Can't sleep..might as well update

I have been super busy and neglected to update lately. As some of you know, Kevin and I have had A LOT going on this last week. In the last 10 days, we found out we had to move, found an affordable apartment, packed and moved (most of everything). It's been super hectic especially with the baby due in 16 days and working up until I deliver, especially now adding another $700 to our budget.
Last Wednesday I had my 37 week check. Everything was pretty normal. My BP was 102/72. I had only gain 3/10ths of a lb. in the last 2 weeks. From here on out, I will be seen for weekly checks. At this last check, I was not dilated or efaced at all! Man I am anxious! Maybe baby girl is just giving us time to get settled into our new place before she arrives!!
As far as how I am feeling...TIRED! Yet, I can't seem to sleep through the night because I have so many thoughts, ideas, concerns running through my mind. At church this week, Kevin's uncle Monty gave a great sermon about how God gives us the gift of too much sometimes, and how it's up to us to prioritize, delegate, and sometimes give some of this "stuff" up. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a control freak, sometimes borderline OCD. I want things to be done in a timely manner, organized and how I like it. I think within the last few weeks though, I have wound myself so tight trying to organize, plan, and get things just right..that if I do not begin to prioritize and only do the things that are important, delegate work to others and just let go of some of my anxiety and troubles then I might snap. It's very hard for me to do this, but Kevin has been very encouraging and already not even 24 hours after the sermon, has had to remind me about what Monty said. So, I will begin to take baby steps... I told Kevin that he could be in charge of laundry or dishes, and even though we are on a tight budget, I may only work 3 days this week, instead of my scheduled 4 days. I will just have to see how I feel as the week progresses.

I am sorry I do not have any images to upload this week. I have my 38 week check tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon. I will try to update as quickly as I can for everyone that follows.

I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped us move on Sunday. We appreciate your hard work and are so thankful to have accomplished so much! It means so much to us that you took time out of your day off to help us out. We love you!

36 weeks

Not much to report today. The Dr. gave me the all clear at my 35 week appt. and didn't think I needed to be seen again until 37 weeks, so right now we are just playing the waiting game. I am feeling pretty good. Just waddling and tired most days. Kevin is at Camp Ripley for a few more days, and has the camera with him, so this week you should all be so privileged to see a self portrait!! We have been so blessed lately with a special delivery of some great gifts from family and friends. I can't wait to post pictures of them when I have the camera back!

How far along? 36 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 26 gained
Maternity clothes? of course
Stretch marks? yes. I found a few new ones today!
Sleep: great when I get it! Some nights I can sleep an only wake up once to go to the bathroom, other nights I can sleep and wake up within a few hours and be wide awake!!
Best moment this week: making my first chocolate cake and frosting from scratch... pregnancy best moment would probably have to be the look on cousin Tyler's face when he saw my belly jump! It was priceless.
Movement: oh yeah.....
Food cravings: not really..kinda got past the eating hot wings 24/7. I just like to eat in general now :)
Gender: Girl.. I made them double check at my 35 week ultrasound :)
Labor Signs: I have been going to the bathroom quite a bit lately...possibly my body cleaning itself out?? I have no idea. I am not having contractions if thats what you want to know. I have had a few cramps that are very short in duration and several hours apart. Nothing too unbearable...just enough to make me stop what I'm doing and say "ouch!"

Belly Button in or out? both...more flat than anything. Occasionally it sticks out, but not really an "outie" yet.
What I miss: Right now I miss Kevin
What I am looking forward to: Picking Kevin up on Saturday :)
Weekly Wisdom: No matter how bad things seem, remember and be thankful for all of the blessings you have been given and try not to get wrapped up in a pity party.

The weekend has arrived!!

I have never been so happy to see Saturday arrive! Wow, this has been a week of just unpredictability and craziness!! This craziness always seems to happen when Kevin is out of town. There were several times when the tears came rolling down my face and other times I just had to laugh it off because ...really could one more thing happen?
Well I will start this out by saying that Kevin is gone at Camp Ripley for 2 weeks. Not a big deal. I can handle that...afterall our entire dating was long distance sometimes without seeing each other for 3-4 months. Being pregnant and alone, opens up a whole other can of worms and by worms, I mean super, crazy, hormonal emotions.

Okay...so last week, a few days before Kevin left he was driving my car back to work and it overheated. He was able to make it to the parking lot before it just died. My 12 year old car had just had it. This would be the 3rd or 4th time that there has been some sort of coolant leak causing my car to overheat within the last 3 years. The first 1 or 2 times it was the water pump. That was replaced and all seemed well, then it happened again and they said it was the intake manifold gaskets. That too was replaced (Thankfully by my father who can do it much cheaper than the mechanic) ...and now we aren't really sure what is wrong. We have had suggestions that it may be the thermostat. If so, that would be a fairly cheap fix. At this point, we don't want to put anymore extreme amounts of money into this car. We are just praying that when it is seen at the mechanic that they either find it to be an easy/cheap fix or that we are able to find a nice, used and RELIABLE vehicle that we can afford before this baby is born.

So now, I am driving Kevin's Nissan Xterra...well normally I drive it anyway because mine wasn't always the most reliable for 40 miles round trip a day to work and back. On Tuesday night, on my way home from work as I was driving and singing very loudly to some sappy country song, a rock flew up and hit my windshield! There has been a lot of construction work, and I am just assuming that it was kicked up from a car traveling in front of me. I didn't see anything on the windshield, so I didn't think anything more of it. Until I was heading off to my Dr.'s appt. the next morning, I glanced over to turn on the GPS and low and behold there was a nice crack that traveled up a few inches and then straight across the windshield! That was not the way I wanted to start my morning! I again was instantly upset and feeling terrible that this happened to Kevin's vehicle, of all times, when I am driving it and he is out of town. I didn't want to tell him, for fear of him being upset, but I sucked it up and called anyway. I took a deep breath and told him the good news of my dr.'s appt. and asked if he was ready for the bad news (or what I thought was bad news at that time). He said "uh..sure. is it your car?"..and I said "well, not exactly...it's your car!" .. Kevin- "My car? What happened??", Kristen- (at this point the tears are rolling..." well a rock hit your windshield and it's cracked now, I'm so sorry, please don't be mad".. Kevin- "That's it??, oh that's nothing. That can be replaced, the insurance will cover it"
--What a great calm, loving husband I have! He could have easily portrayed that he was annoyed or mad that this happened but instead just calmly let it roll off his back. I look up to him in so many ways, he is truly an amazing man. So anyway, the windshield is still cracked, I will get around to fixing that eventually!!

Later on that afternoon I recieved a text that a family acquaintance from Illinois had passed away of a massive heart attack leaving behind a wife and 3 young boys. A few minutes after that I received a call that Kevin's grandpa was in the hospital for chest pains. They have since taken Ferd to Fargo, ND and performed multiple bypasses. I received an update late last night that the surgery went well and he will be critical for the next 48 hours. He and Ruth will need our continued prayers and support.

Rewind to Thursday evening, I picked up Ruth from the hospital and brought her home so we could get ready for a potluck at church. I went to the freezer to get out the pre-portioned cookie dough I had made 4 days earlier. When I opened up the big deep freezer that we have, it instantly stunk and a big pile of blood and goop fell at my feet. It was so disgusting. Sometime in the last 4 days the freezer had broke! Everything was ruined!!! My eyes started to well up with tears, I had to just step back ..well one to catch my breath because it smelled so bad, and the other to think.."where do I start?" I ended up throwing away almost 3 garbage bags full of beef, chicken, pizza, frozen meals, cheese, ice cream... and the big goopy stuff that fell at my feet. That was my frozen bread dough that had risen so much that it exploded out of the bag and ALL over the inside of the freezer. OH man was it stinky. I cleaned up what I could without gagging, and sat on the couch and called Kevin. Again, he was so calming and reassuring. He sure knows how to bring things into perspective. It's amazing how God pairs us with a mate that can balance out and help us with things that we struggle with. Kevin reminded me, that it was just food and it too can be replaced and that God will provide for us! So I grabbed my bag of chips and salsa and headed off to the church potluck. It wasn't my homemade chocolate chip cookies, but it was just fine.

And now the story that topped off my week, but all I could do was laugh!!
Well, I must have ate really well at the potluck because later that night after going to the bathroom, I clogged up the toilet!!!! We've all done it before. But have you ever clogged the toilet and then realized you don't own a plunger! It was too late to borrow one from any of the family. I thought I would just let the water go down and try and flush again. That didn't work, I tried that 3 times. I had clogged it good! All I could do was laugh. This time the tears were from laughter, I just couldn't quit laughing. I had Kevin laughing on the phone because I could barely talk I was laughing so hard. That laughter is just what I needed.

There is a country song that Kevin reminded me of that really just helped me step back from the little pity party I was having and deal with life!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFVo02K_CAc ...what a great song to put things in perspective.

"Sounds like life to me, it aint no fantasy
It just a common case of everyday reality
Man, I know its tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk youre caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me"

So after this smack in the head and I really sat down and thought about all of the blessings I have, it made the rest of all of the above mess seem like nothing!

Kevin and I both have amazing family members who have done so much for us, we have steady jobs, health care, a HEALTHY baby on the way in a few weeks, and a Father who will not put us through anything that we cannot handle and will always be there for us no matter how distraught or alone we feel. Now that is LIFE to ME!!! I wouldn't have it any other way. 35 weeks


UPDATE: This just in..literally!!! Our freezer is WORKING!!! My guess is that it shorted out in the thunderstorm we had earlier this week. WAAAAAAAHOOOOOO!!! And I am now the proud owner of my very own plunger and it works quite well. Thank you :)

Yum

That's all! Have a good day!

34 weeks

34 weeks Update.

Well well well...only 41 days til my due date. We are getting there! Only 24 more days at work til my due date...even better!!! Working in an office full of women can be very stressful ..then add pregnancy hormones on top of that, not cool sometimes. That's all I have to say about that...

I am feeling just OKAY. Not great, not terrible. Just kinda in between. I am very wore out at the end of the day and 3 out of the last 4 nights I have slept straight through except for the obvious pee breaks! I have been a little slow going in the mornings now, I set my alarm about ten minutes earlier because I have to first rock back and forth a few times to get out of bed, and then my muscles seem so stiff that I waddle to the bathroom. Next I stand there wondering... "bath or shower??!?!" "Either way I am going to have to somehow lift my leg over the side of the tub..which seems to be harder and even taller than usual nowadays" In the end shower usually wins on work days. Baths are saved for evenings and weekends when I have all the time in the world to try and lift myself back up out of the tub!

My stretch marks have far multiplied the 2 that I first recieved on my birthday almost one month ago. They have all managed so far to stay below the belly button region. I am hoping they stay there. However, I will be realistic and I know that I still have about 6 weeks left and my belly and baby are going to grow now more than ever!

On a super duper good note..our prayers were answered and we have a crib! My mom did a search on Craiglist and found a lady who was selling her Crib, the mattress, a high chair and a brand new booster seat (still in the box) for $120! Then my mom met with one of her friends who has a 2 year old little girl (Amanda) and they went through all of Ellie's clothes, and we have 3 rubber maid containers of clothes/socks and shoes all from 0-12 months! My mom was great to have sorted them out by size and will be sending them up with family who is visiting next monday so I can get the crib set up and clothes washed and put away! This will definately keep me busy while Kevin is away for 2 weeks with the National Guard.

Last but not least..I had to post this picture because it was so cute. This is Kevin's cousin Jessica's little boy Matthew. Although he looks unhappy in this picture...he sat quite contently with me, using my belly as his little chair for quite awhile. It was so cute!

33 weeks

33 weeks (yesterday).

My appt. went fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. I have now started

my 2 week appts. My blood pressure was low today. Not sure why.

Dr. didn't seem too concerned. It wasn't low enough to cause any problems.

She said "Low blood pressure is better than high". My belly is still measuring a bit a head.

She said my belly measures about 35 weeks instead of 33. Again not a big deal. I am expecting

a big girl considering the size of babies in Kevin's family. And in the dr's words "big babies are healthy babies" So...I will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks so they can have a better idea of the growth of the baby. I am kinda bummed out because Kevin will be gone at training for 2 weeks and will not be able to make the ultrasound with me. You may see more blog updates in the upcoming weeks to save me from boredom! !

Early morning updates

I decided to be useful with my time since I was up at 4am! Normally on weekends I would clean or do laundry and tidy up. Not today. It's only Wednesday.... It's my day off and I am going to relax (and I do not want to wake up Kevin!)! I have a Doctor's appt at 9:30am, so until then I will update all of my blog readers, since I have failed to do so for over a week now.

33 weeks today. 7 weeks left. 49 days to go. I. am. hyperventilating. AHHHHHH!!!! Poor Kevin has to deal with my emotions everyday. One minute I'm happy, the next I am crying. One minute I am ready, the next minute I wonder if baby girl could just stay in here for A LOT longer.....And then baby girl kicks me consistently for over an hour at bedtime and I decide again that I am ready for her to check out of the "Mommy Hotel" (as long as she is healthy and ready too!!) P.S. This picture <------ is a from the 4th of July..so not technically 33 weeks. I will post another one later today when I have changed out of my fuzzy red robe and tamed my bed head. As far as how I am physically feeling. For the most part I feel great!!! Other days, not so much. Most days my ankles do not swell, but when they do, just imagine Fiona from Shrek. The Ogre version..not the pretty red princess version. Oh yeah...I sport the "cankles" like noboby else!! ( I have for years...unfortunately blessed with no distint "ankle") Atleast now post-pregnancy I will not think they are so ugly anymore because I have now seen them even bigger!


Most of the swelling is present only on my days off when I chose to wear flip flops instead of my socks and tennis shoes. And my days off probably are not as active as my working days are. I should probably wear more supportive shoes or be more active but at this point I just like to come home after work, take my shoes and sweaty socks off and put my feet up and relax. The most walking I do in the evenings is over to Kevin's grandparents for a game of Rook and the dessert of the day :) :) ( Last night it was strawberry malts, made with strawberry's fresh out of the garden!) One of my other favorites is Rhubarb cake...oh my goodness ...DELICIOUS!!! I need the recipe.... or maybe I don't. because if I had it, we'd be eating it everyday, and I would have gained more than 20lbs already! Speaking of that, I cringe at the thought of standing on the scale at the Dr. today. The last month has been filled with not so healthy food. I can't help that I love McDonald's and Dave's Pizza. .....and ice cream and cookies. I know I am terrible!!!








On a completely different note. Kevin and I celebrated our first Fourth of July TOGETHER! We decided to make a trip to Minneapolis with Kevin's cousins, Ashleigh & Tyler. Saturday evening we watched the fireworks on Lake Minnetonka with Kevin's sister Karla, her husband Mike and their friends. I was so amazed at the amount of people were in attendance. The show was spectacular and like no other show I have ever seen. Even though our day was rushed and we almost missed the fireworks, once we sat down on our blanket and watched for a few minutes we forgot all about the craziness that had ensued the hours before.

On Sunday it was Armed Forces Appreciation Day at the Metrodome. The Twins were giving away 4 FREE tickets to any active, reserve or retired serviceman/veteran. Of course Kevin being the super fan that he is, could NOT pass up this opportunity. It was a beautiful warm day and we kept thinking how great of a day it would be at the new outdoor Target Field next year. Here are a few pictures from the game. Ashleigh and her one of a kind "MAUER POWER" face painting!

The Hot Air Balloons in honor of POW'S and all Military men/women. They flew these around the Metrodome before the start of the game! It was pretty neat!!)

Ashleigh & Tyler Kristen & Kevin (doesn't he look so cute with a shaved face! I love it!)

Other than some major indigestion from the Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday and the Nachos (w/jalepenos) on Sunday...and cheese curds and Pizza Ranch ( It was our last weekend away before baby is born..I had to splurge)...It was a FABULOUS weekend! We are looking forward to sharing our favorite pastimes with our children and hope they can pass on the same fun to their families!

Well I better get going, I have 2 loaves of bread that have risen and are ready to be baked ( They were frozen loaves..I'm not ambitious enough to make homemade.) I can't wait to eat them with homemade strawberry jam! MMMMM!!!!! Notice a pattern of food..holy smokes cravings, I feel bad for the scale today. Yikes!