My body is ready, but the baby is undecided

I met with my neighbor again yesterday that does the foot zoning/muscle testing and she noticed in my feet that things were a lot looser. She said before my pelvic bones were still really tight but now they are spread open and ready to go. She said my body is ready to go but when she muscle tested to see when the baby was coming, she said he is undecided. I asked her what I could do about that and she said, you need to convince him to come.

Three more days maybe?

My cute neighbor does foot zoning and muscle testing and today she worked on my feet and said things are still tight and it doesn't feel like he is quite ready to come. She did some muscle testing and she didn't think he was coming today, tomorrow or even Friday but more like Saturday which is in three days. She thought maybe I would go into labor Friday night and actually have him on Saturday. She said this isn't an exact science and she doesn't know for sure, but that is her predictions. It will be really interesting to see if that is how it pans out! I really wouldn't be surprised though because I don't feel like he is coming in the next day or two either. I think he is going to take his time coming. I talked to my mom today and she said she didn't feel like he was coming this week either. So between the three of us ladies, we will see if our intuitions are right or not so much! only time will tell. I just got to get my patient mind set going on now;)

Still nothing and getting bummed out

Well, still nothing happening and I am starting to get bummed. I can't really schedule anything to do with myself because this baby should be coming any day now but I am not really getting any contractions and nothing is happening. Every day that he doesn't come feels like a week. It is hard too because the doctor told me he thought he would come at least a week early and the ultrasound tech said I was measuring ahead of schedule so now that we are passing those dates, it feels like I am late even though I'm not. I think it would have been easier if I would have kept my due date June 24th in my head rather than around the 17th. I know I am so close but it is amazing how extremely slow time is going right now. We tried a bunch of natural ways to help get labor going but nothing has worked and it's kind of a bummer. I kind of just want to give up and say whatever, I guess I will just sit and wait and do nothing. I am so uncomfortable too where I don't really want to go out and do much because it is hard to walk because the head is so low and my hips hurt even when I stand and I have to go pee every 10 minutes and it's hard to move around and get in and out of the car. It seriously feels like my stomach couldn't possible get any bigger and that I will pop at any given moment. So for all those reasons it's just easier to stay home, however there is nothing to do at my house but watch tv or play games on my phone or check the computer which all get pretty old rather quickly. I just don't know what to do with myself!

Getting anxious!

We are getting pretty anxious at this point for our little man to get here. My bags are packed, the room is ready to go and now we are just waiting. The hubby asks several times a day, "Is he coming?" "When is he coming?" He is really excited and anxious and really wants him to come this Sunday on Father's Day. We have an ultrasound appointment this Monday June 18th at 1:30 and then meeting with the Dr after that. We are really hoping we have him that day or sometime the first of the week. If we had him Monday, that is only 3 days away which would be awesome! We will see how it goes. I haven't had too many contractions lately and everything is pretty chill right now. Just can't wait to see and meet our little cutie!!!

38 week appointment

I am still 70% effaced and dilated to about a 2.5 just like last week. My doctor said next Monday on June 18th he will do an ultrasound and scrape my membranes to help kick start things. I would love to have this baby next Monday or close to it, that would be perfect! Earlier this week I came down with a cold and had no energy and just didn't feel good. I have more energy now but am still stuffed up and am having a hard time breathing through my nose which is frustrating. I really need to kick this before I go into labor because I am going to need to by 100% healthy so I have my energy to put into delivering this baby. It will be interesting to see when this baby decides to come. We got the baby room set up this week and it's super cute! All I need now is to get some cute wall art and pictures to fill in the blank wall space and the room will be set! This baby is coming soon and we are ready and excited about it:)

37 Week Appointment

I just had my 37 week appointment and all went well. The doctor said I am currently dilated to a 2.5 almost a 3 and 70% effaced/thinned out, so my body is getting close to having this little guy. My due date is June 24th, and he is thinking I will be a week early. I am a little nervous because my doctor is going to be out of town all next week and If I come any more than a week early than my doctor might not be there to deliver me which would be really sad. I will be meeting with a nurse practitioner next Monday for my 38 week appointment. If I don't have the baby next week I will have my 39 week appointment on Monday the 18th and the doctor said I will have an ultrasound and he would strip my membranes that day. It's lookin like this baby is going to be coming in just 2 weeks if not sooner, crazy stuff! and oh so exciting! We have had a teenage proctor girl living with us for the past 7 months and she just moved out this past weekend and her room is the nursery so I haven't been able to put any of my stuff in the baby room until now. So this week I am excited about putting the baby room together:) It is going to be soooooo cute! I got a darling bedding set and room set that my sweet sister surprised me and bought for me. I am ready to decorate! I also just bought a porch swing which by wonderful to sit outside and swing the baby in the fresh air. Exciting things await!

36 week appointment

I met with my fabulous OBGYN this morning and he said the baby's heart beat is just perfect and I am measuring perfectly and everything looks great! He asked me where I have been hiding my baby because I am measuring big but it just doesn't look like it. I've got a cute little basketball tummy:) He checked my dilation and said I am dilated to a 2 and he said I am 60% thinned out so my body is definitely getting ready to have this baby. He was quite surprised that I was dilated to a 2 and said that is pretty rare for first time mom's to be dilated to a 2 this early on. He joked and asked me if I didn't have some kids in another country that I haven't told him about. He said it's great and whatever I am doing, to keep doing it:) I guess my body is acting like it's already had a baby before and it's just going with the process and preparing itself very well. I am hoping this means my labor will go quicker and not take as long as it normally would for a first baby. I am soooo excited! I love hearing how good my baby is doing every week, it's so much fun. And now my appointments are every week which is fun. It makes the time go quicker when they are weekly.

I wanted to make a list of the changes my body has gone through during this pregnancy. First Trimester: -I had several weeks during the first trimester that I was exhausted and wanted to sleep all the time, but couldn't understand why I was so tired. -My breasts were getting bigger which the hubby noticed around 10 weeks -I felt a little lump in my stomach (All of this was before I knew I was pregnant about 12 weeks along) -Having to go to the bathroom a lot. -I had about 1 week of morning sickness right after I found out I was pregnant from about week 12-13 where I would throw up liquid first thing in the morning and then I was good to go. Second Trimester: -Bladder issues around 4-5 months along where I just couldn't hold it in. -Lots of energy -Noticed a light brown line around the nipple and also a straight brown darker line running up half of my stomach Third Trimester: -Having a hard time sleeping starting around 32 weeks. Just could not get comfortable and had to sleep on my left side. As soon as I would flip to my right side to lay on, I would have trouble breathing through my nose and would have to flip back to the left side. It got frustrating though because my left side started hurting and feeling bruised from laying on my hip. -I get winded and out of breath when I do just about anything. Walking up the stairs or moving things around, getting in and out of the car or any other random thing. -Bought my first set of maternity clothes, capri's and two shirts from Motherhood at 32 weeks (April 28, 2012). I went shopping before my first baby shower! -At 33 weeks, it looks as if my belly button wants to pop out at any time. -Started to get heart burn around 32 weeks some nights when I was trying to sleep -Braxton hicks -Baby was breach at 33 weeks, but at week 35 baby was in head down position:) I was nervous about that one so I tried a couple things to see if I could get the baby flipped. I tried the slant board where you lay on a slanted mat or board upside down for about 10 minutes to get the baby to flip. Another thing I tried was putting headphones on the lower part of my belly so the baby would want to flip his head around and listen to the music. I also tried scratching and squeezing my left pinky toe which I heard could flip a breach baby. Something must have worked to get him to move:) -33 weeks I have started to really feel more moody and irritable and I get agitated and annoyed with people easily. I also get emotional and worked up rather easy. -36 weeks my baby dropped and he is not sitting so high anymore. -36 week I am pretty sure I lost my mucous plug I have to say my pregnancy has been going very well and I have been very blessed. I haven't had any weird cravings, I haven't felt sick, no stretch marks. I've been feeling really good. I have mostly just been noticing my growing belly which has been fun! I am planning on doing a natural birth and have been preparing for this by taking classes to learn breathing techniques, massage and mind control to help with the pain. I am also taking all the supplements the iridologist suggested for me and will be taking a cervix softener and a birth prep pill that is supposed to help prepare my body for labor as well. I am really trying to do my part to make this process go as smoothly as it possibly can and to try and alleviate some of the pain. I talked to the lady at the herb shop where I purchase my natural pills and supplements and she said she had all her babies at home all natural and she was always just excited to have her babies rather than being scared. She knew women's bodies were made and built to have babies so she didn't let herself fear the process. She knew there would be pain but she wanted to be part of the process and feel and see her babies coming out. I liked her positive outlook on this experience and I think that really helped the experience go smoother for her and not be quite as painful. I know the mind is very powerful and if we decide to freak out and get scared and stress out, then our bodies will tense up and it really will make delivery more painful. I am going to try to have that same positive attitude and just go with the process. However if the doctor's have some concern or don't think my pelvis is big enough or if there is going to be a problem, I am also okay with getting the epidural and won't feel bad about going that route.

Less than 4 weeks to go!

I am in the home stretch now and have less than 4 weeks to go before we get to meet our little cutie pie. I have a doctor appointment this Tuesday for my 37 week checkup and then every week after that. I am so spoiled and was thrown 3 baby showers this past month. Family and friends were very generous and we got quite set up! Thank goodness for baby showers for your first though, because there is a lot of stuff that these babies need, it's crazy! I can't wait to be able to set up the baby room but I have to wait one more week we have a proctor girl that has been living with us for the past 7 months and she will be moving out this Saturday and her room will be the nursery. We have the crib and the the bedding set and the glider chair and lots of cute clothes and everything we need to set up the room, we are just waiting for the space. It's going to be so fun to set it all up and get to hang out in the room before the little guy gets here. I have been feeling pretty dang good and don't have much to complain about this entire pregnancy, which is wonderful! Can't wait to see what our little man looks like and to see his personality. He seems to be pretty chill in my tummy so he might come out all laid back and chill like his cute daddy! I just can't wait to spend every second with him and to see him grow and progress. I have waited so long for this that I am going to appreciate every moment with this baby boy. He most definitely will be coming to a home with lots of love:)

I'm in the third trimester!

So here I am, 27 weeks along, in the third trimester and feeling fabulous! It is so fun watching my belly grow and feeling my baby boy move around everyday. He is so cute, I already love him so much! The hubby and I have been taking classes at the hospital which is fun and we are learning some great things. The classes we are taking are: early pregnancy, parenting, lamaze (6 weeks), infant safety and breastfeeding. In the parenting class the teacher mentioned that babies like faces more than any toy or anything. If you draw a smiley face on a piece of paper, they will like this more than toys. They love faces! She also said their favorite music is voices. Those two things stood out to me the most which I didn't know. It will be fun to see what our little boy looks like! We have three months from today until we are due. we are getting closer and oh so excited!

How I got pregnant

Some people have asked me how I got pregnant after waiting and trying for so long. Well here is the story. My mom had been meeting with an Iridologist which is someone that takes close up pictures of your eyes and can see what your body is lacking or deficient in. The eye is a muscle and is connected and shows all areas of your body. She suggested I meet with this Iridologist named Nancy Coones to see if she could help me. I took my mother's advice and met with Nancy the end of June 2011. There were several issues that I had and some but not all included; my body being low in calcium, I had some issues with my gallblader, problems with my ovaries and she said my uterus was diseased and couldn't function. This was the first time that someone told me there was an issue with my female productive system and it was actually nice to hear. It was nice in the fact that obviously there was a problem, yet every time I went to the OBGYN they kept doing different tests and said everything looked just fine and they thought they would see me back in a few months pregnant. Well that never happened and nothing the doctors tried worked. I tried everything except invitro which is a $15,000 or more process. Nancy gave me some homeopathics and herbal liquids and supplements to repair and strengthen the week parts of my body. She also encouraged me strongly to change my diet and to eat more healthy meals and food. I needed to eat a lot more fresh vegetables and fruit then I normally do. I tried really hard to follow her plan with everything she gave me to give her program a fair shot.

In September I had bled for 52 days straight and was starting to get really worried and was wondering what was going on. I tried to get a hold of Nancy to let her know what was going on and to see what I should do. She was out of town and I couldn't reach her but I thought I needed to get the bleeding to stop. I called the nurse at my OBGYN's office and she said to come pick up birth control pills and to take it for 30 days and that would stop the bleeding. I picked it up, brought it home and just did not feel good about taking birth control even for one day when I was trying to get pregnant. I just didn't feel good about that. Finally Nancy called me back and told me most definitely not to take the pills and that it would mess up her program. She said it was good that I was bleeding because that meant my body was cleaning out all the toxins and bad stuff from my body. She did agree that I didn't need to be bleeding that much and she suggested a healthy homeopathic to stop the bleeding. I ordered it, but ended up stopping the next day without having to even use it. The amazing thing is that after those 52 days of bleeding, I conceived right after that on September 9th! Could you imagine if I would have taken that birth control pill? How awful would that have been! I give all the credit to Nancy for making my body healthy and for getting me pregnant. That means with only 2 1/2 months of taking her natural healthy supplements, I got pregnant!

Nancy has stressed to me how important eating healthy is and that what we eat really effects our health. I am trying hard to eat really healthy to give my baby the healthy nutrients he needs. Whatever I eat goes straight to the baby and I want to make sure I take good care of the little sweetie. I would love it if my baby really enjoyed and preferred to eat vegetables and fruits and healthy stuff rather than all the junk that is out there that is harmful to our bodies. I am going to try really hard to do my part to give my baby a successful and positive start to this life without health problems or sickness as much as I can. How great would that be to not even have the desire to eat candy and sweets and junk food? To not feel like you are depriving yourself or sacrificing, but to actually not enjoy the junk and to prefer healthy snacks. I think that would be great if it were me!

Baby moving all around today!

I went to the temple with my friend Michelle and during our session I put my hands on my tummy and kept feeling the baby moving all around, it was so cute! I love feeling the movement of this sweet little boy! I love him so much already and can't wait until we can see him in person and get to hold him in my arms. I am going to cherish every moment of this. I want to try my hardest to give this baby every positive experience and opportunity that I can. I am going to love and adore this new addition to our family.

I am pregnant!

Ok, so I should have written this post 3 months ago when I learned the news but I guess I have been too happy and excited to write and too busy living! (well, that is my excuse anyway)So let me update you on the great news...

In December 2011 I had noticed a few changes in my body, like a small lump in my stomach and also my chest seemed bigger.(which is always a good thing to have happen:) So on December 6th, I decided to take a pregnancy test because I was beginning to wonder if maybe, possibly I was pregnant. I have had so many false pregnancy symptoms before and false tests that I was still kind of expecting yet another negative test. I had told myself I wasn't going to take another pregnancy test until I was getting several days of morning sickness that seemed more sure that I might be pregnant. I had one more unused test in my drawer, so I decided to just take the test so I wouldn't have to wonder any more. I took the test and within a matter of seconds two dark red lines appeared! I have never seen two lines appear! I was so excited and shocked and couldn't believe my eyes! No way could this be happening. Me being pregnant was like winning the lottery, it has been such a long and hard journey that it just didn't ever seem like it would happen for me. But low and behold, after almost 8 years of marriage and 6.5 of those trying hard to have a baby, I am finally pregnant! I couldn't wait to tell Stu, so I ran into the living room and grabbed a box and wrapping paper under the Christmas tree and did a horrible wrapping job and told Stu he had to open the present right now. He opened the present and saw the positive pregnancy test and his eyes got real big, his jaw dropped and he looked at me with disbelief and down at the test and back at me. He said are you serious? and then gave me a big hug. We went straight to the OBGYN and got tested there to make sure it wasn't a false test. They said I was for sure pregnant! They scheduled us a visit to come back on Dec. 13th for an ultrasound to see how far along we were. We went to Village Inn for brunch to celebrate and you couldn't wipe the grins off our faces!

December 13th 2011
We went to the OBGYN to get an ultrasound and were expecting to see a little bean on the screen. To our amazement, the baby was very defined and you could see it's little legs, arms, pop belly, and the cutest little face! You could see it's forehead, nose and little lips. It was the cutest thing ever! Stu says there was dust in the room which is why he teared up, and as for my reaction, I just couldn't stop smiling, I was so excited to see that! We were both very shocked at how defined and clear the image of the baby was and were wondering how far along we actually were. The ultrasound tech said we were 12.5 weeks along! I had been three months pregnant and had no idea! She told us we are due on June 24th, 2012. Everyone asks me how I could be that far along and have no idea I was pregnant. A big reason is that I have never had a regular period and always go 50 days, 80 days, 60 days or whatever without having a cycle, so that wasn't anything new for me. I also had been so healthy and hadn't had any morning sickness, so how would I have known? It's pretty cool to find out you are already three months pregnant and that there is less than 1% chance of miscarriage. Can't complain about that one! We decided since Christmas was in less than two weeks, that we would tell both of our families our exciting news at our family get together on Christmas Eve. It was funny because almost right after I found out I was pregnant I got morning sickness each morning when I woke up for about one week and that was it. I haven't had any weird cravings or sickness or anything. It's been a really smooth pregnancy so far!

December 24th 2011; Christmas Eve
We got together with my family at my sister April's house in Saratoga Springs. It was the perfect time to tell the family because all of the family was together and no one was expecting anything. We always get together for a family picture at Christmas time while we are all together and we set up the camera on a tripod to get us all in the picture. I set the camera on video record instead of camera mode and Stu gave my mom the ultrasound picture and said, "while she is getting that set up, check out this picture" My mom looked at it a few times and then screamed at the top of her lungs several times. The rest of the family didn't know what was going on or why she was screaming. They thought she got bit by a spider or something. I told her to show them the picture and so they knew what she was looking at. It was so priceless to see each family member's initially reaction to the news on the video camera. Jamie started crying immediately and gave me a big hug. Jamie's 9 month old Curtis started crying because my mom's loud scream scared him. My dad started raising his arms in the air up and down like he was cheering for a football or basketball game. It was so cute! I took off the Christmas shirt I was wearing and had a white shirt on underneath that had printed on the belly, "Miracle in Progress"