Keep Calm and Elevate Your Cankles

So the time has come in my pregnancy where by the end of the day my ankle bones are hidden and they effortlessly combine with my calves in the beloved pregnancy symptom known as the cankle. 

Oh, and my fingers are starting to swell too...so much so that I'm hesitant to put my wedding ring and anniversary band on for fear of them getting stuck. So I just wear my wedding band. I haven't taken it off since our wedding day and so I think it's pretty much attached to my finger anyway.

When we went to the doctor yesterday for our 36 week appointment we had to see another doctor in the same practice as mine. She's out of the country this week (baby boy better STAY PUT until she gets back). The doctor we saw this week was great, but his advice for my swollen ankles is probably just not going to happen. His first bit of advice was to make sure I'm drinking plenty of water, which if I drink any more water I'll just need to sit on the toilet all day because I'm already running for the bathroom like 3 times an hour. He also suggested that I stay off my feet when possible. 

Which, I knew would help, and it makes sense. 

But there is still so much I need and want to do before baby boy is born. 

For instance, I still need to finish packing our hospital bags. I started last night but I'm still trying to figure out what we really will need and what we probably shouldn't bother lugging in there with us. There are so many lists out there of what to pack, but good grief some of the stuff just seems silly. I mean, a hairdryer? Really? I am going to have just pushed a human out of my lady parts...I don't think I'll be concerned with blow drying my hair. 

Second on my to do list is to wash up all of baby boy's blankets and socks. My mom came over to our house Saturday and we washed all of his clothes and got them all organized in his closet and drawers, which was such a huge help! So now all I have to wash is blankets and socks, also so I can finish his diaper bag to take to the hospital with us. Of course he'll need a light blanket and some socks for his journey home!

So really, there's not that much that needs to be done. Oh man. 

We are getting so close to meeting our son. 

That is so cool.

Honestly, the most frustrating part of the end of pregnancy for me is not knowing when he's going to come. I am a planner. I like to have a schedule. I like to know the days and times that things are going to happen. So not knowing when he is going to enter our lives is nerve wracking for me. No matter how much I plan or how "ready" we are, he is going to be born when he's ready. And I can't schedule it with him. And that makes me a little nervous. Also, not only is my doctor out of town this week, but my best friend Marie, who baby boy is going to know as "Aunt Ree", is on vacation with her family for TWO WEEKS! Now of course she has plane ticket money set aside just in case, but I've had a talk with baby boy and he knows he needs to stay put until she gets back in town so she can spend some of that money on something else for him ;) 

It's crazy to think that sometime in the next month we'll be speeding...I mean driving the speed limit...to the hospital, bags in tow, about to meet our son. We are so close to seeing his face, to hearing his cry, to being able to snuggle and hold him in our arms.

 And even though I don't know the exact day or time, the finish line of this journey is in sight, and I am so excited to get to the prize at the end

XOXO,

Courtney

Childbirth Class...FUN??

This past weekend Jim and I had our childbirth class and hospital tour. The class we took was the "Short and Sweet" version of our hospital's week night class. We chose the weekend version because with Jim's schedule, he would end up having to miss a lot of the sessions if we had to go two nights a week for several weeks. And I wanted him there for all of it, of course! I was so excited about the tour but kind of nervous for the class part. I was just kind of worried that all of the information would scare me about labor and delivery.

But the complete opposite happened!

 I AM SO EXCITED!!

Call me crazy, but talking about what my body is going to go through to get our baby boy into our arms was so cool. Learning about the stages of labor and how it will progress (even though I'm sure it won't go by the textbook) was really interesting. 

On Sunday the instructor had stations set up all around the room for us to practice each of the positions that women find helpful during labor. We practiced the different breathing techniques and acted out as though we were having a minute long contraction at each station. I would be lying if I said that Jim was mature and serious this whole time. And I would have been surprised if he had been! Oh my goodness that boy wouldn't let me do the "Hee Hee Hoo" breathing without making owl noises back at me after the "Hoo".  And if he's cracking jokes like that while I'm in labor, I'm sure it will either bring me some comic relief that I seriously need...or I will smack him. 

One of the two. I'm not sure which.

But seriously, Jim was AMAZING in class. He actually would answer questions (which, for him is HUGE...he doesn't do talking to strangers) and I could tell he was really paying attention. He was such an awesome support person during every practice minute of labor, even if he was cracking jokes to make me laugh. He would massage my back and try his best to practice encourage me, without laughing at my strange breathing and awkward body position. It made me realize just how amazing having him by my side while I'm giving birth to our son will be. It's going to bring us even closer together and I know there is no way that I could do it without him there to comfort me.

I also completely changed my birth plan over the weekend. Going into the class, the plan was to go to the hospital almost as soon as contractions started and to say "EPIDURAL!!!" before they even knew my name. I wanted to feel nothing. But after learning about how epidurals can actually slow labor and therefore increase your chances of needing a C section, I've modified my plan. Now, the plan is to labor at home for as long as I can, the instructor said until my contractions are about 5 minutes apart and lasting for about a minute and they have been like that for abut an hour. Now I have no clue what my contractions or labor will be like, so we'll just go to the hospital when I say so ;) And I'm not saying I'm going to be going completely without an epidural, because again, I have no clue what contractions will feel like and how my body will handle the pain. But, my plan is to now go as long as I can without one. I don't like the idea of not being in control of my body. I don't want to just lay in bed and wait on my body to get ready for pushing. I want to be able to use some of the comfort positions we learned and to be able to move around. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of laying in my hospital bed hooked up to all these machines for hours on end. I want to do whatever I can to get baby boy into our arms as soon as possible, and even the thought of just laying there and waiting drives me insane. 

So, if I get an epidural farther into labor, so be it. And if I give birth without having one at all, that's cool with me. Basically, my birth plan is to try and be flexible. I have no clue what my labor will be like. I've never felt full blown contractions before. So I have a tentative plan that I am very confident in, but I'm willing to modify it if the pain gets too unbearable or the doctors think it would be in our best interest. I must say though, the thought of giving birth naturally is very empowering and I'm kind of anxious to see if I could do it. I guess we'll find out in a few short weeks.

XOXO,

Courtney 

My Pregnancy MUST HAVES!

I thought I'd compile a little list of things baby boy and I are LOVING, from food and drinks to the products that have made life a little easier and more comfortable for this little mama.

• Ginger Ale-OH MY GOODNESS. You have no idea how much I used to loathe Ginger Ale, it made me think about being sick and I just didn't like the taste. Now I have a can almost every morning as a part of my snack, along with some saltine crackers. This has been my go to snack almost from the day I found out I was pregnant. The constant nausea during the first trimester only seemed to be helped by Ginger Ale and saltines. So it stuck for my morning snack. And baby boy LOVES Ginger Ale, he will bounce all over the place when I drink it :)
• Chick-Fil-A Diet Lemonade-Okay, I'm seriously loving any lemonade or lemon flavored anything right now, but Chick-Fil-A's is by far my favorite. I've picked it as where we would eat dinner several times just for the diet lemonade. IT IS SO GOOD. I could go on all day about how refreshing and wonderful it is, but I think you get the point...it's perfection.
• Salad-So earlier in my pregnancy, pretty much all baby boy wanted was chicken fingers and french fries. I'm not kidding. Anything remotely healthy made me nauseous. The smell of broccoli in the oven made me want to throw up. It was terrible. But hubby loved it, we could finally go to Zaxby's and all the other fast food places that I used to not touch because they didn't have anything I liked. But now, it is all about the salads. Just don't give me the purple pieces from spring mix. Gross. Zaxby's Grilled House Zalad is by far my favorite. One week I had it like three times and I wasn't even mad about it. 

  

• LIMA BEANS-Let me just say, I used to beyond hate almost any kind of bean...especially lima beans. Now, I love them all, especially lima beans. One night for dinner I cooked a pot of lima beans and corn and had it with a pb&j. Why? Because that's what I wanted, and I'm pregnant so I ate it.

• Milk-Well for me it's lactose free milk, but it's the same concept ;) I've never been a big milk drinker. Milk alone never appealed to me, but now? I love it, and baby boy loves it too, whenever I drink a glass he gets very excited. And if you give me some cookies alongside that glass of milk, baby boy and I will be even happier!

• Body pillow-While it's probably not as comfy as one of those Snoogle contraptions other pregnant ladies love, it does the job. I love it because sleeping with it between my legs helps ease some of the back and hip pain. Now, my hips are still super stiff in the mornings, but it's manageable. I didn't buy a Snoogle for two reasons. First off, I already had my body pillow at my parents' house from when I was in college and I'm cheap, so I didn't have to buy anything. And secondly, hubby and I have a full size bed. Between him, me, pregnant belly, and body pillow, bed space is already limited. The Snoogle would pretty much mean he would be sleeping on the couch every night he's not at work, and that would just make me feel really selfish.
• Cocoa Butter-While I've read that it doesn't prevent stretch marks since it's mostly genetics that determine whether or not you get those...thanks mom ;)...cocoa butter makes my itchy skin feel SO much better! At the beginning of my pregnancy, I had read that coconut oil was best for preventing stretchmarks, so I started out using that. But it was so...well, oily. It just seemed to make a mess and I felt like it got all over my clothes. So I switched to cocoa butter because it seems to keep my skin more moisturized than just regular lotion does. I lather up in it in the morning after my shower and several times throughout the day I'll reapply it to my stomach to keep the itching at bay. Then I apply more before I go to bed. 
• Big water bottle-Pregnancy thirst has been very real for me, so I always have my 24 ounce water bottle with me at work. I try to drink water almost constantly throughout the day and most days I'm able to get somewhere around 120 ounces.

I have to admit, I've surprised myself with my must have food items this pregnancy. It's funny to me that the things I used to despise are now the food items that I crave. They're the ones that make me choose certain restaurants. I made hubby take me to Wife Saver one night for dinner because I wanted lima beans. No lie. 

But, at least now my cravings are on the healthier side. I mean, don't get me wrong, who doesn't love some good chicken fingers? But everything in moderation. Eating them at least twice a week like I was for a while probably isn't the best idea. But, it's literally the only thing that sounded remotely appetizing, so I went with it. And do you know what? I still occasionally treat myself to something fried. 

Why? Because I'm human and it's good, dang it. I refuse to eat nothing but grilled chicken and vegetables for the rest of my life. Moderation is definitely key, and trust me, grilled chicken and vegetables are some of my favorite things right now..but I'm not going to deprive myself of some waffle fries every now and then ;)

I plan on living out my life by the 80/20 rule that I learned about several years ago. That means that you eat healthy, good for you foods 80% of the time and the other 20% of what you eat can be fun, and not so good for you. If you constantly tell yourself you can't eat pizza with your family, you can't have a piece of birthday cake, you can't get fries while everybody else is even though you really want some...then you'll feel deprived, cut off, and eventually you'll give in to those bad cravings and forget all about the healthy eating. 

Again, in my mind it's all about moderation while continuing to live life and enjoy meals and celebrations with family and friends.

XOXO,

Courtney

33 Week Update

As of today I am 33 weeks and 3 days pregnant with our little man. 

Good grief I feel like this pregnancy has FLOWN by! 

But crawled by at the same time, somehow.

My symptoms are pretty spot-on for the third trimester, and so far baby boy has been pretty sweet to his mama. Nothing too painful, I'm just uncomfortable...all. the. time. But it's okay, July 20th is rapidly approaching and I'm just trying to soak up every sweet moment I have to carry my son before he's born. Every kick and jab to my ribs, even though not always comfortable, is such an amazing feeling for me.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present you with my list of ways that make the third trimester suck but totally rock at the same time:

1. Heartburn-you know your baby must be getting bigger and not allowing much room for food when you have some Greek yogurt and cereal for breakfast and encounter heartburn afterwards...this is my life at the current moment. I had never had heartburn or indigestion before but I've had both a good bit the past few weeks, so I now know it's not a heart attack or anything life threatening ;) True story, when my mom was pregnant with me, she thought she was having a heart attack and woke my poor dad up in the middle of the night...only for him to give her a glass of milk and tell her it was heartburn. She then went back to sleep, but the adrenaline rush from his pregnant wife waking him up telling him she was having a heart attack made him lay awake for a few hours.
2. Having to pee about every 15-20 minutes, if that-Almost everyday I have this struggle...I get to work and about 45 minutes later I've already gone to the bathroom twice. Oops, I have to pee again, I'll be right back.............okay, that's better. Sometimes I leave the bathroom, get to my office, and have to pee again. That quick. It's crazy. And if my bladder gets too full, baby boy thinks it's a trampoline and jumps on it, which is just so lovely ;)
3. Restlessness-I just can't get comfortable. If I sit for longer than about 20 minutes, my back and my butt start to hurt. So I have to change positions, which takes about 5 minutes, just for me to maneuver my expanding belly and not so flexible body into a comfy position, and it's the same thing at night. I'll wake up every couple of hours with hip pain and just feeling uncomfortable. My body pillow helps the hip pain some, but I'm just getting to the point where sleeping is just not all that easy.
4. Naps-since I'm not sleeping all that great at night, and my body just seems to be generally more tired than normal, NAPS ARE BACK! During the first trimester I napped almost everyday, even before I knew I was pregnant I found it hard to keep my eyes open in the afternoons so I would doze off for a little bit. Well, they are back, and I love it. After lunch most days, it just seems like I cannot keep my eyes open. So I'll take a nap, usually anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Before I was pregnant, if I napped it would be a power nap of maybe 15 minutes. But now, I knock out to full blown, drooling on the pillow, dreaming something crazy sleep. And it is amazing.
5. BABY KICKS-this is my favorite part of pregnancy so far. I love it. Absolutely love feeling this little dude move around. He is an active little booger, too. The other night he woke me up at 3 am having some sort of rave in my stomach that involved kicking (HARD) on my right side and what felt like fist pumping on my left side. The right side is his spot, too. If you put your hand on the right side of my stomach, odds are, he will kick you. Hard. We say that's his way of telling you to move. He also likes to almost cuddle sometimes when I put my hand on my stomach, he does it to my mom, too. He'll just kind of roll around under your hand and stay there. It's really cute :) Sometimes his kicks are so strong and they kind of take my breath away, like the other day when he decided to karate kick my ribs. But I still love even those kicks, they tell me he's getting bigger and stronger. 
6. Difficulty breathing-not all the time, by any means. But when I workout, it's gotten harder. I've had to slow my walking pace down a little bit because breathing is just not easy when you have a baby taking up your lung space. Even small tasks are exhausting. It's weird, when I workout I don't seem to get too exhausted, but just doing a string of everyday activities at my job wears me out. Folding towels, vacuuming, and taking out the trash have to be broken up through my shift now instead of all done at once. Maybe baby boy is telling me he likes to workout, not just work ;) If only we could workout for a living, little one, if only.
7. General aches and pains-my back hurts pretty bad if I stand for too long, and so do my feet. In fact, my back pain caused my poor husband to nearly pass out the other night. We were catching up on the latest season of Survivor (we just started it, we're a little behind). We had only watched maybe two episodes, so I had been sitting for maybe two hours (not including my probably 5 bathroom breaks). But by the time the second episode was over, my back was killing me. It felt cramped up and just hurt. So I stand up and bend over, trying to alleviate the pressure on my back. It helped a little, but not enough. So then I get on the couch on all fours and just let my belly hang, and take deep breaths. As I'm doing this I say, "I just don't feel good." Oops. Now I know what you're thinking, "Crazy woman! Why would you do that to your husband?!" But trust me, I had no clue how "labor-like" this looked in the moment. Poor husband says (with a look of absolute horror on his adorable face), "Wh-wh-what doesn't feel good?" To which I reply, "My back, my back just hurts." Husband lets out a sigh of relief and says, "Thank goodness! You don't get into a 'I'm about to pop out a baby position' like that! You are NOT that far along!!" Poor guy. I didn't even realize the stress I had caused him. But looking back on it, it is REALLY funny to me!

I know that the "it sucks" seem to outnumber the "it rocks" on this list. But trust me, somehow I am still loving being pregnant. No, I don't have endless energy and full nights of deep slumber. But I do get to feel my son kick and tumble. We are so close to meeting him, to seeing his face and kissing all over his little cheeks. Knowing that less than two months from now I will be holding my son makes all of the aches and pains and heartburn worth it. No, my workouts aren't spectacular right now. No, I'm not running in races or winning medals. But I have the best prize of my life coming in July and I am over the moon excited.

XOXO,

Courtney