The last 11 weeks...

So I realize I haven't really updated (other than pictures) since my appointment at 20 weeks. I am now approaching the 31 week mark, and those of you who regularly stalk my blog are probably wondering If I dropped off the face of the planet. I don't know why, but I just haven't had the energy or motivation to want to sit down and write about all that has gone on. Just about everything in my life has changed, drastically. So just as a warning, this little update may not be so little. I've got 11 weeks to cover here people... happy reading!

I will start with the 24 week appointment, this is where we got all those great ultrasound pics and finally got some real confirmation that we are in fact having a boy, like for sure. I know they are never 100% accurate, but they showed us the umbilical cord on the screen (and highlighted the blood flow) so we could be certain that was not what we were seeing between the legs. Needless to say, I will be shocked if this baby turns out to be a girl. And I finally got to start buying a few outfits! I've been pretty good and haven't gone overboard. I only have about 6 things for him right now, and considering how much I love baby clothes I think I'm doing great in that department! I haven't even bought him any shoes yet... and don't get me started on the shoes, they are usually even a bigger weakness for me. Anyways, other than finding out he was a boy, they were able to complete the head-to-toe scan of the baby and check to make sure he was doing well, and was healthy and to look for any visable heart or birth defects. They were able to get some really good views of his little heart, and from what they could tell, everything looked good and healthy! He was still measuring about 7 days behind the due date, which concerned me some since I really don't want to have to wait an extra week to meet this little boy... but my doctor assured me that there is a 7-10 day margin of error on the ultrasounds and that he was pretty sure he had my dates correct. We were just very happy to see that he was doing well in there, and that they sent us home with a video of the session- it was great to be able to share with my family!

The day before this appointment... was our last day at work. That's right we quit our jobs! The weekend was spent packing, and loading up a UHAUL and starting a new journey. We made it up to the Central Coast on Sunday night where we were suppose to bunk with my parents for a week or two until we could find a place and get things settled on the job end of things. We had decided, with a baby on the way that we wanted to live closer to family. Sean really likes the small town life, and I like being close to my parents and my little sister... plus the cost of living up here is a lot less than in Orange County. Three bedroom houses rent for about the same as what we were paying for our one-bedroom apartment! There were finally a few decent job openings that looked promising, and we just both felt like it was time for a change- SO we moved! My whole job thing completely fell though, I ended up being in the final 4 candidates out of over 50 who applied and in the end they went with someone who had worked there before and already knew the job. So that turned out to be a disappointment at first, but looking back- probably a huge blessing in disguise. Sean's prospective jobs both still look very promising, but the hiring process is very long.. he's had to do written testing , physical agility testing, and oral interviews- with all that we still haven't heard anything except that they won't be making a decision until closer to when the job will be available. I am extremely proud of him for scoring in the top 5 on the written tests and passing the physical! We learned after we moved up here, that one of the jobs he applied for doesn't start until July or August, and the other is at the end of August, so in the mean time he took a job at Albertsons to pay the bills. We are still watching the job listings, and putting in applications when something good comes along... but mostly just waiting to hear back. I was never able to find employment, likely due to the fact with giving birth and all I would need to take a leave of absence within the first few months of employment. That's not usually so convenient for an employer, and when they have other qualified candidates who don't need to take leave... well... that makes it hard to get a job. It has been good for me to rest, and take it easy- especially over the last few weeks! I haven't been feeling as well and I think my body just needed a break. I also came across a business opportunity- which I won't really explain here- that I'm working on so that I might be able to stay home with the baby after he is born. I do feel more comfortable putting him in daycare up here (since I know the person I would be sending him too), but still if at all possible I'd like to be a work-at-home mommy and take care of my son! It's going great so far, and I'm working really hard to make my dream a reality!

As far as medical insurance goes, I stayed on my plan from work through Cobra. Unfortunately since it is an HMO I only have certain doctors I can see. I haven't heard the greatest things about the few that are here on the Central Coast that accept my health plan, and I absolutely LOVE the doctor I had in Orange County so I was planning to take the train down for my appointments and stay with relatives for the last few weeks of pregnancy so that I could deliver at Saddleback w/my doctor. So I took the train down for my 28 week appointment, which went well. The doctor got the results back from my glucose tolerance testing and it came back a 114- perfectly normal (the range they like to see is between 110-130) so that means that I did NOT develop gestational diabetes! A huge concern of mine going into the pregnancy overweight. I've only gained about 4 of the pounds back that I initially lost during in the first two trimesters and I seem to be holding there for the last four weeks. So I'm still about 12 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight- which I am happy with. My doctor would like to see my back up where I started (for the baby's sake) but as long as I'm eating enough, and eating healthy he's not going to be on my case for not gaining enough weight. I've worked really hard at staying healthy throughout the pregnancy and I am really glad that it all seems to be paying off! The doctor also checked to see how I was measuring, and turns out I'm right on pace for my due date of July 19th!

Up until about 29.5 weeks, I was having a great pregnancy. I really had nothing to complain about, and I think I was one of those that other pregnant women can't stand because they have spent their whole pregnancies feeling like crap. I didn't have morning sickness (at all), I wasn't uncomfortable, in pain, and best of all I even lost a few pounds.... I felt great! But all of the sudden at 29 weeks, I started to feel slightly uncomfortable! By the middle of the week I was in SO MUCH PAIN that I couldn't walk, sit down, stand up, change positions in bed... everything hurt to the point where I was in tears. I thought something was wrong- but I knew it wasn't labor because the pain was constant. To try and make a long story short, we ended up going to the ER twice- the first time I was only checked out by Labor & Delivery to make sure that I wasn't in labor and that I didn't have any infections... I was sent home and told to return if the pain persisted. The next day it was much worse, so 32 hours later we went back, they did a quick check in L & D again- but then took me back down to the actual ER to try and figure out what was causing all the pain. Six hours, an ultrasound, and a few IVs of really good stuff later they were able to determine that they baby had positioned himself head down, and had already dropped lower into my pelvic region in preparation for delivery. This is something that doesn't typically happen in a first pregnancy until about 36 weeks- but with mine in happened early and my body just wasn't prepared, which caused a great deal of pain. I told my husband I would not be doing this whole pregnancy thing again and that if our child was not be an only child all of his siblings would need to be adopted. I just don't understand HOW people who have had hard pregnancies go through it more than once. Three days later my body had adjusted and now I am feeling a lot better, but as bad as that hurt I don't even want to know what labor is going to be like. I am so thankful for epidurals and whoever discovered them- because I am counting on one to get me through the whole giving birth thing. Anyways, I think I can reconsider the "I'll never bear another child" decision when the time is right. But with all that drama, I kind of decided that maybe I want to think about getting a doctor up here and delivering locally, so now that is in the works- although I still have to travel to Orange County next week for my 32 week check-up!

Our one year anniversary is in less than two weeks! I can't believe its already been a whole year, it really doesn't feel like it. I'm gonna take this opportunity to say how much I love my husband and how thankful I am to have him in my life. Not only is he there for me day in and day out, but he was especially a trooper throughout the whole ER experience. After a very long day at work he stayed by my side for 6 hours straight (until 4:ooam) and refused to go out and get some rest in the car, even though I could tell he was exhausted! They just had a little (very uncomfortable looking) chair for him to sit in, while I got to rest with some really nice meds. Sean, THANK YOU for ALWAYS being there for me and taking such great care of me- I Love You!

For our anniversary, Sean and I were going to try to go on one of those weekend cruises down to Mexico, but apparently you can't get on a boat when your more than 24 weeks. You can fly until the last month, but cruise lines have this whole pregnancy discrimination thing going on... okay I know its not really discrimination- but it kind of sucks because like how many people actually go into labor at 24 weeks? I know it happens, but in most cases the doctors know ahead of time if you are at risk or not. But, I guess they just don't have the right medical equipment & staff on board to be okay just in case. So I was okay with it in the end, until I found out babies are FULL price. If I want to take my 6 month old child with me, (same size room, same size meals... since he's being fed from me) they would charge a full price fare! Because they have "entertainment for all ages" which is a load of dirty diaper if you ask me! How are they gonna keep my 6 month old entertained.. I'll have to pay EXTRA for an on board babysitter, so unless grandma & grandpa want some serious baby time I don't think we'll be going on any cruises anytime soon. We did however decide that we still want to do something special for our anniversary, and that we need one last little getaway before the baby is here. So we are going to take a trip to the Bay Area and spend a couple of days in San Francisco! It's not the cruise I was hoping for, but its still a vacation with my husband to celebrate our anniversary and savor some of our last moments as a twosome.

Well, there you have it! I actually blogged... now I'm off to my aqua aerobics class! 9 more weeks to go...