Rock'n and Roll'n

Thought I would upload a little video of a sample of what my stomach does throughout the day...this isn't the best video because baby literally stops moving when I turn the recorder on.  Figures, our kid would be difficult right from the get go, good thing we love baby so much already ;-)

I also thought it would be a good idea to have a recording of baby's heartbeat when it is still a resident in my stomach.  So today during the non stress test I did a little recording.  Heartbeat is super fast but very strong, look forward to having the little munchkin in my arms and sharing the closeness of holding with Kyle.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1S7CycuSuKEZ2cyVC01THlVSTg/view?usp=sharing

Last "Push"

I'll start with the fun stuff and then you can stop reading if you want to.  BUMP pictures....

 

 

I really really do feel like there is zero room left in my stomach for this baby to grow.  Some days I feel like baby is literally trying to claw/kick/elbow its' way out.  Other days I feel like the skin is going to explode like a balloon blown up too much.  Then others I look down at my tummy and think gosh I'm not really that big until I look in the mirror and shock myself with the bump.  Baby is so in my way with normal things it literally hurts to tie my shoes, put on my pants, pick things up, etc.  I am beyond thankful that this stage of uncomfortable didn't kick in until just very recently.  I still sleep amazing when Kyle let's me keep the window open at night so I don't bake.  I do look forward to flopping down on the bed on my stomach real soon. 

 

Dr. update, I went yesterday and she said all my blood work has returned to pristine levels and she is uncertain why I got such a weird reading that one test.  My co-workers blame stress but how do you really prove that.  Either way I'm glad things are back to normal.  I do get to increase my visit frequencies to the OB, I go back on Monday and again on Thursday (my DUE DATE, can you believe it, it is finally here?!?!?!).  I also go back to the ultrasound place tomorrow morning for another non-stress test (NST) and measuring fluid levels.  Last week the tech asked if I could feel the contractions I was having during the NST, strange to thing they were happening and I had no idea.  Report from last Friday's tests were baby looks great, lots of movement and fluid levels are good (including my bladder that was extremely full and took over the ultrasound image). Baby is in the head down position with its' little feet up by the forehead.  Only problem is the head down isn't dropping into the birth canal.  Dr. told me it is very important if my water breaks not to dilly dally at home or work, to get my booty to the hospital so the cord doesn't start coming out because baby's head isn't there to act as a plug.  10-4 doctor, that takes a lot of guessing out of when to go other than I hope I can tell when/if my water breaks. HA!

 

 

 

Now the reflection time of the blog...it has really started to hit me how different our lives are going to be after this baby gets here.  On the excited hand I am going to have a little buddy for life, someone who will always love me and call me Mom.  I look at the relationship I have with my Mom (and Dad for that matter) and can't believe I'm going to be that lucky to have a baby of my own and build a bond, friendship and love with another human being.  I get to watch Kyle grow into an amazing father and the role model I know he is capable of being, he is a hard working, genuine and faithful man who will lead our little family to be good people and flourish.  We are excited for family camping trips, Halloween costumes, tooth fairy visits, Sunday morning soccer games, golf buddies, slumber weekends at Grandma and Grandpa's house, ballet recitals, girl/boy scout meetings, parent teach conferences, driveway talent shows...the list goes on and on. 

 

But I'm also scared of saying goodbye to the life we have, the freedom to go to a Shark's game last minute or happy hours for no apparent reason.  Quick trips to target or a boozy weekend in SLO.  I know our lives will be so filled with love and devotion to our new addition that these things will seem pointless but said baby isn't here yet and I think a morning period for this freedom is due.  I think it healthy to feel these things, acknowledge them, own them and face them, hiding from them and denying them would do a disservice to myself.  I don't know if anyone else feels/felt like this before the new baby arrived but I would hate to not say how I feel and others feel alone in their same feelings.  I don't have a single regret and I still can NOT wait for baby C to make the official appearance but I do mourn the loss of my sleepy Sunday mornings with the puppy dogs and the trip to Greece/Italy we haven't done yet. Life is changing and I know my heart will be filled with love and I will never look back but I am so so so thankful for the wonderful time I've spent enjoying my husband, dogs, family, friends and the opportunities presented to us.  I know these things don't have to stop completely they will just take some extra planning, preparation and support from friends and family. 

 

Alright, I feel better getting those words off my chest and feeling them "out loud."  I look forward to enjoying this weekend with Kyle, going to our infant care and breastfeeding class on Saturday, doing a little veggie planting Saturday after class and Sunday while it is supposed to be raining doing a little yoga and pedicure time with the girls.

 

Can't wait to share pictures and baby story when time comes :-)  Thanks all!



36, 37, Hospital Visits and 3D ultrasound pictures

Well well well, we are down to 17 days until D-day and I feel like things are going haywire.  The Friday before the shower I went to the hospital for two blurry vision headaches.  Spent about 1.5 hours getting tested and watched, they were very confident that I didn't have preeclampsia.  Things were going well until this past Sunday and I had another blurry vision headache and then 2 more on Monday.  I mentioned as much to my Dr. at my normal appointment, she ordered blood tests and urine tests.  I got a call on Tuesday night that she wanted me to come in first thing Wednesday morning for a follow up.  When I got there she explained that my urine was still not showing any protein, my blood pressure was normal but there was elevated levels of PIH in my liver results.  Dr. sent me to the hospital to have the tests run again, I was there for 3 hours hooked up to non stress test monitors and heart beat monitor.  Baby was moving like crazy and the heart beat was great, my blood pressure was excellent.  Blood tests from that visit indicated that my liver PIH levels were returning to normal but the Dr. ordered me to do a 24 hour urine collection just to verify.  I had just enough time to do the collection before it was baby shower time at work.

What a special day that was, so many generous gifts and words of wisdom and love from my co-workers.  They went with a book theme, so the nursery is stocked full with some lovely reading materials. I should be getting pictures from the shower this week and I'll share when I get them.

Friday morning Kyle and I went to the ultrasound location and baby and I under went another non stress test. During this test they wanted to be sure baby did two big movements over 20 minutes.  The tech came back into my room at 10 minutes and said baby had been jumping around, way more than the minimum needed movements but they had to finish the test.  Then Kyle got to join me in the ultrasound room where baby was measured for growth.  Boy oh boy does baby have some chubby cheeks, not hurting for nutrients in my tummy.  They said that baby was growing right on track and that everything looked beautiful, as of Friday they estimated weight right now at 6 lbs 11 oz.  Said they would expect 0.5-1lb more of growth before baby is delivered, that would put us just under 8 pounds and I would be more than happy with that.

I went back to my normal Dr. appointment this afternoon, she did her normal exam and said she would put money on me going past my due date.  She said baby was moving around like crazy but it was one of the most stubborn she had seen in a long time.  Baby has not dropped and it would be nearly impossible to induce me if the need should arise.  So, for now baby is comfortable (mommy less and less comfortable each and every day).  I say to little baby, you have a couple more weeks and then I think it about time to show this Dr. what we are made of.    I had more blood work run this afternoon and will go back from more on Thursday before another ultrasound and non stress test Friday morning.  I'm told I will be doing this routine weekly until baby has arrived.

We did get both cars outfitted for the carseats and I have my bag contents ready just need to put them in a bag.  I feel like I have more bathroom and toiletries than I need but they take up so little room I would rather have them than not.  If anyone has a personal "must" have item please feel free to let me know.  I don't feel like I'll need all that much and to be honest the hospital is like 2 minutes from a mall and not all that far from home should I need to send Kyle out.  Our diaper bags have basic stuff in them and are ready for when we are brave enough to venture out.

I think that is enough for now, just wanted to give everyone an update on what has been going on with me.  I feel awesome and yoga is my friend, I can't wait to go again this week. I very much look forward to a deep tissue massage after baby has come, my back and shoulders and hip flexors could use a good deep rub.

36 weeks big

37 weeks and growing growing

Dr. says baby isn't dropping but my tummy appears to show differently, baby is getting heavy!!

My family seems to think baby looks like me, top ultrasound and the little picture of me, told you baby has chubby cheeks

Here is my first picture this pregnancy and the last picture I've taken.  Can't wait to do a little time lapse at the very end.

Baby Shower

What a fantastic day!  I feel so honored and blessed to have so many ladies (and men) that love me and our baby.  We celebrated the new addition to the Childers' household on a glorious day.  It was a shower to remember, with homemade umbrella cookies, a deliciously cute cake, yummy food, beautiful decorations, crafts that baby C will get to use for the first few months of their life, gifts out the wazoo and more laughter and love than all the rest combined.  My sister did such an amazing job of thinking of all the little details, what an amazing party planner she is, I am so extremely lucky to have her by my side.  Thank you to all those that joined the party whether it was in person or in spirit, baby C feels the love!  There will never be enough words that I can put together to thank my family, especially my sister, for such a wonderful party.

Shannan and her Mom Karen, helping do day of details, thank you for coming to joint he party.

Dessert table with beautiful decorations.

Onsie station

Diaper raffle

Guests enjoying the sunny morning, eating and decorating onsies

Teacup favors, what a cute idea, the guests loved it!

That would be me :-)  trying to stay cool in the warm sun

homemade cookies, still enjoying them

Grandma, Mommy, baby C and Twink

Gifts setup outside, ended up opening them inside due to the warm weather

G. Grandma and Grandma to be, beautiful ladies

Me and Shannan catching up and enjoying the weather

decorations and dessert station, thank you Devarae for all the pictures and the beautiful decorations

How adorable is this cake?!?!

Onsie from Auntie Devarae and Uncle Mychal

Trying to pick my favorite of the homemade onsies, that was a difficult decision

Basketball ladies sans Kale, thank you for coming to the party

Cousins!!

4 generations, love these ladies (and maybe a couple boys???)

Auntie Cassie, thank you for making the trip to join the party

cool timeline Devarae put together, neat to see the progress all lined up

My mom surprised me with pictures of Kyle as a baby, how fun to see us side by side.

Weeks 33-35 updates, Quick LA trip and Sneaky Peaky of Maternity Pictures (shower in a separate blog)

Wow, it has been a couple weeks since I've updated the blog...where to start, bump and baby I suppose.  So up to this point my pregnancy has been going so smooth I wouldn't even know I was pregnant expect this large bump growing before my eyes.  But this last 2-3 weeks have taken a toll on my health, nothing serious I've gotten a couple head colds that due to my system concentrating on baby have turned into much larger colds than normal and have hung around longer than they should. In all my years working I have rarely taken days off work due to colds but my energy and concentration levels have been zapped more from the cold than normal so I've had to call in sick and hang with the pups to get better.  To top things off I made my first trip to the hospital to get checked out after work on Thursday due to blurred vision before and after work.  Things checked out fantastic, baby was very healthy and it seems no sleep and stressful work gave me a migraine, thankfully no preeclampsia.  Although I never want to go to the hospital when not necessary, it did give me a little glimpse into what I will experience with the hospital staff in the very near future.  I was very pleased with the bedside manner and the attentiveness I experienced.  

As for baby, now that I am at 35, almost 36 weeks, I go to the Dr. once a week for check ups.  She has done two pelvic exams to check my progress and each time she said nothing should happen for another 2-3 weeks but she has been surprised before.  If something were to happen now, she would not stop the progress if things were to get rolling now.  So will we have a March or April baby, only time will tell.  When I visited this week, Dr. couldn't tell position of baby so she is going to do an ultrasound on Monday to get a better look at how baby is sitting in my belly.  At 32 weeks the tech told me baby was butt up under my ribs and it doesn't feel like anything has changed with the pressure so we will see on Monday what we see.  

Besides the head colds and migraine, I feel great, tight tummy skin and lots of peeing but baby is dancing up a storm.  Sleeping has been difficult for me and I can't figure out why, I'm not uncomfortable and I'm not worrying about things, sleep is just playing hide and seek from me.  Oh well, I'll make it through.  

Quick trip to LA...when Kyle and I were flying home from the surprise trip to San Diego, I said whelp that is the last trip until baby arrives, little did I know not 2 weeks later we would get back on an airplane.  My dad's mom has been diagnosed with stage 3/4 lung cancer and her time with us is limited, so Kyle and I, my mom and dad, and Mychal and Devarae all converged on her house for the weekend just to hand out and spend some time with her.  She was doing amazingly well and I am hopeful that she will get to meet her great grand baby very soon.  We had gorgeous weather while we were down visit and got in some time with my mom's mom too. This trip was the first time we got to really see Devarae's bump, can't wait to meet her little baby in June/July.  

To round out this blog post I am sharing the two sneak peak photos that were shared with us from our maternity photo shoot.  We Bree in Monterey on 17 mile drive so a chilly day of photos.  She did an extremely good job making what can be an awkward experience into something fun and very special.  We had a great experience and can't wait for her to document our delivery and meeting baby for the first time, then doing our infant photos.  If you are in the area and need a photographer, please check out her website, she does amazing work.  http://www.katherinebreewalker.com/  This is such a special time for us and to have such beautiful pictures to document it is an even more special gift, thank you Bree!

Next blog I will share photos and thoughts about the out of this world baby shower my sister, mom and grandma threw for me this weekend.  

Weekly update and 32 week Ultrasound

Well here we are, almost at the 33 week mark, already behind when I'm doing an update ;-)  So where to start, progress...the belly is getting bigger and bigger and baby is pushing my organs and insides out of the way.  Ultrasound tech said the little booty and potentially feet are what I feel shoving up under my right ribs.  So as of now (I know we have a lot time left) the baby is head down face out in a good position to come out, makes mom happy other than the rib uncomfortable position.  I feel great so far, I'm very thankful to still be sleeping good and no food aversions to speak of.  I did get a little wake up call this morning, baby decided to do the wave dance for about 20 minutes at 4am.  So nice to feel the activity but would also like to sleep ;-)  My energy level is still way up, it feels good to remain active and walk the pups and go to yoga.  I went swimming this weekend for a little cardio and it felt AMAZING!!!  The cool water and weightlessness was the best thing ever, unfortunately the gym closed the pool on Monday for cleaning and maintenance until March 9th :-(  After that I will be a little fish ;-) 

 

Here are a couple bump update pictures...Kyle is getting better at taking the pictures and the new phone helps with quality :-)

 

We did our last sneak peak ultrasound this past Friday at 32 weeks, they surprised us we some 3D views, what a fun little preview of our wee munchkin.  Baby is measuring right on track with the averages for weight, length and noggin size ;-)  Mommy is very happy with that, once baby is born we can work on getting into the 90%.  Ultrasound tech said baby is measuring around 4.5 pounds right now.  The first view we got of the wee one was the foot, Kyle and I are taking guesses on how big a hockey skate/ballet or golf shoe this baby will end up wearing, seems like a big foot :-)

 

Less than 8 weeks till D-day...I went for my normal check up on Monday, Dr. was VERY impressed my our little peanuts face on picture, said she hadn't seen one taken that clear and sharp in years.  Joked that the kid was destined for Hollywood, I said sounds good to me, can take care of Mom and Dad ;)  She was pleased with my vitals and said she would see me again in a couple weeks, after that I'll switch to weekly appointments indicating baby is to the point where coming to greet us would be perfectly healthy.  We are just beyond excited :-)

After the Dr.'s appointment I joined Kyle at his office for a baby shower over lunch.   It was a great gathering as a couple of his co-workers used to be my co-workers as well.  We had a fabulous lunch, played a couple silly games.  See picture of the mashup game, everyone assembled pieces of Kyle and my face into what they thought baby would look like, freakin' hilarious!  Then we all voted on categories like Most Creepy, Most likely to succeed, Best Hair, Best Smile, Most Popular.  In the end Kyle and I voted for number 8 as the overall winner, time will tell if that person is correct. 

In other news, Kyle and I had a fantastic valentine's day.  We went to an early dinner, got him the flu shot so he won't have to wear a mask the entire time we are in the hospital and watch Gone Girl at home with the pups.  Earlier that day we both worked our hineys off in the yard, I did a lot of tree and bush hacking and general clean up, Kyle tackled the lawns.  Felt good to get sweaty and dirty :-)

 

 

What a weekend we had BEFORE valentine's day...we made a surprise trip to San Diego for my sister's birthday.  My parents rented a beach house in Mission Bay for all of us to stay together.  Mychal tricked Devarae and got her down to the house for us all to surprise her.  It was great, we had a blast.  We walked on the beach, watched the sunsets, went on a food tour of La Jolla, eat yummy food, had a great brunch with a wonderful group of her friends and overall just got to hang out and relax.  It is so much fun to spend time with Devarae and "compare notes" on our experiences.  I can't wait to start planning her shower(s) and celebrate with her and then meet her little baby.  My wee one is going to be well traveled and handled baby before "it" even turns 3 months old, LOVE it!  

One final thought before I close this long blog session.  To add to my unusual/not typical pregnancy experience I am strangely really excited for the birth portion of this journey.  I know a lot of women get really scared about the pain and what their experience will be like but I feel totally at peace with that part, I have a great doctor and I think my hospital is wonderful.  For so long I've heard stories about this part of things and how rough it is but to me it is the final push before something wonderful joins our family and I can't wait for that day to be here (ok I can wait a little longer so baby is ready, but you know what I mean).  I look forward to sharing this experience with Kyle and the bond something like this will form between us, it is really something only the two of us can share together and I think that is amazing.  This child is already such a huge part of our family and is loved in so many ways and fashions it just makes me overwhelmed with joy to meet this person. 

Ok ok, enough of my gush episode, I'll post some more pictures in a couple weeks or if something fantastic happens between now and then.  Thank you all for reading this post, especially those who made it all the way to the end.

Until next time,

Shalyce and the dancing monkey in my tummy ;-)

Couldn't help myself

Too darn cute not to share, love my fury four legged kids and the soon to be two legged kid, melts my heart.