2 Weeks and Counting

I just had my 38 week check up, and I have some mixed feelings about it. But before I get into that, let me rewind a couple weeks:

Last week we were busy busy busy moving into our new apartment. It happened so fast, one minute we were planning on moving at the end of July, the next minute we're signing contracts and switching everything into our new address. Spencer still had work all week, so the plan was that I would pack and clean during the day, and when he got home he would do all the heavy lifting and take what I had packed to the new place to be unpacked right away, making the transition smoother. In theory, that was a terrific idea. And in the end, it more or less worked out great! But last Monday I also started having TONS of pain in my pelvis area. Like, so bad that I couldn't stand for very long, let alone walk. As pathetic as this sounds, I had to resort to crawling around our house during the day, because the simple act of walking was so unbearable. It was pretty embarrassing. I could barely drive myself anywhere. Tylonol would help a little, but I was maxing myself out on the dosage and it wasn't changing too much, so I stopped. I didn't want to over-medicate and potentially hurt Avery! The pain continued throughout the week, and still hasn't subsided at all, but we were able to get all moved in (aside from decorating/hanging pictures) and that has been such a blessing. Spencer was a huge help, working full time and then coming home and helping me with the packing/moving/cleaning. I love him :) So, even though last week was super stressful, borderline mental breakdown, we made it through and everything turned out great! I'm especially thankful that Nick, Courtney and Josh came over on Saturday to help move the heavy things we had left. Thanks guys! For real, you were amazing.

So getting back to my Dr appointment today. I explained my inability to walk much and the pain I was experiencing, hoping to hear that it was easily fixable. Maybe do a few stretches, eat less dairy, anything. Turns out, it's just from Avery pushing down further in preparation for labor, and there's not really anything I can do about it at all. Still, I consider this mostly good news, because at least there isn't anything wrong with me or the baby. My Dr told me that if the pain continued through next week, he would check my cervix on the 9th, and if I was dilating to at least a 3, he would go ahead and induce me that day. That will put me at 39 weeks and 4 days, which is pretty close to my original due date. This is what I have mixed feelings about. If Avery hasn't come by then, I assume it's because she needs more time to grow. Getting induced also increases my chances for an emergency C-Section, which I've been hoping to avoid at all costs. I just feel like my body was built to have babies, it should know what to do on its own when the time is right. But at the same time, not being able to move around my own home comfortably, let alone leaving the house at all, is really taking its toll. The only thing I can really do at this point is pray that she is able to come on her own before the 9th. 

Whew! That was quite a long post. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this little jelly bean is healthy and strong, and makes it through delivery ok! Love you all-

Getting my Sweat On!

Hello all! This week has been pretty great so far. Spencer and I went to the gym earlier this afternoon, and it felt sooo good to get out and get moving! I've been a little wary of gyms since getting pregnant, not that I had any reason to be. I guess I just felt unsure of how to work out without hurting the baby. Turns out though, she seems to love when I do! The last few times I've gone and done cardio and simple weight lifting, she gets her own spurts of energy and starts moving around like crazy! I asked the Dr. about this, to make sure it was a good reaction, and he said that she is able to feel the effects of my elevated pulse, and as long as I keep it at a moderate level, all it's doing to Avery is getting her blood pumping a little faster. Plus, he said there is some evidence that babies can also feel the good-feeling endorphin kick afterward. Awesome! So, this momma and baby combo will be hitting the gym quite a bit more now! Another reason I'm finally getting back into working out is that my energy levels are slowly creeping back to normal. I rarely feel exhausted for no reason anymore, and I'm loving it! This is by far my favorite part of being pregnant. I'm starting to feel more like myself again, and I have a baby bump big enough to enjoy instead of feeling self conscious about it. Avery is always jabbing and poking at me, and although its not the best feeling in the world, I love that she is becoming more and more present. In 8 short weeks she'll be here with us!! Yay!

Best. Husband. Ever.

So friends, I have a need to brag about my husband. Spencer has been nothing but helpful all week, and he deserves some credit! It's normal for him to go above and beyond, but I'm in awe of all he's been doing lately. Last weekend we went to visit his family in Vegas, and while there I picked up a 24 hr bug that had been going around. As most of you know, I'm a HUGE wuss when it comes to pain, so I was pretty much useless. He took such good care of me, feeding me jello and helping me take baths. He also drove the entire 6 hour distance home while I slept in the passenger seat. When we got home, I was feeling better, but then was rendered useless again when my sweet baby girl kicked me a little too hard and popped one of my ribs. That night, Spencer came home from 8 hours of work, put his headphones on, and cleaned the ENTIRE house! Dishes, vacuuming, laundry, everything! I was so out of it, and he just kept on cleaning. He also made dinner that night, and the next. On top of all of this, Spencer works 40+ hours a week, and works out at least an hour a day. He also puts up with "pregnant me" all the time, which generally includes anxiety and unexplained crying, neediness, crankiness, and weird food cravings. He's preparing for our daughter's arrival and planning for the LSAT. I swear, I got so unbelievably lucky in the husband department. He should really get an award for all he does. I love him so much!!!

Rainy Waterfalls

Today Spencer and I really wanted to go on an adventure. I've been looking at different things to do in Utah, and the other day I came across a website that listed all the Top 10 Waterfalls here. Lucky for us, there was one we had never visited, less than 30 minutes up the road! We grabbed some water bottles and jumped in the car. You have to walk/hike about half a mile in before you reach the falls, which isn't difficult, unless you have a very active baby living in your abdomen :) She was excited about something, maybe the fresh air, and felt it appropriate to show me by jumping up and down on my pelvis. Ouch!

On the way to the actual fall, there is a pretty little stream that you walk beside. We stopped for a second at this pool where is collects so I could take a little break.

We also found a miniature Cave of Wonders. I wanted Spencer to pose inside, but he wouldn't. Something about not wanting to get dirty. In. The. Outdoors. Yeah, I laughed at him too.

Anyway, after the fun little Nature Walk, the incline becomes pretty steep for a little ways.. And in my Infinite Wisdom, I didn't think it would be a problem to wear Flip Flops on this adventure. But with Spencer's help, we made it to the top. After the walk uphill,  BAM! Out of nowhere comes a beautiful waterfall!

There are actually 2 cascades, but since it's so early in the Spring, the other one was more of a drizzle. It was ice cold water, but so amazing. We found a comfy log to rest on, and enjoy the perfect view.

I'm so lucky to have married this guy. Look how cute we are! All in all, it was a fabulous Saturday. As soon as we got home, it started raining. Perfect timing. I took a couple pictures of the rainy weather, not sure if you can make them out too well, but I'll post them later anyway. Hope your Weekend is as fabulous as ours!

Ikea, Ovens and Food Cravings

Well, this week is almost over. I'm one more week closer to being a momma. Yes! Spencer is one week closer to the end of the HARDEST semester in his college career. Yes! And summer is just around the corner. Double Yes!! In celebration of long awaited endings and inspirational new beginnings, we took a field trip to Ikea and splurged on an AMAZING rug! It adds a pop of personality to our living room, and does a fantastic job covering up the rental carpet. I love sitting in the living room now, it feels so much better. Crazy how one square of fabric can change your outlook on life.

In other news, I'm getting weary of our oven's unique "burned food" smell, and am going to attempt cleaning it without the use of harsh chemical products. Thank you Pinterest! I found a recipe for overnight cleaning, using baking soda, salt, and water. I can't wait to try it out! Cleaning the oven is probably the most awkward and irritating thing for me to clean, but I'm gonna dive into this with a good attitude and hopefully emerge tomorrow victorious! I mostly want to avoid inhaling gallons of cleaning products, which is what put me on this "all natural" cleaning kick. That, mixed with my new-found desire to deep clean/reorganize our entire apartment. I'm walking the thin line right now between being able to move around fairly easily and, well, not being able to move around. I want to get all the spring cleaning out of the way before I can't anymore. 

(My usual attitude towards cleaning)

Along with going on a crazy cleaning spree, I am finally feeling the ever warned about pregnancy appetite. I am constantly hungry! I'm doing my very best to only munch on carrots, celery, and banana muffins, and drink gallon after gallon of water, but it's not very fulfilling when all you want is a huge freaking piece of chocolate cake!

 I did give in earlier this week and bought myself some powdered donuts. But overall I'm pretty proud of myself. It feels silly, but I really am worried about pregnancy weight. I wasn't supposed to gain much to start out with, and I feel like every pound is another obstacle that I'll have to deal with post-baby. I've done pretty well, I think I'm at about 6 lbs of total gain (after factoring in the 15 I lost in my first trimester, no thanks to morning sickness), and I have 9-14 lbs left before I reach my ideal size. Baby has about 4-6 lbs left to gain before she's considered full size, so I think we're doing pretty well. That being said, now is definitely NOT the time to go crazy with food. It does help to think about what I'm eating, and how it's essentially the same thing  I'm feeding Avery. With that in mind, I'm much more likely to reach for a spinach salad over the Nutella jar. And now, some inspiration for myself:

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat- a- cake, darling and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard and there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look!  Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.  Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby.  Babies don’t keep.

1958   Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Although this poem doesn't apply to my exact situation just yet, I felt like I should post it for future reference. And even now, even while I can still carry my sweet baby girl in my womb and protect her from everything in the outside world, I can almost hear Ms Ruth Hamilton talking directly to me. I have been getting rather stressed out and emotional lately, which I am choosing to blame on a surge of hormones. I have been worrying about excessive weight gain, and how I can lose it after the baby's born, I've been worrying about whether or not breastfeeding is going to be painful, and on and on and on. But all these things I'm worrying about don't really matter. They'll happen when they happen, and stressing about things I can't control only hurts me. So, like the poem explains, I'm trying to step back, forget all the little things that I feel I "must" worry about, and enjoy this moment I have, experiencing this gift of being able to grow a little person, and feel her movements. That should be the most important thing right now. 

That being said, I also really want to enjoy the last 3 months that I have Spencer all to myself. I want to love sleeping all the way through the night, and enjoy finishing an entire load of dishes at one time. I'm positive that Avery will be the best thing that could possibly happen to us, but there are a few blessings we have now that are probably going to be a rarity in the very near future, and I don't want to discount them. I love our little family, it's exactly what I dreamed about having :)

"Gotta Get Down On Friday..."

Good Morning Friends!! I am catching up on all things online, I haven't logged on in almost a week. Not too long, I know, but when I usually get on 2, 3, 4 times a day, it seems like eternity to me! Spencer and I have been having quite the busy week, starting last Friday, when we went to Vegas to see my beautiful sister in law get married to her awesome fiance! The whole weekend was so much fun, we really enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone and celebrating together. The wedding was perfection, with weather to match! I love going to Vegas, especially in the Spring Time, because it's so warm and summery there. We came back to Provo Sunday night, and brought some of the sunshine back with us! Since then, both Spencer and myself have been working/studying/cleaning non stop. (Actually, Spencer did most of the cleaning, working, and all of the studying...lol) But it's Friday now, and tomorrow we get to sleep in and relax for most of the day.

Avery is still doing really well, kicking and moving like nobody's business. We have a Dr appointment on Monday, and a little later in the month, I'm having an ultrasound done to get an echo of her heart, and make sure it's developing properly. Just a standard procedure, they haven't found anything yet with her development to cause concern, but they want to be extra careful because of Spencer's heart thing when he was born. I'm sure though that all will turn out well!

We are currently in the market for a new apartment, and plan on moving within the next couple of months. We've been looking around, but nothing has really caught our attention just yet. It's hard to sift through all the dumpy places in Provo and find something we can both agree on, but I think we're having fun doing so. Keep your fingers crossed for us! Happy Friday!

Lone Wolf

Spencer is with Josh on a special man-date tonight, which means that I have nothing to do. Blah. I really just need some good girlfriends here in P Town. Sadly, all my besties have moved away to bigger and better things, and I'm honestly just too lazy busy with my own life to make new ones. I complain about it, but I know it's my own doing. So, thanks to my newly acquired anti-social-ness, I find myself sitting at home, on a Friday night, watching old chick flicks and eating mango sherbet. Hey, it has fruit in it, so it's not too bad, right? Actually, I am glad I finally got a chance to watch Dirty Dancing. So. Freaking. Good. And Patrick Swayze, he used to be a total hottie pretty decent looking :) 

A couple updates: I have found a better job, I now make smoothies. Not exactly for a living, it's part time enough that it's more for fun, and I really enjoy it! Kind of like a little break from the house a few days a week. Next, Avery is growing at an awesome pace. She is always moving, and I can constantly feel her now. She is especially active during meal times, which is both way fun and super nauseating. I get a slight motion sickness feeling from all the flopping around going on inside of me, but I love when she's that active because it's proof that there's a little person inside of me. I seriously am getting so excited to meet her for the first time. I may or may not have pinned a couple pictures to my Pinterest of little girls that I think she might end up looking like. They have different mixtures of both mine and Spencer's features, and it's so much fun imagining which features she'll end up with! Mostly I think of Spencer's dark hair and green eyes, and my light skin and mouth. Who knows though, we'll just have to wait and see!!

In other news, my awesome sister-in-law and her fiance are getting married in a week!!!! 7 days from tomorrow, exactly, and I am so happy for them. Courtney is going to have a very non-stress day, which I think is genius. To be honest, you don't have to have a zillion details in order to have an unforgettable wedding. Unless you like details, which is totally cool too. I just love her attitude about it though. And I know it's going to be so special, because no matter what you have planned before or after, the Sealing in the Temple itself is beautiful. Also cool, this wedding is an awesome excuse for me to go buy a pretty maternity dress :)

Spencer just texted, he's on his way home soon, I should probably clean up the house and make it look like I was semi-productive while he was gone! I need to post the recipe I have for Cafe Rio Pork, it's super easy and Spence and I both think it tastes JUST like the real thing. I'll put that on here sometime next week maybe. Anyway, hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Catch Up for the Week

I'm alive! Its been quite the week, and also the weekend before, so I've been slacking in my blog. But no fear, I have returned. Today is bittersweet, my dad and sister just left after spending the week with us. I loved loved loved having them here with us, it was so nice to just relax and be with them. My family lives in California, and while its not on the other side of the country, sometimes it feels that way. We don't get to see each other often, so it was an especially wonderful treat. That was the sweet part. The bitter part is now that they're gone, I'm feeling particularly lonely again. I hate not having lots of family around. But such is life.

Spencer and I also were able to find out this week that our little bundle of joy is indeed a GIRL. She is doing well as far as we know, and growing right on schedule!! We've decided to call her Avery, though the verdict is still out on a middle name. She'll be due right around Independence Day, I have never been more excited for the holiday as I am now. Just a little over 4 months from now, I'll have our sweet little baby in my arms. Ahh, I don't see how I can possibly wait that much longer! We were both VERY happy that she is doing so well in there. 

My job situation isn't working out quite like I thought it would, but if there's anything marriage has taught me, it's that the best way to live life is roll with the punches, and not try too hard to control the outcome of everything you deal with. I know things will work  out the way they are meant to, and I keep telling myself that I can only do as much as I can do. No reason to stress the small stuff, right? In every aspect of life, Spencer is so encouraging and loving, he's my number one fan :) Which works out well, as I try hard to be his own personal cheerleader. I love our relationship, I think we balance each other so well, it's almost perfection.

Before I go, I wanted to leave a fun quote I found on Pinterest, that happens to make me feel better every time I read it:

Everyone is a Genius

But if you judge a Fish

On it's ability to Fly,

It will live its whole Life

Believing it is Stupid.

Have a good day everyone!

My Love

I wanted to write a little bit about how grateful I am for Spencer. He deals with so much responsibility, and always has a good attitude and a smile for me. I tend to be a little bit cynical sometimes, and he constantly build me up and points out the silver lining in my clouds. I love him with my whole heart. Spencer is the best thing that has happened to me, I am so lucky to have somehow tricked him into loving me back :) He takes care of me when I'm sick, helps clean without complaint, buys me little presents all the time, and can make me laugh even when I really don't want to. I love you Spencer! You make my life so much better every single day.