the graduate

 

 

after five years

and lots of evenings away

i am losing my one night a week to myself.

just in time for brette to get here

so ronnie doesn't get a free night either.

 

he is officially a graduate of the electrician apprentice program.

five years ago we weren't married

or expecting.

we didn't have puppies

or a house.

i still drove the sunfire

and ronnie had a lot less gray hair.

a lot has changed.

 

and i'm really proud of him finishing the program,

with all A's - no less.

plus, he took it a step further and got his master's license.

 

congrats, darling

 

(first day of school this year)

(last day of school this year)

 

same outfit and acting like a goof.

geez.

 

 

 

bumpdate

i got some new clothes from shannon and mauri

so i made sure to take advantage of my new wardrobe.

 

plus you get to see the last three weeks of my belly growth.

hopefully, only a little bit longer to go.

 

 

36 weeks

37 weeks

38 weeks

update: 38 weeks

i'm thirty-eight weeks.

weight? i have gained 25 lbs. total and since we know little missy weighs in around 6lbs right now, that means i have 19 big ones to lose once she comes. but… i have another couple weeks to go, so that number will probably go up a bit. i am looking forward to morning stoller walks, but I’m sure some treadmill time will be mandatory too. wah wah.


cravings?  i am in love with kid’s cereal.  fruit loops, apple jacks, captain crunch, cinnamon toast crunch, pops, frosted flakes - - i’ve bought them all in the last 6 months.  i can’t get enough sweet cereal.  in fact, i've noticed i missed coco puffs, so those are now on the list. ronnie doesn’t know what to do about it. he tries to buy our usual special k, multigrain cheerios or honey bunches of oats, but i’m not having it.  i'm splurging while i can.

side effects? back pain is no longer an issue.  i mean, i can’t carry a heavy load or go on a long road trip, but all in all, i’d say its 90% better.  i still don’t understand why it would hurt so bad when i was smaller and gradually get better as i get bigger.  very weird. 
but no fear, i am far from pain free and still pretty uncomfortable by the end of the day.  plus i’m having a real issue with my left foot and ankle swelling. it goes back down over night, but i feel like a real fatty by bedtime.

baby? last week in my ultrasound, brette weighed 5lbs 14oz.  if she stays on track to gain 8oz per week, she should be around 6lbs 6oz right now.  i’d like her to be around 7 lbs so she needs another week or two to grow. i guess i’ll wait. her body was still measuring around 4 weeks behind and her head was still measuring two weeks ahead, so really, get ready for my little bobblehead.  i have a dr. appointment tomorrow, so i’m going to ask what the weird measurements mean, if anything.  

preparations? the nursery is finished and i love it. her diaper bag is packed.  her clothes for the hospital are bought, but not washed.  i have a couple things of mine out and ready, but i still need to pack my overnight bag. ronnie and i took an infant CPR class last week and we have the tour of the maternity ward tomorrow. we also have an appointment tomorrow with the highway patrol so they can check the installation of our carseat.  apparently, 80% of carseats are not put in correctly and since we’ve never done it, i thought we should get a safety inspection done.  just in case.  ronnie thinks i’m crazy, but hello, i’d rather be safe than sorry. i think besides that, we’re pretty much ready for her at anytime.    

the best thing? she gets hiccups almost everyday and i can feel every single one of them.  at first, i was so confused because i couldn’t figure out what was going on. i thought maybe she was hitting me to a beat - my little fist pumper. but once i figured it out i love feeling them. its pretty cool to know exactly what’s going on with her, even if its only for a couple minutes.

the worst thing?  my mixed feelings about the birth.  on one side all i want is to go in labor.  i am so ready for her to be here.  on the other hand, i never want to give birth.  it is scary as shit, there’s no turning back and it freaks me out.  so i wanted her to be here like yesterday, but i never want to actually go through it.  i'm torn... and nervous.

since this is probably my last update before she comes i have a couple extra things to add that I’ve seen other people do.

rings?  still on.  my fingers never swelled up, so i am still able to wear my wedding band.  i had a plan to go to walmart and buy a fake one if mine stopped fitting just so people didn’t think i was an unwed mother. hahaha.

belly button? still in.  although my stomach is tight and my belly button is more shallow, it is still an innie which i prefer because i didn’t want a little bump sticking out with every shirt i wear.

stretch marks? i still only have the one and i'm lubing up every morning and night.  hopefully that will keep them to a minimum.

maternity clothes? i am definitely in maternity clothes but i have some pieces from my closet that still fit.  my good friend, mauri, just sent me a whole box of summer wear so i am set for these last couple of weeks.  i love that i only ended up buying three pairs of pant and three shirts.  i cannot tell you how much i appreciate jana, shannon, jaime and mauri for letting me sport their clothes these last 6 months. thank you, thank you, thank you.

looking forward to the most? meeting brette and not being pregnant.

 

so there it is.

me at 38 weeks.

ready or not, but really we're ready

i had a pretty great going-to-be-a mother's day last weekend.

ronnie bought me some flowers and of course my favorite, reese's.
i think this is his go-to gift now.

 

but what really made my day is that ronnie could not say no

to all the things i wanted to get done.

and what i really wanted to do was finish the nursery.

so we went to work.

the nursery looked like this

after bringing home all the things from last weeks shower.

 

we sorted, put away and organized.

then i decided that we needed to buy a night stand

and a build our pallet shelf.

ronnie got to work on both.

i supervised and tried to help where i could.

 

 

we made her bed

packed her diaper bag

did more of her laundry

made her things a home in the bathroom and kitchen.

hung everything on the gallery wall

lined her drawers

and put out the finishing touches.

 

we were really busy all day

and very tired by the end of it.

and now finally,

the big reveal:

 

 

  

 

i'm really proud of it.

i think its adorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



stretched

welp.

it happened.

the one thing i was hoping to avoid.

 

i made this stupid joke at the end of last week's blog post:

 

pray for lots of growth.

(just not the extreme kind that will give me stretch marks.)

 

God read it and zapped me.
you know, sometimes this shit ain't funny, God.

 

this week i found my first stretch mark.

i'll admit, i'm a little devastated.

i was hoping my previous hefty college body

prepared my stomach for the wide load.

i had read up on it early in my pregnancy

and they said the fairer skin you have

the more likely you are to get them. 

so while i knew i had a good possibility of being a candidate,

i clung to hope. 

especially since i made it 37 freaking weeks with no signs of them.

this just proves my theory that i, in fact, have the skin of a redheaded step child.

 

oh joy. oh bliss.

 

right now, i just have one.

its on the southern hemisphere of my stomach,

the side i can no longer see,

but i stare at it in the mirror

and i have ronnie examine it for any growth or discoloration.

as you can tell, i'm trying not to overreact just yet,

but i have a feeling that if i go another 4 weeks,

i'll look like a victim of a tiger attack.

since i'm trying to avoid that,

i have now gone into

"crazy oil mode"

 

i rub coconut oil on my stomach every night and lay there while it works its magic. 

i also use the cocoa butter massage lotion for stretch marks every morning.

between the two, i smell like i'm ready for the pool at all times.

 

 

 

so its time for a new prayer.

one that is waaaaaay more specific.

 

dear God, we want:

1. growth for brette.

but not in her head,

because that could hurt and its big enough already.

2. the stretch marks contained. please, just let there be one.

3. a healthy mildly painful delivery with no complications.

and

4. a beautiful, perfect baby girl

okay, go.  

 

amen.

up up and away

i am one lucky girl to have

not only one, but

t w o

amazing showers thrown in honor of brette and i.

the last one was hosted by my aunt mickie and sis-n-law, jaime.

hot air balloon themed - which is perfect for the nursery

since that's the look i'm going for.

in fact, mickie ended up making hot air balloon centerpieces

that i am going to use above brette's crib.

ah thank you.

 

i was able to catch up with all the mammas that watched me grow up,

ronnie's family and my family.

it was a fun day.

 

ready for all the pictures?

presents!

the whole gang

 

an amazing diaper cake topped with brette's very own cabbage patch doll.

(which is a good thing because there was no way in hell i was giving her willy.)

also, something i didn't realize - - every layer of this cake had goodies in the middle...

plus all the stuff you can see on the outside!

one of the hot air balloons - - soon to be nursery decoration.

 

all the ladies in my family.

 

eden lou

mom and i

baby shower game #1 - unscramble

the toilet paper game - dylanie won.

 

ronnie's side of the fam

pretty little favors

food, food, food!

the menu especially put together around my favorite things.

which included dessert - reese's brownie cupcakes.

yes, they are as good as they sound.

my grandma and my mom.

 

i know i use the word amazing a lot.

but amazing, right??!

 

thank you so much to my family for making so wonderful.

 

 

 

 

my luck at the doctor's office

i was so excited to get great news about brette,

i didn't get a chance to share the whole story about my appointment.

 

...

 

in the last 8 months of going to the doctor

i have never had to do anything more than lift up my shirt

so my doctor could access my stomach.

so i was a little thrown off when the nurse told me to disrobe

from the waist down at my appointment on thursday.

although caught off guard, i wasn't totally unprepared.

i had showered and shaved that morning

and i happened to be wearing my newest undies.

talk about luck.

it wasn't until i was "ready and waiting" for the doctor,

that i realized something was... off.

there was a definite stench filling the room.

my feet  - - they smelled horrible.

i was wearing my go-to black flats.

they are suede moccasins that have been wet a time or two,

and i wear them quite often without socks.

you can imagine.

and i don't have stinky feet - - i promise. 

except for in these shoes.

and they reek.

dammit all to hell.

so i'm sitting there with a freaking sheet on

and realize the doctor is going to come in a think she's walked into a men's locker room.

not to mention my feet are going to be
up by her poor face when its stirrup time.

shit. shit. shit.

i decide that masking the odor is my best course of action.

i wrap my sheet around me like a towel,

pray that the doctor doesn't pick this moment to come in,

get a couple of squirts out of the gallon sized hand sanitizer on the counter

and start rubbing down my feet.

surely, this will "clean" them and make them smell, if nothing else, sterile.

but no.

i'm pretty sure the combo was just as unpleasant.

and now my hands kind of smell weird too.

crap.

plus i realize that really, i hadn't dealt with the heart of the problem.

my shoes.

they are still down on the floor stinking up the room.

so i'm up again, sheet wrapped around me again, really testing the limits of the amount of time i have left before the doctor walks in. i decide to stash my shoes inside my purse.

hopefully this will conceal the problem and allow the room to air out.

once back on the table, i'm really wishing i had washed my hands and grabbed a breath mint,

the combo of soap and minty fresh breath could have surely saved me.

but i'm too scared to chance getting up for a third time

 

there's a knock at the door and in comes my doctor.

i don't know what she smelled when she walked in.

i know she didn't make any sort of face, so that's a good sign.

but i am sure she was wondering why i was mildly sweaty and had the sheet

that normal women lay over their laps, wrapped and knotted around me like i was testing her true need for this examination.

 

oh yes, hello, let me just stand up for a second to unwrap this sheet.

so embarrassing.
 

the results are in

i had my doctor's appointment on thursday.

the one i've been waiting for.

she measured me

and again, i was 4 weeks behind.

two weeks ago i was measuring 30 cm.

now i'm measuring 32 cm.

growth is good, so i'm really relieved that we are still growing over here.

however, since i'm more than three weeks behind,

its cause for a little concern.

she sent me to have an ultrasound done

and everything came back great.

my amniotic fluid is on the high end,

which was my #1 worry, so that made me happy.

basically, brette is just small.

her arms and legs are measuring somewhere between 34 and 35 weeks.

her little body is only measuring 33 weeks

and guess what...

ronnie was right.  she got the turner noggin.

her head is measuring at 38 weeks.

cheese and rice,

she might be a freaking bobble head.

 

but what makes me really happy is the ultrasound tech said

that she had gobs of hair.  she said she could see it

coming out from all sides of her head. 

i might just pack hair barrettes to take to the hospital.

that's going to be so cute.

 

right now she's weighing in at a whopping 5.5 lbs.

the tech told me that she will just be a smaller baby,

probably only weighing somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 lbs.

no 10 pounders over here.

(which, hello, that's great news to me!)

 

the doctor came back and had the tech do a bio physical.

that's where they measure her breathing, blood supply, tone and movement.

she did great in all four categories.

wahoo!

i am going back on wednesday for another ultrasound

because she is so little, they want to keep an eye on her.

but right now,

things seem to be fine.

 

i'll keep you posted.

predictions

awhile ago ronnie's dad found a picture

of ronnie when he was born and gave it to me. 

i had never seen him this young.

his family had a fire and a lot of photos from when

ronnie was little were lost.

i am so happy they actually found this. 

and while i was in warrensburg over the weekend,

i also grabbed the first known pic of me.

its dated two weeks after i was born.

my parents don't have a good excuse like a fire.

instead, they forgot to put film in the camera

so all photos from the first two weeks are undocumented.

i blame it on the "second child syndrome."

my mom blames my dad.

 

ronnie and i have been studying our baby pictures

so we have an idea of what/who brette looks like when she comes.

ronnie claims i look like an old man.

i swear he looks half asian.

 

so maybe ronnie and i are getting an asian old man?
 

  

 

(and yes, i took a picture of a picture because my scanner is somewhere in the basement mess.

i hope to retrieve it one day during clean up.)

 

 

so tired

i had another amazing shower this weekend

in warrensburg at my parent's

but i don't have all the photos from it yet,

so i'm going to skip to sunday.

 

the day of rest.

 

except for me, it was the most work i've done in awhile.

i started the day around 7:30 going out mushroom hunting with my brother.

he said that he wasn't going to be gone for very long

and that the only part i might have trouble with

is crossing over a creek.

that didn't sound so bad.

 

but no.

 

"not very long" in brian terms

equals 4 hours.

4 hours walking and walking and walking.

we found 8 mushrooms.

 

and the "creek" was actually a river.

steep sides, muddy, hard to get down

and even harder to get back up.

especially 8 months pregnant.  

and the last time i crossed over it

water was up to our thighs.

i was soaked by the time we got back to the truck.

 

wet, tired

and only mildly successful.

 

 

but that wouldn't have been so bad except for i had

another looooong job waiting for me when i got back.

 

one thing i hear over and over again is how tired

i am going to be once brette gets here. 

how i may not have time to even shower,

let alone cook dinner.

so i thought the best thing to do would be prepare several meals

that i can freeze and have for this summer

so ronnie and i don't spend every night either starving

or going to mcdonalds.

 

after my hike with brian, my mom and i got started cooking.

5 hours later we were done and 20 meals were frozen.

it was very tiring and my feet/back were rocked.

i haven't been in that much pain in a long time. 

but i am super excited to have one more thing done

in preparation for baby.

the more i can do now, the less i have to worry about later.

a big shout out to my mom.  she stuck by me in the kitchen

while we finished meal after meal.

 

if you want to do something similar, here's my tip:

buy gallon freezer bags and flatten them out as much as possible.

you can easily stack them and take up hardly any room in your freezer.

 

 

and that was my day of rest.

good thing i had off monday too.

dinosaur tracks

as i was walking into the kitchen

i realized the water in my glass was

rippling with every step.

 

a lot like this:

and that's when i realized

i am now comparable to

the tyrannosaurus rex in jurassic park.

 

 

not cool, people.

not cool.