updates and dreams

(written mid April 2010, finished in mid May)

"Leg cramps, short of breath, gotta pee, wow he's kicking so hard, restless legs, 'timm will you pick that up?' oh my goodness my tailbone is killing me, I am SO hungry!" Those are just a few of the new/common things you could catch me saying now and within the past 3 weeks.

So a few new things have come up recently: I now go to my doctor's appointments every 2 weeks, I started birthing classes, actually felt hiccups for the first time, and scored over 100 items of baby clothes for only $65.

I love going to the doctor's every 2 weeks now because I constantly have questions and this way my curiosity and concerns can be satiated a bit more frequently, but personally I would prefer to go every week throughout the whole pregnancy and have my personal doctor on tap on the phone at any hour! But since I don't have that available to me I need to just trust the Lord that everything is okay according to His plan no matter what and just trust it.

As for the birthing classes there are 8 other couples in the class all ranging from the closest due date of June 16, 2010 to the farthest due date of July 31, 2010. I am pretty much right in the middle of that. The first day of class is always a little awkward and she made everyone go around the room and introduce themselves and talk a little bit about the baby and any concerns they had. I hate having the spotlight on me unless I want it to be there so I was a little nervous when it came to my turn and I completely forgot to introduce Timm. It made everyone at the class chuckle. So far the classes are going well, mainly a sit and listen and be informed type of deal with a lot of interesting yet informative videos thrown into the mix. Occasionally we will get up and practice different techniques but mainly we learn. Next time we have class though we get to visit the labor and delivery area of the hospital, which I am excited about because I am hoping to see some new born babies in the nursery, if they have that type of open set up. Also it'll be nice to just familiarize myself with the place I will be delivering so that I am not totally confused and more out of sorts than need be on that special day that I go into labor.

Next up were those hiccups I felt for the first time, which by now I feel almost everyday. They are so cute because I know exactly what is going on when I feel those intermittent little tiny thuds on the very bottom of my belly. Judah having the hiccups also let's me know that he is in a head down position, which is good to know because I really would like to not have a C-section, but like I said to everyone else I just want to do what is safest for the baby and myself.

Last on the updated list above was Timm and I scoring all those baby clothes for an awesome price. We actually were only going to pay $50 but the people who gave us the clothes were so incredibly nice and welcoming (especially since we were total strangers off craigslist!) that we gave them $15 more than their asking price. I just finished putting all of the clothes away into our new dresser and 4 out of the 5 drawers are filled. Particularly we got a lot of sleep 'n' plays for the 3-6 month range so I hope he's sleeping and playing a lot in those months =).

(written May 10, 2010)

So 8.6 weeks left til my due date, which is certainly an estimation but I do hope that it goes to the full 40 weeks. I am now feeling Judah all the time with very vigorous movements. Earlier today my belly was literally at a total slant because he was pushed out on one side. I tried to take a picture but he always changes positions quickly.

So when you are pregnant you are prone to having strange and vivid dreams, usually the subconscious's way of dealing with any underlying emotions, fears, or any other feelings. I'm not quite sure what they mean but they are interesting just the same. I wanted to share some of the most ridiculous dreams I have been having lately though, two in particular.

First dream: I am not only having one kid but two! But here's the kicker I look down at my belly and there is only one child, so where is the other one you ask? Its in my other body! I have two bodies in this dream with one child in each. I am not sure of the gender of one of the babies but definitely one was a boy. I also could see the babies sticking out of my stomachs in a way I could see their features pretty clearly, which also let me know that they were both in breech positions. I was so upset because I knew I was going to have to have two C-sections, one for each body, but then I thought to myself I guess its not too bad because its only one C-section per body (because in the real world having multiple C-sections can limit you in the number of children you have, probably one of my underlying fears). So to continue, just before I go into one of the hospital rooms to meet with my doctor I am passing by my other body and waving to my other kid who has a full head of hair and is already smiling and waving so I waved hi and made silly faces at them. The weird thing about that kid was that his eyes were huge, like almost anime eyes and he somewhat resembled Elijah Wood. The dream pretty much ends there. So that was dream number one.

Second dream: I had this one just today when I was having my nap. I'm not sure if this was a nesting type dream or what but I was cleaning out my fridge and purging it of all old foods. Mainly the food that I threw away were these once delicious looking slices of cake wrapped in plastic baggies. As I was throwing out each piece I would remember and reminisce in my mind for a moment about each party that I had gotten them at and would remember how delicious each piece was when I originally ate it. None of the pieces had mold on them or anything but just were past that stage of being worth it to eat. I think possibly this dream could have had to do with the fact I am trying to be cautious of what I eat while I am pregnant and also fear of gaining too much weight since I have already gained well over 30 lbs! I know I don't look it but the scale doesn't lie.

So not much to update on symptom wise except my back pain is horrendous in my tail bone and I am just feeling somewhat more uncomfortable as the days go on, especially in bed where I am constantly tossing from one side to the next. In other news, I know that my one of my showers is coming up soon so I am really excited about that and I will be updating on that once that gets here. Its amazing to think how far I have come with this pregnancy even though I still have 2 more months from tomorrow. I am really going to try to enjoy the rest of it because I know that time will go by so fast and I don't want to rush anything.

26.5 weeks....13.2 to go

Okay so its only been a little more than 2 1/2 weeks that I've written but seriously my belly has recently gone through a big growth spurt. Judah should officially be about 2 pounds and have his eyes open by now if not opening in the very near future.

I was just rereading my previous blogs and read that my belly was "manageable" and that I could "still bend over", well that has certainly changed in recent weeks. Now, I notice that while I am walking at work or going up my stairs at home I get winded pretty fast. I also am getting the most annoying leg cramps, so much so that the other day when I woke up I seriously could not walk, a little scary if you ask me. I also have been having vision changes and get dizzy a lot easier than before. Vision changes include seeing stars whenever I stand up or change positions. For example, I had called the doctor's office about my vision changes, as well as other things, and they told me to come in to get it checked out because it potentially could be a blood pressure issue. I got my blood pressure checked, it came out great, but when I was in my examination room I had to lie down to check the baby's heart beat and almost immediately I started seeing "stars". This has been happening for the past week almost everyday. So I'm not sure if I'm dehydrated, moving too fast, or stressed, because I have gone through a lot of stress recently. Whatever it is I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

The only other significant change in the past 2 1/2 weeks is the best one and that is that Judah's movements are getting much stronger and I can feel him from pretty much from morning til night. His movements earlier on in the pregnancy were not as strong and noticeable from the outside, but certainly are now, and weren't nearly as frequent. I like to call his movements "drum solos" because sometimes he moves around so much at one time in my belly it feels like he's using me as a drum set. I am getting really excited for his arrival and a little nervous too, but I think that's normal. Timm and I are going to be starting our birthing classes in 20 days, which go on for a total of 5 weeks, although we skip a week in between. So by the time I'm done with birthing classes and my breastfeeding class I will be 35 1/2 weeks pregnant, so pretty much getting pretty close. I have 1 week and 2 days til I would consider myself to officially be in the 3rd trimester. I am approaching the 7 month mark quickly and couldn't be happier. This is truly the biggest blessing in my life ever, next to marrying my wonderful husband!