I was reading my "week-by-week" pregnancy book a couple days ago and came across a part that gives you "safety tips" while pregnant. These are things you should be doing at all times to prevent accidents like falling down and running into things and the likes of which most of us don't do on a day-to-day basis but could possibly become prone to once pregnant. After reading the first tip, a light bulb came on. I had never thought of this! In fact, I had an incident last night because I was not doing precisely this! Are you ready for the golden nugget of widsom???
1. Keep your eyes open and always be aware of your surroundings.
I wonder how many pregnant women have missed this eye-opening (pun intended) fact!! Obviously, if they weren't following this tip, they would have missed it because you can't read if your eyes are shut. duh...Anytime I see a pregnant woman out and about, I'm going to approach her and, if she has her eyes open, congratulate her on reading this book. She's obviously taking all the right measures to ensure a safe, sound and accident-free pregnancy. I myself have been more attentive to what I'm doing and have mentally taken note of the fact that my eyes ARE open when I'm walking around and driving. Those could be the more dangerous times to NOT follow this tip. Last night, when we were walking back out to the car after seeing Seven Pounds I experienced the effects of not following the tip fully because I tripped on a hidden tree root in the grass and almost fell. This was after Waylon had just done it and I was about to begin laughing at him for not "paying attention to his surroundings". Then I had to point the finger to myself. I will do better though. Another tip was to always use handrails and walls when going down stairs or walking on walkways. I've taken extra care to make sure that everytime I go down or come up the stairs of my apartment, I am holding on to the rail. Who knows how many times it has saved mine and my baby's life!
ok, ok...all joking aside...there WERE some good tips in there, I was just a little taken aback by the first one. Obviously there are women who don't keep their eyes open at all times or pay attention to their surroundings or they wouldn't have felt the need to put that in there. I'd love to hear the story behind that...
In other news...without jinx-ing myself, I am on my 3rd day of being without nausea!! I'm so excited!! It has felt so great to not have to rush to the kitchen and eat as soon as my stomach starts feeling queesy, or worry about going anywhere for fear that I will get hungry and start getting sick. I've also, believe it or not, gotten a little tired of laying down all the time. I mean, I love to sleep and lounge around, but it really does get old after a while. So today and yesterday even, I've actually gotten some cleaning and organizing done. It felt pretty good! There have been some major areas in our apartment that have been needing organizing and cleaning out. I haven't got it all done by any means but I've started, which feels good. I can do a little each day and feel like I accomplished something other than being a sick pregnant lady.
Yesterday I went to lunch with my friend Stefanie and we ate at Jason's Deli which is always good then went to Barnes & Noble to spend my gift card that I got from my aunt-in-law for Christmas. First of all, I have to say that B&N is one of my most FAVORITE places to go!! I could literally spend hours there. Needless to say, I was pretty stinking excited about getting to spend $20 there. We walked around for a while browsing and looking at all sorts of stuff. Then I settled into the section that currently has my interest: pregnancy. We looked through several books and pregnancy journals and stuff and I finally settled on getting this adorable journal called "The Belly Book". The edge of it is even rounded, shaped like a pregnant belly. It's a journal strictly for the 9 months of pregnancy with spots for belly pictures as it grows, sonogram pictures and lots of places to fill stuff in about cravings, aversions, mood, energy level, family experiences and many other things. I really liked it and have already filled lots of stuff out. I am going to put the sonogram pictures in today in their little spots. It's fun to finally have a book I can put pictures and stuff in. I'm really looking forward to getting bigger and feeling the baby move. Tuesday I go back for my 3rd appointment and will get to hear the heartbeat again. This time Waylon will go with me so he'll get to hear it too. I'm definitely getting more emotional so I predict I will probably shed a couple of tears of joy this time. I've been getting choked up over the smallest, silliest things lately. It's really been in the past couple of weeks that the emotional thing has hit. We went and saw three very emotional movies this week: Valkyrie, The Curious Case of Benjamine Button and Seven Pounds. I cried in all of them but I think the one that got me the most was Benjamine Button. I won't give it away or anything but the end had me almost sobbing! If I hadn't been with Waylon and my uncle Jamie, I probably would have completely lost it! It's been a long time since a movie has had that kind of effect on me. Anyways, if want a nice long drama with a lot of crying moments, go see Benjamine Button. It was very good.
It's almost 1:30 and I expect Waylon will be getting home from work soon so I want to go get my shower in. We have a party to go to tonight and I still have to go to the store and get the drinks and some sparkling cider and grape juice. I'm looking forward to spending some fun times with friends. Hope all of you have fun, safe New Year's plans!
love,
Steph
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
oh the merriment of the holiday season!
I'm finally back writing another blog. It feels like forever since my last one! Well, this Christmas has definitely been a different one than any other I've ever had. I guess that goes for our entire family. Don't get me wrong, it's not different in a bad way, just different, which I knew would be the case since this is our first married Christmas together. This year, my parents drove up to Massachussettes to be with my sister and her family, which was great for them. They are still up there this week. I know my sister really enjoys having them there and my parents love going up and spending time with their oldest daughter and grandaughters. Waylon and I drove over to Cross Plains, which is a really small town, to be with his parents and grandparents. It was a really good time. We drove down Wednesday afternoon after Waylon got off work and came back Friday afternoon. Since there isn't much in that town to do, we got to relax and spend lots of time with his family with no distractions of the big city. I did feel nauseous a lot and had to lay down a lot but I still enjoyed it. We got to see Waylon's dad for the first time since October when he was in the motorcycle wreck. He's recovering very well and looks so much better than he did in the hospital. He has had a little bit of memory loss and has a difficult time remembering short term stuff but the doctors say this is normal when serious head traumas and that he will recover in 18-24 months. It sounds like a long time but at least there is hope that this will not be a permanent problem. He was in great spirits though for someone recovering from such a serious wreck.
On the pregnancy front things have been chuggin' along. I'd love to say that I haven't had a lot of nausea but that would be a lie. Lately (the past 3 weeks or so), I've started getting severe nausea in the evenings accompanied by bad headaches. I've had to cancel plans with friends and stay in bed due to this which is not cool at all. I'm ready for this symptom to go away, I'll admit. I also got really dizzy the other night and started blacking out. This was due to my hunger at midnight and I think I got out of the bed too fast to go to the kitchen. I've never had to eat so much in my life! I feel like that's all I do!! Normally I would love this, I love to eat. However, there hasn't been a lot of food that has sounded good so I've had to eat constantly but without having the desire for anything in particular. That's super frustrating. Also, I can't eat a lot at once so I'm having a lot of left overs when I order food or fix myself stuff. I hope the eating levels out and I get some sort of plan figured out and find some foods that are always appealing to me. I'm almost out of my first trimester which is a relief because there's a lot less danger of losing the baby after that. I'm also looking forward to the feeling better part. We have a trip to Orlando coming up in three weeks through my school with the cheerleaders and I really want to be feeling good during that trip. I don't want to be having nausea and headaches all week, that's for sure. I won't be able to ride very many rides, but it will still be fun. Waylon gets to go too and he is going to have a blast at all the parks, getting to ride all the rides there. I'm just excited to get to see him have a lot of fun!
This coming Friday my friend Renay is going to be induced into labor. Renay and I have been friends for several years and she's having her first baby and it's a girl! I love the name she picked: Claire Jordyn. I think it's perfect. I can't wait to see her baby and am looking forward to going over there this coming Friday and being there for all the excitement. This will definitely give me a jolt of excitement for my coming baby!
One thing I've had a lot of lately is apathy towards cleaning my house. It's a complete mess and I just can't muster up enough care to do anything about it! I have done a few loads of dishes in the kitchen but I can't seem to get anything else done! It's really frustrating because I know I'm going to want to be coming home to a clean apartment next week when I'm back in school, but that just doesn't seem to register in the motivational part of my brain. ugh...
Tonight I'm going to try to go to my Monday night Mary Kay meeting. I haven't been to one in weeks, pretty much since right before I found out I was pregnant. I hadn't been feeling good so I missed a couple, then I found out I was pregnant and continued to feel sick in the evenings and super tired so I just haven't made it back. I feel really bad and I do miss all the ladies there. Tonight is casual night and we're having a guy come speak about how to file your taxes so I really need to be there to learn all this. I'm just worried I'm going to get sick and have to leave or not get to go at all. Let's hope for the best!
Well, I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and that the New Years greets everyone with happiness! I'm going to a party Wednesday night at my friend's Stef and Jared's house. Looking forward to it and hoping for a night of feeling good! (read: no nausea or headaches!!) Don't worry, there will be no alcohol at this party, we are among Christian friends and it will be a games and hanging out type of party.
I'm going to sign off now and probably make a trip to the library to return a book and get a new one. Have a great week and thanks for reading!
love,
Steph + 1
On the pregnancy front things have been chuggin' along. I'd love to say that I haven't had a lot of nausea but that would be a lie. Lately (the past 3 weeks or so), I've started getting severe nausea in the evenings accompanied by bad headaches. I've had to cancel plans with friends and stay in bed due to this which is not cool at all. I'm ready for this symptom to go away, I'll admit. I also got really dizzy the other night and started blacking out. This was due to my hunger at midnight and I think I got out of the bed too fast to go to the kitchen. I've never had to eat so much in my life! I feel like that's all I do!! Normally I would love this, I love to eat. However, there hasn't been a lot of food that has sounded good so I've had to eat constantly but without having the desire for anything in particular. That's super frustrating. Also, I can't eat a lot at once so I'm having a lot of left overs when I order food or fix myself stuff. I hope the eating levels out and I get some sort of plan figured out and find some foods that are always appealing to me. I'm almost out of my first trimester which is a relief because there's a lot less danger of losing the baby after that. I'm also looking forward to the feeling better part. We have a trip to Orlando coming up in three weeks through my school with the cheerleaders and I really want to be feeling good during that trip. I don't want to be having nausea and headaches all week, that's for sure. I won't be able to ride very many rides, but it will still be fun. Waylon gets to go too and he is going to have a blast at all the parks, getting to ride all the rides there. I'm just excited to get to see him have a lot of fun!
This coming Friday my friend Renay is going to be induced into labor. Renay and I have been friends for several years and she's having her first baby and it's a girl! I love the name she picked: Claire Jordyn. I think it's perfect. I can't wait to see her baby and am looking forward to going over there this coming Friday and being there for all the excitement. This will definitely give me a jolt of excitement for my coming baby!
One thing I've had a lot of lately is apathy towards cleaning my house. It's a complete mess and I just can't muster up enough care to do anything about it! I have done a few loads of dishes in the kitchen but I can't seem to get anything else done! It's really frustrating because I know I'm going to want to be coming home to a clean apartment next week when I'm back in school, but that just doesn't seem to register in the motivational part of my brain. ugh...
Tonight I'm going to try to go to my Monday night Mary Kay meeting. I haven't been to one in weeks, pretty much since right before I found out I was pregnant. I hadn't been feeling good so I missed a couple, then I found out I was pregnant and continued to feel sick in the evenings and super tired so I just haven't made it back. I feel really bad and I do miss all the ladies there. Tonight is casual night and we're having a guy come speak about how to file your taxes so I really need to be there to learn all this. I'm just worried I'm going to get sick and have to leave or not get to go at all. Let's hope for the best!
Well, I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and that the New Years greets everyone with happiness! I'm going to a party Wednesday night at my friend's Stef and Jared's house. Looking forward to it and hoping for a night of feeling good! (read: no nausea or headaches!!) Don't worry, there will be no alcohol at this party, we are among Christian friends and it will be a games and hanging out type of party.
I'm going to sign off now and probably make a trip to the library to return a book and get a new one. Have a great week and thanks for reading!
love,
Steph + 1
Friday, December 19, 2008
quick-pre-Christmas update
Just wanted to check in with "all" my readers and give a little update before the holidays. Today was officially my last day of work for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!!! It was such a relief when I walked out of my classroom today. Not that the past few days has been difficult as we've been watching a Spanish movie. Still though, I was ready to not be there anymore. So this afternoon I went to lunch with a friend and then met my mom and went Christmas shopping. I bought the first gifts I've bought all year for my niece Katelyn and my brother-in-law Mike. I still have to get a gift for Madelyn, my other niece and get my sister's stuff wrapped. After I get all that done, I'll be able to shop for everyone else. Shopping normally wears me out but today I was so exhausted by the time we got done with our 2 hour shopping trip. I couldn't believe how tired I got and how quickly. Now we have to go to practice at Church for our Christmas service Sunday which will be great, I'm just tired and not in the most spirited mood for it. I also have the Woolbright Christmas celebration all day tomorrow and it's in Sachse which is almost an hour away so that will probably be an exhausting day also. I'm ready for Monday when I don't have to really do anything or go anywhere.
The belly is still growing and I'm really starting to feel just plain ole' fat. I've also been having some bloating and crampy feelings in my stomach which feels awesome of course. At the end of my work day I'm exhausted, grumpy, usually have a headache and just want to sleep. Yesterday I got home feeling aweful and got in bed in my work clothes and slept for 2 hours. It felt really good. I guess I'm going to have to start taking more naps.
Well, I'm going to stop here because I need to print some music off for practice tonight and run by Walmart to get some stuff done. Hope everyone has an awesome Christmas!!!
Love,
Steph
The belly is still growing and I'm really starting to feel just plain ole' fat. I've also been having some bloating and crampy feelings in my stomach which feels awesome of course. At the end of my work day I'm exhausted, grumpy, usually have a headache and just want to sleep. Yesterday I got home feeling aweful and got in bed in my work clothes and slept for 2 hours. It felt really good. I guess I'm going to have to start taking more naps.
Well, I'm going to stop here because I need to print some music off for practice tonight and run by Walmart to get some stuff done. Hope everyone has an awesome Christmas!!!
Love,
Steph
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Already showing???
So I (and many others who have enjoyed pointing this out) have noticed lately my growing belly. Now, everything I've read so far indicates that I should not be showing yet, however, my body is singing (or growing) a different tune!! The first picture is me at 5 weeks right after I found out. The second picture was today; I'm in my 10th week. I know some of it is fat, but I really haven't been eating more than normally, AND I've actually LOST weight from before I was pregnant. So...that being said...WHAT THE HECK???! How is my stomach already so large??? Any thoughts??
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Baby update!
I had my second appointment today (I'm in my 9th week) and it went very well! I got to hear the little heart beat!! I was so excited!! I wanted to start crying but I held it together! It was so amazing hearing my baby's heart beating right inside my belly. I couldn't believe how it made me feel. Then I got to have another ultra sound and actually SEE the heart beat! It was awesome! I don't have the new ultra sound picture scanned into the computer yet so I'll have to post it later but there's a lot more to see now, although it's still a little peanut! It's amazing and awesome how life forms and so exciting to see each stage of life forming. I also found out that I should know by my 17th week what the sex of the baby is. My doctor was very nice and personable and I think I'm going to like her. I just can't wait to know what I'm having!! It will be so exciting to know and be able to start calling it by it's name. Which brings me to my next update: we have boy and girl names!! Since there are so many pregnant people around me I'm going to go ahead and announce them so that no one steals mine! lol. jk, but seriously, I don't want any awkwardness in the future weeks if me and someone else came out with our names at the same time and we had the same name picked out. Anyways, without any further ado:
Boy - Julian Bryce
Girl - Brooklyn Alivia
Now, I'm not saying these are set in STONE but I'm pretty sure I love them both! The only reason I would change either of them would be if I came across a name that I loved even more and just KNEW it had to be that one. So let me know what you think of my names!
Nothing else that interesting going on in our life here. Work is work and I'm already ready for Christmas break! It's so cold and windy today I felt like I might die from hypothermia walking to my car tonight after the basketball game at my school!
Hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather wherever you are!! Merry Christmas Shopping!! :)
love,
Steph excited mom-to-be
Boy - Julian Bryce
Girl - Brooklyn Alivia
Now, I'm not saying these are set in STONE but I'm pretty sure I love them both! The only reason I would change either of them would be if I came across a name that I loved even more and just KNEW it had to be that one. So let me know what you think of my names!
Nothing else that interesting going on in our life here. Work is work and I'm already ready for Christmas break! It's so cold and windy today I felt like I might die from hypothermia walking to my car tonight after the basketball game at my school!
Hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather wherever you are!! Merry Christmas Shopping!! :)
love,
Steph excited mom-to-be
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
back at school
I'm happy to inform everyone that my time back at work has NOT ben nausea-filled! It's been tons better than I expected! Not that I haven't had nausea, oh, I HAVE...but it's not near as bad as it was last week. I guess staying busy all day and having my mind on work keeps the nausea abated. It does flare up though when my stomach starts getting empty so I pull out the ritz crackers or saltines or triscuits (whichever I have on hand at the time) and eat a few and it goes away after a while. I have had to sit a lot while teaching because I'm still getting out of breath and tired after standing for long periods of time. I'm just so relieved that it hasn't been miserable all week. I've already made it through half! yay!
I heard that when you're pregnant, you have more vivid dreams and they get kinda crazy. Well, lately I've definitely been having some vivid dreams and they are kind cooky. A few nights ago I dreamt that I applied for an office job at a hospital (during the school year, mind you, while I was still teaching) and was offered it and was planning on quitting teaching in the middle of the school year to take this hospital job which doesn't pay half as much. In the dream, Waylon kept asking me how they could offer me a job after only having one interview...it seemed to be something he just could not understand. It was really random and wierd and when I woke up from it I felt kind of panicky wondering if I had REALLY gone and done that. Last followed up with another great dream! I actually had my baby. For half of the dream my baby was a girl and I hate to say it but she was a really ugly baby!! I'm talking she had this HUGE abnormally bushy uni-brow!! In my dream I was so embarassed I didn't want to take her out in public b/c everyone would stare and I would just say "yes, I know my baby is ugly." It was aweful!! I remember thinking "I can't believe I had an ugly baby...I mean, where did it get that uni-brow from??!!" Then, midway through my dream, the baby turned into a normal looking baby boy! The wierd part is, I was aware of the change and was relieved it was normal looking! lol. Then I would take the baby out with me to run errands but leave it alone in public places and then realize I had left it and start panicking while trying to find it again. It was a very disturbing and crazy dream. I don't even know if I should be writing about it...but here I am, writing about it. Anyways, I just need one night of normal dreams after that! PLEASE!!!
Another thing that disrupted my sleep last night was Waylon getting up at 2am to throw up and have stomach issues. It felt like it lasted forever and then when he finally came back to bed, he left our door open and the hall light on. I couldn't fall back to sleep for a very long time after that. Needless to say, I'm really tired tonight and very ready to hit the sack and fall to sleep quickly.
I'm going to cut out here because my eyelids are wanting to close. Hope everyone has a great week and upcoming weekend!
love,
Steph
I heard that when you're pregnant, you have more vivid dreams and they get kinda crazy. Well, lately I've definitely been having some vivid dreams and they are kind cooky. A few nights ago I dreamt that I applied for an office job at a hospital (during the school year, mind you, while I was still teaching) and was offered it and was planning on quitting teaching in the middle of the school year to take this hospital job which doesn't pay half as much. In the dream, Waylon kept asking me how they could offer me a job after only having one interview...it seemed to be something he just could not understand. It was really random and wierd and when I woke up from it I felt kind of panicky wondering if I had REALLY gone and done that. Last followed up with another great dream! I actually had my baby. For half of the dream my baby was a girl and I hate to say it but she was a really ugly baby!! I'm talking she had this HUGE abnormally bushy uni-brow!! In my dream I was so embarassed I didn't want to take her out in public b/c everyone would stare and I would just say "yes, I know my baby is ugly." It was aweful!! I remember thinking "I can't believe I had an ugly baby...I mean, where did it get that uni-brow from??!!" Then, midway through my dream, the baby turned into a normal looking baby boy! The wierd part is, I was aware of the change and was relieved it was normal looking! lol. Then I would take the baby out with me to run errands but leave it alone in public places and then realize I had left it and start panicking while trying to find it again. It was a very disturbing and crazy dream. I don't even know if I should be writing about it...but here I am, writing about it. Anyways, I just need one night of normal dreams after that! PLEASE!!!
Another thing that disrupted my sleep last night was Waylon getting up at 2am to throw up and have stomach issues. It felt like it lasted forever and then when he finally came back to bed, he left our door open and the hall light on. I couldn't fall back to sleep for a very long time after that. Needless to say, I'm really tired tonight and very ready to hit the sack and fall to sleep quickly.
I'm going to cut out here because my eyelids are wanting to close. Hope everyone has a great week and upcoming weekend!
love,
Steph
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