Sunday, September 29, 2013

real talk

school is hard. 

i feel like i just kinda coasted through high school and even my associates degree. the classes i took were boring and meaningless and i never really had to put much effort into any of them. then i came here and found that science degrees are no joke. this is seriously the hardest semester i've had EVER. when i'm not in class, i'm in lab. when i'm not in lab, i'm studying in the library. when i'm not studying in the library, i'm writing papers at home. when i'm not writing papers, i'm doing chemistry homework. it's an endless cycle of school and it's piled on top of being pregnant and constantly hungry and sleepy and worried about my due date that seems to be creeping up on me and will be here before i know it and i'm not prepared! 

this week i have an exam in every single one of my classes. it's not mid term week or anything like that, this is just how almost every 2 weeks go. it seems that almost every teacher is on the "2 week exam" schedule this semester and they plan their weeks to be exactly the same! my week this week will consist of all my regular classes plus two 3 hour long labs plus homework plus 2 book reports plus an exam every single day. 
i might die.

i'm starting to have serious doubts about whether i'll be able to handle this school thing. it's a full time job and i'm about to have a newborn around here that's gonna need a lot of love and attention. it doesn't help that i also have every teacher at school telling me "oh you'll drop out as soon as that baby is born." really?? that was super helpful mr. biology teacher. thank you for reinforcing my biggest stress and fear as of late. 
i really don't know what i'm going to do. i don't want to drop out. i'll only have 3 semesters left by the time our little baby boy is here but if they are anything like this semester has been...

someone send help. and cookies. 

Friday, September 13, 2013

reasons my baby is da bomb

from the very beginning of this pregnancy things have been Rough - with a capital R.
all the years that we were hoping and praying to have a baby i had this image of me being pregnant and let me tell you, this pregnancy has been nothing like my image.

i'm not all cute with a perfectly round baby bump.
i'm not leisurely taking naps all the time and laying around reading all the baby books on my reading list.
i'm not eating all the foods i'm craving and sending Matt to the store at all hours of the night for ice cream and cookies and pickles.

instead...

my baby bump moves around all over the place as baby boy uses my insides as his own personal jungle gym.
i don't think i've taken a single nap since becoming pregnant.
reading baby books? HA! i can hardly even keep up with all my school work right now!
and FORGET about eating foods i'm craving. i would kill for a waffle from Joe's Farm Grill right now.

basically, those girls who say they LOOOVE being pregnant tricked me. they are complete and total liarfaces.
but, while my experience being pregnant has been less than ideal, this kid inside my tummy has totally won my heart.
he is such a tough little guy and already has the cutest personality!
honestly, he is the best.

REASONS

1. the week before i found out i was pregnant i went scuba diving. normally you're not supposed to go scuba diving while pregnant but apparently my little one is already a little adventurer and loves the ocean. yeah yeah he was obviously too itty bitty for it to make any kind of a difference but in my head, he's a little scuba diving maniac just like his mommy and daddy.

2. gestational diabetes is the root of all evil. i tried so hard to manage it with just diet and exercise but apparently that just doesn't work for some people. baby suffered with me as we went from diet-exercise to diet-exercise-pills and now diet-exercise-insulin. now we are a master gestational diabetes team that kicks all kinds of butt! plus, he puts up with all the needles much better than i do.

3. one of the issues with the gestational diabetes is that we found out i had it after all of baby's organs had started to develop so there was a seriously scary chance that baby's heart didn't form correctly and he either wouldn't survive or need emergency care upon delivery. we had a fetal echocardiogram done to check all the heart valves and assess the situation and it was completely nerve-racking. we had to wait until i was 23 weeks along so the appointment was hanging over our heads for months but when the doctor came in and checked things out she was super upbeat and almost immediately told us everything looked absolutely perfect! it was the best news we've ever received! and watching our little boy wiggle and squirm and hide from the tech trying to get his measurements was one of the funniest and sweetest things i've ever seen. the pictures melt my heart every time i look at them.

4. it's scary to get in a car accident at any time but when you're pregnant? oh man. last wednesday i was driving home with my friend from coconut island and i stopped for a school bus that had its stop sign out and the car behind me rear ended me. the kid that got out of the car told me straight up that he was taking a sip of his drink and wasn't paying attention. at the time i was so busy with getting insurance information exchanged and making sure everyone else was ok that i hardly even thought about myself but on the way home i couldn't stop worrying about my little baby boy. i could still feel him moving around in there but figured i'd call my OB just to be sure. i explained what happened to the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital to be monitored for 6 hours and have blood work done. i thought that was a little extreme and we talked about it a little more and then he sent me to his wife who comes to the BYU health center on wednesdays so she could check me first and see if going to the hospital was necessary or not. she did an ultrasound and baby was kicking like crazy and the placenta was perfect so she told me to keep an eye on things but as far as she could tell baby was perfectly happy and healthy. i saw my doctor again a couple days later and he said because i had let go of the brake when i was hit there was no hard jerking motion and that probably was the key to keeping baby safe. honestly, i had no idea i even did that so it's either a miracle or our baby is just the bee's knees and tough as nails. probably both!

anyway, is it weird for me to brag about my kid when he's not even born yet?
yeah? a little? well i don't care.
my baby is seriously the champion of ALL THE BABIES and i will gladly deal with all the not-so-pretty parts of pregnancy just so he can join our little family!

BABY_17
(profile)

BABY_21
(hiding from the tech lady and seriously cracking us up!)

BABY_23
(when he finally showed his little face!)

Monday, September 9, 2013

last first day of school before baby

was it seriously the first day of fall semester already?!
i literally just finished summer semester a week ago and i'm already back at it.
today really felt like it flew by.
i had four classes in a row today. that seems like too much and then i remember that on wednesdays i have to be at school from 8:30am-5:30pm.
yeah...this semester isn't going to kill me right? RIGHT??

baby boy was a champ today during all the syllabus reading and introduce yourself-ing.
the only time i was like "ok baby and i are over this" was when i was standing in the ridiculously long line at the bookstore waiting to waste a good chunk of a paycheck on books i'll never use again after the next 3 months.
book buying
oh the joys of being a college student.

Matt reminded me yesterday that this is the last first day of school i'm gonna have before the little nugget arrives.
and then he realized that we probably should've done something super fun this summer because now when are we gonna get a chance to take a vacation before the little nugget arrives?
oh well, hopefully we can swing something for our anniversary in november.
all i kept thinking about all day was when exactly the final exams are being held because if this baby comes sooner than he's supposed to (which doctor said is very likely) then how the heck am i going to take those exams??
i refuse to sit in these classes all semester just to miss the finals and fail the classes! 
so baby, are you listening? you need to stay in there until my very last final is turned in. get it? got it? good!

the very best part of my day was wearing my new flannel jacket Matt let me buy! 
first day of school feet
pretty sure i'm never taking it off for as long as i live!