hah-hee-whoooooo

hahaha, we went to our second out of four child birthing classes. we had to take pillows in... obviously for breathing exercises. it was pretty interesting. i cant say that it's helpful yet, because of course, i havent given birth yet. but it looks like it's something that can really work. basically the pain isnt going to go anywhere, but if i can focus on something else until that contraction goes back down, i think i'll be ok. and i really think i can do it. one of the things were for andy to just touch my face, shoulders, arms, hands, neck... and as he touches those parts, i was supposed to focus on completely relaxing that part... it was wonderful. basically i got a massage the whole class... and i wanted to fall asleep. andy actually did fall asleep at one point. hahah. cant blame him though, it was very relaxing.

next class there will be a speaker coming in... an anesthesiologist. and we get to ask him/her all kinds of questions about epidurals and all those good drugs (that i really want to try NOT to use). after he/she is done, we get to take a tour of the labor and delivery. i've already seen the rooms. they're reaaaaaaally nice! we get to keep her in the room with us at all times, there's no nursery. also, they have the system where they'll put a band on mine and andy's arm, and her's... and if anyone else that doesnt have one of those on tries to walk out of the hospital with her, the whole base will shut down and it would be everyone looking for her. that's pretty neat. makes me feel good.

i ordered stuff from target yesterday. i got her curtains for her bedroom (since it gets ridiculously bright and hot in there due to the cheap blinds they have up in there). i got some bassinet sheets (only had one... not good), a changing pad (her changing station is on her dresser... it's the perfect width and height... no need to buy one), and that's it for now. we'll be getting her crib from our friends this weekend. and hopefully soon i can get her some stuff to hang on the walls. i'm doing all black and white for her room. kind of a vintage feel. i was going to put up pictures of audrey hepburn, judy garland, sophia loren, all the women in the classic movies... but looking at the prices online... we might just have to stick to just black and white pictures of flowers and stuff.... maybe grandma will even take some black and white pictures for her nursey for us?????? :0)

i went to walmart today. i have everything i need right now for the hospital if for whatever reason she decides to come early... i'm ready! i just want to share with everyone that i went in there with a set amount... $50. and everything (after coupons) came out to $48. i'm pretty sure that's a world record for walmart shoppers... i'm very proud of myself.

wellll... ava's 34 weeks and 3 days today. next doc visit is in two weeks. then after that i should be going in weekly for them to check me and make sure i'm not dilating. apparently you can dilate up to 3cm before you even get contractions... though they follow shortly. but still, i told mama sandie i would try to wait so that she can get her first week of school in :0) ... but we should probably be telling ava that, not me. she already has a mind of her own.

we'll keep ya posted!

baby classes!

so on wednesday we started our "child birth" class! this class will be every tuesday for the month of july. the first class was mostly about the stages of labor... how everyone goes through the same stages... just not in the same length of time. poor andy had to watch a birth in the first class... he actually did really well. next class we have to take pillows... so i'm guessing we're doing the "lamaze" thing. hahaha. that should be fun.

yesterday we had our "baby basic's" class. this class was all about how to care for the baby afterwards: changing diapers, cord care, parenting (talking about things as a couple, like discipline), annd he got to see some more births. haha. they showed natural, c section, forcepts, and some alien woman who had her baby in like, 5 minutes... by the time the doc got there, the shoulders were out. i was like, really? who is this lady?! this class was from 8am-4pm... so you can imagine how ready andy was to get out of there.

i feel bad that all these classes happened to end up in the same month. he's getting a little overwhelmed, i think. cant blame him. he's doing well though, and i know even without the classes he'd be fine. i just WANT to go to classes. even if everything they tell me goes out the window when i go into labor, it just makes me feel less anxious right now.

andrew had **3** cigarettes yesterday!!!!!!! (and trust me, there were many times i expected him to smoke during this baby class... one lady gave him a hard time. but he didnt!!) i'm really proud of him! he's trying to take better care of himself. i told him if the meds work for him, then we're going to get daddy frank on them! :0) he's a grandpa now... he's gotta be here another 40 years! haha.

i'll be 34 weeks on sunday! our next appt is on the 29th and it's coming up fast!! i keep telling andrew i NEED to get some things for myself for the hospital before that appt. after 37 weeks, she can come at any time and be term. he doesnt understand why i cant "just wait"... he doesnt realize that ava's not going to "just wait" until i have everything ready to go... she's coming when she wants to. haha. probably just a guy thing, so i try not to take that to heart.

it's 6:30 in the am. i have to go pick up my friend at 6:45 and take her all the way to LA (she's going to see her cousin in up state cali) and then drive all the way back today. 6 hour drive... and i'm hopeing my butt doesnt fall off. haha. hurts to sit too long now-a-days with a little girl pressing down (or up on my ribs for that matter!). buuut i'm sure i'll be fine. just hope i'm home before andy gets off of work. they usually get off early on fridays. i cant believe it's the weekend already!!!


well you guys, i'll keep you updated! gotta run!

8 weeks to go!

so we're all moved in... finally!! i absolutely love the new house. everything has a place, fits perfectly. the only thing i really have left to do is hang pictures up and get the rest of ava's stuff. i need to get her a dresser and a crib. all the other things can wait. i cant believe how quickly time is going by these last weeks. it's good and bad. good because i cant wait to hold her and see her, bad because i feel like we need more time to get things ready. even if i had everything in the world for a baby, i probably would still feel the same way, though.

i had a 32 week check up tuesday. same thing i always do, get weighed, check blood pressure, measure the tummy, and listen to her little heartbeat. doc says the test results for gestational diabetes and anemia couldn't have been more perfect... that made me feel good. i dont know how i passed considering i cheat real bad on the caffinee drinks (shhhh!!). it's really hard when what you crave is sweet tea! i cant help it! haha. the doctor also said that because everything is going so well for me, i didnt need to come back until four weeks which is when they bring out the ultrasound machine and check her position... making sure she's head down and ready to go within the following four weeks. so i'm glad everything is going well, but i wish i could hear that little heartbeat more often... cant have it all, i reckon.

so far i've only gained about 22lbs. apparently (according to the internet), i'm supposed to gain around a pound a week from now until she gets here. that's awesome. just when i thought i couldnt possibly stretch anymore. haha. if she's 4lbs now, that means she'll be 8lbs if she's on time.... that's a big girl. i dont know if i'm ready for that. haha. i say i'm nervous about labor, but i'm really actually excited. andrew and i start the child birth classes next week (along with the day long baby basics class which includes daddy boot camp... cant wait to see that!!). we have them every wednesday night for the month of july. so i'm hopeing we get a lot out of it. i know andy will be a good coach, i'm not worried about him. i just cant wait to be able to breath again! :0)

well.. i'll have more news soon. i think i'll be driving down to target soon to get some more baby things with our gift cards. try to get something going in the nursery to show you all! until then...

[mOVinG!!!!]

soooooo.. we definitely didnt make it to seaworld last weekend. we decided instead that we're going to move. haha. we found the perfect house for andy, ava, and i. andy said we needed to stay home instead of going to san diego so that we can have everything ready to move by the 22nd, which is our move-in date. well... we pretty much had everything packed in two days. can you tell we're excited and ready to get out of this house? so now i really dont have anything to do during the day. besides clean. which is what i used to do anyways. only now it has to be intense cleaning and that's not my favorite. and took alll of next week off though. so we'll be nice and settled in. i get to wait at the house and open boxes and put stuff away. darn being pregnant during moving, i just want to help soooo baaaaad ;0) . i'm thinking we'll have everything moved in about 2days.. at most. then we have the rest of the week to set things up.

i'm mostly excited about this house because now i can get ava's stuff ready. i can wash things, put it all together, decorate her room. andy says i dont need a crib because we have a bassinet. but i'll gladly sell the bassinet if i get a crib. this nifty yardsale site has all local people selling things for cheap and i got a woman to trade her almost brand new crib and mattress for my target giftcards. i'm pretty excited about it. ava's due date is august 23rd. i'm at 30 weeks and 2 days today. good news, i never got a call from the doctor after my gestational diabetes testing. she said if i didnt hear from her, then everything is good. next appt is on the 30th. i'll be 32 weeks. i cant believe how fast it all went. feels like it's slowing down now, but maybe after we start moving, time will start to zoom again.

andy picks up rank on the first (we think, or somewhere around then). so it's pretty much perfect timing. right before ava gets here. we'll get a nice pay raise. and i think i've talked him into staying in for another four. (pray for me). i just think it would be best right now. i hate being away from home, but i just dont see job security right now as a civilian. also, if he stays in, i'll be going to school for radiology. which is only 2 years. so when he gets out (hopefully even before then) i'll be making the most of the income. and most likely wont have to work that much to get decent pay so i can spend time with ava. it's all perfect in my head, i just hope it all works out that way.

well, ava seems to be having a spasm right now. i'm going to go drink some milk and have some of grandma perrines peanut butter cookies :0)

BaBiEs!

andy and i were supposed to go eat dinner and hang out at a friends tonight. apparently before we got there, mrs stricklands water broke!!!! i'm hopeing he comes tomorrow so i can play with him. hahaha. how selfish! kim is a very very tiny girl and she's been carrying around a massive belly that looked like one of those fake body suits they make men wear to feel sympathy for us (dont think it works, but whatev). so i really do hope he comes soon for her sake, looks like her back is in a little pain!

another one of my local desert friends has been having contractions for the last week and a half, but hasn't had any more progress. i'm getting so excited to have all these babies to practice with! that is if they let me. hahah. i've offered my daycare service to kim. she's a marine also, so she only gets six weeks off to bond with her son, to me that doesnt seem like enough time, but we live right off base so she can come and see him on her lunch break without a problem.

this friday we decided that we're going to go to seaworld! it's free for us to get in there, i thought that was perfect! so i'm pretty excited about it!

i got another box of clothes for ava from my friend brittany. i cant believe how well we've made out with all of this. and i absolutely HAVE to get thank you cards out. i feel terrible. next week. i promise.

well... going to watch rescue me and have some butter and jam toast for desert.

nighty night!

7 month update!

so... i'm about 29 weeks already. 2 and a half more months to go... or as i like to say, 11 more weeks! not too shabby. i've gained about 20lbs so far. i have a feeling these last few weeks, i'll double that.

it's getting a little tough to breath, with her getting so big. my doc said it's unfortunately worse for people with a short torso (thanks a lot!)... and this heat just makes it that much worse... so i get really irritable with not being able to breath and all, haha. poor andrew.

good news is, i still have an innie belly button! from the looks of it, i dont think it'll come out this time around, but what do i know anyways? andy picks on me all the time saying it's going to pop out, today's the day... we prove him wrong daily... and i love it. :0)

we have pretty much everything we absolutely need right now for ava. i wish we could move out of this house a little earlier than the beginning of august so i can make sure everything is ready for her. we're moving (again) out of the house we're in now because we have a roommate and i think with a baby, it's just time for us to be alone. our lease isnt up until the end of july, and i'll be about to bust around then. so i'm a little worried. not to mention that this house is at a constant temperature of 88 and up during the day and there's not a thing i can do about it. sooo... i pretty much melt away all day. cant WAIT to get out of here!

next weekend we're visiting some friends up in pendelton. they're going to let us stay with them. they have two little girls so i think we're either going to the zoo, sea world, or the beach. i'm so excited! it'll be hot, but i dont think it's as hot as it is here in the desert, they have grass and trees and shade.... jealous. we did have a pool at one point. apparently that pool attracted rabbits and the rabbits couldnt get themselves back out. this happened twice... dead rabbits in the pool. so we decided to retire it.... and now it's just trash. so that sucks.

by the way, ava is happy and healthy (according to the doctor on wednesday). heart rate of 160... she weighs about a pound and a half and from head to toe, she's about 13-14 inches long... dont ask me how she's fitting in there. she's always pushing on my hips and ribs, so she's definitely getting big. wiggle worm!!

alrighty, going to stand under the swamp cooler again before i die of heat exhaustion (drama queen, hahaha).

updates later!

another day...

another day... more baby stuff.

went to walmart on saturday to pick up a stroller/car seat set we saw online. they didnt have it then. but of course, i go today without andy and they have it. i was really excited though, this is the last thing we absolutely had to have to be ready for Ava Marie. as you probably know, you cant even take the baby home if you dont have a car seat. so that was really exciting.

i had my first mothers day yesterday. andy couldnt have done any better for me. all i wanted was to spend time together with him, considering it'll be the last mothers day with just him and i. so we had what we call "fat girl sunday" and just sat around, watched movies and pigged out all day. it was PERFECT!

not too much else going on around here... it's getting hotter and hotter by the day. but i'm ok as long as i have ac (wall unit), and the pool.

andy and i have baby classes coming up, one is budget for baby (thank you Jesus), breastfeeding (which i'll be going alone to, haha), and baby basics. so that'll be fun! something to look forward to until she gets here. only 15 more weeks... more or less. i'm getting more and more excited every day!

that's all for now, sorry it's so boring... hopefully i'll have something good soon!

take care