Here we are, 36 weeks and in the home stretch! From here on out, baby can be born safely at home and should be fine. It's crazy, for so much of the pregnancy I've been obsessed with the baby coming early, and now that I'm at this point, I'm comfortable with the idea of having more time until the baby comes. In fact, I feel very comfortable with the idea of baby taking a long time to get here. Like, a week or two late actually sounds so good to me! Of course, I'd have to stay in my house and never leave since there would be absolutely nothing that would fit me by then...speaking of size, I'm so big. I know I said that last time, and have probably every post, but I think if I get any bigger my belly could develop it's own climate. It will have it's own weather system you guys.
How far along: 36 weeks 1 day
Total weight gain: 52 lbs
Stretch marks: Same as last time.
Sleep: My hips!! The moment I open my eyes in the morning I have to get out of bed due to my hips aching so bad. No lounging, no keep-that-awesome-dream-going-for-five-more-minutes shut-eye. My body is DONE and I have to be out of bed. Oh, and sleep during the night is still pretty good. I know, I'm lucky!
Best moment this week: On Saturday my sis-in-law Amy and I finally went out to get pedicures for her birthday that was last month. While we were there we of course got questions about how far along I was, what the gender of the baby was etc. When I told them I didn't know yet, the lady giving Amy her pedicure took a look at me for like two seconds and then said with an absolute-authority tone of voice, "It's a boy."
So what did we do after the pedicures? We may have let this happen....
Miss anything? Being...not ginormous.
Movement: Shifts, rolls, hiccups. I love feeling every bit of it.
Food cravings: HAMBURGERS. Specifically the ones from Burger King with no onions. Which Todd thinks is funny because for as long as he's known me, I've detested Burger King.
Aversions: Nothing, really.
Gender: I've been thinking it's a boy this whole time but recently I've been second-guessing everything I once had an opinion on, it feels like. So...I have no idea! I'll be happy with either, though.
Labor signs: Saturday night Todd and I went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and supplies for the birth. As soon as we stepped through the doors, I started having intense Braxton Hicks and even cramping. Todd would ask me a question and I would try to concentrate, but getting through the contractions was all I could think about! I was useless! The contractions calmed down a lot though after we got home and I could put my feet up.
I've been drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea for almost a month now, at least one cup a day and about a week ago I've made sure to drink four cups a day. I've heard both on the internet and from friends that it can strengthen uterine muscles and prepare you for birth. It can make labor pains less and shorten the time you're in labor. I figure ANYTHING to help with that, I'm going to try it! Also, I have noticed that the more I drink the tea, the more Braxton Hicks I get, so something is working.
Symptoms: I'm congested ALL the time. It's horrible! This will be a bit TMI but I feel as soon as I get cleared out, not an hour will go by and I have to find a tissue so I can breathe again. I have a box of Kleenex in three different rooms in my house and I've gone through so many. Please let this be a pregnancy thing so I don't have to deal with it after the baby is born!
Also, I think nesting has just hit, like, today. I've been going and going all day (although what I've gotten done is not super obvious). I've got SO much more energy than I've had in so long and I feel like I have to get everything ready for baby. Everything. Which means, not having a car to myself is driving me nuts since I can't just go see something I found on KSL immediately, unless I drive Todd to work.
Wedding ring on or off? Off, so off, and will probably be off for months after the birth, if it's anything like last time.
Happy or moody: Both.
Looking forward to: My husband's aunt offered to give me a massage on Wednesday to try out her new massage table that accommodates pregnant women. I'm so looking forward to that, especially with the freezer meals all done. I'm also looking forward to my midwife appointment this week which will be at my house!
I'm going to talk about something I don't think I've really talked about on my blog. I didn't even realize it was a thing, really. I think I've been in denial over this emotional discomfort I've had, kind of an obsession with not being pregnant anymore. I try not to but I look up birth stories of preemies according to how far along I am. At my midwife appointments I ask questions about if I'm too big or if something is wrong with me.
The past month it's gotten a lot worse. I look huge. I feel huge. And a few hours after I took this picture on Monday, I had a panic attack. I had kind of set myself up for it, I guess. I compared this 34 picture with the 37 week picture of me with Aurella, and to me I looked the same. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't stop thinking about how tired I get every day, how throughout the day I need to take a break from doing things like standing. How going up and down the stairs leaves me winded for a few seconds, and how I can't hold my baby girl on my lap for too long without some limb falling asleep. I couldn't stand the thought of being pregnant for six more weeks, or two more weeks, or two more days. Anyway...long story short, I panicked, went to see my midwife the next day and everything she checked was perfect and right on schedule. I'm even measuring on track. So we talked. We talked about how I've had anxiety pretty consistently throughout the pregnancy and how it's probably related to the trauma of Aurella's birth. I hadn't met my current midwife until right after I knew I was pregnant again, but she had heard of me. She had heard of my labor and how awful and hard it was. (Read about it here) She said it was ok to accept that it was hard and that it was affecting my current pregnancy. And you know what? I hadn't even thought of it. It hadn't even occurred to me that the obsession of having this baby early I have been having may have had to do with my fear of being pregnant, fear of going through labor again. It made sense that it was just my way of wanting everything to be over with and finally being able to hold this baby in my arms.
I feel better. Not totally, I still wouldn't mind at all going into early labor in two or three weeks, but it's comforting that there's not actually anything physically wrong with me. I can remind myself that I still haven't quite gotten over the labor with Aurella, and that's why I feel wrong and huge and scared. It makes my fear seem smaller, possible to handle, and like I really could go full term, or even past. Hopefully I can get to a place where I can actually enjoy the last few weeks of my pregnancy.
How far along: 34 weeks 3 days
Total weight gain: 49 lbs
Stretch marks: New marks mingling with the old...so yeah. Definitely stretch marks.
Sleep: Continues to be really great, as long as I get to bed early enough. I've had moments of insomnia but over all it's not bad.
Best moment this week: TODD. Person, not moment. He has picked up so much slack lately, with me getting bigger and more tired, he seems to just take it in stride. I love him.
Miss Anything? Oh, you know. Moving about like a regular human being. Having the energy and physical ability to hold my child however long I want to. Little things like that...
Movement: Has slowed down a lot but there is still a lot of shifting. I love it.
Food cravings: I think I have finally gotten to a point where I'm not really craving anything. I'm even going on a sugar fast to try and feel better about myself and hopefully give me less reasons to be freaked out by this pregnancy.
Aversions: Nothing.
Gender: Still don't know.
Labor signs: Still just having Braxton Hicks all the time. I've been drinking at least one cup of raspberry leaf tea a day and I feel like my body is responding to that!
Symptoms: Still tired. Not quite as unmotivated as I have been. Unfortunately though, it has been replaced by panicky. Hopefully that will continue to subside.
Wedding ring on or off? It's been off for a while now!
Happy or moody: Probably more moody than happy.
Looking forward to: Getting all the birthing supplies and finding my gender neutral newborn sized clothing.
Aurella has turned two years old! She is growing up so fast and is changing so quickly. Her ability to pronounce words is getting better and better and she loves to use words she knows in order to communicate with us. She likes to count and will count different things on any given book we're reading. She also knows the alphabet, somehow! I wasn't teaching her but we got a alphabet magnet set so she could play with it on the fridge and she just became obsessed with those letters, naming them and taking them everywhere she went (we only have like, four letters left). Aurella is constantly moving except for when she's watching a show she likes or when she's sleeping! We got her a wiggle bike for her birthday since she was always stealing the neighbor boys' bikes and making them mad. Now she rides with them around our cul-de-sac and they all have an even better time than before.
Aurella has such a loving heart and loves being with family. I accidentally taught her to say "love me" when she wants me to listen to her. I'll be sitting with her on my lap, listening to something Todd is saying and she'll put her hands on my cheeks and turn my head towards her while saying "love me!". And then proceed to babble while having a very serious look on her face. She has stories she wants to tell, too! Whenever she's eating anything she always wants to share her food. Even when she's eating her favorite thing in the world, fruit snacks, She'll usually give one to me or her dad and insist we "bite".
Aurella loves to sing. She has started to make up her own songs and sing them at the top of her lungs especially when he's in the car. She also loves babies. When we're in the store, if we pass by one she'll always gasp, eyes wide and say "baby!" with reverence. We got to meet Aurella's cousin Caleb who was born almost a week ago. Aurella was so excited to see him and wanted to make sure he had his pacifier. She'll be a big help when her baby will arrive in June!
Ahhh April, you are beautiful today! Beautiful enough to trade my leggings for shorts and spend time outside in the sun. My current dream is to find an umbrella and a glider lawn chair(or bench) for the backyard, especially for when it gets hot. It's kind of strange to remember April the last time I was pregnant, and looking forward to labor within the next few weeks. Now I've got 10 more weeks left, which is still right around the corner! I think I'm happy with enjoying the warmer weather (for now). This baby can take it's time!
Aurella is preparing for baby by taking advantage of being the only child with the time she's got left. She enjoys cuddling and snuggling, asking us to hold her by holding her arms up and saying "I hold you!", and has gotten really good at the fake whine/cry that lets us know she needs some TLC. She is also very clingy and will refuse to go to well beloved grandparents, aunts and uncles until she 'warms up' to them and knows that Mom and Daddy aren't going anywhere. That girl, she knows something is going on that's for sure!
How far along: 30 weeks 3 days
Total weight gain: 37 lbs
Stretch marks: Honestly, I was looking at them this morning and I don't know if I could tell the old from the new! Whatever, it's not like I'm not already covered in them :) Tiger stripes, as my sis-in-law says.
Sleep: Actually has gotten better the past week or so. I seriously only wake up once or twice! Body's making me happy.
Best moment this week: I think I have to go with 'moments', all the times I've been able to be outside in the warm weather enjoying the sun! Conference weekend was really great though, too.
Miss anything? Hmmmm winter? No. Aurella being non-cuddly before I was pregnant? Definitely no. Living an hour away from family? Uh-uh. I guess I just am happy where I am and with this pregnancy!
Movement: Baby has kind of slowed down in the moving about category and seems to be content to just shuffle around now and then. Or...maybe I've just gotten used to it?
Food cravings: Ice cream :/ Hopefully this will be a phase like with the donuts.
Aversions: Nothing in the food department, most everything in the cleaning department! My poor bathrooms.
Gender: A mystery but strongly suspecting a boy.
Labor signs: It's not really labor but once I hit 30 weeks my Braxton Hicks started getting a lot more intense. Like, I can't ignore them and have to breathe through them.
Symptoms: Tired. Snacky. Unmotivated. Knowing I should exercise outside of just chasing Aurella around all day but not doing it. My emotions have calmed considerably which is a relief! Even with being a major bum I'll take it!!
Wedding ring on or off? As of yesterday it is off baby, off!
Happy or Moody: Generally happy THANK GOODNESS.
Looking forward to: Planning Aurella's birthday party with the help of my neighbor's party-planning expertise! Can't believe her birthday is so close!!
I'm officially in the 3rd trimester! Baby is the size of an eggplant and weighs about 2.5 lbs. I had my midwife appointment yesterday and I'm actually measuring one week behind! At my last appointment, I was measuring two weeks ahead. so basically, I had a huge growth spurt at 24 weeks and didn't get much bigger after that. Which translates to me feeling waaaay more comfortable! Coincidentally, about a week and a half ago I was tired of my sleeping and eating habits. I was eating way too many simple carbs and sweets and not enough whole grains and fresh fruit and veggies. I was also going to bed after midnight every night, ranging from just after midnight to 2 am sometimes. It was really getting me down. I didn't feel very well, I didn't have energy to keep up around the house and I wasn't feeling like I was giving my growing baby what they needed. It was hard to change though! It was a self-perpetuating cycle. Finally me and a friend decided to make a change and hold each other to it. It was only getting to bed at 9:30, but it made all the difference! I was eating better and had better focus throughout the day. It's only been a short while but I feel so much better...well, until a major cold hit me yesterday...but that's beside the point!
How far along: 28 weeks, 5 days
Total weight gain: 36 lbs.......
Stretch marks: Nothing new
Sleep: Great, in between the bathroom breaks. Last night I also had tissue breaks and had a couple of cough drops!
Best moment this week: On Friday we went to Los Cucos with my parents and my brother and sister in law for my brother's birthday next week. It was fantastic!
Miss anything? The usuals. The truth is I'm enjoying more about pregnancy than I'm missing.
Movement: I can feel this baby so much more lately, probably due to my belly staying about the same size. He sure likes to move and I sure like to feel him!
Food cravings: Pastries...I've gone to Kneaders twice lately and Krispy Kreme once!
Aversions: Cleaning heh heh heh
Gender: Not finding out until the big day!
Labor signs: I've been having some achy-ness in my lower back and the baby keeps cramming himself really far down so that I can hardly bend over, but it never lasts for long.
Symptoms: Emotions are still a bit unstable, my nesting instinct has completely gone again...in fact it's opposite! I can't get myself to do very much at all!
Wedding ring on or off? For a while it was off, but it's gone back to on during the day, off at night
Happy or Moody: Excited to report it's more happy lately! Even with all the cold we've been getting.
Looking forward to: Having a very low-key weekend...hardly any plans!
Pregnancy is weird. I am so addicted to reading random blog posts of bumpdates on google and it is so crazy how different pregnancy can be from one person to the next! According to most blog posts that I read, no one has gained as much weight as I have at this stage, but also I have almost none of the awful symptoms that cause so much misery during pregnancy. The worst of what I have to go through this time around would probably be crazy hormones that make me cry, or angry, or depressed. It's a roller coaster! Physically though, I am doing much better than the last time I updated. I had just gone through a growth spurt and my body was trying to catch up to the baby...it was so uncomfortable! But now I feel really great. Aurella has taken our lead and now points to my belly and says 'baby', but I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually get that there's a baby in there. We were singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the baby and...yeah. Pretty sure she just liked patting and rubbing my belly while singing the song. Oh well, she'll find out there's a baby soon enough!
How Far Along: 26 weeks, 4 days, although I have to stop myself from typing or saying 27 weeks. PATIENCE
Total Weight Gain: 30 lbs, last time I checked. Feeling good though!
Stretch marks: Nothing new, still just the old ones.
Sleep: MUCH BETTER than two weeks ago!!
Best moment this week: I would actually say Saturday. We didn't really have definite plans, sat outside for an hour or so enjoying the sun, I got CupBop............ Todd actually did quite a lot that day, but I mostly sat on my bum. It was fantastic.
Miss anything? Sleeping on my tummy, being able to get out of bed without going "OOoomph"
Movement: Still rolling and kicking up a storm. It's lovely!
Food cravings: The only consistent thing would be eggs.
Aversions: Nada...except Tenney's Pizza, I guess. Poor Todd.
Gender: Still think it's a boy.
Labor signs: Nothing! And it's going to stay that way for a while.
Symptoms: Other than the aforementioned emotional outbursts, nothing too major. My hands and fingers get really swollen at night, and sometimes out of the blue it will be difficult to breathe, no matter if I'm sitting or standing.
Wedding ring on or off? On during the day, off at night.
Happy or Moody: I'm all over the board with this one. On Monday I couldn't keep a grin off my face, all I could think about was how lucky I am, but then yesterday I pretty much felt like I had no purpose in life. :(
Looking forward to: Getting started on setting up the baby's room. I'm finally starting to get little nesting moments and I'm going with it!
Here we are again, pregnant with number two. I figure since Aurella just turned 22 months (WHAT) and I'm about to turn 29 in a few days, now would be an excellent time to update. Oh, and I'm going to say it - HOW does 5 months just fly by so dang quickly?? Yikes. You know how I used the excuse in my last post that I traveled so much I didn't have time to update? Well, this time I'm using the excuse that I found out I was pregnant in October. So, you know, I've been growing a human being. Makes me pretty busy and important and all. Let's do an update on it, shall we? For posterity.
First of all, I feel HUGE! At one point I was honestly concerned I was having twins. I haven't gotten a scan or anything, so I can still convince myself that's a possibility sometimes, although it's totally not. I mean, I would KNOW if there were twins in there. At least my midwife would.
How far along? 24 weeks, believe it or not!
Total weight gain: 25 lbs. It is shocking how much I've gained already. I kind of worry about it, but since I haven't really gained much anywhere except my abdomen, I don't feel too bad about it. All the weight came pretty much right after my last midwife appointment, so I'm kind of anxious to make sure everything's alright with my next appointment.
Maternity clothes? You better believe it. I'm already out of my early-stage maternity clothing.
Stretch marks? Only the ones from the last pregnancy, and they haven't gotten dark or anything. I feel like my skin is totally taking this in stride, like it remembers from last time how to stretch. I wouldn't be surprised to get some more marks though.
Sleep: I was sleeping like a rock, comfortable, only getting up once or twice a night...until I hit 21 weeks. It's been a bit more difficult to get a good night's rest since then, but not bad overall.
Best moment this week: I can't decide between watching Aurella and Calvin run back and forth from one end of the house to the other, just screaming and laughing and chasing each other, and eating sushi with Todd. I can't stand the cuteness but there's also...well...sushi.
Miss Anything? Being able to carry Aurella for as long as I want to, put her down to bed comfortably, etc
Movement: SO MUCH MORE than when I was pregnant with Aurella! It's awesome! Todd felt his first really good kick yesterday and I just love it. It's like my baby is saying 'hello' every time I feel him move. Definitely my absolute favorite thing about pregnancy.
Food Cravings: Not having as many cravings as I did in the first trimester. For a long time I just needed Cupbop, spicier than I normally like it. Actually, anything spicy was sooooo good. Also, pineapple on pizza, something I normally hate. Now I don't crave those things at all anymore. I'm back to loving fried eggs with runny yolks and extra-meaty spaghetti sauce.
Aversions: Used to be meat, sugary treats, fast food...just really random things that would keep me from eating a whole lot. Basically, my first trimester was food Russian Roulette. I never knew what would make me wanna barf. Thank GOODNESS that's over.
Gender: Unknown, but I feel very strongly it's a boy. Guess we'll see!
Labor Signs: Nothing, except for a few Braxton Hicks, which are only just strong enough that I notice them. One kind of took my breath away but it was only for a tiny moment.
Symptoms: On a scale of 1 to TOTALLY UNCOMFORTABLE, this pregnancy is different from my first. I mean, with Aurella I was still uncomfortable in my growing body, but this time around I can feel more aches all around my belly and sometimes when I stand up or walk for longer than five minutes, I can get really sharp pains. And let's not even talk about my equilibrium...
Belly Button in or out? So out. Ugh.
Wedding ring on or off? Still on! Woot! By this time last pregnancy, the ring was off. All the time.
Happy or Moody: So moody it's insane. I mean, I'm a happy person. I love my life and I'm normally pretty emotional, but I seriously just lose control a lot lately. Crying. A lot. So much. Hormones.
The day I found out I was pregnant Looking Forward to: my next midwife appointment so I can make sure I haven't developed some kind of horrible condition that is making me feel this crazy and achy. Also, I just love prenatal appointments in general! (no, seriously, I do. Whether it's with an OB or a midwife, it's just exciting).
Now that we've covered the pregnancy update, I can move on to everything else. As soon as we found out we were pregnant, we knew this was finally the time to look for a house. We had wanted to get a house a few times earlier but really couldn't justify moving when it was just us and Aurella, but with a new baby coming it felt right. In November we started looking with a realtor we heard was great, Bryan McKinnon, and he did not disappoint! The first time we went looking for houses, we found the one we felt strongly was for us. A month after we put an offer on the house, we closed, and moved in a few days later. It was all so fast; it still kind of seems like a dream! We have loved it here in our new ward. Our neighbors are kind and very friendly and we feel like we just were meant to be here. A few weeks after we moved, I got called to be in the Young Women's again, this time as Laurel Adviser. I feel so blessed to be working with the Young Women again, although I so much miss the young women in my old ward in Provo. Aurella cried the first time we dropped her off at the new nursery, but every week after that she's been so happy to be there! She always leaves nursery with a smile on her face and a picture that she's colored on.
Helping me clean the bathroom in our old house
Dining room and living room
Aurella officially 'broke' in our new house
The view from our back door
Back in October Aurella and I took yet another trip, this time to Texas with my mom to take care of my sister Beth and her new baby, Jesse. It was such a good trip! I did get a 24 hr flu...and passed it on to everyone else there...but other than that, it was so much fun. Little Jesse is just perfect and I'm so glad I got to meet him in person (BTW, he was spared from getting sick, thank goodness. I would have just died if I had given a newborn infant the flu. YAY for breastfeeding!!!). I loved reconnecting with Marci, Beth's oldest. She is such a sweetheart! We quickly became good friends again. When it was time to leave, we all promised to try and see each other again before too long. We're expecting to see them again this Thanksgiving and they will most likely be staying with us! We're crossing our fingers.
At a Mexican restaurant on the way to Texas
Right after we moved in to our new house we had the holidays which were busy and filled with seeing family that we love so much! The day after Christmas we were at home, and Todd started feeling really awful. We had some guys from the ward come over and give Todd and blessing, and everyone felt that we needed to go get help. We left Aurella with some very kind neighbors and went to Instacare. Based on Todd's symptoms, the doctor there told us we needed to go to an ER so that he could get a CT scan. He alluded to the possibility of a tumor or blood clot in Todd's brain. Now, normally, that would have FREAKED ME OUT big time, but every time I started to feel the panicky fear that I may lose Todd, I got this overwhelming sense of comfort, that everything would be fine. We went to Riverton hospital, who discharged us after the CT and sedating Todd with pain meds, telling us it was most likely a migraine and to take Tylenol when he felt pain. Todd had never had a migraine before and we were worried this was to be the first of many.
Todd wasn't able to hardly move without starting a debilitating headache for the next few days, and Wednesday night we had a repeat of the symptoms that had landed us in the ER, only much more intense. Among other things, the right side of his body went pretty numb, including his brain, and as time went on he lost the ability to speak the words he wanted to say. He just couldn't think of them. That night was such a hard one for us. Todd was in so much pain, Aurella could sense what was going on and so was wide awake and wanting to be by Daddy, and I felt like my world was being ripped apart. Todd's parents came with a close family friend in the middle of the night to give Todd a blessing. We thought things would calm down after that, and they did for about an hour, but the symptoms were soon back. We both felt very prompted to go to the ER again, so we did, leaving Aurella home with another kind neighbor. This time, they ran a bunch of tests, the last of which revealed that Todd had Viral Meningitis. He was admitted for a few days to be under observation, during which he got to rest and heal. Afterwards, the symptoms would start back up here and there, but never as severe as before. Eventually, the sickness seemed to completely leave his body and we haven't seen anything more from it since. We experienced so much love and support from our friends and family, including some new friends from our ward that didn't even know us very much yet. How blessed we are to have such wonderful people in our lives!
In the front yard after a snowstorm
Um, Todd, there's something I forgot to tell you...
In January we were busy just trying to get back to normal life. At the beginning of the month my friend Andrea got married to her soulmate, and Lindsay and Calvin got to stay with us from Idaho for a couple of days so Lindsay could attend the sealing, which was wonderful! At the end of the month, Todd and I attended another beautiful, perfect wedding. My sister-in-law, Amy, was sealed to her perfect match, Eric. We are so happy for them and to have Eric and his kids be a part of the family!
Lindsay got tickets to the Provo City Center temple open house for last weekend and so we got to have her and Calvin over again! The temple is so breathtakingly beautiful. I look forward to going with Todd when it opens.
Orange Peel with some of my favorite ladies!
Seriously. How cute are they!!
(Calvin's arm around Aurella MAY have been manipulated...)
Aurella is finally growing hair, as you've seen in the pictures. She is really into numbers, too. We started counting with her a few months ago and she's really taken off with it. She'll count to fifteen all by herself, and she'll count to 20 with our help. Todd will spell her name with her and she'll do it with him. When she's spelling her name by herself, it's spelled A-C-R-U-L. And then she says her name afterwards and cheers! We're trying to teach her the names of some of the colors. So far she knows yellow, blue, green, and pink, although she does mix them up sometimes. Aurella sings a lot. Every time we get in the car, she's singing. Sometimes she wants us to sing with her but most of the time she's making something up by herself and it's SO CUTE to just listen! She's repeating a lot of what we say, too. I'll say something random, like, "Gotta make dinner,", and she'll repeat it with the same tone and everything. She's still full of energy and always going. We love her and are especially excited to see how she handles being a big sister!
