Lots and lots to talk about!

First of all, Chase has a touch of a cold :( Poor little guy! He has been sick twice his entire life, including now, so not too bad seeing as he is almost a year old, but I still feel bad for the little guy. It does seem to be getting better though. He doesn't side quite as stuffed up as he did the other night. He still has a little cough and has a little congestion, but less so I am figuring that it is on his way out. He also got another tooth in. Now he has 3 on top and two on the bottom!! No teeth for 8-9 months and here gets five over the course of one month. His walking is really good now and he is able to walk over somewhere, turn around, crouch and pick something up, and come back. Still not perfected yet, but if he has the opportunity, he walks 90% of the time vs. crawling. He can also stand without using anything to pull up on, but he has only done that a handful of times so far.

Now, in my neck of the woods, things are going pretty good. I am getting a fat refund check so I don't have to work as often, which is nice so that I can spend more time with Chase. School is going pretty well, I am about a 1/3 of the way done the semester = a 1/3 of the way until I graduate! My supervisor at work recommended me to the higher level supervisor for this nursing leadership type internship through Main Line and they really think I should apply. It is supposed to be a really good opportunity and they think I make a really good candidate. I have to call MC about it and get the details. I don't have a lot of extra time to give, especially if I am not being paid (don't know for sure, but it is an internship and it might not get me any bucks) but a once a week committment or something that isn't too crazy is definitely doable, especially if I can get it on my resume. Also, apparantly I already have a job at Riddle, so that takes the fear/panic/nervousness about whether or not I will find a job in a hospital! My dad said that MC was telling him that everyone is requesting me to work on their floor as an aide and that I am doing a really good job! I like when I hear that because I know that it will only help my career in nursing if they know that I am a hard worker, eager to learn, reliable, and develop good relationships with my coworkers and my patients.

And last, and kind of least for the day, my diet :( I did really bad the last two days. I don't know what is going on. The first 20 something days I was so good and stuck to my diet it so well. Since then I have had like 5 cheat days. I guess part of it has to do with the fact that I am actually doing well. I see myself and I see how much smaller I am and I am letting up on myself a little bit. I have achieved a very good weight loss to this point, and much faster than expected, and I guess I am letting myself have a day or two of self indulgence. I don't know. I do know though, that when I do let myself have a relaxed day I tend to overeat, to the point of feeling sick, and I can't do that. If I am going to let myself cheat a little I need to not eat more than I would on a non-diet diet, I just need not restrict myself. It is like it is one or the other, be good on my diet or gorge on my diet. Night time is the problem though, I will be good all day and then at night just throw in the towel. So all my hard work from the day is worth nothing...? I just need to refind my motivation...off to look at some Victoria's Secret Models, at least they are good for something!

Had a good day yesterday!

Yesterday was a good day. I had my 4th nursing test and I thought I got an 86 but when I looked at the grade book online it said I got a 90 so I will take that. I have an 89 average in the class right now, but my grade will be more like an 84 because I am gonna lose 5 points for absences, but I won't argue it. I still have a higher grade than most kids in the class after I lose my points. Plus I did the math and I only need a 40% on my final to pass...I think I can handle that!

After my test I got to go to a BBQ that one of my nursing classmates threw and it was a good time. It is kinda cool to be able to have a life, enjoy college, and have my handsome little guy too! I didn't drink, but got to play beer pong (someone drank for me), toss around the football, hang with my friends, and show off Chase. It was kinda neat that he came because everyone wanted to see him and he was the entertainment for the ladies! Not to mention the fact that everyone there has been in class with me 3-5 days a week for the whole Fall and Spring semesters and they have seen me grow so it is like they are Chase's family by default.

Here are some pics from the BBQ!

Who said you can't play beer pong with a baby on your chest!


Chase and mommy!


So the kid likes a beer or two, he takes after his dad!


Chase and his girlfriends Mindy and Gabby!

After the BBQ I came home and took a nap for a little bit. At some point Matt brought Chase down to eat and next thing I know I wake up and it is 1:30 in the morning. I slept pretty well last night and tonight we are gonna start transitioning Chase to sleep more in his cosleeper and less in the bed. I also started babywise today...maybe not quite exactly the way the book says but at least the eat wake sleep cycle. We aren't quite exact on the schedule and I give him a little rock/bounce and the pacifier before he goes down for a nap. He is so little yet and I don't want to make him completely cry it out quite yet. Now hopefully at 8-10 weeks he will start sleeping longer periods of time...only 3 weeks to go! Then when he starts going longer between night feeds I will transition him from the cosleeper to the crib. I like the cosleeper because I can just pluck him out and feed him without getting out of bed whereas with the crib I would have to get up. Now I have a month to get his sleep habits in order before I return to work so we will see how it goes!

I suck

I totally suck at this blog thing. I guess I will do a quick update.

1. I had a baby.
2. It was a boy. 8 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. Born on 3/26 at 8:38.
3. I had a successful VBAC.
4. He is a month old now.
5. He has rolled over several times from belly to back, he smiles at you when you smile at him, he can hold his head up for short periods of time while upright, he is the most handsome baby ever!

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!!!!!