Pregnancy WEEK 31 (June 23rd - June 29th)

Hellllooooooo belly.

There’s days when I don’t feel ‘big’…..and then there’s days like above that I feel humungous.  And there’s a good reason why I’m humungous, but we’ll get into that in a little bit.

New things this week, with me anyway: The exhaustion has hit. Like a freakin’ Mack truck. Last weekend was Baby Shower #1 (which was wonderful, btw. I’ll have pics soon) and while I didn’t really ‘do’ anything, I ended up staying up pretty late Friday night and was up at 530am Sat, then I didn’t hit the pillow until 11pm.  No nap, no rest, no nothin’. Needless to say on Sunday I tried to rest as much as possible, but it didn’t help. I ended up taking a sick day on Monday and literally slept all day. I still didn’t feel 100% until Wed. of this week, and even today I’m a little fatigued.

I think I need to suck it up and realize it’s going to be like this until this baby girl makes her grand appearance. Awesomesauce.

I also think I need to ease up a bit on running around and ‘doing it all’. Christ, I’m 7 months pregnant; I think I deserve a little easing up.

As far as other symptoms, the swollen feet thing has gotten a little worse. I’ve noticed that if I get below 70ish ounces of water a day, that the feetsies get WAY worse. So I’m trying to up my water intake and lower my sodium to combat that lovely little preggy thing. I’ve resorted to flip flops at work, which isn’t really ‘following the rules’, but when do I ever follow the rules?  And shoes just feel so uncomfortable. And tight. Screw it, if they want to tell a 7 month pregnant lady that has to deal with 107 degree temps to put on shoes, I pity the fool.

I’ve also had some epic snoring events…..so says the husband.

I still blame the dog.

Other than that, ice cream & donuts are at the top of the cravings list. Funny thing though, the other day I was going to restock my supply, and I really had a craving for sherbet.  I haven’t had sherbet since I was about 9. Normally I’m all about chocolate or vanilla, but now I really want all kinds of lime, and orange, and strawberry sherbet. So, of course, I bought a tub……strictly for work. Lol. I bought s’mores for home. It’s outta control folks.

Ok. Enough about me!!! On to baby girl!!!!

This week was our 32 week check-up, and we had an ultra sound too!

Check out this adorable little Missy:

This is the best 3D pic we could get. She kept covering her face and wouldn't sit still!

This is a very close up of her face. Her little nose and mouth is squished, but you can barely tell she's sticking her tongue out at us!!! And Ryan says she has her mama's 'pouty' lips. I have no idea what he's talking about. I don't pout. And there isn't any photo evidence of when I was about 5 and pouting on the stage at a Miss Pocahontas contest, either.

This is kinda a profile with the head on the right, and you can see her leg and foot bent up at the top. She's almost touching her toes to her forehead!

This is a better profile. With those pouty lips again.....

Remember how I was measuring big, and a lot of you were like, ‘Eh, no worries, everyone is different’. And I was all, ‘OK’. Well, now we know exactly why I’m measuring big…..Baby Girl is BIG!

She weighs in at a whopping 5lbs and 1oz!!! A full pound larger than ‘average’ babies, at this time. OH, and she’s in the 75^th percentile for size. Is anyone shocked by this, given the fact that Daddy is a giant? Nope. Me either.

And to give an extra kick to things, I have a lot of amniotic fluid in there. I think the ‘high’ range is around 24, and I’m at a 22. Which is nothing to worry about; Doc says that he’s seen a lot of woman this year with a large amount of fluid. But combine that with the fact that she’s big, and you get me measuring at 34 inches!

34 INCHES!!!!

I’m at 32 weeks people. I’m supposed to be 32 inches!

Technically, I’m a full 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I think we can chuck that Aug. 18^th due date, because myself (and about every other person on the planet) believes that she’ll be here early. Apparently, she’s a go-getter.  (Hummmmm, remind you of anyone…..Ryan……)

As far as everything else goes, she’s doing great. She’s healthy; her heart and stomach and brain look good. She also has HAIR!! LOL. Not surprised since I came out with a full head, and Ryan’s got thick hair too. She’s still sassy as all hell (reference, again, the picture with her sticking out her tongue). We couldn’t get a good 3D picture because she kept moving around and putting her foot in her face either.

It was also proven that she’s got her ass in my right lower ribcage. And she’s kinda curled up in the fetal position, with her head way down, and her feet/knees in my left ribcage. Which solidifies the fact that when she kicks me it feels like I’m going to explode from the inside out.  She had some epic kicks the other night, I don’t know what she was doing in there, but it was constant movement for like 2 hours. She doesn’t have all that much space, so it’s not like she can do acrobatics or anything. But she was surely making her presence known. Again, with the sass.

I think she’s going to be a handful, what do you think?! lol

Welcome to the suckhole.

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you could steal a TastyKake from a midget child, shove the chocolatey goodness in your hole while you stare down at said midget child with an evil glare and then run away laughing like a lunatic????

No?

I'm just all sorts of bitchified today.
I don't know if it's the damn hormones or if I'm just having one of my 'off' days.
Or a combination of both.
Probably both.

Regardless. I'm stuck on this one 'thought' (and it's a pissed off, I hate all things glittery, I'll slap a baby bunny type of thought) and I can't get it out of my head. It's what's making me all crankypants McGee, and I know it. But I still can't stop thinking about it.

I've tried to rationalize it in my head, and work out the problems with the thought. I've tried to completely ignore it. I've tried to cry about it. Lord knows I've eaten the equivalent to a hippo's weight in sugar about it (which just pisses me off more).

The only thing left to do is actually deal with it. Like, confront the thought/issue/problem. Directly. Head on. Full force.
*heavy breathing in* Let the force be with you LauraBelle *heaving breathing out*
Sorry, got a little off track there.

Only problem......I don't wanna. Not because I'm a whiny baby who backs down from a fight, but because I've 'dealt' with the same problem (directly/head on/full force) over and over and over again for years, and nothing has changed. I feel like the effing Energizer Bunny. I don't know if anything is ever going to change.

See, the problem isn't about me, or something I need to change. It's something that I'd like someone else to change. Annnnnnnndddddd that's where it gets tricky. This person doesn't want to change. It's not in them to change....this particular issue anyway. The thought/issue/problem that I have with them, is just them. It's just the person they are. It's more like I am used to one way, and they're used to a completely different way.

Imagine this: I love ice cream. (yes, yes, we all know that) But I love ice cream so much that I want everyone to love ice cream. I believe ice cream should be loved by everyone. So, I eat ice cream every night. I'd eat ice cream all day long if  I could. And I want someone else to love ice cream as much as me. I want them to eat it every night with me. Or I'd even LOVE it if we ate it all the time. But this other person was brought up to not like ice cream. Or, not necessarily 'not' like ice cream, but they were brought up where there was no ice cream around. Whereas I was brought up with ice cream every night.

So, I love ice cream. I need ice cream. But I need someone else to love ice cream with me. But that someone else just doesn't know how to love ice cream. It makes them uncomfortable to love ice cream. So they don't love it. And i'm stuck being the only person who loves it.

Is this making ANY effing sense?!?!

My conclusions are this:

1. I can try and live with the other person not loving ice cream. Even though it crushes me and I end up in the state I'm in right now. But I make that sacrifice of a happy, fun loving ice cream filled life, for a life with the person....without ice cream.

2. I can try again to make the person understand that I need them to love ice cream as much as me. And see how it goes. And maybe one day it'll happen.

3.  Or I can give up.

But deep down, I know that none of those conclusions are going to help. It's never going to work out the way I want. And I'm never going to get that happy ending with this issue. What scares me is I just don't know if I can live like this any more. I don't want to! I deserve better! But at the same time, i've given up a lot lately. I've made many hard decisions, that albeit are the right ones, but still hard. I just don't know if I've got it in me to make another hard decision. I truly don't even want to deal with this at all, but my mind is telling me that I need to otherwise I'm going to burst into a oozy puddle of green goo that only survives in the deep dark depths of Depressionland.

I should probably just deal with it.
Putting it off is just going to end up hurting me even more.
Life's a suckhole sometimes, ya know that?

Ohhhhh Bieber.......

Your diaper appears to be full.

Pregnancy WEEK 31 (June 16th - June 22nd)

OK. 9 weeks to go.

Shitballs. That’s soon.

Lots going on this week!!!

First off I had my dr appt last week, and remember that he said she’s turned, right?

Right.

Well, she’s turned all right. Turned and has her ass or her knee or something poking in my right ribcage. And it feels awesome.

This all started about Friday the 14^th, and it just got progressively worse for the next 5 days. I could hardly bend over, or sit, or anything. Only standing or laying down helped. Docs advice: ‘Drink some caffeine or juice then lay on your left side and ‘hope’ that she moves.’

Genius Doc. Genius.

Well, being the stubborn sassy ass that she is, she didn’t start moving to the left side until about yesterday, Friday the 21^st. And still, every once in a while I can feel her push on that rib, just letting me know that she can, and will, make my life miserable if she so chooses.

I have no idea where she gets this sass from.

None.

Not a clue.

On a good note, I actually still have a pretty good amount of energy throughout the day. I’m truly surprised by this. I thought I’d be knee deep in an exhaustion-induced coma by now. But I’m not. I am taking it really easy, not trying to do so much, and if I want to lay down and rest, I lay down. There have been a few nights that I think I went too far and I paid for it the next day. But the majority of the time I feel pretty good.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

I’m still craving donuts and ice cream. Like no tomorrow. And the scale has definitely shown. At the Doc’s office last week I weighed in at a whopping 192. I started at 160, I think. So it’s still not bad, but by the end of this I betcha I’m on the high end for weight gain. Still not too concerned about it. For some reason, I’m just like, ‘Eh, I got too much shit to worry about besides a little (lot) of weight gain.’

Apparently I’m only 45lbs below Ryan.

That sorta makes me want to dive face first off a cliff into a scalding lava pool.

But, whatever.

Oh, another joy that’s going on is feet swelling.

It’s amazing.

Not really.

But it’s my own fault.

I’m on my feet sometimes all day, then I go home and decide to make banana bread, or clean the house, or whatever it is that I decide to do, so by the time I sit down it’s 8:00 and my feet look like pumpkins.

I’m trying to practice the art of not being on my feet all day.

I’m failing.

Miserably.

I’ll let y’all know how that goes for the rest of the pregnancy.

And last but not least!!!!

It’s F*CKING HOT!

Summer has arrived and while I normally love the scorching temps, right now I just want to punch Satan in his ballsack because it feels like I live in his backyard cesspool most days.

And it’s only the middle of June.

I have 9 more weeks of worse temps than now.

I die. I die.

On to Baby Girl!!!

She’s about 19 inches long and weighs somewhere along the lines of 4lbs. She’s probably nowhere near that height, she’s probably already at 47 inches and that’s why I feel like I have a broken rib on the right side and she can punch me on the left side. But we’ll find out for sure next week at the sono appt!!!

She’s been sleeping longer, and in more of a routine. She definitely wakes up when it’s time to eat, and every other day she decides that she’s still small enough to try and do summersaults in there. Even though she’s not small enough, and the only thing she manages to do is cause me pain. I have noticed that she gets most active when I have ice cream. It’s quite funny. I imagine it’s the cold that she’s feeling that makes her all jerky. But I’d like to think that she’s just as excited as me for the yummy goodness of frozen milk and sugar!! Lol

Baby’s brain is still working OT these days, developing faster than ever. She can now perceive all 5 senses (even though there’s nothing to smell)!!! She keeps her awake times busy by making faces, hiccupping, swallowing, breathing, and pedaling those little hands and feet on my bladder. She also may be sucking her thumb! Sometimes babies are born with callus’ because they’ve been sucking their thumbs so hard! How cute is that?!

Time is flying and I’m not sure how to slow it down! It just feels like yesterday when we found out about Little Girl! Now she could be here in the next 9 weeks….or sooner!!!

I can’t wait to meet her!!!

And this is why I love the people I work with.

One of my employees made me a shank today.
I shit you not.

Best.Gift.Ever.

Ten Things Thursday

The one!
The only!
The most randompants ramblings out there!!!

Put your funderpants on people. This is going to be epic.

1.  Today is 1/2 price Shake Day at Sonic.
It's like a dream come true for a pregnant lady that craves ice cream.
I may have to stop by twice......maybe. ;-)

2.  This website called Zulily is the devil. Or, you know what, I blame my friend Jessica, who introduced me to the damn site. Jessica....you're the devil. JK!

It's like a daily reminder that there's cute shit out there for cheap and I need to empty my piggy bank and order it all.

I've already gotten Baby Girl so many things from there.
And this is what I just ordered her:

How adorable are those?!?!?!
And they were like $15 a piece!

I ordered them all in 0-3 mo sizes, just because I want to squeeze her soon to be chubby butt into those ASAP!

Now I should probably start focusing on winter clothes.
Because she has about zero.
Nekkid baby at the Wiksten House this winter!! lol

3.  The Hubby, Puppy, and I have decided to get up and walk in the mornings. Mr. Wyatt's out of shape, you know. Doesn't matter that his parents are walking clumps of lard.....it's fine. I'm pregnant. And Ryan's having sympathy pregnant 'I don't have time to work out' symptoms.

We've managed to get up twice this week.

Dolphin claps for us.

4.  Hey, on that note. I actually have serious question for y'all. Yesterday Ryan was playing fetch with Wyatt in the backyard, and when he came in, Wyatt was stumbling, falling, and not walking a straight a straight line. He was panting pretty hard too. Now this has happened before, but usually it's after a really long game of fetch. This game, yesterday, was only about 10 min.  Do you think it's just him going too hard and fast and he gets overheated?? And disoriented?? And combined with the fact that he's been an 'inside' dog the last 2 months, not running around in his yard as usual?

We're going to call the vet, but I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this with their dogs.

I told Ryan he's 6 now, and he's probably going to start slowing down, that maybe we need to take it easy on some things. I know 6 isn't ancient or anything, but I have noticed in other dogs that around that age they start to slow down, but they still don't 'know' to slow down, ya know? They still want to play hard like a puppy, but their bodies can't handle it.

Ummmm, sounds very much like humans. lol

5. Is it bad that I'm looking forward to the endless hours of awake-ness and crying and feeding and poopy diapers and spit-up maternity leave? Just so I don't have to deal with stupid people at work any more? Or drama at work? Or stupid people?

I'm tellin' ya. There's a few people that I'd like to drag over burning hot asphalt.....nekkid.
Too much???
Naaaaaaa......lol

6.  I have found the BEST chocolate chip banana bread recipe EVAH!!! And it's clean, and it's healthy, and it's CHOCOLATE!!!


Ingredients-
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tbsp maca poweder (optional)
Pinch of sea salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 egg whites (or 5 tbs of liquid egg whites)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup raw honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Cooking spray- I used coconut oil spray.
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, flaxseed, maca, and salt).
3. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray and bake for about 45 mins. Baking time may vary by oven, check with a toothpick.

Now, I didn't put the flaxseed or the maca powder in there because I didn't have any.
And this will go bad fast, so I put it in the fridge to keep the mold off.
OH, and if you don't like coconut, don't worry, you can't taste it at all. Ryan hates coconut, and I fed him a piece of this without telling him.......he didn't say a word.
Ooops, guess he knows now. lol

Enjoy.
You're welcome.

7.  Baby Shower #1 is this weekend and I'm so stinkin' excited!!! My friends Jess & Jordan are throwing it for us and they've been the best. I tried to buy the burgers and brats, and they're all.....'Nonono! You don't do a thang!'. Then Jess messages me later and is all, 'I've got the plates and stuff too!! Don't you buy anything!'

Those girls are so sweet!

Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures (because I'll be sober and won't forget) for y'all!!!

8.  Is it Friday yet?

9.  Seriously. I don't want to work any more.

10. I got nothin'.
Have a good weekend y'all!!!

Chicken nuggets for EVERYONE!!!

So last Friday night was Ryan's company's annual 'Cigar Party'. Basically, it's a bunch of dudes sitting around outside, where a authentic Cuban cigar roller, rolls them big fatties, they drink beer, grill giant steaks, and talk bullshit for hours.

Sounds like the life, huh?

I swear, those guys work hard, I know they do, but damn do they play hard too!! Remember the fishing trip to Texoma???? Or the all expense paid trip to hunt hogs out of freaking helicopters in Texas???

Where's my fishing trip?
Where's my helicopter ride?

Or more accurately, where's my trip to the salon for a full body make-over complete with massage, mani-pedi, facial, and haircut????

Why can't my boss be like Ryan's boss????

OHHHH, wait!! Even better! Why can't Ryan's boss have a fun girls weekend for all the wives!!?? That's the ticket folks! I think us girls deserve somethin' special for dealing with all these fun guy parties. Am I right, or am I right?!?!

OK, moving on.

Anyways, last Friday Ryan ventured to the Cigar Party and wasn't going to be home till late, so I really didn't see him on Friday.

Picture this:

It's Saturday morning, about 9am, both Ryan, Wyatt and I start to wake up.
Ryan turns to me and says, "Man, I think I had too much to drink last night."

Really.
I'm not surprised.
And now I'm jealous.

Then he says, "On the way home we stopped at McDonald's and ordered 80 chicken nuggets, 2 large fries, and a cheeseburger. I have no idea why. The McDonald's guy couldn't stop laughing to take our order. It was bad."

**UPDATE**I'm sorry, I got the count wrong. It was 80 nuggets, 5 large fries, 3 cheeseburgers, 2 apple pies, some cookies, and a partridge in a pear tree.

At this point I'm laughing so hard I'm afraid I'm going to pee myself.

EIGHTY chicken nuggets?!?!?!

Not 10 or 20 (for 4 of them by the way), but EIGHTY!!!!

WTH.

Apparently they ate about 2 nuggets and we were privileged enough to 'house' the rest in our fridge.

OH, and when we went outside, later that day, there were french fries all over our driveway.

I'd call that a successful Cigar Party, people.
Successful indeed.