Fender Bender

This is kind of a long story, just to warn you before hand.

Sunday turned out to be an unfortunately eventful day for us. It started out normal, wake up, go to church, come home, eat lunch, etc. We had a meet and greet at 2:00pm for the new members of the ward and investigators. We baked our muffins and headed over. As we were turning down one of the roads, two cars ahead of us, a guy slams on his breaks, the guy behind him stops immediately, and we didn't have enough time to stop so we slammed into the guy in front of us. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. As we were hitting the guy all of the muffins flew off of my lap, my seatbelt tightened, and my knee barely hit the glove box. Normally in this situation i would have been fine, but being pregnant and having the belt impact my belly it was totally different. Aaron immediately turned to me and asked me if i was alright. I felt fine but all the muscles around my belly were tightening. I told aaron i was fine. He got out of the car to check on the other guy. Thankfully there was no damage to either one of the cars (although the other guy told aaron that he was going to get his bumper fixed--i'm not sure how that works when nothing is wrong). As aaron was out of the car i lost it. I began bawling my eyes out (i blame the hormones). i couldn't feel the baby kick or move and i was afraid the impact had done some serious damage to the baby. I picked up the muffins to distract myself.

Aaron exchanged insurance information with the guy we hit and we decided to go back home and call my doctor instead of going to the meet and greet. She told me that i probably should go to the hospital and get a non stress test to make sure that everything is alright with the baby. I didn't think the situation was as bad as it was until my doctor said the word hospital... the hysterics ensued. I don't know what it is, but i always assume that the worst has happened. Aaron held me for awhile and we said a prayer and headed for the hospital. We made our way to labor and delivery and my doctor had called ahead so the nurses were expecting me. After filling out paper work they put me in a room and hooked me up to some monitors. One was to track contractions and one was to track the baby's heartbeat. The nurse took the heartbeat monitor and dragged it all around my belly. I think she moved it about 27 times. I, as per usual, freaked out because she couldn't find the heartbeat. I couldn't stop staring at Aaron and hoping and praying that the baby was just moving too much. Amidst the silence the nurse says, "okay, its 150." i look over at the machine and realize that the monitor is actually picking up the baby's heartbeat and its going strong. Thank heavens, she was doing well.

Through the next 3 and 1/2 hours aaron and i pretty much sat there staring at stuff in the room. It was really strange because we were in an actual delivery room with all the equipment. I got excited thinking that the next time we would be here we would get a healthy baby in the end (knock on wood) . We had a few routine tests here and there while we were waiting. It took extra long because they got my birthday wrong in the computer and it came out saying that i was born in 1936, making me a 21 week pregnant 72 year old. The woman from the lab, who came to draw my blood, was surprised to see me when she walked in. She said "I didn't think it was possible for a 72 year old to be pregnant but we always have to check." They had to make sure that there was no internal bleeding with the baby, which would show if my blood type was mixed. They also came in to monitor the baby's heartbeat for a longer period of time which was cool because we got to hear her heart and hear her moving around all over the place. I also learned that if the baby's heart rate is erratic and the baby was under stress we would have to deliver. Unfortunately there isn't anything they can do for the baby unless it is 24 weeks old. Thankfully her heart rate was even and normal the whole time. It took forever to get the other test results back from the lab but everything came back negative and since the heart was fine we were free to go.

Its amazing how such an insignificant situation like a fender bender could become so dramatic. What turned out to be a seemingly normal day turned into something that made me realize how important Aaron and this little girl are to me. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father that things turned out so well. I hope this is the last eventful Sunday that we have for a very long time (or at least until September).

The Oakland Athletics

Aaron and i have always wanted to get in as much Bay Area stuff as we can while we live here, because we know this area is only temporary for us. Needless to say, we haven't done very much stuff in an effort to take in everything the Bay Area has to offer. Thankfully the Holt's are there for us. They got free tickets to the Oakland A's game from their Bishop and invited us to go with them. Stuff is always better when its free, right? Especially if the seats are 15 rows back and behind home plate.The weather was perfect, warm but with a nice cool breeze. It was a little deceiving because the weather was so cool when we left, we didn't even think to put sun screen on. Poor Aaron was sitting on the end of our row and the right half of his body got completely fried
I'm pretty sure that i still know nothing about baseball, but i made sure to clap when other people were clapping (you know, do what everyone else does and pretend like you know whats going on). It was nice to go and watch a little baseball, chat with friends, eat more than we should have and play with little Ella. We can now check that box off of our Bay Area To Do List. Thanks Holt's!

Going Vintage and Hawaiian

I get more and more excited about having a girl as the days go on, not that i wasn't excited before, but you know what i mean. My mom sent me one of the coolest packages. She had saved her favorite outfits of mine when i was a baby and when she found out i was having a girl she packed them up and sent them to me. To each of the items she pinned an explanation of the outfit and what size it was. I was the coolest experience to look at all these little outfits and think that i actually was small enough to fit in them and in a few months i'll have my own little girl that i'll be able to dress in them.
My in-laws went to Hawaii for spring break and they had told us that there was a package in the mail. I was secretly hoping it was something for the baby, because her stuff tends to be cuter than adult stuff, and lo and behold this beautiful little dress arrived.Getting mail has never been this much fun.

Hot Hot Heat

It is so hot in California right now (well at least in the Bay area). This isn't the good type of heat either. This is the "my pants are stuck to my legs when i get out of the car because its just that hot" type of heat. Normally this situation wouldn't be that bad. The trek to the car and back might be a little miserable, but no harm done. However, when you don't have air conditioning and its 6:30pm and you think you might just get heat stroke... then you have a problem. I could hurt everyone in California for not installing air conditioners in apartments because "the weather is so nice" for most of the year. These are the same people who invented the "pregnancy is only 9 months" farce. Its a conspiracy. Our little girl is going to come out all golden brown and crispy because the oven (aka me) got a little too hot. Poor baby.

I think i'll go stand by the open fridge and pretend that we have air conditioning...

Halfway There

I hit the 20 week mark. Halfway there (does anyone else want to start singing "Livin on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi when they hear that phrase? Or is it just me?). The cruel thing about this week i realized (and i'm sure everyone already knows this) is that when you hit 20 weeks you're pregnant for 5 months, meaning that when you hit 40 weeks you're pregnant for 10 months. What cruel evil person has been parading around telling people that pregnancy is only nine months? What a crock.

I want there to be only 9 months so that doesn't give me an extra month to eat, which is apparently the only thing the little fetus ever wants. I think i can pretty much kiss the "healthy weight gain" range goodbye. I know that its simple during pregnancy, you continue to eat healthy only adding a few extra calories here and there. But in reality this never happens, at least for me. The baby pretty much hates everything that doesn't have the word CARBOHYDRATES written all over it. For example, i decided to bring a baggie of carrots to work as a snack which i figured would be a healthier alternative to crackers. I got hungry and started eating them, halfway through the bag i still felt hungry and figured that it would hit my stomach in a few minutes. I finished the bag and was STARVING. i waited 20 minutes and was so desperate that i began to wonder if pregnant women were allowed to eat plastic bags. Its like the carrots didn't even register in my body as food. This isn't the only time that has happened. Eating salads for meals is definitely a thing of the past. The exact same thing happened. Starving before eating, a little satisfied during, and 20 minutes later, starving.

I've decided that trying to eat the foods that keep me hungry isn't going to work and that i have to cave the the carbohydrate queen that has taken residence in my uterus. So i basically eat three things during the day:

Eggo waffles. I'm pretty sure i could eat these all day and i would be 100% satisfied Wheat thins. These are my favorite snack because they keep me full for awhileCEREAL! It doesn't even matter what kind it is as long as i get to eat it. Lately its been Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Captain Crunch. I look forward to the day when i get to eat other things and actually have them fill me up. That will be a lovely day.

Here's to 20 weeks down and 20 weeks to go!

It Has Begun

Aaron and i decided that we weren't going to buy anything for the baby until we knew what we were having. Amazingly we stuck to the plan, and the weekend after we found out we were having a girl we decided to buy a little something while we were at Target. I was thinking that the first thing we would buy would be a cute dress, but everything was really summery and this little girl is showing up after the summer so that wouldn't have worked. We decided to get her some cute jammies instead.
My favorite part are the little ducks on the feet. I can't wait to put her in this.Yesterday i got a package in the mail from my mom. When i opened it, i saw these little shoes inside. I'm pretty sure they are the cutest things i have ever seen. Patent leather, silk bows, does it get any better than that?To give you an idea of just how small and adorable the shoes are, i put them next to her dad's shoes.I'm so excited that we're having a girl. Let the shopping mayhem (and uncontrollable cuteness) begin!

Easter Festivities

We started the festivities on Saturday night by dying eggs with the Sagers.

Aaron and Kyle apparently have mixed emotions regarding the event.Kyle and MelanieTeam AwesomeHowie supervised the egg dying
On Sunday Morning we saw that the Easter bunny had come (a.k.a me when i woke up in the morning). Holidays are difficult when you don't eat dessert/candy. So we went the snack route with our baskets. Nothing says Happy Easter like cinnamon teddy grams and fruit snacks.Can you find the hidden eggs?We finished our easter festivities by cracking open our dyed eggs and making deviled eggs. They were delicious!The Easter dress i wore was a maternity dress from Old Navy that actually made me look like i was pregnant. Today was the first day that people asked if i was pregnant. It was fun to have people finally notice. Here is the belly at 19 weeks 3 days (so 4 days from five months pregnant).

WHY?!

After two straight weeks of waking up at 7:30am for work and, unfortunately, various activities on the weekend, i officially cannot sleep in. Why on this good green earth did my body (and that really annoying bird) wake me up at 7:30am this morning?!?! Doesn't it know that come September i'll never get to sleep in again? I need to bask in the glory of sleeping in until 10am plus some every saturday while i can. I don't need my internal clock set a 7:30am. Please, body, lets not make this a habit.

The Results are In

The ultrasound was an interesting experience today. It was so exciting to see the baby moving all over the place and to see its little legs and hands. I still can't believe this baby is in me, but i guess i have to come to terms with it or labor might be a really surprising experience. I will say though that i wasn't expecting the ultrasound to be painful but the technician kept jabbing me where my round ligament was on my left side and that never leads to good things. I kept squeezing Aaron's hand and gritting my teeth. Why does the technician need to look at the heart for 4 hours? I mean seriously. Here are some of the ultrasound pictures:

The profile. This picture blows my mind. if you look close enough you can see the line on the eyelids, the line across the lips and the nostrils.
This is the baby's little arm and hand on the middle of the face. The SpineYou can't have a Barnard ultrasound without coming away with a scary front faced picture, right? I feel like the baby should be doing an evil laugh in this picture (mwahahaha)
Now the moment you have all been waiting for. This picture shows what we saw for an hour. If you can't tell, this is the baby's little leg and foot. To the left of the foot you'll see the other foot. CROSSED LEGS. Crazy child. The ultrasound tech couldn't get a good look and kept going back to see if the baby had uncrossed its legs. No dice. About halfway through the tech seemed semi-confident about the gender, but came back to the issue at the end of the ultrasound. Finally he stated what the gender was and without telling us what he saw to make him think that, he just told us to "trust him" because he had "ten years of experience." We still didn't feel terribly confident. Thankfully the doctor came in and asked if we got the gender and we told him "not really." He slabbed on more goo and confirmed almost immediately that the baby was the gender the technician pointed out. We asked him how he knew (seeing as we still had no idea was he was looking at and the baby's legs were still crossed) and he goes "Because i'm looking at the labia." (sorry for the awkward term) We knew right then, FINALLY, that the baby was a GIRL! We are soooooo excited! And so much for mother's intuition, I thought it was a boy the whole time. Bring on the bows, dresses, and all things pink!

Mr. Heckles

Remember that crazy guy from FRIENDS who died while banging a broom on his ceiling because Monica and Rachel were "too loud"? Well his death was a myth. He is alive and well and occupies the apartment below us.About 2 weeks ago we had some friends over and around 10:30pm we heard a banging sound a few times. We didn't think anything of it really and moved on with our lives. Three days ago Aaron was walking to the front door to make sure it was locked before we went to bed. The banging sound happened again and this time i felt it in the floor of our bedroom. Aaron wasn't convinced that it was our downstairs neighbor banging the ceiling with a broom, but i was pretty convinced that the guy was pissed. Last night, Aaron went to check the locks again, and when he got back into our room we heard the banging noise SIX TIMES. Aaron decided to go downstairs and check to make sure everything was alright. Obviously if the guy is banging on our ceiling, something must be up. He never answered the door. We called our landlord to let him know what has been going on and we've been walking a little softer at night. But seriously, Mr. Heckles, cut it out.

What is going on?

Aaron and i turned our heat off about a week ago and yet it is still blazing hot in our apartment. Right now it is 53 degrees outside. The thermostat in our apartment says its 80 degrees. What is going on? And does anyone know how to fix this extremely strange problem?