Weeks 25-31: Scarlett's Gestation

25 Weeks

I love being pregnant. I love being a mom. It's amazing to know that there is a baby in my body! It's crazy! I mean, this whole propagation of the species thing is so amazing. It's amazing that that I am fostering the growth and development of another being. Someone recently boggled my mind by saying that it is unknown how much the fetus understands because it is literally a part of the mother's body. Think about it, I know it's an outlandish concept, but we know that there is a strong mind-body connection and if the fetus is part of the mother's body, maybe they are wiser than we give think. I don't know how much Scarlett can understand now, but I do know that she all ready has a little personality. She feels and acts completely different than Derek did. It's amazing. This whole thing is amazing.

26 Weeks.

We have our last HypnoBirthing class this week and I'm kinda sad that the class series is coming to a close. I'd love to have a class every week until I give birth. It's awesome. And I know, you, dear reader, probably think I'm crazy. The first time I heard about HypnoBirthing, I thought it was crazy too. I remember my reaction to my boss coming in to work saying that she was going to use this method and I thought, "Yeah... sure. That sounds crazy." Then I got pregnant with Derek and I did some research and soul searching and decided that I would love to birth drug-free. I grew up with a mother who told me that birth was a beautiful thing and a spiritual experience. I have had a lot of negative conditioning as well from others' stories, television, movies, and society in general, but my mom always talked about how she just relaxed during labor and it was amazing. I read books, took classes, and was prepared to have a natural birth. Derek had other plans and had to be removed surgically because he was transverse. I labored through full dose Pitocin contractions without pain and with medication. It wasn't until they scared me that I felt any pain at all. This is what led me back to HypnoBirthing when I got pregnant again. I remembered reading in HypnoBirthing book that when a woman is relaxed and free of fear, "surges" or contractions, are not painful. This rang so true to my own experience. The nurse came in while I was laboring with Derek and asked me how I was doing. I smiled, still bouncing on my "birth ball" and replied, "great!" She looked kinda shocked and said, "wow, most people having contractions like you are are begging for an epidural." I just kinda breathed through contractions and wasn't even aware that they were considered "intense." So now I'm taking classes and am going to try again with this gentle, natural childbirth method. I do have to say though, because people get really defensive when someone else brings up birthing without pain medication, I AM NOT JUDGING YOU IF YOU WANT TO HAVE AN EPIDURAL DURING LABOR. There, I said it. Another thing, KEEP YOUR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS TO YOURSELF. I will try to have respect for your opinions but I don't think anyone should discourage anyone else from having the birth that they want.
I think it is equally wrong to make someone have pain medication as it is to deny someone pain medication while in labor.
I believe that God made our bodies and don't believe that He would give EVERY woman a malfunctioning uterus. Yes there are special circumstances all the time. I was a special circumstance with Derek. I still believe that I was made to give birth, that women are made to give birth. I believe that you, if you are a woman and in good health, could birth normally and naturally as well. I also believe that it is YOUR choice, a very personal choice, as to how you give birth.

27 Weeks.

I think things are going well with Scarlett. She kicks me like crazy and I love it. Sleeping isn't the easiest thing to do, but it's still one of my favorite things to do. If I fall asleep sitting up, I wake myself up with my snoring. Tyler thinks it's funny. It is. Sometimes I'll only be half asleep and I'll think, "who is snoring?! Be quiet!" When I realize it's me, it makes me laugh.

28 Weeks.

I don't have heartburn yet, which is kinda making me nervous. I read some study awhile ago that postulated that mothers who have bad heartburn when they are pregnant are more likely to have a child born with hair. I had horrible heartburn with Derek and he was born with tons of hair. I hope my little Scarlett isn't born bald! She, of course, will still be adorable, but I really want her to have hair! I hope she gets Derek's eyelashes too. Those didn't show up till a few weeks after birth though. I can't wait to see what my little girl is going to look like!

29 Weeks.

I have been trying to get Derek to grasp the concept of Mommy having a baby in her tummy. I think he's coming around. I don't know if he completely understands yet. The other day I was talking to him and telling him that his baby sister, Scarlett, was in my tummy. I later asked him, "Where's Scarlett?" He looked at my stomach and said, "Oh there he is!" It was really cute. Now when I ask him, he pokes my tummy. Tyler thinks he just thinks my stomach is named Scarlett. I hope that's not true. Tyler started saying, "Where's Greg?" and pointing to his own stomach. I told him not to confuse my little boy.

30 Weeks.

I'm getting really excited about everything! I've made baby registries on Amazon.com and Babies R Us even though my baby shower isn't going to be until the middle/end of March. I've started planning her room but haven't done anything to get it ready yet. I am most excited about that burst of energy called, "nesting." Right now I am just so tired, it's hard to get anything done. I have to make a real effort not to fall asleep in church. I often fall asleep on the couch playing with Derek. I just barely got the iron supplements my doctor told me to get, so hopefully that will help. I was borderline anemic and hopefully the iron with give me a little more energy. The staying up late doesn't help either. I need to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour!! Tyler works so much though and by the time he gets home and Derek finally gets to bed, I want to spend a little bonding time with my husband! I also need some time to focus on the things that I want to do, ya know? I end up going to bed around 2. Not acceptable! Okay, I'm making a goal, right now, to get to bed earlier. There, I've written it down; it's official.

31 Weeks.

I'm measuring right where I'm supposed to be. The last few weeks, I've had several people tell me how big I look. Thanks, right? When I went to my last appointment on January 18th, I told my doctor that I was concerned that it wasn't just one or two people but like 5 or 6 people tell me that I look huge and farther along than I was. She said that I was measuring perfectly and had only gained 20 pounds. Even if I gained a pound a week for the rest of my pregnancy, I would be right where the recommendations are for someone with my BMI. I guess when you have a short little torso, the baby has no where else to go but out. That's okay by me. I am not going to worry about it. That's my philosophy on so many things nowadays. Maybe I'll worry about it tomorrow. Haha. That one was for you, Scarlett.

My Birthday and New Year's Eve

My birthday went something like this:

I woke up in the very early morning hours feeling sick. I stayed in bed for as long as I could and then called my doctor to make an appointment. I got ready and figured that I'd leave a little bit early to try and see if I could get in any earlier. It's a good thing that I planned to leave early; there was a huge snow storm the night before and it took me about 40 minutes to get the ice and snow off of my car. My trunk was frozen shut and the snow-brusher-offer-thingy happened to be in there. When I finally broke it free, the snow pile was way too thick too just use the brush so I used the snow shovel first to get the majority off of the car and then scraped the rest with the gentler tool. Then I got in my car and tried to back out of my driveway and was unsuccessful. I had to get back out of the car and shovel the snow in the driveway. Through the ordeal, I was kicking my car and yelling at the snow. I was just about in tears. The mailman came over after I was mostly finished and asked if I ever got my trunk to open. I said yes and he drove away. I must have looked like a mess.

They did the strep test on me and it was negative but I told her my symptoms and that I had been exposed over Christmas. She looked in my throat and they said it looked like strep and swabbed my throat again for another test. Fun.

I stopped by Zupas on the way home for my birthday lunch and got some soup and creme brulee to go. Derek and I went home and had lunch and then we both went back to bed. I spent the rest of the day napping while Derek ran around and watched cartoons.

That was my birthday. It wasn't very fun but I had a lot of friends and family call or write me and wish me a happy birthday and that made it a lot brighter.

On New Year's Eve, Derek and Tyler brought me flowers in the morning for my birthday. We went over to Dan and Choka's with Cory and Katie to celebrate! Dan made me a birthday cake.

The kids watched a movie and the adults played Settlers of Catan. (Did I spell that right? I'm too lazy to look it up right now...) It worked, for the most part. We watched the ball drop and had sparkling cider. I was surprised that the kids made it to midnight, but they all did! It was a good night and I think we got the year off to a good start.


Since then, I've had another birthday cake, made by my mother-in-law and many offers for re-do birthday lunches. It's been nice to have that extension! Thank you to everyone for all the birthday love!

Goodbye 2010; Welcome 2011!!

Dear 2010,

Good riddance. I'm glad you're gone. You were 90% horrible. I am thankful for the lesson in patience and faith that you taught me but I will not miss you. Ok, we did have some good times. You were my child's second year of life and that gives you a little redemption. I probably am a better person for having lived through you. I'm not going to miss you though. Not one little bit.

Farewell,
Tara

Dear 2011,

Well, you're all ready way better than 2010. Let's keep it that way, eh?

Thanks,
Tara

My goals for the year are to stop caring about what other people think. I want to be more accepting, loving, charitable, and less judgmental. I want to gain 10 pounds and then lose 30. Haha. Little pregnancy joke for you.

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope this year is an awesome one. And if nothing else, I sincerely hope it's better than my 2010. Love to you all!

Christmas 2010

We had a very Merry Christmas! It was a month ago, I know, but is it ever too late to talk about how wonderful Christmas is? Dad and Bree came up to celebrate with us. Derek was a little overwhelmed with the present opening. He was happy with the first present. He just wanted to stop and play. We had to cajole him to open each additional present. It was still very cute. We started with stockings and we put some candy canes sticking out of the top. He was thrilled! He didn't care about anything else! He stole all of Bree's candy canes and was walking around with arms full of candy canes. We could have saved a bunch of money this year and stopped with those!

He was very excited about Mickey.

We opened presents at our house first, then went over to Dan and Choka's for more gift giving and a fabulous brunch. Then we had more gift exchanging and a big Christmas dinner with the Prestgard's at Shanda and Christof's house. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures of the last part.

The family photo. It took many attempts to get this picture. I closed my eyes in a couple of previous pictures so my eyes look kinda bugged. Haha.

Our little family.

We had a great Christmas and we hope you all did too! It's a great time of year to try to be a little more like our Savior. I'm very grateful for His birth and for His life and for His great sacrifice for us. Merry Christmas everyone! (Only 1 month late)....

We're Still Here!

I haven't written in a long time. But we're all healthy and happy. I just need to get my act together and upload some more pictures and I'll do a nice, long, series of update posts. I will start right now. It's nap-time though, so we'll see how far we get. So sleepy...