2 for 1

Who doesn't love sales? I, for one, love them and for my readers, today is your lucky day. I have two post worthy events.

First, this past Thursday I got the seasonal flu vaccine on my own free will by myself. Consider it step one in getting past my fear of needles. During the pregnancy I've had lots of practice with getting blood drawn, at times once a week, but those don't count. I didn't WANT to get my blood drawn and Gary's nurse, Nancy went with me every time to keep me distracted. I'm so proud of myself for being such a brave girl. I did ask for a sticker though, it was Jasmine which is kinda funny because James' favorite disney movie is Aladdin.

Then, Friday afternoon I had my first braxton hicks contraction. It happened at work and at first I wasn't quite sure what it was but I quickly recalled our childbirth class and began to breath through it and sure enough it eventually went away. It wasn't extremely painful but was certainly uncomfortable. Fire up the engines, my uterus is officially in practice mode! There is one possible explanation why my body decided to kick into gear, my co-worker Terri had her baby Wednesday night and yesterday I went to visit her and meet sweet Kenadee. I think Baby J was jealous of me holding and cooing over Kenadee that she needed to make her presence known. Don't worry princess, you're still my favorite little girl! As I held the 2 day old baby I couldn't help but think that will be us in 2 short months...

A lot to learn

Apparently I should have done more research before getting pregnant. We had a 6 hour childbirth class this past Saturday and going into it I was expecting to feel a lot better about this whole labor thing. I was wrong. I didn't realize getting an epidural meant inserting a tube into your back and leaving it there which makes sense so they can regulate the 'good juice' but all this time I thought an epidural was a scary long needle they used to inject the 'good juice' and then it came out. Save yourselves from telling me it's not a big deal, you can't see it, you forget it's even there, it's far less painful than the contractions, the joy of seeing your baby for the first time will make it all go away...I believe all that. It's a mental thing for me. It makes me nauseous just thinking about it. When the time comes, I'll just put on my big girl pants. James, you owe me big time!

Also, for anyone out there in marketing/graphics, I've found a job for you. It seems Lamaze could use some updated material. I can't believe they're still showing births from the 80's and their presentation material is just as outdated. I was really disappointed. If I was going to sit through a 6 hour class at least make the presentation pleasing. I'm sure the information was great but I couldn't get past the visuals. 

Early?

Late, often. On time, if you're lucky. Early, never.

At my checkup this week I was told to 'be prepared'. Duh, I'm having a baby of course I need to be prepared but she was serious about something. As I laid there while she measured my belly which should be near 30 cm, I noticed it was taking her a bit longer than usual to get the reading and then she said "Well, if I squish (very technical) it down, I can get you to 33 cm". She then looked at me and asked if I've had my baby shower yet. No. Then she asked if the nursery was done. No. She had my attention now. Checking the baby's position, we found her head down and very low. Good news is that she wasn't engaged and I'm not having contractions, even mild ones. Her advice was to be prepared by 36 weeks "just in case" she arrives early. That's Christmas folks! I'm sure they tell that to everyone but now there is a sense of urgency to get things wrapped up and ready. 

I guess the pep talks about arriving in December have been working but we'll see. I'm probably doomed to go 2 weeks past my due date now but by 36 weeks I will be prepared. All I care is that she is healthy. Early, maybe.

30 Weeks

Drum roll please...

I am 30 weeks pregnant! Where has the time gone? Up until now, time  has flown by and I kind of wish it would slow down. I want to enjoy my pregnancy a little longer before things start to get really uncomfortable. A co-worker is due any day now and each day before I get to my desk, I stop by to check on her. Today there were tears in her eyes when she told me 'I just want her to come out!' She is exactly 2 months ahead of me and it's been so helpful to have someone to compare notes with. Selfishly I'm not ready for her to have her baby because that means she's going to leave me to carry out my last 2 months all by myself. 

In honor of being 3/4 of the way there, we broke out our new Cocoa-Latte maker. Our friends Barry and Paige introduced us to this slice of heaven and James surprised me with it this weekend. It's the simple things that make me happy. And marshmallows. It's great for entertaining so guests are welcome.

Last, but not least, I purchased the crib bedding! I gave up on the idea of making it myself. I was putting myself through too much stress and was forced to make too many decisions so I went the easy route. Some may call me lazy and to you I say "I'm pregnant". I'm really happy with the decision and now I get 1 more hour of sleep each night. That's HUGE! Seriously though, it's one less thing to worry about and I can check it off my mile long to-do list. Slowly but surely things are starting to get done around here and it feels good.

Nothing and everything to say

I've put off posting for far too long. Several times I've thought to myself "self, I need to write a post about that" but then I get distracted, or tired, and I forget. So here are the highlights and not so highlights of the past week:

1. My Grandma, Mom's mother, Lois passed away peacefully in her sleep Oct. 21st. She was 98 years old and lived a long, fulfilled life. We traveled to Kansas City last Monday for her burial and it was a picture perfect day, except I didn't take any pictures. Very fitting for such a lovely woman.

2. My Uncle Ben flew into Wichita from southern California for the funeral and it was great seeing him. We don't get to see him enough and that's too bad. I think if we had mountains for his wife to climb, they would visit more often but Kansas is flat and not as fun as Peru, the Grand Canyon, or Hawaii.

3. Our basement project is coming along. Over the weekend, we got the electrical roughed in. The plumber will be here Friday and drywall will go up starting November 16th-just in time for Thanksgiving. The plumbing and electrical will be completed the first week of December and we can start the trim work and painting and finally...carpet. It still seems like there is a lot left to be done but I choose to remain positive.

4. I had my 28 week appointment last week and the dreaded glucose test. While I passed, I found out my blood sugar levels are REALLY low. The prescription-eat more snacks high in protein and cut back on carbs. I'm pretty happy with this diagnosis considering the other extreme is diabetes.

5. We finished our baby registries over the weekend. It was touch and go but we made it through without tears, meltdowns, or "it's  your fault I'm pregnant". Overall I think we did pretty well registering for what we NEED rather than unnecessary items. We did however register for a nightlight/soothing sound/mp3 player which I thought would come in handy. I'm getting very excited for upcoming showers and getting things ready for baby.

6. Lately, I have had fears of going into labor early to the point where I'm loosing sleep over it. I'm not sure why, nothing indicates that I will but I constantly run through "what if" scenarios. Thankfully, we have 2 very supportive families who would be there for us to help us out. Still, it is a very real fear and I need to constantly remind myself to chill out! 

7. I don't have any photos to share with you...yet. I'm working on it which means hopefully my posts will become more frequent. So I apologize to my readers for letting you down. If you're longing for more visually stimulating posts, I suggest you check out the blogs I follow (to the right).