Movement!

Today was a special day.  Today I felt the first little kicks from baby Finn when I was at work.  In the afternoon, he usually wakes up a bit and I can feel little bumps against my pants waistline.  I usually will stop what I'm doing and put my hand on my stomach to see if I can catch the bumps with my fingers.  For the first time today, it was a deliberate little kick on the three fingers I was using to push into my stomach.  It was the most amazing feeling!

Tonight, while Arthur and I were eating dinner, Arthur asked "When do I get to feel Finn?"  It was so cute.  I put my hand on my stomach and couldn't feel anything, so I figured that he was not moving at that time.  I know what usually makes him bounce around, which is sugar.  So, I took a big swig of my cherry Koolaid and waited for about 5 minutes.  I started to feel a few little bumps in my stomach, so I put Arthur's hand there, and pushed in.  I felt a few from inside of me, and asked him if he did, too.  He did!

He asked me if it was gas, but I told him it wasn't.  LOL.

He kept his hand there for 10 more minutes, and felt a bunch of little "kicks".

Today was a super special day.  :)

Mid-week Madness

Today was back to work after a long weekend.  I had a nice 3 days off, and I think I really needed it. 

Yesterday, I spent the day relaxing and doing chores.  Arthur spent the day off at my parent's house, helping my dad.  My dad is remodeling their master bathroom and adding in one of those walk-in bathtubs.  They're not in major need of it, but I'm sure someday they'll appreciate having it.  Arthur helped my dad put some splash walls around the sides and bottom of the tub.  My dad paid him, and my mom got him a Subway sandwich.  He was very tired when he got home, but he still was a trooper and did it.  I am always amazed at how hard he works, and continues to work.

For example, today he spent the day at the dentist, and then came home and is remodeling our laundry room.  It's pretty crazy down there, and even though I like to watch him work on putting up wood framing and plumbing, I can tell he doesn't want me to bug him.  So, I'm up here blogging.  :)

Last night was kind of dumb, sleep-wise.  I went to bed (passed out on a sheet-less mattress) at 9:45 or so.  Arthur got me up briefly to put the sheets on the bed.  I fell back asleep until 1:45 AM for my first potty break.  I woke up again at 4:00 AM with my alarm blaring.  Apparently in my half-asleep state, I told him to set my alarm for 4AM and not 5AM. 

I went back to sleep for 45 minutes and then woke up to my real alarm at 5AM.  I had some tea and cereal and was still too tired to function.  So, I went back to sleep around 6AM and slept until 7:15AM.  I got ready and left for work at 8:15.  Arthur had a dentist appointment this morning, so we went separately.

At work, I had a fairly busy day, but I was able to get through it ok.  I didn't have whole lot of time to eat, so I stuck to granola bars and some leftover pizza.  I had to work until 6PM and got home by 7.  Arthur traded me cooking nights, so he made me sweet and sour chicken and jasmine rice because I'd had a long day at work.

I also took a few minutes tonight to call my cousin, who is in the hospital after surgery.  She is ok, she is just dealing with some issues related to breast feeding.  She is very strong, and I am very proud of her for staying so positive, even though it's really tough for her.  She told me that she reads this blog, so I figured I'd say hello to her and tell her that I'll be thinking of her over the coming days.  She is such a great mother and wife, and I admire her for being so strong.  She was a little worried that her experience would scare me, but it doesn't at all.  If anything, I love to hear experiences of others so I can be prepared for anything when I move into that phase.

How far along:  19 Weeks, 5 Days
How much time left:  20 Weeks, 2 Days

Top two symptoms:  I have been feeling a lot more "movement" these past couple of days.  I can feel little flips, or pops in my lower abdomen.  I always try to figure out whether or not it's gas bubbles, or if it's little Finn swimming around.  I think it's him, but just to make sure, I always put my hand on my stomach to see if I can feel him through my skin.  I feel like my mind plays tricks on me, but it's possible I've felt a few little taps on my had here and there.  Other than that, I dealt with exhaustion related to not sleeping well last night, and some foggy brain. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  Arthur got these fat nectarines from Costco, and I've been eating one a day or so.  They are so good!

Mood:  Today my mood was mostly good, I was focused on getting through the day and that helped me get past how tired I was.  I also had a mood lift at the end of the day when I got to talk to my cousin.  :)

Worried about:  I wasn't too worried about much today, which was nice. 

Excited for: Still counting on looking forward to my ultrasound on Friday.  I'm extremely excited to see Finn again and hear the good news from the Doctor about how well he is growing!  :)

19.5 Weeks, Almost 20!

I seem to blog on Sundays because it's usually the day I wake up super early and can't go back to sleep.  This Sunday is no exception.  I was up at 6:10 or so, because KitKat was meowing at the door.  Her new favorite thing is to go outside and play with the deer that live on our mountain.  She doesn't get too close to them, she just likes to watch them and occasionally run around them.

Since she was bawling at the door asking to be let out, I figured I'd just get up and eat something before I started to feel gross.  I made myself some hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar toast.

This week was good, nothing too crazy happened at work.  One thing I really like about my job is that it's very consistent, week over week.  It doesn't happen very often where something will throw me off.  I like to know what my schedule is in advance, and so my current position is really good for that.  I'm definitely a planner.  :)

This past Thursday was Valentine's Day.  Valentine's Day for Arthur and me is usually pretty low-key, and we usually have dinner at home together.  Ever year, we switch off to cook for each other.  Arthur did the cooking for us for the first few years of us being together, because I was never really a good cook.

I was looking through some old Valentine's Day pictures, and I found a few from the past.

Here is us on our first Valentine's Day together.  We hadn't even known each other for a year yet.  Arthur made me a delicious dinner and we opened presents and decorated Valentine's cookies.

We look so young!

Here's another one from a long time later, 2009 I believe.  This was our first Valentine's after we were a married couple.  Arthur made me an extravagant dessert display and we decorated cookies:

In 2011, Arthur outdid himself, and made the biggest display of treats ever.  I don't think I took any pictures of us that year.  Just the delicious treats:

I was in charge of dinner in 2011, and Arthur likes to call that the "Disaster Dinner" because I burned everything and it all tasted horrible.  We switch off every year now to cook, and of course 2012 was amazing because Arthur cooked.  He made beef wellington and risotto.

This year was my year to cook.  Because of the disaster dinner 2 years prior, I was stressing it pretty bad, pretty early on.  I took care to plan the menu in advance, and thought up a few different options in case something went bad.  I ended up on New York steaks, cheese and spinach ravioli, asparagus and sauteed shrimp.  The steaks were marinated all day in a red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.  The marinade recipe was called "Classic Steak Marinade".  It was really good.  Here is a link to the recipe:  http://bbq.about.com/od/marinaderecipes/r/Classic-Steak-Marinade.htm

Arthur ended up cooking the steaks for me on the grill because I think he was a little scared that I would burn them and ruin delicious thick steaks that were not cheap.  He did an amazing job, and they came out perfectly.

We both sat down at the table and ate together.  We opened presents and had dessert.

Here is a picture of our table.  You'll be able to see my fancy dinner and the wrapped gifts we got for each other:

I got Arthur a hoodie and a gift card to the fish store.  I also got him orchids and Reese's peanut butter cups.  He got me the "Holy Trinity" of Valentine's presents.  He calls it the "Holy Trinity" because there are 3 things that every girl needs on every Valentine's Day.  Flowers, Chocolates and a Teddy Bear.

He also gave me a cute "easy to do" scrapbook and filled out the first page.  This, along with the sweet card he wrote for me made me cry.  I was so emotional!

The pictures of Finn made me cry the most of course, and then the picture of my fake belly made me laugh.  Arthur's cute little cutting job of the pictures into heart and oval shapes are the best part.

Arthur is so thoughtful, and always makes every holiday super special.  One thing I definitely want Finn to know someday is how much his parents love each other.  I think that is so important, and I never want him to question what a happy, healthy relationship looks like.

You can see over the years that I've never had a Valentine's Day where I haven't felt super loved and important, and I can definitely thank Arthur for that.  :)

How far along:  19 Weeks, 3 Days
How much time left:  20 Weeks, 4 Days

Top two symptoms:  I've started to feel a lot better.  I have the occasional headache and nausea when I haven't eaten, but for the most part, I'm feeling pretty normal.  The newest symptom I've been feeling is cramps in my abdomen area.  They aren't like period cramps, they are more like growing pains cramps.  If they were in my back, I would worry a lot more... but they are more in the front panel right below my belly button.  I think he's growing.  :)

Favorite thing I ate today:  So far today, I've only had hot chocolate and toast.  My favorite thing I ate this entire week would probably have to be our Valentine's Dinner.  I'm starting to have stronger cravings more often.  Uh oh!

Mood:  My mood has been mostly stable, with the occasional cry fest.  Most happy or sad things make me cry at the drop of the hat if I'm watching them on TV or on the computer.  I have a very low tolerance for dumb people these days.  My ability to smile at people and just let them be their dumb selves has gone.  I am more likely to get grumbly and complain under my breath if someone is driving me insane.  I'm not sure if this is normal, but it is what it is.

Worried about:  I worry about a lot of things, most of them being related to getting ready for Finn to get here.  Things like finding a crib, and getting his nursery ready.  Things like knowing my birth plan and understanding all of the options available to me.  Things like how I will handle telling everyone my birth plan.  I think I will make my 20 week appointment the milestone that will force decisions to be made.  :)

Excited for: My 20 week doctor's appointment!  It's this coming Friday in the afternoon!  I have a longer appointment scheduled so we can have our ultrasound and he can do all of the measuring.  I am so excited.  I would like to record it with my video camera.  That will be Arthur's job!  :)

18 Weeks and Counting!

Happy Sunday!

It's been a few days since I've blogged, I had a really crazy week.  I'm finally feeling better from my cold that I had earlier in the week.  It was definitely better than the cold I had back in December.  I was grateful that it only lasted about 4 days, instead of the 2 weeks the other one lasted.

Baby-wise I had my doctor's appointment on Friday, and it was very successful.  We didn't get do an ultrasound, he said that I would get one in 2 weeks at my 20 week appointment.  I was mentally prepared for that, since he told me that at my previous appointment.  I'm looking forward to him checking everything and making sure Finn is healthy and happy.

He got the heartbeat, and it sounded better than ever.  That made my day awesome.  :)

Here is a video of the heartbeat!  I didn't get a visual, I just recorded the audio and put his picture behind it, in case you're wondering.

I've also been doing some shopping over the past week.  Whenever I go to any store, I always like to look at the baby clothes to see if they have anything cute for boys.  Arthur and I got some cool stuff at Babies R Us and Target.  We are mostly  looking for ocean or fish themed clothes, since that goes along with his name.

I realized a couple of weeks back that Finn is the name of one of the main characters on Adventure Time, a crazy cartoon on cable.  So I've been looking for stuff that has Finn from the show on it.  I found a cute little stuffed Finn at Target, so I had to get it:

My pants have been getting small, as I've been growing bigger.  I don't think I'm showing a whole lot, but I have been noticing that it's getting harder to fit into my pants.  I got a gift card to Motherhood Maternity for Christmas from Arthur's mom, so Arthur and I went shopping yesterday and I tried on some stuff.  They have this fake belly thing that you strap on so you can see what the clothes will look like when you're showing more.  I had to try it on.  It was so weird!  Arthur laughed and took some pictures:

This weekend Arthur and I also made a cake for Eli's birthday.  It was a Candy Castle cake like from the Candyland game.  We got one picture of it from one of Eli's friends.  We also took some on our nice camera, but that's still over at Arthur's house.  It was really fun to do!  We like making cakes, and I love doing the detail!

This week at work is going to be really busy.  It's also Valentine's Day, so I've got to get ready for that, since I'm cooking the dinner this year.  It's not that I'm not willing to cook as a labor of love, it's just that it kind of stresses me out to prepare a perfect meal, on time, and have it taste good too.  Better than good, even.  Oh, well... I have a few ideas already, so hopefully I'm prepared.

How far along:  18 Weeks, 3 Days
How much time left:  21 Weeks, 4 Days

Top two symptoms:  I've been really tired this weekend.  I think it's because either Finn is growing, or because I've had some pretty restless sleep.  It's tough to feel motivated to do stuff when you're so tired, even when you feel good.  I'm trying to push myself, though.  :)

Favorite thing I ate today:  Arthur made some delicious rolls for dinner.  They were so good!  I also had an amazing breakfast yesterday that Arthur made me.  He is so much better at cooking than me.

Mood:  I've felt emotional and a bit needy today.  The previous days I think I've been ok, a bit on the distracted side and not always able to focus... and that can frustrate me.  For the most part, though, I've been happy.

Worried about:  Even though I'm ready for anything, and would be happy with anything, I worry that there will be something crazy the doctor finds at my 20 week appointment.  I know that I've done everything I can to make sure Finn is healthy and happy, so I know that worrying is pointless... But pointless or not, I am still a normal worrying mom-to-be.

Excited for:  I had a thought today about playing outside with Finn when it's warm and he's bigger.  I know that's a long way off, but the thought of him running around in the grass and playing with our cats was a happy thought.  I also had a dream this weekend where I felt needed by someone else.  I know I'm needed by friends and family, but this was a different kind of needed.  I can't describe it.  It was nice.  

Words of Wisdom

A quote from Jewel:

"Being a mom really has changed my life and touched my heart.  It's such a healing thing.  You know, I'm a kid that had a tough upbringing, you know my mom wasn't around, my dad took over raising us but we had a tumultuous relationship.  Being a mom has really healed so much, it's such an amazing experience and I feel so lucky to be able to experience being a mom.  It's definitely changed what I do and how I do it.  

"You know, it's funny, I was a worrier my whole life, and worrying really robs you of enjoying the present.  I moved out when I was 15... I think you don't make it unless you're constantly looking ahead at what's going to go wrong, how can I make something perfect now, so that it won't go wrong later, looking ahead...  I've had that mentality my whole life.  It served me well, but in a lot of ways it robbed me. There's times I wished I could have stopped, and enjoyed and been proud of myself."

Feeling Better!

Morning everyone!  I had a rough day yesterday.  The highlight of my day was getting so many wonderful comments and messages from my friends and family about my pain management concerns.  You all shared ideas with me that I had never even thought about yet.  The internets are so amazing, aren't they!?  I don't trust most online forums, but when I have people I know, love and trust sharing their experiences with me, it makes is so much easier to know what I want and need.

This is tough to go through for your first time, without a lot of unbiased help.  Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who is patient and supportive of my decisions.  He guides me with advice that reminds me that I should always think about the healthy options first, before I think about anything else.  That is why I am so lucky.

When it comes to the path I will take for pain management and childbirth, I've decided to look at as many options that I can outside of the traditional OB delivery experience.  I know I love baths, and I know that I have a strong mind.  I will probably call the American Fork hospital later today and set up a tour to see what options they have for undecided mothers like me.  I know that knowledge is power, and so I need to more completely educate myself to help eliminate some of this anxiety.  Once I've done that, I feel like I can set up my birth plan.  Halfway through pregnancy is a good time to do it, right?  I also want to register for some birthing classes, so Arthur and I can be as prepared as possible. 

I am feeling so much better today.  Last night on my way home I stopped and got some Vick's Vaporub and some earplugs.  Part of my problem is congestion waking me up and then little sounds keeping me awake, such as my cats, or even the sound of Arthur breathing next to me.  It's awful.  I think I was blessed with my mom's light sleeping ability, which will work wonders when I have my Finn here.  :)  I know, I know... "it only gets worse, Genevieve!"

I just have to get him here safely, without a cold.  :)

Last night I came home from work and put my head down at the kitchen table and just cried, because I was so tired of feeling sick and wanting so much to just feel like I am normal again.  Arthur was very patient with me, and he took my coat off and helped me stand up.  I got some dinner and went downstairs to watch TV with him.  Obviously, I fell asleep pretty quick after some Vick's.  My sinus cleared up and I slept until it was bedtime.  I only woke up once in the night, at 4:30 to go to the bathroom.  This is an every night thing.  So to my friends who love to get uninterrupted sleep, pregnancy will always wake you up at least once or twice a night to pee.  Awesome.

Because I had my earplugs, I was able to go back to sleep and even slept through Arthur's alarm.  This was planned, of course because I knew I needed to sleep at least until 7 to get caught up.  It was so nice.

How far along:  17 Weeks, 6 Days
How much time left:  22 Weeks, 1 Day

Top two symptoms:  Some congestion and I'm sure I'll have a headache later today.  Yesterday I was super, super emotional.  I have been pretty good at not crying at the drop of a hat with these hormones, but yesterday I had no control.  I think I cried 4 times. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  Because it's early in the morning, I haven't eaten much.  I've got my Green Tea with Jasmine here and some cereal.  I'm looking forward to some delicious food later today, not quite sure what it is yet.  I have been really enjoying Raspberry chocolate shakes from Arctic Circle.  The raspberries they put in are fresh, and it is just delicious.

Mood:  I'm a lot happier this morning because I got enough rest and I am not as congested.  I also appreciate that my throat is feeling better.  I hope the happy mood lasts.  :)  I felt so bad for Arthur last night because I was so sad, and so grumpy.  He is so good, he did all of the dishes and even scratched my back.  Ladies, you need to make sure your husband treats you like a queen when you're pregnant (or even when you're not.)  I am so lucky.  :)

Worried about:  I'm not as worried today as I was yesterday.  I am maybe a little anxious about getting the research on alternative birthing methods going.  I am lucky to have a great friend who is willing to go with me when I tour the hospital.  She also is trying, and so it will be interesting to her as well in case she gets pregnant soon.  (Fingers crossed!!!)  :)

Excited for:  My doctor's appointment on Friday.  I had a funny dream that I had twins, and one of them was a girl.  I know this isn't the case, because I'd be so much bigger this far along, but it was still funny to feel those weird emotions in my dream.  I hope the doctor decides to do an ultrasound!  :)

Not Again...

Happy Monday!  Although, today was not too happy.  :(  I think I'm getting sick again.  I had a scratchy throat a bit over the weekend, and last night I woke up at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 AM with so much throat pain that I had to get up and take a Tylenol.

I also ate an orange and drank some water, hoping that it would help me go back to sleep.  I was able to fall back asleep around 4:15 or so, and then I had to wake up again at 5:30 to get ready for the day.  We are out of sugar, so I couldn't make my normal cup of Green Tea with Jasmine.  I still had the tea, but used honey instead.  I guess that's probably better for me anyway, and for my throat.  It just wasn't as sweet as I am used to.

At work, I was feeling pretty good, until around lunchtime.  My congestion is starting to get bad, which tells me this is another standard cold.  I can still breathe out of one nostril... for now.  I was able to leave a bit early today (around 1:00) and I came home and worked for the last few hours of my day.  I fell asleep around 3:30 and woke up when Arthur got home around 6:15.  I felt a bit better at that point.

I'm pretty worried about tomorrow because I have a lot of meetings, from 8AM to 6PM.  It's going to be a very busy day.  I hope I feel ok.  I can't really miss work right now because I don't have any more paid time off.  :(  I am going to try my hardest tonight to rest and not to push myself too hard tomorrow, if I can.

Ok, I have a question for all of the moms out there that have already had a baby.  I am worried about the pain of childbirth, and I struggle to understand how anyone can say "it's not that bad" when talking about their first.  Has anyone who reads my blog had a natural first time childbirth?  I know it's possible, because a lot of the women in my life who are older than me are very confident that it is completely possible with your first.  I have a few options that I am going to research more, such as hypnobirth.  Hypnobirth is a method that is used by midwives to help women mentally get through the process with no pain at all.  I watched a video on it on YouTube.  It seemed very interesting, and I'm willing to try it if I feel I can do it.

I'm open to your comments and suggestions, for a first time mom.  I'm interested to know how many of you had a natural childbirth for your first, and how many of you didn't.  If you didn't, please tell me how your baby reacted to the epidural, because I think that's a big concern.  If the baby comes out asleep, or not able to function, or dies from an epidural, I don't think I would be able to live with myself.  Please help...

How far along:  17 Weeks, 4 Days
How much time left:  22 Weeks, 3 Days

Top two symptoms:  Today because of my cold I had a headache and exhaustion.  I also have really bad congestion and a sore throat.  Not really pregnancy symptoms, but symptoms all the same.

Favorite thing I ate today:  I had my first pickle craving as a pregnant woman.  I ate 3 dill pickle spears.  They were so good!  But they didn't make me feel so good... :(  I'm still craving more.  Ugh!

Mood:  At work this morning, I felt really rushed and stressed.  After I was able to get through all of my meetings, I felt more calm.  I worried about getting sick and possibly missing work... and I can't do that.  I hope that I'm feeling better soon.  My mood when I'm sick is always awful, and I feel bad for Arthur because he has to deal with grumpy and pregnant me.

Worried about:  I worry about making the right decision for my baby with childbirth and managing the pain.  I know I've been through a ton in my short life when it comes to surgeries and handling pain.  I just don't know how I'm going to feel for my first birth and how strong I am going to be with getting through it all.  I know I shouldn't be scared, but I am.

Excited for:  The weekend.  Is that bad, since it's only Monday?  :)

SuperBLOG Sunday!

I hope you enjoy my very clever title to this blog post.  I though of it in my sleep.  I think I was dreaming about the fact that I hadn't blogged for a little while.  :)

I've had a good week, and I think I'm starting to feel better.  I haven't had as much of an issue with headaches, and I'm really grateful for that.  My nausea stays generally under control as long as I'm eating before and after I do any sort of physical movement.  That includes going up or down stairs, etc.

I keep saying I want to start exercising, and I definitely plan to do that starting this week.  I know Arthur will be overcome with joy that I've finally decided to move around more.  I just have to make sure that I eat before and after.  :)

This week was good, and not too busy.  I went to a fun birthday activity for Arthur's little brother, Eli.  He planned this crazy 2 part party so he could do everything he wanted for it.  We went to Sweet's candy factory just west of Salt Lake City.  There was a 40 minute tour and samples afterwards.  It was really cool to see how they make all of the candy!

Here are some pictures from their website showing some of the stuff we saw.  I would have taken some pictures myself, but for security reasons, I couldn't take my cell phone with me into the tour.

 After that, we went to a little bakery downtown SLC called Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop.  I've driven past it a million times growing up, but never actually went in.  I was in heaven!  I understand now why they call Salt Lake City "The Place".  It's because of this pastry shop.

The pictures below show the front of the shop and a panoramic shot of the inside of the store:

 I couldn't decide what I wanted, because there were so many options.  I ended up deciding on a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate buttercream frosting on the top.  It was so delicious.  I also got a Valentine's sugar cookie with fondant frosting.  *DROOL*

 So, that was the highlight of my week.  :)

Later today, Arthur's family is going to come over for a Superbowl Sunday party and we're going to have snacks and play games.  I'm not too much of a football fan, but I will definitely enjoy the company and the food!  I'll try to take some pictures of the fun and post later today.  No promises!  :P

How far along:  17 Weeks, 3 Days

How much time left:  22 Weeks, 4 Days

Top two symptoms:  Lately, it's just been some minor exhaustion and nausea here and there.  Nothing too bad!  :)

Favorite thing I ate today:  So far, I've only had Green Tea with Jasmine and some hashbrowns.  I'm sure I'll eat something more delicious later, so I'm leaving this spot empty!

Mood:  I had some ups and downs this week, mostly related to how well I can handle other people.  I seem to have lost a lot of the patience I used to have before I was pregnant.  I tend to have a short fuse and I let things get to me easier.  I just have to focus on the positive stuff and it helps. 

Worried about: I keep worrying that I'm not showing too much, and then I remember that I am still not super far along, compared to others I know.  I keep comparing how I look to how other pregnant people I know look, and it's probably not a good idea.  I can feel a difference in how my clothes fit, I guess that's good.  I think because I'm a little more overweight than most of the super skinny pregnant people I know, I am not showing as much as they are.  I just need to be patient here too. 

Excited for:  My 18 week doctor's appointment a week from yesterday!  Next Friday, February 8 is the day!  Wooo!  I don't expect an ultrasound, but I can certainly hope for one.  :)