27 weeks preggo.

Hello 3rd and last trimester!

So, it's Halloween and it is also our 6 year wedding anniversary! We also got married on a Sunday so this is the first anniversary we've had where it fell on the same day of the week when we wed! Crazy that it has been 6 years already. Makes me realize that time sure does fly by and before we know it, this little guy inside will be in kindergarten and then graduating high school!

This week was kind of emotional for me. I think I just had a really stressful week both at work and school so it took its toll on me. I think even if I wasn't pregnant, this week would have been rough for me.

We had a good class on Monday. Morgan had to wear the empathy belly and he basically broke out a sweat, haha. He had the pregnancy waddle and swears that he wasn't doing it on purpose, that it really threw off his balance that much. It was pretty funny to see and nice to have him feel my pain, even if it was only for 4 minutes!

I've had a lot of stretch marks pop up lately. Its like daisies in the spring time, just popping up left and right.. I won't lie, its a little depressing and discouraging to get that many within a small window of time. I was hoping I would be one of the lucky ones and go through my whole pregnancy without getting them, but nope! I just hope that at some point they kind of come to a stop. I am worried with having 12 1/2 weeks left, how bad they will get.

On Friday night I was laying in bed going to sleep and think that I felt an arm or leg move across my stomach for the first time! It was a weird pressure/movement that spread out about 2-3 inches on my lower abdomen. It was pretty neat :) Also, I borrowed a home doppler from Janine so that we can hear the little guy's heartbeat.. I think that I finally heard it for a few seconds.. haven't been able to find it since, though!

Our excitement for the week was doing our 3d/4d ultrasound on Saturday. I was pretty nervous that the pictures would be horrible or that he would have his hand, foot or umbilical cord in his face the entire time blocking his face. Well, both were semi-true. He had his hand and umbilical cord across his face for the start of the session and by the end, he had both feet, an elbow and the umbilical cord in his face! Thanks for the cooperation, baby! It was still pretty amazing to see. At one point he held up the metal horns with his fingers, at another he opened one eye and he also kind of smirked at one point, moving his lips back and forth. The guy doing the ultrasound said that he is a big chubby baby for 27 weeks and asked if they have my due date correct. Made me a little nervous!! He said that he looks more like a 30 week baby rather than 27 weeks. One of my first thoughts was worrying that I have gestational diabetes and that is why he is a big boy. I surely hope not - mostly for his health and baking time, not for my inconvenience of not being able to eat what I want. Granted, I'd like to continue eating as I'd like, but I don't think it would be hard for me to give up xyz foods if it turns out I do have it. I just want the best for him, so I'll do what it takes if that is the case! Anyhow, he guesstimated that he was about 13-14 inches and about 2.75lbs.

We have a growth ultrasound on Wednesday so we'll find out how accurate his estimation is. I hope that the ultrasound goes well and they don't see anything alarming. I hope that they look at his whole body and make sure everything looks normal. Sometimes I freak out because I opted out of the last test which looked for tube defects including spina bifida. I am excited for the ultrasound but being the freak that I am, I am always nervous for things like this. Also on Friday, I have my first appointment with the new clinic. I will be doing my gestational diabetes test on Friday as well.. fingers crossed that comes back normal. For some reason I feel like it will come back bad and I will have to take the 3 hour test. I feel like since I have been gaining a bit of weight lately and the baby seems "large" all signs are pointing to me having it. Guess we shall see! If so, it's not the end of the world and like I said, I'll do what I need to do to ensure the best health for the baby (and well, me too).

Not much else to report. He has been alarmingly quiet today. I feel like with all of the sugar I have had today (thank you Halloween candy and anniversary breakfast) that he should be pretty active, but he is not. He was really active all day yesterday and pretty active on Friday so I am hoping that he is just tired and sleeping today. It worries me, though. Hopefully he is active tomorrow to make me feel better. I've felt a few movements here and there, but nothing like it has been lately. Perhaps he is pissed off because the ultrasound guy kept shaking him to try to get him to move... oops!

I will try to figure out how to take a few clips off of the DVD we have to upload to my blog for you all to see, but I am not sure that I will be able to figure it out. Till then, enjoy the pictures :)

Time to rest before more rest - bed time.

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.

26 weeks preggo.

I'm pretty tired so this is likely going to be short!

So, I mentioned wanting to change hospitals/midwives. We decided to go tour the hospital last Wednesday and we were really impressed! The birthing rooms are huge and the recovery rooms are nice as well. The whole hospital just has a lot more of a welcoming feeling than the last. It did not feel as hospital-ish to me. So, we left feeling pretty good but knew that we had yet to meet any of the midwives from the clinic that would be delivering there. I had my appointment on Friday and it went really well. One of their statistics that really impressed me was their episiotomy rates - 2 in the last year. That is really impressive considering the statistics I've read of other hospitals in the area, including the one I was going to. I was really impressed with the midwife that I met with. I liked her a lot. She was very warm and said all the things I was hoping that she would. So, with that said, I made the switch! I feel very good about it and all of my nerves about switching are gone. I've also been researching a little more on water births as the hospital offers them and it is something that I am interested in.

One big exciting thing that happened this week was I helped deliver a baby! Rather than telling her birth story for her, I will make it short and say that I got a call from her at 5:50am-ish on Monday morning saying that I needed to get ready and come out to get her. Her husband was out of town so I was on baby catching duty while he was gone. She was actually due the 29th but the little one decided to come early! We got to the hospital around 7:00 a.m., checked-in at labor/delivery at 7:30 and little Delaney was born at 10:28a.m. It was super exciting. I thought the whole experience would scare me but it did the opposite.. it made me feel very excited about my birthing experience. I am super grateful that I was able to be a special part of her labor and delivery.

Monday night, we had our first Bradley method class. We both enjoyed it. We've been trying to remember to do our "exercises" but sometimes forget. It usually comes down to us being so tired when we go upstairs to go to bed that we just go to sleep rather than completing our exercises. I do think that as long as we make the classes worth our time and money, we will benefit from them - and that's the point, right? I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class.

Next Saturday we are doing our 3d scan. I am pretty excited about it! Hopefully we get some really great shots and get a semi-decent idea of what our little one looks like! Then, we are going out to dinner to celebrate our 6 year anniversary. :)

We went pumpkin picking this weekend so I posted a picture that Morgan took that I really like above. We've been going pumpkin picking every year for the last 7 years. It's weird to think that next time we go, we will have a 10 month old son with us! Very exciting.

We finished up our registry today. While doing so, I felt super light headed, dizzy and sweaty. I had to sit down in the aisle to make sure I did not pass out. I felt better after I rested. I have felt good through most of the week. I went a good portion of the week without any pain in my back. I sat on the floor this evening doing some stuff from work I brought home and I think that it flared up my sore spots because I am hurting.

On that note, I am off to bed to get my beauty rest.

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.

25 weeks preggo.

Driving home from the grocery store tonight I thought back to living at our old house blogging on the back patio about this pregnancy. I remember thinking I was so far into the pregnancy, but couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 weeks preggo at the time. It's funny how our perspective on the progress of pregnancy changes. I am sure at 38 weeks I will look back to now and laugh at how big I thought I was getting and how much progress I was making.

So, I've been considering changing hospitals lately and am still unsure on what to do. When I started going to my midwifery clinic, I really liked all of the midwives I was meeting with. The clinic has a total of 12 midwives and you rotate meeting them so you've met them all by the end of your pregnancy. Initially, I thought this was a great thing. However, throughout time, the meeting midwife after midwife and liking them less and less each time, I began to question if this is the situation I really want. As well, when I go, I never feel as though they really care to know me. I guess I dont know what I really expect; I just thought appointments would be more thorough and want to get to know me better rather than just be a patient, or a number. Then, we did our hospital tour this last week and I was less than impressed. The labor and delivery floor is under construction so it seems a little hectic and fell short of feeling warm and welcoming for me. Im not really sure what I am expecting, maybe 4-star hotel-ish? In addition to both of those factors, I've read some less than positive reviews of the midwifery clinic and their competency.

I've considered some other options, one being a birthing center. While I wish I was ready for that, I'm just not. I feel like maybe after the birthing classes I will be comfortable with that idea, right now I am not, and cannot take the risk of choosing another place and then ultimately feeling uncomfortable in the end. I am scheduled to meet with a midwife from another midwifery clinic, they only have 4 midwives and they also have birthing tubs so if all went well, I could have a water birth. It makes me a little nervous switching but there's a part of me saying that I need to switch, while the other part of me says to stay where I am. I'm still pretty confused. :(

I had an appointment on Friday with one of the midwives. I liked her but she seemed a little less than supportive of a natural birth. While she said it was great that we are preparing through classes, she said not to set myself up for failure. It almost seemed as though she was like, while it is great you want one, dont get your hopes up. Otherwise, things were good at the appointment. I measured at 24cm, so just a little under where I should be, my blood pressure was good, and I gained a decent amount of weight. They scheduled my 28 week growth check ultrasound for November 5... which is also the date of my appointment with the new clinic.. I need to figure things out. When she went to listen for the heartbeat on the doppler, she stated that she thinks he is way far back near my back with his knees and feet out front.. may explain both the low kicks and the back pain I have been having!

We start our Bradley method classes tomorrow. For some reason, I am nervous for them. Hopefully we benefit from them. I really don't know what to expect. I think it is the unknown that makes me uneasy.

Other than that, not much else to update. I have been feeling pretty good other than the typical back and hip pain that I've been experiencing from the very start. I feel like the further along I get, the more emotional and needy I become.. but I think that is to be expected :)

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.

24 weeks preggo.

We're moving on up, baby! Or well, you're moving on up. This week I felt you kick in places other than the lower left side of my abdomen. I felt movement up near my navel and near my sides. We also were both able to see you moving from the outside. Last night we sat there for a little while watching alien like movements from the inside out. While a little creepy, it is pretty remarkable! The movements are also a lot stronger, they almost feel like shocks through my whole abdomen rather than a little pokey poke here and there. Sometimes the movements are still light but some of them are like, holy moly! You're supposedly the size of an eggplant this week, measuring in at 9 inches and weighing in just shy of 2lbs at 1.7lbs.

This last week was a little rough for me.. mostly this weekend. I've been pretty emotional and moody and unable to snap out of it. I struggled some through the week as well but this weekend seemed to be especially hard for me. I felt like crying a lot but never did. Perhaps it would've helped to let it out. My appetite seems to increase by the day, seems like my stomach is a bottomless pit, you little parasite, you!

This coming week we have our hospital tour and I have my monthly check-up with the midwife. Hopefully I've gained a healthy amount of weight, not too little, not too much. A week from tomorrow we start our Bradley Method classes, which I am both excited and not so excited about. Not so excited that I will miss my Monday Night Football and also because with school two nights a week, I thoroughly enjoy my nights of relaxation and this will take from that. But, I am excited to learn and prepare for my *hopefully* unmedicated birthing experience!

We had our first round of cool weather this weekend. It rained today and was rather nice. I am so excited about this beautiful weather. There is something so comforting about going out in public and seeing people in boots, scarves and jackets! I am so glad to be out of the 80 and 90 degree weather that Denver seemed to be stuck on. We went to go see a movie on Friday night called life as we know it. I swear, 50% of the people in the room were pregnant! I cried, of course.

That's about it for updating. Hopefully I will have some updating to do after our hospital tour and appointment on Friday. We scheduled our 3d ultrasound for October 30th (day before our 6th wedding anniversary!), so I am really looking forward to that :)

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.

23 weeks preggo.

Hello, October! My favorite month of the year!

The baby is showing my Iowa roots this week by being the size of an ear of corn! He should be approximately 8.5" and 1.5lbs! Getting close to a foot! It's crazy, I remember when I thought it was so neat when he was a whoppin .64cm! The little guy is growing, as is my love and the amount I miss feeling him move when he is having a quiet day.

There is some real sense of comfort that he provides to me at times. On days when I am having a bad day, or just having a bad moment in my day, he never fails to kick me, move or just let me know he is there. I'll be honest and say that I have my moments when I doubt my ability to be a great mom or to let go of life as it is, to welcome a big change and new person into our lives. But, during times like that, he lets me know he is there and I feel so much better. Last Tuesday I woke up and did not want to get up early to make it to class in time. He decided to break out in a breakdance and I was again reminded how important it is for me to finish these two classes before his arrival as it will be much harder to finish once he is here. It's just the little things. Last Thursday he was really quiet all day and had been quiet on Wednesday and I began to worry that something was wrong. I drank some soda, ate some sugar and pushed around on my belly but was not able to get him moving. Being as paranoid and erratic as I can be, I immediately thought something was wrong and stressed about it. I talked to a few coworkers about how I was worried and he moved to let me know he was ok. It is bizarre how there seems to be that neat connection there.

I've continued to have contractions on and off. I still only really get them in the evenings and usually only 1 or 2. I read some (probably untrue) wives tales that if you contract early, you'll have an easier labor. Im hoping it is true and hoping that your labor is similar to that of your mother's. Mine went to the hospital at 11 with me and I was born at 11:57 and she was only at the hospital for 5 hours before my older brother was born. I know, I know, wishful thinking!

Assuming that I go on time, we are less than 4 months away from baby's birthday! Pretty crazy to think about, but also really exciting. I feel really good having the crib and changing table together even if we jumped the gun on it. I just like to plan and get things done as early as I can, so it worked for us. Janine is going to throw my shower on December 4 so after that we can go buy whatever else we need and have most of January to relax and wait for his arrival. Speaking of my shower, my mom told me today that she is going to come out for it, so I am really excited about that :) She will be able to be a part of that special day and help Janine out with hosting (and planning, as much as she can being 800 miles away). So, that will be great, I am still very hopeful that we are going to be able to make the trek to Iowa over Thanksgiving so I will see my family then, see my mom a week or so later for my shower and then see my family again when baby comes. Morgan's family plans to come out to Denver after my family leaves. I can't wait to have family out here. I wish both of them could be out here at the same time but it will be nice to have company for longer with separating their visits.

We tried listening to the baby's heartbeat through a stethoscope this past week but had no luck. Hopefully in the coming weeks we will be able to. I'm sure that positioning has a lot to do with it. I have a feeling he is sitting up with his feet hanging low because my "kicks" that I feel are always pretty low and to the left. Hoping this doesn't mean that he is breach!

Well, that's about all I have to report this week.

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.

22 weeks preggo.

As you can see, we put daddy to work this weekend.

Yesterday we were sitting around after running a couple errands and seeing Morgan's friend Gerry from Canada (he is touring with a band and was able to stop by for lunch in Denver which was great!) and we were talking about what we could do and I suggested putting the crib together, expecting an "its too early" response, but he agreed and wanted to prove that it wouldn't take as long as it took others in the reviews for the crib/changing table. So, he did just that. Only took him an hour to put together the crib and an hour to put together the changing table. He also agreed to hang up the bamboo blinds as well. After putting the bumper in the crib we realized that with the modern design/boxy look, the ties dont match up correctly on the crib. I've been going back and forth on whether or not I even want to use one, we've decided not to use one. We may get a breathable bumper later on if we feel it is necessary but with all the controversy out there about SIDS with the use of a bumper, in addition to the bulkyness of the bumper (taking away from that sleek modern look, yano!), it helps our decision. So, we'll see how that goes.

Grandma and Grandpa in Iowa said they'd buy the mattress so we went out and bought one today to complete the crib. So, thanks to G&G in Iowa, the crib is now complete and will collect dust for the next 17 weeks while we wait for baby c.'s arrival! We need to get decorations, a rocker/glider and a bookshelf/shelving and the room will be complete. No hurry, we've got awhile go to yet.. or at least we hope, since he's not done cooking.

Speaking of which, I started having contractions this last week. I think that I had my first contraction on Tuesday night. I had a slight wave of menstrual cramps and then my lower abdomen hardened.. probably could have bounced a quarter off of it. The hardening only lasted a couple minutes and that was it. I've had a contraction close to every night since then. I think I went Thursday night and last night without one, but that is about it. I think it's fairly normal, at least I hope it is. I am carrying very low, or so it seems (kicks are really really low) so I hope this is normal as well.

I signed up for our birthing classes this last week as well which is exciting. We are going to do the Bradley Method classes. They start on October 18 and run for 12 weeks, 2 hours every Monday night. I am pretty excited about them. I am hoping to meet some other preggo mommas in the class as they will likely be due around the same time as us. They have an empathy belly that the men can wear - wish Morgan could wear it for a whole day, haha. :) Hopefully we learn a lot from the class and go into labor feeling a lot more educated and comfortable with the situations that will arise. Supposedly, 87% of mothers that complete the Bradley Method classes and go through labor with what they've learned, are successful at having an unmedicated birth which is something that is important to me. If it comes down to me needing an epidural, then it does, but I am going in with a goal and I am going to be prepared as best as I can be to meet that goal. I'm glad that I have a husband that supports me in this decision and will push for me to meet it. I've had quite a few people tell me that I won't be able to do it unmedicated, or that I am crazy for thinking I will be able to; thanks for the support ladies!

I think that I am officially to the point where strangers can look at me and know that I am pregnant. I was at Target this weekend (got a cute maternity coat, too!) and lots of people were staring at me strangely; almost like I had some sort of weird flesh eating disease. Guess it's better than random strangers coming up and touching the baby belly. I'm not sure how I will react to that. Guess time shall tell.

We're still trying to plan some sort of babymoon. A little getaway for mom and dad before the baby arrives. We're considering a few different cities but thinking maybe Austin, TX as we've both wanted to go there. I'd like to go but would also like to go somewhere that is a little cooler. Denver has been SO warm for September. Growing up in Iowa, it was always so nice in September and October, nice hoodie and jacket weather; but here in Denver, its still upper 80s and I am not so much enjoying that. I want Fall weather! We'll need to decide within the next week or two so we get a good deal on plane tickets.

Other than that, not much is new to report. Baby seems to be doing fine and has his days where he is active and others where he is not as active. He responds to sugar about 30-45 minutes after I eat it. Im excited for when we'll be able to see him moving from the outside as we're not quite there yet! Can't wait for our next ultrasound in less than 6 weeks.

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.

21 weeks preggo.

The baby is supposedly the size of a spaghetti squash (8 inches) this week and weighing in at about a pound! We had our monthly check-up on Friday. Things were well. Morgan was able to come to this appointment, so that was good. I gained a few pounds (up about 4 in the last month), blood pressure was good (110/80) and the baby's heart rate was 140. She said that I am measuring right on. She suggested that I use some ice on my back for my back pain. I am going to start using that tonight. I hope it helps! She said that because my lab work results were a little haywire with my first trimester screening, they want to do additional ultra sounds at 28 weeks and 32 weeks to measure growth since I am at higher risk for having a smaller baby. While I am not excited about knowing he may not grow as he should, I am excited to see him on ultrasound again and see how much has changed since 16 weeks. Looks like we will see him at 28 weeks, 30 weeks and again at 32 weeks. We're going to do the 3d/4d ultrasound at 30 weeks so we can see him moving around and see his little face. Other than that, the appointment was pretty uneventful.. they're so quick now. 

This week was pretty uneventful. Since feeling him last Tuesday, I feel him every single day, numerous times a day. In fact, he just kicked or punched about 10 seconds ago. On Thursday or Friday, I swear he did some sort of somersault because I felt a lot of pressure and movement in my lower abdomen. This evening we were watching football (go figure) and I said to Morgan that I wondered what the baby was doing because I hadn't felt him all day, seriously 5 seconds later, he kicked. Funny how that works. 

We went to a consignment sale this morning and bought some more clothes for him.  Morgan found some cute Packers jammies which will please his grandma and grandpa in Iowa.. probably uncle Jeremy as well! They're pretty cute.. cost more than I would've liked to spend on used jammies, but oh well. 

Im not sure if I posted about this or not but I think we are going to do a monster theme in the nursery. More like pop art looking Monsters, bold colors, thick lines, etc. At the last consignment sale I went to with Vanessa, I bought a monster and the idea has developed from that. I think Morgan will draw and paint/color in the monsters and we will either frame them or just use canvases. 

For the most part, I have been feeling pretty good. I have been pretty tired and still have consistent back pain, but other than that, I can't really complain. I did have a hormonal pregnancy moment the other day. I was cleaning and the cleaner had a little bleach in it (I know, probably not the safest for a pregnant momma, but I am loving the smell of bleach) and it spilled on my favorite maternity shirt and left bleach marks. I started crying but was laughing at the same time. It's just a bummer to not feel cute in many of your clothes, or not have many clothes that make you feel cute/or even fit anymore, and then to ruin one of them. That puts me down to like, 4 shirts that fit me, which is a little depressing. Also, I felt pretty nauseous this morning and was so sure I was going to throw up but ended up just heaving and gagging in the toilet. I spent most of the day on the couch and slept off and on. Much needed. 

Other than that, not much to report! Enjoy the picture of my 21 week belly and the Packers jammies. 

See you next week.

xo, mommy to be.