Just made this for my wall…
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- I’m waiting at the OB office for my weekly checkup, and some dude here (waiting with his wife for an ultrasound) has pissed off the nurses with all his complaining: “it’s just rude when you schedule an appointment and they keep you waiting for an hour.” He has complained to nurses (about the u/s tech) like it was their fault, he has gotten other patients riled up about waiting… Dude! Chill out!! You don’t know what happened to get them behind! What if the ultrasound tech had to deliver bad news to someone and it took longer than planned and got her behind schedule? Your wife looks perfectly healthy! So what if you have to wait an hour? Quit tapping your foot and being angry and just take a deep breath and enjoy this extra time you get to sit and chat with your wife! (I’m guessing this guy also has issues with road rage.)
- Meanwhile – another couple (a lighthearted couple of which the dude has some pretty rockin’ dreads) is in here, and his phone just rang and it was just a voice that screamed “Why won’t you answer me?!” I may or may not have laughed out loud.
- I want to take a picture of another lady in here. She’s older, and has her thinning, bleached (possible cause of the thinning?) hair teased up into a yellow-ish helmet that seems meant to disguise the thinning. And her eyebrows are crazily drawn into an almost-unibrow. She’s scary.
- So I just made someone even more angry than they were… the nurse that had taken the complaints of rude-guy in bullet # 1, who has since been called into the ultrasound, was taking my urine/weight/vitals, and so I naturally tried to cheer her up in case Mr. Sourpants had ruined her morning. So I told her not to let the rude guy get to her, and she was telling me that the girl before me had been mean to her too because she pronounced her name wrong when she called her (I witnessed that bit of a temper tantrum too). I came back into the waiting room and got a major glare from mispronounced-name girl. Do these people not know how much energy it takes to be all angry?! Perhaps I should start recommending some yoga poses to them. Some deep breathing exercises?
- Why am I lightheaded? I hate this. My blood pressure was actually great today (102/62). I usually get lightheaded when it’s something like 88/55. Maybe it dropped in the last five minutes. So annoying.
- I forgot to replenish the snacks in my purse. Eek! Oh well, I still won’t yell at anyone for waiting. At least I have a bottle of water. And mints – those don’t sound filling though.
These two are so adorable, and the cuteness meter overloads on a regular basis around here! Paige thinks that Jacob hung the moon and she loves to copy every thing he does. An example from March:
I’m pretty sure it’s been years (or maybe just months) since I shared photos on here regularly – or even on facebook. I’m actually pretty sure I never even shared Christmas photos that I promised Britta I would share since it was her first Christmas away from home. I’m such a bad mom. At least in the photo-sharing category.
I took Jacob and Paige on a mini photo shoot when I was learning my new camera in early March… The photography is not good, but the kids are adorable, so here they are…
Apparently I let my domain name expire. The email attached to it was an old yahoo address, and we won’t go into how much I can’t stand yahoo! Okay, maybe we will — I had a yahoo email address forEVER, and then one day last summer, it had an error message. I messed with it for a couple of days, then contacted yahoo. They wrote me back and said it was such and such error, etc… fast forward several weeks of going back and forth with them, and the email address is not accessible, and even says that address doesn’t exist anytime I tried to log in, and when I went to sign up with the same email address, yahoo said it was taken. I”ve missed who knows how many emails (although I did try to transfer everything to my gmail address), but still – sometimes things like a website that is down for SIX days happens because the expiration notice went to YAHOO. Let’s just say I love gmail and leave it at that.
Vent over. My website is back. New topic…
I am 37 weeks, 4 days along in this pregnancy. The scheduled induction date is May 29th – when I’ll be 39 weeks, 2 days – if Vega doesn’t decide to make an appearance before then. I haven’t had regular contractions, though, so I’m thinking she’s in there for the long haul. I’d like to breathe again at some point, because she is already bigger than any baby I have given birth to (and I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m not a big girl… there isn’t a lot of room in there!). The nurse listening to Vega’s heartbeat on Friday said “you’re so small” and I just laughed. Because this isn’t small for ME. Oh, and in the ultrasound this past Friday, Vega was up to approximately 7 pounds. I’m hoping she doesn’t go over 8!
I’m sure there are other things I could talk about, but anyone who has been in a full term pregnancy knows that’s pretty much what’s on my mind 24/7.
I guess to make this be not the most boring post ever, I’ll add a couple of photos…
These three crazy heads make me laugh all the time! Paige picked out her own clothes that day (which was March 1st according to the folder they were in… I have a lot of photos I haven’t shared – who knew?), and she loves being one of the “big” kids. I love them…
{note: these photos were taken as I was experimenting with my new camera… obviously this was before I had it figured out. So please overlook the poor photography and focus on the silly, cute subject matter} 
Small update (with photos – so fancy)…
- Vega found my sciatic nerve this week. Permanently. It’s brutal. The physical therapist did give me some movements that offer temporary relief, however, those don’t work out real well when I’m in public (getting on all fours and swinging my hips back and forth is not something I’m comfortable doing in a store).
- I’m waiting at the doc’s office now for my OB checkup. I’m going to tell her that I can’t wait three more weeks.
- My blood pressure has been lower than usual. I got bloodwork done at the cardiologist this morning to rule out a couple of possible causes.
- I am finished with the three week heart monitor. That thing was driving my crazy. I have a sinus tachycardia, it’s just a matter of figuring out the cause, which we are working on.
- I’m so anti-chemical for the most part, but I have been thanking God for Lortab (Vicodin/Acetominaphen).
- Physical therapy is helping. Especially the pool workouts. They kick my butt though. But I get more than 2 hours of sleep per night now!!! Thank God!!!
- Did I tell you this is going to be my biggest baby? I mean, I know ultrasounds aren’t accurate with their size estimates, but 6 pounds at 33 weeks?! That’s just crazy!
- I haven’t been on bed rest at all this pregnancy! It’s been quite the novelty after my experiences with Paige and Jacob!!!
- I took this first photo at a bridal shop today while waiting on Justice to try on a prom tux. The second one is a self-portrait I just took. This, my friends, is the face of a woman who is ready to give birth! No makeup, in need of a haircut & color, and I let my contacts prescription expire without ordering more. *sigh*
Edited to add: Well, I tried. But they won’t schedule the induction until May 28th (for now anyway). I’m just 1cm dilated. And I haven’t had any regular contractions. Ultrasound next Friday.
I was looking for a post from the days of yore, a post that I was reminded of when my good friend, Martha, posted this yesterday. Her post was a commentary of thoughts during a run. The post I was looking for (though not very thoroughly), was one in which I described some random thoughts I had while shopping in Target. I didn’t find that post, but I did find this gem:
http://petracarden.com/thesite/2010/07/issues-yes-please/
So since I am being lazy with my blogging, I thought I’d direct you back to this extremely relevant July, 2010, post wherein I discussed some important issues found on google. Enjoy, discuss, apply to your life. I’ll try to blog something current in the very near future.
I’ve been saying I would add a pregnancy update for a while now, but it seemed too long to type out on my iPhone WordPress app, and I always forget when I’m on my laptop. So tonight, I’m just going to get the thumb exercise and type it out on my phone!
Not sure where to begin, but I want to record what’s going on so I’ll just make a random list:
- As of today, I’m 33 weeks, 2 days.
- I’m still giving myself heparin shots, but I give them in my hips or thighs now instead of my belly. I ran out of fat to grab on my belly, and it’s really nice for it to no longer be covered In bruises!
- I started seeing a cardiologist a few weeks back. My heart ultrasound came back great – nice strong heart. Yay. I’m currently in the middle of three weeks of wearing a heart monitor. It pretty much sucks. I only can take it off to shower/bathe/swim, but the other day, I just ripped it all off and left it off for several hours. I needed the break. It’s hanging on a string around my neck with 3 wires that are attached to 3 adhesive electrodes that are stuck to my skin. I have a separate monitor that tracks it, links to the cardionet company, and has a touch screen where I record any ‘incidents’, such as shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, etc. Hopefully we’ll figure out what’s causing the tachycardia. (side note: this isn’t just pregnancy related – I’ve always had a higher resting heart rate than I should, low stamina even when I’m in great physical shape, etc… I really never even knew it wasn’t ‘normal’ until a few years ago, so I’m glad that I finally have a doctor who wanted to explore possible causes. I like having answers.
- I was also referred to a neurologist. I had to drive to Raleigh for that appointment, and pay a copay (not something I normally have to do with military insurance), but it was worth it!! Those who follow my blog or who have known me a while, already know that I’ve had headaches since I was young, and that my migraines decreased significantly when I discovered the celiac disease and stopped eating gluten. It’s really great to have experts now trying to help me figure out what’s causing the rest of it! For the rest of the pregnancy, I just have more Lortab (Vicodin plus Tylenol) to help ease the pain when I do get a migraine or bad tension headache, but I have an appointment set up for June to go back in and do a head scan, possibly a sleep study, and figure out what’s really happening. Also, they have me taking vitamin B2 supplements. I was already taking magnesium/potassium. Along with my multi-vitamin, of course.
- Today I had my first appointment with a physical therapist. She’s great! I had such issues in my pregnancy (& for two years after) with Paige, that I now wish they had sent me to a PT then! But I was going to a military hospital for treatment, and so I’m not surprised by all the “you’ll just have to deal with it” and “I’m sorry you’re dealing with that; it just comes from having lots of pregnancies” comments and “here’s a bucket of drugs to take because we only treat symptoms, we have no idea what causes anything”, and the “it’s all in your head” looks (because they didn’t know the answer, so it must have been in my head, right?)… Anyway, I’ll be going to PT 3 days per week until I’m ready to go back down to 2 days (what they initially scheduled me for this week), and next week I start some pool exercises. She’s not only going to address all my hip/pelvic issues – what we started with today – but she’s going to deal with the neck/shoulder/back issues I’ve had for years too. I’m hoping to finally say goodbye to chronic pain once I recover from giving birth this time! I have dealt with it for too many years and I’m ready to move on!
- The baby looks and sounds good! She was breech at my last ultrasound, two weeks ago, but at last Friday’s appointment, the doctor said she had turned. Hooray! I get another ultrasound this coming Friday. I’ve been saying my belly is bigger than usual, and it turns out I was probably right! They said she was in the 59th percentile at the last ultrasound. She said “so her size is perfect, she’s not too big!” and I was like “that’s huge! Most of my babies were in the 10th percentile!” So I’m hoping for another tiny baby, but it sounds like she’s going to be my biggest one – or at least a 7 pounder, like Paige was.
- I’m still not sleeping much. I can’t wait until the baby comes out so I can sleep again!!! Not that I’ve ever slept well, but I sleep a lot more when getting up to nurse every two hours than I do when I’m pregnant! I guess it’s sad that I’m looking forward to how much sleep I’ll get with a newborn, but seriously – that’s how little sleep I get now!! I appreciate all the tips you guys have given me on Facebook, but every sedative I’ve taken has caused an allergic reaction (and I say no thank you to hallucinations, vomiting, and extreme vertigo), and all over the counter sleep aids wire me and make me shake and my eyes are so wide I barely blink. Oh, and you can’t take melatonin while pregnant, so I haven’t tried that.
- I have only told the baby’s name to a handful of people, but I guess I can go ahead and share: Vega Indigo Olivia Carden — so far, my consensus is that you will love it or hate it. If you hate it, well, I don’t really care.
- Between my OB, cardiologist, neurologist, and physical therapist, I feel like I have appointments all the time! But it’s all good – not too many more weeks to go!
- I have begun early labor. With a first child, women (including me) generally go through all the stages together, but by number three, it started sooner. I walked around at 4 cm for a week with Jarvis (comfy). The doctor has checked me at my last two visits… 2 1/2 weeks ago, everything was all closed up. Last Friday, I was still closed on the inside of my cervix, but 1 cm on the outside. My contractions and symptoms have exponentially increased since Friday. I go back this Friday, so we’ll see what they say.
- I’m definitely “nesting”. I’ve been working as much as I can to clean and get things ready and organized. My limited energy and time aren’t helping though. The kids are helping as much as they can, and I’m figuring out what my needs are – I do not have an unlimited budget, you know, so some things will have to wait. I’m going to start looking for a dresser on Craigslist. I hate searching for stuff on there – I don’t have the patience for that type of thing. I’d rather just go with the convenient route of buying new… but I’ll give it a go. I used to do more ebaying/freecycling, but that was two kids ago!
- I despise heartburn! Why did I eat red peppers with dinner?!?! Ugh. And all the meds for that (like Pepcid) have gluten in them so I’m out of luck. I have much less heartburn when I eat an apple every day and avoid spicy foods, but I ran out of apples a few days ago, and haven’t had the energy to hit the grocery store.
- I’ve been able to keep my blood sugar numbers in line with diet. Although they’ve gone up slightly since I haven’t been able to take my neighborhood walks (I miss those)!
Sorry if this was boring! I do these posts for future reference, for relatives who want the details, and so I don’t forget things that I may want to go back and remember.
I’ll leave you with two photos. The first is a 3d ultrasound photo from 2 1/2 weeks ago – looks like a deformed clay mold, but you get the idea. The second is my pregnant belly at 30 weeks 4 days.
1. I saw a raccoon tonight up close. Brand new experience. We looked at each other through the deck door. It was eating cat food. Our biggest male cat scared it off earlier, and Justice scared it even further… and moved all the kittens to the front where it’s lighter and more protected. But then I heard the two bigger boy cats growling and ran and got Justice up (at 3:45 – he was thrilled). The raccoon was huge! Justice chased it off, weapons in hand, and we hope it doesn’t come back. Maybe I should get out one of the guns and shoot it next time! I don’t want it terrorizing our 2,642 cats!
2. The past two nights, even though I’ve been a non-functioning insomniac previously, I’ve actually gotten some things done! Caught up on some schoolwork and test grading, printed off some new chore lists, made some business cards, re-designed my photography logo into one I actually like, updated my photography Facebook page, edited photos, started working on a photography website and blog, researched heart burn (no more pizza!!), and more!
3. I have got to remember to call some people tomorrow, during working hours!! I realized I have two doctor appointments scheduled 30 minutes apart on Monday… in two different towns. That’s not gonna work. And I have to sign my kids up for achievement tests… which I always remember to call AFTER school hours.
4. I have been referring to the current time as “tonight”, even though it’s nearly 5:30 am, because I haven’t slept yet.
5. Does anyone know of any surefire heartburn remedies that don’t involve medicine? All the medicines I know that work, have talc in them… which is usually gluten. Eating an apple each day has helped keep the heartburn to a minimum, but sometimes I’m retarded and eat things that contain lots of tomato sauce (like tonight), and then I can’t lie down without the heartburn being completely unbearable. I’ve looked it up, but I’m not eating vinegar of any type (so gross!), and all the other remedies are weird and there’s so many alleged remedies, so I’m hoping to hear from someone who knows firsthand!
6. I need an adult who wants to stay with my kids for two nights in the near future, so I can accompany my husband on a trip he has to take for work. It would be so great to get away with him for a couple nights before the baby comes. Any takers?
7. I think I’m finally exhausted enough and my nocturnal baby has settled down enough that I can attempt to sleep again. Last night I got 4 hours in a row, and then a 2 hour nap, so that was awesome… I’m hoping to repeat that!
My playlists change often, and generally include a variety of music. Here’s some of the songs I’m enjoying lately that I decided to be kind enough to share with all of you. You’re welcome. If you click on one and don’t like it, keep going – they are not all in the same category! There’s some Christian, some secular, some older, some newer. If you have some tunes you want to share with me, leave a link or at least the name/artist in the comments section! :)
*disclaimer* I do not recommend all of the videos in the ‘secular’ section… just weirdness! LOL I actually haven’t even watched all the videos… some of the songs I have only heard – I’m just using youtube to link them… *end disclaimer*
{the first 11 are secular, the last 8 are Christian}:
1. ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ by Gotye (in a small way, this kind of makes me think of a modern version of the 80′s song, ‘Don’t You Want Me’ by Human League, which, of course, was brilliant [and dude's makeup in that video is outta control... just saying])
2. ‘Sail’ by AWOLNATION (and for kicks, I’m adding this ‘unofficial’ video made by two girls in their back yard, because I like it better than the ‘real’ video – both videos are the same song though)
3. ‘Poison & Wine’ by The Civil Wars – amazing!
4. ‘Barton Hollow’ by The Civil Wars
5. ‘We Are Young’ by Fun. – love this!
6. ‘Modern Nature’ by Sondre Lerche (from the Dan In Real Life soundtrack)
7. ‘Copacabana’ by Barry Manilow (this song never gets old. And have you ever noticed that he looks VERY similar to Willy Wonka from the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie in this video?)
8. ‘Animal’ by Neon Trees (I’m enjoying lots of their songs currently)
9. ‘D’Artagnan’s Theme’ by Citizen Cope (the only good song I’ve heard of theirs though)
10. ‘The Lipstick on His Collar’ by Caro Emerald
11. ‘Strangers in the Night’ by Frank Sinatra – Frank should always be on the playlist!
1. ‘Busted Heart’ by For King & Country (one of my current favorites!)
2. ‘Every Time You Run’ by Manafest (I love this whole song, but especially love the chorus)
3. ‘Make a Move’ by Royal Tailor (kinda peppy and late 80′s feeling to it – great lyrics!)
4. ‘You Are More’ by Tenth Avenue North (this song recently made it’s way back to my playlist – love it! Watch the video if you haven’t seen it) [also - if you don't want to click on all these songs and don't already know them, but only want to choose just one, choose this one]
5. ‘Garbage In’ by Tal & Acacia
6. ‘Drive All Night’ by Needtobreathe (if you’ve never heard Needtobreathe, they are awesome – try ‘Something Beautiful’, ‘Lay Em Down’ and ‘Washed By the Water’ for starters)
7. ‘Hold Me’ by Jamie Grace with Toby Mac (I’m not a Toby Mac fan, but I enjoy this song)
8. ‘Slow Your Breath Down’ by Future of Forestry (the amount of talent in the musicians here is amazing – watch the video and see all the different sounds they can make. They have lots of good tunes. If my other Christian music tastes are too ‘upbeat pop’ or too ‘alternative sounding’ for your taste, try Future of Forestry)
Okay, I have more Christian music I listen to, but I’m currently on the hunt for some new stuff. So share if you know of something I’ll love!
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