First, and hopefully last

The last five days or so have been pretty busy in our house. We have been rearranging rooms and organizing. Basically a similar game to musical chairs. Our house is a four bedroom house and of course, Paul and I have one room, Joey has another, the other two have been used as a guest room and office for the last two and a half years. Since baby is coming soon, we needed to make some changes.

What used to be the guest room is now Joey's room, and what was Joey's room is now the nursery, or at least on its way to looking like a nursery. The office and guest room are now combined and after trying to fit both my desk and the queen size bed in there we finally found the places for the puzzle. I personally think it looks great! Hopefully our company will be comfortable in their new room. The only concern I have is that my computer is in that room, so does that mean I can't go on my computer while we have company?

Of course I haven't moved any of the heavier furniture myself, but I have done my share of bending, sliding, pushing, trips up and down the hall making sure I am going through Joey's room as I am moving it. Monday night, something happened that I hoped never would and didn't expect it at all. I fell.

Paul was in the nursery with me, there is still a lot of Joey's stuff in there. Basically all of his belongings were in the middle of the room, so Paul could move the furniture and I could just rearrange book shelves. I went to take a step back and there was a large plastic tote on the floor (that Joey keeps his legos in) that I tripped on. I took about three stumbled steps (on the tote) before I fell to my tailbone and hit my head on the wall. Paul tried to catch me, but it was such an awkward fall that there was just no catching me...

It scared the crap out of me. I instantly was crying, from both the pain and being scared and my belly started tightening. Luckily, I fell on my back and not on my abdomen so baby is fine, it's just momma that's hurting pretty bad. I instantly felt like I had whip-lash and my back was instantly starting to hurt.

Two days later and I'm still pretty sore. I feel like I've felt in the past after a really bad snowboarding fall or something. I'm definitely going in to see my chiropractor today because I know I am all out of alignment. Sucks, because I just went last week and was feeling so in line!!

I know baby is fine, I'm not having any cramping, spotting or problems with the little guy and he was kicking up a storm last night and this morning. I'm sure he didn't even know what happened.

Joey's room is almost done and thankfully my in-laws are coming today (to stay for a week) so they can help me with the final touches and maybe even help set up the nursery!

Whirlwind of a week!

This past week is almost a bit of a blurrrrrr... but it's been an amazing blur. I've been working out every day since I was relieved from pelvic rest and it's amazing what it's done for my moods! I feel like a much better person and am feeling so healthy. I'm getting a big sore in the evenings, from carrying around the extra weight out front, but all in all, I feel fabulous!

It's hard to believe that my 31st birthday came and went. It didn't even really feel like a birthday this year, just another day. Although, I did get flowers from my honey and also from my friend April.

 


The cards that both of my boys gave to me were also very sweet along with those that I received on Valentine's Day yesterday. I am truly thankful and blessed that I have such wonderful men in my life. Even though I may bitch and complain about Paul's attitude sometimes or his cranky mood swings, I love him with all of my heart and am so happy to be married to my best friend.

Aside from celebrating my birthday, another winning game from Joey's football team and spending some time with our neighbors, I was able to relax a little this weekend and it felt wonderful.  We were also able to find a new mattress/box spring set for our guest room. We've had a full size bed in there for the past 2 1/2 years but after sleeping in a full size bed at my parents house, we learned that we should probably upgrade the guest bed to a queen. Especially knowing that our parents will be visiting more when the baby arrives. We want them to be comfortable! I put the full size bed on Craigslist and sold it in a day!

I am happy. So very happy.

Placenta Previa, BE GONE!

We had been patiently waiting for yesterday's doctor appointment for four weeks now. Thank goodness now that I am 24 weeks I didn't have to drink 32oz of water and hold it. I was able to go to the ultrasound appointment comfortably!

We didn't have to wait too long in the waiting room for the U/S tech. Name was called, we went in and I climbed on the table and got my belly ready. I was eager to see my little guy up on the monitor as I know Joey and Paul were too. It wasn't long before we saw him appear, relaxed with his hands behind his head (his usual position) enjoying his nice warm home. It's amazing that even though babies look like little aliens in an U/S they are still cute as can be. He was squirming around a little, but not too much. The tech was able to get all of his measurements accurately and even confirmed that, yes, he is still a boy.

The best news of all come next... "Your placenta has moved up and out-of-the-way." I instantly had chills and of course, shed a few tears of excitement. All of my worrying and wondering was gone and I received the positive outcome I prayed for. Now I could continue on with my pregnancy without limitations. I can continue doing all of the things I was doing before (yes, that too!!) and am able to start working out again. I am going to take it easy though, since it has been a month and I do notice I get winded much quicker.

Met with my midwife again and she gave me even more good news! She hired an assistant midwife, from England, to help out with all of her new moms. At this point, my midwife Joyce, is off Wed-Fri so if I was to go into labor during those days, whatever OB that's on duty would deliver for me. At least now, I can get to know Belinda (the other midwife) and no matter what day of the week I will still get to utilize a midwife!! Totally good news...

I'm all over the place, so excited and eager for the coming months. I am so thankful that my body worked out it's issues and I won't be needing surgery or having to be on pelvic rest any longer. Now I can focus on my continued health and enjoy my pregnancy!

I think I need some lunch.

No underwire, thank you.

As I have become more pregnant and my belly has turned into a basketball other things have grown too. Since I've had to stop working out I've noticed an unfortunate (but fixable) difference in my rear and hips. Up until about two months ago I was still wearing my ever so comfy and favorite Victoria's Secret bras but of course, like "regular" clothes, that had to come to an end.

I hadn't given much thought about actually buying a nursing bra until I absolutely needed to, but wearing a sports bra every day has been getting kind of old and I needed something that had more of a "bra" look to it. I didn't want to go to VS and just purchase the next size up because starting in May, I will be wearing nursing bras for at least the next year. What is the point on spending $45 on my favorite bra now, only to wear it three months and then possibly not even be able to wear it after breastfeeding for a year, I'm sure my size will change, again.

I started with Motherhood Maternity, hoping that since in the back of the store they have a huge wall of nothing but bras. I've stayed away from that wall, because well, I just didn't want to be shopping for that yet! When I went in, the annoying girl who always seems to be working when I'm there, was there. She decided she'd help me even though I didn't want any help. Her useless help obviously got me no where and instead of walking out of there with new $19 maternity/nursing bras, I walked out with a new pair of shorts. (in hopes that it will be warming up soon).

When I got home, I started texting all of my friends who have been recently pregnant and used nursing bras. Most of my friends don't/didn't nurse their babies so it was a tough one. One friend in particular, who thinks a lot like me and has a larger bust like me, was the one who hit the jackpot. She sent me the link of a bra on Nordstrom.com that she used during her whole year of nursing and said it was amazingly comfortable.

These bras come in so many different types, just as regular bras do. Underwire, no underwire, flap, no flap. While I have always worn bras with underwire for own personal preferences, going to a nursing bra, I find that I should NOT be wearing underwire. It's great now, but honestly it's the most uncomfortable thing imaginable. With a basketball under my shirt, having that underwire dig in is not something I want to experience day after day, not to mention it's not good for you to wear while nursing because it can cause your milk ducts to clog.

No underwire it is. Since I really didn't know how these bras felt I had to make a trip to Nordstrom. Of course, their website has several different bras and they only carry one in the store. Of course. I ask to try it on and they don't even have the accurate size that I need, but I was able to gauge which one to get based on the comfort of the two I tried on. This bra was like heaven. I could wear it 24 hours a day and be comfortable, so I ordered it and I can't wait for it to be here!

It's amazing though, how much we pay for comfort. Maternity bras that I tried on at Target and Motherhood were around $15-30 and so horribly uncomfortable. This one that I ended up purchasing from Nordstorm was a whopping $55!!! But... that's comfort. Not much more than I pay for a bra a VS and I'll be wearing it for at least a year so really it's not that bad!

Shopping for all things baby is fun, exciting, confusing,  and most of all expensive but it is so worth it!

Will he see his shadow?

February 1, means a few different things. One, in ten days I'm going to be another year older. Two, tomorrow is Groundhog day and our little fuzzy friend Phil is going to either see his shadow or not see his shadow. I am kind of hoping that he does see his shadow tomorrow, because ideally that means there will be six more weeks of winter and me being pregnant, sounds pretty nice.

When I  moved to Arizona in the fall of 2008 the weather was fantastic. Summer was nearing an end and I got to enjoy my first bit of Arizona fall weather. I was in love. Once the winter came, I fell even deeper in love and as spring crept up in 2009 I was completely head over heels in love with Arizona weather. I keep reading all of these posts on Facebook and Twitter about ice storms and snow and delayed or cancelled flights and it makes me so thankful to live in such a nice climate. Don't get me wrong, it's cold here too... I think tomorrow it's only supposed to be a high of 48 degrees temperatures dipping into the 20's for the next three nights. But, it's still sunny blue skies and that's what I need to see every day.

I'm not a person who could live in a place that is cloudy and gloomy all of the time. I need to see the rays of sunshine coming through my windows and that feeling of warmth when I walk outside even on the coldest days. The few summer months that are 100 degrees and warmer are so worth the weather we get the rest of the year.

I have always wondered what truth there actually is behind this whole groundhog and his shadow deal, especially since he's apparently been doing this for the last 125 years. Do groundhogs really live that long? I think not... Either way, it's a fun little yearly activity to look forward to. Here's to hoping he sees his shadow!