30 week Ultrasound

Today I had another doctor’s appointment. It’s always fun to hear the heartbeat, and today we had another ultrasound. But the part I always dread, and need to vent about a little, is the SCALE. Ugh. I hate it! I already feel enormous, so watching the numbers creep up, and the doctors criticize me about my weight gain, really just makes me want to cry. I’ve gained 30 pounds so far, and I’ve got about 10 weeks to go.

It’s not like I’ve been one of those pregnant women who eat everything in their path. I’ve never taken “eating for two” literally. I eat healthy, I’ll give into the occasional craving, but for the most part I keep it around 2000 calories a day. Which I think is really good considering the huge appetite that comes with being pregnant. I take walks and do prenatal yoga. Yes, I could do these things more often, but it’s getting harder to be motivated because I’m so tired all the time.

Other than feeling fat, everything else is going really good. My glucose screening (that 3 hour blood test I had to take) came back normal, so I don’t have diabetes. That’s awesome! I was worried about that one for a while. The baby is healthy and growing at a normal rate. As of the ultrasound today, she is about 3.5 lbs now.

I love ultrasounds because it’s so cool to see your baby. She was really moving around in there today (she kept kicking the ultrasound lady's hands), which made it hard to take pictures, and she had her face up against the placenta, so it was really hard. So, as fun as it was to see her, the pictures didn’t really turn out, but I’ll post some of them anyway.

Her foot


A side profile, sort of.

A 3-d picture of her face and arm. Can't see it? I couldn't at first either. Like I said, her face was up in the placenta, so the ultrasound lady tried to digitally remove it so we could see her better. But if you look closely you can see the side of her face: an eye, nose lips and chin. Her arm (or maybe it's the cord) is blocking the rest of it.

10 weeks left! We can't wait to meet her!

Part five: We plead innocence!

This is the last of the Babymoon saga, I swear. But I just couldn’t be done without telling you all about the trip home.

We woke up at 4:00am and were on the road by 5:00. I tried my hardest to stay awake (I think it’s rude to fall asleep while Dustin has to be awake. Is that weird?), but I just couldn’t! We got to Yuma around 8:00, and stopped at Love’s truck stop for gas and a bathroom break.

I noticed this sign above the pump:

These people watch MythBusters! For all those that haven’t seen that episode, they were trying to figure out what causes freak fires at gas pumps. They figured out it had to do with static electricity. If you enter your car while your gas is pumping, then get out (creating the static), and the first place you touch is near the nozzle, you might create a spark that could create a fire. If you can’t read this sign, it’s the middle three bullets that caught my attention:
-Discharge your static electricity before fueling by touching a metal surface away from the nozzle.
-Do not re-enter your vehicle while gas is pumping
-If a fire starts, do not remove nozzle then back away immediately

Okay, I know I’m a nerd, but I think that’s cool.

The next part of the story needs some explanation. You’ll probably find it reassuring to know that the US is really cracking down on Border Patrol. We got stopped 3 times on the way to California, and twice on the way back. Usually they just wave you on by, or they’ll ask you if you’re a citizen and you show your ID. No big deal. Well, on the last stop on the way home it got really interesting.

We pull up to the station and the guard says:
“Where are you guys coming from?”
“California”
“Where are you guys headed?”
“Home to Arizona”
“Are you two US Citizens?”
“Yes”
“Could you show us your ID’s please?’
“Sure.”
As we’re getting our ID’s out of our wallets he gets impatient and says, “I need you to pull over under that tent over there”

Dustin and I exchange glances that say, “Okay, this is weird” and we drive over to the tent, ID’s ready to show the next officer. But the next officer doesn’t even care about our ID’s and says
“Do I have permission to search your vehicle?”
“Ummm…yeah”
“Please step out of your vehicle and stand over there please”

So we get out, I leave everything in the car, but Dustin has his wallet in his hands so they say,
“Set your items on the table and stand over there”.
“Yes sir”
“For your protection and mine, I’m going to need you to put your hands on your head”
Then the officer completely patted Dustin down!

What were they searching for? Drugs? Weapons? They didn’t see anything threatening about a pregnant lady, so they just told me to have a seat.

Meanwhile they brought out their dog to search our car! I thought this was all very funny, but thought it would be unwise to laugh.


They eventually decided that we were harmless and sent us on our way. I bet you are all wondering why they stopped us. I think this may have had something to do with it:



Doesn’t he look dangerous? Haha. Maybe it’s because he looks like a pothead, or bears a resemblance to the Unabomber. Maybe they are required to stop men who wear beanies and sunglasses. I think it’s the facial hair. It makes him look untrustworthy. Dustin hadn’t trimmed or shaved his mustache for a long time because he believed it to be linked to the Cardinals winning streak. The beard hadn’t been trimmed for a while either. Plus we left early in the morning so he looked tired and had on baggy comfortable clothes. All together in one package though, I’d say he looks suspicious. Wouldn’t you?

Part Four: San Diego Zoo

Our last stop of this trip was the San Diego Zoo. We once again got to the park right as it opened. It's so peaceful to feel like you're the only ones there. The animals are much more active in the morning. We actually saw the tigers wrestling around, the baby panda was climbing all over the place, and the baby koala was trying to get her mom to wake up. This zoo is so beautiful, and so BIG! I knew it was big, so I had planned on riding the tour buses and shuttles to help me around the zoo. But- if you do that you miss about half of the exhibits and we wanted to see the whole zoo. So we walked. And it took us all day. I was not anticipating on how exhausting it would be! I'm still tired! haha. But it was worth it.

Grizzlies

The most entertaining part of the day was the Gorillas. We got to the exhibit just as they were bringing out the baby gorilla. He was only 4 months old, and pretty much the cutest thing ever! He was brought outside with a zoo-keeper. The mother couldn't feed him anymore and they have to keep him away from the other gorillas because they are too rough with him.

We ate lunch at this restaurant up in the treetops. Expensive, but fun.

If you can't read my shirt it says "Love Child". I usually don't wear shirts with writing on them, but Dustin loved it so much that I bought it.

At the end of the day we rode the Grand Tour Bus. We just wanted to sit down for awhile!

This snake was following Dustin's hand around the glass!

We left the zoo around 4:30, right about closing time. I did not think it would take us all day to see the zoo, but it did! The original plan was to go to the zoo in the morning and then the beach in the afternoon, but that didn't work. By the time we left the zoo and got something to eat it was dark outside. Plus, we were so exhausted. Oh well, maybe next time.

This was such a fun vacation! I'm so glad we got a chance to take one last trip together. Well, not the last trip, but the last trip as a childless couple. I love my husband so much, and I'm so excited for the next chapter of our lives!

Part Three: Wild Animal Park

We arrived at the San Diego Wild Animal Park as soon as it opened. We needed to be back in time to watch the Superbowl. Yeah, we went here on a Sunday. We're sinners. Instead of church that day, we worshiped by celebrating all of God's beautiful creatures. This zoo was so beautiful! I guess growing up in the desert really makes you appreciate greener landscapes.

See what I mean?

There was an actual campground at this zoo! How cool would that be? It's right near all the lions and elephants. It'd be so fun to wake up to the sounds of lion's roars.

Dustin swinging from the vines.

Since this zoo is sooo big, you have to take a safari to see all of the african animals. It was really really cool. Also, if you're willing to pay extra (which we weren't) you can take a hot air balloon tour, or a up close and personal photo caravan. Very cool. If we had the extra money we might have done that.

Awesome.

The lion's exbihit was the best I had ever seen! You're so close to the animals.

A landscape view of the Journey to Africa tour.

Dustin has the same wingspan as a gorilla!

Even though this zoo is enormous, it doesn't take that long to see, since most of the zoo is viewed in the safari. I loved it! It was so much fun. We left around noon, and went to eat at a resturant near our hotel called Souplantion. It's basically Sweet Tomatoes, but it's called something different here in California. I enjoyed my healthy lunch, while Dustin filled up on the self-serve ice cream.

We then headed back for the Superbowl. I was actually excited for the Superbowl this year. I always watch it, but it's a lot more exciting when you are really rooting for a team. We had to be quiet since we watched it from our hotel room, which was really difficult because the game so so exciting. What a great game! Highly disappointing at the end though. It looked like we we're really going to win it there for a while. We we're so close!

Dustin's comment on the Superbowl: "Worst officiated game ever."

Tomorrow: San Diego Zoo

Part two: Sea World

After a good nights sleep (and I mean good...these beds are soooo comfy!) we headed to Sea World Saturday morning. The weather was perfect! I had bought some long sleeved shirts to wear over here because I thought that it would be cold, but it definitely is not! Its perfectly warm with a cool breeze. We had a great time. We saw the Shamu, dolphin, and sea lion and otter shows. We ate some very delicious burgers at the Shipwreck Cafe, and had a great time exploring all the exhibits. We took a lot of pictures. I don't know why, but we always take an average of at least 85 pictures everytime we go some place like this. haha. A lot didn't turn out because my camera hates being indoors and in dark areas (which is all the aquariums), but here are some of them. Enjoy!

This turtle was waving at us!

Shamu!

Part of your....world!

Wild Arctic

We had such a great time!

Tomorrow: San Diego Wild Animal Park

Babymoon

Part One: The Journey

Dustin and I had this San Diego trip planned for a while. I wanted to take one last vacation together as a couple before the baby comes. We get free flights through Dustin’s work, he had won a free car rental at Christmas, we are able to get discounted hotel rates through Dustin’s uncle, and I had been diligently saving my tip money for awhile. I was so excited we could afford a vacation, and that we could do it with cash! Sounds perfect right? Well that all unraveled yesterday.

Our original plan was to catch a flight to San Diego at 5:30, pick up our car rental at the San Diego Airport, and drive to our hotel.

In order to fly for free, we have to fly stand-by. Which is always a little stressful. Dustin called me early that morning to let me know that our flight had completely filled up.

Argh!

On to Plan B.

I decided to call Thrifty (the car rental company) and try to transfer our reservation from San Diego to Phoenix. My reasoning was that driving would take just as long as waiting for the next flight that was at 9:00pm. I explained that this was for a free car rental that we had won, and that the reservation needed to be transferred, not canceled, because in order for the gift certificate to work it had to be booked 14 days in advance. She assured me that this is what she had done, and that we needed to present the gift certificate at the counter.

Dustin picked me up from home around 5:30 and we drove to Thrifty car rental. The workers there had never seen a gift certificate before. They had no idea how to redeem it. Finally they brought out their manager, he clicked some buttons, and said that we couldn’t redeem this certificate because the reservation wasn’t booked 14 days in advance. I told them that it was, and that the lady I had spoken with earlier had transferred the reservation and that she told me everything would be fine. He said that she had canceled the San Diego reservation, and made a new one in Phoenix. As a result of that, he could not give us our free car rental.

This is my all-time, number one pet peeve: People who are incompetent at their jobs.

First of all, if the reservation wasn’t able to be transferred- she should have let me know. If that was the case we were just going to wait for the 9:00pm flight. Everything would have been fine. I don’t know if she just messed up, or if she was just telling me what I wanted to hear. Secondly, the workers at Thrifty should have taken ownership of their error and tried to help us out. But they didn’t even try, not even a little bit. The manager just kept saying, “I can’t redeem this.”

So because of their mistake we couldn’t get our car rental. We couldn’t even take the 9:00 flight anymore because the lady had canceled (not transferred!) the San Diego reservation. Also, by this time it was after 6:00 and it was too late to cancel our hotel reservation without being charged.

We ended up driving our own car. Which is fine, but it was just very frustrating to have to do that when we were supposed to have a free flight, and a free car rental.

We arrived here in San Diego after midnight. We went to sleep and had a much better day today.

28 weeks

I have officially entered into my last trimester! It’s hard to believe that in just 12 short weeks Dustin and I will be parents! Here are some pictures of how big I am. They are not the best pictures, but it’s hard to take a good picture of yourself! I’ve gotten comments like “Wow, you must be almost done!” to which I reply, “Not for another 3 months”. Or the most common one is “When is your baby due?” and when I say “Not until April” people look a little shocked and confused.

I am afraid of how big I’ll be by then. I’m already having difficulty doing normal things. I waddle when I walk, and the stairs up to my apartment are getting harder to climb. Things at work are getting harder too. I’m short, so coloring and cutting hair is already a challenge for me, but lately my belly has been literally bumping into clients! I do love working, but in a month or so, I probably won’t be able to reach my clients!

Other than those complaints, I’m still feeling great! I still have energy (most of the time), and I still feel like I can do most things. Dustin and I are going to take one last trip together this weekend. We’re going to San Diego! I’m very excited.

Things are looking good on the medical side too, the baby is doing well, and we have another ultrasound scheduled in 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I did have to get tested for gestational diabetes. Everyone gets screened for it around 28 weeks, but my basic test came back too high, so I had to return for another one. It was brutal. It takes 3 hours. When you arrive at the lab, they draw your blood. They then have you drink a really sweet liquid (it tasted like sno-cone syrup). Then they draw your blood every hour for three hours. On top of it all, you have to be fasting. No food or drink. So, people that know me know how much anxiety I have about doctors, hospitals, and needles. I have to have Dustin with me every time because I almost pass out every time. Add not eating on top of that (I get light headed when I don’t eat anyway)-- I was terrified I was not going to make it through this test. But Dustin gave me a blessing that morning, and I ended up doing just fine. I did have to go in a back room and lie down once, but other than that I did okay. Afterward we celebrated with all-you-can-eat pancakes at IHOP. I don’t know the results yet, but I’ll keep everyone posted.

Dustin and I are preparing ourselves as much as we can. I don’t know why (maybe it was all those years of writing research papers for Mrs. Platt), but I like to do my research. I bought a lot of good books off Amazon. The Baby Book, The Birth Book, and The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears, The Nursing Mothers Companion by Kathleen Huggins, and the No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. We also purchased a childbirth class on dvd. I work at night, so finding a time to take an actual class would have been difficult. Plus, the dvd was $30 and the actual classes were $65. It’s also nice because you can freak out at home instead of in a room full of strangers. The lady on the dvd is a little cheesy but it’s been really informative so far.

We’re slowly getting everything we need for the baby. We still need some bigger things like a mattress for the crib, a changing table, etc. The one thing we do have is clothes! Of course we can always use more, but I’m feeling pretty good in that department. When my mom and sister came to visit two weeks ago, we went to Once Upon A Child. It’s a second hand store, but most the stuff there is really nice and hardly used. They were having a 60% off sale that Saturday. So we ended up getting outfits for about $2 a piece!



I also got a lot of clothes from a co-worker of mine. So here’s a picture of all the clothes getting sorted and organized. She now has at least 5 outfits in every size.

We are so excited that she is almost here! Let’s just hope she is cuter than this:
Scary right? And what’s with the duck costume?