Kinda Bumbed...

I just got home from my doctor's appointment. I was hoping to have progressed farther than I have. Last week the Dr. I saw told me I was 1 1/2 cm and 50% effaced. Today the Dr. I saw told me that my chart said I had only dilated to 1 cm last week and I am at a 1 1/2 cm today and 70% effaced. He tried to tell me that that was a lot of progress, but it didn't sound like it to me. For as many contractions as I had over the weekend and during this last week I was hoping to be at least fully effaced. Can you tell I'm anxious? I just want the aches and pains and swelling to go away. She has dropped which has put added pressure on my pubic bone and makes it even harder to walk. At this point I do a waddle-shuffle combination. It's kinda sad that my students have to wait for me to catch up so we can go places.

My beautiful swollen ankles

Austin took one of the balloons from my shower and put it up his shirt so he could be like me!

My 36 week belly

I am truly grateful I am not as big as Austin with that balloon in his shirt!
I am big enough as it is!

35 Weeks and Counting!

Because I have sciatica really bad, sitting on my couch gives me no support and is extremely painful when I get up. I have to stand still for a minute and then can barely walk. On Sunday I decided that I would sit on the piano bench to have a little more support under me and put my feet on an ottoman as we watched television. It helped my sciatic quite a bit, but soon my back got sore from not being able to sit up against anything. Austin thought my attempt at comfort and relief was worth documenting.

I look thrilled don't I?!

Thursday August 20th was our first day back to school. I was on my feet so much that day that they tripled in size and haven't gone back down. It's hard being a First Grade teacher and being able to sit for long periods of time. My students are so needy right now with it only being the beginning of the year. I am constantly walking (or waddling) around to help them. I am feeling grateful though that I have a very good and easy class so far. I hope they stay that way so I don't have to worry about leaving them when I go on maternity leave. I don't think I could handled the group I had last year in this condition!

My gigantic 35 week belly!

10 Year Reunion

My 10 year reunion was earlier this month. It's hard to believe that I have been out of High School for 10 years. How the time flies. I look back on the last 10 years and all that I've done and realize that I have accomplished quite a bit. I am pleased with how things have worked out and know that I have been very blessed by the Lord.
Our reunion was a nice dinner and social at UVU. It was good to see old classmates. We didn't have the greatest turn out, only 30-40 out of a class of 401. I was bumbed because my closest friends from High School didn't show. I was a little hesitant to go out of my way to talk to those that came. I knew a lot of them, but didn't run in the same circles. Even though I was on student council, I wasn't the type to get to know everyone. I didn't mind just blending into the background. Not exactly the personality that goes with being on student council. I did get brave as the night went on and talked to a few. Overall, I was glad I went. Austin was extremely jazzed to be at my reunion. I would have liked to have gotten a picture of the two of us, but didn't push it, so as not to add to his already wonderful mood! :)

American Fork High's Class of '99 Senior Class Council
(From L to R) Amy Parks Smith, Anne Wride Curtis, Patrick Short, Melissa Jorgensen, Me, Ashlee Nelson

Nice side view of my 33 week belly!
I was glad to not be the only one pregnant who showed up!

Cars and August

So my car just came from being in the shop AGAIN! The month of August has not been very friendly to my car. I partially blame the fact that this is the month that I have to renew my registration, so repairs are needed for it to pass. For the last 4 years my wonderful '97 Honda Civic has needed some kind of repair.

2006: New tires - $500
2007: Catalytic Converter - $1300
2008: Water leak into passenger side of car - $1500 (when all said and done - 9 months later!)
2009: Rear Brakes, Muffler and Connecting pipe - $625

Needless to say my car is turning into a lemon. There were other repairs that were suggested this last time around, but we did what was the most crucial to pass Safety and Emissions! And gratefully it passed! We're hoping this car will last with no more repairs until May when we can get a new car. I'm not looking forward to the prospect of having a car payment again, but you do what you gotta do!

Prenatal Class - Week 3

This week in our prenatal class we learned about registering at the hospital and billing. Definitely not as exciting as last week! I think we were both glad for some relief from blatant visuals of birth. We also talked about what to expect after the birth with baby and mom. That was helpful and informative. The funniest part of the night is when they were talking about circumcision. Austin turns to me and very seriously asks who is going to do our baby's and how soon after the birth we shoud get it done and if the insurance will cover it, etc. I said to him, "Sweetie we are having a girl. She won't need one of those." He busts up and it took both of us a few minutes to compose ourselves. He was grateful for one less thing to worry about.

I'm sad to say that my wedding ring no longer fits my finger. I was hoping I could make it through the whole pregnancy without that happening. It has been really weird to not put it on everyday. My fingers are just too swollen. The heat isn't being very kind. Another ailment I'm going to complain about is my sciatica has spread from just my right side now to being on both. I hate laying down at night to go to sleep because there are no comfortable positions and switching positions in the middle of the night is excruciating! It takes me a few minutes every morning when I get out of bed to have the pain subside so I can walk. Oh, the sacrifices we make to bring life into the world!

Steel Days

Every summer American Fork has their city celebration called Steel Days. It gets its name from the Geneva Steel plant where most residents of American Fork worked back in the early days. It is tradition in our family to go to the breakfast provided by the American Fork Marching Band and then off to the parade. It was a warm morning, but we had a great spot in the shade!

Eliza, Sarah (Robert's girlfriend), and Shannon waiting for the parade to start.

The American Fork Marching Band

Rob the Drummer

Eliza and Mallory
Mallory was excited about the candy that was thrown by those in the parade.



Cosmo was Christian's favorite!


Cinderella was mine!

Shannon got to throw a pin to the clown who then juggled them.
I don't know how he can do all that on stilts!

There is a new restaurant coming to Utah Valley called Pirate Island Pizza. Austin and I saw one in St. George when we were there last month and Austin had a good time making fun of it with a very authentic pirate voice. Well, they had a float in the parade with a Jack Sparrow impersonator who was hilarious! He made for great entertainment during a lull in the parade.

Prenatal Class - Week 2

So we had our class again on Monday and I am now freaking out. We had to watch a birthing video that showed 4 different births. After watching the first birth and seeing EVERYTHING, I was panicking. I turned to Austin and said, "I don't want to do this anymore!" We have a couple in our class that is hearing impaired and have to have an interpreter. She was sitting up front by the screen and said to all of us, "You should see what all of you look like. Your eyes are all huge!" I'm sure we all had the deer in the headlights look. It was a little disturbing to watch being this close to having to go through it. We also learned about epidurals from the anesthesiologist and went on a tour of the Labor and Delivery floor as well as the Mother/Baby floor to see the different rooms. I am really nervous now, but I know that it is going to happen regardless.
I am excited for this little person to come into our home and be apart of our family. I often find myself wondering what she looks like and who she looks like. I wonder what traits she'll get from me and what she'll get from Austin. I hope she gets his dimple! I love dimples. Austin wants her to have my green eyes. I keep picturing her with dark hair when she is born. I had black hair at birth, but it fell out and came in very blonde. Austin had very blonde hair as a baby and then it went dark. My mom thinks she is going to be a toehead. But whatever she looks like, I'm sure she'll be beautiful!