Jumping in Head First

The baby is, that is. You better believe it, the baby is head down. All ready to come into this world, what an overachiever. I found all of this out at my doctor's appointment last Wednesday (31 weeks). The doctor did a quick ultrasound to see what's going on in there and the baby was sucking it's thumb and wiggling it's toes. Can I just say, I think this kid is pretty darn photogenic.
Another thing that no one tells you about pregnancy that I found out at 31 weeks is that your hips will randomly "slip" out of place. How super! At work on Monday my left hip literally fell out of place while I was sitting at my desk. I tried to stand up at the end of the day and my whole leg gave out and it was crazy painful. I tried everything I could think of; stretching, trying to walk, squats, etc. Nothing worked. I sucked it up and limped/dragged myself to my car. So at my doctor's appointment I brought it up to the doctor who informed me that in some pregnant women the bit of cartilage that holds their pelvis together just breaks which makes their pelvis kind of "floppy". Then on top of that, a pregnant woman's body releases hormones to "loosen" their joints. Mix these two things together and you get a winning combination for your hips being a floppy mess. He recommends physical therapy, which I will be starting next week, fingers crossed it helps.
After my doctor's appointment on Wednesday I went to see our doula, Marin, for a massage on Thursday (thanks to groupon!). It was amazing. I told her that my hips were a mess and she seriously worked like crazy on them. We also got a chance to chat a little and get to know each other a little better. After the massage I could walk! WITHOUT A LIMP! And without pain which hasn't happened for nearly 4.5 weeks. Seriously, I nearly cried out of pure amazement and appreciation. Andy said he might send me to see Marin every week just so he doesn't have to hear me complain about my hips anymore. Anywho, I scheduled another massage for May 15th and I'm on the count down. Hopefully the combination of massage, physical therapy and yoga will make me a real girl again.
In other news, the nursery is basically done (YAY!). All that's left is last minute organizing, no big deal. Now we have to start packing for the hospital (which is just ridiculous)\, putting the car seat in the car (car pool lane anyone?\), taking our child birth classes (which start on Wednesday), looking in to breastfeeding classes, I've started to write our "birth plan",and interviewing pediatricians. Well that list is much longer than I thought it was going to be... Apparently I still have a bunch of junk to do. BOO.
Well, this has gotten wordy, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Here's a picture of me at 32 weeks. Big and springy :).

That's right everybody, the baby has all 5 senses and KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM. What a champ! Keep baking little baby nugget- we will be seeing you soon.

My Open Letter to Chocolate Pudding

Dear Chocolate Pudding,
Hey there sweet thang! Can I call you puddin'? Well I'm going to. Puddin', you make me so happy. You are the perfect balance of sweet and creamy. At times you jiggle on my spoon, other times I don't take the time to look but just because I don't take my time when devouring your deliciousness does not mean I don't value you as much as those who do. I need you in my life, Puddin'. You are a quick and easy homemade dessert, if I want to be fancy and impress all of my friends. Or you are a grocery shelf staple that doesn't require refrigeration- you could single-handedly save the world in a blackout/zombie attack/alien invasion/etc. Thanks for being so accommodating, Puddin' it means a lot.
Speaking of accommodating, you really are with all of the different flavors and textures out there- not just chocolate (gasp). I embrace them all, from bread pudding- which I believe is only pudding by name alone, to custards, to warm tapioca pudding, to the ever loved and devoured Snack Packs. Oh and the flavors, so many flavors... Butterscotch, banana, vanilla, chocolate, dark chocolate, and the new "designer flavors" such as cupcake and coconut cream pie. I gladly accept and applaud your diversity. I do not discriminate, Puddin'. You just make me happy. But like a fly to light, I come back to chocolate because it embodies all that is good and holy in this world.You are the whipped cream on my shortcake, the Reese's to my s'more, the milk to my cookie, and finally the pudding to my spoon.
I guess it's time to stop beating around the bush and just say it... But I can't. I feel like a school girl with her first crush. But this is a safe environment and you are such a loving food item. I guess I can say it... I love you Puddin'. I love you with all of my pregnant, sweet loving heart.

With all of my love and admiration,
Stacie

30 Weeks and FOOOOD

My brain has basically dried up and fallen out of my ear... I can't think straight or even remember to brush my own teeth in the morning. But there is one thing I can remember... Food. I remember to eat ALL THE TIME. During most of this pregnancy I've craved healthy things or at least I rarely wanted things that were bad. However, that has now changed. I could basically eat chocolate all day long... Everyday. I thought I would document some of the cravings I've been having for this weeks picture.

Hello, huge belly. Nice for you to make another appearance. Here are a few things that didn't make the list of have definitely been incredibly crave-worthy in my world... Fruit and fruit juice, granola (I eat granola+banana+milk every morning for breakfast), pudding (dark chocolate preferably), and milk. I hate milk but I drink at least 2 glasses a day and it still freaks me out. I probably should have underlined and bolded fish tacos on the board because that was my very first "I need it right now, don't get in my way" kind of craving. I had to drive across town and Andy was pissed about it and I got so angry that there was traffic that there were for real tears.

I checked around on the internet today and found out that as of 31 weeks (which is today) the baby is the size of a pineapple. WHAT?! Next thing you know it will be driving. Stop it, stop it right now.

Well that's interesting...

Yesterday (Sunday 4/14), at 30 weeks exactly, I had Braxton Hicks contractions for the first time. It was definitely interesting. A glass of water and laying on my side helped but they did go on for about 45 minutes. Anywho, I will post 30 week picture soon... I will leave you with something awesome.

FOR THE LOVE OF SPANX!

28-29 Weeks: Holy Bunnies

We have officially hit the 3rd trimester! I was so excited because that means we are getting close to meeting the little baby nugget.. but then my body fell completely apart and now I'm not so excited. My hips and back are a disaster- they hurt so bad. Walking is nearly impossible sometimes. My face is breaking out again, hmm, thanks hormones- you horrible jerks. I'm so flipping sick now, like more sick than I have been the whole time. I guess that means the kid is really cooking in there.
Speaking of the kid, they are a dancing fool anymore. I mean seriously! In fact, the nugget and I got in our first fight today. I was at work and every time I would roll close to my desk the kid would kick, HARD. Therefore pinching my stomach between their foot/head/butt/arm/whatever any my wooden desk. Can we all just say "ouch" in unison. Thanks, I appreciate your sympathy.
Anywho, we hit 28 weeks on Easter Sunday because we have awesome timing. Here I am with a giant belly....

The wall is supposed to say "Happy Easter to our Baby Bunny" but my belly cut off the -ny.... So happy Easter to our Baby Bun. Which makes me giggle. Next time I promise to move back and not let my stomach take over the wall. P.S. this was the very first day my ankles swelled and they were ridiculous! I don't look forward to that...
The next weekend, at 29 weeks, we went to have a quick "sneak peek" of the nugget. We had our 3d ultrasound done and it was amazing. I honestly thought it was going to be like a normal ultrasound where they point something out and I pretend like I know what they are talking about but these were SO CLEAR. Here are a few...

Those are baby faces! :). The kid was kicking around and moving. It was awesome for Andy to actually see the movement of the baby- it made it pretty real. Also, they gave us a dvd of the session so we can look back and see the stretches and twirls.

Ooops, I'm behind

Well, I suck. It has been a busy month and a half around these parts. So let's just get down to business. First we have my 22 week picture:

It took a while to start feeling movement in there. But the baby is definitely making up for lost time. This kid is STRONG! Andy can feel the baby move and most of the time he is very impressed by the strength of the kicks.
Next up, we made the trip to Missouri for my baby shower. It was a lot of fun, it's always great to see a bunch of people in one visit. Speaking of awesome people...

Some seriously awesome sorority sisters :). They are so pretty. Here are some other quick pictures of the shower...

Apparently food is very important to me. After the shower we had a birthday party for me and my niece Madeline.

After the excitement of all of the parties we headed home. Which was a 2 day drive with my parents. I was surprised how hard it was for me to sit for lengths of time, normally I'm just fine in the car for hours and hours. Not so much this time, we had to stop every 2 hours. Which made it a long trip for everyone... sorry. But we finally made it home and started on a bunch of our nursery projects (WOOT!). I will do a whole post on just the nursery projects soon. Anywho, my parents had a very eventful visit. I will fill everyone in on that soon.

To wrap it up, here is my picture from today.. Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy 26 Weeks!

20 Weeks

We are officially halfway there! Or in other words, the baby is half baked. However, week 19 was kind of a mess, filled with ups and downs. First, I was asked to be on a local TV to talk about an organizational challenge I've been taking part in. Me, organized? Crazy talk. But the challenge has truly helped me so I messaged the show and told them to look into it. Instead they asked me to come on the show on Tuesday January 29. We have had some serious snow and Monday and Tuesday were the WORST. Like snow and ice everywhere. So after the show, which was awesome by the way, I headed up to the University of Utah for work. I thought I would be smart and walk through buildings instead of taking the exterior stairs which were solid ice. Smart, I know. But my luck kicked in and I fell down the stairs inside the building.
It was incredibly scary. Not for me but for the baby. I did not fall on my stomach but I have heard horror stories of women falling and causing all sorts of issues. So my first call was straight to my doctor's office. He was not in so I was asked to come in and see the midwife (who was very nice). Next call was to my Mister. He started to kind of freak out as well and decided to meet me at the doctor's office. The midwife thoroughly checked me out including blood work and moving up my hospital ultrasound. So we headed over to the hospital to get checked in for that. The ultrasound was AWESOME! We got some amazing pictures of the baby. The tech kept the gender a secret for us and printed off some "glamour shots" for us. But the baby did not want to show her their face, which is one of the images they need for the report. So we were sent to the cafeteria to get some juice and jump around a little bit. Luckily the baby had moved when we returned and she got all of the pictures she needed. (I will post ultrasound pictures later).
I've been incredibly sore and apparently the fall has thrown my hips out of wack so walking, sitting, standing, laying, sleeping, etc has gotten a little difficult. It probably doesn't help that my stomach is ever growing. In fact here is my 20 week picture to show the growth:

And that's right the ultrasound tech measured the baby and apparently it is a little over 6.5 inches long and is 11oz. (plus or minus an ounce). That's one biiig nugget!