Birthing class scheduled…

I registered to attend a Preparing for Labor Birth and Beyond class today at Aurora Hospital and I must say, doing so is causing me to freak out a bit. Nope, I’m going to be honest, registering for this class is causing me to freak out a whole big bunch because it means that I’m going to be a parent sooner rather than later.

To be responsible for a whole other little life is something that I’m not going to take lightly and the fact that taking on that responsibility is going to be a reality really, really soon is starting to hit me. I’m excited for it and at the same time, a bit unnerved by it given that I have no idea what to expect. Is it going to be hard, is it going to be easy, or is it going to be somewhere in the middle. I just don’t know and because I’m a bit of a control freak, that not knowing part is what really gets me! So at this point, I’m going to heed the advice of someone who posted on my Facebook page a few weeks or months ago now and that advice was to not have any expectations at all. By not having any expectations, there won’t be any disappointment or upheaval, so, that’s what I’m going to try to do. Trying being the key word :0)

As for not having expectations, that’s not something I’m going to be able to do with this Preparing for Labor Birth and Beyond Class. Therefore, I’m going to speculate away. I know that I’ll probably end up becoming completely mortified by all of the information that’s going to be presented to me. Some of the topics that are going to be covered during the class include what’s going to happen in labor, options we’ll have for things, coping with labor, what caesareans are all about, and post-birth recovery. Dave is obviously going to go with me and all I can do is picture a room full of big bellied women with a man at their side who end up falling on the floor when they hear about what’s going to happen. AHHHHHHHHH! And as I scream AHHHHHHHH in my head, little Billy Bubby just kicked me in the diaphragm! Way to let me know you’re there little man! Or, maybe he’s freaked out about the birthing class too, who knows. LOL.

Anyway, I’m sure the class is going to be a treat and I’ll definitely share about how it all goes down afterwards. So until I blog again, it’s Carla the freaked out tomboy saying farewell! 

Gotta love getting pampered…

Back on Valentine’s Day, my husband gave me this amazing gift to get a massage, facial and manicure at The Spa Loft in De Pere, WI to help me relax a bit during my pregnancy. The package he purchased for me was call the Be Mommy Package and after holding off for a bit, I finally booked the appointment to get pampered and I wish I would have done it sooner because it was one of the best, most relaxing experiences of my entire life.

The gift packages of all gift packages! So yes, I had to include a super-sized picture!

I headed to The Spa Loft this past Saturday and when I walked in the door, I was greeted by a friendly staff member who gave me a brief rundown on everything that was going to happen that day. Just like the package originally indicated, I was going to get a massage, facial and manicure. The massage was first on the agenda and it was absolutely incredible, especially since for the first time in like six months I was able to lay down on my stomach since there was a cutout for my belly bump! I sat there for about an hour in a state of mindless bliss that I never thought I could ever experience. My aches and pains melted away and when the massage was over, I could barely walk due to the fact that I was so mellow. The massage therapist had to basically wake me up and then told me to leave my clothes and use the bathrobe and slippers they provided. So, I was walking around about half naked covered in a bathrobe for a bit, which was completely funny to me and a bit awkward. I got over it pretty quick though because I realized this is what happens at spas and it’s not a big deal. After the massage came the facial and that too was tremendously relaxing. The person who gave me the facial assessed my skin type and proceeded to rub all sorts of girly cleansers and lotions all over my face and followed it up with a brief facial, scalp and shoulder massage. I don’t even know how long it took given that there were no clocks around. I’m guessing about 45 minutes and the facial again put me in a nice state of mindless bliss.

Then as a part of the Be Mommy Package, I was lead to this rain drop shower to unwind a little more and get cleaned up. She said they allocated about 20 minutes for me to use the shower, however, I’m sure I was in there for way longer than that due to the fact that there was an unlimited supply of hot water. When I finally dragged my butt out of the shower and got dressed, it was time for me to get a manicure. That too was very relaxing and after sharing a few laughs with the person doing my nails about whether or not I wanted color on my nails and how there was no way in hell that would happen, I was on my way. J

All in all, the pampering was pretty damn awesome and something, like I said before, I wish I would have done sooner. Before Saturday, I never went to a spa before, had a massage, facial or a manicure. So, I can now check those all off my bucket list! And, if you’re looking for a great way to relax, check out The Spa Loft, here’s their website: http://www.thespaloftdepere.com/

They have other options besides the Be Mommy Package and I’m already thinking about booking a few more pampering days for myself before little Billy Bubba comes into this world. I know for sure that I’ll be booking some for afterwards! With that said, that’s about all I got for today, so until I blog again, it’s Carla the relaxed tomboy saying good-bye!

Double ick, that test wasn’t fun…

Yesterday I had a baby check up and had to take a glucose screening test. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best day because the glucose screening test was not a fun experience for me and on top of that, I was surprised to learn during my check up that I would be receiving a RhoGAM. So as compared to my last doctor’s appointment that went smoothly, this one needless to say did not.

Example of the evil sugar beverage I had to drink!

Everything began with me heading to the lab to drink this wonderful sugary substance that I was told by the lab tech had about 50 MG of sugar in it. I choose the orange flavor, drank it down, and was told by the lab tech to come back in an hour so they could take my blood and check the results. At first, the sugary drink from hell, which I’m now going to call it, didn’t bother me at all and Dave and I headed from the lab to see my doctor. That’s when the nurse let me know that since I was 28 weeks along, I was going to receive a RhoGam shot and I was like, what shot? It was the first time the two of us heard about me receiving any kind of shot. So, she checked my blood pressure and then our doctor came in. He explained what the shot was all about and it was so technical that there’s no way I can cover all what he said. Therefore to keep it brief, it has something to do with positive and negative blood types and if you want to learn more, here’s a link to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rho%28D%29_immune_globulin.

Anyway, as our doctor was explaining everything, the sugary drink from hell started making me feel like absolute crap and I could barely focus on him. Then, he measured my belly and checked little Billy Bubba’s heart rate, which ended up being around 160 beats a minute. From there, he said I needed to go back to the lab, get my blood drawn, and then come back to his office to get the shot. As I waited for my blood to be drawn by the lab techs, who were super nice by the way, all the sugar was hitting me and I thought I was going to puke. To get through it, I tried to just focus on what was going on around me and there were like pregnant women everyone. They were coming off the elevator, walking down the hallway, showing up at the lab one after another, it was insane. You could even tell who the newbies were as they were carrying a welcome gift bag kind of deal that Aurora gives out. Too funny!

When the lab tech did call my name, she took my blood, said sorry she didn’t have any crackers for me to eat, and gave me some water telling me that it would help me feel better. Well, the water didn’t and made me want to puke even more. After that, I headed back to my doctor’s office and the nurse gave me that shot. To make the experience even better, she had to shoot me in the butt with it. I was like, really, in my butt, and she was like yeah, and I was like, oh great, let’s make things even more fun today. That stupid shot hurt and I even have a bruise to prove it! The nurse was nice about it though and we both had a good laugh about everything I was going through that day. At that point if I didn’t laugh about it, that sugary drink from hell was going to end up on their nice clean floor and that wouldn’t have been good.

Finally, I was able to leave and then headed back to work where I ate some food and started to feel better. I was on a sugar high for a little while though and was all over the place, then I crashed a bit, and then I felt better again after making myself work out at the Y later in the day. Warning to all pregnant women or women who are thinking about getting pregnant, the glucose test is not fun and it will probably make you sick! So, expect the worst and hopefully, it won’t bother you at all. With that, I’m pretty much done for now given that I keep going back to how I felt yesterday and it’s starting to make me feel sick again. Ick. Until we meet again, it’s Carla saying farewell and Godspeed!

Ick, I think that’s a stretch mark…

Yes, I think that I’ve developed my first stretch mark on my belly during my pregnancy and I must say, it’s grossing me out a bit. And no, I’m not going to post a picture of it because I think that would be pretty gross. So, I’ll just write about it instead. And how do I think that writing about it is less gross than posting a photo, well, I’m not quite sure. However, the one thing that I do know is that it will make me feel better to vent, thus, I’m going to get it out of my system! :) 

So I first noticed said stretch mark over the weekend after getting out of the shower. It was right there on my belly and it actually looked like a small little bruise. I thought nothing of it until later in the day when I showed my mom the north to south line that’s in the middle of my belly. This line is officially called the linea nigra line and it develops on some pregnant women because of the pregnancy hormones running through their bodies. How’s that for some useful information, huh??? Anyway, when I showed her the line I said, “Hey mom, look at my cute little bruise next to it.” And then she said, “No, that’s not a bruise, that’s a stretch mark!” Needless to say I was completely mortified and when I look in the mirror, it’s hard not to stare at it and get annoyed that I don't have control of what's happening to my body. 

What I've realized through writing this is that I guess it’s not really something I should get all that excited about really, since stretch marks are so common with pregnancy. The thing is, I was doing everything I was supposed to do to try to prevent them, well, that’s what I thought anyway. You know, using the cocoa butter after every shower and even lotioning up whenever I thought about it when I was home. I guess it’s true what they say, there’s really nothing you can do to prevent them so that means that I should expect more and not get all that upset about it. This is easier said than done mind you, but I need to do it given that sweating the small stuff is pretty darn stupid when it comes to the grand scheme of things. My husband and I are having a baby, I’m going to be a parent, and that is so freaking cool! Dealing with a few stretch marks is a small price to pay to have a little me and Dave combo. Basically, stretch marks don’t really matter and it’s not like I wear bikinis anyway! So why should I care???? I’m over it. 

Okay, now that I’ve ranted about stretch marks, I feel a lot better so thank you for being my sounding board and now I can move on to worrying about other things like getting the baby’s room decorated! Until we meet again, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy saying good-bye for now!

Gotta share the laughs and other pregnancy news!

So, I’m not sure if it’s “okay” to actually share a link to another blog on your own blog, but this blog is so funny and insightful that there’s no way I can’t!

What blog is it, well, here is a link to it:

http://www.pregnantchicken.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2010/9/23/happily-after-giving-birth-10-things-they-dont-tell-you.html?currentPage=2#comments

The blog is called Pregnant Chicken and it was first shared to me by Katie at Dave’s work and when she was describing it, she had us rolling on the floor laughing our butts off. So this morning, she shared the link with me on Facebook and I laughed my butt off again. The blog is all about pregnancy and all the not-so-fun things that go along with it. What makes it so funny is the writer of the blog, Amy Morrison, puts this crazy satirical spin on pregnancy while informing you about what’s to come. The humor is pretty twisted, which is right up my alley so now that I’ve started reading it, I pretty much can’t stop. Plus, it’s preparing me a bit for what’s to come, especially the post that I linked to above. I had no idea what was going to happen after little Billy Bubba makes it into this world, now that I know, I’m pretty freaked out. However, I’m glad that I know given that if I didn’t, I would have been in for a horrible rude awakening. Ahhhhhh!

Yeah, those are bobble heads behind me!

In other pregnancy news, my belly bump is beginning to expand like a watermelon on Miracle-Grow! Actually, it is more like a watermelon that has been given too much Miracle-Grow! I find it both cool and annoying all at the same time. Cool due to the fact that it means BB is doing what he’s supposed to do, getting bigger and forming into a little person. And annoying since it makes it hard for me to do anything that requires me to bend over not to mention how walking up and down steps is like a sporting event comparable to running a marathon or doing a triathlon. Sure, you might think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. Every time I go up or down steps, I’m wheezing like I ran for miles and miles. It’s kind of embarrassing, especially since this is coming from a pregnant chic who is also working out, which doesn’t even seem to help my stamina when it comes to the steps. Lame!

Along with my expanding belly bump, another pregnancy news item that I have is about the dream I had last night. Lately, my dreams have been about getting chased by zombies or mafia hit men, yes, I dream about that kind of crap. Last night though, I had a dream about meeting BB for the first time. I was holding him in my arms and then I even fed him. He was all warm and cuddly in his little newborn outfit. It was something that was totally surreal and when I woke up, I couldn’t help but smile. It was like he was here already! Can’t wait for that dream to be a reality! :)

Well, that’s about all I got for now so I’ll say farewell and until I post again, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy signing off!

I wonder about my pooch…

The Beave!

So my pooch Beaver is pretty much attached to me at the hip when I’m in the house and I’m wondering how he’s going to react when little Billy Bubba makes his way into our lives?

I have a sneaking suspicion that Beaver is going to be extremely jealous for awhile because instead of having all of my attention like he does now, he’s going to have to take a backseat to little BB. As it is, the furball gets mad when Dave and I sit next to each other sometimes, so I can only imagine how it’s going to be when I’m rocking little BB back and forth instead of petting him. There are other times when he's even worse, like when I go upstairs and leave him in the living room. He'll cry and have a fit if I'm not around him. My mom suggested that we train Beaver how to be around a baby by purchasing a baby doll, however, I’m thinking that’s only going to end in catastrophe since Beaver will probably rip the doll apart in like three seconds without us ever getting the chance to tell him no!

I did a little research online to find out how to make the transition easier for my dog and little BB. There was talk about setting up boundaries, hiring a private trainer to get him on track, teaching him to be obedient with treats to not jump on people or the baby, and getting him used to infant smells along with the noises that an infant might make. I’m not quite sure how we’re going to go about getting Beaver ready for little BB, but I do know that it’s something that has to happen given that if it doesn’t, it’s not going to be a good situation.

I guess my fear is that Beaver isn’t going to get used to little BB and then we’re going to have to give Beaver away or something. That would be completely devastating to me, even though Dave would probably be okay with it since the pooch can be annoying, due to the fact that we’ve been through so much with this dog. Not only training him mind you, but nursing him through a hip surgery along with an infection that almost killed him. So, if we had to let him go, I would be super sad and for that reason, I’m going to do everything to make sure Beaver and little BB coexist nicely. If you readers out there have any suggestions on how to make things work, please let me know!

Checking into daycare places…

Yesterday, my husband, Dave, and I went to visit the place where we’re thinking we’re going to take little Billy Bubba for daycare.

It might seem like we’re jumping the gun a bit on finding him a spot somewhere. However, in all honestly it isn’t because I’ve heard nothing but horror stories from moms about doing it too late only to be on pins and needles when they do find where they want to take their child, only to end up being put on a waiting list. That doesn’t sound like very much fun at all.

So, this is one of those things on our to-do list that I wanted to cross off as soon as we could and I think we found where we’re going to take him. We went on a tour yesterday at KinderCare located in Green Bay on the Eastside. We met with the center director who was very nice and received a tour of the infant room. There are four infants to one adult. The ladies seemed to like what they were doing and all of the babies were doing quite well when we saw them. One was being fed, two were playing, which doesn’t consist of much since they’re super little, another one was about to be fed, and the others were sleeping. Everything this was clean, nothing smelled, each infant had their own personal crib and storage area, and all in all, I thought it was a good place. Dave also has had personal experience with the location since his grandson was watched there and seemed to like it. He mentioned that the staff was always friendly and very attentive to his grandson’s needs. Before we make our final decision, I’m probably going to look into one or two more spots, but as for right now, I think we found our day care provider. Once I make the call and actually reserve his spot, I have a feeling that I’m going to totally relieved to get this big decision taken care of. Let’s keep our fingers cross that, that actually happens! :)

Along with taking BB to an actual day care, my mom, Nancy, said that she would be able to take care of him one day a week when my dad, Don, and her are not wintering in Florida. She took care of my brother’s kids when they were little too and to have her offer the same thing to us is really special. She really, really, really loves children, and yes, my Dad does too, so it will be good for BB to be with family and I think it will be good for my parents too. Thanks Mom and Dad, you’re the best!

Well, I think that’s enough talk about day care for one day, until next time, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy signing off.   

Sometimes, my mind just races...

Being pregnant can be a little stressful, well, a lot stressful at times and you’re probably thinking to yourself, well, duh? It’s a life changing event, so what do you expect? The thing is, if my mind starts racing about what’s happening and what’s to come, I’m finding that I’m having a hard time shutting it off. It’s been a bit annoying to be honest and I’m hoping that it will get better, but lately it’s only gotten worse. :(

Take the other day as an example, I was just sitting around watching a little television and then little Billy Bubba started rolling around and kicking up a storm. It was super kewl to feel him, but then my mind started going about different things. Like, I wondered about how he was doing and if he doing okay or not along with thinking about if the amount that I was feeling him move was normal or not enough, and then I jumped forward to my due date and thought about whether or not he was going to be healthy when he made his way into this world. Then, my mind got on all the stuff my husband Dave and I needed to get done before he came, the stuff we had to buy, and how much everything was going to cost. It wasn’t all that much fun and after doing this for about an hour or so, I finally decided the only way that I was going to stop was to quit watching TV and take my pooch Beaver for a walk. After getting some fresh air and enjoying the sunshine, I was able to finally clear my head.

Walking Beaver is just one of the ways that I’ve learned to get past all my thinking and over-thinking given that I’ve also learned that going to the YMCA and working out helps as well. Basically, I just find ways to distract myself so I don’t ponder anything and everything over and over again. Some of the better distractions I’ve come up with include:

• Baking 
• Taking a nap
• Cleaning
• Shopping
• Going on a drive with Dave and just talking
• Painting, and not the lame kind, but like with water colors and acrylic paints on canvas
• Listening to music 
• Playing fetch with the pooch or just making him run in circles :)

The distractions I’ve mentioned about are what have helped me through my stressful moments and I’m sure there are other great options as well. If you have any ideas, please let me know because I’m more than willing to try them.

With that said, I do understand that being pregnant isn’t easy and that being stressed while pregnant is something that all of us pregnant ladies have to deal with, yet it still can be a bummer from time to time. My hope is to just be able to get past it and not have it affect me too much. So far, that hasn’t been the case, but I’m doing my best to get better and right now, that’s about all that I can do. What has really helped is thinking about my little boy, he brings a smile to my face no matter how crazy I may be feeling. :) Thanks BB and until I post again, this is Carla the pregnant Tomboy signing off!