Truly Inspired

Yes I'm at the birth center and no I didn't have the baby....yet. I forsure wouldn't have been there Sunday night if it weren't for my amazing mom. Moms really do know best and I can't wait to be one. So this is how I ended up at the birth center at 9pm Sunday night.

My mom called me from my dad's cell at 9:30 pm saturday night (which is 9:30 am sunday morning in germany) This is rare because they live in Germany and it costs a butt load to call the states on a cell, plus they were at church at the time. I missed the call but got her voicemail. It went a little something like this, " hi cari it's mom, I had a feeling I should call you, I dont know why, just want to see if you ok. Love you call me back." To be honest it kinda freaked me out... but sometimes that's what it takes.  I called dezy to see if he was ok and then looked down again and again at myself to make sure I was ok.

I called my mom back and told her everything was fine that I know of but I will let her know if something comes up. All my senses heightened but I tried to get some sleep. The baby must have been on her toes as well cause she was up all night tossing and turning. Morning came and I'll spare you on these details but basically I thought I might be leaking some amniotic fluid... But what do I know, I've never done this before, so I tried to let it go. By 2 pm we're at church. During relief society we had a lesson on family responsibilities and were discussing the importance of a mother sharing her promptings with her children. I shared my incident with my mom's phone call from the night before. I'd been prayin that I would have a more obvious sign of what my mom meant and what might need to be addressed.

Not even 30 minutes later I had a contraction, not like the other practice ones I usually have. It was strong enough to get my attention. I texted dez to tell him what happened. In the mean time dez riled up and enlisted the help of his fellow brethren to google symptoms of going into labor...during his class. After class I was the first girl to exit. All the men were waiting for thier wives in the hallway and looked at me like I had some sort of disease. (I had no idea that dez told anyone, but I should have known better) I had another contraction about 45 min later and we went home from church to figure out what to do.

Google can be dangerous in two ways... (well more than that, but that's a blog of its own) It can freak you out and make you think more of what's going on, or it can comfort you enough to let something go. If it weren't for my mom's inspired call, I would have been a victim of the later google danger and DONE NOTHinG. Luckily I have plently women in my life who's opinions I trust and who finally convinced me to call the birth center. Why did it was to be on a weekend, past office hours and so far away!! I really didn't want to be that freaked out clueless first time caller... But my mom told me we make sacrifices for our children. I swallowed my pride and called. They were super nice and told me to come in. I grabbed my hospital bag and we left. That one hour drive gave me a lot of time to think, and I wanted to talk about what could happen but dez was coping another way and turned up the music.

They gave me a gown, put me in a room, hooked me up to the machines to monitor the baby's heart rate and my contractions then ran some tests. Turns out my leaking had stopped by the time we got there (I knew that would happen!) but what was tested was negative for amniotic fluid. While that was all good, the nurse told me I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes and more intense ones every 5 or so. Enough to be affecting the baby. NEWS TO ME! I thought it was just gas or the baby still assaulting me from the inside. They called my dr and then gave me a shot to stop them. The shot made me feel like I drank  a Redbull... And then they made me drink a supersized cup of water which gave the baby some mean hiccups. I was in the room alone at one point with my own heart racing from the shot, then listening to the quick heartbeat of baby intertwined with her hiccups... with a more than full bladder that was being pushed on.  Feeling a bit cracked out I thought I was going to go crazy or just pee everywhere, or both.  Anywho I wasn't dilating (but had thinned out some) so we got to go home. The nurse told me to try and keep her in a bit longer so she's at least 37 weeks.

I don't want to think about what would have happened if my mom never called me and I never went to the dr... It stresses me out too much. But I'm so grateful to have such inspired loving people in my life to help me along the way.

I went to the dr again on Wednesday and she told me that because I'm almost 36 weeks and the baby is at least 6lbs that if I start having contractions again... That's it! Let's just hope I recognize them this time! Haha

Not working, Yet Working Hard

One of my biggest fears of ending work was that I would go crazy at home all day. This is far from the truth so far. I've been off work for 2 weeks now and busier and happier than ever. We've moved into a 1 bedroom finally and life is glorious! Our place has more space, privacy, is conveniently located close to the laundry and mail facilities, and best of all, it is a welcoming abode to our neighbors, family and friends! No more awkward visits from people who sit and look at our bed, dirty clothes, and bathroom without leaving the couch!

During my time home I've been able to ride my bike to the beach to cool off, get burned and relieve the physical strains of the baby by swimming. I'm a big fan of sunscreen now because the sunburned beach ball look wasn't workin for me.  Lesson learned.

Bumble Bump

I've discovered that my love for fashion and custom alterations is not limited to clothing for myself anymore. Altering baby clothes is amazingly fulfilling! I've gotten a lot of handy downs and have had great fun makin them something special for our baby girl. Speaking of her... I am 35 weeks now and still going strong! I have a dr appointment this week but so far she's over 5 lbs and still in position to make her move! I think we've decided on the name Dresden (a city in my parent's mission that we visited on ou trip to Germany) but we'll call her Dre for short.

Hapa according to Wikipedia " is a Hawaiian language term used to describe a person of mixed Pacific Islander racial or ethnic heritage." aka our beautiful baby!

Erykah Badu Stenciled Newborn T

Amidst my journey of altering baby clothes I decided to try a pillow for our couch with the leftover fabric from the lamp I made. But for some reason I wanted ruffles on it, and that required me to learn how to make ruffles first. I really like how they turned out and can't wait to use my new technique on more baby stuff! Ruffles are really trendy right now but I hope I can explore ways to give them a different kinda of twist.

After

Before

Nothing a little spray paint and fabric can't fix

Leftovers!

Last Day Surprise

Friday the 24th was my last day at the Operating Engineers JAC as a temp.  It's been an awesome experience working there with amazing people and plenty of learning opportunities. The staff there is my glimmer of hope that GOOD PEOPLE STILL VERY MUCH EXIST IN THIS WORLD. Never was I left out because of my lowly status of "just a temp," and Friday was a PRIME example.

Iwa, who had a baby back in February and I was temping for, asked me if I wanted to run office errands with her. I almost said no that's ok, because I knew how much stuff I had to do that day, but decided sure WHY NOT!

When we got back sometime later Coleen the office manager and Mitchell the boss were waiting for me with looks on their faces like something bad happened, REAL BAD. They told me to come to the back office and that one of the other instructors was really upset (someone that I do a lot of projects for) and all I'm thinking is OMG what did I DO!?! We got to his back office, I said, "Ummmm do I need a pen and paper or something?" They said no no, but lets go into the conference room in case someone comes in. Like it was all serious and private! (coming from a boss who's door is always open, this was a bit concerning) At this point I'm freaking out a little bit.

Coleen wrestles with the lock for a second then busts through the door.....SURPRISE!!!!! I turn bright red and freeze. They had set up a full blown baby shower for me!  Dez and his friend  were there, all the mechanics from the shop and the rest of the office staff. I pretty much went into shock, and it didn't help that after everyone said surprise, they all just sat and stared at me. I'm not very good at reacting in these situations.

I put all the pieces together of how they made this happen. I even spend the whole night before with my Co-worker Jerica at Walmart as she bought everything for the cupcakes and display! They got me good though.

The crew

Never ending clothes line decorations

steak and chicken, rice and mac salad, what else are you suppose to eat at baby shower?

CUPCAKES!! 

delish! 

Favors

not so baby sized, baby clothesline!

trying to figure out what the heck all this stuff is that I needed!

Me and Coleen

Mitchell and Baby Hayley

Mama to be!

I'm so grateful for the family and friends in my life. We are truly blessed! Thank you EVERYONE! Now lets meet the baby!

Beachin at 31 Weeks

We have different expectations of where sand belongs

SO grateful for the holiday to spend together at the beach! 

Besides the shortness of breath and MEAN leg cramps we're doing swell! We attended a basic child birth class at the hospital where I will be delivering. It was a one time class (usually they last 6 weeks or so) but we did it all in 5 hours. Dez was not thrilled that I divulged that detail when we were already half way there, but I knew that was the only way I could get him there. =) The teacher was an interesting character but I did enjoy her attitude about birth.... IT'S A NATURAL PROCESS.  I've come to the point where I'm excited to trust my body and see what we can do! As of now I want to go all natural (but I've never felt a contraction before...)  Each room at the hospital where I will deliver has a big tub, so I plan to spend a lot of time in there. I'm working on my birthing plan now before I go see my Dr on Wednesday for my week 31 check up.  Knowledge is power, the more I'm learning, the better I feel about labor and delivery. 

I have been having weird dreams about the baby.  Last night I had I dream that I woke up and I was in the hospital and then a nurse brought me a baby. Supposedly it was mine, but I had no recollection of even going in to labor let alone giving birth. The baby didn't really connect and recognize with me because we never had our skin to skin contact after birth! I was so upset and thought I was drugged by the hospital! Then all of a sudden the baby was looked 2... but was still a newborn and I was sad she grew so fast.

Can you tell what my subconscious is focused on?

In other news, I will be working until the 24th and we learned we get to move into our 1 bedroom on the 27th! 

May DAY- MAY DAY

25 weeks

Happy May Day!

I'd been wanting this for the longest time and finally saw it at Ross! It's a silicone cake mold to make a giant cupcake. Now all I need is for a cake mix to go on sale to try it out! 

Not a whole lot to say right now but I know once I post everything will come to mind that I wanted to say. Until then.... 

24 weeks and 4 Days

People always ask me how I am doing, and I realized that I always seem to find something negative to say when really I'M PERFECTLY FINE.  I hate that I reinforce the pregnancy stereotypes that really don't phase me day to day. Yeah life a is a little more uncomfortable when sleeping or bending, I'm always hungry and I'm a little slow to rise, but I really have nothing to complain about honestly. Our bed was never really comfortable and I was never super flexible.  I always liked to eat a lot (hence my nickname Snax) and random food at that...  it's just more accepted and encouraged at this point in my life.  I threw up ONCE and was more sick when I was on birth control than I am now.   I love going to bed early and waking up to the kicking and growling of my tummy.  I've been either walking or doing my mama yoga almost everyday and I even better about wearing my seat belt in the car!! I do miss participating in certain activities like surfing and play fighting and stuff, but I'll be back in action in a few months.  Basically I've been blessed tremendously and need to start acknowledging that when people ask me how I'm doing. 

Catch Up

 I never posted these when I first got them, and as a result I lost the 2nd one that we got. So here is 1,3,4 of ultra sounds. Don't hate, we all looked like this at one point in our lives. 

face up profile

face down, you can see the spine

I've been debating if I should do the high tech 3D ultra sound.... All babies look pretty similar in my opinion, but will I regret it if I don't drive the extra hour and maybe pay some extra money to be able to see our baby just a few months earlier?