Hiccups are cute.

Shockingly, for probably the first time ever, I don't have a whole lot to say tonight.  So, I thought I'd show you something super cool that happened today at work.  Behold - and pay close attention to the right hand part of the screen (more towards the top) - also you don't need to have volume on or anything:

Cute, ain't it?  She is doing a lot of hiccuping (and some swimming, too, which may seem alien-like to you but to me it's presh).  I have thought that I've felt her hiccuping before, but it's never been nearly as strong as it was today.  For the first 10 minutes, I thought she was just having a fist pumping party or something.  But then, I realized that the thumping was so systematic and methodical...it was literally every few seconds and went on and on for the longest time.  I wish I'd thought to get the first part of it on video, because you could see it better, but normally when she's moving as soon as I make any moves to get my phone out for a video, it's like she senses it and stops (wonder who she gets that stubbornness from?), so I didn't want to jinx it.  The whole episode lasted for about 20 minutes total, and I loved every second!  I love knowing she's (hopefully) happy in there.

Dan got home early from his trip, and I am so excited!  He is exhausted, though, and has to get up at 5:00 again to make a day trip tomorrow (yuck), so we are laying in bed watching Elf at 7:15 p.m.  Such a glamorous life we lead!  We had a few projects on tap for tonight, but y'all know I don't turn down opportunities to be lazy rest, so here we are.

Hope you all had a great hump day!

Sarah

Birthing Class, Part 1

Looking back, I probably should have written this post on Sunday when it was fresh.  I'll know better next weekend!  As I mentioned before, we had the first of our two-part birthing class on Sunday.  Y'all know I am neurotic crazy a worry wart silly, so I of course was nervous about the class.  I am not really sure why - I think it was more nervous excitement than anything else.  Lately we are doing the things that mean it is close to the time when we get to meet our girl, and we are both so terrified excited that we can't stand it. 

My OB is affiliated with the Women's Health Alliance at Rex Hospital, and on my very first visit they gave me my pre-registration paperwork for the hospital and instructions on when to send it in.  Through my pre-registration paperwork, I found the information on all of the classes.  I have told you all before that for me personally, knowledge is power, and I have a compulsive need to research things to death.  I know that no birth is the same and that there is no way I will ever be fully prepared, but I somehow feel more comfortable about the birthing process just by learning as much as I can about it.  So, naturally, I wanted to sign up for all of the 28394987324 classes that they have to offer.  Luckily, Dan reigned me in and we ended up just going with the birthing class, although I may add on a yoga class soon because I hear that the breathing and relaxation techniques as well as the stretching/flexibility are useful tools for laboring.  Anyway, that's beside the point.

So the first class was on Sunday.  It went pretty much just like I thought it would: hilarious/scary 80s birthing video, breathing and relaxation techniques, Dan acting a fool, hospital tours, Dan asking silly hilarious questions, more breathing, etc.  Re: the birthing video, I have several observations:

1.  They should really invest in a more up-to-date video.  I could not focus on what the women were saying at first because I was so distracted by their hair.
2.  They should also feature patients whose primary language is English.  Before you judge me for being rude, please understand that this poor Asian woman that they featured could barely speak English, and you literally could not understand a word she was saying.  Of course this made Dan break into a fit of giggles.  I may or may not have joined him in said giggle fit.  Whatever.
3.  This one is graphic, sorry in advance, but it has to be said.  I know your belly is big and that you can't see.  Trust me, I know.  But could these women not have PLEASE maintained their lady parts (also referred to as "secrets" elsewhere in this blog) a little better during pregnancy?  Especially since they knew their birth was going to be filmed.  Honestly, is it too much to ask?  I will say no more on this matter, but just know that it was traumatizing and I was not prepared for the secrets shots.

Other than that, the video was pretty informative.  It tied in with the "lecture" portion, which was more of a discussion, about what to expect during all of the different phases of labor.  The video was actually broken into phases, and then we discussed each phase.  This was my favorite part of the class.  There wasn't much that I hadn't read or heard about from girlfriends, but I did actually learn a few things and the instructor gave some helpful tips.

After the video and discussion, we practiced some breathing and relaxation techniques.  ALLEGEDLY there was something in our class confirmation paperwork that said we should bring a yoga mat and two pillows.  Dan and I did not get that memo, and we were the only ones in the class that were unprepared for this poriton.  I'm sure all of you can imagine that this made me feel really slack, because I am normally so OCD prepared.  I'm still not sure what the pillows were for - we just sat on the floor which wasn't so bad - but you better believe I will not show up unprepared again.  This portion of the class was not as helpful for me.  I didn't feel like she taught me very many techniques that I will remember to use in the heat of the moment.  Taking a deep breath is something that anyone can do, the question is, will I remember to do that when I am having the most painful contraction in the entire world?  Likely not.  However, some of the stretches and things she showed us on the birthing ball seemed like they may be helpful.  Additionally, she did give us some tips such as, your legs are going to be in an unnatural position so doing some squats to strengthen those quad muscles might help.  Good thing I have been working on legs at least twice a week at the gym for my entire pregnancy.  Score one for me!  Also, I am happy to report that during this breathing relaxation portion, neither Dan nor I passed gas (we were warned that this happens all of the time).  Laugh all you want, but that is a serious accomplishment.  Especially for Dan.  :-)  I'm also glad that no one else did, either, because I don't think we would have been able to recover.

Dan's funniest question of the day came during the breathing/relaxation portion.  He raised his hand and asked the instructor if she could give him a reference point as to what a contraction feels like, since guys don't know what we go through.  On the surface, I was impressed at this question...until he followed up with, "Does it feel like someone is repeatedly punching you in the face?  Or cutting off your fingers?"  I am pretty sure at that point I died a little on the inside.  Fool.

I forgot to mention this: my boss from my very first job out of college and his wife are in our birthing class.  That was a little weird to get over.  Also, there is a pastry chef in there from (you'll never guess) only my favorite place in the whole world...THE CUPCAKE SHOPPE!  I have  made it my personal mission to become her bestie and get free cupcakes for life.

We spent the last part of the class touring the hospital, the birthing suites, and the post-delivery rooms.  The instructor showed us all of the things that are available for use in the suites (like the birthing ball, for example), explained all of the equipment (warmer for the baby when she comes out, etc.), talked about the room's standard features, etc.  She walked us all the way through from when we arrive at the hospital to when we deliver.  It definitely made it all very real.

So, that was about it for part one.  I am not sure what all we will be doing next week - I do know that there will be some more breathing/relaxation and that she will talk about breast feeding and drug options, but those are the only hints we got.  Overall, I am glad we signed up for the class and I'm looking forward to next week!

Hope the first part of your week has gone well.  I personally am beyond stoked that my husband is coming home tomorrow night!  I know Layla is, too...she is probably tired of talking walks with me as I move a lot slower these days.  That's all for now!

Sarah

31 Week Update

I feel like every time I turn around I am writing another update.  I can't believe that my birthday is this upcoming weekend and Christmas is next weekend...this baby's birth really is sneaking up on me and I am terrified.  I didn't even realize Christmas was so close until I thought about it today.  Shortly after that, we'll have our  baby showers and then we'll just be waiting on baby girl to make her grand entrance...she will be here before we know it!  Without further ado, here are our 31-week stats and developments: 

Size of Geronimina: Four naval oranges.  A different e-mail said squash (again), so they must be running out of good size comparisons.  Here it is again with the quarter comparison, because I think it's nifty:

Baby girl is measuring a little over 16 inches long, weighs about 3.3 pounds and is apparently about to have a serious growth spurt (makes my lady parts hurt just thinking about it!).  She can turn her head from side to side and she is beginning to get plump (YAY chunky babies...can't remember whether I've said it before, but based on Dan's and my baby pictures, this poor child doesn't have a chance - she will be a huge chunkster).

Weight Gain So Far:  I forgot to weigh in this morning and don't want to do it while my stomach is full of my gourmet Bojangle's dinner, so we'll stick with 20 lbs for now.  I try to look at the scale as little as possible (aka only when I'm forced to at the doctor). 

Cravings: Cereal.  I think may just be a result of the fact that Dan's out of town and that's what I have planned for dinner every night, but we got a variety this week and I am extra excited about the Cinnamin Toast Crunch.  Also, after reading my bestie's blog I can't stop thinking about chocolate milk, so I'm gonna have to hunt some of that down stat.

Aversions: Nothing!

Symptoms: Same old, the tiredness is really kicking my tail.  Some more cramping and joint pain this week, and I'm sad to say the constipation is back in full force...but it may be a result of the fact that I ate a lot of bananas last week.  Additionally, I've had frequent cramping in the arch of my feet as well as my legs (reasoning behind aforementioned increase in banana eating).  I am telling you, the Charlie horses are no joke!  And nose bleeds.  I've had two in the past week.  Ew.

Movement:  She's not slowing down in the slightest.  Squirming, moving, dancing all day long!  She put on a real show last week for my mother-in-law when she was in town last week, and I was glad she got to see and feel it!

What I Miss: Can't really think of anything.  Feeling fat and happy this week!

Things I am Thankful For: Charmin for making excellent toilet paper, since I feel like I spend 99% of my time these days emptying my bladder!  My family for coming into town for my birthday, and my parents for helping out with the nursery.  My husband.  Bojangles for making delicious food.  The panini maker that we just got at the office for making excellent grilled cheeses.

What I’m looking Forward To:  We have LOTS of things coming up that I'm looking forward to: working on the nursery!, Baby Hadley (hopefully) being born on my birthday (come on out little one!), having my Mom's family to my house for lunch on Saturday, our work tacky sweater party on Friday, Christmas, New Year's, and baby showers just to name a few!

Signs of a Bump: There certainly has been no mistaking it for a while now, and I haven't been able to see my toes in quite some time (it's just as well as they are in serious need of a pedicure in the worst way).  I thought it may be fun to see a short progression, so I posted bump pictures from 16 weeks (didn't have any at 11 that I could find/remember), 21 weeks and today:

16 weeks

21 weeks

31 weeks (today)

Crazy, right?  My bump even looks much smaller in my 28-week picture than it does today.  It feels like it's growing by the day!

Next Doctor Appointment: Next Thursday, December 22.  I am not sure how long until I start going weekly, but it is getting close.  Scary!

That's all for tonight - I have been blogging from bed, and Layla is now passed out on my belly, which makes it very difficult to type.  I'm surprised her sister hasn't started kicking her yet.  We recorded several cheesy Christmas movies that I'm looking forward to watching this week while Dan isn't here to make fun of them.  :-)

Happy Monday!

Sarah

Weekend Roundup

Happy (or not, since we're so close to Monday?) Sunday, Friends!  I meant to write a blog post on Friday, but ran out of time.  The Baums have been busy bees this weekend. 

We spent all day yesterday running a ton of errands.  I had an entire list of things to do that we didn't even get to.  Literally, we were up at 7, took Layla on a nice long walk, went to our usual for breakfast (Big Ed's), and then were out and about ALL day until it was time for our neighborhood tacky Christmas sweater party on Saturday night.  The only thing I really wanted to do was go price chair rail and pick out paint for the nursery.  My parents are coming into town this weekend for my birthday, so we've decided to go ahead and get started and I couldn't be more thrilled!  Our first shower is coming up in January, and our original plan was for Dan and his Dad to work on the nursery then, since my in-laws will be here because they're helping to host the shower.  However, we decided to go ahead and get started this weekend for two reasons: (1) since my parents are coming anyway, Daddy can bring all of the tools we need to install the chair rail as well as paint supplies so that we don't have to buy them (thanks Dad!) and (2) we will have a full house the weekend of the shower and people will need to sleep in that room - we are waiting to take the bed out and put the baby furniture in until after that weekend.  Thus, we figured it was better to go ahead and get started so that there are no paint fumes!  In-laws, if you're reading, not to worry, I have other projects for you.  :-)  Anyway, I digress.  The point of that whole thing was to say that we ended up not having time to go price chair rail or look at paint colors.  But we did get the following accomplished: found an excellent deal on a new blazer for Dan (this took up a lot of time - we were on a serious hunt for this and hit up a million quite a few stores, but our hard work paid off as we got an almost $400 blazer for $115!), got a new tiny rolling suitcase for his work trip this week (seriously I do not know how anyone could possibly pack in anything that small), got Dan a new pair of jeans, knocked some more off of the Christmas shopping list (so close to being done!), picked up a replacement ornament for the one I broke for our Appalachian tree (no judgment zone - yes we have two trees, but the ASU one is tiny), and found some stocking holders that will do the trick until the ones I really want go on sale after Christmas.  :-)

Saturday night was our neighborhood Christmas party - tacky sweater style.  Any of you who know me know that I get REALLY excited about tacky sweater parties.  We used to host one every year, until last year when we decided to wait until this year when we had a bigger house, because our house was small and our invite list keeps getting bigger.  This year, I honestly just didn't have the energy, so we were stoked when we found out that the neighborhood was doing one.  While we were out running our errands on Saturday, we randomly ended up running into Ryan and ended up grabbing lunch with he and Erin.  This worked out perfectly, because I had just been telling Dan how I'd forgotten to try on all of our tacky Christmas sweater attire before we left the house, and I wasn't sure if any of it would fit.  When I mentioned this at lunch, Erin said that they for sure had some I could probably use, so we swung by their house for me to try them on.  I am SO glad we did, because (a) the stuff I already had at home surely did not even come close to fitting - the shirts only came halfway down my belly at most because it is so big, (b) we ended up not having time to go by Wal Mart for a "plan b," and (c) the sweater I ended up with won me the prize!  I will stop talking and let the photos speak for themselves: 

Dan's pants are courtesy of his Dad from like the 1970s.  He LOVES them and tries to wear them whenever he possibly can.

Dan was ready before I was, and kept talking about how if there was a prize he would for sure win it.  The following conversation ensued as I was walking downstairs, where he was waiting for me:

Me:  Um, babe?  I think I might give you a run for your money.

Dan:  No way.  Not possible.  Let me see.

Me:  (Finishes my walk down the stairs)

Dan:  Wow.  Just...wow.

Dan, Brett and Bo.  Bo's ascot gets me every time!

Meagan and Bo...prom pose take one, happy style.

Prom pose take two: serious this time.

Meagan, Baby Geronimina and me, and Amanda

Neighborhood girls at the party!  Lynnsey, Adria, Baby B and Me, Meagan and Amanda

The hilarious thing about this sweater, which you can't really tell from the photos, is that Santa's belly is exactly where mine is.  When I walked in the door there was literally collective laughter.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of the back, too, because it was equally as funny.  The sweater, as I said before, is courtesy of Berliner (who obtained it courtesy of Boswell's Mom I believe he told me).  Turtleneck is courtesy of Steph's Mom a few years ago...I thought I gave it back but I'm kind of glad I didn't since the holly matched my sweater perfectly! 

My Winnings!

I won a bottle of wine (ha!), a variety of meats and cheeses (which look kind of gross...re-gift?), and some chocolates.  YAY! 

Today we were busy as well - we went to church and then headed to our first childbirth class at Rex. That will require a whole separate post, so you'll want to stay tuned this week to hear all about it.  Let's just say I wish you could have all been flies on the wall!  After our class, we swung by the store to stock up on pregnant woman staples for the week (read: lots of children's cereal) since Dan is going to be gone and I'm not cooking for one..well 1.5 I guess.  Tonight we ordered Chinese takeout and are relaxing and watching football...a perfect end to a pretty busy weekend!

Hope your weekends were fabulous - stay tuned for the 31-week update tomorrow!

Sarah