33 weeks - Myles calls this my langerie shirt

My dear dear friend Leah gave me this shirt.

My list of names

These are the names that I like. Myles doesn't like my favorites, but I think one of these might just be the winner.

GIRLS

Noami - this is the name I would have if Myles would let me. It's my favorite.
Adelaide
Beatrix
Clementine
Elodie
Delilah
Talulla
Agata
Paisley
Aislinn
Oslo

Boys

Kilian - This is my favorite. I wish we could use it, but Myles says no.
Kieran
Kellan
Camden
Oslo
Gideon
Oliver
Micah

And I like Cielo for a middle name. I think it's Spanish for Sky. Pronounced
See yellow

60 Jelly beans and I'm good!

For the prenatal visit before last I had to eat 60 jellybeans that my midwife gave me, all in a 10 minute time period, excactly one half hour before my appointment. When I got there they had to draw my blood to check for gestational diabetes. I just found out at our last appointment that I am healthy and don't have to worry about that one!! Whheewwww, one more thing less to worry about =) They also checked my iron and it was good, which is also lucky considering that I was anemic before I got pregnant, and I HATE my iron pills so don't really take them very often. So far I have gained 23 pounds and have been growing like I'm supposed to. They tell me I can only eat ice cream once a week (I want it 7 days a week) so now I'm on a big hot chocolate kick instead =)

I just ordered the birth pool from waterbirth.org. It cost a whoppin $185, so I hope I use it. I can't believe I have less than two months to go, and could actually have my baby at home anytime after about 3 weeks from now. I don't feel ready yet, although I'm feeling more prepared for labor itself. I'm hoping to stop working by Oct. 31st, so hopefully this little person doesn't come too early and I have time to rest a little first. I know things never go as planned though so am trying to prepare for anything. My pelvis and hips have been extreamly sore, so I hope it doesn't continue to get too bad before the birth.

The baby has been moving a LOT and I can really feel it now (and see it too!!) It's head has been down the whole time, and is still down which is really good. I hope it's comfy in there, although I expect some extra long arms and legs might be squished in there as well judging by both Myles and I.

Today we are off to Travis and Kerry's house for a bbq baby party. It's really cute and fun to see our friends be excited for us, especially the guys. Our baby will be one of the first for any of us, so I think there might be a lot of "uncles" and "aunties" around. I can't wait to see what life will be like, and who this person will be.

Baby Shower party at Trav and Kerry's

32 weeks

This evening we went and saw Austin Lucas play on his back porch. It was amazing. More amazing than anything I have seen in a while. That guy is a freaking genius

30 weeks prego

Inez

This is Inez. She was in town to visit her daughter. She's 91, and my fathers, fathers, mothers sister, so my great-grandmothers sister. She's so amazing and I'm so glad to still have her in my life. She used to help my great-grandma Alice take care of my sister and I when we were little. She's still the same. An amazing quilter and she remembers so many things...like the day my grandpa was born on the farm. She is 100% German and says the German food is her secret to being so healthy and living so long. I really hope she comes up again soon. With my baby in my belly we had a 5 generation picture with the other ladies. It was Leslie, Inez, myself and baby, and Gretchen. Leslie is my grandfathers generation, and Gretchen is my fathers. We met at Apple bees...it was a lot of fun. I ran into some lady's car with my car after and now my insurance is probably going up =( That's another story for another day. We also went and saw Hot Water Music play this same night. What an amazing show, and the baby's first real concert.

OMSI with the Girls

Rolling Thunder

Yesterday we woke to roaring thunder and crashing lightniing outside of the windows and right above our roof. Then the gentle patter or rain on the skylight in our room. It was the best sound ever considering how hot it's been! It's amazing how it can be over 100 degrees one day, and then pouring rain the next. Today it rained all day again. It's much cooler and almost feels like fall already. It's supposed to continue until the weekend and then be 80 degrees and sunny on Saturday. I can't wait and I hope it's nice because Callie and my favorite girls will be here to hang out with me!! yay!

Timothy Lake and a brand new Camera!

This heat is now getting to me and making me grumpy! Yesterday we went up to the lake again and I think it was my favorite day this summer so far. This time Travis picked us up in his new boat and took us all the way across the lake where we've never been willing to paddle to before in the canoe. It was so beautiful over there and there was nobody other than a few kayakers every now and then. Then we went to this beautiful spot with rocks built up where Myles and Kerrie were doing cannon balls into the lake. The water was perfect! A little chillie for a second, but then nice and cool to hang out in on the raft. I love that lake. It's the perfect place, and having access to boat around it was even better.

Today is still hot. We bought a brand new little Sony point and shoot digi camera and I LOVE it!!! Our other one was so great, and lasted about 5 years, but the batterie finally stopped working a few months ago, so we wanted to be sure to replace it and have time to get to know the new one before the baby gets here. I have my amazing Nikon SLR, but sometimes it's just too big and expensive to be lugging around everywhere.

Callie and the girls are planning on coming down to visit next weekend and I'm really excited. There is a seamonster movie playing at the IMAX at Omsi that I have been wanting to see for over a year now, so I think we might do that. I've only seen one IMAX movie and it was so much fun. I also want to go into the museum because they have fetus' in jars for every month of pregnancy, and eventhough it seems a little morbid, I really want to go see what my baby is looking like these days =)

Hot hot HoT

Yesterday it was 100 degrees in Portland!!! Everyone was walking around miserable and whining about it. I didn't think it was too bad. Today it's supposed to be just as hot out. I have been in the office all day in the A/C so I'm not sure what the reality is out there. I know it's a lot hotter in Chico...so I don't mind the heat so much. Being pregnant does make everything seem hotter though! Tomorrow morning we are going back up to Timothy Lake to meet up with Trav and Kerry and their boat. I love it up there and can't wait to jump in the lake again. I think it's usually a LOT cooler up there on the mountain so it should be perfect! Plus it's our first time to get to check out their boat. I can't wait!!

Yesterday was the longest day ever. I got to work by 8 am sharp. Worked for 8 hours - and then went straight to the midwife's house for our appointment, and then straight down to the hospital to observe the childbirth education classes. I didn't get home until after 10:30 pm and never had a real break all day. It was nice to be busy though and I know I can handle it for now. I'm really enjoying learning so much about childbirth in general, as well as the education side of things. I hope my goals of becoming an educator are reachable after the baby is born. I know it's such a passion of mine and it's nice to know I'm finally moving in the right direction.

Indigestion is the pits!!

I have been having "digestion" issues for a few days now, and last night was an all new experience. I woke up around 1 am with the WORST indigestion I have ever felt =(
I rarely have heart burn or acid reflux etc.. but this was like really thick acid coming right up my throat. It felt like my esophagus was going to melt in half or something. I got up and ate about 5 of my papaya enzyme pills, and even those didn't help. Thankfully Myles and I just bought brand new fancy big pillows, so I was able to prop myself up into a somewhat sitting position and eventually fall back to sleep.

Sleeping seems to be getting harder. I guess it's my body preparing me for being up all night! My hips and pelvis get extremely sore, as well as my shoulders. My new King size pillow is helping a lot however, and once I fall asleep I am out like a rock!

Baby Books

I have already read a lot of books about pregnancy and labor/delivery because of my love for midwifery. Now I am reading even more, including books about babies too. I just read "the amazing newborn" and it was so interesting! I'm glad I got to read it before the baby is born, as it talks about the amazing things that a newborn can do...even within the first few hours of birth. Now I'm reading "the happiest baby on the block". I have heard things about the book and am curious to see what the big fuss is about. Of course I have no idea what having a new baby is really like, and of course I am SURE that our baby is going to be perfect and never cry or have a hard time with anything...but I still want to be prepared =) I am also reading several week by week types of books about the baby and me and how we are growing etc. And to add to it I am also studying for my own childbirth educators practice and training...so am learning a lot about the process and how birth is normal etc...
My FAVORITE birthing book is "birthing from within" by Pam England. I'm reading it now for the second time to help me with my own labor. I'm so overwhelmed with books and info, but at least it keeps me busy.

26 weeks along

Antho's house in Washington

Yesterday afternoon we went up to Washington and spent some time with our really good friends at one of their friends amazing houses. It was my dream house. Only about 40 minutes from here, but on the river with so many trees, birds, fish and nature everywhere. The air smelled good, the water was fresh. We tried out luck at fishing. Everyone barbecued and it was a really good time. I would love to live in a place like that. It was so relaxing. These pictures will not do it justice.

Notepad

The C word

It started on Wednesday morning, but somehow I made it through the day...and had to call in sick on Thursday. I wasn't sure what was wrong at first, just that I was in some serious pain and couldn't sit, stand, walk nor lay down. I later figured out that the problem was the pregnant woman's good ol' buddy Constipation. Apparently I had never known the meaning of that word before, but let me assure you I know it now. I was quite surprised, as I have been eating great, plenty of fruit, lots of water.... but somewhere something must have gone wrong. The cure that I am trying now is a few prunes a day, and psyllium seed. My midwifes recommended psyllium seed earlier on, but warned me that it's really gross and hard to drink. I went to New Seasons and got a big can of the husks and I basically mix a tablespoon in some water and drink it down. It's really not bad at all, and I think it might be working! I'm feeling a little better, but have noticed that it makes me feel a little dehydrated, so I'm making sure to drink lots of extra water as well. That's not as hard to do now that I have my fancy Swiss steel drinking bottle!

24 weeks and a day

It's summer time and the weather here has been perfect. I have to say I have been feeling really good lately. I'm hungry all of the time, and usually sore when I wake up...but I'm happy and feel like I have enough energy most of the time. I have been having issues with my pelvis (or my pubis symphasys??). Falling asleep isn't as easy as it used to be. I feel like I wake refreshed however, which is not usual for me. The pre-natal vitamins make me sick, so I have only been taking my fish oil pills, Iron, Folic Acid and Calcium. I love eating at this point and stick to a great diet, however am loving ice cream almost every night =) I haven't had any coffee since being prego, however I've been craving it and might have to get a decaff latte here soon.
I wish I had a pool to swim in because I love swimming and know it would make me feel better. I try and do yoga once a week if I can. It always makes me feel much much better. I'm so glad to be over the first few months when I was SO SICK all of the time. It was a hard thing to get through but I made it!!
I can't wait to meet this little one inside of me. We have no idea what we are going to call him or her so far... but have some ideas. I wish we had family closer, and more friends with children. I just love it here too much to go anywhere else =)

21 Weeks - I'm a hippy =)

18 weeks and finally some Sunshine!