Bradley Method Birthing Class: #2

Like our entire lives, my blog has been completely taken over by this pregnancy and the highly anticipated arrival of our daughter.   I would apologize, but I'm not sorry, and I really cannot think of anything else more exciting than preparing for this baby girl.  I know a lot of people feel that it's necessary to maintain some semblance of their individuality as an independent adult when they are entering parenthood.  I do not feel that need at all.  I look forward to being known as Olivia's mommy, and I do not in anyway feel like that will be "stealing" my identity.  That being said, this blog will more than likely become WAY more dedicated to our daughter (and our eldest, Thor) as time passes.  Of course, I will also continue to update about Dave and I and the house and our families, etc. etc.

(My guys on the drive up to Harker Heights last weekend)

Speaking of which something I never mentioned in this blog is that Jay, my brother, is currently at Army Basic training in Georgia!  He decided about 5-6 months ago that he wanted to join the reservist and he was able to get an officer slot rather quickly.  I'm not quite sure his entire schedule, but I believe he finishes his first round of training in November, and then the second one ends in February.  Go Jay!  His ladies are spending this time with Claudia's family in Chicago and then Florida.  They are hoping to be able to travel to San Antonio for Christmas, so that will be an exciting family filled holiday if it all works out.

On to our 2nd birthing class.   It was just as good as our first one, if not a tad bit better because it was less awkward.  It's kinda funny to be in a room full of pregnant women and their husbands.  We are slowly learning everyone elses names and I was a little bit more comfortable asking and answering questions.

This class focused on pregnancy nutrition & relaxation techniques.  The Bradley Method pregnancy diet really focuses on getting in a ton of protein, as well as eating as fresh and nutrient rich as possble.   I had already taylored my diet to a lot of the recommendations, but I realized that I was not focusing on proteins as much as I should.  The recommendation is for 80-100 grams of protein per day.  On a good day I'm probably getting closer to 60-65 grams of protein, so some adjustments need to be made there.  Also, Dave and I both realized that we probably aren't eating as many leafy greens as we should, so we will start incorporating more of those into our dinners.  Other than that just keep doing what we are doing as far as diet goes. 

The main thing is to be prepared when it comes to eating well.  Plan the weekly menus out on the weekend.  Load up on veggies, fruits, lean proteins, and complete protein snacks like yogurt & cheeses and  other healthy snacks at the grocery store on Sunday.  Never leave the house  for work without a packed lunch, plenty of good snacks, and water.  One thing I like to do to prepare for lunches for the week is to buy all of our produce on Sunday and then clean, cut everything up, and portion it out for the week.  It makes packing lunches for Dave and I each morning much quicker, and we choose all the fruits and veggies first because all of the work has already been done.  I've realized that if I do not prepare my lunch and snacks ahead of time, and I'm caught away from home and get hungry I tend to make unhealthy food choices. 

I will mention that even after yesterday's class & being drilled about the importantance of a healthy diet, today has probably been the worst I've eaten in awhile!  My co-workers are trying to fatten me up :).  Oh, and I made this delicious cake on Sunday in honor of football and my inlaws coming over for lunch.  Oh, the shame because I had log in my piece(s) of cake into my food journal, but it was well worth it.   Hey, there was fruit on the cake....coated in butter and sugar, of course. 

Other than that this week has flown by.  On Tuesday, I had my 30 week doctor's appointment and it went well and rather uneventfully.  I got to hear baby, which is always fun.  I'm measuring a couple of days ahead, which is normal. And my weight gain and blood pressure are right on track.  I will have another doctor's appointment a week from Tuesday. 

And just because I love putting pictures in my blog & I take a million....

Thor was a cuddle bug with me on the floor while we were watching the Titans.

Thor napping on our bed.  I love those pillowcases behind him!  My cousin Krystal got those for us at my bridal shower.  I have loaded our bed with every single pillow that we own.  To get a good night's sleep and to find a comfortable sleeping position I literally have to stick a pillow under almost every limb, behind my back, and one under my belly.  I woke up and looked at Dave the other night and poor guy had only one pillow, and it was our flattest one! 

Bradley Method Birthing Class: #1

Warning: Long, detailed blog about our birthing class, followed by adorable pictures of Thor & one of pregnant me!  Scoll to the bottom if he is the one you are here to see.  :)

First, let me say that from as far back as I can remember I always knew that I wanted to experience as natural of a birth as I could.  I  have no clue when this thought originated, I feel like it's just always been a given for me.  I wasn't brought up by particularly green or crunchy parents, and they are in no way hippies.  My mom, however, vaginally birthed all three of us in military hospitals without any pain medication or unnecessary interventions.  She was allowed to spontaneously go into labor almost 2 weeks late with all of us, and then go to the hospital to deliver her rather large babies without an epidural.  Jay weighed 8lbs 4oz, I was slightly larger at like 8lbs 10oz, and Sarah was the big kahuna at 8lbs 15oz.  If Sarah had cooked a couple of more days she would have definitely been a 9 pounder!

So, I have always known that it is absolutely possible for me to birth a baby naturally without any pain medication or induction interventions.  The minute I found out I was pregnant I hit the research and reading trail to determine what type of birthing experience was the best for us.  There is so much information and misinformation out there about child birth, it's crazy.  The Bradley Birthing Method, which I had not been familar with before I started this research, jumped out to me.  Luckily, there are lots of Bradley instructors in our city and we were able to find and register for a birthing class that was ideal with our due date.  Dave then bought me two of the highly recommended Bradley Method books for Mother's Day:  Husband Coached Child Birth by Robert Bradley, M.D. and Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg.  We took turns reading these two books and they confirmed and encouraged my feelings towards the steps we were taking to prepare for our baby's birthday.  I did all of that before I was even out of the first trimester, so the future first class seemed like forever away! 

Last night the first class finally took place.  Typically, Bradley classes take place in a 12 class series, our class is a 10 class series with all of the same information, just in fewer weeks.  I was really happy with our teacher and our class size.  There are 7 couples total and all of us are first time parents!  There was one other lady who was further along than me, and she is due just 2 days before me.  All the other couples were due in December, January, and one in February.  Three of the babies are going to be surprises, and 2 are boys and 2 are girls.  The teacher made a joke about whether or not I will be there for the last class, which is on November 11, as I will be 38 weeks.   She then went on to reassure me that more than likely we will be because first time moms tend to go about a week over their due date.

The first class was a lot of review for Dave and I because we have read those two Bradley books already (dorky overachievers, I know).  This class focused on the goals of the method, the exercises we should be doing, and pregnancy nutrition.  I've been doing a lot of the floor exercises and stretches already, but it was nice to get an in person demonstration and then practice the exercises infront of the teacher.  We also have several "homework" assignments for the week.  I've been given a workbook & student handbook where I'm suppose to log in everything I eat all day for the next week.  This should be relatively easy for me because I usually journal it anyways.  The only possible changes this week will be my food choices, because I know these entries are going to be reviewed!  We've also been asked to practice this butterfly stretch with our husbands, do 50 Kegels a day, and practice one of the relaxation techniques.  Easy enough!  Maybe I just liked school too much and miss it, because my ears seriously perked up when she mentioned homework.  :)

So far I'm happy with our decision about these classes and I'm also so happy that Dave is so on board with all of this.  It made me so proud when he knew a lot of the answers to questions that were asked about birthing statistics in the U.S.!  All in all a successful first class and that is how we will be spending our Thursday evenings for the next 9 weeks. 

Dave took this picture of me this morning;  I woke up feeling particularly pregnant.  

Some other iPhone pictures that I have recently taken of Thor :

   

Crazy dog loves to nap in this position.  If he is comfortable enough he will stay like this for awhile and just follow me with his eyes as I'm piddling around the house. 

New rug, not meant for him even though he thinks it is. 

Dave & I will sit and watch T.V. and Thor will sit and watch us. 

So now it's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend!  Filled with house chores and a trip to Killeen to visit my aunt&family, and sister and Dad while my mom makes a quick trip to NYC/Chicago for the weekend.  This is my mom's first flight alone in 28 years!  I'm doing lots of praying for a safe trip for her. 

28 weeks 4 days

How far along? 28 weeks = 7 months!

Total weight gain/loss: Oh my, it's getting up there...I had a doctor's appointment about 2 weeks ago and I did not ask the exact amount.  I did not particularly want to know.  I believe it's about 24-26 pounds right now; that was total amount I wanted to gain the entire time.  I'm only partially bothered by this number because I've (and Dave) been really good about watching what I eat.  I feel like that's just the weight I need to gain at this point without going on a diet!

Maternity clothes? I'm still mixing it up.  I have rummaged through my closet and found a couple of pairs of low rise jeans that I didn't really like any more pre-pregnancy, but they button and fit!  I also have quite a few regular shirts that will make it through this pregnancy I believe.  Of course I also have maternity pants and shirts that I'm wearing regularly. 

Stretch marks? Noooooo stretch marks, yet.  I've been religiously applying that coco butter and Collagen lotion with the Vitamin E.  I know they will happen if they are going to happen, but I love rubbing my belly anyways :).

Sleep: Sleep sucks!!!  It started to be bad about 2 weeks ago when I got a really bad cough.  I would cough all night and toss and turn.  I also pulled some muscles in my back from all of the coughing, which has made my back sore still.  Now that the cough is gone, I still dread going to bed every night because it is uber frustrating.  It takes awhile to get comfortable on my sides because my back is killing me.  Once I eventually get comfortable and doze off a little bit, it is time to get up and go pee.  Then I have to try and lay down and get comfortable again, doze off, need to pee.  It's an endless cycle. I think I have temporarily solved the problem.  I prop myself up on all the pillows in our bed, almost as though I'm sitting in a recliner and I'm able to fall asleep much quicker.  It also makes breathing much easier and my lungs do not feel crushed like they do when I'm on my side. 

Best moment this week:  I was spooning Dave a couple of days ago with my belly pressed against his back.  Dave was able to feel baby kick his back.  That was really cool. 

Movement: She is rather spastic!  She will have regular half hour sessions of somersaulting and strong kicks a couple of times a day.  I've also been able to see her kicking and moving through my shirt.  I love that.  I'm also able to really feel where she is at in my belly.   I often feel a round rump that I like to imagine is her little booty, but of course it could be her back, or head or any number of body parts. 

Food cravings: No real food cravings.  I've been really thirsty and eating tons of fruit to help quinch my thirst.  I'm getting sick of water and liquids in general because I always have to pee.  I know that I need lots of fluids, so I am still downing it. 

Food aversions:  I'm able to drink milk again without an upset tummy!  I have no current food aversions which is nice.

Labor Signs:  I have had a couple of what I believe to be are Braxton Hicks contractions.  It's been really hard to tell if they were BH contractions, or if it was just baby pushing against my insides and making my tummy tight.

Belly Button in or out? Very very out.  It has not stretched out or become any less noticeable.  I was walking around in my sports bra the other day and Thor actually tried to nibble my protruding belly button.  Gross?  Yes, very.  Funny?  Yes, very. 

What I miss: I actually enjoy being pregnant, but there are some things I'm starting to miss.  I miss not waddling when I have a really full bladder and I'm trying to bee-line it for the ladies room.   I miss my back not being sore.  I miss being able to shave my legs without having to maneuvar and perform acrobats in the shower. I miss waking up and really feeling refreshed.  I miss solid nights of sleep that I know I will not get back for the next 18-20 years or so.  I miss my regular sized breasts.  But I do not miss any of those things more than I enjoy feeling my baby move, or knowing that she is growing in there, or anticipating meeting her. 

What I am looking forward to: I'm looking forward to our first Bradley class on Thursday!  We have classes every Thursday from here on out until November 11.  I'm also looking forward to buying our crib with my parents this month and receiving the glider and ottoman that the Copelands bought for us. 

Weekly Wisdom:  I had to take cough medicine last week for my horrible cough.  I felt absolutely guilty about it, and I still sort of do.  I know I can't beat myself up for giving in and taking the meds, but I still do.  The cough went on for about a week, and it was getting progressively worse instead of better.  At first I thought it was allergies, and then once it started to hurt in my chest I knew it was some kind of cough cold combination.  I called my doctor and asked if I should come in and get looked at or what should I do.  She told me to take Robitussin DM or they could write me a prescription for something stronger if I wanted.  I was surprised I was able to take anything like that and I have been so against any sort or meds/interventions.  I broke down and took the cough syrup once or twice a day for a couple of days.  The Robitussin, coupled with a day off and a stream room in our bathroom my wonderful husband made me sit in and I eventually got better.  Wisdom in this?  No point in suffering especially if your OB/GYN says that it is fine to take some medication to relieve the symptoms.  I tried to tough it out as much as I could, but eventually took the medicine and now I'm all better. 

Milestones: Officially officially officially in the 3rd trimester!

{  Will post a picture later. }

Family fotos

Facebook rocks.  A lot of my family members have become my facebook friends over the past year or so.  And some of my aunts and uncles have scanned and uploaded awesome family pictures that I had never seen before.  I love how FB is able to not only reconnect family members, but also share things such as old school family photos. 

My hopes are to one day, in the near future, print out the entries of my blog and have them put into a binded book.  There are several businesses that will actually do this for you, and I think it would be neat way to eventually further share my thoughts and activities with future Copelands.  Sort of like an online journal turned book.  Off that tangent, I wanted to share some of the pictures that I have recently come across on my family member's facebook pages. 

My dates are foggy because I just honestly do not know when a lot of these pictures were taken.  This is my paternal grandmother and grandfather around 1955ish (?).  Maria Pedraza and Roberto Jimenez. 

This is a picture of my paternal grandmother's family, the Pedrazas in Monterrey, Mexico in 1959. My grandma is the 2nd lady from the right, she is dressed in white and holding the little girl.  The little girl is my Aunt Gloria and grandma was also pregnant with my dad when this picture was taken.  

This is my Aunt Gloria holding my Uncle Oscar on the westside of San Antonio in the early 1960's. 

My aunt and uncles in San Antonio, Texas in the early 1960's. From left to right Oscar, Robert, Albert, Javier (my dad) and Gloria.   

The whole Jimenez family.  What a handsome family! Not many immediate family pictures have to be taken with a top, middle and bottom row!  Top row (left to right): Robert, Gloria, Javier (my dad), and Albert.  Middle row (left to right): Oscar, Grandma, Rosie, Lupe, Grandpa, and Daniel.  Bottom row (left to right): the twins, Susana and Christina. 

All of the Jimenez kids minus Aunt Gloria.  From left to right: Twins Susana & Christina, Lupe (behind the twins), Rosie, Albert, Daniel, Javier (my dad), Oscar and Robert.  I don't mean to brag, but my aunts and uncles all had such great hair!

Aunt Rosie.  She left this world way too soon.  She's very much missed and I wish my sister, Sarah, would have had a chance to get to meet and know her. 

Uncle Danny, Uncle Oscar, Dad, and Uncle Robert.  I  have no clue when this picture was taken...it looks like sometime after 1996 because Dad's hair cut &; 'stache definitely shows that he was already out of the Army. 

Brothers, again.  This picture was recently taken at my cousin Pamela's wedding on August 7, 2010.  Dad, Oscar, Danny, and Robert.  The fifth Jimenez brother, Uncle Albert, passed away many years ago.  I never had the chance to meet him and I wish I had.  He and my dad were very close. 

Then an old school picture of these crazies circa 1985-1986ish.  They are the couple who started it all for us.  Mom & Dad.  Jay made the picture, however, I was in the stroller and convienently cut out! :)

I love looking at all of these pictures and wondering what Olivia will look like.  I wonder if she will have a stronger resemblance from one side of my family or one side of Daves.  The Jimenez family tends to have really strong genes because when I look at all of my cousins (and there are a lot) we all tend to have features that favor the Jimenez side.   It will be so neat to see who Olivia will take after.

I'm going to try and dig up some old pictures from my mom's side of the family next time I'm in San Antonio so that I can share some of those as well!

Dear Olivia

Dear Olivia,

We had your "28 week" appointment yesterday and everything went fabulously!  You are growing exactly as you should be.  I say 28 weeks in quotations because I was actually only 26 weeks and 4 days along at our appointment.  Because we have recently switched over to daddy's health insurance plan, we needed to get our two appointments this week in before September 1.  Exciting stuff, huh?   I was not complaining because it meant that there was a shorter time between visits and I got to listen to your big heart beating sooner. 

Your daddy came to the appointment with me and that made everything more fun.  He had not gotten to hear your heartbeat or be at an appointment since we found out you are a healthy little girl.  My weight gain is right on track, blood pressure was good, I do not have gestational diabetes, and my belly measured right where it was suppose to. 

We met with a new doctor at this appointment.  He was a new doctor to us, Dr. Hancock.  He was very nice and very informative.  Both daddy and I were able to ask a bunch of questions and get good clear answers from him.   I had to get a shot at this appointment, because my blood type is A-, and the shot was not too bad. 

I can't wait till our next appointment in about 3 weeks.  We will get to hear you and see you every 2 weeks after that appointment,  then at about a month before you are due we will get to see/hear you every week until you arrive.  Your estimated date of arrival is exactly 3 months from today.  We can't wait!

Love,
Mommy

Canyon Lake and Thor's Adventures

The Jollys are in town from Georgia!  Philip is stationed at Ft. Gordon and recently got back from a year long deployment.  They traveled down to Texas to visit with family before he has to go back to work on a regular schedule in September.  Dave and I were able to visit with them in Austin a couple of weeks ago, and last Saturday my parents, Sarah and I went to Canyon Lake to meet up with the whole Contreras/Jolly gang.  (Dave stayed behind working on the nursery.)  It was gorgeous and so empty on the lake!

Krystal, Tyler and Philip Jolly

We had to split up onto two different boats because they only had two 8 passenger boats left.  We were able to turn off the engine and tie the boats together and then just hang out and swim.   It was also fun swimming back and forth between boats. 

Dad over on the Contreras' boat. 

Captain Dad

Mom had such a good time in the water!  She has been on boats tons of times before, but this was the first time she actually jumped into the lake from the boat.  I couldn't believe it!  She's scared of lakes, so I'm glad she overcame her fears :)

Sarah driving the boat.  Our propellor suffered some damage that my parents had to pay for, but it really was not Sarah's fault. 

Pregnant me.  There are some more provacotive swimsuit pictures of me in all of my belly glory floating around, but I will try and keep those private. I have no problems bearing it all while out on the water. :) Olivia doesn't like to be covered and it's much easy to swim and get on and off the boat without extra wet clothing weighing me down.  I will spare you and just not post any of those glorious pictures. 

We were out on the lake for a good couple of hours before we had to head back to Leander/Harker Heights.  On the way home we had an eventful trip.  My parent's car suffered a flat tire.  Luckily, they had a decent spare that my dad was able to put on that would take us close to my house.  Dave picked me up from the Walmart where they were getting the tire repaired.  It was such a fun day!

And in other news.....

Thor escaped from our house on Tuesday while we were at work.  "Escaped" isn't really the correct term...afterall, I must have left the front door unlocked when I left the house for my doctor's appointment and a storm rolled into our neighborhood.  The only thing that we can both imagine happening was that the wind blew so hard against the front of our house that it blew the door open, leaving Thor with opportunity to check out the neighborhood.  It's crazy because we have just begun letting Thor roam free on the first floor of our house.  This was only his 4th day of being loose.  Dave got home from work before I did and immediately knew something was up. 

Thor was in the house when Dave got home, but he said the house smelled like wet dog and there were leaves and water puddles in the entry way.  Apparently what had happened was Thor got out somehow and ran around our block terrorizing little neighborhood children.  A lady from down the street told Dave that she had found him running around.  I guess she knew where he belonged because she knocked on our door and it swung right open.  She said Thor then ran from down the street and into our house (THANK GOD), and then she closed the door behind him. 

Dave did not recognize this neighbor lady, and I haven't really met any of our neighbors, but we were very lucky that she recognized Thor!  I guess walking him everyday around the neighborhood has helped people know where he belongs as well as helped him know to stay close to home.  I almost had a small heart attack when I came home and Dave informed me of Thor's adventure.  I could not help but think of all of the horrible things that could have happened: he could have jumped on a kid, could have gotten hit by a car, could have had Animal Control called on us, could have run away and never come back.  He has a microchip, but he was not wearing his collar with dog tags.  (We prefer him naked, and they jingle against each other too much.) All is well that ends well.  

Thor was quite worn out for the remainder of the night, so we know that he got some good exercise while he was a free man.  I have definitely been much better about double triple checking all of our doors before we leave in the morning.  I felt like such a horrible dog mommy!

Thor and Dave cuddling/wrestling while the Titans played.

Thor tends to take the wrestle sessions a little too far and has to be pinned down by Dave to remind him of his place.  This used to be much easier when he was just a 60 pound puppy...now he is a 135 pound dog with a puppy brain.

Unexpected Date Night

What a pleasant surprise it was when Kelly asked me on Thursday morning if we wanted to go see the Broadway play, Jersey Boys, that was in town at 8pm that evening!  For free!  Kelly has a job with a company that tends to have a lot of extra tickets to local events and she has been able to go to the plays and movie premieres and such.  She had gone to see Jersey Boys on Wednesday night and when she got to work the next morning they had even more extra tickets for last night's performance.   

Boy, did it take some arm twisting to get Dave to agree to go with me!  Dave is not the biggest fan of musicals.  After some back and forth phone calls and text messages, and asking Lexie if she could go (which she couldn't because she worked), he finally agreed!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I love musicals and plays, and I had seen this one advertised for sometime and kinda really wanted to go.  I wouldn't have actively pursued going because we have so much other stuff going on right now, and it's not really in the budget, but we were blessed with a cool opportunity!  Thank you, Kelly!

The only downside to this play was that it was on a "school night."  We had to go home to Leander after work to take care of the dog's needs, first, and then we had go all the way back downtown Austin to the Bass Concert Hall which is on the UT campus.  We made it over to home and back downtown by about 7pm, grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local sandwhich & burger shop and then headed to the concert hall.  The seats were pretty darn good.  We were on the orchastra level and about 6 rows back.  We were seated a little to the right so Dave could not see the stage full on, but I don't think he minded that much. 

The show was great!  It was about the history of the group The Four Seasons, a boy band from the 60's.  I had no clue they were the artist to a lot of the songs that they sang.  The talent was great too, and we both agreed that overall they were better performers than the Elvis show we saw in Las Vegas during our honeymoon. 

So this was a nice little surprise and evening out that was virtually free, aside from dinner, parking and gas.