Happy 4 Year Anniversary Baby!

 I married my best friend on June 14, 2008... what an amazing day that I wish we could relive. Can't believe its been 4 years. Time has gone by super fast and I couldn't imagine my life any differently, still so in love. Awe. A lot has happened- we both graduated from our undergrad, moved to wisconsin, survived the first 3 years of med school, I had my first full-time job supporting us out here, and we are expecting a baby boy any day now. What an adventure. I love you babes!! Seriously one lucky girl! 

 Scotty is on call tonight, boo. He got me these beautiful flowers from The Flower Lady and my fav snack of choice to tide me over until we can celebrate tomorrow night :) 

xoxo

39 weeks

one more week... thats 7 days! cray cray

walked and walked and walked and.... walked

Can I just tell you how much I love not working... Its so nice to just be on my own sched, esp now that I am this preggo and its hard enough just to get out of bed let alone wake up every morning and get ready, walk over to work, and be tied to a chair for 8 hours. So happy to be on maternity leave :) 

This month Scotty is rotating through Outpatient Pediatrics... which is one of the easiest rotations! He is learning all about babies and getting good practice before he becomes a daddy. We are loving his schedule. He went in this morning and found out that his peds doc that he is working with was out of the day so Scotty had the day off. He called me and was so excited to be able to make a day out of it and enjoy this beautiful weather. We went downtown and walked along Lake Michigan. I love walking but lately I've been getting these side cramps plus my feet/ankles kill and it makes it difficult to long distances.. super uncomfortable. I started having contractions the other night but I haven't had any since. I think this boy is getting a little too comfy in there! 

kiss this belly goodbye

dear little boy: We are so excited for you to be out of my belly and into our arms. Your nursery is all set up and our hospital bag is packed... whenever your ready, we're ready! 


I started to have contractions last night and even though it was painful I was smiling in excitement. The anticipation is killing me. Call me crazy but I'm really looking forward to the dreaded labor part of pregnancy. I was anxious about it at the beginning but now that I've been preg for 9 months I'm starting to get a positive mindset and I want to be able to enjoy the whole process of labor... I went to my second to last OB appt today and I'm progressing really well. Head is still down, almost 2 centimeters dilated and 45% effaced.  10 more days til my due date :) 

hawaiian shaved ice with the hubs

I'm officially taking my maternity leave now that I am 38 weeks! To celebrate and enjoy this gorgeous weather we went and got hawaiian shaved ice at One Kine Grindz... this awesome hawaiian restaurant/grocery store. Way better then custard. I know you Utahans aren't at all jealous because you have a shaved ice shack on every grocery store corner but this is a rarity in wisco. So refreshing!! The last place I want to be at the end of this pregnancy is outside in the heat and humidity but it was so worth it. This will be our new Thursday summer tradition

summer 2011 vs summer 2012

pregnancy has been an amazing experience to say the least... its so crazy to think that I don't do anything but watch my body take care of growing an actual baby inside my belly. Its seriously is the miracle of life (jr high days video shout out). I've been fortunate enough to have a really healthy easy pregnancy :) But I now I'm starting to feel like I've been pregnant forever. I forgot what its like to sleep on my belly, go running, or even get up from sitting down without difficulty. I'm so ready to have this boy out of my belly and in my arms and get my body back. Good news from my last post... his head is now down and in good position!! 

flip baby flip

For the past couple weeks this boy was in perfect position.. head down and ready to go. I felt very uncomfortable with all the lower pressure but assured that I knew how my baby was growing in my belly. Yesterday I went to my now monthly OB appts and found out that he flipped back and is now breech. I could tell something was up over the weekend. I just have felt super exhausted, my belly looked different, and I was getting beat up with his legs kicking down and his head pressing up against my ribs. When my OB was feeling my belly she said "Oh yeah this is that baby I can never tell where he is cause he is always moving around!" She didn't seem surprised that he was in a different position but she was worried that since he is getting bigger it might be harder for him to flip back down. So we are going to give him until next week and if he hasn't settled down that she is going to try and turn him (sounds so painful).. if she can't physically turn him then I'll go in at 39 weeks and she will try again- if he does flip then she will induce labor and if he doesn't then I'll go right in for a c-section.

I was super emotionally yesterday. I really don't want a c-section (correction: I dont have to have an emergency c-section). I want everything to happen naturally. I don't want to force him down, I want him to move on his own. I want it to be like what I've visualized in my head for the past 9 months. I'm coming to the reality that this ideal plan might not happen the way I've imagined. If he stays breech- or even if they flip him next week and he flips back- I will have to have a c-section. The anxiety of these last weeks is really weighing on me now.

I spent the afternoon walking the mall to try and clear my head and get some exercise. The distraction helped. After pray and talking with my family I've taken some deep breaths and I'm staying positive. I googled some ways to help turn a breech baby... this is what I'll be working on for the next week!
-visualize baby moving down
-pelvic tilt (hurts and makes me nauseous since I have no room for him pressing up on my chest)
-cold compress on top of uterus (maybe while taking a warm bath or during pelvic tilt)
-heat, music, or light at pelvic bone
-talking to baby
-Webster Technique (I made an appt to discuss this with a recommended chiropractor for early next week)
-Reiki (mainly to help me relax and visualize better. I have an appt with my good friend Ali for next Weds)
-swimming (I wish my friends pools were open! I thinking of getting a week pass at the gym and try and go every night)
- Cat/Cow yoga position (3-4 times/day)

I wish I could just stop working now and just focus on getting this baby to flip. Sitting all day does not help and just makes my anxiety worse. As of now my last day of work is June 8... that may change to June 1 depending on how this baby is doing by then.

{work baby shower}

I've been working at the Skin Cancer Center for 2 years now... its been the longest full-time job I've ever had and time has gone by so fast. cray cray. I remember when I first started and heard "she is the cute mormon girl who wont be with us long cause her husband is in med school" well ladies I lasted 1 year longer then you expected and its going be sad to say goodbye soon! Even though it hasn't been my dream job and coming to the reality that I wouldn't be a child life specialist/using my degree right now has been very difficult.. I have been very blessed here. I feel proud to have been able to support my family and live off what I made for the past 3 years while my husband was living his dream of becoming a doctor.  Even though it wasn't ideal for me- it was an easy sacrifice for many reasons 1. I could walk to work since we only have one car 2. I only work for one doctor so my hours were very flexible and I was able to go on a lot of vaca's throughout the last couple years which helped save my sanity 3. the pay was great for the work I was doing and we had great benefits 4. I was able to blog/read/eat/whatev and was never stressed out at the end of the day which made for a happy wife 5. I became close friends with some of my coworkers which helped immensely during the hard months when I lost a husband to med school 6. I was able to wear scrubs/yoga pants... =no extra money spent on work clothes and comfy during pregnancy! 7. I had an amazing view with lots of windows, very peaceful/clean environment to work in 8. it was a derm surg clinic and we only saw like 20 patients a day=super easy and chill.  For those, and many more reasons, I will be sad to say goodbye- my last day will be June 8. Even though I have slight anxiety about transitioning into being a stay at home mom and not being on my normal selfish sched I am so excited for this next chapter in my life. Since the doc is out for the next couple weeks and we don't have clinic, they threw me a surprise baby shower :) I saw these ladies more then I saw my husband in the last couple years and I am so blessed to have their love and support.

happy mothers day

{to my amazing maja}

{34 weeks}

{love notes}

when scotty and I were dating he would leave cute notes on my windshield. I remember leaving my apartment and always looking for a white piece of paper on my car just in case he stopped by on his way to class. They were usually sweet and short or sometimes a cute letter if we hadn't seen each other in awhile. He was such a sweet bf and always made that extra effort to make sure I knew he was thinking about me. Now a days I occasionally wake up in the morning and find these love notes on the mirror. Since our schedules are so different I rarely see him in the morning (or night for that matter) and these always make my day.  Way better then the expected text, right? love you dews! xoxo

as of late

hello blogging world, sorry its been so long since I gave an update on life besides pregnancy. Can't believe its already May... but at the same time I am so happy its already May. This spring weather in wisco has been super random. We barely had a winter and then a gorgeous start of spring then April had below cold temps, and now its super rainy and humid. I literally went from sleeping with a hot pack on my back to the next night sleeping with ice on my head to cool down. I think its almost that time to bust out our ghetto a/c window units and crank up our electric bill. On the positive side mcds brought back their chocolate dipped ice cream cones, ha.

I've been in my nesting phase and anxiously making sure we have everything we'll need yet still live on our budget. I'm so excited to be a stay at home mom but at the same time I'm super nervous about not having an income. Very overwhelming. Work has been super frustrating lately (hence my lack of time to blog). They finally hired someone who will start the end of May so I'll have a couple weeks to train her before I go on maternity leave! I'm going to try and work up until my due date.. that is if I can keep walking to and from here!

Scotty survived his surgery rotation (which is one of the hardest of the big 3) and is now starting his peds inpatient rotation month at Childrens. The past month was rough. He woke up super early and got home late- depending on the surgery schedule. He had 24 hr overnight on calls, so I wouldn't see him for days. He worked weekends and it was sad to not have him at church on Sundays. He had an important shelf exam to study for so he was crazy busy even when he was home. I was supportive 80% of the time and a sensitive preggo neglected wife the other 20%. But we made it through. This month should be a little less stressful but still some late nights. He is on the purple team and is excited about who he will be working with even though I'm sure it will be difficult seeing what he sees in pediatrics. He always thanks for me for being pregnant every day and makes sure I'm ok.. super cute. Although I could go for some more back/foot massages... He tries his best to be supportive and accommodating. I know he hasn't gotten the best of sleep either with all my tossing and turning. He tries to get his "pregnancy time" in every night and talk to the baby and play him music and feel him move around. He said its starting to feel more real to him since I've been getting bigger and the movements have been a lot stronger. Crazy that in two months we are going to have a baby and he will be a 4th year medical student. One more year!! I need to make a list of things we still need to do before we (hopefully) move... like go to the cranberry fields and tour the packers stadium. Although this semester has been tough, we've really made the most of life out here and enjoyed this adventure together.

what I didn't expect when expecting {part 2}

Now that I am in my 3rd trimester I am sad to say bye to the glorious 2nd trimester where I just had a cute belly and felt great and say hello to feeling super huge and exhausted. Everyone keeps saying "that went by so fast.. I can't believe your almost done!" Relatively speaking- yes I'm almost done but I still have a ways to go. Although I wouldn't necessary say time is dragging... its been a solid 8 months for me and I'm ready for the end result. I've actually loved being pregnant and I seriously have no big complaints but I can't wait to have my little boy outside of my body. 7 more weeks!

4D ultrasound since this boy was measuring 8 days smaller for my due date at my 20 week appt they had me come in at 28 weeks. It went better then expected- Not only did he measure 1 day bigger, we got to see him in 4D... amazing! Everything looked perfect.

Braxton Hicks when I was about 30 weeks I woke up in the middle of the night with intense cramping... I woke up scotty and he got me water and helped me to the living room where I could stretch. It felt like menstrual cramps- bearable but painful. I felt super nauseous and uncomfortable. Super annoying because he kept saying "how far apart are they?!" I have no clue.. they just hurt!! How can you time them?! I felt them roughly every 10-15 mins, but its not like they came and were gone.. I was in constant pain the whole time with just tightening once in awhile. Anywho, it was a terrible night. I went into work late the next day and still felt them throughout the day. Took a warm bath that night and felt better. Walked to walk the next morning and starting feeling them again, but worse. So my OB had me go to l&d to be monitored. The contractions, although strong, were far enough apart that I was ok and the baby isn't coming anytime soon :)

I've heard a lot of women get braxton hicks and even though its common, it still sucks!

{ps most awkward pelvic exam ever}

belly button Looking forward to the day when I have my body back and I can't see the inside of my belly button anymore. Although I'm embracing this huge belly of mine, its not the cutest hing to see sticking out through my shirts. Belly bands seem to help and although uncomfortable to wear at work they also give me some support!

dry skin lets just skip the tmi and say that I have started to invest in lanilon oil. I just bought Motherlove off amazon.. heard its a must for breastfeeding. {on the plus side my rash has basically gone away. I learned that my skin is super senistive so I onlyBioOil morning and night .. seriously the best!! }

pure exhaustion now that he is over 4 lbs, crazy!, his kicks and movements are getting a lot stronger. The other night I just gave up and layed there while he spased out. I seriously think my rib is bruised. Since I had a rough week last week with contractions I just layed around after work. Even though I didn't do anything I was so tired. My belly hurts, my back aches, my inner thighs kill, my knees give out on me, my feet hate me when I stand up. I've been taking baths at night cause I have no energy to get ready in the morning for work. So basically I'm really cute lately. Sorry for my complaints- not being negative just calling it as it is.

Chubby cheeks fyi its not ok to tell a prego that her face is getting fatter. not ok. Just say you look amazing and move on. I've always had a rounder face but its starting to get a little bigger and I'm starting to feel chubby. Like I said earlier, I am embracing pregnancy and love my belly but its hard some days to feel cute and its tiring to even try.

overwhelming checkoff list now that I have had all my baby showers its time to take complete inventory of what I have and what I need. I have a new obession with craiglist, even though I haven't gotten a lot of items off it- I get like a high looking at it at work to try and find deals. Even though we still need a lot, I feel a little more prepared with what we have so far... crib, dresser, bassinet, stroller/carseat, enough clothes/recieving blankets/bibs/burp clothes, crib bedding, binkies, bottles/bottle cleaner, some diapers, baby bath & some bath items, moby wrap, glider & ottoman, swing, playmat, bumbo, boppy, scotts northface manly diaper bag {I'm still waiting to get my diaper bag from pbk}, a baby white noise machine.. We still need a lot but its nice to have the larger items checked off the list. The nursery is pretty much full and our apartment is starting to feel a lot smaller. I'll post pics once I get more organized!

large appetiate but cant eat a lot I haven't had any strange cravings... but I could live off peanut butter and ice water. When I try to eat a large meal I end up throwing up a little in my mouth when this boy kicks, gross. Its hard to go out to dinner cause I can either eat a ton and want dessert or eat one bit and be done. So I eat smaller meals now and more frequently. I try to eat healthy but at the end of the day I would rather have a hamburger and salty fries over a salad. Working and not sleeping well has also gotten me to occassionally (cough daily cough) have a soda, preferrably diet dew- dont judge.

Any other things I should be aware of.. any advice for the final weeks?

If you had to pack your hospital bag again, what would you for sure put in and what would you leave out?

date night adventure

My young women girls told me about this place that had amazing cheese fries the other week… so when Scotty asked me tonight what I wanted for dinner of course all I was craving was fries. I couldn’t remember the name for the life of me.. all I could think was 76th and capitol. I knew it had to be around there. I texted the girls and didn’t hear back from them so we just decided to go find this mysterious place. For those of you who live in Wisconsin you know capitol is getting into the sketch areas of Milwaukee… even though it was late and rainy, we drove around until we found this ghetto place called Kitts. It had to be this place... We literally sat in the car for a split second before we got out, just to make sure we were safe checking it out. (yes I know, very white of us). I was super hesitant. When we went in a nice black guy asked us if we wanted to buy any bootlegged dvds or incense haha. We ended up ordering hamburgers and fries and tried their custard. Scotty was happy they had red cream soda. The food was so-so, but the whole experience was hilarious. Later that night my girls texted me back and said its on 124th and Burleigh and its called Murfs… omg I was way off. I have no clue where 76th and capitol came from… Too funny. I seriously laughed so hard even though I was super embarrassed. Scott thought it was hilarious. Cant wait to get the legit cheese fries another night. It reminded me of the quote "You don’t look back and remember the nights you did the same old thing, you remember the times you tried something new"

I highly recommend it. {Not kitts in particular}

 but a date night adventure

 

{happy administrative assistant day}

I came to work today and there was this nice card on my desk... totally made my day!

friend baby shower

 My girlfriends Jessica and Mel threw our little boy a jungle themed baby shower today and it was fabulous! Loved seeing everyone who could come :) I seriously am so lucky to have such wonderful girls out here that support and love me

  I had a rough week with experiencing my first braxton hicks and being exhausted from working so it was a great weekend to distract myself and spend time with people I love. xoxo

utah vaca {baby showers}

Can't believe this trip has already came and gone. I was able to go for longer then originally planned, so it was the perfect amount of time to see/do almost everything and still have time to really just enjoy being home. Unfortunately scotty is in the middle of his busy surgery rotations and missed out on all the fun.  Here are some pics that were taken at my showers..

Family Baby Shower

My sisters threw me a baby shower and it was so amazing to see all the family that came 

This boy already has so much love and support!! He seriously scored.. he is pretty much set with clothing until his 6 months! We are so appreciative of all the wonderful gifts  :)

Gamma Baby Shower

Such a great excuse to get all these beautiful girls together and catch up :) Thanks again Alyssa and Missy for throwing me a baby shower! I love these girls... so lucky to have solid real friendships from back home even though I live far away. Thanks for all your support! We have been through so many life events together.. single life, married life, and now babies. Peace.Love.Gamma

I turned 25... it was a little easier since I was home with my family and distracted of reality. My cute mom made me a bunny cake like she used to when I was little, made my day :)

 We had a fabulous day shopping up in Park City

took a nice drive up big & little cottonwood canyons with my dad. I miss the mountains and my dad so much! Such a beautiful day :)

Sorry for my lack of documentation...I was too busy having a blast back home. We also checked out City Creek, ate out for basically every meal, watched hilarious home videos, I went on nice long walks, stayed up super late with my sisters, slept in,  caught up withh my fav cousin hays over froyo, went out to lunch with an old friend Ashley at caferio, got my hair done from my fav stylist- thanks mom, visited a lot with my wonderful grandpa, played the greastest prank on my little sister, went out to dinner with my grandparents, shopped everyday, got slurpees every night and oh so much more. It was amazing to be spoiled by my family for a little bit... its so hard living away but it makes going home and being with them so much more meaningful. So glad they were able to see me preggo and feel the baby move around. It was a much needed break!!

I fly home tomorrow

{its only a day away...}

Since scotty is in his surgery rotation and the doctor I work for is out for the next couple weeks I'm finally going home for a little vaca (this was planned in like october so the wait is finally over). Even though I'm bummed the hubster can't come, I'm so excited to get a little break from reality and be home for a little bit. I can't wait for my family to see my belly... I've really gotten big in the past couple weeks. Packing was difficult since the weather is getting warmer... I can't wear my usual leggings, uggs, and over sized sweaters anymore. Plus since I'll be in trendy Utah and not Wisco I'm going to have to actually dress cute. I can sport compression socks with toms right?! My sisters are throwing me a family baby shower and my gamma girls are throwing me a friend baby shower. This baby boy already has so much love and support, I'm so overwhelmingly grateful for amazing family and friends- can't wait to see you all soon!!

St Patty's Day Weekend

Scotty was not on call this weekend... so automatically it was a great weekend- plus we seriously celebrated St. Patricks Day, seriously. On Friday night we hosted a green dessert party. The Halls, Neilsons, Logans, and Matty and Kim came over and we had a great night catching up and eating.We did our usual get together night- all the girls sat on the floor and laughed hysterically over something for hours while the boys got the chairs and talked med school. Scotty was so excited to have Irish music playing via pandora. Unfortunately I didnt take any pics.. again, except for my Mtn Dew cupcakes that surprisingly turned out delish. Jess made green sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting and fruit, Kim made breadsticks with a pot of gold (cheese dip), Danielle brought mint icecream, and Alison made shamrock shakes. Needless to say.. my baby was freaking out the rest of the night, total sugar rush. Luckily he calmed down around midnight after everyone left and I crashed on the couch.


On Saturday we slept in and then drove down to Chicago for the festivities. It was very adventurous of us since I'm prego but to spend the day with my hubs in the city was so worth the tender, swollen feet. We found awesome parking (only $6 for the day) and started walking down to the parade scene. It was crazy insane to say the least. There were swarms of green... most were drunken youngies (yes I know they were prob our age) but there were also lots of families with strollers and surprisingly some small babies. Of course we got slurpees at the first 7eleven we saw (there is seriously one on like every corner.. love chitown).

We made it down to millennium park to attempt to see the parade... when we got down there Scotty (not me, surprisingly) had to pee so bad that he made his way over to the portapotties. Since he left his cell phone at home I told him I would wait right by this tree... 45 minutes and one anxiety panic attack from me later he finally came back. By then the parade had already started, a drunk girl had puked by the tree, swarms of partiers had invaded the trees to get a better view, tons of livid families leaving, a group of skank girls doing green jello shots in the middle of the park and one overheated pregnant lady, already tired from standing. Ridiculous. The weather was gorgeous.. 80 degrees! Girls were in swim suit tops and shorts and everyone wore flip flops. Crazy. Once scotty finally came back, we gave up on the plan of actually "seeing" the parade through the crowd and walked to the park were it was more open. Or so we thought. Everyone had the same plan as us apparently because they had to block off the bean due to crowding. I reached my breaking point and told scotty we had to get out of there!! I could only protect my belly so much while hooligans tried to hop the fence to the bean, only to be chased by the cops. It was out of control. 

We got lunch at johnny rockets and it was so nice to sit... and eat.. and people watch. Then we went to the river- I couldn't believe how neon green it was dyed. So amazing to see- made it all worth it!

We spend the afternoon walking michigan ave until I couldn't hide my exhaustion in my expressions anymore. I did pretty well all day and was really proud of myself. Despite the crowds, it honestly felt good to have a mini vacay with the hubs before I go home this week. I'll be back in Utah on the 22nd!!!

cheers!