34 Weeks

So, I've done a terrible job updating this blog and posting pictures of my tummy.  So here you go, here is the most recent picture.  Pretty big, I think.  Although, I get told almost daily by someone new how small I am.  "You're due in November?  Impossible!"  Quite possible, I assure you.  And my personal favorite, "You can't even tell you're pregnant from the back."  Well then, obviously you don't remember what I used to look like from the back.  People, my back, hips, and ever stretching skin can tell you that I am indeed having this baby soon.    

I have 6 more weeks left, give or take.  Hopefully give, being that my mom didn't schedule her flight down here until the day after my due date.  I think I need my mommy this time, Mark is as clueless as I am, if not more.  We are slowly but surely getting the nursery ready (pictures coming soon).  It makes me so excited!!  I just go in there right now and sit for a while.  Yes, I am going to be one of those weird parents that just watch my baby sleep.  I washed all the baby clothes and blankets that I have already in Dreft so its extra soft for my little boy.  Its so weird and fun to think that soon a little baby will be in those clothes and sleeping in that crib and be mine forever and ever!  

As far as pregnancy woes are concerned, I think I have been spared the horrendous ones.  All in all I am still feeling pretty good and can mostly walk normal.  I do have back and hip pain a lot of the time, mostly at night when I am trying to sleep.  I guess Heavenly Father planned it pretty well when he planned pregnancy.  I wake up every hour or two to turn over (which is a quite the process now a days) or go to the bathroom - which will hopefully prepare me somewhat for those night time feedings.  I don't really get heartburn, but I get some big time acid reflux and indigestion.  For a while there I thought maybe my morning sickness was coming back, but I learned it was just indigestion.  The acid reflux is just not fun, but luckily tums seem to help these lovely side effects of pregnancy well enough.  I do miss being able to pick myself up off the floor, get up off the couch or out of bed, and bend over.  Mark thinks its hilarious to watch me roll off the bed until my feet can reach the floor and I can pull myself up.  And when I drop something, I groan in displeasure that I have to somehow pick it up.  Luckily at school I have 28 five year olds who are more than happy to rush to my aid.  Mark isn't quite as eager. . . hahaha :)  I also miss breathing.  I find myself out of breath and dizzy for no reason.  However, all not so fun symptoms aside, I love being pregnant and feeling him move and knowing that soon he will be here with me.  Sometimes I feel like we play games.  I push down on a part of my stomach and he kicks or moves something across that spot.  Then I change spots and he follows me.  I do this for a while and I just love it!  I am so excited (well not for labor and what not) but to have him in my arms!  I can't wait!!!  

Baby Shower

One of the kindergarten teachers threw a baby shower for me and another teacher who is a month ahead of me.  It was so fun!  Here we are in the teacher's classroom.  I'm the one with the blue bags (the other teacher is having a girl - obviously).

Awww!  I love baby stuff!

I know I look ravishing in this picture, but I mostly wanted you to see my girth and I'm even bigger now and its only been a week!

More cute baby boy stuff!  I can't believe soon I will have a baby that will fit into that!

It was a great shower and I got a lot of great things from the awesome teachers at Riverside Prep!  Thank you all!

A Scare

It's been a while.  School started about a month ago and with it went all my free time.  No seriously, ALL my free time.  So anyway, I am 27 weeks and feeling great.  He was kicking like crazy, no swelling, no heartburn, everything was good.   A couple days ago his movement slowed way down, but that had happened before and within a day he was back to his normal self - so I forced myself to continue on with life and not worry about it.  However, the lack of movement continued yesterday and still today.  To further my worry I started having what I think were braxton hicks contractions and all the movements I did feel were lower than they had ever been.  Finally, we get to today and he would not move at all.  I ate and laid on my left side to see if that would get something out of him, but no.  I pushed and prodded and poked - nothing.  Finally we had to leave for the beach for a young men/young women beach trip and I told myself to just go and eventually he would move - wrong again.  I drank coke (and I hate coke) and laid down on a blanket - still nothing.  I ate more - again nothing.  So it had been three days of decreased movement and about half a day with none.  I was really starting to get worried.  I finally gave in and called Kaiser to see what I should do.  The labor and delivery nurse told me to go to the nearest Kaiser and get monitored which of course scared me even more.  I thought she might tell me to go eat or drink juice and lay down or something.  So I pretty much broke down right there on the beach and bawled like a baby while Mark and other wonderful friends got a GPS, some food, and a car for us.  I was also fortunate enough to be surrounded by men who could give me a blessing.  The nearest Kaiser happened to be the Bellflower medical center - a rather ghetto looking hospital.  It was about 30 minutes away and the whole ride over still no movement.  Anyway, ghetto or not, the labor and delivery people were great.  They got me right in, put on a fetal monitor and wouldn't you know it the kid starts moving like CRAZY!!  I felt like an idiot.  They kept saying things like, "Well, he's sure active now."  I promise this is the first time I've felt him all day!  I swear!  They did reassure me that I had done the right thing by coming in, but I still felt a bit embarrassed.  Anyway, embarrassed or not, I am glad I went in because it reassured me of many things - the baby was alive and moving, I had plenty of amniotic fluid, I was not having contractions, and I was not dilating (even though the doctor thought I might be because he was sitting extremely low - so I was right about that).  I think the blessing definitely helped.  I may never know to what extent, but I am sure it did.  So, the scare was averted and all is well.  The doctor said I have a very healthy pregnancy and all is as good as it possibly could be!  I am so grateful!  

So when I got home I googled the hospital trying to find pictures that would show its true ghettoness and lo and behold I find that Octomom had her babies there!  So ghetto or not - that hospital has quite the history!    

Half way!

I am officially past the halfway mark!!  I hit 20 weeks last Friday YAY!!  I am totally over feeling sick and even most food aversions - FINALLY.  I think I am finally starting to eat like a pregnant woman.  I have gained 10 lbs in the last 3 weeks - my doctor would be proud - and I don't seem to be slowing down any.  I also think I have finally joined the obviously pregnant club.  In the past couple days I have popped out a bit more than even my most recent belly bump shots.  Yes, ok, so I am still small comparatively, but for me it's big.  I have even had my fair share of unwelcome belly rubs.  I don't know - I never felt the need to touch another's belly, but to each their own I guess.  I have also started have back pain - not fun.  My new favorite pregnancy symptom is acid reflux - YUCK!!  If I lay down even 2 hours after I eat ANYTHING its up in my throat again within minutes and if I burp its one of those way way nasty throw up burps and sometimes I really think I just will puke.  Gross huh?  At least I don't have heartburn - I hear that hurts.  Baby movements come and go based on his position, I'm assuming.  Sometimes it feels like he is "hu-pa-choo"-ing (my brother's word for karate moves when he was a wee tike) in my body.  Other times I hardly feel him at all and I start to do the crazy paranoid thing and worry.        

Recently, Mark and I went to Babys'R'us and Target to check out baby stuff.  We pushed strollers and carried carseats- well more like hit, flipped over, ran into things, yanked around and threw strollers and carseats- to make sure they were sturdy.  I'm sure the employees of both Babys'R'us and Target loved us.  But hey I want to know that no matter what I put that stroller and carseat through - my baby will be safe and comfortable.  We also looked at play yards and swings and if I could I would have placed 50 lb weights in both and knocked those around a bit too, but I had to be satisfied with yanking, pushing, pulling and putting as much weight in them as possible with my arms.  However, I can say that I feel good about our selections - for the time being at least.  I did find the best, most comfortable glider ever invented and well worth every penny of the $400 it costs.  I am going to give Mark a heart attack.  But I say, if I have to be in that sucker at 3 am I want to be comfortable - got that!  I am still up in the air about cribs and nursery furniture.  The ones I want are all out of stock - boo!  Plus, Mark just doesn't understand that they all have to match.  If it were up to him our crib would be oak, our dresser would be cherry, and the changer would be espresso or something.  How can I explain to a man that the wood has to match?  He almost died when he saw how much a bedding set cost - I mean we paid FAR less for ours and it is twice if not three times as much material.  Dang stores know parents are suckers.  If I were any more domestic I would just make the thing.   

As far as names go, I am pretty sure we have narrowed it down to Tyler, Aidan, or Mason.  And more specifically Tyler and Aidan.  Personally, I think it will end up being Tyler, or Ty.  Mark is really set on having a name that can be shortened into a nickname and Tyler is really the only name that does that out of the names we picked.  It means tile layer...woo that's exciting.  I know name meanings don't mean much but how anticlimatic to be like 13 and look up your name meaning and find out it means tile layer.  Lame.  Mason means brick layer - so that's really not any better and Aidan means little fire, a little bit better, but not much.  We'll just have to give him a middle name that means something AWESOME!  I was thinking Wyatt - it means little warrior.  Tyler Wyatt Andreasen...what do you think?  Mark's cousin named her little boy Wyatt and he is adorable!  We'll see.  Just watch - we'll have 10 different names picked out over the next 5 months and then the baby will be born and we will pick out a completely different name.  When I was looking at girl names, way back when, I found one that meant husband slayer....can you imagine???

Anyway, those are my updates for my 2o week mark.  This is starting to feel really real and close!  YAY!!          

Movement!

Mark felt the baby move today!!  It was so fun and exciting!!  I've been feeling it move for a few weeks now, but mark finally felt it!!  We were just sitting on the couch and it felt like I could feel the movements stronger than usual so I put my hand over it to see if I could feel it and I could so I grabbed Mark's hand real quick to see if he could too and he did!  It was so fun I almost cried and laughed at the same time!  To quote Mark, "Is he trying to kick out of there?" Haha!!  This is one of the best moments of my pregnancy so far!!  

Belly Bump

Finally, the belly bump pictures are here!  This is me at about 18 1/2 weeks.  Strange thing is...I swear I look bigger when I look in the mirror, even my mom said so.  I thought the camera was supposed to add 10 lbs not take it away.  Hmmm.  Anyway, yes I am still small and all, but pants are getting too snug now and its about time to break down and buy maternity clothes.  Luckily for me, I have a very talented mother who made me three maternity skirts while she was here and bought me some maternity tops for a birthday present!  I have decided I love maternity clothes and I may never go back.  Flowy, stretchy, light fabric - it's the best!  

Looking at the belly shot... so sweet.

There's a baby in there!  A baby boy to be exact!

My awesome new skirts made by my mommy!

It's A . . .

BOY!!!!

We didn't get an actual picture of the boy parts, though I swear she printed one off...eh well.  Less to embarrass him with when he gets older I guess.  It was so fun! (well aside from having to drink 32 oz of water and hold it for an hour).  Luckily they called me in right when my appointment was supposed to start, so I didn't have to wait any longer - YES!!  So I laid there while she took all the exam pictures for the doctor and then I finally got to go to the bathroom, but only for 20 seconds, and though I thought there was no possible way I could pee for longer than 2o seconds... I guess with 32 oz of water in your bladder you can pee for way longer.  So 20 seconds was really just a tip off the ice berg.  (I know, you're really glad you know that now) and I was able to go get Mark and my mom (who is here to visit).  Up to this point she hadn't showed me anything so I was really excited.  So we all came back to the exam room and there it was..the baby!!  As with all past appointments and doctors, the lady commented on this baby's activeness.  I should have known it was a boy - so active and all.  It was so fun to see him move and to actually see a real looking baby.  We saw his face, his profile, his legs, arms, feet, hands, spine, heart (and heard it) everything!  And then she asked us if we wanted to know the gender...OF COURSE!!  So she moved and said, "Do you see?" and my mom and I instantaneously said..."BOY!"  It was really obvious!  She even pointed out all the little boy parts (I won't bother naming those...I'm sure you can figure it out).  It was definitely not a stray finger looking mysteriously like a boy part...it WAS a boy part.  My little boy!  My son!  Our Son!  CRAZY WE HAVE A SON!!  So here are some picture for your enjoyment.         

Profile shots.  You can see his leg in the picture above and Mark says he's smiling - which I think is so cute for Mark to notice and to think something like that.  I think he is too.  In the picture below up by his nose you can see a white blob, that's his hand.

This is a picture of the face... it is a bit blurry and still a bit alien looking.  The face is on the left.  You can see the eye sockets, a little nose and a circular open mouth.  He even has his little hand up under his chin...if you can see that.

It was so fun and I am so happy and grateful that everything looked good, strong, and healthy.  I am also feeling a lot better and hungrier!  YAY!!  They measured me at 18 weeks 5 days which is actually two days further along than originally thought.  And my doctor thought I was small... that'll show her.  They didn't change my due date since it was really close, but still.  Speaking of my doctor, I changed to an actual OB.  I think I mentioned before that the doctor I had was a family doctor and a resident at that which did make me a bit nervous, I admit.  And after the ultrasound they had me go speak to a nurse about a second trimester screening, which I declined, but anyway she was quite surprised that I had a resident family practitioner and suggested I switch, so I did.  End of story.  All in all it was a great appointment.  Everything went so smoothly and wonderfully!  What a great day!!  Now about names . . . .