False Alarm

Tuesday I woke up feeling HORRIBLE. Tired, sore and just gross all around. That night I started having contractions about 6 minutes apart and they lasted for over four hours. I called the hospital and she said to just take it easy and unless the contractions get really bad to just try and go to sleep. So I took a warm bath and finally tossed and turned all night and slept.


Tonight you decided to surprise us all. Around 4 in the afternoon I noticed a little bit of blood coming out. It scared me a little and so I decided to call the nurse. I had been having contractions for a little bit that day and she told me to keep an eye on it. If the contractions were steady for an hour I needed to go in to the hospital just to check things out because you are still pre term at this point. Your Dad was at work and I sent him a text to let him know what was going on. I waited an hour and sure enough, the contractions were about 6 minutes apart again. I asked Grandma Vikki to take me to the hospital and called Dad to have him meet us there. I got checked in at the hospital and they put me in a room and hooked me up to the monitors. They checked me and I was dilated to a one and was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. They waited an hour and checked me again and was now at a 2 and the contractions were not slowing down. They were starting to become a little uncomfortable. They decided to give me a shot of morphine and phenegren (in my butt, ouch) to see if I was in "real" labor or false labor. With the idea that if it was false labor the shot would dull the contraction pain and it would be fine. I still felt the contractions and the shot did nothing but make me completely sick to my stomach, super warm and VERY light headed. It also put you to sleep but the contractions were not stopping.

I started to freak out a little bit. If this was real labor, I had forgotten my hospital bag and camera at home. I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do to prepare for the hospital. I know its silly but I at least wanted my toe nails painted to feel a little pretty on the actual day.

At this point, I was starving. I thought I would only have to be there for about an hour so I did not eat before I went. Well when they could not decide if this was real labor or not they would not let me eat anything incase I needed surgery. GREAT. Thankfully the very nice nurse brought me all the jello I could eat and that helped curb my hunger. They waited another hour and checked me again. No progress, which is a good thing. Contractions were still coming every two to three minutes apart so they called the doctor again to give me a shot to stop them.  That shot didn't stop the contractions so 15 minutes later they gave me another one just to be safe.

Because you are early, they weren't going to do anything to speed up the process to help me go into labor. They want you to cook as long as possible. If I was 38 weeks they would have just let me keep going and I would have had a baby last night. CRAZY. So they finally got the contractions to slow down and your very drugged mother was released from the hospital. Morphine had made me extremely light headed or "high" and the entire ride home in the car I was so sick to my stomach. The phenegren on the other had is supposed to help with the nausea but only knocked me out for the next 12 hours. As soon as I made it home I could barely make it up stairs to the bathroom fast enough before I threw up all that yummy jello. Mmm orange flavored puke, yum. Then I comfortably fell asleep for the next 10 hours. I do have to say that it was the best nights sleep I have ever gotten while being pregnant.

Now we just sit and wait. I am basically on bed rest and have to take it very easy to keep you cooking longer. I am only allowed to go to the hospital if my water breaks, there is more bleeding, or if I have contractions so bad I can not walk/talk through them  and they are consistent for an hour.

So darling, I think you are coming early at this point. I am still having a ton of contractions off and on through out the day, they are worse at night. I am losing more mucus plug on a regular basis, which is super gross by the way. I'm sitting here on pins and needles just waiting for something to happen. I am a little terrified that your super busy Dad will be un reachable when its go time. So daily I remind him to keep his phone glued to his side at all times.

Baby shower August 25

Aunt Lindsay threw me a shower. The theme was "She's ready to POP!"

We had a popcorn bar with yummy flavors

S'more, White chocolate with sprinkles and Chocolate with toffee.

I made these pink cake Pops for the event. 

Lots of Soda Pop 

 And cute little favors complete with POPcorn, POP rocks, and Popcorn cookies.

So fun!

You were completely spoiled and believe it or not, not a single gift was clothing.

Which was a nice change from the California shower where the only thing you got was clothing. 

Thanks again Aunt Lindsay and Candace for your help. It was so much fun!

The cute photo frame Lindsay had everyone sign. 

And one of the only pictures I have of me and Grandma Vikki

Months 1-8

Watch me grow !

32-34 weeks

Took my last trip home before you were born. I'm currently 33 weeks and decided to go home for a semi last minute trip to see the family before you were born. My good friend Calix drove home with me and your cousin Max came along  and I dropped him off at Grandma and Grandpa Dodgers house for the week.

 We did a ton while we were there. Even thought I would have been completely content sitting on an air conditioned couch watching TV all day, I didn't think that was fair to my friend so I got my chubby butt off the couch and had some fun. One day we went to the Queen Mary and went on the Ghost Stories tour, it was awesome. But honestly after that much walking in the heat I was done. Uncle William was nice enough to come along with us on all of our adventures and it was fun having him around. Another day we went to the  aquarium and they fed the lorikeets. I do not like birds so I declined and took pictures of them freaking out instead.

Another day we went to the beach, out to several dinners and lots of shopping. I picked up this new outfit and decided while I was modeling it, I would take an updated tummy picture too. Dad has not been home much the last few weeks which has made it hard to get any growth pictures of my tummy. But here you are, just over 8 months inside my tummy and I can tell you are running out of room.

I had a last minute shower in California as well. You got so many clothes. In fact that is about all you got. Which is fine and I'm not complaining there is just still so much that we need to get ready for your arrival. 

I have another shower in Utah on the 25 so I am hoping that we will get more goodies then. 

We did get a travel system which is really nice so at least now I have a carseat for you and can feel more prepared for your arrival.

Looking LARGE in the picture, but really I have only gained 15 pounds so far and 

my doctor has applauded my efforts.  

All of the Powell Women who came to my shower! 

Grandma made this fruit salad for the shower. How cute is this thing?!

I also finished your blessing blanket!!! Finally. It is made with lots of love and I am glad I actually completed something. It turned out nicely for my first real crochet attempt. I think I'm going to run a pink ribbon through the edging just to give it a little pop. But here you are little one, since I CAN'T sew you a beautiful blessing dress this is as good as it gets. 

Maizy and Fin felt you kick for the first time. Maizy does not really care but Finleigh was ecstatic about it. She kept running around telling everyone that she felt you and that you only love her because you only kick for her. I didn't have the heart to tell her that at this point you are constantly moving and it has nothing to do with her. I think its safe to say she is already obsessed with you. 

I am still trying to adjust to living with the in laws. It nothing bad, there just isn't a ton of space and trying to fit you, me, daddy and sophie all in this room is a little hard. I am trying my hardest to make it work, but I am a little sad that there is not space for a rocking chair. I don't know why but its kind of the one thing I wanted. Just a little spot to cuddle, nurse, and sing you to sleep. Grandma Vikki says I don't need it, so I will manage without.  It's also strange having people around all the time. Uncle Josh comes home from his mission Saturday and then there will be even more people in the house. I don't think your Dad minds because well this is his family and really he is never home enough to notice. 

You move around a ton these days. You Usually  ALWAYS hang out on my right night side. It is really starting to hurt my poor little ribs. Can't quite tell if it is your butt or your legs but either way its sore. My back has also started to act us as well. Thankfully I do not have swelling in my legs or feet. My chest is out of control and I switched to nursing bras over a month ago for more comfort. Milk has not even come in and apparently I will grow another cup size then. OUCH. I'm still able to sleep pretty comfortably at night, aside from the extreme hot flashes. I feel like I'm always sweating. Ugh. My hair didn't grow faster or thicker, in fact I still lose it by the handful. 

This book may seem like just too much information that you really never wanted to know about your mother, but hear me out. I know every pregnancy is different and by the time you are having children I may not remember anything and it may be nothing like yours. But I want to capture these little moments, the good and the bad to be able to remember them down the road. So you can see what pregnancy was like for me and understand how much and how quickly I fell in love with you.

 I am excited for a daughter. I am excited to be a Mother. 

But most of all, I'm excited to be YOUR mother. 

Only a few more weeks till I will see your sweet face. I have a feeling I will really miss being pregnant. I feel like the last 8 months have flown by and I haven't had all the crazy pregnancy symptoms you read about in books so part if me feels like I'm missing out on something. Aside from a swift kick in the ribs causing sharp pain, I love being pregnant. Like I said before this month things are getting a little harder but I still enjoy every minute, I just have to take it slowly. 

California Shower

On my final trip home to California before you were born, I was given a shower by Kelly Juell and Amber Jackson in my home ward. They are such sweet ladies and it was a really nice evening.

It was a very simple shower with just a few close friends and family members. 

Me, Grandma KK, and my Aunt Fran

Me, Emily, Jane Coombs, and Grandma. 

This was one of Grandma's good friends for a long time. I used to babysit Emily when she was tiny!

Again, you were spoiled with TONS of clothing. The camera decided to freak out and we didn't get many pictures from the night. 

Kelly gave me a HUGE bag of all of her old baby clothes. She started to cry and she was going through the bag telling me about special memories attached to each outfit. It was very sweet of her. 

All the Aunts and cousins that came to the shower.

Grandma made this adorable fruit salad for the shower. She worked very hard on it and it was so cute!

Pregnant

Today I feel very pregnant. My body aches, my stomach is sick and I just don't feel too attractive. My hips are extremely sore, I feel like an 80 year old woman when I wake up in the morning. I also have trouble putting my pants on. It's pathetic. Your little bum rests comfortably under my rib cage and I swear you have bruised my insides.

But in reality its not all horrible. I have been very lucky with this pregnancy. Not every day is horrible. I actually love being pregnant. I love feeling you inside me. I love watching my tummy wiggle as you move around. I love looking at little things and imagining the future together, having a daughter. I still can't quite wrap my head around it but I am sure I will the moment you arrive.