February Wrap-Up

As February comes to a close with only a few more days remaining, I thought I'd take a minute to share some recent events, happenings and thoughts.

John and I kept Valentine's Day pretty low-key this year. We went to a matinee showing of Valentine's Day the Friday before. Then Saturday night John surprised me with a tasty treat of some Rice Dream ice cream and strawberries! Sunday he gave me the movie Couple's Retreat (we saw it in the theater and both enjoyed it) along with a box of microwave popcorn and a sweet card. My tradition for John is making him red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. He graciously shared - perhaps you got some. He also got a box of chocolates.

We've been watching a lot of Olympics (ok, not a lot, but enough) and are ready for them to be over so our regular shows will start airing new episodes. John has been enjoying curling and I've been enjoying watching the skiers wipe out. Oh yeah, we've also been learning a lot about polar bears thanks to Mary Carillo ;)

Since the beginning of the month I've been on my shortened work weeks at our new work location in Young America. Despite the decreased income, this has really been a blessing. It allows me to sleep in every morning and I only have to sit at my desk for 6 hours 4 days a week. This is great since I've been extra tired this past month from carrying around all this extra weight. Every Friday I have off and that's when I've scheduled my weekly appointments. John has been able to come to the last couple for support which has been nice and it's also nice that because of my shorter work days that him and I have been able to spend more time together.

Last Thursday John got to enjoy the day with his Dad at the Home and Patio show. His Dad was teaching a plumbing class. John went to watch the class and then they walked around the showroom together. John's also been pretty busy at work lately, especially with a lot of early shifts.

We had another unfortunate event with John's Explorer last week. It started smelling really bad when he drove it on Thursday. Luckily, he could use my car to drive to work a few days. The diagnosis was the air conditioner compressor was shot and a couple hundred dollars later it's fixed. At least now we can install the car seat for the long drive home from the hospital!

I am planning to both work and teach piano until I have the baby. A couple of my students' parents told me last night that they didn't think I'd be having lessons next Tuesday. We'll see who wins! I was so proud of my students last night because they all are doing really well on their recital pieces. We started working on their new pieces after the holiday break and most of them have pretty challenging pieces. My goal was to have them at least feel comfortable with all the notes before my leave so they could work more on getting the feel of the pieces, moves, and tempo up to speed on their own. I only have 4 students participating in the recital and I've given each one of them a make-up lesson in preparation to my leave and then we'll do one make-up lesson when I get back, before the recital. I more than likely will be starting lessons up again during Chaska's spring break so I should only have to deal with 2 make-up lessons. Then I will just teach through the recital and be done.

Here's my most recent picture at 38 1/2 weeks. John tells Bib every day that it's time to come out and play. He is getting very anxious to be a Dad and start this new adventure called parenthood.

Baby Shower

Last month on January 30th, our family and friends threw John and me a baby shower in celebration of Bib's upcoming arrival. It was a nice gathering, good food, socializing, fun games and awesome gifts. I've pasted a few pictures below but you can see more here.

My sister, Rachel, made a diaper cake for the table centerpiece.

For the first game, everyone had to draw a picture of the baby on a paper plate on their head. John and I were the judges to determine the most realistic and the funniest looking.

The second game was a rousing game of Baby Scattegories. The letter was "D". John and my minds were blank and we ended up with a desert themed nursery, taking the baby to the dentist, and feeling depressed and in denial after the baby was born!

My mom and sister put together Nursery Rhyme Jeopardy for the third game. Everyone split into three teams (you're looking at the winning team in the picture below). The Final Jeopardy answer went something like this: "Bye, baby bunting. Daddy's gone a hunting. Hunting for the skin of which animal?" For those of you not at the shower, do you know the answer?
Here is a picture of one of our many gifts. My aunt, Yvonne, made Bib this Noah's ark quilt, both hand and machine quilted. I know Bib will love it!

My Disturbing Discovery

My sister came over on Saturday for dinner and to work on a craft project for our nursery. While she was helping me make spaghetti I started to tell her and John what I had just read on BabyCenter just a few days earlier. Upon first reading the BabyCenter discussion board about "placenta recipes" I thought everyone was just joking when they wrote things like stewed, casserole, and deep fried. Rachel quickly set me straight and said that those people were not joking, they really were going to eat it.

While the placenta may have much nutritional value and animals might eat it instinctively, it is something I never want to try. There is a reason there is a garbage bin underneath the delivery bed and that's where it's going. Gross!

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone or knows anyone who might have tried this. I was completely taken back when I found this out. There is no amount of money that someone could pay me to eat what is now inside my body.

2 Week Countdown

Today I hit 38 weeks. Really, the baby could come any day now. This weekend's activity is packing the hospital bag. We're not too worried about forgetting something since we only live a couple blocks from the hospital. Reality is starting to set in that this event is just around the corner and possibly I'm putting off packing thinking that if I don't pack it won't happen. John continues to tell the baby to come out so he doesn't have to go to work and is starting to think of ways to make me go into labor. Yesterday we went to Target just to walk around and now that he knows about the pressure points in my hands and legs I'm sure he's going to want to give me some massages to speed things along.

Everything checked out at my doctor's appointment this morning, although I did find out that I tested positive for the Group B Strep. For this they will just give me some antibiotics intraveneously while I am in labor, nothing too concerning. My blood pressure, weight and urine, baby's heart beat, and measurements are all looking good. So far I've gained about 34 pounds, so right in line with the suggested 25-35.

The Braxton Hicks contractions are coming more frequently now. They are painless and I actually didn't think I was having them as often as I was until my doctor told me that when the baby "balls up" I am in deed contracting. The baby has definitely dropped and I'm having a lot more lower back pain which I relieve with heat. People at work tell me that it looks like the baby is going to fall out! I am still sleeping pretty good at night. I just have to get up once or twice to empty the bladder but that is to be expected. Even though I am only working 24 hours/week, I still get fatigued very easily. It almost feels like I am going to fall asleep at my desk! I think this 3rd trimester fatigue is almost worse than in the 1st trimester. Plus, the faster I try to move around the house to get stuff done, the more I wear myself out. Guess it's all that extra weight I'm carrying around!

Bottom's Up!

This morning was my scheduled ECV (external cephalic version) to try and manuever the baby into a vertex (head-down) position. John and I went to Labor & Delivery at 9 this morning and I got to put on one of those fancy gowns and get the baby monitors strapped to my belly. Then the fun part, the nurse had to start an IV. (Kristin, I don't know how you lived through the nurses trying 8 times on you because just having the nurse mess up once in my left hand was bad enough. Even the 2nd successful attempt in my right hand wasn't too much better but at least that hand is not sore now.)

The nurse was busy filling in all my personal data into the triage report and didn't get around to giving me the uterus relaxing medicine before the doctor showed up. Good thing she didn't. Dr. Meath did an ultrasound right away and the first thing we saw was Bib's head at the bottom of my belly! We were so proud of Bib for turning all on its own! She did an ultrasound in the area where the head was last week and there was the legs and bottom!

I don't know when the turning happened but I think it was probably sometime in the last couple days. I had been sleeping on my left side the past couple nights trying to give it a little different feeling and maybe use gravity to help make the flip. Hopefully Bib stays in this position now.

My only instruction upon leaving triage was to tell the doctor at my appointment tomorrow that the baby is vertex!

Turn, Baby, Turn!

A routine check at pregnancy wek 36 is to check which way the baby is laying in the belly. Since my doctor wasn't able to tell anything by feeling cervix at my OB visit yesterday, she had to grab the ultrasound machine to find out. I told her there had always been a hard lump on my right side and when she looked at that lump via the ultrasound machine she confirmed that that lump was truly the head. We looked where the head is supposed to be and saw everything else - bottom, legs, umbilical cord...

Since the baby can't come out feet first, I next had to meet with Dr. Meath, an OB-Gyn at the clinic. She told me that we could either schedule a c-section or try to turn the baby. Since our preference is a vaginal delivery, we setup an appointment for next Thursday morning to try and turn the breeched Bib. We have to go to Labor & Delivery in the hospital and I get hooked up to the IV, have a couple shots of relaxation medicine and everything! Although Dr. Meath has never had it happen, there is a chance that when trying to manipulate the baby into the correct position it can start having complications and I'd have to get rushed off to have an emergency c-section, thus the IV. She's hoping for an easy turn since the baby's head is at my side and only has to get rotated to the bottom.

When I got home I looked online to try and find out how many pregnancies are breech. 3%! Leave it to our baby to try and figure things out for itself and not follow the rules! I think this baby is going to be a stubborn German baby after all (and a lot like it's mama). I am just hoping that everything turns like it's supposed to and there are no complications. I also hope that if the doctors are successful at turning Bib, that Bib stays in that position and is able to be delivered normally.

I guess this would explain why co-workers keep asking me if I get a lot of kicks in my rib cage, huh? Because the baby's feet aren't there! I have been feeling a lot of movement at the very bottom of the belly instead. I will get a whole new kicking experience if and when this baby gets turned around.

Other than all this, my 36 week visit was fine. Baby's heartbeat was 150, I didn't gain any weight since last week but the baby's still growing, and my blood pressure was 98/62.

35 Week Pregnancy Update

I just got back from my 35 week OB and everything still seems to get going well. I measured 36 cm and weighed 149 lbs. So far I've gained over 30 pounds (about 4 in the last two weeks)! I am having a lot of people tell me that they can tell I've gotten bigger in just the last two weeks and I guess my previous sentence backs those comments up. I do feel like I am "rounding" out and am bumping into things with my belly a lot more than before. Today at work Janice said "Your baby really sticks out pretty far!" and I had people at the spa last night ask if I was due any day now! See for yourself in this picture that John took on Tuesday night (just before bed, thus the pj's).

Yes, you read correctly above. I did write S-P-A, spa. For my birthday, John got me a gift certificate for a "Mommy-to-be Pampering Package" and I am taking advantage of it between last night and tomorrow morning. Last night I got a pedicure and manicure and Saturday morning before our baby shower. The lady who did my nails told me that she's had women go into labor during pedicures before as a result of the leg and foot massage which hits all the pressure points. She did go light on me and I'm still here! Not ready for the baby yet!

We are getting more prepared for the arrival, however. Since my last post, we've gone to our birthing classes which taught us breathing techniques and gave us a tour of the beautiful birthing suites and postpartum rooms. We also went to a baby care class, painted the nursery a very soothing light green and got the crib up. The nursery is definitely taking shape. With the help of our parents, we were able to paint the nursery, move in the fish tank, glider rocking chair, bookshelf and changing table all last weekend! (I just noticed that the nursery color is similar to the background of the blog. Hopefully most of you will also get to see it in person but I will try to get pics up after everything's in order.)

Along with gaining the weight and bigger comes the fun of getting more awkward and slow down. Up until just a few weeks ago I could still keep up with most people while walking. It is getting a lot harder to walk fast now and notice myself getting more out of breath. Luckily, at our new work location I was placed pretty close to both the printer and restroom, both of which I use very often! Next week I start my 24 hour work weeks and am really looking forward to relaxing at home a little more and getting even more prepared for the baby. 5 more weeks - I know these weeks will fly and Baby Lewis will be here before we know it!

Our Series of Unfortunate Events

I knew the new year was not going to start off on the best foot and our recent series of unfortunate events proves it. John says that things come in three's so hopefully we're good for awhile now. The good thing is that in the end, everything eventually turned out OK.

The first unfortunate event happened the first week of January. Our laundry area is right where you come in from the garage and on the floor we have a collection of carpet samples covering the linoleum. We noticed one night that some of the squares were drenched with water. At that time, we couldn't feel that anything else was wet and just left it alone. The next night I investigated even more and noticed that there was water under almost all the carpet and the water was coming from the washing machine. I mopped up all the water and when John came home he turned off the water. We did have to do laundry so turned the water back on and a few days after we noticed more water coming out. Luckily, John was able to figure out that it was just a water hose that had come loose. He had to clean out the area and move the washer & dryer ahead, but he was able to secure the hose and now no more water leaks!

The second unfortunate event happened on January 14th. We knew that things are going downhill for the company I work for and that changes were going to be coming/announced that week. It just so happened that I was told my position would be eliminated and my last day would be in 2 weeks. They let me go home for the afternoon and work from home on Friday. John and I immediately started thinking of switching over our health insurance to Home Depot's and making other such plans. My two other team members at work were so upset that I was being let go that just a few days later they came up with an idea where if they reduced their hours maybe I could stay on part time, too. Everyone at the company liked that idea. Janice and Kelli will go down to 32 hours/week and I will stay on at 24 hours/week. As disgusted as I am with YA right now that they would do this to me (especially being 8 months pregnant and not even knowing half of what I do for the company), it is nice to know that I am blessed with such wonderful co-workers and also be able to keep our insurance and some money coming in.

The last unfortunate event came on Tuesday night, January 19th. As John was driving home from work (he closed that night so this was around 9:30 or 10), he noticed his car acting up. The dashboard lights started to get dim and he noticed a funky smell. He took the 101 exit off of 212 and made it a block from Kwik Trip when his car completely died. He called his dad and they tried to jump start his car but each time they did it only went a few seconds before dying. A state trooper happened to drive past and push John over to the Kwik Trip. Since my dad is pretty good with cars and anything with a motor, we called him up for advice. We all kind of figured it was the alternator that had gone out so the next day he picked up John, picked up a new alternator and headed over to Kwik Trip to put it in. They got lucky and it worked! John was also a little excited that he got to help fix his own car! I'm just glad that we were able to fix it with our parents' help and didn't have to get a tow and pay for labor.

This has definitely been quite the month but glad that everything seems to be working out in the end. Tomorrow, my team at work will be moving to a new building. Right now we are in Chanhassen but since the lease is up on the building we are moving to the Young America building. I am excited for a much shorter commute. That mixed in with my shortened days (I will probably work four 6-hour days and have Friday off) should help me relax this last month of my pregnancy.

Not John!

This incident happened about a month ago, but is still blog worthy. I think this is one of the funniest John stories ever!

It was Monday, December 21st, and John and I had just gotten back from the hospital where we went to visit my Dad who had just gotten out of gall bladder surgery. Since we went to the hospital right after I got home from work, neither of us had eaten anything for dinner. So, around 9:00 we started cooking. I boiled up some rice noodles (very nutritious, I know) and John prepared a box of mac & cheese. Being that it was late at night we just wanted to unwind and planned on eating in the living room. John headed into the living room first while I finished plating my food in the kitchen.

I remember seeing John sit about half-way down on the couch, stand up really quick and then call me over to him. I first started thinking that he split his pants when he went to sit down. But, even better! When he turned around for me to look, there was a huge circle of wet, orange, mushy cheese along with a few noodles hanging off the bottom-side of his jeans. He had set his plate of mac & cheese on the couch and sat on it! As John was sitting down, he remembered thinking "where is my plate and what is so squishy... oh, no!"

Needless-to-say, we had quite a good laugh over this. I hope this story brightens your week!

Almost 32 Week Pregnancy Update

I am almost 32 weeks along already - about 8 more weeks to go - only 2 months from yesterday!

John and I have renamed January "the month of preparation". I think what's made the pregnancy go so fast is the fact that, while we're excited about having the baby, we haven't been doing a lot of real prep work. The Christmas season also helped keep our focus else-where. It did just hit me, though, that I really only have 2 months now to get the nursery and house ready and learn how to take care of a baby!

What do we have planned for this month? We have birthing classes scheduled for January 16-17, hoping to paint the nursery on the 23rd (ended up finding the bedding at BabiesRUs on Monday so now we can get the paint color), need to register for the breastfeeding class on the 28th, and our baby shower is scheduled for the 30th. I'm still going strong now, but just thinking about all this is making me tired! We kind of forgot to create our registries until just last weekend so at least that part is done and out of the way!

Everything still seems to be going well with me. Emotions are running wild and my appetite is kicking in again and so are BIB's movements. So far I've gained about 27 pounds, although I don't know where it all went to. Maybe we'll have a big baby! I have to go in for more blood tests tomorrow just to make sure that nothing is changing. The doctors think that my antibody levels reading abnormal just because of extra sensitive equipment. I am still sleeping pretty well throughout the night...once I get to sleep, that is. BIB seems to get the hiccups every night which makes it harder to get to sleep than the kicking alone. John doesn't know how I am able to sleep with all the kicking. I'm probably just so tired that it doesn't matter!