How do you like your eggs???

Sunnyside up???

Well that is how Baby James likes them!

Today was my "due date" and no baby. I am really not that surprised. Most first babies are late right?

I went in to see my wonderful doc today and had an ultrasound to check out how he is doing. Turns out, everything looks good. Fluid is good, heart is good, I saw his mouth open and close and saw that his knee truly is under my ribs. The big surprise was that he is head down (good) but in the posterior position, aka sunnyside up (not good). This means that he is not in the best position to get down in my pelvis and slide down the birth canal. Babies ARE born posterior, but the labors tend to be longer and more painful. Often the baby will turn while he makes his way down... but not always.

WARNING: There may be TMI ahead.

Since his head is not down in my pelvis, he is not pushing on my cervix helping me to dilate. Right now I only have a "dimple" in my cervix. This can all change over night of course. I am going to try some exercises to get him to turn around and the fact that he hasn't descended into my pelvis works in my favor.

I had to schedule an induction for next Tues because he also seems to be a little on the big side (from what they can tell, but that could be off by a pound or two) and a big baby in a posterior position can create some problems. For those of you who know me well, you know I have planned a natural birth using hypnobabies. This all could put a little bit of a damper on that plan, which obviously makes me a little sad. But at the same time I know that the most important thing is that James gets here safe and sound no matter how he decides he needs to get here. I just pray that he turns and makes this a little easier on all of us.

One week to go????

I can not believe that I am in my 39th week of pregnancy! I really feel like it has flown by. I would have to say the 1rst trimester was the longest. With the nausea, throwing up and fatigue. The worrying that something might go wrong and the fact that you don't look pregnant, just pudgy, it has to be the longest.

But all of that is behind me now. These days I am feeling good! I feel little James moving a lot and his kicks are very strong and his movements make me laugh. I am constantly making Haws "look at this" or "feel this". It never gets old and I think I will really miss it, even though I will love having him here with us.

I have been very lucky in this pregnancy and I don't really have anything to complain about. The human body is amazing and it is crazy what changes happen while you are pregnant. I hope I am able to do this a few more times :)

I just wanted to document some of the things I am going to miss about being pregnant.

 

• Number one has to be feeling him move inside of me, especially when Haws can feel it too.
• People are so nice to you when you are pregnant. I have been surprised by how many men take and interest in my growing belly and ask all about the baby. It is cute.
• Connecting with strangers simply because your shared experience is so visible.
• Wearing tight clothes and not worrying about my rolls showing. There is just a huge belly that I can be proud to show off.
• Hearing about other peoples pregnancies and birth experiences. I like the good ones the most :)
• Having the support of family and friends.
• Baby showers in which you can feel the love for the baby to be and seeing so many of the people you care about, who care about you and your baby.
• The undeniable truth that there is a God who loves us. I don't know how you can see life being created in such a fascinating way and not believe there is a God.
• Treating myself to prenatal massages and pedicures. I will miss those!
• Being able to exercise so easily with the baby. I am sure it will be harder once he is on the outside!
• Laughing at how hard it is to get out of bed, especially when you are doing it 4+ times a night.
• Haws' face when he talks about how excited he is for the baby to be here.
• My appointments with my doctor, I just love her!
• Other people's reactions to my belly. "You are so small". "When are you due!?!?" "You must be ready to pop any day now". Everyone has such a different perspective.

So now I am playing the waiting game. I am done with work, have finished the nursery, have my hospital items set out and ready to pack and feel like I am as ready as I am going to be.

I have been keeping busy seeing friends and family, fitting in as much fun as I can, pampering myself, organizing the house, going out to eat and going on dates with Haws. I don't think I can ever be one of those people who are bored when they aren't working. I am getting a little anxious to have James enter the world. Now that I feel ready, I am like "bring it on!" I know that he will decide when the right time to be born is, I just hope it isn't two weeks past his due date! But for now, I am going to enjoy this time as much as possible. Life will not be the same once he gets here... and I welcome the change, even with all of the challenges.

The Nursery is Done!

Only 2 more weeks to go and we finally finished the nursery. What a relief. Now this little guy can come anytime and I feel pretty much ready. We had to finish the closet organizer and Haws finished it last night so I could put everything away. It feels good not having that hanging over us.

I like to keep things simple, so are nursery is pretty basic.

One side of the closet that Haws worked so hard on for me :)

Crib, circle mirrors, rug and the bouncer I put together myself.

The letters my friend made for us and the changing table. I plan to hang some pictures once he is here too.

And I love this "magazine rack" from Pottery Barn!!! Great for holding all the awesome books we got.

OK James... we are just about ready for you now.

Mothers Day

Next to having a baby on the way. This was the best gift Haws gave me this Mothers Day.

This robe is the most comfy/cozy robe I have ever owned. I would wear it all day, everyday if I could :)

Ellen Show

Every year Ellen has a mothers day show with an audience full of first time expectant mothers. I have known people who have been in the past and always thought it would be awesome! Luckily, little James is due mid June, which made me a candidate for this years show. I scouted the website everyday to see when they were taking applicants and the second I saw it, I applied. I got a call literally 15 min later and was on the show! I was so excited, I am sure my neighbors heard me screaming :)

You see, Ellen gives all the pregnant girls in the audience a whole lot of baby loot! Haws was especially excited for the financial benefit of going on the show. I took my cousin who flew in from Utah and I had other friends that got on so it was fun having a group of us. Me and another girl were "big" enough to sit in the "ready to pop section" and sat in the front row. So you might be able to see us on TV.

It was so much fun and here is some of the stuff we got. The rest is being ordered and shipped.

We did get a stroller, a really cool high chair and 6 months of free diapers!

No car seat or crib this year, I think the companies couldn't give as much this year as they have in the past, but I am so grateful for the things we did get!

The Age HiLo highchair

And the design in the front is the one I think I am going with for the Teutonia stroller.

Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

I took an Enchilada recipe and tweaked it to my liking and it turned out really yummy!

I thought it was worth sharing and documenting for future reference :)

Lori's Healthy Chicken Enchiladas

3 c. cooked chicken breast, shredded

10-12 low carb wheat tortillas

1 can healthy request cream of chicken soup

1-2 TB. Taco seasoning

2 c. light shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 c. plain greek yogurt

1 pkg. Lawrys Enchilada sauce ( prepared with water and 1, 6oz. can of tomato paste)

Mix soup, yogurt, chicken, taco seasoning and 1 to 1 1/2 c cheese together and set aside. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Fill tortillas (about 3 TB of mixture), roll and place tortillas into pan. Pour the prepared Enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 15-20 min or until bubbling.

Enjoy!

Babymoon in SLO

Haws and I decided to take a "babymoon" before little James arrives. We were going to go to Vegas, but decided San Luis Obispo was a better place for us to go in my current condition. We feel in love with the Central Coast of California. Haws kept saying how much he wanted to live here. Maybe someday honey :)

We forgot our camera, so we purchased one of those cheap disposable ones at the hotel. It was only 2 bucks and I think it worked pretty well.

The above picture was in downtown SLO. There is this random alley where everyone sticks their gum... it's called bubble gum alley. Go figure.

We ate at the best pizza/salad place in downtown. It is called Woodstocks and if you are here... you have to go! It is soooo good.

The next morning we headed to Cambria, walked along moonstone beach and around the shops in Cambria. There is a cool place called Linn's that Haws sat down and had some pie before lunch.

These gardens were outside of the place we had lunch. It wasn't that great so I am not even going to mention it. Pretty atmosphere though.

That is Haws down there by the rocks at Moonstone Beach.

We headed up north to see the famous elephant seals. This place is amazing! The seals just lay all over each other on the beach making weird noises. There are so many of them! You have to see it for yourself.

 We did tour #1 at Hearst Castle. It was a good overview with some interesting facts about Mr. Hearst and the castle. The movie after was cool too. We didn't get a chance to take many pictures here. Since we had our cheap disposable camera it was hard to get good shots. Haws did a good job with this one though!

The next morning we went to brunch at the Madonna Inn. We didn't eat in this pink room, but isn't is crazy! It looks like someone threw up pepto bismol! This is a cool place to check out. The mens bathroom has a waterfall as the urinal and the food in the coffee shop/cafe was really good.

On our way back home we stopped at the Avila Barn. This place is awesome! It has a petting zoo and hay rides for the kids, a produce stand and bakery, a ice cream store and kitchen store and a store that has a bunch of cool kids toys. This is me modeling some of the products. 

And if you haven't noticed... me belly is getting huge! It is funny to look back and see when I thought I was showing. What a joke! I am about 31 weeks in this pic. Mind you, I had been traveling all day so I am not looking my best.

Our trip had ended and we were back home. I am so glad we took this little weekend get away before the baby comes. I think it is so important that we still do things like this, just the two of us, even when he gets here. It is such a great way to reconnect. I love this man.