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Monday, December 31, 2012

Fences, Football and Dropping

Nathan and I were planning to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary with a fancy dinner and some downtown Sacramento activities. Well, being 34 weeks pregnant put a hinge in that plan. On Saturday morning, I told Nathan that I really didn't feel like driving 25 minutes to go to some fancy dinner and walk around downtown Sacramento all night. He replied, "We can do what you want!" Thank goodness my hubby cares so much! Honestly the thought of having to walk all over is absolutely horrifying especially if it can't be done in my slippers...

So we opted to go to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, La Placita Dos, and headed on up to the cheesecake factory for some dessert to go. We then rented Brave from the red box and had an absolutely relaxing (and much more economical) night. It also made me extremely happy. I don't feel like I missed out on trying another chicken dish at a fancy seafood restaurant. Plus, who goes to eat chicken at a seafood restaurant? Oh yes, I do because I don't like it! I also didn't have to seriously dress up which was a huge relief.

I know that right now a lot of pregnant women enjoy dressing up and it makes them feel better and I say to them go for it! Once that baby comes, dressing up and feeling good about your self that way will be few and far between, so I say do it now. I really don't get much enjoyment out of it. I would just rather be comfortable and happy.

Going to dinner. Nathan is sporting his new Niner's hat!
(Which by the way they won this weekend and now have the second seed in the NFC!)

Holy crap look at that belly!
 As previously mentioned, our fence is needing some mending and Nathan took it upon himself to get it done on Sunday and boy he did! I really am useless at this point helping with anything involving any sort of manual labor so I just sat inside, took a bath, and pretended like I didn't know what was going on. The only time I checked on him was when I heard crashing from the side yard about three times. I did this out of fear that my husband had killed himself by death of fence falling on him but he managed just fine. (I knew he would!)
He managed to get the concrete poured and fence poles placed in the ground. Tomorrow he is going to secure the fencing to the new poles and ta da! we should have a new fence. Way to go honey!

I also took the time to make Nate some yummy spinach dip so that way when he was done he could have a snack to eat while watching the Niner's play yesterday. Oh and did I not mention that they won? So, a Ravens and Niners Superbowl is still on the horizon! How much fun would that be for our household? Like I said before though, knowing my luck it will be a niners/ravens Superbowl and I will most likely be in labor. Ha!

I'm just a wifey extraordinaire, as Nate would say.
Here is the recipe for the kick-ass spinach dip:

1 8oz. box of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 package frozen spinach
3/4 cup parmesan

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a small pan well with cooking spray.
Boil the spinach in a pot with about 1/2 cup of water. Once the spinach is soft, drain it and stick it in cheese cloth. Drain as much liquid out of the spinach as possible. If it's wet at all you will have dip that is runny and watery! (GROSS!)

Combine mayo, cream cheese, and sour cream in a bowl and mix well. Then add the spinach while its still hot from being boiled. Combine until mixed well. You don't want chunks of cream cheese in this mixture, so really get your mixing hand going.

Pour into the greased glass pan and then sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Cook for 25-30 minutes.


As of Sunday, Lincoln has decided to take residence in the lower half of my belly and hip region. I can also feel him flirting with the idea of getting in place for birth. He has started to lower himself into my hips and that created a shitty night of sleeping last night. He has decided to place his head right into the left hip joint which creates a lot of discomfort. Its not painful, just uncomfortable and makes sleeping difficult. As of this morning, he has moved a bit more to the right, so I think he is just trying to figure out the right place to be when he's ready 'to exit.' Yes it's uncomfortable but definitely not unbearable.

Tonight we are just staying home and making homemade Zuppa Toscana. It's delicious! We're also going to try to make it to midnight but with how tired I have been recently it might just not happen.

~Julia



Thursday, December 27, 2012

Full of Water

Nathan I just spent 4 whole days between Ripon and Turlock to celebrate Christmas with our families. It was great and thank you to our families who bought us some great gifts! Of course Lincoln was not left out. It was hilarious when my brother-in-law Ian made the joke that its not fair that I got more gifts this year because I'm opening for two people. I love stuff like that. Reminds Nate and I that next Christmas Lincoln is going to be having so much fun with our families.

From Belle-Mere and Auntie Kaity.
Love the motordodder aka motorcycle.

Aunt Kaity made this darling quilt for Lincoln.
I was having a hard time finding one that was affordable
and figured what's better than one that was made just for him!

 Besides the Christmas holiday, we had some interesting developments at the Roos household. First to start off the week we found a minor seepage issue coming from the rosebush to the cement foundation to the house. Sounds like a big deal but in the end really wasn't. All we had to do was take out the rosebush and then just dig down to the cement foundation in the front of the house. That way water doesn't want pool up and seep in through the concrete.

The MAJOR bonus with this is that Lincoln is getting all new awesome laminate flooring in his room. I have been wanting to get this flooring for a long, long time since I hate carpet. We also got it for only 370 bucks thanks to my mom and her manager from Lowes. My parents and little brother are going to come up next weekend and help us install it too! Man did we score or what! Another bonus is that  I don't have to convince Nate to buy it now because it became a necessity since the carpet was ruined. :)

Here is what Lincoln's room looks like currently:

Yes this is what it really looks like.
Look at that beautiful flooring! Eek! So excited!
We also have an unplanned home improvement project looming this weekend. When Nate and I got back home on Christmas night we discovered that our front side fence had completely blown over. How awesome is that? (Super sarcastic there). Good thing the fence is salvageable and it shouldn't be too much of a task....hopefully! I have built fences before and its not like Nate is a dummy so I'm sure we can figure it out. More like I will be directing and Nate will be doing the work since I can't lift fencing like I used to be able to.

This weekend is also our 5 year wedding anniversary. Our last one of just us together. We are going to a restaurant in Sacramento called the Firehouse and depending on how our fence building goes we might go see a movie. Hopefully this dinner will be as spectacular as everybody keeps saying. After all it keeps getting rated one of the best restaurants in Sacramento!

Our adventures of doing just us time has kind of taken a back seat this week, but I did find Nathan doing this last night. Good for him! He knows that when Lincoln first comes video gaming might take a back seat just for a bit, or rather he won't have the time to sit down for 3 hours and play non-stop.

Kill those mofo's Nathan!
I am right in the middle of my 34th week at this point. I feel like ugh. I feel like I am just full of water. I hope that my weight gain is due to that. I also have recently became very tired again. Part of it is that I'm not sleeping well and the other I think is just because I'm so uncomfortable. In other words I'm hitting the 3rd trimester slump.

Here is a picture of me at 34 weeks. Yes I look tired and its because I am :)

Go back and look at last weeks picture.
I noticed a huge change in my belly size.
~Julia


Friday, December 21, 2012

4:00 AM

Well at least I'm alive today and the Mayan Apocalypse didn't happen....

I have not had a difficult pregnancy. I mean, I have had the usual shit like swelling, weight gain, having to use the restroom non-stop, minor back aches, and I'm a bit more gassy than usual, but otherwise it's been smooth sailing. Well its been smooth sailing up until now.

I have recently developed insomnia and it SUCKS. I have always, always been a great sleeper and this waking up at 4 AM constantly is bullshit. Now, I don't wake up in a panic, worried or with thoughts on my mind, I just wake up even though my body doesn't want to. I do attribute some of it to Lincoln since when I do wake up in the wee hours of the morning he is always wreaking havoc in my uterus. One thing I know is my kid knows how to party, which is super cute now. It will probably not be cute when he reaches high school. I also wake up and I'm hungry, but I'm trying to avoid falling into the pitfall of that. Then again who the hell wants oatmeal at 4 AM?

The only positive is that I don't seem to bother Nathan or at least he hasn't noticed. Then again, he sleeps like death is upon him. I swear getting him to wake up out of his sleep is like trying to wake up a damn corpse, so at least my insomnia is not bothering him, which makes me extremely happy. I would feel awful if he had to endure this with me while going to work also. He will also take me out for an early breakfast sometimes too, since he gets up at 6 AM for work anyways. I say hell yes to that and what a good husband he is! I'm seriously soooo lucky.

Otherwise, my pregnancy has truly not been too bad.

Here are some pictures taken last night of me at 33 weeks. I'm getting big. Please do not judge me based on my attire. I know, I am channeling my inner white trash aka it was almost bed time when these were taken.

Shelia seriously can't stay out of these weekly updates.

I can't believe he's still going to grow more.
I'm going to be a house...

Have a great Christmas!

Julia

Monday, December 17, 2012

Natural Childbirth

This weekend was interesting to say the least. We not only got to go to some fancy Christmas party for Nate's work at Catta Vedera Country Club in Lincoln but we also completed our birthing class. The Christmas party was fun and we had a nice time together even though we spent most of the night apart gambling at our own respective tables. Nathan was the big winner and made five times the amount of 'money' that we were given to start with. The food was good and I can't complain about a free meal and entertainment.

Making pregnancy look good!

Nathan actually did my braid! It came out nice!
Thinking our next child will be a girl....
Prior to actually getting pregnant, I was all about getting an epidural. I was so for it, that I was convinced that there is no other way to have a baby. Now, what I'm going to say next might actually shock some of you and not surprise others. After taking this birthing class it has confirmed what I have been feeling in my heart for the last two months. I think I am going to try to have a 'natural birth' with just a bit of morphine to take the edge off of the contractions. I know that epidurals are all the rage, and I'm not saying that I am not going to have one either, but if I can handle it without a epidural I will not be getting one.

At the child birth class we watched the epidural being administered and I'm not going to lie it freaked me the fuck out. Now the video was actually meant to encourage mom's to actually get an epidural during child birth, so it was biased but in the other direction. I have always had a huge fear of needles, like huge! I'm so afraid of needles that I, no joke, bring chocolate with me to doctor's office or when I get blood drawn to eat when they are putting the needle in me. It keeps me distracted. After seeing what an epidural is all about it seriously freaked and stressed me out more than the actual thought of birth. I would, at this point, rather give birth and be in pain than get an epidural.

There were also a lot of other concerns that I felt about getting an epidural and learning more about labor made really feel good about my decision to try a low medicated birth.

Here is a list of my reasoning for all you other people out there considering a low medicated or natural birth.

1. Generally, how your mother's and grandmother's labors went is how your labor is going to go.
The women in my family are birthing warriors. My mother went from active labor to the pushing phase in less than two hours with all three of her children. (For those of you that don't know active labor is when you go from 4-8cm. ) My mom also only pushed for less than 8 minutes with each kid and my sister Erica was born in 2 minutes.  My brother was also induced, which generally means a longer labor. Not in her case! My mom was given pitocin at 8am and 11 hours and 11 minutes later Zachary entered the world. My aunts labors were even less and my grandma Bea was in and out of the hospital in less than a day with all five of her children. All of these women did this with no pain medication or small doses of IV pain killers.  So hopefully in my case genetics prevails! (Crossing my fingers for sure!)

2. Epidurals can slow down your labor and then you are given pitocin on top of it to make labor resume. 
My goal is to be in and out of the hospital as soon as possible. I hate hospitals and I am much more comfortable at my house. In fact I'm so comfortable at my house that the idea of a home birth actually appeals to me after my first child.

3. Epidurals can cause your blood pressure to drop suddenly. 
I already have low blood pressure to the point when I'm relaxed it can be as low as 90/60. When I'm nervous it goes up to 128/80/. They then give you more medication to increase your blood pressure if this happens so its just more medication.

4. Women who have epidurals have a higher rate of having their baby extracted using forceps or the vacuum when pushing.
Not good for you and not good for baby. Its not that the vacuum and forceps are bad its just a bit more complicated.

5. You don't get to move! 
I know they say they have walking epidurals now but most hospitals, including the one I'm delivering at, don't allow you to leave your bed once you have the epidural for liability issues. You get to roll from side to side now that's it.

After all has been said and done, I am still not closed to the idea of having an epidural.

I think that if my labor is pretty basic and normal, as in once I hit 4cm and I'm dilating at 1 cm per hour I will stick with the basic narcotics. If I am seriously in so much pain where I'm becoming exhausted or in active labor for a long period of time then I will get an epidural. I will not be heartbroken or disappointed if I can't do it with low medication. I just want to go into this birth with a mind that is completely open as possible.
I think I will know when I'm actually in labor if I need an epidural or not and I'm so happy that I am going into this birth with the idea now that I might not need it.

Julia


Monday, December 10, 2012

Married and Childless For Now

This weekend was one that was full of good stuff! Our last ditch efforts to maintain our married couple with no children status this weekend was a complete success!

First off on Friday night, Nate and I went down to the fountains area by the mall and treated our selves to some dinner at Zocalo, some shopping, and a late night coffee. Dinner was absolutely delicious and Nate and I think we found our new favorite 'upscale' Mexican restaurant. After we ate, Nate went shopping for some jewelry that I have had my eye on for Christmas. Well rather, I picked some stuff out and Nate bought it.  I will not reveal my jewelry choices until after Christmas since Nate is going to wrap them up.We also found the world's cutest dinosaur outfit for Lincoln at this children's shop, so Nate is going to wrap that bad boy up for Lincoln for Christmas too.  He's such a good husband! Then we stopped off at Peet's Coffee and enjoyed our selves by talking and just being us. While we were there a caroling group, who literally looked like they had just walked out of Disneyland, sang a holiday song. They were actually surprisingly good and normally I would find this super cute and be happy, but I just found my self annoyed. I'm chalking that up to pregnancy hormones. 

Here are some pictures of the evening:
Before pregnancy that shirt was worn as a dress to nightclubs.
I will probably never see a club ever again unless I'm in Vegas on vacation.

We're super cute.
 If you can spot Lincoln in this picture you get extra points.

Nate literally said, "The bean dip was the best part of the meal."
I just laughed. Seriously the free beans were the best?
I'm not going to lie though they were pretty good.

Nate had some pork dish.

I had chicken enchiladas.
The best chicken enchiladas I have ever had! Seriously!

Us at coffee.
Look I'm wearing my wedding ring! It actually fit that night!

Tres leches cake! Need I say more?
They even baked it in this cute mason jar!
On Saturday we went and saw Lincoln the movie! Most people don't know since I try to hide it, but I love, love, love history. I actually read a ton of historical novels and I have done my fair share of historical research.  I love president Lincoln and I have told Nate plenty of times that if I was born during his time, Mary Todd Lincoln would of had nothing on me! I would of married him in a heartbeat. He is the main reason we are naming our son Lincoln. It is because this man was amazing and I love everything Lincoln stood for. I was so happy this movie came out and I really, really liked it. It was mostly historically correct in regards to the time line of events and the sentiments of the nation of the time, but the scenes where they tried to capture Lincoln as himself were pretty good but not quite as I had envisioned him. In other words  I think they took a lot of artistic license with Lincoln himself. We then went to home depot and began painting/re purposing some furniture for Lincoln's room. I did manage to get the changing table painted and it has officially moved into Lincoln's nursery.  The book shelves still need some work.

Think Lincoln is going to care when he is 25 that I took the time to paint this?
Probably not ha!

Sheila of course had to be involved.
Sunday we went to lunch with my parents since they were up here for some of my brother's water polo games. After lunch, we came home and watched football. Nothing too exciting, but it was nice just relaxing. Nathan didn't get to relax as much because he felt the need to do some yard work, which is fine by me! Then he of course had to do his weekend scheduling that he does for work each weekend, so I relaxed a bit more than he did.

Nate and I have another busy weekend ahead, since we have our birthing class at the hospital on Saturday from 9am-5pm! They are asking us to bring a yoga mat or blanket and pillow so I'm sure I will have a lot of stories after! Be sure to check back for my take on modern birthing classes. I'm hoping that it will teach us something and not feel like wasted time. 
We then have Nate's company Christmas party that night also! Busy Saturday!
On Sunday we are getting all of our Christmas shopping done, hallelujah!

~Julia

Friday, December 7, 2012

Getting Huge

Last week I felt pretty good with Lincoln taking over my belly. I was having issues sleeping but, I just took more naps to compensate. This week is a different story. Lincoln feels huge. He has officially taken over my rib cage and I swear that I'm just going straight out since I literally had no torso pre-pregnancy. Nathan last night even commented when we were getting ready for bed that, "Seriously Julia, you don't look pregnant from behind. You look the same before you were pregnant." Going straight out has made me super uncomfortable. When I sit on the couch now I have to sit legs open and as far back as I can to make room for my belly. Now I still have about 8 weeks left, give or take, and I don't know how I can get bigger, but I know I will. If my mother's previous pregnancies are any indicator of how big I will get since we have the same bone structure, I'm going to get massive.  Just as an example when my mom was pregnant with my little brother people would ask if she is having twins! Having twins?? He was only 7lbs 11oz! So yes, I am mentally preparing myself and hoping for the best.

In fact, when I went into Raley's the other day to get some stuff for a lunch date with one of my friends the lady at the deli counter asked when I was due and I told her first week of February. She then replied, "Oh wow I thought you were further along." So I know that I'm not going crazy here! Most pregnant women would take offense to this, but I loved that it justified exactly how I was feeling about my self! Also I have learned not to take offense to people commenting on how large you get because its just not worth the stress. Of course you are getting big you have a freaking 3 lb baby inside your belly.

This week I have also developed a ton of water retention. Which I think had to do with my 5lb weight gain from my last appointment two weeks ago! (It might of been the holiday cookies that we made, but honestly at this point I don't care. I still have gained only 23 lbs.) I can't wear my wedding at all any longer, my ankles disappear at points during the day, my face feels fat, and overall I just feel well....squishy. This is a feeling I hate since I have never, ever felt squishy. When ever my body would begin to feel squishy I would just pick up my work out regimen to 2 hours a day versus 1 hour and in about 2 weeks the squishy would be gone. I think I'm just going to have to cope with being squishy for a bit.

Otherwise than me being negative nancy this morning, things are actually going well. Lincoln is healthy and I have strangely developed this idea that he is going to come early and we won't make it to February. Not early enough where there would be complications but for some odd reason I now believe we will have an end of January baby. Not sure why and I'm going to chalk it up to mothers intuition, or the fact that I know by the end of January I will want him out!

Here are some pictures of me hitting the 31 week mark:


Julia

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Seasonal Comforts

Nathan and I completed our decorating for the most part of the house this weekend. We even came up with a new family tradition! Nate and I had not really established any of our own family traditions since we have spent every holiday since we got married with each of our families, so there was really no need to establish them. Plus, the first four years of our marriage we were both either going to school full time and/or working full time so we were really busy! With Lincoln coming we thought that maybe establishing some small traditions with just our little family would be important. We decided that on December 1st, no matter what, we will set up our house decorations together as a family complete with a Christmas brunch for dinner. I really hope this is something our kids will enjoy over time and might even pass on to their families. :)

What our Christmas extravaganza looked like:
I can't believe I still have 9 weeks...look at that belly.

Green and silver rule this house during the holiday season.

Above the television

Even the birdcage got a holiday makeover!

On the coffee table. Not quite sure why Nate didn't get the whole tray....

No this was not staged, I promise!

The living room in all its Christmas cheer!
See that lamp? Nathan fixed it for me this weekend!
Sheila when she was a puppy had chewed through the electrical cord.

French toast casserole! This was some good stuff!

Apple cider with hot buttered rum. Mine of course didn't have rum :(
This weekend we are going to two R rated films! Watch out! We know when Lincoln comes we will not just be able to attend any PG-13 or higher rated movies unless we hire a baby sitter or wait for them to come out on DVD, so were hitting up two matinees for a double feature. So until Lincoln comes, any kid movies are just not going to see the day of light in our house. We also are going to Zocalo for dinner on Saturday also. They just opened their second location in Roseville, so hopefully there will not be too long of a wait since we couldn't get reservations because they were already booked!

Although it looks like we are just having a great time, my body is starting to get uncomfortable because of how large my stomach is getting. Lincoln also likes to throw a lot of punches to the point where I am now woken up at 4:30 am every day. Thanks Son :) I usually can fall back to sleep but unfortunately today I was unable to do so until about 7am. Thank goodness I have an awesome husband who works hard, so I can stay home and just work for about two hours a day coaching during the week! Cheers to Nate!


~Julia

Friday, November 30, 2012

Sushi Dinner Antics and Christmas

In our last ditch efforts to enjoy time before we become parents, Nate and I treated our selves to a sushi dinner date last night. If you worry that 'Oh no Julia ate the horrible, awful sushi that she is not supposed to eat while pregnant' please refer to my earlier blog about eating certain foods while pregnant here. I did have the California roll and the yellow-belly, which is just imitation crab and a chicken roll, and they were damn good! This sushi restaurant is delicious and not exactly kid friendly which is why we went there. It seats only about 25 people at one time and has a complete sushi bar for individuals or small groups to sit at. I do not consider it kid friendly since it is so tiny and kids tend to be well...loud and unruly. Just a disclaimer, not all kids are this way. I have seen plenty of kids who are well behaved in restaurants, but I do believe it to be about 60 to 40 with 60 percent being the naughty ones in my experience.

Ironically, the couple next to us did decide to bring their two year old daughter to the restaurant (bad idea at 8:30 at night) though and I was fairly impressed with the way they handled things with her until right towards the end. The kid did look tired when the couple arrived, but dang it these parents wanted their sushi at a sit down restaurant at 8:30! The kid did fine up until she decided she wanted to leave because surprise! she was tired. (Could of seen that one coming.) The daughter immediately stood up in her high chair and by I mean stood up, took both legs out of the holes and stood on the seat so she was about 5 feet tall and said,"I don't want to be here!" The dad then immediately told her to sit down and she of course did not oblige him. He then pulled out the threats, "Either you sit down or we are going to leave and you will not get dessert. Is that what you want?" I was impressed with his tone and he sounded like he meant business! I was fooled however because the little girl immediately said, "FINE! WE GO HOME!" The dad looked shocked and defeated, but they still decided to stay and deal with their unruly child in this small ass restaurant. So much for open threats and meaning business. Obviously this is what she wanted from the beginning, which is fine because its now almost 9:00 and the 2 year old is tired! Get home! In fact you shouldn't even attempted to go to a nice sit down restaurant with a tired kid. I guess lesson learned for them and for us! The lord wanted me to see this for what ever reason and I thank him.

Now see, I would of immediately taken Lincoln out to the car while Nate politely asked for our food to go now and he could wait inside for the food. No wait, then again its 8:30. His ass would of been in bed and we would of already ate dinner or ordered pizza that night if it was a late night for whatever reason.

Here are some photos of the night. We forgot to take pictures of our meal but we did take pictures of our empty plates and chop sticks!

30 weeks and looking large but cute!
Sheila got in  the photo again!

Just about to leave.

We did work on our sushi!
Tonight we are going to go grocery shopping for our Christmas decorating extravaganza we're doing this weekend. We will be decorating the house and making our selves some delicious Christmas brunch for dinner! It's going to be so fun and delicious!

Have a great weekend,
Julia


 

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Exercise and Impromptu Lunch Date

One of the things that I have tried to maintain during my whole pregnancy is working out. As soon as I got pregnant with Lincoln though I took a break from exercising because I was afraid I would miscarriage, again. This advice was given to me by one of my good friends who had issues with miscarrying when she was trying to get pregnant and this is what her doctor had told her to do, so I took the same advice to heart. I know that miscarrying is much more common than we know about and women really don't talk about it, but I wasn't going to do anything to risk Lincoln's life since I was so quick to get pregnant again! Which was a complete blessing!

Once I hit my second trimester the brakes came off and I began walking frequently again. I walked 4-5 days a week for about 30-40 minutes. This routine worked perfectly because I could walk the dog and get my exercise in. I think that this small amount of walking helped me maintain my weight and kept my weight gain at bay. I did notice my ass getting fatter but who cares if I have to lose only 10 pounds after I give birth to Lincoln, so what! I also didn't swell as much and I could see my ankles again in the second trimester after walking. This was the perfect amount of walking and it challenged me, but didn't cause my heart rate to increase too much.

My third trimester is a totally different story. I have been able to maintain 30-40 minute walks and was under the delusion that 'heck I could walk even more!' So today I decided to take Sheila and decided we were going to go for a long ass walk. Now remember where Nate and I live there are hills and some of them are fairly large, but this only led to my delusion more that it would be good for me and a challenge.

We were out there walking for 1 hour and the last 10 minutes we're painful.  I couldn't breath, my ankles and hands were so swollen, and my stomach started to hurt because of all the extra weight.

LESSON LEARNED. Don't try a new walking/exercise regimen at 30 weeks pregnant. Keep with what you know. I then got home and went on fit pregnancy and looked up walking regimen for pregnancy. Found out that walking for more than 50 minutes with most of at an incline probably not a good idea at 30 weeks. Now I'm exhausted, and good thing the next three days are going to be stormy, so I have an excuse to stay home and do nothing.
Where I found Sheila about an hour after our walk.
She really needed her Jesus blanket.
I think she way praying for me to never do that to her again.

Here is the best walking/exercise regimen that I have been following and I love it. They also break it down into beginner, intermediate and advanced:

http://www.fitpregnancy.com/workouts/prenatal-workouts/walk-way

Yesterday, Nate and I also went on our first impromptu lunch date. We're taking this thing seriously! Nate decided he wanted Chipotle and I decided I wanted french fries. So after some discussion, we settled on Chipotle. Nate then said, "Dang it your pregnant and if you really want french fries we're gonna get you some french fries. Why can't we do both?"  I didn't have reason to say no to that! It was so nice to be able to just go get lunch together with nothing to worry about, and sit in the car and just enjoy each others company. (We had to eat in the car because I brought Sheila and it started to rain.) We know that once Lincoln comes just getting up and going to have lunch with Nathan at work will be a bit more of a struggle, so we're enjoying it now.
Me, burrito bowl, french fries and a 1 dollar coke.
(Nathan shared the fries with me)
I know that this is not the most nutritious lunch but Nate doesn't get to have a full hour for lunch very often, so it was worth the splurge! At least I put brown rice in my burrito bowl! Ha!

~Julia



Monday, November 26, 2012

Instead of a Mid-life Crisis....

I can't believe that Lincoln is going to be in our arms in less than 10 weeks! I know that the next month is going to zoom by with Christmas, and all of the great things that come along with it. It seems like this time of year just goes so quickly and I'm feeling a bit desperate to hold on to the time that Nate and I have left together as a couple. I think that this change is going to be amazing and we are totally ready for it, but I have been with Nathan since I was 15! We got married when I was 19, and it has always been just us. The thought of having children was not even in the picture at the time we got married, and literally up until we starting trying to get pregnant in February of 2012, it wasn't even on the radar. That's almost 10 years of just us people! This is going to be an adjustment, an amazing adjustment that is totally worth it, but an adjustment none-the-less.

We have decided that Nate and I are going to spend the next weeks until Lincoln's delivery doing all the stuff we won't get to do a whole lot of during Lincoln's first years. This includes watching movies, going on dates on a whim, spending time just relaxing, and doing absolutely nothing. We have already set aside one Sunday where the goal is to do as little as possible, just watch as much T.V. and football as possible, and eat a ton of junk! I have already started skimming the movie channels and recording movies that we have wanted to see but haven't had the time to in anticipation of this. We have already mapped out some newer restaurants that we have been meaning to try, and a lot of these are not kid friendly. We're going to try to get to them before we have to hire a babysitter to get out and try them. The only downside is I won't be able to order the special liquor drinks, but I will make Nate order some so that I can at least taste test them! :)

We think its important that Nate and I take this time together since our lives will be changed forever in a few weeks! I also have planned most of this in December because I think by the time mid-January rolls around I'm not going to be in a place where I want to do a lot of traveling or leaving the house since I will be at full term and Lincoln can come at anytime. We did plan another movie marathon in mid-January though so hopefully Lincoln will let us get through that. If not though, I don't mind because I'm positive that having him is better than watching movies all day.

I know that this sounds like a mid-life crisis but in a way it is a new born/much more responsibility crisis! Ha!
It really is just for fun and gives us something to do instead of counting down the days until he gets here.

I will document our last ditch effort to maintain our only 'us' status and they will pop up on this blog frequently.


One bonus is that my expanding stomach makes eating things a lot easier though! This will make movie weekends much more fun!

Yes, that's a bowl of soup resting perfectly on my stomach.


These next few weeks are going to be fun!

Julia


Friday, November 16, 2012

Election Blues

Nathan and I are so seriously blessed to have the life we have! Not only are we blessed, but we have worked dang hard for it too. 

With that said, I do worry about the future of our country and what it will look for Lincoln. I just hope and pray that the next four years will not completely destroy America and what it used to stand for. This election has shocked me, and honestly I do not feel hopeful for our country politically and economically. Let me just say, that Lincoln will not grow up in a house where he thinks that he is entitled to anything. He will be taught that he needs to work and prosper no matter what obstacles come before him. In our case, our biggest obstacle in the next four years will be paying the gross amount of taxes we will owe because of the administration tax policies and praying that my parents, who are hourly workers, will not lose their jobs like those people who just did this morning through Hostess. 

If you are not aware what is going on please check out the story below:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-says-it-will-liquidate/?hp

This is what is going to happen to a lot of companies if people continue to think that they are entitled to anything...and that is exactly what Obamacare has done. 

Just check out what this franchise owner is doing to make up the difference:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/florida-restaurateur-to-impose-surcharge-for-obamacare.html

Nice work congress, senate and President Obama administration! 

Remember folks nothing is ever, ever free and it always comes with a price/consequence. This includes health care and all entitlement programs. 

What half of Americans do not realize, is that in the end the people who ultimate pay the price are the low-income workers, like my parents, and millions of other Americans around the country. The people who own Hostess are going to come out of this ahead because they will just liquefy their assets. The people who suffer are those who lost their jobs and those that the union represented. The fact that we have now created a culture where it is easier for a business to make more money by closing their doors, than staying open is scary indeed. 

Just remember, less jobs equals less tax revenue which equals more taxes for people who have jobs.
If you can't see the road that we're headed down as a country than I just feel pity for you. 

Nathan and I in the mean time will make it work like we have always done because I did my part and did not vote for the guy who got four more years. We will prosper regardless because that is just what Nate and I have always done as a couple. Any major life decisions we have made such as buying a house, car, starting a family, graduating college, where to live and other daily decisions we have always made together. We have always been supportive of each other and have never fought over these decisions. Yes I'm being completely honest, the biggest decisions we have made as a couple have never been fights, which is why I know we will be great parents. We fight over stupid stuff though, like how to connect the gutter system in our back yard or building a crib, but its all in good fun and we don't take it personal which is exactly why we will be good parents!

If this is progress than I don't want anything to do with it. 
Forward we go into another great depression.

Sorry for the bummer entry that is really not pregnancy related but it needs to be talked about!

Have a great weekend,

Julia





Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Rumblings and Showers

This weekend I got blessed with a small, but cute baby shower thrown for me by the JV and varsity girls water polo teams that I have had the honor to coach the last two years. The girls were so sweet, endearing and generous that I seriously cried when I opened up one of the gifts. We also played the usual games, had great conversation, and ate some wonderful lunch and dessert provided by one of the parents and her daughter. As a coach, it makes me feel that I must be doing something right by these girls and their families since they felt the need to throw Lincoln and I a shower.

One of the best gifts we got was a blue, aqua and fish blanket that one of the players mom actually made for Lincoln! He also got this enormous puppy dog that I would say is probably 4 feet big, which is awesome since Lincoln has an enormous 10' x 20' room and it filled one of the floor spaces perfectly! He is going to love climbing and taking naps on that sucker!

Thank you so much girls and their families!
Puppy Love number 2!

All the awesome swag that Lincoln got.

The quilt that was made for Lincoln.

I have entered the beginning of week 28, which is the start of my third trimester! I feel great! 
Well, there are two new symptoms. The first involves heart burn and a lot of heart burn. I had never really suffered from heart burn before I was pregnant, and now if I eat a meal no matter what it is, I have to take a Gaviscon or Tums. With Thanksgiving next week, I am going to eat!! I will be taking a whole roll of Tums with me because no heartburn is going to stop my grubbin' on some turkey!

Another not so friendly symptom, is the amount of gas that pregnant ladies get. HOLY MOLY! This is a recent development as well, but I just blame Lincoln because he's a boy and that is what boys like to do.
My sister was cracking up this weekend when we were staying at our parents house and we had to share a room. Well,  I guess in my sleep Lincoln likes to make me make some music. How thrilling....
The next morning I woke up and she told me all about it, and she thought it was the funniest thing. I found it not as amusing....

As of right now, I have gained only 15 pounds which = awesomeness!! I feel as if I am mostly belly weight with the exception of my ass getting bigger. If I could choose any two parts of my body to get larger it would be my boobs and my ass, so I'll take it! (Plus, I know Nate doesn't mind that!)  

You all can be the judge of my expanding body:


Sheila just had to sneak in! 28 weeks!


Julia


Friday, November 2, 2012

Breast is Best? Right? Maybe?

Nathan and I have a fun night planned that involves pottery barn kids and registering for Lincoln. I don't plan on having anybody buy from this registry but if we register through them, we automatically get 10 percent off from now until six months after Lincoln is born.  I'm going to take that free 10 percent, yes sir!

This blog entry took me a lot of time to produce and write because I was really ticked off about what happened to me, and two I wanted to make sure that I have a clear head when I write this so I don't come off as ignorant.

Since day one, and I mean since I knew breast feeding existed, I have been solely against it for myself and my children. That does not mean those who do breastfeed are less or better, I just know that it is not my cup of tea and it will not work for me or my family. I think I'm entitled to that opinion and that choice but my doctors and the popular opinion in America does not think so. Don't believe me?

Check these articles out:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/health/time-bloomberg-breast-feeding/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/health/hospitals-ditch-formula-samples-to-promote-breast-feeding.html?pagewanted=all

This is just a sampling of what is going on in America and their 'opinions' on breastfeeding. I think its horrible that a women's right to choose something so personal has become an all out attack on mothers who choose not to breast feed for various reasons. Yes, I understand that breastfeeding is ideal but just because its ideal doesn't always make it right. It is certainly not the correct choice for me or my family and I'm sticking to that.

Two weeks ago at my doctors appointment I was asked my by R.N. if I was going to breast feed or not. I then told her, "No I will not be."

That's when I got my first 'terrible mother' talk from another condescending adult. She acted like I had just told her that I would be feeding Lincoln a bottle of Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola instead of infant formula.
She then proceeded to ask why not. I told her my reasons, which should be good enough, but alas they were not.

I then just kept saying over and over, "I understand but I am still not going to breastfeed."

That's when she got pissed at me because I was not backing down.

She then proceed to tell me, "Well, you're not going to have WIC  (women, infant, children program) so its really expensive."
This fucking pissed me off.
I then replied, "Well money is not an issue and I wouldn't of made the choice to have a child if we couldn't afford it."

In my head I wanted to say, so what only poor people bottle feed? So, because I'm not getting government assistance I should breastfeed? WTF was she getting at? Like I hadn't thought about the extra cost?

She then realized this was going no where and said, "Well you should at least try it."
I then said, "It's not like test driving a car." I then got my stuff and left, almost in tears.

I felt completely and utterly angry that somebody especially a health professional would say such things! I am an educated person. I think she was just shocked that somebody who is educated on the issue would make the 'horrible' decision to not breastfeed.

I have now decided that next time I am asked I will say directly to the doctor/nurses,
"It's none of your business."
If they push the issue I will stick to the
"It's none of your business."

At the hospital, I have heard, is where you really get the once over if you make the decision to not breastfeed. So, Nathan and I will be bringing our own formula, bottles and sterile water. That way when they ask, I will politely say no. If they continue to press, I will then ask my husband, or who ever else is in the room with me, to make me a bottle right in front of them. HA! HA! Suck on that! Literally!! :)

So next time doctors, I will be prepared for your disgusting manners. Muahahaha!

Also if you still don't believe me about the serious push to force mothers to breast feed check out the American Pediatrics take on it. I like the section about how doctors should encourage breastfeeding at all costs basically.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/2/496.full


I have found these websites helpful for those of you not sure yet what decision to make.
They seem the least biased and put all the facts out there about breastfeeding and bottle feeding:

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/firstyearoflife/breastfeedingandbottle.html

http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/pregnancy-newborns/caring-for-newborns/breastfeeding-formula/breastfeeding-vs-bottle-feeding-deciding-whats-right-for-you-and-your-baby.html

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/wellbeing/health/breastfeeding-vs-bottle-feeding-is-there-a-right-way-to-feed-your-child.php


There is so much information out there it can be daunting, but if you take the time to read through the crap, you can make the decision that's best for you and your family.

Also, if you really want to get into the freak side of breastfeeding just google: "Dad's take on breastfeeding"
You will read and see some interesting shit like this:

Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me?
And people are getting mad at me for bottle-feeding?

Have a nice weekend with that image!

~Julia






Monday, October 29, 2012

Waterpolo, TLC and MTV

Water polo season is finally over and boy is that a blessing in it's self. I love coaching water polo and I love my team but being pregnant and spending 12-14 hours on a pool deck on weekends, has literally turned me into a walking zombie.
Just for example this is what October looked like for me:
Oct. 5-6 I spent the whole weekend in Napa. On Friday I was up at 4:45am and didn't get home until 8:00pm. Then  I repeated that same schedule on Saturday the 6th.
Oct. 12-13- I spent the whole weekend in Modesto/Turlock/Ripon. That was nicer because I got to see my families, but I still was at the pool deck a lot of the day on Friday and Saturday.
Oct. 19-20- I spent Friday in Turlock at Pitman watching the Oak Ridge varsity boys and my little brother's polo team. Saturday I spent the whole day in Davis from 10am-8pm
Oct 26-27- We had our final JV girls tournament at Oak Ridge. It was great that it was only 20 minutes from our house, but I needed to be there the whole time since it was my tournament. I spent from 5:45am-7:45pm at the pool all day on both Friday and Saturday.
Not to mention, we have a 2.5 hour practice everyday Monday-Thursday plus about 6 games in various places from Stockton to Sacramento during the month of October.

IT WAS BUSY! AND IT WORE ME OUT!
I did this exact schedule last year and I was still working full time at the juvenile hall/group home and I wasn't even close to as exhausted as I am this morning. Plus, tournaments we're an excuse for me to get away from my own classroom :)

I think the lowest point was when at the Napa tournament I went to my car and took a two hour nap in the back of my Subaru between one of our games. If I hadn't, I seriously don't think I would of made it home.

With all of that though, I would still do it year after year because the improvement that my teams show from the beginning to end is absolutely amazing. It makes me know that I have got to be doing something right in regards to coaching.
My team this year went from the first two weeks of practice literally teaching kids how to breaststroke kick and egg beater to actually looking like a team that can play and understand water polo. 6 of the 12 girls on the team had also never really swam before! Yikes!
The number of comments I have gotten about how much they improved makes it all worth it.

These were taken on October 5th at our first tournament in the month of October:

Look at that defense. To go from not knowing how to egg beater to this?
Pure Awesomeness!

Our goalie this year volunteered for the position....and look at her now!

This was taken at the beginning of the season. So obviously I am a lot larger now...
That coaching shirt doesn't even fit my belly.
I'm going to try find some of me coaching with my belly showing.
I was still 4.5 months pregnant when this was taken.
Along with water polo being over today, I will be doing nothing but watching television, reading and sleeping today. I think I more than deserve it. Recently I have taken an interest in watching pregnancy shows and women giving birth. It makes me feel better knowing that if they can do it I can do it. I have even reserved my self to watching the always horrible 16 and pregnant. When I get done watching, it makes me feel good knowing that well, "Hell if this 15-17 year old can push that sucker out or go through a C section well then by all means I can." It also makes me feel very, very responsible.
I wish I could get paid what they do though to have my pregnancy and birth on camera....I don't think though that 24 & pregnant has the same ring to it, nor is as entertaining.

Julia




Monday, October 22, 2012

Maternity Clothes Part Deux and Overwhelmed

I seriously thought I was handling this whole pregnancy thing pretty well....until yesterday.

I thought that I was doing a great job not being super emotional, and before I got pregnant I swore up and down that I would not be that hormonal crazy bitch that some women tend to turn into during pregnancy.

Well I wouldn't go too far and say that I am a crazy hormonal bitch, but I am a tad bit overwhelmed and I have been in denial about it for a while.

It all became clear to me yesterday when Nate and I we're shopping for some pregnancy jeans.

I was told that Goodwill and Snowline Hospice have a great maternity section over here in Folsom.
I knew it was going to rain this week and my jeans can no longer handle the ponytail extender idea, so in the 3rd quarter of the Ravens game Nate and I left to go shopping. (Thank god we did because the Ravens were really shitty this week and it would of been torture to sit and watch the rest of the game.)

Smart idea at the time but being almost 25 weeks, which is 6 months, it's not quite cutting it anymore.
We went to Goodwill and Snowline Hospice and they have a maternity section, but it sucks! I decided that unless I want to look like a homeless person we better start looking else where. Now, I don't mind looking like a homeless person at home, but unfortunately I have a job where I have to be out in the weather, rain or shine, so I don't quite have the option to run around looking like I just walked out of Skid Row.

I did find one GAP maternity sweater from Snowline Hospice and it was only $4.04 with tax, but for the amount of gas we spent driving around we we're just better off hitting the department stores.

We then went to the local mall and went to all the major department stores. I began getting frustrated because we kept getting told the same thing. "We don't carry maternity anymore, but we have a great selection online."

We then went to JCPenney and I thought, "OK they have to have a maternity section here." We then asked a nice lady who was folding clothes where their maternity section was and she replied, "We don't carry maternity anymore, but we have a great selection online." Uh Oh....

I then lost it. My eyes swelled up with tears and I said, "I don't understand how you buy maternity jeans online when you've never been pregnant. I need to try them on! I am fat now and things don't fit the same at all!" Nathan then grabbed my hand and led me out of the store so I wouldn't continue my meltdown in front of the poor lady. She did however feel really bad, and said, "I know its tough and I'm so sorry and if I had it my way we would still carry it." What a nice sales associate and you could tell she felt really bad. I was also super proud of Nate because he knew that I was really upset and he just let me be, which is what I needed in that moment.

We then, out of desperation, tried Sears and thank god they had a maternity section that carried actual maternity jeans. They were even having a sale of buy one get one free so, I got each pair of pants for about 23.99 and a pair of yoga/sweatpants that were on clearance. Thank goodness.

All the swag I got. Three pairs of pants and an awesome sweater.
I then on my way home realized that I have been feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed with the idea that Lincoln is coming. I then began telling Nathan all my fears and began saying things like, what if Lincoln hates me, what if the room isn't done, what if you lose your job and then we're poor. On and on I went for about 5 minutes.

Nathan then looked at me and said, "What if we have the best baby ever."

I then got the point. I had been filling my head with so much negativity lately that I have not even been giving all the positive, great things in my life any room to flourish and grow.

So, here is my list of things that in reality are true and not what if's:
1. My husband is completely and utterly awesome. We have been together just about for 10 years and we are now having a baby. Thanks to his awesomeness and work ethic, we are completely prepared for this as a couple emotionally, financially, and we have so much love between ourselves there is no way Lincoln could feel not loved.

2. My pets are awesome. When we first got Sheila she was a hot freaking mess, but through months of training she has finally become manageable and we did all of this without hiring a trainer. She doesn't eat walls or the remote anymore, she knows sit, stay, come and lay down, she can be walked on a leash for the most part, does fantastic when off a leash, is not aggressive, and will not be in your face anymore when we eat food. She does still like to jump on people, but if that is my only problem then I have it made.
She seriously is so much better.
3. I have started to take pictures of my belly frequently because it's important to Nate and decided I will be a good sport about it. Plus, people love seeing my belly.
Me rockin' my new jeans and taken yesterday afternoon.

 4. I love my baby and as long as he is loved, fed, clothed, has diapers, and put to sleep he will be happy.

~Julia