I had been putting off posting, because I have been trying to get a new camera cord in order to post pictures. Apparently, it is much harder to find the correct cord than I thought. So...still no pictures.
This last weekend was both good and bad. Both Ben and I had off Friday AND Monday, so it was a four day weekend. Friday we went to my 28 week doctor's appointment. I am measuring right on track and (according to my doctor) so is my weight gain. All I have to say is as a female, it is incredibly hard to watch that scale creep up every time I go in. But all in all, I feel lucky that I have only gained what I have and hopefully we can keep it under the 30 lb. mark. I also had my glucose test that day. It was disgusting. Not only did the drink taste bad...but there is so much of it. It pretty much "filled" me up and made me feel super icky for a couple of hours. Exactly one hour from the time I finished drinking that sickly sweet concoction, I had to have my blood drawn. For those of you that know me...you know that blood draws are always a bit dramatic! I have the worst veins ever. They seem to be at the surface and then as soon as they stick me, my vein will bury itself. I ALWAYS have to be stuck twice and in the past up to 5 times! Fortunately this time it was only twice, but I always come out sore and bruised from my blood draws. I joked with the nurse that was taking my blood that the other pregnancy symptoms wouldn't deter me from getting pregnant again...but the frequent blood tests might! So far I haven't heard any "bad" news about my one hour glucose test, so we will keep our fingers crossed and assume that no news is good news. I also found out what was going on with my blood pressure. I am not sure I posted this, but at my last appointment my blood pressure read at 130/90. MUCH higher than it typically is (115/60). The nurse had me lay on my left side (which isn't that comfortable on an examining table) and then came in to check again. It was the same. So they tested my urine for protein and said I was clear. The doctor seemed really nonchalant about it, but it freaked me out. Over the past four weeks I was watching my salt intake, drinking tons of water, and in general worrying about gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. I go in last Friday and the nurse tells me my BP looks great! I went "Whew...I am glad its better from last time" and she tells me that the nurse that checked it TWICE is no longer with the practice and routinely had a hard time with taking blood pressure! What the heck! No one could have told me that FOUR weeks ago, so I wasn't freaking out the whole time! Anyway, all in all I am VERY happy that my BP looks normal and I don't have anything to worry about in that department.
Other pregnancy news. My swelling seems to be better lately. I still have a bit by the end of the day, but I am guessing all that water and lower sodium really helped. So, I am keeping that up. I also have started having some of my first Braxton Hicks contractions. Not routinely, but particularly at the end of the day after I have been up and going for 12 hours straight, I will get one or two. It is REALLY uncomfortable, but not painful. I am also noticing that shaving is a pain in the hiney! Why, oh why did I have to be majorly pregnant through the whole summer! Someone suggested Nair, but I am not sure I could handle the smell. Baby girl doesn't appreciate my bending over either. That is usually the time she goes a little crazy and tells me to stand up straight again. Can anyone say "DIVA"!
This weekend was also busy with the nursery. Once again, this is something I had planned on posting as I took LOTS of pictures. We painted the nursery on Friday night and Saturday and got that all done. It looks fabulous and I am so happy with the way the color came out. It was pretty funny...I had originally had a color all picked out and when I got to Home Depot I freaked out and decided I didn't like that color. I was afraid the "taupe" I had chosen would have too much yellow in it for the chocolate brown in the bedding. So I opted for a darker taupe with more of an ash base. It looks so great! It goes well with the white trim AND really warms up the room! We also got our crib and changing table on Friday. So Saturday, after the painting was done, Ben and I put those together! They are a natural oak color and just look beautiful with the paint color. Ben's aunt and uncle gave us their crib mattress and I went and bought a couple of crib sheets so it wouldn't look so stark. It is actually starting to look like a baby's room. Then on Monday my mom began sewing the pieces of the bedding and curtains together. She got the curtains done and then the top of the quilt/comforter done. I put the curtains up and can't wait to get the rest of the bedding in there. Now we are in search of a dresser (that will hopefully match closely to the wood of the crib and changer), a glider, a couple of lamps (one floor and one table), and some wall art. The wall art may prove to be the hardest as I am VERY against anything too cutesy...so we will see what we come up with.
This weekend was also filled with other various activities. Ben played drums for the other team since their drummer was out of town for the holiday, we moved ALL of our garage sale stuff over to my mom's for her garage sale this weekend, I cleaned the nursery from top to bottom, we moved things into storage that weren't going to be sold (but Ben couldn't part with), and we spent time with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew who were in town. VERY busy!
Monday...Memorial Day, we went down to Hillsdale Lake with another couple. It was pretty relaxing and just fun to enjoy the outdoors. Not to mention, it got me a little bit of sun so I don't look nearly as washed out. We then rented a pontoon boat for a couple of hours. We got on and started heading out on the lake. About 10 minutes out it start pouring. I am not talking about just a little bit of rain but torrential down pour! We were soaked! I definitely put a little bit of a damper on our boating trip, but we still had a good time. We will miss Justin and Christie (and little Joel) this summer while they are in Hays :(
So that is a detailed account of our weekend. It was so nice to have to time to get things done, but it was also a very busy weekend. Tuesday we both went back to work and hit it with full force. I acquired another client this week and this Friday and Saturday I have a seminar on Psychopharmacology (I get class credit for it).
I promise as soon as I figure out the camera cord thing there will be pictures. That blog will probably be huge!
Amber
5.31.2007
5.17.2007
Movin'
Hey folks! Well the title above does not indicate that we are moving (hopefully we won't be doing that again for several years!). No, it is in honor of my little girl! She is quite the acrobat. I can't believe how much she moves around in there. She has recently begun this somersault-flip thing where I can feel and SEE her actually rolling around in my stomach. It is so strange to feel it...yet I can't get enough of it. She moves after I eat, she moves when I sing or when daddy plays the drums (she LOVES praise team!), she moves when I have to use the restroom, she moves AFTER I have used the restroom. If you aren't getting the picture, she pretty much moves constantly. And to be quite honest...I wouldn't change that for the world!
It is a pretty regular thing now that I MUST get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I just can't make it that long anymore. So between 2:45 and 3 am EVERY morning I wake up to the urgent need to run to the bathroom (thank goodness we have a bathroom off our bedroom). The urgent need becomes even more urgent when I actually get up out of bed, as my little baby shifts and does the macarena on my bladder. There have been several times when I have just made it in time. So then, after momentarily falling asleep on the toilet, I crawl back in to bed to finish off my night of sleep. BUT NO!!! Now the little baby inside of me thinks it's play time and she begins doing her series of flips, karate chops and high kicks. She finally gets the picture that it is still "sleepy-time" about 30 minutes later. I guess this is just preparing me for AFTER she is here and I get to spend many sleepless nights rocking her, holding her and feeding her.
Internship is going pretty well. I currently have two individual clients that I see weekly and then I facilitate two group therapy sessions every week. They told me yesterday that next week they will probably be adding another client to my schedule. So I am beginning to rack up the hours and the experience. I have to be honest, I still get little butterflies in my stomach (no it's not Gracelynn), every time I enter the building, but as I begin my sessions, something else takes over. I believe that God truly gives me the words and wisdom to guide these teens and I find myself really LOVING it. It is not by my own strength, that is for sure! I am still learning all the "legalities" and the paper work process, but my supervisors and the other therapists have been great and helping me through that and answering any questions I may have. One therapist, the Substance Abuse Counselor, actually was in MAC 6 (I am in MAC 8). So he has LOTS of words of wisdom for me and we compare notes of the classes I have already had. In general it feels so good to begin to see my goals and aspirations start to take shape and to be in an atmosphere and setting with other therapist.
Mother's day was fun...as this is my first mother's day as a mommy (to-be). We went after church to join my family in St. Joe, MO. We had tons of food and my Papa was on the grill (making black hot dogs...mmm, I love those). We sat around in the gazebo on their land and talked. It was so relaxing...until it started to get pretty hot. I couldn't believe how quickly I got overheated out there. I cooled down, but felt sick for the rest of the evening and even into the next morning. I guess I will have to be really careful this summer to stay cool! My mom did give me a mother's day present. A mother's bracelet. It is beautiful and spells out in sterling silver blocks G-R-A-C-E-L-Y-N-N. I love it! I wear it every day! It reminds me constantly of my little girl. Seeing her name around my wrist makes her life and her presence even more real. I know it may sound strange, but it makes me realize even more that I am not just feeling little flutters and kicks, but my daughter! That is very powerful to me.
This weekend we are off to Manhattan again for Emily's graduation. I know that she must be so excited to be done with high school and ready to move on to the next phase of life. We will be traveling with the dogs again...and that is always fun :) So since we will be gone this weekend, I have set a goal for myself to have all the laundry and housecleaning done BEFORE we leave, so that when we get back on Sunday evening, I can crash! We'll see how well that goes.
Well have a good weekend folks!
It is a pretty regular thing now that I MUST get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I just can't make it that long anymore. So between 2:45 and 3 am EVERY morning I wake up to the urgent need to run to the bathroom (thank goodness we have a bathroom off our bedroom). The urgent need becomes even more urgent when I actually get up out of bed, as my little baby shifts and does the macarena on my bladder. There have been several times when I have just made it in time. So then, after momentarily falling asleep on the toilet, I crawl back in to bed to finish off my night of sleep. BUT NO!!! Now the little baby inside of me thinks it's play time and she begins doing her series of flips, karate chops and high kicks. She finally gets the picture that it is still "sleepy-time" about 30 minutes later. I guess this is just preparing me for AFTER she is here and I get to spend many sleepless nights rocking her, holding her and feeding her.
Internship is going pretty well. I currently have two individual clients that I see weekly and then I facilitate two group therapy sessions every week. They told me yesterday that next week they will probably be adding another client to my schedule. So I am beginning to rack up the hours and the experience. I have to be honest, I still get little butterflies in my stomach (no it's not Gracelynn), every time I enter the building, but as I begin my sessions, something else takes over. I believe that God truly gives me the words and wisdom to guide these teens and I find myself really LOVING it. It is not by my own strength, that is for sure! I am still learning all the "legalities" and the paper work process, but my supervisors and the other therapists have been great and helping me through that and answering any questions I may have. One therapist, the Substance Abuse Counselor, actually was in MAC 6 (I am in MAC 8). So he has LOTS of words of wisdom for me and we compare notes of the classes I have already had. In general it feels so good to begin to see my goals and aspirations start to take shape and to be in an atmosphere and setting with other therapist.
Mother's day was fun...as this is my first mother's day as a mommy (to-be). We went after church to join my family in St. Joe, MO. We had tons of food and my Papa was on the grill (making black hot dogs...mmm, I love those). We sat around in the gazebo on their land and talked. It was so relaxing...until it started to get pretty hot. I couldn't believe how quickly I got overheated out there. I cooled down, but felt sick for the rest of the evening and even into the next morning. I guess I will have to be really careful this summer to stay cool! My mom did give me a mother's day present. A mother's bracelet. It is beautiful and spells out in sterling silver blocks G-R-A-C-E-L-Y-N-N. I love it! I wear it every day! It reminds me constantly of my little girl. Seeing her name around my wrist makes her life and her presence even more real. I know it may sound strange, but it makes me realize even more that I am not just feeling little flutters and kicks, but my daughter! That is very powerful to me.
This weekend we are off to Manhattan again for Emily's graduation. I know that she must be so excited to be done with high school and ready to move on to the next phase of life. We will be traveling with the dogs again...and that is always fun :) So since we will be gone this weekend, I have set a goal for myself to have all the laundry and housecleaning done BEFORE we leave, so that when we get back on Sunday evening, I can crash! We'll see how well that goes.
Well have a good weekend folks!
5.11.2007
Happy pre-birthday!!!
Well folks, I am officially 26 weeks today. I don't know why I find that so exciting, but I do. That means that in 11 (very short) weeks I will be considered full-term. With this excitement also comes the anxiety (it's a wonder my blood pressure isn't any higher than it is). This week I am in the process of scoping out Childbirth Prep class, making appointments to meet with the Maternity Care Coordinator at the hospital, talking with pediatricians and making a final decision on daycare providers. Whew...glad it's Friday :)
We did make a decision on our daycare provider yesterday! I am so excited to have that taken care of and I am even more excited about who we chose. She is very organized and detail oriented (sound familiar). Her home is very simplistic, yet baby friendly. She even gives "boo-boo reports" and daily diaper reports. Oh! And get this, she also makes her own baby food...organic! She will provide all the food for our little girl and her price is about the lowest we could find for this area! I really feel like God put her in our path for a reason. She has a little boy that is 21 months right now and is currently due any day with a little girl of her own. She is taking another 2 year old and then my little girl...and that is it! I am super excited about this and it takes that huge pressure off for this fall when I return to work.
We also determined that we are going to use our family practice doctor instead of a pediatrician. They can refer if neccesary, and my insurance allows us to go to specialist WITHOUT referal, but we like the idea of keeping ONE family doctor for the whole family. Both Ben and I really like our doctor and the practice she is in, so we feel comfortable with that. So...that means one more thing checked off my list.
It is still a little early to plan our childbirth prep class date and to make an appointment with the Maternity Care Coordinator, but we have the time frame down. We will be making those appointments here in the next three weeks and will (hopefully) have that out of the way by the first of July!
So life is moving right along. Heck, pretty soon we may even say we are READY for this baby...well maybe not that, but we are getting there. As for my garage sale this weekend, we have had a change of plans. It IS supposed to be nice tomorrow, however since we don't really have a garage and it would have to be in the yard, I would have to set it ALL up tomorrow morning. And, I am not sure how much I want to spend a whole Saturday doing a garage sale when there are TONS of things to cram into the weekends. So we are packing everything up and taking it to my parents for their garage sale in June. That way we may still make a little money, but it will be out of my house (and the nursery) so we can get started on getting things done. This means we can start taping off the nursery this weekend and get to painting pretty soon.
My internship started this weekend and was it every exhausting. Not so much physically, but mentally. I am still learning, so everything is awkward and takes FOREVER, but I know that with time I will get the rhythm of things down. I had my first group AND individual session this week. It was really exciting to get started, but also (as I have expressed before) overwhelming. I know that with time, I will get more confident and therefore more therapeutic...at least one can always hope.
Ok, I guess I should get back to work now. Have a great weekend!
We did make a decision on our daycare provider yesterday! I am so excited to have that taken care of and I am even more excited about who we chose. She is very organized and detail oriented (sound familiar). Her home is very simplistic, yet baby friendly. She even gives "boo-boo reports" and daily diaper reports. Oh! And get this, she also makes her own baby food...organic! She will provide all the food for our little girl and her price is about the lowest we could find for this area! I really feel like God put her in our path for a reason. She has a little boy that is 21 months right now and is currently due any day with a little girl of her own. She is taking another 2 year old and then my little girl...and that is it! I am super excited about this and it takes that huge pressure off for this fall when I return to work.
We also determined that we are going to use our family practice doctor instead of a pediatrician. They can refer if neccesary, and my insurance allows us to go to specialist WITHOUT referal, but we like the idea of keeping ONE family doctor for the whole family. Both Ben and I really like our doctor and the practice she is in, so we feel comfortable with that. So...that means one more thing checked off my list.
It is still a little early to plan our childbirth prep class date and to make an appointment with the Maternity Care Coordinator, but we have the time frame down. We will be making those appointments here in the next three weeks and will (hopefully) have that out of the way by the first of July!
So life is moving right along. Heck, pretty soon we may even say we are READY for this baby...well maybe not that, but we are getting there. As for my garage sale this weekend, we have had a change of plans. It IS supposed to be nice tomorrow, however since we don't really have a garage and it would have to be in the yard, I would have to set it ALL up tomorrow morning. And, I am not sure how much I want to spend a whole Saturday doing a garage sale when there are TONS of things to cram into the weekends. So we are packing everything up and taking it to my parents for their garage sale in June. That way we may still make a little money, but it will be out of my house (and the nursery) so we can get started on getting things done. This means we can start taping off the nursery this weekend and get to painting pretty soon.
My internship started this weekend and was it every exhausting. Not so much physically, but mentally. I am still learning, so everything is awkward and takes FOREVER, but I know that with time I will get the rhythm of things down. I had my first group AND individual session this week. It was really exciting to get started, but also (as I have expressed before) overwhelming. I know that with time, I will get more confident and therefore more therapeutic...at least one can always hope.
Ok, I guess I should get back to work now. Have a great weekend!
5.07.2007
Rain Rain Go Away...
Once again...not much to report on. It is raining and has continued to rain, essentially non-stop, for days. My house is a muddy mess (from the dogs) and my hair has stayed in a continuous state of frizz for the past week. We have had to have the air on, because we can't really have the windows open when it's pouring, and in an attempt to escape the rain, our house has been infiltrated by ants. Hundreds of ants. It is very disgusting! And as much as I hate them, Ben hates them even more. He has declared war on the ants in our house. One of their favorite places to "hang out" is inside our dishwasher. BEN'S favorite thing to do is to turn on the dishwasher and "listen" to them die in the wet, hot sauna! It is actually quite amusing to watch him wait and listen for that exact moment when the water rushes through the dishwasher and he knows that the hundreds of ants chillin' in there are now dead. Just today he stopped at Home Depot and got Terro. This is a type of ant killer that is supposed to draw the ants and then they carry the product back to their colony and kills all the ants back at the nest. SWEET! Hopefully it is as good as it's reviews! I just want to be able to cook without risking having extra "pepper" in my food. Bleck!
I start my internship tomorrow. I am super excited, anxious, scared, overwhelmed... Yes all of those things and more! I meet tomorrow with my first group session and hopefully the adolescents I am meeting with don't see right through me! I pray that God gives me the words, patience, and understanding, as I work with these clients and all the clients I will be working with throughout the next fourteen months. As far as paperwork goes, I feel pretty prepared and fortunately there seems to be a bit of a learning curve and all the therapists seem very helpful and understanding...they've all been there!
I am hoping that the rain will let up enough for me to have a garage sale this weekend, however if not I think we are going to just pack it all up and take it to the Salvation Army. Having it out of my house is much more important right now than making a few extra bucks. We are then going to start painting. I am anxious to get started, as the end of this week marks 26 weeks for me! Life isn't getting any slower, so I really want to get the nursery under way. It will be nice to see that start to take shape. This weekend my mom and I started cutting the pieces for my nursery bedding and I am so excited to see it start to take shape! We even have enough material left over to make some throw pillows! Friday night I painted the letters for the nursery wall (spelling her name). They are pink and then I sprayed a sheer sparkle over them. I topped it all off with small rhinestones in the corners of the letters. We are going to hang them with chocolate brown ribbons. I can't wait to get those on the wall.
Mom and I went garage saleing on Saturday and at first it seemed to be rather fruitless. She dropped me off at praise team practice and all I had were a couple sleepers. But after she left she hit the jackpot!!! She got a ton of baby girl clothes, some of which still had the tags on it! It's hard to believe that in a few months there will be a baby girl wearing them.
Well, that is all I have for now. Perhaps when I update again I will have more exciting news to report on. Later...
I start my internship tomorrow. I am super excited, anxious, scared, overwhelmed... Yes all of those things and more! I meet tomorrow with my first group session and hopefully the adolescents I am meeting with don't see right through me! I pray that God gives me the words, patience, and understanding, as I work with these clients and all the clients I will be working with throughout the next fourteen months. As far as paperwork goes, I feel pretty prepared and fortunately there seems to be a bit of a learning curve and all the therapists seem very helpful and understanding...they've all been there!
I am hoping that the rain will let up enough for me to have a garage sale this weekend, however if not I think we are going to just pack it all up and take it to the Salvation Army. Having it out of my house is much more important right now than making a few extra bucks. We are then going to start painting. I am anxious to get started, as the end of this week marks 26 weeks for me! Life isn't getting any slower, so I really want to get the nursery under way. It will be nice to see that start to take shape. This weekend my mom and I started cutting the pieces for my nursery bedding and I am so excited to see it start to take shape! We even have enough material left over to make some throw pillows! Friday night I painted the letters for the nursery wall (spelling her name). They are pink and then I sprayed a sheer sparkle over them. I topped it all off with small rhinestones in the corners of the letters. We are going to hang them with chocolate brown ribbons. I can't wait to get those on the wall.
Mom and I went garage saleing on Saturday and at first it seemed to be rather fruitless. She dropped me off at praise team practice and all I had were a couple sleepers. But after she left she hit the jackpot!!! She got a ton of baby girl clothes, some of which still had the tags on it! It's hard to believe that in a few months there will be a baby girl wearing them.
Well, that is all I have for now. Perhaps when I update again I will have more exciting news to report on. Later...
5.01.2007
Happy May Day
*** Edit ***
I realized after I had published this post that I am essentially rambling. If that tells you anything about the state of my mind right now...you can have a little peek into my life. Last night was fairly productive though. I caught up on some house work and got laundry started (not done though). I also got groceries, which is always good. Ben came home and we made hamburgers on the grill RIGHT before it started raining. All in all it was a good night. Tonight I am going to continue working on the laundry situation and start in on the task of organizing the office! Woo-hoo! Then it's homework time. This weekend will be reserved for getting ready for the garage sale (mixed in with praise team practice, starting the baby room bedding, and church on Sunday). Whew...if all goes according to "plan" I should come out of this weekend feeling prepared for next week. Well...as prepared as I can be. Thanks for listening to the crazy ramblings of a pregnant woman. Sometimes my thoughts are jumbled and as you can see, this week is one of those time!
*** End Edit ***
Happy May Day all! I hope this blog finds you well. Things are getting ready to kick into high gear here! I had a meeting with TLC, my internship placement site this morning to discuss various things, including my start day. Officially, I will now be starting May 8th. Yikes...that's in a week! I am honestly pretty excited about getting started...and a little nervous. More nervous about the paperwork involved than anything. Medicaid, Medicare and other insurance companies rely on my paperwork to make the funding process work, so there is a lot more riding on this than just information. I assume that it is typical to feel underprepared and a little overwhelmed when you are starting something this huge. Next Tuesday I will be in my first group session and eventually will be taking a part of that group to form my own. Then next Wednesday, I will have my first individual session. Next week I will be with one of the other licensed therapists, however after that I am essentially on my own. Once again...Yikes! I already have homework for it too. Apparently in the group sessions, the therapist comes with a group activity or lesson that the group can do. The therapist I met with today gave me two books to begin my research for group. Whew...I am glad we go to just one class a week after May 14th! I have a feeling the next year is going to fly by...whether we like it or not!This Saturday, my mom and I are going to begin the nursery project! I am so excited to get started and to see my baby bedding start to take shape. Right now I look at the fabric we have so far and just think of all the great things we will do with the room. Of course that means painting has to get done soon! Ben and I also decided to paint our office while we were at it. Hope we didn't bite off more than we can chew...but it will be nice to have that looking nice and clean! That brings us to the next bit of spring cleaning...GARAGE SALE! I am hoping to have a garage sale the second weekend of May...which means a week from this weekend. We don't have a TON of stuff to sell, but we do have several pieces of furniture, some clothes and other odds and ends that would be nice to get out of our little house. This next week I am planning on going through things again and just giving it a once over to make sure we have everything out there that we possibly would want to get rid of. I will be cleaning out my desk (being sold) and getting organized! Once again, I hope we didn't bite off more than we can chew, but it will be nice to streamline before we start filling our home with baby stuff.
Other than that, we are just making it through each day. I know I have said it before, but life never seems to slow down, so we will probably be going at this break-neck pace for a while. Love you all!
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