Week 31

Well, this last week was actually pretty slow, but quick at the same time.  I only had the glucose testing this week, which took up 3 hours... and the child birthing class with Clark.  I had a waxing appointment and I am at the point where my skin is getting sensitive because I get a little swollen after waxing now, but it is a must!

Sorry for the TMI, but guys, if you are reading this, I feel bad for you... but this blog is about honesty!  So stop reading, if you don't want to hear about the personal aspect of it.

I just finished my birthing plan.  Before you start rolling your eyes or shaking your head, I did NOT make a plan that includes the time by time ha!  The calendar plans are ridiculous as it is most likely going to go according to plan.  My birthing plan consists of what I want to do during my labor, like walking or taking a bath, etc. There is one part that says, "Can we shave you, if necessary" so I marked off no because I get waxes every 6 weeks for that lady business.  The girl who looked over my birthing plan laughed so hard.  She goes, wow, no one ever is brutally honest about that!

Now, in regards to the birthing classes, I am even more terrified now to go through labor and we haven't even gotten to the part of what can go badly in labor!  That is next week!  There was a part of the class where they talked about episiotomys and tearing and what not... Now, our last ultrasound we were told Anson has an extremely large head... but in reality, so did Clark.  So we weren't expecting different... why make it easy, right ;)!  The RN told us that if our baby has a big head, your rip will be upwards and it will ruin a vagina forever.  That stopped me dead in my tracks, like, um... excuse me, can you repeat that?!  She said that episiotomy's are dependent on how your doctor feels about them and how you are progressing and not everyone gets one.  Plus, in the book we got from the birthing classes, sounds really freaking great about episiotomy's instead of tearing:

"Research has shown that women with a spontaneous tear generally recover in the same or less time and often with fewer complications than those who had an episiotomy.

Women who have an episiotomy tend to lose more blood at the time of delivery, have more pain during recovery, and have to wait longer before they have sex without discomfort. An episiotomy also increases the risk of infection, and a recent study showed that getting an episiotomy for a first vaginal birth is linked to an increased risk of tearing in the next birth.

What's more, women who get an episiotomy are more likely to end up with a serious tear through the anal sphincter or even all the way through the rectum (known as a third- or fourth-degree laceration, respectively) than those who deliver without being cut.

These serious tears result in more perineal pain after the birth, require a significantly longer recovery period, and are more likely to interfere with the strength of the pelvic floor muscles. Tears that disrupt the anal sphincter make it more likely that the mom will have anal incontinence – trouble controlling bowel movements or gas."

All of that just honestly doesn't sound very appealing. I was VERY against getting a C-Section before the birthing classes... now I joke around that it would be nice to have one for convienence... But out of the few pros that I have for a C-Section:

1) Being that I won't bleed after birth because they suck everything out.

2) Being that I wouldn't tear up ruining my vagina

3) I won't go through hours of labor

4) It would be more convenient to reduce stress of labor (especially being my first baby)

5) A reduced risk of sexual dysfunction for the first three months

6) Less trauma to the baby

But all in all, there are more downfalls than there are positives.  I was reading you really shouldn't have more than 3 C-Sections (2 was pushing it) because you can have serious complications after the 3rd.  Here was some of the cons I was reading that really has deterred me, unless medically necessary (because we want 3 kids):

1) Your uterus can collapse after the 3rd C-Section

2) After the 3rd, you can have problems with your baby's growth, like having the organs on the outside of your baby

3) Your placenta can detach leading to many miscarriages and other bodily issues from massive scar tissue

4) Longer hospital stay (get me out ASAP please)

5) Apparently you have permanent bowel problems that can vary from minimal to extensive

6) Just a larger risk in general with having more than 2 c-sections can really hurt a woman's body

From what I was reading... a C-Section didn't sound to great from the pros and cons of it... but, like I said, unless medically necessary, I plan on doing a vaginal delivery and not a C-Section no matter how much better it might sound at birthing classes LOL! But don't get me wrong, a C-Section has some perks to it ;)!

Overall, the anticipation is growing for the next few weeks to come!  I have been busy planning the baby shower.  A HUGE thank you to one of my best friends, Vanessa for helping me plan it and doing the majority of the work!  I wouldn't be able to do it without her.  From maid of honor to future aunt, she has stuck by me through everything!  

We are finishing up the nursery (for the most part anyways) so people can see it at the shower... and we are moving furniture around so Yogi and Kole can get used to where things will be in the upcoming months before Anson gets here!  We are beyond excited.

One of the most exciting things about it, is we are having the first boy!  Clark's half sister has a son, so technically for his dad it won't be the first grandson, but for his mom's side this will be the first boy in the family that is blood related and Clark is very excited to be able to share the first grandson with his mom and his dad!  For my family, it is the first anything ha!  I am an only child after all, so they get a grandson to begin with :) We are over the moon.  I love my nieces to death, but it will be a nice change to mix up a boy into the mix!  Plus, Clark is very excited to do all the things his dad did with him.  Clark can pretty much fix anything and he can't wait to teach Anson how to ride a dirt bike and motorcycle, go hunting with him, and just show him the ropes.  

I always joke with Clark that his dad taught him everything he knows in regards to the manly man work, but you turn around and Debbie knows everything else.  If John can't answer it or fix it, Debbie sure can!  As for my parents, both my mom and dad can show Anson the ropes on being a computer nerd ;)!

In regards to maternity pictures, we might do some just on our own.  We were planning on doing them, but with family pictures right around the corner, we thought it would be best to hold off and save that extra money for family pictures since he will be born before the holidays, we plan on taking pictures for holiday cards!

Other than that, my only complaints are normal ones haha!  I am having a hard time breathing now... seems like everything has definitely pushed it's way up (organ wise).  I also have a hard time getting to bed and finding a good position to sleep in, which in return, my lower back hurts now.  Overall, everything is going well and the 9 week countdown begins!

How far along? 31 Weeks! 9 weeks left.

Total weight gain/loss: 23 lbs total... nothing more yet... Thank God!

Sleep: Getting harder to get comfortable... hard to breathe when I first lay down to sleep

Best moment this week: Resting... I have been non-stop these last couple weeks and having a semi-busy week helped! 

Miss Anything?  Avocados

Movement: I am starting to feel him once an hour or at least every couple hours. 

Food cravings: Everything that is edible!

Looking forward to: My baby shower and seeing people I havent seen in a while!

Glucose Testing

As I sit in the waiting room, I realized this has to be a post in itself. What a horrific experience to do this glucose testing. I got into the office at 9:00am and thought I'm 15 minutes early,  hopefully I am in and out. Unfortunately I am here waiting and am surrounded by a whole bunch of people who seem to be coughing  like crazy and half of them seem to be deathly ill... the joy. Something tells me they shluld open up a pregnancy only blood lab haha where no one is in these states. We didnt go to the fair this year because of all the germs.  I think I screwed myself over here!

I had to drink this disgusting drink that was a limeade flavor... it burned the back of my throat and left me nauseated. I am now sitting here for an hour.  The hour is up and my blood was drawn... I get to wait for the results now...

Flash forward to Tuesday, the 12th... I am a WHOLE 2 points over the allowed chart and in return, I have to go back to the lab for the 3-4 hour test...  We shall see how that goes.

Tuesday has come and gone!  The drink was more manageable this time, as I brought a liter and a half of water with me to wash it all down.

I got to Quest, being one of the only ones there and had my first blood draw, before I drank the lovely limeade drink.  I waited an hour after the drink to have my second draw, second hour for the third draw and third hour for the fourth draw.  Luckily, I had my water with me, so it wasn't TOO hard to find a vein, but my arms were getting very sore!

The first lady I had did a great job, found my vein, didn't hurt at all... The second lady found my vein, but when she pulled out the needle, it felt like a sharp pain in my arm.  The third lady was the one I had the first time, she put it right in the same hole again and it didn't hurt... The last lady, I could have sworn that she was having a bad day because she just shoved the needle in... no blood came out so she pulled it out again and tried again and was pushing the needle around trying to find a vein or at least blood... After about 10 minutes she found it, but I wound up having 4 needle marks and two VERY sore arms the next morning.  The last lady, needed to go back to school... a LOT of people were complaining about  her, plus her bedside manner was quite rude.

Now, we wait...

Waiting is done!  

I DO NOT HAVE GESTATIONAL DIABETES!

WOOOHOOOO!!!

Week 30

Well, hello week 30.  

We are now starting the 10 week countdown!  It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant and now we are counting down from 10!  Plus, with all the doctor appointments, birthing classes, etc. I am sure it will go by even faster!

The week was by far one of the busiest.  On top of all the candle orders that I finally completed for the week, we had, what seemed to be a lot of appointments.  I feel literally drained sitting here writing it all.  

Wednesday was the start of all the madness... Wednesday morning I got a call from my doctor saying that my glucose levels were 2 points, a whole two points, higher than what the normal range was.  She said that she wouldn't have me redo it, if she didn't have to, but she wanted me to do the 3-4 hour test anyways.  So, low and behold... that didn't start my day off so well.  I scheduled my appointment for Tuesday of this coming week to do the 3-4 hour test.  Once I am done with all the glucose testing, I will make a separate blog post for it!  

Back to Wednesday, we had another child birthing class.  The birthing classes (this is our second) is extremely eye opening.  It is a little gross at the same time because everything goes into such grotesque details.  However, without those details, a lot of women would be left in the dark... me being one of those women.  I give Clark a tremendous amount of props because he has to watch and listen to everything as well!  We got to see what the epidural needles look like and quite honestly, they remind me of really tiny fountain spouts (like from a traditional Japanese garden).  Clark was little surprised with how large they were... I knew they were large, but I didn't realize how thick they were.  We watched another birthing video, which I am sure we will watch weekly and again, it was quite informative, no matter how old the film was.  They are over 15-20 years old the documentaries on birthing.  Our RN told us it is harder to find good videos now that are as informative.  

One thing I definitely didn't know was that during your first stage of labor, you don't go to the hospital until you reach the active stage where your contractions are 3-5 minutes apart.  I thought when you get contractions or your water breaks, you immediately go into the hospital.  I can think of so many things I can do while I wait to get into active labor... Something tells me I am going to be one of those people who needs the dogs washed at that time, getting the rest of the nursery ready, etc.  The RN told us it can take up to 3 days to get into active labor... that just seems so crazy to me!

Thursday we had an appointment with Dr. Barnes for our now 2 week checkups.  Everything was normal and the heartbeat was very strong... it is always nice to know everything is good and healthy.  It takes longer for us to get to the doctor's office than the visit itself... which is nice because it means I don't need any extra time for Anson.  It always gives me the reassurance of him being healthy.  I did talk to her about my charlie horses.  Apparently, I can't take anything extra of potassium, she said I just have to ride it out.  I get it, but I wish there was a simpler fix.  I seem to get at least 2 per week now.  I feel blessed that from soccer I know how to handle them immediately, but it still leaves me sore a couple days after!

Friday... oh the start of a day I didn't enjoy very much.  If anyone knows me, I absolutely LOVE avocados!  So, I got a avocado swiss burger at Burger Barn (where we go ALL the time) and I started having this allergic reaction where it made me really nauseated and my bottom lip swelled pretty big... So in return, I asked if they started cooking with different ingredients and it was a no, so I thought, maybe the salt is making me super sensitive... so I shrugged it off and took a Benadryl.  Clark and I  have been trying to do a date night once a week because when the baby comes, we know it won't be very often that we get a chance for date nights for a while.  We went to one of our favorite sushi restaurants, Sumo Sushi in Camarillo... We got our usual... I was worried about the salt affecting my already sensitive mouth from the lunch encounter.  So, in return, I didn't get anything with salt on it... however, I sure got a lot of avocado... I had an avocado roll and a specialty CA roll... before that I had edamame and vegatable tempura and I was completely fine.  Once I started eating the avocado, my mouth started swelling before Clark's eyes and I could feel them getting so large.  My lips are full to begin with, so when they got to the full reach of the swelling... I looked like I had pornstar lips... sorry, but that is the only way I know how to explain it... When I smiled, you could see NO teeth whatsoever.  It was all lips.  The picture doesn't look so bad... but Clark was worried my throat would start swelling.  As my lips started swelling, Clark said it looked like someone had an invisible syringe and was filling my mouth with fillers.  It was so embarrassing... I wound up asking for the bill and walking out with my hand over my mouth.   The worst part was that it was pretty funny, and laughing hurt so badly!  Clark had to stop looking at me because he would keep laughing... it was horrible and funny all at the same time!  Here are some pictures.  The first one is before... the second one is after.

Saturday was pretty busy as well.  I had met up with an old friend from soccer, Linda and we went to lunch and then saw Step Up All In.  We used to watch all the dance movies together!  It was like a tradition, so it was nice to do it again :) The movie wasn't as good as the other ones... but I guess that is what happens after you watch 5 of those movies, they dont have that appeal as much.  Then, I was supposed to pick up Vanessa with Clark at the airport and she told us that she had someone else was going to get her, so we didn't need to go... In return, we wound up doing a bunch of errands and after we ate dinner, Clark fell asleep and we were both in bed by 10:00.  

Sunday, today, we had our ultrasound redo from My First Peekaboo in Ventura.  It was fantastic.  I really enjoyed doing it today.  Anson was pretty cooperative until the end... but after 40 minutes of being looked at, I am sure he wanted to go back to bed hah!  In return, we got some super good pictures that we have been wanting!  They are below!  Enjoy :) 

The first set is what we had from the last ultrasound at Dr. Jadalis office a week and a couple days ago... They weren't very clear and they didn't try to get any better pictures.  

The second set was from the first visit at My First Peekaboo which is why we had the redo done (Anson was hugging the placenta the whole time).  

Here are the pictures from today!  If you take a close look (anyone who know's Clark very well) Anson has all of Clark's features... His eyes, lips, nose and even his ears!  He looks so similar to Clark it is crazy!!

A couple shout outs for the week!  A huge thanks to Krista F. for Anson's beanie that he will be wearing home from the hospital!!  It was so greatly appreciated!  She donates a lot of her time and these amazing beanies and more to the Jessie Rees Foundation (NEGU) so if anyone has any extra yarn, let me know and I will give it to her!!  

Another huge shout out to Kelsey!  Long story short, my mom had me because all of her friends started having kids!  My Auntie Kathie was the first to have kids, Trina and Devan... shortly after, my Aunt Keri had Kelsey, and after that my mom had me.  We are all exactly 7 months apart!  So I grew up always thinking Kelsey, Trina and Devan were my cousins... We practically were growing up!  So, Anson got a great gift from his Auntie Kelsey!  She got us the Diaper Pail Gift Set, which we are super stoked to use!!

Another huge shout out to my Auntie Keri & Uncle Joe!  They got us the swaddle gift set :) Anson will get a good use out of those, especially when he sleeps in his bassinet at night!  Thank you so much!

How far along? 30 weeks! 10 weeks, give or take to go! 
Total weight gain/loss: 23 lbs total
Sleep: Depending on the night, I can go a whole night without waking up, other nights 10 times has been my max of waking  up to pee.
Best moment this week: Seeing Anson at the ultrasound.
Movement: Oh yeah!  
Food cravings: Pumpkin Pie
Belly Button in or out? In... but it seems like it might pop out at any moment.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Emotional... I can start crying for no reason now.

Week 28 & 29

Wow, I am halfway through week 28!  Now everything is flying by... I used to write each post on Sunday, but it seems to be all passing by to quickly!

I have been absolutely nothing but busy these last couple weeks!  We had the maternity tour and a couple appointments as well as a Farmer's Market.  So I was rushing around to make candles for that... On top of that, it was my busiest week of candles I have had all year... It must be baby season!  I make baby food jar shower candles for baby showers!  They fly right off the shelves!  In a week I have had to produce over 100 as a rush order and still have another 55 to do this week!  So, I am definitely busy with that!  

Anson has been a little mover lately!  I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where he is moving at a specific time every day, in my case it would be night!  From 11:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. he kicks me for almost 3 hours straight... It is always right before I am about to fall asleep and in return, it keeps me awake!  I feel like an insomniac... The true blessing is after I fall asleep, I never have to wake up to use the bathroom before my alarm goes off... which in return, is helping my sleep patterns tremendously... weird, right?!  

It has been such a blessing feeling him move so much.  I know Clark kept getting discouraged when I would say, feel, he is moving around a lot and as soon as Clark's hand went to the belly, Anson stopped moving completely!  The first real good night was on either Saturday or Sunday.  Clark felt about 7-10 really good punches or kicks.  I loved seeing the smile on his face... Anson also kicks me really hard if Clark is close to my stomach and he is talking!  He already loves his daddy so much!  Now, Clark can pretty much feel him every night, which is amazing.  I have been feeling him pretty much over the last 2 months now and I was so happy and relieved once Clark got to feel him.  It is quite an amazing feeling!  

We did have an opportunity to get Anson's wall letters on the wall a couple days ago :) It is hard to see with the flash, but here is what it looks like!  I can't wait to take a picture of the nursery complete!

We also received another AMAZING gift in the mail last week that I forgot to post about :) My mom and dad got us the Graco Day2Night Sleeper system with the bassinet and play pen!  It comes with the bassinet, the playpen, a flip away changing station, and an mp3 speaker system too!  It so so awesome!  A huge thanks to my parents!  I have noticed we are getting a lot of gifts shipped to us, or people aren't waiting and giving them to us anyways!  In return, we will try and fit as much as possible at the baby shower, but some things will have to stay in the nursery and people will be able to see the nursery as well!

Now that I have started Week 29, I have had quite the hectic week!  We had an ultrasound followed by many other appointments, including the glucose testing (although that is a whole other post in itself).  

The ultrasound was a little disappointing... Debbie, my mother in law, joined us and I was bummed that they wouldn't move Anson. So in return the ultrasound wasn't very clear and I felt bad that she couldn't see better pictures!  But overall we did get some pictures.  In return, Clark and I were disappointed, so we made an elective ultrasound appointment which, we just got back from and Anson was being difficult yet again.  She was able to get him to move a little... but apparently, he likes my placenta so stays close to it... We got 2 better pictures than from Dr. Jadali's office, but in return, we will be going back for a redo.  My First Peekabo in Ventura was great.  The room was huge and the atmosphere was nice.  My mom and grandma went with us to see it, however, yet again, Anson was to close to my placenta whereas in the ultrasound at Dr. Jadali's office, the umbilical cord was in his face.  Due to Anson being difficult, the redo is on the house for My First Peekabo which was fantastic. 

However, Clark made a good point, maybe because we have been letting so many people come with us, that it could possibly be stressing me out and I just don't realize it so Anson responds to my emotions.  On our redo it will just be Clark and myself and we will see if his theory is right... I don't think it will be, but you never know!  I do try and please people, so in return if it doesn't get exactly how I want, maybe my emotions reflect that... who knows!  But I still think that isn't the case!

In return, I feel as if everything is going well. I do feel more tired, but I have had been going non-stop for the last two weeks, so maybe my exhaustion is from that.  I also have had the time on my Sunday's to just have my lazy days!  I literally don't do anything on Sunday... starting today!  

Oh, and I can't forget, we had our first birthing class on Wednesday... BOY OH BOY, I thought I was ready for childbirth, however, now I do not feel as if I am... The video was kind of traumatizing in a way and quite honestly, to much to see for our first class!  I was VERY educated the first day.  I was waiting for Clark to keel over the couch and pass out from the video itself.  Overall, I am ready for the next classes yet and am excited for the fifth class as it is the lactation class! I will need to learn as much as I can because I plan on breastfeeding.

Here are some pictures of the room and the belly at 29 weeks!