Where has all the time gone?

I swear, just a few days ago I was going on bed rest, hoping that my little guy would make it to full term. Now, it's New Years Eve, and 2010 is about to begin. A few of the things that we've been up to:
-Thanksgiving in the Gila Valley
-Evan's blessing on December 6th
-I went back to work on December 14th
-Christmas with my family in Rancho Cucamonga, California
-Evan is now 2 months old! I can't believe how fast the time is flying!

Here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks:

Einstein Evan! I have so much fun playing with his hair!
Nerdy Evan. Again, I was bored, so I put my glasses on him to see what he looked like.
Rick and I on Evan's blessing day. It was an awesome experience. So happy that most of my family made it out from California.
Evan and I on his blessing day. I absolutely love and adore this little guy. I am so in love!

photo update

My gassy baby! Check out that smile!!

Kung-fu Evan! He's a ninja!

Mommy with her love bug.
Evan in his Christmas Sunday shirt.

Evan sleeping before church.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Rick and Evan. Rick looks like he's 16 though, so that's a problem!
Family picture! We just got back from Rick's cousin's Eagle Scout Court of Honor, and since Rick is an Eagle Scout, he wanted to wear his uniform. Evan chilling in the bassinet.

Evan's first Thanksgiving!! He's so cute!


My little man is so handsome! He's a lady killer already with his cuteness!
One of his Christmas onesies. Apparently he only wants his auntie for Christmas. Thanks for the shirt Auntie Sarah!

Evan is apparently small. At his 1 month appointment he was barely 8 lbs and still 20 inches long. He's in the 10th percentile for his age. But I think he's bulking up... at least I hope so a little bit! We're finally putting away his newborn clothes, and the next size up isn't looking as big.

We moved him from the bassinet in our room to his crib last night. He did so good! We are also trying to put him down a little bit earlier in the evening. Last night he slept from 7:30 to 12:30, of course I didn't go to be until about 11:00 so I didn't get too much sleep! :( But that's okay.

I go back to work in two weeks time unless Rick miraculously finds a job in the next two weeks, making enough money to allow me to stay at home with Evan. Fortunately Rick's mom, Lanelle, will be watching the baby, which I am very happy about since I wouldn't know who to leave him with if she couldn't watch him. Hopefully this will be my last year teaching for a while so I can stay at home with the baby after May.

I love my little guy and I really, really, really want to be able to stay at home with him!

Richard Evan Chappell III

Evan

Richard Evan Chappell III known to everyone as Evan, was born on October 28th at 11:46 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long.

What a crazy experience labor and childbirth was! I think it's good that you forget what the pain feels like, because I don't think that most women would have more than one kid if they remembered the pain.

I had a doctor appointment on Tuesday. My doctor was concerned because I gained 7 pounds in the course of a week, was really puffy (including my face and hands), and my blood pressure was rising. She gave me an exam. She said that I was 90% effaced and 3 cm dilated. She sent me to the hospital for tests, and then scheduled me for an induction on Wednesday morning at 5:00 AM.

It was totally lame being in the hospital that early. They didn't start me on the Pitocin until 8:00. I was so blessed in the hospital with my nurses. Both my day and night nurses remembered me from my first experience in the hospital with preterm labor. They were great, honest and very supportive.

Contractions weren't bad at all. I was dilated at a 4 from 11:00 to 5:00. The doctor came in to break my water at 6:00. Wow. I wasn't feeling contractions at all until that moment, and then they started coming on real strong. Along with the belly and back pain, I was having intense cramping in my upper legs as well. I wanted to get an epidural so that I could rest and relax before the pushing. The getting the epidural was fine, but I was sadly disappointed! I wasn't feeling the pain in my back and belly, but my upper left leg was in the most pain I've ever felt in my entire life! The nurses and anesthesiologist decided that it was probably the baby positioned on my sciatic nerve! The pain was so bad that while I was writhing on the bed in pain, I pulled out my IV! It took them another 3o minutes or so to find a vein to get another IV and it was even worse for them because my leg was in terrible pain and I kept moving around. They asked me if I wanted any other drugs for the leg pain and I said yes. As soon as I got the IV in, they gave me some more drugs and I was out.

I don't remember much of anything at that point. I think they just mainly wanted to knock me out so that I didn't accidentally tear out the IV again. Apparently I said some pretty entertaining things while I was loopy that my mom and Rick thought were funny. At around 11:00 PM I woke up with a strong urge to push. The nurses came in and had me start pushing. Evan was born at 11:46 that night. I was proud of myself for my delivery. What great exercise it was! My biggest goal for the pregnancy was achieved! I didn't have to get a Cesarean like my mom and sister, but was able to do it the good old fashioned way!


Evan getting cleaned up right after the delivery.

Proud daddy.

Proud and tired mommy with baby.
First family picture!
Sleeping peacefully after his long journey.

Going home. Someone did not like their car seat!
My mom came and helped with the baby for a week. I miss her! I was really homesick for the first few days after she left because she is my best friend and I enjoyed spending time with her in Arizona. She was also an awesome coach during the birth for me. She really helped me focus with my pushing and was a great support. Rick was also amazing as well. We weren't able to take a childbirth class, but Rick was wonderful.

Evan is now two weeks old! I will definitely have to put up some more pictures. Once I figure out what's going on with our camera.

Strange burst of energy: Nesting?

I have a great feeling about today. I don't know why, it's just a great day.

Last night I stayed up until 1:00 AM cleaning the kitchen. And I mean, deep clean the kitchen. I was on my knees scrubbing the floor and soaking all the stove burners. Rick had to make me stop to go to sleep. So I went to bed, thinking of all the other things that I absolutely had to do on Saturday, finally fell asleep and woke up early.

I unloaded the dishes from last night and folded all the clean clothes and cleaned our bedroom and straightened up the baby's room some more.

Okay, anyone that knows me, knows that I am not the cleanest person. I mean, I pick up after myself, but honestly, all this crazy deep cleaning?

And these bursts of energy to do it in? It's nesting. I'm positive it is.

I've had more energy over the past 12 hours than I've had the last 10 weeks!

I deposited my check that I finally got from our insurance company this afternoon. Then I went to Costco to buy chicken and meat. I decided I wanted to walk around a bit, so I walked around Costco about 2 or 3 times, eating some samples, looking at books, movies, clothes, diaper prices, dietary supplements and agonized over which jerky to buy Rick for his hospital bag. The nice Costco lady even let me come back and get 2 more samples of watermelon after I had left.

Then I got a hot dog, lemonade and frozen yogurt from Costco. yum.

Now I am writing out all our bills for November and agonizing over all the other things that I have to get done today. And no, I can't do it tomorrow, or wait until Monday! It has to get done today!

The only reason why I haven't cleaned the bathrooms yet is because I ran out of the all important cleaning supplies!

I told Rick that I would wait until he called me on his lunch break to go to Target to buy more paper towels, cleaner, and Comet. I'm regretting my promise now because I'm tapping my fingers anxiously and I need something to do!

Hopefully this nesting instinct signals some sort of approach of labor? I sure hope so!!!

Countdown!

Countdown is on! My due date is November 7, which means I only have 18 more days until my due date! HOPEFULLY, little Evan will want to come out a little earlier than that because I am so sick of being pregnant! At least I'm not really nauseated or anything, but I am totally over pregnancy being 40 weeks.

This past week we spent a lot of time getting the baby's room ready and cleaning the apartment. I also did my visiting teaching (yay for me!). My mother-in-law Lanelle also gave me all the stuff I needed to begin making thank you cards for baby gifts. She is so creative.

This week we're supposed to find out some news about an application that Rick put in back in July for an amazing and awesome opportunity. Please keep fingers crossed and send prayers our way that we'll hear good news sometime on Thursday. I'm also really excited for Thursday because that's the baby shower that coworkers are throwing for myself and my friend Krystal. I'm just really excited to be able to see work friends!

No other news besides that. I am going stamping today at this awesome store: http://www.thecreativequest.com/index_files/10card.htm They have an awesome event every 6 weeks or so where you're provided with all the materials that you need to make 10 different cards-- all for a dollar each. Now, I'm poor and I'm a novice rubber stamper, so I LOVE going to these so I can build up a collection of fun cards to give to people. And for only a dollar each, it's a pretty good deal. And we're making fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving cards. So much fun.

Ready, Set, Go!

Okay, I am totally ready (temporally that is) for Evan to come! Any day now, baby, and you can come. Here are pictures of his room!

Crib with his name over it. You can see the sheets that my mom made for Evan a little bit better in this picture.
Here is Evan's fancy dresser. We really didn't see the point in spending so much money when this works fine. It's a little ghetto, but hey, that's how we roll.

Ah, our changing area! This is Rick's computer desk that he made in woodshop in high school. We changed it into a changing area for the baby because we don't have any computers that we use on that desk because we have a built in "tech center" in our apartment.
This kid is so spoiled that he has his own bathroom! (That he'll share with guests of course)

I went to the doctor on Monday! I am now in my 37th week of pregnancy, so I am off bed rest, and the doctors said that if labor started, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. I had a little scare though. My blood pressure went up a little bit from last week, and my doctor thought I looked a little more swollen/ puffy than the last time she saw me. So, she had me get blood taken to see if I may have preeclampsia, which if I do at this stage of my pregnancy, I am pretty sure they're just going to be putting me in the hospital and inducing the labor. She also said I am measuring HUGE and she ordered an ultrasound two weeks away to measure the size of the baby. Really, I kind of think I am measuring huge because maybe I have a small torso. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to follow up on the preeclampsia thing. Hopefully, all will be well.

I am so ready for Evan, and I am just getting excited to meet him now! I am 2 cm dilated still, which my doctor said that some women can stay dilated that long for about a month or so. But, I've also been having contractions, not consistent or heavy at all, just enough to make me feel uncomfortable. We'll see what excitement this next week brings for us!

fun in the sun

I am off bed rest! Woo-Hoo! I can't believe that I made it. I started going crazy for awhile, but I am doing much better. On Saturday, my friends Brenda and Jennifer, and my sister-in-law Renee threw a baby shower for me. I had a great time visiting with friends and basically, getting out of the house. It was also great to see my mom, sister Bethany, and my nephew Ollie. My family is great, and I really miss them. They're only 5 hours away (except sister Sarah) in California, but we don't see each other too much. Next time they'll see me, I'll be having/ have a baby! Crazy!


Sarah bought this onesie, among about 10 other outfits for Evan.
My mom surprised me by making a pair of flannel sheets for the crib.
Friends from school! I am so glad that they could come!

The blanket that my mom made for me. I LOVED these colors all together.

This is a picture of my belly buddy from school, Krystal. You can't really tell in this picture, because I look so HUGE, but she is due on the 15th of November.
Me with Rick's family! They're crazy, and my eyes are closed. Definitely not the best picture.
Jen and Brenda from church. I was so lucky to have them help throw the shower. Especially Jen, who totally volunteered to bring stuff and help out. And Brenda who has been a good friend of mine since the good ol' single days.

Friends Erin, Collette and Teresa from the Bethany Home ward. I miss them! It was so nice to seem them since the last time I saw them was at Erin's shower.
Not the best picture, but I am so glad that Bethany and my mom came out for the shower! They do so much for me, and are already spoiling Evan very badly!
And how could I forget that Ollie was there also? This is him getting ready to leave.

I had such a great time and it was so nice to spend time with all these great friends and family that I have.

After the shower, we went back up to my apartment and we sorted through the 4 trash bags full of clothes, ages NB- 9 months. Yay for hand-me-downs. And the great thing about baby clothes is that they really don't go out of style, especially little baby boy clothes. We started washing baby clothes with the laundry detergent that my mom brought for us. Then we took inventory, and made a list of the bare essentials that we needed in case Evan decided to come quickly. Then, we headed over to Babies'r'us. We had so much fun getting everything for Evan, even though I was exhausted! My mom then took us out to eat at T.G.I. Friday's. I love the food that they have there. Then we came home, did some more laundry, started folding clothes and put everything in the baby's room. Rick put together the car seat, which wasn't too hard, and read all the directions, then he put the bouncer together also.

Rick putting the car seat all together. (there really wasn't that much to do!) and snapping it into the base. He was proud of himself though. Thankfully we have it all nice and installed in the back of my car now.

This is the bouncer that I absolutely adored when I first saw it. I remember we saw it way back in March (right after we found out that we were pregnant) and I wanted it because of the way cute design. Thanks goes to Auntie Bethany, Uncle Russ, and cousins Casey and Ollie for this gift.

Ollie didn't sleep well in Evan's room on Saturday night, so while mommy was sleeping in, we were trying to keep Ollie occupied. Here he is with. A real cute picture of Ollie, but not such a cute picture of Rick!

Ollie passed out on our floor just as my mom and sister were getting ready to leave! He is too cute! Mom and Bethany left around 10:30 on Sunday. I really appreciated all that my family did for me this past weekend and I can't wait to see them again.

No new news

This past week I haven't done too much of consequence, besides sleeping in, taking naps, and reading.

I made a list of all the things that I need to get still. And then researched prices. And then made a spreadsheet.

Still no news about Air Force for Rick. His recruiter says no news for anyone that applied for the Officer Training School yet.

Doctor's appointment today was nice. It had been two weeks since my last appointment since I had seen any sunshine, and it was an absolutely beautiful day in Phoenix. It felt a lot cooler than the last time I went out.

Doctor said everything is looking good. I've dilated 2 cm so far, and the baby is head down. He also mentioned that Evan is a good sized baby.

Looking forward to getting off bed rest on Sunday. Also looking forward to seeing my mom, Bethany, and Ollie.
I haven't seen this kid since July, and boy do I miss him. His first birthday is on the 14th, and hopefully Evan can hold out so he's not taking Ollie's birthday away from him. My new favorite picture of Ollie and Casey. It's hilarious because my sister and brother-in-law aren't big readers, and these two love books apparently. I love them! I miss them so much!! I wish I could see Casey this upcoming weekend too, but he's a little more work than his little brother.

Scary Dream Last Night

Totally random dream I had last night: I was going into my classroom to talk to my permanent sub about some things that I wanted the kids to do while she was teaching. Well, she had torn down all my posters, decorations, and pictures that I had up. She said that she sold my Lord of the Rings movie poster to a student for $4, and she tore down all my pretty bulletin boards. The worst part of the dream though: she wasn't even teaching reading and literature. She was teaching the kids astronomy and the movements of the planets and stars! I was starting to tell her that she needed to read stories from the Literature book to prepare them for AIMS, and she said, "Oh, no. Honey I've been teaching a lot longer than you, and I know that this will help more!" I was so sad and angry and upset and then I woke up.

This is a teacher's worst nightmare. I always stress and worry about what's going on with my 7th graders and what they're learning, and how far ahead or far behind they will be when I go back to school in December.

I know it's not a total nightmare to some people, but to me it was one of the worst dreams ever! I'm so glad I woke up. I almost cried about my Lord of the Rings movie poster! It was terrible!

34 Weeks

Yay! I'm technically 34 weeks pregnant, but in my 35th week of gestation. Weird how it's like that. I still get confused sometimes. Oh well.

What Rick and I have done the past week:

1) Read some books. My mother-in-law got me into a series of books with the main character named Lady Emily Ashton. I love murder mysteries, but what I like the most about these books are the characters that are in them. The first book is called "And Only to Deceive". My friend Erin also recommended a baby book to me called "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer". It's... interesting so far. I don't really know what to make of it since I don't have a baby yet.

2) Helped make baby shower invitations. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are technically throwing the shower for me, but I'm so bored, I volunteered to make the invitations myself since I have nothing else to do. They're really cute. Sorry that I don't have picture of them.

3) Rick pulled out Halloween decorations. They're scattered on the floor right now, next to the box that they came in. I am trying to figure out where I want all of them to go.

4) Made a to do list. I love making lists. It helps me prioritize. So, whenever we go anywhere, or I am really busy, I tend to write down a list of everything I need to do. I made a baby to do list. And it's really long. That's what stinks about being on bed rest. Rick and I have this huge life changing event coming up, and I can't get everything organized and prepared for the baby, because I'm on bed rest. I'm a little nervous too that he'll come early after I am off bed rest (I get off on October 11) and we won't even have a car seat to take the kid home in. So, it's really frustrating that I can't get as organized and prepared as I'd like to be.

5) Watched lots of movies. Rick and I have gotten into a habit of eating dinner and watching a movie every evening when he gets home from work at 8:15. So, we watched the Star Wars movies, episodes 1-6, and included the Clone Wars cartoon series that was on Cartoon Network.
Now we're watching Indiana Jones, and we're finishing it off with the 4th one tonight. I think we'll watch X-Men after Indiana.

6) I watched the Relief Society General Broadcast on Sunday while Rick was at church. I don't like not being able to go to church, so I decided to do something churchy and watch the Broadcast on the internet.

7) I counted the baby's kicks on Sunday. The kid was really hyper or something because I stopped counting when I got to the number 70, and he was still going. *sigh* hyper baby? who knows?

8) Agonized with Rick over waiting for Air Force Officer Selection board results. The results were supposed to come out on Sep. 21, but of course, they didn't. So, we're still waiting to see if Rick got in or not. I don't know how he can be so calm, I'm totally nervous. I know that as soon as I stop thinking about it, we'll probably find out what's going to happen.

The nice thing is that I only have a few more days left on bed rest. Okay, more than a few, but like, 12 days! I can't believe I've lasted this long! And then I can get stuff ready for baby. According to Grandma Carpenter (my mom) Evan has to wait until after the 14th to be born because my little nephew Ollie's 1st birthday is on the 14th.

5 Bed Rest Activities

5 things that I've been doing on bed rest:

1) Researching cloth diapers
-We've decided to go with cloth diapers because it will be cheaper. The nice thing is that this is going to be a trial period; I'm not seriously committed to cloth diapers, but Evan will be in them until he's around 15 pounds, and if we still like them, we'll keep going; if not, disposable it is. The main reason for this decision: money. Cloth is a lot cheaper than disposable, but I'll still use disposable for going out and road trips because who wants to actually keep a dirty diaper in their bag? I know that I sure don't want to do that.
2) Reading
- I finished the Mortal Instruments Trilogy (City of Bones)
- I finished "Hunger Games"- great book and I really want to read the next one, but the library doesn't have it yet. :(
-Now I need some more books to read.
3) Ultrasound yesterday.
- the technician measured the amniotic fluid, and it's completely average now, so now i'm not carrying extra fluid.
-more good news: the baby's head is average size now. before the head was about 3 weeks ahead of the rest of his body. looks like the rest of his body caught up to his head size, thank goodness.
4) Writing in the baby book.
- I wrote a letter to Evan, glued the ultrasound pictures in the book, and tried doing some more, but since the baby isn't even here yet, it's a little difficult.
5) Reading to Evan
- I decided to start reading to Evan. It's pretty neat. Since I don't know how appropriate some content is for my unborn child, I've decided to be safe and have included Evan in my scripture study. So, I read aloud to him everyday a chapter from The Book of Mormon. He always starts squirming a lot more when I start reading. I take this as a sign that he enjoys listening to me read.

33 Weeks!

I am at 33 weeks today!!! WOO-HOO!!!! So excited!

So that means 49 days until the due date, November 7th.

And only 22 more days of this accursed bed rest!

I am so looking forward to going to church on October 11th!

Happy Saturday!

another giveaway on justformeandyou2

So, I am totally going to link this because I desperately want these diapers!

http://justformeandyou2.blogspot.com/2009/09/fuzzibunz-diaper-review-and-giveaway.html

This blog reviewed FuzziBunz diapers and are having a giveaway, giving 2 all in one diapers to the winner. Since I am planning on clothdiapering the kid that I am having, I desperately want these! Check out the website and FuzziBunz.

PS this gets me 5 entries, that's why I am doing it!

pregnanc y woes

If you would have asked me in February/ March how the pregnancy was going, I would have said "Great, I'm just a little tired and slightly nauseated. But besides that I feel wonderful". So, I totally jinxed myself.

On Saturday afternoon I spotted a rash springing up on my forearms and hands. I haven't been anywhere lately, so my first thought was the Tributaline that I was prescribed. I called the doctor, he told me to take Benadryl, and to call him if it spread.

On Sunday, it worsened and spread. He told me to stop taking the medicine and to go into to see a doctor in the practice tomorrow.

Today, I went to the doctor, and he completely took me off the Tributaline because it seemed that I was having a delayed allergic reaction. I had been taking it for a week, but five of those days I was also taking an anti-biotic, so the doctor think that delayed the reaction of my body.

He told me to go and get Magnesium to take, 3 times a day.

This kid is already causing me problems. Seriously??

Contractions and preterm labor

Contractions stopped, preterm labor stopped

Medicine that stops contractions is causing hives and rash to sprout up all over my body.

Oh well. Life goes on and everything happens for a reason. Hopefully all the trouble is with this kid only and won't be an issue in the future.

I can only hope.

hobbies

So, here are some of the ideas I've been brainstorming of things to do on bed rest for the next 6 weeks:

-Make baby thank you cards
-Make Christmas cards
-Learn to crochet, and crochet stuff
-Read a lot
-Design baby announcements
-Couponing
-Online birth class (especially since ours was cancelled at the hospital)
-Play World of Warcraft or other computer games
-Write in baby book

I'd like to do other things like practice cooking and baking, which is a hobby that I love, but I am not supposed to do anything too strenuous.

Any other ideas? Let me know if there's anything that you think I should do to keep myself busy for the next 6 weeks!

Bed Rest???

On Tuesday, September 1, I had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Wright. She is a great doctor. I told her that I had been having some slight cramping on Sunday, and so she gave me a quick check. She was alarmed though, that my cervix was open already and thinned out (I was only 30 weeks at the time). She sent me straight to the hospital where I had a few interesting experiences. Getting an IV stuck in me (ouch-- they got it on the fourth time); having the fetal monitor stuck on me; having a contraction monitor stuck on me; getting a shot of some medicine to stop contractions; getting a short of steroids for the baby's lungs to develop in case he came early, and last, but not least, getting a catether to check my urine. Um, yeah, so apparently I was having contractions, but I wasn't really feeling them. I was also really dehydrated, and it looked like I had a urinary tract infection as well. They gave me lots of liquid through the IV, and then some antibiotics for the UTI.
What a scary experience it was to be there; Rick and I were both freaked out, because we didn't know what was going to happen, and we both felt like we weren't prepared at all for the experience. I had Rick give me a blessing of comfort, and then Rick and his dad gave me a blessing of healing later. I think this helped a lot with me. My mom, dad and the rest of the family in California were totally freaking out because we didn't really know what was going to happen-- it all depended on how my body reacted to the drugs. I was very calm though, and I am proud to say that I handled the situation well. I had decided, okay, I can be freaking out and all stressed and that won't help the baby, or I can just wait and see what happens. I managed to calm my parents down and tell them that as soon as I knew more information, I'd let them know what was going on. I ended up spending the night on Tuesday.

Wednesday, the doctor told me that I would need to stay over night again. The drugs that they were giving me to stop the contractions weren't helping that well. Apparently a shot of this stuff was supposed to help stop the contractions for 24 hours; my contractions started within 7 hours of that shot. They moved me to the more hard core drug-- Magnesium Sulphate and gave it to me through the IV. This definitely helped with slowing down the contractions. My body responded pretty well to the Magnesium Sulphate. It was supposed to give flu like symptoms and the worst it did for me was make me a little dizzy when I got out of bed after sleeping.

Thursday the next doctor I saw told me that I would be staying the night again, and that they would be monitoring me some more to make sure that my body was responding well to the treatment. At this point, I really couldn't take it any longer, and I called my mom. I asked her if she would be willing to come to Arizona. The hardest part about all of this was that Rick wasn't able to be with me from 2:30 to 1:30 AM because of his training schedule. I told him that he needed to make sure that he went to work, because it was only his second week. He came back to the hospital every night to sleep in the same room as me. So, my parents came to AZ on Thursday evening, and spent some time with me. My mom insisted on staying in the hospital with me on Thursday and my dad, whose shoulder was bothering him, stayed in a hotel.

On Friday I saw my doctor, Doctor Wright. She told me that everything was looking good and that they were going to start putting me on the pill that would be prescribed to me and she was going to monitor me that day. I would have to spend another night in the hospital though. She gave me an exam and told me that things were much better than on Tuesday. She let me shower, and took out the IV (Thank goodness, I felt alive again!) and allowed me to sit out of bed. She eventually took off the contractions and fetal monitor also. I spent another long night in the hospital. (Those beds aren't meant for sleeping in for long periods of time!) and then Saturday morning, she told me that I could go home. I was so grateful to her!!! She came in at a like 7:30 to tell me, so I was able to pack up and be back at our apartment at 8:30. She also told me that I was on bed rest for 5 weeks (until I was 36 weeks pregnant) and that the only time I was to walk up those stairs to our apartment was on the way back from a doctor's appointment.

So, I came home to a really nice clean apartment (thanks to my parents who cleaned and did laundry for us on Friday), with two prescriptions for us. I am so thankful for technology and my family. I am so happy that Evan is still inside of me, growing strong. Especially since the little punk wanted to come out way too early. Overall our hospital experience was very positive and I am happy in the choice of my OB and the hospital (which is in a totally ghetto area and about 30 minutes from where we live).

Now starts my 6 weeks of bed rest. I really don't have any idea of what I can do. I guess I will be doing lesson plans for my classroom and reading. I am also thinking of taking up crocheting and even making hand made greeting cards and baby thank you cards. This was a really interesting and eye opening experience that we had. The pregnancy has been completely smooth up to this point really, so this was kind of a shock for us. I thought that I would be able to continue teaching up until I had the baby. Well, it's a good thing that Heavenly Father knows me much better than I know myself. I think that He probably knew that this was what I needed to get myself to slow down and focus on the next couple of months. I really like to take a lot on in my job and my life, and I think that this was the only way that I would be able to relax on focus on those things that I need to. So, the next 5-6 weeks are all about me time. Any suggestions on hobbies to pick up while staying in bed would be excellent! I am going to need a few things to do over the next month or so.

this past week

So this past week Rick started working!!!!!!! Hooray! It's been just less than 6 months that he's been technically unemployed and we have been so blessed with surviving two months without me getting paid at all! Yikes! The only way we were able to do it was careful budgeting AND paying our tithing.

Rick works for a company called 2Wire doing technical support. His first two weeks of training (this past week and this upcoming week) he works Monday through Friday, 3:00 PM to 12:00 AM. Totally lame, I know. Especially since I get off of work at 2:30, so basically we've just been calling and talking on the phone and he wakes me up when he gets home and we talk a little bit then also. Thankfully, this isn't his regular shift. Starting on Tuesday, the 8th, he will be working Tuesday through Saturday, 11:15 AM to 7:45 PM, which is much better! We are so blessed to have Rick's shift not on Sunday. We've been holding out on this job, hoping to get him a Sunday free shift, and I've been wondering if it would work out for us. Well, it sure did and I feel very blessed for that!

Baby is doing good--- no results from my ultrasound because they couldn't see everything so they want me to get another one, in two weeks. Sorry, but if it's that big of an emergency, why the heck am I not in the hospital???? It's totally lame, and I am going to talk to my doctor about it on Tuesday (next doctor's appointment).

So excited for September to come-- on the 16th I am going out to California to see my family. My sister Sarah is flying in from Virginia and we'll all be able to spend time together (minus Rick of course :( ) Oh well. So excited for the baby! I'm 30 weeks now and I am absolutely stoked. Hopefully he'll come a little bit sooner than November 7th (I am hoping he's actually going to come on Halloween) but not too soon because we want him to be healthy!!! One more week of the crazy job shift of Rick's and then I'll be able to see him during the week again. Hooray!

Baby Stuff

Here are the pictures of our baby Evan's crib:

Hooray for our free mattress that really wasn't free! (we had to pay about $90 on shipping and handling) We are so excited to have this big ticket item!
Here is Rick, the proud man, for putting together the crib in less than an hour. Good for him!

Other baby news: I had my 28 week appointment on Wednesday. Apparently my glucose screening test I passed; My iron levels are some of the best that my doctor's seen in a long time (12 in first trimester; 11.9 in July); and my fundal height is measuring 33 cm when it's supposed to be 28 cm... uh oh.

That was interesting. She took the measuring tape, measured my stomach, and then went back to my file, and measured me again. She repeated this process about 3 times. For all those that don't know, the fundal height is the measurement from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus. The measurement is in centimeters, and it is supposed to be the same as how many weeks you are. For example, I was supposed to measure 28 because I was 28 weeks at this appointment. Then I am measuring 33.

So, being the great doctor she is, she gave us a referral for an ultrasound since the ultrasound tech is on vacation this week and she wanted to know as soon as possible what was going on. We were able to get in Friday afternoon for an appointment for the ultrasound. It was not a fun experience. The technician didn't talk very much, I was laying flat on my back the entire time, while she asked me random questions that worried me to no end, like "Where was your placenta positioned before?" and "Do you have Diabetes?" When I told her that I didn't have Diabetes, I asked her, "Why, is he big for his age?". She said that she wasn't able to disclose that information to us (which I was kind of expecting). Now I am waiting for Monday to come in case I have a phone call from my doctor's office saying I need to come in earlier than my September 1st appointment. Or just an appointment to tell me if there's anything wrong with the baby or me.

I take a lot of comfort in the fact that he is a little worm, squirming around all over the place. He's going to be a great soccer player, with all the hard kick's he's been landing. :)

In other baby stuff, Rick and I have been debating on whether to use cloth diapers OR disposable diapers. Now, we are not what you would call "green" or "organic", but I do like more natural things. However, the main reason why we've been looking into cloth diapers is because they are less expensive than disposables, something that Rick and I are concerned with. Of course, we won't be using completely cloth diapers. Maybe to just start out with during the day, and then when I am out and about, using the disposables.

Anyways, here is a great website that we stumbled across given from our friend Adree:

http://yournaturalbabyandmore.com/

And this the place where we'll probably be buying our cloth diapers from:

http://www.cottonbabies.com/

Some of the fancy cloth we'll eventually get into (Bumgenuis or Fuzzi Bunz), but they're too expensive right now for us. So, we're going with the prefold diapers, and maybe buying one or two of the more expensive cloth diapers per paycheck!

24 years old!

So, school started this week. I had a great weekend with my parents before the first week of school. It was a great time to relax. They came out for my birthday--- we hung out, went swimming, my parents took me grocery shopping, clothes shopping and then crib shopping. We ended up buying a beautiful crib. We went into the store and attempted to order it from Babies'r'us. Needless to say we had a terrible customer service experience there. We left, and my parents and I bought it online from our apartment. The deal was buy a crib, get a mattress for free. The mattress was free but the shipping of it cost almost as much as a mattress, so that was pretty much the lamest thing ever. The nice thing though was that we didn't have to deal with the idiots at Babies'r'Us and we got our crib this past Thursday! We hung out some more, and tried going to the Bookman's in Mesa because it's supposed to be a bigger store and have more selection. My dad loves Bookman's because of the records they have there. Well, he wasn't able to find any good selection there. We went to Kohl's and Ross and I got some cute blouses and shirts for going back to school on Monday. Then my mom and I went to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream cake, and then we all went to Red Robin. Rick's parents and sister Renee joined us at Red Robin since it was her birthday also! My parents ended up leaving on Sunday morning. I was so happy to have them out visiting us! I miss my family and it was really nice to seem them for a few days. Okay... enough talking, here are the pictures!

First picture my mom wanted to take was my pregnant picture. So this was me last week at 27 weeks.

Rick and I waiting to order at Red Robin.
My dad and I. He spoils me so much!
My parents. I am so happy that they were able to visit this weekend. This is a really good pictures of the two of them.

They sang happy birthday to Renee and I when we got the sundaes. It was totally embarrassing though!
The birthday cake. We love ice cream cakes in my family. This one was really yummy.
My mom and I Sunday before we left. This is definitely not the best picture of me since it's totally obvious that I just woke up and I have no makeup on!!!

Thanks for the wonderful birthday weekend! I enjoyed turning 24 with my parents there! Rick and I are so grateful for everything that they do for us and we love them so much!