Fast Forward

Um, I think someone hit the fast forward button cause time has flown by. There has been so much going on with the holidays and just living life that the blog has had to take the back seat. So a quick recap of events and some much needed pictures should do the trick!


*I had to return to work (Skywest) on October 18. I bawled the night before, but didn't cry at work. I was proud of myself! Work hasn't been that bad cause I'm only part time and it has been slow. It's kind of a nice break but I miss her like crazy when I'm gone.


*October 20th was our anniversary! It has been four years since I married the love of my life! He is so wonderful and always treats me like a queen. He has given me a beautiful daughter and is such a good daddy. I love you babe! My mom was nice enough to watch the peanut while we went to dinner and a movie. This was the first time she wasn't with Jason or I since we came home from the hospital and boy she had a hard time. My poor mom had to deal with a crying baby pretty much the entire time we were gone. The little lady bug finally wore herself out and fell asleep about a half hour before we picked her up, the little stinker. But we were still able to enjoy our time together :)


*We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with the Button family at our cabin Nov. 20 and then the 21st Jason, Everley and I packed our bags to go to Kentucky for the actual week of Thanksgiving. We wanted Grandma and Grandpa Great to meet her. She did awesome on the 3 1/2 hour plane ride both ways. Grandpa Great said he had never seen such a good baby in all his 90 years. She really was perfect and even slept all through the nights the entire trip! She also had her first taste of rice cereal and applesauce while we were there and gobbled it right up! It was a short but sweet trip and it was really good to see them.



*November 29, Everley had her 4 month checkup and she is doing great! She was 23 3/4 inches long (26th %) 11 lbs 3 oz (5th %) and her noggin measured 40 cm (20th%). So she is still just a little lady but the doc said she is where she should be since she was born 4 weeks early. She took her shots like a champ again and only cried for about 2.7 minutes and was fine. I really think I'm in more pain than she is. Even though she will be 5 months on Christmas Day, she still wears 0-3 month size pants and 3 month size onesies! She is our petite little girl! But she has more than doubled her weight since she was born! She still spits up all the time from her reflux and the little muscle that is above her stomach not being fully developed so she lives in a bib. So much for showing off her cute clothes! Sometimes I will take it off to snag a few pix but other than that there is one on her all the time. Which means that we are doing even more laundry cause she goes through 6 or more bibs and burp cloths a DAY!!!



*Yesterday, I turned the big 27! Weird! I feel like I stopped aging at 23 :) It was a busy but great day! Jason had to work, so we went out the night before to dinner and a movie (The Tourist has a good story but it is really slow. Don't get me wrong, I still liked it, but I would recommend waiting to rent it through redbox instead of spending the money!) So on the actual day, I went out to lunch with my sweet Mother in-law and then to her house for some chit chat, then I met up with my family (it's my Mom's birthday too!) for dinner at Zupas and then went to my sisters house for presents. OK, so it doesn't sound busy, but when you factor in taking care of your child and all the spit up she gives to me plus pumping, plus all the crazy traffic and having to run all the way back home for more milk for the babe and then back out to dinner, IT WAS CRAZY :) My sweet little girl is now sleeping through the night EVERY NIGHT:) She has always been a good sleeper, only waking up once in the night but now it's even better! It has been so nice to get a straight eight hours of sleep! YAY!



So that's it in a nutshell. I would have liked to write more on some subjects but I have gotten so far behind it would make for an entirely too long of a post. So you get what you get! Enjoy all the pix!

10.10.10

This past Sunday, which happened to be October 10, 2010, was the day we blessed our sweet baby girl! She looked absolutely gorgeous dressed all in white. I got her dress and little booties at a store in American Fork called, Little Things Mean A Lot. She also had a cute little bracelet and a headband I made that had a button and some pearls. (I really like to use buttons since that's our last name! Can you tell?)

She was such an angel until he blessing was over, which turned out to be perfect. I just had to walk the halls for most of Sacrament meeting. However, I did manage to sneak back in for the last few minutes and was even able to go up and give the obligatory bearing of the testimony the moms usually have when their baby is blessed. Don't get me wrong, it was defintely a good thing, it's just that speaking in front of a bunch of people is one of my top three greatest fears. I just don't enjoy being the center of attention with everyones eyes fixated directly on me. It was meant to be that I still had Everley in my arms (cause she had just barely fallen asleep and it was still to soon to pass her off to Jason) cause if I didn't, it would have looked like I was having a seizure up there cause I was shaking so bad and I honestly don't know if I would've gotten up there otherwise. This is just a confirmation that I truly believe our Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us personally. He knows that speaking in front of people scares me terribly, so He made it as comforatble for me as it can and will ever be. I was able to stand up there and bear my testimony while looking at my sweet little angel and swaying her back and forth. The only problem is, I'm not quite sure what I said cause I was so nervous!

After Sacrament, we headed over to our clubhouse to celebrate by stuffing our faces silly with lots of yummy food! After my little sweet pea ate her lunch she slept quietly in the corner while her momma and daddy were eating. She is such a good baby! We are truly blessed to have her in our family!

On another note, we just got back from spending the night at our cabin with our friend Walter that came all the way from Hawaii for Everley's blessing. It was soooooo beautiful down there! Have I mentioned that fall is my most favorite season of all? Well, it is. I love everything about it. The fresh, cool crisp air. The color changing leaves. Snuggling in blankets and sweaters. Hot chocolate. MMMMMM! I LOVE IT! Anyway, while we were there, Jason decided to take Everley on her first four wheeler ride. I guess I can't say she loved it, but she didn't hate it either. Jason said she was just very content on the whole ride up and down and around the cabin property. She didn't cry at all but she didn't really smile either. Guess we'll just have to keep at it! Walter fixed us a feast of seafood for dinner and boy was it good! We had lobster tails and jumbo shrimp and scallops we could mix in with our pasta and alfredo sauce. YUM! All in all it was just a nice little get away :)

Adapting

I cannot believe how fast time flies by when you're just feeding, changing, putting baby to sleep, trying to catch up on my own sleep and cleaning up around the house! My days just fly by!

Things have been going pretty good, but I did have a period of baby blues that got me down. I was so overwhelmed with trying to figure out our new life and breastfeeding was driving me crazy cause I would sit there for two hours trying to feed her and then when I think she is finally done, she would act as though she was famished! I was going insane cause I was literally spending my entire day on the couch trying to feed her. And it didn't help that being in the NICU destroyed me cause I was always paranoid at how much food she was getting and you obviously can't tell when she's breastfeeding. That was the whole reason she was in the NICU in the first place cause of her eating problems, so naturally that was the top thing on my mind. Then I started getting stressed because I was stressing out and it was just a vicious cycle. Finally, I just decided that I was going to pump and then just bottle feed her. Then I could tell how much she was getting and I knew that I would only have to pump for 20 minutes at a time and I would be done, which is so much better than sitting there for two or more hours and then some. I also called the doc to give me some meds to help me feel normal again. So after figuring out all that things have been great!!!

Labor day weekend we went down to our cabin in Fairview, which was our first time spending the night somewhere other than the hospital and home. She did really good, but most of the Button family was up there so there were a lot of kids which equal a lot of noise that kind of overwhelmed her (and me a little too!). But all in all she did really good and it was fun to have a change of scenery. We have also taken several Sunday drives and gone to the mountains to enjoy the fresh air. Then about a week and a half later we flew to Reno and then drove to Lake Tahoe to spend several days there. Jason knew that I needed to get out of the house (even though I was really freaked out about it). He was very understanding and didn't want to pressure me into anything but at the same time was really encouraging the trip. So finally after one breakdown and two attempts, we made it! I was hesitant about the airport and flying with a month and a half year old baby, but Everley did really well considering. I think I was more freaked out than she was. Going through security was a little interesting but we made it through none the less. It was beautiful there and so worth the apprehension I was feeling! (I hate it when Jason is right!) It was so nice and relaxing. We drove around the lake twice all in all and made stops along the way. We would go for walks and browse through the shops. It was fun to see Everley take in all the new scenery and new sounds and smells. I think she started to get sensory overload toward the end of our trip but she still did pretty good! And she slept the whole flight on the way home. She is so good to us!

On September 25 she officially turned two months old! I can't believe how fast it's gone! She just had her two month appointment and is doing good for being early. She now weighs 8lbs 7oz and is 22 inches long. She is pretty low in all the percentiles but the doc said she is really only one month old according to her maturity cause they go by the gestational age as far as these growths and measurements go, but not to worry cause she'll catch up and everything will be great! She had to get THREE shots at her appt. but she took it like a champ! She is such a strong and brave little girl. When the nurse poked her for the first time it took a second to realize she didn't like it so much and screamed with her little face all scrunched up. But as soon and the nurse was done with the third shot and put the tweety bird band aids on her legs, she stopped crying and was fine! She coos and smiles A LOT! It's so cute, I love when she smiles! She is so beautiful, I can't hardly believe she is mine to love on! She has her daddy wrapped around her finger! Jason loves our little girl so very much and is so good with her! She smiles the most when daddy talks to her, but mommy gets smiles too :) She has rolled over from her tummy to her back a couple of times and other times just gets mad. She loves to go on walks and likes to be outside. She still has reflux and spits up a bunch since the muscle that closes above her stomach isn't quite developed and it allows her food to just come up if she's jostled around to much or if she's not in a sitting position. So with that, we are constantly doing wash and I think we have about 25 bibs that she goes through in a couple of days. She lives in a bib, which helps cut down the number of times we have to change her clothes, but we still usually have to change her clothes at least once or twice a day.

I have to go back to Skywest October 18h which is just around the corner. I am both nervous and excited to go back to work. I think it will be nice to have a little change during the week but I am also nervous about how it'll mess up the schedule that we have just gotten used too. Oh well, life will move forward, right? At least I only have to work 12 hours a week so it's not like I will be away from her a lot. It's seriously all about the flight benefits. If it weren't for those, I would probably quite and work somewhere a lot closer to home. But gosh darn it, we love to travel! Jason is really excited to take Everley all over the place especially when she learns about something at school, like the White House, then we would fly her out to D.C. and actually show her what she just learned! It's gonna be so much fun! We are already planning her first birthday luau in Hawaii with our dear friend Walter and his family. First birthdays are a big deal in Hawaii and so they are going to throw her a big party :)

Well, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Life is certainly different, but it is wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing! She is such a blessing in our lives! I will post a slide show (if I can get it to work) as soon as I can!

A Quick Update

Sorry guys, things have been super crazy, as you can imagine! Life is TOTALLY different now, but in a good way of course :) Just trying to figure out a schedule and get used to our new life as a family of three!! We actually got home from the hospital last Thursday, August 5th! So all in all, she was in the NICU for 9 days and I was at the hospital the WHOLE time with her! I was actually discharged from the hospital July 29th but since Everley was in the NICU we were lucky enough to stay in a family support room (for free and right next to the NICU) for the next 6 nights and but then had to pay for our last night in the "hospital hotel stay room" back on the 3rd floor. We were so grateful to be able to stay in that room so close to our precious little girl. Normally they only let families stay in those rooms for one or two nights and it's on a priority basis, so we could have been kicked out at any time if a higher priority family needed the room. There are only two of those rooms, so we were pretty dang lucky to get it that long to be with her as much as we could!

When we got home, it was pretty much like we were starting all over again! Since we had the past week of help from the nurses and she wasn't staying in our room with us 24/7 it really wasn't like she was officially ours yet. I know that sounds weird, but when you have all this help and the nurses say that I can skip a feeding and actually sleep for 4 or 5 hours, it just kinda felt like I was an aunt or part time mom that came to help every once in a while. So now that we are home and there are NO nurses to take her in the middle of the night or to ask questions too, it has finally set in and is a REALITY CHECK!!! This past week has seriously been a blur. Since being in the NICU and having them tell me all these precise details, like how much she needs to eat in a feeding if she goes three hours or four hours in between and how much she is supposed to weigh and I need to be breast pumping every time after she eats to ensure I get a good milk supply and all this craziness, I came home having that built in my mind and I have been going crazy trying to be so precise and freaking myself out if she only ate for 10 minutes instead of 20 or if she only had 6 wet diapers in a day instead of 7. Then I would look up information in books and freak myself out even more because it would seem like she had symptoms for some random thing...... OH MY GOSH! I WAS A NIGHTMARE OF A WRECK! Poor Jason has had to deal with me freaking out and being so emotional. He had to tell me at least 97 times that all these baby books are not specific to each baby cause they are all sooooo different and that I need to stop reading into all these little things and just let her tell me when she is hungry and go off of my own motherly instincts. FINALLY, it hit me! OK, he WAS right. So I'm feeling better about things and not worrying so much. Cause after all, they wouldn't have let her come home if she wasn't doing fine on her own and at her 2 week appt. the pediatrician would have told me if I needed to be concerned. SO, I can BREATHE once again. Now it's just trying to deal with the fatigue!

Everley is such a wonderful baby! She DOESN'T cry! (knock on wood!) I mean, she have her little wails when she's hungry or poopy, but it's like 2 min and that's it! When she got her hepatitis B shot last week, she only cried while the needle was poking her and as soon as the nurse put a band aid on it, she was fine and stopped! I cried more than her! I broke down after she got the shot cause I felt so bad! She is a real trooper and we couldn't be more blessed!

Ok, so I know, I need to put up a slide show of all her ADORABLE pictures, but I'm afraid that is not going to be now! SORRY! I am pooped! But I figured that since people kept thinking we were still in the NICU, I should give you an update. So hopefully I can get pictures up in the next few days, but then again, I wouldn't hold your breath! Things just get a little crazy!!

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers! They have all certainly helped! And if I haven't called you back, I'm sorry. Shoot me a text message instead. Those are easier to respond to!

She' s Here!!!

Everley Noelle Button was born July 25, 2010 at 6:46 am! She was 5 lbs 7 oz and 19 1/2 inches long! She is so beautiful and such a joy in our life! We couldn't be happier!

So this is the scoop. July 17 sometime in the evening I started having contractions with lower back pain.... I just thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions with a little pain cause thats what some books said. But when they kept on coming along with my mucus plug coming out I kinda panicked and called the on call doctor sometime around 3 am or so and he said that we should go to the womens center and prepare to have her and stay at the hospital. Well since the contractions weren't that painful we threw stuff together and showered (thinking if I was going to have her I knew I wouldn't shower for a couple of days). So the nurse said I wasn't dialated at all but I was about 60% effaced. Everything was basically normal but they said I could have a urinary tract infection so they sent me home with a prescription and said they'd let me know the results by Tuesday. Well I actually never found out if that's what I had, but I was still having random contractions with a little pain throughout the week. I went to work on Wednesday and called in Thursday and on Friday told them I needed to go on leave cause I just couldn't do ANYTHING anymore.

NOW, Saturday comes around again (the 24th) and we went swimming and fishing during the day and then again at night I started having contractions with back pain but this time they were SUPER painful. It seems like they started around 9:30 and I don't know how many I had so I started counting about an hour later. Sure enough I had about 6 an hour and they were pretty much 10 to 15 minutes apart. One of the nurses at my NST appointments said to drink a full glass of water and then lay down on my left side and see if the subside. So I did. No such luck. Still 10 to 15 minutes apart and VERY painful. I seriously wanted to rip my hair out cause it'd probably feel better than what I was experiencing. I was just trying to hang in there because of the events that happened last weekend and thinking that they would eventually go away. 1am......2am.....3am..... comes and goes and nothing eases up. So finally about 3:30 am we grab our bags, grab her diaper bag and the car seat and make our way to the hospital.

We get back in the room and everything is good with the little one! FEW! Then the nurse check my cervix and I was dialated to a 3+. So she proceeds to tell me that since last weekend I wasn't dialated at all and now I have progressed that I could pretty much count on having my little girl that morning. HELLO! SHOCK! I couldn't help but smile but I was pretty much nervous. I felt good cause they said that a lot of babies that are born at 36 weeks go home and have no problems and ones that do have problems aren't that serious. So that helped me calm down. The nurse called the on call doctor and he comes in to check me and confirms that I was dialated to a 3+ and was 80% or more effaced. So he said that since she is still breech if I don't progress in the next hour we can try to turn her around to try and keep in the womb a little longer. I didn't really want to try and turn her cause of the risks involved but I didn't need to worry cause when he checked me again I was dialated to a 4+ and he actually felt her little foot right there. They had already given me an IV while we were waiting just in case so after the last check it was a matter of ten minutes before they took me back to the OR. Jason got to put on the space suit lookin' outfit and he barely had enough time to get everything on before they wheeled me out!

From there I got the spinal block, which my anesthesiologist was AWESOME, it wasn't nearly as bad as what I was expecting from all the stories I've heard. Honestly what I thought was worse was that the OR was so blasted cold that I couldn't stop shivering and my whole body kept shaking. Can I just tell you that the spinal block was the wierdest feeling that I have ever experienced. Seeing your feet and thinking, hey I want to move those, and you can't is just trippy. Plus the heavyness you feel in your chest is quit uncomfortable. But other than that everything was great. I didn't have my arms tied down cause again the anesthesiologist was great and thought that was cruel and unusual punishment. So it was great that I could itch my own nose and face cause man did it ITCH! Jason was right there by me taking pictures and kept asking me if I could feel this and that. He was shocked at how agressive they are just pulling me apart and moving my insides. Our sweet little girl already takes after her daddy. She mooned the doctors when she came out bum first! All I could say is, "That's my girl!" To hear her cry for the first time was unreal. I couldn't believe the time was actually here! After they did the measurements and bundled her all up they brought her over to the head of my bed and we got to cuddle for the first time. What a great feeling that was. There is nothing like it and I would never trade it for anything. There we were in the OR as a family of three for the first time!

Everything was great for about the first 48 hours but she was losing weight really fast and her temperature was dropping every now and again and she had to be put under the heat lamps. She got down to 5 lbs and 1 oz! So they decided that she needed to go down to the NICU so that she could have more one and more one on one time with nurses to be evaluated. It's not that she is actually considered severe enough to be a NICU baby but she just needed the extra attention. So she has been down in the NICU since last Tuesday (almost a week now). She is doing good but still has some challenges eating without the tube in her nose. She would get so tuckered out and then ends up losing more calories than what she got so they feed her through a tube in her nose so she can just sleep and eat and gain weight. She has had several feedings recently just on the booby and she has gained back a lot of weight! I'm feeling like we could be going home sometime this week but I'm not holding my breath cause she has her good days and bad. She has to eat on her own (by bottle or boob) for 48 hours, gain weight and maintain her temperature. She hasn't had a problem with temperature and weight seems to be better everyday. We have been lucky enough to stay at the hospital in the parent support room which is literally two doors down from the NICU so it's been nice to be able to be with her as much as possible and get in good feedings. I will keep you updated on how she is doing but my days go by so quickly and with trying to pump, eat, get enough sleep and be with our little girl ,the time just slips away. So enjoy the pictures of the cutest little girl out there!

It's About Time

I honestly cannot believe how quickly time has passed! I guess for my own sanity it's a good thing, but I wish I would have been more diligent in updates, cause I kinda use this as my journal. So a few things, here are some random pictures of me all huge and swollen. (I actually love being pregnant, but it's starting to get way uncomfortable!) And then there are some updates after.

This was at Troy's graduation, if you couldn't tell!

This is a self timed portrait and the flash hit the edge of the counter, hence the "glow". But you get the idea!



This was our weekend at the cabin over the 4th of July! Just the 2 1/2 of us!


These are pictures I took of myself yesterday and two weeks ago. It's kinda funny I'm wearing a yellow shirt in both of them!

Alright, so some other updates are:

~This is what my belly button looks like * I'm not kidding!

~We were at Sam's Club last week and this guy told us his wife just had a baby and when they went in for their last ultra sound a month before she was due, the doctor told them they were having a boy and not a girl! So naturally now I'm paranoid and I'm hoping this doesn't happen to me!

~We still can't agree/decide on a name. Maybe we can't decide cause it's actually a boy and not a girl!!! I think I'm stressin about it way too much! My 20 week ultra sound picture was pretty clear and the technician didn't seem to hesitate at all in telling us it's a girl, so I just need to take a chill pill!

~Yesterday at my doctors appt. we scheduled me for a C-section for August 12th cause she is still breech, the little stinker! Her head is right under my ribcage in the middle, so she is totally breech! The doc will check me at my next appt. in two weeks to see if he thinks he can flip her around, but he didn't seem too optimistic about it. Which, I honestly don't really mind having a C-section cause then the date it set and I don't have to worry about labor and my water breaking, contractions and all that jazz. I don't care how she gets here to us as long as she is healthy and strong and everything is ok with me too during the delivery! So with that being said, I'm gonna have our little ladybug in less than a month! Unless of course she turns around, but I will still have her early since I'm on medication for my gestational diabetes. Yay! She's almost here!

Updates of all updates!

So I'm a slacker..... I'll be the first to admit it. I have had a lot to post about but now it's not so fun to read about things that happened over a month ago over a long post. So I'm just gonna quickly recap on what has been going on around here. (These are in no particular order)

*WE DID IT! Back at the beginning of May we took a road trip up through South Dakota and saw Mt. Rushmore and just far enough into North Dakota to count that we've been there and with that Jason and I have been to all 50 states since we've been married. It just took us a little over three years! We also drove through Montana and down through Idaho to get home. We drove 10 hours in one day! I thought I did pretty dang good for being 5 months pregnant!

*We spent the weekend at our cabin with my mother and father in-law and our good friend Walter, from Hawaii, and it was so nice! I just relaxed on the deck with my belly hanging out to give my little girl some sunlight while the boy were four wheeling and choppin' wood, watched movies, ate what I wanted (this was obviously before I had to started poking myself) and cuddled with my love :)

*One of my best friends, Brittany Evans had her little boy, Peyton, on June 15 and he is so stinkin' cute! I'm so happy for her and her little family! Holding him made me so stinkin' excited for my little ladybug to get here!

*I'm getting huge! I don't have all my pictures round up and on the computer yet but I will post some soon :)

*So, I guess I still can't keep my glucose under control, so in addition I have to take a pill every night in addition to poking myself four times a day and eating only 30 t0 45 carbs a meal to help my levels stay down. (start looking at the carb content on what you eat and you'd be surprised at how many things have loads of carbs in them. Which is ok if your pancreas is producing insulin like it's supposed to, but for me I'm not so lucky to be able to give into all the pregnancy cravings I have!) I guess it's better than having to give myself an insulin shot everyday. So hopefully this helps just enough that I won't have to do that.

*And, now I have to go do a non-stress test TWICE a week! My first appointment is tomorrow so I'm gonna see if we can knock down the appointments to just a few. I personally think that twice a week is a little excessive but we'll see.

*Jason and I still can't agree on a name for our ladybug! He wants Sara Noelle Button and I want Everley Noelle Button. I saw Everley in a magazine and can't stop thinking about it since and that was four or five months ago. I want something that's not so common but not WEIRD. When I saw that name it's just different enough that I fell in love with it. It was spelled Everleigh in the magazine, but I didn't like that spelling so much so I changed it. So we'll see what happens. We may not have a name until she is with us and in my arms! Hopefully it doesn't boil down to that but I know we will eventually come up with something we can both agree on.

*My hands and feet and swelling like balloons! Ok, it's not that bad, but it's uncomfortable.

*OH! We cleaned out and painted the nursery :) Just have to finish hemming the curtains and find cute decorations to put up around the room!

Uh, so that's pretty much it in a nutshell. I know there are things that I'm missing and I'll probably remember in an hour, but this is good enough for me. I will post pictures, hopefully this weekend :)

You want me to what?

So, about a week ago I had my glucose test... you know, the one with the nasty orange drink. It's actually not THAT bad, but it is super sweet and the fact you have to guzzle it down does not help. Well, the next day my nurse calls and says my glucose was elevated and I have to go back for the three hour test. YES, THREE HOURS! Sitting in the doctors office for three hours not being able to leave or eat anything but the lovely orange drink (and water, thank goodness) was not what I had in mind for my day off but it wasn't too bad considering. I brought our iTouch and watched a movie and played some games and then four pokes later I was home free! Only thing is, I get a call the next day saying two of my tests were elevated...... YUP, I have it. I have gestational diabetes. What the crap am I supposed to eat? I started to breakdown cause I knew my eating habits were going to have to change and it was gonna be a big change. I asked my sister about it cause she had it too and she started to tell me what it involves with counting carbs and only being able to have so many in a day and per meal. So naturally I start looking at labels and start to cry cause it seems like I'm just gonna have to starve. THERE ARE SO MANY CARBS IN EVERYTHING! I couldn't believe it. Well, I set up an appointment with a dietitian this last Tuesday and found out everything I need to know. Yes, I have to poke myself to test my blood everyday..... oh wait, not just everyday, FOUR times a day, everyday! Did I mention I really don't like needles?? But in all reality I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it actually is. They have made so many improvements that you can barely even feel the poke. It's really just the thought of it that gives me the hee-bee-gee-bees! Plus I can only eat 30 to 45 grams of carbs per meal (which is NOT very much) but veggies and meat are freebies. So after the class, I felt a little better about things and started thinking that this will actually be kinda good, the whole diet and exercise thing, cause then maybe I won't gain a ton more weight and it'll be easier to shed the weight after having my little ladybug. Plus, having more of an idea how much crap there really is out there to eat maybe after I have her I won't over do it.... but who am I kidding, I love chocolate, ice cream and bread among other things that have a lot of carbs. OH, and I'm slightly anemic so I have to take extra iron everyday, which isn't that big of a deal it's just one more thing I have to keep track of. But I'll do anything to keep my little girl healthy and strong as well as for my own good. So all in all things are still going good! Just wish I didn't have to poke myself four times a day!

A Weekend In St. Louis

So this past weekend we decided to go to St. Louis (partly cause we wanted to go see the arch and also cause we needed to cross Illinois off our list and it's right next door to St. Louis). We invited our friends, Jamie and Kevin (they have actually become our travel friends, it's quite fun!) and we had a total blast. We got in late Friday night, so the festivities didn't start til Saturday. Boy, what a day! We went to the arch and went up into it! It was actually pretty cool. I had always thought it was made of stone for some reason but it's made of metal. Anyway, the little tram thing you go up to the top in is ridiculously small. I pictured something like an elevator for five people but I was WAY off.... It is this super small little cubicle with 5 seats crammed in there and barely enough head room. You really had to get close to strangers and if your claustrophobic you can forget about going up there. So we made it to the top and looked out the windows over Missouri and Illinois and had our fill and went down. Then we took a ride and had our lunch on a ferry boat down the Mississippi River. After we drove over into Illinois, had some amazing ice cream from the good 'ol D.Q. and started our way back to the hotel.

This is where some excitement starts..... While in Illinois, we stopped at a welcome center and they had a weather radar thingy and it said that there could be tornado's in the area...... WHAT? TORNADO'S?? FLIP! It was a really cloudy day and the clouds were super low and moving really fast. So on our way past downtown St. Louis, the weather was flipping out and THE SKIES WERE GREEN! Um..... weren't the skies green in The Wizard of Oz before the tornado took Dorothy away?? YES, yes they were! I was startin' to get a little uneasy but was still hopin' that nothing would happen. Wellllllll........ it started to rain REALLY hard and even had hail mixed in it. UH, yah ANOTHER sign of a FREAKIN' TORNADO. It started to rain the hardest rain I have EVER seen in my 26 years of life. We could barely see the hood of our car let alone the car lights in front of us. IT WAS FREAKY! We were on a freeway and only able to go about 5 miles an hour.... LITERALLY! So the rain lasted for maybe 5-10 minutes and then it slowed up a ton. We noticed that there weren't really any cars out on the road so we were thinking "OH great.... all the locals know that they should be off the road and we are still on the road on an over pass trying to figure out what the "H" we should do!" Well, we went around a bend and then there was a stand still of cars. I couldn't help but thinking that a tornado touched down and ripped part of the freeway apart. Well, what happened was there was about a foot and a half of standing water ON THE FREEWAY just from the ten minutes of rain. ALL but one lane was covered in rain. WHEW! I was actually relieved that was all it was. So after about 25 minutes of shear terror things cleared up and then it was a beautiful night. We watched the news later and a tornado did actually touch down in St. Louis but it wasn't anything major. So now we can say we were in a tornado, which is pretty cool I guess.

We didn't really find anything else that tickled our fancy in St. Louis, so on Sunday we drove about 2 hours to Springfield, Illinois and saw Abraham Lincoln's home and also visited his tomb. It was really cool actually, but then again Jason and I are kinda history nerds. Our t0ur guide through his house was quite the odd duck, but none-the-less got the facts delivered. Lincoln's body was actually stolen and held for ransom early on so now they have this huge shrine for him and he is buried ten feet under ground in a cement vault. So don't go gettin' any ideas about stealin' his body for ransom! I really enjoy seeing how things were back then and just think how different life would have been back then. And I LOVE the old houses!I know. NERD! OH and I forgot to mention I got to touch the actual railing Lincoln touched (and of course all the other thousands of people that have visited there) I know.... you're jealous! The house had a lot of replica's since Lincoln sold most of his furniture and belongings cause they thought they were going to move back. So most of the things you see weren't the real deal except for the black horse hair upholstered couches and chairs, the candelabras and his desk and a few other things but I forgot. And, the lovely carpet and wallpaper you'll see in the pictures below were the actual colors and designs they had. WAY too busy for my taste! After, we drove back, took a late afternoon nap and then had yummy dinner at P.F. Changs :) So that's it. Our fun weekend in St. Louis!

So apparently I didn't get the good footage of driving in the blinding rain. But you can see that it was raining bad, so just imagine it being twice as bad and you can get the idea!

A few things

I am actually really mad at myself for slackin' on the posts and also the fact that I haven't taken that many pictures of me during my pregnancy :( I do have some but no so many in the early stages. Live and learn I guess-

So anyway, my sister Nicole (the one that lives in Nebraska) was in town visiting and wanted to help throw a baby shower for me while she was here cause she wouldn't be back til after I have my little ladybug. So we had a family baby shower with aunts and cousins from my moms and my dads side and also Jason's sisters and mom. It was really fun getting all these little girl things and made it that much more real for me! I got some super cute outfits, way comfy blankets, some adorable towels and the cutest little froggy baby robe you have ever seen! Of course I got some diapers, wipes, shampoo, lotion and ya know.... all that good stuff! It certainly was a success :) Here are a few pics...

Yes, my mom is a twin!!

So on a side note, I can feel her move around a lot more and I LOVE IT! They are still pretty small kicks but some are big enough that I can see my belly poke out when she kicks or punches. It's kind of wierd cause you actually realize there is another human being growing inside you but it still feels kinda alien like. I don't know. All I know is I'm so excited to feel her more and more. I know, you're probably thinking that I'll be thinking differently later on when she keeps me up, but to me it is really comforting. I know I'm just being a worry wort, and I honestly do feel like everything will be ok, but there is still part of me that has flashbacks to my previous loss even though it was really early on. ANYWAY, about a week ago, Jason was able to feel her kick for the first time! I loved it and I know it made things a lot more real for him. Oh my goodness, I am just so excited for her to get here!

Um, last item of business is that we are having a hard time picking out a name.... I want something that is a little more unique but not wierd (like apple, blech!) I just want a name that is not over used. But then on the other hand, Jason likes more traditional names and doesn't go for the not so common names. So, yah, that's the dilemma- Soooooo, do you have any suggestions?? I know, you probably don't want to say any if they are names that you would use for your future little girl, but I need help! I am only throwing this name out there because Jason already said there is no way we are naming her this name (even though there is still a glimmer of hope. Maybe if I say it enough it'll grow on him!) So I found this name in a magazine and liked it right away..... HMMMM, maybe I don't want to tell just yet, just in case Jason changes his mind. I know some of you already know, so if you do, don't post it in a comment :) Maybe I'll tell you later on but I'm still gonna keep it a secret :)

We Are Having.....

A BABY GIRL!!!!!!!

Yay! This was kind of unexpected cause a few people have told me that the way that I'm carrying the baby they thought it would be a boy. Of course that is all old wives tales, but it still got me thinking that it would be a boy. Then we saw a picture of her cute little bum and sure enough she's a little girl :) We got some really cute pictures of her and the ultra sound technician said that everything is measuring normal and she is a healthy little baby! We are so happy! No names yet, but I'll keep ya posted.