henderson nicks, convulsions, spreadsheets and nausea

While making dinner last night, I had my first Braxton Hicks contractions. Just as I pulled out the salmon, I started to feel pains/tightening under my belly. I bent over the kitchen island to make me feel better. Dave looked at me and asked, "Are you having convulsions? I bet they are Henderson Nicks?" Through the pain, I laughed hysterically. Convulsions? He definitely meant contractions. Henderson Nicks sounds like a band or something. He was trying though which was just so cute! And it made me laugh, helping the pain go away. Dave didn't hesitate to finish making dinner with my verbal instruction from the couch. After I ate, I started to feel better.

I woke up early today even though I tried sleeping in. I can't complain though because I got 8 solid hours of sleep; something that's been happening a lot lately, surprisingly. I got up, started the "labor call list," finished the hospital checklist spreadsheet, and updated the baby needs and necessities spreadsheet since all of the showers are done. There's only a few things we need to get before the baby arrives. Yes, I have an obsession with lists and spreadsheets, but they are helping me be prepared and organized for an unorganized baby. It's aiding my mind to relax so more power to the lists!

Dave got up around 9:15 so we could go to church. By the time we left, I wasn't feeling very well. The drive to church was rough. All during church, I felt super nauseous, tired, and just didn't feel well at all. We went to a diner for some breakfast/lunch afterwards where I started to feel a little better. The ride home mimicked the ride to church. When we pulled in to our garage as I tried getting out of the car, I threw up a little. I hadn't even stood up. I finished in the bathroom - needless to say, I had a few flashbacks from my first trimester. Dave was super sweet by cleaning up the garage floor and being there to help with anything I needed.

Dave and I took a nap (we both slept on his bed so I could lay on his shoulder for him to comfort the sick me). I didn't wake up feeling that great; in fact, I woke up in a sweaty mess. I started to feel a little better as I did some baby laundry. Rocco even helped me take apart the diaper cake. The curtains got ironed and hung too, which made me feel better.

I've been feeling so great that I forgot I'm still pregnant, which can make me not have the best day. Today was not the greatest day but tomorrow is a new (and hopefully feel-good) day!

mmmm...

I had a ho-ho today and it was super yummy!

Busy Day!

Doctor Appointment

We had our 37 1/2 weeks appointment today with Dr. Sawyer. As soon as we entered the room, Dave totally became a little boy. Again, it was the cutest and most hilarious thing ever.

I had my first internal, which I can say, was not very fun. He kept saying to relax my "muscle." A lot easier said than done when a big hand is shoved up my precious area. However, it really made me laugh. It was almost an uncontrollable giggle. Whatever hormones he stirred up down there made me laugh so hard even though it was not enjoyable one bit. Maybe labor will be that way; now, that deserves a huge chuckle!

The baby's head is right where he needs to be. My cervix is still thick (like the tip of my nose) so I need to walk, walk, walk! The heartbeat was 154 beats per minute and everything is healthy. Total weight gain to date: 24 pounds.

Habitat Baby Shower

The ladies of Habitat (Missie, Angie, Lisa and Liz) threw me a baby shower at work. They invited all the staff and many volunteers. It was super cute, quick and fun. Dave got to come, too. We had a really good time. They even had games; everyone just played them on their own time.

Vaughn got a few more outfits (one with a super cute wrench on the butt!), a cross for his room, super awesome pirate/sea quilt, socks and...........the car seat and stroller!!!!!!!!!! I was so relieved to see the car seat. We are officially ready to rock and roll. Maybe there won't be too much rockin' though.

All great things come to an end...
I got home just in time to run upstairs (while on the phone with Cathi), get dressed and head to yoga. It was a good class, but I just need to face the fact that it needs to come to an end for now. I started to get super light-headed. It was also hard to see at times. Therefore, I have decided this was my last class especially since it's not prenatal. I'm super sad but am excited I was able to continue it until I was almost 38 weeks. Now, it's time to walk, walk, walk!

Speaking of Walks...
After dinner, Dave and I took Rocco for a walk with the stroller. He was totally freaked out at first so he would run way ahead of me and the stroller. If he got to where he was right beside me, he wastotally fine, just a little jumpy. By the time we made it home, he was doing really well. Dave and I went into the living room while Rocco stayed in the front room sitting next to the stroller. He's super curious about what it is. I hope walking with him next to the stroller every night will help him overcome his anxiety before Vaughn arrives.

Oh! And the pack n' play arrived today! I'm so ready to have this baby!

Nursery Update

With all our fun stuff from the shower and our recent trip to IKEA, I can't help but post the most updated Baby nursery pictures. I just love that room or maybe it's the idea I love. Dave and I both find ourselves walking in at night to just stare. Dave has made it so there is indirect blue lighting in the upper bookshelf with blue rope lights and the small lamps have blue light bulbs so the blue glow make it super relaxing, too.

We have a few last minute touches that need to be made. The awesome Murphy bed that Dave built needs to be painted, the rest of the curtains need ironed hung, and the closet still has some stuff in it that needs removed. Other than that, his room is DONE. I even have my hospital bag all packed and ready to go.

We're ready for you, Vaughn!!! Ready or not...you're IT!

Baby Shower!

Heather, Stephanie and Jamie threw me a baby shower on Sunday at the amazing Lisa's house in Surprise. It was just perfect. There was a lot of mingling and fellowship, some fun (and gross) games, and super fun presents for little Vaughn.

Vaughn got lots of cute little outfits (Halloween included), fun shoes (that he'll wear for 5 minutes at a time before kicking off), a fun Baby Einstein's exercaucer, a rocking chair and ottoman for me, Dave and the baby (Dave already has a little rocking/feeding area all ready to go), a toy bin, hamper (for his stinky clothes), books (he's going to be the smartest baby ever), a diaper genie, his first train set and lots and lots of diapers!

Lately, I've been battling with myself as I often do. I've been feeling quite lonely with a longing for people...a longing for friends. Life is so different than it was in college. Keeping in touch with friends seems so much harder, but does it need to be? In college, if I needed a friend to talk to, I would just walk a few feet in my apartment or hop in the car and have friends surround me in matter of minutes. I love Dave. I love being with him, but as I go through this pregnancy, I have found that I need something else. I long for friends.

The shower helped me realize that I am loved. Vaughn is loved. It may take more effort to keep people actively involved in my life, but I am thankful and blessed to have those people already in my life. I just need to work a littler harder to become closer with them. This will be more important than ever when Vaughn is here.

I have one more baby shower that work is throwing me on Thursday. Dave gets to come to that one. We're very excited to spend more time with people who already love our little boy!

Just a small thought...I feel grrrRRREAT!

I am truly blessed to be 37 weeks (FULL TERM, by the way) and feel really good. I feel great about me, the way my life is going to change, the whole labor and delivery process...I just feel wonderful. Physically, I feel better now than I did at 28 weeks. My belly is stretched so much that it doesn't hurt anymore with the growth. I still go to yoga at least two or three classes a week. The weather has finally changed so I have been able to go walking every night with Dave and Rocco. Sure, I feel lots of pressure in between my hips, have acid in my throat and have a burning rib, but besides that, I honestly feel great. I am even sleeping mostly through the night - at least 6 solid hours. I think I'm going to be sad when this is all over...

Who am I kidding? I'm going to have a beautiful baby boy to stare at and look at and hold in my arms.

Doc Appointment 36 1/2 weeks

We went to see Dr. Sawyer again today and everything is right on track.

While we were waiting for the doctor, I wish I had a video camera. Dave was being the cutest thing ever. I was talking about work while he was acting like "a little boy" to distract me which didn't work. He was wiggling from side to side like little boys do when they're bored (so he tells me). It was the absolute cutest thing ever. Our little boy is going to have the biggest personality ever if he even gets a touch of Dave!

When Dr. Sawyer came in, he apologized for the wait (a whole 10 minutes). He had delivered five babies in the previous 12 hours. One of which was a family where the dad was flying in from Iraq; well, from Iraq to Kuwait to Germany to Atlanta to Kansas to Phoenix to make it to the hospital 10 minutes before his wife gave birth to their baby. All the nurses applauded him as he ran into the delivery room.

Dr. Sawyer just did a tummy check and checked the heart beat. We asked him if our distance we need to drive to the hospital will impact when we should leave for the hospital or not. We also asked how many of his patients had babies in the car. Being as personal as he is, he told us three stories of early deliveries that all turned out great. The car one was because the husband refused to let the wife (who had a 2-page birth plan all mapped out) go to the hospital as he thought he was helping her avoid the pain medications at the hospital. Needless to say, he delivered the baby on the side of I-17. He also told us of a lady who hadn't planned for childcare for her four kids, went into labor at 3am, and her 6 year old delivered the baby - CRAZINESS!

23 days to go - wooo hoooo!

Total weight gain to date: 23 pounds

updates...almost to the finish line!

I know, the title is totally cliche, but I can almost visualize myself running toward the finish line, with a big belly bouncing up and down. As I make the last few steps, I pass through the finish line rope one huge stride at a time with a baby in my arms. My baby in my arms. His hair blowing in the wind...

...as Dave rushes from the stands.

Doc Visit - 35 1/2 weeks
We had a doctor's appointment on Thursday (as we will have them every Thursday until Vaughn's arrival) where we discussed my rib pain, epidurals, bowel movements, eating and anything else I had written in my little notebook.

• My rib pain: Dr. Sawyer said it's being caused from my liver being trapped up under my rib so there's nothing I can do about it except pay attention to my posture.
• Epidurals: He suggested to not wait too long to get one as it takes a while to get it and then for it to start working. The plan still though is to wait to see how fast I'm dilating to determine if I need one. I'm a huge baby, so I'll probably be begging for one...we'll see! We also talked about him being pooped on and he's totally cool with it. LOL...I'm not going to discuss that matter any further. Lastly, we talked about how it's taken out. He told me it's like taking an earring out which I can deal with, I think.
• Bowel movements - see above
• Eating - He suggested to go get a Wendy's milkshake before coming into the hospital. This way, if I do throw up, it'll taste almost as good coming up as it did going down. It's nice to have something in your stomach if possible and the milkshake should do the job.

Total weight gain to date: 24 pounds

Baby Gear
All the baby furniture is hear and then we have a diaper bag and fun bath stuff. We are missing the car seat and stroller though which we need to make sure we get. We went online on Saturday to buy it with the gift card Dave's mom gave us, and few other gift cards. It was not working. Finally, after I was getting super annoyed, Dave called Target. When a live person came on the phone, all they said was, "We apologize as we cannot speak to you right now. We're having a system upgrade. Call back later." Click. So we tried Sunday with no luck again. I went on Monday to find that it was no longer on sale so I wouldn't be able to use just the gift cards (you can only use up to four). Dave called yesterday and guess what! someone bought it. Hopefully, Vaughn doesn't come early because we definitely need that car seat. We do have a back up plan just in case :)

I went on today and bought the pack n' play as this is what Dave's mom decided she wanted to get since the stroller was already purchased. It comes next week. SO FUN! Now, we just have the high chair as a big item needed.

Organization
Kim came over on Saturday/Sunday to help wash baby clothes. I can't believe how many he has already. She was so sweet and cut all the tags off, sorted all the clothes and washed what she had time to do. On Monday night, I organized all the clothes so I could start hanging them up. Dave shut the lights off on me though because he said I had time to organize later. It was late so I guess I understand his reasoning for stopping my organizational escapade. I just want to make sure they're all ready before he gets here. I'm told this is called nesting. For some weird reason, I CAN'T STAND when people say I'm nesting. It's almost like I'm taking offense to it. I have no idea why. So let's just call it prepping for the bambino!

Belly Pictures
Dave and I got our pictures done on Sunday with the amazing Carrie Fay. We went to a neat little park that had random chickens, roosters and peacocks running around. I can't wait to take Vaughn there to chase after the livestock. It was super hot outside, but with the amazing husband I have holding a fan in front of my face every chance he got in between shots and feeding me with Powerade, I managed to not get sick. I did feel like I ran a marathon the next day though.

I think the best was when we kept wondering where Kim ran off to and then would see her eating fruit from the grapefruit trees or wondering after the roosters. I'm glad she got to come with us!

Flu Shot :(
In order to protect the baby (and me), I finally got my flu shot on Monday. The pharmacist wasn't going to give it to me as he said I had to wait for the clinics, but he saw my belly and got me in right away. It definitely hurt but I was a big girl with Dave by my side, of course. Today wasn't a good day though. I think I got side effects of feeling icky. I ended up coming home early from work to get a few hour nap. I still feel really achy, but hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight and go to work tomorrow.

WADDLE!
I've officially started waddling. Not terribly bad, but the back is arched back, the feet move slowly and surely. Not the most attractive gait, but I only got to do it for a few more weeks.

Oh how our life is going to change is just 20-some days. I can't even wrap my mind around it all.

I have an ouchie...drop baby drop!

...a HUGE smile on my face. That's how I woke up this morning. I slept all night and life is great. Well, kind of. I did sleep all night but Dave is upset about my last blog starting with me waking up with tears so I started this blog just for him even though this blog is really for Vaughn when he gets older :). Gotta keep the daddy happy.

So what this post is really about - a few weeks ago at yoga, I felt a little snapping or popping under my right rib. Since then it's developed into a constant pain if I'm not fully stretched out. It almost feels like my rib is bruised. In addition to breathing being difficult, having sore ribs is the cherry on top.

I just got to say that the internet is a wonderful tool. I typed in "rib pain" and got a bunch of responses. (SIDE NOTE: Dave thought I said I was looking up rogaine in which he got a really sad look on his face. He thought I thought he needed to grow hair, but that's not the case at all. I love his hair!) I go to the doctor tomorrow so I'll ask him, but this is what I think I have:

Rib pain can range from mild to extremely sore and tender ribs and is usually felt on the right side, just below the breasts. Mainly occurring in the third trimester, it can be more painful when sitting. Rib pain is caused from the uterus pressing into the abdomen, squashing your ribs, as well as baby kicking or punching the area. The only real ways to help here are to make yourself as comfortable as possible by wearing lose fitting clothes and supporting yourself with cushions when lying down. The pain will likely subside when baby drops (into your pelvic cavity) in preparation for birth.

Here is a really effective exercise for temporary relief. Stand facing a wall. With your feet 40cms from the wall, cross your arms in front of your face. Then lean your crossed arms on the wall sliding them up the wall above your head and stretching yourself up as far as possible. Hold the position for as long as comfortable. This lifts the diaphragm and rib cage up off the uterus and really provides huge temporary relief, especially if the pain is caused by a breech baby’s hard little head wedged under your ribs.

I'm ready for the baby to drop. I hope this rib thing doesn't deter me from yoga. I did go yesterday and had some challenges. Today has been the worse pain though. We'll see how my week progresses.

the plant-eaters are the first to go :(

I woke up this morning trying to get out of my very vivid dream!

When: The end of time. The world was coming to an end

Where: a bowling alley that turned into a University court yard becuase the bowlign alley was getting too crowded.

Who: Former President George W. Bush leading everyone in the world including me.

What: We were all becoming dinosaurs as the world was ending. I was becoming a brontosaurus. All the carnivours were just staring at us sad plant-eaters. We were the first to go according to Bush's orders. I couldn't run very fast because I was so big. As I moved through the grass, I started to grow a neck and big dino feet.

About pregnancy dreaming from ivilage.com..."hormones of pregnancy are accentuating your dream life. Physical changes in your body may contribute to vivid dreaming. What is more true, is that your pregnancy and upcoming motherhood represents a huge life transition, and dreaming is nature's way of expressing anxieties, and working through emotional changes." Hmmm, what kind of anxiety does becoming a dinosaur (and one that doesn't eat meat) represent?

35 weeks!

My official entrance into the WORLD of discomfort

Tears dripping down my face...this is how I woke up this morning after a night of lots of stomach aches and stretching pains every time the pillow escaped from under my belly. My super bad headache didn't help either. For the most part, I do feel great. However, sleeping is just going to be more and more challenging. It's just so hard to get comfortable sleeping on my side when the belly (baby) is just so heavy. When I'm exercising or doing yoga, I feel fine. Maybe I should just never stop :).

Hopefully I'll find a comfortable position tonight so I can get some sleep. The countdown has begun - 35 days to go. I just can't wait to meet the baby. (For some reason, I just can't say "my son" yet...even typing that feels weird. I better get over that - FAST!)

Hubby Love:
When I was crying this morning, Dave ran downstairs (still half asleep) to get me an ice pack for my head. When he came upstairs, I told him that it just feels like all of my insides are being squished. Dave then stood at the end of the bed and said, "Don't worry, cutie. Pretty soon, little Vaughn will be here and he'll say, 'hi mom!' and you'll be like, you squeezed my insides, do push ups. And he will say, 'whatever you say, mommy' and do push ups to make up for the pain you're going through." Oh, how I just love my husband!

Graduation...and 34 weeks doc appointment

We did it!

Dave and I completed our child birth class with flying colors. Well, there were no tests, but we did learn a lot and felt it was totally worth it. In the third class, we learned about all of the pain medications and all the different options I have. In the last class, we discussed newborn care. We watched a video with lots of cute 1-28 day old babies. There were lots of smiling parents in our class while watching the video - Dave and me included.

Yesterday, we had our 34.5 week doctor appointment and ultrasound. Baby Vaughn is super healthy. His heartbeat was 143 beats per minute. It was neat to see him opening and closing his mouth with little amniotic fluid bubbles floating around his head. It was a pretty quick ultrasound as I started to feel pretty sick from laying on my back. Then, Dr. Sawyer took a culture to test for GBS. He also gave me a prescription to get a flu shot. I never want shots, but this is one I'm concerned about since flu season is supposed to be bad this year especially with H1N1. That shot hasnt' been released yet but at least I can get the normal flu shot as this will be the only way to protect Vaughn until he's six months old.

Our next doctor appointment is next week. We'll be seeing Dr. Sawyer every week until we get to meet our baby boy. We have also started researching pediatricians. We're going to take a tour/interview at Great Destinations Pediatrics (http://www.gdpeds.com/home/). I know a few people who go there and this is also where Dr. Sawyer referred us. If we don't like them, we have two others to check out. So much to do to prepare for a baby!