Thailand

Baby Stuff

2011-02-26T13:24:00.001-08:00

Here is our list of things we love and would buy again.

Cloth Diapering:
I LOVE bum genius! If we aren't using bum genius, we use pampers and huggies (when traveling). I think Bum Genius are better at containing mess than the disposables. Aurora has worn BGs since she was 8 weeks old. They come in sized and in one size. I chose to go with smalls to cut down on the bulkiness of the one size diaper on such a small baby. She used the smalls until she was 8 months old, then we bought some mediums and one size Bum Genius. I also tried out a couple Gdiapers recently, but they don't contain mess as well and I won't buy any more. If you are going to do cloth, but want as much modern convenience as possible, you want to pay a little extra and choose an AIO (all in one) or pocket diaper. They are still cheaper in the long run than disposables.
Check out this website for diapering: http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1811

Locally I've bought diapers, toys and baby necessities online from:
http://www.liltulips.com/ (Stillwater, MN)
http://www.nickisdiapers.com/ (Wisconsin)
http://amzn.com/B002FB7FLY : these are great inserts for the cloth diapers (extra absorption for overnight). Small fits small and large fits medium, large and one sized. They hold up well and have good absorption. Peapods carries these too (see end of post)

Laundry:
http://amzn.com/B003854RS0: Planet Wise Wet Bag - great for used diapers, wet clothes, etc. They are good at locking the smell in and keeping the wet contained. I've been using mine for a year and love it!

Bedding:
http://amzn.com/B000BUQNXW: American Baby waterproof mattress pad - its soft and not crinkly. We use American Baby jersey crib sheets too.
http://amzn.com/B000XPYXBY: American Baby waterproof burp pads. I use the burp pads as changing pads. They wash well. I keep a few at the diaper changing station and in the diaper bag.
http://amzn.com/B000GEA1IG: Crib Mattress. Super light and easy to pick up. I didn't realize the value of a foam mattress until it was 3am and I was lifting the mattress out of the crib by myself to change the sheets.

Big Items:
http://www.rei.com/product/798579: Bob Revolution Stroller. This is the only stroller we have and we LOVE it. It goes everywhere and over everything. It has a smooth ride, folds up, all-terrain, holds lots of shopping bags - plus you can buy a car seat adapter so you can put the car seat in it. Oh yeah, Katie loves riding in the bottom of it. :)
http://www.albeebaby.com/chicco-keyfit-30-infant-car-seat-miro.html: Chicco Car Seat. LOVE LOVE LOVE! You just set it in its base and it snaps in. It has a magnetic guide to help it go right into position. It is highly rated and fits babies 4-30lbs. Aurora will outgrow it in length soon, but we've gotten over a year of use with it. I'll be sad to see it go.
http://amzn.com/B0018Z6910: Fisher Price Cradle Swing. We used this non-stop the first month of Aurora's life. We bought it for half price on Craig's.. Any swing is probably good as long as it doesn't shut off after a set amount of time (in my opinion).
http://www.armsreach.com/shop-3/the-original-1/: Arm's Reach Co-sleeper. We don't have this, but I want to get it for our next baby.
http://www.albeebaby.com/britax-marathon-70-car-seat-cowmooflage.html Britax Marathon 70 Car Seat. Just bought this for when Aurora grows out of her infant car seat. You can use this car seat from 5-70 pounds and Britax is the top of line for convertible car seats. The draw back as far as using it as an infant car seat is that it isn't easily removable. It is pretty much stationary in your car.

Toys:
http://amzn.com/B000IDSLOG: meet Sophie!! :) you might want to put her on the registry - for some reason, every baby I know loves this over-priced toy
http://amzn.com/B000WOV7WO: Chicco Walker. Bought it for $30 on Craig's list. Works great, easy to clean, Aurora loves it.
http://amzn.com/B000067K0L: Tiny Love Super Deluxe Lights and Music Gymini Activity Gym. Bought this for $15 on Craig's. It is SO overpriced brand new for what you get. Aurora is starting to out grow it now, but she really liked it this past year.
http://amzn.com/B000YDDF6O: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes. Aurora liked it right away and still does.
http://amzn.com/B001AG0YL8: Boogin' Pacifier Clip. Aurora never took to a pacifier, but we use this to clip toys on her so she doesn't drop them. I love the fabrics they have and they work great. We have two.
http://amzn.com/B0038B9GG2: V Tech 3-in-1 Learning Zebra Scooter. Aurora got this for her 1st birthday - she loves it

Nursing:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Brest-Friend-Deluxe-Pillow/dp/B0012OV1NI/ref=br_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2YO2039P7ZVND&colid=2QHG4B0OAE31N: I have a Boppy that I use, but my lactation consultant reccomended that I use a My Breast Friend pillow. I didn't get one, but wish I would have and plan to buy one for baby #2.
--Lansinoh Breast Cream -- life saver!

Clothes for Mama:
http://www.liltulips.com/Undercover-Mama-Nursing-Shirt-Bra_p_1677.html - Nursing Top - they also sell it at Amazon. I just discovered it a few months ago and love it. I hope to acquire one in every color for the next baby.
--Nordstrom's does bra fittings. I've gone there many times in my quest to find a good nursing bra. That is where I found this bra.

Clothes for Baby:
http://amzn.com/B0006B4BVM: Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe. Life saver! Its 2am and the newborn baby is screaming. You haven't slept in days and you aren't even sure what year it is anymore...do you really have the energy and clarity of mind to get your baby swaddled up in an old square blanket that you can get wrapped so tightly it won't come undone???? This is swaddling made easy. They come in microfleece for the cold months and cotton for the warm months.
http://www.babyongrand.com/node/1415: this is where I bought Aurora's pink polka dot Bambino Mio swim diaper - I've only used it a few times, but so far I like it.

Meal Time:
http://amzn.com/B000WEHO8K: Boon Snack Ball. I like that it is small, holds cheerios, goldfish, etc, the lid is attached so you won't lose it, and it is easy enough for one-handed operation while you're pushing the grocery cart with the other hand. I have two.
http://amzn.com/B0007ORN7M: Bumbo! We bought the tray that attaches and we still use it as a high chair....Aurora is able to crawl out of it now, so I should get to shopping for a high chair so she'll be safer. We've gotten a ton of use out of this. She was able to use it as soon as she could hold her head up.

Baby Stores in St Paul:
http://peapods.com
http://www.babyongrand.com/

There is one thing we have I don't like. Our Diaper Genie. We bought the Diaper Genie 2 on Craig's brand new for half price. I think I'd be much happier with a different model, but this model involves pushing the diaper or wipes through a squeeze hole and if it is messy...its really messy and gets all over your hands. We only use ours for wipes now since we use cloth diapers, so it isn't a huge issue. But, if I was going to use it a lot, I would get a different model like the earlier models that you just set the diaper in and then twist the lid to make the diaper fall through.

Check out Happiest Baby on the Block - great DVD (or book)!

Aurora James Hess

2010-01-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 3:30am with cramps and back pain. After walking around for awhile and not being able to make the pain go away, I woke Ryun and he helped me time my contractions. The pain was constant whether or not the contractions were occurring. The contractions were irregular, some were 5 minutes apart and some were 12 minutes. Ryun massaged my back and I heated my hot pack and fell back to sleep about 4:30am. I slept well until 8:30am when I woke up and ate breakfast. Then I went back to bed until 10:30am when the cramping and back pain returned. I called Maureen (midwife) and she recommended that I get to the chiropractor. So I called a lady in Minneapolis who uses the Webster Technique to help turn babies in pregnancy (Aurora was head down but face up), and scheduled an appointment for 1pm. I was having contractions between 5 and 8 minutes apart so Ryun drove me over. On our way home, we had Taco Johns for lunch (I told Ryun we should have something nutritious in case I was really in labor…), then returned to the house. Now, my contractions hovered between 4 – 7 minutes apart, they still weren’t completely regular, and some were strong and some were more mild. I stayed busy around the house and took Katie out for a very quick potty break before Maureen showed up to check on me at 5:30pm. Katie’s walk would have been longer but I had a contraction in the park and doubled over…Ryun made me come back in. Maureen wanted to check on me and said she would probably leave and come back later…well, after checking me, she decided to stay instead. My contractions were becoming closer and stronger now. At 6pm, I was 5cm dilated and 95% effaced. This is when it sunk in to me that I was in labor. :)

Ryun and Maureen went to work immediately upstairs, getting the supplies ready for birth. Ryun set up the tub and began filling, he laid down plastic on the floor, he helped Maureen carry in her supplies and helped her set up her stuff. They probably did a 100 other things that I didn’t know about because I was downstairs distracting myself. I decided that I needed to clean out the fridge (still had Christmas leftovers in there), so that I could then take out the garbage. Once I finished that project I made up a protein shake and ate some snacks. I made a couple phone calls and updated my FB to let everyone know that the baby was on her way. Kate (studying under Maureen to be a midwife) showed up and stayed in the kitchen with me and helped me through my contractions. It seemed a little comical to me, that I was busy in the kitchen one moment, on the floor in pain the next, and then up and about carrying on with my projects after a minute of being on the floor. I spent almost every contraction on my hands and knees – I found it the most comfortable.

Michele came over and distracted me for a few minutes with stories about her day. She wasn’t sure why I wanted to know how her day was when I was clearly about to give birth. I told her she better have good stories from her day or make something up, because I needed new things to think about. She did good. :) Then she took Katie back to her place for the night. Katie was pretty concerned about me all day and she would sit with me when I had my contractions. Katie wore herself out playing with Willa that night and I’m sure they terrorized Michele’s house before crashing out for the night. It was so nice to not have to worry about Katie – knowing she was in good hands was a comfort.

It was about 7pm now and the contractions were strong and painful. Ryun was still busy getting the tub full, but would come and comfort me during most of my contractions. They ended up having to boil water for the tub since our hot water heater couldn’t keep up with fill the gigantic tub. I was finally able to get in the tub at 8:30pm. I was 7 cm dilated. I remember sighing as I got into the tub – the warm water felt so good!!

Ryun stayed by my side throughout the rest of my labor. I draped my arms over the edge of the tub and labored on my knees through almost every contraction (as seen in a picture below). I gave birth in this position also. Ryun knelt by me outside of the tub and held my hand. He talked me through every contraction. I guess I was in “laborland” because his voice was pretty much all I could hear. Everything else in the room seemed fuzzy. The harder I fought the pain during my contractions, the worse it hurt. If I could relax my whole body during the contractions, they were so much more bearable, and I’m guessing I made faster progress during the times I relaxed.

I remember losing all control during one of my contractions. I felt like a monster coming out of water, flailing my arms, my eyes wide open (but not really seeing anything). I needed to leave…leave the water, leave the “situation”, runaway from the job at hand. During that contraction I was inconsolable and unable to hear any comforting words. This contraction seemed to last FOREVER (even though it couldn’t have been longer than about 2 minutes). I wondered if I had enough energy to jump out of the water and run away…I wondered how hard it would be to fight off Maureen, Kate, and Ryun. I was tired. I wanted to be done in the worst way.

When the contraction passed I felt almost defeated because I knew I couldn’t leave. I knew that I had to go through the rest of this labor and that it would end with me pushing out this baby. It was a real moment of realization, that this was it, I needed to get a hold of myself and deal, because I was going to give birth, it was going to hurt, and I was going to get through it (a mantra from our Birth From Within class).

I was going to meet my baby soon. We were about to witness a miracle for God.

I knew from reading, that a lot of women hit a wall just like mine during the transition phase of labor – they feel that they just can’t go on anymore. I was definitely feeling this way, but didn’t want to tell anyone since I thought there was no way I could already be there. Little did I know, I was there. Maureen checked me around this time (I believe I was 9.5cm dilated) and found that I had an anterior lip. She had me labor through 4 more contractions – each time having me be in a different position. Changing positions allows the pressure of the baby to push in different places on the cervix and can take care of an anterior lip. After my fourth contraction, they checked, and I was complete. I had to ask a couple times to be sure they really meant I could start pushing when I was ready. I was like, “are you sure I can push?? I can push now?…are you sure?”. I couldn’t believe it was time to push. I was sure I was misunderstanding them.

Throughout the transition phase it was all I could do not to push with my contractions. It was an involuntary reflex and it made me so frustrated because I knew pushing before I was complete could cause swelling and extra hardship. Ryun helped me to blow my air out and focus on breathing through these contractions, but it was still a really awful time. It hurt so much to push, yet it was hard to control my body and not push. I didn’t expect my body to push when I didn’t want it to. It was so frustrating and painful.

Around the time I became complete (10cm), Ryun got up to stretch and I realized his legs were hurting from being in the same position throughout my labor. I told him he should go and get himself a pillow to kneel on. He tried to tell me he was okay and then I demanded that he go get one “RIGHT NOW!”. He did :) I don’t know if it helped him much at that point, but I felt better. :) hehe.

Once I started pushing I was relieved to know it wasn’t the same kind of pain as I was feeling during labor. Don’t get me wrong, pushing the baby’s head out made me feel like I was going to rip in half, but the pain was different, and even though it was still really painful, it was like I had more energy from the change in the way the pain felt.

I pushed slowly to allow my body to stretch as the baby came down. I pushed through the first half of each contraction and blew out for the rest. I don’t know how I knew to do this, I just listened to my body and did what I thought was best. Crowning was the most painful, and I held the baby in this position for about 3-4 contractions for my body to adjust. I really feel that this was important to do and allowed me not to tear. Finally, I pushed her head out. At this point, I’m pretty sure I tried to close my legs and Maureen had to physically push my knees back apart…again, this was involuntary, it was as if my body was saying, “NO THANKS – THAT’S ENOUGH PAIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!”.

After a couple more pushes, and she was out. Aurora was born face up and in her amniotic sack (my water never broke), so Maureen had to break the sack once she was born. Ryun caught Aurora, I rolled over onto my back, and he laid her on my chest. I giggled uncontrollably with joy. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. Aurora was born at 9:50pm after an hour of pushing.

I was so tired, it was all I could do to keep Aurora and myself from sinking and drowning. Ryun helped me lift her up and make sure she was a girl. What a relief, Dr. Hartung was correct! We had a beautiful baby girl. Now I could relax and cut the tags off all those cute PINK clothes!

Not long after giving birth, Maureen had me get out of the tub so she could better monitor my blood loss. I crawled in bed with my baby and Maureen coached me in pushing my placenta out. As I laid on my back trying to push out the placenta I was shocked to find it so much more difficult to push as I laid on my back, versus the hands and knees position I was in during labor and delivery. I was so thankful to be home and not in a hospital setting.

Ryun went downstairs and got me yogurt and cottage cheese to eat. At 10:15pm Kate helped me start breastfeeding Aurora. While she ate, Ryun spoon fed me the food he had brought up. I was starving! :)

After feeding Aurora, I went and took a shower. Ryun was able to spend a little time alone with her for the first time. It was a ton of work to shower – I was exhausted – but it felt good. Once I was back in bed, Ryun heated up the taco hotdish I had made earlier that day and brought us both two big servings. We ate while Maureen and Kate did the newborn checkup on Aurora. They weighed her, measured her, counted the fingers and toes, etc, etc :) It was a big checklist and I was in a daze. Aurora was given a very healthy clean bill of health. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20” long.

Maureen and Kate did a bit of cleanup and headed out about midnight. I remember being very concerned (during my pregnancy) about being left alone for the night after the birth – but I could have cared less when it actually happened. Ryun helped them leave and came to bed. I was thinking to myself how perfect the timing of it all was. We were going to be able to go to bed now and it was only 1am! I had a baby and wouldn’t even have to stay up all night in labor. Well, so much for that thought. We were so excited we pretty much just laid there and talked all night. Aurora slept on my chest and was up at 4am for some breakfast! :) Haha – first-time parent, stupid thought #1.

Aurora: named after Sleeping Beauty
James: named after the book of the bible

She is our perfect gift from God.

A few videos:
Footprints for Birth Certificate
First Bath – Tea Bath
Music Toy
Hair Dryer

Pictures:
About 6pm – Maureen monitoring a contraction
On the floor, Maureen still listening to Rory’s heartbeat.

Laboring in the office – on the phone with Mom – I was probably telling her I was just fine and not to worry! :D

Ryun comforting me through a contraction in the living room
Ryun reaching to get me some ice to eat
Finally laboring in the birthing tub
First time breast feeding and Ryun spoon-feeding me :)

The next morning
Daddy talking to his little girl
This is how we spent our first two weeks together

Soothing tea bath for mommy and baby

Kate doing Aurora’s footprint the next evening when they came back to check on us

Maureen helping Kate with the footprints
Admiring good work :)
A couple days old…
Lacy, AJ, Katie – 3 days old

Taking a snooze on Mom

Getting weighed

Ready to go out to lunch – 2.5 weeks old
Big Foot (Aurora, Mommy apologizes for this photo in advance) :)

2.5 weeks old

3 weeks old – helping Daddy program

40 Weeks

2010-01-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

Today is the due date and it has come and almost gone with no excitement. We slept in until noon today and Ryun played video games all afternoon while I spent a few hours taking a bath. Tonight we hung out with friends, Michele, Kaci & Jeremy. It has been a very low-key day.

This past week wasn’t too busy either. Mom and Dad left on Tuesday morning. Later that day I had my prenatal appointment with Maureen. I am now 4cm dilated and 70% effaced.

Ryun and I went out for supper at Red Lobster on New Year’s Eve. That was about the extent of our partying. :) We’ve spent a lot of our evenings trying to help the baby turn. She is head down and engaged, but she is posterior and the optimal position is anterior. See www.spinningbabies.com. There are certain exercises that are supposed to encourage the baby to turn. I don’t think she’s budged an inch yet! :)

On New Year’s Day we went out for a late breakfast with Kaci and Jeremy to the Uptowner Grill on Grand.

Ryun set up the birthing tub a couple weeks ago to make sure he knew how it worked.

How your baby's growing:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.
See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason.

You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.

You may have a biophysical profile (BPP), which consists of an ultrasound to look at your baby's overall movements, breathing movements (movement of her chest muscles and diaphragm), and muscle tone (whether she opens and closes her hand or extends and then flexes her limbs), as well as the amount of amniotic fluid that surrounds her (important because it's a reflection of how well the placenta is supporting your baby).

Fetal heart rate monitoring (called a nonstress test or NST) will generally be done as well — by itself or as part of the BPP. Or, you may have what's known as a modified BPP, which consists of an NST and an ultrasound to assess the amount of amniotic fluid.

If the fetal testing isn't reassuring — the amniotic fluid level is too low, for example — you'll be induced. If there's a serious, urgent problem, you may have an immediate c-section.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!! 39 Weeks

2009-12-26T16:31:00.000-08:00

Today we all slept in and had a late breakfast. Mom, Dad, and I went to the Maplewood Mall for the afternoon and Ryun stayed home and vegged. He played some video games and watched football. Mom and I took advantage of some after Christmas sales in Sears. Dad found some good deals at the Gander Mountain Outlet. Tonight we had Pizza Hut and I did some cleaning while Mom sewed a few baby blankets for me. Then she helped me reorganize a couple closets. We keep acquiring more baby stuff, so I keep having to reorganize to accommodate. :)

This has been a fun week. Ryun and I have tried to spend more time just the two of us. We went to Avatar in 3D at the theater – it was really good! We did a little Christmas shopping and he accompanied me to Super Walmart in Stillwater so we could get groceries for Christmas dinner. We are really appreciating the time we are having together right now. I’m so thankful his work schedule is lightening up!

I saw Maureen on Tuesday (22nd). I’m so glad she is back in town. I found out that I am 50% effaced and 3 cm dilated. It is good to know that my contractions haven’t been all for nothing and that I am moving in the right direction. We don’t know when the baby will come, but she is on her way. She’s about 6 – 6.5 pounds right now we think. I’m wondering how long she will be!

My mom and dad arrived here on Wednesday! They left Tuesday and spent the night in Alexandria. They wanted to make sure to get here before the snow storm hit and thankfully they did. We ran some errands Wednesday and Thursday and also did some shopping.

On Christmas Eve we opened presents together and had a good time. Pinkberry made off with some pretty cool gifts!

Mom’s new vest

Katie found someone to play ball with :)
Soft Cute toys for Pinkberry
The hat doesn’t fit me…must be another present for the baby!

Yum, sugar cookies from Ryun’s mom

Baby Blanket from Ryun’s Mom

Willow Tree Figurines: Adriana and Nick bought us the couple with the baby – love it!

Dad made this for storage in our downstairs bathroom.

Mom and I made Christmas dinner together on Friday. It seemed to take us forever, but we had fun doing it. :) It would have taken me ages to get it all done if I were alone. My brain has turned to complete mush in the past week and it is pretty much impossible for me to stay on task. I need someone following me around to remind me why I’m standing in the closet not knowing what I’m looking for, or why I just ran upstairs but came back down without whatever I went up there for. :)

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.
See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

At each of your now-weekly visits, your caregiver will do an abdominal exam to check your baby's growth and position. She might also do an internal exam to see whether your cervix has started ripening: softening, effacing (thinning out), and dilating (opening). But even armed with this information, there's still no way for your caregiver to predict exactly when your baby is coming. If you go past your due date, your caregiver will schedule you for fetal testing (usually a sonogram) after 40 weeks to ensure that it's safe to continue the pregnancy.

While you're waiting, it's important to continue to pay attention to your baby's movements and let your caregiver know right away if they seem to decrease. Your baby should remain active right up to delivery, and a noticeable slowdown in activity could be a sign of a problem. Also call if you think your water may have broken. Membranes rupture before the beginning of labor in about 8 percent of term pregnancies. Sometimes there's a big gush of fluid, but sometimes there's only a small gush or a slow leak. (Don't try to make the diagnosis yourself. Call even if you only suspect you have a leak.) If you rupture your membranes and don't start contractions on your own, you'll be induced.

Surprising Facts: How your body changes after giving birth

Even if your labor and delivery was fast and easy, it will take some time for you to feel like your old self again. It may be hard, but try to remember that it took nine months to get here, so you won't bounce back — emotionally or physically — overnight.

What to expect from your body:

• You'll start losing weight right away. While you probably won't return to your pre-pregnancy weight for some time, most women are about 12 pounds lighter after delivering one 7- to 9-pound baby and losing another pound or two of placenta and another two pounds or so of blood and amniotic fluid. Although it will take a while for your body to regain its pre-pregnancy shape — that pregnant belly may stick around for longer than you'd like — by the end of the first week, you'll probably have lost about 4 pounds of water weight.

• You'll have lochia discharge. After your baby is born, the cells that form the lining of your uterus will begin to slough off. This results in a discharge called lochia that lasts for weeks. At first, this discharge is mixed with blood, so it appears bright red and menstrual-like, then it gradually gets lighter in color, finally fading to white or yellow before it stops.

• Your emotions will be in flux. Within the first week or two of giving birth, many new moms experience the "baby blues." You may find yourself moody and weepy, exhausted, unable to sleep, or feeling trapped or anxious. Your appetite can change, too — you might want to eat more or less. The good news is this emotional upheaval will generally pass within two to three weeks.

How to recover more quickly:

• Get as much rest as you can, and make an effort to sleep when your baby sleeps. This can be tough advice to follow, especially during the day, but it really helps.

• Limit visitors and the time you spend with them. Consider turning off the phone and posting a "we're napping" message on your door to discourage drop-ins.

• Eat a well-balanced diet.

• Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and sugared sodas.

• Accept all offers for help with cooking, cleaning, childcare, errands, and the like. If you aren't receiving offers, ask for help. It's hard, but trust us, your friends and family want to help and most will be honored you asked. If you can't get help for free, consider hiring a mother's helper, cleaning lady, or others who can give you a break.

• Don't isolate yourself. Talking to friends, relatives, and other new moms about your birth experience and life with a newborn can help you cope.

38 Weeks

2009-12-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

Today was busy! I had a chiropractor appointment at 8am. Today was my first appointment with a lady who specializes in pregnancy. My back has been bothering me a lot throughout this pregnancy and I finally decided I had had enough. Maureen recommended this chiropractor (Amber Moravac) to me so I decided to give her a try. I’m feeling a lot better already. Amber says that being aligned allows labor to move along a lot quicker...I said “sign me up”! :)

Then, from 9am until 2pm we had our Birthing From Within class at our house – this was part 2. We really enjoyed the class and getting to know Melissa Mendez (the instructor) and Amanda & Benjamin (the other couple who joined us for the class). I made waffles and eggs, so we had breakfast, then we had class.

Ryun and I just had a couple hours to relax before our next event for the day! Tonight at 5pm was Ryun’s Christmas party for work. We had supper at W.A. Frost and then we had a gift exchange. We had a good time. It had been awhile since I’d seen several of the ladies, so it was fun to catch up.

Below are our pictures from before the party:

Sunday I served on worship team at church. As long as baby doesn’t come, I’ll get to sing once more at the end of the month, then I will take a break for awhile.

Monday was Ryun’s “Rollout” for work. Everything went GREAT and in a week or so, his work schedule will drastically lighten up. We’re both glad that baby didn’t make an early surprise arrival during the conversion and rollout process.

I had my regular checkup this week with my midwife-in-training, Kate, on Monday afternoon. Kate is filling in for Maureen this week since Maureen has been out of town the last two weeks visiting family. Pinkberry’s heartbeat is good and she is moving around a lot. Kate thought it felt like she was about 5.5 pounds.

I spent Tuesday scrapbooking with some friends. I have made quite a bit of progress on my wedding album in the past few months, but I still have a lot to finish. I think this will be my last day of working on it until life settles down again.

Wednesday and Thursday I did a lot of cleaning around the house. I am definitely nesting now and it is great! I love to have a clean house, but I just haven’t had enough energy to take care of it lately. Thursday I took some time away from the toothbrush and met up with some friends (Meg, Kelly, & Tina) for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in the MOA. Then that evening our condo’s first floor had a Progressive Appetizer Christmas Party. Everyone made an appetizer and drink to share and then we went from condo to condo. It went from 7pm – 11pm. It was a lot of fun! We are already excited for next year’s! :)

Friday night Kaci & Jeremy, and Michele joined us for supper. I made Swiss Steak. Lately we are always having supper together at one of our places. It is nice to not have to worry about cooking every night – we just switch off.

Katie is not happy about her outfit, or the –20 wind-chill.
She really doesn’t mind the boots when she is outside, but she is definitely begging for sympathy in this picture!

Baby’s new snowsuit :) Got it at Macy’s for over 1/2 off! It is so soft!!!

Had to try out my new apple peeler…

Sunday night craving! Yummmmmm…Apple Pie

How your baby's growing:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

For many women, the next couple of weeks are a waiting game. Use this time to prepare your baby's nursery or to take care of necessary tasks you may not get around to for a while after your baby's born. Take naps, catch up on your reading, and spend uninterrupted time with your partner while you can.

Some swelling in your feet and ankles is normal during these last weeks, but call your practitioner without delay if you notice excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, more than slight swelling of your hands, any swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, or have a sudden weight gain. Also let her know immediately if you have severe or persistent headaches; visual changes (such as double or blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, light sensitivity, or a temporary loss of vision), intense upper abdominal pain or tenderness, or nausea and vomiting. These are symptoms of a serious condition called preeclampsia.

Everything has been going really well. I’ve had a definite increase in contractions, but other than that I have been feeling great. I haven’t had much swelling…sometimes just a little in my ankles at night if I have been on my feet a lot during the day.

Two Beautiful Words: Full-Term

2009-12-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

Today I am 37 weeks and our baby can be born any time now and be just fine. What a relief to not worry about each contraction that comes, knowing I could go into labor…instead, each contraction I now have can be exciting (at least until they start really causing a lot of pain).

We had our maternity photo-shoot today. A lady I found on Craig’s list was looking to build her portfolio with maternity and newborn photos. So she shot my photos for free, gave me the copyrights, and she can use my pictures to build her business. We had a lot of fun this afternoon with the photo shoot.

Sunday afternoon we hosted our Birthing From Within class at our house. One other couple is taking it with us. We had a great time with our instructor, Melissa. The class is split up into two segments. We will have the second half of class on December 19th.

This week was the start of rollout for Ryun’s work. He started his conversion run on Wednesday night and everything went well. The product wasn’t supposed to go live until Monday, but since everything went well, they went live TODAY! Next week will tell if there are any problems, but so far, everything is running smoothly.

We hosted our bible study’s Christmas party here on Wednesday evening … well I did, unfortunately, Ryun got stuck at work that night and missed it :( We were all disappointed he couldn’t make it – me in particular. We had a fun time though. We did a white elephant exchange…I think you will enjoy the photos :)

Dave & Sandy – Dave is sporting his present of red curly hair, sunglasses and a bandana.

Bjorn was really excited about his present…

…cow lights!!! :)

Katie was impressed with Greg’s gift

Shannon & Austin – Shannon stole the wig, bandana, and sunglasses from Dave and this is what resulted…

How your baby's growing:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a watermelon). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

Braxton Hicks contractions may be coming more frequently now and may last longer and be more uncomfortable.

It may be harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well at night. If you can, take it easy through the day — this may be your last chance to do so for quite a while. Keep monitoring your baby's movements, too, and let your caregiver know immediately if you notice a decrease. Though her quarters are getting cozy, she should still be as active as before.

Surprising Facts: Signs of labor

There's no way to predict when labor is going to start. Your body actually starts "preparing" for labor up to a month before you give birth. You may be blissfully unaware of what's going on or you may begin to notice new symptoms as your due date draws near.

Here are some things that may happen in the weeks or days before labor starts:

• Your baby drops. If this is your first pregnancy, you may feel what's known as "lightening" a few weeks before labor starts as your baby descends lower into your pelvis. You might detect a heaviness in your pelvis as this happens and notice less pressure just below your ribcage, making it easier to catch your breath.

• You note an uptick in Braxton Hicks contractions. More frequent and intense Braxton Hicks contractions can signal pre-labor, during which your cervix ripens and the stage is set for true labor. Some women experience a crampy, menstrual-like feeling during this time.

• You pass your mucus plug. The mucus plug is the small amount of thickened mucus that blocks the cervical canal leading to your uterus. The plug may come out all at once in a lump, or as increased vaginal discharge over the course of several days. The mucus may be tinged with blood (which may be brown, pink, or red), in which case it may be referred to as "bloody show."

• Your water breaks. Most women start having regular contractions sometime before their water breaks, but in some cases, the water breaks first. When this happens, labor usually follows soon. Whether the amniotic fluid comes out in a large gush or a small trickle, call your doctor or midwife.

How can I tell if I'm in false labor or true labor?

Sometimes it's very hard to tell false labor from the early stages of true labor. Here are some things that might help you sort it out:

• False labor contractions are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals and vary in length and intensity. Although true labor contractions may be irregular at first, over time they start coming at regular and shorter intervals, become increasingly more intense, and last longer.

• With false labor, the pain from the contractions is more likely to be centered in your lower abdomen. With true labor, you may feel the pain start in your lower back and wrap around to your abdomen.

• False labor contractions may subside on their own, or when you start or stop an activity or change position. True labor contractions will persist and progress regardless of what you do.

37 weeks

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree… 36 Weeks

2009-12-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Today was long, but fun :)

First thing this morning, my lactation consultant, Evelyn came over and talked with us for about an hour about breastfeeding. She is part of the La Leche League. Our informal class with her was great and she gave us some really good tips. If I have any questions later on I can just give her a call.

Ryun and I left with Michele, Kaci, and Jeremy to get Christmas trees about noon today. We went out to a tree farm and they all cut their trees down.

Jeremy is ready to cut down a tree!

Ryun, Lacy, and Belly

Michele and Willa

The Girls: Kaci, Lacy, Michele, Willa … and Pinkberry hiding

Jeremy & Kaci Brown

Runaway Sleigh!!!

When we got back to our condos, they unloaded their trees and Ryun and I went down the street and picked up a nice white pine from the same place we went last year. It is about 8 1/2 feet tall and drinks a ton of water every day! :) We love it!

Me pretending to unload the tree by myself :)

Me pretending to be mad at Ryun for making me unload the tree at 36 weeks :)

Once we all had our trees up in their stands and watered, we took off for the Green Mill at 4pm. We all must have been too preoccupied with getting ready for Christmas to eat all day, so we were starving! We just about passed out by the time our food arrived. We felt SO much better after eating that we got a second wind and took off in a major Christmas decoration hunt. We arrived home about 9pm. If you weren’t counting – that is a 9 hour Christmas tree day and our trees are still NAKED!!!

Ryun in Michael’s – his stocking is empty!

Ryun and I ended up decorating at almost midnight. I was in trouble when I tried to put the angel on top :D something about a pregnant lady balancing on a chair had him concerned… :)

Ryun fast asleep…It was a long day and he did a lot of shopping…he went to Michaels, Home Goods and Menards with the rest of us, hunting for Christmas decorations – I think it about did him in…

The rest of our week paled in comparison to today. On Tuesday evening, my midwife Maureen and her midwife in training, Kate, came out to our house for my home visit. They came to see our house to get an idea of how we want things to be for the birth. Then we had a regular appointment where they measured me, asked me a hundred questions, and checked baby’s heart beat. Pinkberry is head down and pretty far into my pelvis. She has her feet up under my left rib. When I go into labor, Kate will be coming with Maureen for the birth to assist her.

On Wednesday, Ryun and I celebrated being together for 9 1/2 years. It is hard to believe it has been that long! :) Time has gone so fast!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable, and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. Be sure to review the signs of labor with your practitioner and find out when she wants to hear from you. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity or think you're leaking amniotic fluid, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, a severe or persistent headache, constant abdominal pain, or vision changes.

Even if you're enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it's best to avoid flying (or any travel far from home) during your final month because you can go into labor at any time. In fact, some airlines won't let women on board who are due to deliver within 30 days of the flight.

Surprising Facts: The stages of labor

For first-time moms, labor takes an average of 15 hours, though it's not uncommon to last more than 20. (For women who've previously had a vaginal birth, it takes eight hours, on average.) The process of labor and birth is divided into three main stages. Here are the highlights on how childbirth progresses:

First stage The first stage begins when you start having contractions that progressively dilate and efface your cervix and it ends when your cervix is fully dilated. This stage is divided into two phases, early and active labor.

It can be tricky to determine exactly when early labor starts. That's because early labor contractions are sometimes hard to distinguish from the inefficient Braxton Hicks contractions that you may have been feeling for some time.

Early labor ends when your cervix is about 4 centimeters dilated and your progress starts to speed up. At this point, you enter what's known as the active phase of labor. Your contractions become more frequent, longer, and stronger.

The last part of the active phase — when your cervix dilates from 8 to 10 centimeters — is called the transition period because it marks the transition to the second stage of labor. This is the most intense part of the first stage, with contractions that are usually very strong, coming about every two and a half to three minutes and lasting a minute or more.

Second stage Once your cervix is fully dilated, the second stage of labor begins: the final descent and birth of your baby. This is the "pushing" stage of labor, and it can last anywhere from minutes to a few hours. (It's likely to be quicker if you've previously given birth vaginally.)

Your baby's head will continue to advance with each push until it "crowns" — the term used to describe the time when the widest part of your baby's head is finally visible. After your baby's head comes out, your midwife or doctor will suction her mouth and nose, and feel around her neck for the umbilical cord. Her head then turns to the side as her shoulders rotate inside the pelvis to get into position for their exit. With the next contraction, you'll be coached to push as her shoulders deliver, one at a time, followed by the rest of her body.

You may feel a wide range of emotions now: euphoria, awe, pride, disbelief, excitement (to name a few), and, of course, intense relief that it's all over. Exhausted as you may be, you'll also probably feel a burst of energy, and any thoughts of sleep will vanish for the time being.

Stage three The final stage of labor begins immediately after the birth of your baby and ends with the delivery of your placenta. The contractions in the third stage are relatively mild

Thankful… 35 Weeks

2009-11-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

Thankful for God providing and the blessings He has given us…
Thankful for a loving husband who is my best friend…
Thankful for a healthy pregnancy and a baby that kicks me all night long because she is healthy…
Thankful for family that care for us and love us greatly…
Thankful for amazing friends who make my world a better place…
Thankful for Katie because she makes me so happy…

Ryun spent the morning and early afternoon helping Steve and Justin hang Christmas lights while I hung out in the kitchen with Linda, Tina, and Jamie.

Late this afternoon we drove home from Pierre, SD. Since someone needed to stop and go to the bathroom about a hundred times, it took us a little longer than normal, but it wasn’t too bad. We took our time and enjoyed the 8 hours on the road together.

Ryun got off a little bit early on Wednesday and we drove to Pierre that night, making it in about 11:30pm. Ryun’s aunt and uncle (mom’s side) – Linda & Steve live their, and it is Thanksgiving tradition for all the family to spend Thanksgiving at their place. Due to work, Ryun and I haven’t been able to go the past two years in a row and have missed seeing everyone. Ryun’s parents were there and Matesi (sister) came with them. Ryun’s cousins were there with their spouses and children so it was a full house. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and were glad we could stay an extra day or so. Usually we have to head back home right away after Thanksgiving, but this year we took our time being with family. It was a good change!

Monday night I went in for a prenatal massage. Ryun surprised me last week by telling me he had scheduled one for me. I was really excited! He went on the “mom’s forum” and found out where all the preggo ladies like to go and made me an appointment! I’m SO lucky :) I really enjoyed it – it was just what I needed.

While I was off being pampered, Ryun put the crib together. When I got home we put the bedding my mom bought for us on. I LOVE IT! It is perfect!!! :)

Sunday night, while our men were watching football, Kaci, Michele, and I went out for pedicures in Uptown. Ahhhhhhhhhhh – I just LOVE having my feet rubbed!!! After our feet were all pretty, we went to Chino Latino and enjoyed appetizers before going home and making pasta for supper with our guys.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks:

Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

From here on out, you'll start seeing your practitioner every week. Sometime between now and 37 weeks, she'll do a culture to check for bacteria called Group B streptococci (GBS). GBS is usually harmless in adults, but if you have it and pass it on to your baby during birth, it can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection. Because 10 to 30 percent of pregnant women have the bacteria and don't know it, it's vital to be screened. (The bacteria come and go on their own — that's why you weren't screened earlier in pregnancy.) If you're a GBS carrier, you'll get IV antibiotics during labor, which will greatly reduce your baby's risk of infection.

This is also a good time to create a birth plan. Using our form will help you focus on specifics — like who'll be present, what pain management techniques you want to try, and where you want your baby to stay after you deliver. It will give you a starting point to discuss your preferences with your medical team. Childbirth is unpredictable, and chances are you won't follow your plan to the letter, but thinking about your choices ahead of time — and sharing your preferences with your caregiver — should take some of the anxiety out of the process.

Late on the night of Thanksgiving, Linda decided that my baby had dropped. Ryun and I weren’t sure and just told her I was probably wearing something that made my belly look lower, but she was insistent that it had. That night I had to sleep sitting straight up because if I laid down I had heart palpitations. By Friday night, we all agreed the baby had indeed dropped lower. I could tell, because my heartburn became less frequent, I could eat bigger meals, and I had to go to the bathroom even more than before!

I haven’t had heart palpitations since that night. I think it was just my body adjusting to the changes that had happened that day.

34 Weeks and 35 Pounds

2009-11-21T14:15:00.000-08:00

Today was Extend Grace Day at our church. Our small group volunteered to work this morning at World Visions Twin Cities warehouse.

It was another beautiful Saturday today!! This afternoon we thought we’d go out and enjoy the day, but ended up napping a good portion of the afternoon away. Ryun stayed up playing computer games with friends most the night and I’m always tired so today we rested.

Tonight, Michele and I made home-made pizza and Kaci & Jeremy and Ryun & I, all ate at Michele’s. It was really good and Willa and Katie played themselves to exhaustion while we ate and chatted the evening away.

Monday night I hosted a Pampered Chef show. Not sure what possessed me to do this since I don’t have a lot of energy, but I’m glad I did. I had a great time and a lot of ladies from my building came over for it.

Tuesday was a full day! Kelly came over and we cooked for 5 hours. We made a bunch of freezer meals. I still have more meals to make as I ran out of time to finish preparing all the food I bought, but I made a good dent in my work. It will be so nice to have meals stored up for when I go on a cooking strike after the baby is born. We won’t starve, and Ryun won’t have to run to Hardees every night :)

Thursday I had lunch with Barb & Kelly. We went out to Pad Thai on Grand to celebrate Kelly’s birthday. It was really good – I recommend it! That evening I met up with Jill Mostad for and early supper at Applebee's. We had a lot of fun (as always) catching up.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks:

By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.

If you notice itchy red bumps or welts on your belly and possibly your thighs and buttocks as well, you may have a condition called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP for short). Up to one percent of pregnant women develop PUPPP, which is harmless but can be quite uncomfortable. See your practitioner so she can make sure it's not a more serious problem, provide treatment to make you more comfortable, and refer you to a dermatologist if necessary. Also be sure to call her if you feel intense itchiness all over your body, even if you don't have a rash. It could signal a liver problem.

So far I’ve gained 35 pounds. I remember hoping I’d only gain 25 :) Now I’m thinking if I don’t go over 40 I will be lucky!! Every morning I lay in bed and wonder what I should wear. Even my super comfy maternity jeans are becoming less comfortable! I like dresses and long t-shirts. I still have a few sweatpants that are comfortable, but I’m starting to consider buying a mu-mu. :) Even in the most comfortable clothes, I am really uncomfortable, so I’m afraid this is the beginning of the long road ahead to delivery.

Along with my clothing problem, I need to figure out a new sleeping position. I feel like I am going to suffocate when I lay down and the past few nights my heart skips a beat several times before I finally fall asleep. It just isn’t comfortable!

On the plus side, I really am enjoying having my baby inside. She is always with me and I love it. I can interact more with her now. She will kick and I will tap my hand on my tummy and she will kick again. She occasionally punches my in the bladder, and I hate that, and now that she is able to kick me in the ribs, I sometimes get really bad side-stitches. Other than those two things, I really can’t complain, I enjoy feeling her bounce around inside. I think she is uncomfortable too since she is growing bigger every day. I’m sure she doesn’t understand why her play room is “shrinking”.

Pinkberry’s new Chicco car seat!

Think Before You Speak People! 33 Weeks

2009-11-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

This week seemed to drag by. I started out the week really tired after not being able to sleep much Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday was a long day for me. I was a part of the worship team at church so we had a sound check at 7am, then I sang at the 9:45 and 11:10 services. It seemed as though I was the target for random people to come up and assure me that no matter how I felt right now, I was only going to get more miserable. This did not sit well with me. What possesses people to come up and say something so stupid to an en exhausted, emotionally unstable pregnant lady?! !!!!!!!!

Despite sleeping well at night for most of the week, I’m still really tired and it is hard to get much done. I have lengthy “to do” lists and they are starting to get on my nerves. Since life is apparently only going to get a whole lot worse ;) I figure I better just get to work on finishing off my lists…or I could just roll into a ball and hope it all goes away :) Sometimes the latter seems like the easiest option, but I know it won’t help much either.

Kelly came over on Monday. We went through recipes and made lists of what meals we’re going to make to put in my freezer for after the baby comes. Kelly will come back over on Tuesday and we’ll prepare the meals.

Tuesday was my check-up with Maureen. Everything seems to be going good. I’m still having contractions and cramping, but it isn’t as bad as it used to be. Only a few more weeks and I’ll be able to go off the Progesterone shots!

Tuesday night we had a board meeting at our condo. I was elected President. I really like being involved even though it is a busy time for me. Our board is great and Michele is the VP so when the baby comes I’ll have all the time I need to get back into the swing of things while she takes care of business.

Thursday and Friday I ran some errands with Michele. We got quite a bit knocked off our lists. She was off part of this week because she is in the process of switching law firms. It was nice to have her around mid-week.

Friday I received Pinkberry’s crib mattress from FedEx. I had been watching for the truck, but had to take Katie outside for a potty break. Once in the park, I was distracted, and forgot about keeping an eye on our house. About the time I made it to the opposite side of the park, and had a fence between me and our place, I looked over, and there was the FedEx guy, about to drive off!!! Since I didn’t see the mattress up by our door, I panicked. I took off sprinting as fast as I could around the block after the FedEx truck. Once I finally caught him and pulled him over by flailing my arms in the air like a crazy person, I was just about too tired to explain that I wanted my mattress. I mumbled my way through and finally he said, “oh yeah, I left it laying by your door”. HAHAHA If that could have only been on tape – maybe I could have been on America’s Funniest Home Videos. Once the adrenaline wore off, I waddled myself home and found my mattress. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to walk without pain again after that little lapse in judgment. Wow am I sore!

Today was GREAT!!! :) Shannon threw me a baby shower and I had a really good time. Eight friends from church came. We played games, ate delicious figure foods, and I got to open a bunch of presents :) They gave me some great gifts that will be put to use in just a few weeks. Thanks for throwing the shower Shannon!!! And thank you so much to EVERYONE who came!!!

This afternoon, Ryun and I went to Super Walmart and did a ton of shopping! We mainly bought food, baby supplies, and birth supplies. It is finally time to stock up on all things baby :) I’ve been waiting 8 months for this!! :) We still have a few things we’re waiting for in the mail that we’ve ordered online, and a couple more stores to go to to pick up supplies for my home birth, but for the most part, we might be just about ready for this (material-wise anyway) :)

Saturday night, after Ryun and I dragged ourselves home and put everything away, we had supper at Kaci & Jeremy’s. They make some pretty awesome meals – they love to cook and we love to eat – it’s a match made in heaven. :D Kaci came over after we finished and went through all the baby clothes with me. We had to take an inventory so I know what the baby still needs. It was great to get that done. Thanks Kaci – I had fun :)

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

As your baby fills out even more of your belly, lots of things might start to change: Whereas before you were sashaying, you may find yourself waddling. Finding an easy position to sit in — let alone sleep — is becoming more of a challenge. And bumping into chairs and counters is par for the course.

You may be feeling some achiness and even numbness in your fingers, wrists, and hands. Like many other tissues in your body, those in your wrist can retain fluid, which can increase pressure in the carpal tunnel, a bony canal in your wrist. Nerves that run through this "tunnel" may end up pinched, creating numbness; tingling, shooting or burning pain; or a dull ache. Try wearing a splint to stabilize your wrist or propping your arm up with a pillow when you sleep. Remember to stretch your hands when you take breaks — which should be frequently.

I LOVE Craig’s List! 32 Weeks

2009-11-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

Today was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was about 65 and sunny and I’m so glad we were able to go out and enjoy the day. We got up early and headed over to South Minneapolis to pick up a new crib and Diaper Genie that I found on Craig’s List yesterday. We saved $100 plus tax total and the crib was the exact one we were planning on getting. Looks like this whole baby thing is starting to get serious – having a crib means baby is soon to come! Ryun will be putting it together in the next day or so. Once I get it all decorated, you know there will be pictures! :)

This afternoon Ryun went out for a long motorcycle ride south of the cities. I went for a walk with Katie and soaked up some sun. Then, Kaci and I went and checked out an open house down the street (nosy neighbors). When we got back, Kaci helped me give Katie a haircut. I don’t know if Kaci realized what she was in for beforehand…guess she knows now :) Thanks Kaci!!!

Last Sunday morning, Ryun woke up feeling a lot better and by Wednesday he didn’t feel any of the symptoms that he had last week. He decided to go through with his CT Scan on Monday anyway, just as a precaution.

Wednesday was the follow-up with Ryun’s doctor. This appointment wasn’t very helpful. The doctor (who is a Gastroenterologist) thinks Ryun might have Granulomas in his chest, but he couldn’t diagnose Ryun for sure since this was out of his scope of practice. He recommended we see a Pulmonologist. We aren’t as concerned as we were before, and since all of Ryun’s symptoms have gone away, we aren’t in a huge rush to go to another doctor. I will probably look at scheduling him with a Pulmonary Specialist this month just so we can know for sure what is going on, and in case this problem ever rises again. Thanks again for all the prayers – we really appreciated each one of them!

I had a great time on Thursday when I went out for lunch with Barb. I brought Katie over to play with her dog Aki before we left. They became really good pals when we lived in Illinois and they just LOVE playing together. Barb & Jim have lived in North Dakota, Illinois, and now here – just like us – so Barb and I have become really good friends over all the moving. Barb and I had a great chat over lunch and followed up with DQ Blizzards. :)

Katie turned 4 on Friday. Her friend Willa (Michele’s dog) gave Katie this cute little “Willa look-a-like” squeaker toy. Katie won’t stop playing with it! :)

How your baby's growing:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

How your life's changing:

To accommodate you and your baby's growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant. With your uterus pushing up near your diaphragm and crowding your stomach, the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn. To help relieve your discomfort, try sleeping propped up with pillows and eating smaller meals more often.

You may have lower-back pain as your pregnancy advances. If you do, let your caregiver know right away, particularly if you haven't had back pain before, since it can be a sign of preterm labor.

Assuming it's not preterm labor that's ailing you, you can probably blame your growing uterus and hormonal changes for your aching back. Your expanding uterus shifts your center of gravity and stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, changing your posture and putting a strain on your back. Hormonal changes in pregnancy loosen your joints and the ligaments that attach your pelvic bones to your spine. This can make you feel less stable and cause pain when you walk, stand, sit for long periods, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or the tub, bend, or lift things.

About mid-week I started an iron supplement (because last week I found out that I was low) and I feel like I have a little more energy than I did before. I’m still very tired and the heart burn feels like it is going to burn my esophagus up. Then I’ll be the one going to the Gastroenterologist! :)
I’ve noticed that by the end of the day my ankles are just a little swollen. I really enjoy having them rubbed :)
I’ve noticed that my hip joints are starting to hurt – they feel looser than before. Walking is also starting to be less enjoyable because mid-walk I’ll just have to stop, and sit or lean on something, until a random pain goes away. It is becoming increasingly hard to get up from sitting, get out of bed, and roll over in bed.

Looks like I’m hiding a basketball under my shirt! haha! I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to get these jeans on. I discovered tonight that I can’t walk up the stairs in them :D

Not the Patient this Week… 31 Weeks

2009-10-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this week, my calendar was pretty much empty, but it turned out to be a very busy week.

Monday I met up with Wendy and we went shopping at a maternity store. Then we had supper and talked awhile. Her and her husband, Jake, are in our small group that we attend on Wednesday nights. She is about 8 weeks behind me. We were both so tired that we didn’t stay out too long.

Tuesday I had an appointment with Maureen. Everything went good. Then I drove over to Orono (about 33 miles west of our place) and picked up a freezer I found on Craig’s List. Ryun enlisted our neighbor Jeremy’s help to carry it up from the garage to our second floor laundry room. Michele graciously let me borrow her SUV so I could pick up the freezer since it would never have fit in our car. Now I have a place to freeze meals for after the baby comes!! THANKS JEREMY & MICHELE!

Tuesday night we had a first floor condo party at Michele’s. She invited us all over to eat hot dogs and hang out. It was fun and we ended up staying there for like 5 hours. It was a fun evening. I love living in this condo because I love being social :)

Wednesday was a long day. Ryun has been having trouble with his esophagus for a couple weeks and it has been getting worse. He is now having trouble eating and sleeping (he can only drink liquids). He was able to see a Gastroenterologist today who decided he needed and endoscopy, which the doctor just happened to be able to do the same afternoon. They found that the lower part of his esophagus is inflamed, but they are unsure what is causing it. The doctor scheduled Ryun for a barium x-ray for Friday because he thinks something might be pressing on the esophagus from the outside.

Friday, Ryun’s barium x-ray showed some sort of mass on the outside of his esophagus. They said it could be calcification on his lymph nodes or some sort of benign tumors. Now he has a CT scan on Monday to see if they can get a clear picture of what is going on.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We will keep you posted as to what we find out.

I had blood tests on Friday. Found out my hemoglobin is low so I am supposed to start a supplement to boost that. I will get results on the progesterone next week, but it has been staying level for quite a while now.

Friday night Ryun didn’t feel good, but we decided to go out and make the most of the night anyway. It is hard to feel good when you haven’t slept much all week and can’t eat anything solid!
We went to a Murder Mystery Party at our friend’s house. Kelly and Justin Boggs hosted, 9 Fasties, and a couple friends of the Kelly’s came to play their character in the murder plot. I was Anna Belle, a southern bell, and Ryun was Gambling Jack. We had a great time and it was a good distraction for me. I know Ryun couldn’t escape his symptoms but it was nice to think about something else for awhile, since the worry over what could be wrong has slowly grown all week.

The Gang Ben & Brittany – aka – Clay Coldwell and Minnie Money
Ryun – aka - Gambling Jack

Kelly & Sugar – aka – Black Barbara and Millie

Megan & Tim – aka – Holly Hickok & Mitch Maverick

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She’s probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

Have you noticed the muscles in your uterus tightening now and then? Many women feel these random contractions — called Braxton Hicks contractions — in the second half of pregnancy. Often lasting about 30 seconds, they're irregular, and at this point, they should be infrequent and painless. Frequent contractions, on the other hand — even those that don't hurt — may be a sign of preterm labor. Call your practitioner immediately if you have more than four contractions in an hour or any other signs of preterm labor: an increase in vaginal discharge or a change in the type of discharge; abdominal pain or menstrual-like cramping; an increase in pressure in the pelvic area; or low back pain, especially if you didn't have it before.

Ryun and Katie watching football

Showered With Love (30 Weeks)

2009-10-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today Ryun and I went for a drive down 52, over to Red Wing, and up to Prescott, WI. We stopped at an apple orchard on our way back to the cities. The leaves are still really pretty. On our way home we stopped at the Green Mill for supper.

I was in Montana visiting my parents until I rode the train back to St Paul late Tuesday night.

On Sunday, Mom and I (Dad wanted to go but was sick and didn’t want to share that with others) went to church in Culbertson to hear Pastor Masih speak. He grew up and married in Pakistan. He was a Muslim who became a born-again Christian. He and his family came to the US about 10 years ago to be missionaries. We really enjoyed listening to him. You can check out his websites here: Website 1 Website 2

I arrived at the St Paul train station at 11am Wednesday – 4 hours late. Our train had to loan one of its engines to the westbound train because the westbound train hit a semi as it was approaching Williston (no one was hurt). It took a couple hours for the exchange to happen and for Amtrak to get a freight train engine put on our train before we could leave the station in Williston. So, we left 2 hours late and lost 2 hours as we chugged to St Paul. I managed to get some sleep on the train but was still really worn out.

Wednesday night we went to our small group. We are doing a study on marriage. Each week highlights a different couple in the bible. It has been really interesting and sparked a lot of good conversations.

Back (L-R): Glenda, Erika, Barb
2nd from back: Kelly, Kim, Sarah, Jenna, Lacy, Heather, Sherri, Jill
3rd from back: Christine, Colleen
Front: Kaci, Lucy, Rachel
- Michele took the picture -

I had my first baby shower on Thursday night! Michele and I set the date for it a long time ago (or it seemed like it was a long time ago at the time). She enlisted the help of our neighbors Kaci and Heather. They really know how to throw a good baby party!!! :) It was an explosion of PINK! We invited my friends from the building and also the Fast ladies. I can’t say THANK YOU enough to my hosts and to all my friends. You guys are great and THANKS for all the AWESOME gifts you gave me. I am very blessed.

Pink & Black M&Ms, Pumpkin Muffins, Popcorn

Kaci mixing the punch – it was really good!
Jeremy rolled up all the deli meat so it was pretty for us girls

Kaci and Michele trying to make the chocolate fountain work
Pretty Cake

Opening Presents & Cutting the Cake

FOOD!!!

Rachel & Heather (neighbors) – Heather designed the popcorn wrapper! She’s the one dressed up as a present :) I think someone might have spiked their punch…
Clothes, Baby Sling, Bathtub, Bath Supplies, Bibs, Toys, Diapers, Bows … the list goes on.

Katie is ready to go on a jog with Pinkberry in our new Bob Revolution. When I tell her to “load up” she jumps in the bottom – she already knows where her seat is!
All the ladies chipped in on this for us. How cool is that?! Now all I need to do is hook up the carseat converter and we’re set for baby.
Awesome Gifts!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you're having trouble sleeping. You might also feel clumsier than normal, which is perfectly understandable. Not only are you heavier, but the concentration of weight in your pregnant belly causes a shift in your center of gravity. Plus, thanks to hormonal changes, your ligaments are more lax, so your joints are looser, which may also contribute to your balance being a bit off. Also, this relaxation of your ligaments can actually cause your feet to spread permanently, so you may have to invest in some new shoes in a bigger size.

Remember those mood swings you had earlier in pregnancy? The combination of uncomfortable symptoms and hormonal changes can result in a return of those emotional ups and downs. It's normal to worry about what your labor will be like or whether you'll be a good parent. But if you can't shake the blues or feel increasingly irritable or agitated, talk to your doctor or midwife. You may be among the 1 in 10 expectant women who battle depression during pregnancy. Also let your caregiver know if you're frequently nervous or anxious.

I’ve been really tired since I got back from Montana. It is harder to recover from loss of sleep these days due to the poor sleep I get at night. In the past few days, I’ve really noticed my joints starting to get loose.

I bought a 2 pound tub of raw almonds at the store and I eat a handful after every meal. They really seem to cut down on the horrible heartburn I’m having.

30 Weeks

At Home on the Farm (29 Weeks)

2009-10-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

Oreo – Katie’s favorite kitty

Winter arrived on Monday…at least for a few hours. It started snowing shortly after 2am (I know because I was up to pee) and continued through 2pm. Ryun took some time off today and drove me to my prenatal appointment. Usually I have my appointments in Brooklyn Park which is just north of Minneapolis, but today Maureen was holding her appointments at her home in Princeton, so it was about a 65 mile drive north. That seems like a long way to us city people…especially in the snow! :) Maureen was running behind with her appointments because she delivered a baby overnight, so my 11am appointment became a 2pm appointment. I called before going up though (as I always do since you never know if she is at a birth or not) and so it was just a matter of moving our schedule around.

Maureen tested my blood sugar and I passed. Pinkberry’s heartbeat was between 146 – 150. I enjoyed having Ryun with me at my appointment. The last one he was at was the 20 week ultrasound, so it was nice he could come and hear her heartbeat with me.

My progesterone level came back and it is right where it is supposed to be. Dr. Hilgers wants me to continue with the 1cc of Progesterone shots twice a week. So, I don’t get to quit having shots, but at least things are looking good.

I’ve been having contractions every day and that seems to have my midwife and Dr. Hilgers concerned since I’m at a higher risk for preterm labor. Some are painless but take my breath away, and others come with back pain and cramping. I’m monitoring them and if they get too bad I’ll have to call Dr. Hartung (OB in Hudson). I’m hoping it is just normal Braxton Hicks stuff going on and this is just my body’s way of preparing for labor.

Tuesday I went to a scrapbooking workshop and scrapped for about 5 hours. I came home and finished packing, and then spent the evening with Ryun. We watched Chicken Little while we had our supper. It was very cute. He took me to the train and it left about 11pm. At 11am Wednesday morning I was in Williston, ND and my dad picked me up from the Amtrak station. I’m in Montana visiting my parents until I head back next Tuesday evening . It is so nice to take the train instead of driving. I figured it could take me a long time to drive 10 1/2 hours with all the bathroom and food stops I’d need to make. Dad and I ran some errands and grabbed lunch before heading home to the farm.

Me with Tommy and Shadow
Tommy having some oats

Shadow and I having a talk

Thursday morning I went with Mom and Dad to Wolf Point. Dad had a meeting so Mom and I went baby shopping at Bryan’s. We found a couple cute outfits before heading to the Old Town Grill with Dad for an early lunch.

Today I went and visited Ryun’s parents and spent the evening catching up with them. Nick and Adriana (Ryun’s youngest sister & husband) came over and had supper with us. Kathy fixed her famous tacos for us and they were good as always.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

Your baby's very active now. Your practitioner may ask you to spend some time each day counting kicks and will give you specific instructions on how to do this. Let her know if you ever notice a decrease in activity. You may need a nonstress test or biophysical profile to check on your baby's condition.

Some old friends — heartburn and constipation — may take center stage now. The pregnancy hormone progesterone relaxes smooth muscle tissue throughout your body, including your gastrointestinal tract. This relaxation, coupled with the crowding in your abdomen, slows digestion, which in turn can cause gas and heartburn — especially after a big meal — and contribute to constipation as well.

Some women get something called "supine hypotensive syndrome" during pregnancy, where laying flat on your back causes a change in heart rate and blood pressure that makes you feel dizzy until you change position. You might note that you feel lightheaded if you stand up too quickly, too. To avoid "the spins" lie on your side rather than your back, and move slowly as you go from lying down to sitting and then standing.

Having heartburn daily now – taking papaya enzymes and eating raw almonds because apparently there is a small risk that eating Tums can cause calcium deposits on the placenta.

Maggie May

Here It Comes…28 weeks

2009-10-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

I’m a little sad to wave goodbye to my second trimester this weekend. You hear such good things about the second trimester, and I really enjoyed it. The only good thing you hear about the third trimester is when it ends and you have the baby in your arms. Granted, that is a very good thing, but I’m expecting the ride to begin to be a little less smooth, and more like the first trimester.

This week was fairly uneventful. What else is left anyway? I’ve been to Boston, I’ve sang with Michael W. Smith…time for a nap. And a nap is just what I got! Unfortunately, my naps were forced upon me by a really bad cold. I felt a little bit sick last Friday, but took it easy and felt fine on Saturday. Something tells me I overdid it last Saturday (with the concert and all day rehearsal), because by Sunday, I was miserable! My cold kept me either on the couch or in bed until Thursday! I have now added Nyquil to the list of things I will be grateful to be able to have after this baby is safe in her crib. You can find list upon list of medications on the internet that are supposedly safe to take during your pregnancy, but then the different sites start contradicting each other and by the time you get done researching it all you are too scared to take anything. You end up just going to bed more miserable than when you began googling!

Friday I went to Park Nicollet Hospital to get my routine blood draw for my Progesterone test. I was overdue this time, but I’ve been feeling good so hopefully my levels are where they should be…or higher – so that I can stop taking it. I’ll get the results back next week.

Friday night Ryun and I went to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs at the theater in Inver Grove. It was really good!! During the movie Pinkberry got her first case of hiccups. They lasted several minutes and it was perfect because Ryun was right there to feel them with me. :)

Today we drove to Rochester for Jeff & Kim’s wedding. Ryun works with Jeff. They had planned an outdoor wedding, but since it is about 20 or so degrees below average today (a whopping high of 35!) Kim had to move the wedding inside. It was still beautiful and everything appeared to turn out great. Between the wedding and the reception we had 2 1/2 hours to kill so we went out to eat with Barb & Jim, and Kelly & Justin. None of us had time to eat very much before the wedding so it was kind of a late lunch. At 5 the reception started, at 6 we had supper, and at 8 the dance started. We stayed until about 9:30 and decided to head home. We would have stayed later, but Katie was impatiently waiting for us back in St Paul – ready for a walk.

Just one more ride…it was a little chilly at 40 degrees but worth it! It was a challenge to get my gear on :) Ryun had to take my boots off for me when we get home.

Month 7-9

The baby's brain develops quickly during this period. Her skin thickens, and she develops a layer of subcutaneous "baby fat" to insulate her and store up nourishment. She can open and close her eyelids.

The baby's likelihood to survive birth jumps from 60% at 25 weeks to 90% just three weeks later. Just before birth her heart pumps 300 quarts of blood every day.

During the last few weeks before birth, the average baby reaches 7 to 8 pounds and a length of 14 to 20 inches.

How your baby's growing:

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

You're in the home stretch! The third and final trimester starts this week. If you're like most women, you'll gain about 11 pounds this trimester. (YIPPY!)

At this point, you'll likely visit your doctor or midwife every two weeks. Then, at 36 weeks, you'll switch to weekly visits. If your glucose screening test result was high and you haven't yet had follow-up testing, you'll soon be given the 3-hour glucose tolerance test.

Around this time, some women feel an unpleasant "creepy-crawly" sensation in their lower legs and an irresistible urge to move them while trying to relax or sleep. If this sensation is at least temporarily relieved when you move, you may have what's known as restless legs syndrome (RLS). No one knows for sure what causes RLS, but it's relatively common among expectant mothers. Try stretching or massaging your legs, and cut down on caffeine, which can make the symptoms worse. Ask your caregiver if you should try iron supplements, which can sometimes relieve RLS.

I had RLS before I got pregnant and have found that taking extra calcium supplements really helps!

I get my glucose screening test this coming Monday when I see Maureen again. I’m seeing her every two weeks now.

Katie was feeling a little left out so she needed to get in a picture :)

Michael W. Smith (27 Weeks)

2009-10-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

First, the rest of the story on Boston…

Sunday was rainy, but not too bad. Alee and I went to the Boston Harbor and took a ferry to see Old Ironsides. We took a tour of Old Ironsides and checked out a small museum, then headed back on the ferry to the harbor.

When we got back we were starving, so we ate at Legal Seafoods. We both had the popcorn shrimp and it hit the spot. From there, we headed over to see the site of the Boston Massacre, the Old State House, the Old City Hall, the site of the first public school in America, the King’s Chapel, and the Granary Burial Ground. Then we walked through Chinatown and over to Cheers. On our way back to the T, Alee and I stopped at Starbucks to refuel and relax for a bit.

When we got back to campus, Alee had rehearsal with her Christian a capella group. She invited me along and I had a great time listening to them sing. They sang a few songs for me and they sounded awesome! I wish I could go to a concert!!!

Sunday night we went to Spice, a Thai restaurant, and we had Pad Thai.

Monday it was back to sunny and beautiful in Boston. Alee and I got up and went to breakfast at the dining hall. She said it was a little hard to sneak me in as a student because of my “condition”. Not a whole lot of pregnant students at Harvard. Guess I should have brought a larger sweatshirt that looked a little bit preppy. :)

Alee had two classes, so I walked around the campus and did some shopping while she was busy getting smarter. Between classes, Alee took me to see Annenberg Hall. Annenberg Hall has one of the largest collections of secular stained glass in the U.S. It has a Freshman dining hall upstairs, has some space for classes, and in the basement they have a student lounge that looked more like a sports grill. Then we went inside the Widener Library. Harry Widener died in the Titanic and his personal library is displayed there. Click the links the learn more.

We grabbed a quick lunch at a sandwich shop on campus and then jumped on the T to go for a walk by the Charles River. It was the perfect ending to my trip. The walk was beautiful and Alee and I both walk super fast so we covered quite a bit of ground. We took a bus back to campus, went to her dorm to grab my bags, and then she rode with me to the airport.

I’m SO glad I finally booked tickets and went out to visit Alee. We had a great time together and Alee was a great guide. She made sure to keep me fed, and was great at helping me find bathrooms throughout the city. THANKS ALEE!! I hope I didn’t wear you out too badly. :)

On the Boardwalk
Us visiting Old Ironsides
Alee in Old Ironsides
Alee: Standing in Opposition
Lacy: Standing in Opposition

Cheers!
Charles River

The T Crossing the Charles River
The Crimson – Harvard’s Newspaper – Alee is Design Chair!!

* You can see all the pictures from my trip on Facebook!

Now, the Michael W. Smith concert I was a part of today…

Ryun and I went out shopping Saturday morning. We got a bit late, so we made a quick stop for some “nutritious” McDonalds for lunch, and then he dropped me off at the Excel for registration and rehearsal at 12:30pm. We were supposed to start our sound check and rehearsal at 2pm, but didn’t get started until about 2:40. We finished about 3:15 and were set to rehearse with Michael W. Smith at 3:30, but since everything was running behind at that point, we didn’t start working with him until about 4:25. At 5:20 we finished and Ryun came by to pick me up. Ryun and I only live about a mile from the Excel, but I knew I didn’t have time to walk home. He took me home and warmed me up a piece of lasagna while I changed. Then we shared the tiny piece and practically ran back to the Excel since the concert started at 6pm and I was supposed to be in my seat by 5:45. I think I had a constant contraction all the way there. I told Pinkberry this was not the time to be causing a contraction! Didn’t she know I was about to sing with Michael?!?!?!!!

The rehearsals and concert were so much fun! It was just so crazy to be singing with MWS. The choir was made up of a lot of really nice people and since we were all so excited about our brush with fame, we didn’t mind that things were running behind. Singing among 1000 other voices praising God was pretty awesome. At one point in our rehearsal, MWS just stopped singing and playing his piano, turned, and just listened to us with a big smile on his face. I was like WOW! Michael W. Smith is listening to us sing and it appears that he likes us!!! Then I thought, can you imagine what God’s face looks like when we praise Him?! That thought just took the whole experience to a whole new level. What an awesome God we have.

Below are some of the pictures that I took throughout the day.

Here are two YouTube links to two of the songs that I really liked during the concert that I hadn’t heard before:
The Moment of Truth by Matthew West
Old Glory by Phil Stacey

1000 Voice Choir – we sat behind the stage
Stage & Choir
Inside the Excel

MWS talking with Dan (our choir director) during rehearsal
The seats are full and the concert is about to begin!

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

The second trimester is drawing to a close, but as your body gears up for the final lap, you may start noticing some new symptoms. Along with an aching back, for example, you may find that your leg muscles cramp up now and then. They're carrying extra weight, after all, and your expanding uterus is putting pressure on the veins that return blood from your legs to your heart as well as on the nerves leading from your trunk to your legs. Unfortunately, the cramps may get worse as your pregnancy progresses. Leg cramps are more common at night but can also happen during the day. When a cramp strikes, stretching the calf muscle should give you some relief. Straighten your leg and then gently flex your toes back toward your shin. Walking for a few minutes or massaging your calf sometimes helps, too.

BOSTON!!! (26 Weeks)

2009-09-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

I flew to Boston on Thursday afternoon and Alee met me at the airport. We rode the T back to Harvard and Alee gave me a quick tour of the campus in the dark. Alee graciously let me have her room while I stayed with her and she slept in the common room on the futon. What a great friend!! :)

Friday morning we road the Commuter Train to Salem, MA and spent the day exploring. Salem is a beautiful town and everything I think of when I think “East Coast”. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Captain’s Catch, (that even the server couldn’t ruin by pouring water on me) saw the famous House of Seven Gables, and walked through most of the town taking in all the sites.

Friday evening we went back to Boston and Alee showed me around the Financial District and the North End. We ate Italian for supper in the North End and hit up a Farmer’s Market before calling it a day. Back at the dorm, we caught up on the Grey’s Anatomy Season Premiere, and then stayed up and talked until we couldn’t make sense anymore. :)

Saturday we strolled through Boston Common, then the Boston Public Garden, and walked down Common Wealth Mall which lead us to some shopping and past the Prudential building. We ended our walking tour at the Church of Christian Science. It was a great walk and I loved all the green in the city! We went back to campus for a late lunch and then Alee had workstudy for a couple hours while I chilled out in her dorm and uploaded my pictures. After she got off work, she gave me a tour of Harvard’s campus. Then we sat and enjoyed milkshakes on the steps of Memorial Church and hashed out life for awhile. For supper we enjoyed Spinach Pizza. Alee tried to call it junk food until I corrected her – mozzeralla = calcium, spinach = iron, and bread = fiber. It was a very wholesome meal as far as I was concerned. We watched a movie on Netflix before, again, staying up really late and going to bed exhausted. :)

Alee at Burying Point Cemetery in Salem
Lighthouse in Salem

Oldest House in Salem

The Old North Church
Holocaust Memorial in Boston

Public Garden in Boston
Crazy Belt Guy…Poor Alee…
*Alee – next time you need to be quicker on the draw – we should have had video footage of him trying to get that belt around my pregnant belly :D “What!, there’s a baby in there??!”

Capital
“Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey
Alee standing outside of Adam’s House - (her home)

* You can see all the pictures from my trip on Facebook!

How your baby's growing:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

How your life's changing:

Are you rushing around trying to get to childbirth classes and prepare your baby's room while still taking care of all your other daily tasks? Make sure that you also continue to eat well and get plenty of rest. Around this time, your blood pressure may be increasing slightly, although it's probably still lower than it was before you got pregnant. (Typically, blood pressure falls toward the end of the first trimester, and it tends to reach a low at about 22 to 24 weeks.)

Preeclampsia — a serious disorder characterized by high blood pressure and protein in your urine — most often shows up after 37 weeks, but it can happen earlier so it's important to be aware of the warning signs of this condition. Call your caregiver if you have swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, more than slight swelling of your hands, excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, or rapid weight gain (more than 4 pounds in a week). With more severe preeclampsia, you may experience other symptoms. Let your caregiver know immediately if you have a severe or persistent headache, vision changes (including double or blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, sensitivity to light, or temporary loss of vision), intense pain or tenderness in your upper abdomen, or vomiting.

If your lower back seems a little achy lately, you can thank both your growing uterus — which shifts your center of gravity, stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, and may be pressing on a nerve — as well as hormonal changes that loosen your joints and ligaments. Plus, the extra weight you're carrying means more work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints, which is why you may feel worse at the end of the day. Walking, standing, or sitting for long periods, as well as bending and lifting can all put a strain on your back. A warm bath or hot compress might bring relief. (Some women, though, find cool compresses more comforting.) Try to maintain good posture during the day, avoid activities that require bending and twisting at the same time, take frequent breaks when sitting or standing, and sleep on your side with one or both knees bent with a pillow between your legs, using another pillow (or wedge) to support your abdomen.

Katie wrapped herself up in the flannel I bought to make swaddle blankets – it was warm from the dryer. :)

Music To Her Ears

2009-09-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today started a little earlier than I would have preferred, but it was not a day to hit the snooze. I needed to be at Northwestern College by 8:30am for choir rehearsal. This isn’t just any choir though! I am a part of a 1000 voice choir that will be accompanying Michael W. Smith at his concert here in St. Paul on October 3rd. Yup, you read that right!!! I’m really excited! :) I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to one of his concerts…and now, I’m IN ONE! Crazy! Matthew West and Phil Stacey will also be performing!

In addition to preparing for the concert rehearsal, I was on the worship team this week. I had practice on Tuesday night. We are back to 3 services at church now since it is fall, but I only sing at the last two services so it isn’t too long of a morning. We have really enjoyed the new series Pastor Jason is preaching. It is called “No More Minnesota Nice”. Check it out here: http://nomoremnnice.com/ Basically, the series asks,“Is nice enough?”. The series has brought a fresh reminder at how God has called us to live our lives.

Jill Holtz and I went to lunch at Christos on Friday and then we spent the afternoon measuring, cutting, ironing, and pinning the flannel swaddle blankets I am making. Jill was a huge help and I’m so glad she was willing to do all that work with me. It made the task A LOT more enjoyable! :)

Friday evening I went shopping with Michele and Kaci. We hit up Woodbury Lakes Mall and after completely exhausting ourselves, we had supper at the Green Mill. Fortunately, the waitress messed up our order and she gave us free dessert. :) I forgave her at cheesecake! :D

This weekend Ryun and I went for a walk by Pickerel Lake in Lilydale Regional Park to check out an old brickyard. This is also a popular spot for fossil hunting (you need a $10 permit to take anything home with you). I continue to be amazed at all the cool places there are to explore just minutes from our place.

Echo Cave – they used the sand from this cave to make bricks and also to store those bricks. Now there is a gate on the front of it to protect the Big Brown bats that use the cave to hibernate in during the winter. The brickyard was used from 1874 – 1970s and the bricks were used to build many of St. Paul’s buildings.

Cool little waterfall
Ryun and Katie with the St Paul Cathedral in the background

How your baby's growing:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’ve noticed that I’m making increased trips to the bathroom again (this died down once I was in my 2nd trimester because it was bad during the 1st), especially at bedtime. This has caused me to lose quite a bit of sleep so I’m more tired that I have been in the past several weeks. I’m still getting a lot of things done at home though, and plan to, until I become to big to move. :)

Where Did 6 Months Go? (24 Weeks)

2009-09-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

Today Ryun and I conquered the office. It took us most of the day to organize and sort all of our junk. It is amazing to me that we can still have stuff we need to throw out since we have gone through all of our prized possessions almost yearly (because of our moves). Most of you who know Ryun, know that this is not his favorite activity. Originally, Michele was going to come over and help me sort through the closets. But, today I told Ryun that I really wanted to go do something with him so we could spend some time together, since he has been really busy with work all week. We couldn’t come up with anything to do today and then I told Ryun that I really felt like going shopping with him. That is when the light bulb turned on and he VOLUNTEERED to clean the office with me. I can overlook missing shopping with this sort of progress going on at home! Michele and I will have much more fun shopping than cleaning anyways :) Everyone is happy this way!

It is hard to believe the office closet could hold so much stuff! We really had it packed in there!!

All that stuff has been cleaned up and compacted, and Pinkberry has a lot more room in her closet now! Good work Ryun!!! I’m sure she’ll appreciate the new diaper space. :)

After supper, Michele came over and we reorganized the linen closet, pantry, and the coat closet. It works great that we are both a bit OCD!!!

Linen Closet Before….And After…

Pantry Before….

Pantry After

On Labor Day, Michele came over and helped me paint 2 dressers and 2 cabinets. Then, we made a trip to Ikea and Super Target, and finished off our trip with DQ. It is important to reward hard work.

Priming the furniture

Newly painted cabinets

New furniture from Ikea – still need to add a few more pink totes

Old color of the office – from last week

New color plus new and painted furniture in our office/nursery!

Newly painted bedroom dressers – Pinkberry’s clothes will fill these

Wednesday night at bible study Pinkberry was highly energetic. Not sure if it was the motorcycle ride, bowl of ice cream, or popcorn that set her off…probably the cold ice cream. I think I saw her foot come out and she about kicked the shirt off my belly. Ryun stayed up all night that night working and on one of his breaks, we laid and watched her make my belly bounce. He talks to her a lot and she will kick in response to his voice. SO CUTE!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her just over a pound. Since she's about a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

This week your baby is probably starting to get a sense of whether she is upside-down or right side up inside the amniotic sac. That’s because your baby’s inner ear, which controls balance in the body, is now developed.

Babies born at 24 weeks have a greater than 50-50 chance of survival. The odds get better with every passing week.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How my life is changing:

In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball.

Because your uterus is expanding and putting a great amount of pressure on your abdomen, you might get stretch marks. Your weight gain may also be taking a toll on your body at this point. Many pregnant women experience backaches, bladder problems, sore feet and fatigue that affect their daily routines. You might also have some nasal stuffiness or nosebleeds.

You may sometimes get a stitch-like pain in your side from time to time. It's simply the muscles of the uterus stretching.

I’ve had many more backaches this week. I’m propping myself up at night with pillows to help me sleep, but several mornings now I’ve woken to find myself flat on my back. I’m guessing the pressure of the baby against my lower back makes it really painful. I can barely move in the mornings when this happens. I think I need a new pillow system.
I’m also noticing that I’m having a lot more heart burn at night when I lay down for bed.

Above are pictures of Katie playing with her friend Willa. Willa belongs to Michele. They love to play, even though it always looks like Willa is eating Katie. :) Katie just keeps coming back for more! Katie has to relieve her stress somehow I guess. She probably thinks that we are moving again with all this sorting and organizing going on. Don’t worry Katie, we’re not moving…but somebody is moving IN ;)

Too Busy Nesting for Resting (23 Weeks)

2009-09-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

It was Sunday afternoon (Aug 30th) when Michele texted me, “Let’s paint the office!”. “OKAY!” I replied back – “let me go buy some paint”. Although I had planned a rather large nap for that afternoon, I knew my time would be better spent knocking off tasks from my Nesting To Do list. Ryun and I had come to agree the night before, that we would paint the office blue, but still weren’t positive which blue we liked the best. Michele painted her bedroom a very nice blue and it looks great in her place so we decided to copy her! I think we got started about 4 or 5pm and we were eating Taco Johns at 9:30pm. I LOVE our new office color. It is bright and calming. No more yellowy green in there! It is hard to tell from the photos what color it really is. It is brighter and less pastel than a baby blue. It goes great with the white trim, and the furniture that we’ll paint white next week. Pinkberry’s (baby’s nickname) crib will be white so it will fit right in. We’ll decorate with white and pink. Not sure if we’ll go with browns or blacks yet. Since our computer desks and hardware have a lot of black we could go black, but a lot of baby girl stuff is pink and brown so we’ll see. I like both. We’re splitting the room (1/2 office, 1/2 nursery) so that we don’t have to try to cram our computer desks into the little utility room. I told Ryun the constant running of the washer/dryer would drive us nuts. He wasn’t concerned since they don’t run very often right now……I hear that will change.

Michele touching up the new paint job. She loves to paint (or so she claims). She did a ton of work and is pretty much the reason all this painting got done. THANKS MICHELE! :)

Ryun’s work station was temporarily displaced.

New furniture from Ikea! Baby storage! Ryun did a fine job of putting this together.

On Thursday night, Ryun and I went to the Barlow Girl/Casting Crowns concert at the Minnesota State Fair. We had a good time and Pinkberry really got to bouncing around inside. The music was loud so I’m sure she could hear it loud and clear. Ryun got to feel her hard kicks for almost a 1/2 hour during the intermission. I guess she wasn’t happy about the music getting turned off :)

I’m really worn out this week. Every time I wanted to take a nap, I couldn’t stop thinking about all things I needed to have done. I’m enjoying getting things done around here and maybe in a few weeks, after a lot of nesting is done, I’ll get back to my naps. I had something going every night this week…most of it involved errands or painting, and oh yeah, giving Katie a haircut (see below). Mean Michele helped hold her down. She’s a whole new dog now. She doesn’t look very amused in her picture, but don’t let that fool you, she was tearing around here having a good time after her haircut :)

How your baby's growing:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

You may notice that your ankles and feet start to swell a bit in the coming weeks or months, especially at the end of the day or during the heat of summer. Sluggish circulation in your legs — coupled with changes in your blood chemistry that may cause some water retention — may result in swelling, also known as edema. Your body will get rid of the extra fluid after you have your baby, which is why you'll pee frequently and sweat a lot for a few days after delivery. In the meantime, lie on your left side or put your feet up when you can, stretch out your legs when you sit, and avoid sitting — or standing — in one place for long periods. Also, try to exercise regularly to increase circulation, and wear support stockings (put them on first thing in the morning) and roomy, comfortable shoes. You may be tempted to skimp on liquids to combat swelling, but you need to drink plenty of water because staying hydrated actually helps prevent fluid retention. While a certain amount of edema in your lower extremities is normal during pregnancy, excessive swelling may be a sign of a serious condition called preeclampsia.

I’m feeling great! (other than my self-induced exhaustion.) Don’t worry – Pinkberry seems to sleep while I’m up running around so she’s getting lots of rest. She kicks like it is WW3 when I sit or lay down for a break. I think she lives in my bladder because she is constantly stomping on it! :| She already has selective listening because I ask her not to do that and she ignores me.

Mid-Pregnancy Crisis…..22 Weeks

2009-08-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Now some may call this nesting, but I think it is a bit early to be nesting, so I’m calling it my mid-pregnancy crisis (just like a mid-life crisis without the Ferrari). I woke up one day this past week and discovered that I have done little or nothing to prepare for this baby and as of today I have a guesstimate of 18 weeks to make up for this lapse in my thinking! Off to Super Walmart I went!! Toilet paper, toothpaste, floss, paper towels, soap, sugar, flour,…. just some necessities that we don’t really need but things we should stock up on non-the-less! I limited myself to one large container of each and promised myself I could come back once I made more room in my closet for the rest of the things we NEED.

I had a routine checkup with my midwife Maureen on Tuesday and heard the heartbeat. The checkup went really well and she went over what will happen the day I deliver, which helped calm some of my nerves (nerves that are caused by my crisis that I’m having). Somehow her explanation of giving birth calmed me instead of making me worse, even though a few times she commented on me having a “really bad look on my face”.

Katie is feeling sorry for her “pet human” since she already has more clothes than Katie. A friend was having a garage sale so I stopped in and picked up a couple outfits.

How your baby's growing:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

At this point, you may find your belly becoming a hand magnet. It's perfectly okay to tell folks who touch your tummy that you'd rather they didn't. And if people are telling you that you look smaller or bigger than you should at this point, remember that each woman grows — and shows — at her own rate. What's important is that you see your practitioner for regular visits so she can make sure your baby's growth is on track.

You may start to notice stretch marks on your abdomen as it expands to accommodate your growing baby. At least half of all pregnant women will develop stretch marks by the time they give birth. These small streaks of differently textured skin can range from pink to dark brown (depending on your skin color). Although they most commonly appear on your tummy, stretch marks may also show up on your buttocks, thighs, hips, and breasts. There's no proof that lotion helps prevent stretch marks, but keeping your skin moisturized may help with any itching.

I haven’t had any strangers running up to my belly to touch it yet so that hasn’t been a problem. I’m pretty fascinated with the fact that I have a belly and a baby inside kicking me – so I’m not sure if I’ll mind if people touch it. Part of me wants everyone in the world to feel the baby kicking!

I definitely haven’t had anyone tell me I’m too big. Everyone tells me I’m hardly showing. That is because they aren’t the ones with a soccer ball sized growth in their belly. I’ve started to embrace the comments that I’m small because soon I will be huge :)

I haven’t had any stretch marks on the outside of my belly, but I’m positive that I have them on the inside! I’m having a lot of round ligament pain and I can really feel my body beginning to stretch. Standing is becoming more and more uncomfortable. I’m also starting to toss and turn a lot more at night. I’m not too uncomfortable, it is just that I am already sick of laying on my left side and I’m too paranoid to lay on my back or right side for fear of suffocating the baby. I’m starting to think this could be a long 18 weeks if I am already experiencing these symptoms…on the other hand, the baby is almost a foot long and weighs in just shy of a pound, so maybe this is to be expected.

Yep, he’s actually smiling!! I told him that the baby was KICKING for him :) This was the last night at the Como Relays. Ryun and his partner placed 5th.

Today Ryun ran a 5k at the Minnesota Zoo. His race fee included free admission to the zoo so we went there after his race. We had a good time seeing all the animals. The last zoo we visited was the Denver Zoo and it gave us pretty high standards. You should check it out if you ever have the time in Denver. The weather was cooler today and it made for a nice morning walking around the zoo.

See more pictures from the zoo: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/ZooAnd5k?feat=directlink

21 Weeks

2009-08-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

134 days have passed since conception,

and I have 132 days before my due date.

Only 19 weeks to go!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

How your life's changing:

You're probably feeling pretty comfortable these days. You're not too big yet, and the usual discomforts associated with early pregnancy are, for the most part, gone. If you're feeling good, relax and enjoy it while you can — the third trimester may bring with it a new crop of complaints.

That's not to say you won't have some minor glitches to deal with now. For example, increased oil production may contribute to the development (or worsening) of acne. You're also more prone to varicose veins now. As your pregnancy progresses, there's increasing pressure on the veins in your legs; higher progesterone levels, which may cause the walls of your veins to relax, can make the problem worse. You're more likely to get varicose veins if other family members have them. Also, they tend to get worse with each successive pregnancy and as you age. To help prevent or minimize varicose veins, exercise daily, prop up your feet and legs whenever possible, sleep on your left side, and wear maternity support hose. You may also notice so-called spider veins (a group of tiny blood vessels near the surface of your skin), particularly on your ankles, legs, or face. They may have a spider- or sunburst-like pattern with little branches radiating out from the center, they may look like the branches of a tree, or they may be a group of separate thin lines with no particular pattern. Though they may be a bit unsightly, spider veins don't cause discomfort and usually disappear after delivery.

Ryun racing at the Como Relays – Ryun and his partner placed 6th.

Ryun winning the 5k at Lake Harriet

We have been trying to stay busy and enjoy the remaining days of good weather. Ryun has been running about 2 races a week. Wednesday nights this month he has been racing at the Como Relays. Today he ran at Lake Harriet. When he came over the hill he was just passing the leader (who is pictured in 2nd place above), so it was a good finish for him. :)

Today was beautiful outside! After taking a nap to recover from the early morning race, we spent most the afternoon out lounging in the park and enjoying the weather. Katie enjoyed laying in the sun and seeing her dog-pals come and go.

I’ve been feeling better, so I have been trying to increase my walking. I probably go a couple miles a day right now but would like to get up to at least 3 by next week. I’m starting to feel more and more growing pains. Sometimes it feels like my stomach is tearing inside and I have to look under my shirt to make sure it isn’t tearing on the outside too!

My main “complaints” are hunger and exhaustion right now. I don’t like being tired, but I love to eat so being hungry is okay! :)

My roses from Ryun on the day of my Ultrasound

Daddy’s Gotta Get A Gun

2009-08-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today has FINALLY arrived!!! Today was my 20 week ultrasound in Hudson with Dr. Hartung. Ryun took off work early and we drove to Hudson in a downpour to make it for my appointment. Of course, since it was raining, people were driving like they might slip off the road, which gave me a slight bit of road rage. Fortunately, my blood pressure was almost back to normal by the time they checked me in for my appointment. Ryun’s was also on its way back down after riding in the car with his pregnant wife, who was not only driving, but also yelling at the car in front of her to “grow a pair, or get off the road”.

Needless to say, we made it to the appointment safe and sound and only a couple minutes late.

We had an awesome time watching our baby GIRL on the screen. Dr. Hartung said that we both looked very healthy! She has all her fingers, thumbs, and toes, a fully formed front lip, and her head measures to the appropriate size. We could see the 4 chambers of her little heart beating at 153.

Ryun is a little concerned about being surrounded by a sea of pink, but is otherwise excited. :) He keeps reminding me that they thought he was a girl. I keep reminding him that, that was 27 years ago.

partial arm in front of face

hands

arm in front of face

baby girl

20 Weeks & Taking Bets

2009-08-15T17:10:00.001-07:00

How can I already be half way there?! Where did the time go? It just doesn’t seem possible that I am halfway through and that we will have a baby in 20 more weeks. Everyone told me it would go fast but I thought time was crawling….I guess it wasn’t.

We are very excited for this coming week. August 20th we go in for my ultrasound. Dr. Hartung in Hudson will do it. We can’t wait to see the baby again (it has been 14 weeks so hopefully it will look a little more like a person than a blob this time)! I will get a level 2, and from what I know right now, it is just more in-depth than the level 1.

We are planning to find out if we are having a boy or girl. Hopefully the baby isn’t shy! What do you think we are having – post your thoughts in the comment link at the end of this entry! Here are some “old wives-hints” to help you out: I am carrying low (so says my midwife), the baby’s heartbeat is 150, and I’ve had a lot of break outs on my face.

I went in for a quick checkup (with Dr. Hartung) on Monday this past week to make sure that the muscle contractions I was feeling wasn’t affecting the baby. I was having a lot of them and just wanted to be reassured that everything was okay. He did an ultrasound to make sure no unwanted changes had taken place and gave me a good bill of health. I guess this is just my body getting ready…it only has 20 more weeks you know…better get crackin’!!

In honor of my 20 weeks, Ryun and I went out to the baby store. We looked at strollers, cribs, slings (I almost got a picture of him wearing one), high chairs, diaper bags, etc, etc. I had a great time!…and I think he will make a full recovery! The Packers had their first pre-season game tonight and it shows on our TV at midnight. Yeah, he’ll be just fine. :)

Tonight we could see the baby kicking and making my belly move. I’ve seen it a few times before, but it was the first time Ryun has had the opportunity to see it. That is so cool!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.)

She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in the first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

How your life's changing:

Congratulations! You've hit the halfway mark in your pregnancy. The top of your uterus is about level with your belly button, and you've likely gained around 10 pounds in all. Expect to gain another pound or so each week from now on. Make sure you're getting enough iron, a mineral that's used primarily to make hemoglobin (the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen). During pregnancy, your body needs more iron to keep up with your expanding blood volume, as well as for your growing baby and the placenta. Red meat is one of the best sources of iron for pregnant women. Poultry (especially the dark meat) and shellfish also contain iron. Some common non-meat sources of iron include legumes, soy-based products, spinach, prune juice, raisins, and iron-fortified cereals.

My most recent symptom is heart burn. I had a little bit in the first trimester but it wasn’t bad. Now, I feel like a fire-breathing dragon. I’m on fire inside! Maybe I’ll go see if some ice cream will put out the fire. :)
Also, my favorite food right now is pasta, with red spaghetti sauce, a chicken breast, and melted mozzarella over the top. YUM!

Proof that she sleeps! :)

19 Weeks

2009-08-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

I’ve spent a lot of time resting this week since I’ve been tired. Michele and I hung out quite a bit running errands after work with each other and watching a few movies. I had my progesterone level checked this week and it came back good. The doctor wasn’t going to up my dose, but when I called him later this week experiencing irregular contractions he decided to take me from 1cc to 2ccs. The progesterone is supposed to help me avoid preterm labor. I hate having to get the larger doses because they are more painful, but hopefully the contractions will go away soon. They started to be very noticeable to me on Tuesday, and since then have increased in frequency. I am supposed to drink lots of water and keep my feet up as much as possible. I’m not really the bed rest type but I’m doing my best. :) I DO NOT want to end up on permanent bed rest. They’d have to commit me (and probably Ryun too). As long as nothing changes from the way I am right now, I will phone my midwife and Dr. Hilgers Monday to give them an update. Today I’ve had a lot fewer contractions so that is encouraging. Thank you to all of you who are praying – I really really appreciate it!

A picture of me with my flowers on our front step.

Our baby continues to be more active each week. It gives me comfort to feel baby moving around in there. Once, the baby kicked me right where my stomach was knotted up, almost as if to say, “stop it”. Several nights this week, Ryun has fallen asleep for the night with his hand on my belly feeling the baby move around. In the first couple weeks of kicking, baby was most active in the afternoon. In the last week or so, baby has been kicking a lot more at night and when I wake in the morning (or when I’m up peeing in the middle of the night). I read that one reason for this, is that the motion of walking around can rock the baby to sleep. The other reason is because this kid will be a night owl :)

How my baby's growing:

The baby's sensory development is exploding (or so the site says)! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.
The baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato, or another site says she is the size of mango, so take your pick. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature.

How your life's changing:

Think you're big now? You'll start growing even faster in the weeks to come. As a result, you may notice some achiness in your lower abdomen or even an occasional brief, stabbing pain on one or both sides — especially when you shift position or at the end of an active day. Most likely, this is round ligament pain. The ligaments that support your uterus are stretching to accommodate its increasing weight. This is nothing to be alarmed about, but call your practitioner if the pain continues even when you're resting or becomes severe.
You may be noticing some skin changes, too. Are the palms of your hands red? Nothing to worry about — it's from the extra estrogen. You may also have patches of darkened skin caused by a temporary increase in pigment. When these darker patches appear on your upper lip, cheeks, and forehead, they're called chloasma, or the "mask of pregnancy." That darkened line running from your belly button to your pubic bone is called the linea nigra, or "dark line."
These darkened spots will probably fade shortly after delivery. In the meantime, protect yourself from the sun, which intensifies the pigment changes. Cover up, wear a brimmed hat, and use sunscreen when you're outdoors. And if you're self-conscious about your "mask," a little concealing makeup can work wonders.

~ Yes I do think I’m big but as I was looking through the fruit chart and I saw that next week the baby will be 2” longer than this week and 2” more the following week, I’m sure I don’t have any idea what is to come. That is okay :)
I have been having round ligament pain along with leg cramps and restless legs. Haven’t really noticed any skin changes – thankfully! I’ve had an increase in breakouts on my face throughout the pregnancy but that has been about it for my skin.

Baby’s First Marathon Shopping Experience

2009-08-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, no more of this, “Lacy, you don’t even have a belly, what are you talking about?!”, nonsense. If you can’t see my huge belly then go to the eye doctor – you need glasses! :)

I’m exhausted! Mom left last night on the train and we had a ton of fun this week. By yesterday though, we were so tired that a person could actually experience SILENCE in the car as we drove from place to place.

I picked Mom up off the train on Sunday morning about 7am, we came home, changed, and went to church at 9:30. Then we came home, changed, and went to Stillwater. Ryun ran 1 mile race (which he won in 4:50) and then we watched some of the Stillwater parade before going home to rest for the afternoon. That evening Ryun and I went back to Stillwater and watched an awesome fireworks display – it was one of the best we’ve seen.

Ryun running the 1 mile in Stillwater

Tuesday was my prenatal checkup with Maureen and Mom came along. Everything is going well and I’ve noticed that the baby is kicking more than last week. The baby’s heart beat was 151 and I called Ryun so that he could listen over the phone. It was the first time he’s heard the heart beat since my ultrasound at 6 weeks. I was excited that Mom could be there to hear it too. She also has gotten to feel the baby kick several times this week which was a lot of fun to share with her.

In total, Mom and I conquered 4 malls this week, in addition to countless maternity and baby stores (one of which was Babies R Us where we spent several agonizing hours making a list of all that I would need and what I liked), and at least 3 trips to Super Target. Wednesday night we ran up to Mounds View and got a few nice pictures overlooking St Paul. We even managed to squeeze in a trip to Minnehaha Falls and spent the morning walking around that park, which was beautiful! I was disappointed with the so called “Falls” as it could have been more accurately called “Minnehaha Drip”.

At Maplewood Mall Relaxing in Babies R Us

“Minnehaha Drips”

At Minnehaha Falls

View Full Album

View of St Paul from Mounds View

More Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/MomSTrip?feat=directlink

18 Weeks:

How your baby's growing:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Happy 26 to Me!

2009-07-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

I had a fun week this week – stretching out my birth-day into a week long celebration! :)
We had our final softball game (Ryun and I were on a league and on the Fast team) on Monday night and then celebrated with everyone afterwards with supper at Gabe’s. Tuesday we had supper with friends Kaci & Jeremy. Kaci bought carrot cake for birthday cake and it was delicious. Her birthday is about a week after mine so we were both celebrating. Thursday was my actual birthday, so it was full of activities. I went out to Macaroni Grill with Kelly, Barb and Kaley (Barb’s daughter who was visiting from Winnipeg) for lunch. When Michele got off work, we went and had pedicures (this was my first professional pedicure ever! and I’m addicted now – thanks Michele!!!), then we rushed home, picked up Ryun, and all went out for Red Lobster. I love that place!
Once we were back home, Ryun and I watched Twilight together. It was a good birthday :)

Friday I went in to have a checkup with my Endocrinologist. She checked my prolactin level to help her monitor my prolactinoma (I have a tiny benign tumor on my pituitary gland). My test came back normal so it appears that all is good.

Today Ryun and I went over to Lumberjack Days in Stillwater, MN and Ryun ran a 10 mile road race. He came in at 60 minutes and was 48th out of a couple thousand runners. Then we watched some of the Dock Dog and Lumberjack competitions before coming home.

My mom is coming to visit and will be here first thing tomorrow morning on the train. I can’t wait!!! :)

The baby is moving a little bit more than last week so that has been fun. Some days the baby is quiet but I usually feel her move at least once or twice a day.

How Big is the Baby at 17 Weeks Pregnant?
Your baby is anywhere from 4.4 to 4.8 inches by pregnancy week 17 and weighs almost 5 ounces! If you were to hold your baby at 17 weeks pregnant, she would fit snuggly in the palm of your hand. Your baby is about the size of a small pomegranate.

Your Baby's Growth and Development
Your baby is now very mobile, gleefully moving his or her joints here, there and everywhere and will continue to do so as you continue your pregnancy week by week. The cartilage making up the skeleton in your baby's body is starting to transform into bone. By now your baby should be hearing things. Your baby will start putting on some layers of fat in the weeks to come, though at this point in time your baby is made up of primarily water.

I’m in here!! Hello?!?!?! (16 weeks)

2009-07-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Is the baby doing high kicks or practicing for the hurdles…not sure, but it is the most amazing sensation I’ve ever felt. So far the kicks have been subtle and few and far between. Yesterday (Friday, July 17th) baby was very active for about a half hour starting at 3:40pm. It was the most activity I’ve felt so far so it was really exciting.

After waiting all day today for the baby to punch hard enough for me to feel it, it finally happened and Ryun was able to feel it too. I felt bad he had missed yesterday’s acrobatics and was excited to share with him the cutest punches he’s ever felt :)

On Monday (July 13th) I had a consult with an Ob/Gyn in Hudson. My midwife wanted me to see a doctor just to double check that my past uterine surgeries wouldn’t negatively affect my pregnancy or delivery. He gave me a clean bill of health and I was able to listen to the baby’s heart beat of 153. Very cool!! His name is Dr. Hartung and he was great. He is a good back-up and my first choice if I ever need to head to the hospital. His wife had their second baby at home and he is very supportive of natural and home childbirth. I think doctors like him are few and far between. I’m so thankful to have found him.

After my appointment, I went for a long awaited massage. It was great! Since I’m still able to lay face down I was able to get the full treatment as usual. However, I’m not sure baby was very approving. About mid-way through, baby gave me quite a punch in the belly, possibly saying “hey – stop squishing me!” :)

Wednesday I came down with some cold/flu symptoms, sore throat, swollen glands, aches, fatigue. I’ve also been having a lot of headaches. I’m still feeling a bit crummy, but hopefully in the next couple days I’ll be back to feeling good.

The baby is around 4.3 to 4.6 inches long and weighs 2.8 ounces. The amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby is increasing and there is about 7.5 ounces of fluid. At this point, the baby is holding his/her head up. Because baby’s muscles are developing, he/she can make some faces now. Baby is able to squint, frown and open its mouth. There is enough calcium in the bones that they will show up on an x-ray. Baby's fingernails are well formed now and the legs are longer than the arms. The baby’s heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood and my blood volume has increase 20-25% since I became pregnant.

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!

2009-07-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

It is Saturday today and I am 15 weeks along. As I was waking up this morning I rolled over onto my side and had my hand on my belly when I felt the baby move. I didn’t expect to feel anything so soon and was shocked! They say you can usually stat feeling the baby between 16-20 weeks, but if you are thin, sometimes you can feel it earlier. I’m considering this an extra special anniversary present :)

Ryun and I are in Duluth this weekend. We came up on Thursday night and we have been exploring the north shore of Lake Superior. Friday we went to Gooseberry State Park and hiked to see the falls. Katie went along with us and was eager to drag us along as quickly as she could (so much to smell – so little time). Of course, she has a small size disadvantage (not that she is aware of), but she pulls like she’s 100lb Yorkie instead of 8. With my arm barely still attached after the chipmunk incident, we headed for a late lunch at Betty’s Pies near Two Harbors (we definitely recommend this place!). That afternoon we continued up the shore to see Split Rock State Park and we turned around in Silver Bay where we checked out a steel mine. We headed back to Two Harbors where Ryun raced a 5k that evening about 7pm. He has been doing a lot of races this summer and we’ve enjoyed spending our Saturday mornings that way.
Saturday we drove up to Tettegouche State Park and hiked several miles to see the falls there. It was a beautiful day and perfect for walking in the woods. On our way back we stopped in Two Harbors so I could mill through the craft fair they had going for Heritage Days. Once I was satisfied I’d seen it all and Ryun was sufficiently bored, we resumed our drive home. Had to make one last pit stop in Moose Lake to have DQ. :)

The pictures from our trip are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/NorthShore?feat=directlink

How your baby's growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

How your life's changing:

You've probably gained about 5 pounds by now (a little more or less is fine, too) and are well into the swing of your pregnancy, but you may still be surprised by an unexpected symptom now and then. If your nose is stuffed up, for instance, you can probably chalk it up to the combined effect of hormonal changes and increased blood flow to your mucous membranes. This condition is so common, there's even a name for it: "rhinitis of pregnancy." Some pregnant women also suffer nosebleeds as a result of increased blood volume and blood vessel expansion in the nose.
~
Thankfully I haven’t experienced any nosebleeds, but my nose has been a little stuffy for quite awhile now.
While I’m feeling a lot more energetic than I have since getting pregnant, so far the nausea hasn’t gone far. I’m beginning to think it is a symptom of low blood sugar. As long as I have food nearby every couple hours I’m usually safe, but if I start heaving I sprint to the fridge and throw whatever solid I have available to me down and I feel a lot better.

Finally – the 2nd Trimester!

2009-07-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

86 days have passed since conception,
and I have 180 days before my due date.

I am 14 weeks into my pregnancy,
and I have 26 weeks to go.

32% of my pregnancy has passed, there is 68% left to go.

(does anyone else think it looks like Sherri is going to steal my ice cream???)

Guess what?!! It is actually true, I’m less tired! I’m considering dragging out the vacuum cleaner for the first time in…awhile ;) Since I felt good, I couldn’t let the week go to waste! We went to Transformers 2 on Sunday after church. I recommend it! We went to our softball game on Monday night and I had worship team practice on Tuesday evening. This weekend we enjoyed fireworks every night (2nd-4th) at the Taste of MN (which is downtown St Paul). I tried out a new cafe on Thursday with Kelly & Barb over in the Highland area. Ryun had Friday off so we each took a motorcycle and took a joy ride down river road with two friends from work (Sherri & Dave) to Pepin, WI. Ryun started today off with a 4 mile road race at Harriet Island and then we went out to breakfast with Kaci & Jeremy. I’d say it was a successful use of my first week feeling relief from my exhaustion :)

How your baby's growing:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, her facial muscles are getting a workout as her tiny features form one expression after another. Her kidneys are producing urine, which she releases into the amniotic fluid around her — a process she'll keep up until birth. She can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch her sucking her thumb.
In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, she measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and she weighs 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some lengthening to do.) She’s starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over her body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and her spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel her tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

How your life's changing:

Welcome to your second trimester! Your energy is likely returning, and your queasiness may have completely abated by now. If not, hang on — chances are good it will soon be behind you (although an unlucky few will still feel nauseated months from now).
The top of your uterus is a bit above your pubic bone, which may be enough to push your tummy out a tad. Starting to show can be quite a thrill, giving you and your partner visible evidence of the baby you've been waiting for.

Great View of St Paul from Mounds View

Getting Over the Hump (13 weeks)

2009-06-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

This week was also busy. Last Saturday we got off the plane and went to bed. Ryun’s parents arrived in town that night also! Sunday we got together with them, went to church, went out for Father’s Day dinner, and spent the rest of the day catching up. At one point, I think we all dozed off mid-conversation, but after a quick power nap we were up and running once again :)

We were able to get together with them every evening until they left for home on Thursday morning, so we had lots of time to hang out! On Tuesday, Ryun’s uncle who lives in Poland and serves as a missionary there came to visit us for supper with his wife and 3 kids. I had never met them and it had been quite a few years since Ryun had seen them. I made lasagna and we had a really good time with them.

I had a prenatal checkup on Wednesday with my midwife. She found the heartbeat on her doppler monitor for me and the baby sounds great. This was my second time meeting with Maureen Dahl. The first time was back on May 8th when Ryun and I interviewed her and I had my initial appointment. I talked with several midwives before deciding on Maureen. They were all great, but I felt like Maureen had the most experience. Another plus, is that she works with Dr. Hilgers from Omaha, NE http://www.popepaulvi.com/. He specializes in women’s fertility and has a compounding pharmacy. When I had my initial OB blood workup, we found out my progesterone is low. Producing too little progesterone can cause a miscarriage, but women with a history of uterine abnormalities like myself often have low progesterone levels during pregnancy. So, since about 6 weeks, Ryun has been giving me progesterone shots twice a week. I get my level checked every two weeks and one of these days we’re praying that my levels will be high enough that I can safely stop the shots.

There are two types of midwives in MN: hospital –based midwives and home-birth midwives. Ideally, I would have chosen to go with a midwife who worked in a birthing center, but currently the twin cities doesn’t have a birthing center. The first one is trying to open by the new year which is just a little too late for me. For a long time now, I have been very against having a hospital birth. I feel like there are too many rules and that hospitals are set up to give you drugs, get you in, and get you out. Of course there is an upside to hospitals…the drugs :) but I seem to get really sick when I take anything stronger than ibuprofen so I’m not sure they could help me anyways. :)
I’ve chosen to go with Maureen, who is a home-birth midwife. I like her and have confidence in her. She is very proactive about my health and I know that if she felt I needed to go to the hospital that she wouldn’t hesitate to let me know that. We are very fortunate to have 3 hospitals and a children’s hospital right downtown here next to our condo.

How your baby's growing:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

How your life's changing:

This is the last week of your first trimester, and your risk of miscarriage is now much lower than earlier in pregnancy. Next week marks the beginning of your second trimester, a time of relative comfort for many women who see early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue subside.

Away from the Heat (12 weeks)

2009-06-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

We got home late tonight from Puerto Rico. After spending last weekend with the company, and all the festivities came to a close on Sunday morning, we left San Juan and drove to Rincon with 3 other couples we are friends with. We shared a house on the beach for a week and spent time relaxing. We snorkeled, checked out a cave, toured a huge radio telescope, saw a luminescent bay, and drove over and spent the day in Cabo Rojo. It was great to be with friends and of course to be on vacation. I was very glad to come home though too, because I was just too hot in Puerto Rico. And yes, I realize that sounds strange coming from someone who spent 3 weeks in Thailand without A/C, but now I’m pregnant and if I’m too hot, then I’m TOO HOT! ;)

More Pictures from Puerto Rico: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/PuertoRico?feat=directlink

How your baby's growing:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it yet. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.
Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

How your life's changing:

Your uterus has grown to the point where your healthcare provider can now feel the top of it low in your abdomen, just above your pubic bone. You may already be into maternity clothes, especially if this isn't your first pregnancy. If you're still fairly small and not yet ready for maternity clothes, you've no doubt noticed that your waist is thickening and that you're more comfortable in loose, less restrictive clothing.
You may begin to feel heartburn. Many women get heartburn for the first time during pregnancy, and those who've previously had bouts of heartburn may find that it gets worse. During pregnancy, the placenta produces a lot of the hormone progesterone, which relaxes the valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach.

Unfortunately, I had heartburn before I started growing a human, so nothing new there. My sweats are definitely calling my name louder and louder every day. I’m going to be buying a few maternity clothes very soon.

Long Week - 11 Weeks

2009-06-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to Puerto Rico and are getting ready to leave San Juan for Rincon. We’ve had such a long week! Remember the flu Ryun had at the end of last week?, well I caught it. Thankfully I didn’t have it as bad as he did. He had a fever of 103 and he was so sick last Sunday night he actually asked to go to the doctor. I thought I had not heard his request correctly. Then I was afraid he might be dying on me. Ryun just isn’t a fan of doctors and like a lot of men out there, prefers to never darken that door. Ryun’s brother Brandon and his wife Danieal were visiting us for a couple days before heading back to Tennessee and we had wanted to spend time with them. Instead, they ended up cooking us all supper while Ryun and I were at the walk-in clinic. Bless their hearts – we were so thankful to come home to delicious food! It was just unfortunate we couldn’t spend more time hanging out and less time being sick.

Anyway, Ryun and I drug our sick selves out of bed and to the airport on Wednesday so we could fly to Puerto Rico. We were feeling better by then but still felt like being in bed. We went to Puerto Rico for Ryun’s company’s annual company meeting. It lasted Thursday through Saturday.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.
She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional.

How your life's changing:

Since nothing the website said really fit me this week, I decided to write this paragraph myself. Life was miserable this week due to the flu and I’m not sure I like Puerto Rico’s hot weather. It makes me feel even more tired that I did at home. So many friends have told me I will feel better soon. I’m excited to be 11 weeks along and I am really looking forward to the second trimester. I hope all of you are right! :)

10 Weeks

2009-06-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

We just got back from visiting our parents and seeing Ryun’s sister Adriana get married. I had a great week back spending time with my family and letting my mom take care of me! :)

It was great to be back on the farm, but now we’ve got a lot to do back in St Paul. We’ll be leaving in a few days for Puerto Rico so we have packing to do.

Ryun has had a fever and flu symptoms the last 2 days so I am hoping not to catch anything from him. I’ve been popping extra Vitamin C and washing my hands a lot. I don’t have time to be sick right now but we all know that that means I will probably end up with this :)
How your baby's growing:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.
He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.
If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.
In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

How your life's changing:

At your next prenatal visit, you may be able to hear your baby's rapid heartbeat with the help of a Doppler stethoscope, a handheld ultrasound device that your practitioner places on your belly.

Before you got pregnant, your uterus was the size of a small pear. By this week, it's as big as a grapefruit. You may or may not be ready for maternity wear now. Even if you're not there yet, your regular clothes are probably feeling uncomfortably tight. The thickening in your midsection is most likely due to slight weight gain and bloating. Depending on your level of fitness, you can most likely participate in a wide range of activities during pregnancy. Exercise promotes muscle tone, strength, and endurance — three qualities that can help you carry the weight you gain during pregnancy, prepare you for the physical stress of labor, and make it easier to get back into shape after your baby is born. (Unfortunately, there's no evidence that regular exercise shortens labor.) Bummer!…

9 Weeks

2009-05-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

Just time for a general overview this week – I am off to Montana!

How your baby's growing:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

How your life's changing:

You still may not look pregnant even if your waist is thickening a bit. You probably feel pregnant, though. Not only are morning sickness and other physical symptoms out in full force for most women, but you may feel like an emotional pinball as well.
Mood swings are common now — it's perfectly normal to feel alternately elated and terrified about becoming a parent. Try to cut yourself some slack. Most women find that moodiness flares up at around six to ten weeks, eases up in the second trimester, and then reappears as pregnancy winds to a close.

8 Weeks

2009-05-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today is day number 56 and I’m 8 weeks pregnant!
I have 224 days or 32 weeks left, and am 20.0% of the way there.
Baby's age since conception is 42 days or 6 weeks.

The baby is between 0.56 and 0.8 inches from crown to rump - or about the size of a grape - its liver is churning out large amounts of red blood cells, and will continue until the bone marrow forms and takes over this function. Week eight marks the beginning of a very busy developmental stage: the face continues to change as the ears, eyes and the tip of the nose appear; the intestines start to form in the umbilical cord; and the baby's teeth begin to develop under the gums.

I was really sure you’d be able to see the bump this week! :D

7 Weeks

2009-05-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Lets see, I’m nauseas, exhausted, and I spend most my time in the bathroom because I have to pee every 5 minutes.

The baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry. Maybe that is why I’m so tired.

I hear I should feel better by 14 weeks. I’ll keep looking forward to that for now.

We called and told our parents the big news this week. This is the first grandbaby on both sides so they are really excited :) We wanted to wait and tell them in person when we go home in a couple weeks, but we couldn’t keep our secret any longer!!! :)

There really is a baby in there…6 Weeks

2009-05-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Due to some spotting a few days ago, my midwife ordered an early ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. The baby’s heart beat was 121 and it was the best sound I’ve ever heard. I was so nervous for this ultrasound and it felt like forever before the tech told me she found the baby and everything looked great! :) Sometimes it is just so hard to believe I’m actually pregnant and it just seems so foreign to me that I have a baby growing inside. Now I have pictures to prove it! I was on bed rest until I got this ultrasound. I don’t know how women survive months of bed rest. A few days nearly did me in. My good friend Michele brought me Pad Thai the first night and it was so good I think it was healing. :) Thanks Michele!!!

I had to cancel most of my plans last week and this coming week also. I’ve been ordered to “take it easy”. I’m not really that kinda girl…but…I’m doing my best.

How your baby's growing: This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

How your life's changing: You may find yourself developing a bit of a split personality — feeling moody one day and joyful the next. Unsettling as this is (especially if you pride yourself on being in control), what you're going through is normal. Ricocheting emotions are caused partly by fluctuating hormones. But hormones aside, your life is about to change in a big way — and who wouldn't feel emotional about that?
Spotting or bleeding is relatively common in early pregnancy, affecting up to a quarter of pregnant women. It may occur in a normal pregnancy, but sometimes it can be the first sign of miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy. If you have any spotting or bleeding, call your provider.

I swore I had a bump…but after Ryun took the pictures I realized that I was the only one who could see it :) So, I figure this is a good benchmark photo for myself so I can remember what I once looked like. :)

Made in the USA

2009-05-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

It took several tests and way too many days of patience for me to finally get this positive at 16 DPO. I had a faint line a couple days earlier but when I say faint, I mean, so faint it looked like I could have been imagining it since the camera wasn’t even able to pick it up.

About a week before I could test (and 1 1/2 weeks before I got my BFP), I was already exhausted and bloated to the point that the prized skinny jeans would no longer go on comfortably. I knew those were good signs but it really seemed like a long wait.

It is amazing how quickly pregnancy has changed every thought going through my mind. Ryun is probably already a bit tired of me talking about doctors and birthing options and colors for the baby room and oh!, where will we put the baby’s clothes?! I can’t stop talking about the the decisions that will be coming up. He’s hanging in there though and being very supportive.

We are so excited but also still in a state of shock. We can’t wait to share our great news with each of you! Ryun and I will keep it between us and selfishly enjoy this amazing blessing for just awhile longer. We’ll take stock in the next few weeks of our lives as a couple before the explosion of preparations and celebrations begin.

This week I am 5 weeks along. The baby’s organs and central nervous system have begun to develop and our little baby’s heart will begin to beat this week. It is hard to believe a baby who is only the size of a grain of rice can have a beating heart.

How the Baby is Growing:

The baby 's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.
The neural tube — from which the baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.
His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.
The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

Home Sweet Home

2009-04-03T15:21:00.001-07:00

Our flight arrived at the Dallas/Ft Worth International Airport at 8:45am, Wednesday, April 1st. We made great time, considering we left Narita, Japan at 11:30am, Wednesday, April 1st. :)

We only had 1 hour until our next flight was due to board so we took off walking as fast as we could to customs. The line was still fairly short when we got there and it took us about 15 minutes of waiting to get the necessary “okays” to continue on. Next, we headed to baggage control. We had filled out a form on the plane that listed what we had purchased in Thailand. The officer asked where all our bags were, because he didn’t think we had enough stuff with us for such a long trip! Thankfully, he believed our paperwork and didn’t search through our luggage (we may have missed our plane if he would have decided to check our honesty).

We caught the Sky Train to our terminal and had just enough time to buy Subway before we boarded. That Subway sandwich turned out to be the second-worst meal of our entire trip. That is not saying much for that particular airport Subway. blah!!!

We flew on an American Airlines MD-80 from Dallas to Minneapolis. The flight seemed very short (just under 2 hours) after our previous flights.

During this flight, the exhaustion really set in! After all, it was about midnight in Bangkok and 2am in Narita. We weren’t able to elude the dreaded jetlag on our way home like we did on our way there. Our trip to Thailand was a huge success as far as avoiding jetlag. We are really paying the price this time around though.

We took a cab home from the airport and unpacked our bags. We had a huge stack of mail crammed in our mailbox waiting for us. I had put a hold on our mail while we were away. I’m not sure why they didn’t put our big bundle of mail in the mail boxes reserved for packages like they usually do for oversized items. It took a little bit of prying but Ryun got it loose. At least 75% of it was junk mail – glad we do recycling here. (The happy picture above was taken in the MSP airport! I was so happy to finally be back home.)

We took off to do a couple errands and then picked up Katie from the kennel. She seems to have enjoyed her stay there. She got a haircut this morning and was looking pretty for us when we picked her up. Once she saw me, they let her go and she took off running and jumped in my lap. She’s a bit skinny, lost about two pounds, but she’s doing good and seems very happy to be home with her people once again.

We had to lay down for an hour and take a nap. Right before we woke up, someone from work called Ryun and he had to get up and work for a little bit. “Goodbye Vacation – Hello World!!!”

Ryun went in to work for a couple hours tonight and found out his co-workers had played a prank on him. They packed up his desk and made it look like he was fired (but no worries - HE WASN'T!). :) At least they didn’t plant grass in his keyboard. I think that this is the cleanest I’ve ever seen his work desk!!!

Ryun and I are really glad we took the 3 weeks and went to Thailand. It was a great experience and a fun adventure (most of the time). We are thankful for all that we learned and feel blessed to have had this time together.

Thanks for reading the blog. I hope you enjoyed coming along with us. :)

A few last pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/TravelHome?feat=directlink

Narita, Japan

2009-04-03T15:14:00.001-07:00

We stayed up most the night on Monday and got about 1, maybe 2 hours of sleep before we had to get up at 5am and catch a taxi to the Bangkok airport. Our flight for Japan departed at 8:10am and it was 6 hours long. Something to note, if you ever find yourself traveling through the Bangkok airport, make sure you eat before you go through security and go to your gate. There is no food once you go through security!

We arrived into Narita, Japan on a JAL Boeing 777 at about 4pm on Tuesday (Narita is 2 hours ahead of Bangkok). We breezed through immigrations and caught the Holiday Inn bus to our hotel. Since we had a 19 hour layover in Narita, we decided that we should get a good night’s sleep by staying in a hotel instead of staying at the airport.

See a few pictures of the Narita airport here: http://www.pbase.com/boon3887/narita

I had hoped to be able to go out and see a little bit of Narita before the sun set but we were really worn out. By the time we figured out how to leave the hotel it was getting dark. (The pictures above are of the airport from our window.)

We took the hotel bus to the Aeon Shopping Center and ate an expensive McDonalds meal. We were shocked at how expensive everything is in Narita. We had about an hour at the shopping center and then we took the bus back to the hotel and went to bed.

I was so happy to finally be in a nice hotel room with all the usual amenities. THEY HAD A BLOW DRYER!!!!!!! The shower was amazing!! Once I finally tore myself away from the shower, I just enjoyed being in a nice clean bathroom. The blow dryer turned out to be pretty much useless as my hair would have probably dried faster in a light breeze, but I used it and was very happy to see my hair straight for the first time in almost a month. My hair had forgotten what that felt like. It does best with discipline. I packed my bandana away and we took off for the airport.

We checked in for our flight and then had some breakfast with our remaining Yen. 100 Japanese Yen = about $1

We boarded a Boeing 777 just a little past 11am and prepared for our eleven our flight to Texas. Amazingly, being stuck on the airplane for so long really wasn’t that bad. I was far less content on the previous flight from Bangkok to Japan. The airplanes have TV screens on the back of each seat, and the passenger can choose to watch movies, listen to music, or check the current flight path. The flight path option shows where the airplane is on a map and gives information about the weather, flight speed, arrival time, etc. Since Ryun and I were still in vacation mode (a nice way of saying that we lack self-discipline) we decided to forgo the recommended sleeping and just watch movies throughout the entire flight. We watched Marley and Me, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bolt, Bedtime Stories, and Benjamin Button. Marley and Me made me cry of course, and Ryun passed me that stern, “why are you crying on an airplane” look. Come on, the dog dies!!!! I was a blubbering mess. :) It was a really good movie though.

Pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/Japan?feat=directlink

Video: waiting to take off from Narita

Touristy Monday

2009-04-03T14:41:00.001-07:00

Today was SO much more fun than yesterday. I felt back to my old self and after enjoying our complimentary breakfast we headed out for the day. We took ourselves on, what turned out to be, a 5 hour walking tour of Bangkok. :) (Tuk-tuk taxi pictured above)

We left our hotel about 11:30am. We took off with map in hand, but after about 10 minutes we realized that we were lost. We turned back the way we came and thought we were on the right track. Several blocks later, two very kind ladies saw us reading our lonely planet book, looking for street signs and scratching our heads. They came over and pointed us in the correct direction. It would have been a long day if they had not helped us out. They asked where we were from and when we told them the U.S., they didn’t believe us – they said we were too small (or at least I was) because they thought everyone from the U.S. was really big :)

The first place we walked by was the Phra Sumen Fort.

The Phra Sumen Fort is right next to the Santichai Prakan Park and the river. The trees in the park were really cool looking. The park opened in 1999 and was dedicated in honor of the king of Thailand.Here is a picture of the Chao Phraya River and the Rama VIII Bridge that crosses over it. The river is a major one in Thailand. The cable stayed bridge has been standing since 2002 and has golden cables that look beautiful at night.

We walked along until we came to Thammasat University (it was established in 1934 and is Thailand’s second oldest university) and we walked over to the Phra Chan Pier. We boarded a river taxi for 3 baht per person and crossed the river. We went to the Siriraj Hospital to see the Medical Forensic Museum. In lonely planet, they had this place listed under, “freaky Bangkok”. We thought it would be a good way to get away from the rest of the tourists. We were right! The hospital itself is huge. There are about 35 separate buildings and we didn’t know which one the museum was in. Thankfully we found a sign with both Thai and English. It was still a little bit hard to find though. The picture below is the mummified body of a convicted murderer that was sentenced to death. I wonder if they also told him that his dead body would be on display for the world to see. It was both intriguing and disgusting……but mostly intriguing. They had 3 of these guys at this exhibit. Maybe the most interesting part of this trip to the museum was that I could stand right next to a dead body or a decapitated head, but when I walked by the snake section I was a little freaked out and had to move on quickly. Thanks Mom ;)

This was a good size museum, they had all parts of the human body on display, along with a section on the 2004 Tsunami (5,395 people were killed), and a worm/parasite room. Most the bodies (babies through adults) that were there had died of very strange medical conditions, accidents, or homicides.

Once we were all “forensiced” out of it, we went on our way, taking the taxi boat back to the other side of the river. (Two monks were on the taxi boat with us on the way back – you see monks everywhere)

We went by the Grand Palace (pictured above) and down to Wat Pho (pictured below). The Grand Palace not only houses the Emerald Buddha statue, but also the old home of the King, his court, and the entire administrative government.Wat Pho features a giant reclining golden buddha housed inside a temple. The golden idol is 151 feet long and 49 feet tall. This is the largest buddha in Thailand.

About a block past Wat Pho is the Wat Pho Traditional Thai Massage School. It is the biggest and most well-known Thai massage school in Bangkok. I stopped in and enjoyed a very relaxing Thai massage. I will really miss these cheap massages!!!

As we walked today, we passed many vendors. I had to make note of the one below. Who needs a dentist when you can buy your teeth on the street???!

As we started to find our way back we saw a beautiful park called Suan Romaninart. The park used to be the site of a prison. It sits on 12 acres of land. Remnants of the old prison still stand. It was the first green space we’d scene since the park we saw earlier on our journey. They had a fountain just outside the gates and there were a lot of people there exercising. (pictures below)

On our journey back to the hotel we walked near the Government House. I expected to see a sea of red but didn’t. Since Friday there have been protests going on and the protesters are called the “red shirts”. UDD, a.k.a. red shirts (United Front of Democracy) protesters want the Foreign Minister to be removed, the dissolution of the House and the prosecution of the PAD members who seized the airports last year. We’ve seen several red shirts around town, but nothing like we had expected. We read in the news that up to 30,000 people had come to Bangkok for the rallies. Read about it here. We were a little concerned about this event because last year a protest rally was held by PAD (People’s Alliance for Democracy) and the protesters succeeded in shutting down the Bangkok Airport for a week and closing the Government House for 3 months during their rally! Thankfully, the current protesters have been peaceful.

We passed by the Ministry of Defense building on our way back to the hotel.

We showered the day off of us; then went out for our last evening in Thailand. We ate at a little place on Thanon Rambuttri Road, which is just a street over from where we were staying on Kraisri Road. It was quite tasty. We spent the rest of our evening wandering around the area, going in an out of shops, haggling with the vendors, and just trying to take it all in, one last time. We saw a baby elephant tonight. Ryun and I were standing on the street talking and all of a sudden I see this elephant appear! Considering where we were, it wasn’t a huge surprise. He was very cute and I felt bad for him.

Anywhere else this would be weird…

Street vendors on Khao San.

Yum…warm eggs on a stick…just what I was craving…not!

Video of some kids break-dancing on Khao San Road.

Video of cat locked inside a shop for the night.

We called it a night around midnight. We got to our room and relaxed on our laptops for an hour or two too long. Then we packed up and attempted to sleep for an hour or so before we had to leave for the airport.

More Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/TouristyMonday?feat=directlink

Sick in Bangkok

2009-04-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

I had really been looking forward to sleeping in Bangkok last night because we would have A/C for the first time since we left Bangkok. What I didn’t know, was that I was going to be sick and not want A/C. I started shivering when we went to bed and I couldn’t stop. I put on all the clothes I had in my bag (which wasn’t a lot) and went out to the hallway (where there is no A/C) and finally fell asleep on a couch in the 85 degree lobby area. Even then, I was still cold. The involuntary shaking lasted a couple hours and finally subsided. As a result though, today my whole body ached. On top of that, I’m sick to my stomach. The food must be catching up with me. I did not get far from our room today.

Ryun didn’t mind the down time. Actually, I think he enjoyed it. I’ve never understood that part of his personality. Opposites attract! I like to be out doing stuff almost all the time…I need to take it all in and see “everything” I can. To me, downtime feels like I’m missing out. Sometimes I envy his ability to just relax, kick back and not worry. For now, I have to be too sick to leave the bed (or bathroom). That’s me “kicking back”. :)

This afternoon I finally felt well enough to venture around the block. Ryun continued his downtime in the room on his laptop. I told him if I wasn’t back in a couple hours, to come looking for me curled up in an alley. It is weird not to have cell phones to rely on here.

These pictures are what it looks like when you walk down the sidewalk. There is usually just enough space for one person to walk down the side walk. Every morning vendors set up shop on the side walks. They sell mostly clothing, food, and knick-knacks. Once it is dark, most of the day vendors go home and then night vendors come out. The night vendors sell mostly food, but over on Ko Sahn, there is still a good variety junk. :)

Ryun spent quite a bit of time today researching our walking trip we have planned for tomorrow. We should be well prepared for it. Hopefully I’ll be back to a 100% by then.

Tonight there was a pretty sunset. We took a few pictures of the clouds from the balcony of our hotel.

For supper we went across the street and had pizza. After stuffing ourselves there I started feeling a lot better. It is quite possible I was suffering from a severe pepperoni pizza withdrawal all day. It has been weeks since I last had one!!!

Tonight we hung out on and around Ko Sahn road for a couple hours. Did a little shopping and just tried to take it all in…it is quite the place. We feel a lot more comfortable in Bangkok this second time around.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting :)

A couple pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/SickDaySunday?feat=directlink

Trip Back to Bangkok

2009-03-28T21:59:00.001-07:00

Got up about 7:30 this morning and finished packing our bags. We went for breakfast and relaxed by the ocean while we ate at Cafe Buddha (pictured above).

Oh I forgot to mention this yesterday, but while we were eating breakfast, we were watching the world news. They were showing footage of Bismarck and Fargo. It was kinda weird to be watching news from North Dakota way over in Thailand. I hope that the water goes down soon and that everyone is okay. It was cool to watch everyone in the state pulling together and helping one-another. It feels good to be able to say we’re from a community like that one.

We don’t see very much TV here (mainly because we are avoiding it) but they often have the news on in the Buddha View restaurant.

Checked out of our room and headed to our taxi at 9:15 am. The taxi (which was a little truck as usual) took us to the pier at Mae Haad and once there, we sat and waited until 10am for our boat.
We took a Catamaran to Chumporn (or Chumphon). It took 1 1/2 hours. It was much quicker and MUCH more pleasant than the Songserm we came to Ko Tao on. The ride was smooth and we didn’t even need Dramamine. They even showed some music videos during the trip.

While we were on the boat there was a baby in the seat in front of us. She was a very happy baby and LOVED my camera. When she saw that I had one in my hand she nearly crawled over the top of the seat to get it.

As we got off the boat, I had to notice all of the luggage that people had carried onto the boat. Some of the bags that people bring over here is unreal. I can’t imagine lugging so much around – some of the backpacks are as big as the people carrying them. Some people bring luggage with wheels and it is hard to know whether to laugh or sympathize – those wheels are never going to last in this country. They should have left the kitchen sink at home. I guess they just didn’t have great friends like ours to tell them what to bring.
Our FIRST and BEST decision in planning for this trip was to pack light. We actually had one lady tell us she thought we were out for a hike with day packs. She was shocked that our “day packs” are our ONLY packs.

Once we arrived in Chumporn, we checked in for our bus ride, and then grabbed stale sandwiches for lunch. We sat and waited about an hour and half for our bus which left Chumporn for Bangkok at 1:20pm.

We scored great seats on the bus – front row on top. We had a good view of the scenery along the road from Chumporn to Bangkok. I snapped a bunch of pictures through the window. Most of them turned out pretty well for being taken on the bus.
Unfortunately, we also had a good view of the road and traffic. When there is just two lanes on the highway and 3-4 lanes of traffic…I just close my eyes. :)

After riding in the bus for a couple hours, about 4pm, the smokers started getting ancy. One passenger just across from us, was just holding onto his cigs and starting to get a wild crazed look in his eyes. About a half hour later, Ryun and I smelled smoke coming from somewhere. I don’t think it was the guy next to us, but someone was not able to make it. :) There is a 2000 Baht charge for smoking on the bus. I don’t know if the person got charged. Normally, I would have been really angry about having to breathe in second hand smoke…but I too was low on my nicotine fix :D

We passed a lot of farm fields with rice and irrigation ditches. Saw a lot of coconut and watermelon farms also. A lot of the “houses” we saw were very basic huts which consisted of 4 posts, a roof, and a floor. We saw a lot of people just laying out in their grass or in their huts. Toward the evening we saw workers out in the rice fields.

At 6pm we finally pulled over. I had eaten all my snacks and was eyeing Ryun’s! We stopped for 20 minutes at a small eating spot. We both got corn on the cob and I tried out some white meat on a stick. It was tender…and white… I’m sure it was chicken :)

I passed on the bathrooms… This bathroom actually looks pretty nice when compared to the one I actually went in on our bus trip to Chumporn. That one was so bad!! It is good I don’t have a picture of it because it is best to just forget that that even happened… :|

We arrived into Bangkok a little later than scheduled. We were supposed to get in at 8pm, but instead arrived at 9. We settled into our room and then headed out for about an hour. We ate some chicken fried rice for supper and did some meandering down Koh San Road. What a different world that Ko Tao!! It is a ton cheaper here though…that’s probably one of the only positives about Bangkok over the island.

Overall, this bus and boat trip was 100% better than our bus and boat trip to Ko Tao. It was a huge relief. I wasn’t looking forward to another trip like the first one. It probably helped that we traveled during the day this time.

We’re tired tonight and happy to be back in an A/C room. I thought I’d put up a picture of how we receive electricity in the rooms we stay in. When you enter your room, you slide your key into the wall mount and PRESTO you have electricity. The downside to this is that you can’t leave anything charging in an outlet while you’re gone and sometimes the rooms get very warm, but I think it is a really cool way to conserve. It would be nice to have more options like this one in the states.

See More Pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/TripToBangkok?feat=directlink

Sun Sets on Ko Tao

2009-03-28T08:18:00.001-07:00

Woke up and headed to 7-11 to stave off the hunger pains. I found out that I can get a cheap yogurt over there while I wait for Ryun to get hungry for breakfast (since it usually takes him awhile).

About 10 we headed over to Buddha View for French Toast and then we sat on the beach for most of the morning.

While we were on the beach, this dog came over and adopted us for the morning. Shhh! Don’t tell Katie about this.
The dogs are very random here. They are everywhere and they just do as they please. Below is a picture of a dog at Buddha Bar. He’s just kicking back – chillin’. :)

Before lunch we sorted through our things and started organizing and packing a little. We got a good head start on it.

Shark Island in the distance.
For lunch we walked over to Shark Bay to a restaurant called New Heaven. It took us about 10 minutes to get there and then we were able to relax, eat our food and take in the beautiful view!

The view from the restaurant was beautiful, but the food was terrible. After leaving, we didn’t feel so great for awhile. Yuk!

While the sun was high in the sky, I went for a foot massage and Ryun took a nap. A foot massage here includes your full leg and a little back massage too.

About 4pm we slathered on the remainder of our sunscreen and went to the water to spend an hour cooling off. We love our time in the water, but it is so easy to get burnt so we have to be careful! Can’t be getting toasted again like I did yesterday.

At 5:15pm we went back to our room, changed, and headed out to see the sunset. On our way to the trail I got a pineapple pancake to go. I must burn a lot of energy here because I’m hungry all the time!

We hiked to the cliffs above Cape Gul Juea. We had been in the cape when we kayaked out to see the sunset a few nights before. We weren’t exactly sure how to get there but luckily we didn’t get lost and we caught a gorgeous view of the sunset. I wasn’t able to truly capture how steep the hills were that we climbed.

A picture of the sun hitting Buddha Rock and the island Ko Phangan in the far distance

Thanks to Ryun for the beautiful sunset pictures!

From the sunset lookout, we walked, or should I say climbed, to Tukta for supper. The one thing that gave me a sense of relief while huffing and puffing up the hill to the sunset was that it would be mostly down hill all the way back to our room. But, we have to start getting in shape for AGM (our yearly “work” vacation with Fast), so we decided to climb the rest of the small mountain and then back down again as a “short cut” to Tukta.

After enjoying our cheap but tasty meal, we made it back to our room. Then we headed to the convenience store for food supplies for our bus trip tomorrow. Before bed we sat down on the beach, star-gazed and people watched.

Today was a great last day in Ko Tao. Beach, Ocean, Sunset…
It took awhile for us to get settled and to relax once we got here, but we finally did. We have really enjoyed our time in Ko Tao. The diving was phenomenal!! Laying in the water relaxing just off the beach was one of our most peaceful activities. Hiking through the jungle to the sunset tonight was a great way to close our vacation on the island.

So many other travelers that we’ve talked with have told us that Ko Tao is what they were looking for in Thailand. It is beautiful and very laid back. The people are very kind and we’ve enjoyed living on their island the past two weeks.

Tomorrow it is back to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok…

Goodnight!

See more pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/Day13LastDay?feat=directlink

Some Beach…Somewhere…

2009-03-28T07:29:00.001-07:00

We got up this morning and Ryun went for a run. I seem to have lost my enthusiasm to run in this heat. I’m on conserve mode. Its not like I’m being lazy though – we’ve been active here. :) That is good enough for me. I’ll run when we get home… When we were home I said I’d run here… No biggie :) I bet I’ll run for sure when we go to Puerto Rico in June… Or, maybe I’m just a walker!! :)

Went for breakfast at the Buddha View restaurant and then headed back to our room to change for the water. (The pictures above are of the Buddha View Dive Resort).

Hung out at the beach and laid in the water for most of the morning. Despite using a good portion of sunscreen on my white skin, my shoulders got a bit toasted! :( Ryun even got a bit pink! Of course, Ryun’s sunburns seem to heal over night. I’m sure my shoulders will be tender for a few days. I bought some aloe to soothe the pain.

We rested this afternoon and didn’t go back to the water since we figured we’d had plenty of sun for the day.

I can’t believe how many smokers there are here!! Everyone smokes! Didn’t they read the Surgeon General’s warning?! Ryun and I may have to buy a pack when we get back to the states just to curb our withdrawals. It is nearly impossible to avoid breathing the second-hand smoke. A person would think you could get away from it when you go scuba diving, but those people didn’t read the warning either. Smokers, if you want to kill yourself then puff away, but I don’t want your cancer – leave me out of it. I will appreciate the clean air when I get home.

Here is a picture of our water bottle collection. We’d have more, but we left the other half at the Buddha View room when we left. Looks like we’re staying hydrated.

This afternoon, after the sun went behind the clouds, we went on a hiking trip. We walked over to Shark Bay. It was very cloudy because of a storm in the distance, but still very pretty. Sadly, the camera wasn’t able to capture all the colors. It was so much more beautiful in person! (The island in the distance is Ko Phangan).

Tonight we walked into Cafe De Sol for supper. We are getting tired of Thai food. I had some pasta and Ryun had a salad. Spent a little time reading up on the latest news online, and then headed “home”. The island seems a little wild tonight. I think it is because there is a big Muay Thai Boxing tournament in Sairee. We didn’t want to be out walking on the roads when that let out so we headed back early.

On our way back to our room, we stopped at Tuk Ta for shakes. I got a lemon shake and Ryun got the banana milo shake. Tuk Ta is a good place to stop in between Mae Haad and Chalok.

Pictures of where we are staying now (Tropicana – 3rd floor).

Today’s Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/Day12SomeBeach?feat=directlink

Starting to say Goodbye

2009-03-26T06:24:00.001-07:00

We had a slow start today (just like usual) and finally got over to Cafe Buddha for Cinnamon Roll French Toast about 10am (the picture above is the view from Cafe Buddha). Once we were finished we went to Koppe (an internet cafe right by Tropicana) and got on the internet. We had a little bit of business to take care of in working out the loop holes of our trip back to the U.S.

When we were finished we quickly got ready for this afternoon’s diving trip.

In the text below, you’ll see words in orange. I connected links to those words, so if you want, you can click the orange words and see more information.

(me in the water after our dive at Aow Leuk)

Today was our last dives in Ko Tao! When we first got here, I thought Ryun was going a bit overboard when he said we’d probably get to do 10 dives here. I was wrong. Today we did dive number 9 & 10, and they were possibly the best dives yet!Our first dive was at Shark Island – pictured above in the distance. It is called Shark Island because the island looks like a shark fin sticking out of the water. There are rarely any sharks spotted there. However, a couple days ago, Dave’s girlfriend Tara, saw a baby Whale Shark there. We weren’t that fortunate though. The most excitement we had were some very wound up Titan Triggerfish (click). They were chasing each other and got very close to us on several occasions. We saw a beautiful school of Yellow Butterfly fish while we were down. We often see them in pairs, but this was the first school we’ve seen. I guess they mate for life and that is why they are usually seen in pairs. There were some very large Blue Ring Angelfish at Shark Island as well. Towards the end of our dive we got to see a Great Barracuda. We’ve seen several schools of Yellowtail Barracuda on our dives, but Great Barracuda are a lot bigger, and they travel alone. It is rare to see a Great Barracuda out in the daytime. Usually they are only spotted on night dives.

Our final dive was at Aow Leuk (pronounced “ow look”). On this dive, we went with Darrin (another Dive Master) because Dave was busy with a scuba refresher course for another diver. The floor was mostly sand with small pinnacles scattered around. I impressed Darrin right off the bat when I found a Scorpion Fish! They are really hard to see because they blend in so well. I just happened to notice that the “rock” I was looking at was breathing. :) Later on in the dive we found some Cleaning Shrimp. I put my hand down next to them and held very still (hardly breathing) and three shrimp crawled onto my hand and started cleaning – giving me a short manicure! It was really cool!! This is one of the only times I’ve touched anything underwater. You have to be very careful what you touch and where you put your hands. It is easy to damage the life down there and you definitely don’t want to get bit or stung.

We saw a Blue Spotted Ribbontail Ray in the middle of our dive. He hung around us for awhile and was very busy eating. When they eat, they burrow into the sand and wiggle around. I stayed a good distance from him. They all tell me that it is safe to be around the sting rays, but I’m not really buying it.

There have been Christmas Tree Worms on most of our dives. I love playing with them. They are found on coral, and when you wave your hand over them, the retract into their hole and disappear. Very neat!

The picture above may not seem very cool, but it was taken from the boat and if you look closely you can see fish. The visibility underwater was about 20 meters (or about 65 feet).

Some of the fish we saw today: Bat Fish, Yellow Butterfly Fish (a large school), a few VERY cranky Titan Triggerfish, Scribble Fish, Blue Spotted Ribbontail Ray, Great Barracuda (about 5 feet long), Polka Dot Nudi Branch, large Blue Ring Angelfish, Eightband Butterfly Fish, Moon Wrasse, Honeycomb Grouper, Black Diadema Sea Urchins, Porcupine Fish, Spotted Coral Grouper, Scorpion Fish, Goat Fish, Shrimp & Goby, Cleaning Shrimp (gave me a manicure), Yellowtail Barracuda (a school), Varicose Wart Slug, Damsel Fish and the intriguing Christmas Tree Worm. Link: pictures of some fish we’ve seen. Another Link.

Ryun resting on the boat after our dive at Aow Leuk.

This picture was also taken from the boat. You can see divers under the water and their bubbles on top.

When we reached the pier in Mae Haad, we bought Samosas and headed back to Buddha View to unload and put away our equipment. After the afternoon dives, there is always a guy at the pier selling Samosas to the divers. We usually get one. They consist of a deep fried pocket with potatoes and seasoning and maybe something else…not sure…they taste good though :)

After putting our gear away we met with Dave and then Darrin to fill out our dive log books and go over our dives. Darrin bought us all smoothies since I had found the Scorpion fish. We hung out with him and a few other divers for a good hour at a cafe on the beach.

Tonight, Ryun & I walked to Tuk ta for supper. Then walked into Mae Haad for milkshakes at Cafe De Sol. Chalok village would really benefit from free wifi. There is only one place here you can get it and you have to pay by the minute. Cafe De Sol is the only free wifi restaurant in Mae Haad (free with the purchase of food of course). We spent a little bit of time doing some research for our trip home and finalizing our hotel in Narita and then trekked back to our room in Chalok.

Today’s Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/lacyhess/Day11LastDives?feat=directlink

Thailand

Baby Stuff

Aurora James Hess

40 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!! 39 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

Surprising Facts: How your body changes after giving birth

38 Weeks

Katie is not happy about her outfit, or the –20 wind-chill. She really doesn’t mind the boots when she is outside, but she is definitely begging for sympathy in this picture!

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

Two Beautiful Words: Full-Term

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

Surprising Facts: Signs of labor

Here are some things that may happen in the weeks or days before labor starts:

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree… 36 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Quick Clicks

Thankful… 35 Weeks

34 Weeks and 35 Pounds

Think Before You Speak People! 33 Weeks

I LOVE Craig’s List! 32 Weeks

Not the Patient this Week… 31 Weeks

Showered With Love (30 Weeks)

At Home on the Farm (29 Weeks)

Here It Comes…28 weeks

Michael W. Smith (27 Weeks)

BOSTON!!! (26 Weeks)

Music To Her Ears

Where Did 6 Months Go? (24 Weeks)

How your baby's growing:

How my life is changing:

Too Busy Nesting for Resting (23 Weeks)

Michele touching up the new paint job. She loves to paint (or so she claims). She did a ton of work and is pretty much the reason all this painting got done. THANKS MICHELE! :)

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Mid-Pregnancy Crisis…..22 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

21 Weeks

134 days have passed since conception,

and I have 132 days before my due date.

Only 19 weeks to go!!!

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Daddy’s Gotta Get A Gun

20 Weeks & Taking Bets

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

19 Weeks

How my baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Baby’s First Marathon Shopping Experience

How your baby's growing:

Happy 26 to Me!

I’m in here!! Hello?!?!?! (16 weeks)

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Finally – the 2nd Trimester!

Happy 4th of July!!!

How your life's changing:

Getting Over the Hump (13 weeks)

How your life's changing:

Away from the Heat (12 weeks)

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

Long Week - 11 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

How your life's changing:

10 Weeks

We just got back from visiting our parents and seeing Ryun’s sister Adriana get married. I had a great week back spending time with my family and letting my mom take care of me! :)

It was great to be back on the farm, but now we’ve got a lot to do back in St Paul. We’ll be leaving in a few days for Puerto Rico so we have packing to do.

Ryun has had a fever and flu symptoms the last 2 days so I am hoping not to catch anything from him. I’ve been popping extra Vitamin C and washing my hands a lot. I don’t have time to be sick right now but we all know that that means I will probably end up with this :) How your baby's growing:

Katie is not happy about her outfit, or the –20 wind-chill.
She really doesn’t mind the boots when she is outside, but she is definitely begging for sympathy in this picture!

Ryun has had a fever and flu symptoms the last 2 days so I am hoping not to catch anything from him. I’ve been popping extra Vitamin C and washing my hands a lot. I don’t have time to be sick right now but we all know that that means I will probably end up with this :)
How your baby's growing: