misfit mama

been hiding under a rock the last few weeks. i need to update about our trip back to illinois and the other going-ons at the westphal house. my schedule is actually full with birthing classes, volunteer work and dr. appointments. i am also trying to clean house before baby arrives but i may have waited a bit too long to do so. the baby gut is definitely getting in the way and having three stories to climb in our house is not an easy feat with minimal lung capacity. we measured and i now have a 40 inch waist/gut. whoa baby!

other baby news to report: hiccups, he pretty much gets them on a daily basis. movement, i honestly feel like he's making more room for himself with the amount of kicking and pushing he's doing. heart rate, 141 bpm at today's appointment. head still down and all else is looking good.

next appointment in two weeks then weekly after that. it's slowly starting to creep up on us and baby westphal will be here before we know it! thought i'd share my 32/33 week pic. since it was on halloween, mama had to dress up. funny thing about the shirt, i bought a huge stash of band tees to eventually cut up and rework at a later date. they fit me perfectly now, go figure! ;)

roly poly

today was the big ultrasound day! the lady was quite surprised when i showed up alone. she told me people usually bring a barrage a peeps for the viewing. i really didn't even think about asking anyone to come along. awes is working everyday this week and this is pretty much the last week baby westphal would be viewable before space becomes limited in there. i knew i'd be getting a video of the whole session to share with anyone who wanted to see so i wasn't too concerned. i am kinda happy i didn't bring anyone along because i don't think the session would have lasted as long as it did if someone else was there.

the lady warned me there was the possibility we wouldn't get any good pics since i was a little further along than they'd like to see. she said the optimal time is between 28-30 weeks. the video below is pretty much what she got as soon as she put the wand up to my stomach. "whoa, i don't think we're gonna have a problem with this little one." she told me. she kept telling me how she always has a hard time getting good face shots and how she usually only gets shots of the hands and feet. but baby westphal was the complete opposite. she got plenty of good face shots and had the hardest time getting a shot of a foot or his "bits and pieces."

so the whole time she's doing the ultrasound she's recording EVERYTHING for me! i now have an hour long video of the whole session. unfortunately i don't know how to get video clips easily off the dvd she gave me (not sure if i have the right software or file formats.) so i had to play it on the computer and record with my phone. that's why the quality isn't that great. this is literally the first 41 seconds of the session. she pretty much switched over to 4d mode afterwards. i'm gonna have to find a really good spot to make a shorter clip of that part.

the session lasted a little over an hour, which was half an hour longer than they told me it would last. "you're my last patient today so we can take as long as we want." sweet. i came out with an hour long dvd, a huge stack of photos and a disk of all the photos she took during the session. i definitely think it was money well spent.

U-G-G-L-Y, yeah they're uggly

just a few days away from hitting the single digits as far as weeks go. it's crazy to think it's less than two months now til our family of two becomes three. i almost put four becomes five because i'm the crazy dog lady! ;)

i had my monthly check-up last thursday and everything is on par as far as progress goes. his head is already down and his heartbeat was around 123. i assumed that i'd be getting another ultrasound at my next appointment but was told since i've had a few more than usual that it wasn't necessary. of course i already had my mind set that i'd be getting one so as soon as i got home i made an appointment at another womens center to get the ultrasound. since it's elective i'll have to pay but i'll get 3d/4d and a 30 minute dvd of the little one. it's thursday afternoon so hopefully i can figure it out and post a video update afterwards.

i am starting to get to that "uncomfortable" stage which isn't too bad YET. i think one of the main problems i'm having is swelling. for a while it was my feet swelling at the end of the day. now it's pretty much all the time. my doc said some women are just more prone to swelling than others. with my family history of varicose veins i wasn't too surprised i'd be one of those women. awes has me wearing compression stockings and wants me to do some more walking to get the blood circulating. my remedy is to lay down with my feet elevated, the easiest thing to do of course. i also found out why i was getting that faint feeling i wrote about last time. apparently with all the kicking and pushing baby westphal is doing he's hitting some of my big veins and interrupting the blood flow. little bugger! a few nights ago he pretty much did it all night long and it was impossible to get any sleep. hopefully those nights are few and far between.

last week awes and i started our birthing classes. i just thought it'd be beneficial for both of us to gain as much knowledge as possible. we've been reading books but i thought doing a more hands-on approach would help us as well. some of the things the class teaches include: relaxation and breathing techniques, info on pain management, infant cpr and a tour of the birthing center. after the last class we're considering using a doula. we're still researching it but i'd love to hear if anyone's used one for their delivery.

it's kinda hard to see in the pic but i did break down and get a pair of ugg boots. well a generic version of them. with all the swelling going on i didn't have much of a choice. although with today's weather i could have easily worn flip-flops again. at least i got the darker colored ones instead of the khaki ones so it isn't as atrocious. sorry if i've offended any ugg wearers, lol! ;)

lazy sunday

a run for his money

i'm not exactly sure what this kid is doing inside me but the rest of me is not liking it.

a: "how you feeling?"
s: "not so great, for some reason i'm feeling a little faint when he moves. like my blood pressure is dropping."
a: "you should elevate your feet."
s: "okay, it's only happening when he moves, not when he kicks or stretches. like he's doing corkscrews or something. he must be flip-flopping in there."
a: "weird."
s: "no kidding."

so i spent the rest of the evening on the couch with my feet above my heart finishing off the third season of dexter.

i'm pretty sure i've gotten to the point (28/29 weeks) where i can give my dad a run for the money as far as beer/baby guts go! ;) i'll have to do a side-by-side comparison next time i see him.

i had to go out and purchase a cheap pair of boots (which, according to awes, look like ninja boots). with the weather getting cooler i was hoping i could just transition into my regular boots. nope, i tried putting on my boots from a few weeks ago and my monster calves have become more monsterous. i found a pair that has some give and goes about half way up my calf. i almost consider getting the ugg boot just cause they'd be easy to get into and out of. but to me uggs fall into the crocs category. i don't care how comfortable they are, they're ugly as hell and i just can't see myself wearing them.

this weekend we're having a garage sale at aaron's office to raise money for the als walk we participate in every year. all the money we raise is gonna go towards als research. we're hoping to make this an annual thing so here's hoping the weather cooperates and we have a great turnout.

jack sprat

still chugging along. here's my 26/27 week belly shot. sometimes i wonder if you saw me from the front if you could tell i'm pregnant. sorta like one of those flat characters where you look from the front and she's super skinny and then from the side she's huge.

i was hoping i could still wear my normal clothing and i'm learning it's pretty much a lost cause. this week i switched out my spring/summer clothes for fall/winter wear. i threw on a sweater this morning and it pretty much covered about half of the baby bump. i now own an extensive collection of belly sweaters. looks like cardigans are gonna be my best friend this winter.

i tried hitting up the thrift stores in hopes of finding some decent pants or maybe even a pair of overalls. apparently the only ladies that donate maternity clothing are of the large or x-large set. so i broke down last week and bought another pair of maternity jeans and a maternity skirt. i can fudge a bit and avoid buying maternity shirts but there's no avoiding the mom jeans now.

as far as the health aspect of this pregnancy, i don't have too much to report. as predicted i failed the one-hour glucose test and passed the three-hour test after the second hour. still feeling good. occasionally getting winded when walking and definitely getting swollen feet at the end of the day. baby boris is moving around like crazy and you can actually see the kicking, poking, prodding and stretching he's doing on the outside. i didn't think i'd be one of those people who'd have her hands on her belly all the time and now i'm grabbing people hands and putting them there so they can feel the movement too. funny how things change.

the nursery is about 85% done. still looking for a rocking chair to put in there. i really don't want one of those typical gliders because i want it to eventually transition into a reading chair as he gets older. hopefully i'll be able to find something in the upcoming weeks. once i find the chair and get some window treatments, it'll pretty much be done. i'll post pics soon.

i did start an online registry at babies r us and target. i went from not having a single baby shower to now having three! i would love some input on what i overlooked and what you think is a baby must-have! thanks.

iron like a lion in zion

as promised, here is the flickr set of aaron's recent trip to zion national park.

rock and roll

here's a pic of what is currently happening at the westphal abode. our house is officially becoming a mountain home. we've been talking about rocking the exposed sides of the house since we bought it a couple of years ago. it just looked unfinished to us. and with the pipe bursting last winter it left a huge water stain on the cement in the front. it's amazing what a little rock can do, the house looks like it's gotten a featherlift.

here's a little preview of aaron's hiking trip to zion national park.
i'll post the flickr photos once i upload and resize all the them. also i'll post my 26 week belly shot in a few too.

ready for some football

i meant to post this last week. last saturday was app. states home opener. unfortunately we lost to mcneese state in a close game 40-35. app. state is 0-2 for the season. we still have faith in the mountaineers. aaron said they started the season last year 1-2 and still had a winning season. fingers crossed they do great next weekend and the rest of the year.

we do have season tickets but for the first game we switched seats with dr. stanley's family and got to sit in the new, posh club section. my fanny appreciated the padded seats and i'm sure when it starts to get cold i'd love the overhead heaters. for the rest of the season we'll be in our regular seats, which are a little closer but not nearly as luxurious. it's hard to believe this is the stadium for a small I-AA school. it's pretty pimping! ;)

aaron get's back from vegas/zion tomorrow. i'll be posting pics of his trip in the next few days. sounds like he's had a great time and has some great photos to share. stay tuned.

caution: wide load

it's so weird cause i don't realize how big i'm getting til i look at the photos. of course it all depends on what i'm wearing, what angle you see me from and how straight i stand. i actually wore this shirt pre-pregnancy and am now wondering if it makes me larger than i think it does. it does appear like i'm smuggling a bowling ball under there. i'll have to do some sequence shots when we get closer to the end so you can see the progression.

seems like i always have something wrong when i go to an appointment. today's appointment was no different. last time it was the low-lying placenta which resolved itself at my last appointment. this time i didn't pass the one hour glucose test. i was seriously on the cusp of passing. on my instruction sheet it says if you score 140 or below you pass but it also says if you score 140 or above you'll have to be screened again. of course my docs are "better safe than sorry" so i have to go back friday for the three hour screening. i don't know why i got the impression i'd only be drinking a dixie cup worth of modified juice. i think one of the many times i was down in hickory getting my blood drawn, there was a pregnant lady was getting her glucose tested. i could have sworn she was only holding a small dixie cup of orange juice. when the girl handed me the 10 oz. bottle of juice and told me i had to finish it all in five minutes, my jaw almost hit the floor. if you know me, it takes me a whole day to finish off one 12 oz. can of soda, if i even finish it. i have a feeling that i'll pass on friday, a majority of women do. plus i think the nurse took my blood a little early. i bet if she would have waited five more minutes i would have passed. i guess we'll just have to wait and see.

as far as weight goes, i'm riding a little high. i just calculated where i should be and where i'm at and right now and i'm at the higher end of the spectrum. i kinda think that may be another reason why my docs want to retest me. it probably wouldn't hurt for me to go on a low carb diet. i was told for this test i could eat a couple hours before my test but to avoid carbs and sugar...yeah, the only thing i could pretty much eat was peanut butter. i have discovered that i consume a lot of carbs. and with being pregnant i've probably doubled my usual intake. i'll have to look up a diet plan and see if i can at least modify my diet. if i fail my glucose test on friday, i really won't have a choice.

and finally, the crib and dresser arrived last thursday! yippee! aaron put the crib together and i put the dresser together so the nursery is finally starting to look like an actual room. i also was able to get an additional $75 back since both pieces went on sale before they were shipped. and i must say i'm quite impressed with the quality of both pieces considering we only paid a little over $200 each. here's a link to the crib in case you were wondering what it looked like. sweet, it just went back up in price so i got a bargain. hopefully the prints i ordered come today, so nursery pics to come in the near future.

i better go. i've been thinking about crafting again and i opened the door to my craft room and it looks like it's become a dumping ground for anything and everything. so my next task is to clean a little craft house.