33 week bullets

• Jody and I attended our 'third trimester class' at the midwifery center last week.  The midwife in charge was a tad on the 'kooky' side, spoke reeeeaaal slllooow, and would have no problem describing in detail an inverted nipple and the beauty of expelling the 'life giving' organ we call placenta.  Mmhmm.  Anyway, I found this class very helpful, regardless of the fact I had to sit still and listen while not peeing my pants for nearly two hours.  The room was stuffed full of swollen bellies and Evian's, and I found myself looking around and wondering, How did we get here?  Well, okay - that whoopsy is obvious, but really.  God has a sense of humor.

• Apparently, there's no stopping Cedar now, as she'll be here in two months, whether we're ready or not.  And I feel...ready.  I do.  And up until I am in labor and she's squeezing her way through the birth canal, I will remain calm, cool and collected.

Ha!  Or...I will continually keep a steady rotation of naps, snacks, and breakdowns.  

I'm only half kidding.

•  Cedar may be weighing in at around 4-5 pounds by now, but I haven't had any confirmation of her weight yet.  I have an appointment on Friday and will be interested to see if she's measuring a bit bigger than last time.  
• My damn sciatica has returned, and I'm not a happy camper.  Although I've gotten more used to it and can walk now, I still can't do so comfortably and it hurts to do most of my pilates exercises, so I've been taking it very easy lately.  I know that's a good thing, because I tend to over do it sometimes, but not getting fresh air and quality exercise daily puts a big damper on my mood.  I would so appreciate prayers for this back pain to go and stay away for the remainder of the pregnancy.
• I do not understand how tv and movies portray largely pregnant women as largely hungry women.  My appetite has severely dropped, or rather, my ability to hold large amounts of food has diminished.  I am still hungry, so maybe that hasn't changed, but half a salad into my lunch and I feel about ready to burst.  This has been causing me to eat about 8 snack like meals every day instead of 3 meals with snacks in between.  My meals usually consist of apples and cheese, peanut butter toast, or smoothies.  I'm getting sick of eating the same foods all the time.  I am very much looking forward to refills of wine and the rawest of sushi.  But mostly the wine.

 32 weeks

 33 weeks

Worth Sharing

We are now less than two months from our due date, and I will officially declare that Jody and I are feeling very impatient to meet this little bugger.

Some updates on Cedar and myself:

• I'm feeling lots of strong movements and can see my belly swirling around quite a bit now.  Maybe I'm crazy, but she seems like one solid kid in there, because her kicks are just not very sweet and nice anymore.  I fell asleep on the couch last night and was startled awake by what felt like a body slam on both sides of my belly.  Maybe she took one big stretch or decided to go for a swim, I don't know.  It's neat and annoying, all at the same time.  Mostly neat.  Really :)  Her movements have become...a part of me, and I love them.  Every time I wake up at night to pee, she's moving in there.  While I'm at the computer during the day, she kicks me ribs and forces me to sit up straight.  While I carry Ayden, I'm pretty sure she's trying to tickle him; probably has a bit of a crush on the kid and who could blame her?  He's a stud.

• I've also been feeling some braxton hicks contractions for about two weeks now.  I didn't realize what they were until last weekend when I was doing some reading on my 31st week of pregnancy.  I had assumed that Cedar was rolling herself up into a ball and maybe doing some body-bowling or something, but no.  They happen quite a bit, mostly at night and are sometimes fairly uncomfortable.  Not painful, just uncomfortable enough to make me stop what I'm doing and wait them out for a few moments.  I did talk to my midwife about this and we're keeping an eye on them.  All normal stuff, though, and I really like the idea that my body is preparing itself for labor in the next few weeks.  My prayer is that I go into labor on my own, with no interventions and on time (okay, okay, I know this is everyone's  prayer for every other labor, but I'm just sayin'), as we have already scheduled our dates to fly back home.  Cedar and I will hop a flight with Grammie Chris on May 31, and Jody will follow with vehicles and a moving truck the following day.  It feels great to finally have some plans set in motion, but now is the tough part - waiting.

• No super icky pregnancy symptoms, so far.  I know I'm only 31 weeks, but I haven't noticed any swelling yet.  I am definitely short of breath and get kicked in the ribs one hundred times a day, but my sciatica is gone and the only pain I feel in my back is just a bit of a strain from the extra weight.  On the other hand, C is only 3 some pounds, so it's really not killing me.  I'm looking forward to some spring weather and more walks outside.  I miss my vitamin D, and I'm dying for a tan.

• I finally found a store with maternity clothes that make me happy.  I recently tried a bunch of clothes on at Motherhood Maternity, but everything fell off of me.  I discovered that H & M has cute and inexpensive clothes that actually fit.  The legs and belly of most pants are all too long, regardless of where I shop, but I've found a few pairs of bottoms I can wear comfortably and still feel somewhat stylish.  Just sitting, waiting, wishing for warmer weather so I can hop into some summer dresses and be a bit more comfortable.  It's getting tougher and tougher to stuff my legs into boots these days.

 I recently read my sister's blog and couldn't believe my little nephew, Ham is already three months old.  How did that happen?  Where have I been?  The more I think about it, the more comfortable I feel with dropping our military status ( and paycheck ) and heading back home to MT.  I just don't want to miss anymore of my family's life and we can't wait to get back home and settle in a place where our hearts feel happy and secure.  We are so blessed that God has given us a daughter and a home and we're greatly anticipating this new chapter.

On a lighter note, per my usual, I have a few recipes and favorite's I feel are worth sharing.  Does anybody ever read this part?  Just humor me, I love me my baking and crafts!


Best Product:
My favorite moisturizer - ever.  I've always had really dry skin, and during the winter it only gets worse.  Especially in Montana, and maybe it's me, but do pregnancy hormones dry out anyone else, too?  My face just about started peeling off half way through second trimester, and this delicious stuff fixed me right up.

Best Treat:
I'm more of a cookie gal, but I made these low calorie brownies a few weeks ago because the main sweetener in this recipe was honey and I had just gotten a fresh jar of sweet, delicious honey straight from a bee keeper nearby.

If you're wondering - the honey really is that good, and really is that much better than the little bears you buy at the store.  Yum.

 Anyway, the brownies were delish, but maybe a bit too...honey-ish.  I think I will cut down on the honey just a bit next time.  They were fudgy and moist and I thoroughly enjoyed far too many.

Favorite 'Healthy' Treat:
These are great breakfast cookies, but I just kept them around for a treat when I wanted some dessert.

Delicious and Nutritious:
I whipped out my juicer recently and started juicing up some tasty cocktails.  Apple celery juice with cinnamon is my favorite, but it's no secret that I love carrot juice as well.  Have you tried juicing, yet?  You should.  It's the easiest way to get those wonderful vitamins and minerals without having to crunch fruits and veggies all day (although, that doesn't sound so bad, either).

In the next few weeks, a friend and I are planning on tackling home made almond milk, via this recipe.  I'm also hoping to make several week's worth of green smoothies to have ready for after Cedar is born, and last, but not least - I just plain want these.

Obviously, Cedar as pretty stinking awesome.

Our sweet girl had her eyes wide open and was busy surveying her squishy, weird little world when we took a peek last Wednesday.  Cedar seems to be quite the busy-bee (not surprising, she never stops swishing around in there to take (or give me) a breath).  Her mouth was busy opening and closing (enjoying my Starbucks, maybe?) and we caught a nice big yawn just in time to snap a photo.  

The ultrasound was great fun.  We spent about 20 minutes just looking around, repositioning my belly and talking about Cedar.  Jody skyped my mom and Janelle, his mother and his sister, and Dad who was in Missoula with Jenny on his iphone - what a fun opportunity!  It felt great to finally share some of this experience with those we love and miss so much.  

Towards the end of our ultrasound, C decided she'd had enough of us and flipped her perfect little feet up over her head and refused to show anymore of her face - but we saw plenty of bottom!  I still can't get over how perfect her toes are.  One big toe, and four subsequent little piggies beside.  Something about those perfect feet blows my mind.  How is it that I've been doing nothing but walking around, doing my day to day (plus an extra dose of complaining and dessert...) while meanwhile this flawless little human is molding into itself inside of me?  God is good - and what a genius!

This ultrasound was just the push I needed.  

10 more weeks until her due date, and please, please, please get her out.  I know I've done my fair share of complaining and gushing, but when it comes right down do it, pregnancy is disgusting and uncomfortable to me, and I love my girl too much to keep her in there any longer than necessary.  I am going to be one heated mama when she decides to show up a week or two late...

Oi...

Anyway, here's a fun little evolution of our growing kiddo and growing Kayla.  

 Cedar and me at our very first ultra sound, confirming the little troublemaker was in there.

 This will forever be my favorite ultrasound photo.  Just a tiny, perfect little baby shape, and at less than 12 weeks!  Truly a miracle.  

(You may now vomit, if you need to.)

And, me, at 30 weeks.  Starting to enjoy photos of myself less and less.  It is not fun not feeling like my usual self.  I miss running, and I miss wine. 

And rum and coke.

 

I'll also take a gin and tonic and a mint mojito, while we're on the subject. 

 

And then I will sleep.  Goodnight!