March Madness

Okay, so there is no real madness, besides my mind going nuts wondering when our little one will decide to make her appearance. While we are waiting we have been keeping ourselves busy.

Quality Time
I have read and been told by multiple people that I need to pamper myself before the baby arrives, check. I got my hair done, a pedicure, manicure, etc. Brian and I are taking advantage of our time alone.  We went out to a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, I really wanted their cheesecake. We walked around downtown Boulder for some shopping and enjoyed our time together.  We actually stopped at one of his client's shop and he gave us a present, baby pink moccasins.
I love them! While at his shop, he told us about our future daughter's birthstone, aquamarine.

 I honestly had never even thought about it.  It's such a beautiful stone!
We went to the movies. We spent some quality time with Maui in the snow. Our life is about to change forever and we can't wait!

Nesting
I have heard about some women going nuts super cleaning and organizing.  That really hasn't been the case with me.  I think I go through mini 10 minute nesting spurts. I usually get a little burst of energy and then I get tired. The house is clean, thanks to the cleaning lady's help. I organized files on my computer because I know that baby photos will soon take over.  Did anyone notice the top of my blog? I changed the name to Jeanette, Brian, and Co!

Baby Prep
Now the baby room is officially ready! I made time before one of my appointments and stopped at Hobby Lobby and feel in love with this canvas.

After consulting with my shopping consultants, Stephanie and Lauren, they confirmed it would be a good buy.  The carseat is ready. I have to admit, it's a little strange riding around with a carseat in the back.

Work
Officially on maternity leave now.  I will say it was very bittersweet.  It was hard to leave from something I feel very passionate about. I know that once the baby arrives, work will be the last thing on my mind.  For now, I didn't make a big deal about leaving because I didn't want to get emotional about it. A few of the kids would come by and gave me hugs, made me a little sad. For now, I get to relax and wait.

Doctor Appointments
I have had two appointments since my last entry and everything is going well.  Still no dilation or signs that labor is coming soon. Technically, she still has plenty of time, but everyday becomes more and more uncomfortable. Since I'm so close the doctor mentioned some things I could try.  Therefore I am drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea, yuck! I don't like teas, but I'll do it. My blood pressure was a little high again so she didn't wanting me walking too much.  I again had blood work done and had to do a 24 hour urine test to check for protein.  Grooooosss!! I'll find out the results tomorrow.  Here I am at 39 weeks, 3 days. Ugh, not my best photo, oh well!

How far along? 39weeks, 3 days

Maternity Clothes? Yes and some maternity shirts don't cover my belly...yikes!

Stretch Marks? Hips and little tiny ones at the bottom of my belly.

Sleep: I sleep about for about 3/4 hours, wake up for a bathroom break, and usually go back to sleep.

Miss Anything? being comfortable

Movement: stretching, I think she's running out of room in there!

Cravings: frozen veggies, I can eat an entire bag

Anything making you queasy or sick: not really

Have you started to show yet: yes, large and in charge :)

Gender: GIRL

Labor Signs: random cramping feeling

Belly Button in or out? A tiny little innie

Wedding rings on or off? classy Claire's rings

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy and tired

Looking forward to:  meeting our daughter!! 

Best Moment this Week: my family arriving!! 

Are we there yet?

We have spent the last week and a half playing the waiting game.  I know it's just the beginning of many waiting games. Some things finally arrived, for now we are waiting for the big one...our daughter's birth! Nervous, excited...ahh so many emotions!!!

Brian found a way to keep himself busy during these waiting games.  He went online and did some shopping.  Now, for those that know Brian, you understand that there is no explanation for these purchases, just...it's Brian. Being a great dad, he got his four-legged daughter a chew toy.

This is Maui's favorite chew toy right now! We'll see how long it last.

He got his future daughter a little something.

Oh great, thinking of how to soothe his child.

Then he got a few things for himself. I will say, was very impressed, he had to actually assembly the box and electrical wiring.  This is where his engineering skills are seen.

The useless box will reside in his office.

This he has been wanting for a really a long time. I was gracious enough to model.

 He thinks it's funny.  Personally, I'm scared! Although I have to admit, I would love to see the nurses' faces if he just randomly walked across the nurses station with a horse head on. Doesn't say a word, just walks across.  Hmmm!?!?

Finally, party time!  I had been waiting for my showers for what seemed like eternity, being 36 weeks seemed so far away.   First, was my school shower.  My wonderful 1st grade team and former kinder team coordinated my shower and all chipped in and got us our car seat.  The school got us an extra base with cash to purchase any extra things I needed! Brian and I were not expecting such a generous gift.  We were honestly just expecting money towards the car seat.

Again, how did this little former Texas girl (notice how much shorter I am) get so lucky. As an added bonus they had all the first graders write me letters with mothering advice, hilarious!! I was told not to be a bad mom and play with my baby.  Many mentioned I give my baby milk and "musht" food.  I mean really, pretty practical advice if you ask me.  My all time favorite from my special friend that makes the baby kick when I say his name..."don't give the baby hot sauce because he could burn his mouth." On the walls of the first grade hallways are graphs predicting when they think the baby will be born and what she will weigh.  The weight cracks me up, has from 1 pound to 10 pounds.  Gosh, I hope she doesn't end up weighing 10 pounds. They kids are getting excited for me, it's so cute!

My next shower was graciously hosted by my friend Ashley (wife of a co-worker of Brian) with the help of our former roomie, Sara!  They did such an amazing job!

They got all the colors to match the baby's room.

A delicious cake. I actually saved the top tier for the baby's smash cake. Something I had never heard about.  I knew saving the top of wedding cake for your 1st anniversary, but for a baby.  You apparently save the top and when you take your baby's first birthday pictures, you use this cake as the one they get to "smash." My photographer had mentioned this to me.  She said I could bring in a cake for the pictures.  I just thought I would buy one.  We'll see if it hold ups.  I wrapped it, boxed it, and froze it!

We then all proceeded to decorate onesies.

They all turned out so cute.

I did one too and very nervous.  As you come to know from either working with me or just by reading my blog you've come to know I skip words when I write...

I wrote first in marker, then began working to add the details with the puff paint. Ugh!!! I messed it up, surprise, surprise!!!  I ended changing it to"I'm just here and I'm already awesome."

We were a small group, but could not be more grateful to have met such great friends!

For those that didn't understand why I melted my face in last entry.  Here's why...my head looks so tiny is comparison to my giant belly! During the shower, Brian went to the Boulder toy store and got a kite. What else does a husband do while his wife is at a shower? Duh!

The next waiting game was to our scheduled version procedure, to have the doctor turn the baby.  I was very nervous.  The only real risk was having an emergency c-section right then and there. I kept thinking, "are we really ready?"  I kept telling people we were but deep down I wasn't too sure. That night I couldn't sleep.  

I had a dream that our baby was born and she was the size of my finger.  Doctor said it was normal, just had to rub her down and put her in water.  Once she was placed in water she got bigger, about 30 lbs bigger! I was so excited to see her full head of beautiful brown hair.  She had these adorable freckles.  Then, I was sad and really confused that she was really dark.  She looked liked she had been tanning at the beach for two weeks.  I kept thinking, I'll love her, not matter what, but why is she so dark?  Brian and I aren't dark?
I'm so eager to see what she's going to look like!!! 

My alarm went off at 5:45am and was up right away, ready to get to the hospital. Put my bag and the baby's bag in the car, just in case. We went up to labor and delivery and they put me in a triage room. They put the monitors on my belly to check the baby's heartbeat and my contractions (don't really have any).  It was pretty cool to hear the heartbeat over the speakers.

There's my tiny head again!  Before they hooked me up to an IV and began the procedure they had to do some routine checks.  They checked my blood pressure first.  It was really high, 144.  It's normally in the 120's.  My highest was 137 and at that point the doctor was little concerned.  So when my doctor saw 144, she wanted blood work done asap.  The nurse said, it was probably just nerves.  Then came an ultrasound to officially see exactly where our little one was.  Looked at the monitor, our little one flipped on her own!!!! My exercises of being on all fours had worked.  Brian thinks it was the pool.  He helped me do summersaults in the pool.  Whatever it was, it worked! Therefor, nothing had to be done.  Just blood work and they wanted to watch the baby on the monitors for about 20 minutes then I could go. Sounded easy enough.

Well, our little one is a little swimmer.  She kept moving around and messing up the monitors.  It took two nurses and about an hour to monitor her.  Normally, one would be scared when the sound of the heartbeat disappears, but the nurse and I saw her kicking around so we knew she was just a wiggle worm. The nurse decided to check my blood pressure again, 128 and blood work came back clean. Yep, it was just nerves. Although the doctor wants to keep a close watch, I'll be back in her office on Thursday. So now what?  She's head down and now we wait for labor to begin.  It could be tomorrow, it could be in three weeks...let the waiting game begin!

How far along? 37weeks, 1 day 

Maternity Clothes? Yes and even those are limited

Stretch Marks? Hips only

Sleep:well most nights & others I can't sleep.  Thank goodness Arseli is in Japan and I can text her at 2am

Miss Anything? being able to sit, walk, or whatever without it hurting

Movement: kicks and stretching, elbows, feet, and hands are popping out of the belly!

Cravings: food it the last thing on my mind, wha???

Anything making you queasy or sick: not really

Have you started to show yet: big body, tiny head...yes!

Gender: GIRL

Labor Signs: random cramping feeling

Belly Button in or out? In barely, belly is getting big

Wedding rings on or off? classy Claire's rings

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, just can't watch a Baby Story because I start crying.

Happy, that the shelf is back, books are now in a basket   

Looking forward to:  meeting our daughter!! 

Best Moment this Week: getting my maternity pictures back, my head looks normal! Love them!! 

Love is in the air

First off, let's begin with a nice round of applause to Brian for writing such a great blog.  I posted the pictures and wrote headings for things I wanted him to discuss.  I had zero input, and it was hilarious!! I think Maui and Brian need to write a book about the first year with a baby, it would be...legendary! 

Some topics to discuss for clarification.

Maternity pictures

Brian and I had a studio session of maternity pictures. To be honest, I didn't think I would enjoy this since I don't exactly feel or think I look my best.  They ended up turning out amazing!! It was fun to have professional photos taken of us.  We haven't done that since our wedding.  I'll hopefully share a few of the pictures soon.

Baby Shower
It cracked me up how Brian had no clue what was going on.
A friend, wife of Brian's coworker, is throwing me a baby shower next week.  A small intimate party since I don't know too many people here.  I'm really excited.  Just from looking at the beautiful invitations I know it's going to be awesome! My school is also throwing me a baby shower next week, wahoo for parties!

Update on Brian's back pain, much better. Yes, I say it was totally sympathy pain! :)

These past two weeks have been busy.  Mainly visiting medical offices.
I had a consultation for a pediatrician. I really liked the staff and we officially have our pediatrician.  People were surprised I was so far along.  Apparently, I should have done with a couple weeks ago, oops!

Next, the orthopedic visit for my hand.  My hand was getting pretty bad, I couldn't do very much and it was very frustrating. I ended up getting a cortisone steroid injection. My hand still has a tingling feeling but I now I have no pain.  It's great to able to use my hands again!

We have all our certificates from childbirth, infant CPR/first aid, and breastfeeding.  So this means we are are ready and know exactly what to do...riiiiight!  I will say the classes were helpful and we feel better prepared. I'm glad Brian was with me.  I'll discuss a certain pain/feeling/procedure and he responds with giving me the medical term and explanation. What a great student!

Last weekend we were CraftyMcCrafterson and made some Pinterest projects.  First Brian decided to make a growth chart ruler.  The coolest thing about this is that if we move we can take it with us!

 Finished product will be coming soon!

Then I made this quote.

I had seen just the words painted on board.  I'm better at the computer stuff so I typed it, got some clipart, and sent it to Office Max to get printed.  They messed up the order and only charged me 79 cents, what a deal!!

The nursery is pretty much all set!

Most clothes and blankets are washed and hospital bags are just about packed!

And what better way to finish your craft projects than by...brewing your own beer!  Our friends, Jacob and Sara were hanging out with us and decided to brew some beer. It's actually a really neat process, he must have paid attention during chemistry class.

Should be ready by St. Patrick's Day.  So what will be ready first, beer or baby?

We're basically on the home stretch and trying to relax and do things we won't be able to do as easily.

 

 Brian is taking advantage of his free time and enjoying the beauty of the Colorado skiing in Copper Mountain. I miss boarding!!

We are enjoying the ability to go out with ease, impromptu bowling night with friends, yes please!

 Everybody seems to be enjoying their DD, oh just you wait friends, just you wait!!

Recently the Hurricane has hit our house!  No, not hurricane Maui, but Hurricane J.Mueller came and will hopefully be gone.  For the past couple days Brian has come home to destruction caused by ME! Added books to the shelf in the baby's room, boom...overloaded and the shelf came crashing down. While playing fetch with Maui, I somehow got her Frisbee stuck on the outside light and broke the light. Our Aggie wall mount for our coats, well I put my purse on it and it collapsed. I tried to close off the doggie door and rather that putting the stopper  on the outside so she couldn't come inside, I did it backwards and Maui came charging in and broke the doggie door.

 I tried my best to screw it back on, but I somehow lost a screw.
Maybe I'll just go back to napping all day!

Now to the big news.  I had my 35 week appointment on Valentine's day! Well our little daughter is showing her love by being stubborn.  My mom says she sounds like me already! Hehe

  During my last appointment the doctor checked for dilation, I'm pretty closed up.  Tried to feel for a head and when nothing was found, she did a sonogram.  The results were that our little girl has her feet down.  At the this point she needs to be head down.  Next Monday, we have an appointment with the doctor where we'll check a sonogram for her position.  If she is still feet down, then we will try an ECV (external cephalic version).  It's a procedure for changing a baby's position in the uterus.  It will be done in labor and delivery in case an emergency cesarean needs to be done if it becomes necessary.  I will lie on my back and the doctor will place her hands on my stomach and find the baby's head.  Then she'll gently press on the abdomen to push the baby into the head first position.  There is a 50% chance this will work.  If it doesn't and I don't go into labor we'll schedule for a c-section at 39 weeks.

For now, I am praying that she decides to flip on her own.  One thing I'm trying is to be down on all fours with my butt in the air, hoping gravity will take over and have her flip.  If it doesn't work we'll do the CVE.  The only real risk is having to deliver at 37 weeks.  If not, looks like I'll be delivering by c-section, which was wasn't my number one choice, but whatever makes our baby come out healthy, I'm happy with.

On a side note, during the sonogram the doctor informed me that our little girl has a nice amount of hair on her head. She said, "See that little halo around her head, all hair!" They say that bad heartburn is related to your baby having a lot of hair, well that explains it!  So far, just like her mom with a lot of hair!  Can't wait to meet our little girl!!!!

How far along? 35 weeks, 7 days (My face melted...oh no!)

Maternity Clothes? Yes, and starting to get a little snug in the belly area! 

Stretch Marks? Just on the hips, belly is clear!

Sleep: wonderful if I wasn't having to pee and turning back and forth trying to get comfy

Best Moment this Week: getting flowers from Brian for v-day & finding out our girl has hair

Miss Anything? walking normal, Brian said my waddle was cute, hmmm

Movement: lower stomach, now it makes sense what that pain was...she think she's on a trampoline pushing her feet down...definitely Brian's child! 

Cravings: too much heartburn to really crave anything, Tums have recently been my savior

Anything making you queasy or sick: eating too much

Have you started to show yet: just a little ;)

Gender: GIRL, if not, the boy will have a lot of pink stuff

Labor Signs: Braxton hicks contractions have started

Belly Button in or out? In and looks like it will stay that way.

Wedding rings on or off? just the Claire's rings
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy  

Looking forward to:  Baby showers!  

From his point of view...

30th Birthday in Telluride

So Jeanette wanted me to write this weeks blog entry due to her hand hurting.  We visited our friends, Phil and Stephanie along with their 5 month old daughter, Harper, in Telluride, CO.  This also was Jeanette's birthday weekend.  We went out to celebrate at one of the Top Chef contestant's restaurants.  The chef is Eliza from this season's Top Chef Seattle.  We asked the waitress about the competition because she had already been kicked off.  Apparently she doesn't cook carrots anymore because of the show.  Everything we had was pretty tasty.

I had fun snowboarding for the weekend with Phil.  The girls had fun catching up and taking care of Harper.

Maternity Pictures

Jeanette is still pregnant.

Completed childbirth class

We completed our childbirth classes.  Next up child CPR and breastfeeding class.

Fifth Disease

So a kid at Jeanette's school had Fifth Disease and that can apparently be very harmful to unborn children.  So Jeanette went to the doctor to get tested.  It took a week but we finally got the results and Jeanette is immune.

Doctor visit

We went through our pre check in at the hospital and also went to the doctor.  The baby is on track growth wise.  Jeanette's hand is still asleep all the time.  The doctor was concerned about it, so Jeanette will be getting a steroid shot to relieve the numbness in right hand.  The doctor suggested that if we don't get it fixed now, it may not wake up after giving birth.  We all agreed that would be bad.

Glider Chair

We finally got the glider chair we ordered 2-3 months ago for the baby's room to make late night feedings better.  We were a little anxious about the cream color with chocolate piping but once we pulled it out of the box we were relieved and overall pleased with how it turned out.

Baby Shower

Jeanette included this picture.  I have no idea who is throwing this shower.  I don't even know where this invitation is.  This picture is the first I've seen of it.  I hope we get a car seat!  We still need one.

How far along? 34 weeks

Maternity Clothes? Yes and Jeanette also bought "maternity shoes" 

Stretch Marks? A litte on her hips.  I don't have any though.

Sleep: I'm maxing out in preparation of not getting any sleep for 18 years

Best Moment this Week: Dinner with the Kiefs in Telluride
Miss Anything? Wakeboarding in Texas

Movement: My back actually hurts.  Jeanette laughs and thinks it's sympathy pain but I think I pulled something from working out last Monday.  

Cravings: I love me some BBQ

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Have you started to show yet: Only after I eat a big meal.

Gender:  I am male.  My daughter is female.

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? I have an innie.

Wedding rings on or off? My wedding ring is on along with my Aggie ring.  Whoop!
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm pretty happy all the time

Looking forward to: When the kiddo will be able to talk and walk.  I have no idea what to do with a newborn.  I think I'll enjoy ages 3-10 and then 18 and on.

30 for 30

30 has been a number mentioned multiple times in this household.  

We begin with Brian turning the big 3-0! Brian has always been one for simple birthdays, which I'm usually against.  This year, being the pregnant wife, I liked the idea of keeping it simple. We had game night with our friends as we celebrated Brian's birthday and rang in the new year. We didn't realize how big the number 30 was until Brian had to blow out his candles, holy cow! That was a lot of smoke.

January has and will continue to be a very busy month.  While we are out and about Maui is on duty to make sure her family is safe! Don't worry about us, we have Hurricane Maui to destroy those who try to hurt us. 

Just because Brian is now 30 and I'm pregnant did not stop us from going out to watch the Aggie game! Brian liked his $2 Shiner Bock on tap and I enjoyed my Sprite. 

At first, my favorite part about this night was the fact that I could fit into my Aggie shirt! After the Aggies won, that was my favorite part. I'm glad we decided to go to a bar filled with Aggies to cheer on Johnny Football. Our baby girl already has a good collection of A&M gear.  We can't wait for football season and the family to be sporting their A&M attire. Whoop!

 We continued our busy week with driving to Breckenridge to visit Brian's brother and his girlfriend. Let's just add on to the list of things that I miss while being pregnant.  No snowboarding this year! Brian had fun.  Even though he was sore from playing football the day before.  Is this what happens when you turn 30? Your body hurts after two days of back to back sports. Notice how my jacket isn't zipped up, hehe.  For some reason I just can't give into buying a maternity jacket.  Shirts, I can probably wear after pregnancy.  By March I don't think I'll need to big heavy jacket.  For now, scarves are my best friend. 

During this trip I tried out my newest purchase, my swimming goggles.  I found that my step class was becoming more difficult so I got myself a maternity swimsuit.  Swimming feels great! Although I look HUGE, I must keep reminding myself that our daughter is in there! 

These past two weeks I have purchased a few items and I'm so excited to really begin working on the nursery.  

 I randomly found this adorable bird lamp, a like the little splash of green color so the room won't be ALL pink.  Then I found this awesome changing pad cover with the bird that will be a perfect match for her bedding.  Five dollars at Home Goods, what a steal!! Then Pottery Barn had a sale and got these adorable bird book ends. My favorite purchase of all, my Pentunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag!! I'm ready to pack her stuff for the hospital!

This week we began our childbirth classes. The best part of the class was finding out that my hospital gives me a free pre or post natal massage!!! The other great part was finding out that I can drink while nursing.  Basically, once the alcohol is out of your system the baby can feed.  I can't wait for a glass of wine and sushi, mmmm! 

I insisted that Brian and I have date night! So we decided to have a date afternoon, with brunch and a movie.  As we walked out we made a stop and he got me a birthday present, a new ring, since I can't wear mine anymore.  My money bags husband spent a whopping $10!

It actually looks pretty legit, right?

We are in the 30's!!!!! 

How far along? 31 weeks, 1 day

Maternity Clothes? Yes, but no winter coats!

Stretch Marks? On the belly, no!

Sleep: great, but I want to sleep a lot.  I have found myself multiple times passed out on the couch.

Best Moment this Week: getting my diaper bag for a great price! I love finding a bargain!!
Miss Anything? snowboarding & my hands not falling asleep!

Movement: Yes, and I love every moment.  My favorite kick was during school.  I work with one of those special friends.  As I said his name firmly the baby gave me one good hard kick! It made me laugh. 

Cravings: Mangos, 10 for $10!! Also, ranch dressing my favorite is to put it on my veggies! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: For sure, the kids have finally started making more comments about it. 

Gender: GIRL!!! 

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In and looks like it will stay that way.

Wedding rings on or off? all off, my fancy Claire's rings for now
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy  

Looking forward to: trip to Telluride to see my blonde BFF and celebrate my 30th!