will be okay, not to worry!

On another note, I have been having frequent Braxton Hicks contractions lately, well, I have had them for a while now, but in the last few days they are more frequent. One website I was reading said you could have one every 10-15 minutes until the end of your pregnancy. Wow! They are not bad, just uncomfortable and annoying at times. I started feeling them at around 20 weeks, which is not uncommon, I didn't think they started until the end of your third trimester. Oh well. If they do what they say they do and prepare your body for labor, then I am not complaining.
25 Week Update:

24 weeks and baby update!

Well, I had a doctors appointment on my 23 week mark and everything is looking good, I am measuring right on, heart beat is good, and gaining the weight I need to. Yeah! Love good doctor visits. With all the fuss about this swine flu vaccine, I asked the doctor about it at my appointment. I asked if you were more likely of getting the swine flu from getting the regular flu shot, he said NO. I also asked if the swine flu shot was safe, he said that it was and that it is developed just like any flu shot, very safe. He says he spends most of his day trying to get all these fears out of his patients heads. I felt a lot better after the visit and even got my flu shot at the doctors office before I left. I think the risks from getting the swine flu while I am pregnant far out way any small risks from getting the swine flu vaccine. I am going to trust my doctors advice.
Here is my 24 week photo:

I feel slightly bigger and am noticing if I stand for very long my back will start hurting. And after about 6:00 in the morning I am pretty restless and so I can't sleep in like I want to on the weekends either. But that is okay. It is so fun to still see Rob get so excited over this baby, or rather my baby bump. He is just too funny!
Other than walking for a half hour every morning with my mom, I have started using my pregnancy workout videos that I purchased when I first got pregnant, I love them. They are specifically designed for pregnancy and can help open things up for a easier labor and delivery. (Gotta love that)
If you would like to know, here are the videos I use:

This first one is the Prenatal Yoga, and it is just a good way to relax and focus on your breathing while becoming more open and flexible.

The Perfect Pregnancy Workout, this one I really love, I tried this one for the first time yesterday and felt good afterwords, you get more of a workout with this one, but it is gentle. There are three levels of intensity which I liked.

10-Minute Solutions: Prenatal Pilates, I like this one as well. I have done Pilates before and so this one was easy to start into. Everything was very familiar, just a little modified in some areas.

Summer Sanders' Prenatal Workout. I have not actually tried this video yet, I just ordered it from Amazon, but I saw it on Good Things Utah, and wanted to try it also. When I have more than one exercise video I don't get so bored with the same thing over and over.
I order all of these off of Amazon, and only got them after reading their reviews to why people have liked them.

23 Weeks and Banana Bread

Well, here I am in week 23, and I am feeling great! I know I say that every week, but that's the truth. I am not wearing maternity clothes yet, absolutely nothing I wear is maternity. One reason for this is I don't really fit into anything maternity, and I cannot find anything in this valley or online that I like and that fits. What am I to do?
I do have a maternity denim skirt and a maternity dressier skirt. But, have not worn them yet, not quite fitting into them yet. Everywhere I go the maternity stuff does not go below a small, and the small is just too big. And I have found nothing Old Navy wise in extra small that I like, except for the denim skirt. I hate ordering things online, because I pay shipping to return half the stuff back to the company. Uggh!
And so then I just look through the regular non-pregnant clothes and feel funny stares from people wondering why I am not in the maternity section. Oh boy, we shall see if I find anything for the Fall/Winter that I can wear. I guess sweaters are stretchy, so maybe I can find some that will work. Wish me luck!
The last couple of days I have been able to actually see the baby move from the outside, it is pretty funny to watch. The Joys!!

I have been home from work for 3 and a half days, due to the schools having Parent Teacher Conference and then UEA, and while I have not accomplished a whole lot, I have gotten a few things done. I was able to somewhat clear out the nursery room which was our catch all room, the sad thing is, I just moved it from upstairs to downstairs. And I got some laundry done. I made some Zucchini bread(which is pretty good, I replaced the oil for applesauce and used a half cup less sugar and it turned out wonderful). And today I made some banana bread, I have not made banana bread in awhile, and oh it smells so good and it actually rose just perfectly in the oven making the little canyons in the top that I just love. Mmmm, so good!
I love filling the house with the smell of freshly baked bread!