Lunch with Daddy

We had a fun lunch with Danny today.  There's a chance he might have a mission tonight that will keep him at work until 8 or 9, so just in case that happens, we thought we'd get together so the girls could at least see him once today!  I'd complain about the hours, but Danny is very well compensated for his time when he works overtime, so I'm keeping my complaints to myself!

We ate lunch at the Golf Course, and it was quite yummy!  I think my favorite part was eating outside while the jets took off.  We saw a few F-16s, and when I went to pick Danny up at his office, I got to see the tail-end of an F-22 while it was in the canopy, and I saw another F-22 taxi to the run-way right in front of me!  I'm also fairly certain that I saw another Raptor take off right as I was passing the runway on my way off base.  Seriously, my husband has the coolest job!

And my girls have the coolest Dad ever!

Week 20

Week 20!  The half way mark!  Though, that is kind of misleading.  Since I've decided on a vaginal birth with this baby, that means I'm going intervention free (since any intervention will increase my chance of another cesarean).  Without planning on being induced by a certain date, or scheduling surgery, I have no guarantees that by the 40 week mark I'll have my little boy here!  Quite the contrary, actually.  I went 5 days overdue with Claire, and my family has a track record of going at least a week (if not two) overdue!  So, while I'm celebrating the half-way milestone, I'm in no way diluted enough to think it actually means I'm half way done! :)

It's been another good week, with nary a nauseous stomach or head-splitting headache!  Things are starting to get a little more "pregnant".  What I mean is, I'm dealing more with the back aches and sciatica that some with this growing baby.  My growing belly is bumping into everything, and there is hardly enough room on my lap for Sophie anymore...something she is quite unhappy about.  I managed to get my yoga practice in once last week and even took a 45 minute walk...once.  :)  I'm getting there...  My weight did jump up a bit in the last few weeks, which I was getting discouraged about until I read that by week 20, a healthy pregnant woman should have gained about 10 pounds, and can anticipate gaining about a pound a week from here on out.  I checked my records, and by week 20 I was just over 9 pounds gained!  I'm still doing better than my last two pregnancies.  

It seems as though Johnny is about 10 1/2 ounces, and he's about 6 1/2 inches from head to rump and about 10 inches from head to heel (about the length of a banana).  Those stats are compliments of my weekly emails from babycenter.com.  ;)  I've been feeling Johnny kick and swim around almost constantly, day and night, during the past week.  I have to admit, I really do enjoy that feeling!  At least while he's the size of a banana.  Not so fun when we get to the watermelon stage...

Life around the Call house is business as usual.  The weather is still beautiful, albeit a bit windy.  Danny's been working long days to get the credit hours needed for our trip to Utah for Easter and Robbie's wedding.  We leave a week from tomorrow!  We're all excited, though I'm feeling a little trepidation about the actual drive.  But I always do, and it's always easier than I thought it was going to be.  I'm excited to meet with the OB in Utah while we're there, and hopefully we'll hear back from the insurance people about whether or not we can switch insurances early.  I'm anxious to make a final decision about delivery.

My best friend lost her younger brother at age 22 to suicide this week.  That has been a hard thing for me to digest, and it throws into light how much I miss Rachel.  And how surreal the whole thing still is.  But at the times when I can't seem to stop crying, I always remember how incredibly blessed I am.  My family is sealed for time and all eternity.  I have a Savior who suffered and died so that all the pain and suffering and hurt in this world would be okay.  I trusted that before I came to this earth, and I trust in Him still.  Life is a beautiful thing!  I can't wait to see eternity!

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun

I guess you're never too young to start! Danny and I are a little nervous...if they're acting like little California girls at this age, what are we in for at 16? I know this: they're gonna be the cutest girls at the youth dances! :)

Week 19

Here we are, only 1 week away from the half way mark!  This has been a very productive week.  Danny and I met with the midwives in Yuciapa on Monday afternoon, and it was a wonderful experience!  We definitely feel good about a home birth.  The only piece of the puzzle that remains is the appointment we have on April 5th with a Dr. Housel at the Circle of Life Women's Clinic in Utah.  As long as we get the insurance changed, birthing in Utah is still an option.  I have sort of a long list of stipulations, however, that would have to be met before I'd do a VBAC in the hospital.  If we can have the type of birth experience we want, both Danny and I think we would rather do the first VBAC in the hospital just in case.  But, we should be able to make a decision within the next 3-4 weeks.  What a relief it will be to know how we're going to plan on delivering this little boy of ours!

I've been feeling REALLY good this week!  Johnny moves all the time now, and we think Danny even felt him kick the other night!  According to babycenter.com, he's about 8 1/2 ounces and 6 inches from head to bottom (about the size of a large heirloom tomato, apparently).  I'm definitely feeling bigger, as my belly gets in the way now!  I'm feeling so much more excited about this pregnancy, and realizing that it really won't be too much longer before I'll be holding my son in my arms.  Hopefully after a very successful VBAC!

Week 18

Here we are at Week 18.  At least, that's what I'm going with.  This week was a rather emotional week for me.  It started out with an absolutely awful visit with my current OB.  I went in for my next check up, expecting the always joyful pelvic, pap-smear, and breast exam that I was told I would have at this appointment.  After waiting for over an hour in the waiting room...again...I was taken back to the nurse's station.  As the nurse was taking my blood pressure, she commented to herself that I was at 22 weeks.  I laughed, and told her unless they knew some kind of voodoo medicine, I was only 17 weeks.  She got all confused, and I had to give her my entire history AGAIN!  Never mind that this same nurse and I spent over a half hour doing that during my last awful visit.  Then she said she would have to track down the results of my pap-smear from my last visit, since the results weren't with my chart.  I told her that would be hard, considering I hadn't had an exam during my last visit, but was expecting one that day.  She said according to the chart, I had my exams the last time I was there.  At this point, I thought I had lost all confidence in this staff's competence.  I didn't know I could fall further...

I finally made it to the exam room, and lucky me I was instructed to dress in a couple different sheet-like dresses for my exams.  The doctor made her way in (the same OB I saw last time), and says hello while looking at my chart.  She says, "Well, 22 weeks!  You're over half way there!"  I sighed and told her I was only 17 weeks, which prompted her to ask, again, for all my history.  I asked to make sure they had the right chart, and apparently they did.  She said that she needed to refer to my ultrasound for my due date, and to verify how far along I was.  I told her that she had ordered an ultrasound that I had two weeks prior, and that the ultrasound verified I was 17 weeks and 1 day, with a due date of August 11.  She shook her head and said, "Oh no, we always refer to the earliest ultrasound for the due date.  According to that ultrasound that I did, you're at 16 weeks today, with a due date of August 19, and that will never change."  So I asked her why in the world she had ordered the second ultrasound if it wasn't to pin down a more precise due date.  Her reply? "I'm not sure why we ordered that ultrasound."  ARE YOU SERIOUS?!  I don't care what she says.  According to my calendar, and how this pregnancy has gone, it makes more sense to me that I'm at 18 weeks, so until someone with a bit more competence tells me otherwise, I'm sticking to that schedule!  How dare she try to take that week away from me! :)

So, she finished my exams while I was fighting back tears of frustration, and then says that she'll finish up her notes outside and I can go ahead and get dressed.  I had some questions I had wanted to ask, so I asked her if she was going to be coming back after I was dressed, or not.  She looked at me kind of blankly and said, "Oh, yeah, what are your questions?"  Seriously, this doctor was going to leave me naked on this table, and not ask me even ONCE how I was feeling, if I had had any concerns, NOTHING!  This is the second appointment in a row that she hasn't asked me one single question about my health.  

To make an already long story just a mite shorter, my questions had to do with whether or not she'd support a VBAC with a midwife, in which she very condescendingly communicated (with as many 4 syllable words as she could muster), that she could not.  After insulting my intelligence a few more times, she was gone.  After a fiasco at the scheduling desk over my next appointment, I finally made it to the car.  Danny was so mad, and I was fighting back tears.  After getting home and spending the rest of the evening with me in tears, we decided that was the last visit with that doctor that I was EVER going to have.

The good thing is that the experience did light a stronger fire in me to make a VBAC happen.  I wouldn't let that woman close to me with a scalpel anyway! :)  I made some phone calls this week, and I talked to a women's clinic in Ogden that is very supportive of VBACs, and I'll be making an appointment today to visit them while we're in Utah for the wedding in April.  Danny is working on seeing if we can switch insurances, so as to have the baby covered if we decide to deliver in Utah, and we meet with the midwives (Karen and Ali) on Monday.  One way or another, we're going to make this happen.  And it won't be in a hospital here in the AV.

Otherwise, this has been a better week sick-wise.  I only threw up after a panic attack on Friday (my first one since Rachel died.), and I really haven't struggled with nausea or headaches.  But I've been OH SO TIRED!  And I don't suppose that will change for a very very long time.  :)  We moved the desk out of Johnny's room on Saturday, and are working towards getting that room ready for a nursery/guest room.  I can't seem to find a cross stitch pattern that speaks to me, which I'm getting a little antsy about.  I need to start working on something for my little guy.  Well, until next week's update, which I sure hope isn't so long...or if it is, I sure hope it's more positive!

Picnic'in is Good Times

Claire and Sophie thought it would be fun to eat their lunch inside their pop-up Dora the Explorer tent.  As you can see, at first they weren't quite sure what to do...

They got the point after a few minutes!

I hope they're having picnics together when they're teenagers.  They are best friends, and I hope I can do my part as their mother to instill upon them just how important and precious their relationship as sisters truly is...

Week 17

I'm starting to feel like I'm accomplishing something now!  I'm only 3 weeks away from the half way mark!  Yay!  This week has been easier than last week.  I haven't been nearly as nauseous, and I don't think I even threw up!  The headaches have been a bother, but even with those I'm starting to feel more like a person.  Though I'm not even going to hope that this means my sick days are behind me.  I'm managing my expectation now!

I feel like I'm looking more pregnant, which is actually nice.  My belly is looking more like a baby bump than an extra 10 pounds, so I feel cuter in my maternity clothes.  I'm also really satisfied with my weight gain thus far!  I've been weighing myself every week since about week 8 (when I got back from Utah), and since then I've only gained 3.8 pounds!  I'm really REALLY trying to keep my weight gain more manageable then I did when I gained 50-60 pounds with both Claire and Sophie!  If I want to have this baby naturally, I really can't afford to put on that much weight.  Who wants to anyway?  It helps that we live in the boondocks, and I can't just run down and pick up whatever craving happens to have me in its grip at the time...

I can't be sure, but I think I've felt Johnny move more in the last couple of days.  Still nothing really obvious, but I suppose it's still a little early.  I haven't found the right cross stitch pattern yet, so I have yet to start on that.  Soon though...perhaps by next week?

Happy Birthday, Mama!

I celebrated my 27th birthday on Tuesday, March 2nd.  It was an absolutely wonderful day!  It started off by me NOT waking up nauseous!  So, I've got to say thank you to my little Johnny for taking it easy on me...what a good little boy!  Then I woke up to a clean house and notes from Danny, wishing me a happy birthday and telling me how much he loved me.  He's such a good husband!  Then my good friend Beth came over with a couple of her kiddos to entertain mine while she gave me the most heavenly neck massage!  See, I've been bothered by awful tension headaches that I haven't seemed to be able to shake.  Once she was done with her handy work, and I smelled of calming lavender oil, my headache was gone and I was feeling like a new woman.  Her homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies didn't hurt either!  Thanks, Beth!

I got an unexpected phone call in the morning from a kindergarten class taught by another friend of mine, Jackie.  At first, I couldn't figure out what group of kids in California would be calling and singing me "Happy Birthday"!  It was so sweet!  I of course heard from everyone else in my family through out the day, including my parents-in-law.  I also got a visit from my friend Rose, who came bearing loaves of delicious homemade cinnamon bread, and another friend Shelly who came with gifts of freshly made biscuits and a cute storybook for me and the girls.  I felt so loved!

Danny got home early and helped me get the girls ready for their outing that evening.  My friend Jackie, the kindergarten teacher, was celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday (a day the two of us share!) by making green eggs and ham for dinner and invited Claire and Sophie to join her and her awesome family!  This gave Danny and I the perfect opportunity to enjoy a meal on our own.  Mmmmm... Famous Dave's, here we come!  After a decadent dinner of various fatty meats slathered in saliva-inducing spicy barbecue sauces, we picked the girls up and headed home for cake and ice cream.

Everyone really enjoyed the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream cake that I picked out!  Claire particularly enjoyed the blowing out of the candles, which she practiced a few times on her own.  You can't be too prepared for turning 3!

I also received an awesome present from my Mom!  She totally surprised me with a subscription to both Family Fun and Food Network magazines!  I seriously can't wait until my first issues come later this month.  Thanks, Mom!

And my most awesome gift of all came from my wonderful husband!  He completely surprised me (which we have a hard time doing for each other!) with a new camera!  It's WAY better than the camera we've lovingly used for the last 4 years (I've had it for close to six now), and it's even BYU blue!  :)  Thank you, Sweetheart!  And thank you to everyone who made my day so wonderful.  I'm looking forward to a lot of wonderful experiences while I'm 27!

One Beautiful Spring Morning

One beautiful spring morning in Southern California, a little girl named Sophie cried at the back door until her mother finally put her shoes on so she could go out and play with her puppy, Jack.

It didn't take long before her big sister Claire wanted in on the sunshine and good times!  Claire even managed to get her shoes on by herself!

Even Jack seemed to find the 65 degree morning especially relaxing.  Plus, he loved the company outside!

Claire, Sophie, and Jack came up with a great game!  What could be more fun than putting small rocks in Jack's mouth and then watch him spit them out?  

After a while, the rock game got old.  But what joy?!  An old trash can!  Perfect for rolling!

All in all, it was a wonderful adventure outside on a warm February morning...