Officially third trimester

Yesterday was the day, the day where I have graduated from a second trimester preggo to the elite and coveted third trimester! What an honor! Even better, it was on Christmas so I had a double dose of awesome. It was like getting presents for getting to the third trimester.

Overall, Christmas was good. Got some great gifts (diapers, sheets, diaper bag, reed diffusers, scrapbook stuff) and some dinero and gift cards. The money will definitely come in handy for getting any additional baby gear that we will need. It is currently put aside for after the shower so that we don't get two of anything but can get anything we may need.

As of now I am still feeling pretty good. I have gained about 23 pounds which isn't too bad and I am still pretty mobile and as a plus, I can still see my feet and my ankles are still smaller than my calves!!!

I think Chase has gone through a bit of a growth spurt too. I was ridiculously hungry for a few days and now Chase has gotten super strong with his kicks. I just can't wait to meet my little man!

I just wanted to finish off with some pictures, here is one with four generations on my mom's side. My mommom, mom, me, Sam, and little Chase.

Here is a picture of Matt and I with a painting my mommom gave me. It used to hang over her parent's bed and we are naming Chase's middle name after my greatgrandpa Alpha, my mommom's father.

Zig a Zig ah

If you wanna be my lover. Okay, enough with the Spice Girls, but I needed a fun title to start off with.

I am officially in the double digit countdown! I have 99 days to go until Chase's due date! Woohoo! Very exciting. These next few months are going to be very busy with school and work, doctor's appointments, birth classes, and the like, but good as well. I meet with the pediatrician tomorrow so that should be fun. I think, overall, everything is well. I have a nice little break from school, I am healthy, and I am happy! What more could a girl want? (besides winning the lottery!)

Schools out for summer...

Okay, maybe not so much for summer, but it is out for Christmas break. I just felt that a title that mimics that song "Schools out for Summer" would be much cooler than a title that mimics the song but says "Schools out for Winter Break" It just doesn't flow the right way. But anyways, in response to school being out for break, I must say, WOOHOOBIE! (and yes I did say woohoobie, where this words exact origin is from is unbeknownst to me, but it does give me the opportunity to say both woohoobie and unbeknownst, so that makes for an interesting blog in itself.)

Now back to more important topics, my pregnancy! Well in reality I don't have much to update on concerning my pregnancy. I am 25 weeks and 1 day today, so that is a good thing! In 5 weeks and 5 days I will be the farthest along pregnancy-wise that I have ever been. It is scary to think that something like an arrythmia could happen again, but luckily the echo was good, the doctors are on top of my care 150%, and I know that if I get any inkling or feeling of something being wrong that the doctors will take care of it in a heartbeat. And that is the goal, that heartbeat, and it remaining regular and healthy in our little guy. I also wanted to update that we have scheduled our c-section date. Now before you go on to say, "Hey wait a minute, I thought she was going to VBAC...?" I advise you to hold your tongue! I am going to VBAC or at least do what I can to try. What we all have to understand is that with a VBAC there are certain limitations and rules that need to be adhered to to prevent anything bad from happening. Some of these are not using drugs to progress labor and the like. The reason we have to schedule a c-section is that sometimes things don't always go as planned. I may, for example, not go into labor, or the baby may be breach, etc etc and they like to have a scheduled section so that if medically necessary a cesarean can be performed without rushing around like a bunch of fuddy-duddys trying to organize a surgery. So as I said, hold your tongue, because I am the Little Engine that could and will be the Little Engine that Did...have a VBAC!

Now back to Christmas break. As fun as pregnancy is and as interesting as my babblage is, there is nothing like the start of a break from school!! I am excited for Christmas, I am ecstatic that I will get to see family, not to mention the fact that when I do go back to school I will only have about 9ish weeks of pregnohood until I get to meet my little man! I think over break I will start to look into books that are specifically about birth to start to mentally prepare myself for my unmedicated birth. Yes, I did say unmedicated! Now don't get me wrong, if I have to have a c-section than bring on the drugs, but seeing as I am trying to have a vaginal delivery, I am shooting for a drug free birth. Hey, you remember that phrase, "drug free's the way to be" Well the same applies here. Epidurals can make it medically necessary for other interventions such as catheters, IVs, complete bedrest, and I am really feeling that is not the way to go. Not to mention the fact that they can lower mom's blood pressure, cause late decelerations in the baby, make it more difficult to push, and increase the need of a c-section. I already did the c-section thing and if I can do ANYTHING in my power to reduce the chances of a recurrence, than I will!

Well I have so much more to say, maybe not so interesting, and I find it amusing that I start out talking about Christmas break and get right back into pregnancy...I guess pregnancy is more interesting after all. So with this I bid you all farewell, I am off to shower and to go to work and to enjoy the sheer bliss of Christmas Break (or at least the start of Christmas break!)

Fetal Echo.

Well today was a very good day! We had our fetal echocardiogram and according to the fetal perinatologist, "Everything looks good!" He checked the chambers of the heart and the blood flow, as well as some of the larger veins and arteries. He did say that there is always the small chance that he missed something, but from what he saw it all looks good. According to Dr. Carlson and Dr. Gerson, they say Dr. Bhat can find about 90% of abnormalities in the unborn baby with an ultrasound. Pretty damn good if you ask me! The nurse kept saying throughout the echo that he was a "beautiful baby" and that "all baby's should look this good" I don't know if she meant it or was just trying to be nice, but I prefer to take the first of the two options and have the reassurance that we are going to have a damn good looking kid!!!

I also took my NSG 109 final today and got a 96, woohoo!! I also got a 95 on my book report. Tomorrow I will study for my 311 final. I also got done some of the assessment tools for the work-from-home job opportunity, here's to hoping it is enough to allow me to quit Riddle for my last year of school and to be able to work from home for extra money and to stay home with my family!!!!!

Busy day tomorrow.

I have lots and lots to do tomorrow. Nothing to fancy or anything, but still a busy day to say the least. The day starts at nine, where I will meet with my clinical teacher and get my grade. Next, I take a final for my one class. At ten I have a class for an hour. Next it is off to Lankenau (again) to get the fetal echo, keep your fingers crossed that is goes smooth as molasses. I will update tomorrow with the findings of the echo. Lastly, to top it off, I work from 2:30 until 11! So very busy indeed, but at least I will get to sleep in on Tuesday, seeing as school is nearly over. Then on Wednesday, I have my nursing final and a funeral to attend. Two funerals in two weeks do not make for a good time. I just need to make sure to study hard tomorrow and Tuesday and lets pray that I kick some nursing final butt. I did well on all of the unit tests so I just hope that I remember a good amount of the information and that a refresher/review is all I need to get my brain a'churning!

On a final note, I wanted to update some of my pictures. I got my Christmas cards made today and the majority of them are in the box waiting to be mailed. Here is the picture I used for the card.

And here are some 24 week and 4 day belly pics!

My 24 week appointment.

I had my 24 week OB appointment today and it went well. Too sum it up:
~ I have gained 20 pounds
~ My blood pressure was 110/60
~ My uterus is measuring perfectly for 24 weeks.
~ Chase's heartrate was 150-160 and he was moving around quite a bit while the nurse was checking the heartbeat.
~ I have my echocardiogram on Monday.
~ My next appointment is on December 28th.
~ I will do my glucose screen at next appointment as well.
~ We are good to go in terms of trying for the VBAC and will furthur discuss the details around 35-36 weeks pregnant.

All in all it was a nice and reassuring appointment. I think I am most excited though about the VBAC. Dr. Gerson seems super supportive and I feel it is really important to me to have my health care provider be supportive of my labor decisions because I am the patient and I have a right in determining the type of birth I want to have. Now granted, I will do anything necessary to ensure the baby's safety, but I can do that while making the birth choices as well. My goal is to be powerful in birth and to let my body do the things it was designed to do. My mom had two natural, drug-free births and I feel confident in myself and my mindset that I will be able to do the same.

Woot!

~Got a new electric toothbrush and I L-O-V-E It!!! My teeth feel so clean and smooth and fabulous!! I just wanted to share in the awesomeness of an electric toothbrush!
~Also wanted to add that there are only 5 days of school left including finals.
~I have my doctors appointment on Friday, hopefully we will get to see the baby again.
~My three year anniversary is on Thursday and on Saturday we are going to a nice dinner and movie.
~Christmas is 20 days away.
~Work is done for the night.

As you can see, I have a lot to Woot about today! (totally a good thing after the hectic/long/exhausting day I had, but nothing a nice shower, a snuggle with my doggy, and laying in bed can't fix!)

24 Weeks!!!!

I am 24 weeks pregnant, now it is only by two minutes, but it counts! I can't believe I only have 16 weeks left and only 14 weeks of work left! Woohoo! Sounds like a good time to me. I still don't know how we will do it with work and school and parenting, but I know that God WILL take care of us and God WILL ensure our safety, happiness, and well-being. Now you may ask how I know this and the answer is simple, God KNEW we could handle the loss of our dear baby Amaris and he KNOWS that we will handle parenthood and everything else for that year until I have my nursing degree. I know it in my bones and in my heart and in my soul because I KNOW that God doesn't give us anything that we can't handle.

I have my last full week of school today and I have to admit that I am completely and utterly relieved. It is nice to know that I will have a few weeks off to enjoy my family and friends and though I have to work I will have the benefit of sleeping in, and thats worth it in itself!

Overall, I guess I don't have anything crazy to report on. We did have Uncle Johnny's funeral today. I wasn't able to go to the memorial because of school, but was able to go to the "reception" afterwards. Now I am not too sure if reception is the right term, but it was basically a chance for the family to get together and reminisce and eat lunch so whatever that is called I am not sure, so reception it is. It was nice to see the family from Florida, though not exactly an ideal circumstance. Everyone kept telling me that we have to come down and visit after Chase gets here and I think I will take them up on the offer. It will be fun to bring him to Florida and to let him see the ocean and feel the sand between his toes, not to mention all the loving he would be getting from the family!

I guess I will leave on a good note and say that I am so excited for Christmas and so excited to just have some family time for a few weeks! Also, I must include the newest edition to the belly gallery!