Internship!

So I finally secured an internship and will be starting his on April 9.. a week from today! This is cool because I will be working as a Preschool teacher for Head Start. This is a government preschool for low income families. I will be working 12-4 Monday through Friday from April 9-June 4. That is 8 weeks of 20 hours a week. A total of 160 hours which is the minimum of minimums for an internship. I don't want to spend more time than I have to away from my baby. But Perry is really excited to spend time with Grant for a while exclusively. While I watch Grant in the mornings Perry will work and go to his 1 class. I'm currently trying to stock up my liquid gold a.k.a. breast milk for while I am away. I'm not really sure how much I will need but I think at most 2 bottles for each day. which is a total of about 8 oz of milk per day. Luckily my supervisor doesn't think it will be too much trouble to pump in the middle of my shift. And thanks to my mom's friend Nancy, I have a top of the line double pumper! Very helpful! So I will teach the children and just do my thing. Any other Preschool I would be doing outside of the classroom preparation at home which I was really trying to avoid. Luckily every Friday is prep day there and I can do that then. Also it will be easy preparation because since it is a government run program the lesson plans are basically already made and I just have to implement them. Awesome! I'm so excited to do it and experience it and also excited for it to be over with too because my mom and sisters are visiting me right after, as well as my friend Kim, from high school and I will be able to spend a lot of time with Perry and Grant every day before Perry does Student Teaching in the Fall. Fun stuff!

Mommyhood

So being a mom is a lot different than I ever expected. It is wonderful and exciting and.... HARD. The hard part is what I didn't expect. Yes I knew it would be hard and what not but didn't realize how hard. It gets easier everyday however so that is nice. I haven't posted because I haven't had a moment to spare from either mommying or doing dishes, laundry, homework, showering, eating, reading scriptures... I do the latter things when he goes down for a nap. He is supposed to take up to three naps that add up to 7 hours, but he takes one 3-4 hour nap and some snippets through out around that nap usually in my arms or something so I can't really do anything. Anyway.. back to the topic. Mommyhood. The hard part was first recovering and being exhausted from no sleep at all and trying to rest while awake to help my body do its thing. Then it was harder when my mom left us. She helped sooo much. I recommend having a mother around the first two weeks if they are really committed to being a great help. She cooked meals, brought me ice for my crotch, burped the baby after I nursed, etc...It was wonderful. She left and I slumped into a type of depression for about a week or so and cried my eyes out from missing her and not having a constant companion with me at home. I am really a people person. For those of you who know me in rexburg I don't probably seem like it but really I'm a social maniac and I love being with people. I can't stand being alone. So not that I am alone I call my family frequently, but I try to be able to be alone since I will be home with children for the rest of my life now. I think obviously my children will be super entertaining, especially as they grow older. Speaking of which, Grant is 6 weeks yesterday. Somewhat of a milestone since I'm supposed to be practically healed down there... which isn't quite so because I still feel pain and achiness from time to time. Anyway, life is good. Grant is settling into a schedule. I think his schedule is pretty good. I do want to modify it a bit but I can't complain. He has been sleeping from 4.5-5.5 hours a night for the first stretch and then maybe and hour or two after that. But to be honest, if he stayed up after 5 hours of sleep I would still be happy because there is a huge difference between that much undisturbed sleep and 3 hours, one hour, 2 hours, ... There is just no comparison. But a rested mom is a happy mom. It is kind of a joke that they tell you to get rest when you are a new mom because it doesn't happen and you body doesn't get used to sleep deprivation for at least a month.

So Grant has started to smile a lot and not just when we make weird noises but when we talk to him. Its really cute and fun. If I can ever figure out how to upload a video I will definitely post it.







Grant also slowly enjoying bathtime more and more. Isn't he cute in this frog towel?! He is our little froggy. Especially when he curls up his legs against his chest when lying on my chest/shoulder.

Anyway so life is good and exciting. He will be two months in a couple weeks. Posts to come will be one on his baby blessing day and his new church get up that we bought him. Oh and a bowtie!

Grants Baby Announcement

Make a Smilebox digital ecard

Induction

So I had another appointment today and saw doctor Evans. We did an ultrasound first and the baby was sleeping so he wasn't moving for the tech or practicing his breathing. So we sat there for the full amount of time they allow for that test and I drank some cold water and drank some juice and he finally started moving around but he scored a 6/8 because we still didn't see him breathe. So the tech had the prescribe a non-stress test (NST) to check out the baby. So the baby was awesome on that test and moved a ton and did great! We saw the doctor right before NST and checked me and I had digressed. I am dilated to a 1, effaced 75%, and the baby is no longer engaged or dropped and back at a -3 station. That was a tad disheartening. The doctor then talked to me with a very intimidating look on his face and asked why we were adamant about going all natural. I explained and then he said, "Well through all the births I have done I know nothing good happens after 40 weeks except for a delivery." So we were kind of upset at how tactless he had been. After the NST he came to talk to us again. We were able to explain in more detail about our perception of things and why and what circumstances would change our mind and what not. We also assured him we aren't totally against induction, but it was something we were hoping to avoid. Then he proceeded, more tactfully I might add, what he was thinking about the situation and if we were induced, how it would all play out. We agreed with his concerns and liked the way he wanted to induce. Our thoughts were to have him strip the membranes and then if nothing happens by our next appointment on Friday then we would consider an induction. Then we asked him to strip the membranes and he said he already did. Then he asked which doctor saw us last, and it was Barton, and he said that Dr. Barton definitely did during our last visit. So we thought, well if nothing happened from that point until now there is really no point in waiting to be induced. So he went to go find out a time and day and we decided on Wednesday night at 7:30 they would insert prostaglandin gel into the cervix to try to naturally ripen it for 12 hours. After that he and we hope that it will jump start my natural contractions and make me go into labor basically on my own. If that doesn't work then they will give me small doses of pitocin to try to make my contractions regular. Anyway so that is the plan. The baby should probably come by late Thursday evening and that's because I'm hardly dilated. It will take a while. We are happy with our decision and just hope everything goes smoothly and as close to our birth plan as possible. Next time I blog we will probably have a baby!

40 Weeks and 1 day!

So we had a Drs appointment today and it was more exciting than normal because I'm finally progressing a little bit. I'm dilated to a 2! I'm effaced 80% which is just a little more than before AND the baby has finally dropped! I'm so excited and Perry is so impatient. I have been feeling period crampy and you know having lots of contractions that may or may not be considered early labor. I can't really tell. Whatever, if they get harder sometime soon I will know its the real thing. Last night I had a lot of contractions and even while sitting and I usually don't have a lot while sitting. So that's the news. It's still a waiting game but I don't mind. Oh and the doc asked if I wanted to be induced and that we should probably be induced on Thursday. I said okay but then he said, OR we could wait and see and do ultrasounds twice a week. I told him that we had been doing those already for about 4 weeks now and we didn't mind doing them more. So we aren't doing the induction. However he did say we don't really have a choice after 2 weeks because the risks go way up. So for sure I will be induced by then.

39 Weeks and 6 days

So I'm not in labor yet... still waiting. I meant to post last night but I figured spending time with my hubby was more important, especially since it won't be just the two of us for long. I had a doctor's visit yesterday afternoon. They did another BPP ultrasound again and it was good as it always has been. Then I saw Dr. Allred. He is pretty much my favorite. I have seen him 3 times and I just think he cares a little more than the other practitioners. He checked me, which was quick and basically painless! So that was great. I was told by one of the nurses the appointment before that Dr. Allred really feels uncomfortable when his patients are in pain, and this was after I had Dr. Evans painfully check me. They say it is because he has such big hands. Anyway, so he checked me, I was the same as my last visit, barely dilated, not yet to a 1, 75% effaced, and baby is at station -3, however Dr. Allred was very hopeful compared to Dr. Evans. Dr. Evans said to us, "Don't sell your Jazz tickets just yet." meaning we weren't going into labor anytime to soon. But Dr. Allred said the baby is in a really good position for labor and the head is really low and he could feel the head really well when he checked me. And the cervix is moving forward like it should. Anyway, so he said that hopefully we won't have to do another BPP ultrasound because they can do it when the baby is born by just examining him. So he thinks we will deliver soon. Who really knows. He's funny and said, "What worked for my wife was strawberry cheesecake ice cream. I don't recommend just eating that but you can try it!" lol. He obviously meant do whatever you want to induce labor but who knows what really works. Anyway, so I'm just patiently/anxiously waiting to go into labor. Perry hopes its anytime but it would be ideal if it was Friday and then go home on Saturday with the baby. That way my mom will be settled in here, since she comes here on Thursday evening, and we still get to enjoy a nice President's day weekend. So anyway that would be ideal. Time will tell what actually happens. I'm trying to stay chill and not over anxious because I hear sometimes the mom's emotional state will delay labor.

Another Appointment

So these three pictures are of Perry and I wearing a shirt that every Stotts woman who has been pregnant has had a picture in it including Perry's mother. So I of course needed one as well. (And Perry lol) (That's a pillow under his shirt by the way)


So today I am 38 Weeks and 5 days. I had my most entertaining appointment yet, more so because we talked to the provider (nurse practitioner) longer than any other visit that I have ever had. So we had a Biophysical profile again on the ultrasound. He scored 8/8 which is good. Then we saw the NP. She was really nice. I liked her a lot. She asked if we had any questions and we usually don't but we don't really know what questions to ask. So she asked if we had been talked to about labor and we said no and so she did her labor schpeal. Then I told her that we hadn't had any questions because I don't think it would be effective to ask about specific things on my birth plan since the doctor is really only there to catch the baby and I don't even know which doctor it will be because they are all on call at different times. And it might not even be a doctor from this clinic if I deliver on the weekend because the clinics switch off being on call. So anyway she validated my concern and agreed with me that it wouldn't be effective and to just give my birth plan to the attending nurse when I check into the hospital, which is what I was planning on doing anyway. Then she asked if I wanted to get checked or if I had been checked ever and I told her I was checked about 2 weeks ago and nothing. Then she asked if I wanted to get checked, and I said yes. Then I asked about what exactly "stripping the membranes" was because I had heard from other people but never from the doctor. She said that it is just putting your finger into the cervix and swirling it around the edge of the cervix to stretch or widen it. This is supposed to agitate the cervix and cause it to dilate on its own soon. She said that she would do it if I wasn't dilated. She said doctors prefer women to be dilated a little by now or at least a 1. So she proceeded to check me and said I wasn't dilated but I wasn't completely not dilated. I am what she called a nubbin. She couldn't fit her whole finger in but just the tip so the cervix is opening a little but not to the point of making a hole. So anyway she continued to do the strip membranes thing and tried to get passed the cervix but couldn't but still she was able to agitate it a little and stretch what she could. I am 50% effaced and the cervix is soft and not hard, which is a good sign. She recommended, to get the cervix dilated: intercourse and nipple stimulation. So of course Perry is pleased with that prescription lol but anyway. I was a little surprised. I had read about stimulating labor by doing those things but never from a doctor. I thought it was more of a wives tale but she backs up the fact that semen has prostaglandin which naturally stimulates the cervix to dilate. So anyway.. I'm sure they will check me again on Saturday at my next BPP (biophysical profile ultrasound) and appointment. She also said the cervix is posterior so behind the babies head a little so not quite in place for labor (no big deal) and that the baby is at a -3 position. The scale ranges from -5 where the baby is still up and floating and not dropped at all and +5 where the baby is almost coming out of the mom. So I guess he has dropped slightly but not completely, which would be a 0 score right at the cervix. Oh and the baby has grown. He is roughly 6lbs. 9 oz (they say it is less accurate the farther along you are.) So he is around 6 lbs. So he is getting there. I was 6lbs 4 oz so he might have already by passed my birth weight. This makes me feel like he is doing just fine, and he is, but that he won't be super small but average. So that's good. However when they told us how many weeks he is measuring, he is at 36 weeks 2 days. So whatever. He's growing and that's what matters right?