Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Mine was awesome, we spent time with all of our family and got everything we wanted. I got some cash (yay!), make-up, and a new ornament. My parents have bought my siblings and I a new ornament every year for Christmas since we've been born and I'm so happy they have continued the tradition. Even Vince gets a new ornament every year too!

We had to take a picture in front of the tree with my belly! Especially since next year we'll have baby!!!

How far along?: 33 weeks, 2 days
Total weight gain: I think 19 lbs? I’m going to the doctor on Thursday so I’ll get a more accurate total :)
How big is baby?: according to my app, 19 - 22 in. and 5 lbs. The size of a pineapple.
Stretch marks?: Yes. I’m over worrying about them now. They’re here, they’re not going anywhere. I just keep my belly moisturized so they don’t itch so much!
Sleep?: I’m actually sleeping really well! I do have to get up often to pee. I’ve also noticed that if I don’t have my body pillow directly supporting my belly, I’ll wake up with a sharp pain on whatever side I was sleeping on.

Best moment this week?: Talking about next Christmas with the baby. He’ll be ten months old next Christmas, it’s crazy!!

Movement?: Oh yeah, he’s a little mover and shaker.

Food cravings?: Everything I can’t have because of my stupid low-fat/non-fat diet. Thanks gallstones.
Labor signs?: I’ve had some Braxton-Hicks contractions, but nothing to be excited about.
Belly button in or out?: In, barely!
What I miss: Eating as many tamales as I want during Christmas :(
What I'm looking forward to: Surprisingly, going back to school. After that, I’ll only have five more weeks until the baby’s EDD.
Milestone: Making it to the single digits week wise; only 6 weeks and 5 days to go!

30 weeks and a visit to L&D

I know, I said I would start posting more! I knew it wouldn't happen, but oh well. Lots has happened the last few weeks.

Thanksgiving went really well! All of the food turned out super yummy. My sister and I did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself! We also went Black Friday shopping where I picked up the baby's crib, changing table, glider/ottoman, and mattress for $436. He went from having nothing to having his whole nursery in three days. We had to start somewhere, right? :)

The last few days have been very eventful to say the least. We (finally!) went on our hospital tour last Friday night. It was nice. I was really nervous at first as there was at least 15 couples on the tour and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to ask all the questions we wanted to, and we had a LOT. Luckily we all seemed to have the same questions, so they mostly got answered. The nurse who led the tour seemed really natural birth friendly and was really comforting, so that made us feel good. The rooms are nice too. It made everything seem so real! I can't believe we're 10ish weeks away from meeting our baby!!!

After the tour we went out to dinner with my family for my 24th birthday. I decided on Oregano's Pizza Bistro which is my favorite restaurant EVER. It was my parent's first time there and they really liked it so I'm glad. Now we can always go there, haha!!

Saturday I went out to lunch with some of my friends from school which was awesome. It's so nice to get out of the classroom and talk about other stuff than school. I got some new nail polish and a couple of gift cards to my all-time favorite store Ulta. Which I already used, haha! I'm not very good at saving gift cards, I always have to use them right away!

Sunday we had lunch with my dad's side of the family which is always nice. Sunday night is when the problems started :(. I was ready to go to bed when I started to have really bad back and abdominal pains. I thought they were just Braxton-Hicks contractions because I'm a first time mom and I know nothing, right? Oh man, was I totally wrong. The pain kept getting worse and nothing helped. We tried relaxation, massaging, showering and it was not getting better.

I had just gotten out of the shower when I felt like I had to throw up. I did. A LOT. I have never thrown up that much in my life before. It scared the crap out of Vince so he called the on-call nurse who had us come in right away when I threw up. AGAIN.

She told us to go to the ER and once we got there they would transfer us to the OB triage. We finally got into OB triage after being in the regular ER for what seemed like forever. As soon as I got in there, I threw up again. I felt so terrible, I was all by myself (they made Vince wait outside for awhile) and I threw up everywhere. I couldn't help it :(.

Long story short, after throwing up a million times more, becoming severely dehydrated, and a transfer to L&D, I was informed that I have really bad gall stones. Bad enough that I have to go on a strict low-fat/non-fat diet for the remainder of my pregnancy and I will have to have my gall bladder removed after giving birth. Other than that, the Baby and I are totally fine. It was just a really scary experience. I also feel a little guilty because since I want to have a natural, med-free birth, I have really tried to avoid drugs of any kind while being pregnant. I only take my pre-natal and the meds I've been taking for years to control my blood disorder. I think I've taken Advil twice the entire time. But Sunday night, I couldn't take it anymore. I was offered pain meds and after declining them five times, I finally consented to taking some Percocet. They had offered Morphine and Demerol at first, but I told them I felt really uncomfortable taking that when I was pregnant.

Like I said, I felt REALLY guilty for saying yes, but honestly, the pain was unbearable. I could not breath with out feeling like someone was stabbing me. But Vince was such a rock for me. When we were alone I had mentioned a couple of times wanting the drugs and he gently reminded me that taking pain medication wasn't what I wanted for my body and for our baby. We tried some more relaxation and massage, but the longer time went on, the more it hurt. When I finally told him I couldn't take it anymore, crying because it hurt so much, I could see that he knew I meant it, I wasn't just trying to take the "easy way" out. (I do NOT think that people who take pain medication for anything are taking the "easy way" out, that is how I feel about pain medication and solely my own opinion). I think this little trip to the ER in a way prepared us for our labor and delivery in February.

I want to give a shout out to my awesome husband, my mom for stopping at the hospital to offer Vince a break every now and then, my dad for coming to see how the baby and "his" baby were doing, and last but certainly not least, the awesome staff at Banner Thunderbird's L&D department: Judy, Paulette, and Kitty. You ladies were FANTASTIC and so helpful!!!

Now a quick update:

How far along?: 30 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain: 15 pounds, right on track according to my doctor.

How big is baby?: according to my app, 18 inches long and weighs 3.2 pounds. About the size of a head of lettuce.

Stretch marks?: Yes, the circle of stretch marks is getting bigger! They’re not as red anymore, which I am telling myself is due to the Burt’s Bee’s belly butter I put on every morning and night.

Best moment this week?: Getting over my fear to buy the baby items. My family is really big on not buying the baby anything until right before the due date. I’ve started buying things slowly and putting them out of sight so I can’t see them.

Movement?: Oh yeah. My little man is so active! I can see him moving from the outside which is cool
Food cravings?: Now that I was put on a restrictive diet, everything they told me I can’t eat, haha!
Labor signs?: Nope.
Belly button in or out?: In, and it’s getting really weird and flat looking.

What I miss: My feet not tingling at the end of the day, closing my legs, being comfortable while I drive.

What I'm looking forward to: Our two class field trips in the next week and Winter Break.

Milestone: Finally getting over my fear of giving birth. I CAN do this!!!

I'm Such a Bad Blogger!!! Oh, and 27 weeks =]

I know, I know!!! I'm so bad at this blogging thing. It's a good thing the only person who reads this blog is my husband!!!

The last month and a half has been so crazy at school, it's not even funny. I feel like I have all this work piled on me, and my students and I are getting things done, but the amount of work isn't getting any smaller. Sigh. My students are so freaking awesome though, I don't know if I could handle all this stress with a different group of kiddos.

Our Bradley classes are almost over too! Next Monday is our last day =[. I really, really enjoyed going to class, we learned so much! I also feel like Vince is more involved in my pregnancy than he would have been had we not taken the classes. As much as I feel I've learned in class, I am still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that IN 13 WEEKS, OUR BABY WILL BE HERE.

I'm not going to lie, I am TERRIFIED of giving birth. Absolutely terrified. I need to work through this, especially if I want to have a natural, intervention free birth. That is my goal over the next few weeks.

How far along?: 27 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain: As of my last doctor's appointment on 10/31, I have gained a total of 11 pounds.

How big is baby?: according to my app, 16 inches long and weighs 2.5 pounds. About the size of a head of cauliflower.

Stretch marks?: Yes, in the shape of this weird circle around my belly button.

Best moment this week?: Reaching my third and final trimester, woot!!!

Movement?: Yes!!! He moves so much, especially during guided reading with my students. I'm hoping it's because he likes the different stories we read =]
Food cravings?: I actually feel hungry now. I've noticed I'm eating more, which is good. Vince was worried I wasn't eating enough.
Labor signs?: Nope.
Belly button in or out?: In, I'm not sure for how much longer though!
What I miss: My feet not hurting. My back not hurting. Sleeping on my stomach. The taste of a margarita on the rocks with salt.

What I'm looking forward to: Thanksgiving Break at school! A whole week off to do nothing! The actual holiday itself, my sister and I are hosting dinner on our own this year, I am so excited! To be quite honest, we're not making a turkey, my mother-in-law is, but whatever, next year we'll do the ENTIRE dinner.

Milestone: It may seem silly, but so far throughout the pregnancy I've been referring to the baby as "Baby", but lately I've been calling him by his name. It makes everything seem so real!!!

I promise I will start blogging more. I really need to start documenting what is going on during this wonderful time in my life. My goal is two posts per week. I need to start posting pictures too!

21 weeks (!)

I have been SO busy the last few weeks!

We started taking our Bradley Classes, which are super awesome and informative. My cousin and her husband are teaching the classes so that makes them a little more fun. We also had our anatomy scan which went well. We actually had to go back again because baby was being stubborn and would cooperate. It was crazy seeing how big they were!!!

Also, I have a little confession to make....

We know what the gender of the baby is! Originally we had planned to wait until the birth to find out, but when I went to the hospital a few weeks ago, baby totally revealed their goods. And it was totally obvious what it was. We're having a baby boy! We just had it confirmed at our scan. It was a little disappointing to find out and I know I shouldn't have been looking at the screen, but honestly, at that time I really didn't care if I saw. I just wanted to know our baby was healthy. We can be surprised with the next baby :).

How far along?: 21 weeks (well, technically 20w6d, but whatever)

Total weight gain: I’m not sure, I’ll find out Thursday at my OB appointment. But my face looks really thin, it’s weird.

How big is baby?: according to my app, 8 inches long, 1 pound. The size of a spaghetti squash.

Stretch marks?: Yes :(. Not any new ones, but my old ones from a while back are looking a little darker.
Sleep?: Much better!!!! I keep waking up on my back though.

Best moment this week?: Seeing the profile of our baby’s face. And when my husband was talking to him and the baby kicked him.

Movement?: Not a lot, but when he does move, there is no mistaking what it is.
Food cravings?: Nope.
Labor signs?: Nope.
Belly button in or out?: In.
What I miss: My feet not hurting.

What I'm looking forward to: Fall Break at school! A whole week off to do nothing!

Milestone: The baby is more than half way baked!!! I can’t believe there is only 19ish weeks to go.

Week 17

This week was really hard. Wednesday I had been experiencing some bleeding all day. Nothing serious, just pinkish stuff that wasn't heavy at all. But it kept getting worse. So I had my husband call the on-call doctor and she told us if it got any worse or didn't stop by the next day, to go into the ER.

So on Thursday morning I woke up to get ready for school and of course I had to pee. So I went, and there was blood. Not a ton, but it was definitely red, not pink. This is my first pregnancy, but I know that red blood is NOT good. So off to the ER we went.

Once we got there, everything went really quick (I'm sure it helped that we got there at 5 am). I had a cervical exam, blood drawn, and an ultra sound. Long story short, everything is okay. The baby is totally fine and healthy. During the ultra sound they wouldn't stop moving! The baby's heart rate was fine, 144 beats per minute :). The doctor wasn't sure what caused the bleeding, but he told me I needed to take it easy. So that's what I've been doing for the last five days, I've been "couch-potatoing" it (official prescription).

It was so scary, I hope we don't have to do that EVER again. We see my OB on Wednesday, so I'll have more news then :)

How far along?: 17 weeks

Total weight gain: Same as last week, 4 lbs.

How big is baby?: according to my app, 5.5 in, 5 oz. About the size of a sweet potato

Stretch marks?: nope.
Sleep?: It's gotten a little better. Now I'm sleeping on my stomach at an angle, it is so much more comfortable than my side!!

Best moment this week?: Seeing our baby move during the ultra sound (the silver lining to our shitty week).

Movement?: I think so!! Since it's my first I'm not really sure what it should feel like.
Food cravings?: Nothing really.
Labor signs?: Definitely not.
Belly button in or out?: In.
What I miss: My students!!! I was out two days last week, I'm anxious to get back.

What I'm looking forward to: The doctors appointment on Wednesday.

Milestone: Being able to sleep comfortably :)

This week has been so tough so far. I didn't go to school on Monday because I didn't feel well, so you think my week would feel shorter because I only have a four day week... WRONG!!!

It has gone by soooooo slow. Ugh. At least we have a three day weekend!!

How far along?: 16 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain: I think 4 lbs? I try not to look at the scale, haha!
How big is baby?: according to my app, 5 in, 5 oz. About the size of a turnip
Stretch marks?: nope.
Sleep?: Eh. I wake up to pee a lot and I'm having a really hard time sleeping on my side. I was a stomach sleeper :(

Best moment this week?: One of my students told me she knew my baby was growing because my belly was getting bigger. Totally cute, but only because an eight year old told me that.

Movement?: I think so!! Since it's my first I'm not really sure what it should feel like.
Food cravings?: Nothing really.
Labor signs?: Definitely not.
Belly button in or out?: In.
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach.
What I'm looking forward to: Labor Day weekend!!!!
Milestone: Hmmm I guess... being a little closer to half way through my pregnancy!!

tired :(

I am so incredibly tired this week. I don't know if it's because I'm a month (eeek!) into school already or because of Baby. I'm sure it's both! The other night I actually had a crying fit because I couldn't sleep on my stomach anymore. Ridiculous, I know. My poor husband had no clue what to do with me.

Luckily, sleeping on my side is getting a lot easier. I find that if I am extremely exhausted at the end of the day, I can fall asleep in any position, haha!

I can't believe September is almost here, it's crazy how fast time has flown by! \We have our anatomy scan scheduled for Sep. 16th, I'm can't wait!!!! I just want to see our little baby =]

hello!

Welcome to the sweetest little surprise. I decided to start this blog as a way to chronicle my journey through my first pregnancy. I also thought it would be a fun way to look back and remember everything. My husband and I are expecting our first baby on February 12, 2012.


As you might guess by the title of my blog, we made the decision to wait until the birth to find out whether or not we are having a boy or a girl. It will be our sweet little surprise :)