Just wanted to jot down a couple of resolutions I have for 2012 now that it's arrived.
I generally am not the best at keeping resolutions but that may be because of my lack for making resolutions I actually care to keep. Regardless, here goes nothin'!
1 :: Listen more, interrupt less
I don't know if anyone who speaks with me on a regular basis realizes I do this but I tend to try to finish people sentences when they pause. I annoy myself with this and I have been actively trying to listen and hear people out instead of jumping into their sentence to guess the ending.
2 :: Be a great mom
Now that i'm basically a parent (officially in a couple of weeks), I resolve to be as good of a mother as I can be. I have a really excellent role model in my own mother and I'm sure all the things I have learned from her thus far in life will influence the type of mother I will be as well.
3 :: Learn a new hobby
I'd really like to get better at sewing. In order to accomplish this, I will need to get my own sewing machine and probably take an instructional course. I tried to sew last week and it was way more difficult than I remember it being in home ec in middle school. I think it would be fun to know how to sew different things and it seems like it would be a lot easier than learning how to knit, which was something I said I wanted to do a couple months ago.
4 :: Watch less television
This should be pretty easy considering we no longer have cable/satellite. We've already cut our TV watching by 2/3rds. Netflix and Hulu are our only sources of television entertainment and I really have to be in the mood to turn something on and sit through it. I'm also assuming it will be less desirable once the wee one is here.
5 :: Eat Healthier
Throughout this pregnancy, I've kind of just let things go. Not all the time, but prior to getting pregnant I was living a pretty restricted food life. Trying to keep carbs low and only indulging every once in a while or so (from what I can remember anyway, this was a long time ago it feels like). Now that I feel like a whale (I know i'm not a whale) I have a new-found desire to eat healthier once I can get my appetite under control. Pregnancy makes me want to keep my stomach full of something, whether it's healthy or not.
6 :: Exercise
I'd like to be able to run a 5k. I had the C25K app on my phone that I was using when I found out I was pregnant. I used it for a couple more weeks and then my back started hurting and I couldn't walk anymore let alone run. I look forward to using the app though and completing it somehow. This could get complicated since I'll have a baby to look after, but Planet Fitness isn't far from my house, it's generally $10 a month and C25K only takes a half hour of your time. It's a step in the right direction.
7 :: Give more
Surprisingly enough, I can be kind of selfish. So i plan to work on that more this year and try to give. I have a feeling I'm going to be a tad selfish with my new baby at first. Hopefully Alex can bring me back down to earth before I embarrass myself!
8 :: Make more wine
Alex and I (mostly Alex) made a couple of wines in the Spring last year and though I have yet to really dig into them (for obvious reasons) I'd really like us to continue to make wine. It's so nice to have and not have to go out to the liquor store and purchase it. We'll be so well rounded, Alex brews and enjoys some nice whiskeys/scotches/bourbons/gins and we'll have homemade wine. All to drink in moderation, of course!
9 :: Stay Organized & Clean
I know things can get pretty messy when you have a baby around. Priorities of cleaning and staying organized get pushed to the far back because the baby is numero uno, as she should be. I would like us to try to stay on top of this though and hopefully it won't be too hard to maintain. My biggest issue is not putting away my clothing after I wear it. If it isn't going into the laundry, it ends up on my dresser or on the floor. I need to put it in the laundry or put it away and keep my dresser clear!
10 :: Be Happy
This is attainable because I am happy. I'm already happy. I'm about to have a baby. My husband is amazing. Our families are awesome. Our friends are the best. We're healthy. We have good jobs. We're really lucky in life and comment on it often. We're really excited for 2012, a year of many firsts!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
January Photo Challenge :: Day 3
Saw this on Instagram (follow me @Mbru15) and thought it looked like fun.
I missed the first two days but i'm going to start with Day 3!
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| Screenshot of the Challenge |
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| Day Three :: Something you Adore.. that's right, orange tic tacs! |
Monday, January 2, 2012
3 weeks or less!
Baby girl is said to weigh on average about 6 pounds this week. She also probably measures about 19" long. She has a full head of hair as mentioned by the ultrasound tech last week and every day she practices her breathing with hiccups and her movements with punching and kicking! She currently enjoys sleeping through most of the night (assuming, because i don't feel any kicking/movement) and wiggling around during car rides.
I am feeling great! Still have plenty of energy though some days are better than others. I contribute my energy level to the amount of sleep I get. Luckily my sleep has not been too interrupted other than for bathroom trips. Of course putting on pants and socks and shoes is as difficult as ever, but not impossible. I also feel quite lucky that she tolerates many types of foods (for now). On New Years Eve we ate lots of spicy stuff, which was super tasty, and baby girl did not miss a beat. My throat burn has subsided for the most part but still creeps up every once in a while. I have been drinking a serious amount of fluids so that may be keeping it at bay?
This week I go back to work after having a holiday break last week. It will be nice to be back considering I don't have much time left before my maternity leave and I have plenty to do. That should help these next couple of weeks fly by! It will be weird to leave work for such a long period of time. I am looking forward too it because I will have a baby but I am hoping that I won't be too out of the loop when I return. A lot can happen in 2 months time!
We feel completely prepared now that the nursery is organized, the clothes are washed, the pack n play is ready and the car seat and stroller are ready. We need to install the car seat base and I need to pack my hospital bag but I plan to get that accomplished today along with stenciling some flowers onto the mural and other misc chores. We're also going to order our cloth diapers this week. We have a box of newborns we'll probably use for a little bit until the diapers come in (if they aren't here in time).
We have unofficially chosen a day care that baby girl will be going to once or twice a week (schedule willing) and it's very close to my work so I can go visit during my lunch hour. This one is WAY better than the one we saw previously. We like the set up of the room and the feel of the place. The proximity is also a convenience.
It feels good to be officially full turn at 37 weeks. We're hoping to make it the whole way to our due date on the 23rd! 2012 is going to be a great year!
I am feeling great! Still have plenty of energy though some days are better than others. I contribute my energy level to the amount of sleep I get. Luckily my sleep has not been too interrupted other than for bathroom trips. Of course putting on pants and socks and shoes is as difficult as ever, but not impossible. I also feel quite lucky that she tolerates many types of foods (for now). On New Years Eve we ate lots of spicy stuff, which was super tasty, and baby girl did not miss a beat. My throat burn has subsided for the most part but still creeps up every once in a while. I have been drinking a serious amount of fluids so that may be keeping it at bay?
This week I go back to work after having a holiday break last week. It will be nice to be back considering I don't have much time left before my maternity leave and I have plenty to do. That should help these next couple of weeks fly by! It will be weird to leave work for such a long period of time. I am looking forward too it because I will have a baby but I am hoping that I won't be too out of the loop when I return. A lot can happen in 2 months time!
We feel completely prepared now that the nursery is organized, the clothes are washed, the pack n play is ready and the car seat and stroller are ready. We need to install the car seat base and I need to pack my hospital bag but I plan to get that accomplished today along with stenciling some flowers onto the mural and other misc chores. We're also going to order our cloth diapers this week. We have a box of newborns we'll probably use for a little bit until the diapers come in (if they aren't here in time).
We have unofficially chosen a day care that baby girl will be going to once or twice a week (schedule willing) and it's very close to my work so I can go visit during my lunch hour. This one is WAY better than the one we saw previously. We like the set up of the room and the feel of the place. The proximity is also a convenience.
It feels good to be officially full turn at 37 weeks. We're hoping to make it the whole way to our due date on the 23rd! 2012 is going to be a great year!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
36 Week Update
Just wanted to give an update since I haven't been in here all week to do so.
Lots has been going on recently because baby girl is breech. My stress level is much lower than a couple weeks ago but this hasn't changed her position, yet. I'm staying optimistic. Here are the updates..
Tuesday we had an ultrasound to confirm her position. The ultrasound tech was.. short. She didn't give us an estimate of how much the baby weighed and she didn't talk much other then answering the questions we had like, "what are we looking at?" etc. Big difference from our 19 week anatomy scan.
It must've been a busy day because we went back out to the lobby for at least 20 minutes, then went back to an exam room for the normal OB appointment and waited almost another 20 minutes. A (midwife/nurse practitioner, I do not know which) came in and said she just reviewed our scans. It had to be a midwife, why would a NP be reviewing our scans?? Regardless, she did not review them WITH us. She barely even mentioned them other than saying yes, the baby is breech.. we knew this because we were there at the ultrasound, obviously. Needless to say, this midwife was not helpful in the least. She asked us if we knew about ECV (External Cephalic Version where they can try to manually turn the baby) and tried to get us to schedule one for the following week and then talked c-section a little bit and said we should schedule that too. We were pretty taken aback. First of all, I thought midwives were supposed to have options of things to do to keep labor/delivery as natural as possible. Second of all, she couldn't answer ANY of the questions we had regarding the ECV or having a breech baby. Needless to say, we were pretty irritated after leaving there but we did schedule a consult with an actual OB for Friday.
Thursday, I went to see Laurel's mom who is a Chiropractor so we could start doing the Webster Technique to get me aligned so that the baby has a better chance of flipping. This went well and I felt more relaxed afterward which was a positive sign.
Friday morning bright and early we headed to the consult with the OB. We (again) waited a long time, which seems so abnormal compared to my previous visits, but the OB was very friendly and seemed like he would've spent more than an hour with us if we wanted which was comforting. He told us that they would not do a scheduled c-section prior to 39 weeks and we would try (if we decide to) the ECV right before the c-section to see if we could get any movement. He was very helpful and informative. One thing however is that he said he will not force the baby during the ECV, if she does not want to turn around, he is not going to 'force' her more than she is willing. We have a 2nd opinion consult with another OB in the practice this coming friday to talk about the same thing (which was suggested by this OB). It was comforting to hear that we don't need to schedule the c-section until after 39 weeks (if it comes to that) and that the baby still has plenty of time to turn naturally, something the midwife did not say ONE TIME! We left the appointment feeling better. We're almost 100% sure that we will be trying the ECV prior to going on with a c-section.
This morning, Saturday, I had another appointment at Dr. Kegel's for another adjustment to stay aligned. Baby girl moves around a lot and has been teetering to the transverse position so I think she's just prepping herself to make the big turn. Staying optimistic. I have also been relaxing a lot more on my sides and drinking more water at the doctor's suggestion.
Everything else, not breech related, is going well. The OB said the baby is the average size currently so not too big or too small or anything. I got all of the baby stuff organized this past week and with the help of Nick and Laurel we have the pack n play set up and the carseat/stroller ready to go. I need to focus on packing a bag though and getting the small stuff taken care of. This coming week at work is going to be quite busy as I tie up loose ends prior to leaving for maternity leave.
I think i'm still in a bit of denial that we're 3 weeks or less away from having a baby girl. We're very excited and cannot wait to meet her but it's definitely one of those things where you don't believe it until it's happening. I have not had any false contractions (probably because she isn't sitting in my pelvis head first) which is a positive because then I probably won't go into labor but I have no idea what i'm in for.
The next couple weeks are probably going to be pretty crazy but we're going to try to keep it as relaxed as possible and spend a lot of time together since pretty soon we won't be alone anymore.
Please keep your fingers crossed for us that she does make the turn to head down. We'll keep everyone in the loop if she does flip! That will be an exciting moment which will be followed by me doing about a million jumping jacks so that she gets wedged in there and can't flip back!
Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!
Lots has been going on recently because baby girl is breech. My stress level is much lower than a couple weeks ago but this hasn't changed her position, yet. I'm staying optimistic. Here are the updates..
Tuesday we had an ultrasound to confirm her position. The ultrasound tech was.. short. She didn't give us an estimate of how much the baby weighed and she didn't talk much other then answering the questions we had like, "what are we looking at?" etc. Big difference from our 19 week anatomy scan.
It must've been a busy day because we went back out to the lobby for at least 20 minutes, then went back to an exam room for the normal OB appointment and waited almost another 20 minutes. A (midwife/nurse practitioner, I do not know which) came in and said she just reviewed our scans. It had to be a midwife, why would a NP be reviewing our scans?? Regardless, she did not review them WITH us. She barely even mentioned them other than saying yes, the baby is breech.. we knew this because we were there at the ultrasound, obviously. Needless to say, this midwife was not helpful in the least. She asked us if we knew about ECV (External Cephalic Version where they can try to manually turn the baby) and tried to get us to schedule one for the following week and then talked c-section a little bit and said we should schedule that too. We were pretty taken aback. First of all, I thought midwives were supposed to have options of things to do to keep labor/delivery as natural as possible. Second of all, she couldn't answer ANY of the questions we had regarding the ECV or having a breech baby. Needless to say, we were pretty irritated after leaving there but we did schedule a consult with an actual OB for Friday.
Thursday, I went to see Laurel's mom who is a Chiropractor so we could start doing the Webster Technique to get me aligned so that the baby has a better chance of flipping. This went well and I felt more relaxed afterward which was a positive sign.
Friday morning bright and early we headed to the consult with the OB. We (again) waited a long time, which seems so abnormal compared to my previous visits, but the OB was very friendly and seemed like he would've spent more than an hour with us if we wanted which was comforting. He told us that they would not do a scheduled c-section prior to 39 weeks and we would try (if we decide to) the ECV right before the c-section to see if we could get any movement. He was very helpful and informative. One thing however is that he said he will not force the baby during the ECV, if she does not want to turn around, he is not going to 'force' her more than she is willing. We have a 2nd opinion consult with another OB in the practice this coming friday to talk about the same thing (which was suggested by this OB). It was comforting to hear that we don't need to schedule the c-section until after 39 weeks (if it comes to that) and that the baby still has plenty of time to turn naturally, something the midwife did not say ONE TIME! We left the appointment feeling better. We're almost 100% sure that we will be trying the ECV prior to going on with a c-section.
This morning, Saturday, I had another appointment at Dr. Kegel's for another adjustment to stay aligned. Baby girl moves around a lot and has been teetering to the transverse position so I think she's just prepping herself to make the big turn. Staying optimistic. I have also been relaxing a lot more on my sides and drinking more water at the doctor's suggestion.
Everything else, not breech related, is going well. The OB said the baby is the average size currently so not too big or too small or anything. I got all of the baby stuff organized this past week and with the help of Nick and Laurel we have the pack n play set up and the carseat/stroller ready to go. I need to focus on packing a bag though and getting the small stuff taken care of. This coming week at work is going to be quite busy as I tie up loose ends prior to leaving for maternity leave.
I think i'm still in a bit of denial that we're 3 weeks or less away from having a baby girl. We're very excited and cannot wait to meet her but it's definitely one of those things where you don't believe it until it's happening. I have not had any false contractions (probably because she isn't sitting in my pelvis head first) which is a positive because then I probably won't go into labor but I have no idea what i'm in for.
The next couple weeks are probably going to be pretty crazy but we're going to try to keep it as relaxed as possible and spend a lot of time together since pretty soon we won't be alone anymore.
Please keep your fingers crossed for us that she does make the turn to head down. We'll keep everyone in the loop if she does flip! That will be an exciting moment which will be followed by me doing about a million jumping jacks so that she gets wedged in there and can't flip back!
Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
10 Things :: Link Up :: Volume 3
Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! I am off work until January 3rd! woo hoo!
1 :: Christmas
I cannot believe it's christmas weekend. Time in December has almost literally flown by. I had a lot of christmas stuff to accomplish at the beginning of the week and got most of it done last night. Final gifts and finishing the wrapping of those gifts make the tree complete. We can't wait to spend the weekend with our families and celebrate this awesome time of year. Next year will be even more exciting with a little one and I'm sure we'll be thinking about that a lot this year as we go through our days!
2 :: Baby
After posting Do I Have a Breech Baby? the other day I'm feeling less stressed about the situation. I honestly feel that the midwife was wrong and that I am right and I'm going to go ahead and trust my instinct on this. I slept like a baby last night and I attribute that to the fact that I wasn't worrying. Less than 5 weeks to go!
3 :: The Holidays at Work
This tends to bring out the goodies, aka sugar. It's really good that I didn't do any baking this year. On Tuesday we had cake twice in one day! I didn't have the 2nd piece. It will be very nice to have the week following Christmas off of work to focus on baby stuff for a while and try to prep as much as possible so I can relax the last three weeks before her due date.
4 :: Ping Pong
We are just LOVING the ping pong table that Alex's parents got to keep at our house for holidays and get togethers. Sunday night, I beat Alex in best of 7 .. which is super surprising because he is really good at ping pong. I guess this just means that I'm getting better! We need to get all the ping pong playing in that we can before baby girl comes, I don't think we'll have much time for that after she arrives. We're looking forward to this weekend as well when Alex's family comes in so we can have another tournament or two or three or four!!!!
5 :: Maternity Picture
I'll just throw one of these in here. I've already prepped a post to go up on Monday with more pictures from our entire shoot. I cannot share them before Christmas because of a gift sensitive matter. We are still super excited with how they turned out though.
6 :: Pinterest
I've recently dabbled less in the world of Pinterest. The craziness of the holidays have just sent me in a different direction. However I have some new pins I would like to share!
1 :: Christmas
I cannot believe it's christmas weekend. Time in December has almost literally flown by. I had a lot of christmas stuff to accomplish at the beginning of the week and got most of it done last night. Final gifts and finishing the wrapping of those gifts make the tree complete. We can't wait to spend the weekend with our families and celebrate this awesome time of year. Next year will be even more exciting with a little one and I'm sure we'll be thinking about that a lot this year as we go through our days!
2 :: Baby
After posting Do I Have a Breech Baby? the other day I'm feeling less stressed about the situation. I honestly feel that the midwife was wrong and that I am right and I'm going to go ahead and trust my instinct on this. I slept like a baby last night and I attribute that to the fact that I wasn't worrying. Less than 5 weeks to go!
3 :: The Holidays at Work
This tends to bring out the goodies, aka sugar. It's really good that I didn't do any baking this year. On Tuesday we had cake twice in one day! I didn't have the 2nd piece. It will be very nice to have the week following Christmas off of work to focus on baby stuff for a while and try to prep as much as possible so I can relax the last three weeks before her due date.
4 :: Ping Pong
We are just LOVING the ping pong table that Alex's parents got to keep at our house for holidays and get togethers. Sunday night, I beat Alex in best of 7 .. which is super surprising because he is really good at ping pong. I guess this just means that I'm getting better! We need to get all the ping pong playing in that we can before baby girl comes, I don't think we'll have much time for that after she arrives. We're looking forward to this weekend as well when Alex's family comes in so we can have another tournament or two or three or four!!!!
5 :: Maternity Picture
I'll just throw one of these in here. I've already prepped a post to go up on Monday with more pictures from our entire shoot. I cannot share them before Christmas because of a gift sensitive matter. We are still super excited with how they turned out though.
6 :: Pinterest
I've recently dabbled less in the world of Pinterest. The craziness of the holidays have just sent me in a different direction. However I have some new pins I would like to share!
Doesn't Pin 1 look like a blast for a little boy? Pin 2 is candy.. yep.. candy jewels! Pin 3 just looks really easy and cute! And Pin 4 is an awesome idea for any party to get pictures of all of your guests!
7 :: Nursery Prints
I am loving this print I found through another pin from pinterest. I don't know yet if it will fit in the nursery but if I could get it in a magenta/purple mix, it just might. I might have to do a variation of my own and print it myself. We'll see how it goes. But isn't it sweet?
8 :: Christmas with children
Just a random idea that I'm sure there's a pin for but I have yet to see it. 12 days of christmas for kids. A countdown with gifts starting 12 days before christmas. Could be easy if you find really small trinkets or what not to give them multiples of.
9 :: Slow Burn
This throat burn is going to be the death of me. And that's all I'm going to say.
10 :: Happy Holidays
I'll say it again, Happy Holidays! This is the best time of year. Five days after Christmas I will celebrate turning 27 followed by a sure to be awesome New Years Eve! 2012 is going to be the best yet!
9 :: Slow Burn
This throat burn is going to be the death of me. And that's all I'm going to say.
10 :: Happy Holidays
I'll say it again, Happy Holidays! This is the best time of year. Five days after Christmas I will celebrate turning 27 followed by a sure to be awesome New Years Eve! 2012 is going to be the best yet!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Photo Dump
This begins with Thanksgiving (GASP!) i know.. sorry it's so late. :)
Next up, Christmas Tree hunting!!
Random Stuff like making Homemade Marshmallows, our decorated Christmas Tree
and our contribution to the McHenry Christmas Party!
Lastly, a bare belly! I had Alex take this for documentation of 35 weeks!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
5 weeks left.. whhat?
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| Please excuse the poor lighting and lack of tree skirt! |
She's supposed to be the weight of a honeydew melon this week. So that's about 5 lbs or so. And still working around 18 or 19 inches long. She's very active and though she makes it a little uncomfortable to change positions while sleeping, she's totally worth it.
What else is happening? Well, I still haven't really organized the stuff we got from the baby shower. I need to figure out where to put things.. like how to store all the hooded towels and tiny wash clothes (my bathroom or hers?) how to organize the clothing in the closet/dresser, where to put the gear we won't use for a couple of months, etc. It's all quietly sitting in the living room sorted into different bags while I sit in another room writing thank you notes (over halfway done!).
Sunday, my first attempt at using homemade stencils on the wall didn't go quite as planned. Spray adhesive is quite sticky if you didn't know. Therefore, I am letting them dry for a while and I will attempt it again later this week. I also wish they sold tiny bottles of spray paint (do they?) and I also might succumb to a white paint marker. This doesn't solve the problem for the pink flowers but i'll cross that bridge when I come to it! I still think it's going to turn out really nice. Also Sunday, Alex and I hung up the shelf and the butterfly frame which is pretty exciting. I need to print a couple of images for the other smaller frames I have but I already know what I'm going to print, which makes it easier. Not too much left to do in the Nursery other than organize and set it all up the way we want.
Last night we 'watched' that Ricki Lake documentary, The Business of being Born. I say 'watched' because we were doing other things while it was on the TV (like writing thank you notes for me and the hunting app for Alex). I went into it knowing that it was a documentary that would try to express the negative connotations associated with giving birth in a hospital as opposed to a home birth. Intervention (such as medication) vs No Intervention. I took it all with a grain of salt. I did learn some interesting facts and it will probably have a small influence on the way I want my birth plan to go (as much as I can control anyway). For instance, I definitely want to steer clear of drugs as much as possible. I am allowing the option of getting an epidural at some point if it becomes unbearable but I hope I don't have to go there. From the way the documentary showed, the nurses are all about speeding up your labor through medical intervention, etc.. If all goes as kind of planned, I won't even be heading to the hospital until the pain is unbearable (unless something weird happens like my water breaks and it's been 24 hours or something and I'm still not progressing) which will leave little room for them to even need to progress the labor for me using drugs. A main thing I want to be able to do is be up and moving around. I don't want to be lying in a hospital bed in pain. I want to be moving and I don't want to deliver a baby lying on my back without the help of gravity. This is all probably a little bit TMI but who's blog is this?
Anyway, she's still growing and I'm still feeling good (other than the stress of whether or not she's breech). I can definitely stand being pregnant another 5 weeks so keep on cooking baby girl!
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