35 1/2 Weeks

I cannot believe that in a week and a half she will be considered technically full term (37 weeks). 


...where
has
time
gone???


It is kind of freaky. I'm like in a huge, dreamish time warp. 

Baby Beck:

[according to my app]

>> 35.5 weeks old

>> 18 inches long

>> about 4.75 pounds

>> the size of a large cantaloupe

>> 4.5 weeks left (maybe)

How far along? 35.5 weeks

Contractions? I am currently laying on my couch after coming home from doing surgeries early this morning because I had such bad Braxton-Hicks. I have more surgeries to go to this afternoon and can't even stand up without having the contractions so strong that they take my breath away and don't go away! They are crazy. So I am taking it easy for the afternoon.

>> I've had Braxton-Hicks since about 20 weeks so that is nothing new, but this new intensity and frequency sure is. It's like my stomach is constantly hard, like one solid contraction that doesn't go away, accompanied by period-like cramps. My doctor told me to try to not overdo it and to just lay down and drink a lot. Sooo, since I get really bored just sitting.. I decided to do a blog update while I was at it.

Labor Signs? I don't think so. Just those Braxtons and cramping. My body is definitely slowly getting ready for it, and my OB thinks it is likely I might go a bit early, and I agree, but that probably won't be for a few weeks from now. 

Weight Gain? Yes! I will have around a 25 pound pregnancy by the time I am 40 weeks if I continue gaining the way I have been. I measured a bit under last week but my doctor wasn't too concerned considering how we eat and baby is measuring well! 

Stretch Marks? Somehow still no! I make sure to keep my skin really moist but I hear stretch marks are mostly genetic.

Sleep? Hmmm… this area has changed for sure since last post! It is so hard to get comfortable- and stay comfortable! Poor Mitch. I make him switch me sides of the bed multiple times, pillows over and over, prop a pillow here, do this and that- ha it is a real struggle! My back is constantly hurting but yoga helps a bit when I do it before I sleep.

Routine: get home from work, change out of scrubs into husband's old tshirts and basketball shorts. This is the reality of the 3rd trimester… 100% about comfort and I don't even care. Ha ha

Gender? Still a little miss

Name? We had one pretty much decided on, until someone pronounced it wrong… like way wrong (it's a pretty simple name) and the way they pronounced it sounded so awful that we almost didn't even like the name anymore. It made it like a different name entirely. Bleh! Like it was so off from the name we chose that we don't know if we can handle people calling her that and mixing it up! Name is still a secret for now, but let me just say it is something only Utahns would mispronounce. So that is sad! Ha we don't know for sure. We will decide when we see her for the first time. 

Belly Button In or Out? OH my gosh. I used to have a definite innie - and since the last trimester, it has become a complete and total outie. Ha ha it is so weird to me. I'm like… is this even my body?!?  Ha it is so different. It makes me almost laugh every time I take a bath or see it poking out. It's hilarious.

Mood: Happy! Really happy. But I have noticed my emotions are on the rise for sure! Note - do not watch birth videos when you are emotional - you will bawl like a baby and your husband will come in and ask what happened.

>> My mood also varies with how I feel about school and how I am doing with it.. ha ha.. says Mitch. And I just got an A on my neurology exam so that must be partially why I am so happy:) I am just taking 2 classes this semester since she will be coming in the middle of it. I LOVE BYU online… have I said that before? :) Online school totally rocks my socks.

Labor Plans: I have been reading a lot about natural birth, hypnobirthing, etc… I have found it way interesting. I have learned a lot more than I thought. Before I got pregnant, I used to think girls/women who did natural birth were just out to get some sort of award and put themselves through misery for no reason but vanity - turns out there is a lot I didn't know about it. There are genuine benefits to natural birth that I disregarded earlier.  Anyways, I still want to enjoy the experience, per say, so I plan on getting just a spinal block epidural (you can still walk around, etc, you're just numb there) and only late in labor, and also to avoid pain medications, etc. So somewhat of a hybrid/mix of natural/traditional birth. That is my plan for now. I'd love to hear your birth stories and experiences!!

>> Also, if you have seen my Facebook recently you'll notice I've been posting a lot of vaccine articles (namely TDaP - Pertussis) because they are things I have been researching a lot and find super important. It is going to be really important to Mitch and me for visitors to be up to date on their pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine in order to hold little miss before she is 8 weeks old. Just a forewarning! :) 

Baby Prep: My mom helped me make a cute car seat canopy, and a blanket that I love! They match and also match her carseat/stroller set. Matching things make me so happy :) 

the carseat cover is a salmon color with white swirly things, and the inside of the carseat cover is grey, and so is the little blanket we made.
also yes, those white frames in the background are empty still:) ha ha I wonder if they will ever be filled?

The only things left to really get that are necessities are a dresser and a baby swing. There are other small odds and ends but those are the last big things we need, so we have made great progress overall with all my parents help with setting our nursery up and all of their hard work and generosity! It has been sooo fun working on it all with them. 

Little monkey's crib is all done thanks to all the help to mitch and my dad for building it, and my mom for helping me make the decor:)

>> Also I have an app that tells me little things to prepare {totally love it}, and last week it told me to install the car seat base in the car. Can I even tell you how much joy that brought me?? Ha ha. I like sit there and just stare at it. And it makes me so happy.

>> Oh and I am definitely 'nesting' Mitch says- I am a cleaning mad-woman. 

>> I have also been making lots of freezer meals. It has been so hard to find some that are organic, gluten-free, and healthy! A lot of the ones on pinterest are unhealthy and have a lot of processed stuff that we don't really like. So I've had to get a bit creative and make up some of my own! It has been kind of fun!

>> As for Mitch, he put in an 85 hour work week last week and worked 40 hours by Wednesday morning this week. His work upped some deadlines for projects for clients and he just dug in and got it done, no matter how long it took. He is the hardest worker I know. That man doesn't stop - project after project for work and he is a total champ beyond the point to where I would have just given up. He is such a good example to me and provider for our family. L O V E  him.

>> This weekend we have our second to last shower and I am so excited. I already loved baby showers… make it a baby shower for my own baby and it makes it way fun!!

>> I have started packing the hospital bag… any good suggestions of what you wished you had in yours/what you were glad you brought? I would love to hear!

33 Weeks

Baby Beck:

>> 33 weeks old

>> 19-22 inches long

>> about 4.9 pounds

>> the size of a pineapple

>> 7 weeks left

How far along? 33 weeks

Maternity clothes? of course! i usually stay in my scrubs most of the day, but on days i don't work i will wear leggings and loose shirts a lot

Stretch marks? no thank heavens!

Sleep: really good still. it can be kinda annoying to get up a lot and go to the bathroom but the actual sleep is good!

Movement: when is she not moving?! she is so crazy! she can tell when mitch has his arm or hand on my stomach or when i am cuddled up to him, she'll do the same and kick and rub against his hand. its so cute.

Food cravings: i haven't had a ton of cravings lately. i've felt pretty normal that way the last few weeks.

however some favorites are spaghetti squash (still a fave), halved and semi-roasted avocado and an overeasy egg on top (also still a longtime pregnancy favorite), and broiled grapefruit with a little agave on top! sooo yummy. 

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks like craaaaazaaayy. i've had them on and off since i was 20 weeks and they seriously are intense now! i don't know if that may mean she will come earlier or not, but man i get them a ton. 

besides that, i feel good! i get a bit more fatigued at night but nothing crazy. my doctor did say i am slightly anemic which i'm sure contributes to that fatigue. loading up on extra iron and vitamins and that should help real soon.

Have you started to show yet? i should probably delete this question! HA! clearly i am showing! i feel like a beached whale. my scrubs are getting tighter by the day:

Gender: a little missy

Belly Button in or out?  Boh this totally is something that has changed! I noticed at about 26-27 weeks my previous-innie button was now flesh with my stomach. it is now totally an outie. it is weird to see your body change in ways you have never seen! ha! 

Mood: i totally confess to getting moody when i haven't eaten for a few hours. before pregnancy i was already hypoglycemic (my body just goes through sugar really fast, i need to eat often!) so then you add pregnancy and a little person inside to feed, and you know how that goes! ha ha

Best part of this week: 

-school started again! so happy. i am just taking two classes this semester since she will come in the middle of it. 

-my brother had his farewell on sunday. i don't know if that qualifies as a good part of my week because i am going to miss him so much!

-he and mitch and i went to the jazz game on friday! love those two

-we got two bookcases i have been wanting to organize aaaallllllll of mitch's books. we outgrew our smaller one long ago and it was time to get two nicer matching ones. oh the weird things that bring me joy. things that are symmetrical, matching, and new:)

everyone can go ahead and start praying now that baby beck will come a little earlier than march 3rd! we are ready to meet her!

32 Weeks//Update as of Late

Hey guys. I'm Kailin and I kind of suck at blogging!

Ha sorry it has been so stinking long.

Well we are 32 weeks along, can you believe it!? Only 8 (hopefully less) weeks until we meet our sweet little baby L:) (name is secret for now)

TRAVEL:
Life has been mega crazy. We have traveled for a near cumulative month over the last couple of months, between Hawaii, New York, and California.

Here are a few pics of our recent travels that I've put up on my ->insta

Maui

Rockefeller Christmas tree

NYC

NYC at 26 (?) weeks

Times Square

At the Newport Beach LDS Temple for our friend's beautiful wedding

Early morning walk down Dana Point Beach
(don't judge my just-woke-up face:) ) ha ha

When we first got married, we knew we wanted to wait at least two years before we had a baby. It will be 2.75 ish by the time she comes. We made that decision because we wanted to develop our own relationship as husband and wife, and build a strong foundation with that before we became mom and dad. Everyone's timeline is different and that is awesome, but this really has worked out for us and we feel like we have had an awesome opportunity to grow close together and have neat life experiences before our littles come! It has been a great blessing to be able to travel and see the world, and live in and experience cool parts of it! Especially since we found out we were pregnant, we have been wanting to travel a lot since it is a lot different with a little baby. That has been so fun, squeezing out our last few weeks having fun together before little baby L comes to join the party. I'd recommend that to any couples expecting, it is the best thing ever! I think we will be glad we did it.

PRE-BABY PREP:
I finished off a crazy 16 credit semester at BYU online with all that travel, [[[[being pregnant]]]], and working full-time doing surgery. Oh, and being a wife, etc. Ha I have had no life! But being this busy has been SO so good, and has made this pregnancy FLY by literally. I am shocked at how fast it has gone.

Since the semester ended, It has been fun to finally have a breather to start on the nursery and do some household projects that needed doing. I feel like I can finally focus on some things that have been neglected the last few months.

Last week my sweet parents came down and spent all afternoon on Saturday helping us set up the nursery furniture, and my mom and I sewed some things for it (crib stuff, and next week we are doing curtains). She is the sewing guru, and my OCD self is loving how all of our baby's decor can match in perfectly in her room! It brings me way too much joy! Ha ha. My dad can fix/build/create/put together ANYTHING, and that was so fun watching him and Mitch do some household fix-ups and set up nursery furniture like the crib and rocker that day:)

Mitch and my dad working on the rocking chair for the nursery

I'll put up a before and after picture of the nursery when it is done here in the next couple of weeks.


I pre-registered at Labor & Delivery today! My OB's office is actually in the hospital, upstairs from labor and delivery which is way convenient. The nurse said it was time for me to, so I happily went and did so! Ha ha it made me so excited thinking just 7 or 8 more weekends and we'll be walking in those doors to meet baby L!


SCHOOL:
School starts up again this week and I am SO excited.

So I have found something out lately... people are often times really weird when I say that, and I have gotten a lot of remarks such as "...you're still going to go to school while you are a mom...?"

Um, yes! Yes I absolutely am. Just because I become a mom doesn't mean I forget about developing and progressing myself. Things like school will make me a better mom. I'm not going to go full out and consume my time with it, but I am most definitely going part time even during these first few months.

With my personality, I would go crazy having nothing to work on for myself in addition to being a mom. When I have other things to attend to/focus on, I am better in all aspects - as a wife, friend, and prospective mom. I am a strong believer in keeping an individual identity as I start on this journey. That is my personal opinion.

Do I think it will be easy - no, I don't, at all. It will be really challenging. But that is what keeps someone happy who has a personality like mine. I have a belief that education alters generations. And it is something my husband supports more than I do! I am grateful to have a man who loves me enough to push me to succeed at the goals I value. He is a really, really good example of hard work and the value of an education.

So, to any and all skeptics out there, I appreciate the concern, but I appreciate encouragement even more;)

I am grateful for the opportunity to go to school and I do still plan on getting my master's degree. It will definitely take longer than if I could go full-throttle with no baby, but that is okay. I am in no hurry at all.

I have learned to love learning - something I didn't know was possible. I feel a lot better about myself when I am furthering my education and progressing myself. I am on the downhill side of my undergrad, too, which is an awesome feeling.

PREGNANCY:
And lastly, as I mentioned on insta, I think I should give a prize to whoever can guess how much longer I can squeeze in these scrubs!

Ha ha!!! I am so pushing it. I called back a patient the other day and his eyes got real wide, and he said "WHOA. You look like you're about to pop!" I was like oh thats great! Haha. It is about time to put them away. So here it is for all of your enjoyment.. 32 weeks pregnant in non-maternity scrubs because I am too cheap to go buy them until I absolutely must. You might have to tell me when its time.. my stomach might be hanging out the bottom;) (gross)


As for how I am feeling, really really great! A little more tired than usual but nothing crazy. My heart turned out to be fine, just an abnormal skipping that is not too dangerous for now and that we'll just watch. The cardiologist said that it can be worse with pregnancy and will likely not be an issue after I deliver. So that is great! No funny business with that which is a huge blessing.

One thing I miss SO BAD lately- sleeping or at least laying on my stomach. Holy cow. That might be the first thing I do after I have her.. just turn over and lay on my stomach for a while!!!

I have my last shower, thrown by my mother in law, on February 1st. Shoot me a FB message if you wanna come!

Sorry again it took me 7 years to update all this. I'll try to be a little better with it only being a few more weeks until it turns from pregnancy posts to baby posts!




OH, BUT WAIT:
Oh wait, I forgot to tell you guys the best part of our holiday season...

yep. happy freakin holidays.

GUYS. PREGNANCY BRAIN IS REAL. VERY VERY REAL AND SAD.

Do I have a cool story? Nope. Can I blame the weather? Nope. 

I literally ran straight into a cement barrier in a parking garage. By myself.

Why? Because I was looking for my parking validation ticket thing while I was driving around a corner.

So that was really great.

We were SO LUCKY though, our insurance covers the repairs 100%, we just have our deductible of $500. The repairs are... well... a lotttttt more than that. And they even set up and paid for a rental car for us.  Turns out that little green gecko is pretty helpful:)

Wanna know who is not helpful??? the worst EVER? So my car was pretty much undrivable (hello, look at that front wheel) and yet I still drove it up out of mainstream traffic to a turn-out where it wouldn't be in the way of people driving. Happened to be a handicap spot.  It was the only spot there. I left to deal with insurance calls, etc, and when I came back, a stinky little mall cop had given me a ticket for parking in handicap! I wanted to be like.. hello sir, do you see I would not be parked here if I could um... drive my car?! Do you think parking in handicap is really #1 on my worry list right now?? ha ha.

Mitch called the mall and they removed the ticket:) I was just like.. come on dude! Thanks for helping out! Did you think I needed a worse day or what?

Anyways, hope your holidays were great! We feel like we've been really lucky and really blessed! (despite stinky mall cops) :)