Funny, yet semi gross thing happened yesterday.... Let me preface this with the fact that I have always had a keen sense of smell even before I was pregnant. However, now that I am pregnant, it has become my super power. I know this happens to most pregnant people but I am telling you my olfactory system is in over drive beyond belief. I could seriously save some lived with this thing. For instance, Kyle once opened a bottle of wine across the house and I could smell it (okay, that's not life saving but it just smelled wonderful). In church I will smell perfume on people and be able to warn my mom LONG before it affects her horrible allergies and she gets really sick. I can identify what's for dinner at my grandfather's retirement home before walking in the front door. It's pretty handy most of the time.
Now for the funny, yet semi gross situation yesterday. Kyle got me a gift card for a prenatal massage. I went yesterday and overall the massage was awesome! The only issue was that I could tell that my massage therapist had eaten something with garlic...AND I could tell that she had done so with only her right hand! It was totally garlic knots and I knew it. So I was striking up conversation to prove it! I said something along the lines of "I should have known better than to book a massage at 4:30, it's right in the middle of my normal dinner time and now I am starving. I will have to get food on my way home." She said, "I just ate right before my shift started. There is this great pizza place up the street and they have the best garlic knots!" I KNEW IT!!
Fortunately, I love garlic AND I watched her wash her hands so I was totally grossed out by it but it definitely made for an interesting massage.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
People say the darndest...
When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was warned of the funny (and by funny I mean RUDE) things that people will say to you once you start showing. I started showing earlier than most people I know so of course I got my fair share of comments at that time...."Are you sure there is just one?", "Holy cow, looks like someone is having twins!", "Exactly HOW far along are you?!" I pretty much expected those. However, now that I am at 33 weeks and noticeably growing larger by the minute, the comments are becoming much more entertaining. If you have never been pregnant before, my advice is to laugh and find the humor in all of these things. People are ridiculous that is for sure. Here's a few of my favorites from this week...
"WOW!!! I can see that pregnancy really causes you to gain weight. The good news is that it will all come off eventually...SOMEHOW"
"I can see that you suffer from the same problem I had when I was pregnant...your legs and feet swell to enormous sizes" (Prior to this one I was just thinking WOW, I haven't felt swollen at all today)
"That belly sure has exploded over night!"
"WOW!!! I can see that pregnancy really causes you to gain weight. The good news is that it will all come off eventually...SOMEHOW"
"I can see that you suffer from the same problem I had when I was pregnant...your legs and feet swell to enormous sizes" (Prior to this one I was just thinking WOW, I haven't felt swollen at all today)
"That belly sure has exploded over night!"
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Pregnancy is just sooooo beautiful!
"Pregnancy is beautiful." I probably get that from 4 out of 5 people that talk about pregnancy/babies/my ever growing belly/etc. Pregnancy is beautiful ....YEAH RIGHT!
****Disclaimer***** If are not pregnant and plan to get pregnant anytime, please understand that pregnancy is different for all people and do not let my rant deter you from being excited about pregnancy. I am SUPER excited about the end result!! However...
It is no real secret that I am not a huge fan of being pregnant. I don't hate it. There have been very few MISERABLE days through out this entire pregnancy. I just don't love it, nor will you ever catch me saying "Pregnancy is beautiful." I'm sure that many of you will disagree. A million of you will tell me "You will forget all about these things once the baby is here." Well I think that is a bunch of craziness! I will love the hell out of my baby and I will be so excited to he is here. I can see forgetting all the pain that I went through to deliver him (I think that is because much of that time is drug induced forgetfulness) and I will no doubt want another child regardless of what I go through during this pregnancy. Forget about 9 months of crazy things happening to my body, lack of sleep and the endless list of unpredictable pregnancy symptoms....doubtful.
Despite the fact that I am not a lover of pregnancy, I do believe in seeing the positive side to every situation. So here is my running list of positives when it comes to pregnancy....
I think that's it for now. When you make a list of the positives, it always makes the negatives look like no big deal. I am working on staying positive. It will be a lot easier in 60 days when I have that little boy in my hands! :-)
****Disclaimer***** If are not pregnant and plan to get pregnant anytime, please understand that pregnancy is different for all people and do not let my rant deter you from being excited about pregnancy. I am SUPER excited about the end result!! However...
It is no real secret that I am not a huge fan of being pregnant. I don't hate it. There have been very few MISERABLE days through out this entire pregnancy. I just don't love it, nor will you ever catch me saying "Pregnancy is beautiful." I'm sure that many of you will disagree. A million of you will tell me "You will forget all about these things once the baby is here." Well I think that is a bunch of craziness! I will love the hell out of my baby and I will be so excited to he is here. I can see forgetting all the pain that I went through to deliver him (I think that is because much of that time is drug induced forgetfulness) and I will no doubt want another child regardless of what I go through during this pregnancy. Forget about 9 months of crazy things happening to my body, lack of sleep and the endless list of unpredictable pregnancy symptoms....doubtful.
Despite the fact that I am not a lover of pregnancy, I do believe in seeing the positive side to every situation. So here is my running list of positives when it comes to pregnancy....
- Good hair
- Finger nails that grow faster than the weeds on my back porch
- Really great afternoon naps
- Although most of the time I am pretty independent, if I don't feel like lifting, carrying or moving something, there is always someone else to do it.
- Washing baby clothes is a new favorite hobby
- Strapless bras no longer slide down because my belly keeps them from sliding anywhere.
- Since I am going to have to worry about losing weight later anyway, I've made the decision to literally eat whatever I want (with in moderation) and worry about the weight loss later. The "Whatever you want" diet has made for a much happier pregnancy and surprisingly so far hasn't been too terrible on the weight gain.
- Not caring for a second as the bathroom scale increases at an unusual rate.
- It was previously impossible to have blood work done but while pregnant I seem to have the best veins on the planet!
- No crohn's disease symptoms woo hoo!
- Sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery day dreaming about my little boy while he does kick flips in my belly.
- People always give you shotgun when you are pregnant.
- Ultrasounds of my boy
I think that's it for now. When you make a list of the positives, it always makes the negatives look like no big deal. I am working on staying positive. It will be a lot easier in 60 days when I have that little boy in my hands! :-)
Monday, April 2, 2012
A place to call his own
Clayton's nursery finally feels like a nursery! I am so happy with the way that everything came together. I am not big on themes in nurseries. You know... the big 16 piece bedding sets complete with everything but the baby. I think they turn out looking great when others do them but just not for me. Instead, I went for a color scheme with a few owls hidden here and there. What would a room be in my house with out a few owls hiding in the corner?
The room was already painted khaki and the paint looked pretty good so I decided to skip the paint and add in color. I love bright colors so I chose lime green, teal and orange. If Clayton turned out to be an "Emilie", I was just going to add hot pink. Instead, all of the hot pink items I bought, went to my sister-in-law for my future niece :) The rug was actually purchased long before I got pregnant. I don't love the way the colors photograph. They look much brighter and match better in person.
I was also trying to stick to a budget with the nursery so I tried to do
a lot of things myself (and with the help of my mom). We wanted to
keep the guest bed because it is the best mattress in the entire world
and I just couldn't bring myself to part with it so I went for cheap
bedding from Walmart. I went with Walmart bedding thinking that the
colors would look nice and I didn't care about the quality because no
one would sleep in that room very often anyway. Turns out they are some
of the softest sheets I've ever owned... Go Walmart! Mom and I made the paintings above the bed. I saw the idea in a nursery on HGTV. The changing table is from IKEA. What you can't see is that inside all of those drawers, I went nuts with the label maker! There are tiny bins that contain all his tiny clothes...appropriately labelled by size and style. That, I am really excited about!
Across from the guest bed is a storage shelf from IKEA. My mom already had a bunch of these storage cubes so that was a huge bonus to not have to buy those! The tree paintings I painted a couple of years ago for our bedroom. I recently bought new bedding for our room and they no longer match so in the nursery they went. They still need to be hung on the wall but this is generally where they will go.
This is my favorite side of the room. I am somewhat nervous that his crib backs up to the neighbors bedroom but I wanted to be able to see this side of the room every time I walked up the stairs instead of feeling like I was staring into the same old guest room. The crib and the tree decal are about the only things I didn't make any attempts to do on a budget.
The original bedding was on a SUPER SALE and came with polka dot sheets, window valances, and a laundry hamper (too themey). So, I designed new curtains and my mom made them for me. I ditched the laundry hamper for a lime green plastic hamper that will last much longer, and I found Peanuts crib sheets online with all the same colors. Peanuts sheets for the hubby!
Finally! The best little corner in the whole house! The rocking chair was from my great grand father. My grand parents had it in their house until they moved into assisted living several years ago. My parents saved it for me at their house until I needed it for a nursery. There is a cross stitch on the wall that my grandmother made for my mom's nursery in 1957. She has had it hanging in her own house as long as I can remember and I've always loved it. I pretty much did everything but literally ask her to take it off the wall and give it to me on the spot. Fortunately, she takes my not so subtle hints and gave it to me for Christmas!
The room was already painted khaki and the paint looked pretty good so I decided to skip the paint and add in color. I love bright colors so I chose lime green, teal and orange. If Clayton turned out to be an "Emilie", I was just going to add hot pink. Instead, all of the hot pink items I bought, went to my sister-in-law for my future niece :) The rug was actually purchased long before I got pregnant. I don't love the way the colors photograph. They look much brighter and match better in person.
I was also trying to stick to a budget with the nursery so I tried to do
a lot of things myself (and with the help of my mom). We wanted to
keep the guest bed because it is the best mattress in the entire world
and I just couldn't bring myself to part with it so I went for cheap
bedding from Walmart. I went with Walmart bedding thinking that the
colors would look nice and I didn't care about the quality because no
one would sleep in that room very often anyway. Turns out they are some
of the softest sheets I've ever owned... Go Walmart! Mom and I made the paintings above the bed. I saw the idea in a nursery on HGTV. The changing table is from IKEA. What you can't see is that inside all of those drawers, I went nuts with the label maker! There are tiny bins that contain all his tiny clothes...appropriately labelled by size and style. That, I am really excited about!
The original bedding was on a SUPER SALE and came with polka dot sheets, window valances, and a laundry hamper (too themey). So, I designed new curtains and my mom made them for me. I ditched the laundry hamper for a lime green plastic hamper that will last much longer, and I found Peanuts crib sheets online with all the same colors. Peanuts sheets for the hubby!
Here is a better view of the curtain fabric.... 
Finally! The best little corner in the whole house! The rocking chair was from my great grand father. My grand parents had it in their house until they moved into assisted living several years ago. My parents saved it for me at their house until I needed it for a nursery. There is a cross stitch on the wall that my grandmother made for my mom's nursery in 1957. She has had it hanging in her own house as long as I can remember and I've always loved it. I pretty much did everything but literally ask her to take it off the wall and give it to me on the spot. Fortunately, she takes my not so subtle hints and gave it to me for Christmas!
The nursery to-do list is almost done. I have a few minor things to work on. My hospital bag is all packed and now I am just ready for the last 10 weeks to fly by. Clayton in 10 weeks and his daddy home shortly after that. So much to look forward to! I can see myself sitting in this room for hours on end day dreaming of the next 3 months :-)
Monday, March 19, 2012
3rd Trimester
Up until now I can say that I have had it pretty easy as far as pregnancies go. As I am starting off the 3rd trimester, I feel like all hell is breaking lose and now I am getting a reality check of a "real" pregnancy. I've experienced a million different symptoms the first 6 months but for the most part, I would say those things were more annoying than unbearable. All of the sudden, it is like I hit a brick wall with full force. All of the symptoms now are turning out to be miserable and I am wishing, now more than ever, that the next 12 weeks will fly by! I feel like this weekly update list is the easiest way to fill everyone in.
How far along: 28 weeks
Size of our baby: Clayton is around 15 inches long and 2.25 pounds. According to The Baby Center he is comparable to a Chinese cabbage.
Total weight gain/loss: Total gain: I have stopped counting. I figure that I will know the end result the day I go in to deliver and that will give me my starting point for post-baby weight loss. In the mean time, if the doctor feels like I am gaining to much weight, I am sure he won't hesitate to tell me. Otherwise, I don't need a big belly and a huge number to weigh me down! (Pun intended haha)
Maternity clothes: I am very fortunate to have gotten a few hand me down pieces to get me through to my birthday when my mom can hook a preggo girl up with a new wardrobe! Thanks Mom! The weather is abnormally HOT for March and all of my maternity clothes are winter at this point so there is some creativity going on. Maxi dresses are a staple at this point! Cardigan sweaters and layering tanks are high on the list as well. Even my pj pants are getting too small... I've now moved on from just Kyle's tshirts to now Kyle's tshirts and pj pants! Thank God he isn't home to have to share his wardrobe with me.
Stretch marks: None so far
Sleep: Sleep has been much better until all of these 3rd trimester pregnancy symptoms starting kicking in. Now I am back to hit or miss on the sleep. Some nights are great and I live for those nights :)
Best moment this week: Skyping with his daddy <3 It's the highlight of the week above all other things every time! Skype is the only thing getting me through this.
Movement: Clayton is moving ALL DAY LONG and thankfully NOT all night long as well! I am starting to feel like he is running out of room in there. When sitting, I find myself leaning to the right a lot as he liked to hang out in my ribs on the left side. There is NEVER any movement on the right side but he has totally taken control of the left side of my body. I'm on a mission to catch his action on camera to send to Kyle. Usually you can see my phone or the remote bouncing up and down on my belly in the evenings. Makes me laugh :)
Food cravings/aversions: Believe it or not, I am starting to dislike junk food. Don't get me wrong... I am no where near a picture perfect pregnancy diet. I still love pizza, just not every day like the past 6 months. I still eat whatever I feel like eating, whenever I feel like it. Just now when I eat something unhealthy, I find my self more interested in a healthier option for the next meal. However, not a day goes by with out peanut butter, yogurt, chocolate, a banana, string cheese, and a Little Debbie snack (Not all at once of course, and maybe more than one Little Debbie snack)
Belly button in or out: Belly button is in but getting wide and flat!
What I miss/What I am looking forward to: Miss: Days with out pain somewhere in my body. Looking forward to: A cold bottle of Moscato in 12 weeks! (Pretty sure it will also help with the pain haha) and my Baby Daddy coming home a few weeks after that!
Weekly Wisdom: I MUST start planning ahead at work because time is going to sneak up on me and just in case this baby wants to make an early appearance, I need to have all lose ends tied up!
Milestones: 3rd trimester!!! Light at the end of the tunnel
Symptoms: Oh not to complain or anything...... I have experienced all of these things in much smaller doses but now they are in full effect! HEARTBURN!!!! I now have a bottle of Tums everywhere I go. I can not eat any food item with out a Tums chaser! BACKPAIN!!!! Usually I hear about lower pain but I have upper back pain. I wish there was some way that I could do my job while lying flat on my back, it would solve this issue in a heart beat. CARPEL TUNNEL!!!! I had one day of this a couple of months ago and then it went away. The pain that is radiating through my arm and up into my neck is pretty unbearable. I've been alternating heating pads and tylenol which seems to help some but let's face it, I can't walk around this building with a heating pad all day... there isn't an extension cord long enough. Fortunately, I have an OB appointment on Friday and maybe there is something else he can do about this.
Maternity clothes: I am very fortunate to have gotten a few hand me down pieces to get me through to my birthday when my mom can hook a preggo girl up with a new wardrobe! Thanks Mom! The weather is abnormally HOT for March and all of my maternity clothes are winter at this point so there is some creativity going on. Maxi dresses are a staple at this point! Cardigan sweaters and layering tanks are high on the list as well. Even my pj pants are getting too small... I've now moved on from just Kyle's tshirts to now Kyle's tshirts and pj pants! Thank God he isn't home to have to share his wardrobe with me.
Stretch marks: None so far
Sleep: Sleep has been much better until all of these 3rd trimester pregnancy symptoms starting kicking in. Now I am back to hit or miss on the sleep. Some nights are great and I live for those nights :)
Best moment this week: Skyping with his daddy <3 It's the highlight of the week above all other things every time! Skype is the only thing getting me through this.
Movement: Clayton is moving ALL DAY LONG and thankfully NOT all night long as well! I am starting to feel like he is running out of room in there. When sitting, I find myself leaning to the right a lot as he liked to hang out in my ribs on the left side. There is NEVER any movement on the right side but he has totally taken control of the left side of my body. I'm on a mission to catch his action on camera to send to Kyle. Usually you can see my phone or the remote bouncing up and down on my belly in the evenings. Makes me laugh :)
Food cravings/aversions: Believe it or not, I am starting to dislike junk food. Don't get me wrong... I am no where near a picture perfect pregnancy diet. I still love pizza, just not every day like the past 6 months. I still eat whatever I feel like eating, whenever I feel like it. Just now when I eat something unhealthy, I find my self more interested in a healthier option for the next meal. However, not a day goes by with out peanut butter, yogurt, chocolate, a banana, string cheese, and a Little Debbie snack (Not all at once of course, and maybe more than one Little Debbie snack)
Belly button in or out: Belly button is in but getting wide and flat!
What I miss/What I am looking forward to: Miss: Days with out pain somewhere in my body. Looking forward to: A cold bottle of Moscato in 12 weeks! (Pretty sure it will also help with the pain haha) and my Baby Daddy coming home a few weeks after that!
Weekly Wisdom: I MUST start planning ahead at work because time is going to sneak up on me and just in case this baby wants to make an early appearance, I need to have all lose ends tied up!
Milestones: 3rd trimester!!! Light at the end of the tunnel
Symptoms: Oh not to complain or anything...... I have experienced all of these things in much smaller doses but now they are in full effect! HEARTBURN!!!! I now have a bottle of Tums everywhere I go. I can not eat any food item with out a Tums chaser! BACKPAIN!!!! Usually I hear about lower pain but I have upper back pain. I wish there was some way that I could do my job while lying flat on my back, it would solve this issue in a heart beat. CARPEL TUNNEL!!!! I had one day of this a couple of months ago and then it went away. The pain that is radiating through my arm and up into my neck is pretty unbearable. I've been alternating heating pads and tylenol which seems to help some but let's face it, I can't walk around this building with a heating pad all day... there isn't an extension cord long enough. Fortunately, I have an OB appointment on Friday and maybe there is something else he can do about this.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Moves like Daddy
Just when I was saying that things hadn't changed much and I didn't think they would for a couple of weeks, Clayton has moved. For the whole first 23 weeks, as far as I could feel, he was head to my right and feet to my left. I could feel him kicking all day long on my left side but no one else was able to feel it. Well last night was the first time that I've been woken up by his kicking and apparently he has moved. For about an hour last night, I felt like he was trying to dance his way through my belly button. You can definitely see it and feel it now, that's for sure! As much as I would have liked to sleep last night, it was so cool to watch my belly move around. I think he's going to have some moved like his daddy ;-)
Friday, February 17, 2012
Weekly Baby Update
A few months back, I enjoyed reading a weekly baby update from a couple of college sorority sisters. I believe that Kelly at Mrs. in Training started the trend among the two that I read. As much as I liked reading their updates, I thought I would do one every now and then too. Things haven't changed a lot over the last couple of weeks and I imagine that the next couple of weeks might be similar. Here goes...
How far along: 23 weeks
Size of our baby: Clayton is around 11 inches long and almost a pound. If you want to go by fruit comparison, The Baby Center says that he is a "Large Mango"
Total weight gain/loss: Total gain: I am honestly not sure. I usually forget to look at the scales when I go to the doctor. My best guess is between 10-12 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Almost everything I am wearing these days is usually maternity. I have a few t-shirts for work on spirit days and a couple of tank tops that were longer that I use for layering. I was getting by for a while on regular pants if I used a belly band but even now that is pretty uncomfortable.
Stretch marks: None so far! Fingers crossed
Sleep: Sleep is MUCH BETTER at night! I can usually make it about 6 hours in a single stretch! However, I still go to bed exhausted and wake up tired too..... not as tired as I could be though. I could go with out the extreme fatigue in the afternoons though. An afternoon with out napping is impossible!
Best moment this week: Hmmm this week has been a rough one on the deployment front and the pregnancy front but I am a firm believer in finding the positive. Best moment of the week was doing all of Clayton's laundry and sorting through to start organizing his things. While his tiny size is very intimidating, his little clothes are just the cutest!
Movement: Tons of movement! He has stayed in the same position pretty much the whole pregnancy. His head is on my right and feet to my left so I feel his little feet on my left side all day long! About the only time I can't feel him is when I am standing up. His movement is still border line hard enough for others to feel him. I think he could probably be felt from the outside if those hard kicks weren't so inconsistent. For now, I am happy being the only one who gets to feel him :)
Food cravings/aversions: Just about any given day, there is some kind of pizza to be had. Also, I swap between Little Debbie zebra cakes and fudge rounds. (I keep those in my car so that I can't eat a whole box in one sitting)
Belly button in or out: Still very IN. I've always thought that I had a big belly button so I think it's going to be a long time before it would poke out.... if ever!
What I miss/What I am looking forward to: Miss: productive evenings after work since my time is spent sleeping in the afternoons. Looking forward to: Upcoming baby showers!
Weekly Wisdom: I've learned that I am no longer driving this ship. Baby wants to eat, we eat. Body wants to sleep, we sleep. Legs don't want to walk up the stairs. we sit.
Milestones: Over halfway.
Symptoms: This question is a joke to me! I am the poster child for pregnancy symptoms. Fortunately, all in small doses. So symptoms appropriate for public reading.... extreme fatigue in the afternoons, heartburn at night, need to pee every time I stand up, and back by popular demand this week after a long break from the big show....headaches and nausea! Woo Hoo!
Maternity clothes: Almost everything I am wearing these days is usually maternity. I have a few t-shirts for work on spirit days and a couple of tank tops that were longer that I use for layering. I was getting by for a while on regular pants if I used a belly band but even now that is pretty uncomfortable.
Stretch marks: None so far! Fingers crossed
Sleep: Sleep is MUCH BETTER at night! I can usually make it about 6 hours in a single stretch! However, I still go to bed exhausted and wake up tired too..... not as tired as I could be though. I could go with out the extreme fatigue in the afternoons though. An afternoon with out napping is impossible!
Best moment this week: Hmmm this week has been a rough one on the deployment front and the pregnancy front but I am a firm believer in finding the positive. Best moment of the week was doing all of Clayton's laundry and sorting through to start organizing his things. While his tiny size is very intimidating, his little clothes are just the cutest!
Movement: Tons of movement! He has stayed in the same position pretty much the whole pregnancy. His head is on my right and feet to my left so I feel his little feet on my left side all day long! About the only time I can't feel him is when I am standing up. His movement is still border line hard enough for others to feel him. I think he could probably be felt from the outside if those hard kicks weren't so inconsistent. For now, I am happy being the only one who gets to feel him :)
Food cravings/aversions: Just about any given day, there is some kind of pizza to be had. Also, I swap between Little Debbie zebra cakes and fudge rounds. (I keep those in my car so that I can't eat a whole box in one sitting)
Belly button in or out: Still very IN. I've always thought that I had a big belly button so I think it's going to be a long time before it would poke out.... if ever!
What I miss/What I am looking forward to: Miss: productive evenings after work since my time is spent sleeping in the afternoons. Looking forward to: Upcoming baby showers!
Weekly Wisdom: I've learned that I am no longer driving this ship. Baby wants to eat, we eat. Body wants to sleep, we sleep. Legs don't want to walk up the stairs. we sit.
Milestones: Over halfway.
Symptoms: This question is a joke to me! I am the poster child for pregnancy symptoms. Fortunately, all in small doses. So symptoms appropriate for public reading.... extreme fatigue in the afternoons, heartburn at night, need to pee every time I stand up, and back by popular demand this week after a long break from the big show....headaches and nausea! Woo Hoo!
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