Okay, I'm ready!

I have to admit, I’m pretty much dunzo with being pregnant and I’m completely ready for Ryan to be born. I mean, like three weeks ago ready!

Although tremendously rewarding, this has been one of the most difficult experiences of my entire life and believe me, I have been through a lot like hurting my knee multiple times, dealing with stress fractures, and having to cope with other various ailments that have caused me a good amount of pain along with other life struggles that all of us go through. None of that compares to being pregnant, however, which has not been an easy process for me and I now have a new found respect for every woman on the planet who has been pregnant or will be pregnant. It's taxing to say the least and in my last few weeks here, things have grown increasingly harder. I’ve already talked about how breathing and talking at the same time has been an issue, however, now simply walking around can be tough and I have the worst time just sitting on my butt at work. I mean, seriously, it really is not fun at all since I sit at my desk, Ryan sits nice and tight in my stomach, and we both feel super, duper squished. Not to mention how my belly is just growing and growing, so, it both itches and hurts all at the same time. To help ease the discomfort, I take periodic walks around the office and just try to stretch whenever I can, but that doesn’t even seem to help anymore. I also pile on the lotion to help with the itching, but again, that doesn’t do much either.

Other than all the pain and discomfort, I’m assuming that my pregnancy has been a pretty normal and an uneventful one, so, I’m going to count my blessings that we haven’t had any major issues or problems up until this point. It’s something that I do think about on a regular basis given that I do realize that we’re very lucky that things are going good, especially lately due to the fact that I’ve been hearing about  other women who have been having problems and issues. My thoughts and prayers are with them and I hope that things turn out for the best.

With the serious stuff now talked about, I want to change the mood a bit and get back to having some fun, so, here’s my attempt at that. One thing that I’ve been wondering now for a bit is what it’s been like what like for Ryan being all stuck in my belly with no place to go! Dave and I were joking about it the other night, especially when Dave makes it a point to tease the little guy by pushing and poking my belly. We’ve been able to basically feel where his head and butt are most days and then once and a while, they’ll be a foot or an elbow protruding out. It’s funny because both of us can just picture him in there like, “What the hell, I’m just sitting here trying to get comfortable and I’m being all moved around and intruded on, ahhh!” Sometimes, he even pushes back with his foot after Dave pokes my stomach, it’s really, really cute. Needless to say, we have a good time with it and hopefully, we’re not tormenting Ryan too much!

My stuff for the hospital. Gotta love Accepted!

Now because I’m so ready for Ryan to be born, I have everything that I need all in one place when it’s time to go to the hospital and push the little guy out. Side note, I’m using the term little just to make myself feel better here, kind of trying to fool myself that giving birth won’t  hurt as bad as everyone tells me it’s going to hurt. I know, a bit on the silly side, but right now, I’m doing whatever I can to ignore what’s on the horizon and the pain I’m going to experience. It’s really not working though and I’m totally freaked out about it, yet I’m still going to try! It’s worth a shot, right? With that said, now back to having everything ready to go for heading to the hospital. I not only have my bag ready to go with clothes to wear before, during and after birth, but my IPod is also in there along with our camera, toiletries, DVD’s, and I’m even going to throw in a book, which I’m not going to read anyway, but that’s okay, it makes me feel better to just have the option of possibly reading it.The computer is going along for the ride and no, I don't plan on blogging from the delivery room. It's more to give Dave something to do, even though I'm still not going to let him beat my high score at Bejeweled Blitz. I will suffer through contractions to keep my bragging rights. And no, I'm not a competitive person at all! :)

Ryan's bag of goodies!

I have Ryan’s bag all packed too with his first few outfits along with a few receiving blankets and some diapers and junk.Since I'm so indecisive when it comes to what I want him to wear for his first ever baby photo, I do have a few different options and I even have a pair of shoes for him. Yes, I do realize they're not going to fit him, but they're super cool just the same and that is why they have to make they're way to the hospital. The bag itself also has room to take stuff home from the hospital so hopefully we get some good stuff that we can use for a bit from Aurora. I mean, this whole deal is going to cost us a bunch of money so we better get some freebies out of it. Just saying! ;)I'm sure the freebies will probably not be all that awesome, but you never know!

As you can probably tell, I’m not a patient person and that waiting for Ryan be born has pretty much been torture! I’m crossing fingers that his arrival is soon, not just because I’m uncomfortable though, but because I really, really want to meet and hold him! It’s going to be soooooooooo life changing and awesome!!!!!!!! Until next time, it's Carla the pregnant tomboy saying good-bye!

Working out makes me happy!

Just like the subject line of this blog post indicates, working out makes me happy and it’s one of the things I’ve been trying to do on a daily basis during my pregnancy.

What’s been hard about working out is that sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it, especially as of late since I’ve been getting bigger and find that I’m totally self conscious about doing it in front of other people. I feel like they’re staring at me. And who can blame them, I have a big belly and I’m sure that it looks pretty damn funny! Especially when I lose my balance and almost fall off the machine I’m on! J So to combat that, when I work out at the YMCA I go back to their little private workout area that’s somewhat shielded from the rest of the world. However, then what ends up happening is I’ll be the only person back there minding my own business, and then someone else will show up to work out and plop right down on the machine next to me. It’s like, really, out of the 15 or 20 machines back here, you have to pick the stupid one next to me. What’s even worse is that person ends up being completely annoying, like they fart a bunch or talk on the phone or something and then I get annoyed and don’t want to finish my workout. I try to power through, but it can be hard. And to those people who are annoying, get a clue and stop being annoying! And yes, I just ranted and feel better.

Anyway, another thing I do to combat my not wanting to workout is to make sure my IPod has new music on it, giving me something motivating and interesting to listen to. Or if I’m working out at home, I make sure that I digitally record shows in advance so I can watch them when I’m working out. It keeps my mind busy and prevents me from thinking about how long I have yet to go, how tired I feel, or how much I would rather be sitting on the couch eating Cheetos!

I’ve modified the workouts that I do now too and instead of cycling outdoors, which I’m sad that I can’t do, I ride the stationary bike in the house. Or, if I lift weights, instead of going all hardcore and pushing myself to lift as much weight as possible, I lift less weight and do more repetitions. I find that using the elliptical is a good alternative to running and that walking the dog up and down a bunch of hills makes for a good workout as well.

One of the 1980's weights I use when I lift! LOL!

Like I said before, I have found when I do workout, I’m much happier afterwards and that’s why I’m committed to doing at least a little something each day. My OB said that I can work out as long as I feel comfortable. I’m sure at some point I won’t be comfortable working out, yet hopefully that happens later rather than sooner.

If you’re pregnant and looking for some modified exercises or workout tips, check out: http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-best-kinds-of-exercise-for-pregnancy_7880.bc.

Or, if you’re not pregnant, but need some motivation, another good site to check out is: http://www.sparkpeople.com/

That’s about all I have for now, so get moving! I know that as much as I don’t feel like getting in a workout today after I post this, I’m going to make myself do it because it’s going to bring a smile to my face!

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!

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!

No matter how much I eat, I’m still hungry!

For pretty much the first five or so months of my pregnancy, I really wasn’t all that hungry. What would happen is I would eat a few bites during mealtime and be full or just not feel like eating at all since I felt so sick to my stomach. However, now that has all changed because no matter how much and how often I eat, I’m still hungry.

Take yesterday as an example. I had my two Eggo waffles for breakfast around 9:30 am and at about 9:45 am, I was wondering if I forgot to eat my breakfast since that’s how hungry I was! So, I was able to hold off until about 10:30 am and had a snack, which consisted of some Crispx and Honey Nut Cheerios. For lunch that day, I met up with my good friend Janis at El Sarape. We always have the best time talking and catching up, so, it was a blast to see her. She always makes me smile! Now, when we met for lunch there a few months ago, I could barely eat anything given that my tummy was so upset thanks to all the hormones running through my body. Well yesterday, I didn’t have a problem eating at all. As soon as we sat down, I was devouring the chips and salsa that were set in front of us by our waiter. When our food came, I ate all of that too in less than ten minutes. Feeling full for a change, I reluctantly said no to having dessert even though they make the best fried ice cream. So, I was able to exhibit a little self control at least.

My favorite GS cookie!

After the big lunch I had with Janis, who treated by the way so thank you Janis for being so nice, I thought I would be set on not having to eat again until dinner. Let’s just say, that wasn’t quite the case given that an hour later, I was hungry again! I opted for another snack, this time I went with an orange, and hoped that would stick until dinner and boy was I was wrong again. When I got home from work my tummy started growling so I had another snack, a granola bar this time, and that finally held me until dinner. I ended up having another snack before bed too, consisting of Girl Scout Cookies and skim milk. Mmmmmm.

Okay I must say at this point that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why I’m so hungry. The reason being is that my baby has hit his growing stride. :) During the last trimester, that’s basically all that any growing baby does and to grow, the little gal, or guy in my case, needs a lot of nutrients, which come from food, vitamins, and healthy beverages. I’ve always been a fan of eating and drinking, yet I try not to go overboard on junk food and eat as healthy as I can. I do splurge once and awhile, like eating out with Janis at El Sarape or getting cheeseburgers at McDonalds or wherever, but I try to keep the splurges to just that: once and awhile. I’m a big fan of salad, grilled chicken and other meats, and milk. Hopefully, if I continue to eat right, my baby will be healthy when he’s born and I won’t have a ton of weight to lose myself.  

Hmmm, all this talk about food has, you guessed it, made me hungry. So I’m off to get a snack and until next time, it’s Carla the professional eater signing off!

Once and awhile it would be nice to sleep…

I’m at that stage in my pregnancy where sleep is hard to come by. Even before I was preggers, I didn’t sleep all that well, but now that I am things have only seemed to get worse when it’s time to get some zzzz’s.

According to all the reading I’ve done, my doctor, and all the women who I’ve talked to that have been pregnant, it’s not all that uncommon to not be able to sleep when you have a bun in the oven. The thing is, even though it’s not uncommon, it’s still something that is completely annoying and hard to deal with given that when I need to get up in the morning to function, I’m generally tired and drained. It’s not fun, not fun at all. So to all you women out there who weren’t able to sleep while pregnant, kudos to you for getting through it. And to their husbands and significant others, thanks for sticking by them because I’m pretty sure I’m keeping my husband up at night just like all of you probably did. All I can say is sorry love and thanks for putting up with it. I know there are some mornings when you wake up and wonder why you even tried to sleep just like me!

Now, one of the reasons why I’m having trouble sleeping is that I just can’t get comfortable, which again is a common complaint you hear from most pregnant women. I try lying on my side, then my other side, then kind of on my back and my side, and then I toss and turn, repeating this cycle numerous times throughout the night. To help combat my uncomfortable state, I’ve enlisted the help of a full body pillow.

Ohhh so soft.

It supports different parts of my body, especially my ever growing belly and my legs. I’ve only used it a few nights now and it’s helped a little bit. I’m hoping that the more I get used to it, the better I will sleep.

There are other reasons why I can’t sleep and like with not being able to get comfortable, they’re something that most pregnant women end up dealing with at some point. A few of them include: 

• Heartburn. 
• Not being tired at the right times. 
• Having to go to the bathroom a bunch.
• Worrying about this, that and the other thing. 
• And vivid dreams or nightmares.  

The last three are the ones I have had the most problems with because I’ve always had to pee a bunch at night, I’ve always been a person who can’t shut off my thoughts, and I’ve always had vivid dreams. Each has increased for me ten-fold over the last few weeks, especially the dreaming part. Now, they’re more vivid than ever and are so real that sometimes I just get up so I don’t have to deal with them. For instance, last night I had a dream that I was in the fifth grade again taking a standardized test and wasn’t able to finish due to the fact that I was having trouble with the reading portion of the test. I was right in my fifth grade classroom sitting in my desk with my teacher Mr. Herman telling us what we needed to do. I didn’t care all that much at first about the test, yet when the time started crunching down I was freaking out trying to finish. When I woke up, I was thinking to myself how much taking those tests sucked and that I would rather not sleep to have to go through all that hassle again. I did manage to get over the whole thing and fall back to sleep, however, being back in fifth grade was just super weird.

Anyway, as with the body pillow I purchased to get more comfy at night, I’m learning different ways to remedy the other causes why I can’t sleep:

• To avoid heartburn, I eat slower and drink some milk before bed.
• To be sleepy when it matters, I try to stick to a regular sleep schedule and workout regularly. 
• To avoid going to the bathroom at night, I don’t drink a lot of liquids, aside from the milk, later in the day and at night.
• To stop worrying all the time, I use simple relaxation techniques like breathing in and out slowly along with clearing my mind.
• And as for the vivid dreams, I try to let them go and think about something else if the dreams weren't pleasant.

When it comes down to it, I just want to get a good night’s rest and when I do, it’s great and when I don’t, it’s just something to work through that will make me stronger. When little Billy Bubba shows up, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of sleepless nights, so, I’m getting nice and prepared for his arrival! See, I just turned a positive into a negative and I’m learning that’s what life’s all about right now. Just live, learn, and keep on going. Until we meet again, it’s Carla the Pregnant Tomboy signing off.

  

Wait, what’s going to happen?

I’ve been doing some reading about what’s going to happen to my body throughout my pregnancy and I must say, it’s all a bit shocking.

Some of the changes I’ve already noticed and some of them are still to come I bet. And no, I’m not going to give you a rundown of all of them, but there are a few that I’ve dealt with, or that might happen, that have struck me as a bit odd like how my feet could grow up to a half size or even more. I have little feet to begin with, so, this really won’t be all that big of a deal. The thing is, I have a lot of shoes that I would like to keep wearing and that means I won’t get to wear them anymore if my feet get bigger. My feet actually stopped growing back in the eighth grade when I stopped growing and I even have a pair of Adidas sandals I bought back then that are still sitting in my closet to this day. I do wear them on occasion, just cuz. However, if my feet grow then all the shoes I accumulated over the years probably won’t be worn again and that would be kind of a sad thing in my eyes. I do realize that there are other worse things happening in the world and that I really shouldn’t complain about having to buy new shoes, yet, I’m complaining because it’s just not something I really feel like doing. Then again, going on a shoe shopping spree would be kind of fun, hmmmmm, maybe I do want my feet to grow!

A few body changes that I’ve dealt with already that have been a bit cumbersome for me include, aside from the obvious one that my belly is getting larger, is my growing cleavage since I never really had any “size” up there to begin with, how my hands seem to be bloated pretty much all the time and that makes it hard to wear my wedding ring, how there are a few dark skin spots here and there on my body that are common during pregnancy, and a nose that has become overly sensitive to all smells imaginable. I can smell things that I’ve never been able to smell before and it’s really annoying. For example, I could smell my neighbor smoking like six houses down the other night. Then, there was a person at the YMCA yesterday and I could smell her perfume even though she was about four machines away from me. Having an ultra sensitive nose is good sometimes though, especially when good food is being made. Then, I’m not all that bothered by it.

My cocoa butter of choice!

One body change that I haven’t dealt with yet, but I’m sure is on the horizon is stretch marks. Pretty much everything I’ve read in articles on different websites and in pregnancy magazines, etc., is that at some point, I will develop stretch marks due to the fact that it pretty much happens to every woman that gets pregnant. The usual spots women get them include the belly, legs, breasts, and butt. They say that there’s really nothing to do to prevent them even if you use a whole bunch of lotion and cocoa butter (see to the right) like I have been. I actually put it on twice a day even though they say it won't help. I do like the way it smells and who knows, maybe it will help! :) It's all about positive thinking.

Now, there actually have been some positives with the body changes I’ve been experiencing. My fingernails seem to be getting stronger and are growing faster, my hair is now thicker than ever before and that’s nice because at the beginning of my pregnancy, it was falling out, and my body temperature is up so no having to layer up anymore. For a little while there when it decided to be winter outside and actually get cold here in Wisconsin, I didn’t even need to wear a winter coat! Kewl.

On that note, that's enough body talk for one day! So, until we meet again, it’s Carla the pregnant tomboy bidding ado!