Bathtime

Olivia has been growing so fast and her infant bathtub was getting small. I don't mind giving her a bath in the big tub but since we live in an older apartment the water pressure stinks so it takes forever for the tub to fill and I don't want to worry about cleaning the tub after Mike to give the baby a bath. I found this great tub on amazon and it received awesome reviews. The best thing I like about it is it will last until Olivia is 24 months which is exactly what I was looking for. A tub that Olivia could use for a while. The bonus of the tub is there is a seat for a newborn baby to sit in at a reclined position so you can have both hands free. I received the tub about 2 weeks ago and I was waiting to get pictures of Olivia in her new tub before I posted anything about it but the funniest thing happened on Friday.

Mike has been watching the baby while I have been working this week. On Friday Mike didn't put Olivia's diaper on tight enough so when she had a BM it leaked out the back. Mike didn't realize the poo was all over her oneies when he took it off so he got poo up her back and in her hair. He was a good dad and gave her a bath and thankful the new tub was there because that was his first time. I had been a little worried about Mike giving her a bath in the big tub because Olivia's skin is so slippery when it is wet and I wasn't sure if he knew how to hold her during a bath.

Here is the link to the tub if anyone is interested. I got mine on sale for 17.99 but they are pretty pricey if you can't find it on sale. The pictures uploaded by customers are absolutely adorable: Primo Eurobath

A Belly full of Jelly

Post pregnancy weight. What a delight! Not really. I am really close to reaching my pre-pregnancy weight which is great. The sad thing is I have always wanted to be 10 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. And even though I am within 5 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight my body has totally changed.

I am not surprised that I got stretch marks and I know those take awhile to fade away. There were a few places I didn't realize that I had gotten stretch marks so that was quite a surprise once I could see my legs. My C-section scar has healed really quickly and I know that will take awhile for that to fade away.

I didn't realize how stretchy and jiggly the skin on my belly would be. It has lost all elasticity so when I poke it it just jiggles like jelly. I read an article last week that even if I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight my clothes might not fit the same since my body has changed so much. To say the least I sometimes feel unattractive and a little self conscience about my body.

I had these great plans to work out and lose all this weight but between working and staying at home with the baby and trying to do house work exercising has gone out the door. I did go running once last month and Mike took me to the gym a few weeks ago. The first week is always the hardest to get motivated and make it a routine and I am so out of shape it doesn't take me long to get winded.

With that being said hopefully someday soon everything will fall into place and I will start exercising consistently. My motivation is I refuse to buy any new clothes in a bigger size so until I lose weight my wardrobe is very limited.

First day back to work

Today was my first day back to work. I worked for 5 hours and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I might feel differently in a few days. Even though I missed Olivia like crazy, I think I'll be able to do it full-time in January. The rough thing is trying to play catch up from being gone on maternity leave. On the up side I bought a new phone and even though it is a downgrade from the phone I had it is newer, smaller and sleeker.

Mike watched Olivia while I went to work today. Originally I planned to wake up and feed her, then pump and get ready for work and then wake up Mike before I left. He was really nice and fed Olivia while I pumped and kept her company while I got ready for work so I left for work early. I am hoping he can do this every day for the next two weeks then I can go to work 1 hour early and get home 1 home early too.

I think it was a learning experience for Mike to be home with the baby. He looked very relieved when I walked through the door. The good thing is he didn't call me when Olivia started to cry. I think the next two weeks will be a great learning experience for Mike and I.

Random thoughts...

Mike and I would like to have our kids fairly close in age and the other day I was thinking "I wouldn't mind trying to get pregnant when Olivia is 18 months old." Then I got sick yesterday and I threw up in the morning and since my stomach was empty I threw up bile. Then all the memories came flashing back of when I was pregnant and how I threw up everyday for 5 months. Not fun. Hopefully the next time around I won't be as sick.

I am going back to work next Monday and even though I will only be working part-time in December I am sad about it. :( Hopefully this month will help me transition into going back full-time next month. Mike and I found a great babysitter in our ward and she has a baby about 3 months older than Olivia so I am not worried about that. Ever since Olivia was born I have spent almost all my time with her and I know her schedule and everything she needs by heart. I bet every mom feels like no one can take care of their baby as good as they can not even their husband.

Since Mike is in school studying civil engineering I am the only one working. I work at the university so Mike gets half tuition and we get great health benefits and my salary is pretty decent so it makes sense for me to keep working. I am hoping that Mike gets a really great internship this summer and then we can reassess our options then. Next year Mike will be a senior and if worse comes to worse I only have to work another year.

I am thankful that I have been able to stay at home with Olivia as long as I have. I am thankful for having a wonderful job. I am thankful for having a great husband that is working hard in school so I don't have to work in the future and for him being supportive with everything I do. And I am thankful for my friends and family and anyone who has given me baby advice.

Thanksgiving

Olivia is a cheese ball

Olivia in her carseat right before family pictures

Olivia in her teddy bear sweater that Grandma J bought for her.

Olivia in her carseat right before going to meet the babysitter



We spent Thanksgiving at Mike's parents house this year because Mike's brother and his family came down from Oregon and they recently had a baby too. Here are some pictures of Olivia I took recently.

Good news

Olivia went to the doctor on Tuesday and the good news is her hips are normal now. She only has to wear her brace at night for 2 weeks and then she is done. She will have to go back when she is 6 months and get an x-ray to check if things are still okay but I am so relieved that everything worked out well.

Olivia got her first vaccination on Monday. She received the DTap/polio/Hep B combo shot and Rotavirus oral vaccination. Preferably I would have had her only get DTap but the doctor only had the combination vaccine and I know I could request that they order only the single dose but I didn't. Normally at 2 months infants get 3 shots and the oral vaccination but I am going to wait until next month and have Olivia receive the Hib and Pc vaccination. Even though we will have to go to the doctor's more frequently I feel a lot better spreading out her vaccinations.

I asked Mike to come to the doctor and hold Olivia during her shot and it was so sad to see her cry. That was the first time Mike and I have ever heard her really cry. Luckily she is easy to calm down. She was more cranky than usual the following day and had a fever but other than that she is doing great.

We finally made it...

We finally made it to church today. I was able to get Olivia fed and dressed. I was able to shower, dressed, hair done, make-up on and even pumped before we left. We were a few minutes late but it is a huge accomplishment for myself to actually make it to Sacrament meeting.

Finally a smile on camera and a good nights rest

I finally got a picture of Olivia smiling on camera without her looking goofy but best of all she finally slept through the night. I don't know if this will happen again tonite but atleast I have something to look forward too. I feed her at 9 pm and she didn't wake up until 6:30 am. It was amazing. Unfortunately I am use to waking up at 3 am and pumping so that was a little unpleasant but manageable.

How time flies...

Olivia will be 8 weeks tomorrow and even though it doesn't seem like she is very old she has changed so much already. I remember when I was in the hospital and I would lay her in the boppy pillow so she could sleep on my lap all night and all day since I couldn't move because of the c-section. The nurses would swaddle her and she would look like a baby in a potato bag and it was adorable. For the first few weeks I would hold her and rock her all the time.

Now she has learned how to smile and talk to me. She has discovered she has arms and hates to be swaddled. She doesn't sleep nearly as much. She gets mad at me when I take her bottle out to burp her. She can follow objects with her eyes. She is starting to lift her neck when I lay her on her belly. She loves to take baths. She has her sad and happy sounds.

Even though I was so overwhelmed when I brought her home I feel truly blessed that I have such a wonderful baby. I can't believe how fast she grows and how much she changes every day. She has another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon next Tuesday and hopefully we will be getting good news about her hips. And she will get her first vaccinations next Monday too. I'll post about that later and the alternative schedule I have picked for her.

Playing catch up...

Last weekend we went to Park City and it was beautiful. There was a bunch of snow and it got me very excited for Christmas. I also dressed up Olivia in a cute outfit with some cute pink boots that our aunt Marlys bought for Olivia.

Olivia is sleeping a little bit longer every night so that has been nice. She stays up more every day and has started to smile and talk to me. She is growing so fast.

Going private

Hello All. I have decided to go private so please send me your email address so I can send you an invite. I probably won't change it until December.

My first blow out and Olivia's new schedule

Today I experienced my first blow out with Olivia. It wasn't too bad but she did get poo on her clothes. I guess I have more blow outs to look forward to.

I did have Olivia on a schedule then I decided I would just let her keep her own schedule and feed her when she was woke up and was hungry. So last week she decided to only eat at 8 pm and sleep until 3 am. She did this 2 days in a row. The following day I decided to wake her up at 10:30 pm to eat hoping she would sleep until 5:30 am. That didn't work. She woke up at 3 am and 6 am anyway.

This week she decided to eat at 6 pm and wake up at midnight which is always followed by a 3 am and 6 am feeding. I was hoping she would drop her 3 am feeding first followed by her the 10:30 pm feeding. Oh well. I should be happy that she is able to sleep for that long of a stretch. I just have to be patient and hopefully her schedule will adjust to night and day.

Pictures of Olivia

Olivia with her cousin Addie.


Olivia smiling in her sleep

Olivia trying to wake up


Olivia peacefully sleeping

Olivia is 4 weeks yesterday. I decided to dress her up in a dress last Saturday and take some pictures since all she wears is pajamas sleepers all day to accommodate her harness. She is quite the cutie.

We are doing well. I sort of have a routine going which has been helpful. I have also started giving her a bath every other day. The good news is during her nightly feedings she just eats and goes back to sleep and she consistently wakes up around 3:00 AM.

Analogy of motherhood

I just had to post today with my analogy of motherhood. When I was in college I joined a sorority my freshman year and I had to pledge for an undisclosed amount of time with 7 other strangers. We had a bunch of rules to follow and activities to do. It was hard and time consuming and I didn't get very much sleep.

I decided having a newborn is like pledging but instead of joining a sorority you are joining the ranks of being a mom. Everyone has a different experience but we all learn a great deal from it. I can't quit because I have a baby relying on me. And even though it is hard right now hopefully I can look back and appreciate this experience. And if it is anything similar to the sorority, this pledging period is only preparing me for the future which is actually more stressful.

Surviving

So Olivia is 3 weeks old today. I would like to thank everyone for all the great advice. I have been letting Olivia eat and sleep on her own schedule which is great. There are some days she gets fussy but other than that she is really calm.

I have been pumping instead of breastfeeding for the past 3 days. I am hoping that in a few weeks we can figure out the breastfeeding thing again but if not I will be pumping exclusively. Pumping is definitely not as rewarding as nursing and it takes up a lot more time since I have to feed Olivia then pump after wards. I was worried that I wasn't feeding her enough and I didn't want her to lose weight since she is already so tiny.

On the weekdays I do the feedings at 11 pm, 3 am and 6 am by myself because I want Mike to be able to get rest for school. Thankfully he helps me out on the weekends so I can get some sleep. I know that I should be pumping 8 times a day with 3 hours in between but time gets away from me and 4-5 hours have passed. Thankfully I have been taking fenugreek (3 capsules), blessed thistle (3 capsuleds) and brewers yeast (2 capsules)three times a day and that has helped me increase milk production. On the humorous side Mike told me the other day while I was pumping that he would never look at my boobs the same way.

On Monday I took Olivia to the orthopedic surgeon and he readjusted her harness since she has grown so much in the past 2 weeks and from his short assessment he said that her hips feel so much better. I guess it helps that she has been in it 24-7 for the past 2 weeks. We will be going back in 2 more weeks to get an ultrasound to see how much progress her hips have made.

Her belly button fell off last week and now it is safe for me to give her a bath. Before I was just giving her sponge baths. She can be out of the harness for 30 minutes a day for a bath. Now I have to figure out how to give her a bath.

I think a lot of the heartache I am having or was having is because this is my first baby and I had no idea what to expect and I am basically learning everything for the first time. Granted every baby is different but hopefully with the next babies I will have a better understanding of what to do/expect and won't have to learn anything new. Plus the baby blues were killing me and the lack of sleep wasn't helping either.

I would have liked to go to church on Sunday but between getting myself ready and the baby and coordinating a schedule to church it seems next to impossible. If you can get your newborn to church in the first month you are freakin' awesome.

Since I have been so short on time recently I will probably be posting less frequently but I will miss reading everyone's blogs. Take care.

The saga continues..

Thank you to everyone with all the advice about newborns. I only tried the crying it out thing once because it was pretty hard to listen too. I think the crying it out at 2 weeks is too good to be true. So I am basically taking everyone's advice and I am going to rock Olivia to sleep and hold her as much as I can.

I have been trying to feed her more consistently i.e. never let her go more than 3 hours in the day time without feeding. Even though I have to wake her up and it is really difficult sometimes it is better than letting her sleep until she is starving. And even though it is hard to get her to stay awake for the feeding atleast I know she is getting fed.

I have been having problems with Olivia latching on correctly so I called my doula and she came over and took a look at things. For some reason Olivia isn't able to get enough of my breast into her mouth and when she nurses she makes a clicking noise which means she is sucking air. My doula thought a nipple shield would fix the problem and train Olivia to suck correctly so I went and saw a lactation consultant today.

The LC checked to see if Olivia was tongue-tied or her palate was to high. Then we tried the nipple shield and unfortunately that did not fix the problem. The assessment is she isn't as coordinated with her tongue and is not sticking her tongue out far enough to massage the breast to get the milk out.

Now I have to train her tongue to suck correctly and maybe with age she will learn how to nurse correctly and suck harder. I have to let her suck my index finger and when her tongue curls back I am suppose to turn my index finger and pull her tongue forward. I tried it once today and she doesn't like when I do it and it is a lot easier said than done.

I am suppose to keep nursing her and then pump every time I breast feed so I don't lose my milk supply. I must admit that my nipples do hurt a lot sometimes and waiting 2 weeks for Olivia to learn seems like a long time. And sometimes it is really hard to keep her awake for 15 minutes to nurse from one breast and another 10 minutes on the other. I am even burping her almost every 5 minutes to keep her awake.

I really want to breastfeed Olivia as long as possible and I am a little worried that I might lose my milk too soon and disappointed that it has been so difficult. I guess you could say that I am a little frustrated because she has to wear the harness and now I know she isn't breastfeeding correctly.

Need some babywise advice...

Since so many of you recommended babywise I went out and bought the book yesterday and I am in the process of reading it. I started Olivia this morning on the feed, wake and nap schedule. The first nap went great no crying at all but she was pretty tired. The second nap not so great. I had to let her cry and it was pretty difficult. She would cry then stop then cry then stop and 2 or 3 times she was wailing for a 30 seconds or so but eventually would stop and she finally went to sleep.

A lot of the books I read said that you couldn't spoil a newborn and you shouldn't let them cry and during the first two weeks I held her all the time and I would always rock her to sleep and there were quite a few times that I let her nurse to sleep when I shouldn't have.

I had mixed feelings about pacifers but I caved in and gave her one. She loved it. This past week I would give it to her and she would fall asleep and as soon as it fell out of her mouth she would cry bloody murder. That is when I decided I needed to do something because I wasn't getting hardly any sleep during some nights.

Babywise makes sense that I need to get her on a routine and teach her how to sooth herself to sleep. I do have a couple of questions:

1. What is the longest amount of time you let you baby cry? It is hard to hear her cry but I am assuming in 3-5 days it will get better.

2. How long did you keep your baby awake after a feeding during the first couple of weeks? Did you increase the awake time once your baby was older? I haven't come across how long I should keep the baby awake. Right now I am trying to nurse for 20-30 minutes, keep her awake for 15 minutes then put her down for a nap so she can learn to wind down. I was planning on keep her awake longer once she learned how to soother herself to sleep quickly.

Any advice is appreciated. Many thanks from a very tired but determined mom.

Sleeping schedules

Like most parents I am hoping that Olivia will learn how to sleep through the night sometime in the near future. That being said I know that it is a learned behavior and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or experiences they would like to share on what they tried with their kids or what was successful and what failed.

I bought the book "The Sleep Easy Solution" but any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Vaccinations

Anybody else out there concerned about vaccinating your kids at such a young age with so many different types of vaccines. I am looking into doing an alternative schedule and I found a website with a recommended schedule that recommends starting at 18-24 months instead of 2 months and only receiving one vaccine at a time. Here is the website: http://generationrescue.com/vaccines.html. Anyone with any info or insights, I would love to know.

I guess I am a little nervous about waiting so long but the good thing is my pediatrician is willing to do whatever I want.

Added 10/8 at 5:23 pm

So I have been doing some research and I found a book by Dr. Sears that I am going to read. From what I have read so far his schedule encourages vaccinations but Olivia wouldn't have to wait until she is 2 years old but she doesn't have to get all the doses at once. It seems to have a lot of great information. Here is his website if anyone is interested: http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/

I never know what to expect...

Baby Olivia is really laid back and hardly ever cries. The first couple of days all she did was sleep and eat but our pediatrician warned us that that newborns change after the first 5-7 days. I have noticed a few differences.

She doesn't fall asleep as easy as she use to but it depends on the day. Some days she is so tired but she fights it and those are the worst days because she doesn't get very much sleep and I don't get very much sleep. Luckily the pattern has been if she has a sleep deprived day, the next day she sleeps most of the day and night.

Sometimes when she is nursing she fights with my boob. She will latch on and then it seems like she gets angry and pushes it away. If she does that a lot I try to burp her but sometimes that doesn't help.

Some times if I haven't had very much sleep and Olivia isn't nursing great or having a difficult time sleeping I get discouraged and wonder "Is this normal?" But I figure all babies are different and everyone's experience is different. Overall Olivia is a really easy baby to watch and I know that Mike and I are blessed.

Good news is Olivia and I are learning to nurse using the cradle hold. Originally I learned how to nurse using the football hold so I could control her head. Yesterday I tried the cradle hold and that was so much easier now that we have some idea of what we are doing. We still have a ways to go but that relieves some of my paranoia about leaving the house and having to nurse outside the home.

Moms who breastfeed deserve a medal

My observation thus far is breastfeeding is not an easy thing to do especially for first time moms. I read a book on breastfeeding and it said it would be painful but I had no idea. At its worst I contemplated stopping but I told myself that I would keep doing it for one more day and see how it goes. Luckily for me I had gotten over the worst of the pain while in the hospital.

Then 3 days later the milk comes in and I had no idea that would be so painful too. Luckily I had a hand pump and was able to relieve some of the pressure. Good thing that only lasts a few days.

I am glad that I stuck with it. Olivia and I are still learning together and I have yet to master nursing in public. We still have feedings that are difficult but luckily there are good feedings too. It helped to tell myself that breast milk is so good for Olivia and hopefully it would help lose those pregnancy pounds.

FYI: One thing that has helped is using lanolin cream to keep the nipples lubricated and using cabbage leaves to relieve soreness. I don't know how the cabbage helps but I know it was a life saver and I am still using cabbage leaves over my nipples until they toughen up.

Olivia's appointment

On the first day after Olivia was born the pediatrician noticed that one of Olivia's hips was dislocated and he said that was normal for a breech baby and we would look at it closer at the 6 week appointment. The following day he said he was a little concerned and had her get an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that both of her hips were dislocated so our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in
Salt Lake City. All the local doctors recommended that we go to a specialist.

So we went to Primary Children's Hospital and had her get another ultrasound and had the orthopedic doctor look at her. There are 4 risk factors for dislocated hips in newborns and Olivia meets all 4. Risk 1: Females are at a higher risk for dislocated hips because they are affected by the hormone relaxin that mom is releasing in addition to the hormones their body is making. Risk 2: Breech position. The breech position is working against the bone slipping into the socket. Risk 3: First born. The uterus is the tightest with the first born so there isn't much room for the baby. Risk 4: Someone in the family has had a problem. My little sister Kanika had a dislocated hip but it wasn't as serious. My parents just double diapered her and a few months later she was fine.

Olivia has to wear a harness that holds her legs into a frog position so that they can hopefully slip back into the socket. One hip is completely dislocated and the other hip is partially dislocated. The doctor recommended she wear it basically for 24 hours and to give her a sponge bath only. This also spoils my plans of wearing cloth diapers for the time being.

Olivia has to go back in 2 weeks to see if she is making progress and in 1 month she will get another ultrasound. If this doesn't work we will try again at the age of 5 months and if that still doesn't work she might have to have minor surgery and have her hip manually put back and put in a cast.

I am praying that the harness will work for her. Even though she isn't in any pain it still breaks my heart to see her in her harness.

Labor & Delivery

So if you have been following my post you know that I was concerned that Olivia was breech and I thought she had turned last week which was a great relief. Tuesday morning about 6 in the morning I started experiencing the most excruciating pain (felt like a menstrual cramp times 100). I wasn't sure it was a contraction but then they started coming every 12 minutes and I tried to labor on the ball and I finally woke up Mike. Around 7 AM Mike called our doula because the contractions were starting to get really intense.

I was expecting labor to be a slow process like a contraction here and a contraction there. I thought it was going to slowly build up from 3-4 contractions an hour eventually turning into 5 minutes apart. Boy was I wrong. Mine started without a warning and were so close together.

Around 7:30 AM our doula arrived and she was helping Mike and I try different laboring positions. I was having back labor and we were able to get Olivia to move so that went away eventually. I ate some toast and Mike made me a smoothie while I was laboring. Around 10:30 AM my contractions were 5 minutes apart and I felt like I needed to push so we went to the hospital.

When I checked in I was ready to continue the labor in the hot tub. The nurse checked me and I was 100% effaced but not dilated at all. Then she did an ultrasound and saw that Olivia was breech and the environment in the laboring room totally changed. I felt like a piece of dead meat being attacked by vultures. All these people came in and my doctor showed up and I was being prepped for a c-section.

I decided to do a c-section instead of asking to do a vaginal breech birth. Personally I thought the risks for Olivia were too high especially since it was my first baby. While being prepped and waiting to get a spinal block, I was laying on the bed and my back labor returned. FYI: Laying down in the bed is not a great way to labor.

Since I had labored at home for so long, they were worried that Olivia would come vaginally so my c-section ended up bumping everyone else who had a scheduled c-section. I went in for surgery around 11:30 AM. The morphine made me sick and I started vomiting during the surgery and all that wonderful strawberry smoothie came back up. Mike kept me company during the surgery and my doula took pictures.

Olivia was born at 12:01 PM. It was great to finally hear her cry. The surgery took longer than expected because the doctor had a difficult time stopping my bleeding. Afterwards I was so exhausted. I stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon. I was a little disappointed that I had a c-section but I would rather play it safe. It was rough because I wasn't expecting to have a c-section and I didn't know recovery would be so difficult the first few days.

In the end I am glad that I was able to labor until my contractions were 5 minutes apart. I am glad that Mike and I hired a doula. Her knowledge was so extremely helpful and next time we will know what to expect and have a bunch of laboring techniques to use.

Baby Olivia Is Here.

Hi everybody, this is Mike and I want to let you know Olivia Lim Durtschi was born on September 23, 2008. Weighing in at 6 lbs. 11 oz. Both her and mother are doing extremely well.
I will let Sandy fill you in on the rest when she gets the time.

Kanika, Sandy's little sister wanted to add how cute Olivia's sideburns and little peach fuzz is. She has long limbs like me. And is very patient hardly fussing when she is hungry. Also like her father. ha! Lots of hair, cute little plump lips and dimples. Very cute for a newborn I would have to say. Then again she is mine.

We are very excited to be parents and hope to give baby Olivia a good home.
Bye Now.

Just hanging out

My blood pressure has been high and I was suppose to be getting some rest but there were still a few more things I had to accomplish on Thursday and Friday. So I probably exerted more energy on those two days than I would have if I was just at work. I did check my blood pressure and saw how big of a different there was when I was sitting compared to when I was laying down and I have been laying down a lot more even though it has been really difficult.

The good thing about laying down is the swelling in my feet have gone down significantly. The bad thing is I feel super lazy. Kanika, my little sister, came by and cleaned my kitchen and it was really hard for me to watch someone else clean and me not being able to help. I guess I have to do what I have to do for the baby.

To occupy my time I borrowed Twilight from my sister-in-law so hopefully that will make time go by fast. I have heard so many great things about the series.

Good news and some bad news...

I had my weekly visit and even though the doctor wasn't there I saw his PA (she is fantastic). The good news is baby Olivia finally turned. I am 80% effaced but no dilation.

Here are all the great and wonderful things I did that hopefully contributed to Olivia turning so late in pregnancy. I went to a chiropractor that specializes in pregnant women who performed the webster technique on me on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Monday afternoon. Even though I had to drive to Ogden which is 45 minutes away it was well worth the time and gas.

I took a homeopathic medicine called pulsatilla to help loosen my muscles starting Thursday evening. My doula did some energy work on Tuesday afternoon. I did the slant board since Friday and the polar bear position (aka the chest knee position). I drank water with some redmond's real salt so I could retain water so Olivia would have plenty of amniotic fluid to turn. Unfortunately the salty water made me swell a lot more than I am use to.

The bad news is my blood pressure was high but when I would lay down it went back to normal and my feet have been super swollen. The PA was worried that I might have pregnancy induced high blood pressure so she asked me to lay down as much as possible. She was also concerned that I could get toxemia so I did a stress test today and had some blood drawn. Olivia's stress test turned out great. I don't have any protein in my urine. I'll have to call the office tomorrow to find out the results of my blood test.

So basically I need to be in a horizontal position as much as possible until I go into labor and I might be ordered to go on bed rest if the blood tests aren't great. Bed rest isn't the worst thing that could happen but it is hard not being able to do anything. I still have 9 days until my due date but I think I will probably go over since I am not dilated at all and progressing slowly.

Still Breech and not dilated...

I had my weekly appointment today and Olivia is still breech and sitting very high and I am not dilated. The doctor said we will wait another 2 weeks until we discuss any options but as more time passes by the less likely she will move and since I am so short the baby might not turn at all. Pretty disappointing since I wanted to do it natural and if she doesn't turn he would like to do a C-section.

We did talk about external inversion and he said we would discuss the pros and cons during my 39th week. He said the success rate for first time moms are pretty low. And after feeling my belly today he said my abdominal muscles are really tight so he didn't think that would be very successful.

I did call a local chiropractor last week about acupuncture and their success rate has been really low. I am planning on calling a local woman who is a doula that does foot zoning and energy work that has had a lot of experience turning breech babies with the foot zoning and energy work combination. I also plan on calling some chiropractors outside the valley who do the Webster technique to find out how successful they have been. Basically I am looking at all my options.

I talked with my doula today and she said I might want to look into vaginal delivery of a breech baby. She is also helping me look into other options as well. She has been awesome and the best thing is she said she will support any option that I choose which is very comforting.

Scentsy Candles

I am selling scentsy candles which are wickless candles and will be hosting my launch party on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 from 5:30-7:30 in Logan, UT. If you are interested in attending, please let me know and I would love to drop off an invite. Anyone who attends can enter a drawing to receive a free candle warmer valued at $30. If you can't attend but would like to check out the scents, please email or call me and I can drop off a sample basket.

Scentsy has 80+ fragrances and the candles come in small bars or large bricks so you can use only what you need and change the scents easily by saving the unused portions. The aroma is absolutely amazing because the bars contain more fragrance oils than most candles. You can use them in candle warmers you already have. Scentsy also offers car candles, room sprays and small plug-in warmers for small rooms.

If you have any questions or would like to host your own party, please contact me. You can check out my website at: www.scentsy.com/durtschi

Bad news and Good news

I went to the doctor's today for my weekly check up and the bad news is baby Olivia is breech but the good news is I still have 30 days until my due date so that should be plenty of time for her to turn over. My blood pressure is a little high but I know the cause of that is because work has been super busy/stressful and I have been working long hours. Hopefully next week things will die down and I will be able to take it easy.

I saw my doula on Tuesday and she went through a couple of birthing positions and exercises with Mike and I. All we have to do now is practice. I received a foot zone on Wednesday which was nice but Kathy said my feet were so puffy it was like zoning a balloon. They both recommended that I started walking daily and honestly I haven't wanted to do anything lately but if it will help the swelling I should give it a try. After my last hypnobirthing class on Wednesday I went on a 1 mile walk and I tried to walk as fast as I could and my swelling actually went down once I got home which is amazing because my feet are usually the worst at night. So my new goal is to take a vigorous walk to help my circulation and get more oxygen in my lungs to help my energy level and in the long run my labor/delivery should be easier.

After taking the hypnobirthing class and reading some books and practicing the relaxation techniques I feel very prepared and ready for the labor and deliver. The bad news is I am a little nervous about bringing a new born baby home. I know everything will work out but I worry that I won't know what to do at the right time. Oh well.

Weird things are happening to my body...but I guess that is normal

Pregnancy is like a science experiment going on with my body. I have read a lot of books and they tell you about all these things that could happen but when it really does happen sometimes it can be quite surprising. Here are some of the weird things that I have experienced in the past week:

1. Both of my arms falling asleep when I am asleep. The weird thing is I am not sleeping on them or laying in a position that could cut off circulation.
2. Feeling pins and needles in my feet when I stand up sometimes.
3. My ankles disappearing by the end of the day.
4. Feeling like I am suffocating in the middle of the night because I am so congested.

Obviously there have been a lot of other things I have experienced in the past 9 months but who could remember them all. Not me that's for sure.

38 days to go...

I haven't posted for a while because I have been super lazy. I am trying to juggle between this fine line of feeling like I am accomplishing things and getting rest. If I push myself too hard then I get sick then I try to rest but that drives me nuts because I can't clean/organize/shop/finish projects or do anything at home.

I feel like my belly is growing at an enormous rate. I didn't know it would be possible to go to the restroom more than I already was but I was wrong. In the middle of the night I feel like a beached whale trying to roll back into the ocean when I wake up to go to the restroom.

This weekend my feet started swelling and yesterday my toes looked like sausages and my ankles started to disappear. I tried to lay down, ice my feet and jump on my rebounder to get my lymph system going. Hopefully I can keep it under control.

This weekend my ears felt clogged and the last time I was zoned my TMJ was hurting. I finally put it together today because my TMJ hurts and my ear feels like it is infected and I have a headache. I guess I won't be chewing gum anymore and now I have to ice my jaw.

Baby Olivia must be running out of space in my belly because yesterday she jabbed me and it really hurt. I was sort of surprised how strong she is getting. I can't imagine what it is going to feel like in a few more weeks.

Mike and I are super excited to have Olivia. I am a little nervous about taking care of a newborn, the breastfeeding and crying but I guess everyone goes through that. And even though I will miss having Olivia in my belly I am super excited to get my body back. I think Mike is more excited to get his non-pregnant wife back.

Three Year Anniversary

It was our 3 year anniversary yesterday. I can't believe it has been 3 years. Sometimes it seems just like the other day we just got married but on the other hand it seems like we have known each other always. We didn't do much yesterday except get some aggie ice cream because we had a hypnobirthing class but on Monday we went out to dinner at the Coppermill which was great because they have fantastic raspberry jam and excellent air conditioning. Over the weekend I made one of Mike's favorite cakes which consists of a layer of chocolate cake, then a layer of chocolate pudding with cream cheese and a layer of cool whip topped with crushed skor bar. It was fantastic after it chilled over night. Unfortunately after eating a few pieces a day I really packed on the pounds. Mike and I usually go on vacation for our anniversary but since I have been pregnant we didn't plan anything which is okay because we get to go to the fair this weekend which I haven't been to in 3 years.

How did Mike and I meet?

The first time I met Mike was back in 1987 in Mrs. Stewart's first grade class and he sat right in front of me. He was pretty hyper back then too. We were in the same 4th and 5th grade class, we had the same home room in 7th and 8th grade which meant our lockers were right next to each other. Our lockers were next to each other in the 9th grade and that is really the last time I remember seeing Mike. I took the nerdy route which meant AP and concurrent enrollment classes and homework and I assume that Mike took the jock/popular crowd route. I went to college right after graduation and Mike did the partying thing.

I did see Mike a few times during college i.e. the TSC patio, the aggie shuttle and the white owl. I moved away to Cali and SLC and moved back and the next time I saw him was at the Sports Academy. I was running on the treadmill and he came over to say hi. He gave me elevator eyes and that made me feel so uncomfortable and then he proceeded to hit on me. I was dating someone else at the time so I didn't call him but about 1.5 years later when I was available I got the courage to do call and we hung out.

This was during the summer of 2004. Mike was back in school, I just withdrew from school after my first year of working on my Master's degree and was planning on attending massage therapy school in April. We weren't looking for anything serious but that changed spring 2005. In April we had the conversation that changed our lives. I just wanted Mike to tell me I was his girlfriend but he ended up asking me to marrying him at the end of the summer which was exciting and terrifying at the same time. I wasn't planning on getting married until the following year.

We got married August 6, 2005 outside in his parents backyard. It was beautiful. Anyone who has been married for atleast a year will understand when I say that getting married is so exciting and the first couple of months are so much fun then the excitement wears off and reality sets in. Not that it is terrible but trying to build a new life with another opinionated adult can be difficult especially when one is a control freak (me) and the other one is such a free spirit (Mike). We have had our ups and downs just like everyone else but looking back all those trials have made us stronger and better and if we haven't learned our lesson yet we are bound to make the same mistakes again until we learn. Mike and I have changed/grown so much over the past years I can't imagine what we will be like when we are in our 50s.

In both of our patriarchal blessings it says that we were guided to each other by divine intervention. I am so thankful that someone was looking over both of us and helping us stay on track so we had the opportunity to reacquaint and get married. I love Mike and he is such an amazing friend. I know we are perfect for each other because we bring out the best in each other.

Diaper Bag

So I received a lot of great advice on diaper bags and I was planning on holding off to buy one but after a lot of brainstorming and talking with Mike we decided on a bag. I wanted something practical, versatile and convenient so I started looking into lumbar hiking packs that could be used as a diaper bag. Mike and I are really outdoorsy and it would be nice to get something we could use for a variety of things so we went to a local outdoor store and started look at mountainsmith lumbar bags. I didn't realize that they were so pricey i.e. $75 which made me really hesitant to buy one.

Luckily for me I found one on ebay that was brand new and no one else was bidding on so I got it for the beginning bidding price of $45. From all the great reviews I know that this bag will outlast the kids and then Mike and I can use it for hikes/day trips. Here are the features that Mike and I liked about this bag: durable, ability to carry it 5 different ways (lumbar pack, shoulder bag, briefcase, add-on to full-size pack, on the shoulders with an accessory), it is medium size but has the ability to expand when we have more kids, unisex and best of all we got it for an awesome deal.

High Blood Pressure

A lot has been going on but I have been just too lazy to post or more like avoiding it because I was a little worried. Last week I had a doctor's appointment and my blood pressure was unusually high for me. The nurse measured it at 110/80 twice and then had me lay down on my side and measured it again at 110/75 which doesn't seem high but my blood pressure has normally been around 110/55 or 110/60 during my pregnancy. The doctor was a little concerned because it had jumped so much but I didn't have protein in my urine, my feet and hands weren't swollen and I haven't had any headaches. But I had gained 5 lbs in one month. So I had to go back in one week and he recommended that I take it easy and whenever I got the chance to lay down and prop my feet up. Basically he said he didn't want to tell me that I have to quit my job and go on bedrest unless it was necessary and if you know me going on bedrest would be a nightmare.

So I tried to take it easy but it was hard the first few days but on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I got plenty of rest and I went in today and my blood pressure was okay. Unfortunately still gaining a lot of weight but that is a topic I don't like to discuss. It was still high for me but nothing to be concerned about yet. He said that toxemia progresses very rapidly so if I was going to get it I would have gotten it but I still have to take it easy. Much easier said than done. Why? The month of August is the busiest time of the year for me at work and that is when I usually work long days but I have devised a plan that should elevate the stress of working on the computer all day. It will still be somewhat stressful to get ready for fall semester and wrap up my projects before Olivia comes but I think I will be able to manage.

Quirks

The RULES
1. Link the person who tagged you...Liberty
2. Post these rules.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them

1. Laundry. I don't mind sorting, washing or drying the clothes but I hate to fold them and put them away. When I was single I use to leave my clean clothes in a basket and pick through it and when it was time to do the laundry again I would finally put them away. Mostly because I needed the laundry basket. Unfortunately I haven't gotten any better since I have been married. If you were to come to my apartment you would see baskets and baskets of clean clothes and if Mike and I can't find something we are looking for it is probably still in the dryer.

2. I hate having a stuffy nose. It is probably by habit now but I always blow my nose in the morning, in the shower and at night even if I don’t need to. My ritual at night is getting toilet paper and rolling it up and sticking it into my nose to get those boogers that might be lingering. Lucky for me Mike has never said anything about it. So being congested during this pregnancy has been really hard because it doesn't matter how much I blow, how much toilet paper I use nothing has provided me with all night relief.

3. Whenever Mike and I leave for a couple days even if it is the weekend I have this obsessive compulsive urge to clean the house before I leave. Wash the dishes, make the bed, take the garbage out, and clear anything on the floor. I know when Mike and I were first married it use to drive him nuts because we would be packing for a trip and I was concerned about cleaning the house. I just think it is nice to come home to a clean house after being away for a few days. I am a lot more relaxed about it now but Mike even helps me clean now before we leave.

4. I hate hair. I wish humans didn't have any hair on our heads and everyone was bald then I wouldn't have to worry keeping it short, growing it long, blow drying it, curling it, straightening it or buying hair product. Even though I am not a hairy person I get paranoid about hair on my upper lip, in my pits and on my legs. Really though I probably shave my legs every couple of weeks and I don't have enough armpit hair to justify shaving it so I just tweeze them. I do try to pluck my brows weekly.

5. Deodorant. I don't own a stick of deodorant and I haven't worn any for many many years. I really don't have body odor. When I work out I sweat like a hog but it doesn't matter how much I sweat I don't really stink.

6. OCD I picked up that sometimes drives Mike nuts. I am not as bad as I use to be but these things use to drive me nuts when I was first married. Having the TV, lights or electronics on when no one is in the room. 99.9% of the time I lock my car doors which drives Mike nuts. I hate when Mike leaves the water running when he brushes his teeth.

I am tagging Susiane, Mandy, Nia, Brooke, Shelly and Julie

Pregnancy photos

I have to admit that I hate seeing pictures of myself pregnant. Obviously I have gained weight but that part doesn't bother me as much as how miserable I look. The first trimester my motto was the worse I feel the more make up I would wear. The last thing I want to do is put makeup on because it will just melt off as soon as I go outside. The skin around my nose has turned super red which is hereditary.

Mike thinks it is funny/cute when I smile my face is all cheeks. I just look so hot and miserable and my face is about to be engulfed by my cheeks. Hopefully I won't swell too much or at all in the last couple of months.

Party time

Mike and I have been calling the baby Olivia. That is the only name we have agreed on and we haven't changed our minds in over 2 months so unofficially that is the baby's name. After she is born and we see her Olivia might not even fit her.

Anyway baby Olivia thinks there is a party going on in my belly for the past 2 weeks. As more time passes the more active she gets. Fortunately for me she has stopped treating my bladder as a trampoline. Unfortunately she is a kicker and a puncher and sometimes at the same time and sometimes in the middle of the night when I am trying to sleep.

Last night was the first day this whole summer I wished I had an apartment with central air. It was super humid and the fan wasn't cutting it and the window air conditioner just couldn't handle the heat for more than an hour or so. I was miserable hot, tired and sweaty. Hopefully I won't have too many of those days ahead.

30 weeks

I finally made it to 30 weeks and I have to admit I am a little disappointed that I still have 10 more to go. I haven't slept well in almost a week and it totally sucks because I am exhausted. If I don't have trouble falling asleep, I have trouble staying asleep or going back to sleep after a bathroom break. I have a bunch of other things to complain about but I won't because the list could go on forever.

Mike and I met with my doula yesterday and it was really great. We talked about how natural I wanted the birth to be and what to expect and what to talk to my doctor about. After meeting with her I really think I will be able to do this without any medication. Then we talked about my nutrition and for the most part I have been eating pretty decent but I know I have room to improve and that is my goal for the last couple of weeks. Cut back on processed starches, eat more whole grains and try to fit in more veggies and try to do yoga more consistently. It sounds like a hefty goal but I know in the end I will feel better and have more energy. I'll have to admit that lately I have been craving ice cream and cake but I'll have to save that for our 3 year anniversary next month.

Nasal congestion and pimples

The past week or so I haven't been able to breathe very well. I bought a Netti pot a couple of weeks ago but I haven't been using it consistently. For those of you who are wondering what a Netti pot is it looks like a small tea pot and you fill it with warm salt water and stick the spout in one nose and pour the water through and it clears your nasal cavities. It really works great if you aren't plugged up yet. For the past two days I have been trying to clear my sinuses so I could breath at night but unfortunately I am so congested I can't get any water to pass through my nasal cavities. To say the least my sleep quality at night has declined to this unfortunate event.

I am assuming that I am having a surge of hormones this week because I just broke out in pimples again. It has been happening every couple of months since I have been pregnant. I know that a few pimples here and there won't kill me but being hot and uncomfortable and even though all the weight I have gained is from pregnancy those few pimples really brings my self-esteem down a few notches.

A lot of the books I have read said a lot of these things will go away as soon as I have the baby but it sounds like some things will take quite a while for my body to recover from. I am not looking forward to the roller coaster hormone ride postpartum but I can't wait until I can go running again.

Stretch Marks

I made it almost 7 months without a stretch mark and I was so hopeful that I could actually make it through the pregnancy without anything. Obviously that was before I realize how much my belly was growing and how much more it will grow in the last 10 weeks.

I noticed the first few marks on the side where my hip bones are and last week I discovered that I had them on the underside of my belly in the mirror. The ones on my belly look wicked but I won't be able to assess the damage until after the baby comes.

Really I am not too surprised. I got a lot of stretch marks when I hit puberty in my teenage years.

Not much going on

Lately I have been super tired/exhausted. I guess I have been trying to do too much but I have this sense of urgency to get as much as I can done before my movement becomes to limited.

I have to give a shout out to my husband Mike for getting the office cleaned out and rearranged and the crib set up and rearranging the living room again so I could have more room when I foot zone.

I have ordered/bought almost everything I need for the baby. Our apartment is on the verge of actually being clean and organized for the first time. Mike and I have so much stuff already but adding the baby's stuff has been quite the challenge but I think we have done well.

I have been trying to get my rest, stay hydrated and keep my feet from swelling but I promise that I will get some pictures of my belly and all my great super buys up.

Memories

I got this from Susiane's blog and I thought it sounded like fun. So please play along!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. That's it!!!

Yellowstone

After the family reunion, Mike's brother and wife, Mike's parents and his three oldest nieces and nephew, Mike and I went to Yellowstone and it was a blast. We were in the park for two days but we were able to see a bunch of animals. We didn't get to do any long hikes but we did a lot of short hikes and overlooks and saw some awesome waterfalls.

Mike and I love to camp and wish we had the opportunity to do it more. I can't wait for the baby to come because it is much easier to hike without all this extra weight. We can't wait to go back to Yellowstone again and do some of the longer hikes.

Durtschi Family reunion

Last week Mike and I went to the Durtschi Family reunion and we had an awesome time. We camped for 2 days and it was great. Last year Mike and I invested in some very nice camping pads and I am so glad that we did because mine was very comfortable. Plus I brought my pregnancy pillow which helped a lot.

I got the opportunity to meet more new cousins I didn't meet two years ago which was awesome. We played fun games, went canoeing, watched fireworks, hiked and hung out around the fire. A bonus was the weather and how cool it would get in Teton canyon.

I am looking forward to the next family reunion.

Garage sales, nesting, back pain and then some

Mike and I hit a few garage sales on Saturday and we really hit the jack pot. We bought a carseat for $7 dollars and it looks brand new. I knew that hitting the garage sales on the hill would finally pay off. I picked up a few other items that were adorable and some brand new. I guess I have reaped the benefits of others being shopaholics and buying the latest and getting tired of their stuff quickly.

Mike and I were planning on buying a new carseat but since we got such a great deal we needed to buy a stroller. Originally I had picked a stroller/carseat travel set that was brown but the carseat we bought is green so I had to look for a new stroller. I found a great pattern that is brown and green and I searched the internet and found an amazing deal for the stroller. I bought it for $101.99 with free shipping. I can't wait to see it.

I have this huge urge to clean and get everything ready for the baby. I know I have 3 months left but I feel like I am running out of time. The bigger my belly gets the harder it is to do anything and everything and unfortunately my pubic bone pain hasn't gone away and sometimes is excruciating and my back started hurting last week. My conclusion is it is really hard to concentrate on anything when your back hurts. I have been wearing my maternity support belt and plan on taking it easy for the next couple of days.

I went to the chiropractor yesterday and he adjusted my back and neck, I did some acupuncture and received a pregnancy massage. My back is really tender and I feel like I am falling apart and everything I do is in slow motion but hopefully if I take it easy for the next couple of days I will feel better. I have been super exhausted and really hot. I can barely roll over in the middle of the night to go to the rest room.

Really I am just complaining but I am super excited to have the baby.

Baby Shower

Thanks to all that attended my baby shower and thank you for all the great presents. Many of you mentioned that I looked pretty small still but just you wait til I post my next belly picture. My belly is deceivingly small when I am wearing clothes but it is huge. I can't believe I still have 3 more months.

I received a lot of great clothes during the shower and afterwards when I was sorting the clothes and getting ready to wash them I got really excited about having a baby. I was excited before but actually looking at little tiny baby clothes made me feel gitty inside. I haven't seen so many shades of pink before but I don't mind. I am excited to dress my baby in some girly clothes.

Diaper Bags

Obviously if you have a baby you will need a diaper bag. My question to anyone and everyone that reads this blog is how important is it? What features must I have? Is it worth spending more to get a nicer bag? If you have a girly diaper bad, how does your husband feel about carry it around? Any insight, recommendations or information would be greatly appreciated.

Pregnancy Brain at its Best

I sent out a bunch of baby shower invites and just realized today that I had typo on the address. It should be 358 North Gateway Dr. instead of 353 North but hopefully it will get everyone close enough to the clubhouse. I will post signs just in case. Sorry...

Mike's Sprint Triathlon

Mike completed the Cache Valley Classic Triathlon-Sprint Distance which is a 750 meter swim in Hyrum dam, 12 mile bike and 5 K run. Here is Mike's race time: 1:19:39.8. He did an awesome job for his first triathlon in open water. Maybe next year Mike and I can do one together.

100 days and counting

Starting tomorrow my official countdown begins. I will have 100 days left but obviously the baby may come early or late. I know I still have quite a bit of time left but with every passing day the reality that I have another human being inside of me becomes more apparent and one day she will be here and Mike and I will be responsible for taking care of another person. Kind of scary.

In the past week or so the baby has become quite an acrobat. At first I was so excited to feel her move and her movement was quite sporadic but now she moves all the time and her most active hours are from 9 pm to midnight. When I am getting ready for bed I feel like a party is taking place in my belly.

I have read quite a few books on pregnancy, taking care of a newborn, nursing and the latest book I finished was Raising Baby Green by Dr. Alan Greene. One section that caught my attention was cloth diapering. I am seriously considering cloth diapering while I am on maternity leave and I am in the process of collecting information so if anyone has tried it or knows of a great forum/discussion board please let me know.

Father's day weekend

Bad news is my sister-in-law had her baby early by an emergency C-section but the good news is the baby is healthy and doing really well. The baby was born on Friday, June 13 around the hours of 10 or 11 pm. She was only 3 lbs 15 ounces. Her name is Adee (not sure of the spelling yet but that is how I heard my niece spell it). I got to see her on Saturday in the NICU and she is so teeny but looks really good. Emily was only 34 weeks when she had her but Adee has been able to breath on her own which is amazing.

Overall the weekend was really good. My mother in law had things pretty much under control so she probably didn't need my help as much as Mike made it sound. Now that I think about it, he probably just wanted me to drive down so we could spend some time together.

The weather really heated up this weekend and to say the least I was pretty miserable. On Tuesday it was snowing in the mountains, two days later it is 80+ degrees. No time for my body to acclimate to the weather. Before I got pregnant Mike and I bought a memory foam pad for our bed and it has been really nice. If I sleep on my side or on my belly the foam hugs my body so I don't have to use pillows to prop my stomach or avoid sleeping on my stomach. This weekend I wasn't sleeping in my own bed and my stomach is a lot bigger and I couldn't sleep at all. I was hot and uncomfortable. When I would try to sleep on my stomach, the baby would kick. She probably felt like she was being smashed. And it doesn't help that Mike is a bed hog. Sorry babe, you really are a bed hog.

I also was weeding the garden on Saturday and that made my pubic bone hurt even worse but I am confident with my daily exercises and icing it will go away. Really I don't want to even imagine how it would feel if it got worse.

A whirlwind of a day...

Mike went to his parents on Thursday to work for his dad and brother-in-law at their concrete coating business. Even though I was a little sad initially when he left I started to make plans and had a huge list of things to do while he was gone.

I started Friday with a follow-up visit to the chiropractor and things went really well. My pain hasn't gone away but the exercises have helped subside the pain to something bearable when walking. Hopefully if I stay persistent the pain will go away in a few days and I can manage it for the rest of the pregnancy. The good news is I only have to go back for treatments if the pain gets worse. So I was pretty excited because I was going to be able to accomplish so much today and tomorrow without experiencing too much pain. Clean the house, go to a garage sale, attend my friend's wedding, hang out with my mom, get the house ready for more baby furniture.

When I was ready to go to work I noticed that Mike had called while I was at the doctor's. I called him back and he said that Emily his sister who is also pregnant and 10 weeks ahead of me went to the hospital this morning to have her baby because the baby's stress test wasn't great. He asked if I could drive to Syracuse after work today and help watch Emily's other kids. She has 4 kids. He asked me to call his mom to offer my help because he thought it would be nice.

So I talked to my mother-in-law Jeannie this morning and Emily went to the hospital and they needed to check to see if Emily could have a vaginal delivery because that might be too stressful for the baby so she might have to have a C-section instead. Jeannie was trying to figure out what to do with the kids so she could go to the hospital and check on Emily. So I offered to drive down after work to help with the kids today and tomorrow.

Honestly I was a little bummed when Mike asked me because I was so ready to be productive and finally have a clean house and hang out with my mom and go to my friend Iris's wedding tomorrow. A bunch of people were coming to the wedding that I haven't seen for awhile and I was looking forward to catching up. Sounds selfish I know. But I sucked it up and will be driving down to Syracuse this evening. I guess it is a blessing in disguise that my pain has decreased so I can have the energy to watch kids.

Another fun adventure: Pubic Bone Pain

Last Thursday my pubic bone was a little sore but nothing bad. As the days progressed the pain got a little worse and it hurt to move at night in bed or walk or put on my pants so I looked it up in my pregnancy books and it said it was a problem for some women. Then I did some research on it online and realized that it was a lot more serious than the books made it seem. I have also been feeling sick to my stomach every since the pain started.

The site (http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/pubicpain.htm) I visited stated that a lot of western medicine practices label pubic bone pain as one of the aches and pains of pregnancy so there really was no treatment except taking pain medication. After reading more the explanation for my pain was a misalignment in my pelvic area which makes total sense and the recommendation was to see a chiropractor. From what I have learned in foot zone therapy if my pelvic is out of alignment then my back is out of alignment which is affecting my digestive system. The old Sandy probably would have waited a few days to see how it went but the site I was reading talked about how painful labor and delivery could be if I was out of alignment so I made an appointment to see a chiropractor because I want to labor and deliver without any medication if possible.

The pelvic bone is a circular structure and there is cartilage where the pubic bone fuses. When women are pregnant the bones start to spread in the pelvis and right now the cartilage is carrying a lot of stress. The chiropractor explained that during birth I want my pelvis to expand in the back instead of the pubic area. Since the pubic area is cartilage I don't want that to give because I could have some serious permanent damage.


The chiropractor gave me a list of exercises to do everyday to strengthen my pelvis muscles and he gave me a band to wear around my hips to give extra support. From his assessment the misalignment was affecting my kidneys the most then my spleen and liver. So he adjusted my lower back and my neck (which has been the cause of my sleepless nights) and I did some acupuncture.

Honestly I was a little nervous because I haven't been to a chiropractor before and didn't know what to expect and couldn't believe how much my back and neck could pop. The acupuncture wasn't bad at all. The exercises aren't bad but they will be a little time consuming but worth the time. He said the pain will get worse as the baby gets heavier so that is something I am not looking forward to but hopefully I can strengthening the muscles so it doesn't get unbearable.

All I can say is who knew pregnancy could be so difficult.

Wow! My belly moves.

Last night after I put some lotion on my belly I was admiring how much my belly has grown and I saw my belly pop up. I thought I was hallucinating at first so I waited again and I saw it pop up in the same place. I put my hand right on top of it and I felt the baby kick my hand. It was so amazing and I was so so excited because I thought maybe Mike could feel it too.

The baby was moving all over (she is very active at night starting around 9 pm). She moved and I could feel her kicking against my stomach and against my organs and I had Mike feel and he said it felt like gas. His comment hurt my feelings because I wanted him to be as excited as I was because I knew it wasn't gas. Oh well. Maybe when she gets stronger he will feel it.

Pictures from Long Beach and Bryce Canyon

Nesting. What's that all about?

So I have read quite a few books on pregnancy and they all talked about the nesting instinct and I got my first taste of it this weekend. After buying and receiving all this baby stuff our apartment seems so cramped and my desire to clean/rearrange and prepare for the baby went into overdrive. I am pretty organized and all but this was pretty insane. Mike thinks I am weird because the baby won't be here for another 4 months but I figure that I should do as much stuff as I can before I get too big and too cranky to do anything.

Mike and I had a bunch of ideas on where to move the furniture and what to get rid of but unfortunately we don't always agree. So I measured all our furniture items in the bedroom and the dimensions of our room and pulled out some handy graphing paper and drew some different layouts. After a few drafts and a lot of time I really should have had Mike do this on Autocad instead of my doing it by hand. Oh well.

So we picked a new layout for the bedroom and a new layout for the living room. My goal is to do a few things (i.e. pack unused items, cleaning out our storage shed and putting more stuff in it, finding items to sell for our garage sale) everyday so it won't seem so overwhelming. Basically I am cleaning and reorganizing the apartment but hopefully in manageable segments so I don't drive myself nuts. This week the bedroom, next week the living room then Mike and I have to decide how we are going to rearrange the extra room so our office and the baby's stuff will fit and be functional. I know I sound nuts but I guess it is normal to clean this much before the baby comes.

Garage Sales...

I haven't ever really been to garage sales before but I decided this year that I would go to a few to get some baby items. From the advice of my friends, using second hand items could save me a lot of money in the long run because babies out grow toys, clothes and swings so quickly that the cost of items add up fast. Mike and I went to one a few weeks ago and I didn't realize how serious people can be so this time Mike and I woke up bright and early so we could scope out the best baby items.

Mike and I found some great deals and some really nice stuff. Our strategy was to go to the garage sales where the wealthy people lived and it really paid off. I want to thank Mandy on her recommendation to buy sleepers with elastics at the bottom instead of snaps to save me headaches during the multiple diaper changes in the middle of the night. I got 6 of them for $2. I wanted to thank Michelle on her recommendation on buying a bouncer to occupy the baby. I bought a really nice one that also vibrates for $5. After a wipe down with bleach and washing the cover, it looks brand new. I had originally registered for a really nice glider but Mike and I found a really nice chair with ottoman that I think will be perfect. I would also like to thank Mandy for letting me have her old crib and high chair. My mother-in-law also found a great car seat with base for $12 in Syracuse to put in Mike's car.

Memorial Day Weekend

My older sister Chan and her husband gave me and Mike their old minivan so Mike, my little sister Kanika and I flew to Burbank, California on Saturday to pick it up. We stayed in Long Beach California until Monday and drove back to Logan with a small trip to Bryce Canyon. The weather was very beautiful in California and it is always nice to be so close to the beach. And it is always nice to see my sister and her family. For those of you that don't know, Long Beach has a huge Cambodian population so a highlight of the trip was going out to a Cambodian restaurant and eating some excellent food. I have always loved Asian food but since being pregnant it has been so much better and tasty.

We did see some crazy stuff in California though. When we were driving back from San Clemente we saw a police car driving zig zag on the freeway to slow all the traffic down for no apparent reason. Then on Sunday morning Mike and I went onto the balcony and we saw a woman next door crying hysterically and smoking a cigarette. The scary part was she was straddling the railing and swinging back and forth like she was about to jump. SCARY!!! Anyway my brother-in-law Vernon took care of the situation.

Monday morning we left California and we headed to Bryce Canyon. We made a small stop in Las Vegas at the Pro Bass Shop and it was awesome. I thought Cabela's was huge but this store put Cabela's to shame. Then we had lunch at Ellis Island Casino because Kanika saw it on Guy Fieri's show "Diners, Drive Inns and Dives" on the Food Network.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon around 6:30 pm and it was freezing cold. The north wind was blowing and all the tourist were dressed in winter clothes and we were in shorts and a light jacket. I was very glad that I decided to stay in a motel instead of camping this time. My dad met up with us at Bryce and he brought some of our camping stuff so Monday night we toughed it out and had a little bbq.

Tuesday morning we woke up, got ready, packed our lunches and headed off for our big hike. We did Fairyland Loop which is around 8 miles. It was very beautiful and the weather was perfect. Sunny but not too hot. It think it was about 62 degrees at the hottest point of the day. We saw a lot of wildlife and took some great pictures. The hike wasn't too hard but it was long and I think it really took a toll on my dad so instead of hiking the rest of the day we drove to the viewpoints. We saw Bryce Point, Inspiration Point and Sunset Point. There were tons of foreigners and all the rooms near Bryce were booked.

Wednesday morning my dad left because he was really tired from the day before and probably couldn't handle another hike. Mike, Kanika and I started at sunset point and did Navajo loop that joined up with Peekaboo loop. It was awesome. The scenery was much better than the hike from the day before. The hike was a little shorter about 6 miles but a lot more strenuous. If anyone goes to Bryce I would highly recommend going to see Wall Street. It is definetely worth the hike.

We finished up around noon and headed back to Logan. Kanika drove from Panguitch to Syracuse which was quite an adventure considering it was her first time. She did really well until we hit traffic in SLC where we had a few scary moments but overall she did great. I'll post some pics later this weekend.

It's a Girl!!

I had another ultrasound today and the pictures say it is a girl and the tech was 100% sure this time. Now Mike and I have to start thinking of names. This should be an adventure. I also took another belly photo. I will be 22 weeks on Friday. I never realized how enormous my belly is or looks. Atleast I am past the half way point.

Flu on Sunday

I woke up on Sunday morning at 6 AM and I felt terrible. A short summary would be I spent quite a few hours on the toilet with diarrhea and a pail in my lap so I could throw up at the same time. I didn't know if I had food poisoning or the flu but I am going to put my money on the stomach flu. My stomach started cramping and Mike called the hospital and they said I need to take in more fluids because I was started to get dehydrated and take some immodium-ad which really helped. I was worried about getting dehydrated but I guess I wasn't taking in enough fluids to offset how much I was losing.

Mike was really great when he took care of me and I really appreciate it. Thanks Mike! The bad thing about pregnancy is it takes me a lot longer to recovery/recuperate so I took Monday off because I still feel sick and really weak. Maybe next week I will have a better weekend in California.

Health and Wellness Symposium

I feel like it has been a long time since I have posted anything. My goal last week was to take a picture of my growing belly but I have been so busy I haven't gotten around to it. Last week I attended a Health and Wellness Symposium and it was awesome. My passion for the past 2 years has been studying alternative medicine and homeopathic modalities. I took foot zoning classes 2 years ago and that has opened my eyes to a lot of other things i.e. aromatherapy, healthy living, emotional healing etc. At the symposium I met a lot of great people and learned about a lot of great topics like creative healing, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), transformational breathing.

I met a massage therapist that does Raindrop Therapy and she did a demonstration during the symposium. Last year I went to a raindrop therapy class but this demonstration blew that class out of the water. Anyone that has back pain or needs help falling asleep or wants to experience the most relaxing massage should try it. I was so impressed that I bought Mike a gift certificate for Father's Day. He has never had a professional massage but I think he is really going to enjoy this. I can't wait until I have the baby so I can get one too.

A woman named Melanie catered the lunches at the symposium also works as a doula and I thought her prices were phenomenal. I wasn't really considering getting a doula until this weekend when I talked to another woman who used Melanie for her second pregnancy and told me how great it was. I really want to have the baby with no medication whatsoever but I have been worried that I might cave in and become a doormat or just be too weak and let them do whatever. I am going to talk to my OB/GYN and see how open he is to the doula and an all natural birth. If not I might change my doctor. Then I plan to schedule an appointment so Mike and I can meet with Melanie and get a birth plan together and talk about what services she offers and take a hypnobirthing class to learn how to deal with the pain of labor.

I spent all of Wednesday night, Thursday night and evening and Friday night and evening and all of Saturday day at the symposium so I have a lot to share if anyone is interested in finding out more. I was definitely exhausted from learning so much information.

Ultrasound

Here is a profile picture of the baby. If you look closely you can see her arms in front of her face.

80% chance of showers...that's good odds. Isn't it?

I went to the doctor's yesterday and had an ultrasound. The baby was being quite stubborn and uncooperative. Not only was the baby not in a good position to check the sex but the baby's legs were crossed. The technician tried to get the baby to move but wasn't very successful. She said from what she saw that it was a girl but she was only 80% sure. She told us that she usually gets a really good look but this time she was only able to get a fair look. Then she said that we should be okay buying some pink girl stuff but not too get too carried away just in case. That being said I have to go back in 2 weeks to get an ultrasound so I can get better pictures.

The baby is healthy and normal and my due date is still the same which is September 27, 2008. I am totally fine if it is a girl and I would have been more satisfied if it was more clear cut answer like "It's a girl" or "It's a boy." Instead I feel like my odds are really really good that it is a girl but what if I go back and she tells me it is a boy (even though the chances are slim). I was hoping for a more definitive answer either way instead of waiting for 5 months and getting really excited to find out I have to wait 2 more weeks to know for sure. That's my only gripe.

Other than that I finally gained some weight now that I don't throw up on a regular basis. I have gained 10 lbs so far and the doctor said hopefully I will only gain another 15 lbs by the time the baby comes. Personally I think that only gaining another 15 lbs would be a miracle so I won't be disappointed if I gain more.

**WARNING: Do not read if you don't really want to know the nitty gritty of the pregnancy.**

Other complaints I have this week are headaches and hemorrhoids. I have had a consistent headache for 5 days straight. I took some Tylenol on Monday because it was so bad but it didn't help too much so I haven't taken any more. I iced my neck and head and that helps a little but I guess I will just have to live with it. Onto the hemorroids. I have had them before but never like this so I asked the doctor about it. The doctor said that most pregnant women get hemorrhoids and they won't go away until I deliver the baby and it is worse because I am short because there is less room for the baby. His analogy was the baby is like a large tumor that is exerting a lot of weight and pressure on my digestive system and my body has 40% more blood flowing through it so some off my blood vessels are going to be enlarged. Unfortunately it is down in the neither region. His suggestions were no heavy lifting, no standing for long periods of time, elevate my feet if I can, and avoid constipation. What has provided the biggest relief so far are cold Tucks pads used as a compress.

Wedding

My sister, mom and I attended a wedding on Saturday. Here are some pictures from the wedding. The dress I bought makes me look very pregnant. Too bad my arms are so chubby now.