Sunday Selfies

Ok this started out with me just thinking my outfit was cute this particular sunday and wanting to document my 19 week belly.  Ok mostly, I look good and wanted everyone to know it.

And then Nate thought it would be really funny to take one of his own!  

So that's the story of why we both took Sunday selfies in the church bathroom.  We're so funny!

Baby Breneman #2 Is A......

We know, we know, everyone is DYING to know whether Baby Breneman #2 is a Janie or a Jack!  Wonder no more!

Hmmm...... Boy or Girl?

It's

A

.....

.....

.....

Looks like this family will be buying pink for a little while longer!  We are so happy to be inviting another precious baby girl into our Family this November and we're pretty certain that Olivia will make the adjustment fairly well.  I was (not so secretly) hoping for a boy at first but the more I think about how wonderful our lives have been with one girl, the more excited I get about having another one.  Nate and I are very excited about this next step we are taking together!

The Birth Story

This is the Bracelet I mentioned in the last post.

At around 2 am on October 26th, I woke up to go to the bathroom.  Pretty much the same as I did every other morning that week.  I tried to go back to bed but I was having some pretty strong contractions.  Again, pretty much the same as every other morning that week.  After about 30 minutes of trying to go back to sleep and not having any luck, I decided to play on my kindle in the living room for a bit (aka Facebook stalking).  Since not very many people are posting about anything at 3 in the morning, I had to move on to reading blogs.  I spent a good 3 hours reading about everything that my sister Sheri was doing in 2009.  By 7am I was still having contractions but I really didn't think I was in labor because there wasn't any consistency with how far apart they were.  By this time, I decided Nate should wake up so he could entertain me until the contractions calmed down enough to go back to sleep.  My contractions started to last really long (up to 3 minutes) even though there was still no consistency with how far apart they were.  I decided to call the nurse at my doctor's office because all the times I'd been having contractions before this, they didn't last more than 90 seconds.  The nurse on the phone told me I needed to get to the hospital asap.  We got to L and D around 8:45 and found out that I was 5cm dilated!  Only 2 days before at the doctor they measured me at barely 2cm.  Since I tested positive for group B strep, they had to get the IV with antibiotics started.  By the time they found a good vein and had everything going, it was 9:30 and I was dilated to 6cm.  Things were definitely progressing!  I was lucky enough to get the delivery room that had a tub in it so as soon as my first round of antibiotics finished, I got to get in the tub, which really helped with the contractions.  After that, things had REALLY picked up, so they checked me again and I was at 8cm.  I decided at that point that I'd be a lot happier with an epidural, which I really was!  Just after the epidural started working, they went to check me again and my water broke.  At 12, it was time to start pushing and 29 minutes later, our little Olivia was out!  From here, you should refer to the previous post for pictures right after she was born.

Introducing the newest Breneman....

Miss Olivia Christine Breneman was born just over 2 weeks ago on October 26th!  I know I'm pretty late getting posts up about her first 2 weeks of life so please bear with me as I start getting things all figured out.  Having a baby seems to make everything take longer!  Enjoy these pictures from her first moments of life.

 I love how grumpy she looks here.  She was NOT enjoying this bath!

 All cleaned up and ready for some snuggles

 Holding her Daddy's hand while we waited for the pediatrician to check her out

Getting ready to move out of the birthing suite and into the recovery room

Is that not the most precious face you've ever seen?!

The one and only time that Olivia was actually in my room after delivery....  (more on that in a later post)

My "push" present.  I never knew this was even a thing until very recently but apparently husbands are supposed to give their wives a present for pushing out the baby.  I always thought that having the baby out was the present but this is awesome too!  I didn't get a picture of it but it's a charm bracelet with a charm for each person in our little family of 3 :)

34 Week Belly Photos

Ok so I know I'm a whole 2 weeks late getting this post up but here are some sort of new belly pictures.  These pictures were taken when I was 34 weeks and 1 day along.  Today I am 36 weeks, although I don't think my belly is much different today; maybe just down a bit lower now.

You've probably seen this one already as my facebook profile picture.  Nate put it up there because it is his favorite of the pictures.

Not to sound full of myself or anything, but I think I look pretty darn good for being 8 months pregnant!

I am finally nearing the end of this pregnancy!  I have a doctor's appointment this Wednesday and from then on, my appointments will be every week.  Not a whole lot has happened at my recent doctor's visits, which is a good thing because that means there's nothing wrong...
   
I have been feeling great!  My nephrosis hasn't been bad since I stopped working and I've had some normal pains in my hip bones while they're splitting apart but it just reminds me that she's starting to make her way out!  I do get tired a LOT!  I sleep for 8-10 hours every night (roughly... I have to get up and go to the bathroom at least once, sometimes twice a night and I have to switch sleeping positions at least 6 times a night) and then I still take a 1-2 hour nap in the middle of the day and am plenty tired enough to fall asleep at bed time!  I'm not convinced that a person should need this much sleep in one day but the doctor told me it's normal and that if I'm able to, that I should be getting all that sleep.

This week I have been washing all the baby clothes we've gotten, it's so much fun going through everything as I fold her little outfits.  I feel like I'm opening presents all over again!  I think next week I might start packing our hospital bags.  Is 3 weeks before my due date too soon?... I've already made lists of what I think I need and my bag is out and ready to be packed.  Have I mentioned that I'm getting impatient?  We have several friends that have had babies in the last couple weeks so I've been talking to them about what they had in their hospital bags and what they wished they'd had.  I'm still open to suggestions so please feel free to comment!

Nate and I have also been doing our research for the whole laboring process.  We were planning to take a birthing class 2 weeks ago but every time I called to get us scheduled, it went to the lady's voicemail...  So instead we found a birth class app for Nate's ipad and we're watching that.  I also have a book that goes pretty in depth with the whole process including breathing and pain management techniques.  And it shows a lot of different massages that Nate can do while I'm in labor to help me relax.  I keep trying to get him to practice those but he seems to think I'm just trying to get massages out of him.

I have a feeling that Nate is going to be a very overprotective father.  Not in that he won't ever let her go outside because he's worried about germs or anything silly like that.  He heard about someone's child that died at 6 months because of SIDS so he gets worried about things like that.  Plus he keeps telling me that bigger babies are healthier so I need to let her grow until she's 10 pounds.  I think I really don't want to push out a 10 pound baby....

Anyways, that's what's going on with us right now and I'm going to be done now before this post gets really long!  Oh wait, that already happened.  Oops...

Baby Shower

Last weekend, my friend Savannah threw me a baby shower.  It was fun to be able to get together with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while, and it was nice to have something to look forward to to keep my mind off of how impatient I am to have this baby!  I know I still have a little over 4 weeks to go and I'm glad she's still in there growing the way she should be but I just can't wait to have her out of me and here!  Anyways, here are some pictures from the shower....

We got yummy kneaders sandwiches and tarts

Some friends from school were able to come celebrate with me

Onesie decorating - you can see I was having some issues trying to make my fabric pen work...

Nate's sister Halley was able to come down from school in Idaho for the weekend

The finished products!  I love the one that looks like the Sinclair Dinosaur :)

They told me to look excited....

I got lots of blankets, she definitely won't be cold this winter!

Nate's Mom sent this quilt with the baby's name embroidered in the middle.  And of course it matches her room colors perfectly :)

Cleaning up at the end, it's my hula skirt.  It kind of makes me look ginormous though

All in all I'd say the party was a success!  The food was delicious, there was fun to be had, and I got some really cute gifts for this baby of mine.  Now I just need to get started on all her laundry!

The Nursery

It's done, and it's beautiful!  I have to be honest, this is now my favorite room in our apartment.  It's also the only room that I can honestly say I put a lot of effort into decorating but I am in love with it!  So here are the pictures:

This is the door leading into her room.  This star started out being white, we spray painted it yellow to match her room colors, it will be on a hook, I just haven't gotten the hook yet and I didn't want to wait on one silly little thing to put up pictures.  So pretend my hand isn't there.

Here you can see the curtains and valance that Nate's Mom made.  The "O" on the dresser was made by Nate's sister Brittany.

Here's a closer shot of the dresser and you can see the carseat too.

This is the same glider that I posted about forever ago but now it has a pretty blanket made by my sister Katie on it.  This room has definitely had a lot of family's help getting to where it is now!

 Here is the wall with the Crib.  The blanket hanging on the back of the crib is one that I made.  Nate's Mom made the crib skirt and bumper to match the curtains.  And that beautiful crib was a gift from my own Mom

Here's a closer picture of the front bumper and the skirt

And here is a closer view of the mobile I made.  I didn't make the stand attaching it to the crib but I did everything else on it.  I got the idea from something I found on pinterest.  I'm really proud of how it turned out.  I love it!

And here is an overall shot of the room.  Those pom poms hanging from the ceiling were also made by me (with some help from Savannah) and are another part of the room that I am really darn proud of myself for :) Everything in this room just came together perfectly, and I love it!  

 Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who had a part in making this little angel's room!  She is going to just love it.  Now I just have to wait out the next 5 weeks til she gets here!  Can't wait to meet her!

I. Can't. BREATH!

Ok I know that everyone warned me about this (including the piles of pregnancy books I read) but Oh my Goodness, I seem to be short on breath ALL THE TIME!  And it's not just when I'm out walking or cleaning or whatever; it happens when i'm sitting doing nothing.  Is there an old wives tale about that one?  Like, the more times you can't breath, the prettier she'll be?  Cause there should be one, I'm starting it.

I am 33 weeks along as of today, yay!  It is so crazy to me that in less than 2 months, I will have a little baby girl!  It feels very surreal.  I mean, obviously I know she's there.  She never hesitates with those kickboxing moves on my organs; or the stretching out to fill as much of my abdomen as she possibly can.  But it still blows my mind when I think about how different my life is going to be come November.  I think my belly is definitely protruding now, and I measured, I'm officially bigger around than Nate is...  Never thought that would happen but I have to admit it depresses me just a bit.  At least he still weighs more than me!

This is a better picture of my face and has a cuter background but my belly is kind of  in the shadow so you can't see it that well

I don't think my face is as cute in this one but you can definitely see that belly!

I went to the doctor today for one of my normal visits, it was a very uneventful visit but I'm considering that to be a good thing because I'd rather not have any issues to worry about.  I have to admit though, it's a little depressing to go to the doctor and come out feeling just as uncomfortable as when you went in.  I think we all kind of build up this expectation that doctors will fix all our problems and give us some magic pill to make everything feel better.  When you're pregnant though, there is no magic pill to make it easier, so instead they just tell you that you look great and to come back in 2 weeks haha.

Also, I am hungry all the time.  When I eat though, I can only eat a little bit because I get full so stinking fast.  Then I'm hungry less than 2 hours later.  I know this is completely normal but it is still something that's bugging me.  I am glad I haven't had any ridiculous cravings though.  I mean, nothing like pickles and ice cream.  I still do crave mexican food a lot though.  And sushi, I just love sushi.  Sadly, california rolls are just about all I can have.  At least those are good!

The other day, we went to Costco, Nate wanted pizza.  I just wasn't really feeling the pizza vibe but as we were walking through the store, I saw the shrimp cocktails and just knew that's what I needed, so we got some!  Pizza and shrimp for dinner...  We are so healthy :)

The next day, I took the few pieces of left over shrimp and I put them into a yummy Lemon Garlic Butter sauce and had that over pasta, it was amazing FYI.  I used one of the lemons my Dad brought me from my parent's tree in California.  I love lemons!

Another bothersome pregnancy biproduct, my pelvis feels like it is being ripped apart at the seams.  Kinda like someone shoved in a knife and started twisting.  Again, totally normal I know, but it HURTS!  I'm really not trying to just complain a lot, I swear.  I'm just being informative, that's what we'll call it.

I have been having a lot of fun this week though being crafty and putting together cute things for her room.  The dresser is on it's way so hopefully I'll be able to take pictures of the whole thing in the next week or so.  I'm dying to show you guys how crafty I am though :) who knew I had a crafty bone in my body?  I'm blaming the "nesting" for these sudden desires.

And now I'm off to eat second dinner.  It's the meal that comes before bedtime snack :)

31 Weeks

As of Wednesday I am 31 weeks along and we are getting very antsy for our little baby to get here!  On the one hand, I only have 9 weeks left until she's here.  But on the other hand, I still have 2 more months of being pregnant and that seems like so long to me still!  On the bright side, I will be starting to have doctor visits every 2 weeks after my next one, which is 1 week from tomorrow so that must mean I'm getting really close!

I have a few things to update people on....  The first thing, which wasn't really a surprise to me but I'm still very happy about, is that my glucose test came back fine and I do not have gestational diabetes.

The next thing is that last week was my last week of work and I am now a stay at home Mom, sort of, at least I will be a Mom when my baby is here.  Which brings me to my next topic.  One of the reasons for me stopping work when I still have 2 months left is that I have a condition called Hydronephrosis on my right side.  I know it looks like a big scary condition but it really just means that my baby is sitting on my right ureter causing my right kidney to get inflamed and swollen from not being able to drain into my bladder.  But as long as I don't stand on my feet too much and I do drink lots of fluids, the pain doesn't get too bad.  Being a hair stylist doesn't make it very easy to be off my feet so Nate and I decided that it would be better for me to be at home getting our house ready for her.  I have to admit, I'm really enjoying having extra time at home now.  While I was working, I would spend all my energy doing people's hair and have no energy left to do anything at home.  Now, I've been able to work on cleaning up the baby's room and organizing all of Nate's books (he has a LOT of books) and do my dishes and not feel like I was hit by a truck at the end of every day.

Another little issue that I have been having during this pregnancy is recurring bladder infections.  I had the first one about 6 weeks ago now and that one was really really bad, and then I had another one just 2 weeks ago.  The doctor said that if I get another one that they're going to have to put me on antibiotics for the rest of my pregnancy.  I really hate taking pills, not because I can't get them down but because I feel nauseous for a few hours afterwards every time I have to take some, so I really hope I don't get another one.

We also discovered that I tested positive for group B strep which means that I will need to be on an IV with antibiotics during labor but as long as I have that the baby shouldn't have any problems.  I had no clue what group B strep even was other than that pregnant women apparently get it all the time so if you are like me, then click here.  I found this information helpful when I was confused.  And just for the record, it is NOT an STD like someone stupid tried to convince me of.  So there.

I'm sorry if this post was boring because I didn't have any pictures to go with it.  I promise I'm working on being better about that, especially now that I have some more time on my hands.  As soon as I get the sheets washed and the dresser in, I will take pictures of her room and show you the befores and afters.  I also have a baby shower coming up at the end of this month that I will be sure to get pictures of.  Until then, try to be patient with me :)

28 Week Picture

Here is my belly at 28 weeks.

Now for a baby update...  I had my monthly visit with the doctor about 2 weeks ago and had my glucose test.  They said the results would be back in about a week but I haven't heard anything so I'm just going to assume that no news is good news.  I also learned recently that for insurance reasons I have to switch doctors.  That is both good and bad news for me.  The good news is that I will now actually be delivering at Timpanogos Regional Hospital, which is supposed to be the very best for labor and delivery in this area and they have really nice birthing suites there.  The sad news is that I had to change doctors because mine only had privileges at the Provo Hospital.  I really really liked the doctor I had, he will still be able to be the baby's doctor after she's born though so it's not a complete loss.  I haven't actually been to my new doctor yet so I don't know if I like him or not but I only have 12 more weeks of being pregnant anyways.  The real bummer is that switching doctor offices and having my medical records sent over and making sure they have all the right signed papers and blah blah blah has been a huge headache!  Don't they know I'm 6 months pregnant?  I do not have the energy to be running around town all day signing things and making phone calls for you people!  Sheesh!  But I think I did finally get everything to the right places so in 2 more weeks at my next visit, hopefully everything will go smoothly.  I think this will be my last monthly visit though since they start biweekly appointments at 32 weeks and my next appointment will be right on my 30 week mark.  I guess it depends on how my new doctor wants to do things though.  Yay for only 12 more weeks!

Summer Barbeque

Last weekend, Nate decided we should have a bbq.  So while I was at work, he went grocery shopping and got all the stuff.  Lucky me, I got to come home to homemade potato salad, fresh tomato and mozzarella salad, and juicy burgers just waiting to be grilled!  I know what you're thinking, and yes, I DO have the best husband in the world.  We thought this would be a good opportunity to take a picture of my 26 week belly but my face just wouldn't cooperate with the camera!  So just look at the belly part and not the face part :)

We took our yummy burgers to rock canyon park and had a little picnic.  It has been about a million degrees here every day all summer so we were lucky to get a slightly cooler evening.  The trees all around us probably helped too.

They look SO GOOD!

It was definitely a fun and delicious end to a stressful week for both of us.  Also, just for the record, Nate made those buns.  Then we put guacamole on them.  It was the best burger I've had in a long time!  Now I'm hungry again.