32 Weeks and then some

    Of course, I promised to write more, but once again, another four weeks has passed me by and I haven't written any of my thoughts about the pregnancy. When my midwives measured me at 28 weeks I was measuring a little small. I was semi excited thinking, hey, maybe I will have a smaller baby. They measured me again at 32 weeks and alas, I was measuring 32.5. Right on target plust a little. I hope that this little guy doesn't try to grow what he needs to and then some for the last 8 weeks of the pregnancy. Guess only time will tell.

    I can tell that space is getting very cramped for our little guy. He has started pushing out constantly. I  can feel where he is putting his bum and his back and feet. Its cute, but at the same time, it feels weird and some times its painful because he pushes so stinkin' hard. He is going to be one of those kids that can't sit still. I just know it! I am grateful that he is growing big and strong, but man, I can't wait until I can breathe again! 

    My complaints for the past month are mostly just back aches. Not my lower back, but my upper back. Weird right? I was expecting lots of lower back stuff, not the upper back stuff. It is like my spine aches. Hopefully my prenatal massage will help work some of the stuff out. I don't particularly want to go to the chiropractor. In my mind I was thinking, "I did drumline for three years. My back is used to carrying heavy things, I shouldn't have a problem." But.... alas, I wasn't as lucky as I thought. My only other complaint is missing my husband. It has been ok with him gone, but I have definitely had a few really rough days with out him. Thankfully I have really supportive friends in Cedar, and crazily enough, a lot of them are in the same boat as me. They are pregnant or have kids and their husband travels a lot or works a ton so they rarely see their spouses as well. Its nice to have a "support group." 

    My cravings this month have mostly been steamed carrots and broccoli, and chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies. Nothing crazy and obscure, but I do have to say, its been a really long time since I made no bake cookies, and boy were they delicious!

     Baby boy has started to respond to me when I touch my belly he will kick back or move so that he is pushing up against my hand. Its really cute and interesting to think that I can physically bond with him before he is even born. Paul isn't quite as lucky as I am though. He gets to feel baby move and kick, but I don't know that he has responded to Paul the way he has with me. 

     We have gotten into a pretty good routine, baby and I. He knows that when I shower at night its time to settle down and sleep. I don't know if he wiggles lots at night because I haven't ever woken up to him moving. So I assume he is just chillin' or sleeping. I did throw him off schedule this last weekend though. I had to shower in the morning and he had no idea what to do. I could tell he was settling down getting ready for the night, but I didn't settle down to sleep, I kept moving around. So he was calm for a little than started squirming. Thankfully we are back on routine. 

    Everyone tells me I need to talk to my belly and read to him, but it still feels a little weird to me. I read him a story once and that was interesting. And I have tried to talk to him. But its just weird still. Hopefully these next few weeks I can get used to talking to him. I bet he is just as lonely as I am. Maybe we can keep each other company!

     I have started getting into the nesting stage. I am ready to start getting everything ready for baby to come. But, I don't have any time! I have been wanting to prepare for the last 2 weeks but finding time has been a nightmare! I am hoping that in the next few weeks I can prioritize my time a little better to start getting things in order. In the back of my mind I keep thinking I have plenty of time. But at the same time, if I have as much time in the next 8 weeks that I have now, I really need to start doing a little bit every day, or I will definitely not be ready when baby decides to come!

                                   

Pajama day at school! Best day ever! I wish I could get away with wearing pajamas to work everyday. I would be so comfortable! This 30 weeks! Feeling big but not completely massive yet. 

31 weeks. Some how I am still rockin' my pre-pregnancy pants. They are definitely not quite as comfy as wearing the maternity pants, but I only have a few pairs of maternity pants I can get away with wearing at school. So I tend to alternate between maternity and regular. The bigger I get though, I may just have to wear the same pants every day. Guess we will see how things turn out as the weeks go by.

Here we are at 32 weeks. The picture makes me look like I am massively more huger than 31 weeks, but I blame the clothing. Some of my clothes make me look oober pregnant, others make me look not quite so pregnant, and I think this is one of those shirts that does make me look a little more preggo. Those pants though, geez found them at a thrift shop for $6. Best 6 dollars I have spend in the past few months. They can be pants and capris which is perfect for the 30-70 degree weather we have been having in Cedar City the past few weeks. 

     

And We Made it to the Third Trimester!

     It has been a little over a month, and my slacker self has not found the time to sit down and write anything up. There have been tons of changes happening and hopefully I can remember enough of them to make this post worth while.

     Paul started working at Tanner a little over a month ago. Its been hard. Not like crazy super ridiculous, I could never live on my own hard, just lonely and empty. But I do love that I get to face time him every night. That helps make things a little easier. We hold conversations with each other better than we did before. I love that I have the whole bed to myself so I can sprawl out and twist and turn any way that is comfortable to me. I also love having some free time in the evenings to work on projects. But I terribly miss the company. I miss having a husband, and having someone just to fill space in my house so its not so empty. I am super grateful Paul has a good job, and that he is paving the way for our future family, but it is definitely a challenge to not have him around all the time. I truly do cherish every minute I spend with him when he comes down to visit. 

     The voyage with the baby has been quite interesting. I started getting charley horses in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Thankfully my amazing mom came up with a great remedy and I haven't had any since. Well, as long as I remember to put on my magnesium spray I haven't had any problems! I am super grateful too because waking up clutching your leg in the middle of the night isn't pleasant. And the few times Paul has been there to witness my charley horses he has kind of flipped out and not known what to do to help. What a stud though. 

     Pushups are getting a little trickier to do. I can still to them. I am actually really impressed that with the weight gain of pregnancy I have been able to keep my muscle tone up and still do at least 10 pushups. I can't go down all the way anymore though because my belly hits the ground these days. I am going to have to start modifying my pushups to wall pushups or something so I still stay in shape for the last few months. Running is becoming more of a challenge as well. I still enjoy it, but my lower back doesn't enjoy the heavy front load of weight that I make it carry when I run. If I do run I usually have to take at least 3 days off to recover from it before I feel like I can do it again. But I am still feeling somewhat fit and healthy even at 29.5 weeks. So thats good news! 

     Last post I complained a lot about the baby wiggling and moving and being annoying. I still have times when it does get a little annoying, but I have had a change of attitude and am actually very excited and grateful when I feel him move. Last night was seriously the first night I think I could tell he had the hiccups. My friends and family have been saying just you wait till the hiccups come. And until last night I really truly didn't think I had ever felt them. Well now I have. Paul was in the middle of praying with me and I just totally started giggling. Inappropriate I know, but it was just so funny to feel the perfectly timed little jolts baby was sending pretty much to my bladder. 

     The past week and a half baby has been moving like CRAZY. All the time. I don't know if its what I am eating, or if he is just growing a ton and feels the need to stretch all the time. No idea. I have tried to find a pattern in his behavior, but there really isn't one. He doesn't wiggle lots when I have music on, or when I scrunch up my tummy, or when I play the piano, or take a shower. Its all just sort of random. Some days its just while I sit and think, or lay on my side. Other days it is when I am taking a shower, and others when I am eating or practicing piano. I guess I have been super stressed out at work the past few weeks and maybe he wiggles so much to tell me to knock it off or something. I dunno though. I think he is just going to be a lot like his mom and constantly want to do his own thing all the time. HaHa guess we will find out in a few months. 

     Paul's parents threw a baby shower for me a few weeks ago. Yes it seems a little early to be having a baby shower, but I am only going to be in Salt Lake a few more times before the baby comes, so we had to do it early. I am truly grateful for the love and the support that everyone showed us. Paul and I feel like we could actually have a baby and be somewhat ready for it now. We have a car seat and a stroller and clothes and diapers and we are set! Okay not really, but I feel like we really could have a baby and everything would work out. 

     I wore a pair of pre pregnancy pants the other day with a belly band and I vowed that I just couldn't do that any more, and I needed to actually wear maternity clothes all the time. But I comfortably fit into a pair of pre-pregnancy pants today, (with a belly band of course), and maybe I can still get away with wearing them occasionally. We will see. 

      I have also started working on the last few of my cloth diapers. Now that I know its a boy I get to make some cute boy ones. Paul still thinks I am crazy for want to try the whole cloth diaper thing, but I think it will be a great way to save money. I bet, being the accountant that he is, will really realize how grateful he is for a wife who wants to save him a couple grand a year in not having to buy diapers all the time. The ones I am working on are really cute. I can't wait to finish them. I have just been way busy at work and with young womens and I haven't have any time to work on them. Good thing I still have a few months before I really need to start worrying. 

    We also decided to buy a new car. Yeah, crazy. Completely a spur of the moment decision. Someone in Cedar posted on the blog shop that they were selling their car. I looked at it, felt prompted to show Paul, he decided that he felt good about it, 3 hours later I went over to talk to them and test drive it, and we just felt good about the decision. Now paperwork is being done and we are figuring everything out so we can buy it from them. But we have to sell the truck now too. That is going to be sad for me. My truck was my very first car, I love her, but it is time to sell her. I almost can't fit behind the wheel with my growing belly, so it is for the best. Guess we will see what the future holds.

     I really need to be better about blogging more frequently. It has just been really chaotic lately. And honestly, everything else going on has been more important than blogging. I wouldn't have such massive rambly long posts if I could get around to it more often. I say this every post, but I really will try to get better at finding time!

This picture is 28 weeks. Feeling pretty good. Craving all things healthy like steamed carrots and broccoli. Hardest part of this month is that fact that I can't reach my toes very easily. Putting on pants is getting to be a challenge as well! Best part of this month, is that Paul can distinctly feel baby now. He could before but it was barely anything. Paul can really tell when he is kicking now. So that is great!

I was late getting the post up, so this is week 30. Not the best picture ever. I look like a goon, but I feel like a doubled my belly size in two weeks! I think maybe baby finally flipped? Who knows. We will find out at our next appointment.  Really starting to feel pregnant! Starting to waddle to! AHH!

Week 24

     I have been incredibly awful at writing down my thoughts and feelings through the pregnancy. Every one I talk with always says, make sure you take notes and write in a journal every little detail about what you think and feel and say and do. Well, I didn't really want my journal to be filled with the same boring things every day, so I guess its kind of ok that I have been a slacker at blogging. Little baby Burnett is doing great, as far as I know.
     We went back and had a second ultrasound just to double check the gender. For sure its a boy! We are completely stoked now, but we have absolutely no idea what we want to name him. We have a few names we like, but we don't really LOVE any names yet. Good thing we still have three + months to figure it all out.
      This past week Paul has been in Salt Lake working. It is our first week apart and I am hanging in there. I had my first little emotional attack the other day. Thankfully/sadly I had a horrible nightmare that woke me up at 3:30, so I could call Paul and apologize to him for being so emotional and mean to him. I am so grateful that he puts up with me and loves me so much. Poor Paul hasn't been able to feel baby kick yet. I think if he put his hand on my belly now, sadly he didn't get to feel baby before he moved up North.
       I suppose I should write a few of the things I have been thinking and feeling. Well first of all, everyone asks me, "Oh do you like being pregnant?" "Isn't it just so much fun?" UM NO! I am so selfish I suppose, but being pregnant really isn't all that people crack it up to be. Yes, its exciting, yes I can't wait to be a mother, but all these changes are just trying to kill me! People tell me I look like I am glowing, and all I can think of when they say that is, "Well duh, I am having a hot flash of course I look rosy posy." The whole belly thing is getting a little frustrating too! I have a hard time doing pushups these days, I can barely clip my toenails, when I lean up against the kitchen sink I get kicked, and I can't get close enough to the truck anymore to scrape the windshield! Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to be a mom, but holy cow, no one told me it would be like this!
     I must say feeling the baby move is both exciting and weird. I feel like I have no control of my body some days. I will be teaching a lesson perfectly fine, then two minutes later I have to pee or I might die. Little boy likes to kick my bladder. Mostly when its full though. I think its his way of saying, "pee mom, you're cramping my style." Its also kind of weird teaching a reading group and your belly starts moving. Sometimes I feel like I have massive gas bubbles inside me, but I know its just the baby. Its just weird! Its a good thing I don't get motion sickness or I would be in trouble. This guy flips so much sometimes I feel like I am on a loop the loop roller coaster.
     And, last thing to vent about is the comments people say to me. Yes, most of them are kind and genuine, but I just don't know what to say anymore. I am told multiple times a day how cute I look, and my clothes are just so cute, but what do you say to that? I can only say thanks so many times... I am grateful that people are so kind and compliment me, but I don't want to sound snooty or say the same things over and over again...
    Well, pregnancy has some perks. You instantly have lots of friends. And people you didn't normally get along with, that just happen to be pregnant with you, become your support buddies. Those are some nice positives about being pregnant. :) I truly do enjoy feeling baby boy move though too. When I practice piano or sing along with music he moves around a lot. It seems weird, but its really kind of touching to be able to bond and connect with him in simple little ways. My phone app says we are supposed to talk to baby and read to him, which is a little strange, but I guess I sing and talk to my garden, so talking to a baby shouldn't be too much different.
     I have tried to take pictures as the months go by. I don't want to take one every week, or I would have a billion, so every 4ish weeks I get a picture. Here are the pictures that I have thus far in the pregnancy.

Week 20

Right before christmas. I finally had energy to do the things I wanted to do! What I craved the most during these few weeks was fresh cherries!! Oh man, but you can't buy them in December! I almost died! Hardest part of the month was needing to go pee ALL the time.

Week 24

Hardest part of this month was having my belly get in the way of me doing things. Also, Paul left me for SLC during this month as well and that was kind of hard for me. The best part of the month is feeling all the cute little wiggles happening inside. I craved Cafe Rio a lot (never got it though) and I had a phase where I craved french fries! Lucky for me, Paul spoiled me and bought me french fries three days in a row. Now that I think about fries I just want to throw up, but hey, I craved them once upon a time. We also heard baby's heart beat again, and it sounds like a normal person now! Kinda fun!

And the Gender is...

    Well, I have been really bad at posting frequently, tried to do better, but life is busy. So I will post what I can get. I still haven't thought a whole lot about baby, because I don't really have time. Between work, young womens, and life I am pretty swamped. It is nice though because I don't sit around thinking about being pregnant all the time.
      Paul and I decided that we wanted to know what the gender was earlier than we had originally planned. We were going to wait until Christmas, but thought it better to find out today. The great thing about us going with a midwife (mine is amazing by the way), is that we really get to choose when we have an ultrasound. Plus I don't have to get oodles of tests done that I don't feel like I need. Anyway, our midwife referred us to a great ultrasound studio.
     The package we paid for was supposed to be only 30 minutes of ultrasound footage with only a few pictures, but walked out of there with 124 pictures on a dvd and an hour long session of watching our cute little baby! No joke! I don't even know what to do with that many pictures.
      Well, from the beginning of time, Paul and I had it set in our minds that we would be having a baby girl first. We were dead set on it and pretty sure that was what we were having. Guess God had other plans for us because we get to have a cute little boy first!
     To be honest, I thought I was going to be really sad, like devastatingly sad. I wasn't that sad, but I wasn't bursting with excitement. I know that sounds bad, but I truly thought we were having a girl. On the long drive home, with a milkshake in hand, I got time to ponder and think about the new addition to our family. I am not to the point where I am dancing with excitement yet, but I know and feel in my heart that this family was set apart and chosen long before I had a say in it, and for that reason there is a purpose that we are blessed to have a little Mr. joining us.
     I am sure the more I think about it and plan on it the more excited I will get. And I sure hope so. I am truly grateful that we have a healthy baby, that is for sure. It took us seriously like 40 minutes just to get him to sit still enough for us to get a picture of the gender. Of the 124 pictures we have, bet ya only 2 of them are of him showing off for us! He will certainly be a frisbee player though. Even in de womb he knows how to lay out :)
     The pregnancy does seem more real to me know. I thought it might start to click after the ultrasound. It has to some degree. It really was breath taking seeing our cute little guy up on the screen. I can't believe I am almost half way there. 17 weeks tomorrow! The past 5 weeks have flown by! I sure hope the next 23 do the same!

Week 16 in both pictures, but I totally feel like two days later I totally popped. Except now that I am  17 weeks I feel like I am smaller. Hmm... Weird. But hey, I still fit my skinny jeans so life is peachy!

Liz our technician put in the weeks wrong. I am really 17 weeks, but other than that our pictures turned out great!

There he is giggling at us because he is such a stinker and thinks he is so funny! (prolly just yawning) but still, he was such a stinker the whole time!

The 3D pictures were a little bit harder to make out, but if you look at the picture right you can see his cute little face in the top left corner of the picture. 

Trimester #2

     I have been really bad about writing down my thoughts lately. I am nearly 14 weeks and only have three posts about the pregnancy. I thought that since I have a little bit of time, I might write a post about what has been running through my mind, and how I have been feeling.
     From week 7, I pretty much got morning sickness. Thankfully it wasn't bad, but it was definitely irritable. If I got too hot, or too hungry, or smelled anything that I didn't like, it would trigger the nausea. Thankfully being at school helped keep my mind off things, but at the same time, being at school the heater in my classroom is unpredictable, and you know how stinky kids fresh from P.E. smell. I tried to be positive and optimistic always, but feeling sick all the time certainly did not put me in the greatest of moods.
     I do feel that things have started to calm down a little. I do get nauseated if I stay up too late, or don't get enough sleep, and sometimes when I am hungry, but it is not as strong as it was before. I have also started to think that maybe I might feel skittles moving around. I can't tell for sure, but it sure makes me excited to think about.
     Paul and I were talking the other day about everything, and he asked me what I was constantly thinking about and feeling, being pregnant. Maybe I am not putting enough into it, because my response was, "nothing." Not really. I still feel like the whole thing is surreal. Hearing the heartbeat was amazing, but I still don't feel like being a mom has set in. And maybe it won't until I actually give birth. I want to be thoughtful and contemplative, but I guess it needs to sink in first.
      All I know, is that I am exceedingly grateful to my Heavenly Parents for the opportunity they have given me to be a mother, and Paul a father. And while I don't fully understand right now, I know that in time, I will understand.

Skittles Heart Beat

     Today was the first prenatal appointment Paul and I had with our midwife. I will be honest and say that I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I figured if we were going to the hospital they might try and get a heart beat and check other things, but I didn't really quite know how everything would work out with a midwife. 

     Lily came over with her assistant, who is one of my friends from planning stake girls camp, Sara Cram. They checked vitals, and pricked my finger to get some blood, and to my surprise they actually tried to get a heartbeat. I honestly didn't know that Lily would have access to the nifty contraption she has to check for heart beats. It was so crazy. Sara had to search around for a little bit to find it, but when she found it, Skittles heartbeat was strong. It was shocking to me, to actually have physical proof that there was something growing inside me! Paul knows I am emotional and even doubly so since being pregnant, so he just kept on watching, waiting for me to start crying. I didn't, but I thought it was funny that he would think I would though.

     It has been a challenge for me to stay happy and keep my dinner in my stomach. If any of you know me, I can handle almost ANY type of sickness and be a trooper about it, but when it comes to nausea and throwing up, I just don't handle it very well. So, with that being said, morning sickness has definitely been a trial of my faith. I am grateful though because it keeps me humble and helps me to remember the Savior and the important things in life. 

     We are officially at week 9 and super excited that everything keeps progressing smoothly. As far as my thoughts go, I am starting to get a little more excited. It is less surreal now that I have heard a heartbeat, but I still don't think it has fully sunk in yet. I am thinking that when I start to show, or when I actually have an ultra sound and see our lil' Skittles, then it will be quite real. My cravings thus far have been normal. Usually I don't crave something, but if I see an add, or start thinking about food, I think of something, (usually quite unhealthy), and fixate on it a little bit. Milkshakes, Arby's roast beef and cheddar, greek yogurt, and caramel ice cream are the huge cravings I have had lately. 

     My sense of smell has gotten quite a bit stronger as well. A lot of smells I used to like are horrible. Things I could handle are horrible, and good smells, are extra good and make me hungry if they are food related. The smelly kids after recess have been a hard smell to get used to. It never bothered me before, but with the super sniffer, I can smell EVERYTHING! The cleaning stuff a few of the teachers use makes me gag, The cafeteria always smells SO good. It makes me hungry every day. My house when I first walk in the door can sometimes set me off. Yeah, even the little things. 

     All in all, we are super excited. Each week that passes gives me hope that after the first trimester my nausea will get better. Nothing is for sure, but I can sure hope! 
     Paul was able to record our little skittles heartbeat. I thought it would be fun to post it in my blog that way we will always have it. 

Camping With My Faves

     Update, Paul received a job in Salt Lake for  a company called Tanner LLC. He starts in January, yet, I have to teach school until June. Sadly we will live apart through the third trimester of my pregnancy. Anyway, I told him that before things got crazy and too cold outside, he HAD to take me camping again. I asked my best friend Lisa if she wanted to come camping and of course she was in!
     We didn't leave until way late in the evening. We were keeping our fingers crossed that even though we weren't getting there until 8 at night, our first come first serve campsite would still have a vacancy. We lucked out and were able to get a great spot at the Red Cliffs campsite. Lisa and I set up camp while Paul got the fire ready for us to cook our dinner, (yeah, we still hadn't had dinner by 8). When we finally ate, oh my, it was the best dinner I have had in a while. Maybe because I was STARVING, or maybe it was really just that good!
     We sat around the camp fire and talked quite a while. I gave into my nausea and tiredness and started to doze in and out of sleep. Paul and Lisa told me they had a very great discussion about the gospel. You can bet I was a little disappointed when I knew what I missed out on. But at the same time, it was sleep or nausea.
     My biggest worry about camping was that I would have to pee multiple times in the middle of the night, (blame it on the pregnancy). I lucked out. But you certainly know what the first thing I did in the morning was! Once we had breakfast and got all packed up we headed out to go on a hike.
     Our hike was little but fun. We pretty much just bush wacked our way to the top of a fun little overlook, (good thing it wasn't a very long hike or I might have died! I was out of breath so quickly). After hiking we went to St. George, went to the store quick and then had a delicious meal at brick oven. I love spending time with Paul and Lisa. They are basically the my bestest friends ever!

Climbing to the top of a"really tall mountain"

The view from the top. Pretty cool!

The three amigos! Well until Lisa gets married. Then it will be four!!