Thursday, December 31, 2009

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Bitter.... Sweet

So I have been unsure how to start this post but knew it was blog worthy. I am talking about my Christmas Present I received this year from my mother. Now before I start this post I want you readers to know that I have told my mother that I would be blogging about this and that I was going to be honest about what I was feeling that Christmas morning and that it is not intended to hurt feelings, this is just a BIG oL deal and something I want to have written about to look back on, so here goes...

I knew this Christmas my mother had been working on something special, she cant barely keep secrets when she excited about something, so a couple of months prior to chirstmas I has started piecing things together not "digging" for info I just never forget anything and as time rolled along things started to click...

to give you some Ideas of what I am talking about here is one early morning while my hubby was still asleep his txt msg alert sound went off on his I phone, for those of you I phone users you know that the phone displays the text message on the front of the phone, I looked to see what it was and saw a txt from my mother to my hubby saying I need you to do me a favor but I need you to keep it a secret... I never said anything about it to him or her i just thought hu i wonder what that could be... few weeks later same scenario but this txt read hey, you think you can get me what i needed you to get for me today?

fast forward to thanksgiving, I was sitting on the sofa with my mom looking at the black friday adds when she says to her mom " hey mom, where did you get those things done again, my grandma says "Michael's" at that moment I remembered my grandmother putting together mikes and his fathers army jackets in these shadow box things... in which my mom replied to yeah, thats where I am going...

so like I said i began piecing info together, later that thanksgiving day we were at my grandmas digging through her old christmas decorations and we all got to pick what we wanted for our houses as they no longer put up a tree b/c they are in arizona during christmas, so it was very sentimental listing to all the family history behind certain pieces, My grandmother also gave me my old rocking chair that she bought for me when I was a little girl and I was so excited to be taking it home with us that night not our little Jada Bug, this is when I heard my mom lean into nick and say shes so going to love her Christmas present this year because she is getting into all this sentimental stuff...


ok sorry i know I am making this long and I haven't even gotten to the bottom line here... so any who, with all of this info stirring in my head, I never once asked nick to spill the beans, I never even told him i saw the txt msgs from my mom, and I never looked back at his phone to see his replies to see if i could figure out what the "it" was I just knew it was a surprise that she was working on for christmas...


few weeks past thanksgiving I am at home now watching say yes to the dress and I thought Oh my wedding dress, thats still at my mothers house, I should get that out of there and bring it home and put it in the spare bdrm down stairs, they had just gotten a cat and I didn't want to take any chances even though it was in a bag, and also she had been asking me to pick up some of my other things that have been at her house so I figured I would go pick it up.

I headed to her house, no dress, it wasn't any where I had seen it before, not in my sisters closet, not in her closet, no where...my heart began pounding out of my chest but I knew it couldn't be too far... I just was very nervous and I guess at this point you can say I began to speculate that my christmas present was going to involve my wedding gown...

but what? was she going to preserve it? that about all I could think of, until I remembered this one time early on in my engagement after I found my dress talking with her about a show she had seen on TV where they took the mothers wedding gown and made like a photo album cover for their wedding album and then used extra material to make like a baby pillow for the nursery... OMG , OMG, OMG, OMG was my mother going to cut up my dress?!?!?!


I replayed all the bits and pieces of info i had retained and quickly dialed my husband,

I told him i was at my mothers house to pick up m dress and it wasnt there, and I know she is planning something nice for this christmas that she has put alot of work into, but i need to know does this involve my wedding dress because it is not here...

he was quiet and then says chels, honestly I don't know, your mom was talking about doing alot of different things, and I am not sure what her final decision was... ( see he wasn't giving any info up and like i said i wasn't digging, but at this point i was panicked)


so I left my moms house without my wedding gown that day, hoping that on christmas morning I would see it again, and that is was just preserved.

we arrive christmas morning to my mothers house and I see a very large box under the tree that my little sister kept saying chels that big one is yours!!! she was so excited for me to open it...

then came my turn to open the gift...

and this is what i unwrapped..



I was so nervous as I pulled off each piece of paper, and i stood in the back of it, and at some point my body tensed up because I realized that the size of this box was not going to be able to fit my "whole" dress in it, by this point i kreeped around to the front b/c i wanted to look at it, but i didnt want my mom to see my face as i was unsure of what it looked like at this point and i didnt want to hurt her feelings because i knew she put so much hard work and money into doing this, but OMG my wedding dress was chopped in 1/2...

I didn't get to see it one last time, I didn't get to show Jada, I didn't get to see Jada try it on, I didn't get an option of what I wanted to do with it...


So i placed my hand on the box and mumbled, its Pretty... but I couldn't help but look at it and feel some sort of creapy feeling, like it almost looked like it belonged to someone who died and never got to wear their gown so it was framed as this piece... crazy I know but thats what it felt like at the time..


this was me in my dress just a year and a few months prior



My mom then started to speak up and say chels I know your feeling a little upset right now, and you probably want to cry and thats ok, and thats when the tears started flowing and my lip started to quiver off my face and she kept talking, I know you wanted Jada to see your gown , or try it on, or give her the option of wearing it, and i am sure that is why you are really feeling sad is that right? and shook my head yes and then she said " now open this"

so i opened another box and this was inside.


this was a gown made 100% from my wedding gown from all three layers, down to the beading... my tears started to flow even more, my mom says, this is a christening  gown that ALL your babies will be able to wear not just Jada, and so she will get to wear your wedding dress one day.



close up of the front with the bead work, side view of the bunching with the beading


back view..

So at this moment I was an emotional mess, I loved this idea, and I loved the gown that my babies will be able to wear and that it had such meaning but then at the same time my dress no longer existed... It was a hard moment, and I will admit, still is hard to grasp, but I know that one day down the line I will be very grateful for this and I will appreciate it for all that it is, right now it is just hard to know that my dress is gone, and to be honest I know it was just siting in a closet before and now it is displayed for people to see and it is in a keep sake box, but it was just a year ago that i was married... I think i would have been ready for this in a few years, or maybe if I was even asked before it was done....


but now I have a beautiful gown that My baby Jada will be able to wear for her dedication and I have a shadow box to display my gown, veil , and tiara. it is still going to take some time getting used to but I do think both items are very beautiful, bittersweet I guess you could say.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Tears and a Medium Chocolate Milk Shake

today I decided after all the changes I was experiencing through out the weekend that I would call into my Dr. Office and see if I cant get looked at. They got me in with a regular OB there because my midwife is only there on Wednesday. after I hung up the phone with the office I had an appointment scheduled for 1:15 and had a smile ear to ear... I showered and got cleaned up, ran the sweeper to have that nice line look in the carpet and made sure that babies car seat, and our packed bags were all easily located, that way if we found out good news we or someone would have been able to go pick them up for us.

I picked Nick up for the appointment and we headed downtown. walked in the room and waited for the Dr to walk in, he comes in and asks " so you have been having consistent contractions?" Im like no... I just have had a noticeable amount of pressure in my lower abdominal area and had menstrual like cramps, but nothing that has ever been timed... he says ok well lay back and we will take a look ( mind you this is my first vaginal exam to check progress) and he says, Well her head is down so that is the pressure you are feeling but your Cervix is completely closed. he tells me I can sit up and get dressed and he will be right back with a pamphlet that will tell me all about how to tell if I am in actual labor... seriously Mr I know I will know when I am in labor, you can keep your stupid pamphlet!!!!

So I got dressed and he came back in the room... handed me the stupid pamphlet and said well i see you have an apt for wednesday and honestly you can just cancel that and I would just com next week sometime... oh really Mr. thats great because NEXT WEEK IS PAST MY DUE DATE....

so i smiled said thanks and walked out.


I walked out knowing that the next time I walk in that office it will be January FREAKING FOURTH AND I WILL BE PAST MY DUE DATE!!!!!!


I don't think I said a word as Nick and I walked to the elevator, or to the car or even when we got out on the road...

there were a lot of things running through my mind, but i didn't want to formulate sentences...


and then i figured I better just get the phone calls out of the way, so I called mom, dad, and grandma to tell them all our baby is happy and healthy, and mommas cervix is closed so she will most likely be pregnant for the rest of her life.


everyone is so encouraging and I truly appreciate it, but I am allowed to feel some frustration right now at-least for a little bit, and you know what I was even entitled to that nice Medium Chocolate Milk shake I got on my ride home...

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Antsy Pants

yep, I am anxious... ready to go into labor, thats right I am ready, BRING IT... everything on my "to do" list has been crossed off. her room is finished. I am HUGE. Daddy is super excited and wants to hold his little girl, and so am I. so yep, I have Ants in my pants right at the moment, is it normal to be so bored that you want to go into labor? I mean seriously. its a beautiful sunday home with my hubby, and we are both like what cha wanna do today? and we cant come up with anything, i said maybe go to a movie, he says are you sure since you are this close to being due? and Im like well ya a movie doesn't really sound great, I don't want to go out to eat ( I need that shirt that says DONT FEED ME) b/c in case you didn't read above I AM HUGE.

we are 5 days away from the Due date but I have to admit yesterdays changes in my body and the way i was feeling really made me feel like she would be coming soon... but then today arrives and she is just enjoying her little home in there... so who the heck knows but Jada, your Momma is Super Antsy so whenever you are ready just know that your mommy and Daddy are ready too!

Friday, December 25, 2009

39 weeks.. MERRY CHRISTMAS




It's Christmas Morning, and here is what has been going on. I reached 39 weeks today which means the actual Due Date is just 7 days away from now, but wow has out little One dropped. Look I have a curve again, well kinda, hha, well let me tell you I am now really understanding that we are getting super close. yesterday she wasn't moving much ( I def still had the 10 + kicks so no worries there) but she just wasn't rolling all around, I was sitting on the sofa feeling my big ol belly trying to see if I would excite her to move which wasn't working to well like it normally does so I got up to stand up and I felt a drop into the pelvis, no joke, no it didnt hurt hurt it just really caught me off guard, I literally stood up and felt gravity just pull at my belly. so that was clue number one. a few hours later we were getting ready to go to my grandmas for the traditional christmas eve with my dads side of the family and shortly after arriving I had nick in the back room with some scissors cutting the waste band off of my maternity pants bc it was digging into my pelvis area ( yes these were one of my original purchased maternity pants and the band at one point did come under my bra but now it wasn't even coming close to half way under my belly button, so I folded it down and then wore a bella band over it.... NOT GOOD IDEA, I had my hands in my pants the whole drive to grandmas and like I said once we arrived, i had nick in the back room snip snipping away at the front part of the band....

we all ate and opened presents and she became more active then, but I was feeling motion much lower like her arms or something, so again now the bella band was feeling to tight, but I had to keep that in tact,  that was the only thing holding up my pants by now....

I look at the clock and its 6:50 we had to hurry out to make it to  church at 7:30 with the roads being icy and all, we made it to church in time, but boy getting out of the car was a little different this time... felt like it took longer, once I was out we walked into church with the hubby and my brother and sister and went to save a seat for mom.... after sitting there for a while, I started getting a really mild headache located at the base of my head, and at the back of my ears... it was weird, but something told me to ask nick to get me a water, he came back and I chugged..... this is when i realize, my pants are literally digging into me, and I am totally not comfortable what so ever, and this freaking bella band I want to rip it off and sling shot it across the room....


nick could tell I wasnt feeling myself so he nudged me and told me it would be ok if we left... leave church on Christmas eve?!?!!? thats what I thought.... but then I looked down and saw my poor shame of pants and concentrated on the pain in my head and though , yeah lets head on out...

we came home and I got in my comfy Pj's and i made some hot tea, I walked into the living room and literally BAM lower back pain, weird it just set in.... but yes I was having lower back pain, I got on our birthing ball and nick rubbed my back, then my feet and calfs, and then my head.... by this time I decided something could def be going on and I should head to bed and get rest just in case....

while laying in bed thats when the lower I dont know to call them contractions b/c they dont last long but I can only describe them as lower pelvis pain like maybe she is squeezing a nerve for like 30 seconds and then letting go... its sharp but quick... well I had those a while and then shortly i drifted off to sleep.... at 11 I woke again, same thing, and 12:45 same thing, and the head pain was still around but not bad, by 2:15 I woke up and was just WIDE AWAKE, with nothing....but i just could not sleep, so I came out ate some home made granola and made a prego smoothie and turned on animal plannet and watched the deep blue or something like that, I stayed up till around 4:50 and got back in bed and slept till just a bit ago...

so today is Christmas morning and we are getting ready to head over to my moms for christmas breakfast in our PJ's.... So so far today there are no signs but I def think my body is getting ready, and is showing me some pretty good signs that I will be holding a little girl in just a few short days :)


Hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and stay tuned for some more updates!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Time to Sit back and Relax

no more Workey for me...

time to sit back, relax and wait for this Beautiful Baby girl to enter the world.

today I filed for my FMLA time which will cover me through the rest of this year, and then if Miss Jada is not here by the 1st of the new year I will re file to be covered until she is, then once she is here I will be on the good ol Maternity Leave for 6 weeks and then after that I will have to file a leave of absence if I choose to take longer, which I will, I believe 6 more weeks... but any who... thats the plan....

so now that I will be off work until she is here i should be more relaxed which can aid in labor, I have read that stress can keep you from going into labor, which i can understand.. so we will see what happens. but YayYa for no more work!!

now lets just hope and pray that everything gets filed correctly and I get paid!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sleep Positioners

Alright,  question, as we are coming down to 12 days till the due date, I am trying to make sure we have everything ready.. and the sleep positioned idea came into my mind last night and I was wide awake tossing and turning trying to figure out if I should get one or not.... for those of you who don't know what it is I am talking about it looks something like this 

they actually make lots of different styles, but I just don't know if I should or should not get one.... so I thought I could trust my trusty blogger friends, so please help me out, should I go out today and get one of these? what are the pro's con's? do you think Baby will like it? to me the pro is while they are an infant it will keep them on their back while sleeping so i won't have to worry AS MUCH as I would possibly with out one... but are they comfortable? I mean I think about me in my sleep and I like to roll around just a little..... so as you can see I need some helpful input here... please and Thank you :)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Getting Ready..

in preparation of the Big Day I have been cleaning, almost every day... I will sweep the carpet, dust, clean the counter tops, you know just to stay on top of things, that way when we leave the house in an uproar,well  in case we leave the house in an uproar, it will still be organized and clean when we come back with a BABY! I know this is very common for pregnant women to do when the end is in site so i am not freaking out about it, but I am pretty sure my carpet is yelling at me....

in other news, its ok you can laugh, I was at Walmart the other day and i bought a waterproof mattress protector  for just my side of the bed, just in case my water breaks while I am in bed or something crazy like that happens, you know just trying to prepare myself, and I figured for $8 it was worth it not to have to clean a smelly water stain out of our mattress after we arrive home with a BABY!! and nick was fine with it, as long as it didn't go on his side of the mattress.. haha

I also have packed the bags.. well kinda sorta, Jada's is all packed in her cute diaper bag, and mine is packed but not all the way as there are certain things I will still be using on a daily basis up until its time to get up and go so I figure I will just have a written list of those items so come Game Day I will just grab my list ( or nick will grab my list) and throw everything in the bag....

camera is charged, cell phone charger is packed ( we had an extra) video camera is charged, I tell ya we are getting ready around this house....

Jada on the other hand... I think she's getting more and more comfortable inside her mommas womb... some days I feel like wow she really wants outta there, by the way shes moving and the contractions I get, and then there are days where I feel like I am only 6 months pregnant and she is just a swimming around with all the room in the world or sleeping... so who knows what she's really up to, but her and God know, and one day here I will e receiving the greatest gift of all :)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

*the dates*

today marks the first date picked for me to deliver... which made me want to post the peoples picks on here so I will always have them to look back at. Now although today seems like a huge stretch now that it is here, it was my husbands pick a Loooong time ago and so he has told me these past few days, I know its not going to happen on the 17th, but I am too stubborn to change my date. So yes he picked the 17th but he doesn't really think it will happen today, but he says he's already picked and isn't allowed another date ( but he has secretly told me between the 21st- and the 28th)

so here are the dates people have picked so far..

17th - nicks
19th- Madison ( my 7 yr old sister)
21st- Mo
23rd- Grandma Nora
24th- Sam
25th- Aunt Rhonda
28th- Mom's pick
29th-grandpa Tom
Janurary 3rd - Uncle Al

Looks like the 21st through the 28th is a pretty good pick, what are your guesses?!?! January 1st is my actual Due date.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Shake Ya Booty

Today I had my 38 week appointment with my Midwife, baby and I both checked out fine, I even got a compliment that i still had ankle bones, she was pretty impressed ! any who, so Jada's heart was right in the 140's she so consistent, no complaints here.  I gained less than a 1/2 lb, ( also great news) so during my appointment Kristen ( our midwife) told me that Jada was on my right side, pretty far over... which I of course knew because hello I can totally feel her, but anywho, Kristen said that Jada's head was down like it has been for a long while now but she still needed to drop lower into the pelvis because she could still feel her whole head, she also told me that she wanted me to start doing some booty shakin, thats right she told me to bend over with my back flat belly towards the floor, grab onto the kitchen counter and shake my booty... this should help her get more lined up in the center instead of her trying to get comfy on the right side because what can happen when she is over there is that her body will want to turn which would mean instead of her remaining face down like she has been forever now, she could turn and be face up which would mean the crown of her head would be at my tailbone which means BACK LABOR on top of Labor.. and hello no thank you.... so I will be doing lots of kitchen booty shaking ! 

I asked kristen if there was anything I could do to help the baby drop and she told me the hip shaking will also help with that, but that it is completely normal if she doesn't drop until right before labor kicks in, she says that happens a lot, and that I should feel when she drops because there will be lots of pressure in my pelvis area when I am sitting and also standing, I wont want nor be able to cross my legs and I will be visiting the bathroom often while walking with a waddle, now I must admit I feel like right now I pee all the time and waddle already, I def. can still cross my legs and sit comfortably.. so I must say i do agree with her that there still is some dropping that needs to take place. 


towards the end of the appointment she told me that when I leave I need to schedule out all the rest of my appointments for week 39,40,41,and 42.... my jaw dropped... seriously this is  a possibility?!?! but I did it anyways... I must admit I am ONLY hoping to have the 39 and 40 wks appointment... but whatever needs to take place is what will happen, so I just need to prepare myself that we ultimately could have 5 weeks left... 

ok seriously, that just seems CRAZY! 

Friday, December 11, 2009

Full Term Baby

today marks the 37 week mark which means FULL TERM! a day I have been hoping for, now resting knowing that I made it to the marker where she is fully developed and now is just getting bigger and stronger.  I had my appointment with my midwife this AM and thing went great, did the usual weight, blood pressure, urine screen and answered any questions I had... today on the scale I hit the 30 lb. mark... thats right, 30 lb's I have gained thus far, hopefully it will only be a few more tops which is probably so as I have averaged 1 lb to a 1/2 lb @ the past few week appointments, boy its the second trimester that gets you though :) any ways moving right along...

baby girls heart rate sounded beautiful, 145 beats per minute she sounded strong and consistent, just what a mommy wants to hear, as she was measuring me I was having a contraction ( she told me I was, I wasn't actually feeling anything) so I am measuring still a little past 37 weeks, but she thought that could just be due to the contraction. so after all that we went over a little worksheet of some things I can start doing in order to help thin out my cervix, since it starts off the thickness as your index finger and has to thin out to as thin as a piece of paper which is known as effacement, there are some things I can do to help this process, here is what was on the list...

sex-the prostaglandins that are in semen help soften the cervix, making it more responsive to contractions
Evening Primrose Oil- this is a substance that changes into prostaglandins which is the same as what the semen does to help soften the cervix, they recommend taking it 3-4 times daily by mouth
Nipple Stimulation-when nipples are stimulated the body secretes oxytocin, which causes contractions, they say you are to replicate a movement similarto the intermittent squeezing that would happen if the baby was nursing, do this for 5 minutes on 5 mins off for a 20 minute period.
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea- this encourages the uterus to let go and function with out tension, allowing the uterus to work more effectively making birth easier and faster, you are to use one teaspoon of dried herb per cup of boiling water, drink 1 to 3 cups per day
Clary sage- use this oil in your bath and rub on belly
Balsamic vinegar- this contains a derivitive of pitocin
and last but not least, Castor oil cocktail ( although not recommended til 41-41 weeks of pregnancy) which I hope not to see! -  this is the nasty stuff you g ma prolly told you about

so there you have it. that is what was recommended to me, not to do all of those, but just to pick some things off the list and do it like it was "homework"

after my appointment I deep cleaned my car, vacuumed all the dog hair out and threw away trash and sanitized making it good for our eventual right home with baby :) I even took the old speaker box that has been in my trunk since i was 16 years old out ! no need for base with my music, I will now be needing room for a stroller, and I clipped my college graduation tassel from my rear view mirror, I decided carrying a baby around in car I didn't want people to mistake it as a high school graduation tassel... call me crazy, and truthfully it was plain just getting in the way. After this was completed I went to the grocery store and STOCKED up I mean STOCKED up..... I got a whole lot of goodies.... that way when labor decides its going to happen, we will have food in the fridge and pantry and I even got stuff that will be easy for daddy to make  :) I also stocked up on the little travel size things like a tooth brush for me and daddy , shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, tooth paste, and mouth wash for our stay in the hospital come delivery time... all of this is just getting super real and extra exciting...

and not to mention, our little girl has been MOVING like she was a professional dancer no joke. I got some great videos on my blackberry but cant figure out how to send them to my computer to upload them on here... but they are crazy, and its been consistent throughout our whole days work of events, even during my nap!

well now that I have thoroughly typed out my excitement with the day, I should go get dinner ready.... but boy and I getting so EXCITED to meet my precious baby girl!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

a new Discovery

So today while driving home from work I had a new discovery... on my way home I passed a small school and saw a bunch of little ones all lined up walking out of the school towards a bus and here is what happened.....

I pick up the phone to cal my husband Nick

ring...

ring....

Nick: Hello

me: hii honey, do you have a minute

Nick : sure whats up?

me: so i just passed this school that had a bunch of little kids outside and I know this is so far away and your going to say there are going to be soo many things that are going to happen in her life before this but just listen to me...

Nick: haha ok

Me: I just realized that we are going to have a little girl who is one day going to line up and listen to her teacher and wear a backpack and go to school and make friends and all that stuff ( tears in my voice- not sad ones happy ones... )


Nick: haah awwe Chels, your right that is a ways away from now but that will  happen.

me: I know its just crazy, here I am like getting all excited that we are having a baby, and a baby is going to move in with us and we are going to take care of a baby.... but we are having a DAUGHTER like a real live PERSON who is going to grow out of being a baby and be a person who wakes up to an alarm clock and gets herself dressed and grabs her backpack and goes to school... OMG OMG OMG!!!!

Nick: I love you

me: I love you too honey

Hehe Whoo Who

tonight is our last bradley class... or as my grandma refers to them as our hee heee whoo whoo class.... I can not believe it has already been 8 weeks!!! Nick and I have really enjoyed these classes together and now that they are coming to an end, its so real, I remember signing up for the class thinking OMG I will be 37 weeks when the class ends and she could totally come like any time after that... and here we are... at the last class.. Tonight's class will be focused on whatever we want to discuss, we will practice more positions for labor and breathing techniques but after that it is free game so we can just ask all the questions we still have.

this class has been great for nick and I, we now have a Much greater idea of what the body goes through during the birth process and ways to help aid it naturally.  we learned the different stages of labor and when to know you are transitioning which is great for both of us to know this information because Nick will better be able to tell where I am at and can talk me through.  our teacher has been wonderful, Maureen Favorite is her name and I totally recommend taking her class if you live in the area! so as tonight comes closer it is bittersweet, I am sure our class will get together from time to time to see each-others babies which i am sooo excited for!! the first one in our class is due December 18th and then I am next in line for January 1st.... so I am not sure if the other couple will be there tonight but i am assuming they will because I haven't gotten an e mail with a birth announcement... it's all becoming so so real! we are super close, and the time keeps passing quickly, everyone says it starts to slow in the last month, but WOW not yet, time is still melting off the clock....

Saturday, December 5, 2009

oh the joys in life

Ahhh to the excitement... that's right, I am talking the excitement of the Medela breast pump, I just ordered mine last night thanks to a nice 20% off coupon becuase these suckers are not easy on the wallet... so saving 56 bucks with free shipping I was all over that. now lets take a look a this here machine, I mean really take a look at it, you have an extra stylish modern black back pack, when walking down the street which i am sure I will often be doing toating this pump around with baby in arms HAHa but really, I am very excited about this, it has verry good reviews and with it being a double pump i figure I can get the job done the quickest when it is time to come back to work : / it will also help in the beginning of helping to bring my milk in if our little girl takes a little longer to get a good latch. do any of you momma's have this pump? if so what have your experiences been? Oh the joys of entering into motherhood :) - and I am not being sarcastic

Friday, December 4, 2009

the B word

more like the S word but whatever... I ' am talking about group B Streptococcus... I am sure most of you women who are pregnant or are already mommas know exactly what I am talking about so I am not going to take the time to get all "dictionary" on here but the main point being is that I got tested for this at my last appointment which was tuesday and today I found out my results...


NEGATIVE!!!!!!


I wanted to post earlier about my fears and anxiety i was having pre test but figured it would do me no good... I would just wait it out and pray it out... so today when my midwife called to give me my results I was sooo excited and called Nick right away and said are you ready to do the happy dance?!?!?! he too was excited for this news. our biggest reason for excitement you may be wondering?!?! well there are many, first being because I tested negative i will not have to have an IV attached to me when I go into delivery, most of you already have read our goal is to have very little medical intervention throughout the birth process, and if I had tested positive I would have had to be hooked up to an IV and they would have had to administer an antibiotic ( 2 doses) before i deliver, that way it reduced the risks of baby getting it while passing through the birth canal.  so with no IV line ready to go, when the pain gets crazy mazy like people say I wont have a line ready to just plop some drugs into ( which makes me thankful.) also with no IV I will be able to walk and move around freely...

another big reason for excitement that we have learned in our bradley method classes is the hospital really pays attention to strep B positive mothers meaning they put A lot of emphasis on it which brings A lot of restrictions, for instance if baby and I are healthy and everything is looking good to go Nick and I may decide to request that we be able to leave within 24 hrs instead of the 48, but not if I had tested + for strep B because they would want to keep eye on baby and make sure nothing develops....

so although Strep B is highly common, and the risks being passed on to baby are low,especially when antibiotics are given,for us not having to deal with any of that is going to be a true blessing, and brings more hope and encouragement to the birth plan and Nick and I have taken the time to come up with together will go smoothly.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Thirty SiX

So here is the deal, these pictures were both taken today because this marks 36 weeks, I lifted up my shirt a little for the second photo because to me it looked like she was lower that earlier... did she drop?!?! YIPPIE!!! I have been feeling contractions starting Tuesday evening at labor class, nothing like OMG iam going into labor or anything, just my body getting ready I would say, although they were persistent and time to time uncomfortable to the point where i had to change positions I was sitting in, I was excited. Wednesday there were a few and today, maybe a couple but no pressure just the tightening of the uterus up top.  as you can see from my face, I am very excited to be at this week marker... hard to believe that this time next week i will be considered Full Term! it's truly hard to believe as excited as I am to hold her in my arms and watch her daddy stare at her, I can honestly say, I am not rushing anything because I also realize that once she is out and enters the world, I am no longer Pregnant, which means no more little kicks, flutters and little rolls, no more waking up in the middle of the night dreaming of what she will look like, no more belly, it just truly makes me so thankful for the entire experience. Pregnancy is a truly wonderful and amazing experience and I have greatly enjoyed every moment of it, not one complaint.... so we have an estimated 29 days left till little Jada Grace will be here, and I am sure it will come soon enough. until then, I will be enjoying the "daddy snuggles before bed"where we both place a hand on my belly and feel her dancing around.  

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

-GrO BaBy-



Ta Daa... our decision has been made. We are going to order the complete system of Gro baby diapers and both the hubsters and I are super excited about it.  pictured above is what some of the system looks like... here are some reasons as to why we chose them..... 



  • Less waste in our landfills
  • Save hundreds of dollars each year
  • Healthier for baby, less diaper rash
  • No Dioxins
  • They’re cute
I always liked the idea of cloth but must admit i was intimidated by it, however after discovering that you don't have to use the old fashioned white cloth with pins on the side I was interested. as many of you know we were considering baby G diaper system for a while because we 
liked the idea of using biodegradable, so they weren't going to go in the trash instead we would just flush them and they would  decompose within 50 to 100 days, much shorter than the time it takes the regular disposable diapers. so after doing some research on available products I learned that baby G diapers and Gro diapers offer both types of systems, cloth and biodegradable.... I was very excited by this idea and began looking at the cost, trying to figure out what would be best for our family and discovered that Gro baby was the answer, the main reason being is the reviews were higher and also they are one size hence the name GRO BABY, they grow with your baby, so you dont have to re purchase the outer shell as the baby gets bigger.... if we went with baby g diapers we would have to buy a system for when she is in a size Small and then re order the whole system when she gets into a medium and large.... so we figured we would be shelling out alot more dough.... therefore we chose the GRO baby. 



We will most likely become the "Hybrid" user meaning that we will be on the cloth when we are home and making short trips around but then when we are out and about for longer adventures and travel we will have the biodegradable insert on hand, however i must say i really think I will dig the whole cloth idea, we will also be purchasing this.... 

this is a pale that we will have on hand with us as we are out and about and when it comes time to change her we put the diaper in there and seal it shut and then come home and drop it into the washer, we will also have one of these in our laundry room, it is not just a bag, i know you are thinking eww grose that stink that will come from that bag, the idea here is you change her diaper take it to the bathroom and use one of those hard core sprayers that will be attached to the toilet ( daddy has to rig that one up still) and then you toss the diaper into the bag, and wash every 2 days.... so that is the system... I am excited to start, however if our little girl is under 8lbs when she is born we will not be starting off in these as she would be to tiny, we have purchased some earths best organic newborn diapers just in case she needs to start off in those. so there you have it, my little excitement for the day, Diapers..... 

Monday, November 30, 2009

Christmas Adventure


Yesterday we headed out to good Ol Dowagiac Michigan to Butler Tree Farm to pick out the Urankar Christmas tree 2009. The trip was about 20 minutes from our house so not too bad, the whole time there we listened to comercial free Christmas tunes and couldnt wait to get to the tree farm, as I mentioned last year was our frist married christmas and we went to a tree farm to cut down a tree and decided that we would make that our little tradition, so this year we headed out to Butler Tree farm in search of the perfect tree. I was so excited on our drive, even though there was no snow to set the mood even more, but it was perfect. I couldn't help but think that this was the last year that just the Hubby and I would be picking out a tree together, that next year and all the years after we will have our little girl and who knows what other children with us :)

Butler tree farm was great, they even had animals out for the little kids to see, they had 3 basset hounds, lamas, a deer, ducks, goats and lots others.  They were serving hott cocoa and hott apple cider and had tractor/sleigh rides that drove around the farm playing christmas music, it was all too cute. I think i said like 11 times I LOVE CHRISTMAS! so it was a fun trip, we started looking at the white pines, but them moved our way onto the douglas Fir's because they looked like they wouldnt shed as much. I swear I am the WORST at pulling the trigger and making a decision when i am starting at like 1,000 trees, but together I think we agreed on the perfect one. Nick chopped it down and we were headed home. 

Decorating the tree this year was great also because out tree this year is very sentimental because my grandma Lake had all of her kids, and grandkids go through all of her chirstmas decorations she has had for many many years because they dont use them and havnt used them in years because they are in Arizona during christmas every year, so I have ornaments that are from my GREAT grandmas original tree and from my grandparents first ever tree, and a bunch of other ornaments from their trees they have had down the years, I even am using the beads my grandma used on her tree.  We are using the same tree topper as last year and nick did his anual placing of it :)


I hope you and your family have fun decorating for the Holiday!!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

35 week update

wowzers, there I am, and there is my belly... I have officially begun to feel like my body is no longer mine. My belly is constantly tight and hard and always round, and low... I tell ya, the body is an amazing thing, but i truly feel like a house, and in one way I am, I am my little girls house, she is staying warm inside, I would say pretty comfortable, she is warm, she is fed, she has a roof over her head and she is protected... so in a way, i am a house... and boy do I feel like one. not much longer though, I can see the finish line I am just walking to it. so far no one seems to think that she will actually hold off til January, my husband has said December 17th for some time now, my friend Mo has said December 21 or the 26th and my mom thinks December 28th.... so with all of those guesses, i must admit I have been getting very excited, but also I think if all those dates pass I will be a little let down, so i am trying to still see the letters JANUARY in my head but its so dang hard!   however I must admit that although i feel like a house and i am very anxious to meet her, I am still feeling great, still sleeping well, still working, still able to do the normal things, it's just there is a large hard belly that sticks out and sometimes I just want to hug it in , and well thats impossible. 
in other news as you can maybe tell from the pictures, I have been growing my hair out, not sure how long i want it because I am very much a short haired girl, but I want to let it grow so i have the option of pulling it back and also giving myself a new momma look possibly, and who knows what that means, maybe short, maybe long, but i want something new so I am growing it out so I can re shape it after a little while...

tomorrow is our official Maternity Photo Shoot, and I am so excited for it, the Photographer is coming over to our house, I am not sure where we will be set up to take the pictures but I am sure she will find just the right spot...  now all that is left is the belly cast.... I always said when i got prego the fist time i would do a belly cast, I just think it would be neat, and what a great picture after she is a new born to set her in it...maybe i sound crazy, and i am not sure what i would do with a cast of my house of a belly after that photo is taken... hahaha I just got the image of moving out into a new house and my grandpa carrying out the belly cast, and everyone like what the heck is she going to do with this... who knows, maybe it can be a useful fruit bowl one day...

Thanksgiving

this years thanksgiving was great, it was our first year we sat in one spot all day... well not literally one spot but we stayed in one house and didn't spend 1/2 the day traveling, although we missed out on seeing some wonderful family, it was a very good year for us to stay put, as i am getting closer and closer to my due date I pretty much like relaxing and taking in everything around me because before i know it there will be a little one calling me momma who will also have a schedule.  We were out in New Carlisle for the holiday at my uncles house, ( mom's side of the family.) He made a whole spread of food but with the hubby and I being vegetarian we get to eat all the yummy carbohydrated filled sides. you know the taters, the yeast rolls, green bean casserole, vegetable stuffing... all that stuff... but boy it was yummy!!! We had a blast this year, I got to spend most of my day with my cousins 4 month old baby boy, I fed him, changed him, rocked him, kissed him, smelled him, played with him... I AM SO READY!!! seriously the smell is so wonderful I promise i will figure out how to bottle it up :) Nick spent a lot of time with my younger sister Madison and some of my cousins, even my grandpa downstairs playing rock band, or our ever favorite game of marbles.... it was a great Holiday. Mom and I got to sit together and chit chat alot which I also enjoyed. I love the holidays... and now its on to the Christmas season! I can hardly hold my smile back that is filled with the excitement of going to a tree farm to get our tree!!! hope to do so soon!!!

hope you all had a happy thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

It's Tree Time

So it's that time of year again, Christmas is near... I Love this Holiday, any day centered around Christ and family is a great day to me.  Last year was our fist married christmas and we set out to make a tradition of going to a local tree farm and picking out the perfect tree and cutting it down and strapping it down to the car and looking like the Clark Grizwald family as we ride home in are small car and large tree.... so here we are just the very next year, excited about our  tradition but looking down at my ever growing belly and knowing that this little girl is due January 1st, which is darn close to christmas... what's a family to do? and well we decided that we still want to venture out, so shortly after thanksgiving the hubby and I are going to drive out to some local tree farm and enjoy hot cocoa and get my fat behind up on the wagon and truck it out in the snow and chop down our tree.  We want to do this earlier this year than last that way we have time to enjoy it and can toss it right after christmas hopefully before this little girl arrives, that way we don bring baby home and find a rotting sappy tree and a mess to clean up. so thats that. Christmas is near and I just can't wait! I am not quite sure where we will be getting our tree from this year because we have moved, so if you have any suggestions about a good one close to the south bend Mishawka area please let me know :) Oh I' am  getting so giddy just thinking about it! What are your families traditions around the christmas time?

Monday, November 23, 2009

New Hours

with January 01 right around the corner my midwife and I decided at my last apointment that it would be best for me to cut back on my hours at work to de stress and take it easy. I am now working 30 hour work weeks no longer that 6 hours at a time and no more than 3 days in a row, and ladies I tell you what, this has been great. This new schedule started this past Friday and I can be honest in saying I am much more relaxed, a lot less tense and have been sleeping much better at night. I think anyone would really to go from working 48 hrs to 30 is truly a blessing. My manager at work has been great also, I think he was actualy relieved when I brought in the note to him because all of the guys here are so worried that I will just plop out my little girl right here in the store, so now with my having shorter hours I think it makes them all feel a little better.

so yep, 39 days left until January 1st, I just can not believe it. this Pregnancy has been so great. I have read in lots of pregnancy books that every pregnancy is different but i must say the next time around I wish to have it like this all over again becuase it has been a blessing and easy to say the least. and i know this sounds weird, but  I am looking forward to labor.... i know i warned you that it woudl sound weird, but i actually met a lady at work last week who is pregnnat with her 4th child and she told me she LOVED labor, I said excuse me? i have never heard anyone say that and she said i mena i am a big fan of the epidural but yes i love the labor, all the anticipation leading up to holding your precious gift in your arms, there is just nothing like it, when she left i thought... wow... I can totally see myself looking at labor that way just minus the epidural... we shall see...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009

THE CRIB

the crib the crib the crib is HERE... that is correct, the crib did in deed arrive today and will be setting up in Jada's room tonight. I am so excited!!! I didnt have to be to work today until after my Dr apt which was at 12:20 so I woke up at my usual time 6:45 Am and had the urge to clean, oraganize and wash so I went to her room and unpackaged all of her towels and wash cloths and blankets and bedding and got through 3 loads of it.  I still have to wash her clothes that will be this weekend but her bedding is washed, yippie! so tonight after the crib is all put together ( unless this sucker is complicated and it may take a few days) the bedding will be all set up and pictures to follow shortly!

I am getting filled with the excitement with her arrival just 6 weeks away.. if I make it to date, or i guess it could be a little longer if i go over also but i just can't fight that excitement feeling, I mean I actually enjoyed cleaning out our junk drawer in the kitchen today to make it Jada's bib and burp rag area, I even sorted our linnen closet and she has her own shelves with her ever so cute little wash cloths and towels.  I am so ready to be a a mother to my little girl. I cant wait to lay my eyes on her for the first time, kiss her soft little face and breathe in her wonderful baby smell! Daddy is excited too, Iam pretty sure just about ever night these past weeks we go to bed talking about becomming a family of three. I love and am so thankful for him and this pregnancy.. and lets not forget about the fact that the crib is here!


now it's just the count down til our combo dresser/changer arrives....

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Baby Shower

here is the Gang at little Jada's baby shower. I just wanted to say a big OL THANKS to all who were able to make it, I had a blas with you girls and thanks for all your wonderful gifts. Jada is sure to be one lucky lady.  It was so nice to be with all you girls in one day, I dont get enough of that with working and the hustle and bustle of getting everything ready for our little girls arrival, oh and then you throw in the distance factor and that adds some more gum to the shoes, ( what did I seriously just say that?) any who I love you all and thanks again!  

Monday, November 16, 2009

Who would have Thought....


and I thought I was showing in my first picture at 8 weeks... and here I am at 33 weeks.... how Lovely !

Saturday, November 14, 2009

OuR first True Babies R us trip

Last night after my Husband came home from work, we ate supper together and then made plans to go to Babies R us and pick up some items that we thought woudl be very important in having and now that all the baby showers are over, we can better look at our list and know exactly what we still needed...

We headed out with Gift cards in hand ready to take on the store.  I believe our trip started with me using the bathroom then walking down one aisle and then having to use the restroom again, I tell ya this little girl is sitting right on my bladder. any who back to the main story here, so we started in the back left side and picked up things like an extra fitted crib sheet, 2 changing pad covers, 2 packs of 4 recieving blankets, the cute little pink hangers, all that fun stuff over in that area, we then headed over to the front right side of the store, and picked up a couple extra packs of glass bottles, passy's, and a wipe warmer. I couldn't help but laugh at my husband and I standing in the aisle staring up at the wall of passys, trying to talk it out about which type she would like, the one that says its flexible like moms nipple? the kind that are 50 % off... the ones that have ridges, i mean there were so many, and at this point in our life we were faced with the decision of deciding what she may like and we both looked at eachother and picked up like 8 different kinds, atleast we both agreed on not getting the ones with words on them like "Drama Queen" or "my mute button" we went for the ever so class light pink and light green plain ones.  after all we dont want her using them all the time just as a comfort at bed time... or whenever she needs comfort i guess... oh goodness.. who knows.

we then headed over to the bath area, we picked out wash cloths, her tub, her little nose sucker thing and then came time to pick out the smell goods, what would our little baby girl smell like?! now many of you know me know that smells are ever so importnat to me, so there I was standing in an asile staring at all these different color bottles and brands, do i want to go with the ever so popular johnson and johnson which is that yummy baby smell or do I want to go the more natural product Aveno, Now nick and I use Aveno and Love the way it makes out skin feel.. and hey thats all i have been using through out this whole pregnancy on my belly and so far so good... so after about 10 minutes of pure silence and picking up all the different bottles i began getting Irritated that all the caps had those silly little tabs over it so i couldnt smell a darn thing, I looked at my husband and said, how am i going to make life long decisions for her, when I cant even pick out what I want her to smell like...

I know that sounds silly, and it is, I wasn't toally serious, but Nick assured me that he would be there to help make those decisions and that I just need to grab some shampoo and hit the next aisle haha so we went with the Aveno because it's what her momma and daddy use and love it so this is what we will start with.

moving right along, I really dont remember when else got in a cart but just a few other small items like butt paste and baby powder, and we both agreed that the other things like the jogger stroller , breast pump and the bumbo seat can wait till the more appropriate time..


so we get to the check out line and HOW DID WE SPEND $250? i was so confused, nick and I just looked at eachother like wowzers! haha this was our first true babies r us trip, you know the kind where you arent holding a serialized gun in your hand registering for stuff that you want other people to purchase for you?!! lets be honest... I mean we have purchased the "BIG" items but man these little things add up.. thankfully we had gift cards and only had a small remaining balance to pay, but the important part is daddy and I had fun shopping for our little girl even if they were for the silly things like passys and shampoo..

Crib Update # 3

So after this Traumatic experience with dealing with Hugs from heaven and all the waiting involved, My husband did eventually talk to the store owner who gave her most sincere Apologies, we will be getting 15% off or order total and it is due to arive WEDNESDAY! November the 18th, we were not given a firm date on the combo changer table but were told some time in Decemeber and that they would be sure to stay in contact with us now.  I am very excited and despite all of the other promised dates that this crib would be in I some how have a feeling it will really be here Wednesday, and if not I am sure I will be back here to vent : / keep your fingers crossed!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

33 week Photo Op

Seriously... whats a girl do do when she reaches 33 weeks in her prgnancy and feels as large as a house? well I didnt know either so i decided to embrace it and take pictures of myself by myself alone in my bathroom making a bunch of different ridiculous   faces.... why I am not sure but here is my proof.... Mamma Loves you Jada, and Hopes you can appreciate her Silliness one day.






Monday, November 9, 2009

Belly Support

I am carrying really low with our little girl and I am really beginning to want support under my belly.. I cant find what position is comfortable because it hurts while sitting or standing.. sleeping is the most comfortable time believe it or not. I have found that by sleeping on my back with a pillow under my right side ( so it is tilting me more to the left with some elevation and laying in an almost upright position with my head cocked to the side... well its actually comfotable..

but what do I do during the day? I had an apointment with our Doula yesterday which should have a whole blog post to it self but I will go ahead and combine the two here.. She came for our first home visit ( so she will know how to get to our house when i go into labor) So she arrives and the first thing she says to me is wow that baby has dropped since the last time I have seen you, she also noticed that throughout our conversation my hands were resting underneeth my belly and would often lift up as if i was relieving pressure, this was the first time I had paid attention to it and she recommended that I look into getting one of those belly support holster doo hickys.  she said the way that I am carrying she thinks I would bennefit from greatly.

because we were on the topic of how I am carrying I told her that so many people have told me that I look like I am carrying a boy and she looked at me with a look that shocked me... and she said well I have never been wrong on a guess yet and I would say your carrying a little B*O*Y....

ok, maybe she forgot that I told her I was having a little girl, so Nick and I looked at eachother and laughed and said seriously? and she said well I mean you guys havn't completly settled on the fact that it is a girl right? which made us laugh even harder as many of you saw this past weekend a little tour of our little girls room which I believe every girlfriend of mine said something like " oooo i love it, its so PINK" so yes we have settled in on the ide that we are having a little girl and we have for the last 14 weeks of our life, which is a long time I might add..

so again, this was just her guess... I told her we did have 2 ultra sounds done one at 18 wks and one at 27 and they both said girl and they were done at different hospitals. so she did say after that well then she would go ahead and say that that is pretty safe to bet on... but i will admit, I started to think of ALLL the things that would need to be done if we did have a little boy instead of our little Jada Grace...  and my head began to spin... but either way I have loved this little child of ours and have bonded with whomever they are. 

so back to the belly support... do any of you mommas have any recomendations or tips for this? My doula asked if I was working still and when i told her yes she looked at me with a little look of ... i dont know for how much longer missy... but I really do feel great, my belly just just getting super tight and soar and heavy feeling..

Friday, November 6, 2009

Frustrated Momma to be Part 2

just wanted to update you all... So now that I can see that you all side with me and I am not crazy for wanting my baby girls crib so I talked with my Husband and he was floored that I have been so patient after I showed him teh original date of purchase so he said that he would handle it from here on out so I dont get so worked up about it...

so he called today...

Ladies would you believe this.... they answered the phone and he told them the situation, and they said oh no i am so sorry ( acting as if they had no ide... i am not sure how because everytime I call i just say this is chelssie and i am calling about my crib and never once have i gotten someone to say who!?!?! ) so any ways, she said well let me have the manager call you back becuase I dont know how to deal with this ( direct quote from her)

a little while later his phone rings, and its hugs from heaven....my husband and her chit chat for a while, and he tells her how I am so frustrated with this deal that he will no be the one calling... he tells this person that we are very frustrated that this whole time it has been us who have called to see what is going on, not ONCE have we been contacted with info, she then tells him how he is right and they should have called and they are so sorry and that they have been un able to get in contact with this company and they arent returning their calls... and so it has just been hard.

ok ladies are you folowing what i just said... SO IF THEY ARENT RETURNING YOUR CALLS THEN YOU REALLY HAVE NEVER TALKED TO THEM SO YOU HAVE REALLY NEVER BEEN TOLD A DATE AND YOU JUST KEEP LYING TO ME HOPING THAT IS COMES IN! as you can see i am extremely frustrated!!!!

so i keep my cool as my hubby is informing me of the rest of the conversation he tells them that again that is not our problem, that just because their company chooses to do business with a company that has a bad rep for doing this, we should not have to suffer from, basically telling them that they shouldnt have to deal with this either... get this ladies... this is the kicker....


she then says but i mean, dont worry if the baby comes and the crib still isnt here we will lend you a crib or a bassinet for the time being..... EXCUSE ME... what... what  what?!?!?!?!?!?!? are you kidding me.. how did we go from being told it would arive early this week to now being told that we could BORROW a crib if our baby comes and we still dont have the one we purchased...

my husband says look... what are you going to do for us, this is beyond rediculous... we have already paid you $900 and that is just 1/2 so I want to know what it is that your company is going to do for us.. and then the chick says... well that would be up to my manager so i will have to leave a message for her and have her call you back...

?!?!? I thought the last time I called a MGR was going to call me back, you mean this isnt even the manager I am speaking with? no sir, its not, i am sorry...

seriously after this, i dont care how cute the clothes may be at this place, I will never step foot in their again.....


stay tuned for another update...


SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING On...

Friday & Friends

Today is Friday!! Yippie, I normally do not have a job that allows me to look forward to having the weekends off however, this weekend I do and I am so excited about it! Today when I punch out of work I will be driving home to my wonderful husband and then my BFF Lauren and her BF Matt will be comming from Indy to stay with us tonight for the BABY shower tomorrow!!! I am so excited to have them, they will be our first guest to stay in our guest bedroom in the house, it was fun getting it all ready for them :) they should be here around 6:00 and then I plan to make homemade Pizza for dinner. 

and then Saturday is the BABY shower and I will be with even more friends and then my brother in law and his girlfriend are staying that evening...  I was originally a little bumbed at the amt of family members that are not able to attend the shower but all my girlfriends have turned that frown upside down becuase most of them are able to make it!! My mom is throwing the shower for us but we are having it at our house becuase its a little bit roomier... I am looking forward to the Ice Cream cake and Grandmas yummy cupcakes... oh and the veggie tray... I mean there will be healthy stuff too... but I am sure REALLY excited about the sweets... ok maybe just a little excited...

anyways, so this weekend should be fun 3 of the girls comming are bringing their boyfriends/husbands becuase they are driving in from out of town so Nick will have some guys to hang out with, they are going to watch the ND game up at between the Buns maybe ??!?! not too sure what they will do but thats just an idea i shouted out to him...

and then come Sunday My father in Law and his wife are comming up to visit because they will not be able to make it to the shower, so we will have people with us each night this week, pretty exciting!

so let 6:00 come soon enough and Let the FUn begin!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Frustrated MoMmA to Be

I would not normally do this.. but on for this particular moment I feel very compelled to do so...

I am so very frustrated with HUGS from HEAVEN! and that is to say the least... and ya know Im stuck in a hard place because boy do they sell just the cutes little things... but seriously... I have not been able to trust them with ANYTHING that has been said to me... I am pretty sure I have vented about the anticipation I feel upon waitng the arival of our little girls crib... and I feel as though I keep talking about it, so I thought to myself maybe I have the dates mixed up... maybe it really hasnt been that long since i placed my order, so this AM i looked on my bank statemet because we had to pay  1/2 down to place the order and i was right. We Ordered this thing on AUGUST 29th..... it is NOVEMBER 5th.....

is this not pure madness to anyone else?? when I placed out order i was told it would be here towards the middle of September, and that the changer table/combo dresser would be here in November....


we have yet to have either of these items... I have called and called and ladies, trust me, I know that my calling is doing nothing but annoying them and not making the crib get here any faster  but  they have told me a million dates and they push it back every time I call.... COME ON!!! seriously I can't just sit and wait, and I am sure they look at me like oh this first time mom, shes so silly, the baby isnt even due til January 1st well news FLASH HELLO it doesnt matter if i Ordered in August I should have the Freaking crib!~!!!!

i want to wash her bedding and have it smell like baby and display it in her crib, and wash her clothes and fold them and place them in her drawers so then I can relax and just sit back in her glider chair and rub my belly and be happy and dream of the little girls face that we will be brining home... :) MAKE MOMMA HAPPY!

so I am still waiting... : (
                                 : /


.......

Monday, November 2, 2009

Hooter Hiders

Seriously I am not making this up, this is what this item is called.. take a look for yourself.

http://shop.bebeaulait.com/Hooter-Hiders-New;jsessionid=0a0104471f43f824f26759fd4449a530ae0127ebba6c.e3eSbNqNc38Le34Pa38Ta38Sbhr0


Apparently, this newer version of Hooter Hiders includes a patented rigid neckline so you can easily peer down at the baby to check in on her nursing progress. It's great for those uber conscious folks who don't even bother messing with the cover to check in on baby in fear of accidental exposure or drawing attention to themselves from passerbys. This thing eases that concern cause it holds open the area right below mommy's head at the neckline.



what do you mommas think? would you buy it?

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Labor Class

Nick and I started our labor classes this past Tuesday.  We are taking a class called the Bradley Method at Memorial Hospital with a wonderful Dula names Moreen Favorite, and from what we have heard she truly has been everyones favorite instructor for this class.  You can read more about the bradley method at http://www.bradleybirth.com/WhyBradley.aspx


the class is 2 hrs long and last for 7 weeks, it is divided up into lecture, exercises and then video, oh and we also have break time and each couple takes turns each week and brings a yummy snack!   this past class however was mostly lecture with some yummy muffins and apple cidre.  there are 6 couples in the class and its actually pretty neat because we pair up perfectly there are two that are having home births using the same midwife, and then there are two that are delivering at birthing centers using the same OB and then Nick and I and another couple are delivering at the hospital with Kristin Vincent ( Midwife.) Moreen said that it has never happened like that before but it works out great. so any who... by the time the class ends I will be 38 weeks, which I figure will be great timing, I should be able to get alll the info we will need, there is one couple in the class that is due December 29th and then we are Due on January 1st, everyone else is late January or later months. 

Nick and I are very excited for the classes, just after leaving the first class we truly learned so much about the birthing process on the body which I feel is so important when wanting to have a natural childbirth, we learned all about what medications are available to you and how they really work on the body VS. what the body was naturally created to do on its own...


I have always looked forward to taking the classes, I can remember when i worked out at a gym that was inside of a hospital and when i would leave I would pass a bunch of prego ladies with their hubbys carrying pillows into their labor class room, and I always thought how FUN! call me crazy, but thats how I see it.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Week 31

I have made it to 31 weeks with still no stretch marks, I am extremely excited... but am fully aware that I have 9 weeks left...... both Jada and I are doing great, however I must say there are a Large number of people who keep telling me I am having a baby BOY... umm no... her walls are already pink.... she is not a boy... I am a little annoyed by this bit of info people continue to give, despite the fact that i have had 2 ultra sounds and both times they saw nothing... and I mean they even highlighted the Girl parts.... so I must let people know, in all honestly, it does not matter how you carry.. there is no way that a boy or a girl causes you to grow differently.... I mean when you read what to expect when expecting it doesn't tell you well if your having a boy he weighs this amt this week and if its a girl she is this amt this week... so they are growing at the same rate.... its the MOM that carrys differently .... no ones body is made the same.... So just because your moms mom's sisters second cousin twice removed had all boys and she just popped straight out and looked like she had a beach ball under her shirt, does not mean that I am having a boy.... ok, now I have vented that I must admit I feel Lots better.  So here are my pictures from week 31, I am not sure if i notice much difference from last week but I am sure she is growing stronger, I no longer feel Sharp jabs but I feel more rolling movement, like when she turns I can feel it from the outside but I cant see it yet, so i am looking forward to when i look down and just see my belly go vooomp to the other side.  Do you see the Changes ?


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Pregnancy Dreams

these are not your typical dreams, and no, I dont mean pregnancy dreams as in giving birth, or anything like that I am talking about the SCARY dreams you get while pregnant... seriously I remember when i was a young kid growing up I was SOOOO bad when it came to night time sleeping, I was always scared and would sneek in my moms bedroom to sleep on the floor, feeling protected just to have someone else in the room.. I mean it was bad, my mom thought I had a deamond inside me, no joke, she would stop giving me sugar after a certain time, I even remember her taking me up to Edison school to walk the track before bed time, thinking I just wasnt tired enough. Well now here I am 23 years old and 30 weeks Pregnant... hating bed time again.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my bed and sleep... but lately, not too much of that has been going on.  here are a few examples of what things I am talking about...

We go to bed at a decent time every night, averaging anywhere from 9:30 to 10, I get in bed and nod off til about 11:30 ( that is typically when The first bathroom call is made) and then get back in bed... a little while later BAM it happends...


on a few ocasions I have Literally opened my eyes only to see a mans face like staring at me so I scream my husbands name and roll over to his side of the bed ( its a King)

I remember the first time this happend it was as if the face was getting closer and closer till finally i screamed nicks name and the face was then gone... SCARY hu?

the other night I had another one where I was asleep and then I woke up I literally woke up and looked straight ahead ( our bed faces the bathroom and we have very high windows in the bathroom) and looked out of the window to see that it was pitch black outside but yet someone with a ski mask and a green sweatshirt climbing up a latter to get on top of our house... I literally FREAKED, I said nick.. and he didnt budge.. so I walked up and unplugged the fan telling myself that Chelssie if someone is on your roof you will for sure hear footsteps so unplug the fan and listen... I heard nothing, then I said Chelssie... if someone climbed a latter to get on your room surly the latter is still there... looked out the window... no latter.... So i calmed myself down pluged the fan back in and went to sleep....


Last night... 3:30 am I was in a dream, I was holding someones baby and then my dream was interupted with a mans voice saying HELLO.... so i open my eyes and hear it again one more time HELLO... I say nick nick wake up someone is in our living room saying Hello??!?!? ( nick is confused.. what Chels?) ... so I say to myself Chelssie if someone was really in your house they prolly would not be saying Yoooouuu Whoooo Hello.... here I am ... so I listened to hear if I could hear anything else in the living room and there was no noise... I also reasured myselef that we have a 60 lb Boxer that sleeps in our living room and he didnt bark and we also have an alarm system that didnt go off... so I was probably ok to just roll over and go back to bed... and I did...


but seriously what is going on! I HATE being scared and I mean HATE... I am not talking haunted house scared I just hate the thought of someone being in my house... I am not a good one to be home alone at night.. which I never am but... seriously I dont know how people who are can do it... now normally I do not have these dreams but since being pregnnat I get them, and they happen often... its nuts..

so people say get as much sleep as you can before baby comes, and I read in the last tri mester sleep is hard because of discomfort and frequent bathroom trips, well i am definatly not feeling discomfort but between the bathroom breaks and the Freaking nightmares... my sleep is being interupted... luckily because I go to bed at a decent hour I still get plenty of sleep it just isnt a deep one..

have any of you other Prego ladies had this happen to you?! or did I just write a really long post admitting to how weird I am?

Monday, October 26, 2009

Weekend Re*Cap

This weekend I worked both Friday and saturday, Saturday I actually had to close which is pretty unusual so I missed out on the family dinner over at grandmas but Nick brought me a plate home and it was soo nice to get off work and have food all ready warmed on a plate for me.  So Saturday night after I ate, we finished up the last paint touch up's in Jada's room and then watched Suzy Ormans show.. what an event filled evening, haha but it was nice just to have my feet up becuase my body is definatly feeling soar this trimester, I think I ask Nick to rub my legs and feet twice a day, he's great. 

So Sunday morning Nick had his first Flag Football game at Soccer Zone in Granger, he was so excited! he has wanted to get involved in an adult league ever since graduation and he was done playing in college so I was glad to see him actualy find one. His team name is called the HOUSE team, ( they are a group of guys that soccer zone just put together on a team ) where as most of the other teams have been playing in the league since they first opened it.  His game was at 9:00 Am and they won 76 to 6 it was crazy... and really fun to watch.

so after his game we came home and I made Open faced Breakfast sanwhiches .... Super Yum... I buy these chibatta bread squares from target  ( they bake fresh daily) cut in 1/2 and then put in oven at 350 for like 10 minutes to get them crunchy and in the mean time I was making scrambled eggs and Vegetarian sausage patties, then I added the eggs and sausage on top of the bread and added thinly deli sliced pepper jack cheese and put back in over just long enough to melt cheese... served with a glass of OJ and this was mightly tasty....

we then ventured off to the 11:30Am church service and then spent the afternoon on Notre Dames campus walking around with Sparty and looking at all the fall colors. It was a perfect day! and than pretty much wraps up my weekend...

and now its Monday, Time to return to work...  Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Ta Da...

Here are a few pictures I promised to post after we were all finished with the painting, her room does not get much natural light other than that window so the colors are hard to tell in some of these pictures so just refer back to the earlier post of the colors i posted if need be.  This was such a fun project although her Daddy did most ALL of it, I did enjoy the time i got to spend working on a project together. As you can see all of her walls are the pink color and then accented with the brown wall, we plan to have her crib up against the brown wall and are still waiting on that to come in, we already have bedding so as soon as it arrives we will put together and I can post more pictures, so stay tuned!


 

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Jada's RE decorating .....

yes, this is me... why does my face look like this?? scroll down a little further... yep, thats me, those first 2 pictures of my belly are ones I took tonight, 30 weeks... the 3rd picture was one I took at 28.5 weeks.... and I am so happy I did, I have told Nick that I have Literally felt my skin wanting to rip off my body, like our cute little girl in there was like umm MOVE over mom, I am redecorating in here.. its honestly crazy! my skin feels so tight, almost as if someone would poke me with a needle I would deflate.. I cant tie my shoes anymore with out having my leg bent to the side and even then I feel like I am injuring a Lung, and shaving.. wow well yeah I have to thrust my lug up on the side rail and take breaks, what used to take 2 minutes now takes 5....  seriously though, can't you see the change from 28.5 weeks to 30.. I cant imagine what is to come in the next 10 weeks... I will be sure to keep up with the taking of pictures weekly now as the changes are coming faster....