Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Official news
Baby Elgersma is 7 lbs. 15 ounces and 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing very well.
I have a nephew!!!
Mom just called and Kara had her baby this morning—sounds like everyone was up all night, but all are healthy. Baby E. has lots of dark hair Mom said and Kara was still holding him in L&D when Mom called. 7lbs. 13 (?) oz.
I'm just beside myself. I'm so excited!! Wow. This is such a great day. Happy birthday to my NEPHEW!!!
Mom just called and Kara had her baby this morning—sounds like everyone was up all night, but all are healthy. Baby E. has lots of dark hair Mom said and Kara was still holding him in L&D when Mom called. 7lbs. 13 (?) oz.
I'm just beside myself. I'm so excited!! Wow. This is such a great day. Happy birthday to my NEPHEW!!!
Friday, November 18, 2005
Acio movies!
Hooray! Going to Harry Potter 4 tonight!! Very excited.
AND, if possible, even MORE exciting, Kara called yesterday with CRAMPS! That's right, pretty soon I may have a NEPHEW!!!
AND, if possible, even MORE exciting, Kara called yesterday with CRAMPS! That's right, pretty soon I may have a NEPHEW!!!
Friday, October 28, 2005
Professor for a day!
I just got some really good....and bad news.
Last Tuesday, one of my college professors called me. She has MS and was in the hospital the last few days and found that she was weaker than bedridden longer than she expected (not the exciting part). The exciting part is that she asked me to take care of her class tomorrow! I'm very honored because she is an amazing professor and for her to call me means a lot. This also may mean that I might be able to get in the pool for teaching adjunct if I can get her recommendation which would be absolutely incredible.
The classes went well. For those of you familiar with the projects, the students were working on their travel posters. It seems like a really long time ago that I was working on that. As I'm sure is always, the case, some were great, some were cliché. It was very fun though.
After talking to Anne after the class, she sounds like she wants me to help out on Tuesday too. A part of me is, of course, very excited. All of me hopes to receive a call on Monday that she magically woke up and is walking again but that doesn't sound likely.
In other news, Rhianna is finishing her swimming lessons on Saturday and I think we'll sign her up again since she seems to be getting used to it. Next Wednesday I'm going to start swimming lessons for me. I'm very excited. We'll see how it goes. Hey, at least it's something different.
P.S. Special congrats to Cole who might have finally caught a break as she was interviewed for a second grade teaching position.
Last Tuesday, one of my college professors called me. She has MS and was in the hospital the last few days and found that she was weaker than bedridden longer than she expected (not the exciting part). The exciting part is that she asked me to take care of her class tomorrow! I'm very honored because she is an amazing professor and for her to call me means a lot. This also may mean that I might be able to get in the pool for teaching adjunct if I can get her recommendation which would be absolutely incredible.
The classes went well. For those of you familiar with the projects, the students were working on their travel posters. It seems like a really long time ago that I was working on that. As I'm sure is always, the case, some were great, some were cliché. It was very fun though.
After talking to Anne after the class, she sounds like she wants me to help out on Tuesday too. A part of me is, of course, very excited. All of me hopes to receive a call on Monday that she magically woke up and is walking again but that doesn't sound likely.
In other news, Rhianna is finishing her swimming lessons on Saturday and I think we'll sign her up again since she seems to be getting used to it. Next Wednesday I'm going to start swimming lessons for me. I'm very excited. We'll see how it goes. Hey, at least it's something different.
P.S. Special congrats to Cole who might have finally caught a break as she was interviewed for a second grade teaching position.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
brain development
Rhianna had her four month appointment today. All is well. She is right at the 50 percentile in weight at 13 lbs. 6 oz. and at the 25th percentile in height at 23.25". The big surprise came when her head measurement jumped from the 20th percentile to the 90th in the last two months. The formula we've been supplementing with does say "brain development" but hey, I kinda thought that was a marketing technique. Nonetheless, she's healthy and developing as expected. I'm sure you're all thrilled :)
That's all for now!
That's all for now!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Friday, September 30, 2005
so long
This past month has been crazy. Our whole little family got sick several times and I've now gone back to work. Daycare is going very well. Rhianna likes it and I like being back at work. Hopefully these next few weeks won't be as overwhelming in terms of workload as the last few weeks. Nonetheless, things are going well.
Rhianna is changing daily and it's amazing to watch. It's strange to realize all the things we had to learn -- like, for example, that our limbs are attached to us and can do (for the most part) what we instruct them to do. In the last week, she has really started to grab and reach for things. It's great to watch her explore. Well, that's all the time I can manage right now. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently if work quiets down a bit.
Rhianna is changing daily and it's amazing to watch. It's strange to realize all the things we had to learn -- like, for example, that our limbs are attached to us and can do (for the most part) what we instruct them to do. In the last week, she has really started to grab and reach for things. It's great to watch her explore. Well, that's all the time I can manage right now. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently if work quiets down a bit.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Holding steady
With each day, Rhianna seems to be getting more fun to have around. She's lifting herself up pretty well which is really neat to see. She's able to entertain herself a little -- looking around at the world around her. Our biggest breakthrough is that she's getting better at putting herself to sleep. Of course she's too young to really understand bedtime, but we no longer have to rock her until she is totally unconscious to make her go down for the night.
That's all for now. I'll go back to work on the 29th and try to make more regular installments then.
That's all for now. I'll go back to work on the 29th and try to make more regular installments then.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Easing back
The end of this month with bring the end of my maternity leave. I've heard so many new moms complain about going back to work and how they just want to be at home with their little one. Well, throw me off that bandwagon. While I love little Rhianna as much as any mom could love her baby, I'm very excited to head back to work. When the baby finally made her appearance, my world seemed to go from professional know-her-stuff designer to floundering new mom covered in spit-up and baby poo. While I'm sure I won't be able to free myself from the poo and barf, a little adult conversation mixed in the day will be a great relief.
In other news, last weekend was Aspen and Josh's wedding. It was beautiful. Her friends and family are a blast and the ceremony was quite a tearjerker. The bride was stunning. David and I left Rhianna with her grandparents and got to spend the whole day doing wedding things -- it was great. I felt relieved not to be holding the center of attention (baby) all day and get the chance to focus on other things. There was a point in the evening where I realized I had a baby to go home to and felt a little strange. It was great though. Special thanks to grandma and grandpa for giving us some adult time :)
Well, that's all for now, baby calls :)
In other news, last weekend was Aspen and Josh's wedding. It was beautiful. Her friends and family are a blast and the ceremony was quite a tearjerker. The bride was stunning. David and I left Rhianna with her grandparents and got to spend the whole day doing wedding things -- it was great. I felt relieved not to be holding the center of attention (baby) all day and get the chance to focus on other things. There was a point in the evening where I realized I had a baby to go home to and felt a little strange. It was great though. Special thanks to grandma and grandpa for giving us some adult time :)
Well, that's all for now, baby calls :)
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Check out those baby blues
Ok ok, I know it's been a really long time since I updated this. Things have been moving right along here at the Ashcraft home. Our biggest and most recent news is that yesterday we bought a new car!! A 2005 Subaru Outback. It's great...well, I've actually only driven it home from the dealership but I have confidence that it is going to be great -- definitely better than the on-its-last-leg-Jeep that's for sure. It's a little intimidating to have a brand new car (well, technically it's used because it was a lease-return). I've never had a new car and it's so nice -- I don't want to do anything wrong!!
In other news, Rhianna had her two month appointment yesterday as well. It went well. She is very healthy and right on track in growth and developement. She is 10 lbs. 8 oz. and 21.75" tall. She can hold her own weight on her legs (with a little help to keep stable) and track faces well. She smiles when she wants to and is cooing a lot. The scariest part was that she had to get FOUR shots. She was doing really well, then had to be woken up by stabs in her leg. Poor thing, she screamed bloody murder. REDRUM REDRUM!! It was quite traumatic but seems to have survived. Hopefully we won't have to go through too much more of that... or Dave might get to take her to her next checkup ;) Oh, and the nurse was amazed at how much she looks like David.
Not much else to report. I go back to work in 4 weeks. This weekend is Aspen and Josh's wedding so I'll be sure to get an update for that. All in all, things are going well. I'm excited to go back to work a little and for Rhianna to be a little older and more playful (and SLEEP longer!!)
Hope everyone is doing well!!
In other news, Rhianna had her two month appointment yesterday as well. It went well. She is very healthy and right on track in growth and developement. She is 10 lbs. 8 oz. and 21.75" tall. She can hold her own weight on her legs (with a little help to keep stable) and track faces well. She smiles when she wants to and is cooing a lot. The scariest part was that she had to get FOUR shots. She was doing really well, then had to be woken up by stabs in her leg. Poor thing, she screamed bloody murder. REDRUM REDRUM!! It was quite traumatic but seems to have survived. Hopefully we won't have to go through too much more of that... or Dave might get to take her to her next checkup ;) Oh, and the nurse was amazed at how much she looks like David.
Not much else to report. I go back to work in 4 weeks. This weekend is Aspen and Josh's wedding so I'll be sure to get an update for that. All in all, things are going well. I'm excited to go back to work a little and for Rhianna to be a little older and more playful (and SLEEP longer!!)
Hope everyone is doing well!!
Monday, June 20, 2005
Motherhood
So how's life being a mom? Well, honestly, a rollercoaster. I mean, Rhianna is great most of the time... when she's sleeping anyway ;-) No, seriously. She's very sweet and seems to be pretty happy most of the time. Nonetheless, the transition to motherhood is no joke. Her crying totally stresses me out and I don't know yet what the cries mean -- hopefully that will come quickly. It's very strange though because I've gone from a full-time working woman, to a full time mom. Suddenly my job is to take care of this baby all by myself-- and seriously, I'm just not that good at it yet. I'm sure I will get better and it's not like I"m horrible or anything, it's just strange that what is all supposed to come so naturally seems less natural than, say, designing a brochure :) at this point.
4 Generations
This picture shows FOUR generations of Ashcrafts!! In the center is David's grandpa (his mom's dad) holding Rhianna. He is flanked by Dave's oldest sister's kids, Kendall and Garrett. The back row shows Dave (center), his sister Becky (left), and his mom (right).
Momma and Baby
Ok ok, I know it's been forever since I posted here. Things have been a little on the hectic side and I've been trying to get every last minute of sleep that I can. Baby Rhianna has been waking about every 2-3 hours for feedings and it's been pretty tiring.
Anyhow, here's her birth story:
I started having contractions on her due date, June 2nd. They weren't bad and were about every 10 minutes or so. They continued on through the night and when I got up on Friday morning (June 3rd), I knew going to work was not a reasonable idea. So I stayed home and worked from here. I started to time the contractions at about 8am and they were averaging about 5 minutes but weren't real regular. (one would be 10 minutes, the next 3, the next 5, etc.) Well, having no idea what to expect, I called my doctor to find out if "this was it." I went in around 11:30 to the doctors office. I was the same dialation as the day before but was not 100% effaced. So she sent me home and said she thought she'd be seeing me later that night.
I went to lunch with Dave and then went home. Dave was going to come home around 4 unless I told him otherwise. I talked to him around 3:30 and he said he had a few things to wrap up and then he'd come home. At 4, my contractions started coming strong at about 3 minutes apart and were about 2 minutes each, YIKES!! Where's Dave? Who knows!! He didn't realize I was actually IN labor so he didn't end up making it home until 5:30 at which time I was READY to go to the hospital.
When I got to the hospital around 6pm, I was still 4cm and 100% effaced. We walked around for a while and by 9pm I decided that I didn't have the energy to do the whole thing natural so we decided to get an epidural (I was SO scared about that). They checked me then and I was at 8 cm. That's when my water broke. So I made it to "transition" all on my own. I got the epidural and was totally wiped out. At midnight, I was fully dialated (10cm) but still totally exhausted so I waited to push. They turned off the epidural though once I was fully dialated. I started pushing at about 12:55 and she was born at 1:24am, June 4th. About 10 minutes later, the afterbirth came out -- didn't really feel that. Dave got to cut the cord and said it wasn't as weird as he'd expected. We got to keep her in the room with us for a couple of hours before I took a shower and they took Rhianna (then nameless baby) to get her first bath and eye drops and stuff.
So there you have it :) I survived.
Anyhow, here's her birth story:
I started having contractions on her due date, June 2nd. They weren't bad and were about every 10 minutes or so. They continued on through the night and when I got up on Friday morning (June 3rd), I knew going to work was not a reasonable idea. So I stayed home and worked from here. I started to time the contractions at about 8am and they were averaging about 5 minutes but weren't real regular. (one would be 10 minutes, the next 3, the next 5, etc.) Well, having no idea what to expect, I called my doctor to find out if "this was it." I went in around 11:30 to the doctors office. I was the same dialation as the day before but was not 100% effaced. So she sent me home and said she thought she'd be seeing me later that night.
I went to lunch with Dave and then went home. Dave was going to come home around 4 unless I told him otherwise. I talked to him around 3:30 and he said he had a few things to wrap up and then he'd come home. At 4, my contractions started coming strong at about 3 minutes apart and were about 2 minutes each, YIKES!! Where's Dave? Who knows!! He didn't realize I was actually IN labor so he didn't end up making it home until 5:30 at which time I was READY to go to the hospital.
When I got to the hospital around 6pm, I was still 4cm and 100% effaced. We walked around for a while and by 9pm I decided that I didn't have the energy to do the whole thing natural so we decided to get an epidural (I was SO scared about that). They checked me then and I was at 8 cm. That's when my water broke. So I made it to "transition" all on my own. I got the epidural and was totally wiped out. At midnight, I was fully dialated (10cm) but still totally exhausted so I waited to push. They turned off the epidural though once I was fully dialated. I started pushing at about 12:55 and she was born at 1:24am, June 4th. About 10 minutes later, the afterbirth came out -- didn't really feel that. Dave got to cut the cord and said it wasn't as weird as he'd expected. We got to keep her in the room with us for a couple of hours before I took a shower and they took Rhianna (then nameless baby) to get her first bath and eye drops and stuff.
So there you have it :) I survived.
Monday, June 06, 2005
the-look
Ok, so I know I'm biased, but tell me this isn't the most hilarious picture of an almost-one-day-old!! She definitely looks like Dave in this one :)
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Rhianna Frances
Rhianna Frances Ashcraft arrived at 1:24am on Saturday morning, June 4. She was 7 lbs. 1oz. and 20 inches long.
More details (and pictures) to come. She's wonderful. We are all a bit tired and learning about each other, but everyone is healthy and healing.
More details (and pictures) to come. She's wonderful. We are all a bit tired and learning about each other, but everyone is healthy and healing.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Happy Anniversary!
Woohoo!!
Today David and I have officially been married for one year! We had a really relaxing day yesterday and decided to do our anniversary dinner then. I think we'll get a cake or something today to continue the celebration. In many ways, it seems like we have been married for much longer than a year and that all that we have accomplished together since last May couldn't possibly fit into 365 days. Nonetheless, we are still enjoying each other and things are going well. Hopefully the years to come will be just as good (although maybe not so eventful, I'm not sure I could handle moving and pregnancy and job changes quite so much every year :).
Other than that, no news to report. Everyone has been calling saying "still pregnant?" Yes everyone, I'm still pregnant. And if you'd like to call to chat or hang out or whatever that's great, but, for the record, I am planning on letting the world know when this little bugger comes out. I get the impression people think I'm going to let it slide by. Nope, we have the call-from-the-hospital list in the car already and I'm sure we'll send out an email right away too.
Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!
Today David and I have officially been married for one year! We had a really relaxing day yesterday and decided to do our anniversary dinner then. I think we'll get a cake or something today to continue the celebration. In many ways, it seems like we have been married for much longer than a year and that all that we have accomplished together since last May couldn't possibly fit into 365 days. Nonetheless, we are still enjoying each other and things are going well. Hopefully the years to come will be just as good (although maybe not so eventful, I'm not sure I could handle moving and pregnancy and job changes quite so much every year :).
Other than that, no news to report. Everyone has been calling saying "still pregnant?" Yes everyone, I'm still pregnant. And if you'd like to call to chat or hang out or whatever that's great, but, for the record, I am planning on letting the world know when this little bugger comes out. I get the impression people think I'm going to let it slide by. Nope, we have the call-from-the-hospital list in the car already and I'm sure we'll send out an email right away too.
Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Preggo sit com
Stil no baby, but here's a really STUPID story from yesterday.
Ok, so yesterday at about 3:30 I realize that i don't remember the last time the baby moved. This is unusual because usually it beats me up while I'm at work. I wasn't really worried though because I just hadn't been paying much attention. I did have 3 cookies and a pepsi for lunch though so I thought it was a little weird that I hadn't felt anything for sure since lunch. I wasn't really nervous but I figured I should call the doc before 5 just to get a hold of them and find out what I should do to make sure things were ok. I was hoping to hear something like "go home, drink juice, if it doesn't move in 2 hours or something, call back." BUT, the nurse said, "well, pay attention for another 30 minutes and then call back." So I did and didn't feel anything. My regular doc is out on Wednesdays and the doc on call said I should come in. I know it's going to be nothing but once the doc says come in, you just gotta go. So I had to make Dave leave work early to pick me up (it's about 4:50 at this point) and we drive to the hospital.
Here's where the ridiculousness comes in.
We get to the hospital and park. I'm apologizing to Dave for being such a nuisance and he is saying everything was ok, you know, better save than sorry and all that. My keys were on my lap. I stand up to get out of the car and my keys fall. No big deal right? Right. That is, if there wasn't a storm sewer right where we parked.
Clang. Clang. Pause. Splash.
So now I'm at the hospital for what I KNOW is nothing and I've dropped my keys into a storm drain. It's about 6 feet down so it's not like I could just reach in and retreive them. Talk about feeling like a big pile of poo. I just wanted to sit down in the middle of the parking lot and beg Dave to forgive me for being such a pain in the butt. Well, I didn't do that.
I go up to Labor and Delivery and Dave deals with the sewer thing. In the mean time I'm all flustered because, in addition to all this, American Idol starts in an hour. I know it's stupid, but we've seen every show almost and last night was the season finale so I was annoyed that I was potentially missing it for nothing.
Anyhow, they put two monitors on me -- one to measure me and one for the baby. Baby's heartbeat was fine although he/she was definitely sleeping becuase it was a very steady line for about 20 minutes. Then they had me move and drink some juice (and Dave and I started prodding my belly) to wake it up and it started to jump around. At least I wasn't so psychotic that it was moving around a lot when I got there.
Dave got my keys back (apparently this is a common problem so they have a big magnet to get them) and we did get home in time for the show so everything ended up just fine. How ridiculous though.
That's all for now! I'll be sure to post after my appointment today if there is anything new to report.
Ok, so yesterday at about 3:30 I realize that i don't remember the last time the baby moved. This is unusual because usually it beats me up while I'm at work. I wasn't really worried though because I just hadn't been paying much attention. I did have 3 cookies and a pepsi for lunch though so I thought it was a little weird that I hadn't felt anything for sure since lunch. I wasn't really nervous but I figured I should call the doc before 5 just to get a hold of them and find out what I should do to make sure things were ok. I was hoping to hear something like "go home, drink juice, if it doesn't move in 2 hours or something, call back." BUT, the nurse said, "well, pay attention for another 30 minutes and then call back." So I did and didn't feel anything. My regular doc is out on Wednesdays and the doc on call said I should come in. I know it's going to be nothing but once the doc says come in, you just gotta go. So I had to make Dave leave work early to pick me up (it's about 4:50 at this point) and we drive to the hospital.
Here's where the ridiculousness comes in.
We get to the hospital and park. I'm apologizing to Dave for being such a nuisance and he is saying everything was ok, you know, better save than sorry and all that. My keys were on my lap. I stand up to get out of the car and my keys fall. No big deal right? Right. That is, if there wasn't a storm sewer right where we parked.
Clang. Clang. Pause. Splash.
So now I'm at the hospital for what I KNOW is nothing and I've dropped my keys into a storm drain. It's about 6 feet down so it's not like I could just reach in and retreive them. Talk about feeling like a big pile of poo. I just wanted to sit down in the middle of the parking lot and beg Dave to forgive me for being such a pain in the butt. Well, I didn't do that.
I go up to Labor and Delivery and Dave deals with the sewer thing. In the mean time I'm all flustered because, in addition to all this, American Idol starts in an hour. I know it's stupid, but we've seen every show almost and last night was the season finale so I was annoyed that I was potentially missing it for nothing.
Anyhow, they put two monitors on me -- one to measure me and one for the baby. Baby's heartbeat was fine although he/she was definitely sleeping becuase it was a very steady line for about 20 minutes. Then they had me move and drink some juice (and Dave and I started prodding my belly) to wake it up and it started to jump around. At least I wasn't so psychotic that it was moving around a lot when I got there.
Dave got my keys back (apparently this is a common problem so they have a big magnet to get them) and we did get home in time for the show so everything ended up just fine. How ridiculous though.
That's all for now! I'll be sure to post after my appointment today if there is anything new to report.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
get your marks.... get set....
I've gotten the official "anytime now" from my doctor so we're waiting for the baby to decide it's time. Hopefully soon because I (and I'm pretty sure all of the people around me) are sick of me being pregnant. The most irritating thing right now is that I haven't been getting any sleep at all. Luckily the doc ok'd Tylenol PM for me so hopefully that will help. I think I can handle another week or so if I knew I would be getting some sleep one of these nights. The mental exhaustion of no sleep (even when you are tired and have the opportunity) is so overwhelming -- then I get mad at myself for being crabby and it all just snowballs into a giant hormonal nag to be around. I can't wait to feel sorta like myself again.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Nesting
This weekend we... well, I decided that we needed to decorate our living room. Dave did a great job of putting up with my insane nesting/decorating instinct. We ended up painting the living room and hallway walls and rearranging the living room furniture. It all looks great! I'll try to take some pictures as soon as we get the kitchen cleaned up. We found places for a lot of things that had just been thrown in a cupboard when we moved in so things are getting all set. My original decorating frenzy plan had included painting the kitchen, but after painting all day on Saturday, we decided to get the living room totally done before we tackled the next room. That and we weren't totally convinced we had picked the right color for the kitchen... yet :) I really do like decorating.
The baby's room is all done except for putting ties on the bumper pad. It looks great! We moved one of the bookshelves from downstairs up there so now we have a lot of shelf space for toys and books and what not.
And about our ultrasound last Friday: No, we still don't know the gender of the baby. From what they could tell though, all the parts were there and everything looks good. They estimate the weight is about average and the timing looks right on track. We'll see I guess! My doc is out of town until Monday so I'll just have to keep my legs crossed until then -- and then I'd be happy for it to happen anytime.
Hope you're all doing well!!
The baby's room is all done except for putting ties on the bumper pad. It looks great! We moved one of the bookshelves from downstairs up there so now we have a lot of shelf space for toys and books and what not.
And about our ultrasound last Friday: No, we still don't know the gender of the baby. From what they could tell though, all the parts were there and everything looks good. They estimate the weight is about average and the timing looks right on track. We'll see I guess! My doc is out of town until Monday so I'll just have to keep my legs crossed until then -- and then I'd be happy for it to happen anytime.
Hope you're all doing well!!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Gushy Girlfriend
Ok, so I have to brag. I really know nothing about softball, but I've been going to Dave's games this season and I think he did really well last night. He got a hit every time he was at bat (including getting to second base once and third). I think he got three runs and he caught a ton of hits in the outfield -- one inning he caught all three outs!! Hooray, what a stud :)
Monday, May 02, 2005
One month to go
Hello everyone!
I can't believe I'm one month until our due date!! I'm getting a little nervous now. I mean, I have it all worked out in my head, I know I'll get through it... but I'm still a bit nervous -- and I think Dave's getting sick of that.
Anyhow, first for baby news.
I went the doctor today and I am 1cm dialated and 30% effaced. Weirder than THAT, the doc actually could FEEL the baby's HEAD. (You konw, when she did my exam.)
But this is the wierd news. 4 weeks ago, I measured at 31.5 cm. Two weeks ago, I measured 32 cm -- she said it wasn't anything to worry about, probably position. BUT, TODAY, I measured again at 32 cm -- I should be 35/36!! So I'm going for an u/s on Friday. The heartbeat was good -- 142, about the same as it's been for the last few months. She said she thought I might have already dropped -- is this why I'm measuring small? I can't believe it's small. I feel like a monster.
In other news, we got our new digital camera and will be sure to post some picts as soon as I get some worth posting. Dave has his first softball game tonight so I thought that wuold be a good place to start -- there are only so many pictures of Caesar the Cat that we really need :)
We went to Billings this past weekend and had a good time. We saw Christy, Kyle and their baby girl Annabelle who is amazingly sleeping 6-8 hours/night at only 3 mos. old. One can only dream right?! Anyhow, it was fun. We also found out that one of our friends was offered a job at Intel--Huge congrats to him!
This weekend is graduation for the university so it is bound to be crazy around here.
Hope to hear you are all well :)
OH, and if anyone still wants to join the baby pool, better get your bets in!!!
I can't believe I'm one month until our due date!! I'm getting a little nervous now. I mean, I have it all worked out in my head, I know I'll get through it... but I'm still a bit nervous -- and I think Dave's getting sick of that.
Anyhow, first for baby news.
I went the doctor today and I am 1cm dialated and 30% effaced. Weirder than THAT, the doc actually could FEEL the baby's HEAD. (You konw, when she did my exam.)
But this is the wierd news. 4 weeks ago, I measured at 31.5 cm. Two weeks ago, I measured 32 cm -- she said it wasn't anything to worry about, probably position. BUT, TODAY, I measured again at 32 cm -- I should be 35/36!! So I'm going for an u/s on Friday. The heartbeat was good -- 142, about the same as it's been for the last few months. She said she thought I might have already dropped -- is this why I'm measuring small? I can't believe it's small. I feel like a monster.
In other news, we got our new digital camera and will be sure to post some picts as soon as I get some worth posting. Dave has his first softball game tonight so I thought that wuold be a good place to start -- there are only so many pictures of Caesar the Cat that we really need :)
We went to Billings this past weekend and had a good time. We saw Christy, Kyle and their baby girl Annabelle who is amazingly sleeping 6-8 hours/night at only 3 mos. old. One can only dream right?! Anyhow, it was fun. We also found out that one of our friends was offered a job at Intel--Huge congrats to him!
This weekend is graduation for the university so it is bound to be crazy around here.
Hope to hear you are all well :)
OH, and if anyone still wants to join the baby pool, better get your bets in!!!
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Home stretch?
Well, to anyone who may try to keep updated regularly from this site, I apologize for going so long without posting.
Wow, April has gone by ridiculously fast. Baby is definitely strong in there -- half the time I'm convinced I'll look down and a little hand or foot will have pierced through my skin. As of my last visit to the doctor's, everything continues to be going well on the pregnancy end of things. I keep dreaming about delivery and babies so hopefully that means our addition will arrive soon -- well, not too soon I guess. We'll just have to see :)
I have to admit, I flipped a little bit of a switch this weekend though -- I'm getting over being pregnant. It's certainly not unbearably uncomfortable or anything like that, it's just constant. I mean, I think about it all the time, I feel it all the time, I'm just ready to think about something else for a little while. I'm sure it's just preparing me for motherhood, but I'm ready to be able to tie my shoes without asking for help and to ride my bike again -- oh, and go more than 2 hours (sleeping or awake) without having to go to the bathroom. All in all though, pregnancy has been relatively good to me.
More baby stuff: So the house is pretty much prepared now for baby's arrival. We've picked out girl and boy names. I think at the end of next week we'll put the carseat in the car and pack our bag for the hospital as I'll be in that "anytime" zone. Now if only we could win the lottery and not have to figure out how to pay for daycare, we'd be set.
NON...well, sorta non-baby news. Mom and Dad have made their plans to come out in mid/late June and I'm really excited to see them. I'm not sure it's really sunk in that there will be a whole 'nother person here when they come, but I'm sure it will be great. My brother-in-law has been working to finish his very last semester of law school and will graduate in about 3 weeks -- but that's not all -- he's also been accepted to the FBI, so he gets and ultra-hearty congratulations for his recent accomplishments. One of my cousins is graduating high school in about two weeks and will be attending KU in the fall. On Dave's side of the family, two of his cousins are expecting babies -- one here in Bozeman and the other in Arizona. So it's an exciting time in our life.
Well, I'm off to bed for now, but I'll do my best to give better updates.
Hope this finds everyone well and healthy!
Wow, April has gone by ridiculously fast. Baby is definitely strong in there -- half the time I'm convinced I'll look down and a little hand or foot will have pierced through my skin. As of my last visit to the doctor's, everything continues to be going well on the pregnancy end of things. I keep dreaming about delivery and babies so hopefully that means our addition will arrive soon -- well, not too soon I guess. We'll just have to see :)
I have to admit, I flipped a little bit of a switch this weekend though -- I'm getting over being pregnant. It's certainly not unbearably uncomfortable or anything like that, it's just constant. I mean, I think about it all the time, I feel it all the time, I'm just ready to think about something else for a little while. I'm sure it's just preparing me for motherhood, but I'm ready to be able to tie my shoes without asking for help and to ride my bike again -- oh, and go more than 2 hours (sleeping or awake) without having to go to the bathroom. All in all though, pregnancy has been relatively good to me.
More baby stuff: So the house is pretty much prepared now for baby's arrival. We've picked out girl and boy names. I think at the end of next week we'll put the carseat in the car and pack our bag for the hospital as I'll be in that "anytime" zone. Now if only we could win the lottery and not have to figure out how to pay for daycare, we'd be set.
NON...well, sorta non-baby news. Mom and Dad have made their plans to come out in mid/late June and I'm really excited to see them. I'm not sure it's really sunk in that there will be a whole 'nother person here when they come, but I'm sure it will be great. My brother-in-law has been working to finish his very last semester of law school and will graduate in about 3 weeks -- but that's not all -- he's also been accepted to the FBI, so he gets and ultra-hearty congratulations for his recent accomplishments. One of my cousins is graduating high school in about two weeks and will be attending KU in the fall. On Dave's side of the family, two of his cousins are expecting babies -- one here in Bozeman and the other in Arizona. So it's an exciting time in our life.
Well, I'm off to bed for now, but I'll do my best to give better updates.
Hope this finds everyone well and healthy!
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
ku
Ok, a little background. My boss Suzi is an Illinois fan about as much as Mom and Kara are KU fans. Out of the graciousness of her heart, Suzi and Molly (her daughter, shown with the shirt) drew a Jayhawk in honor of my family's almamatter (well, not mine, but anyway). Kara and Mom were thrilled :)
ladies
In this pict you can see all the beautiful stuff Mom/Nana made for the room -- isn't it great!! I LOVE it!!
Bridget&David
Oh my!! what an eventful weekend! I had such a great time with Mom and Kara and the shower!! This picture shows Dave and I in our baby's beautiful room -- baby definitely gets the coolest room in our house but I suppose that's ok since Dave and I are bound to be spending a lot of time there.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Monday, April 04, 2005
One last spontaneous adventure as a couple
Hello everyone, sorry it's been so long between updates. Work has been insanely busy and I'm just now starting to see my desk again. A lot has happened in the last couple of wow.. weeks?
We finished our childbirthing class. (Special thanks to Julie for recommending we go.) Dave and I are both happy we went through the class. During our last session, we talked a lot about what to expect the first few days post-pardum. I'm feeling pretty good about everything at this point -- now I just have to survive these last few months!
Our biggest news is that this past weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to Salt Lake. We decided on the trip on Thursday, left Friday, and came back yesterday. For the most part, it was absolutely fabulous. We both got off early on Friday so we left right after our doc's appointment (more on that later). The roads were good on the way down and we checked into our hotel and went to Olive Garden for dinner. We slept in a king size bed and I got to sleep with 5 pillows without pushing Dave off the bed -- I know this sounds silly, but it really was exciting.
On Saturday, we went shopping downtown. They have a really nice outdoor mall and a couple indoor ones all within walking distance downtown -- and the weather was perfect for shopping, not too hot, not too cold. Dave didn't find anything he needed, but I was a master shopper. I got a dress for my upcoming shower -- this weekend woohoo!!! -- a short sleeved shirt (blue paisley, what could be better) and my month-long quest to find new sneakers has now come to an end. (Background, my other tennis shoes were way too small but since I'm not mondo athletic these days, it hasn't really become an issue so I've been looking everywhere for a good, inexpensive pair. Well, I totally lucked out because one of the department stores was having a massive sale and I found the shoes I like! They are Nikes and the tag said 39.99 so I thought GREAT! When the sales lady rang them up though, she got this shocked expression and I was like... uh, this can't be a good sign. Turns out, they were on SUPER SALE and I got them for $15!! Dave was so jealous :) Anyhow, I've been wearing them since then and my feet feel so much better.
After our shopping excur... oh! I forgot to mention, there was this huge Mormon convention going on while we were there -- that was weird. The streets were packed with men in their white shirts, ties, and black pants and women with knee-length skirts and primped hair. It was all so... clean? It was a little eerie.
So after shopping, we went back to the hotel and went swimming. It was the most wonderful experience ever. I haven't felt that normal since... what.... September? I was so weightless! It felt amazing!
We went spent the evening with Steve and Burke at Steve's parents new house. It was the biggest house I've ever been in -- seriously, they have a racquetball court IN THE HOUSE! Anyway, it was great to see Steve and Burke. Her engagement ring is perfect -- a princess-cut solitaire. It looks great on her. They did a lot of wedding discussing this weekend but don't seem to be jaded about the process just yet. Man, wedding planning is rough -- it's so much more fun to be involved in the planning process when you're not the one getting married.... although being a bride was pretty darn amazing. We got a couple of pictures which I'll try to post when I get a chance.
The ride home was ok. There was a little bit of weather and no trip through Yellowstone would be complete without a small herd of buffalo blocking the road. Nonetheless, we made it home safe and sound. The downer? I managed to catch a cold amid all the excitement. I'll have to baby myself a bit today to make sure I don't get worse for the festivities this weekend -- I'm so looking forward to Mom and Kara visiting and the shower, I really hope this cold doesn't spoil it. Nonetheless, I had quite a few practice contractions this weekend so I think I'll have to be cautious not to over-exert. ...Maybe we could have the shower in a pool... that would be great.... although cake and chlorine don't mix real well. Hm.
So that's about it -- oh, doc's visit. All is well. Weight, blood pressure, everything seems to be in order. At our appointment, baby was head down although it's been moving a lot so I'm not sure if it's still that way. Apparently it can move around quite a bit for another month or so -- around 36 weeks, once it get's head down, it (hopefully) stays that way for delivery. My next appointment is two weeks from today barring any crisis in the mean time.
Hope all is well with all of you!!
We finished our childbirthing class. (Special thanks to Julie for recommending we go.) Dave and I are both happy we went through the class. During our last session, we talked a lot about what to expect the first few days post-pardum. I'm feeling pretty good about everything at this point -- now I just have to survive these last few months!
Our biggest news is that this past weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to Salt Lake. We decided on the trip on Thursday, left Friday, and came back yesterday. For the most part, it was absolutely fabulous. We both got off early on Friday so we left right after our doc's appointment (more on that later). The roads were good on the way down and we checked into our hotel and went to Olive Garden for dinner. We slept in a king size bed and I got to sleep with 5 pillows without pushing Dave off the bed -- I know this sounds silly, but it really was exciting.
On Saturday, we went shopping downtown. They have a really nice outdoor mall and a couple indoor ones all within walking distance downtown -- and the weather was perfect for shopping, not too hot, not too cold. Dave didn't find anything he needed, but I was a master shopper. I got a dress for my upcoming shower -- this weekend woohoo!!! -- a short sleeved shirt (blue paisley, what could be better) and my month-long quest to find new sneakers has now come to an end. (Background, my other tennis shoes were way too small but since I'm not mondo athletic these days, it hasn't really become an issue so I've been looking everywhere for a good, inexpensive pair. Well, I totally lucked out because one of the department stores was having a massive sale and I found the shoes I like! They are Nikes and the tag said 39.99 so I thought GREAT! When the sales lady rang them up though, she got this shocked expression and I was like... uh, this can't be a good sign. Turns out, they were on SUPER SALE and I got them for $15!! Dave was so jealous :) Anyhow, I've been wearing them since then and my feet feel so much better.
After our shopping excur... oh! I forgot to mention, there was this huge Mormon convention going on while we were there -- that was weird. The streets were packed with men in their white shirts, ties, and black pants and women with knee-length skirts and primped hair. It was all so... clean? It was a little eerie.
So after shopping, we went back to the hotel and went swimming. It was the most wonderful experience ever. I haven't felt that normal since... what.... September? I was so weightless! It felt amazing!
We went spent the evening with Steve and Burke at Steve's parents new house. It was the biggest house I've ever been in -- seriously, they have a racquetball court IN THE HOUSE! Anyway, it was great to see Steve and Burke. Her engagement ring is perfect -- a princess-cut solitaire. It looks great on her. They did a lot of wedding discussing this weekend but don't seem to be jaded about the process just yet. Man, wedding planning is rough -- it's so much more fun to be involved in the planning process when you're not the one getting married.... although being a bride was pretty darn amazing. We got a couple of pictures which I'll try to post when I get a chance.
The ride home was ok. There was a little bit of weather and no trip through Yellowstone would be complete without a small herd of buffalo blocking the road. Nonetheless, we made it home safe and sound. The downer? I managed to catch a cold amid all the excitement. I'll have to baby myself a bit today to make sure I don't get worse for the festivities this weekend -- I'm so looking forward to Mom and Kara visiting and the shower, I really hope this cold doesn't spoil it. Nonetheless, I had quite a few practice contractions this weekend so I think I'll have to be cautious not to over-exert. ...Maybe we could have the shower in a pool... that would be great.... although cake and chlorine don't mix real well. Hm.
So that's about it -- oh, doc's visit. All is well. Weight, blood pressure, everything seems to be in order. At our appointment, baby was head down although it's been moving a lot so I'm not sure if it's still that way. Apparently it can move around quite a bit for another month or so -- around 36 weeks, once it get's head down, it (hopefully) stays that way for delivery. My next appointment is two weeks from today barring any crisis in the mean time.
Hope all is well with all of you!!
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Early arrivals
Things have started to calm down a little bit. Dave and I made some good progress on the freelance work we have last night and the end of the week is in sight. Our most interesting news happened on Monday night. We went to our childbirthing class and three of the couples HAD THEIR BABIES!! Two of them came to class and they were just so adorable. One had been born last Wednesday and the other was born this past Sunday. Both moms were feeling tired, but good. It was very encouraging to see the little babes. We went over breastfeeding and got some good information from the class, but mostly we talked to the new moms about their experiences. Both had their babies at home and had pretty good deliveries. It was definitely encouraging and helped me put some of my trivial stress of this week into perspective.
Monday, March 21, 2005
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Well, I suppose it is inevitable. Every once in a while, the computer land gets you in the crosshairs and shoots one right to the heart -- well, as least a good gut shot if not right through the aorta.
This weekend, David and I came into my office to assemble my brand new (!) desk -- complete with slidy keyboard holder and all. Everything went together quite smoothly and I am very happy with the desk. Of course, not all could go so wonderfully. My computer was, apparently, annoyed with the change of scenery and basically just flipped me the bird. Yup, gave me the big screw you. To make an incredibly irritating (and boring) story short, I had to rebuild my entire computer. Luckily, I was able to back up most of my information so I didn't lose too much of my current work (except the obvious time that it takes to rebuild everything).
Aside from the usual "how in God's name do these printers really work" fiasco that I still haven't resolved, the reinstallation seems to be going/have gone relatively smooth -- which means that I will survive with minor bruises and a few, well deserved, venting sessions to my every-listening husband.
Unfortunately, despite my very heartfelt attempts to take all this in stride the physical and mental stress induced by this computer madness and having to work so hard this week with everyone else on spring break (and having a handful of after-hours commitments like childbirthing classes and freelance clients) has caused some physical manifestations. In short, I've been having wonderful little "practice" contractions since Saturday. They are apparently perfectly normal -- called Braxton Hicks contractions. But they hurt and are generally just a pain in the butt (not literally). I guess this is my body's way of telling me that it really is working hard to grow the baby and it's very inconsiderate of me to demand so much of it. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything under (reasonable) control this week and then I can take life a little easier.
Ok, back to the grindstone. Hope everyone else is having a less stressful week :)
This weekend, David and I came into my office to assemble my brand new (!) desk -- complete with slidy keyboard holder and all. Everything went together quite smoothly and I am very happy with the desk. Of course, not all could go so wonderfully. My computer was, apparently, annoyed with the change of scenery and basically just flipped me the bird. Yup, gave me the big screw you. To make an incredibly irritating (and boring) story short, I had to rebuild my entire computer. Luckily, I was able to back up most of my information so I didn't lose too much of my current work (except the obvious time that it takes to rebuild everything).
Aside from the usual "how in God's name do these printers really work" fiasco that I still haven't resolved, the reinstallation seems to be going/have gone relatively smooth -- which means that I will survive with minor bruises and a few, well deserved, venting sessions to my every-listening husband.
Unfortunately, despite my very heartfelt attempts to take all this in stride the physical and mental stress induced by this computer madness and having to work so hard this week with everyone else on spring break (and having a handful of after-hours commitments like childbirthing classes and freelance clients) has caused some physical manifestations. In short, I've been having wonderful little "practice" contractions since Saturday. They are apparently perfectly normal -- called Braxton Hicks contractions. But they hurt and are generally just a pain in the butt (not literally). I guess this is my body's way of telling me that it really is working hard to grow the baby and it's very inconsiderate of me to demand so much of it. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything under (reasonable) control this week and then I can take life a little easier.
Ok, back to the grindstone. Hope everyone else is having a less stressful week :)
Thursday, March 17, 2005
29 weeks
Yesterday we went to the hospital for a tour and we learned quite a bit. I'm pretty happy with the set-up. If all goes to plan, I will labor and deliver in one room, and, when we're ready, me and baby get cleaned up and go to another room for the rest of our stay (probably about 2 days after the baby is born). The midwife who teaches our childbirthing class lead the group and showed us all the tricks (like where the warm blankets are kept and which rooms have jacuzzi tubs). She also showed us all the scary "what if" instruments -- which were, as you'd expect, a little scary -- especially when you see them all together. I had to keep reminding myself that they wouldn't use all of them at the same time. All in all though, I felt pretty happy with the setup. It did kinda drive it home that this is actually going to happen. I am going to be there in a few months because I'm having a baby. Wow. Totally unreal to me -- but soon to be very real.
Other things to note on this end: We had an appointment on Monday -- I'm definitely gaining weight now, but still in the healthy zone. My belly measured 27 cm and baby's heartrate was about 150 bpm. We went over our birth plan with the doctor and seem to be on the same page with everything so that's refreshing. I was kinda hoping she'd be able to tell us what position baby is in. She did try, but unfortunately, she said it was still a little too small to tell -- she said probably at our next appointment (which is 2 weeks from tomorrow).
Well, that's all the news here. Work is mad-busy since everyone is gone for spring break so I better hop to it!
Other things to note on this end: We had an appointment on Monday -- I'm definitely gaining weight now, but still in the healthy zone. My belly measured 27 cm and baby's heartrate was about 150 bpm. We went over our birth plan with the doctor and seem to be on the same page with everything so that's refreshing. I was kinda hoping she'd be able to tell us what position baby is in. She did try, but unfortunately, she said it was still a little too small to tell -- she said probably at our next appointment (which is 2 weeks from tomorrow).
Well, that's all the news here. Work is mad-busy since everyone is gone for spring break so I better hop to it!
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Wedding Quilt
Wow, more than one entry in one week! Aren't you lucky! Ha :) j/k Ok, warning before you read: this one's a little on the sentimental side.
This picture is of our FINISHED wedding quilt. Instead of having a guest book for our wedding, we made a whole bunch of quilt squares and each guest signed one. With the combined efforts of my mom, David and myself, we have the final product completed. What a great keepsake! It now hangs in our bedroom where we can be reminded of everyone's wonderful wishes for us on that special day.
The inscriptions vary from short little bits of advice, drawings, signatures, and many happy wishes. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful family of friends and relatives. Thank you for those of you who contributed to this particular memory -- and to everyone else, for all the other great memories and experiences we have shared.
This picture is of our FINISHED wedding quilt. Instead of having a guest book for our wedding, we made a whole bunch of quilt squares and each guest signed one. With the combined efforts of my mom, David and myself, we have the final product completed. What a great keepsake! It now hangs in our bedroom where we can be reminded of everyone's wonderful wishes for us on that special day.
The inscriptions vary from short little bits of advice, drawings, signatures, and many happy wishes. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful family of friends and relatives. Thank you for those of you who contributed to this particular memory -- and to everyone else, for all the other great memories and experiences we have shared.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Seven months!!
Hello all, sorry it's been so long since I gave a proper update.
Dave and I are both pretty busy at work which, at times can seem a little stressful, but is making the days go by pretty quickly. We've also been working on a logo for a freelance client so that's exciting.
Today we are 7 months pregnant! Holy cow--- or whale, whichever you prefer. I feel like a beast. I don't think I look enormous yet (meaning, I'm sure I'll get much bigger), but my feet and back have definitely started to feel the weight gain. Sleeping is becoming a bit more uncomfortable too but I've learned that if I try not to drink much after 7pm, I don't get up quite as frequently so that is refreshing.
Last weekend I got to see Aspen in her wedding dress! She is going to be a stunning bride -- and she got a great laugh out of seeing me try on the bridesmaid's dresses... somehow they just weren't quite the right shape. I'll tell you though, whomever was in the dressing room next to us was probably having a fun time too because we were laughing so much.
My next appointment is Monday. I had to get my blood drawn this past week to check for gestational diabetes and a few other things (all routine). At my last visit, my doctor told me that around 30 weeks she would be able to tell what position the baby is in by feeling my belly. I'm not sure if she'll be able to tell at this appointment or not, but I'm hoping so, that would be really cool to know if I'm talking to head or butt or what :)
Our childbirthing class is going well. Dave and I have learned l a lot and feel better prepared than we were. We've been asked to talk about a lot of issues regarding birthing and parenting and all sorts of things and Dave and I seem to agree for the most part. We are both taking a pretty "we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it" approach on a lot of things. We figure we can't even come close to having everything planned out, so why waste our energy planning too much. I mean, we have a lot of "plans" for some things, but we can't possibly anticipate everything.
My last bit of very exciting news is that my friends Burke and Steve are officially ENGAGED!! Hooray!! It sounds like they had a very nice engagement -- and hopefully Burke will come visit so I can see her ring!!!
Dave and I are both pretty busy at work which, at times can seem a little stressful, but is making the days go by pretty quickly. We've also been working on a logo for a freelance client so that's exciting.
Today we are 7 months pregnant! Holy cow--- or whale, whichever you prefer. I feel like a beast. I don't think I look enormous yet (meaning, I'm sure I'll get much bigger), but my feet and back have definitely started to feel the weight gain. Sleeping is becoming a bit more uncomfortable too but I've learned that if I try not to drink much after 7pm, I don't get up quite as frequently so that is refreshing.
Last weekend I got to see Aspen in her wedding dress! She is going to be a stunning bride -- and she got a great laugh out of seeing me try on the bridesmaid's dresses... somehow they just weren't quite the right shape. I'll tell you though, whomever was in the dressing room next to us was probably having a fun time too because we were laughing so much.
My next appointment is Monday. I had to get my blood drawn this past week to check for gestational diabetes and a few other things (all routine). At my last visit, my doctor told me that around 30 weeks she would be able to tell what position the baby is in by feeling my belly. I'm not sure if she'll be able to tell at this appointment or not, but I'm hoping so, that would be really cool to know if I'm talking to head or butt or what :)
Our childbirthing class is going well. Dave and I have learned l a lot and feel better prepared than we were. We've been asked to talk about a lot of issues regarding birthing and parenting and all sorts of things and Dave and I seem to agree for the most part. We are both taking a pretty "we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it" approach on a lot of things. We figure we can't even come close to having everything planned out, so why waste our energy planning too much. I mean, we have a lot of "plans" for some things, but we can't possibly anticipate everything.
My last bit of very exciting news is that my friends Burke and Steve are officially ENGAGED!! Hooray!! It sounds like they had a very nice engagement -- and hopefully Burke will come visit so I can see her ring!!!
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
26 Weeks
So here I am at 6.5 months pregnant. Wow, I can't believe I'm finally saying that. I can't wait to meet our little one. The consensus seems to be that people think I'm carrying low which the wives' tales tell us means we're having a boy -- only time will tell I guess.
Arg. I have a lot to say but I just don't have the time right now -- maybe i'll have time this evening.
Arg. I have a lot to say but I just don't have the time right now -- maybe i'll have time this evening.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Kara&BabyBridget
Happy Sunday everyone!
Not a whole lot is happening this weekend for me. It's actually really nice to have a relaxing/no-plans weekend. I'm sure these will soon be few and far between. As for the photo to the right, partly, I think it's just fun to post pictures for people to see, and partly, I was searching through some old photos and found this one. I'm the baby in the picture (yeah, that dark hair didn't last very long) and the ridiculously adorable girl holding me is Kara (still ridiculously beautiful). I was looking through some of my baby/kid pictures and some of them, I swear, must be a different child because they don't look like me at all. Others I can almost remember "doing that face" or having the picture taken.
My only other noteworthy news is that I have officially finished our taxes and will be sending them in this week. YAY! One more year done. Boy Dave is lucky, he's never had to do them and I've now taken the reigns. I think I deserve a special treat for that no?
Not a whole lot is happening this weekend for me. It's actually really nice to have a relaxing/no-plans weekend. I'm sure these will soon be few and far between. As for the photo to the right, partly, I think it's just fun to post pictures for people to see, and partly, I was searching through some old photos and found this one. I'm the baby in the picture (yeah, that dark hair didn't last very long) and the ridiculously adorable girl holding me is Kara (still ridiculously beautiful). I was looking through some of my baby/kid pictures and some of them, I swear, must be a different child because they don't look like me at all. Others I can almost remember "doing that face" or having the picture taken.
My only other noteworthy news is that I have officially finished our taxes and will be sending them in this week. YAY! One more year done. Boy Dave is lucky, he's never had to do them and I've now taken the reigns. I think I deserve a special treat for that no?
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Another appointment
Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day. Mine was pretty good. Dave brought me flowers after I nearly broke down at the doctor's office. (Everything went just fine, I was just overly emotional for no particular reason.) And in the evening, we went to "Hitch" which was very fun.
This past weekend we painted our bedroom (yes, we finally picked a color -- it only took us three tries!). I swear, we would have had to go to a different store if that color didn't work because we wouldn't have been able to show our faces in Home Depot. Anyhow, as you can see from the picture, it is a pretty green color. I like it a lot -- although now it draws more attention to the walls and so we need to get some pictures up or something. I think we are going to put our wedding quilt up on one of the walls, but I don't really know how big it is so I'm not exactly sure where it will fit. Maybe this weekend I'll go through some of our other pictures to find what else would go well on the walls.
So I had another appointment yesterday. Everything is going fine. I measured at 25 cm which is normal (the cm should roughly equal the number of weeks pregnant you are and I'm 24 weeks). My doc seems to be going with a June 2nd due date so if anyone marked their calendars, you can change that. I don't think anything has really changed, I think I may have just misheard the radiologist (who I swear said June 1st) but anyway, what's a day?
Other than that, nothing too exciting on this end. Hoping for a very relaxing three-day weekend coming up for me -- hooray for president's day!
This past weekend we painted our bedroom (yes, we finally picked a color -- it only took us three tries!). I swear, we would have had to go to a different store if that color didn't work because we wouldn't have been able to show our faces in Home Depot. Anyhow, as you can see from the picture, it is a pretty green color. I like it a lot -- although now it draws more attention to the walls and so we need to get some pictures up or something. I think we are going to put our wedding quilt up on one of the walls, but I don't really know how big it is so I'm not exactly sure where it will fit. Maybe this weekend I'll go through some of our other pictures to find what else would go well on the walls.
So I had another appointment yesterday. Everything is going fine. I measured at 25 cm which is normal (the cm should roughly equal the number of weeks pregnant you are and I'm 24 weeks). My doc seems to be going with a June 2nd due date so if anyone marked their calendars, you can change that. I don't think anything has really changed, I think I may have just misheard the radiologist (who I swear said June 1st) but anyway, what's a day?
Other than that, nothing too exciting on this end. Hoping for a very relaxing three-day weekend coming up for me -- hooray for president's day!
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
6 months!!!
How is it possible that I am SIX MONTHS PREGNANT?!!????
Things are going pretty well in that department. Dave and I went to our second childbirth class and it was good. We will not have a class next week for the holiday, but we both enjoy going. We talked about dad's roles a lot which was nice -- and we started talking about different relaxation techniques. These were basically like yoga breathing so it was ok. The baby seems to be moving quite a bit these days so that's exciting. According to all the books it is over a pound!! Wow... I'm continually amazed. My belly hasn't really changed, but I'll try to take another picture this weekend.
In other news, this past weekend, David's uncle got married so we got to dance a bit at the reception which was very fun. I'm slowly starting to figure out who all my new relatives are and how they are related. Sooner or later I'll know them all by name I'm sure.
We also got our new couch last weekend -- which, sadly, did not match the recliner we got a couple weeks ago. We called about it and they ordered the wrong recliner so we have to go exchange that for the right one. It's nice to have the couch though and I'm anxious to have all the furniture there together. We got a fun area rug from Target and the whole room is starting to come together.
In other decorating news, we had to return the paint we bought for the master bedroom as when we sampled it on a bit of the wall it looked like split-pea soup. Not the cool trendy green we were hoping for! So we've decided on a new color and maybe we will start on that in the next couple of weeks depending on how we feel.
I caught a cold this past weekend which isn't amounting to too much, but I'm pretty sure I've given Dave strep. He has apparently never had it before so I think he might be a little nervous to be having a sickness that isn't just a cold. Nonetheless, so far he's just had a little scratchy throat and those tell-tale spots on the back of his throat. Hopefully it will just amount to the same minor cold that I have but I guess we'll see.
Hope all is well!
Things are going pretty well in that department. Dave and I went to our second childbirth class and it was good. We will not have a class next week for the holiday, but we both enjoy going. We talked about dad's roles a lot which was nice -- and we started talking about different relaxation techniques. These were basically like yoga breathing so it was ok. The baby seems to be moving quite a bit these days so that's exciting. According to all the books it is over a pound!! Wow... I'm continually amazed. My belly hasn't really changed, but I'll try to take another picture this weekend.
In other news, this past weekend, David's uncle got married so we got to dance a bit at the reception which was very fun. I'm slowly starting to figure out who all my new relatives are and how they are related. Sooner or later I'll know them all by name I'm sure.
We also got our new couch last weekend -- which, sadly, did not match the recliner we got a couple weeks ago. We called about it and they ordered the wrong recliner so we have to go exchange that for the right one. It's nice to have the couch though and I'm anxious to have all the furniture there together. We got a fun area rug from Target and the whole room is starting to come together.
In other decorating news, we had to return the paint we bought for the master bedroom as when we sampled it on a bit of the wall it looked like split-pea soup. Not the cool trendy green we were hoping for! So we've decided on a new color and maybe we will start on that in the next couple of weeks depending on how we feel.
I caught a cold this past weekend which isn't amounting to too much, but I'm pretty sure I've given Dave strep. He has apparently never had it before so I think he might be a little nervous to be having a sickness that isn't just a cold. Nonetheless, so far he's just had a little scratchy throat and those tell-tale spots on the back of his throat. Hopefully it will just amount to the same minor cold that I have but I guess we'll see.
Hope all is well!
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
23series
Well well well, 23 weeks and counting.. almost 6 months... Wow! Things are going really well at this point. Caesar is sitting on the bed watching the ceiling fan and I'm blogging away while Dave cooks dinner -- what a lucky girl I am.
My big news is that Dave and I went to our first childbirth/parenting class last night. We weren't going to go, but a friend highly recommended this particular class so we went. It was a little touchy-feely but it was really nice. The class focuses on natural childbirth and it was a little weird that there was only one other woman (besides me) who was planning to deliver in the hospital (not a home or water birth). Nonetheless, the lady who leads the class is definately not against hospitals and feels that there is definately a time and place for medicine. It really calmed my nerves a lot to hear that most people are totally capable of having a natural birth. I'm not set on drug-free at all, but I like knowing that it I don't have to be SuperWoman to do it and that drugs will help but that my body will know what to do. I definitely left feeling good about things.
So here's the long story about what we did:
We missed the first class (this was the second one) So we went early and the lady who runs the class (a midwife named Stacey) had us do some paperwork and write down what we wanted from the class and stuff and then showed us a little slide of a home birth (the focus is definately on trusting taht your body to know what to do). She talked a lot about how contractions are in one part of your body and if you can try to relax the rest of your body while you're having them, it is more manageable in the long haul bc your whole body doesn't get so exhausted. (No idea how true that is, but it sounds reasonable.) We saw the baby's head born (rest of baby still in mommy) and what it looked like coming out -- DH and I were both a little freaked out because it was TOTALLY PURPLE! but aparently that is normal because when it's sqeezed through, the blood tends to go into the head, but not drain out (because there is so much pressure in the birth canal.) The next slide it was totally pink -- that was neat to see because I think if I saw my purple baby without knowing it was ok, I'd think it was dead.
So then all the other people came and aparently their homework for last time was to talk to their mothers and find out their birth stories. So they went around the room and told their stories which ran the gammut of being strapped to a table (!) and delivering in the hallway. Stacey explained why they would have been advised to do certain things (like smoke = used to be they promoted smoking and low weight gain so people would have small babies) and why they use different drugs, etc.
After that we divided into girls and boys and as groups made a list of the fears surrounding birth and then talked about it as a big group. It was
nice to talk about it in the open and know that other women are afraid of, oh, say, pooping. We then talked about different types of pain (emotional physical etc.) and talked about what we do to deal with that (cry drugs excercise etc) and how labor would relate to childbirth.
At the very end we did a 5 minute free-writing excercise where we started with "On the day of my baby's birth...." DH and I exchanged ours and we both feel really good about it and that was encouraging. I mean, I'm scared of stuff, but I feel like it will probably be ok...
Anyhow, you're all probably bored to death hearing about pregnancy.
In other news, our new couch will arrive this weekend Woohoo!!
My big news is that Dave and I went to our first childbirth/parenting class last night. We weren't going to go, but a friend highly recommended this particular class so we went. It was a little touchy-feely but it was really nice. The class focuses on natural childbirth and it was a little weird that there was only one other woman (besides me) who was planning to deliver in the hospital (not a home or water birth). Nonetheless, the lady who leads the class is definately not against hospitals and feels that there is definately a time and place for medicine. It really calmed my nerves a lot to hear that most people are totally capable of having a natural birth. I'm not set on drug-free at all, but I like knowing that it I don't have to be SuperWoman to do it and that drugs will help but that my body will know what to do. I definitely left feeling good about things.
So here's the long story about what we did:
We missed the first class (this was the second one) So we went early and the lady who runs the class (a midwife named Stacey) had us do some paperwork and write down what we wanted from the class and stuff and then showed us a little slide of a home birth (the focus is definately on trusting taht your body to know what to do). She talked a lot about how contractions are in one part of your body and if you can try to relax the rest of your body while you're having them, it is more manageable in the long haul bc your whole body doesn't get so exhausted. (No idea how true that is, but it sounds reasonable.) We saw the baby's head born (rest of baby still in mommy) and what it looked like coming out -- DH and I were both a little freaked out because it was TOTALLY PURPLE! but aparently that is normal because when it's sqeezed through, the blood tends to go into the head, but not drain out (because there is so much pressure in the birth canal.) The next slide it was totally pink -- that was neat to see because I think if I saw my purple baby without knowing it was ok, I'd think it was dead.
So then all the other people came and aparently their homework for last time was to talk to their mothers and find out their birth stories. So they went around the room and told their stories which ran the gammut of being strapped to a table (!) and delivering in the hallway. Stacey explained why they would have been advised to do certain things (like smoke = used to be they promoted smoking and low weight gain so people would have small babies) and why they use different drugs, etc.
After that we divided into girls and boys and as groups made a list of the fears surrounding birth and then talked about it as a big group. It was
nice to talk about it in the open and know that other women are afraid of, oh, say, pooping. We then talked about different types of pain (emotional physical etc.) and talked about what we do to deal with that (cry drugs excercise etc) and how labor would relate to childbirth.
At the very end we did a 5 minute free-writing excercise where we started with "On the day of my baby's birth...." DH and I exchanged ours and we both feel really good about it and that was encouraging. I mean, I'm scared of stuff, but I feel like it will probably be ok...
Anyhow, you're all probably bored to death hearing about pregnancy.
In other news, our new couch will arrive this weekend Woohoo!!
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
22 week appointment
Today was somewhat interesting. I got my first total stranger "when are you due?" which means, I officially LOOK pregnant! woo hoo!! I'm out of the "is she or isn't she" stage!
We also had a doctor's appointment today. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat (always a joy!!) and it was strong as a horse gallop at 168bpm :) I gained 5 lbs this month bringing my grand total weight gain to (drumroll..) 7 lbs. My doctor actually laughed that it was (apparently) small for being now over (!) halfway, but said I was doing realy well and really healthy and just to keep it up. She measured my fundal (sp?) height (this is the measurement between the top of my pubic bone and the top of my uterus) and I'm at 23 centimeters. This number is supposed roughly equal the number of weeks you are pregnant (22 for me) — I can't believe I'll almost DOUBLE that before the end of this!!! Can I really stretch that far?
All other things, blood pressure, baby movement, etc. were all ok.
(ok, nitty gritty preggo stuff, feel free to skip if you aren't interested) At one point I asked the doctor if she had any idea when my bbs would slow down on the growth — she said she couldn't say. But she did ask how much they have grown and when I told her, she said "whoa! you're just gonna be a milking machine aren't you?!" Hmm... not what I wanted to hear. Not that I'm not excited that they are doing what they are supposed to be but hearing my doctor so impressed by my growth was just not exactly what I wanted to hear. I was hoping for something more to the "since you've grown so much now, you might not grow as much later," but no, I'm doomed to be the next Dolly Parton! On another note, I asked her what dress size she might expect me to be around August 6th (beautiful Aspen's wedding) and she said to expect about 1 size bigger than before. Woohoo!! Only one size!! I was pretty exstatic to hear THAT! ...now we'll just hope the bbs fit ;-)
Other than that, I spend forever on the phone with the insurance people and I think I FINALLY understand it.... I think.
Oh, and watched American Idol tonight... some of those participants are just SCARY. You'd think before you did something like that you'd have someone tape you so you know what you look/sound like.
Finally, for those of you who commented, painting the baby's room blue has nothing to do with the potential gender of the baby. We still don't have any idea, nor will we until he or she arrives in June. We chose the color as a neutral that was in the painting we picked for the room (see poster above the crib). Mom told me today that she bought some final touches that we were hoping to get from Ikea that they didn't sell online so we will soon have the finishing touches... well, that is until we get crib sheets and all of that taken care of... hopefully as shower gifts (*greedy grin*).
Hope you are all doing well. Baby says hello — well, at least I seem to be getting kicked a lot... oooo that one was to the bladder, gotta go!!!
We also had a doctor's appointment today. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat (always a joy!!) and it was strong as a horse gallop at 168bpm :) I gained 5 lbs this month bringing my grand total weight gain to (drumroll..) 7 lbs. My doctor actually laughed that it was (apparently) small for being now over (!) halfway, but said I was doing realy well and really healthy and just to keep it up. She measured my fundal (sp?) height (this is the measurement between the top of my pubic bone and the top of my uterus) and I'm at 23 centimeters. This number is supposed roughly equal the number of weeks you are pregnant (22 for me) — I can't believe I'll almost DOUBLE that before the end of this!!! Can I really stretch that far?
All other things, blood pressure, baby movement, etc. were all ok.
(ok, nitty gritty preggo stuff, feel free to skip if you aren't interested) At one point I asked the doctor if she had any idea when my bbs would slow down on the growth — she said she couldn't say. But she did ask how much they have grown and when I told her, she said "whoa! you're just gonna be a milking machine aren't you?!" Hmm... not what I wanted to hear. Not that I'm not excited that they are doing what they are supposed to be but hearing my doctor so impressed by my growth was just not exactly what I wanted to hear. I was hoping for something more to the "since you've grown so much now, you might not grow as much later," but no, I'm doomed to be the next Dolly Parton! On another note, I asked her what dress size she might expect me to be around August 6th (beautiful Aspen's wedding) and she said to expect about 1 size bigger than before. Woohoo!! Only one size!! I was pretty exstatic to hear THAT! ...now we'll just hope the bbs fit ;-)
Other than that, I spend forever on the phone with the insurance people and I think I FINALLY understand it.... I think.
Oh, and watched American Idol tonight... some of those participants are just SCARY. You'd think before you did something like that you'd have someone tape you so you know what you look/sound like.
Finally, for those of you who commented, painting the baby's room blue has nothing to do with the potential gender of the baby. We still don't have any idea, nor will we until he or she arrives in June. We chose the color as a neutral that was in the painting we picked for the room (see poster above the crib). Mom told me today that she bought some final touches that we were hoping to get from Ikea that they didn't sell online so we will soon have the finishing touches... well, that is until we get crib sheets and all of that taken care of... hopefully as shower gifts (*greedy grin*).
Hope you are all doing well. Baby says hello — well, at least I seem to be getting kicked a lot... oooo that one was to the bladder, gotta go!!!
Monday, January 24, 2005
rocker-corner
It seems as though we're really taking Julie's recommendation of "see as many movies as you can before the baby is born" to heart. This weekend we went to Phantom of the Opera with some friends. It was very well done. I haven't seen the actual production before, but now I'm aching to go — it was pretty amazing.
On Saturday, David and I took advantage of the weather being so warm here and painted the baby's room. It's a very pretty blue — kinda dark, but i makes the room very cozy. The color is called "winter blue." What do you all think!?
Well, that's all for now.
On Saturday, David and I took advantage of the weather being so warm here and painted the baby's room. It's a very pretty blue — kinda dark, but i makes the room very cozy. The color is called "winter blue." What do you all think!?
Well, that's all for now.
Monday, January 17, 2005
ABsiggy20weeks
Happy MLKjr. Day!!! Today is a good day -- It's a Monday, I don't have to work, I'm not sick, things are good.
I decided to do something a little different with my photo this time just to spruce things up :) Hope you like it -- I've definately "popped" as they say. As you can see, I'm definitely needing maternity clothes now which is actually kinda fun -- I have a feeling that it won't be as fun to go back to all my old clothes after getting to have a whole new wardrobe for 6 months.
Anyhow, this weekend was pretty good. We got a bunch of pictures developed from the last year (digitals that I'd never taken to get printed). I'll try to post a few when I get the chance.
In other news, Dave and I went to two movies this weekend (thanks to wonderful Christmas gift certificates!) and they were both really good -- Coach Carter, and Finding Neverland. Totally different movies, but both very good in very different ways -- one is about staying young and one is about growing up.
I decided to do something a little different with my photo this time just to spruce things up :) Hope you like it -- I've definately "popped" as they say. As you can see, I'm definitely needing maternity clothes now which is actually kinda fun -- I have a feeling that it won't be as fun to go back to all my old clothes after getting to have a whole new wardrobe for 6 months.
Anyhow, this weekend was pretty good. We got a bunch of pictures developed from the last year (digitals that I'd never taken to get printed). I'll try to post a few when I get the chance.
In other news, Dave and I went to two movies this weekend (thanks to wonderful Christmas gift certificates!) and they were both really good -- Coach Carter, and Finding Neverland. Totally different movies, but both very good in very different ways -- one is about staying young and one is about growing up.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Name requests
Ok. To those of you who come here much, we're having some serious trouble agreeing on girls names and are in need of suggestions!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Halfway!
Wow, is it really possible that this pregnancy is halfway?! That's right, I'm 20 weeks to the day. I have to say that the first (sick) part seemed to take years, but since then, it's gone pretty fast.
I'm 80% sure I felt the baby last night. If I keep feeling it, I'll be more confident. It felt like a thumping behind my belly-button. I woke Dave up to see if he could feel it, but I don't think he even knew where he was since it was mid-night and he didn't have his glasses on. Anyhow, my next appointment is in two weeks (the 25th). I'm not sure that it will be very eventful, but they will measure me... I think quite literally with a tape-measure.
In other news, our new rocking chair/recliner is here! It arrived yesterday (to be followed by the couch the first week or so of February). I'm very excited, it is quite cozy and Caesar is scared to death of it. It's strange not having an ottoman (sp?) in the middle of the room, but I'm excited. When we have the new, smaller couch, we will have much more options on how to arrange the room and that will be fun.
Hope all is well with you!
I'm 80% sure I felt the baby last night. If I keep feeling it, I'll be more confident. It felt like a thumping behind my belly-button. I woke Dave up to see if he could feel it, but I don't think he even knew where he was since it was mid-night and he didn't have his glasses on. Anyhow, my next appointment is in two weeks (the 25th). I'm not sure that it will be very eventful, but they will measure me... I think quite literally with a tape-measure.
In other news, our new rocking chair/recliner is here! It arrived yesterday (to be followed by the couch the first week or so of February). I'm very excited, it is quite cozy and Caesar is scared to death of it. It's strange not having an ottoman (sp?) in the middle of the room, but I'm excited. When we have the new, smaller couch, we will have much more options on how to arrange the room and that will be fun.
Hope all is well with you!
Monday, January 10, 2005
Fast weekend
This weekend was pretty uneventful. We share a pizza with Davin, Julie and baby Aidan on Saturday -- I'll try to post a cute picture I took of Aidan playing the piano soon. I tried to learn how to use the camcorder we got for Christmas -- I learned thatwe need a bigger memory stick.
I'm totally freaked out about the baby. I think it's because I'm really getting excited about it and we're buying stuff for the nursery and everything. But I'm totally second-guessing what I thought were kicks. I think I'm feeling it, but I'm just not sure. I also used to be able to tell where the top of my uterus was (I did the "mushy, mushy, hard" test on my tummy) but now I can't tell so I'm having paranoia that my uterus has completely disappeared and I'm just having a ridiculously large gas-bubble inside me. It may be that it just isn't where I expect it to be. I bought this thing from target that is supposed to help you hear your baby in your belly (basically it's an electronic stethescope,) but it says you aren't really likely to hear anything until at least 20 weeks (this week for me). I've read about women who's baby kept them up at 22 weeks because they were kicking so much so hopefully I'll be more sure soon. I'm sure in a few months, I'll wish it wasn't kicking me, I would just be totally heartbroken if something went wrong at this point. -- My friend Kristen said she went through the same thing at this point in her pregnancy, so that makes me feel a little better.
Anyway, that's all for now!
ps, Aspen is on her way to picking out an amazing wedding dress!!
I'm totally freaked out about the baby. I think it's because I'm really getting excited about it and we're buying stuff for the nursery and everything. But I'm totally second-guessing what I thought were kicks. I think I'm feeling it, but I'm just not sure. I also used to be able to tell where the top of my uterus was (I did the "mushy, mushy, hard" test on my tummy) but now I can't tell so I'm having paranoia that my uterus has completely disappeared and I'm just having a ridiculously large gas-bubble inside me. It may be that it just isn't where I expect it to be. I bought this thing from target that is supposed to help you hear your baby in your belly (basically it's an electronic stethescope,) but it says you aren't really likely to hear anything until at least 20 weeks (this week for me). I've read about women who's baby kept them up at 22 weeks because they were kicking so much so hopefully I'll be more sure soon. I'm sure in a few months, I'll wish it wasn't kicking me, I would just be totally heartbroken if something went wrong at this point. -- My friend Kristen said she went through the same thing at this point in her pregnancy, so that makes me feel a little better.
Anyway, that's all for now!
ps, Aspen is on her way to picking out an amazing wedding dress!!
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