Worst Wake-up Ever

*Knock knock*

"Come in." -Me

"Phlebotomy!" -Them

Well good morning to you too. I can already tell this is going to be a good day.

Bedrest

So recently I've learned that if I'm going to the doctors (even for a short visit) I need to bring a book or something to keep me entertained. Not because it takes them forever to see me, but because lately I've just been sent to the hospital to sit for hours on end while they poke me and laugh at how much my baby wiggles :) I've also decided that I am going to have many more blog posts in the near future since I am currently....stuck. That's right, I'm on bedrest. Somewhat inconvenient since I was supposed to start school today, but there's nothing I can do about that. So instead I will sit here and pretend like I have something useful to write.

I guess most of you are probably wondering why I'm on bedrest, so we'll backtrack a little bit. I've been diagnosed with preeclampsia. Strange for me since my blood pressure has never been above 90/60 in my entire life, but pregnancy does some weird things to ya. So after spending the night in the hospital so they could monitor me and my baby (and so I could repeat my favorite 24 hour urine test). They decided that I wasn't in so bad of shape that they needed to induce me right away, but that I could go home and just rest for awhile.

This was a blessing. I was NOT ready to have that baby on Friday, and on Saturday I was in even worse shape since I had gotten less than 4 hours of sleep the night before. They aren't going to let me go past 38 weeks (the risk to me at that point would far outweigh any sort of risk to the baby) and will probably induce me before then since UVRMC is one of the leading hospitals in neonatology in the world.....we're in good hands to say the least. I'm going back to the hospital today to run some more tests, and I have a doctors appointment again tomorrow (they just miss me so much they wanted to see me again!). So I'll probably have more by way of an update at that point.

Until then, you can find me here. I will be making endless baby blankets, cramming more information about labor and delivery into my head, and catching up on Gilmore Girls reruns. Praise the Lord, we have Netflix :)

Updates

So this post has been a long time coming, I realize that. In my defense life has been crazy! I finally finished summer term and can proudly say that I have passed all of my theory core! This summer has been exhausting, but I'm so grateful that I just sucked it up and finished everything. I'm still not finished with school, but most of the classes that I have left are more of the "show up and take the test variety" rather than the "be in class every day or you will fail variety." I'm excited though because for the first time ever I will only have two hours of class a day in the fall! Just as a comparison I had class from 8-3 during the summer. This means that I finally get to settle down and prepare for our baby to get here!

We had a little bit of extra excitement this week in the form of an extra doctors visit. I had been noticing that my blood pressure was going up at each appointment, so I decided to just keep an eye on it. I've always had super low blood pressure (like 90/60) so even just seeing my blood pressure in the 100s is a shock for me. However, it had been getting as high as 140/87 and I'd been swelling a lot in my hands, feet, and face, so I decided a quick call to the doctor might be a good idea. They decided to have me come in, and unfortunately my blood pressure was up to 140/110. This was cause for concern (and some panic) because it hints towards preeclampsia.
Needless to say they sent me over to the hospital to do a non-stress test and make sure everything was okay with baby. The test itself is a breeze, you basically lay down and they hook up monitors to your stomach to check the baby's heart rate, and monitor your blood pressure every 10 minutes. Thankfully, once I laid down my blood pressure went down to 126/86 (still not perfect, but your blood pressure is expected to go up during pregnancy) and baby was kicking at all the monitors during the entire test. We definitely have a stinker on our hands here! He had his own ideas about having monitors strapped to him :)

The only thing I didn't like about the test was that they checked you in to a room on the labor and delivery floor in order to have it done. I was just looking around the whole time thinking, "I'm not quite ready to be here yet, can I come back in a few weeks?" As nerve-wracking as that was though, it was nice to see the area where we will have the baby in a few weeks and get acquainted with the procedures they have up there. If nothing else, now I won't worry that we will wander the hospital for hours looking for labor and delivery :)

Even though the NST came back normal, they still wanted to do a few more tests just to see where our levels of concern should be. Basically they had me do a 24 hour urine collection. I pray that none of you will ever have to do this. This is not painful in the least, but is disgusting, and if you are still suffering from morning sickness and nausea, it is one of the last things you will ever want to do. You can probably guess what it consists of. That's right, they give you a big jug and tell you to collect all of your urine in that jug for the next 24 hours, and keep the jug in the fridge. Excuse me, but my food is in the fridge. Let's just say that neither Ryan nor I had much of an appetite that day.

Anyways I haven't heard back on the results of that test, or my blood test, so I'm hoping that means everything is checking out normal and I just have to take it easy for the next little while. I definitely consider it a blessing that my blood pressure came down so quickly just by lying down. My mom is convinced that they're going to put me on bed-rest if this continues to be an issue, but I'm hoping they will hold off on that for another week or so. We're moving on Monday, and I just can't take a break until then. If I do have to go on bed-rest though, at least I'll be able to update this blog more! Here's to looking at the bright side!

Double Digits!

We're down to the double digits! How did that happen? Less than 100 days until my due date. I'm not naive enough to say less than 100 days until my baby gets here :) I think due dates are somewhat cruel, because we start counting down to something that may or may not happen on the specified date. As it is though being in double digits means that so far I have survived 180 days of pregnancy, and only have 99 days to go. I'm also close to the 2/3 mark! All while being a full-time student, and sometimes being an over full-time student. Summer term, 6 classes, 10.5 credit hours equals the equivalent of 12 classes and 21 credit hours in a normal semester. Yes I know I'm crazy.....yay for graduating? Super yay though for double digits!

The Results Are In!

And it's a boy! Kinda lame that our poll ended up being 50/50 with no clear favorite, but I guess the odds are 50/50 too so I can understand that. But we're having a boy! We went to the doctor's on Friday and everything is checking out good. They couldn't see any signs of spina bifida, down's syndrome, cleft palates, etc. It has been kinda funny to tell people that it is a boy and watch them try to comfort me because he isn't a girl. I just keep telling them that we were just wanting to have a healthy baby, and we wanted it to be either a boy or a girl rather than a combination of the two. So we're just happy!

I will admit though that it was a little disappointing to find out that we weren't getting our girl yet. I've really known from day one that the little stinker is a boy, and have slipped up more than once and referred to him as a he, but that didn't mean that I still hoped I was wrong. All my family was pretty sure it was a girl, so that got my hopes up, but boys are just as exciting. I've been having soooo much fun with my nephew Sam lately, and seeing how he is excited and always wants to see our pictures of the baby has helped me just be happy. Not only because I'm making a little friend for Sam, but hopefully because we get a son who is just as playful as Sam. The only sad part was walking through the baby aisle at Target and seeing all the adorable little girl dresses and ribbons. I'm hoping one day to be able to make blessing dresses, and baptism dresses out of the lace from my wedding dress....so I better get a girl, otherwise our boys will be quite traumatized!

Today's sacrament meeting was absolutely perfect for us though. We had a high council speaker come and speak to us about patience, and related it to his and his wife's experience in trying to start a family. He told us about how ever since he first received the priesthood as a deacon, he has had the desire to ordain his son to the priesthood. He and his wife were married when they were young and for about six years tried and tried to have kids. Eventually they decided to adopt and were blessed to be able to through LDS family services. They were able to adopt two girls and figured that would be the end of their family. However about four years later they were shocked to find out that she was pregnant and gave birth to a boy. Sadly, about seventeen months later they were speaking at their son's funeral, and the speaker still hadn't had the chance to ordain his son. At this point they were nearing their forties and figured that all hope was gone at raising a son. Another shock came 4 years after, when they found out that she was pregnant again, and was carrying another boy. His son was there with him today and is 6-years-old and truly a miracle.

This man's story touched me so much, and made me realize that even though I'm not getting the daughter I had hoped for, I'm receiving a son and with that son comes the duty and obligation to raise him righteously and teach him to value and honor his priesthood. My family teases me because in my patriarchal blessing it talks about my sons and how they will serve missions and be very influential in bringing many to the knowledge of the gospel. My mom always tells me that I'm going to have nine boys and no girls (although she would not wish that upon me). Since my blessing doesn't talk about my daughters I think every time I get pregnant I will be holding out hope for a girl so I know that I will at least get one.

However, as I was just sitting thinking the other day about the little boy that is currently kicking my bladder, I was reminded of my blessing. I received a strong witness that he is one of the sons my blessing talks about and that he will be a powerful missionary. I don't doubt it in the least since one of the things that Ryan is naturally blessed with is the ability to teach the gospel and understand it. I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to raise a righteous priesthood holder, and that I have someone by my side who can show that example to his son. I'm also just plain happy for Ryan because he is over the moon that he gets his little boy. I'm sure that is every man's dream is to have a boy first, but all Ryan can see is Yankee's uniforms and camp-outs. So for his sake, I'm more than pleased that we're having a boy!!

Sleepless in South Provo

Our current pillow to bed ratio: 5:1

Occupant to bed ratio: 2:1

Logical pillow to occupant ratio: 2.5:1

Actual pillow to occupant ratio: 4:1 and 1:1

If you haven't guessed it yet, I am the 4:1 and Ryan gets the 1:1. The poor man :( He ends up with 1/3 of the bed while I build myself a nest with three large pillows and a body pillow (which is really more like two pillows).

Who knew that pregnancy would equal the need for more sleep, but yet also completely worthless uncomfortable sleep?! Answer: all mothers and any other pregnant women. Ugh, I feel absolutely worthless lying in bed. I can't lay on my stomach because I feel like I'm sleeping on top of a softball, and I mentally picture myself squishing my baby. My side is the most comfortable, but my back always feels supremely arched if I'm not supporting it with a pillow.

My solution? You guessed it, millions of pillows all around my body squished into every crack so I can't move. Ryan has to pack me in at night before I go to sleep :) Of course I never wake up in my nice little nest. Somehow by three in the morning all the pillows have migrated to the bottom of the bed, and Ryan mysteriously has one in between his legs.

*sigh* These 20 weeks are going to be very long, and I am guessing it is going to get worse before it gets better. Suggestions?

Things I've Learned From Being Pregnant

Now that I've passed most of the ickyness of the first trimester, I figure it is time to share my vast stores of knowledge concerning the topic. In fact I am such an expert that I will include remedies that I'm positive will work for EVERYONE. Okay, not really. Especially since men will see no need for my tips.

1. Pregnancy brain is a true disorder. Simple things such as putting together a coherent sentence will be seen as a monumental task. Ryan has had to stop me many a time from doing stupid things like putting the eggs in the freezer, or the groceries in the dishwasher. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep me from putting liquid dish soap into the dishwasher rather than our liquid dish detergent. At least my nephew enjoyed the spoils of that mistake (let's face it, what little kid doesn't like bubbles?!).

2. Even if you weren't a crier before, suddenly the stupidest things will make you start to tear up. Things like watching Cash Cab, and having the contestants win $2,000. ("It's just so beautiful!" *sob* "I'm sure they really needed that money!" *sniffle*)

3. Before you eat something, think about how it will taste coming back up. Trust me, this will save you from many hard learned lessons in the future. I will save you from one of them. Nachos are the WORST thing ever to have to vomit. They're chunky, they cut you on the way back up, and they taste HORRIBLE! The best thing to throw up? Chocolate ice cream. I fully endorse a breakfast of chocolate ice cream if you are pretty certain that it won't stay down for long.

4. Sleeping for 12 hours = completely normal. Still feeling tired after that 12 hours = still completely normal. Sleeping for 12 hours, staying up for 4, and then napping for another 3 = still just as normal.

5. People will say stupid things to you, ignore them. They probably didn't think about what they said, and probably meant it in the nicest way possible. Example: "Hey you finally look like you're pregnant and not just chubby!"

That's about it for now, I'm sure I'll add to the list as I get further along. Everybody should vote on our poll though since we find out in less than two weeks if we're having a boy or a girl!

Just as an update: We avoided being in the middle of a shooting at the local Smith's last night. I always thought it was a little sketchy, and now might switch to shopping at Macey's. The downside, we were late to return our movie to the Redbox. Best dollar ever spent? I think so.