Busy Month!!!

 This month has flown by SO fast and SO much has been going on. Cooper is already a whole month old and we can hardly believe it!! I don't know where time has gone, it seems like just yesterday we were tucking him into his crib the first night he was home. We have thoroughly enjoyed our little addition, he adds so much to our home and I can't even imagine life without him! Above is his two week picture, his two week Doctor's appointment might have been tougher on me than him. I cried the whole way up, and neither Ry or I could go in for his circumcision. Coop is the best baby and rarely cries, and when they brought him back from his metabolic test and circumcision he had the SADEST cry I have ever heard! I nursed him as soon as they brought him back to the room which mildly comforted him, but I could tell he was still hurting, it was horrible. He weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces, 60th percentile and he shrunk a quarter of an inch (apparently that's common, since their little heads are a bit elongated at birth,) so 211/4 inches, 40th percentile. Everything else was perfect, we love our pediatrician, Dr. Fulks, but I am not looking forward to Coop's two month appointment, he gets his first round of immunizations, they may just have to sedate me.

My cute boys!!! Ry loves cuddling Coop and one of Coop's favorite nap places is his Daddy's chest, (I think that is one of Ry's new favorite nap positions as well).

Cooper had his first visit to the park with his friend Kolton (he's 3 months older than Coop), not that either on of them can do much at the park, but his mom his one of my good friends Lauren. So it's been nice having someone to do things with who has a baby around Coop's age, and her other kids are darling and so fun to be with.

Cooper's three week picture...how time flies!!! He has been enjoying walks with me, he loves stroller rides and usually falls asleep. He is SO strong, I knew he was strong before he was even born the way he was constantly moving around inside me. He already holds his head up, he has a super strong grip and loves hanging on to our fingers. He is starting to find his hand and use them as self soothing sucking, which has been a nice break for me. He sleeps almost through the night, he usually wakes up around 2:30AM to eat and then will sleep until about 6:00AM. When he is awake he is VERY alert and wide-eyed, he loves being read to and looking at the visual stimulating book that his Gammie gave him. He responds immediately to my voice as well as Ry's, it's so amazing how smart babies are at such a young age.

This was Cooper's first visit to the zoo with his friends Kolton, Jackson and Ashlyn. Obviously he was very interested in all the animals and told me every detail about each one, haha just kidding, he slept the entire time.

The little ones were out for the count, they both took a very nice LONG afternoon nap after their afternoon feeding, maybe I should take him to the zoo every morning.

Cooper's first bath was an adventure for Ry and me. I had Ry draw up the bath while I got all of his other bath stuff together. I made sure I waited until Ry could help me bathe him, because i know how slippery that baby soft skin gets and I didn't want to drop him (my carpel tunnel is still pretty bad). I'm not sure if the water was too cold or he just didn't love being wet, but it was a very short bath to say the least. Maybe he will grow to like them or maybe mom and dad will get better at giving them.

My bestfriend, Ashton, and her husband, Jade, and their daughter, Peyton, stopped by Pocatello on their way to visit their family in Driggs this week. We were SO excited to see them, it has been way too long. Ash, P, Coop and I hung out at our house for a while and the boys went golfing. Ash snuggled Cooper while Peyton napped and then we got ready to go to the pool. Peyton asked me if we had a zoo while she got her bathing suit on, I told her the ten whole animals that we had and she seemed more interested in the zoo than the pool.  I've been to the Portland zoo with her and I know our zoo is absolutely no comparison. But regardless, she wanted to go to the zoo rather than the swimming complex. So we got ready and headed to the zoo and had a wonderful time!! After the boys got done golfing they met us at the zoo and we headed to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We had so much fun with the Thelins and can't wait to see them again soon!

My little Coop at four weeks old, can you believe how long he is!? He may just be taller than his Daddy and Mommy!

This is Cooper's first tummy time... he loved it!! His tummy time mat helps his little eyes focus, he goes cross eyed whenever he catches a glimpse of his little nose or looks at pictures that are to complicated for his eyes to process.

Coop's first nail cutting experience, I was too nervous to cut them and my Dad is a pro. Thank you Grandpa Archie, (whose new name has become "baby hog"). He is so in love with Coop and whenever we are with him you know you can find our little guy snuggling with his Grandpa.

Coop hanging out in his bouncer, and yes, he is mildly cross-eyed in this picture, but still darling! We are thoroughly enjoying being parents and loving our little man, he is truly the best baby in the world and we are so blessed to have him in our family!!!

Cooper's First Photo Shoot

We had Cooper's newborn photos take when he was eight days old (they say it's best to do it within 4-10 days of birth because they are super 'moldable' during that time). He did great, and we got some gorgeous pictures of him. He really is an angel baby and was such a trooper during his 2 1/2 hour photo shoot. Here is a little preview of a few of our favorites!!! ENJOY! 

Happy Fourth of July!!!

The fourth is one of my favorite holidays, next to Halloween of course!! I love celebrating our freedom and remembering what our country stands for as well as remembering all of the men and women who have fought to keep it that way. We had a pretty laid back Fourth this year. Ry and I just hung out and relaxed with Coop all morning and afternoon. We went to Ry's parents for a late afternoon BBQ which was followed by a HUGE rain and hail storm, typical Idaho weather. We had a great time hanging out with his family and Ashley's future inlaws. After we were done at their house we headed up to Wood's for our annual celebration with my family. We enjoyed more food, played croquet, and waited for it to get dark so we could set off some fireworks. Cooper must have been worn out because he slept the entire time we were up at Wood's. My dad "visited his cousins in Fort Hall" (his words, not mine,) and of course had a selection of illegal fireworks to set off before The Biggest Show in Idaho!! Ry and I stayed and enjoyed some fireworks and then headed home to put our little angel to bed since he was dead to the world. This may be the first year we haven't watched "The Biggest Show in Idaho" but I don't really feel cheated, since it is the exact same every year, and we had our little firecracker to enjoy instead. 

Our little Coop in once of his 4th of July outfits!

His other outfit, he spit up on this one about an hour after I put it on him, good thing he had two.

My cute boys!!!

Snuggling my little man, isn't he sweet!?

Enjoying the fireworks from the back of our truck, as you can see, Coop is completely out.

Sparklers!!!

This is how Cooper enjoyed his first holiday of his life...

The Labor Story

My doctor was out of town for my 40 week appointment and the NP who was covering for him thought I would go before he got back, as did I. She set up a 41 week appointment for me just in case I didn't go into labor before then. The 21st rolled around, my doctor was back in town, and no real signs of labor, I was beginning to think that our baby was never going to come! Dr. Jones checked me at my appointment and said I was still dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced (where I had been for about 4 weeks). He stripped my membranes and said that I should go soon and he set up an induction for Thursday the 23rd if I didn't.


We called Wednesday night to find out what time to come in and they said to call at 5:00AM the next morning and they would let us know. I went to Ry's 10:00PM softball game and when we got home I could not sleep, so I took some Benadryl hoping it would help me get some sleep before the big day. Ry gave me a wonderful blessing before we went to bed that night. I woke up at 5:00AM to call Labor and Delivery, they told me to eat a light breakfast and come on up. I showered and choked down some toast and orange juice and rechecked my hospital bags to make sure we had everything we needed. I was so anxious, nervous, and excited that I was making myself sick; I almost threw up in route to the hospital.

Once we arrived the the L and D floor, we checked in and found out that the charge nurse for the day was our good friend, Tammy, who had conveniently assigned herself to by my nurse. I was SO relieved when she told me that, she gave me a big hug and got us all set up in our labor room. She drew my blood and started me on pitocin at 7:30AM, my contractions were showing up on the machine, but I couldn't feel a thing. Ry and I walked the hall, I rotated and bounced on the birth ball, I paced around the room, and Tammy increased my pit to 16 and still nothing was happening. I had a popcicle and drank tons of water, I was surprised by how thirsty I had become. Dr. Jones had come in to check on my and told me he would come break my water in a couple hours if I still hadn't progressed. So 1:45PM rolled around and I was still only dilated to a 4, so he broke my water, what an insane sensation!!! I seriously felt like I was peeing and had no control over it...and it didn't stop flowing. As soon as he broke my water the contractions hit me like a brick!! They were SO strong and coming every 2-3 minutes, so in the back of my mind I thought "this will speed things up and I should meet my sweet baby in no time". I couldn't have been more wrong. I decided to get in the jacuzzi tub and labor in there for about a half hour, Ry was so great, he helped me with my breathing and rubbed my back, yes, I had BAD back labor. After I got out of the jacuzzi tub I thought maybe sitting on the ball would help alleviate some of my back pain. By now my contractions were 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes apart and I started throwing up because of the pain and I felt like I wasn't getting any breaks in between contractions. After sitting on the ball for a while I decided to get back into bed and try to relax, that didn't happen. They turned down the pitocin because my contractions were literally every minute and I felt like I was going to die. Ry and Tammy asked if I wanted anything for pain and by this point I really didn't think the whole all natural labor was going to work anymore. So I caved and got a shot of nubaine, which didn't do much but make me feel super tired and really loopy. Ry was practically begging me to get an epidural and Tammy kept reminding me that healthy baby is my number one goal. I said I would wait an hour and see how far I had progressed and go from there, I figured if I progressed quickly that I could tough it out. So an hour had passed and Tammy checked me and I had gone from a 5 to a 5 1/2, I was absolutely devastated, I really really wanted to try and go natural, but by this point I was sick of throwing up from the pain level, I was completely exhausted and all I could think about was meeting my sweet bundle of love. So I decided to visit with the anesthesiologist and ask all my questions and make sure that this was going to be a good decision. I have heard lots of stories about epidurals slowing labor, working only half way, and lots of other awful things; I was one hundred percent at ease after he told me that once you are past a 5 that it can actually help speed labor, and that all the other risks I was worried about happen very very VERY rarely. By this time it was 4:00PM and by the time the anesthesiologist was set up I was dilated to a 7 and literally felt like I was going to pass out with every contraction. Once he put the epidural in I was in heaven, I have never felt such a sense of relief in my entire life! I pretty much fell right to sleep for a couple hours, which was much needed considering what happened next.

I woke up around 7:30PM and looked at Ry and said, "babe, I think I need to push" I was feeling contractions again and I had the urge to push. I called my nurse in, she checked me and said that I was to a 10 and to hang on while she grabbed Dr. Jones. From the time the nurse left the room until she and Dr. Jones got back, Cooper's heart rate kept decelling with every contraction. The second Dr. Jones saw that he told the nurse to call the surgical team because I was going to need an emergency C-section. When I heard this I just looked at Ry and started to cry, after laboring all day I was not about to be sliced open. I asked if I could just try pushing as Dr. Jones was throwing on his scrub gown and he said go ahead, so I pushed and pushed and pushed my guts out!! As I was pushing I kept praying that I would have the strength to get him out quickly and that there would be no need for a c-section. I didn't have any breaks between contractions, they had my push through them because Coop had to get out ASAP. As soon as Dr. Jones checked me he reached up and had to turn Cooper because he was facing posterior, (which half killed me by the way,) and then saw that the cord was wrapped around his neck. Knowing all of this just helped me push to get our little guy here as fast as I could, seven LONG minutes later they laid a purple and blue baby on my chest. He wasn't moving and he wasn't crying, I just looked around in shock waiting for someone to say or do something. The nurses wisked baby over to the nurses' station and started suctioning and rubbing him and that little cry that finally came out was the sweetest sound I have ever heard!!

While Dr. Jones was sewing me up, (I tore pretty good) I just listened to my sweet Cooper's cry and fell in love with him the instant I held him. He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!!! Ry was on camera duty while they stiched me up and finished cleaning up all the mess. Ry and I are so grateful that our little guy made it here healthy and whole, 7 pounds 9 ounces, 21 1/2 inches long, and just as darling as can be! After they handed him to me he looked up at me, and Ry and I just stared at him, he was so alert for about 2 hours after birth, it was truly an amazing and spiritual experience. After I had been holding Cooper for a little bit the nurse asked if I wanted any food, and I was famished so I told her some juice and crackers would be great. She brought me grape juice and graham crackers which tasted so delicious after throwing up all day and having absolutely nothing in my stomach. Mareesa was standing next to me looking down and Coop and I told her to hand me the barf bag fast, she grabbed it and shoved it onto my mouth (not in front of my mouth) so bright purple throw up didn't go in the bag but all over me, all over Cooper, all over the bedding. I felt SO bad, they took Coop to the nursery to get cleaned up, they had to change everything I was wearing and all my bedding. After that was all done I got to snuggle with my little bug again.

I'm so grateful for such a supportive husband who cheered me on the entire labor, helped me breathe during the horrid contractions, and did everything in his power to make my labor the best it could be. He is the best Daddy in the world, it's so sweet to see him with our little Cooper. Having Coop in our home the past two weeks has been such a blessing and a miracle, I can't imagine our lives without him now that he's finally here. I'm so grateful that I get to be a Mom, it's such a huge responsibility and I am beginning to mildy understand the love our Heavenly Father must have for each of us. I  thought that my love for Ry was as much as I could love, and then our baby Coop came along and my love for both of my boys has grown immenesly!!!

One last look at the pregnant belly...whoop whoop!!

On our way into the hospital, excited and so ready to be parents!

The best nurse in the world, Tammy!

Before the hard labor hit...

Isn't he the most precious thing you have ever seen?!

Finally holding my sweet little Cooper, he is the sweetest thing in the entire world!!!

Our first family picture!

Proud Grandpa, he could not be more excited!!!

Gammie loving and talking to our little Coop.

Proud Uncle Marcus, (we're SO sad that McKaid couldn't be here) he will be getting lots and lots of pictures from us.

Excited Auntie Weenie!!!

Our handsome little nugget, look at those long feet!!!

Ry admiring our little one, and making sure he's still breathing (just like worried Dads do)...

 Coopy meeting Aunt Ashley.

 Our beautiful little man, i'm so in love, can you tell!?

Grandpa Mike

39 1/2 Weeks and Counting!!!

I have been horrible about journaling my pregnancy, mainly because I feel like most of my experience has been extremely negative and I haven't wanted to turn my blog into a negative, woe is me party. I have decided that before this little one gets here I should reflect on the past 39 1/2 weeks because I know I won't have times once he arrives and i'm sure all the negative will magically be erased once I get to see his sweet face and hold him in my arms. This is my journal i'll keep most of the details o be warned, this may not be the most entertaining or positive thing you've ever read.

It all started back in September, the 24th (Ry's birthday and the day my had his heart attack). I had a trip to St. George planned for Ry's birthday, and after all the events that unfolded the day of Ry's birthday we were hesitant to go, but reassured by my Dad and Mom that there was nothing we could accompish by staying home. My Dad was out of surgery and stable and was getting great medical care as well as lots of family and friend support. So, Ry and I headed to St. George that night and arrived super late. The weekend was full of golf, sunshine and fun! The week before this we decided I would stop taking my birth control and that if we got pregnant it was meant to be and that we were ready. Since my family history is full of women taking years to get pregnant along with my hormonal imbalancesn we weren't too concerned that this would happen anytime soon. About a week after we got home from St. George I noticed my boobs were super sensitive, so bad that it hurt to wear clothes!! I had a yearly appointment with my OB, I told him that I have stopped my birth control and was a bit concerned that my new onset of sensitivity was a sign of pregnancy. He said "there's no way that you would get pregnant that fast, it usually takes about 3 months for all the hormones to get out of your body, this feeling is probably your body getting back in balance with itself" he went on with the exam and I didn't think anything more.

My favorite month of the year rolled around, October, and here I am 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 days late for my period. I had been taking pregnancy tests every morning at work and every single one was negative. Now, this was supposed to be my first period after going off the birth control, so I called the nurse up at my OB's office, just to ask her to ask him what he thought. His response was that it may take a bit for my body to have regular periods and that I shouldn't worry. Again, i trusted him, and thought, my body will probably take a bit to get back into the swing of things.

Week 3: On October 18th, 2010 I went to work just like I had been and took my morning pregnancy test and two lines showed up!!! My first reaction was "oh shoot!" then I called in my coworker "Shalynn, what does this mean?!?!?" and her response was "Meg, you read these everyday, it's positive". I just started crying hysterically, I had every emotion imaginable run through my body at that point, I wasn't sure if I was excited, in denial, scared, happy, sad, mainly I was thoroughly shocked. After I stopped sobbing, I had Shalynn draw my blood so we could see how far along I was. I couldn't focus on work at this point, so I ran my blood up to the lab and told them we needed results STAT!!! After I dropped the blood off I went to the store and bought a bunch of different pregnancy tests, a box, ribbon and wrapping paper. I went back to work and took 20 more pregnancy tests (as if they were going to be negative) wrapped them all up and called Ry to meet me at home for lunch.

I set up my camera in the livingroom so I could capture his reaction on video. He slowly opened the box and pulled out one of the tests that spells out "pregnant" and he looked at me and said "Oh my gosh, you are? no, you're not...are you really? No!, you really are?" after he got over the shock he gave me a big hug and we talked about how our lives were about to change forever. We talked about how we were going to tell our families and when, we decided Christmas was perfect, that way I would  be through my first trimester and we would be able to have our first ultrasound to make sure everything was growing the way it needed to be. That night we had a big BBQ at the park with my Mom's side of the family, our cousins Katie and Bart were in town, and Ry kept saying, "I just want to stand up on those rocks and shout it out". Luckily he was able to keep it in and our surprise didn't get ruined.

Week 4: This is the week that I started feeling super nauseous, completely exhausted and unable to eat anything. When I found out I was pregnant, I thought, great, my Mom LOVED being pregnant and never had any problems, didn't get sick, nothing. So I didn't understand why I was so sick and the thought of food repulsed me.

Week 5:  Again this week I am extremely sick, running to the bathroom every 20 minutes. I can't hold any food down. The only thing that sounded remotely appetizing was McDonald's french fries, which I never ever eat. We started calling baby "blueberry" since that's about the size he is this week. I have also had all the symptoms of a bad bad bad period with the blood, awesome.

Week 6:  I couldn't even get out of bed today, I'm completely exhausted and hope this doesn't last much longer. We are super excited for our appointment Wednesday, we get to hear the heart beat!

Week 7: No change, still feel like crap, and can't eat anything.

Week 8: I look fabulous minus the 800 bumps that have popped up all over my face, neck and upper back! I look like a 13 year old hitting puberty, my doctor referred me to a dermatologist. Neither doctor has any idea what this rash is, it's now PUPS because that usually manifests itself on your belly and never on the face. My liver enzymes are also a bit high, my doctor said we'll keep monitoring that throughout pregnancy, again, no apparent or obvious explanation for any of this, other than, I swear my body hates being pregnant.

Week 9: Our first appointment was today with Dr. Jones' nurse, Sandy, love her! She told us our official due date is June 14th, 2011!!! I have a bit more energy, I have been able to get enough energy to return to my normal workout schedule and my house is so happy because I have been able to handle cleaning more than one room at a time. The nausea has mildly subsided, my throwing up has slowed down to about every hour now, much better than three times every hour.

Week 10: My hormones must be kicked into high gear, because I have been an emotional nut case this week!!! I cry over the dumbest things. I haven't gained any weight, in fact I think I am losing weight since I can't hold anything down. My boobs have grown at least one or two cup sizes, i'm way over due to go bra shopping. My energy feels like it is going up still, which I am very excited about!

Week 11: We have been listening to lots of Christmas music, we went to Harry Potter adn the Deathly Hollows. I'm reading three books right now, Mockingjay, What to Expect..., and Your Pregnancy and Birth. My skin still looks like crap, bring on the make up baby!!!

Week 12: Yay, today marks the end of my first trimester, I made it!  I have finally slowed down on the throwing up, thank goodness! Ry and I are counting down the days that we have to find out what we are having and we couldn't be more excited to tell our family! We can tell everyone in 19 days... Christmas Eve!!!

Week 13: Things are going well as of late, I am started to feel a bit bloated by bed time, but still haven't gained any weight. We cannot wait to tell our parents!

Week 14: We had a little scare this week... I started spotting and bleeding some bright red chunks, this lasted two days. I rested and tried to stay down which I think really helped. We went to Twin Falls for Ry's work party and spent the night in Jackpot. I have started to get sick at night again, I guess that's a good sign, but I am sure sick of throwing up so much. Only 6 more days until we can tell our family!!!

Week 15: My hair is fabulous, it's super thick, luscious and shiney (maybe the only positive I have had?) my skin on the other hand, is horrendous!!! I have been sick every single night this week, it's becoming part of my nightly routine. The rash is all over my cheeks, chest, and back, my liver enzymes are still elevated and the dermatologist gave me some cream to try and get rid of this ugly rash. My family was absoltely ecstatic to find out our news!! We told my family Christmas Eve and Ry's Christmas morning, and Kaid Christmas day when we talked to him! Best Christmas present ever!!

Week 16: Happy New Year 2011!!! My skin still looks horrid, i've got a follow up with the dermatologust, the cream he gave me seems to have made the rash even worse, hopefully he can figure out what is wrong. I have still been throwing up every single night, i'm just kind of getting used to it. Our next appointment is on the 10th, which is the day we'll find out what we are having! I have been searching for cribs, bassinetts, and changing tables, it will be easier once we know the sex.

Week 17: My appetite has finally increased a bit, I actually feel like I am going to die if i don't eat every 2-3 hours. If I don't eat this often get super nauseated and throw up. My rash on my face and neck are slowly improving, they still don't know what it is. My dr's theory is that I am allergic to all the extra hormones my baby is making my body produce. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my perfect skin will come back.

Week 18: My rash is almost gone but my skin texture is still not back to normal. I am feeling pretty good this week, I have only thrown up three times this week. I have gone through a whole jar of shea butter and have ordered for more. My stomach is starting to feel really tight, it's not flat anymore, and people that don't know i'm pregnant they probably wouldn't notice. We heard Baby's heart beat, it was beautiful!! We find out what baby is this week and could not be more excited!

Week 19: Well I officially "feel" pregnant, i've got a small bump that I feel is super noticeable. I have been getting really hungry lately, but I have still been super conscious of what I eat. I want to be able to get pre-baby body back fast after i'm done. Our ultrasound took a bit over an hour, he was such a wiggle worm and didn't cooperate very well. But luckily we got all the views we needed, everything look great, heart, kidneys, bladder, arms, legs and face are all perfect! Baby Ray is a boy, we were both very surprised but can't wait to meet him!

Week 20: I feel great this week, my only complaint is I have been having tons of low back pain. I have gained 5 pounds so far and my tummy feels like it has a little solid orange in it and my boobs are gigantic.

Week 21: I have been getting up about 3 times a night to pee, I still like sleeping on my back, I know as I get bigger that will probably become less comfortable. Ry got to feel the baby move before the super bowl this week, it was truly magical for Ry to be able to feel that and for us to experience it together.

Week 22: I am feeling bigger by the day, I have been loading on the shea butter. I have most of my energy back, which i have been loveing. Baby has been very active, I feel him almost all day and night, I just love him! We ordered his crib, dresser and changing table today. I can't wait to see it and set it up.

Week 23: I have been listening to lots of Disney music, country and workout music. My workouts have been great lately, I hate feeling fat though, ugh!

Week 24: WOW, I can't believe it's the end of the second trimester, how time has flown! It's been strange and taken a lot of getting used to my growing belly. I can feel that I need to slow down on my workouts, i've starting getting contractions if I push it too hard, this has been really hard for me to face. I know my body is the best indicator of what I should be doing and I am going to have to deal with this and listen.

Week 25: My belly is definitely growing, my jeans are starting to get uncomfortable and it's time for bra shopping, again. Baby is such a wiggle worm, I swear he never stops moving. Ry and I really enjoy feeling him move so much, and it really is comforting.

Week 26: Well...today I caved and ordered my first pair of maternity jeans, mine just won't stay up, even with the belly band. Baby is super low so it almost pushes my pants down. I have had a bad sweet tooth this week...weird.

Week 27: We got our changing table and set it up today, it was quite the process to say the least. It took forever, and then when Ry was putting the last drawer together and I was putting the knobs on the second to last drawer I accidently walked through the last drawer that Ry was building and broke it to pieces. We just looked at each other, I almost cried and then we both just laughed. It was a long day, but we did get a lot done.

Week 28: I have never been so emotional in my entire life!!! I have cried like three times this week over nothing... my hormones are definitely on the up and up. I'm feeling a bit better now. Sweet Ry got up and started setting up the baby's crib, I got up and helped as much as I could, it looks great! Bedding is on its way, which is good because I am 100% nesting mode. Baby is insanely active, he really moves non-stop, and we just love him sooo much!

Week 29: I watched conference today and along with my ever moving belly. Working out has been a challenge, my contractions are getting progressively worse. I can't believe how fast time has been flying.

Week 30: My skin is absolutely horrible, it has been uncontrollabley itchy! Mareesa said my nose is the size of Kansas, and Marcus said "you're HUGE"--- so i've felt pretty ugly this week. We started our birthing class this week, we go every Wednesday this month. Ry was so sweet, at the end of our classes we learn breathing techniques. Ry rubbed my back and belly while we practiced our breathing, it really help me relax, i'm so grateful he is so willing to come to these classes with me and be a supportive birthing partner. Baby's room is almost done!

Week 31: My skin still looks pretty bad, and it itches like crazy! Our birthing class is going well, my favorite part is the end where we get to practice our breathing techniques. Working out is pretty limited to yoga and lifting at home, any type of cardio puts me straight into pre-labor.

Week 32: My skin is slightly improving, and baby continues to be a wiggle worm. When he stretches I almost die! We had our maternity pics today, our friend Jen took them and we can't wait to get them back. There's one pic that Jen showed me that you can see the baby sticking out a pointy appendage right under my rib, so crazy! My first shower is next Saturday, i'm super excited.

Week 33: I had my first shower today, it was super fun and I got some super cute stuff for baby. I have officially developed pregnancy onset carpel tunnel, it's awful, my hands are numb all the time and I also get shooting pains with certain movements. Contractions have become a daily occurence, mostly at night when I have been on my feet all day. I'm trying to take it easier, but it's hard. I am also starting to get swelling in my hands and feet, mildly painful.

Week 34: I have officially developed two small stretch marks on the outside edge of my belly button. It makes me SO sad because I have been so faithful with my shea butter. My nose is gigantic, I look awful and try to stay away from cameras lately. My other shower was today, it was fabulous, Mom did a great job! We've got almost all of our essentials for baby!

Week 35: People can't believe I am 35 weeks, I keep getting "you look too small for that" but believe me, I feel very large! I am getting more and more swollen, it's getting pretty painful. I 've started to get tired lately and my carpel tunnel is getting progressively worse. We went on our Babymoon this week to Boise, we went to Wicked (Ry surprised me with tickets). We had a wonderful time together, did some baby shopping, and enjoyed being together.

Week 36: I've nahd diarrhea for about 5 days now, tons of low pelvic cramping and lots of increased pressure. baby feels like he's grown a ton and he's still very active. We're getting super excited to meet our little man. My skin is slowly improving, the texture is still bad, and my tummy is getting more stretch marks, boo!!

Week 37: I've been trying to finish up the four books I have  been reading and finish baby's room. Life has been crazy lately, time is flying and we can't believe the clock is ticking down so quickly.

Week 38: I'm feeling pretty good, i've had a couple rough episodes of contractions this past week and super bad bad back pain. The past few days I have had tons of energy in the morning and then by the evening I am totally drained because I have been going non-stop all day. Baby's room is ready and Ry and I are getting really ready and very excited for him to come. My hadns and feet are extremely swollen and my nose is absolutely gigantic!

Week 39: I have been dilated at 3cm for almost four weeks, 50% effaced for two weeks and 70% effaced for the past week. I really thought this baby would come this week, but maybe I was wrong, I have been doing everything possible to get him out! I've tried raspberry tea, evening primrose oil, long walks, vacuuming, massage, accupressure, and yes, even sex. But our little guy seems stubborn and I guess he'll come when he wants... We are keeping our fingers crossed and we can't wait to meet him!

Fabulously Fifty!!!

 My mom turned the big "5-0" on May 25th!!! I really wanted to throw a big party for her, but she absolutely refused anything of the sort. She was really struggling with the thought of turning fifty so we all decided to make her big day super special and let her be the center of attention with just our close family. Dad took care of her all morning, breakfast, massage, hair appointment, lunch, shopping, and a pedicure. The rest of us met up with them at Red Lobster for her birthday dinner followed by the movie she really wanted to see...

 Which was suprisingly good, the past couple I fall asleep everytime I attempt to watch them.

 After the movie we headed out to my parents for cake, ice cream and presents.

 She had chocolate on chocolate cake and of course her favorite, tuxedo cake. She got some beautiful flowers from Aunt Judy, Jac, and Karli...and we gave her the gag gift of the first season of Modern Family. Ry and I LOVE that show and have been trying forever to get her to watch it with us, so now she has to. We made her watch a couple of episodes that night, and i think we have officially got her secretly hooked!!

The night before her birthday Ry and I went out to "watch a movie"...after the movie we waited for all the lights in the house to go off so we could bring out our arsenal of car decorations. We knew she would be driving around a ton the next day so we got window chalk, princess and birthday gel stickers and just went crazy on her car. We wrote "honk it's my birthday" on her back window, so you know she got zillions of honks the next day.

Happy 50th, you are fabulous Mom!!! We love you!