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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Before The Babe...




Anxiously Waiting...

It's about 9:30 PM, we are sitting on the couch, watching bones, hoping the time passes quickly.
At midnight, they will start the induction and by morning we should be meeting our sweet little boy.

We had a doctors appointment this morning. I'm still 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced. Cervix is high and firm.
Totally sucky. I'm dreading having nurses check me tonight, because they have a way difficult time reaching my cervix and measuring, so I get impaled every freaking time, and it HURTS.

Looking forward to that all night long.

So basically, as I understand they will give me Cytotec when I arrive, and after 3 hours will check to see if the strong contractions caused by this drug have dilated me far enough. If they have, they will start Pitocin, if not, its another Cytotec pill, and another three hour wait. After the initial 6 hours (fast forward to 6/7 am tomorrow) my doctor will come in, check me and make the call from there. If I have dilated to a 6 and am moving along reasonably, he will continue letting me labor, if not he will send me in for a c-section.

Doctor thinks the chances of me even being able to dilate on my own past a 6 are extremely low, as my pelvis is so small, and babies head is so big that he won't be able to help me progress. So i'm hoping for the best but preparing for whatever is healthiest and safest for my baby boy.

That being said, I am having pretty bad contractions right now! What the...someone needs to tell this baby he's running on the late side ;) But I hope they are true contractions because if he is ready to come out, then this will be an easier transition for the little guy.

My parents are on their way down right now, with my little sisters in tow. (The girls were originally going to stay home until the weekend but they were sad about waiting. Grace actually specified that she would stay home but NO ONE was allowed to send her pictures of the baby. She needed to see him with her own eyes.)

Colt's parents originally weren't coming until the weekend, to give me the space I needed to recover. But I talked to Jana tonight and they are anxious to come down. Shane (Colt's dad) kept calling her saying "why are we not on our way down there?!" So I told them we would love to have them down, and Colton is really, really happy to have his parents right here too. He needs the support and misses his sister, Savannah. (Who promises to be nice to the baby, even though she generally dislikes them because they are "rule breakers.")

So we are glad to have both sides sharing this exciting time with us, and we are so so excited and anxious to get the little guy here. (Colton was so anxious he got sent home from work to spend time with his wifey and prepare for the hospital. He ran in the house, woke me up from a nap I needed badly, to tell me he came home to help me relax...He was in trouble.)

But he did take me to Sizzler for dinner and a final date before baby gets here. I picked at pineapple, mandarins, cucumbers, potatoes and ice cream...pathetic right? He ate a massive steak and insisted on sitting right next to me at the booth. He really is a sweetie. After dinner we went on a nice drive and enjoyed each others company, it was much needed.

We came home, he ran me a nice bath, rubbed my feet, and got me comfy on the couch to watch Netflix and cuddle. He does alright :)

Holy cow my contractions are getting bad. What the heck? This baby is coming one way or another I guess.

Thanks to everyone for the constant support and love, we are overwhelmed with the help we have gotten from so so many people, it has been the biggest and most appreciated blessing. I will be sending out cards with babies picture on it, and notes to all of you, so again, thank you, and you WILL be hearing from our little family soon.

As for updates, birth stories, pictures, etc. I will have Colton post stats on here (if I can get his eyes of the baby) from my Iphone. Luckily we have an app for that ;) so it's as easy as sending a text message. I will also try and update everyone if I get a free minute or some time while feeding the babe.

Love you all :) Pray for the best!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Cure For Pregnancy Anticipation

Lifetime movies, cornbread stuffing and chocolate milk.
Thank goodness.

Tomorrow at midnight, we are starting the induction. If all goes well (and fast) we will have our little 2/1/12 babe.

I think that's a killer birthday.
So does my dad.
The album 2112, by Rush, is his favorite album of all time. :)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Its Our Due Date

We were in the hospital all day.
This child is stubborn.

Actually. No. My cervix is stubborn.

I woke up this morning to what felt like a trickle of water. I woke Colton up, he said "let's wait it out" (he was just wanting more sleep...brat.) So I waited, slept, woke up to stronger contractions and pain, and called the nurse. She said pack and head in.

So i called my mom to let her know we were gonna go check it out. Just as a heads up. And not to do anything yet.

I started researching "unfavorable cervixes" and basically got the idea that I am screwed.

Lots of stories about being in labor 24+ hours and then being rushed into an emergency c-section.

Yup. The odds are totally in my favor.

Usually, with this problem, contractions won't make the cervix ripen, or dilate. So even if I'm in labor, my body won't progress at all.

Today, with contractions 1-2 minutes apart and my water possibly leaking, my cervix still hadn't done ANYTHING. Except maybe gone backwards.

After impaling me with her hand, The nurse told me with a smile that my cervix was nice, tight, thick and firm.

If you haven't been pregnant, I have news for you.

If anyone is using those words when talking about your 40 week pregnant cervix, You will want to punch them in the face.

Nice, tight and firm should be used to describe many things, like abs, or your butt or your skinny jeans.

Not a cervix on your due date.

So they sent me home to wait it out. Wait for more pain, stronger contractions, longer duration. Anything to "maybe" help me dilate before induction.

No such luck. The doctor says that even with strong labor inducing drugs, pitocin and cytotec, I still am unlikely to progress fast enough to have this baby naturally.

So we are gonna try on Tuesday, unless these contractions get worse. And if it doesn't work, a C-section it is.

Good news is, my mom told my dad that we were going into the hospital. My dad insisted that they rush down here, baby or not. Now my belly is full of warm stew (my craving) and brownies (coltons craving.) The house is clean, my feet are up, and I'm all tucked in.

Plus I get my mom till baby is here :)

So if you feel like praying, say a prayer for my stubborn, no good, dirt rotten cervix. Who keeps canceling out my perfectly good labor contractions in order to make me miserable.

I also apologize for saying cervix 8 times in this post.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Ambien

Remember how the doctor prescribed me Ambien because I looked like death?

Fact: Ambien does not work. I was up till 4 am.

Fact: When I finally fell asleep, I had the most terrifying, heartbreaking, anxiety inducing nightmares of my life. I woke up crying twice, hit Colton multiple times, and feel downright traumatized today.

Fact: I will no longer be taking Ambien. I don't care if it's supposedly safe for pregnancy, my sweet little boy does not need to be stressed out from my dreams.

Fact: Colton is now making me French toast, drenched in syrup and covered in powdered sugar in an attempt to sweeten up my day.

Here's to that.

Anxiety

I've been thinking a lot about how life will be soon. How it's all going to change. In my mind I see the sweet family, me making dinner with baby boy sitting in his chair on the counter and colt coming in from work.

That's what I dream of.

I know there will be many sleepless nights, many stressed out days, many thoughts of how life "was." Times I'll look back and wish I could have tonight back. With an empty house and bed to myself. (Colts working a grave.)

Right now, life seems slow. I feel really lazy. Exhausted. Stressed. I depend on Colton so much for everything.
I'm torn between enjoying my last few days with Colt, and wanting my baby here.

Last night we ran all the last minute baby errands, met a pediatrician, finalized insurance, installed the car seat.

We came home, I wanted chocolate milk for dinner, he had a hot dog. Then he played video games while I caught up on my tv shows. I went to bed at 2. He crawled in an hour later. We slept till noon.

That's what we do on his days off. Nothing.

We woke up, he brought me French toast in bed. I watched a bazillion episodes of teen mom (it's therapeutic, really.) I called in an "I love you" across the apartment every once in a while. He came in with ice water and chocolate when I was feeling bored.

Later, He took took off to the gym. I took a nap. Soaked in the bath. He came home and made us steak. Tucked me into bed...again.

I feel so useless right now. He takes such good care of me, and we have no one to answer to but each other. So I start thinking about Tai coming and I panic. Ive been on bed rest so long, doing NOTHING for so many months, I feel like I won't ever have the energy to take care of a baby. To get into a real routine of doing things and going out and cooking and cleaning and being a family and a good wife!

Poor Colton. He lives off of Mac and cheese and hot dogs and canned soup. I feel so guilty when he tries to make a recipe that I would always make him, but don't have the energy for anymore.

Right now going and doing errands is a stressful long event. I never leave the house alone or drive because my belly is so big. How will I do it with a newborn who needs fed every hour and constant attention. How will I go to the grocery store without completely panicking!

I hope that with Tai being born, everything will feel right and come natural. All the mysteries of parenthood and breastfeeding and infant care will be second nature. I hope my energy comes back, and the weight comes off!

I hope the The desire to do my hair and get dressed and cook for my sweet Colton is no longer comparable to the exhaustion of running a marathon.

I pray that my hormones will chill out so I can be a little more patient with my hubby (and humans in general.)

I don't know what normal life is, living with colt, not being pregnant. It's a giant Journey we are about to embark on. And im so glad I'm doing it with him.

But for the record. I'm scared as hell. This is a huge journey and we never made a map.

Wish us luck. Wish ME luck.

I really hope I can do this.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Finishing touches

It seems like every time I think we are done getting ready, someone reminds me of something I need to go get.

Newborn diapers (because we got a tonnn of size ones but no newborn) and no one knows how long or if he will use them.

Bottles and pacifiers-again, we don't know what he will like or use!

Hygiene stuff- yup I'm a bad mama. This babe needs lotion and diaper rash cream and body wash and shampoo. I read an article saying Johnson & Johnson was just sued for having formaldehyde in all their products. What??? So now I don't know what to get! Any advice or thoughts?


Nursery decoration-if any of you are crafty, this mobile is calling my name. Looks easy enough right? (but I suck)

Also I want to attempt to make letters for his name for above his crib, but again, I am NOT crafty..

Bad mom alert.

Changing pad- these things are pricey! Yuck.

A Boppy- I've heard these are amazing for babies to sit in. I have an awesome breastfeeding pillow, but this ones more for baby, if you are done with yours, hit me up :)

Crib bedding-which is hard to find, over priced, and thanks to super involvoooooo man (aka Colton, he's like a psychotic superhero) none of the ones we find are right. They are all too girly, too gay, too jungle, too frilly, or "seizure inducing."

"Is that giraffe smiling? No. Hell no. My son will not be emasculated by something as BARBARIC as a smiling giraffe!"

Welcome to my life. He also hides stuffed animals.

And you don't want to know the trauma that ensued when he saw lace on the bassinet. Lace. (It is now in a bag, waiting to be sold) anyone need one?




Also, Tai has a tummy time sheep to lay on that is adorable, Colton found it, wore it as a cape for several hours while talking like a mountain man and then proceeded to hide it somewhere also.

And now you can see why our nursery is yet to be finished.



Moms, what products do you suggest/not suggest? Let me know!

Also, I am looking for a photographer for newborn photos, one that is reasonably priced and accessible. Any thoughts?

Nursery Update!

We have wanted to have a space for guests since both families are far away and both are first time grandparents. This keeps it so visits aren't expensive hotel room trips and I love having family here.

We were recently blessed with a new bed, a HUGE bed to our standards. It's miraculous. So after much debate we decided to switch rooms with the baby (ours was so much bigger and we only had a bed in it) and make the master room a guest room and nursery.

At first Colton was not having it, he is so territorial and wants his baby to have his own room. He wanted to DI our smaller bed and just move the queen in our room. Luckily I convinced him of the benefits of having a guest bed, and we came to the decision that we would sleep in babies room when guests came over and they could have our new bed. He liked this plan.

So my mom was awesome and came down and helped me get all settled, and move rooms back and forth. Colton and I finished it this week and we think it's gorgeous!

There's still a few bits and pieces to add, (theres a quote that goes above his crib we are waiting for, and the toy box is on its way with grandma)
but tell us what you think!

Tai's Crib, it is going to have a cute quote over it, I can't wait.
We are also wanting to decorate letters for his name in greens, and blues,
to put over his changing table or on the dresser, but my energy levels are SHOT...one day!
Still looking for something to go above the changing table, his toys
are currently displayed on it, as well as some art Colt made for our room
that I need to move :) Also we still need to buy a changing pad..ha.
I LOVE this part of the room. It's so bright and colorful, and we love
the little tree! I'm hoping to make a bird mobile for MaTai's bed.
Tai doesn't have a crib set (yet? ever? haha) but we got him this
cute sheet that matches all the birds and the bedding on the guest bed.
He also has a bunch of soft blankets that match the crib sheets, we love it.

Where We Are At

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Doctors appointment

Today was a bad day.
I didn't sleep last night, at all.

Got ready for the doctors (cold shower.) Actually got dressed and did my hair and makeup.

Got to the hospital, went into the men's bathroom because I had a full bladder and a pregnant brain.

Saw a urinal, thought, oh crap, and then walked out to Colton and a whole row of men pointing at the girls bathroom. Wow.

Got called into the checkup room and was told to pee in a cup.

Had stage fright and an empty bladder after mens bathroom embarrassment. Managed to get JUST enough into the cup. I stood up shakily, and SPILLED said pee cup all over myself and floor.

Proceeded to tearfully attempt to clean up myself, my clothes, the floor. And suck it up long enough to tell the nurse I couldn't get anything.

Broke down the second I got into the room alone with colt. He held me and kissed me and said "oh babe, no use crying over spilled pee."

Nurse came in, blood pressure was high and Somehow I managed to gain 10 pounds since last week.

Doctor makes the "that baby is huge" comment.

This is followed by the "are you getting sleep?" question. I go to respond, Colton does it for me. "We sleep awesome! We just got a new bed. Seriously the best sleeps ever!"

I don't even bother trying to tell the doctor I haven't slept in days. Colton doesn't know I don't sleep because he is out in 2 minutes.

Doctor then can't find the heartbeat, I am already stressed. He finally finds it. Does an internal exam and makes comments like "your cervix is unfavorable" (Colton laughs) and you have a 50 % failure rate.

{failure at what?}

That being said, he asks what I would like to do from here. (cry?)

He says it's my call, we discuss a little more about my pelvic size, baby size, delivery success, c-sections, etc.

After I mention the trauma of trying to get an epidural in when I was 17 before having hip surgery, and the five doctors it took to get it in while jokingly adding "if you had a belly, this wouldn't work." My doctor calls it.

They are going to induce me on Tuesday night if the baby doesn't come on his own before then. It probably won't work, but we are going to try and have this baby vaginally.

Pray for that. That everything goes well and my "unfavorable cervix" plays nice.

That being said, thanks for listening to my rants. We are so super excited to meet our son. Colton especially.

Sometimes Colton drives me crazy with how involved he is with everything. Getting the nursery set up and choosing his hospital outfit and blanket was hell because Colton is so opinionated, he wants everything right.

I constantly hear him telling strangers about my cervix and dilation and effacement (ya, awesome right.) I catch him on Facebook telling his high school buddies about the doctor only getting a fingertip in my cervix, like it's normal conversation. Ahhhh.

But I'm lucky. I know a lot of dads aren't as involved, and Colton wouldn't have it any other way.

I thank my lucky stars that he's been at every appointment with me (making me cancel if he had to work) and that he asks so many questions and is so informed.

He is going to be a great help and an amazing father. I love him so much and am so grateful for what he has done for our new family. It really took a lot to get where we are, and I know a lot of girls in my situation don't get that support and love and dedication that I have gotten.

Hey, he even sat through the 30 minute breastfeeding video with me today so he could learn how to help. (He also complained of feeling thirsty the whole time, ha.)

What a man.

Anyways...

If you read my rants, thanks for all your support, it means a lot to be able to talk about this adventure somewhere, unedited, and feel like people care.

That being said, it's bed time. Did I mention my doctor handed me a prescription of ambien when I went to leave and told me to get some sleep.

Colton had it sitting next to the bed with chocolate milk when I got out of the bath. Obviously I look as bad as I feel.

:)

Goodnight!

My Internet Friend Said To Call You

Sorry for the false alarm story :) I'm still hanging in here.

Dont think im not trying!

When I first got pregnant, as I'm sure many of you can relate, I was constantly online checking and rechecking the "pregnancy symptoms" list. What a joke. Right?

Every symptom can be explained by many other issues, or pregnancy. Complete paranoia.

Then even when you know you are pregnant it becomes a fact checking "Is this normal" (again constantly googling random strings of information.)

There's a whole tribe of us online, comparing stories, the first time moms sucking in the words of all the other moms who already have been through it.

Some are more paranoid than me, "you feel nauseous?! Call your doctor NOW!" Others are condescending "people get pregnant every day, deal with it."

I love me some baby blogs and forums. If you have a question all you have to do is write in your number of weeks and problem and you can find whole strings of women telling you everything from it's normal to it's life threatening. Love the Internet.

If that doesn't work there's always Facebook mom friends to ask questions to. It's lovely.

I feel bad for doctors-especially of first time moms. I've called many a time frantic and stressed because of little "signs" that are, of course, normal.

I've diagnosed myself many a time, a few times being right, more times being wrong.

Doctor mentions "high blood pressure, protein in urine, low white blood cells, anemia."

Then I'm like a crazy person looking up symptoms of those symptoms! Haha.

"Hey Colton, according to bigscarymama on babymaking101.com my anemia can be the reason I'm so ornery all the time! And chocolate can really help!"

Yup, we eat that stuff up.

Anyways, now that it's closing in, I'm again paranoid and searching every time I have a symptom.

Cramping-labor
Nausea-labor
Feeling "well"-labor
Flu symptoms, feeling down-labor
Extreme energy-labor
No energy-labor
(You can see where this gets confusing.)

And let's not even get started on at home induction method.

I've had people swear by drinking castor oil, and others swear off of it.

Sex, pineapple, stairs, bouncing on a ball, spicy food, foot massage, "telling baby it's okay to come," walking, nipple stimulation (for hours on end.) You name it.

So far Colton and I have tried the foot massage, walking, and of course we had a little talk with our son about his arrival.

Other than that I haven't bothered. For every person saying one worked, five others say it didn't. If eating a whole pineapple while hanging upside down on an ironing board did it for you after 3 days, more power to ya. Seriously. You are a champ.

But as for me, I can't stomach half the ideas and am too tired to attempt the others.

Man I'm a whiner :)

Justin Bieber, May Induce Labor

On a lovely night of couch boredom, I put on Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" from Netflix.
Colton whined about it for a while, finally settling down with some headphones and giving me a foot rub.
I got into the bath after it finished and within 20 minutes was experiencing extremely painful cramping on one side accompanied by nausea.

I am a baby.
I stayed in the bath, re-running the water over and over until it went cold (which takes a lot), moaning and screeching and crying.
Colton went into freak out mode.

"What can I do, what should I do."

"Clean the toilet and sinks please."

(That seemed important.)

He does this without question.

"Do you want me to call into work?"
"Should I put the chicken breasts back in the freezer?"

(He begins throwing hair gel, teddy bears and razors into a bag.)

I tell him to make our bed.

He continues to throw together bags, tidy up our mostly clean house, and run in and out of the room.
I call my mom.

Colton runs in, frantically, "Do you want a hotdog."

"NO."  (My mom asks who i'm yelling at, probably to tell me to be nice.)

"Mom, Colton just asked if I want a hotdog.

She laughs.

And so it goes. Colton helps me out of the bath, and finds my most comfy "pregnant pj's." He brushes my wet hair out, packs my bag, and begins to mess with the car seat.

I get in my bed and lay down, much to his disappointment. Putting a heating pad on the part of my abdomen that is on fire. I also call the nurse and she tells me to come in if i'm in too much pain, because it sounds like labor.

I decide not to be a wimp, as its snowing outside, and settle down onto the couch, turning on Cake Boss. My cramps start to subside, and I ask Colton for Chocolate Milk and 6 Chicken Nuggets. Microwaved for 90 seconds. With fry sauce.

He bakes them. A whole tray full.
NOT 6.
He then eats most of them.
Makes another tray.

By now i'm exhausted and sore from all the cramps.
I crawl into bed, much to Colton's dismay.
(He did NOT want to go to work the next day, he wanted a baby.)


I cuddle up on Colton's shoulder, finally finding a position that is comfy.
Colton is out in two minutes flat, whining about being "uncomfy" and asking me to move.
(I think I told him to shut up...ha.)
I have contractions all night, no sleep whatsoever.
I entertain myself with my Iphone, jumping between, scrabble, phase 10, facebook, pinterest, craigslist baby ads and baby blogs-occasionally turning on a book on tape.

No sleep. 2 More baths. A lot of Chocolate raisins.
And i'm still awake when Colton wakes up for work.
The cramping now feels like a bruise that I can rub out.
Contractions are there, but weak.

And I finally fall asleep. Only to be woken up over and over by the five most random people wanting to know how I am and if there's any news on baby.

I love me some false alarms.

I'm starting to get nervous because with all this snow, calling my mom and saying "baby is coming" scares me to death. I get nervous going across town to the hospital, she has to drive three hours worth of canyons. Many which are closed down. So let's hope this babe has good timing.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

39 Weeks + Signs of Labor

Nausea, restlessness, energy, inability to sleep, and all those other cute bodily functions.

I have all of them.
If you were wondering.

"This is a great indicator that labor is close, within the next 48 hours to 3 weeks."

Perfect.

Meanwhile no food sounds appetizing, water goes straight through me and I am bored out of my mind.

In other news, my best friend Katy had her baby on Wednesday! We were a week apart and measuring the same at every appointment, so if things remain the same my guy will come Wednesday?

I hope it's before then! Seeing that sweet little boy has made me so baby hungry, which is good, because im so so close. Still, the minutes feel like hours.

I'm officially 39 weeks today. One week till my due date, they will induce me after I hit 40 weeks.

I'm dying. Any ideas on how to pass the time? Because I am not supposed to go anywhere, but this body doesn't want to rest :( or eat, or sleep or watch another episode of bones on Netflix. Not one more.


Thursday, January 19, 2012

38 Weeks

1 cm dilated.
40 % effaced.
Membranes stripped.

100 % miserable :)

After another scare of high blood pressure, and a couple late night hospital visits, I'm ready to be done.

I went in after checking my blood pressure at home, it was extremely high.
We were told to go into labor and delivery, where I was given lortab, a warm blanket and a quiet room to sit in. A half hour into lala land they took my blood pressure, (around my elbow might I add) saying it was "close to normal." well duh. I was prety damn relaxed by then. ridiculous.

My mom was here for four days, helping to clean, organize, food shop and prepare for this little guy. It wore me out but also left me dying to have baby here. The pantry is organized, the guest room is clean, the closets are in perfect order. Babes clothes are clean and folded. {nesting complete}

Any ideas on getting this baby out faster? :)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Baby's First Outfit

We have officially bought our son ONE brand new outfit.
Just one.
He has plenty of clothes, dozens of cute outfits.
And just one special one from his mom and dad.




(Mostly his daddy.)
Colton so badly wants to have a little fighting buddy to do MMA with.
He has to be born, and learn to walk first...but he's already pretty good at kicking :)
So we ordered this little cutie.

Love my boys.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Ah, Hormones.

I love Colton with all my heart, but as this pregnancy progresses I find myself wanting to strangle him for everything he does.

I can't handle the way he cooks pizza, or the way he loads the dishwasher, or the way he wipes the counters.

The way he cuts an orange drives me nuts, and let's not even start on apples. Even the cute way he puts his hands on his cheeks when he watches tv is completely horrid.

At this point, when he reaches over to rub my belly, (which is tight and packed and sore) I growl at him "leave me alone, don't touch me" (to which he replies, I'm not touching you sweetie I'm touching our little boy.)

I lost it yesterday over a lady gaga t shirt he was wearing. I did NOT want him to wear that and it was a full blown tear fest for me. Seriously, I am a freak.

This poor boy. I am sure he is convinced he is going to marry a psycho. He chalks it up to pregnancy hormones, and says only a few more weeks left till he gets his sweetie back. I hope that's the case and I REALLY hope he makes it out alive. I couldn't handle me at this point, so I'm lucky he smiles through it all.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who went anti man/complete lunatic the last month of pregnancy.

:) I love him, I promise I do. (sheepish grin)

In fact, the sweetie just leaned over in his sleep and kissed me.

Man he needs to shave.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

37 weeks!

We went into the doctors today for a checkup. Ive been having contractions for 3 days straight, ouch.

Doctor checked me, still no dilation :( How does that work, all pain, no progress! Bad news is because of high blood pressure and protein, our doctor suspects preeclampsia.

I hate that doctors plant words and ideas in your head and then just say "we'll watch it" take all these tests for me and come back tomorrow. It makes
me nervous and I don't known what's going on or what to prepare for!

We were in the office for 3 hours doing fetal monitoring, ultrasounds, fluid checks, pelvic exams, blood samples, you name it.

I have to go back in on Friday, and collect all urine for 24 hours. it's quite a process. (yuck!) Do they understand how many times a day a pregnant women pees? :)

I still can't believe this is happening so fast.

We also have to pick a pediatrician ASAP. Does anyone in Cedar recommend a good one?

Any recommendations on what to pack, advice for the hospital or how to get this moving along, please please let me know. My anxiety is crazy right now!

Guess we will pack a bag, clean the house, and eat brownies for lunch ;) Yes, they are in the oven!

P.S. Nursery's finished!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

If You Are "Keeping Up" With Our Journey...

Let Me Know! Give us a comment so I know i'm not talking to myself :)
Also, if you have a blog, please leave the info in the comment also :)
I love to know how everyone is doing.
We Can Follow Each Other!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Pregnancy Facts:

Dear Baby Tai,

This pregnancy has been crazy, and it's almost over. Let me tell you how our life is going right now.


My feet are so swollen I can barely walk. My toes don't touch the ground. Daddy thinks it's HILARIOUS.(But then feels bad and gives me foot rubs.)

 But then Daddy saw on youtube that it's possible to start labor with a foot massage. Now he freaks out every time I ask him for one. He wants to pack a hospital bag first.

My hands just started swelling this week, I had to take off my ring dad gave me :( I was very sad and have changed its location multiple times because I keep convincing myself I will lose it.


We now sleep with what dad calls "an army of pillows." That means that I get 5 and he gets 1.
It also means that when we wake up in the morning, dad has a pillow between his knees and one for "back support." (He thinks he's pregnant too.)

Dad also tries to feel you in his sleep. He will roll over and start pulling off my blankets and trying to find my stomach, but is completely asleep. Sometimes he talks to you, sometimes he just laughs as he feels you moving and kicking him, sometimes he just acts protective and possessive.

I have to pee every twenty minutes. You are sitting RIGHT on my bladder all the time and you are now determining how I sit, lay and walk. I will be laying on one side and be perfectly find and then I'll flip to the other and feel like i'm going to pee my pants. Thanks :) Not that I roll around very often, that's like running a marathon.

I also can't drive anymore. My belly touches the steering wheel and it is way unsafe so dad has banned me from all driving privileges.

I have a dark line down my stomach that dad thinks is so cool. On multiple occasions he has volunteered to show people, because its THAT cool. (He got in trouble and stopped doing that.)

Every time you move my whole stomach moves, it is so creepy, you are like a little alien. Dad feels it and still can't believe you are that strong! I see pictures of babies born at 37 weeks and am shocked that you are so ready and grown! Just chilling inside mom. Whenever I have cramps or anything and tell you to calm down and relax, dad yells "RELEASE HIM." He also calls me three times a day from work to see if I'm in labor, (he really wants to get out of work.)

My belly button is completely flat, but hasn't popped out. Dad is pretty bummed about that. He monitored its progress for months before admitting defeat.

I have a tiger striped stomach. Thanks to my growing little guy. Weirdly enough I got all the stretch marks when I was only 6 weeks along and was still skinny. And haven't gotten many since then, even with you growing so much. So now my stretch marks just stretch more. Lovely.

I frequently take the laptop into the bathroom and sit in the bathtub with some ice cream while I catch up on my TV shows. I realize that is a very pregnant thing to do, but since i'm basically on bed rest at this point it mixes up the day.

I take a lot of naps. Dad has a 6th sense for when I'm napping. He will leave me alone all day and the second I fall asleep he will start texting me to check up on us. And if I don't respond (because i'm sleeping) he proceeds to text over and over and then call a few times. Even if I tell him i'm napping, he only leaves me alone for an hour, and then texts me again to say "hi."

Dad also thinks you are going to born a 5 year old. He told me today his plans of taking you to the gym two days after you are born. I told him no without even looking up.

He also thinks that all baby things are "gay" and "not manly" and thus freaks out every time I try and buy you something or set something up. For example, you can't have a bassinet because they are too lacy and girly. He also thinks that wooden cribs are made for boys or girls. Today we bought a "boy" crib.  Also all the baby animals/ducks/cars etc are "gay." Your dad thinks you should wear gym shorts, sweatshirts and graphic tees like him. He also freaks out when he sees outfits that look like "dresses."

Dad told me today he is almost as excited for me to be back to his normal sweetheart as he is for you to get here. I told him he will lose the hormone rage and just get lack of sleep rage...poor guy. But he combats my moods well with ice cream, chocolate and naps. I get grounded to the room to sleep off my ornery ways.

Regardless, we can't wait to meet you, we know our lives will never be the same, but in the best way possible!

We love you MaTai.

And Now For Some Prego Pics :)








Blessings In The Form Of Furniture

I just have to say it again, we have been so so blessed with our furniture and being able to furnish our home.
I am a Craigslist Fiend lately, because that's all that Southern Utah offers, so I check it constantly. It makes me laugh, because some people are so willing to help people out, or they think things that I feel are SO nice need replaced and renewed. Other people charge WAY too much for things that are old and not nice at all.  "We paid $1000 ten years ago, yours for $850" (lady i'm sure it was expensive once but this is a floral couch with broken springs.)

Anyways, Craigslist has been really good to us since we moved into our new place. We have had a way tight budget, but badly needed furniture. We didn't even have couches for the last 6 months, just a futon that was so uncomfortable I couldn't sit on it. We had two chairs to go with the kitchen table, but on the rare occasions that people ate over, we were sitting on the floor/our TV stand/plastic storage boxes.

A few days after Christmas, we got these beauty's.

FOR FREE.

I found the post, woke up Colton, we borrowed a truck from a friend down here who was so so good to let us use it last minute, and we picked them up. The guy we picked them up from said that we were the first of 10 people to call and want them, so we feel very lucky. He didn't post pictures, just said he had couches, and when he sent me these pictures I was SO excited. Free couches are usually dirty, old, floral and misshapen. These were gorgeous. We are paying to have them professionally cleaned, and then they will be like new.

Back in November someone was giving away a free highchair. Colton (grudgingly) went to pick it up for me (after I woke him up and asked him to go out in the Snow to pick up a high chair that I had never seen :). We ended up with a food covered, filthy, Colton refuses to bring it in the house after he gets home, Eddie Bauer solid wood high chair. After a lot of Pinesol, and the work of my mother, we now have this beauty.

Basically, the lady was too lazy to clean it, (her poor child!) and she let a $150.00 high chair get a years worth of baby food on it, then got rid of it.



I've been feeling a little bummed because I really wanted our babe to have a cute nursery and a place to grow up. We had bought a matching swing and bassinet set, we paid $5 for the swing and then I found the matching bassinet a month later and paid $30.00. But we had no place to store clothes or anything else for him. It felt like there was tiny furniture in a huge room and nothing solid. Maybe it's my nesting instincts, but I just felt sad about it. I love the print but I didn't like having his bed be a portable play pen. Well Colton and I went to Walmart  yesterday and bought some plastic drawers and storage things for his room, and were going to work on getting it all set up and ready for him. He went to work and I was trying to organize and make due with what we had.

Then I got on Craigslist on my iphone while I was putting my feet up. A lady in St. George was selling a three piece crib, changing table and dresser set for $175.00. I called my mom (not Colton) to ask her what she thought. I had gotten money for Christmas which I was trying to decide what to do with, and we sold our futon a week ago for $100.00, and replaced them with couches that we paid nothing for. Plus Colton worked a ton of Holiday hours so I knew we could make it fit in the budget. My mom said go for it, so I called the lady, told her we wanted it, and asked if she would take $150.00. She said yes! So this morning we rented a truck from Home Depot, and trekked to St. George.

And we picked up this:



Can I just tell you, the set is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It is all solid wood, Tai has a better bedroom set than we do. Everything matches beautifully, and it came with the mattress and the bedding and a toddler bed conversion. The people we got it from were SO nice. She said that people tried buying it from under us and she was getting calls about it while we were there. Craigslist is full of crazy's, but there are also some way nice people. They plastic wrapped all the furniture, helped us get it in the truck and tied it down for us, it was such a blessing.

As we were driving away, I was telling Colton about how we finally had everything we need furniture wise in our apartment so that we can have guests over. I mentioned that it would be a LUXURY to have a queen size bed since the one we have currently is a full, and maybe its just my big belly but it feels SO tiny.

As we were talking the lady who sold us the baby furniture called me and said, "I have a weird question for you." She went on to tell me that they had an Olympic Queen mattress that was under a year old and it wouldn't fit in any of their bed frames. She asked if we would be interested in it, since we already had the truck. We said DEFINITELY. We got a barely used mattress and boxspring for free. And since our frame is adjustable we can use the one we already have!  So we are going to put the full in the spare room for guests (and grandparents who are going to be visiting a lot,) and use the new nice mattress in our room.

We also picked up a set of bar stools for our bar for $10 dollars, something I saw weeks ago (again, on Craigslist), but wasn't prepared to drive clear to St. George for. I contacted him while we were there and he said they were still available! So we killed a lot of birds with one big stone today :)

I feel like I am finally prepared to have this baby. We are going to be doing a lot of furniture moving in and decorating tomorrow, while Colton is off work, and hopefully I can post some pictures!

Man we are blessed.

When all is said and done I know we must be doing something right. We have been able to furnish our apartment completely and be completely prepared for baby with a very, very tight budget. All I know is that someone is watching out for us, and that we are going to pass along the help when we can afford to. There are so many new families with kids struggling to make ends meet, and i'm thankful that despite how hard this journey has been, we still have our heads above water.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this situation a little easier, we have had so many friends, family members and neighbors give us little things, words of encouragement, advice, diapers, clothes, formula, lotions, coupons, you name it. And it means SO much.

Trust me, I know.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Mary & Colton

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

36 Weeks!

Baby baby baby baby baby.
We are having a baby! This month. Oh my.
I can't even handle the anticipation, but i'm also scared.to.death.









Colton works ALL THE TIME. Which basically leaves me to fend for myself and watch netflix in the day. I am so grateful to be able to stay home and keep my feet up and rest. I can barely drive my car because my stomach is so close to the steering wheel, so I don't go anywhere, really.

I am also Thankful for my beautiful desk that my good friend Laura gave me so I can sit somewhere and do bills now! Hooray! Now all we need is bar stools and a dresser and we will be officially ready for our babe and all the guests that come to see him :)

We had our 36 week appointment today. Baby is head down. Around 7 pounds. I'm not dialated yet, but it could come any day. Doctor told us that we are most likely going to be looking at a C-Section. :( No Bueno. Baby is too big, he has a big head, mom is small, she's had major hip surgeries. You do the math...

I am terrified of the C-Section. I've had lots of surgeries. I have PLENTY of scars, more than my fair share. So why oh why do I need one more.. But I will do whatever is safest for my Tai. Even if it is a lot more recovery.

We are excited about all the adventures this new year will bring to us. 2012, be kind to me.