Saturday, October 30, 2010

35 Weeks


36 days. 5 weeks, 1 day. That is how much time I have until my baby boy's due date. Craziness I tell ya. Can't believe he is almost here. I know I say that every time, but seriously. Time is flying. The month of October felt like it came and went, literally. I feel like yesterday was October 1st. Here I am at the end and thinking about how November is my last month of pregnancy. Tomorrow will mark my 35 weeks of pregnancy and I can't wait to get to 37 weeks to know that he can healthily come into the world whenever he pleases!!

Anyway, now that I got my shock out of the way, I will tell you about baby Cai.
First and foremost, this child is like a hiccup machine. I mean, it could be his full time job. Well, right now it is. But, ever since he switched to the birth position upside down, it is like hiccups every 2 hours or so. They are so cute and precious, and I can just picture him in there. Just knowing that about 10 weeks ago (when we had our 3d sonogram) he was smiling and making facial expressions (like the pic below)... I can only imagine what he does now. Oh this child melts me already.


We had our 2nd appointment the other day with our new midwives. Although our appointment was at 4:30 and we didn't get in until 6, it was totally worth it. These women are so sweet and down to earth. Ideal situation for someone taking care of you. They act like friends, really. These women are literally bombarded with new patients every day. They are so popular in Atlanta (because people are starting to take control of their births, thank goodness) so they are overwhelmed. But, that's a good thing! Anyway, everything is good with the baby. No high blood pressure, nothing. Just uneventful... and thankful for that!

The past week or so I have finally been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. It's crazy to know that my body is getting ready for labor. One day, they lasted all day long. Not fun. The worst was yesterday when I was taking Gibson on a walk, and on my way back I got one of those ligament pains REALLY bad on my side. I could barely walk. I finally made it up the stairs and plopped on the couch while Will looked at me all confused. He tried pushing on the baby to move it and lifting my legs to get the baby out of a weird position. It actually helped, but wow, I hope I don't get many more of those!

Will and I also went to this mandatory 2 hour water birth class at the hospital. I guess, because it's a hospital, they require it so you know everything about it. The lady teaching it has been a L&D nurse for 18 years and is super knowledgeable about natural birth and is passionate about it. It was nice to hear that all of the nurses we will have are going to love being there... they won't look at me like "is she crazy??". They are used to it and enjoy it. Anyway, the class was actually super informative and I'm glad we learned everything there is to know. Apparently water birth has been around for a LONG time... it was first recorded in medical journals in 1800 and it was around even before then. They described how it's actually a very natural thing to want to do. They call it the midwife's epidural because it takes to much stress and pain off of your body. When I get to the hospital, the nurses will only monitor me for the first 30 minutes, and then after that I am free to walk around or do whatever I want. It's awesome. They suggest not getting into the water until you're 5cm or more because it relaxes your body so much it can slow down labor. So, I'm going to try to tough it out at home as long as possible and go in when I feel like I'm in tough labor. The nurses won't monitor me unless they see signs to need to. They'll let me do my thing. Also, once the baby is born, it will probably be tough for me to catch the baby being in the water so they said that the dad gets to catch the baby. It made me want to cry just thinking about it. Then, while I'm getting out of the tub and doing all the after birth stuff, they said that they let the dads take the baby to the heat warmer and clean them off and wrap them up. How precious. Will is super excited about that!! What a great bonding time. I just LOVE our midwives, nurses, and hospital. Will and I say over and over again how BLESSED we are to have found them. We really feel like they are doing things God's way (even if they're not Christians). I still believe that this is how God intends childbirth to be. I am so at rest that the first decisions I get to make regarding the overall health of my baby are good ones. I won't be affecting him with medications and stressing him out with induction. Childbirth is already stressful enough on that poor baby... I am just so at peace knowing that he can come how he wants to come with no one making him do otherwise (unless he's in danger of course).

As for me, I am feeling great still. I think I don't realize how big my belly is most of the time. My belly is the least of my discomforts... it actually doesn't feel that big (I know it LOOKS humongous). I really don't have back pain. I also have been sleeping just fine, which has been awesome. Ever since he turned upside down I can lay more comfortably on my side without squishing him. He is also big enough now that he doesn't do as many huge movements... they're just him sticking his butt out or a foot or something. So that makes it a little easier. I don't think that he has ever sit very high on me, so I can usually breathe fine thankfully. He is to the point where his feet are constantly right at my ribs, so there's the occasional shock when I get a huge kick to my bones. But, I am even thankful for those, because I know he's healthy :) I am even learning to embrace the swelling if I have to. Pregnancy is such an amazing thing, and I am just going to let it take its course. I truly feel like a balloon sometimes, but who cares! I was actually really proud of myself because at my last doc appointment I only gained 3 pounds in 3 weeks, which is exactly what I should have done. YAY.

Today we are going to finish up his nursery, hopefully. We just have to grab more paint. I can't wait to post pictures... it is looking so cute in there. We are also going to run to the store and get all of the hospital bag things that we need. With natural childbirth, there's a lot of extra things that they recommend getting. My midwife even told me to pack a bunch of food just in case I want to eat during labor. How cool (and unheard of) is that? No IV for me!! Woo hoo. I already have the baby's bag packed, which was easy. But the bag for me is kinda a huge list. So... it will be fun to work on that. Gotta be prepared just in case he chooses to make his arrival in a couple weeks!

Will and I are still REALLY enjoying our new church. Last week we taught kids church, which was so awesome. We love being involved in kids ministry knowing that our child will be there soon. We really value it. It's getting harder for me to get involved considering that I can't stand up for very long without my feet throbbing. Next weekend will be mine and Will's first time leading worship at Bethel. We are so excited. Even though I'll only be 4 weeks from birth, I still couldn't wait to be a part of it. Will asked them if I could sit on a stool just in case, and they laughed and said that I could bring a bed if I want. I love our church! So easy going. Last week, they said that they want church to feel like a living room where we invite the most important person in to spend time with us and relax with Him. I love that visual. I think God likes that too :)

Will and I celebrate our 2 year anniversary on November 9th. We went to the Georgia aquarium last week to celebrate part of it because we knew that I wouldn't be comfortable walking around much longer. It is the biggest aquarium in the world. It was soooo awesome seeing God's creations like that up close. I can't believe how fortunate our generation is to be able to see things like that. We got to pet sharks, sting rays, horseshoe crabs, shrimp, etc. It was fun. I didn't take many pictures because I felt huge that day. But oh well. This one is cool and doesn't even partly describe what we saw. These are whale sharks and they were HUGE!!


Anyway, enough for now. I've been typing forever.
Now to go spend time in this chilly fall weather. Georgia is so dang beautiful!!!! Ever since we moved here it's seriously been perfect weather. I love it.

Enjoy your weekends, lovelies :)

Friday, October 29, 2010

All My Beautiful Junk

I have a new obsession. Goodwill. And Craigslist. And garage sales.

Ever since I discovered that you can find some cool things at goodwill if you go in with artsy eyes... I have been hooked. Will has to tell me not to go every week :)

So... I know I should have taken some before pictures of these things, but I completely forgot. Now you get to see the finished products.
I went into goodwill one day, mainly just to look and hope that I find something really cool that I have needed for a long time. When I didn't find any such thing, I looked at their whole "trinkets" aisles. You know... the ones where normal people would say "what is this junk?". Yeah, well, I was in heaven. I LOVE looking at things with new eyes and wonder what I can do to make them fit my home.

Here's some stuff I got. I'll try my best to explain what it looked like... but basically, a lot of this stuff was gosh darn ugly. Seriously like, who would ever buy that?
I spent about $20 total and had so much fun redoing them. I must be in full force nesting mode or something because all I want to do are crafts.


I got these awesome wood box containers for about $1 a piece. They used to be just pure wood with writing on them like "sugar" "flour" etc. Basically, they looked super old and gross. Just a little glossy black spray paint and, voila! Pottery barn look a like.

These are 2 of my favorites. For the baby's room, we are doing an owl type theme. I found this frame with the picture in it for $1. The frame was an ugly wood with no paint or stain. I just painted it black and it looks brand new. Like it came from Anthropolgie or something. And that little white ceramic owl was probably the ugliest of them all. It was yellow and said "Georgia on the bottom" and was apparently a thermometer. I so envisioned painting it a glossy white and making it look like it was brand new. Now I love it and it will fit perfectly for the baby's room.

I got that shelf for $2. It used to just be a wooden shelf with rusted looking metal off of it. I'm telling you... so ugly. I mixed some different paint colors together and came up with a soft orange for the shelf and we spray painted the metal bright glossy white. So this looks brand new too. AND we finally have somewhere to hang some hand towels. Our apartment didn't have them?? So weird. It so beats paying $20 for a new one that doesn't have much character.

Got this little wooden piece for $2. It was just plain wood and looked like it had come out of a Cracker Barrel store. So not my style. BUT... I envisioned some blackish/greyish paint on it and knew we needed a place to hang our keys (since some very cute husband often misplaces them) :) and we LOVE it. A great place for our keys, garage door opener, and Gibson's leash. We thought about putting our mail on there too.

I LOVE this one!! We didn't yet have anything over our bed because we were focusing so much on the other rooms. So our bedroom looked pretty bare. I got these 5 frames for $1 a piece. They were plain wood and the paper in them looked like it came out of the 50s. They were gross. Soooo... I painted each frame with a soft brownish/grey and they look brand new. We headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up some scrapbooking paper, all in the same style and color but different to avoid being matchy. Then, Will did his thing and hung them up perfectly. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of our whole bed or bedroom because I just did 3 loads of laundry and I am in the middle of putting them away.

Here's a close up of some of the frames.


And, as for Craigslist, sometimes it can be hit or miss. People will put up a junky wooden chair that is falling apart for $100 just because they think it is valuable. When, in actuality, it is junk. Well... I have been looking and looking and have been patient with my hunt for a chair for the baby's room. I didn't necessarily want a rocker because I actually don't want the baby to be rocked to sleep. When I nannied, I learned this the hard way when the kids would get addicted to the rocking and wouldn't fall asleep any other way. So, I was looking for a comfortable chair that would be ideal for those late night feedings. Ideally I wanted one with an ottoman where I could put up my feet and fall asleep if I wanted to. I wanted one that supported my back well and my arms since I will be holding the baby and feeding him. Yesterday, I was looking on craigslist again and found this awesome chair for only $100. I was shocked because everything eles I have been looking at for $100 has been so old or worn. And, surprisingly, most people weren't willing to budge on their price. So, I almost settled for an older overstuffed chair for $60 and we were going to reupholster it for fun, but then I came across this beauty. It's only 2 years old, leather, and so comfortable. I snatched it up right away. We brought it home and cleaned it and it looks brand new. I love it!!
We also had our washing machine break the other day (boo!). So we have been on a washing machine hunt ever since. We have checked craigslist but have found that most people only want to sell their washer and dryer as a set or people are ridiculously over-pricing their stuff. PLUS, Atlanta is humongous and it can take 2 hours just to get across the city (at least). So... I was bummed that I really couldn't find anything of good value or in good condition in our area. I saw that there was a garage sale today about 5 minutes away, so I decided to check it out. They had a 2 year old washer (really nice) going for $200 and I asked her if she would take $150. She said fine! We looked it up... this is an $800 washer!!!
So we still have to pick that up....but I am so excited. It is a top loader (our current one is a front loader) and I get so tired of bending down and pulling the twisted clothes out of the washer as they fall on the floor. So I am VERY excited about a top loader.

AND, as for Cai's room... it is coming along but we ran out of paint. SO, I think we will be finishing that this weekend and I will definitely have pictures to post.

Love you all and hope you have an amazing weekend :)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Michelin Girl


Things have been a little nutso around here. Let's just start off by saying that the "leak" from the "ceiling" that we had goin on in our apartment was more like a flood from a broken pipe behind our wall. Lovely. Water all over kitchen and on the other side soaking our carpet. Tear open the wall to find some mold that has been stirring in our house for the past week. Thank goodness the weather has been nice because we just open all our doors and windows all day to keep fresh air flowing through. Although my allergies have been crazy, the doctor said it shouldn't be a big deal and just to stay away from it as much as possible.

Speaking of doctor... we got to meet our new midwives!! Will and I went to their monthly "meet and greet" last night at the hospital. I was literally expecting one, maybe 2, other couples to be there. Nope. Probably 50 people total. It was awesome. The midwives got to talk about themselves and answer any questions. They are SO on the same track as we are with everything we believe. It is so amazing to feel like we won't be pressured into anything we don't want to do. Induction and any other interventions aren't routine. They base everything they do on the baby. So, if the baby is ok... then they just wait it out. They don't even induce if the baby is "late" because they understand that some babies take longer than others ( so, if I'm past the due date, don't ask me when they are going to induce me) :) They take precautions, but once again it's up to the baby. The baby won't be taken from me the entire time I'm there (except for the admission into the hospital and the pediatrician to check him over). But, even then, I am able to go along if I want. Otherwise, they put the baby directly on the heat lamp when he is born which is right next to my bed. They do all tests and checking over right in front of me. And, they don't do anything out of routine... they ask before doing anything. They have birthing tubs if we want to use them (which is great)! I'm not a weirdo for wanting a water birth, I just honestly think it would be way more comfortable to be in water while in labor than on a hard bed in a weird position. So, I plan on doing that... we just have to take a waterbirth class in a couple weeks (by law). One of the midwives has been doing this for 30 years or so and has experience with every type of situation. She is comfortable with whatever is going to make me comfortable. They are both so knowledgeable about everything to do with natural birth, and they are so passionate about it. We feel so blessed to have found them.
The hospital is really nice! We are getting used to the 40 minute drive more and more. It's really pretty easy to get to. The midwives took us on a tour of the L&D floor as well as postpartum. They said that all uneventful births get to leave within 24 hours of delivery, which is nice. Their offices are conveniently right across the road.
We went today for my appointment and the midwife talked to us for about an hour. It was great. She answered all our questions and was so supportive!
Here's the update so far. Little guy is in the head down position facing the right way. This is awesome! Will and I have been praying every day for our list of things that we are believing for for the childbirth and for me and the baby. Such as, healthy, easy labor/delivery, no episiotomy, no interventions, and that the baby would get in the right position at the right time. She had to feel around for a while and couldn't tell exactly, so she did an ultrasound and saw that his head is just where it needs to be. He is locked in until delivery. It's no wonder I have been feeling tons of pressure on my pelvic bone. When I walk it feels like bone is pushing on bone (which, I guess it kind of is). Not comfortable. BUT, so glad that he's getting ready to come. I've also been feeling those little kicks getting right up under my ribs. It's a love/hate relationship with them :) I don't blame him. Sometimes I squish him. Ha.
As for me... my weight is still steadily increasing. I have gained about 34 pounds... and I definitely feel like it. They try to aim for no more than 35 pounds by delivery, but it looks like I'm passing that up. Kinda frustrating because I feel like I've tried just about everything to slow it down, but I think my body knows what it's doing. SO, I'm just along for the ride now. I'm waiting it out and we will see. No need to stress about it. She said sometimes if you don't eat enough protein, it can cause extra water weight. Will and I both laughed because I am not a huge meat person. Unless it's a nice juicy steak, I probably won't eat it. So most of the time I am feeding Will my leftover meat (which is all but about 2 bites). I may try to add more protein in my diet to see if it helps the swelling.
Oh, and by the way... if you notice that a pregnant woman is looking a little puffier than normal.... big tip: DO NOT point it out. I've had so many people say "You look more swollen" or "your face is puffier". REALLY people?? What if I said that to you? Haha.
We officially became Georgia residents yesterday and got our licenses. I was dreading taking that picture because I know I'm swollen and my cheeks look like a chipmunk. But, I sucked it up and did it anyway. I will be changing that picture as soon as we change our addresss. Believe me.
Oh well, it's part of the joy of pregnancy.
At least my baby boy is healthy... even if he is having fun making me swell like a marshmallow.
Oh, and don't expect anymore pictures of me to be posted on the internet while I'm prego. Not only am I rarely dressed up, but I also don't look like myself. So... sorry. Deal with it haha.
(Hence the blog title and picture. This is how I feel).

So, this is what the baby looks like these days at 31 1/2 weeks. At about 18 inches and almost 4 pounds... he's really starting to have cramped living quarters. My stomach is lobsided all the time. So weird looking!

Can't wait to meet him!! (and, as a plus, I can't wait too see my feet again!). So many things to look forward to within the next 8 weeks or so ;)