Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Hanging out in Glenwood Springs

I know it's been a long time since we have updated anything - since right before we left for Atlanta for Thanksgiving, I believe.  Since then we have had a trip to Atlanta, Thanksgiving with my family, a family baby shower for the little one, going to the Buffalo Creek area to cut a Christmas tree, put up the tree (not decorated yet), had a shower with my work ladies (and Jacob), both been sick, and now we are having a "babymoon" in Glenwood Springs where we both are still sick, although much better, and are heading back to town tomorrow.  Keep an eye out for update posts on all the fun we have been having over the last few weeks, and an update on Baby Naughton.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

I know it's been a while...

But I find publishing to the blog falls to the way-side when you are working a mixture of night and day shifts and averaging 5 shifts/week of 12 hours each. Luckily, I'll be heading out of town for 8 days on Tuesday morning so I won't have to worry about work for that time. So please forgive me for falling down on posts and keep our patients and their families in your prayers - and throw in an extra for my sanity as well.

In the way of what else has been going on, we had our 27-28 week appointment this past Thursday and all looks good. The baby, however, has decided it really doesn't want to flip to be in the correct direction (it has been breech at every ultrasound so far). So now I have an ultrasound appointment every two weeks starting right after Thanksgiving (and every 2 weeks is normal for how often to go once you get to 30 weeks, it's the ultrasound that's different than normal). The doctor said that he wants to be able to document the head flipping down and if it hasn't by 34 weeks we'll have a conversation about options. I definitely DO NOT want a c-section so I'll do almost anything I have to... let's just hope that we don't have to worry about that. (As an aside, I still don't know what it's like to be kicked in the ribs all the time but my bladder is definitely up to par on what it feels like to be kicked.)

Also, the growth has finally slowed down. Instead of measuring at least a week big, the baby is right on target. Now the "if you go to term" weight prediction is 7.5 lbs rather than 8 lbs so I'm a little more at ease about that. My weight gain has leveled off as well... at least until I get to Thanksgiving!

I really can't believe that in as little as 10 weeks I could have a little one in my arms! It's been an exciting journey and I'm sure that I'll have many more pieces of the journey to enjoy in the next 2 months. I especially can't wait to hold him or her in my arms and cuddle as much as possible!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Moose the bully

Ever since Mike and I noticed this about a year ago, I have been trying to get this series of photos taken - but I always seem to miss one here or there.
Basically what happens is Oliver starts out in the big bed, Moose then hovers for a few minutes until he decides to join Oliver in the big bed. They share the bed for a few minutes but Moose HAS to keep inching into Oliver such that finally, Oliver jumps out of the bed and Moose sleeps all by himself.

My favorite part of these pictures is Moose's expression. He is just so nonchalantly looking over Oliver's shoulder, then he has the ticked off look when he's having to share, followed ultimately by the best sleep he ever has had, clearly!It's hilarious because the bed is obviously large enough for both cats - and probably another small cat - but Moose just will not share. It's not just the beds in the bay window, either. He does it in the bed we have in our bedroom of even if Oliver is just sleeping next to me at night.

Moose is just a big bully - a very cute bully, but a big bully nonetheless.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Rockin' the Impala

Last Monday I was on my way to work for a meeting. I was driving in the left lane of a one way street and noticed this minivan turning in to my lane. I'm not talking that she was coming in to my lane about to side swipe me, she was doing a full left hand turn in to my lane. The only thing I can think is that she thought she was in the middle of a two way street and so it didn't occur to her to look to see if the left hand turn she was about to make would cause her to t-bone a car coming up on her left driving in the same direction she was. I tried to get out of the way but that was basically futile so I was t-boned in the passenger side (luckily no one was in the car with me and it wasn't on to my side). No one was hurt though I did go to the OB since I was already on the way to the hospital as it was. I was fairly shaken up but had no problems and was given a clean bill of health later in the week at my almost-24 week appointment (after he did an ultrasound just to be sure).

I thought pictures would be good to share - but first I had to get them from the collision place that is currently repairing the car. Among other things such as getting the license plate of the other car or calling the police, I also forgot to take pictures before I took the car to get repaired. USAA has been fabulous to deal with and lucky for me the other insurance company has been great as well. The only thing left to be seen is if they will have everything settled before I get my car back next week. And until then, I'll be rockin' the Impala courtesy of Enterprise. I'll definitely be glad to get my own car back though!

Here are some pictures. It's not as bad as the $3800 estimate makes it out to be but basically the front door wouldn't open at all and the back door would open about an inch. So the front door had to be fully replaced and the back door had to have the outer portion replaced (whatever that's called).

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Random Thoughts

Over the past few days, I have had random thoughts. I actually blame it on Facebook. Not that it's a good thing, but when you spend a little too much time on Facebook, you begin thinking in terms of status updates. I'd bet the same would be true for spending too much time on Twitter - all these short sentences that people wrap their entire thought processes in to in the hopes of getting their point across. But I digress... now on to some random thoughts.

  • Mental and physical exhaustion + 5 straight night shifts in a row + 1 Benedryl = really good sleep!
  • I know I'm big and may look like I'm more than 24 weeks pregnant, but I'm not and I'd appreciate you not telling me how big I look and/or asking if I'm sure there aren't twins in there.
  • My job, while I love doing it, really sucks sometimes when it comes to patient outcomes.
  • Why is it that both cats feel the need to be surgically attached to me when I'm sleeping??
  • Feeling the baby move is completely different than I anticipated; I thought there would be more sharp movements as opposed to light little feelings. I'm told the sharp (i.e. uncomfortable) movements come soon though.
  • Why is Similac already sending me cans of infant formula?!?
  • How can I be so tired all day and not be able to sleep at night?

I'm sure I'll have more installments to add at a later time, but that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed them (and a window in to the way my mind works).

Friday, October 22, 2010

I'm still here

Things are still going well here, I just haven't had a chance to update the blog in a bit. We have had our next appointment, turned the enormous family room downstairs in to a family room and bedroom with the help of Mike's parents, bought baby furniture, I got in a wreck and am now stuck driving a rental for another 10 days at least (don't worry, everything is fine with both me and baby, the car is another story), and now I'm working nights because of working being crazy. So it's been very busy, but I'm working on catching up on some posts.

I can't believe I'm almost 24 weeks along now!  It seems like I remember just yesterday thinking about how in 10 weeks I would have a viable baby if something did for some reason go wrong and I went in to labor early (I can't help it, it's how you think when you see preemies and ex-preemies so much in your every day life) - and here we are.

According to the doctor (who did another ultrasound thanks to the wreck on Monday), I'm looking at a BIG baby... that shouldn't surprise me since I was 8 lbs, 9 oz and Mike was over 8 lbs, too, along with the fact that my nephew was 7 lbs, 15 oz, but still! I wasn't completely ready to hear that even though I knew it in the back of my head. Of course, it's all just predictions, but this is the second appointment in a row that he told me the baby would probably be around 8 pounds. So we'll find out in early-mid February! I have another ultrasound appointment in 4 weeks so maybe the baby will have slowed down in growth by then?!?

We still don't know if it is a boy or a girl. I'm driving my girlfriends at work CRAZY in not finding out. We have thought about maybe finding out by having the doctor put it in an envelope to open on Christmas but by then I'll be 32 weeks and what's another 6-8 weeks to find out? I'm pretty certain if we had another baby we would find out if it's a boy or girl - that was kind of the compromise we came to - unless we have too much fun not finding out for this one. I still call the baby a boy in ultrasound pictures and a girl when I'm feeling it move inside of me, so who knows. During my ultrasound this week it had its legs crossed nicely so the doctor said he couldn't tell even if he wanted to. He did remember from my last ultrasound though - or maybe it's in my file, I don't know. Either way, he knows and I don't. When I asked about a little bit of pain I'm feeling in my bladder area, he said that it's more than likely because the baby's butt and feet are constantly sitting on my bladder. So instead of the head being wedged in the bottom of my uterus, the baby is breech and a good sized rear end is wedged in to the bottom of my uterus instead. I can tell because all the movement I feel is in the lower portion of my belly, but seriously! Mike tried to have a heart to heart with baby but it wasn't listening; it's still sitting in the same spot.

Time to get ready for work... one nice thing I do like about night shifts is that it's kind of luxurious to get to sleep in bed all day. That is, until the dog barks when the mailman comes, the cats come walk all over the bed (and me), Mike has to be in and out to get to the office (the only way in is through the bedroom) and the baby sits on and/or kicks my bladder.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Mid-point Ultrasound

On Thursday morning I went to my first OB appointment on my own. It was a bummer that the big ultrasound was the first appointment Mike couldn't make, but it was good because it meant that he was doing a landscaping job. And because my doctor rocks he said that he'd do another ultrasound the next time Mike was able to be there with me.

First, to answer the question many of you are wondering - we did not find out if it is a boy or a girl. The doctor knows, but I looked away from the screen worried I would be able to tell. He said it was pretty obvious so I guess I'm glad I looked away. That said, if we decide we want to find out after all, then we can. Second, (which probably should have been first) everything looks great. The best picture from the day is this one:You'll see it looks like we have a thumb sucker on our hands. I guess that's just appropriate considering Mike and I both sucked our thumbs but goodness help me if I'm going to have to pry it out of his or her mouth when he or she is way too old to be sucking their thumb like happened with me (and apparently my husband, but maybe he's just saying that to make me feel better). Or maybe the baby is just a thumb sucker en utero and will find many more fascinating things to fill his or her time with once it's born! It was really cool to see though because you could actually see the tongue moving in and out!

Some of the things they look for are cleft palate, intestines and spinal cord inside the body with skin closed over each, an intact diaphragm, a heart with 4 chambers, a bladder that's full, and a stomach that's full. The bladder and the stomach being full are indications that the baby can swallow and the kidneys are working and most everything else is structural but it would be problematic if they weren't formed correctly. I'm sure there are other things that he told me during the ultrasound but I was too entranced with the screen to hear everything.

The little one loves to move around and the doctor said once I do start feeling movement I'll probably feel a lot. For now though my placenta is between the baby and the wall of the uterus so I'm not feeling anything. Every once in a while I think I may have felt something, but it's nothing I am ready to classify as feeling it move for the first time. He said the baby will probably be kicking my bladder soon though! All the measurements put the baby right on target for just about 20 weeks and he said that if I go to term and the baby keeps growing at this rate, it will be around 8 pounds when it's born. Again, based on Mike and I, I guess that's about right since we both were big. And my sister's boy was almost 8 pounds, too, and baby size is hereditary.

Anytime I look at the pictures I always call it a boy but when I talk about it otherwise, it's a girl. So I guess I don't have any idea what I think it is. We joke around here that maybe we should find out because Mike says he needs 20 weeks to get used to the idea of a girl and I think I need 20 weeks to get used to the idea of a boy. I then amended my comment after being reminded of crazy stories of Mike growing up and said I think I need 20 years to get used to the idea of having a boy!

All in all, everything is like it should be at this point. My weight gain is just where it should be, my symptoms are pretty much non-existent right now, and things are coming together with Mike getting a new job that he really enjoys at Izakay Den (YUM! I can't wait until I can eat real sushi again, not just California Rolls) and still getting landscaping here and there as well. I feel very blessed to have a healthy baby and I'm not as worried as I thought I would be, seeing what I see every day.

Now comes the fun of trying to figure out what to do with the nursery and little things like that! Mike's parents are coming to visit in a few weeks and we are building a guest room out of the enormous room in the basement so we'll have a place to host anyone who wants to come visit. And Mike and I got a new bed so you won't have to sleep on the awful full size mattress I got for free when I was a poor AmeriCorps member!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I have "popped"

I tried to find some Google answer for the origin of the term "popped" but I think it's just a logical origin since that is how I feel. A week ago today I didn't feel as if I was so much pregnant but more just pudgy. Then something this weekend definitely changed. I used to be able to put on a big t-shirt and be able to camouflage the tummy. But Sunday morning as I was getting dressed, I realized that was definitely not the case anymore. I looked down and there it was, big t-shirt and all. So for all intents and purposed, I look pregnant. I suppose that's a good thing since I'm 19 weeks but it's still just weird.

At the hospital open house just prior to 15 weeks pregnant

A week later just prior to 16 weeks pregnant - I'm still able to hide it

Today, 19 weeks pregnant

Thursday, September 16, 2010

My current favorite blog reading

I, just like my sister, love to read blogs. Blog reading has gotten me back in touch with college friends, high school friends, and shown me other people's viewpoints and thoughts. I also like to run across craft ideas, meal ideas (which I'm desperately needing these days), and I get my news by way of Google Reader, too.

Every once in a while I go looking for new blogs to read. My Google Reader is full of all kinds of great blogs but I like to refresh every once in a while. Some of my go-to blogs (in addition to friends and family of course) are Dooce, The Spohrs Are Multiplying, and matt, liz and madeline. These blogs mostly have a back story and so if you are going to start reading any of these, I'd recommend reading the "About Me" section, but they are all beautifully written and all have become well known blogs, two of which have even started non-profits relating to what they have gone through.

Like I said though, I like to find new blogs. Since my current mindset is family and babies, I did a Google search for "best baby blogs" which lead me to Top Baby Blogs. I got back every once in a while because it's a "top list" that is recompiled constantly based on click-throughs from the page. Therefore, while there are always some good ones that remain in the top few spots, it's also always possible to see new blogs, too. This is where I have found my new favorite blog - This Place is Now a Home. What's fun about this blog is that it is a man and a woman who share posting. They classify it as "He Said, She Said". They don't post on the same topics, for the most part, but they each bring unique ideas to what they are posting on. I think another reason I love this blog so much is that their baby is a new born - I started reading when he was 4 weeks old, I think - which was just a few weeks ago - and so they are going through what we'll be going through in a few short months (did I mention that you can now count how many months until the baby is born on ONE hand?!?). She has really good insight on mothering and being a first time mom so it's really interesting to read.

What are the blogs you are reading these days??

3rd appointment ... almost time for my 4th!

There really were no big updates from my 3rd appointment a few weeks ago. The doc did a Doppler of the heartbeat which he said was perfect and he also noted that the baby was moving around a lot an trying to get away from the Doppler so that was a good sign as well. My blood pressure is fine, my weight gain is perfect... so apparently things are going smoothly. I also had a quad screen. I didn't feel much of a need to do this just because the outcome would not make any difference to what happened in the long run, but we ended up doing it just because. Turn out, apparently I couldn't have had a more normal screen so it's just another indication things are going as they should.

Believe it or not, I go back for my mid-pregnancy ultrasound a week from today! That is when they will confirm measurements, make sure the baby is growing, and do lots of looking at organs and making sure everything looks alright. If there is anything odd-looking at all he will refer me to OBX, the high risk pregnancy group at the hospital, for an even more in depth ultrasound. And since I'm sure many of you are wondering, will we find out the sex?? I think that I won't know the actual answer until we get in the room, but as of now we are leaning towards not finding out. And Mike even agreed with me on that one. So, we'll let you know what we decide after the appointment next week - but for now you have to keep wondering.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Random thoughts on reading

You know you have found a book your husband is interested in when you get home and find him reading. Well, OK, maybe I'm just talking about my husband. For my book club we read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It is kind of post-apocalyptic which is something Mike loves so I recommended it to him. I personally finished the book in a day of doing nothing but reading (I haven't done that in years - it was so nice!) so I gave it to him to read. And what do you know, he really liked it. So when the my friend gave my the second book, Catching Fire, I first offered it to him to read because I was in the middle of a book already. He looked at it and decided he didn't really want to read it so I put it on my side of the bed. In the meantime, I started reading it because I couldn't wait. But tonight, when I get home from work, there he was lying in bed reading my book! Good thing I knew exactly where I left off. I must say I have never had a book that I had to share - two people reading it at one time! I'm just waiting for him to get to bed so I can steal it and read some before I head off to sleep.

As an aside, the premise of the story does sound weird and a little gruesome. In my opinion it would be too gruesome for a movie but apparently that is in the works? But it really is a good book - and a fast read. It's young adult but don't let that deter you - it's a real page turner.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

You can still camp while pregnant - although I don't know for how long

One thing that Mike and I love to do is to go camping. We talk about how we'll make it work next summer with a six four month old, but that honestly just will have to be determined at that time. I know, it's most likely not going to happen next summer but I can wish right?

After being at the hospital for some reason or another for 8 days straight, Mike suggested we go camping. I suggested we wait and give me at least a day at home to chill out but then we did go camping. We were at the trail head by noon and were at the campsite and had eaten by 12:45 (that's what happens when the campsite is only a mile from the parking lot). I was still exhausted from working so much so Mike went out for a longer hike but Trucker and I stayed put to relax. I read and snoozed but Trucker thought the Thermarest I put out was for him to lay on, so I unfortunately had to share (yes, I'm a sucker and I love my dog...).

We had a lot of fun but I'm not much of a good sleeper while camping anyway and I normally lay on my stomach to sleep in the tent and that's not comfy at all right now. We left early the next morning to head back to town but it was a nice escape in to the woods. We were the only people out there and had a great view of downtown Denver. When I can find my USB cable, I'll upload the pictures. So all in all - a mini-backpacking trip within a 40 minute drive of home and a view of the city at night. It wasn't bad at all. The is the Colorado we can't wait to share with our little one!

All that said, hiking I'm sure I'll continue doing here and there but I'm not sure about camping. That sleeping on the hard ground (even with a Thermarest) just isn't comfortable these days!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Update from appointment #2

Mike and I went to see the OB this morning for our second appointment. When we got there, his medical assistant told us he had to run over to the hospital to check on a patient and that he may or may not be there for a while. She asked if it was OK if the other doctor in the practice saw me if my doctor wouldn't make it back and I said that was fine. I figure at some point I should probably meet him just in case he has to deliver my child instead of my own doctor. Today wasn't that day though.

After waiting a mere 5-10 minutes, Dr Breeden stuck his head in and asked if we wanted to see the baby. They have an ultrasound machine in the office and many of my girlfriends from work have gone to this group and they all say the same thing - they'll give you an ultrasound every time if you want. I didn't ask for it, but of course we were happy that he offered. Originally they had put us in the room with no ultrasound machine so I thought we wouldn't see it today, just hear the heartbeat by Doppler. Mike was a little disappointed, too. So Dr Breeden said that he didn't want us waiting around all morning since he had to go do an emergency c-section so he took us in to the ultrasound room, took some pictures, said everything looks great, and sent us on our way with instructions to come back in a month. He also gave me a prescription for pregnancy cleared headache medicine. I don't think I'm going to get it filled right away but it's nice to have since the headaches were so crazy the past couple of weeks. The whole appointment took a total of about 8 minutes once we were with him (maybe even less) and I guess this is how most of the appointments will be - pee in a cup, get weighed, get measured, maybe see an ultrasound, and schedule for a month from then.

While he did print out pictures for us today, they aren't very good quality so I don't feel like you'd even be able to tell what they look like. Therefore, I'm not going to share them, but I can tell you the baby was moving a lot and he had a hard time getting the baby still enough to finally count the heart beat (in the 150s) and that the baby waved to us during the ultrasound. I was able to pick out the spine, the arms and legs, and we even saw the baby's profile. Ultrasound is truly an amazing thing!

One of the many pros to the group that I have chosen is the proximity to the hospital. I am delivering at the same hospital that I work at and their office is directly across the driveway from the hospital on the same property. So when he ran over to check this woman in labor, he was still able to run back, do my appointment, and get back before she was fully prepped and the OR was ready to do the c-section. Also, I know that if anything were to happen while I was at work, they would be 100% open to me coming over so they could take a look. There is a closer hospital to our house but for me it was important to deliver where I work. There is no place else I would want my baby if it needed to be in the NICU and they have the best high risk practice around and the doctor is nationally renowned (if for some reason I had to go high risk). Also, whenever I'm ready to have this baby, I want to know my doctor is a 2 minute walk from the hospital during working hours!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

How I'm feeling now

It's really amazing how my life has changed in just the last almost-12 weeks. I turn 12 weeks on Tuesday and have an appointment on Wednesday and I can't wait to hear the heartbeat again. I don't know if I'll see the little peanut on ultrasound but just to hear the heartbeat will be great.

My symptoms have been crazy and I thought I'd write them down just to remember where I've come from when this is all over (remember this is as much for Mike and me as it is for sharing with you all).
  • I started with dizziness and overall not feeling fabulous.
  • By 5 and a half weeks I was definitely feeling the nausea and exhaustion but the dizziness went away.
  • Around 8 weeks, I was still nauseous except then it was constant. I'm talking feeling hungover but nothing making it go away - not sleep, not greasy food, nothing! And of course, don't forget the complete and total lack of energy. Seriously, by the time I got to 4 PM at work I was barely able to keep my eyes open, and that doesn't help when you have until 7 PM to go.
  • Around 9 weeks I started getting headaches. For the most part they would come and go but this past week I was nursing one for about 3 days.

So how I'm feeling now is still exhausted (I have learned that pregnancy and night shift - when I haven't worked a night shift since February - don't really mix well), a tiny bit nauseous here and there but overall much better. And I don't talk about all this to say that I'm a baby and want to whine about it all the time, I just want to remember what I was feeling so next time I'm in my first trimester I'll have something to remember this by and the next one to.

BABY STUFF!!!

Our house is already overflowing with baby stuff. I think both my mom and Mike's mom have been just waiting to hear that there is a baby on the way to put the boxes in the mail, in addition to my friends.

First my friend Lindsey sent me a box of clothes - very appreciated clothes, I might add - and some great newborn/infant toys. Then when I got to Kansas, mom said that she has had something for me at home for ages and would put it in the mail to me as soon as she got home (after she just happened to bring the Baby Bjorn to share for whenever we did decide to have kids; she says she was shocked when I told her but I think deep down she was hoping I'd have news to share!). In addition to that, she put all kinds of little toys and gadgets and burp cloths in as well. Then just yesterday we got a large box from Mike's mom in Indiana with some of the most adorable things ever! Add that to all the things I'm getting from the girls at work - tanks, t-shirts, scrubs that will fit when I have a belly - and our house is getting taken over.

I'm so excited and must admit that something about going through the baby clothes and toys in the most recent box made it all seem more real. I'm so excited to start deciding on how to decorate the nursery, making little things for baby, deciding if we're going to find out if it's a boy or a girl (I still vote no)... there is so much to look forward to over the next 6 months, I'm getting more and more excited!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Trip to Kansas

I went to Kansas to meet up with my mom, sister, and nephew who were there for a conference for my sister's work. Since it is much closer than Atlanta, I decided to get in the car and take the 8 hour road trip to hang out for a few days. I got there on Sunday and stayed until Wednesday because I had to be back at work bright and early on Thursday morning for an 0700 shift (lucky for my I was cost contained so I didn't actually have to work on Thursday and did nothing but rest instead). It was really one of the most fun times I had gotten to spend with my family - just us girls - in a long time! And I hadn't seen my nephew since he was 5 weeks old (WAY too long of course) so that was a blast as well.

The most important part of this trip was to break the big news to my mom and sister. So needless to say, I was waiting with the camera when I shared the news and this is what I saw:
Unfortunately I could not see my mom's face, but I'll bet that it looked something like my sister's. And as you can see, Tilden is quite excited to be wearing his big cousin t-shirt!

Can you believe that he is only 17 months old - he looks like he's at least 2! I'm completely in love with him and can't wait for him to meet his cousin. Unfortunately, it's going to be a little while before we move back towards family (no plans at this point) but we're going to work hard to get home as often as possible and to get family here, too.

So I told my mom and sister on Sunday night then we spent the rest of the week just hanging out. My sister was in meetings all day so mom and I took Tilden out and about. They tell me that he never falls asleep in the car but there must be something about my car because he fell asleep almost every morning when we were running around. I did some research to find a fountain for him to play in because I knew how much he loved water and it was so hot while we were there. At first he wasn't a fan at all but after finding a stick to play with, he decided to go put the stick in the spray of the water and the rest is history. This is the best picture of him from the whole week - and I think the best composition of a photo I have taken in a while (maybe since my photography course in college?!?).

I also gave in and got some maternity clothes. Just for the record, I am not OK with the fact that I'm buying some maternity clothes and I'm only 8-9 weeks pregnant. That said, they are the most comfortable things I own! I'm loving how there is minimal feeling fat though since I'm at the stage where I don't look pregnant, just pudgy. While I know it will eventually become baby right now I'm just a little self conscious.

The week was so much fun although it wasn't fun at all to have to leave on Wednesday (especially since I hadn't been feeling great and I was exhausted) but all in all, it was so worth the long car ride to see them. For a full breakdown of the week - and more pictures - head over to my mom's blog.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Our first picture

I know I said I'd update and post a picture of the ultrasound as soon as I got it uploaded. Well, I got it uploaded but failed to post. So now, here goes!!
This is from our first appointment at 8 weeks and he gave me an official due date as well - February 15th, 2011.

The month of February was never a big one in our family until my mom and my stepdad got married - his birthday is Feb. 5th. Then about 8 years later, my dad married my stepmom and her birthday is Feb. 7th as is my nephew's. Now we are going on our 4th birthday in the same month. Everyone is pulling for the baby to be born on their special day but I want him or her to have its own special day so I'm pulling for closer to my actual due date, so we'll see!

There's just one!

We had our first appointment on Tuesday and we were so excited to see the little peanut moving around on the screen of the ultrasound. My doctor is fabulous and the practice came highly recommended by the ladies I work with. I asked him how many ultrasounds we would get and he said as many as I needed to feel comfortable. It's really nice to know that he understands where I'm coming from as a nurse who works in PICU and occasionally NICU and that I want to know that my baby is healthy and things are moving along well. Will I be so crazy as to want an ultrasound every time I'm in the office? I sure hope not! I'll need my husband to be a good influence on that one.

But on to the appointment... I had a day of appointments so I met M there. For some reason, Denver traffic was bad so I was afraid that he wouldn't make it on time. He finally got there right as we were about to go back. The doctor was there right away - I don't think I have ever had to wait long in this office - and asked how I was feeling. I said that I felt hungover all the time and was exhausted and he said good, you're pregnant! He did the ultrasound right away and it was SO incredible to see the little heartbeat on the screen. Then he zoomed in and we were able to HEAR the heartbeat, too! The little ticker was going at 162 beats per minute!! I'm serious - it was incredible! I made him verify that there was only one baby in there (there was). He gave me his pager number if I ever need to get in touch with him outside of office hours. He said if I'm feeling anything weird at all just come by and he'll take a look. He verified that I should be eating whatever I want at this point and that my weight will all even out as I start to feel better and can exercise more and eat better.

All in all it was an awesome day. I look at those pictures a lot! I can't wait to show them to my mom and sister tomorrow. Since I have had the appointment and he said that now the chance of miscarriage is less than 5% (since we've seen the heartbeat on ultrasound) I'm feeling better about telling people about it. I have told one or two more people here and there and we are going to finish telling family this weekend. Then I just have to figure out who all I need to tell before it gets to them from someone else - maybe on my drive tomorrow I'll work on calling all my girlfriends.

I think we both are still feeling a little like it's not quite real at times but seeing the heartbeat definitely made it more real for us. Since I have been feeling so crappy, I think I am feeling more real about it but it took M seeing and hearing the heartbeat to feel like it was more real. I'm sure as we go through the next 31 weeks we will have many instances where the reality slaps us in the face, but for now, we'll just go with the flow.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Happy 4th of July

OK, so it's only the 3rd of July but since I'm working the holiday I thought we'd blog "celebrate" today. I was supposed to have a week on my own but it turns out when Mike made his plane reservations to Indiana for a wedding, he made them for a month prior to when he meant to. So he got to the airport to get his boarding pass and they told him there was nothing they could do for him. Unfortunately for him, he missed time at home, but fortunately for me, we get to spend the weekend together! (Maybe I should make plane reservations from here on out...)

I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week so yesterday was a lazy day to catch up on much needed rest. Mike started working on putting rocks out on the portion of the lawn he calls the hell strip - the grass/weed area between the sidewalk and the road. Every year that area becomes an awful overgrowth of nothing more than weeds. We talked about sodding but that's a lot of sod so we instead decided on rocks (pictures to come) which makes me very happy - I HATE pulling those weeds every year.

Today I ran errands while Mike did more rock work and then off to a burrito party for dinner and back home early since I have to work tomorrow and Monday then start getting ready for my trip to Kansas to see my sister, mom, and nephew next weekend!

Today has got to be better than yesterday

So I'm still having problems with morning sickness and yesterday was the worst yet. All day I could barely get out of bed or off the couch and I couldn't think about eating. I think I had a banana, applesauce, some tortilla chip, and three pieces of my quesadilla at dinner. The mere thought of having to eat something just made me more ill. And I couldn't actually get sick - that would be too easy. Today, I thought I was doing good because I was interested in breakfast. Then, I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch (unfortunately, greasy food like fries and chicken sandwiches are the only things that actually sound good) and that wasn't a good idea. Whereas last week, CFA was good at settling my stomach, no such luck today. I hope this isn't an idea of things to come for the next 5 weeks. Oh yeah, and the trip to Kansas - 8 hours in the car - to finally get to tell Jenni and Mom should prove to be interesting at the least next weekend. . .

On a more positive note, I changed my first appointment to Tuesday!! I can't wait to see the little peanut on the screen and hear the heartbeat for the first time! I'll post as soon as I can get the picture scanned in to the computer, don't worry!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Morning sickness on the way

I don't know if it's all in my head, but this morning sickness thing is kind of a pain in the butt. I'm learning here and there how to deal with it, but overall it's exhausting. Well, actually I think it's just the pregnancy that is exhausting, but the nausea is no fun either. I have yet to actually be sick and I think that I may feel better if I could just be sick, but the best way I have learned to deal is to make sure I have something in my stomach all the time.

Thursday and Friday mornings at work I definitely let myself go too long without food and I felt so bad that a friend went to the nutrition room to bring me crackers and a Sprite. Saturday I again didn't have enough to eat for breakfast so was feeling icky throughout the early afternoon until I went to Chick-Fil-A and had a sandwich and an enormous serving of fries. Then I was eating all afternoon at my work summer party so I was good. Today I think I learned my lesson. I had a very filling Fage yogurt (10g of protein!!) for breakfast as well as some fruit and munched here and there until I met a friend for lunch. Even with all that eating, there is still this gnawing nausea that I feel fairly constantly. I haven't had any other awful symptoms like headaches or anything but, geesh, this stuff kind of kicks you in the butt!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Be careful who you tell

When you decide to share you are pregnant, think about who you are sharing with. Even if you think there is no way that person could tell anyone who would get it back to your family in any way, think first!

Case in point, if you tell your best friend who lives in South Bend and you fail to remember that he talks to your cousin at least every day because they met at your wedding and have kept in touch and that your cousin may will definitely tell her mother who happens to be your mother's sister, you may get a phone call from your mother saying, "Guess what I found out today from Susie?!?". Yes, that's a true story! But she says she won't tell anyone and that she'll act surprised when Mike spills the beans when he's in Indiana in a couple of weeks, so that's good! This not telling family is killing me! I can't wait until after July 11th!!!

Online message boards

If you search for ANYTHING regarding pregnancy online you will every once in a while get some very valid information but you are most often referred to BabyCenter message boards or some other pregnancy website message board. My favorite (and I say that somewhat sarcastically) is when I do a quick search to see if I can drink diet drinks or eat bacon and you get all these responses that say "I did that my entire pregnancy and my kid is great and healthy!! Everyone who tells you that you can't while you are pregnant is just crazy!". I mean, I'm glad your pregnancy went well and all, but usually there is a reason that your physician tells you not to do something during pregnancy. I'm working to not be too obsessive, but I'm also trying very hard to follow the rules.

That said, I'm getting a list of questions ready to ask the doctor come July 9th. I want to know if I can still ride my bike, I want to know how much caffeine is actually OK (I'm sticking with one small cup of soda - regular, not diet - or less per day), I want to see the heartbeat so I know that things are developing well... As I read more books (which by the way, also can be one extreme or the other) I come up with more questions. I'm scared to gain too much weight, not enough weight, throw up my entire first trimester, not get enough nutrition for the baby... just so much to worry about in the first trimester.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

When to tell

All along I have said that I wasn't going to tell anyone about my pregnancy until I was at least 8-10 weeks along... well, I made it about a week. Actually, I have only told one person outside of work and I trust her to keep the secret. But my downfall is work.

I spend 12 hours at a time at work and am sitting there talking to my coworkers all day. It's really hard when the only thing on your mind is being pregnant to not say anything. I actually cracked day one to the good friend from work who advised me to get the digital pregnancy tests. She knew immediately after Mike and I did just because I needed some girly advice. Then I told her I was going to try to wait until July 9th when I had my first appointment to tell anyone else at work. She told me that may not last... it lasted for about 5 minutes.

Most people at work know that we are at the point where we are thinking about kids. So the second I say I'm tired or I don't feel well or whatever, I'm asked if I'm pregnant. And I decided that I would wait until someone asked before I would tell so that sets me up for telling people when they immediately ask that. And also, I'm a very poor liar when it comes to something like this. Additionally, if something is to go wrong, everyone will find out I'm pregnant anyway because I'll more than likely have to take time off work so it's not like I'd hide it forever. And finally, the ladies I work with are awesome and I really am thrilled to share my excitement with them.

Like I said, outside of work one person knows. I'm really really trying hard to not say anything to anyone else until after our first appointment. Our OB is in an awesome practice that most of my girlfriends from work go to. When I called to schedule my appointment, I asked if there would be an ultrasound - all I want to know is that there is a heart beat and the baby is developing well. I'm excited to say that there will be! It's killing me to know I have to wait until then to know that everything is OK. But that's how it has to be and that's when I'll start telling other people. And I can't wait to share how we are going to tell my mom and my sister!!!!!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Seriously this is June!!

This one won't have lots of info in it - just a quick minute to say something to Mother Nature: It's June 12th!!! I'm all for not-so-hot weather, but couldn't we stick to the 70s and 80s as opposed to rainy and low 50s?!? The sun hasn't peeked out all day long and as soon as I let the dog out this morning I realized it felt more like February or March instead of June. Seriously?!?

That said, it was a nice surprise to be cost contained (too many nurses scheduled, not enough patients) this morning and I have spent a very lazy day in the house. It was especially nice because I was scheduled for 5 days in a row so I broke up my stretch right in the middle. Mike is working on a design for his 2nd paying job with a 3rd on the horizon and I have been catching up on reading and researching on the Internet. Now off to run random errands I probably don't need to do but it's time to get out of the house. I was about to head to the Y until I realized that they all close at 7:00 on Saturdays. What, doesn't anyone want to work out on Saturday nights? Or am I just a weirdo?

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. I'm off to work in the morning!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Summer work projects

OK, so I have been away from the blog - again - for a long time. But it's been because we have been doing crazy things to our yard! Well, that is what is was recently at least. We have a list of things we'd like to do and the biggest of those was to expand our back yard. If you remember a year ago we sodded the backyard and seeded the side yard. Well this year, we decided to enclose the side yard up to the front porch so 70% of what we seeded last year is now part of the back yard. These are not the best quality pictures because I took them with my iPhone (the battery in my good camera died so this was all I had) but this will give you a good idea. Click on the links I put in for previous entries to remind yourself what the yard looked like before.
Looking from the side yard at the new fence

From the backyard along the new fence looking back towards the garage

From the patio looking at the new fence - you can appreciate the meadow grass and wildflowers the best here, I think

Also I have gotten my garden up and running for the year. I don't know how it will do but we are going to try to put a sun blocker up that will filter out 30% of the sun since it gets SO hot on the back concrete pad. This year I have planted 4 types of sweet peppers, 3 types of hot peppers, parsley, 3 kinds of tomatoes, sugar snap peas, broccoli, 2 kinds of lettuce, and cucumbers in the back raised bed. I'm also trying some container planting for my herbs - cilantro, basil, rosemary, and thyme - as well as a pot for strawberries. I'm not sure if you can appreciate in the pictures below quite how the basil and cilantro have taken off, but basically I'm giving it away to people at work because there is so much of it.

I won't bore you with what is what, but just know it's a lot that may or may not actually survive

The cilantro is in the right and left corners and the basil is in the back corner

My strawberries!!

So as we do more projects, I'll post more pictures. But for now just be content with the fact that I promise I will have more to post soon - and I think I'm going to change the name of the blog in the next month or two so be on the lookout!!

Amazing what I don't know

You'd think that as a previous childbirth educator and newborn care educator I would feel 100% ready to be pregnant. It's amazing how many things I find myself asking though. What can I eat, what's safe to do, can I still ride my bike to work occasionally like I have been, should I just walk on the treadmill instead of run, what does my baby look like right now, how will I know if something isn't right, how much water should I be drinking... my thoughts, needless to say, are going crazy right now. And I'm not normally a morning person yet I have been up early every day thinking of all the things I need to think about and I haven't been able to get back to sleep. So either this is my body preparing me for no sleep as a new mom or my mind really needs to calm down - otherwise it's going to be a LONG 9 months. And yes, it is almost a full 9 months - my due date is February 17, 2011!!

Cat litter

I said I would use this as a way to share little things that we are feeling throughout the pregnancy and this is one of my favorites (actually, it's what gave me the idea in the first place).

I didn't clean the litter box on Saturday - I meant to, I just didn't have the time. Then Sunday rolled around and here I am officially pregnant so now I can't clean the litter boxes. Mike knew that once I was pregnant I couldn't clean the litter boxes so he told me he'd take care of it Sunday. Tuesday morning rolled around and I asked him if he had cleaned them yet and he said no but that he was going to do it right now (which he did). I went down to ask him something and he was about to start cleaning the boxes but told me I had to get out of the room because he didn't know what it would do to me and the baby if I was around while he cleaned them. I just thought it was so sweet and cute!

I'm so excited that he is so excited, too. He is definitely feeling different things than I am right now and I think he believes it more than I do because he's not waiting for symptoms and morning sickness like I am. I really will feel more pregnant once those things come to pass.

Here we go!

We found out on my birthday that we were going to be parents. Actually, we "faintly" found out on my birthday but we officially found out once I bought the digital test to check the next morning. I have started this blog to talk about the little things that are going on for us right now and to record some of what we are feeling at the moment even though we won't open this to family and friends for a couple months. Either way, here's the story of how Mike and I found out we were going to be parents.

Knowing that we hadn't been trying specifically but had not been preventing getting pregnant, and knowing when a positive test may show up, we decided to, on a whim, take a pregnancy test on my 31st birthday. And when I say "we", the conversation went more like, "Wouldn't it be funny if I were pregnant right now? Maybe I should take a test just to see. There really is no way that it would show positive this early but heck, it's my birthday, what do you think?" At which point Mike said, "Sure, why not?".

So three minutes elapse (I set the timer on my phone) and I go look at the test which showed a VERY faint second line. Between the two of us, we must have looked at that test about 50 times that day trying to decide if we were pregnant or not. On the advice of a good friend, I went to the store and bought the digital "Pregnant"/"Not Pregnant" test and had it ready to take on Sunday morning.

I spent my birthday downtown with some friends at People's Fair and then Mike and I went to dinner with a couple who we have gotten to be good friends with over the past year or so. We made no mention to anyone (well, maybe I said something to a friend because I HAD to ask what a faint line meant) and just went on with our day.

Sunday morning rolled around and I took the test and there was no question it said pregnant - as you can see below:
Again, we must have looked at the test at least another 50 times. We left it in the bathroom all day until after about 24 hours when the digital screen goes blank just so we could go see it again. Not to fear though, on Monday, just to be sure the first two weren't flukes (because at this point I had come to believe the one on my birthday was a positive as well), I took one more. So for a point on Monday we had two tests sitting on the back of the toilet saying "Pregnant". That's something I should have gotten a picture of but by the time I thought of that the first test had gone blank.

To say we are shocked wouldn't be completely true, but it would be a little bit true. It's not like we didn't know it could happen, I'm just still not believing it because I don't feel pregnant by any means. But I have been told to just give it time, soon I will feel pregnant. I guess I should just be happy with how I'm feeling now and read all these books I checked out from the library.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Crazy Cat Antics

Behind the armoire used for food storage in the dining room is a vent that we have yet to finish and yet to put a register cover on. Did you ever think about what may be down this hole??


Here's a clue...



Can't figure it out?? Here's a closer view --



Still can't figure it out? Well here's a funny story...


We were on our way out of town for a New Year's up in the mountain when it occurred to me that I had not seen my pager for work since the night before. I knew exactly where it was when I last saw it and when I asked Mike he said the same thing - on the table in the dining room. We didn't have enough time to look really hard for it but I look in all the places I could think of and I still couldn't find it. So I did all I could and decided I would send a text to people at work so they knew to get me on my cell phone if they needed me and I would get back to looking for the pager when I got home.


But before I could even let them know where to find me, I got a text saying "Going on ECMO". For those of you that don't know, I am training to be an ECMO Specialist as part of a new program we are starting in the PICU. I will look for a good link soon but a quick overview is that ECMO (extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) is used for patients as a heart-lung bypass to give the heart and/or lungs sufficient time to heal when they are too sick to function on their own. There are 5 of us going through training right now and up until this point, we have only had theory and practice circuits to train on. So the fact that there was an actual patient was very exciting. That said, there was a case going on and I was up in the mountains trying to enjoy my new year's weekend. I spent well over a day trying to figure out if I would need to come back early and if so, how I would make it back since we carpooled with a friend to get to the mountains... and let's not forget that my pager (which received a page at the same time as I received my text message) was still MIA.


So, I assumed when I got back to Denver (after deciding to not come back because the 24 hours wouldn't gain me much and I'd get just as much experience later in the weekend and week since the patient would probably be on pump for a few days at the least and there would be many people vying for time at the pump) I would hear my pager periodically beeping to tell me I missed a page. So we get back to Denver on Saturday and I proceed to tear the house apart looking for it. I went so far as to go through the trash and the recycling just in case it had gotten thrown away... to no avail. I had made plans to work Saturday night so I needed a nap Saturday afternoon and just as I was falling asleep I thought I heard a chirp... but it never came again.


I paged myself again from work that night (now that I knew my pager number... yes, I didn't actually know it, I had to look it up) but didn't think much more about it until I was sitting at the table when I got home this morning and thought I heard a chirp again. This time, I remembered my pager number and decided that I was going to page myself to see if I could hear it. I wasn't holding much hope since I had looked and looked, but it was worth a shot since I kept hearing these "mystery" chirps throughout the house.


Lo and behold, the pager went off!!! It sounded mysteriously like it was coming from my armoire so I opened it and looked behind all the food... not there. Then I paged again and I was certain it was coming from my bedroom on the other side of the wall... nope. One more time and I just knew it was coming from the mechanical room downstairs just under the armoire... still couldn't find it. All at once it dawned on me as I paged one more time, pulled out the armoire, and listened at the open vent cover..... So take one more look at the picture and see if you can see what I'm trying to show you:


The best I can figure out is that either Oliver was walking on the table while we were out one day (because honestly, Moose doesn't walk on the table but Oliver most definitely does) or Trucker knocked it off when he stole my cookies from the table (that's another story, of course) and then one of the cats, Moose, I think, was playing with it like a toy and knocked it down the vent. I still don't know exactly how we will get it from there, but Mike assures me when he gets home from work today he'll figure out a way. Until then, it's off to bed - and to laugh at silly cat antics. They sure are lucky we love them!!

Happy New Year!

Hi all. I know that we have been lax at keeping this up for the past few months, and I'm sure there is plenty to update you on, so one of my New Year's goals is to be better at updating my blog. As I have mentioned before, it's hard when there is nothing cute to talk about that kids are doing, or no more house projects to update anyone on, but even if I update twice a week, that will get me in to the habit for the future when we do have more interesting fun information to share.

So from Mike and I to you, happy holidays and a joyful and healthy new year!