Thursday, December 23, 2010

Leave you hanging

You may notice my countdown ticker thing on the side has been getting to very small numbers. For example, right now it says "2". 2 days until the baby is due. 2 days until Christmas.
Well, instead of leaving you hanging, I thought I'd do a quick update. There is no baby yet. I'm not done Christmas shopping yet, either.
On Monday my mom got into town and we've been going, going, resting ever since. We have done a lot of shopping, which means walking and being on my feet a lot. On Tuesday evening after our longest day out (Smith's, Old Navy, Harbor Freight, Taco Bell, Target, Nordstrom's), I was having more Braxton Hicks contractions, and stronger ones, but they didn't develop into anything. Yesterday I took it a little easier because I was exhausted, and my hips were actually a bit sore from all the walking on Tuesday.
We did go up to Temple Square to see the lights last night. Tip: If you ever want to go enjoy the lights in peace (without millions of people that you have to try not to run into), go while it's raining. It was so nice and peaceful to have temple square so empty.
So that's the update. Today we'll probably do more shopping. Right now (11 am) Dave and my mom are still sleeping. I should probably wake them up.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Pregnancy Update - Week 38 2/7

I had another doctor appointment this morning. I had to wait for an hour in the waiting room because it's Monday, which is their busiest day and the doctor is going to be out of town so they had to cram in more people. Unfortunately I didn't have much choice as far as scheduling since I'm on a weekly appointment schedule now.

Finally it was my turn. They took my vitals, and my blood pressure was lower than last time, which is good (it wasn't super high, but on the high side of normal). I opted for not getting checked for dilation, because there's really no point unless I'm in active labor.

When the doctor actually met with me, she listened to the heartbeat, which was fine, measured my belly, which was a belly, and then she squished around to make sure he was still head down, which he was. She did say that his head is really high (not down in my pelvis), which isn't news to me since the rest of his body is very solidly lodged into my ribs (hard not to notice).

She then asked if she had already told me about going out of town. I said, no, but the receptionist mentioned something...wait...out of town...SHOOT! Yeah, my doctor is going out of town on Friday and won't be back until the 30th! WHAT!? She scheduled me to meet with her dad, with whom she shares a practice, for next week's appointment.

Let me tell you something about how I choose my doctors. I opted to drive an extra half an hour and wait an extra month to get an appointment with a female dermatologist to get my moles checked/removed, only to have her male assistant do the actual mole removing...gee thanks. I picked my OBGYN the same way. I looked up OBGYNs on my health insurance site, and picked the female one.

I'm pretty sure that once I'm in labor I really won't give a hoot about the gender of the doctor as long as they're competent and get the baby out safely. But, I'm kind of hoping he either comes in the next 4 days or hangs out until the 30th.

I got to work and went to the work calendar to put my next appointment on it...but then I realized I'm not going to be at work that week...weird.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

No Version

Baby boy cooperated and turned himself the right way as I slept last night. I had so many great suggestions on how to get him to turn, but I was so exhausted when I got home that I threw a load of laundry in the washer and went to bed. I didn't even pack my hospital bag (which needed to be done in case I had the baby today).

I went to the appointment this morning where they briefed me on everything that would need to be done (ultrasound to check baby and fluids, non-stress test, IV inserted just in case, medicine to relax my uterus that would make me feel funny, doctor turns baby). Then they got the ultrasound going and HE WAS HEAD DOWN!!! YAY!

Since I was already there, they did a non-stress test today instead of on Thursday when I was scheduled. Everything looked ok. I had a few more contractions during the test, but none of the real kind.

Now it's just a waiting game until I go into labor, I guess. Dave was kinda bummed that I didn't have the baby today because he didn't want to go to work. :-P

Monday, December 6, 2010

Version

At my OB doctor appointment today they determined that little baby is still turned wrong, so they scheduled me for an external cephalic version (where they try to maneuver the baby around to be the right direction by pushing on my tummy). According to my coworker, it's VERY painful, and they'll probably give me an epidural for it.

The risks involved are premature labor, premature rupture of the membranes, a small blood loss for either the baby or the mother, and fetal distress leading to an emergency cesarean delivery, or the baby might turn back to the breech position after the external cephalic version is done.

So...at 9:15 tomorrow morning (I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight) I may be at the hospital to have the baby. I hoping to not have him tomorrow, but I better be prepared. If he doesn't come tomorrow, I'm pretty sure he'll hang out for a few weeks, because I'm not even dilated to a 1 yet.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Thursday's Doctor Appointments

On Thursday I had another appointment with the Perinatologist. They did another ultrasound. At this point, the baby's bones are starting to calcify, so they cast shadows on everything. They weren't able to see much, but they did measure the usual things like his head, belly, femur, etc. They could still see his stomach and bladder, and my fluid levels are still fine. According to the measurements, they estimated him to be about 7 lbs 1 oz. I am 37 weeks along today, and he's already 7 lbs! That means he's measuring about a week ahead of schedule, which isn't really a huge difference.
The Perinatologist said to go ahead and deliver here. The NICU and Neonatologists know about the situation, and will be ready to stabilize him if necessary. She told me to remind people when I deliver that he could have a problem, because everyone tends to get excited when a baby is born, and they may forget.
One thing that they discovered during the ultrasound is that he's breach! The naughty bob flipped since the last ultrasound a month ago. She said to take lots of walks and he should turn back how he should be, since he was sideways, which isn't a position babies tend to stay in. His head was on the right, his back was up, his bum was on the left, and his hands and feet were together, down. He was grabbing his feet with his hands, and it was cute.


They weren't able to get a picture of his profile nor could they get a 3D picture, because there wasn't much fluid around his head (perfectly normal at this point). I also have a big pocket of fluid at the bottom, so that should help him flip the right direction as well. Now I just have to muster up the energy for some walks.
Tangent: Both of my doctors are pregnant, too! How funny!
After the ultrasound, I did a non-stress test (NST). They had me sit in the most comfortable chair in the world. I could have sat there all day. Then they strapped a heartbeat monitor onto my tummy, and a uterus monitor below it (like how they do when you're in labor, I guess). Then all I had to do was sit there and relax. Best medical procedure EVER. On the screen they had a red line where his heartbeat was (how many beats per minute, not showing each beat), and a blue line to show uterus activity.
The idea is that if the baby moves, his heart rate should go up, which means he his getting enough oxygen from the placenta. If I have a contraction, the heart rate should stay about the same. Well, the baby moved a few times during the 25 minute test, and his heart rate did go up when he moved.
Also, turns out I had like 4 contractions while I was sitting there. I'm pretty sure they're the Braxton Hicks kind, because they don't hurt at all. My tummy would just get tight, which I thought was the baby pushing out on my tummy all this time. Now that I saw exactly which was which, I can tell the difference. During a few of the contractions, his heart rate slowed some, but during others, it stayed about the same. From those results they can tell that the placenta is still doing its job, but it may be slowly losing its functionality, which makes sense, since I'm 37 weeks pregnant (aka: 8 1/2 months).
I'll be having two doctor appointments per week from here on out. I have another OB appointment on Monday, where they'll probably check for dilation, and if the baby is still breach, they may schedule me for an appointment to have the doctors try to turn him. I'm really really really really really really really really really hoping that he turns before then, because the appointment would involve me getting an iv, a shot to the uterus to numb it, a heart monitor on my belly, and a C-section room prepped, just in case. I'm not a fan of those things.
My next NST is next Thursday. I'm super excited to sit in that comfy chair again!
All the results on Thursday made me a bit scared that he might actually come early, which I hadn't really considered much before. I haven't even packed my hospital bag yet!!! "Don't stress out, Sarah, he'll come when he comes..."

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Thanksgiving

If you've read the last two posts, you'll know that I spent Saturday evening out picking/gathering grapes, Sunday making grape pie, Monday making grape juice, and Tuesday making that juice into jelly.

Well Wednesday night I spent the evening preparing the turkey and making pies. And Thursday, well...of course half the day was spent cooking as well.

Let's start at the beginning. I was supposed to work on Wednesday, but campus got closed for this blizzard of a century to come in and knock out power and dump feet of snow and be negative degrees. Ok, it was cold, but we only got a dusting of snow and no power outages, and not even very high winds. I guess they got more snow up north though.

So I got to spend the day with Dave, YIPPEE! I honestly don't know what we did all day.

That evening Dave helped me pull out the insides (or "instructions") from the turkey. I prepared a brine for the turkey, thanks to Sarah Brazee from Tennessee's suggestion. I already had most of the ingredients, and the turkey had been thawing in the fridge since Monday (it was still a bit frozen, next time I need to thaw it 2 1/2 days instead of 2). We dunked the turkey, stuck it in the fridge, and then I got to work making pies.

I made the pumpkin pie recipe on the back of the can of pumpkin and realized it was for two pie crusts, and I only had two. So I improvised. I chopped up vanilla wafers in my food processor and put them in cupcake liners (the foil kind, not the paper kind). I forgot to get a picture of those, but they weren't much to look at. They were tasty though.

Thursday morning we got up, stuffed the turkey, sewed it up, and put it in the oven for Baby and me...and Dave. We then spent a good portion of the day going through boxes of junk mostly from the office that will be a nursery soon. Then at about noon (after 2 1/2 hours of turkey cooking at 325) we made the other parts of the dinner according to our plan. The turkey was probably done at about 3 hours, but we took it out at 3 1/2 hours. It was so moist and tender that it was falling off the bones as Dave tried to carve it. By 2pm Thanksgiving Dinner was ready! Everything went according to plan, and it was perfect. Well, Dave had requested extra stove top stuffing, but we ended up not even having a single bite of it. (I'll probably make it into a cassarole.)

Of course I took pictures of the results:









Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Grape: Part 2

So far in the grape saga we have Saturday grape picking/gathering, Sunday grape pie. Now we're on to Monday and Tuesday. Here are the remaining grapes:

On Monday I mashed and cooked the grapes for a while.

I then ladled out spoonfuls into a strainer and smooshed them through with a spoon to "juice" them.


I think if I do this next year, I need to get some sort of grape processor that can separate the peels from the insides, squish the grapes to prepare for cooking, and juice the cooked grapes. It is very labor intensive to do those things, and everything you use during, turns purple, including your hands.

Purple Spoon!

There was about a bowl of juice from two bowls of grapes. I let the bowl sit, covered, in the fridge, over night.

On Tuesday I got the juice out and poured it into a strainer lined with a double layer of damp cheese cloth to get out the gunk in the juice (pulp). I didn't read that you were supposed to let it sit like that for two hours for it to come through more clear. Whoops. Oh well, it doesn't affect the taste (I don't think).

Then I cooked the juice (5 cups) with a package of pectin and 6 cups of sugar. Then I ladled it into little cute jars and canned it! (First canning experience ever. It's not too hard. Thanks Jodee for letting me borrow your water bath!)

Here are the results:

I haven't tried the jelly yet to see if it tastes good. I canned all of it, and now I don't want to open any of the jars! There's one that's only half-full that I'll probably end up opening and tasting.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Grape: Part 1

Remember last year when I picked our grapes and made grape jam? Well, honestly, it wasn’t very good, and I didn’t even finish the tiny bottle that I made (it got moldy!).

This year we got a TON of grapes. I was just hoping for twice as much (last year I got about 3 cups of good grapes). There were probably 10 times as many grapes this year. Unfortunately I was a slacker and only got around to picking them on Saturday. All the leaves had fallen off the vine, and a lot of the grapes had, too. Probably half of them had been sucked dry by something (dry air? bugs? birds?). I spent a few hours going through them to separate the good grapes from the bad grapes. I ended up with 3 colanders full of grapes!
I used most of one colander (4 ½ cups) to make this pie recipe. I used the pie crust recipe from that red checkered/plaid cookbook that everyone has for the bottom crust. I was super nervous because of the jam turn out last year.

Here’s how it turned out:

Beautiful, huh?

Well, I didn’t get a chance to try it that night, because we were already late for dinner, and then had a birthday party to go to afterwards. So I had some for breakfast this morning, of course.

IT’S DELICIOUS!!!!!

Who ever thought grape pie would be so good!? I was a doubter. It tastes like cherry pie (consistency-wise) but flavored grape. I want to make another one, but squeezing the skins off each individual grape seriously takes forever. I’m going to try to make grape jelly with the rest of the grapes. I hope it works. Stay tuned for the results.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Turkey Week

Happy Turkey Week! :)

This year, it's technically my family's turn for Thanksgiving, but I'm not travelling anywhere 8 months pregnant, and my parents are going to Denver for my cousin's wedding.

So Dave and I decided that it would be fun to do Thanksgiving by ourselves this year. I bought a 10-12 lb turkey for $6! I bought other things, too.

I figure the best way to approach this is to have a plan of attack so everything gets ready at the same time. Here's my plan of attack. Let me know if you see anything terribly wrong or missing!

Menu:
Turkey
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing
Stove Top Stuffing
Rolls
Peas/Corn
Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Pie
Sparkling Apple & Cranberry juice


Monday:
Get Turkey out of Freezer to thaw in fridge
Buy final supplies from grocery store:

  • Celery salt
  • Stove Top Stuffing (check pantry first!)
  • Peas/Corn (check freezer first!)
  • Cranberry Sauce

Tuesday:
NOTHING!


Wednesday:

  1. Make pumpkin pie
  2. Make stuffing, set aside in bowl to dry out
  3. Call Daddy for turkey cooking advice


Thursday:

  1. Stuff & dress turkey
  2. Put turkey in oven
  3. Set rolls out to thaw/rise
  4. (a few hours later)
  5. Set table
  6. Peel potatoes & sweet potatoes
  7. Boil both potatoes
  8. Dave mash potatoes
  9. Sarah prepare to candy sweet potatoes & set aside
  10. Make stove top stuffing
  11. Take turkey out
  12. Bake rolls
  13. Make gravy
  14. Take out rolls/butter tops
  15. Cook sweet potatoes
  16. Make peas/corn
  17. Open cranberry sauce

Monday, November 15, 2010

Waffle Dreams

Last night we went to bed at 9pm and it was heavenly. I could have gone to sleep at 6pm, but I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night, so I made myself stay awake for a few more hours.

Since I slept for so long, I had multiple dreams. I can't remember most of them, but the one this morning before I woke up was very influential.

I dreamed about waffles! (One of my co-workers has a hamster named Waffles, but that's not what I dreamed about.) When I woke up, I really really wanted waffles. I got up and checked the pantry for Bisquik, but we didn't have any. So I got out my red checkered cookbook and looked up the recipe, and I made waffles!--from scratch! Have you ever put vanilla in waffles? It's yummy. I didn't have time to make the whole batch since we only have one waffle maker with only two waffle slots. I also dreamed that there were fresh blueberries all over the waffles, but we didn't have any of those. It's still a treat to have waffles for breakfast though! :)



**UPDATE** - Now that I've tasted the waffles, there's definitely something wrong with them. I thought at first I may have put the wrong amount of salt in, or maybe I need to sift together the dry ingredients instead of just stirring them. After thinking about it for a while, I may have used baking soda when the recipe called for baking powder. Whoops! I guess I need to work on reading recipes and ingredient boxes more closely.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dream Documentation

Because I should write them all down:

Last night I had two dreams. The first dream I dreamed I was in St. George or somewhere warm and desert-y, and I was with a family from home at their house in St. George that they were trying to sell. (No, they don't really have a house in St. George, but the are trying to sell their house.) Anyway, I suddenly gave birth (no pain! that's strange), and he was so cute and perfect and wonderful. Then they all left, and I was at their house all alone.

In the second dream I gave birth as well. This time I was in the hospital with doctors. The baby came out and he kind of looked like a gremlin or E.T. and he was missing his feet. My first thought was "whoa, why does he look like that?!" and immediately felt like a horrible person for thinking my baby was creepy looking. Then these teenage boys came in the room and started squirting him with squirt guns, and I chased them around like a mad mama bear, yelling things like, "GET AWAY FROM MY BABY!"

I was a grump when I woke up.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Goings On

I feel like all I write about on here is pregnancy. It is a huge part of my life right now, but there are other things going on as well. For example I go to work every day and sit in a cubicle for 8 hours or so. I then come home and look at the mess gathering in our house. Usually I then plop myself on the couch and watch TV or read.

Sometimes I get ambitious and tackle a project. For example, on Saturday, I cleaned the kitchen. All the dishes were clean, the counters were wiped, the garbage was taken out, none of the food in the fridge was growing penicillin, and I even mopped the floor.

When I have a clean kitchen, I always get ambitious in my cooking. On Sunday (fast Sunday, sorry Dave!) I made two things I’ve never made before: bread and soup. I made banana bread with some ripe bananas I had put into the freezer and I made Sausage Corn Potato Chowder. Both were easy! Now the kitchen needs to be cleaned again.

Yesterday after work I made some cards for the stamping club I’m in. I even cleaned up my mess when I was done.

Let’s not think about the other huge projects that are still staring me in the face (cleaning out junk/clutter, the dust gathering on everything, rearranging the old office to be a nursery, finishing that couch project, etc.) I said, let’s not think about it!

About a month ago, my car died. Background info: We have 4 cars and a scooter currently. The Jeep is Dave’s toy that he’s owned since he was 16, but it doesn’t run right now. The BMW runs rough and would cost $millions to fix. The scooter’s starter is broken and the kick start is stripped. I drove the Nissan, which is a salvaged title, and Dave drives the Tahoe, which is technically a “company vehicle.”

Like I said, my car died. Today we found out it needs a valve job, new timing chains, and some gaskets. Yeah, it’s Greek to me, too. But I bet you’ve never seen an engine all torn apart before! Here are some pictures of my car all torn apart:

This one is of the inside of the engine block. The third one down is the one that needs to be re-machined because you can see light through those little circles, and that’s bad.

Here is what the engine looks like with the top taken off.

In this last one I accidentally found the parts that were taken out of the engine when I popped the trunk to get my stuff out.

Anyway. Turns out it’ll cost about $500 to $600 to fix it, which is what about half of its worth (because it’s salvaged). But then I’ll have my car back! YAY!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Pregnancy Update - Perinatologist Appt. #3?

I had the long awaited appointment with the Perinatologist this morning.

As usual, the ultrasound tech did the usual measurements. I made sure to ask for pictures this time. I even asked for a 3D picture, which I wasn’t able to get because baby boy was being a stinker. She said that according to his measurements, he’s about 5 lbs 1 oz, which is in the 65 percentile for 32 weeks and 5 days.

Then the Perinatologist came in and did some more ultrasound and explained a bit more about what’s going on. She said that he has a big head and a very long femur, which is really what pushes his weight up. (Surprise! Our kid has a large head and a long femur…who could have ever guessed!?)

On to the more important things: She tried to look at his neck, but he was shielding his face and neck with his hands, arms, and umbilical cord (which is why the 3D picture didn’t work).

She was eventually able to look at the neck from the back and the esophagus looks smaller from one angle, but about the same from another angle. She was able to clearly see the vocal chords, his swallowing, his stomach, and my fluid levels are still fine. Based on that she told us that we could deliver here locally but only if we go to that hospital, since it’s the biggest and they have a great neonatology, nicu, etc. However if we still want to deliver up at the U just in case, she can arrange that.

I’m scheduled for another ultrasound in 4 more weeks, and then non-stress tests weekly thereafter until I deliver to make sure that my fluid levels remain stable.

So now the big question is, where do I want to deliver? I think there are definitely pros and cons to either choice. If I deliver here, I can just go into labor when I naturally go into labor. If I deliver at the U, I have to be scheduled and induced. If I deliver here, there’s a chance he will need to be taken to Primary Children’s, and then I’d be transferred up to the U for recovery. If I deliver up at the U, I will be further away from home with a doctor I don’t know, and I’m not a huge fan of that.

I think I am leaning more on the side of delivering locally, but if needs be, I still have time to change my mind.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

TIME! Is marching on. And time.. is still marching on.

I love calendars. I try to have several up, and I’m sure I’d love having 1 per room if I could. There are currently 5 in my cubicle at work. I always hope for at least one as a Christmas present each year (hint hint hint). I can just visualize time better if I can see the day on the calendar.

Tangent: For some reason I also am much better at reading clocks if they’re analog. If I see a digital clock, I have to convert it in my head to analog before I know what time it is. Backwards, I know. I’m analog in a digital word.

On that note, I like to plan my months out, and then I always have something to look forward to.

For example:

2 days until Thursday, November 4th – Perinatologist Appointment – I get to see my baby again, and find out where/when I’ll be delivering him. (I hope they give me more pictures this time.)
Then 5 days until Tuesday, November 9th – Stampin’ Up Club – I get to play with stamps!
Then 1 day until Wednesday, November 10th – Book Club – Girls’ night! Oh I guess discussing the book will be fun, too.
Then 2 days until Friday, November 12th – OB Dr. Appointment – …meh, measure vitals, weight, heartbeat, belly size, and then “see ya in two weeks.”
Then 1 day until Saturday, November 13th – 1st baby shower! Yayyyyy!
Then 12 days until November 25th and 26th – Thanksgiving!!!!!! (no work!)
Then 1 day until Saturday, November 27th – 2nd baby shower! Yayyyyy!
Then 4 days until Wednesday, December 1st – December! White Rabbit! (Oh, and happy birthday, Alex.)
Then 14 days until Wednesday, December 15th – Last day I absolutely HAVE to work if I use no vacation or sick time until then (knock on wood). Baby, stay in until then, please.
Then 10 days until Saturday, December 25th – Due date and Christmas!

The longest stretches are 12 days, 14 days, and 10 days, but I’m sure those will be broken up by doctor appointments, etc, but I’ll add that to my plans and calendars when they’re closer and scheduled.

Monday, October 25, 2010

You big baby!

I get weekly emails about how my pregnancy and baby are progressing. A month ago, at my perinatologist appointment, they told me he weighed about 3 1/2 lbs based on the measurements they took. This week's email (Week 31) finally is telling me that the baby should be about 3 1/2 lbs at this point...a whole month later.

My mother tells me that I was about 8lbs or so, and Dave's mom says that Dave was 8.62 lbs and 21.65 inches long (converted from metric, since she was in Germany).

I think this is going to be a big baby.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Project Provo!!!!

Remember last week when I posted this post that everyone gave me plenty advice about? Well, my new plan is up and running!

I have officially started Project Provo! Go check it out! I really hope that you'll follow it, since it's going to be awesome. Of course I don't have much up yet, but I plan on working on it often, so you'll want to be subscribed so you don't miss anything!

I've also read a blog post about how to run a business and/or blog and taking care of children simultaneously thanks to Molly. Looks like I have my work cut out for me, but I like to think I'm up to the challenge.

I also read this interesting article essentially about Facebook optimization, which I intend to use to my advantage.

Here's a quick preview of what is to come on the Project Provo blog:

Monday, October 18, 2010

Dreams

The other night I dreamed I was being chased around by a murderer guy who kept coming back to life. Once he was killed, a few hours later he’d come back to life (but not in the gross zombie way). I was stuck in a room with him while he was dead, but I had just gotten out of the shower and I couldn’t find my underwear. I obviously couldn’t run away just wearing my robe. All of a sudden he came back to life, and so I found Dave’s gun and tried to shoot him dead again, but my fingers weren’t strong enough to pull the trigger enough for it to shoot unless I didn’t lock my elbows. Of course if I didn’t lock my elbows, the kick-back would have smacked me in the head. Yikes!

Last night I dreamed that I was at work. Not sure which dream gave me a worse feeling when I woke up.

Friday, October 15, 2010

TGIF

I know you're all chomping at the bit waiting to know the latest and greatest. So here it is:

I don't have gestational diabetes. I only have one dose of antibiotics left for the UTI. I'm still gaining weight. My blood pressure is fine. The baby's heartbeat is great. My belly size is 28. I'm anemic.

So it's all good news except the anemia, but that's treatable with an iron supplement (and lots of fiber--advice from the nurse).

More good news: It's FRIDAY!!! And Dave took the night off! Yay!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Glucose

At my last doctor appointment two weeks ago, the doctor realized that I hadn’t done my Glucose test yet. It’s supposed to be done between 24 and 28 weeks. My appointment was at 28 weeks, so she told me to do it as soon as possible.

Well, my next appointment is on Friday, so in classic Sarah procrastination style, I decided I should probably do the test Wednesday or Thursday, since Dave would have time to come with me. Yes, I drag Dave to my appointments—plus we only have one working car, so it was either that or walk.

The plan was to get up at 7, shower, go take the test, then get to work by about 9 or 9:30. Yeah, I got up at 8:20 or so, showered, and then got to the doctor’s office at about 9:30.

They gave me the glucose drink, which really isn’t as bad as people say. I wouldn’t choose to drink it if I had a choice, but it really just tasted like flat fanta.

For the next hour I felt worse and worse, and eventually I had to lie down on a teeny tiny bench while I waited. I was lightheaded, nauseated, and kind of jittery feeling. Honestly it’s the worst I’ve felt all pregnancy.

Then they took my blood. The Phlebotomist was really quick about it (thank goodness!!!!), and Dave distracted me, so I didn’t pass out. Then my eyes leaked for a little while, and Dave took me home where I downed some milk with Carnation Breakfast Mix in it, lied down for a while until that digested some, then headed in to work.

Summary: the drink isn’t gross, the effects are gross.

I’m assuming I’ll get the results either tomorrow, or at my appointment on Friday. I really hope I don’t have to do the 3 hour test, because I just don’t think I can.

Monday, October 11, 2010

SAHM

Note: the point of this post is not to get the response “oh, you’ll be so busy being a mom, you have no idea.” I’m also not trying to offend anyone—so please take the next couple of paragraphs with a grain of salt:

Honestly, I’m nervous about being a stay at home mom. After being either in school and working, or just working full time for years now (almost my whole life, except summers growing up), I’m not sure what people do all day at home. Somehow they fill their days, right? Yes, I know at first I will have the job of food supply, and then I’ll have a toddler running around getting into everything. But, women everywhere are able to work full time jobs and have children that they take home. I want to be a stay at home mom, but I also want something to satiate my need for keeping busy.

Example: On Labor Day, I had gotten all my chores done on the Saturday prior and had nothing to do (except my big list of to-dos that I’m avoiding), and I started wondering what “occupation” (in addition to being a mom) I will have once I’m not working full time anymore.

Wouldn’t it be nice if I could make millions in the process?

Well I’ve been thinking about my friends Jacob and Kalli, who are quite successfully supporting themselves via an internet business. I watched an interview they had recently. You’ll need to watch it to know what I’m talking about: http://www.getrichclick.com/withclickbank/jacob-hiller/?autoplay=1

As Jacob says, “If you have something that you absolutely know will give value, then it’s just a matter of being yourself and telling the truth.” Of course, it has to be something that has a good market to sell, too. I mean, I could be passionate about something like how to pick my nose, but I’m pretty sure there’s not a market for that.

Kalli has been telling me about how great this opportunity is for a while, so I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of something that I am passionate enough about. I’ve realized that I’m a pretty flakey, A.D.D. person who doesn’t really get passionate about one thing. I usually try things and then move on to something else. I could give you dozens of examples.

Let’s leave that subject for a bit, and move on to another: Blogging. There are many people out there these days that make quite a bit by blogging. Again, I don’t think my life is interesting enough to get millions of followers that click on links enough to pay me the big buck$. Here we have the same problem – I don’t have enough passion about one thing. I don’t have something original and fresh to offer the people of the world.

Today, I put a couple of thoughts together and came up with what I have to offer the world! I can also do it while being a stay at home mom quite easily. I’m VERY excited about it, and I can’t wait until I can get it up and running.

No, you can’t know what it is yet! I don’t want people stealing my idea.

Friday, October 8, 2010

UTI Update

So I peed in a cup on Monday morning for a urine analysis, right? Well, yesterday (Thursday) I finally called the doctor to see if I was dying or not. They told me, "Well, the initial analysis showed that something's going on, but the culture can take up to 72 hours, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow for that. For now we're going to put you on this antibiotic. It's important that you start taking it right away and take all the doses." Uh, thanks for letting me know when you got the results on Monday or Tuesday.
I'm not too happy with the service I get from this doctor's office. *I* have to call in to find out the results from my test, which are that I should be on antibiotics. Also, last time I counted, 72 hours is 3 days...I left the sample on Monday morning...Tuesday (1)...Wednesday (2)...Thursday (3)...yup, that's 3 days.
Also, when I had my 20 week ultrasound, *I* had to bring up to the doctor that there was something fishy on his neck, or she would have never even noticed.
Are all OB doctors so un-personable and busy because everyone and their mom are having babies around here, or did I just pick the wrong one? What has been your experience with OB doctors around here?
On the other hand, I really like the Perinatologist. She knows exactly who I am and what the situation is without me having to remind her. She had even done RESEARCH on her own time about the problem.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Pregnancy Update - Perinatologist Appt. #2

Tuesday morning I had my second Perinatologist appointment. Here’s the news:
The baby is now head down, thank goodness. He was lying on his side/stomach though, so it was hard for them to get a good view of the esophagus, which is what they were trying to examine.
She measured all the important bits like his femur, skull, stomach, my fluid, etc. From those measurements we know the following:
He’s measuring at 30 weeks even though I’m 28 weeks and 3 days.
He’s a little over 3 lbs already.
My fluid levels are normal (14 cm).
His stomach is visible.
His esophagus is visibly smaller.
The doctor had looked up a plethora of case studies on this type of problem and she found only 6 babies that had the same symptoms (enlarged esophagus, but still swallowing right, fluid levels not high, visible stomach). All 6 of the babies’ esophagi were normal by week 33 and none of them had chromosomal problems, like down syndrome. I know 6 babies isn’t much of a statistic to go off of, but I am going with that being a good sign.
They have me scheduled for another ultrasound on November 4th, when I’m 32 and a half weeks along. If the esophagus is still enlarged then, they’ll schedule a day for me to deliver up at U of U when I’m about 39 weeks along. If it’s not enlarged anymore, I’m assuming I can deliver any day I go into labor, and anywhere I choose.
So...good news!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

UTI

On Sunday I started feeling like I had to pee all the time. I’m not saying it felt like there was a little more pressure than usual. You know what it feels like when your bladder is so full that you’re scared to walk to the bathroom for fear of peeing your pants? It felt like that…all day.
After trying remedies to get the baby to move and hopefully relieve some pressure, I decided it was probably a bladder infection. On Monday I called the doctor to see if I should come in, or if I should just consume enough cranberry juice to turn my skin pink.
They had me go pee in a cup at the lab, and, well, I’m still waiting to hear back. Meanwhile I’ve been drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and peeing as often as possible. I’ve even been setting my alarm to wake me to pee a few times throughout the night.
Side note: Last night when my 3am alarm went off and I returned to re-set my alarm again, I noticed I had an email time-stamped at 3am from my brother, Alex, who is on his mission in Germany. Usually he emails in the middle of Sunday night. We exchanged emails for a half an hour or so while he was burning 18 copies of General Conference to give to people.
I’ve been feeling better in the bladder area, since Sunday, so hopefully it’s getting better, but I’ll give the doctor a call tomorrow to make sure I’m not turning into a Britta water filter.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Pregnancy Update - Doctor Visit

I just had my 28 week doctor appointment. Basically my OB knows about as much about this condition as I do, since it’s so rare (1 in 4000 births or something). She said she saw a case of it in her residency, but none since. So here are the updates:
1. I still may need to deliver up at the U of U hospital to be close to Primary Children’s, but the Perinatologist hasn’t gotten back to me nor my doctor about what the Neonatologist said about that.
2. This condition is sometimes related to Down Syndrome, so they may want to do an Amniocentesis on me, but there’s really no point to finding out, because either way they can’t do anything about Down Syndrome.
3. Nothing else in the ultrasound 3 weeks ago looked abnormal.
4. I have to wait until my Tuesday appointment with the Perinatologist to find anything else out.
5. I have to do my glucose test this week or next week. I might do it tomorrow morning before breakfast.
6. I'm now on a 2 week appointment schedule.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Saturday is a Special Day

It's the only day I have to get stuff done. Today I felt like I was moving about as fast as a snail. It's days like these that make me miss not feeling like an invalid because I can't pick anything up that weighs more than 20 lbs, and I can't bend over to pick up stuff off the floor, and I'm just not balanced quite right. To make myself feel better, and maybe brag a little bit about how much I was actually able to accomplish, I'm going to post all the things I did today.

Sleep in until 10
Get dressed
Let Monkey in
Discover what she chewed up yesterday:
- a $300 computer part (our cost)
- a book I was borrowing from a friend
- a tube of mascara I was going to sell to my sister-in-law
- a dixie cup
Scold Monkey even though I know she has no clue why
Call Dave to tell him the bad news
Make breakfast
Discover that we're out of milk
Eat breakfast
Switch laundry to dryer/hang up
Start load of towels
Go to Petco with Monkey to buy a new rope toy for $20
(hope that the mew rope toy will keep her from chewing our things as much)
Get Monkey's nails cut at Petco for $10
Return 3 maternity shirts to Target for $30
Switch towels to dryer
Set up music playlist for doing house chores
Do dishes (fit a few more in dishwasher, add detergent, start)
Sprinkle bathtub with Comet (...it makes your teeth turn green...)
Arrange flowers from birthday in vase
Scrub tub, sprinkle again with Comet (...it tastes like gasoline...)
Start going through junk in dining room
Take Dave's cast-off socks to John
Scrub tub again with pre-soaked Comet (...it makes you vomit...)
Wind up garden hose to return
Return garden hoses for $70 and get new hose repair kit for $2
Get groceries ($52) and allergy meds ($31!)
Repair hose
Remove moldy items from fridge
Put away groceries
Make & eat dinner (mac & cheese with rancid butter...ew)
Wash shower walls with scrubbing bubbles
Wipe down bathroom sink
Go through DVDs and post PS2 games on amazon for sale
Remember about the BYU game (too late)
Remember about the RS Broadcast (too late)
Take Monkey on a walk (1.5 miles)
Put away clean dishes
Dispose of moldy food from fridge
Take trash out
Clean out sprayer holes in dishwasher
Run dishwasher with vinegar
Blog about things I did today to make myself feel better/brag <----here we are!
Load stinky dishes
Run dishwasher again
Make and eat dinner
Fold laundry pile on bed
Change into PJs, brush teeth
Go to Bed

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Baby Names

Yesterday I went on to new.familysearch.org to look up possible family names to use for Baby Boy Franz. There sure are a lot of names in there! Here are some names that won't make the cut. There are some real gems in the list:

Abel
Abijah
Adolf
Adriannes
Aelson
Ambrose
Anders
Andries
Arad
Archibald
Aren
Arie/Arien/Ariensz
Augustine
Berend/Berent
Bruyn
Bygot
Carbo/Kerbo
Cephas
Cheney
Claes
Claude
Clement
Cornelis/Cornelius
Crijn
Deacon
Dominique
Ebenezar/Ebenezear
Elbartus
Elipahalet
Engelhart
Francois
Frantz/Franz
Fredrik
Freegrace
Fortunatus
Gjert
Guilliame
Hal
Han/Hans
Harmon
Haynes
Henderiks/Hendrick/Hendrik/Henrick
Herman
Jan/Jansen
Jean/Jean Baptiste
Jeddiah
Jellis
Jens
Jeremah
Jerise
Jonas
Jorgen
Joris
Josiah
Jost
Karel
Kield
Kinsee
Kjeld
Kleis
Knud
Koop
Lambert/Lammert
Lancelot
Lars
Lorens/Lorentz/Louwrens
Ludwig
Mads
Mansuy
Mathija
Matthijs
Montgomery
Moses
Nehemiah
Niels/Nils
Ole
Ols
Oluf
Peder
Pehr
Percival
Petri
Pierce
Pierre
Rasmus
Sebastianes/Sebastianus
Smeadly
Stafford
Sulpice
Teunis
Thymens
Valentine
Washington
Wilmi

Monday, September 13, 2010

Complicated

At my 20 week ultrasound they saw some sort of cyst or something on baby boy’s neck. At my 24 week appointment I asked my doctor about it and she decided to send me to a Perinatologist to get another ultrasound. (Perinatologist has the same training as an OB plus more, specifically in ultrasound.) Honestly I was excited to get to see my baby again!

I had that appointment on Friday (two days before my 25 week mark). First an ultrasound tech just checked the usual things like measuring the brain, the femur, fluid levels, etc. She tried to find the cyst on the neck and couldn’t find anything. Then the Perinatologist came in…

She did a few measurements herself, and then started looking for the cyst. Turns out it’s not a cyst at all. She found what they thought was a cyst, and it’s the pharynx. For some reason it’s enlarged. She looked at it from all different angles. The thyroid is perfectly fine. We watched (while she recorded) him swallowing for a good 10 minutes. He swallows ok and my fluid levels are fine. (He actually got the hiccups while we were watching, which was amusing.)

Basically she told us that it could just be an abnormally large pharynx, but she’s pretty sure something’s not working right. She took the video of him swallowing, and a ton of pictures, and she said she’d consult with the other Perinatologists and get back to me on Monday.

Today is Monday. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long. She called at 10:40am (I’m sure she’d been at work for quite a while by then). She said that the other doctors agreed that the pharynx is enlarged more than it should be and that it’s either a narrowing of the esophagus or a Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF).

So what does that mean? She said that since I don’t have extra fluid and he’s swallowing he’s fine for now, but he will probably need surgery to correct the TEF once he’s born.

I’m glad that it was spotted so early so they can watch it and know about it before the normal symptoms of “when feeding is attempted and the infant coughs, chokes, and turns blue.” I’m going to be scheduled for another ultrasound in 4 weeks at the Perinatologist again. She also said that she’d talk to the Neonatologist to see if I should deliver at the hospital down the road from us (which isn’t a small hospital by any means), or if I should deliver closer to (or at?) Primary Children’s Medical Center.

Since he’s fine for now and moving around quite contentedly in my belly, I’m trying to not stress about everything. Stress isn’t going to help anything.

Other than that, the usual updates on pregnancy: I’ve been gaining weight finally, which my doctor was quite happy about. He’s almost 2 lbs according to the ultrasound, which puts him about 6 days ahead of schedule (which doesn’t mean much really). He likes to move around a lot especially in the morning when I’m trying to “snooze” my alarm. I bought some more maternity clothes (10 shirts, a pair of shorts, a pair of pants, and a skirt). I can’t believe I still have 15 more weeks!

*Update* - I have another ultrasound scheduled with the Perinatologist on Oct. 5th, so stay tuned for the results of that.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tacos

Sarah: Hi, I’d like a Steak Chalupa Supreme…ummm…a Cheesy Nachos, a Caramel Apple Empanada, and a medium soda please.

Taco Guy: Ok, that’ll be $16.xx at the second window.

Sarah: did I hear him right? Hmmm *drives to second window*

Taco Guy: That’ll be $16.xx

Sarah: Why is it more than $16?!

Taco Guy: Well, each Chalupa is $2

Sarah: But I only ordered one

Taco Guy: You said “Six Chalupa Supremes”

Sarah: No, I said “STEAK Chalupa Supreme”

Taco Guy: Oh…uh…hold on…That’s $6.xx

Nighttime Adventures

I've always been one to have crazy dreams. Pregnancy has just accentuated this. It has also made me a deeper sleeper (thank goodness!). This results in many confusions upon waking...if i wake.

Last night I dreamed that I was in a circular public bed (think merry-go-round toy at a park). So when I awoke in the middle of the night, I believed my dream so much that I had to scramble in the dark for my cell phone (aka: flashlight) to make sure I was indeed sleeping next to Dave, and not some stranger. After checking several times, I convinced myself that it was actually Dave, and went back to sleep.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Pregnancy Update - Week 23

How far along: 23 weeks(on Sunday, August, 29th)

Total weight gain/loss: +8?? I weighed 150 at my first appointment (4 weeks), and then i got the flu and lost 7 lbs, which was more like my normal weight anyways. So from here on out, I'm just going off of 143 as my "starting weight."

Maternity clothes: yes! They’re so comfortable! I bought 2 pairs of pants and 5 shirts from H&M while we were in Walnut Creek, CA in July. I’m also hoping for some from Chelsea (?). I may invest in another pair of maternity pants I can wear to work soon, and maybe a skirt or two.

Stretch marks: still not any yet…knock on wood.

Sleep: I sleep like a rock. It’s been wonderful. Usually I’m a light sleeper. The down side is I don’t wake up when my bladder gets full, so it is EXTRA full in the morning and I have a stomach ache. I’ve still been able to sleep on my tummy-ish, which is how I’m most comfortable, but I still wake up on my back (with no covers on).

Best moment this week: We went to Boondocks Fun Center and I discovered that it’s still possible to ride go-carts, play mini golf, eat a ton of pizza, and ride bumper boats while pregnant. However, mini golf is a pain to lean down and put the ball on the “tee” and to pick it up out of the hole, and playing arcade D.D.R. is a LOT harder when you’re pregnant (not advisable).

Movement: yes! He doesn’t move a ton, but when he does, it’s just little twitches on my belly. He sometimes jerks awake and pushes out in all directions, and that’s probably the weirdest feeling yet. Dave has also gotten to feel a few kicks/punches, but the little guy isn’t a very reliable kicker.

Food cravings: still mostly fruit, although this past week or so I’ve been craving cereal often, but that just may be because it requires no cooking.

Aversions: still the same no meat (sometimes chicken or fish is ok) and no grease

Gender: BOY!

What I miss: not feeling like an invalid while trying to do chores around the house. I can’t lift things, I run out of energy fast, and I can’t do ANYTHING if it’s too hot!

Milestones: The only thing I can think of was last week I was 22 weeks on August 22nd. That was pretty cool.

Extra: I think I got a bladder infection this week, probably due to my sleeping habits (not waking up to pee), so I drank lots of cranberry juice. Then my right kidney area started hurting, so I called the doctor, and they said to make an appointment. Of course right then it stopped hurting. If it hurts again I’ll make an appointment. Otherwise I’ll just bring it up at my next appointment next week!

Past info: At my 20 week appointment, the doctor listened to the heartbeat (all normal), and measured my belly. I’m measuring a little bigger than average there, but the baby’s head was exactly the right size to be due on Christmas still. We’ll see how the next appointment goes on Sept. 3rd.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Annual Tahoe Trip Post 5

Back at the house, the cousins played, Monkey avoided them, and we took evening walks, all surrounding meal times, which were fun experiences of "too many cooks in the kitchen" as usual.

One evening, all the girls took a walk (except Barbara, I think she was cooking or maybe out with Erik somewhere). Even Monkey came because she's a girl dog.

After the walk, Monkey crashed. We've never before or since been able to tire her out like we did that day. It was a day of playing on the beach, swimming in the water (which, remember, she hated), and going on a long evening walk.

One nice thing about Tahoe evenings is the sunsets. Every evening there are amazing purple and pink sunsets over the water. Again I wish my camera captured the color better, but you get the idea from this picture overlooking the Ranch.

Dave and I took a golf cart ride one evening right as the sun was almost down. We went to China Beach and took some great silhouette pictures. There's a tree that has fun branches for silhouette pictures there. We killed two birds with one stone and got some "belly" pictures, too. This is me at 18 weeks, and Dave's sympathy belly at 18 weeks:

It may seem that we don't spend any time with my grandparents while we're there. It's really not so. For some reason I just never get pictures with them while we're there. Goal for next year: Get more pictures of and with Grammy and Papa!

It was a whirlwind trip for Dave and me, and we needed another vacation when we got home, but I'm glad we have the opportunity to spend time with family at beautiful Lake Tahoe every year.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Annual Tahoe Trip Post 4

Back at Lake Tahoe, I didn't go back out on the boat (Dave did). We spent more time on the beach than the last couple of years. By the time we got back to Tahoe from the Bay Area, Erik, Barbara, and kids had arrived. Chelsea and Kevin came that night, and Daniel got there the next evening.

One reason we had brought Monkey with us was to teach her how to swim. Fortunately dogs know how to swim by instinct, however not all dogs like it. Monkey didn't like swimming. She didn't mind the water, if it wasn't too rough, but she didn't like getting deep enough to where she had to swim. I got some nice bruises on my legs from her trying to climb up me to get out of the water (no pictures, sorry), so Dave took over trying to teach her.

We did find she LOVED being squirted with the squirt gun. I've got a great video of her trying to "catch" or "attack" the water. We'll see if I can get it uploaded.

Here are some pictures of us playing on the beach:

Penny was born to be a beach bum, even in her PJs

Rachel was in love with the sand - I bet she still has some stuck to her today

Dave tried to dig to China, while Monkey and I watched. I was a lot less uncomfortable than I look, but hey, you can see I have a belly!

I tried to make a sand castle with Monkey's help, but I gave up after one bucket.

Rachel and Justin loved being sprayed by Dave almost as much as Monkey did, but I think that Rachel had the "sneak" attack down.

Even Penny decided the water wasn't too cold. From which side do you think Penny gets her skin - the Fisher side...or the Christensen side? (Ok, Erik and I compared, and we were equally pasty...he had me beat on tanner arms though.)

Justin was braver about entering the water this year. Last year he was still pretty scared of the water.

Dave and I took the Kayak for its first spin on our last Morning there. We even paddled to where the boat was buoyed. Ok, ok, I admit, Dave did most of the paddling.

Rachel and Justin sure have a cool Uncle Daniel. He taxis them all around in the kayak (I stole this picture, it happened after Dave and I left)

And, uhhhh, here's a cool picture I took one evening under the pier - again, not as cool as it could have been

To be continued...

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Annual Tahoe Trip Post 3

The next day we took a short trip to the Bay Area. We figured it was just a few more hours of driving, and we'd be able to see some more friends and family.

It was only supposed to be about 4 hours of driving to get to the Bay Area, but we hit some BAD traffic in Berkley (Note to self: Next time, don't go anywhere NEAR San Francisco if you don't want to hit its traffic!). While we were in traffic however, we were able to make some "friends" with whom we played leap frog. There was the girl in the convertible BMW who ate a banana, there was the mini van with the Skulls and cross bones, and plenty of Motorcycles who decided they were too good for traffic and zoomed between the lanes (although legal in California, still a bonehead thing to do).

Also while stuck in traffic we got a wonderful view of the Golden Gate bridge and the San Francisco Skyline! (see picture below)

It's over there, I promise.

We visited Chris and Carrie and their new baby Abigail. It was fun to see Chris and Carrie and we wish we/they lived closer. We didn't stay long because Abigail was only 6 days old (mother and baby needed just a short visit), and we had other places to go and people to meet.

We stopped by the Oakland temple to stretch our legs. Dave had never been to the Bay Area, so it was fun to show him how to walk around the roof of the temple. I wish the smog would have gotten the memo and disappeared so he saw the true beauty of the views. We'll just have to go back some day.

Unfortunately I completely forgot to take pictures of everyone else we visited. But we went out to dinner with Aunt Lynda, Uncle Bill, Auntie Karen, and...(spacing on the name right now...SORRY!). We also went "window shopping" at H&M in Walnut Creek. I got 2 pairs of maternity pants and 5 shirts for $100 (total) - I. love. that. store.

We spent the night at Auntie Karen's house (THANK YOU!) and drove back to Tahoe the next day.

On our way back, there were some pretty curvy roads.

I'm pretty sure this is where I felt the baby first move in my belly - I don't think he liked the curves too much.

To be continued...

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Annual Tahoe Trip Post 2

Our second day at Tahoe it was just my mom, Dave, and me. Just the right amount to take the boat out for a spin. So we got up, got our swimming suits on, and took off to the boat.

We decided to take Monkey with us to the boat. I was nervous she's get so scared she'd pee, but she did ok. She got used to the boat pretty quickly as long as it wasn't moving.

Since I couldn't ski, and my mom didn't want to ski a ton because the water was rough and she was unsure of her shoulder, Dave skied twice, my mom skied once, and we did a lot of sitting in the boat, just enjoying the day.

Here come the pictures:

Dave was the first to get in. The first dive into the lake is always the worst. I caught it on video, but he was pretty quiet and boring about the ice cold experience.

We found some new (used), wide, short, training skis in the garage, so Dave decided to give them a whirl.

He was able to get right up his second try and he stayed up quite a while! See him wayyyy out there?

There's a better, closer picture. He usually tries to get up on the wakeboard, too, but didn't want to this year since his back has been giving him problems.

Next my mom skied, but I didn't get many good pictures since she wasn't up long. (Trial run to see if her shoulder would hurt)

We were able to get a nice "family" picture before we put the boat on the buoy and headed home for lunch.

To be continued...