Take 2

Warning: This post is entirely about my pregnancy and probably wont interest anyone but myself, but I needed a place to keep it so there you go.

Before I forget what this pregnancy has been like so far I thought I'd write down a few of the differences I've noticed between Charlotte and Greg. Although I realize that I've forgotten much about my pregnancy with Charlotte already, so maybe this comparison isn't fair. I'm doing it anyway.

First, I haven't taken any nausea medication in about a month. That's awesome. I feel like I have 10x the energy when I don't have to take it so I'm loving that.

Second, Greg doesn't move as much as Charlotte did. I kept thinking that I wasn't feeling it because I remember how Charlotte moved at the end of my pregnancy and I'm not there yet, but I think it's safe to say by now that he's just not as active. He does move. I'm not worried or anything, it's just that his movements aren't so frequent, and when they do happen they don't happen for all that long. I wonder if I think this because I'm busier than I was during the last pregnancy, but that's the observation I've had. Also, he moves very low, down in the pelvis region. That's not to say that he's not taking up more than his fair share of my insides at the moment. He seems plenty big, he just doesn't move up top all that much.

Third, my joints hurt. I will wake up 2-3 times each night because my hips, knees, shoulders and wrists just ache. I've asked other women about it and none so far have told me they experienced the same thing. I'm going to have to bring this up to my doctor when I go in Thursday (has it already been a month?). This pain did not happen with Charlotte.

On the other side, my leg hasn't gone numb like it did with Charlotte. I keep waiting for that to happen, but it just isn't.

Also, I think I'm gaining weight at a more steady pace. Last time with such bad nausea I didn't gain anything for so long then I practically exploded. This time I have been surely and steadily gaining weight. This makes me wonder if I would have gotten the stretch marks last time if I had been able to grow like this. Although the stretch marks that had faded a bit are now the bright angry purple of stretching so perhaps not.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll probably add more to this list later.

A New Dog New Tricks

Sorry about the long post about how horrible things are going. I forgot that teaching a child anything takes time and patience. Also, on Sunday two of her four K-9 teeth poked through and I'm pretty sure I see the bottom set today. Four teeth all at once! Ouch! So that explains a lot. Also, I'm really lucky to have a stick to it husband. I was so ready to give in and put the side to her crib back up, but I think the tide has turned. Charlotte went down for her nap today WITHOUT crying! Now let's just hope that it lasts for a while. I always need to remind myself that teaching a baby/toddler anything new is hard and makes you second guess yourself every time. She's doing much better. She only woke up once last night and we put her right back down. So now it's just a matter of reinforcement.

Just so I remember how it worked this time when I'm trying this for the next baby I think I'll write down what worked and what didn't. This part will probably be really boring to everyone but me so now would be an OK time to skip to the next paragraph. Put her down for bed and linger just a little longer than I used to. Maybe a minute or so in the room. Put up the baby gate, but leave the door open. It sounds horrible that I had to "lock" her in her room, but it worked so I'm not going to apologize to anyone (not even myself). That way she wont be able to get out of the room, but she knows you're not just leaving her alone. If she immediately jumps out of bed and cries/screams, leave and let her do it for about 20 minutes or so. If you wait too long she will make herself throw up and then you'll have a whole other mess to clean up. Go back up, don't talk to her, don't make eye contact. Just put her back in bed, give her a kiss and then linger in the room once more. She knows you're there so she wont get back out. Stand just outside the gate for a while. She will calm herself down. Then leave her alone.

Saturday I threw up so much that by the end of the afternoon Charlotte was pretend throwing up in the toilet which would have made me laugh if I hadn't felt so sick. Then Sunday it was like the clouds broke and the storm lifted. I didn't get sick feeling even once. It was amazing and I loved it. Let's keep our fingers crossed that today goes more like Sunday.

Anybody got any good fall type activities to do with almost 2 year olds? This morning we went to the park, but it's overcast and windy now so my guess is it'll be raining this afternoon. Perhaps we'll do pudding finger painting. If you've got any other ideas send them my way. My mom already gets credit for pumpkin coloring/painting which I'm sure we'll do by the end of the week.

Pregnancy Update

Well, ever since I started my weekly doctor's appointments I have decided that this baby will NEVER get here. Last week I was at 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced. Then through the whole week my body decided to try and kill me. I would be walking happily along and suddenly this horrible sharp pain would hit my abdomen and I would have to stop walking until it passed. I tried to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing since that meant I was getting closer to my baby making her entrance into the world. Then this morning I went to the doctor and you know what he said? 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced! You have got to be kidding me! I finally asked what happens when I go over and he said he'd induce me after 41 weeks. That could mean that my baby isn't born until APRIL! Now I'm trying to be positive about this. At least it would mean that my birthday is sufficiently away from hers as to be my own still. The whole March 19th birthday and March 23rd due date has really been worrying me lately. I want her now and yet I don't so I guess it's a good thing that she isn't here yet.

In other news my husband is my hero! Lately I have been completely unable to lay down. It doesn't matter how I position myself it still hurts. I had a body pillow to hold between my legs and hold up my bellie, but it had recently stopped working. Then about a week ago my husband (aka the genius) came up with this pillow wedge thing that takes 4 pillows to prop me up just enough to make laying down comfortable. So now I can sleep. Isn't he amazing?!

Speaking of sleeping I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamt that my husband and I were living in the times of Braveheart and we had somewhere around 7 babies. Then the king said that they had to go to war. Yes, I did say they. My husband HAD to take the 7 babies with him to war. The war was over, get this, Phil the ferret who had been stolen from the king. I was so mad that they had to go to war over a ferret and thought the king should just buy a new one. Every time a battle would start in my dream the theme song to Rocky would start playing and everything went into slow motion. It ended in a culminating fight in which Martin (I have no idea who Martin was or why I knew him in the dream) was almost killed by a traitor that he thought was his friend. Weird.

And More Nesting

This morning before work I got in a little more sewing. I started to make the dust ruffle for the crib today. I will probably finish it tonight or tomorrow depending on what my Sweetie wants to do tonight. I'm so happy with it so far! It looks great and I'm really glad that I was able to get it done without hitch (after the laundry bags I wasn't so sure).

In other exciting getting-ready-for-baby news we got Aunt Katie's week 34 and 35 presents yesterday! I absolutely gushed over the week 35 present all day and wouldn't let Dan know what it was until he got home. He liked it too. Our little one has her first snap shirt! It's pink corduroy with little horses on it. I love it! And I'm sure my Sweetie likes that his little girl has a snap shirt.

A few weeks ago Dan and I were chatting to each other and I was saying how much I like my mirror (which he made me for Christmas). He is so good with making things and he loves to do it too! I am amazed at what he gets done. Anyway, I mentioned to him that once we have a baby that pulls up on things and whatnot we might want to think about getting something more sturdy to put our TV on. (At the moment it's on a Rubbermaid box sitting on food storage cans which is covered with fabric. It actually looks nice I think, but it's not the most stable of set-ups.) I figured he has so many projects for building on his plate right now that he probably wouldn't be getting to this project any time soon. Well, last night he surprised me during dinner with drawings that he had made for different styles of stands. His planning for projects goes a little something like this. Step one: Think about the project for a while. Step two: do rough sketches of different ideas for the project. Step three: Spend a few days deciding which one you like best and ask others for their opinions about your sketches. Step four: do a detailed drawing to scale of what you expect to make. Step five: take several trips to the hardware store/lumber store to look or scope out supplies. Step six: purchase supplies and start to build. After that he just builds the project and I don't really know if there are different steps to that. So he was already on step three of the project when he showed me his sketches last night. I was blown away! They all look great to me! I still think he needs to get some of his other projects done before this one, but I think he was excited to have something to do to get ready for the baby. I guess we're both just as excited as can be.

In the Mood

Well, it certainly has been nesting central over at my place! On Monday I decided to tackle the bassinet so that it would be completely ready for our little one. This included sanding and painting it and sewing the sheets to cover the mattress pad that I already finished. So I sanded it Monday and Tuesday.

Only after finishing the whole thing did I call and tell my mom about it who asked, "Did you make sure not to inhale any of the paint?" Of course I didn't. I'm an idiot. My baby is going to be brain dead because I probably inhaled lead paint and now we're both going to get cancer and die! But then I told Dan about how nervous I was. He reminded me of the story of the cradle. His aunt had it completely stripped a while back. She even took off the original milk paint (this cradle is now in it's sixth generation of use) and thus infuriated her entire family and her mother took the cradle back from her. So the paint is new. Although I probably shouldn't have sanded it without a mask or something at least it for sure wasn't lead paint. He then said he was surprised that I even did it since he was planning on doing it later that night when he got home. If I had known that I wouldn't have started the project in the first place! How was I supposed to know that? Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it now! Curse my over-eager self!

Then yesterday I painted the cradle with the can of paint that has been sitting on our coffee table for a few weeks now (well probably only just one, but my sense of time is awful right now). When picking out the paint I took my Sweetie with me. I was just going to get white or maybe a creamy white but he said that was too plain. He chose a blue/green white color. It was still from the white category in the store, but when I look at it I think it looks pale blue. I really like it, even though our baby is a girl. I think it's very neutral and pretty looking. What I didn't count on was that I was going to kill my body by spending the day painting the cradle (which I did do in a well ventilated area in our trailer). All the rolling around on the ground, all the up and down lunges to get to the right spots and all the craning my body around was really a work-out and I didn't even realize it! After dinner (which my husband made special for me!) I started to feel not so very good in my back and legs. So then we watched a movie and I really didn't feel good so I took a Tylenol. Then I fell promptly asleep. When I woke up this morning my butt hurt. Every step I took was excruciating pain! What was I thinking?! Lifting the 8 1/2 month pregnant body of mine around up and down all day long really took it's toll on my butt muscles and now I can't walk. Picture it, a woman that is larger than she's ever been in her life. Sort of waddling down the hall wincing in pain with each step. Yeah, I look great right now. I'm at work today and I'm trying my best not to have to walk anywhere. Yes, I admit that this makes me a horrible employee, but moving is really out of the question at this point.

Before work today I sewed both the sheets for the cradle. I had to sew then because the cradle isn't any standard size. I used very gender neutral Winnie-the-Pooh fabric that is too cute for words and now the cradle is complete! Finished! Check that off the list! I sort of want to put it in our bedroom, where it will be once the baby is home. This is so that if she cries in the night she's still close to us. I don't think I'll put it in there yet though because we still have a while to go before the baby gets here. My husband might think I'm crazy. I mentioned last week that he could put the base of the car seat into the car (mostly so it is out of the way, but partly because I'm excited about it) and he reminded me that we do have a month still to go. You can't fight that logic.

Quitting

My original plan was to work at this job up until I gave birth. Recently I've been batting around the idea of quitting my job earlier than when my baby arrives. The main reason is, well, because it's stinking boring and I dread going into work. I haven't though, for several reasons: money, free internet access, a reason to get out of the trailer, etc. My Sweetie did say that I can quit whenever I want, but I can't really come to terms with going without that month of paychecks. It's not like my part-time job is what's keeping us afloat when he has a much nicer paying full time position, but I really like the feeling of contributing to our bank account. I also really like how each month I can check into our bank account online and see our little balance rising! (And then I think in my head, "Holy Cow! We're freaking rich!" and then I laugh at myself becuase only I would think that the amount of money in our account would make someone rich.)

Also, this job has started somewhat of an obsession with the internet, or really blogs. I have a good 4-5 hours each day I work to absolutley WASTE. Since I can't download anything and the work computer doesn't have any speakers, reading blogs has been my chosen passtime. I also like writing on mine and hearing comments from my family and friends because that makes me feel connected to them. My Sweetie and I don't have the internet at home. Mostly because we're cheap and partly because my sister-in-law called all around asking about internet providers to our small town and only one company offered high speed internet in our part of the world. (I know that's absolutely crazy, but it's the truth. She called everywhere.) And they charge way too much money for the two of us to justify. When I have the baby and stop working I also will stop having such easy internet access. I will need to go to the library to use it and that would mean a special 30 minute drive to use the internet which seems silly to me.

BUT! This job is starting to make me nuts. Also, the morning sickness has officially started back up. Every stinking day! (I'm blaming it on the iron for starting the morning sickness again, but I've been off it for a while now and I'm still spewing and feeling nausea.) So sitting at work, feeling big, bored, and now sick again is awful. I have resorted to making sure that I schedule out my work. (No I will not put those away until 4:30 becuase then I have something to look forward to.) And ever since Dan said, "You can quit whenever you want," I have had to literally battle myself everytime I have to come into work. So I think I'm going to give my boss my two week's notice. It wont be a surprise for her since it'll only be a month before I was planning on quitting anyway.

33 Weeks and some change

Well, big news! Last Friday February 2, 2007 my sister-in-law had her little baby girl! What an exciting new addition to our family. She is so cute and has tons and tons of hair! I got to spend an hour holding her yesterday while she slept and it was amazing! She's so perfect!

Also, a good friend of mine just told me a few days ago that she is expecting! She's 10 weeks along and I'm so happy for her! I told her that if she ever needs to complain about being pregnant, she can always call me. Let's be honest, I feel completely blessed and happy and excited that I am able to bring my little one into the world, but sometimes the actual act of being pregnant stinks, a lot.

My Sweetie got back from his interview at Ohio State early this morning. His interview yesterday went well. He seems really excited about Ohio State so maybe that's where we'll go. I missed him a lot while he was gone and it's good to have him back.

I've decided that 40 weeks is like a LONG time to be pregnant. I don't care who you are or how well you carry your baby, once you get to the last few weeks you hit a wall where you feel like a big whale.

On the plus side I did convince myself to exercise today! Brownie points for me because I'm pregnant so I should be able to use that as an excuse. On the other hand I just keep thinking that there's only 6 weeks left for me to be in shape to push this little one out. Then I think holy cow! There's only 6 weeks to get everything done! ONLY SIX WEEKS! I keep telling my husband all the things I want to have done and I think he may start to believe that I'm going crazy because honestly there's not a whole lot to get done. I bet if I wanted to I could get it done in one weekend. But it's still not done! And there's only six weeks left!

And yet there's still six weeks! I still have to get bigger and bigger and bigger for six more stinking weeks! I still have to wrestle around in bed to get to sleep for six more stinking weeks! How am I going to make it for six more weeks? I asked my mom today how close she came to her due date with my sister and me and she said she gave birth two days before her due date. Both times. Hmmm. Six weeks.

For now I'm just going to focus on the baby shower my aunt is throwing for me on February 24th. That's a much, much closer date to have to wait for.

The Worst Winter in Memory

So far this winter has been unbelievably mild. Don't get me wrong, it's been single digits cold with the wind here, but there has been little to no snow. This means that going outside might be a pain, but it's not hard to get around places. All in all it has been what I would call the best winter scenario you could hope for in our part of the world. This winter reminds all the old timers of our little town (of which there are many) about the winter of '48, the worst winter in memory. Apparently during the winter of '48 it snowed so much that the people in our little town were stuck for 3 weeks and they couldn't get into Logan to get food or anything. I've seen pictures of the snowfall during the winter of '48 and let me tell you nobody is exaggerating. The snow went all the way up to the roof line of the houses in town. You may be wondering why this winter of little to no snow has been reminding them of the worst winter ever. Let me tell you. The snow that fell in the winter of '48 came all during March. There was absolutely no snow during Christmas or later until it all came down during one mammoth storm in March. The timing of the snowfall was a new little tidbit in the story that I hadn't heard before a few days ago. Did I mention that my worst fear is going into labor and being forced to have my baby at home/on the road to the hospital because the weather is so bad? We had better not have another winter of '48!

Yellowstone

Well, I've decided that I don't really need another trip to go to Yellowstone. The three foot geyser I had coming out of the hot water connection to our washing machine and subsequent 1" of standing water in our "laundry room" area was excitement enough. Then, after Dan had fixed it last night with one whole load of laundry through without incident, this morning I woke up to lake placid outside of my bedroom door. Apparently it started leaking just after he left for work and I cleaned it up. I have used ALL of our towels in the last two days to get this managed. When I left for work this afternoon I just shut off all water to the washing machine and decided that more drastic measures will need to be taken before I will ever get to wash clothing in my own home (which I have been waiting to do since last October).

In more up-beat news my mother-in-law is coming today. My sister-in-law is due to have her baby at any time now (and will be induced Friday if she doesn't start on her own) and she's coming down to help watch the kids. I consider this time for free sewing advice, which is always welcome.

Speaking of sewing last weekend I sewed the binding on a little receiving blanket for my sister-in-law's new baby and also a bunting for mine. They both turned out so unbelievably cute and it was good to have something productive to do with myself for a while. The bunting was incredibly easy and boosted my confidence with my new sewing machines! After the laundry bag fiasco, it's good to know that I really do know what I'm doing.

As for pregnancy news, I went to the doctor yesterday and I asked him about the iron making me puke all the time. He said that I should stop taking the iron. My counts aren't really that low and if it's making me throw up the food that I'm eating then it's probably not helping with iron (or any other vitamin/mineral I need) anyway. So I'm off the iron. Other than that I'm just great.

We're Back

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I updated. Since I do this during down time at work, when there is no down time there are no posts. Anyway, as for updates I went to my doctor's appointment last week and they told me that I'm anemic. So now I have to take iron supplements. I have to take them in the opposite time of the day as my prenatal vitamins. Since I take the vitamins at night (because they tended to make me sick) I now take the iron in the morning. Ever since I started taking the iron guess what little friend popped back into my life. Barfing. Yep, last night I completely emptied the entire contents of my stomach from dinner on at about 11 PM. So I guess I'm really back to taking the anti-nausea medicine because I threw up again this morning. Although yesterday afternoon I went on a crazy cleaning streak where everything I touched needed to be spotless, organized, and sanitized so at least the toilet bowl was sparkly clean as my face was in it!

But on the plus side of the iron supplements it really got me motivated finally to exercise and drink enough water. The funny thing is that all the benefits to exercising that they told us at our childbirth class (quicker delivery, quicker recovery after delivery, less complications in general) didn't really motivate me to get back into exercising once I had stopped months ago. The threat of constipation from the iron supplements got me completely motivated and I haven't missed a day since I started. I guess I just needed the right sort of motivation.

So now that you've heard all my disgusting pregnancy updates I'm sure you all wish you were me. I really do feel good besides all that. Exercising has really helped reduce the annoyance factor that I have been feeling lately so I'm sure my husband is also happier.

My baby is so cute! Everyone told me how later on when she got stronger she would move a little arm, leg, or bum across my stomach and you could see it. Well, she doesn't really do that. What she does like to do is stick an appendage straight out from my stomach so I get this small very hard lump. My husband's favorite thing to do is feel around my tummy and find the hard lumps and push them in and see where the next one will appear. It's pretty funny.

Another cool trick is that she can detect changes in light. When I put a flashlight on my tummy she moves away from wherever the light is. It's so funny! You can follow her around with the light and she'll always move away from it. That makes me wonder if she's afraid of it or something so I don't really do it too often.

She also will always wiggle around when my husband talks to her tummy. He'll come home or lean over and start talking to my tummy and I tell him that she must be asleep because she hasn't been moving much lately, but as soon as he starts talking to her she starts moving. It's so funny!

Actual conversation at 12:30AM a few nights ago:

Me: "Now I can't sleep because I'm really hungry!"
Husband: "Hmm that's too bad."
Me: "I wonder if I can go to sleep and just eat in the morning or if this will keep me up and I should just go eat."
Husband: No response
Me: "What do you think I should eat?"
Husband: "Perhaps a smackeral of honey."

Guess what tomorrow is? My sweetie's birthday! I have wrapped the present that I'm giving him and also put a bow on the card that came from my aunt and uncle in the mail and also the two other presents that came in the mail from my family so his birthday breakfast should be pretty good tomorrow. I'm so excited! Honestly I think I might be a little more excited than he is but 25 is a big one isn't it? Maybe not, but I just want him to know how special he is. This morning I spent some time cutting out big HAPPY BIRTHDAY letters that I'm going to hang up in our trailer to surprise him in the morning. Oh I hope he likes my present to him!

Guess what happens two months from today? My due date! Woohoo!

Bragging

Last Saturday my Sweetie took me out on a date. We weren't planning on going out, but when we got everything done we had planned for so quickly we just looked at each other and said, "Now what should we do?" Since we have no TV, and we've seen all our DVDs about a billion times the choice to go to town (30 minute drive) seemed pretty straight forward. What a treat! We haven't gone on a date like this in a loooong time. He took me to Sonic and we got ice cream and then we walked around Smith's Marketplace just looking at all their stuff for a while. I know this isn't really a fancy date, but it was so great to just be with him and talk and walk around. Then we made it to the infant clothing section of the store. He said that we needed to go look at the stuff. I'm always in for looking at cute little onesies and such so I agreed. Then he found a onesie that he fell in love with. He said we needed to buy it and I said, "We should probably take stock of what we already have. We've gotten a lot of clothing already so we need to know what size to buy the onesie in." His reply to this was, "We can get this for her going home outfit." Then he found cute little pink sweat pants to go with it (since it will be Logan in March) and worried about needing a hat or some other such things. Then he found a pack of 5 onesies that he decided to get too. As we were walking back to our car he said, "The first clothing that we bought for our little girl!" He was so happy! He was so cute! I love him so much!

Keeping with the same train of thought I thought I'd like to list just a few more things that I love about my husband and how great he is:

• He just finished my Christmas present last night and it is amazing! I love it so much! He spent 30 minutes last night just washing the mirror off so that it's sparkling clean. I think it's so cute how he puts his all into every project he does.


• The other night I was so uncomfortable in bed that after laying there for 20 minutes I just threw the sheets off me and stomped out of the room. When I came back in he just asked me how he could help! Then he gave me a back rub!


• Did I mention how much I love that he does the dishes every other night?! Isn't that amazing?! Oh how I love that man! I've taken two photos of him doing the dishes just because it makes me so happy! He thinks it's weird that I take pictures of him doing them because he doesn't think it's a big deal.


• Every night when he comes home he takes time to give me a good kiss and tell me he loves me! I try very hard to make sure that I let him know that I love him every day because I read in the parenting magazine that on the online pole they had 86% of moms had told their kids they loved them that day, but only 34% (I think that was the number, but even if it wasn't the number was so low I was surprised) had told their husband/significant other that same thing.


• My husband is so funny/silly. I know I post a lot of silly things he does, but rest assured that I don't post the bulk of it. He seems to love to make me laugh.

Well, that's it for now. I have to go think of something special I can do for him today because he's so great!

30 weeks!

Can you believe it?! I'm at 30 weeks! I realized yesterday that I must have completely lost the morning sickness sometime in the past 10 weeks. I can't really be sure when that happened though mostly because of the stomach flu I had sometime around week 27. I might have lost the morning sickness earlier, but those 3 days wanting to die really cloud my judgement. At any rate not only am I no longer getting sick, but I'm also off the anti-nausea medicine! I weaned myself down little by little (the doctor told me I could of course) and for a few days now I haven't taken any! Man this feels great!

The only drawback to being off the medicine is that the wonderful side effect of it being a sleeping medication is gone now too. I feel great during the day now, but at night after about an hour of laying down my entire body starts to scream at me. "How could you possibly think that laying down to sleep would be a good idea? Don't you know that your extra weight in the front of you will make the rest of you ache and hurt?" This morning I woke up at 3:30am and didn't fall back to sleep until well into the 5 o'clock hour. My Sweetie didn't have to leave for work until 7:30 today and on those mornings I really like to get up and have breakfast with him (I secretly think he really likes this too), but this morning when he gently asked me if I was getting up I had to say no. I should have just gotten up because once I was awake my body started to scream at me again and sleeping wasn't much of an option.

Does anyone know of any trick to sleeping that I'm unaware of? I'd really like to not continue taking the medicine just because I'm a wimp that can't sleep. (Although my doctor did say that he does give it to women that complain about not being able to sleep at the end of their pregnancies.) Plus, I realize that it makes me sleep in a whole lot more than I would like.

In other news I got my week 30 gift. Pink and cream striped fleece pants with a little pink bow. So cute!

Photos-my growth

My mom just showed me the photos that she took during Christmas and one was of me and my expanding mid-section. My perception is so distorted right now! I don't really feel all that large most of the time. I think that's just becuase I grew little by little and I've been big for a while now. I looked at a similar photo she took of me in September and I realize that I've grown-a lot. So I thought I'd let you all see my expanding girth.

This is me back in September. I think it's funny that I actually thought I was getting big back then! Yes, that is my single-wide trailer in the background. Isn't it beautiful?

This is me at Christmas. Neither of these photos are really great of me, but you get the idea. At work I sit behind a tall counter so that when customers walk in they can only see me from the bust line up. When a mom and daughter came in the other day I got up to show them something in the back of the store so all they saw was my bust line up and then my back side as they followed me. When I swung around to show them something the daughter said, "WOAH! When are you due?" and the mom said, "Congratulations." I thought the delayed reaction was so funny!

Patience is a Virtue

Well, I forgot the CD I had with all the photos I took on it at home when I went into work today so you wont get to see the glorious bounty that baby Charlotte already has. You'll just have to be patient.

Speaking of photos I decided to use my $50 from grandma/pa to get a memory stick. We borrowed one from my mom last year during the school year and ever since we gave it back to her I've missed being able to carry around all that information in such a compact and convienent format. When I told my husband my plan he was very supportive of it. I think this is because he plans on using it for med school in the coming years. This is fine with me since I've never even been close to needing all the space on one of those things at once. I was actually thinking that maybe I should buy him one for his birthday. (January 24th for anyone that wants to give him something or call him or think good thoughts for him.) I decided against it though since the main reason I wanted to get it was to use it as an easy and convienent way to transport photos from home to work so I can email them to family and friends. It seemed a little selfish to get him a present because I wanted to use it too. I have decided to get him something else entirely that I'm sure he'll enjoy and I really have no use for. Anyway, can you guess the first thing that went on the little device after I got it? Well, it wasn't any photos. It was my Sweetie's letter of intent that he's working on. Plus, he took it with him to California so I can't use it at all while he's gone! Lest anyone think I'm complaining, I'm not. I just think the whole situation is so funny! I never thought he'd like it so much! I'm sure I'll get plenty of opportunity to use it for my own reasons. I just need to be patient.

For the astute readers out there, yes my husband is in California. He left yesterday and had his interview at Loma Linda today and will be back tonight. I had awful sleep last night. He wasn't there and I've gotten used to him propping up my leg while I sleep and having a pillow at my back so that my ribs stop hurting. He wasn't there last night and boy did I feel it! Also I have this anxiety about his interviews. I thought that would pass once he was accepted into one school, but it hasn't. I still feel very anxious each time I know he's in an interview. I think it's just that I want the people he's interviewing with to see how incredible he is. He still has two interviews left (Ohio State, and NYMC). I'm not sure of the dates for either one though. I hope it's before mid February because I really don't want him in another state that close to my due date. Applying to medical school is the longest process! (I'm sure applying to dental school and law school are too.) I just wish it were over. I still day dream about him getting into UW and how great it would be to be so close to family. Not that a five hour drive is all that close, but it's way closer than Phillidelphia. Patience. Patience. Patience.

This next part isn't about being patient, but it does tie in becuase it's about my Sweetie. You know it's time to get yourself bigger undershirts when your husband sees you wearing it and comments on how you look similar to Winnie the Pooh. (How Pooh's shirt is always short over his tummy.) I did ask him if he knew that Pooh is described as being "tubby" and "stuffed with fluff." He said that Winnie the Pooh is also described as being a bear and I'm not a bear (also that Pooh can eat a whole meal just out of honey and I can't do that either.) Mostly I just thought it was funny, but I did get new undershirts.

Another thing that I have to be patient about is Charlotte's weekly present from Aunt Katie. My sister is the best sister/aunt ever and my baby hasn't even arrived yet! I know I've mentioned how I get weekly gifts from her before, but I've never gone into the excitement and anticipation I have each week as I visit the post office. I will make special trips each day just to check the mailbox. The only other things I get in the mail are bills and bulk mailings. It's been so great to know that each week I get something in the mail just for me (well for Charlotte, but for me too!) This has been the happiest mailbox I've ever had, even though I have to go a block to get to it! I feel so blessed to have a sister that is so excited to be an aunt! She's the only one (except for Daniel of course) that has been excited to feel the baby move. Sadly that didn't happen as much when I wanted it to. I wait, with varrying ammounts of patience, each week for our little manilla envelope of joy!

The thing I really need to be patient for right now is the arrival of baby Charlotte. After that childbirth class all I can think about is her arrival. Will my mom be here at the time? Will Charlotte come so that my sister's spring break lines up with it? When will we bless her? What will she look like? Will she have red hair? Will she have hair at all? I talked to my mom about her labors (my sister and me) and both were pretty short, if that's any indication of what I have to look forward to. Another change since the class we went to is Dan's attentiveness. He is such a sweet and loving husband! He keeps saying how he thinks I'm so brave and strong to do this and he would help me if he could. I think it's sweet, especially since I don't really feel all that brave or strong while complaining all the time. It's not like I really have any choice about this baby coming out at this point anyway. The only part of the birth that I think he will get distracted by is that I'm pretty sure that if/when I get the epidural he'll want to see that process and how it all works. Not that he's totally unfamilliar with the process though. I'm just so excited that I can't wait! Let's just cross our fingers she doesn't decide to arrive March 19th!

Childbirth Education

We just got out of our Childbirth Education class today. Wow, was it looooong! Dan kind of feel asleep for a while, but I couldn't even really get upset with him because it just took so long! (Plus, I don't think our baby is going to suffer that much if her daddy doesn't intently watch all of the amazing things your newborn can do video.) The class was really good though. I think I got some good information that will help me feel prepared when the big day finally does show up. Namely I learned what the hospital procedures are. They also went into detail about the stages of labor and what to expect with that. The thing about that is that they would say here's what happens first and it might last as little as 30 minutes or it could last 10 hours or more and this is what you can do to get through it, but only if it works for you. So I basically came out of the class with the general idea of things, but with a more go with the flow attitude. Luckily I have a good husband/coach that really knows that I like to have good guidance and direction to follow. Hopefully he'll actually practice some of the things I liked from the class with me and not laugh too much. I think we were the disruptive students of the class because we sat in the back and he made funny comments under his breath to me the whole time. Some of which really got me to giggling. ("That baby doll looks like it's doing a swan dive through the pelvis!")

Here's the question that I had that I never got the guts up to ask. I always assumed that the actual baby coming out of you was the most painful part of labor/delivery, but I think that might be wrong now. They talked about the final phase of stage one labor (transition) being the most difficult over and over in the class. Does most difficult mean most physically painful or does it mean mental or emotional difficulty?

Things which I am unsure about:

• pain medication-I'm a wuss and I never considered not getting an epidural. On the other hand I'm a wuss and I saw what they have to do to give you one and I don't know if I want that either. Let's face it, I have a hard time getting blood drawn. Plus, I also like the idea of being free to move around more if I wanted to.
• leaving with enough time to get to the hospital-they talked about not having to go right away since you're typically in early labor for a long time. We do have a 30 minute drive to get to the hospital though and that's with normal weather conditions. I'd like to get to the hospital with enough time that I'm not nervous about time. There's enough else that I will have to concentrate on besides making it to the hospital. At least we aren't the couple in our class that lives north of Preston, ID. They need to schedule for a 50 minute drive.

Things which I am totally sure about:

• Number of people in the birthing room with me-The hospital allows up to four people (besides my coach) in the labor/delivery room with me. That's five extra people! I don't really think I need an audience. The people I would like/feel comfortable in the room with me are 1) Dan, 2) my mom, 3) my mother-in-law. Those are the ones that if it's possible for them to make it I want them there. People that I would be OK with also being in there are my sister (although I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to see the actual thing happening, but if she does and she's there I'd be ok with that).
• I don't want the mirror-watching the head pop out of me isn't necessary.
• Feel the head coming out-in some of the videos the doctor told the mom she could reach down and feel the head coming out and the mom did. I so don't need that. Let's just focus on getting the baby out.
• My husband's interest in all things medical-although he did lean in and tell me during one video that OBGYN is totally out of the question for his specialty.

Mostly I'm more nervous about breast feeding than I am about labor/delivery. That may sound silly, but the fact of the matter is that in labor/delivery I will be surrounded by medical professionals that know what they're doing. They've done it many, many times before and although I am aware that every birth is unique and different, I'm in the hands of specialists. Breast feeding is all on me and I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want cracked, chapped nipples or mastitis.

The Good with The Bad

Why is it that whenever I get good, exciting news about one person in my life I seem to simultaneously get bad, upsetting news? Without going into any details on either story becuase it's not my style to dish on other people here I just wanted to relate my joy and worry about both of my family members!

In a less cryptic matter I also wanted to share my complete joy at having my husband home! He got home last night after I went to bed and left for work this morning before I got up, but it was GREAT to have him at home. I could tell the moment he got home because he just snuggled right up to me! I can't wait to see him when he gets home from work tonight! Oh joy!

Other than that the only news is that now I have started pushing back on my bellie when Charlotte starts to push out. It's kind of fun sometimes when she'll respond by pushing right where I pushed. I also know she likes it when I laugh. Or maybe she doesn't like it and needs to find a new position, but each time I get a really good laugh in she rolls and tumbles about.

This morning I woke up with a completely numb left leg. I mean the entire leg was numb. At least it didn't hurt is all I can say. I'm not entirely sure what to do about it, but since it doesn't hurt I'll just save it to bring up at my next appointment.

It Came! It Came! It Came!

Yesterday after work I drove home to find a big UPS box sitting on my porch! I instantly knew that it was our mattress support! I had planned on folding the rest of the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming the floors and changing the bed linens before cooking dinner, but all those plans went right out the window the minute I saw the box. Being the handy instruction reading, putter together-er of all things pre-manufactured I decided that I would start the evening's activities putting together the crib. It looks BEAUTIFUL! I finished it all by myself, which was sort of tricky to hold the one end while screwing in the other. I managed to do it though! Once that was done though I finally had room in that tiny baby's room to clean up and put things in order (well, sort of). I organized the closet, which is practically our only storage place so that there are now only baby things out in the room. Next I took out and admired every item of baby things that we now have and I displayed them inside the crib and cradle that I had put together. Lastly I decided to put together the little vibrating rocker for the baby. That room is so cute! It's not really ready for the baby yet as I have everything out on display in the crib and cradle, but it just makes me so happy.

Also today is the day that the upholstery place receives their shipment of foam cushion material and I ordered enough of it to replace the old foam mattress in the crib so that's almost ready too! Oh what joy! Some may say that my nesting instinct has kicked in a little early, but I say I've always been one to display things. Each year our Christmas presents are displayed like they belong in a catalog because I just like it that way. Now our baby's things are. If I could only just get rid of the faux wood paneling that covers all the walls of the baby's room, but you can't have everything. At least we have a space just for our little one!

My Dear Little One,

I never knew how much I could love someone I've never even seen. Each time I think about you my eyes burst into tears because you are so precious to me. There are a few things I want you to know, and I pray that I will be able to tell you so that you can understand them some day.

First, I want you to know that you are wanted, and despirately loved by your parents. We both feel so blessed to have the opportunity to have you in our home. We marvel everyday at our part in creating your beautiful little life. With each of your movements that I feel and that your daddy chances to get to feel we both are filled with joy. Last night I went to The Forgotten Christmas Carols and I know you can hear what's going on in the world outside your mom's tummy. During every song you tumbled and rolled around inside of me! I guess you love music! It brought me to tears (not that it's very hard to do right now.) Also your daddy leans in to my tummy each night to tell you goodnight and that he loves you.

Second, I want you to know that your mom and daddy love and cherish each other. I look at the wonderful man that I married and chose to start our family with each day and marvel at how much I really do love him. He is such a strength and support in my life. I have complete faith in his ability to be the husband and father he has set out to be right now. I also know that he loves me. He has a way of showing me everyday his love for me.

Lastly, I want you to know that I have such bright hopes for your future. I know that life can be hard, and I also know that I don't know everything, but I will work hard on your behalf to help you with that future you chose to follow. You are a precious gift from Heavenly Father and I hope to be able to guide you the best way I know how.

I love you with all my heart.

Love,

Maggie

Classical

I have discovered my favorite radio station to listen to at work. The other people that work here like country and "soft rock-music for the workplace," both of which make me want to poke my eye out after about half an hour of listening. The problem is that reception is pretty bad on the little radio my boss has set up and there are no speakers for the computer at work. So the selection of radio stations is pretty bad. A few weeks ago I stumbled onto a little station that plays nothing but classical music and I found out that I love it! I can listen to this music all day without wanting to run away or hurt someone. I take this as a sign that I am getting dorkier by the day. Oh well.

Another thing that I like to do at work is read other people's blogs. I have found that the genre that I'm most particularly interested in is pregnancy stories (no surprise there). I have found that after a few days of five hours on the internet I have started to have a hard time finding other women's pregnancy stories. Can anyone point me in a direction that has plenty of these stories? Thanks.

What?

I went to the doctor's today. He said that my ultrasound agreed exactly with my due date so little baby Charlotte is perfect! Then he measured my bellie and said that I measured at 24 weeks (which is two weeks ahead of schedule). So that means that my baby is normal sized, but my uterus is trying to get a head start on growing big! (I'm trying to not let myself think that my baby is normal sized, but I'm just getting fat.)

Also I told the doctor about something I've been noticing happening the past week or so. When I walk around for a while my left thigh, right above my knee cap starts to tingle and burn. He told me the problem is one of my nerves (not the sciatic nerve). It's the nerve that goes down the front of the hip (not the butt) and since my bellie is stretching everything out it's stretching the nerve and I'm feeling it in my leg. So now I have to wear a maternity belt to try and minimize the tingling.

Also my bellie button is starting to become an outtie. This news isn't good since I'm only just under 6 months and still have quite a bit of growing left.

On the plus side I got my hair cut last Friday. It looks so much better! Another plus is that it dries!

My husband thinks that the UW admissions committee met last Friday. That means that he might hear something from them today. I'm trying SO HARD not to get my hopes up that he's in and we don't have to worry, because I know there's a very real possibility that he'll hear, "you have to wait longer" or "not this year." Wouldn't it be so great if we heard, "We love you. You're in!"? He said he'd call me when he gets any news so I'm at work sitting practically on top of my cell phone waiting for him to call me. I think I'm making myself sick thinking about all this. I'd better stop.

Update: Dan just called and told me the news was that we still have to wait. We wont hear anything else from UW until March-April. Just like last year. This is starting to get really old.