Bump it: 29 Weeks

Hey everyone! I'm 29 Weeks along!

This past week I have been knee deep in studying for my Certified Emergency Nursing Exam which I am scheduled to take in a few weeks. I have been drilling myself with practice questions and review modules online and it's been a nice way to keep in touch with that nursing part of myself. It's an advanced credential in ER nursing that I want to have on my resume when I try to go back to work after baby!

 I am determined to have all of my nursing certifications renewed and current by the time the baby comes. So far my basic life support, advanced life support, and trauma nursing credential are current through 2015. I am taking my pediatric advanced life support in two weeks and I'll renew my RN license in August. My goal is to go back to work part time when we move next summer; by that time the baby will be 8-9 months and I can go back to work (most likely nights) and kyle can be home with the baby. I have always wanted to by a stay-at-home mom when my child was young but the more time goes on the more I miss working and miss ER nursing. I am so happy that I will be able to go back and hopefully make my schedule flexible so I can be home with the baby too. 

The pregnancy is progressing normally and the baby is moving more and more. Now the baby is big enough that when he's rolling over I can feel it (so WEIRD!!!). I am feeling hungry ALL THE TIME and I'm seriously considering installing a revolving door in my bathroom. Two nights ago I rolled into my back in my sleep and woke up with the worse leg cramps EVER. The weight of my uterus cut off my venous blood return to my legs (ouch!) and caused massive cramps. 

Ah the joys of pregnancy...

7.5 months next week. I can't believe it! 

We are starting to put the nursery together, watch for nursery posts!

Until Next time I remain a happy mama to be!

Bump it: 28 Weeks

Hey Everyone! I'm 28 Weeks along! 

I had my last monthly appointment with my OB this week. Now I switch to bi-weekly appointments for awhile until my last month I think then I go to weekly appointments until I pop. My heartburn is still as fierce as ever but one of my friend suggested using oranges as a natural remedy. When I feel it coming on I peel an orange and smell the rind; I know it sounds kinda weird but IT WORKS! (thanks Kathryn!) I tried it for the first time yesterday and it seriously helped my stomach. Less TUMS that way I guess.

The little man has been moving around and kicking a lot! There were several times this week when I would wake up in the middle of the night to pee and then he decides it's time to have a dance party; needless to say it takes me a little while to get back to sleep after that!

At my appointment I started talking to my provider about my desires to attempt a natural, unmedicated childbirth and I was happy to find that he was totally on board with that. I told him that since I am a medical professional myself I understand that sometimes interventions are necessary and I will totally bend and flex if things change, however If I am ok and the baby is ok then I wish to avoid interventions and see how I do. He was very receptive to that which I was very happy about. I feel that if we enter this working as a team with mutual respect I will have a much higher chance of getting what I want out of my birthing experience (maybe, it's up to the baby not me after all.... :-) )

I'm still working on my cable knit baby blanket and next week Kyle and I are going to start to tackle the nursery (yikes!). Otherwise things are business as usual with the pregnancy. I consider myself very lucky that these weekly reports are boring and repetitive because it means mom and baby are doing great! 

Until next time I remain a happy mama to be!

Hypnobabies Week 2

So this week (27 Weeks knocked up) is my second week of my at home study course on hypnosis for childbirth called hypnobabies

The Title of Class 2 is "Having a Great Birth Starts with Staying Healthy and Low Risk"

The workbook reading this week was centered around healthy pregnancy diet and exercise. It reinforced some things and introduced me to some new concepts that I am planning on incorporating into my last trimester (i.e. more protein in my diet). My exercise regimen has been waining over the last several weeks due to my own laziness (If I must be honest) but I have been trying to be diligent about doing my prenatal exercises at least three times a week as well as going for walks as often as possible after dinner with Kyle.

There were also some readings about hypnosis as well as an introduction to the self hypnosis skill used in this program. Each day the program recommends that I listen to a hypnosis track as well as my "joyful pregnancy affirmations" track. 

The hypnosis tracks I listened to this week were

Day 1: Learning Self - Hypnosis

Day 2: Deepening

I have loaded each CD onto iTunes and put them on my phone in individual playlists to make it easy to listen to. They stress that you should NEVER listen to them while driving (or operating heavy machinery haha) and I and understand why. Usually I am so relaxed about 10 minutes in that I can't imagine focusing enough to drive a car. Each track is about 30 min so I have gotten into the habit of making myself comfortable on our spare couch in the early afternoon and take a "time out" for 1/2 hour to listen to my track. For the first day or so I just focused on listening to the suggestions and trying not to take it too seriously. The program emphasizes that it will work for you in the way that is best for you. So even if you're not feeling "hypnotized" your inner mind is still benefiting from the positive messages.

(ya ok....)

All the more reason to just relax and see what happens.....

 Kyle took a pic of one of my sessions this week :-) I just need a kitty sized pair of headphones for Alex!

I haven't really felt any of of "hypno-anesthesia" yet that they talk about but I HAVE noticed that my general attitude surrounding my pregnancy has really improved. I no longer think about my pregnant body as fat or ugly or think about my birthing time as scary nearly as often as I used to. I really believe that those attitudes are due to hypnobabies. I hope that continues!

Next week I'll learn about "creating anesthesia" 

Read my post on my first week of hypnobabies here

Bump it: 27 Weeks

Hey Everyone! I'm 27 Weeks along!

This pregnancy just seems to by flying by! I was looking through my flickr pregnancy photostream and It's unbelieveable to me how much my body has changed in the last few months! 

Remember this? 

This was one of my first belly shots, 8 weeks! That was over 4 months ago!

Here's a side by side

8 Weeks	27 Weeks

 I can't believe how much my body has changed since then. Even though there are times when I don't love my new body as much as I should Kyle still makes me fell radiantly beautiful and I know that I'll be that 8 week size lady again! My body is now doing exactly what it needs to do to make sure my son is developing healthy and strong. Even though I am trying to enjoy every minute of this pregnancy there are definitely a moment or two when I feel excited about eventually getting my body back :-)

Things this week have been pretty uneventful. My heartburn still flares up now and again, usually about 30 minutes after I eat. The annoying part is it will happen regardless of what I eat. I can eat chili with gallons of hot sauce and I get the same heartburn I would get if I eat a banana, no better or worse. It's kinda weird since I was taught that you can really help heartburn by changing your diet but maybe pregnancy is a special circumstance; or maybe it's just my pregnancy that's a special circumstance haha. 

I have another doctor's appointment next Tuesday and I'm going to start talking to my doc about my thoughts about how I want my labor to go. Even though I am seeing an OB-GYN he is very pro-natural childbirth. I have met several women who have had him assist their births and and the only c-sections (in the women I met) were for legit medical reasons (i.e. pre-eclampsia). I know that there is always a chance that I might need a c-section as well and if that happens, that's ok with me but if I am progressing normally and the little man is doing well then I'm going to do everything I can to try and birth naturally. 

Thanks for tuning in!

Until Next time I remain a Happy mama to be!

Bump it: 26 Weeks & Hypnobabies Week 1

Hey everyone! I'm 26 Weeks along!

Hey all! Everything is still progressing normally with this pregnancy, I feel so blessed! The baby is moving around more and more each day; it's incredible to feel someone else moving around inside me. At first he was only moving at night but it seems like I'm noticing a kick or two during the day as well. I love feeling those kicks; I feel like it's the baby's way of letting me know that everything is going well! "All's good in here Mama!" My belly is getting bigger but no stretch marks yet ::fingers crossed:: I have been slathering my belly every day after my shower with Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter in my vain attempt to prevent stretch marks. So far I have been lucky but I realize that in reality it's a crap shoot and based a lot more on genetics and less on how many pounds of cocoa butter I apply to my body at any given time. My belly button is still an innie (but a really shallow one); I figured that I would certainly have an outie by now, I know by the end of the month it will have popped out :-)

This week I started my self hypnosis at home study coure called Hypnobabies (c) 

I had never herd of self hypnosis much less hypnosis for pregnancy before I was introduced to this program from another Navy Wife. She told me that a natural childbirth was really important to her and that this program really helped make that a reality for her. I was immediately intrigued and ordered the home study course from Amazon. I figured I would give it a try and at least it would give me some "tools in my toolbox" for my labor. Best case senario it helps a lot and I get a baby; worst case senario it doesn't work at all and I get a baby, either way I don't lose! 

The course is divided into 6 parts with 5 classes lasting one week each and a 6th "Maintenance Class" that I continue until I deliver. I got a huge packet in the mail with lots of paperwork and the workbook and 6 CD packet (shown in the picture). Each week you have to read the lesson and each day listen to the CD "assignments" 

The Tracks for week one are

1. Your Special Safe Place

2. Easy, Comfortable Childbirth

They also recommend that each day you listen to another track; Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations which is a 30 min track filled with positive messages about pregnancy and childbirth. It has really helped me feel much more positive about my pregnant body and my ability to give birth naturally.

So far I read the week one portion of the workbook and listened to each track once. It is actually a nice routine to get into each day because each day for 30 minutes I can check out completely and just focus on myself and be completely relaxed. I think I'm going to enjoy this course

I'll update you as I move through the program

Check out the Hypnobabies website here

Ok, that's enough of my rambling!

Until next time I remain a happy mama to be!