I've Had Better Days...

Doctors appointment today! To be more specific, we had our 36 week (at 37, almost 38 weeks) ultrasound. Apparently they like to know about how big the baby is going to be (and frankly I would as well). We waited a week because now we have a lot better insurance and so we postponed the ultra sound for the insurance.

I have to admit, I've come out of appointments happier. In fact, this was by far the most depressing appointment we have been to. I was on the verge of tears pretty much the entire time. I firmly believe that hormones played a large part, but also the events of the visit attributed.

What we found out:

- Baby is healthy

- Amniotic fluid is excellent

- He apparently has a ton of hair (we couldn't see it, but the lady found a patch)

Also what we found out:

- He is in fact 37 weeks (not the 39/40 I truly thought he was)

- He weighs 8 lbs already

- His abdomen measures 40 weeks

- His limbs are at 36/37 weeks

- He already has fat rolls (the lady just kept saying "this is a big kid")

And the kicker? His head is so large that they couldn't even give it a measurement. Its measuring past 41 weeks and so the computer doesn't even register how big it is. He is in the 97th percentile for head size.

Remember how I DON'T want a C-section? Ya, kids head is gunna be a little problem.
This is the best face shot she could get. He was mostly hiding and she couldn't get him to turn his face.

Here is his head! She just kept enlarging the circle :-)

This wasn't the end of the appointment. I don't have high blood pressure. I have never had high blood pressure. This pregnancy is the highest its ever been and is still in the 115 area. But today it was 140/80. I was floored! What?! That's crazy! My doctor was a little nervous. Then she saw my watermelon sized feet and then I told her that I had been really not feeling well these past few weeks. That made her think preclampsia and/or toxemia. So I got blood work done and I have to do a 24 hour urine collection and then come back in on Thursday. We'll see what happens.

So now we are just playing the waiting game. I could be induced next week just so he won't get any bigger, but that is the week of Daniels finals. Things are just up in the air. I just wish he would come tonight, naturally.

I think I have contractions, but they never amount to anything. Now it just feels like my stomach is just constantly rock hard.

I'm such a drama queen. This really isn't that big of a deal, but I am so dang dramatic that its this HUGE issue and when I tell people or read this I'm like 'dude this is nothing'. I'll be fine. People do this all the time. Just shut up Stephanie! :-) Soon. This baby will come. Who knows, my next post could be introducing our son. Yeah! He's coming!

The Worst Wife EVER Award Goes to Me!!

I have one thing to say: Try and remember when you switch the comb from one hand to another or this might happen.
Words can't express how awful I feel. Luckily Daniel is the best husband in the world and is being incredibly gracious by saying he's had much worse. But lets be honest, that's hard to imagine. Poor guy.

We're Winding Down!

We are about to cross the finish line! Here is an update of where we are now.

The nursery is up and in working order. I think it looks awesome. Sadly the whole 'decorating' aspect of anything is totally lost on me. So its still a little bare and will probably stay that way. But at least it's not pink anymore!

Incase you forgot... here is the before picture:

Nice, right?

And now to present the after pictures:

My mom came up and did all of the wallpaper. So THANK YOU MOM! Daniel did the paint and helped me rearrange the furniture like 10 times in order to satisfy my nutty 'fung-shwey' obsession, that apparently only shows up in nurseries.

I'm really happy with it. Kid won't even care or notice, but still- I like it :-)

Pregnancy update:

- He dropped about 2 weeks ago. So I am carrying super low now. I love it though because I can breathe! I swear I hadn't had a decent yawn in 8 months! Then all of a sudden I could yawn! Oh it was a glorious day!

- At my 34 week apt. he measured 36-37 weeks. Resulting in the mention of the terrible 'c' word. Yes, my doctor basically told me to prepare for a c-section because of his size. This is something Daniel and I want to avoid at ALL costs. However, we still think that we'll be able to do this as naturally as possible.

- I can't sit to save my life. He doesn't like to be squished :-)

- I have been dang sick going on 5 days. It's like I am regressing. It's like my morning sickness is back but sadly enough my true friend has let me down . We've been through a lot together in the past 10 or so years. Never has she led me to believe she wouldn't be there, helping me. It was always a comfort when I had her bottle with me 24-7. I felt safe just knowing she was there. Yes, I took 2 zofran and it did nothing to alleviate my sickness. It was a sad day. So I've been trying to force things down. Yucky, I just feel so yucky.

- However, in other- better news, I think because of my sickness my swelling has gone down! I kind of have a shape in my legs and feet. It's not all the way gone, not even close. But at least when I walk it doesn't giggle and I can move my toes!

- Daniel and I have basically put me on bed rest because we have pretty crappy insurance right now and come May 14th we'll have awesome insurance through the air force. So I am really taking it easy. He's just gotta last until the 14th.

- I don't know much. I've never been pregnant before. I never knew what it would feel like. I've asked as many questions as I know how. But in the end I will have a different experience than everyone else. And I think he is coming in May. None of this June 2nd crap. I personally think that he isn't HUGE, they just got my due date wrong. So right now I believe I am 39 weeks, not 37. But we'll see. I may be wrong. Who knows.

I think that's about it as far as updates go. This is what's going on in our world!

My visiting teacher recently threw me a small baby shower. I was too sick to stay long at all, but a lady in the ward made me the cutest jungle cake. So I wanted to show off her talent.

It was a banana cake and the monkeys were tootsie-rolls! SO YUMMY! Sometimes I get a little obsessed with cakes and decorating them. But mainly I think cake decorating should be left to Duff from Ace of Cakes. It's nice to see that anyone can do it!

Look how cute it is?!

Daniel couldn't wait to eat it :-) Do you see the torn leaf and the big finger print in it? Hehehe, and people think I don't have any kids!

An 'Egg'spirement- we are such nerds :-)

Daniel being the scientist that he is decided to run a very important, prestigious, life changing 'egg'spirement. I gladly offered to assist in anyway. Which was beneficial because that meant that I got to eat! Here is what happened:

Scientific Method-

1.) Ask a question: Do organic eggs taste better than regular, cheaper eggs?

2.) Background: About a year ago we tried organic milk to see if it would help Daniels ... sensitive digestive system. We found it to help significantly with this ailment and as another bonus was that it tasted AWESOME! I hate milk. I never drink it, but organic milk? So yummy! Such a huge difference. So we wondered if eggs would be any different.

3.) Hypothesis: Daniel- he thought that between the 3 types of eggs we used in the experiment there would be minimal difference between them. Me- due to my love of the organic milk, I thought that the organic eggs would taste better.

4.) Test: We bought 3 different types of eggs at Wal-Mart. Regular Large Eggs for $1.46. Grain fed eggs for $1.74. Then Great Value Organic Eggs for $3.17. Then Daniel went down this morning and cooked the three different types of eggs 2 ways, scrambled and over easy. Only he knew which plate held which type of egg. We judged each egg on appearance, taste of the yoke, taste of the white and the difference between scrambled and over easy.

5.) Results: Color- the regular eggs were really dull in color. The yoke was a muted yellow. The organic and grain fed eggs were a bright, yummy yellow.

Taste of the yoke- Organic had much more flavor and a better consistency.

Taste of the white- Grain fed and organic were very similar, however we felt that the organic one was slightly better tasting. The regular eggs I spit out because it tasted so rubbery. It was gross!

Scrambled vs over easy- I LOVED the organic scrambled eggs. It tasted clean and fresh and natural. It was an obvious difference between the other eggs.

-Then he asked me to guess which plate contained which egg. The first one I guessed was grain fed eggs. The second the regular eggs and the third the organic eggs. I was right because there was such an obvious different.

Therefore, our conclusion is that organic eggs taste SO much better than regular eggs. This made us SO mad because they obviously cost so much more than the gross eggs! Also, the shell in organic eggs are brown and spotted and different shapes. Another obvious 'natural' sign for us. They put all this junk into the animals and it changes the taste of the product a TON. We don't need all the junk! Which is another reason we are ticked that the organic eggs were so much yummier. We have never considered ourselves as the 'granola' type or crazy about food and stuff. Sadly though we are finding that organic food really does taste so much better and honestly that is important to us. Why does eating healthy cost so much money!? UGH- I am hoping that the prices will go lower.

I recently babysat at a persons house who is more organic than I have ever seen in my entire life (woman didn't have a microwave). And Daniel and I tried organic ice cream she had there. Oh my gosh! We were immediately hooked. I can count on one hand how many times I have eaten plain vanilla ice cream, but this stuff- did not need one topping or add-in or anything. It was SO good!

So what the heck? It tastes SO much better and is better for you. Why not? That is our conclusion. We are going to try and move across the organic line slowly because it really is more expensive, but so far we are totally sold on eggs and milk.

Our next experiment? We are going to see if the organic eggs make cookies (so if you bake with them) taste better. Do you think we'll be able to tell a difference? At least we'll have 2 huge batches of cookies to make sure to test each type thoroughly

Nursery Update!!

The nursery is finally getting attention! I was going to wait until I had everything done and give you a dramatic before and after thing like they do on the HGTV shows or whatever, but I am SO in love with this nursery I couldn't wait to show you! Keep in mind that we are not done. This is just the first stage, but a big stage. As I walk past the nursery to go down stairs and I just stop and look at it because I love it so much. While Daniel was painting (yes he did 99% of it, as I basically sat and watched. He is so awesome) I was squealing in delight.

Without further ado- Daniel and I would like to present... our nursery:

Ok well this isn't our nursery, this is me at 32 weeks. Just fat and sassy!

Here is his monkey crib that I proudly put together all by myself, then Daniel and John had to take it apart to fit it into the room. Long story...

CUTE!

Ok, so here (top and bottom) are the before pictures. Sadly someone thought it would be okay to paint the room peptobismol pink and cherry red. It blinded you as you walked in. It was bad. Nothing a little paint can't take care of though!

Here is what it looked like with the primer. I got the heavy duty, extra coverage primer and it still needed 2 coats because of how pink this pink was...

And now for the grand finale...

TA DA!!!! HERE IT IS IN ITS NEW CLOTHING!!!!

I LOVE IT! We still need to do all the touch ups. The corners and so on, but we got a huge chunk done. What about the cherry red, you ask? That is going bye bye too! My mom and I are going to hang bamboo wallpaper on the top so it's like a jungle:-) SO CUTE! It isn't here yet, so we just painted. The colors match the crib bedding perfectly and it's now cozy and warm. The pictures don't do it justice. I just love it, can ya tell? Sorry, I'll let you judge for yourself. The wall paper should be here this week and so I'll keep ya updated!

Confessions of a grumpy pregnant lady....

Being a mother is the most important calling I will ever have as a woman. Yes, I can accomplish many things outside of the home and fulfill myself pursuing my own interests and desires. However, being a mom is something that I have always wanted and something that I know is my calling in life. I have experienced brief moments with children giving me a glimpse of how precious they are and how incredibly loved they are. Truly being able to see them through the eyes of the Lord. Right when Daniel and I got married I was totally baby hungry. Here we are two years later and I am about to have my dream be fulfilled.

But I have to confess.... I HATE being pregnant. I can't say anything though because it makes me a 'bad person' and most of all because compared to a lot of story toppers, I have got NOTHING to complain about. I hate hearing that women just loved every minute of being pregnant. It's just disgusting. "I'm 20 weeks along and you can't even tell. I don't even have a bump", "I can still wear my skinny jeans", "I never got sick or anything"- Well YIPPEE for you!

Its like they are bragging. Example conversation: Person A- "Yuck, I just threw up for the 8th time today". Person B - "Oh really? Well I never get sick". What sick pregnant lady wants to hear that?! Seriously man. Are you trying to make me feel better? Or... what? What is the purpose of that statement?

Is this what they want? Person A - "Ugh, my pants don't button anymore. I feel so gross". Person B - "Really? Huh, I'm 2 weeks farther along than you and I am still in my high school jeans". Person A - " Oh my gosh! You are so lucky! Wow, I wish I were you. Can I hang around you so that I can be more like you and you can be my pregnancy mentor?!" - Gag me with a spoon.

I started gaining weight when I was 4 weeks along. I haven't been able to fit into any of my clothes since October and in reality I will probably never fit into them ever again. My maternity clothes are too small, how can anyone not love that?! Hey, your so fat that even the clothes we custom make for people with your 'condition' don't even fit. Maybe you should go try having them custom made for your ... figure (if thats what you can call it). Yes! I love being pregnant.

I envy anyone that can lay on their stomach. Tell me you don't miss that oh perfect pregnant ladies.

And don't even get me started on how gross and disgusting stretch marks are. Ew- that is all I can say. So awesome they they will never leave. Love it.

And then there is the 'look'. You know which one I am talking about. The 'look' your husband gives you when you are totally hormonal and crabby and all you want is for him to just understand and your yelling at him this desire and he just looks at you. Like, 'ok, your out of your mind- and if I continue to speak I will be sleeping on the couch that with your super hormonal strength you've managed to pick up and move outside. So I'm just going to shut up and leave.' You've got no explanations or reasons behind the chaotic, unreliable bursts of random anger. But the only people who understand are the crabby pregnant ladies. The 'good, angelic' pregnant women have the super human strength to control these hormones attacking their body. Because if they didn't how could they love being pregnant? How can you love not being able to control your mood swings and in turn treating the one man you love more than anything else on this earth like dirt? And in reality these little demons we call hormones are most likely the cause of this little temper tantrum, turning it into a forever long post taking hours to perfect. So fun! I love being pregnant.

It's the best to not be able to sleep through the night because you have to slide your arm under your stomach to help lift it as you roll over to get a more comfortable position. Oh but before you attempt said roll over, you have to gain momentum by rocking back and forth a few times and then attempting the big heave-ho. Person B - "Better get used to it. Tee hee hee hee" Person A - "HAHAHAHAHA. Oh your helping so much." Shut up! I'm tired.

But these are only the little things. One can't forget the swollen feet that make it impossible to wear any other shoes besides flip flops or crocs. But then again it kills the legs and back to wear flip flops because they have no support what so ever and your carrying around 50 freaking pounds more than normal so your feet start to ache as your walking out the door.

Then there is the medicine cabinet I've dressed up like a purse. The contents? Oh this and that, my wallet, some chap-stick, a little "Moonlight" body spray from Bath and Body Works, a pen- and oh yeah an entire bottle of ultra (a step above Extra) strength antacids (ya know the family or economy size), a bottle of zyrtec, my iron pills, a package of tagament (that also aids in heart burn), my zofran (it used to never leave my side) and my flinstones multi-vitamins. I went to the pool the other day to get in some exercise- I had to leave after 15 minutes because the acid in my stomach was coming up so bad that I had to look up in order to be able to swallow it and not throw up in the pool. I have to take little kiddy vitamins because if I take normal big girl prenatals my skin breaks out into a huge rash and I itch so bad I have to run into an oatmeal bath while lathering anti-itch cream all over my body. My skin just itches all the time especially at night! I'm tired!

I have to catch my breath at the top of the stairs. If Daniel is home and he is behind me he has to put his hands on my butt or hips and help push me up the stairs. All of this while my thighs are bumping into my stomach.

And speaking of things bumping into my stomach, my boobs have grown so large that they now rest on my stomach and fall off to either side (sorry boys). Man, I feel so sexy. They also have to be supported in the heave-ho roll over escapade during the night or they'll crash one on top of the other causing just a tid bit of pain.

I don't know who I am. I don't know what my body is doing. It's acting of its own accord and I have no control over what happens. I am sick and I am so weak I can't lift a paper and hold it up. My legs feel like I have been working out on the stair stepper for hours if I am just sitting down! I have NO normal reason to be as exhausted as I am. I didn't know how much I listened to my body until it started talking a different language.

I know some of you are thinking 'oh waaa Stephanie, you'll be fine'. Like I said before I really honestly have nothing to complain about and I am aware of this reality. I'm not looking for sympathy, if anyone deserves it its Daniel! Mostly this is a therapeutic technique for me, just being able to write it all down, and hopefully it'll cause a laugh or two. But I am tired of being silent. I am tired of trying to look at only the good things about being pregnant (footage NOT found). I just need to vent a little and I'll be fine.

Now I'm even more ticked. I thought I was done! After the final edit I looked online for pictures to add a little appeal to the post. I searched for 'grumpy pregnant women' in a google search.... NOTHING. All the pictures are of sweet, beautiful women glowing. UGH! So now I blame society and the media.

Huh?

I don't know what happened to our pictures... I have had to upload a few because it says that the URL is invalid. However, I never uploaded them as URL's I always uploaded them as just regular pictures. Anyone know what is going on? Help! I don't want to have to re-upload everything, mostly because I don't really remember which pictures went where :-)