Week 29

I can't believe how close my due date is getting. Now that Rachel is about to have Ella, It's my turn to delve into the ending stage of pregnancy fun. It seems like time is flying.
This week has been a lot more of the same fun we've been having. We had another doctor's appointment this past Tuesday. It went perfectly fine. I've gained another pound. So the doctors are quite pleased. I'm measuring up well and Aiden's heartbeat is going strong. What I thought might be a lump, was just my chest being its now hormonal self (sorry if TMI). So that makes me feel better. Overall, we're looking good.
Dan's been going through the Shel Silverstein collection during our "reading to Aiden" time. Although we're hoping to instill a love of literature early, this will mostly likely also influence her to have a very cynical nature...Oh Shel Silverstein. How we love you.
She has definitely been active. The girls at work have had opportunities to feel the moving belly (which they were excited about). She has been moving so much lately that I almost feel exhausted from all of her activity. I know that doesn't really make sense, but I can't explain it otherwise. It's kind of tiring to have such an active little person inside of you. I can't wait to see what all of this movement turns into once she's out in the world (dancer? gymnast? or karate master? I suppose we will see...).
In other news, Dan and I are looking to sublease our apartment and either rent somewhere closer to mommy and daddy with a bit cheaper rent or purchase a small home (which is option #1). We've had a few nibbles on the subleasing front. Hopefully we will find a reliable person to hand over our apartment to soon. I think we may be going to look at some homes on Tuesday. Hopefully we will find a great little place and can get it checked out and moved into. I'm hoping we can get everything settled by March 1st. This would give us a month and a half to get everything all prepared for Aiden. Yay!
That's about it for this week. On to baby belly pictures:




Oh how I miss my feet...











Uck! Dirty mirror. Sorry.















Side shot. I can't believe how big my belly has gotten!








*When is your due date? April 12, 2010

*What week are you in? 29 weeks

*How much weight have you gained? Up 13lbs.

*Do you know the gender of your baby? If so, what? Who's thinking about gender? I've got a karate master. Top that!

*Do you have a name picked out? What? Aiden Ryelle

*Maternity clothes? Yay! Comfy!

*Stretch Marks? make me want to cry

*How are you feeling right about now? hungry

*Have you felt the baby move? Did I mention she's a karate master?

*Sleep habits? Ugh. I lay on my side, she settles into my ribs. I sleep on my back, I can't breathe. I lay on my stomach, and I wake up only to realize I was dreaming...

*Any food cravings? Rootbeer. I've restrained so far, but what's a healthy substitute for rootbeer?

*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore? Just the afore mentioned foods.

*Memorable Moment of the Week: Being kicked so much it wore me out! How weird!

Week 28

Week 28 apparently means the recurrence of an old enemy, Nasal Congestion! I've had a cold/sinus issue that has come back every month for the last three months (I guess we can blame pregnancy for that). So, it's back in spades. The doctor told me to take a Z-pack and hopefully that will get rid of it. My cousin Jessie has suggested I try some essential oils in a steam bowl and visualize healing light surrounding me. Two different and hopefully effective methods and I don't care which works as long as this goes away! I also have a Neti pot coming my way on Monday. If it's not cleared up by then, I think I'm going to need it! Hopefully this will all be gone very soon. I'm going to look at homes in Bedford with my friend Natasha tomorrow and Tuesday with Dan (as well as our next Dr. Appt!). We have dinner plans for Monday with Sara and Nick and I'm trying to arrange a get together with a couple of girlfriends later in the week. Please pray for my health, so that my life can resume at full speed! I'm getting tired of taking time off of work! Plus I don't want to have to reschedule another childbirth class. I was so sad to cancel this past week :-( But Bloomington Hospital labor and delivery are REALLY strict on who can even be in the ward. Did you know that they throw burning crosses and holy water at people who come in when they're sick?
Life hasn't been all head cold though. Dan and I got to watch Aiden doing some acrobatics in utero yesterday. She was VERY active! Before Dan got home, I watched my belly move on its own for a full 30sec. which is a record! Dan came home and got to see a little bit too. Maybe she'll still be in the mood for some major movements on Sunday and the family can see it too! Some friends at work have been hoping to feel a kick. Mindy got to feel one the other day, but poor Ina has been out of luck. Maybe next week she'll be up for some dancing time while I'm at work! When you work at a daycare for young children, everyone loves a pregnant belly :-)
Celebration Memo: I think we finally have a date set for the baby shower! Please clear Saturday, March 6,2010 on your calendars! I'm not sure about time yet (early afternoon, probably). But it will be a grand time and I can't wait to see all of you! It will be here in Bloomington. So hopefully that will make travel easy for most of you. We tried to find a place in the middle and since it's my apartment complex's clubhouse, it makes travel EXTREMELY easy for me, which will be nice since I'll only be about a month from delivery at that point.
Wow! I can't believe it's getting so close! I think I only have 80 days from today. Isn't that crazy!?! Aiden will be here before we know it and I don't feel very prepared... hopefully that will change as we get more settled and get the major nursery furniture put together. I can take care of a baby, no problem, but it will be a lot off of my mind once we have everything together and ready to go.
Well, as a sentimental send off for this blog, my father has informed on his birthday (He's the big 53 today!), when my 53rd birthday comes around, my little girl singing to me will definitely be a highlight. It's always nice to know that I can make his day. I can't wait for my little girl to do the same thing :-)
Now that we're done crying, onto the belly pictures!


Front of the belly. As awkward as weight comments generally are, I got a rather nice one the other day. A friend told me that I looked so nice with my growing belly. I haven't gained the
"girl baby weight". So it just leaves me with a cute, albeit obviously growing belly. It's always nice to hear that I'm a cute pregnant lady :-)













From the side, in the "Oh my aching back" pose.














From the side, in the "tender mother" pose











Mommy view: I think Caina was feeling a little left out. So she wanted to be in the picture too!










*When is your due date? April 12, 2010

*What week are you in? 28 weeks

*How much weight have you gained? Up 12lbs.

*Do you know the gender of your baby? If so, what? GIRL!

*Do you have a name picked out? What? Aiden Ryelle

*Maternity clothes? They make things so much easier

*Stretch Marks? I think some of them might be fading... most likely wishful thinking...

*How are you feeling right about now? stuffy

*Have you felt the baby move? Oh yes! She's a very active little girl. I think we'll be seeing feet and elbows before long :-)

*Sleep habits? Still not going so great. With the congestion, it just makes it worse. I keep waking up feeling like I haven't slept at all.

*Any food cravings? fried chicken. yes, I know it's not good for me...

*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore? I don't think I'll ever be able to eat babaganoush again

*Memorable Moment of the Week: Watching those amazing acrobatics!

Week 27 and GOOD NEWS!

I called the doctor's office yesterday to find out our test results: NO GESTATIONAL DIABETES! I cannot express how relieved I am about this news. Thank you to everyone for your prayers, good vibes, and encouraging thoughts. I know they really made a difference! Now we can just focus on working out this whole anemia business (I am now taking 650mg of supplement each day plus a prenatal with iron added) and having a healthy end to this pregnancy and a healthy start for Aiden.
Speaking of little Aiden, she has been quite the mischievous fetus lately. She is in the mode for exploring new territory previously unavailable- namely, my ribs! Can I express how much it hurts to have a baby in your ribs? Not really. It's a pain that won't go away, as much as you encourage it to do so. This is made all the more difficult when you have a very stubborn unknowing child creating them. She definitely lets me know when she is unhappy with something I'm doing. I am no longer at liberty to stand up for more than half an hour without taking a sitting break. I guess she is comfier being a molded and squished... Well, at least we'll never have to wonder whether or not she needs something. She will definitely tell us!
My Braxton Hicks contractions have also more frequent. I can usually tell when I'm having one now, which is nice. This gives me a chance to sit down and drink some water before they get too bad. If I don't, they get really uncomfortable. I had them for about 20+ minutes the other night. They lasted so long, I thought I was having preterm labor and started timing them. Fortunately they went away once I sat down and had some water. So nothing to worry about!
In other news: My fingers have now gotten too big for my wedding rings. I'm so sad, but I'm keeping them on a chain around my neck at all times. Maybe it's silly, but I really don't want to go into labor, forget them, and have the baby without them with me. I feel very naked without them on and I'm already going to be naked enough when we have this baby!
The kids at work are still very excited that I'm having a baby. Nearly every day I have one of them coming up to me to feel my belly, ask about her, or tell me what they know about babies (a lot of parents are pregnant with second babies right now). It's just so cute. One little girl came up to me the other day and said "You have a baby in there" (referring to my belly) "We can't see her. Just like we can't see mommy's baby. She's hiding. We'll get to see her when she's done." She was QUITE matter of fact. It was Super cute! I just love working with kids this age.
We had our second birthing class this past week. We finally started talking about more personal labor issues (medication and such) which is what I've really been interested in talking about. And as painful as I'm sure this whole thing is going to be, I think I'm going to take that rather than the giant needle being place between my vertebrae. Even Dan felt uncomfortable with that, and he doesn't have to have it done to him! I think we'll keep our options open, but at this point I'm saying no drugs unless I ask for them. I will use my breathing/focusing/relaxation techniques/positions and hope for the best. Who knows, maybe it will go relatively quickly (relative in this instance meaning 15hrs rather than 24+). I'm sure that it is a definite possibility that I may change my mind when my eyes are bulging out of my head from the pain, but maybe I can be a big girl and at least hold out for a while. Or maybe use an IV, still looking into that. I'm not really sure that I like that option better, considering some of the side effects. Any suggestions? I'd be happy to hear them!
Well, I guess I've rambled on enough. Time for some belly pictures!





It's getting SO big! I'm pretty sure I'll be bigger in the front than I am tall by the time Aiden gets here.










Finally put together an outfit that shows off the bump.












A little view from the front. Wow, I miss having a waist line.










*When is your due date? April 12, 2010

*What week are you in? 27 weeks

*How much weight have you gained? Up 11lbs. Making up for lost time I guess! The doctors didn't say anything about it. So I guess that's fine. It's just hard to watch that scale go up and up.

*Do you know the gender of your baby? If so, what? A very mischievous little girl

*Do you have a name picked out? What? Aiden Ryelle

*Maternity clothes? Yes please!

*Stretch Marks? Hahaha... let's move on...

*How are you feeling right about now? slightly more energetic

*Have you felt the baby move? All the time. Especially when Daddy reads to her. She LOVES it!

*Sleep habits? Not so good. I keep waking up at about 3am or so. Whether or not I have to pee does not really seem to affect this.

*Any food cravings? I just want to eat. ALL THE TIME!

*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore? Well, I'm not such a fan of pickles lately

*Memorable Moment of the Week: Hearing our good news! NO GESTATIONAL DIABETES!

Dr. Appt.

We had our six month check up yesterday morning. We got all of our questions answered (Yes. Those were Braxton Hicks contractions I was feeling) and had a fairly normal visit. Aiden's heartbeat was at a healthy 140-150 bpm, which is good! From now on, we'll be going to the doctor's office every two weeks for check ups.
Downside to the visit:
This was the week that my glucose testing was to be done. Although the blood draw was the least painful of my life, the phone call I got later that day wasn't so great. Not only am I anemic, which means I have to start taking iron supplements, my glucose results came back abnormal.
So we went to the hospital first thing this morning to do a more extensive glucola testing. This involved sitting in the lab for four hours, being stuck with lots of needles, and having to drink something way worse than the original glucose drink (twice the sugar!). I had to have my blood drawn every hour for four hours. We brought lots of stuff to do, but I ended up being sick from the drink. Headache, nausea, fatigue. So I slept the whole time while Dan sat next to me and read a book (he's so good for going with me). We should have the results by Friday. So we would definitely appreciate prayers, good vibes, and encouraging thoughts while we await the results.
Hopefully they will come back normal. If not, it will mean that I have gestational diabetes. This means a greater possibility of complications (high birth weight, hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, etc) and a lot more monitoring and frequent dr. visits.
Like I said, hopefully it will all turn out to be nothing. But at least we'll know what to be prepared for come delivery time.
I'll write the regular weekly post tomorrow, but must be off to bed for now.

Week 26

This was my first week back to work after the holiday break and it has definitely been a good one. I'm really glad that I'm working again, not just because we need the extra money, but because it keeps me busy and active. I was so worried about not getting enough exercise while I was sick. So now I'm making up for it by carrying babies around all day! I love my job.
We have had a really exciting week. Here are the awesome highlights:
Aiden is now big and strong enough to make my belly move. Yes. At 26 weeks, I can watch my belly move on its own and it is really, really weird. Although I love it, I kind of feel like one of the unfortunates in Alien that get implanted with alien embryos. I'm expecting something to pop out of me at any moment and start singing "Hello my baby. Hello my darling. Hello my ragtime gal..." (Spaceballs anyone?). Dan finally got to see it the other night and was TOTALLY shocked. It was so funny to see the look on his face. I just love watching him experience new pregnancy things. It's so much more shocking for him because it's a sudden change, rather than gradual like it is for me.
We also had our first pregnancy class this past week. We are taking our classes at Bloomington hospital, which is nice because they are inexpensive and it's where we are delivering. So we get to spend every Wednesday evening for the next six weeks in the baby portion of the hospital. I'm also hoping to get us set up to take an infant CPR course that is a brand new offering from Bloomington Hospital. I'm already certified (obviously, as I work with kids), but Dan isn't and I think it would be really good for him. He has been so nervous about everything that could go wrong that I'm pretty sure I'm the calm, relaxed, and level-headed of the two of us now. I was telling him about one of our babies having a fever at work the other day and he was SO freaked out. "What do you do if a baby gets a fever? Wrap them in cold blankets and take them to straight to the ER?" No, honey. Give them some tylenol. Call the doctor if it's high and make them an appointment if needed. It's really okay. It's just like an adult getting a fever, only you feel worse because babies are cuter, and therefore more pitiable (especially if it's your own). I love him. He will be such a good father, nervous and freaked out, but a good one. I think the CPR class will at least help him feel better about handling serious situations (that will hopefully never occur). Anyway... we talked about birthing basics during our class and started learning breathing techniques. I already knew all the stuff we talked about, but the breathing techniques surprised me. I don't think I'll be using them. They keep promoting breathing from your chest. Which goes against everything I've ever been taught. YOU BREATH FROM YOUR DIAPHRAGM YOU MORONS. NEVER BREATH FROM YOUR CHEST!!! Trust me. I have studied voice since the age of seven. You want to have oxygen and lots of it- BREATH FROM YOUR DIAPHRAGM!!!

On a final note: Family (You know who you are)- Please let me know about labor and delivery calls. If I don't hear from you, you will of course still get a delivery call. However, if you would also like a labor call, I need to know. I'm trying to get my calling tree all finished up. So please help me out with this.

Belly Pictures!








Finally chose an outfit that shows I have a belly.











Yes. I know. It's getting huge.













And the momma view








*When is your due date? April 12, 2010

*What week are you in? 26 weeks

*How much weight have you gained? I think I'm up +10 lbs (I just weighed myself the other day, but I have an appointment on Tuesday. So we'll see what they say).

*Do you know the gender of your baby? If so, what? A beautiful little girl! One of the women I work with is from Iran. She told me that, according to her country's beliefs, she can tell our daughter will be beautiful from the way I'm carrying the baby weight. How sweet is that!?!

*Do you have a name picked out? What? Aiden Ryelle

*Maternity clothes? Of course

*Stretch Marks?Stretch marks? What are those? Your mean my skin, right? It's one big stretch mark.

*How are you feeling right about now? Conscientious

*Have you felt the baby move? Felt her move, watched her move. It's pretty cool.

*Sleep habits? Well, if Caina would sleep, I think I would sleep better.

*Any food cravings? I've really wanted salad lately. And bagels with LOTS of cream cheese

*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore? Just cucumbers

*Memorable Moment of the Week: Seeing my belly move on its own! Our first childbirth class!

Week 25

This has been an absolutely great week! With Christmas over and Dan home for a few days I was able to get SO much done! We put together the bassinet that my Aunt Pam gave us. We just need to polish it up and it will be ready to go. We did the tons of shopping (mostly for clothes) that Dan has been putting off for a while. Dan? Not want to shop? Who would have thought! I've done about six loads of laundry and the apartment has been vacuumed! Now I just need to finish relabeling the recently reorganized storage drawers and finish the dishes and I will be well on my way to some scrapbooking time! Yippee!
We had an awesome, spur of the moment, New Year's Eve bash. It seems to be turning into a tradition that we call everyone on December 31st and say "Hey! Come over and celebrate with us!" We always wait to see if someone else is going to do something and they never do. So instead of being lonely we get all the other lonely people together with us! Shockingly, this turned out to be about 15 people this year, as well as a few
friendly canines. Needless to say, our usually spacious apartment was QUITE full. But we had a good time and nobody (except the clumsy pregnant lady, aka. ME) spilled anything on our carpet. I don't think I could have asked for better. It was really nice to get everyone together, just to hang out for a while.
As for the baby, she has been very active. I feel her move most of the day now, which I absolutely love. I think she's been having the hiccups a lot lately. Occasionally I feel this really rhythmic: bounce up, down, reverb, repeat. It feels really weird and makes me laugh. I just imagine her sitting in there (although I'm sure it's too crammed by now) and just bouncing on her bottom when the hiccups come along. Not reality, but a cute image in my head. I can definitely tell she's starting to run out of room. She's started to painfully jab her pointy portions into me. I had an elbow or something jabbed in my right side for about 15min yesterday! I kept trying to convince her to move, pushing back- laying down- rolling over-etc, but she definitely took her time changing positions.
I also think I may have had my first actual Braxton Hicks contractions while grocery shopping the other day (it seemed different from the round ligament pains anyway). I kept getting a tight pain in my lower abdomen that was really uncomfortable. I had to stop walking a few times to just let them pass. I guess I'll have to talk to the doctors about that one at our next visit.
Other than those few complications, I've been doing fabulously and feeling absolutely wonderful! We even found Aiden's heartbeat with the stethoscope the other night. Dan and I decided to see if she would react to a flashlight (her eyes are supposed to be starting to open). No luck there, but we did manage to find her heartbeat a whopping 2 1/2 inches above my belly button! It was so cool! Well, I'm hoping and praying these next 14 weeks will be as good at this past month has been. I can finally say I'm starting to enjoy being pregnant, even though it IS more difficult to get around.
Now for some belly pictures:





It's about time to retire this shirt. It's just about too short!
















I think I'll start including a "top" view from now on.












And from the front: Those stripes really minimize the bump.






*When is your due date? April 12, 2010

*What week are you in? 25 weeks

*How much weight have you gained? +7 lbs

*Do you know the gender of your baby? If so, what? GIRL!

*Do you have a name picked out? What? Aiden Ryelle

*Maternity clothes? Yes please!

*Stretch Marks?I give up. I'll still put on the lotion because it feels nice, but I have no hope left.

*How are you feeling right about now? It's all acid reflux baby

*Have you felt the baby move? There's a little dancer in there!

*Sleep habits? Must remember to sleep on my side.

*Any food cravings? Does just craving food count?

*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore? Well, I shouldn't have had that fondue last night. Oil just means acid reflux.

*Memorable Moment of the Week: Hearing Aiden's heartbeat with the stethoscope!