A Tale of Birth

Don't judge me....Harvey will be 6 months old tomorrow and I am FINALLY posting this haha. I started writing this when Harvey was about 3 weeks but I could never finish because I didn't have time. Harvey is finally taking longer naps these days so I figured I would take advantage and start writing blog posts again :)
I should probably write about this before I forget everything...because I've forgotten a lot already!

First off, I would like to flat out say that this little guy was 100% planned. Like, we "tried" to get pregnant with him (and obviously it worked, haha). I say this to show that not every baby has to be an accident if you're under the age of 25 - that you can be ready to have a baby at 22 and completely happy with your decision (which I am)
:)

That's all!!

Fast forward 9-ish months...

My due date was July 20th, 2014.
Come the beginning of July, when I was about 37 weeks along, I was beginning to be SO impatient. A few sources considered 37 weeks to be full-term, and I was really hoping that I'd go into labor then.
37 weeks passed, then 38 weeks, then 39....
I was dying.
I had already gained about 55-60 pounds and my knees were starting to hurt from carrying all of the extra weight, as well as my back and (very swollen) feet. There was a lot of pressure on my pelvis, so getting up and walking around was almost excruciating because all of my ligaments were inflamed. I was going through stretch mark cream at lightning speed and couldn't afford to buy another bottle after week 38, so my stretch marks were out of control! I didn't recognize my swollen face anymore and the constant 100+ degree St. George temperature really put me over the edge - I was ready to have this baby!
Needless to say, I didn't particularly enjoy my pregnancy (for those of you that do, be grateful!)

The Wednesday before my due date, I went to my weekly doctor's appointment. They told me that for first time mothers, they don't induce until 41 weeks. So my induction date was set for July 27th - which would be a week past my due date.
Oh how I prayed that I wouldn't make it to my induction date!

That night, the false labor began. I had contractions for 4 hours straight that were very intense and 5-7 minutes apart.
Phillip and I were so excited, we sat on the couch watching Cake Boss at 3 AM while timing each contraction (poor guy had to work in the morning though)
Then I fell asleep.
And they went away.

CRAP!!!!

I was so upset! I really didn't want to go over my due date, and by this point I was only 4 days away.....

Every night up until my due date I experienced this "false labor". I was exhausted!
On the actual eve of my due date I didn't even go to sleep until 7 AM because I had contractions all night (of course they never got closer than 5-6 minutes so I never went to the hospital)

DUE DATE:
My due date has finally arrived! A lot of people seem to greet this day with happiness and anticipation, but I was mostly disappointed and discouraged because I hadn't given birth yet. I would joke (bitterly) that I'd have a 20 year old man in my stomach before I finally gave birth.
I seriously thought I was going to be pregnant forever!

Phillip went to church while I got a tiny, yet precious half-hour of sleep (little did I know that it would need to last me a while..)
When he returned, we were both fed up and decided that today was going to be the day that I would give birth!!

We then headed to Wal-Mart to begin a treacherous 2 hour walk. We walked through each and every single aisle, and then proceeded to walk the perimeter of the store - twice.
When we began, my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart. However, the longer we walked, the stronger they got.

I wonder what the fellow shoppers thought when they saw an extremely pregnant woman hunched over her cart in extreme pain in the middle of Wal-Mart.....

Finally, about an hour and a half into the walk, the contractions became FOUR minutes apart!!
IT'S A MIRACLE! THEY GOT CLOSER! But my excitement was soon dulled by the intense pain of the contraction following it....

When we began our walk at 1:45 pm, I told Phillip that we were going to walk until 4 pm.
At 3:45 pm I just could not stand the pain any more.

We then left to go to Labor & Delivery.
Assuming that they would send me home because I wasn't in actual labor, we were hopeful that they'd at least give me some pain meds!

LABOR & DELIVERY

When we arrived, I told the nurses that my contractions were about 4 minutes apart and very intense.
They asked when my due date was, and I told them, "Today!"

They checked my cervix - I was dilated at a THREE!!!!! I've been at 1 centimeter for 3 weeks! THREE!!
But my hopes remained low, because I just knew that my body would suck and stop having contractions the second I got hooked up to the monitors....
Much to my surprise, and right on time, I had an extremely intense contraction that showed up on the monitor. The line made a big, fat mountain on the screen and the contraction lasted for over 2 minutes.
The nurse said, "I'll call the doctor and see what he wants to do"
She left, and I had a few more contractions. I couldn't believe that my body was actually cooperating.

A little while later the nurse came back and said,
"Alright, let's do this! Time to have a baby. We'll get you hooked up with an epidural and pitocin (a drug that induces labor)"
Today?!?! I couldn't believe it. I was truly terrified....but so excited!!

I went into the delivery room - which was equipped with a hide-a-bed couch and a TV.
By this point my contractions were getting VERY painful, and Phillip had to press on my knees (some sort of fancy acupuncture that the nurse showed us) in order for the pain to subside. I was desperate for an epidural, especially since I had been having this pain for about 4 days.
The anesthesiologist arrived and gave me the epidural (Phillip almost passed out from the sight of the huge needle, haha) and soon I was completely numb from the rib cage downward.
I loved watching the monitor show a giant contraction when I felt absolutely nothing.
I am incredibly grateful for modern medicine.

They then gave me the pitocin, and my contractions then became 1-2 minutes apart.
Now we had to wait for labor to progress on its own - however long that would take.

A few hours had passed, and the doctor finally arrived. I was 5 centimeters dilated - time to break my water!!
Low and behold, meconium. Aka, the baby had pooped (prematurely) while in the womb.
This was something I was absolutely terrified of. Usually it's not a big deal and most babies are fine, but there's a chance that he could have inhaled the meconium - which can be fatal.
The doctor reassured me that the baby would probably be fine, but he was going to have the respiratory therapist present when he was born just to make sure everything would be okay.
Of course, I was glad that there would be a lot of precaution, but of course I was thinking the worst and became very worried.

At this point, the doctor said I would probably dilate 1 cm each hour until I reached 10 cm.
This meant I had 5 hours to go! It was about 9 or 10 pm at this point, so I knew he wouldn't be born on his due date. Having him the next day was even better, though, because 7/21/14 are all multiples of seven. This is important, haha.

We continued to wait. The nurse checked me every hour. And finally at around 3 AM I was dilated to 10 centimeters!!!
Time to push.

Each time I felt a contraction, I would take a deep breath and push for 10 seconds, 3 times in a row.I did this for about an hour before one of the nurses said, "Wow, there's a full head of blonde hair!"
I pushed about another half hour until his head began to emerge. Once his head was out, I was told to stop pushing so that the respiratory therapist could suction Harvey's lungs out in case he had inhaled the meconium (I think).

Once all was clear, I gave a couple more pushes and out came the baby!

I tend to go pretty numb when important things happen to me - and when they put a (baby poop covered) baby on my chest to be wiped off I was just like...."wut?"
I had expected to cry and be soo happy just like other moms claim, but I was so ridiculously tired and out of it that I was just like, "Hello child." Haha.
Over the course of the day I fell madly in love with him so it all worked out ;)

Anyway, Harvey was a healthy, strapping boy - weighing in at 9 pounds 7 oz. We could not believe how much he weighed! No wonder I was so uncomfortable carrying him!

Because of his large size, however, he was having a hard time keeping his blood sugar up - thus making him pretty lethargic. This was pretty stressful because they had to prick his little foot every couple of hours to check his sugar and he HATED that, and I had to supplement with formula as well as breastfeed him (which I still hate doing to this day, haha).

We got to take him home on the 22nd (I think) and I haven't gotten a solid 8 hours of sleep ever since! Haha. It's all good though, he's worth it ;).
There were a few more issues that week with his bilirubin levels (jaundice) and some dairy sensitivity - but otherwise he is happy, healthy, and strong!

I'm not really one to publicly gush and say how incredible those first days of motherhood were, so I will not go into that. However, these last 6 months of Harvey's life I have never been so incredibly happy! He is one freaking cute kid and I love watching him grow. Life is good :)

Pregnancy: The + and -

Since I am now 37 weeks and nearing the end of this, rather interesting, adventure of pregnancy - I feel compelled to document, for both my own records and your enjoyment, the good and the bad of pregnancy thus far!

FIRST TRIMESTER

Okay, I'm really digging into the archives of my brain for this one - because the first trimester was basically 7-8 months ago...(and I was too sick to record anything at the time!)

Positives+

Finding out I was pregnant (Veteran's Day, 2013)
Telling my family and close friends that I was pregnant (luckily the response was overwhelmingly supportive!)
Still being skinny (little did I know...)

My acne went away! (usually it's the opposite for those expecting)
Nicknaming the baby, "The Bun", which I still call him to this day!

Negatives- (and this list will be A LOT longer)
MORNING SICKNESS

AFTERNOON SICKNESS

NIGHT SICKNESS

MIDNIGHT SNACK SICKNESS

I TURNED MY HEAD TOO FAST SICKNESS

MY SHOWER WAS A LITTLE TOO HOT SICKNESS

I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRIED TO BRUSH MY TONGUE WITH MY TOOTHBRUSH SICKNESS

The list goes on....and the cherry on top was that my nausea lasted well into my 2nd trimester
Having "uterus expanding" cramps and thinking you're having a miscarriage
Going to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes to make sure you haven't had a miscarriage
Splitting Headaches

Peeing 10 times a night (at this time it was attributed to hormones, there's a whole new cause nowadays!)

That's pretty much all I can remember for now. It was not very fun!

SUB LIST
Food cravings I had:
Cheese
Protein
Meat (why am I not surprised that I'm having a boy?)
Energy Drinks
Ice Cream
Strawberries (I made Phillip buy probably $100 worth of strawberries in 3 months- ate them all)
Snow Cones

Things that made me sick:
Freaking everything
Sandalwood scented Febreeze
These pumpkin spice bars we had in our pantry
ANY SMELL OF COOKING MEAT
The smell of anything cooking, period.
Rice
Edamame (the only thing I ever threw up)
The smell of our fridge when it was opened
Chicken curry
The song "Monster" by Eminem and Rihanna (even to this day I feel sick when I hear it)
Standing too long
Showers that were too hot
Pretty much everything else :)

Okay time to continue on to the
SECOND TRIMESTER!

Positives+
I CAN FEEL THE BABY MOVE! (week 18)
WE FINALLY KNOW THE GENDER! (week 20)
Yay!! If I make it this far (week 13), then the probability of miscarriage reduces to 5%
Starting to show a little bit, but still pretty skinny
I've actually LOST weight, due to all the nausea I experienced (don't worry, I gained it back and then some)
Nausea is gone!! (well, after about 3 or 4 weeks into this trimester)
My hair is rather luscious (though hasn't it always been? ;) haha)
I have a bit more energy - though there were definitely weeks where I needed constant naps
I guess a big help in all of this was that Spring was soon to arrive....warm Jenn = happy Jenn

Negatives-
I still have morning sickness -_-
Migraines. Like no other.
Leg cramps. Like no other.
Bleeding and swollen gums....every morning.
My nose is plugged! Okay let's add sinus pressure to the list of headaches!
My shirts don't fit quite right
I'm in the "is she fat or pregnant?" stage
Stretch marks! Holla!

Excellent. Let's move on, shall we?

THIRD TRIMESTER

This is where I currently am. Though this has been the LEAST comfortable trimester, it has also been the happiest and most exciting. Also the most stressful. Just a big mixture of everything!

Positives+
I'm almost done!! Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
People can now tell that I'm pregnant and fat, instead of just fat!
Baby shower! Free stuff :)
Preparing for the baby
Seeing all of his movements instead of just feeling them
Knowing (at this point of 37 weeks) that if he were to be born, he would be okay!
All the special treatment I receive - I don't have to lift anything, move anything, clean anything, etc...
Frequent doctor visits (this is because I get to hear his heartbeat each time)
All that other mushy gushy stuff

Negatives-

Oh boy.....prepare yourselves....

SWOLLEN FEET
SWOLLEN ANKLES
SWOLLEN LEGS
SWOLLEN ARMS
SWOLLEN FACE
SWOLLEN WRISTS
Yeah....don't decide to live in St. George, Utah when you're 9 months pregnant - it's been consistently 100 degrees for the past month...and it's not even July yet
The fact that I must look at my disgusting toenails, but can't do anything about it
Making Phillip shave my legs (true love right there)
The terror of waking up and not feeling the baby moving because he is also asleep.....but of course I think the worst and wonder "how long has he not been moving!!?!!?!?!" and then downing an entire glass of ice water to wake him up....and the relief of feeling him kick. UGH. So stressful.
The fact that I've gained roughly 55 pounds (I attribute a lot of it to the water retention, though!)
Peeing every 10 minutes (this boy is heavy!)
More stretch marks. I'm waiting for the day that my skin decides to split in half from the stretching.
Waddling. Slowly.
Heartburn.
Braxton Hicks contractions - WHY MUST MY BODY TEASE ME SO!!!!
The slow pace in which time is progressing
That's probably the worst one

IT'LL ALL BE WORTH IT THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!

One more SUB-LIST:

Things that a lot of pregnant women experience but I was fortunate enough to be spared:

-MOOD SWINGS
I'm not sure if this is because I've always been a somewhat moody person, but I really haven't experienced much of a change in my emotional state. There have been a couple of times (like, seriously 2) where I was pretty irritable, and I cry a little bit easier when my heart is touched, but that's seriously it.
Phillip is a lucky dog!

-CONSTIPATION
Gettin' personal here....but my digestive system has seriously never been more efficient than it has been during this pregnancy!
I used to be REALLY sensitive to white bread, and was confined to strictly wheat....but I've been eating white bread without giving it a second thought and it hasn't been a problem. What joy!!

-ACNE
This is my favorite part. I have been plagued with acne since I was 15. In fact, it used to be so severe that I was using 2 topical medications a day until I was about 20. After that, it's been on and off.
When I got pregnant, my skin cleared IMMEDIATELY. And I haven't really had any breakouts!! I don't even have to worry about sleeping in my make up or not washing my face after I exercise. This is unheard of....and I'm afraid of what my skin will be like after I give birth.

-RIB DISCOMFORT
His feet have tickled my ribs a little bit, yes, but other than that my ribs have been spared.
This can be attributed to the fact that I have an EXTREMELY long torso....which gives him plenty of room to stretch out. Also, he has seriously been head down (to my knowledge) for about 4 months now. I'm carrying one smart kid, let me tell ya!

-PROTRUDING NAVEL
Okay, no offense but I seriously think protruding bellybuttons look freaking weird. Which is why I'm so glad mine is still at bay! I figured this would be the case since I had a super inward bellybutton to begin with.
I've seen girls that are around 20 weeks with protruding navels already!!! Phillip really wants mine to stick out but I'll just have to disappoint him :)

That's pretty much it, and even though the list is small I am EXTREMELY grateful to have been spared of these things!!!!

I hope you enjoyed reading my slew of thoughts. Though disorganized and highly incomplete, perhaps some of ya'll can relate!!

Now onto the birth.......which I will post about soon after it happens :)

A Close-Call with Kidnapping

Since I currently do not possess the funds at the moment to create any more DIY masterpieces (sarcasm fully intended), I will tell some interesting stories about things that have happened in my life instead!

Today I will talk about the two times I could have been kidnapped - mostly to show how easily it could happen to any child.

Before I begin though, I will tell how I learned to be wary of strangers.
One night when I wasn't much older than 5 or 6, my mom decided to teach my sister and I about the danger of talking to strangers. She had little paper cut outs of girls that were supposed to represent the both of us. I don't remember exactly how the lesson went, but it ended with our paper "heads" being ripped off because we decided to go into a stranger's car.....which chilled me to the bone!
I never forgot it - and a heavy fear of strangers was instilled within me.

My first experience (that I can recall) of a stranger trying to lure me was when I was 12 years old.

We had just moved to a new neighborhood (which was considered very safe) and I decided to ride my Razor scooter around town to check it out and become familiar with it.

I was riding on the sidewalk, in the middle of the day, minding my own business - when a man in a car parked near the sidewalk next to me.
He was a Hispanic fellow, and looked to be in his late 20s-early 30s. I think the car was brown but I don't really remember - it was a smaller car though.

Anyway, he asked me "Hey, do you need a ride to go anywhere?"
MY FEAR OF STRANGERS HAS INSTANTLY BEEN TRIGGERED
....I had been taught all my life exactly what to say at a moment like this....

I calmly said, "No, I'm okay. Thank you though"
He persisted - "Are you sure? Come on, I can take you wherever you need to go"
Once again, "No, really, I'm okay."

At this point I was making a bunch of alternative plans just in case he decided to get out of the car - such as running to the nearest house (which luckily wasn't too far) and banging on the door

Luckily, and I truly believe I got lucky, he gave up and said "okay" and continued on his way.

*WHEW* I was so relieved - I'm not sure what would have happened if he had decided to come after me - but I count my blessings that I will never know. Needless to say, I was not in the mood to explore the neighborhood anymore and I went back home as quickly as I could.


The second time I was approached by a stranger was when I was 15 years old.

It was during the summer time before my junior year of high school. During this particular summer my friends and I would take the beach bus to the Santa Monica pier a few times a week.
In order for me to get to where the beach bus route began, I would ride the regular city bus for about 15 minutes to a large street called Foothill. Once I reached this street, I would have to walk about 15 minutes up a huge hill to the park where the beach bus picked up.

On this day, I had just been dropped off on Foothill by the city bus. As I was walking toward the crosswalk that would lead me to the big hill, I was approached by yet ANOTHER man in a vehicle.

This fellow was Caucasian, and looked to be in about his late 30s to mid-40s. He wasn't bad looking - he  had blue eyes, an inviting smile, and a friendly personality. He was driving a large white van (sketchy, much?)

Anyway, he also pulled over and stopped by the sidewalk where I was walking, and offered the same thing as the guy in my previous story did - but instead in a more charismatic & persistent manner...

"Hey, it looks like you've got a long walk ahead of you - would you like me to give you a ride?"

Even though I was older this time and on an EXTREMELY busy street, I was still very wary of this individual and my fear of strangers kicked in again.

I said politely, "No thank you, I'm fine walking" (and I truly was!)

He persisted "Are you sure? It's pretty hot outside! Come on, just tell me where you're going and I'll help you out."

Though his intentions seemed pure, I did not falter "Nope! I'm fine, I promise. I enjoy walking."

He didn't want to stop there. Since I obviously didn't need (want) a ride from him, he was going to try a different strategy.....
"Okay! That's fine. It's good to get exercise. Just curious, what's your name?"

"Kortney"
Yup. I have a fake name for myself specifically for times like these.

"Oh what a beautiful name! Say, Kortney, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"Seventeen."
Even though I was only 15, I could easily pass for 17 and I felt that I would seem less vulnerable if I portrayed myself as older.

He responded,
"Seventeen! You're the exact same age as my son! He would love a pretty blonde like you. Is there any way I could get your number so that I can have him call you? He would be thrilled"

You've got to be freaking kidding me, I thought. I will NOT fall for this attempt to flatter me. Nope. Not buying it.

Praying he would give up soon, I said "Actually I have a boyfriend, and he wouldn't appreciate me giving out my number, sorry!" (and that actually wasn't a lie, haha)

"Oh darn" he said. "My son would love you, are you sure?"

"Yup!"

Probably realizing I wasn't worth his time, he gave up and said,
"Okay then, well I've gotta go, but I hope to see you around and maybe next time you will be available for my son! Good to meet you, Kortney!"

"You too! Bye."

He finally drove off. My goodness I was so creeped out - words cannot explain! Luckily for me, the only way that he could have taken me is if I had willingly got into the car. He couldn't have gotten out and taken me because we were on a super busy street in broad daylight, and 30 feet away was a gas station I could run into.

Another important advantage that I had with both instances, was that I was walking with traffic, not against it. Which meant that when they pulled over, the passenger's side was closest to me and the sidewalk, while the driver's side was closer to the street, and in order for them to physically take me they would have to get out on the driver's side and run around the car - so I would have had time to run away.

The biggest advantage I had, however, was that I had been taught to be wary as well as how to respond to these situations. If I hadn't been taught that strangers offering me a ride could potentially kidnap and kill me, I maybe would have been more willing to get into the car. If I hadn't been taught to say "no", despite their persistence and excuses, I maybe would have given in to the second guy out of pity or fear.

I didn't feel the need to be rude and start screaming and running away, because in these particular instances that could have escalated the situation. (Of course every situation is different, luckily these strangers weren't extremely aggressive)
I just knew to keep calm, and be polite but firm - to show that I would not give in to their requests, without making them angry (creepers aren't exactly emotionally stable).

One thing I could have done better though, was to call the police and tell them what happened after each incident - but I was too shaken to consider that option. Now that children are getting cell phones at younger ages, I will teach my children to call the police with their cell phone if anything like this were to happen.

Anyway, my biggest reason for writing this is to show that this can happen ANYWHERE to ANYONE.
I did not live in the ghetto, I lived in an upper middle-class suburban neighborhood that had some of the highest ranked high schools in the state of California. I was not approached by any thugs or gangsters - rather they looked like ordinary men that seemed friendly.

I'm grateful that I was taught to respond to this situations correctly, and I encourage everyone to please be careful! Especially those with children!!

Here's a slightly humorous picture that is relevant to the topic, haha

It finally happened.....

I am not shy to give too much information.

And today is no exception.
 

I shall begin my story.......
 

The other day I was casually walking through the grocery store.
 

I felt a slight need to urinate, but I figured I could wait until I got home to use the restroom

I am a fool.

I was about halfway through my grocery trip, having aquired many necessary food items, but needing to acquire many more
 

I was chillin' in the meat section looking for some well-priced ground beef

And then it happened......
 

I sneezed.
And peed my pants.

In public.
Alone.
 

In your head, you imagine a slight trickle. A small leak, perhaps.

Nope. Gushing. Soaking my pants.

In public.

Perhaps it was pure inspiration when I got dressed in the morning, my bladder telling my brain that it has been sufficiently weakened by a crazy little boy in my uterus....

......because by some remarkable chance I was wearing a dress with black leggings underneath.
Which meant that nobody could see the....evidence.

But I could still feel it.
 

Halfway through my grocery trip, I can't just stop and go home and change my pants.

I must continue onward and complete my task

 Waddling around with urine soaked pants.

You would think at 6 months pregnant I wouldn't have this problem yet.

It's always talked about that ladies who are 3 days away from giving birth and about to pop are the ones that pee their pants from all the pressure.
 

Not me. I've been having small trickles since the 4th month.

I guess this can be attributed to the fact that my bladder has always been pretty weak and small to begin with.

 

 

But I should have known. I should have used better judgment. I was a fool.

 

 

I completed my task, went home, and changed my pants.
I have fortunately made a full recovery from this experience.

On a more appropriate note, look at this cool planter-thing that I covered in fabric!

And burned myself countless times with a hot glue gun!!

DIY Madness!

I have NEVER in my life considered myself to be a crafty person.....in the slightest. At all. That was my sister's thing -shout out to you, Lindsey! hehe-.
When I was growing up I just wanted to play the piano all the time and didn't have any interest in arts and crafts.

[Quick trivial fact: I actually know how to sew the old fashioned way as well as with a sewing machine. I have patched a ton of shoes (because for some reason my big toes stick up when I walk and therefore create holes) and I have also patched a ton of jeans and leggings (oh, the glory of having curvy thighs that rub together when you walk and wear the fabric down) ]

However, Phillip and I paid a huge security deposit the other day on an apartment that we'll be moving to in August (I promise this is relevant). We both fell in love with it and told the owner on the spot that we would sign a lease. I will post pictures once we're moved in come August :)
We want to stay in this apartment for as long as possible, which inspires us to put a lot of effort into decorating it and making it look cute.

Which brings me to talk about my first (and definitely easiest) project, which I shall call: HOOP WALL

I saw this picture on Pinterest:

How you do it:

1. Acquire Fabric

2. Acquire embroidery hoops of varying sizes

3. Cut fabric to size

4. Place into hoop & tighten

5. Hang on wall

That's all.

Um, easy enough? Especially for a "non-crafty beginner" like myself? Yes. Super easy.

Lightbulb moment: I got the idea that instead of paying $12 a yard for fabric, I would just go to D.I. (Goodwill) and buy some huge dresses with a cool pattern and cut them up! 

(I'm sure everybody does this & I'm just behind on the crafting times...I thought it was brilliant, though!)

So, Phillip actually picked out this HIDEOUS dress, with an AWESOME pattern on it (he did well!):

$4.00 well spent, if you ask me!

Next, since we had just paid that huge deposit for our new place we had like 4 cents to our name (over-exaggeration, don't worry!) which allowed us to, sadly, only purchase one embroidery hoop from the craft store.

Here is the one hoop we could afford (at a whopping $2.00). 

I had never seen an embroidery hoop before, they're neat!

I then cut the fabric to size, and just slid it into the hoop!

The Finished Product:

 (Um, I didn't realize my preggo stomach would be visible in this picture...well then...)

But that's not all!!

Oh no, this fabric is SO versatile that the other side has the opposite design!

So, if I wanted to, I could easily take this fabric out, turn it around, and have THIS color fabric showing

BE AMAZED.

I didn't feel like taking the fabric out and doing it all over again (I don't want to stretch the fabric too much) so this part would obviously be against the wall (after I did some trimming/stapling/whatever)

Anyway, once I can afford more hoops and take more trips to D.I. then I can have a better collection for my HOOP WALL.

Stay tuned for more excellent DIY projects....including re purposing freaking old furniture!

Gender Reveal!!

I'm posting this a little late, and also a little out of order with my other post, but I think it's important!

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't excited about the fact that a mini me mixed with Phillip will be arriving in a few short months (though I like to pretend that I'm not excited, haha). What I'm even more excited about is that as of Tuesday, March 4th, 2014 we now know the gender of the baby!

IT'S A BOY!!!!! A MINI PHILLIP!!!!!!!!

And here's the proof:
It's a view from the under side, and you can clearly see an extra "limb" between it's two legs.
That's 100% boy!

I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT ALL ALONG.
When we had the first ultrasound at 8 weeks, and the baby looked more like a peanut than a human, from first glace I just had a "feeling" that it was a boy. The word "boy" screamed in my head! I never forgot it. And then all of the gender-telling wives tales such as weight gain placement, amount of acne, morning sickness, and a bunch of other stuff all pointed to a boy......so I wasn't too surprised!!
However, since I'm from a family of two girls, I just assumed I would have a girl....which would have been fine, but it's fun to have a change for once :).

I was really hoping for a boy first. I absolutely HATED being a female oldest child. I mean, I turned out fine, but I always really wished that I had an older brother. So this worked out very well :).

 I like to brag about this, but when the ultrasound tech was going near the baby's genital-area, I saw the penis! I saw it before she even said anything!! So I blurted out, "THAT'S A PENIS!!!" She paused for a second to make sure, and then says, "You're exactly right." And then of course, I humbly exclaim, "I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!!" Oh yeah, I'm impressive.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the baby's cute face and it's lil' foot. My mother appreciated the foot picture to a great degree :). And we couldn't be happier with the gender reveal!

 

King of Hearts - A Dramatic Tale

A scary thing happened to me last week!

I'll give you a quick timeline of my Tuesday night (March 11th, 2014):

11:30 pm - Phillip goes to sleep. I'm not very tired so I decide to stay up later and make his lunch
12:00 am - Finally get ready for bed and lay down to sleep
12:30 am - My heart starts pounding at an extremely rapid rate. This happens to me sometimes so I didn't think much of it. It usually passes within 10 minutes.
1:00 - 2:30 am - Drift in and out of sleep, but wake up every 10-15 minutes from the rapid pounding.
2:30 am - Wake up from pounding, switch side that I'm laying on (I know that pregnant ladies should only sleep on their sides!!) and suddenly notice the room spinning. What the heck!!!
3:00 am - My heart is still pounding. By this time I begin to think that there may be a problem! The stress begins.
4:00 am - I decide to get up and pee.....it's clear! I'm not dehydrated, so that's ruled out. Dang it!
5:00 am - I go to the couch with hopes that sitting up will make me feel better. It helps a bit & I sit there for a while....of course the whole time I'm looking up my symptoms on my phone :)
5:30 am - I lay down again, and of course my rapid pounding heart beat returns!!! So I wake up Phillip, who feels my forehead, and apparently I'm burning up also! A fever, excellent.
~ 5:35 - 7:30 am - I finally fall asleep, with continued waking up every 10-15 minutes with the same symptoms. Boy was I tired!

So at 7:30 I take Phillip to school, and by 8:00 I realize that my stupid heart has been rapidly pounding for SEVEN HOURS STRAIGHT. That's unheard of!!
At this point I'm starting to worry if whether or not if my heart is doing it's job and supplying enough blood to the baby. Luckily, he was kicking the whole night and it didn't seem to affect him, but I still can't help but worry!!!

I call the doctor's office at about 9:00, and when I told the nurse my symptoms she said "Yeah, let's not even play any games here. Come in at 10:00."
I could have cried!!! I was so scared that they'd be like "Oh you're just dehydrated" or something, but it was obvious that this wasn't normal at all.

I got to the doctor's office, and the nurse took me in and did all the weight/blood pressure and stuff. My blood pressure was 108/something, which is actually less than the 118 I had the week before, so that was good. However, my weight jumped up 5 pounds in ONE WEEK. What on earth!!! I don't even recall noticing any weight gain, haha.
The nurse then proceeded to attempt to find the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler device. She found it in like 2 minutes....which is a first. Usually it takes the doctor at least 10, haha. He had a healthy heartbeat of about 154....what a relief!!!

Then the doctor came in. I told him my symptoms, and I had a huge fear that he would be like "Oh it's normal for pregnant women to experience this" or "were you dehydrated or stressed?".
But that wasn't the case, and much to my surprised he actually seemed rather concerned.
YES!!!
Once again I'm not crazy and what I'm experiencing is not "normal".
He listened to my heart and told me that I have a heart murmur, which I actually already knew about, and have had for about 10 years or so. It's called sinus arrhythmia and when I breathe in, my heart beats faster, and when I breathe out, my heart rate slows down. It's never been a big deal, and it still isn't.
What my doctor did say, though, is that he would like me to be on a heart monitor for 30 days. Holy shiz, 30 days?
The device is called a "King of Hearts". While wearing it, I'm supposed to press the "record" button every time I have a symptom. The device picks up my heart rate or EKGs or whatever, not sure of the terminology haha, and then I send it to a company in Idaho Falls that then evaluates the symptoms I record.
Pretty cool, eh?
I like having it because it gives me peace of mind, knowing that anything weird that happens can be recorded and evaluated, so I can't complain!
Here's a picture of it:

The downside, which was actually an upside for me, was that I felt the need to finally quit my job 3 weeks earlier than I had planned on. It's just too stressful for me to work and be pregnant at the same time. Especially with my huge appetite and the limited amount of food that I can bring to the office, haha :).

So my weeks have slowed down considerably, but I am grateful that my symptoms haven't FULLY returned....and I think less responsibility/stress can definitely get some credit for my improved condition :).