What I'm Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I am thankful for…

1. …reaching 30 weeks of pregnancy without any major problems.
2. …my very loving and supportive husband. Without him, my life and my heart (and my womb) would be empty. 
3. …realizing how hard it is to know what the right choices are for my family and recognizing the difficulties that my own parents had to face raising four children (and Lily isn't even here yet).
4. …my caring parents who always tried to do right by us even if we thought it was wrong. We never knew what was right and wrong until looking back years later on the situations. I'm glad of all the choices that were made because they have made me into the person I am today.
5. …the happiness Dan and I felt Thanksgiving Day two years ago when we found out we were pregnant for the first time. Even though the happiness only lasted a short time, it brought us closer together.
6. …our second angel baby being able to keep our first company.
7. …both of our angels keeping Lily safe.
8. …my parents still being here for me whenever I need them. I love you both ("love ya").
9. …my brother and two sisters who are not only my siblings, but my friends.
10. …having in-laws that some people only dream about having.
11. …these Braxton Hicks contractions and all the practice I'm getting for labor.
12. …the chair I bought for my shower. Sitting down and letting the warm water run on my back definitely helps when I'm in pain.
13. …the sunburn feel I have on my skin at the top of my belly knowing that it's Lily stretching out my skin.
14. …Lily's exercise routine that involves some type of kick boxing: POW - POWPOWPOW - POW - POWPOW
15. …Lily's awake and sleep cycle. Hopefully it stays this way when she's born 'cause I should get plenty of sleep at night.
16. …the couch cushions and how they seem to know all the right spots to hug my back so I can sleep well at night.
17. …this blog where I can document this pregnancy to one day show Lily how much she is loved.
18. …the knowledge I have, after extensive research, of what giving birth can and should be like.
19. …my baking skills passed down to me from my mom and one day will be passed on to Lily.
20. …everyone who has ever been and who will ever be a part of my life. Good or bad, every person I have met and every choice that I have made, has brought me to this point in my life. The present will determine my future and I will remember that the choices I make will not only affect me, but will affect Dan and Lily.

I am thankful for a lot of other things. This list can go on forever but I won't put you through that.

I can't believe I have reached 30 weeks of pregnancy and only have about ten more weeks to go. Time is flying by. There is so much coming up in the next couple of months that the remaining time I have to be pregnant will go by even faster. Even though being pregnant has brought me anxiety, bad morning sickness in the first trimester, back pain, nose bleeds, round ligament pain, signs of strep throat (twice), abnormally fast growing nails and hair, headaches, hot flashes, weight gain, strange changes to my belly button, forgetfulness (more so than normal), and moodiness to name a few, I LOVE being pregnant. I love feeling Lily move around inside of me. I love when Dan feels her move inside of me. I love the fact that my sister Krissy got grossed out when she saw my belly jump when Lily kicked me. I love knowing that everything that Dan and I have been through to get to this point will be worth it when we get to hold Lily in our arms in just about ten weeks from now.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope that you all have a long list of things to be thankful for as well.

Sleepy Time

I have heard that most pregnant women experience a lot of baby movement at night instead of the day. This is because they are up and about throughout the day and that makes the baby sleep. This is not the case for me. Since I don't work, my movement throughout the day is minimal. Just walking around the apartment minimal. Because I don't move too much, I feel Lily throughout the day, kicking and punching, and at times I think she's trying to escape!

Is this why I don't have trouble sleeping at night like most pregnant women? Sure, I get very uncomfortable as the day and evening wears on. At times, I do have a hard time getting to sleep, but once asleep, I only wake up because of a full bladder - about every 3 hours. Falling back to sleep is never a problem. If I do feel Lily kick at bedtime, it's just before I fall asleep and then again when I wake up in the morning around 8 or 9 am. Two days this week I actually slept until 11 am and I probably could've slept longer if I didn't think I was being too lazy. I figure though, that I should get as much sleep as I want or need now because in about 11 weeks sleep is going to be a hard thing to come by.

I tend to be the opposite with a lot of things and it makes me wonder if my pregnancy sleep pattern is one of them. Here's a few others:

• Red Bull does NOT give me wings. It gives me sleep.
• Nyquil is NOT the "so I can sleep" medicine. It keeps me up and wide-eyed.
• I sweat more when I'm cold than when I'm hot.
• Before I became pregnant, drinking water made me thirsty and my mouth dry. Now anything but water makes me thirsty.
• Even though I'm a righty, I play the guitar as a lefty.
• Taking a nap in the middle of the day makes me more tired than before I took the nap.

There are probably other things that make me "unique" but right now I can't think of any. So I'll leave it at that for this week.

I Love My Midwife

Watch the video below & see what's happening in the next nine weeks.

Braxton Hick's Contractions. Who knew?

At my midwife appointment last Thursday, Dale (my midwife) was feeling to see if Lily was facing head down yet since I had a strange sensation earlier that morning. As she was feeling around, I felt what I always thought to be Lily rolling around. I didn't say anything but then Dale said I was having a small Braxton Hix contraction. I never knew what they were supposed to feel like, having had nothing to base it on. I was surprised that what I thought was Lily was actually those contractions. They don't hurt, just a little uncomfortable. Maybe I'll still keep the mindset that it is Lily rolling so then maybe they won't hurt as much when they get stronger in the coming weeks.

When Dan and I meet with Dale, our appointments are always for a half hour but they never end up being just that. We always spend about an hour with her talking about what's going on with us and the pregnancy and going over any questions we may have. I love that because if I had stayed with the obstetrician, I would not have gotten so much as ten minutes with him. I'm more confident with being pregnant now because I can ask all of my questions and not feel rushed through the appointment. 

While going over when my next appointments would be, I was told that my next appointment would be in three weeks (the 29th of Nov), then every two weeks (until Jan), then once a week until labor. At week 36 Dale will do a home visit. I think that's so cool. I don't know exactly why she goes to the home of the patient, I'll have to ask next time I see her.

I went in for a Glucose Tolerance Test yesterday. Thank God for my midwife Dale, because I didn't have to fast or drink that horrid sugar drink. She said pregnant women should not fast because it's dangerous to do so while pregnant. Good thing because I always need to eat something in the middle of the night. In the morning, around 9am, I had a bowl of cereal. Then at 12:40pm I ate a slice of bread with peanut butter. At 12:45pm I chugged some Welch's grape juice which was in a bottle containing 47g of sugar (you need at least 45-50g of sugar for the test). My appointment for the blood work was at 1:45pm and I just had to make sure they did the test then because the blood needed to be drawn an hour after drinking the juice. Two vials were drawn and the results will be faxed to my midwife. I'll let you know what the results are when I find out. Hopefully I do not have gestational diabetes. That would suck if I do.

I bought and read a book thanks to my cousin (1st removed) Billy. He has a friend whose wife is a midwife in California and she wrote a book called Water Birth: A Midwife's Perspective. This book, even though it was written in 1994, is still prevalent today. It has great information about the benefits of water births and what your options are. If you have even the slightest interest in water births, I highly recommend this book.

Hello Third Trimester

There are many websites out there with different answers to when the third trimester begins. According to a pregnancy calendar I've been using, I start my third trimester now at 27 weeks. Some will say 28 weeks, but I'll stick with my calendar.

Wow how time is flying. It doesn't seem that long ago that Dan and I were in the insemination process. I definitely do not miss all the poking and prodding that goes along with the fertility treatments. I was asked if I was done with being pregnant in response to me saying my back hurt. My answer was no. I'm not done. I love being pregnant. It is the most amazing feeling when Lily kicks, punches, and rolls around inside of me. Yeah my back does hurt, as do my feet and legs, and at times it may seem to be a thing to complain about, but I will never complain about actually being pregnant. It's a miracle that we are having a healthy pregnancy and I have no disillusions about what to expect. My back hurts, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, I sometimes have sleepless nights, I can't get comfortable, my belly button has gone through some weird changes,  I can't do anything without getting out of breath, I have to tinkle every five minutes, AND I LOVE IT! Of course, I'll love it even more when Lily is in my arms, but for now, I'll take what I can get. Only thirteen more weeks!!

Our Halloween party was this past Saturday. Not as good of a turn out as our previous years, but it was still fun to get dressed up and see the friends and family that did come. I needed to find a costume that would accommodate my belly. That's right folks, Raggedy Ann and Andy. The costume was perfectly loose around my belly and comfy. Score!

I wanted to find a mommy necklace for when Lily arrives. Dan is going to buy it for me as a gift of motherhood. I searched and searched for one that is unique and that would be a good fit for me. I wanted to include our two angel babies but couldn't really find anything that would work. Then I found it! A beautiful hand-made pendant and chain that is perfect for all three of our babies - Lily and our two angels. The jewelry designer made this specific design for people who have lost a baby or babies due to miscarriage or still birth. Here's a picture:

Of course, my nest will have only one "egg" for Lily. The chain will have two "eggs" just like this one does for our two angel babies. They are not in our nest but are watching over it. The wing/feather depicts the momma bird (me). I figure I'll do Lily's birthstone color for her egg. If she is born in February it'll be purple for amethyst. If she comes early and is born in January it'll be cranberry for garnet. The two eggs for our angels will be white as shown here. What a beautiful necklace this jewelry designer created for those who have lost a baby. I'm glad I found this, 'cause there really isn't anything else out there that will represent our angel babies and our earthly baby in the same necklace.

Our friend John came home from the hospital Tuesday and we are so happy that he gets to spend time in his own home with his loving and strong wife, Natalie, and their two children, Alex and Christian. Even though John got to go home to his family, he is not out of the woods yet and needs our support.

Please help out if you can