Góok déi, Baby!

With everything that I've been experiencing these past couple of weeks, I finally came to the point where I said to myself as I scooted and tried to get out of a restaurant booth, "I'm going to be pregnant forever...". Up until that point, I had been set in the mindset that this was all going by too quickly. I am in no rush to push a living, breathing being of my own creation out of my special place, what I am eager to get over with is the anxiety I have towards that exact moment!

As the weight bears down more and more on me, slows me down, and wears me out, I am preparing myself for the big day. Today marks 36 weeks according to the doctor's estimation. Today is a milestone us, including Dr. Gladheart, because it means that I made it safely to the end of my pregnancy without risks, and without delivering prematurely! My doctor said I am growing a very healthy baby as she felt baby and made sure she was head down (yes, btw). While I am right on track with weight gain and such, baby still measures two weeks ahead of her time! Next week we will check baby's growth with a final ultrasound, that is if, of course, I don't go into labor by then (atsganée!).

Today, I actually became excited about meeting our little baby and became eager to know how much she'll look like the two of us. I've been dreaming of her, but I can never remember the precious details when I wake and eventually can only imagine my new niece, Dilyn! :) This tells me how much I miss that little girl. So now, we wait!

We are getting things ready in the meantime. We finally got the stroller set up, as will install our cool car seat in the car this weekend. We got a NEW car because it was impossible for us to get around in our trucks (now mine is for sale if you know of a buyer:). I washed clothes today. We are picking up some more goodies this weekend. We are going to put together more goodies this weekend. It's going to be an exciting time here in the Tumulak-Brown house :).

To celebrate today, I took the day off from my morning job to rest up to help myself get over this cold I'm battling (AGAIN). I'll be in bed by 9PM, and hope that I feel even better tomorrow. :)

This is all I have for now. I'm exhausted! But I have loads more to share and so little time with school and growing this baby :) I SHALL RETURN!
Baby is coming fast! (Hopefully in time for AFN;)

Cheers, folks!

Is it time to eat yet?

Please don't ask me how many times I've eaten enchiladas this week...

Fine. I'll tell you. Three. THREE times this week...and it's only Wednesday which means I am likely to go get more at some point before the end of this week. I considered going to get more for lunch this afternoon, but instead, I remembered the yummy food we had at home and made a grilled Colby jack sandwich for lunch with a goldfish appetizer. On the side I served myself some fresh strawberries that complimented the cheese sandwich perfectly... Oh my. Food has never been so enticing to me this entire pregnancy. I LOVE eating suddenly (except in the mornings for some reason, unless it's flavorful and scrumptious...which isn't in your typical bowl of cereal). I just want to eat... And eat... And eat... Luckily, aside from my enchilada indulgence, I have had a plethora of healthy snacks on hand at all times. Plenty of fruit, yogurt, Toy Story fruit snacks that make me feel close to home lol... So it's not like I'm going overboard with food. I have been craving more and more, and when I am in reach of tasty foods, I eat more and more.  But itʼs not like I can eat a whole lot anyway, baby takes up a lot of room, so basically I am just snacking all the time :)  

A plus side of all this eating and cravings is that when I do indulge, it creates hiccups for baby...SO adorable.  I have been asked a few times if I have experienced this, but I didnʼt know whether it was happening.  It definitely is now... And I even recorded it, but I cannot upload it from my phone (boo).  All I can share is this photo of me at 34 weeks...

Getting closer all the time... I just canʼt stop it :)  

And that was the exact thing I said to my boss when she finally mentioned that I grew twice as big over the time I was gone from work haha.  Baby sticks her butt out all the time, and pushes up in my ribs a whole lot with that big butt of hers.  She also likes to kick and push her feet out on one side and the same time making me feel as though my belly is being stretched in every direction and that she will push herself out at some point, falling to the ground... Haha...  A little ridiculous, I know, but the thought crosses my mind sometimes...mostly in the middle of the night when Iʼm pretty vulnerable to crazy thoughts and dreams and the baby thinks itʼs okay to mess with me... :)  So this has been my 34th week.   Always eventful, never a dull moment :)  

This is all I have now.  I have to get back to homework.  Cheers, folks!  

"Don't run into anything sharp..."

My dad said this to me a couple times while I was home. He continued with, "You might pop!" My dad is so sensitive to a pregnant women's feelings, huh? Haha. He thought he was being funny and endearing because that's our way, so I had to let it slide. It was the other times that complete strangers would say it in passing and even a few times to my face. "HEY. SHUT UP." or "NOT YOUR BUSINESS." were responses I thought I wanted to say back, but I kept it to myself.

When I first got to Anchorage, my mom's first words were, "Oh babe, you're not even that big!" I felt pretty good. Then when the next day came, I had apparently grew in size overnight and my mom just couldn't believe it. I noticed it too. I just ballooned overnight, and agreed with my mom when she told me that it seemed that I was getting bigger every day. Oh lawdy. I'm feeling pretty big these days. Getting up is getting harder. Trying to find comfort in the middle of the night requires me to physically pick myself up and turn myself over. Then once I'm comfortable, I have to pee and it starts all over again. Pregnancy is such a special time... :)

34 weeks means I really could "pop" as early as a few weeks! It's a scary realization that Austin and I had last night. It was so scary, in fact, that it woke me up at 3 in the morning and haunted me for a while before I could go back to sleep. I can't say enough how fast this time has flown, and along with the realization that I am going to be not so pregnant in a few weeks time came the realization that I'm going to miss being pregnant! I feel like I've missed or taken for granted some of these experiences I've had. Cripes... Of all bittersweet things that come to an end, this is definitely at the top of the list.

As my experiences as a pregnant woman come to an end, the whole being pregnant is taking a dramatic turn...and these may be a few of the things I won't miss about being pregnant. I mean, yes, I deal with what I mentioned earlier as I grow bigger but just in a days time (because I've written this blog over a span of two days) I am actually FEELING and SEEING that I am getting more pregnant by the day AND my doctor basically confirmed that I did in fact balloon overnight! Apparently, in just a week and a half's time, my belly now measures three whole inches bigger than before I went home to anchorage. What the heck, huh! The fact that I gained absolutely no weight in that amount of time also confirms that Austin was being very sincere when I asked numerous times upon my return home whether or not I looked like I gained weight (because I felt it big time) and he responded "No, looks like baby gained weight." Lawdy!

Along with the constant bathroom breaks, i have also been having all the cravings that I thought I'd avoided this whole pregnancy. Today: Corned beef hash and a fresh green pepper. I tried enjoying my corned beef hash but I'm cant fit enough food in my belly to satisfy the craving now that baby is taking up all the room. It was also a little hard for me to be grateful for the meal I received when I waddled out of the restaurant in such discomfort. Oi...

I need to go home for a nap... So, This is what I have for now, but I'll be back. In the meantime, enjoy this picture that shows that after finally being the outright owner of my truck (because I paid that ish!), I can NO LONGER EVEN FIT BEHIND THE WHEEL!! Cheers, Ladies and Gentlemen! :)

The Swell is On!

33 weeks along, and the swell begins!
Before I got knocked up, I used to talk about how horrible (pronounced har-I-bul) it was going to be whenever I got pregnant when the swelling kicked in because of my already large hands and feet. The thought disgusted me. Now, that time has come. The date: September 1, 2012. It was the result of the Baby Shower my family threw for us. While it was uncomfortable, it was totally worth it ;) My feet won't fit into my new Danskos, and that gives Austin two reasons to be displeased with the fact that I got more shoes when I get home today haha :)

This 33rd week may have been the best week of pregnancy for me. Week 32 ended with a scare and full of orders from my doctor to take it easy and slow down: "moderated bed rest" is what he called it. I couldn't have gotten that in Juneau because it's just Austin and I and we are stuck in our ways. Luckily, the doc okayed me to fly and I was able to come back to my family for a week who ensured I wasn't doing anything I wasn't supposed to and helped me rest up. I was fed, entertained, loved... People helped me put my moccasins on! And I came to the conclusion that I should have gotten pregnant YEARS ago!
Just kidding :)

It was the best for me to come home-home and get the rest my doctor ordered. My family consists of my mom who had 5 children of her own, and my sisters who have 4-5 children of their own, and my brother and his lady...and my brother is pro at being pregnant and is always telling me how to do it...so I had a lot of help this week. When I said I felt something, they listened and helped me through it. I loved being home and having so much help around. I know we will need it when baby gets here and it makes it hard to leave my family today to go home to Juneau and Austin. I wish I could take my family with me!

The family we are bringing this baby into really is pretty great, and I couldn't be happier. This has been a good week. I was able to get some shopping done, and finally when I get home I will be able to nest like I've wanted to for some time. It's becoming all the more real that baby is coming! Definitely the best week so far. Seeing my kids and how excited they are for a little baby to join the family was one of the best parts too. All of this made it easier for me to deal with that whole swelling part of pregnancy, haha. It isn't that big of a deal after all :)

So Cheers, ladies and gentlemen. Let's begin week 34!!

Longest Week Ever

My transition from 32 weeks to 33 weeks was long, tough, and full of happenings. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just leave you with this pictures.

To Groove or Not To Groove at 32

32 Weeks, ladies and gentlemen. This week is off to a bang with tooth pain that convinced me I was going to die and a newfound tired.

Tooth pain is all taken care of, and thanks to this baby, I have made about 5 trips to the dentist this summer. That's a record for those of you who don't know about my irrational fear of dentists. But I heart SEARHC Dental, and this baby can basically get me to do anything for her already so long as it keeps us both safe and healthy!

It might have been the ache of my tooth that tired me out so much this week. All I know is that I haven't been this tired since I first got prego. It isn't the same kind of tired either, but I don't know exactly how to describe it... So I won't :) I just know that I have a lot of energy and still believe that I can do a million different things, but my body tells me otherwise. What does it know, for crying out loud!? :) I am slowing WAY down these days... At least so much that it is VERY noticeable anyway. When I imagine what it looks like for my co-workers to see me get off the floor after nap time with the kiddos, I imagine horses... :/ Haha. Oh well, I still like the floor. I can't help that. Most couches and chairs are just too uncomfortable for too long.

So, now that I'm tired, I needed to know what I should do when I feel just too tired to do anything to make sure I am keeping active and luckily I have a baby app that tells me these kinds of things. Because I blog from my phone these days, I think all the pictures I attach are at the bottom, but please read the advice from my baby app before continuing....

I'll wait... :)

Isn't that funny? "Avoid jerking"... So basically, it tells me to dance, then tells me NOT to dance. All I do is jerk... Haha, cheese. I do enjoy dance parties when I'm home alone though, I try to avoid jerking too much but anyone who knows or has seen me groove, it involves quite a bit of jerking from time to time ;) Baby seems to dig it though, and we groove together. We have rhythm and style ;) Sometimes we just dance slowly around to Billie Holiday or Nina Simone. Sometimes we Pretend to be ballerinas to Miles Davis. We tinker with a little interpretive dance sometimes lol. And sometimes we just chill out to some good hip-hop. It's a lot of fun. I'm never too tired to dance!

So that's how this week is shaping up. A good week, all-in-all. Time goes so quickly! Cheers, folks :)

31 Down

I am finishing up my 31st week of creating life, ladies and gentlemen. Week 31 was a tough one. It was full of emotional ups and downs, for starters, and I started a new job that leaves me fulfilled yet VERY tired by the end of the day. I went in for another appointment and was checked out for preterm labor as a precaution because these Braxton Hicks are just a little overwhelming at times! Baby is growing steadily and all is well, though. However, she continues to freak me out as she seems to be practicing the native games and trying to beat the record in the Alaskan High Kick or something. It is either that, or she is definitely trying to figure out some way to escape. It's even freakier when I push and she pushes back like we are playing some game... It just brings back all those terrifying scenes from the horror movies of my childhood again...but this time it's so different because this is MY baby! I am growing MY baby inside of me! It still shocks me from time to time :)

I was thinking the other day how strange it will feel after the baby is here. Will I still get phantom kicks like when people who lose limbs get phantom pains? Silly, I know, but these are the things I think of when I'm alone, just baby and I... And that's quite a lot! Because we are alone so much, I feel that bond growing strongly and that is a beautiful feeling :)

So, aside from the emotional ups and downs that I thought I left back in my first trimester along with those mood swings, this week was alright. I love my new job. I love feeling productive everyday, again, and like I'm finally contributing to society lol. I am also falling madly in love with my baby bump! Some days, I never felt better about my physical appearance! I'll definitely miss it after baby comes, but I'm sure going to rock it out while I've got it :) Cheers, folks! And goodnight!