Let's Get Domestic!

It would seem I'm getting quite domesticated. I guess that would make since since I'm not working anymore and at home all the time now. Are you dying to know how fabulously domestic I am? Well it all started with lunch on Friday with the girls. Of course any good domesticated housewife lunches with the girls. What can I say Gecko Grill is just the best in town! After going to lunch I went straight to more domestication! I made strawberry jam! The Ranch Market was having a great sale and I got 12lbs of strawberries, 1 cucumber and 1 pineapple for just over $5! Yes I'm amazing! What a bargain shopper! Then I spent hours at my mother-in-laws cooking jam! Don't worry by the end of the day my back was killing me!! But the jam turned out so delish! And now we'll have jam for the next year or so!

Look how beautiful they are!

Not so beautiful any more! LOL

Ever wonder how much sugar is in jam.... TON!!!

Cooking away!

Fruits of my labors!!

The next day we started to make room for baby! Making room for baby starts all the way in the garage! The "baby room" has been collecting junk/storage stuff for the past couple years so cleaning it out means we have to make room for the stuff that's in there first! We start in the garage, then the under the stairs storage, then closets, then we can start putting together the baby room! I was so proud of our garage! It's the most organized it's ever been!

Then after we got the garage all spick n' span one of my beautiful young women came over so I could do her hair for prom!

It turned out so beautiful and made me miss my long hair! Good thing I'm growing it out again! Such a productive weekend! Oh and no comments allowed about how I'm supposed to be taking it easy! I could only 'just' bake a baby for so long before I had to do something a little more tangibly productive! I was going crazy! :) I miss my nanny kids and clients, and feeling like a contributing member of society, and my household!

Walmart

*****I write this post knowing there is probably someone out there who will find it offensive! So please know that I am not writing this with any judgement! I do not think any less of any one for where they shop! Nor do I think I am better then any one for my decisions of where I shop!!! Also know is is my blog, with my opinions, that's all they are opinions!*****

In the past Brent and I have tried to avoid shopping at Walmart. Walmart is like the evil empire. It is literally taking over the world! There have been studies, it has been proven they are taking over mom and pop shops world wide! For that reason alone we try and avoid shopping there and support more local shops. Also it does seem that because of the low prices Walmart attracts trashier people (I am NOT saying if you shop at Walmart you are trashy). Walmart is the only store I've been to and had a man with 4 teeth and 5 kids blatantly leer at me while I walked down the isle. Also the customer service is not as great as other stores. And the produce is often not as fresh as other stores and other products my not always have as high of quality. That being said since we had the financial ability to not worry about saving $20 by shopping at Walmart we normally didn't. Well with my current forced unemployment we are looking at ways to cut costs. So off to Walmart I went. Feeling like I've morally lowered my standards and switched to the dark side supporting the evil empire. Now I know Walmart tends to have lower prices but I was honestly SHOCKED at the total at the end of my shopping trip. We hadn't been grocery shopping in 3 weeks and were living off frozen burritos and mac & cheese, so I had a TON of shopping to do. Not only that but I stocked up on a few pantry items we had run out of and got some personal hygiene items I'd run out of. The total $70!!!!! The savings blew me away! I knew I'd be saving money but that was more then I had even anticipated! I think it's safe to say for the next little while I will be a Walmart shopper. I'll probably always think of the small business owner being starved out of town when I go but I'll also be thinking about me being able to eat! Also we live in an area that is pretty nice so the people who shop there for the most part are your normal every day Joe! I'm happy to say there was no crack heads staring me down making me wonder if he was going to follow me to the parking lot. (Can you tell that experience was a bit traumatic??)

Just a little side note when I lived back east if my friends or I were feeling home sick know where we would go? That's right Walmart! They are all pretty much set up the same and so it felt like home! One particularly cold rainy day when we had nothing to do we made the 30 minute trek to Walmart, they do not have very many Walmarts where I lived!

We went in looking like this.......

Since we had no real purpose in going once we go there we ended up looking like this........

Then we left looking like this.........

Yay! Yay! Yay!

I had a great apt at the Dr.! Every thing looked good, not great but good, good enough! No bed rest, no surgical procedures! I still am not allowed to do massage, or nanny 4 little munchkins but I can try and find a desk job! Hopefully I'll be able to find something considering the current economy! I'm just so happy! I'm also having so much fun feeling the little guy moving all around now! I think he's training for the Olympics already! There are moments he just goes! No flutters, he's doing flips and kicks, maybe he'll be a gymnast! LOL

Also I have a few prego pics. They make me look bigger then I am I think, so does Brent. They were taken right before bed which is when my belly pops out! Honest I wake up and it's like half the size it was, I'm sure one day I'll wake up and it will all still be there but for now that's the pattern happening! So for your viewing pleasure here's 'my bump, my bump my lovely baby bump!'

Yeah this was taken when I was on bed rest so I dont think I'd showered in a couple days let alone bothered to get ready/do my hair and makeup!

Seriously So Blessed

There is this blog that I enjoy reading. It's a parody of all of us Mormon bloggers who's lives are "Seriously So Blessed." It kind of makes fun of how we always have the best, husband, children, homes, family, cloths, home, ward, calling, etc. I'm making sure to tell you what this blog is all about because the first time I read it I just read...."I love this blog it's so great" So when I went and read it I was mildly offended and shocked that there could be a woman as "holier then thou" as this woman. Once I realized it was intended to be comedic then I got it! And now think it's pretty funny! Ok now that you have been warned here it is Seriously So Blessed enjoy! Oh it also has fun give aways pretty often!

So I was talking with a friend about this blog and it got me to wondering if I do this? I don't want to be the person who's life is unrealistically perfect. So be prepared for honesty from now on. Not that I'm going to be a downer, I still think life is much better if you can find the positive!

So here is some honesty. I'm a little scared. I know everything should be fine, but I'm a little nervous. Mostly I think because this is all so unknown to me and I feel ignorant about everything going on. I'm also a little pissed! I feel so irritated that I'm even having complications. Come on! It took us so long to get pregnant, and I put my body through so much don't I deserve to just have an easy uncomplicated pregnancy?!?! Oh and part of me just feels weak. Weak that my body can't handle pregnancy like a normal person. Weak that I can't continue along my normal life, when I don't even really look pregnant yet!!! All of that aside 5 months ago I would have said I would gladly been on bed rest for all 9 months if that's what it took! So honest what ever it takes! I'm still over joyed to be pregnant, no matter how long the road is, I will travel it to get a healthy baby to our home, our arms, our family!! Now to get ready for my apt! I am hoping for the best and preparing for the worst! Update to come soon!!

What a Difference a Day Makes

This is a little long but the past couple days have been a roller coaster ride!!!

I mentioned in my last post that I've been having contractions. They are not serious. It's a little early to be feeling Braxton Hicks contractions but I felt baby move a little early so I just chalked it up to high awareness of my body. I called and talked to the Dr. office they said, as long as I didn't have 5 an hr. for 2 consecutive hrs. and they are not painful, or accompanied by any other symptoms it's ok. That was Monday. Despite hearing that, I was still concerned. I called & talked to Mom friends who echoed the same things, not typical but normal & ok. Still concerned. I read online everything says contractions this early are fine. But there was still something in me that said, something is not ok. I called the Dr. again they tried to reassure me but I said I think I just need to come in. So I did! At this point I was pretty sure they would tell me no massage since I had noticed an increase in contractions during and after giving a massage. But I figured other then that they would say, you're just being a paranoid first time Mom. That is what I wanted to hear. I just wanted to hear it from my Dr.!

I was sitting in the room waiting for my Dr. and she walks in and says, you're not allowed to be having contractions yet! Which made me think, humm maybe there is more room for concern then what everyone is telling me! But she said the same thing I had heard multiple times. She wanted to check everything else too, just to be safe. During the ultra sound I said, is there any way we can find out what we are having (of course after texting Brent to see if he cared or it he wanted to be here for that). She said humm it's still early probably not but we'll check. After looking and looking she said it looks like a BOY!!!! We are not running out and to buy stuff yet (I'm not running anywhere :) she said wait a couple more weeks to be 100% sure but she's pretty confidant! I also got to bring these home!



If you look really close you can see a little arrow pointing to a little penis!!

So after the ultra sound Dr. came in and gave me the bad news. My cervix is way to short! They like to see it 4-5 cm. mine is only 1.5. So she said moderate bed rest, lots of rest, lots of fluids. She also mentioned a procedure called a Cervical Cerclage which would basically be sewing my cervix shut. Sent me home on moderate bed rest! With an apt to come back on Fri. to be recheck. That night when I went home I was keeping track of contractions and they just kept coming and coming. I ended up going to the ER to be checked out, and make sure everything was ok. My Dr. had told me to just go to Labor and Deliver if I needed to go in so once I was finally up there the got out the Doppler thingy to check baby's heart beat. She looked and looked, and we didn't hear anything. Finally I heard one, but thought, that is way too slow, then I realized that it was my heartbeat! After she had searched for a couple minutes and only found my heart beat so she decided to try the ultra sound machine. I almost had a panic attack! My heart sank I was doing everything to hold back tears as my mind is racing. They had always been able to find his heart beat that way! I was fearing the worst. All I could think is I can't do this. I can't loose him now! I've already felt him move! I know it's a him! Oh I can't handle this! I prayed with everything I had! I have never know such fear in my life!! It felt like an eternity before she came back with the ultra sound machine. As soon as she started I was searching for that little beating heart. The second I found it, the tears just flowed! There it was that little tiny heart fluttering away. A little life still safe and growing! There are no words for the relief that rushed over me! It was fun for Brent to be there since he had not heard the heart beat, or seen an ultra sound (other then pics) yet. And as if to say "Hi Mom and Dad I'm just fine" little baby boy waved his arm at us! I can't believe how much I love this little Nutterbutter already!

So on Wed. I was doing nothing but sitting and laying around counting and timing contractions and drinking and peeing! I thought what a difference a day makes, yesterday I was giving a massage, then working chasing 4 kids around, with no restriction and now I've become as lazy as my dogs! LOL But the support and friendship I felt was amazing. Just from a status update on facebook I had so many people offer any help I needed and offer meals, or help cleaning. That same morning the Dr. called and said she didn't want to wait till Fri. so she wanted me to come in to the hospital where she was on-call that day and be checked there and come prepared for the cerclage, no food or water after midnight.

Thurs. I went it and got registered and situated in a room and was just laying there watching tv when little baby boy started doing jumping jacks! I had my hand on my stomach and felt it with my hand too! That made me really excited because that meant Brent should be able to start feeling him move now too! It was so fun to feel him moving around and then have the ultra sound people come in and do the ultra sound, where I could see AND feel him moving! AWESOME!! The ultra sound went really well! I measured 3.3!!!!!! Which is in the ok zone! But my Dr. said that a cervix doesn't usually regenerate and rebuild that quickly so one of the readings was probably wrong. But she took me off of bed red with instructions to continue to take it easy. So no work. I'm no so happy about that. But whatever it takes to get this little guy here safe and sound! I have to go back on Tues for another ultra sound I'm hoping and praying that the 1st reading was the wrong one! And I can continue to go about life just taking it easy! My Dr. did mention she might want me to go see a high risk pregnancy specialist to get a more specialised opinion but for today I'm doing good and expect it to stay that way!

So again the difference a day makes! Yesterday I was on bed rest preparing for a surgical procedure and today I'm off bed rest and things look good! Things are going to be just fine! It might be a long road to get him here but that just seems to be our lot in adding to our family :) Brent is thinking we should name him something that means pain in the butt to get here!!! I think I agree! LOL Whatever it takes! It will be worth it! I'm so grateful for the spirit/mothers intuition/good body awareness that prompted me to go the Dr! And that I've been in tune with my body! My Dr. said multiple times how glad she was that I'm able to feel the contractions since most people cant at this stage! There are many blessings to count in all of this! Like we already know it's a boy! And I can have finger nails again since I can't do massage. And modern medicine! My grandma lost several pregnancies, it's very likely because of an incompetent cervix, so I'm very grateful for ultra sounds that can monitor that! And most important, despite some scary moments, both baby and mama are fine!!!!