Twenty three weeks down, seventeen more to go

I am a big fan of our Chiropractor. I have been going to them for about six years now and know that I always feel better overall after being adjusted. I am thinking that a trip in to see Dr. Powell is going to have to happen quick. My hip is out and it hurts to sit or stand for any length of time. At least the baby is giving me awesome and valid excuses to get adjusted.

Figuring out the expenses for the hospital and delivery is starting to set in. We've been trying hard to figure out a budget that allows us to set up a payment plan when the hospital starts billing. I was told by my boss that our hospital can give us an exact number for out of pocket expenses and what options they have for us to pay it off. Personally, I think insurance should pay for all care since they deduct so much out of our paycheck each pay period, but sadly, I know that it'll never happen. Our next step is to find out what that amount is and calculate our "new" budget.

I've been trying to find a job that I can do from home. I knew that I didn't want to do any type of consulting business where I'd have to file a 1099 at the end of the year. With a baby on the way and a need to supplement our income, it seemed pretty bleak.  A friend of mine referred me to a company called Alpine Access. They provide companies with customer service representatives that work from home answering calls. The company services many companies and so far I've gotten hired on with Alpine but am still interviewing with the individual companies to find a match. The problem I am running into is that the training and first thirty days of work are done with no time off allowed. Since I have mandatory class every Thursday evening for BYU-I, I cannot fulfill that requirement. Here's to hoping I can find a position that offers training in the daytime.

School started back up for BYU-I on Monday. I can honestly say that I am in need of a break from school. We are taking a math class with BYU-I until July 23rd. My math class with FRCC ends in three weeks and I graduate with my Associates Degree in General Studies on May 16th. I am really excited to be done with at least one part of my education. My game plan is to take 15 credits each trimester with BYU-I this next year and complete my Bachelors Degree in Business Administration by May. In theory this would get me done with school before the baby starts walking. Here's to hoping my plan works.


Baby Update:

How Far Along: Twenty-four weeks

Cravings: This week I haven't had any new cravings. Eating healthy is still a priority to me.

Feeling: I feel a bit better than last week but still trying to maintain my eating habits that keep the blood pressure/sugar problems at bay. 

Best Part of being pregnant right now: Feeling him/her kicking. It's getting much more common at nighttime.

Worst Part of being pregnant right now: Struggling with my blood sugar and blood pressure. 

Sleep: Doing great! I still get up every night at least once but am sleeping pretty well.

We've got a kicker!!

I have been really bad about remembering to update this. With a wonderful reminder via Facebook, I am doing my due diligence and posting. Everything has been going great. We are both finishing up our second to last semester with the BYU-I Pathway program (a gateway program into BYU-I) and I am graduating in less than a month from Front Range. We're both working really hard in school and at work and trying to keep our house maintained (with no help from our builder and contractors) and finances afloat. So far, so good!

 Last night, 04-17-2013, we got to feel the baby kick for the first time. We were laying in bed, Jeff was reading, I was watching Days of our Lives, when I felt it kick first. I quickly grabbed Jeff's hand and said "press hard right here" and after a few impatient minutes on Jeff's part, he got to feel it too! Pretty exciting. Yesterday marked the start of 23 weeks into this pregnancy. We are officially three months and twenty five days away from our due date as of today. It is all happening really quick. Some days it's pretty scary for me to think about being a mom and that I will have a child to take care of 24/7 but I'm still exciting at the same time.

We've been having a lot of people ask what the baby's gender is. We don't know. We truly want to be surprised when he or she gets here. Some of our friends and family are going nuts not knowing but we are having a great time guessing and wondering. In terms of names, we have a most definite name picked out for a girl (no, we're not sharing that yet either) and about three names for a boy. We figured that at this point if we don't fall in love with one specific name then we can go to the hospital with our one girl name and three boy names and whatever gender this baby is will help decide and then we can decide the rest in the moment.

Aside from all the wonderful parts of pregnancy, these last few weeks have also brought on a new area of concern for me. I have been having a hard time with my blood sugar and my midwife thinks my blood pressure and iron counts may also be a factor in how I'm feeling. I get dizzy, have vertigo, shake, and become very lethargic regardless of what I eat or how often. On the bright side, my midwife says that the symptoms I am describing are very normal during pregnancy and they are not worried. At my next appointment we are going to screen for anemia and check my sugar/pressure levels. Until then I get to eat every hour and eat foods with higher protein counts and lower carbohydrates. 

The top picture gives a pretty good indicator of what I really look like while the bottom picture shows how I feel. LOL We had to change the place where we took these as we finally hung up pictures in our house.

Baby Update:

How Far Along: Twenty-three weeks

Cravings: Pudding. This week has been vanilla and chocolate. French Fries still sound great too.

Feeling: I'm not feeling too great with the blood pressure/sugar problems but overall I feel good. 

Best Part of being pregnant right now: Feeling him/her starting to kick

Worst Part of being pregnant right now: Struggling with my blood sugar and blood pressure. 

Sleep: Doing great! I still get up every night at least once but am sleeping pretty well.

Half Way Done

I've heard so many people say that pregnancy can take forever or can fly by really quick. Mine is following the latter. We are already twenty weeks and six days along (twenty one weeks tomorrow) and I can't believe that we are more than half way finished. Even better is the fact that I've had the easiest pregnancy I could have hoped for. We had our twenty week appointment today with our midwife and I've gained a total of 6 lbs. (This being the measurement at 5 pm and fully clothed) She said that I was on track to gain approximately 20 lbs when all is said and done. I can handle that! Considering most babies weigh 6-8  lbs and the rest of the "ingredients" for growing a baby account for 11-13 lbs. The best part about this week is that I think I felt the baby move for the first time! Not sure if it was gas or the baby but something moved. lol

We went last Monday (3/25/13) to our anatomy ultrasound. We didn't get to know much since our ultrasound tech wasn't the friendliest of people but we did find out that baby hill weights approximately 9 ounces and was measuring normal in all the right places. No, we didn't find out gender. We are still determined to wait until he/she arrives. As of right now we are not planning on having any more ultrasounds. (The only way we'd have one is if something was going wrong with me or the baby)

Today at our appointment I found out that I am measuring at 22 weeks when measuring from my pubic bone to the top of my uterus. Exciting! Even though I'm not showing much, I'm measuring great!

This is my beginning of week 20 photo and below is end of week 20 photo

Just a recap of how things are going:

Baby Update:

How Far Along: Twenty weeks

Cravings: Yesterday it was french fries with country gravy

Feeling: I'm feeling wonderful! 

Best Part of being pregnant right now: Getting excited to feel him/her move around all the time.

Worst Part of being pregnant right now: I'm feeling more irritable than usual. My patience is really not what it used to be. 

Sleep: I still love sleep but am doing well.