A day in the life of...

Here are some pictures from a typical day in my life.

5:30 - wake up and shower, make coffee and get ready

7:00 - wake Eden up (this makes me sad that she can't sleep longer)

7:15 - shower with dad

7:30 - nurse and Eden sits in swing while I get everything ready to leave

7:55 - get to babysitters

8:00 - I get to work

8:30 - pump

11:00 - go and nurse Eden

12:00 - go back to work and eat lunch

1:30 - pump

2:30 - pump

5:00 - leave work

5:10 - get home and see that there is nothing started for dinner (play with Eden)

6:00 - dinner is made and nurse Eden (play with Eden)

7:00 - nurse Eden and put her to bed

The rest of the night is spent cleaning and doing laundry. Also spending quality time with Garrett!

Sickness

Since last Friday morning until yesterday, the Hufford household was sick. Garrett was sick for about 2 days, Eden was sick (she has a runny nose and a little cough) for about 4 days, and as for me, I didn't get sick at all! NOT! I was sick the whole entire time. It was not a lot of fun and was a really looong week because I had no energy and left a permanent indention on the couch. I felt bad for Eden because I had no energy to play with her:( Garrett was wonderful though and took good care of his girls!!!

In other news, Eden is now 3 months old!!!!! I can't believe how much she has grown...**tear**

She can now wear most 3 month clothes and her new born clothing has been all packed away. She likes to roll onto her side (still having trouble with that massive shoulder of hers). She loves, loves, loves to smile and laugh and likes observing everything. She also is a great little sleeper. She goes to bed without a fuss by 8pm now and is up around 7am during the week. She is so much fun! Well, I haven't posted any new photos since most of them are on my facebook but I will put a few on here for your viewing pleasure!

http://thegypsymama.com/2009/10/04/the-sunday-night-blues/

Instead of writing my own post, this woman sums up exactly how I feel. And I thought I would leave you with a favorite poem of mine.

Song for the Fifth Child:

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs.
Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

The Pumping Disaster of 2009

Well, it wasn’t a disaster or anything like that but it felt like one. I guess it would have been a disaster if my pump actually exploded! LOL

So, Garrett took Eden Friday night to Ohio (long drive but the grandparents wanted to see the nugget). Garrett wanted me to have some alone time and some uninterrupted sleep – I am married to such a great man. Since he was taking Eden that meant I needed to pump during her feeding times. Well, at 2pm my second husband (I call my pump this because I feel like I am married to it since I pump 4 to 5 times on any given day) was working just fine. I decided to pump at 4pm so I could run some errands and my second husband started acting a little funny but it seemed fine. Then at 6pm I decided I should pump again (Eden doesn’t eat this often but I thought ever two or three hours would keep my supply up), well my second husband was still acting a little off but I thought it might be because I was using it so often and it needed a rest. So, I waited until 9pm to spend some time with my second husband and he was not working at all! He had no suction…no matter what I tried (I tried taking everything apart and putting it back together, I even tried beating it, and praying for it but no luck).

At 10pm that night, I had to go find a cheap date to replace him. It’s not an easy task finding another husband when leaving the other one on such bad terms and so quickly. Good thing I found a 24-hour chapel (Walmart) and was able to secure our marriage for $80 (my other pump was an Ameda pump that was almost $300). So, within an hour I divorced my first husband and married another. My replacement is okay but I will admit I married another the very next day…he is much smaller and is manual (not electric), so his mechanics won’t run out unless mine do (I guess pump motors run out when used a lot). Geesh…what an eventful night without my real husband or my beautiful daughter.

Anywho, that was pretty much my weekend. I need to download pictures to the computer so you can see how much Eden has grown! She is becoming such a delightful little girl and very smiley. The only time she really gets upset is around 7pm when she starts getting tired. I can’t blame her though, because she has a lot of growing to do in the next few years and that can wear any one out! Hopefully I will get some pictures up in the next few days!

I wanted a pug but I’ll settle for a badger.

Okay, now I have a little story to tell and it’s not really Eden related but I will try and make it so it is. You see, every morning when Eden goes to make coffee she peers out into the backyard. Eden has always wanted a pug but dad says no to a pet just yet which makes both Eden and I sad. Anyway, one morning when Eden was putting away the dishes before making coffee she noticed a little grey animal chillin’ in the back yard. She came running to me and told me to come look. We thought our prayers for a pug had been answered until I realized it wasn’t a pug. Eden went to tell dad that there was a furry little creature in the backyard and to come look. Dad looked in the backyard and saw nothing and thought both Eden and I made the whole thing up. Eden and I saw the furball several times over a few days and Eden wanted to pet it but I said no. But since dad won’t let us get a pug just yet I said we could keep it.

Then this week, Garrett came home and told us he saw our little furry friend! We discussed what we thought it was. Eden and I thought it was a beaver without a tail or the buckteeth that got abandoned by his family because of his disabilities (he was unable to make a dam – how shameful). Garrett told us that it was probably a muskrat (none of us had ever seen one so we didn’t know what it was). But a day later after Garrett examined the little creature he determined it was a badger. We decided he needed a name and Eden thought Badge would be cool but dad thought Bob was better. Well, Eden and I out ruled dad on this one and his name is Badge:) He currently resides in our backyard and we saddle him up and Eden goes for rides! Not really but you get the picture. We don’t have a pug but we do have a badger. Pretty cool, huh?

Update on this: My dad said that badgers will ruin your lawn and that we need to have animal control come and take him to a proper place for a badger. So my hopes of having a pet were just crushed.

Eden is such a good little baby. Garrett and I are pro-sleep training (I know this isn’t for everyone but for the friends of our, who have done it, it has worked wonders). So we decided to give it a try. I was kind of thinking in my head, if she cries more than 5 minutes I won’t do this ever again. Even though everyone said that it would be a couple of hard days and then it would work wonders. So the first night I put Eden in her crib when she done with her swing time (we put her in her swing for 30 minutes after she eats to reduce her spitting up and help with her acid reflux). I thought for sure she would cry. So I turned on her sleepy lamb (plays the sound of a heartbeat) and she was wide awake. Five minutes go by and she wasn’t crying. I go and check on her to find that she is still awake but looking a little sleepy. Ten minutes later I go in and find a sleeping little nugget! She put herself to sleep with no crying!! She has done this ever since (this has been going on for almost 4 weeks now). I am amazed!!! She goes into her crib at 8:30pm. No cries, although sometimes when she has a tummy ache she needs her paci re-put in a few times (she still doesn’t cry, just squeaks for it).

I honestly didn’t think it would be this easy and I am afraid of what our future kids will be like. But she is a happier baby throughout the day because she goes to bed at the same time. She also now gets sleepy around 8 after she eats so we might be moving up her nighttime feeding so she can go to bed earlier. We truly have been blessed!

A change in attitude.

I have learned in the past week that crying over circumstances is just bad and stinks a lot. Would I like to be a stay at home mom? Absolutely! 100%! You name the day and I am there! But right now that is just not possible. All last week I cried and was upset over going back to work and missing out on Eden during the day (don't get me wrong, I like my job but I like my little girl more). While I still do feel I am missing out on her during the day I decided to change my attitude and thoughts. I am working because I am doing what is best for my family right now at this exact moment. I am doing what is best for Eden and what is best for Garrett and I. Garrett would love for me to stay home also and he is trying to make that happen but until then, I can’t let myself get depressed over it. One thing that has helped is that I remind myself that I get to spend time with Eden while she is at her best – in the morning when she wakes up and wants to play and eat, at lunch time when she is hungry and alert, and in the evenings when she wants to be snuggled.

I still cry every once in awhile and still need reassurance that I am doing the right thing (which Garrett does every day). There have been plenty of women (and men) who think I should stay home regardless of our financial ability. Their judgment hurts a lot and a lot of them mean no harm but it still hurts. If there was a way, we would. I am not working so we can go on a trip or live a lavish lifestyle or buy a new car or so I can get new clothes, I am working to pay bills and provide health insurance. Garrett just does not make enough to cover our basic needs each month (if he had my job and I had his I would be able to stay at home). And what bothers me the most is when people think Garrett is not doing all he can to provide for us. He is and has always done that.

Probably the hardest part for me right now is balancing time. My evenings are spent with my family because I don’t get to during the day. I signed up for a women’s Bible study but am probably not going to do it since it will take time away from the already small amount of evening time during the week that I get to spend with Eden. I also feel left out in many of the “groups” I am in. Everyone we know at our church stays at home with their kids, there really isn’t any one for me to really share my struggles with. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of wonderful people to talk to about these things but no one who understands and can relate. Then here at work, these women want to work – this works for them and staying at home isn't for everyone but they don’t understand where I am coming from. I am once again the odd man out. Oh well.

Okay, okay, I am done with my little rant…I just needed to get it off my chest.

On to something that I know you will want to actually read – how Eden is doing!

She had her 2 month check up and shots. She weighs 10lbs 12oz and is 22 inches tall - it made me laugh that the doctor said that! She is plumping up:) The doctor said she is doing really well and is surprised that she is already almost sleeping through the night (she gets up at about 5am after going to be at 8:30pm) since she is exclusively breastfed. Her shots went well but I felt so bad because she was sucking on her paci and they stuck the needle in her first leg and her eyes got big and out came her paci and a sad face came up and she took a big breath in…then came the saddest scream/cry I have ever heard. She did great though! She was happy as soon as they were over and I got her fed.

Eden is such a joy:) We like getting her from her crib in the morning and playing with her in bed. She smiles all the time for us and is so alert. She also loves to go for walks and she takes showers all by herself! Just kidding but we do take her in the shower with us and she loves it!

Anywho, thanks for reading this and letting me vent a bit. We are praying that Garrett will find a better job to support our family and that God would ease the ache of my heart. So for now I am just taking each day as it comes and being thankful for what God has provided us as a means to provide for our family.

Back to work I go(:

My maternity leave is coming to an end way too fast. I go back to work on Tuesday and have already shed many tears over the fact that I have to leave Eden in the hands of someone else. There is nothing I can do but be thankful for the fact that I know the woman and I will be literally a minute or two away from her and get to go nurse her and spend time with her over my lunch hour. I am not sure how this week will go and am hoping to have a positive outlook each day as I drop her off.

Eden will be 8 weeks tomorrow and I cannot believe how incredibly fast time has gone. She is almost 2 months old, which is practically half a year, which is almost one year old, which is pretty much 5, which might as well be 10, and that is practically 18 and she is off to college... I am trying to make sure I cherish each moment that I am with her and remember every little detail of her face because it will change. I already look back at pictures and am amazed at how much she has already changed. She is getting so big and strong!

Well, I am starting to tear up thinking about Tuesday morning and missing parts of her day that I have gotten to share for the past 8 weeks. So here are some pictures!

1. Naked at great-great-grandma's because I pooped out my outfit.

2. Naked again.

3. I like being naked or mom wanted to make sure I didn't poop out another cute outfit.

4. Great-great-grandma holding me in the dress she bought me before I pooped it out.

5. At the hotel sitting up.

6. Gerber baby picture:)

7. Me with my bitty baby - taking a nap.

8. Being cute for dad.

9. It was cold so I got to wear a cute outfit!

10. Mom trying to capture my smile - she isn't that good at picture taking and I am too quick.

11. Chillaxing...

Mastitis, moving, and bedtime

One thing I have learned about breast feeding is that it when your baby gets up less at night you need to ease your into feeding more less often. I developed a clogged milk duct that turned into mastitis. Let me tell you, I have not been that sick for a very long time! I woke up Wednesday morning feeling okay but a little bit more tired than usual. By the afternoon I felt like I needed a nap which was unusual. My left armpit area started to hurt but I thought it was a pulled muscle from packing. Then I went with Eden to get a pizza from Papa Murphy’s at 4 and was feeling a bit achy. By the time I got home I felt awful. I had a fever over 101, my body hurt so bad from the fever, and my left breast was killing me. I called my doctor and he said, “Congratulations! You must be breastfeeding and your baby isn’t eating as often.” Then he gave me some advice and drove over a prescription to Walgreen’s for me. I still didn’t feel great on Thursday but was feeling a lot better. Garrett was great and got my prescription and took care of Eden for me. I am again reminded of how blessed I am!

We are trying to get Eden on a bedtime schedule and tonight we had a successful night. I am sure that tomorrow will be awful considering that I just wrote that tonight went so well. She put herself to sleep within 10 minutes (this is the first night we have tried this) and didn’t even cry for a second. She is such a good baby and only gets a little fussy at night due to some gas that needs to come out.

I guess this leaves me with the topic of moving… Garrett and I purchased our first home! We really feel God’s hand in all this. We actually put in our offer the day I went into labor (three hours to be exact before Eden was born). It’s in an older neighborhood that is made up of older folks and a few young couples. The street as a whole is very nice but our little section has some bad yard keep up because of the older folks (their yards just have quite a few weeds growing). One of our neighbor’s houses is in need of some serious up-keep but he is a single dad who works as an orderly at the hospital so I can’t blame him. Garrett and I feel that this will be a great opportunity for us to share our faith through our home and through helping others in the neighborhood – not only to our neighbors but also to others. We have had a strong calling to open up our home and use it for Christ. I am very excited to see what God will do through it all. I will have to share pictures but our cord is packed up right now and I am too lazy to get it.

I feel truly blessed to have a home, an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, and a God who loves me. I am sure there will be trying times that come in these new adventures but with Christ by my side it will all work out.

You know you're a mom when...

You squeeze your baby’s diaper to see if they are wet.

You take a peek in the diaper to see if you can see if it is dirty.

You can feed and change your baby in the middle of the night without waking up.

You swear you hear a baby crying.

You talk to your baby in public – when they are asleep.

You wipe the spit-up off you and wear the same clothes the rest of the day.

You find your baby’s bodily noises hilarious.

You laugh at your baby when they make faces and can’t stop laughing.

You find yourself taking baby talk to other people when the baby is not around.

These are just a few of the things that have come to mind when I think of how I know I am a mom.

Eden is doing really well. She is usually asleep between 7 and 8 (sometimes 9 depending on how much she napped during the day). Then she sleeps for 5 to 6 hours, wakes up to eat, and then wakes up every 3 to 4 hours to eat. It has been much nicer to get more consecutive hours of sleeping. She is also a paci girl. She liked to suck on my finger to calm herself or when she was bored but I am not always around – so as of yesterday she took her paci! She doesn’t sleep with it, just sucks on it during little spurts throughout the day. Eden has also learned how to grasp and grasp hard. I have to be careful of anything I wear but that’s okay with me.

Now, here is a story I have for you:

Eden and I ran to Walmart to get some bathroom cleaner and a few other things. Eden had been really good but was starting to get fussy so I knew it was time to wrap things up fast, which I did. Well, I got behind this lady who took forever! Eden was screaming and the woman kept giving me dirty looks – what am I supposed to do with a screaming baby who needs to go home to sleep when you are taking forever with the cashier (she was arguing the total of her purchases and then went through everything item by item). I had unloaded my cart and was trying to calm Eden or I would have went to a different line. Here is the kicker – the old woman behind me came up and started trying to calm Eden herself! She started touching her feet and she even got real close. She kept saying how pretty Eden was and how she would never hurt a baby. I tried moving my cart forward a little so she might get the hint that it is not okay to touch my baby unless you ask and you are a stranger! I was in between Eden and this woman who kept trying to touch Eden and kept trying to have this long conversation with me (she asked about me breast feeding and stuff like that). I know she was probably lonely and I would have been more than happy to talk with her but please do not touch my child. I am not really protective about people holding and touching her at all but this was a complete stranger at Walmart. Plus, stores are dirty places and I always wash my hands before I get close to her face after shopping – I am not a germ freak or anything but who knows who touched the cart I was pushing. I just didn’t feel comfortable but I had no idea what to say to get her to stop touching her. Eden of course calmed down as soon as I put her in the car and she was asleep by the time we got home. I just want to know how to politely tell people to back off.

Well, I am off to play with my cooing baby girl:)

Eden is almost 4 weeks old! Here are just a few pictures from the past few weeks (we have over 600 since she has been born). She is growing so much and is such a joy! We are so thankful for this little blessing:) It is amazing how God created this little person and one day she will be all grown up!

Eden's latest likes are playing - she can grab things now and although she doesn't quite have good coordination she is getting there. She like to lick with her long tongue and we think it's funny when she licks her lips when she is hungry:) She does tummy time every day and some days she likes it and other days she screams the whole time. She has been a really good eater but I think I ate something that didn't agree with her because she seems to have a tummy ache. Other than that she is the most loved little girl and everyone adores her!

I just recently packed away my maternity clothes! My hips are finally back to normal size. I still have about 5 pounds left to lose but am not too worried about them. I am feeling great! The only complaint I have which is more funny than a complaint is that I spring leaks daily and have to change my shirt all the time. I feel like I have enough milk for 8 kids! It's also funny when I spray Eden in the face - I do feel bad but I can't help but laugh my head off:)

Well, I hope you enjoy the pictures and I apologize that I can't figure out how this blog thing works...

2 week appointment

Eden just had her 2 week appointment today and she was a little trooper. She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz and grew almost 2 inches! She is our little bean pole! I always thought I would have a short little chubby baby but she is long and lean.

These past 2 weeks have been a good adjustment. I am learning to live on less sleep (well, less consecutive hours, not necessarily less sleep). We had her on a good three hour schedule until yesterday when she hit a growth spurt and was up every hour for like 5 hours eating like she had never been fed. This kind of stressed me out a bit because I have been fighting a cold and haven’t been sleeping the greatest because of it. But Garrett was a wonderful dad and husband and took care of her for the first half of the night while I was completely passed out. She is still eating more often today but I am guessing that the growth spurt is just about over. The doctor said she will most likely have one every two weeks – hopefully I won’t be sick for the next one!

I am healing very nicely. I only have a few aches and pains left and am trying to regain some abdominal strength because I can’t quite yet sneeze and cough well. I tried to work out yesterday but quickly realized I was out of shape. I did manage to do 25 sit ups and spend 20 minutes on my Gazelle. I was pooped! I am taking today off but will try and do 25 sit ups. My stomach is pretty much back to normal but the skin is really loose which causes me to have a muffin top when I wear my pre-pregnancy clothes. The thing that stinks is that I am too small for my maternity clothes but still not quite small enough for my normal clothes. One thing that has been nice is that about 20 of the pounds I gained was actually water weight (I was 25 lbs lighter the day I left the hospital).

Garrett and I are trying to transition Eden to her crib (just during the day) instead of having her sleep in her swing or the bouncer or with us holding her. She will still sleep in our room until she only gets up once during the night. It has been nice having her in our room since I breast feed and am the one who gets up with her during the night. I do pump but not a ton just yet because I am always with her so there is no need (last night it was helpful though for Garrett).

That is about it for now! I will update soon about our first trip to Waverly to see friends and then our next adventure is going to Omaha to a wedding…hopefully all will go well!

Happy Birthday!

As I promised, here is Eden’s birth story. I will warn you that there will be quite a few details but nothing gruesome.

Let me start from the very beginning…Monday morning I woke up and was having contractions that were five minutes apart but felt like mild cramping. I decided I would go to work and if they got worse I would go to the hospital but figured that they were probably just Braxton Hicks. Once I got to work the contractions stopped for like an hour, which kind of disappointed me. I decided to take a half-day since I had a chiropractor appointment and a prenatal appointment.

Garrett came and picked me up from work and we went looking at houses. I was still having contractions but they were very mild and were between 5 to 45 minutes apart. We decided to cancel my chiropractor appointment because we were still looking at houses.

Now comes the next 2 ½ hours – I still remember every detail. We went to my 39 week appointment as usual and this was my first cervical check since I was a first time mom with no risk. I was hoping to hear that I was dilated at least a cm and effaced or something. The doctor checks me and has this funny look on his face and then says, “Well, I think you need to head over to labor and delivery because you are already five cm dilated and you have a bulging bag of water.” This was a little before 5pm and we called our parents and told them what was going on and that it would probably be a little while.

By the time we got out of the office and got over to the hospital (maybe 20 minutes later) we were put in a triage room – they check to make sure you are actually are in labor. My doctor followed us over since we were the last appointment for the day and he comes into the triage room and tells the nurse that I need to be in a labor and delivery room. He actually walked us to our room and wanted to check me again (5:30ish pm). He checked me one more time and said, “You are 7 cm dilated and I think I want to break your water.” He breaks my water and I ask if Garrett can run home and get our bags and the camera. The doctor says sure and then leaves to go somewhere.

Garrett was gone and my nurse had left to get something that wasn’t in my room and I had the worst contraction ever that left me breathing through it by myself clutching to the bed. The nurse comes in and I ask for an epidural. She starts scrambling around because she knew Eden was coming fast. The next thing I know she is trying to start an IV and ask a few questions for the epidural. I had like maybe 6 contractions and was feeling pressure in my behind (6:15pm). The nurse checks me and tells me that I am fully dilated and that the baby’s head was right there. She tells me that there is no time for an epidural and I ask her to get my purse because I needed to let Garrett know that he needed to get here ASAP (later he told me he was speeding and running around). Garrett was right outside the room when I called and the nurse kept paging my doctor – I think she thought he wasn’t going to make it.

At 6:30, the doctor came running in (my parents said he was running through the hall to get to my room) and I was starting to push. Pushing was the hardest thing I ever had to do. The contractions hurt and made me want to push and it did help but it was by no means a great feeling. People were running in and out of my room because she was coming so fast and nothing was set up. I pushed for 30 minutes and joked around between contractions and smiled for pictures and then Eden Grace Hufford was born at 7:02! One thing that is amazing is that as soon as the doctor handed me Eden I felt no more pain and can only remember that it hurt but not how bad. After she was born my nurse asked me all the questions that are usually asked before the baby comes and I got to hold her and kiss her and feed her.

I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who supported and encouraged me the whole way! He was amazing and I am tearing up just thinking about what a wonderful man God blessed me with. I can’t stop thanking God for the support He provided through Garrett. I am also amazed at my little girl who is the most beautiful little baby I have ever seen (I may be a little biased). I can’t believe she is here and couldn’t have asked for a better birthing experience (everything from my wonderful doctor to the great nurses and even the fact that I had no epidural)!

I can’t believe how fast she came – most first babies take over 12 hours but my labor was only about 2 hours. We joke around that it was because of all the squats I did! LOL Anyway, the only thing that scares me about having a fast delivery is that your second child is supposed to come in half the time…

I am now at home with my wonderful daughter and am healing nicely. She is a wonderful eater and pooper and sleeper. She is absolutely precious! Below are some pictures!

She's Here!!!!!!

I will write her birth story later but she is perfect!

7lbs 2oz

20 inches long

Born 7/13/2009 at 7:02pm

Garrett and I can't stop smiling!!!!!

A full moon and still nothing

Yesterday was a full moon and there is speculation that the gravity pull of the moon can cause a woman’s water to break (they even have extra staff on the night of full moons because of this). I, of course, had nothing happen. Oh well. I am okay with it, still ready to be a little less uncomfortable though.

Garrett and I did get to go to our birthing class. As usual, we were late because Garrett needed to get coffee. This is to be expected in our house hold though. I am the one who likes to get somewhere before we have to be there and being on time is almost like being late to me. For Garrett, getting somewhere five to ten minutes late is on time for him. Drives me nuts sometimes but I love him anyway! Next week we are going to try and be early for our class…

The class went pretty well. I had already read about most of it and have asked my doctor plenty of questions that I might have. I was the only person in the room who had less than 2 weeks until my due date. Everyone else was either due late August or September/early October. I guess I should have signed up for our classes earlier! I did learn a lot about the actual hospital that I will be delivering at. Once the baby is born house keeping will come and clean up my room and then pull down a queen sized bed for the rest of my stay. That means Garrett can sleep right next to me! He was planning on staying anyway but I am sure he wasn’t looking forward to sleeping on the couch or a cot. I will also have one nurse during my labor who will assist me in anyway that she can and I will be her only patient. There was a lot of other things that I loved about St. Luke’s but it has escaped my mind.

Other news, oregano is like eating furry little leaves. HATED IT! I decided that I will just add the dried stuff to some foods I eat. The basil wasn’t as bad but gave me indigestion. Obviously neither of these things caused me to go into labor so I am not sure how religiously I will continue with those. I am still a squatting machine and yesterday Garrett grabbed me by the arm and told me to stop because I was going to hurt myself (of course we both laughed as I continued to squat while he was telling me not to). The funny part is, squatting actually feels really good. I will continue doing them but will probably decrease the amount since my legs are still really sore. While at work I bounce on my exercise ball like a crazy woman. It’s kind of fun! It is also helping with my back pain quite a bit.

I know that my body will go into labor when it’s ready or by pitocin (I am praying this does not happen). It’s just fun to try out these so-called labor inducers. My next attempt will be to push mow the lawn…first step, find a lawn to mow!

150 squats and 3 mile walks

The above title is so true but I would like to add that now I can’t move and am still pregnant! LOL My legs have never done that many squats in their life! I do them in sets of 10 and made myself do them while at home between trips to the bathroom, commercials on tv, and in the shower (Garrett thought it was funny that I would bust out the squats at random times). Boy am I regretting my eagerness to do this. Plus, my wonderful husband and I have been going on long walks each day. None of this really bothered my glutes or my thighs until yesterday. I am guessing that they hurt more than usual because I was a squatting machine on Saturday! Today I am doing alright and can at least get out of the car without it taking me five minutes to turn myself and find things to hold onto and boost myself out the passenger seat. I can also lift my leg to flush the toilet (public toilets). I think I will be starting up my squats again today. If this does not produce a baby soon, at least I will have a nice behind!

I am 38 weeks as of today. I had my usual doctor’s appointment today with nothing much new. I am now measuring two weeks ahead and while this doesn’t mean much, it gives me hope that she is about to be ready to come out. My blood pressure was border line high but the nurse said that it was probably a combination of walking so far to the room and her taking my pressure right away and the fact that I am retaining water. Eden is doing great though! Still moving (very painful to me) and still head down and happy. Hopefully she will decide that being upside down means she needs to come, for mom’s sake.

Garrett and I completely finished up Eden’s room on Saturday. Garrett managed to drill 10 holes in the wall for one shelf…he got so mad (which is not like him) but I thought it was so cute! Eventually he got the hang of it (no pun intended) and got the shelves up. He also wanted to make sure that there was no way they would potentially fall off the wall and 1)startle Eden or 2)hurt Eden (he is going to be such a good daddy), so he 3-Med those suckers up along with screwing them to the wall. I will be taking pictures of her room probably today but I need Garrett to get the pictures off the camera to the computer – I am not that tech savvy.

In other news…Garrett and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary yesterday! I can’t believe that it has already been a year – it seems like we have been together forever as husband and wife (a very good thing!) but I still can’t believe that a year ago we were promising forever to each other! What a beautiful day! What a beautiful thing! We spent the day going to church and just hanging out with each other. We went to a really nice dinner at the Iowa Power Company and just enjoyed being married! The waiter even had Happy Anniversary written on Garrett’s plate (the cook got confused and was supposed to write it on mine but it didn’t work out that way)! What a wonderful day to just be…I am still smiling!

Well, hopefully the next time I post I can tell you something more exciting like – all my efforts to help labor along worked! Today I am going to head to Hy-Vee after work and pick up some fresh oregano and basil. I read that these herbs might have properties in them to help labor along but they weren’t sure in what quantities, so I am going to eat them as my after work snack. Not sure how well that will go but right now I am willing to try anything. If standing on my head could cause me to go into labor, I would do it for ten hours straight. When I do something I do it big (can’t you tell from the 150 squats???) so I will probably eat the whole package of each!

37 weeks and still pregnant

I had my 37 week appointment on Monday and the doctor said everything looked great! I am measuring one week ahead and am now considered full term. So the waiting begins…

Since I will probably have 4 more weeks to go I decided to get started with some little projects to finish up Eden’s room. I went to Michael’s and bought some craft supplies and spent part of my night painting letters to be hung on the wall. I am finally finished putting together her room (sans decorations and rocking chair) and feel really good about her coming any day now. I also packed her little hospital bag. Garrett thought I went a little overboard with the amount of clothing I am taking for her but who knows what she will look best in…she is a girl you know and girls have the right to change their minds:)

Last night we installed our car seat in the car and now I am driving around with an empty car seat but it still makes me smile because soon it will have a baby in it! Garrett is so determined to put everything together perfectly that it took us almost an hour to install the seat because it had to be “just so” for Garrett (even though it was installed properly). The funniest part was when we were carrying the car seat and base down to our garage and Garrett accidently grabbed the release button (this removes the seat from the base) and the car seat went tumbling down the stairs. We both just stood there and laughed and decided that it was a good thing we were installing the seat now and not later. He is really going to be a great dad. With all the hard work he has put in to setting everything up it truly makes me realize how blessed I am to have married such an amazing man! He has also been taking such good care of me…putting my shoes on my swollen feet, feeding me yummy food, buying me ice cream, rubbing my back and legs, painting my toe nails, etc…

While Garrett was installing the car seat I decided that I was going to start my exercising back up so I did jumping jacks in our garage. Garrett told me how ridiculous I looked jumping up and down (I would hardly call it jumping). But once he finished up the car seat we went for a nice long walk. I decided I was going to jog for a little bit and realized just how out of shape I was with an extra 30 pounds on my body. Garrett did take the pleasure of recording me running and grabbing my groin because my inner thighs were killing me. I watched the video and let me tell you, it needs to go on YouTube and I am sure some people will get a kick out of it! I sure hope me making a fool out of myself will bring me a baby soon:)

But for now no labor. No signs of labor starting any time soon. Just me holding my belly up and having everyone tell me I look like I am about to pop. I have started looking up ways to naturally induce labor and right now I am going with the whole gravity thing and am taking evening primrose oil pills that will help soften my cervix. Because I guess the softer your cervix and the more effaced you are, the better chance you will go into labor soon than how dilated you are. So for now no baby. Just two parents excitedly awaiting the arrival of their baby girl.

A picture of me at 35 weeks!

She is getting big!

No more than 5 weeks:)

I have 5 weeks max until I am no longer pregnant! Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed every moment that I have had having this little girl grow inside of me but it is time for her to leave her home (aka my belly). Plus we have almost everything we need for her in her room – although we need to actually put everything together and set everything up. I want to put her in the cute little outfits and the girlie ruffle socks and put the little bows on her head (or glue them if she is bald – that’s what my mom did). I want to hold her in my arms and to watch Garrett play with her. I am ready to be done and just enjoy her as a baby outside my womb.

Since I am in the home stretch, I am really trying not to buy any new maternity clothes but with the way my belly keeps growing daily, I am not sure that will happen. Who knows if I will wear them for a day or for the whole 5 weeks. My coworkers might just have to put up with me wearing a nightgown to work…hopefully it doesn’t get to that point! But it would kind of be funny at the same time…LOL!

I had two baby showers this past week. They were both fun and I had a great time! I still hate being the center of attention, so I had to get over my anxiety of that but it all turned out great! Eden got some amazing gifts, all of which Garrett and I cannot thank everyone enough for. The love people have shown for our unborn daughter is truly humbling and the love they have shown for the two of us. Eden is going to be so lucky to be surrounded by a million people who will love her to pieces!! There was one set of gifts that just makes me laugh…they were for me because Mabel (a sweet older woman) thought I needed something of my own. She embroidered one bath wash cloth with birds, four cloth napkins with flowers and bees, a dish towel with a huge flower on it, two crocheted kitchen cloths, and the kicker – a tea towel with a giant elephant embroidered on it! It was all I could do to keep from laughing and it made me scared to see what her gift to Eden was. Eden got a cute little outfit and two blanket – none of which were embroidered. Mabel is such a sweet lady but please, no more embroidered stuff!

I sure hope that I can update soon saying that the doctor doesn’t think it will be long!!! Rest assured that there will be several blogs about the happenings of the next 5 weeks and my apologies up front, if I seem less than enthused about being pregnant – it is a joy! It’s just one that needs to come to an end.

I actually feel pregnant.

For the longest time I have felt pretty good with some complaints about being pregnant but today officially marks truly feeling pregnant. Feeling pregnant isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different.

Eden has finally dropped – which means that now my belly rests nicely on my thighs unless I am wearing a pair of maternity pants. I also feel the need to hold my belly up because it weighs so much. And I now prop my belly up at night when I am sleeping. Garrett keeps joking that he feels like something has come between us since I have so many pillows in bed. One of the best things about this is that I can finally breathe better! I am sure this will change as she grows but for now I am enjoying it. The other added thing to having her drop is that I now do the pregnancy waddle. I am sure it is a sight from behind and that it marks me as a pregnant woman.

I just found out this morning is that I can’t get out of bed without some sort of help. I tried to roll over to get up but I couldn’t get myself rolled with enough momentum to actually sit up. Then I tried using our head board as leverage to pull myself but I needed something pulling my arm forward to help. I am not sure how I actually got out of bed or how Garrett was able to sleep through my tossing and turning but after 2 minutes of struggling I somehow got out of bed.

This was a morning of firsts for me. Today just felt like a sock day. So I sat on the floor and put my nice fluffy socks on and grabbed a pair of shoes. I made my way to the couch and got myself all situated for getting them on and tied. Well, I realized that number one – I haven’t worn shoes that tie in almost a month and number two – that I couldn’t actually reach my feet. Finally after a 5 minute struggle I got my shoes on and tied (I double knotted them to ensure that they will not come untied until I am ready to take these shoes off completely). Geesh! What a morning!

As far as Eden goes, she is doing wonderful! She moves like crazy and we can actually feel her arms and feet by just pressing on my belly. She also loves it when Garrett gives my stomach raspberries because she squirms like crazy! We believe that she is ticklish on the bottoms of her feet because when we can actually feel them I tickle them and it makes her go nuts! We have our 35 week appointment next Friday and two baby showers, which will be very nice!

A flat tire and a trip to labor and delivery

Saturday started out like any other day – I cleaned the apartment and then Garrett and I ran out to get groceries. I was feeling pretty good until we were getting ready to go up to Waverly to say goodbye to Katie and see Brent (they were making us dinner). I started to get Braxton Hicks like crazy at around 4pm and by the time we got up to Waverly I had between 15 and 20 of them. My lower abdomen was achy and lower back started to hurt. Thank goodness Garrett has a blackberry because we were able to look up info on Braxton Hicks (I’ve had them before but not this many). Garrett insisted (if I didn't call, he was going to do it for me because he was worried) that I call the doctor to see if there was something I should do or if we needed to get checked out just to make sure everything was okay.

The doctor said that I needed to go to St. Luke’s (the hospital I will be delivering at) and get checked out since I had drank a liter of water already and there was no relief of the BHs. I felt awful because we drove all the way to Waverly to see friends to turn around the second we get there to head back to Cedar Rapids. I know they understood and I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize little Eden or myself. But I still felt bad about the whole thing.

Anywho, we turn around for the hour and fifteen minute ride to the hospital. I am trying not to cry the entire time thinking about how little she still is and how I didn’t want to find out I was actually going into labor. But I knew that there was plenty that could be done. ***Side story*** I was upset and we had brought a whole pan of brownies, so I opened the pan and just started eating them (they were not cut or anything so it was me digging brownie out with my hand).

About 20 minutes from CR we start to hear a weird noise coming from the car and Garrett pulls to the shoulder. I told him that I hoped it wasn’t a flat tire but he didn’t seem to think so because it didn’t sound like a flat. He starts walking around the car and then stops and starts shaking his head. I get out of the car and sure enough we have a flat! We both laughed because it was the only thing we could really think to do. So, Garrett being a manly man, got out the spare and starting lifting the car up. I am standing there thinking someone would see that I am pregnant and stop to help but nope (the whole time this is going on my BH’s were getting worse). To be positive I told Garrett that we needed to think of the good things that happened today like the good deals we got at Fareway when we went shopping:) It kind of lifted the mood a bit since we were in such a hurry to get the hospital. Garrett changed the tire and we were back on the road and on our way to the labor and delivery.

Once we got there they took me back to my room and strapped me with monitors. Eden’s heart beat was good but I was definitely having contraction after contraction. The nurse got an IV started because they suspected I was dehydrated even though I try and keep myself well watered. They also checked for a bladder infection just in case but since I’ve already had a bad one they said they needed to catheterize me. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and Garrett stayed by my side the entire time and never left for anything. They also gave me two ultrasounds to check for dilation and cervical length (both were good). We found out for sure that Eden is a girl (you could actually see her girl parts). She was beautiful! We got to see her little chunky face and watch her breath.

Well, three hours after I got my IV the contractions stopped and I was able to go home. I was told to not drink any caffeine whatsoever (I occasionally do) since that could have contributed to my dehydration and to take it easy. Garrett stopped and got me Wendy’s and rubbed my head when we got home (he truly is the best). So I learned my lesson, I need to make sure I drink TONS of water and I was told I should be peeing every half hour to hour and my pee needs to be clear. And if I have more than 4 contractions in an hour I need to just head on over to labor and delivery.

All is good now! And I am peeing all the time and drinking more water than I think is possible.

2 Months Exactly

Today marks 2 months until my due date. I can’t believe it! I am having a hard time with how fast this has gone. Soon I will have my own little baby in my arms…my own child…not someone elses…not a doll…but my own flesh and blood. Crazy!

I had an appointment yesterday (I am 31 weeks). It was just a routine visit but now I get to go every two weeks until I am 35 weeks and then every week. The doctor was listening for the heartbeat when all of a sudden Eden kicks him real hard…Garrett couldn’t believe how hard she kicked! Everything seems to be going smoothly, I have started getting heartburn/indigestion but it’s really nothing to complain about. The one thing that kind of stinks about being pregnant in the summer is the fact that my feet swell. I took off my shoes (they were slip-ons) and could barely get them back on! My feet were literally bulging out the top. I guess I will be sporting some nice cankles from now on:) But as long as she stays in there nice and safe I don’t mind.

One thing that I love now that Eden has gotten bigger is that I can actually feel her different appendages and tell her head from her butt. Like right now I can feel a little arm around my belly button (she’s been laying cross-ways for almost a week now). And something that is funny to me is when she stretches, my whole belly gets lop-sided or I get lumps that stick out in random places. It’s really funny to see and Garrett will look over at my belly and say I see a butt. I’ll have to get a picture of it!

Now that we have moved, we officially have a nursery. I should post pictures of what it looks like right now! HA! Everything that we don’t know what to do with quite yet from moving is in her room and her closet is packed with guitars and amps. And her actual room is full of empty boxes and bins and stuff we need to take to my parents to store until we have room. But Eden does have a baby bed!!!!!! The mattress just came yesterday but it’s at my parents and I will be getting it soon. My dad spent two hours assembling the cute little crib (it’s not exactly little) and wanted everything to be perfect for his little grandbaby. The dresser and lingerie cabinet from my bedroom set at home are awaiting their delivery to the room. Once those are moved Eden’s room will be set up!

Well, I guess that’s it for now…

Asking me not to eat is like asking me to not breathe…

I had my 3 hour glucose test today. It was the longest three hours of my life (not really but it seemed like it went on forever). I got there at 8am and didn’t get started until 8:45, so I was going on almost 13 hours of not eating anything. The nurse made me drink a fruit punch flavored drink with 100g of sugar in it. I was doing alright while I drank it and then the nausea hit me like a bug on a windshield. The nice thing about this appointment was every nurse felt bad that I had to do it and tried to make me as comfortable as possible. So, they put me in a little room by myself with a couch and stuff and let me watch mindless tv.

I started getting really sleepy and kind of sick feeling but then all of a sudden the sugar must have hit Eden because she started dancing with the stars in my tummy! It was hilarious to watch and feel. Then she must have crashed from the sugar and just settled down for a little bit. Now she is moving again. Anyway, that was that and after watching three hours of tv and getting 5 viles of blood drawn (should have only been four but the nurse accidently put my blood in the wrong tube) I was free to leave. I am assuming I passed since no one told me anything.

So, it was about 11:45 when I finally left and I was hungry as hungry could be. My head was still spinning from the sugar and a 10 minute drive back to work took me 20 minutes because I couldn’t remember which way to turn. But once I got food in my stomach my brain started working!

I go back to the doctor in May 19th to get checked out again and maybe then I will find out if I passed this test!

Oh, something so cute that I have to share it: On my way to work a momma duck and her 8 little baby ducks crossed the street! Five mechanics stopped traffic to let them cross safely too! It was the cutest thing ever! If I would have hit one I would have needed to take bereavement to recover.

28 weeks!!!!

I had my 28 week appointment yesterday and I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant… The appointment went alright. I found out I am slightly anemic and that my blood sugar was little high for my gestational diabetes test. This means that I have to do a 12 hour fast next week and get my blood checked again for three hours – it really shouldn’t be too bad except I wake up starving and don’t know how I will make it for a grand total of 15 hours with no food!!!! The doctor doesn’t think I have gestational diabetes but wants to make sure that I am not. As for the rest of the appointment, it went really well! He was trying to get the clearest heartbeat reading when all of a sudden Eden gives him a huge kick! Other than that, I am measuring right on schedule:)

Garrett was so sweet when we went to my appointment. I was weighed and as usual shocked by what the scale said (and yet not surprised because all I have done for the past couple of weeks was eat) since I have never weighed this much. We go into the room to wait for the doctor and I ask Garrett the usual, “Do I look fat?” And he tells me know and assures me that I am beautiful beyond compare. Then I asked him, “How much do you weigh?” He replies that the last time he checked he weighed 170. I told him that that made me happy since I wasn’t close to passing him up but made sure to let him know that he needs to stay that way until Eden is born for my sake. Well, later on he decides he will weigh himself and guess what???? He weighs LESS than what he told me. Then he said that he only told me he weighed 170 because he thought it would make me feel good. LOL I told him it was a thoughtful but a very dirty little trick!

Then later that night we had our friend B over for dinner and B told me point blank that he thought I weighed more than Garrett already. This literally almost made me cry. Garrett gave me a big hug and told me that besides my growing belly, I still look slender and not to listen to what B said because it wasn’t true. I sure do love my husband!

ENERGY. Something I haven’t felt in a long time has finally arrived!!! This is not the kind of energy that makes me want to run or even go walking for hours. This kind of energy means I need less sleep to feel awake. Life past 9pm is like a whole new world to me…what shows are on tv? What cleaning can be accomplished? Needless to say I don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight because I am too tired anymore. I have cleaned A TON in the past couple of weeks and packed almost all our stuff with the exception of the kitchen, bathroom stuff that is still be used, Garrett’s college stuff, and our clothes. These things will hopefully get done this weekend. Oh how having energy has changed me!

I will keep you posted on the outcome of my tests next week…