Been toooo long!!

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Life has been busy. . . but that's no excuse. We made a trip to San Jose, CA for a friend's wedding and to see the family mid-March. Mid-April we made a quick trip to Salt Lake City, UT for my Dad's birthday and to see some friends we haven't seen for a while. May has been filled with work, trying to get things ready for this little girl that is coming to our lives, fulfilling church responsibilities, taking prenatal classes, and adjusting to pregnant life.
In the last month I have had hip pain which has slowed down my brisk walk quite a bit and as you can see from the pictures below, our little girl thinks she needs to be pushing up and not out, thus making it more difficult for me to breathe. About a week ago when I was at the gym for a swim, one of the lifeguards whom I've chatted with because she guards often when I'm there, came over and asked if I was okay. She had noticed that I wasn't swimming as hard as I used to and was taking longer breaks between sets. I told her I was pregnant and that my baby was starting to make it hard to breathe. She asked how far along I was and when I told her almost 9 months (because technically if you do the math 40 weeks = 10 months, but we don't say we are pregnant for 10 months. . . just nine and today technically starts my 9th month of being pregnant.) The lifeguard gave me this big bug eyed look and said, "I want to swim that well and look that good when I get pregnant!" As you can see from the pictures below, I'm showing but hardly. These pictures were also taken today.

The bump in the middle of my belly is not my belly button. It is the tie from the scrub pants I am wearing. The butt of the scrubs are also really saggy. The scrubs have to be big to fit up over my belly and not just fall off when I tie them on my belly! I finally had to break down in the last couple of weeks and buy a pair of maternity pants and some maternity shirts to wear when I go out into public, but for now around the house I've been wearing my long shirts and scrub pants. It KILLS ME!! how expensive maternity clothes are and I had the hardest time finding maternity pants that were long enough and maternity shirts that actually fit. Plus I'm probably only going to be wearing them for about 6 weeks.
Kyle designed the nursery and has done an amazing job picking colors and getting the painting done. We were lucky enough to have someone give us a crib, and I found most the rest of the furniture that we needed on Craigs list (for those who don't know. . . Craigs list is a form of on-line classifieds.) We are almost done, and when we are, I will take you on a video tour, but for now these pictures will have to do. We decided we wanted to do a jungle theme, but it has turned into more of just an animal theme. Here you can see the general color scheme. The ceiling is very very light blue.

While I was looking for some things I needed at a craft store, Kyle found these cool animals, which we decided to put around the room. We decided they needed to be stuck to the wall with magnets or Velcro so they can be rearranged and played with by either little or big hands. We opted for velcro, but when I saw Kyle with places for them in the closet, I asked why. He looked at me with this childish grin and said something to the effect of, "Didn't you ever play in the closet??" Between the two of us I'm excited to see the creative encouragement that comes out of us and reflects in our daughter :)I've been sitting too long while posting this and our daughter is wiggling all over. . . a sign I need to get up and moving or she's going to start digging with knees and elbows :)

Mamma said there'd be days like this!!!

There have been many days like this lately. . . Long list of to dos and half of them marked off but the house looks like I've been curled up reading a book all day and ignoring it. This has been one of my favorite comics recently.

My Daughter!!

I can totally see this being my daughter :)

Baby smiles!!

I've been surfing the Internet looking for baby coupons and freebies when I came across this website that made me laugh!! It is great for new dads, moms and babysitter wannabes. It even has videos on how to change a diaper, how to bathe a baby, how to burp a baby, how to feed a baby, how to dress a baby, and even how to place a baby properly in a stroller!!

We have quite a bit of dirt in our back yard, and the other day, when Casey was scratching he was shaking off a cloud of dust. So, because the dogs come in the house and I didn't want half the back yard's dirt in the house, I decided to give Casey and Koko a bath, in the bathtub. Yes, I dared the adventure again!! This time Koko was being the funny one trying to avoid the water and at the same time not touch Casey who was wet. She voluntarily went and got in the tub when I told her to, but once there decided she didn't want to be wet. Casey on the other hand, followed Koko into the tub and sat and let me wash him. Seriously no wiggling, no playing, no fighting, just sat on his rear while I sprayed him down and soaped him, and then wouldn't get up off his rear when I was ready to wash it!! I'm sure they are giving me good practice for my children!! During the wrestling match/water fight I could feel the baby moving quite a bit. It almost felt like she was trying to get out to join the fun, which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. All in due time little girl, there will be plenty of opportunity once you are big enough!!
She has been really active the last week, moving, poking, and kicking. All usually when I'm trying to sit still or fall asleep. The other night I could have sworn there was more than one in there for all the jabbing and rubbing I could feel. I LOVE IT!!! My dad was teasing me and told me the reason I can feel her so much is because she is trying to sign to me. Too bad tactile sign language doesn't work so well with the feeling I have on the inside of my uterus!
I finally am starting to show. . . a tiny bit. I have a bump that looks more like I've gained a little weight (which I've actually lost not gained) than that I am almost 6 months pregnant. I am still wearing all my "normal" clothes.

(Yes these are self phots!!)

Another month with lots of adventures!!

It seems as if it were only last week that I updated, and it's been a month!! How time flies!!
This last month has been a busy one, mostly because I was working two jobs. Part time at the job I have had since we moved here to Las Vegas, and part time at the new one that I have been hoping will be a better job. The old job had some things I didn't like that were becoming more and more disagreeable and leaving me feeling more like slave labor and less like a nurse. We had accepted a relocation reimbursement and sign on bonus that we wanted to make sure the new job would be better, before deciding to pay it back. So I went to part time at the old job and started at another hospital Per Diem. I started at St Rose Dominican Hospitals, Catholic Health Care West, as a float pool nurse mid January. Basically I tell them when I am available, and they call me that day between 5:00 and 5:30 am to let me know which of the three hospitals and which floor they need me on. By mid February I knew I was in a better place, and February 19 was my last day at the old hospital. So for about a month I was working four 12 hour shifts a week. Now I'm back to whatever my body will tolerate through the rest of the pregnancy. Nice thing is I only have to work two shifts a month to stay on the payroll and can call as late as the night before to pick up shifts.
Just after that job transition. . . the weekend after, Kyle and I headed to San Diego to spend the weekend for his cousin's wedding. While we were driving down to San Diego, I thought my stomach was not agreeing with something I ate. It felt like it was churning, but I wasn't feeling like I was going to throw up or have diarrhea, which has happened off and on pretty often since I became pregnant and more often when I am in the car for long periods of time. Odd thing was the churning feeling would start about a half hour after I would sit down in the car and stop when I got up. I finally realized I was feeling our little girl move for the first time. What an odd way, but well, all I have to say is she's like her mom. . . When I sit for more than 30 minutes, she starts wiggling and gets more and more aggressive the longer I remain sitting. I'm not one that does very good sitting still for more than a half hour. Good thing I do a lot of walking at work, or I would be in big trouble!!
NOTE. . . Through the rest of this update there are darker brown underlined words referring to different things. . . if you don't already know, if you click on these words they will take you to the website referred to.
As I have been registering for baby necessities at Target, Babies R Us, and Walmart, I have been comparing items on-line to try to find what will fit our little girl's needs with the highest quality and lowest price, I have found some really cool websites. One shows very graphic pictures of what the fetus looks like during fetal development and describes week by week what is happening with the baby as it develops. There is another website that shows how big mom's belly is on average through the pregnancy. Though I am almost 6 months pregnant, I am only showing about as much as the 3 to 4 month pictures demonstrate. I am still wearing all my own clothes and only occasionally after eating have to unbutton my pants. Another website has fun animations of different medical procedures that may happen through pregnancy, ie. ultrasound, epidural, c-section, amniocentesis, etc. which has been fun to share with my students from the Deaf School in California who have been emailing lots of questions about pregnancy and medical procedures. I know I am learning through all of this. Over the last 10 years as a nurse, OB/GYN has been the one aspect of nursing I haven't spent much time involved with or learning, studying, or working. I know alot about the baby aspect, but the pregnancy side has been a fun adventure :)
While we were in San Diego, we took the opportunity to go to the Wild Animal Park before the wedding. After walking up and down the hilly paths for a couple of hours my hips were letting me know they needed a break. Which has been another fairly recent pregnancy experience. The following are some of the animals we saw and how close we were able to get with them in open habitat space.

Map of the park

Elephants (Is one feeding the other or playing dentist?)

Giraffes (some of my favorites.
I love how graceful they are even thought they seem so awkward.)

Lion

His Pride (Lionesses and Cubs)

Cheetah (who would
look away every time I snapped the photo!)

Ruffled Lemur (These guys would hold still
and as you tried to snap a photo they would take off!!
There are actually two in this photo.)

Warthog (As ugly as Pumba,
but didn't seem to smell as Disney portrays.)

The wild things I'm related to :) can you see
the tail on the light blue one?? L-R Linda (mom in law),
Trek, Sam, Kelsey, Brandon

Rachel (far left) and Kyle (right) snuck into the shot. Only heaven
knows what animal Bryce (dad in law) is chasing
More Photos

We spent half the day at the park and then headed to the Hotel to change and go to the sealing at the San Diego Temple. It was a beautiful day to spend outside!!

Yankee Doodle isn't coming to town. . .but our little girl is!!

Today was our official ultrasound. . . we are having a girl!!! Just one :) We are excited!! Kyle couldn't wait for the appointment to finish to tell EVERYONE!! After the ultrasound, I went to the bathroom, and half the people in his address book knew before I was done. I dropped Kyle off at work, went to the store and ran into a couple of the girls he works with and they already knew because he had posted it on Facebook!! We are both excited to have her here. Next task, pick a name :) Too bad for Kyle. . . It's not a boy so he can't try for Yankee Doodle any more! We are due July 4, 2009 so Kyle's still rooting for a patriotic name. Any suggestions??

I am feeling much better. I haven't thrown up in a week, but now I have an insatiable appetite!! If it keeps up, I will easily gain back the 25 pounds I lost at the beginning of the pregnancy!

Our first ultrasound

Today I went for my 16 week checkup with the doctor. While he was doing the fundus check (where he presses his fingers into my belly to feel where the top of my uterus, the fundus, is) he had a funny expression on his face. He then asked me, "Are you sure of the date of your last menstrual period?" I said, "Yes". "Did you say multiples run in your family?" "Yes." "We need to do a quick ultrasound. Your fundus is where it should be at 20 weeks not 16." So off I went to the waiting room to wait for the ultrasound tech to have a quick break. While in the waiting room I called Kyle and told him what was going on. He informed me he was on his way over. (My doctor's office is across the street from where Kyle works.) I was called in to see the ultrasound tech just as Kyle got in the building, but she didn't have time to wait for him to come up to the 3rd floor. She did a quick ultrasound and said, "Sorry I'm so rushed!" Handed me a piece of paper and showed me where I needed to wait for the doctor. When I looked at the paper I realized I had a picture of our baby in my hand! The doctor came out a couple of minutes later, looked at my chart, and came up and said, "I was wrong. Just one baby, and you are right at 16 weeks according to the baby's measurements." We had a brief conversation about what could cause my uterus to be how it is and set an appointment for next month for the "real" look at the baby's anatomy (heart, brain, lungs, etc.) and find out the baby's sex if the baby will cooperate. I walked out into the waiting room, handed Kyle the ultrasound, pointed out the baby's parts, and shared what the doctor told me. As we walked out of the building Kyle turned and said, "I'm glad we are not having twins." When I dropped him back at work he was excited to take the pictures of our baby with him to show off.
Looking at the top image you can see the baby lying on it's back with knees and great big belly sticking up in the air with it's little arm down the side of the body. The bottom image is a face on shot. You can see the outline of the skull and it's knees.

I am excited for this new little one that will be joining our family!! We are starting to look for furniture and baby supplies. Wow!! They can be expensive!! If you know of anyone getting rid of some or selling some let us know. . . if we can't use them, I have a couple of friends in the area that are looking for baby stuff too.