Garden guru

So awhile back (last year), I made a list of "25 Things to Do before 25"...

I have completed a lot of those things and this summer I did even more--but forgot to write about them.  The big one, obviously, was "Have a Baby"!  We also bought (and sold) stock this summer!  We feel so grown up when we do things like that :)

Before I had Makena, I wanted to do one more thing on the list and my coworker, Lisa, suggested planting a garden one weekend.  It was fun for both Ryan and me.  We spent a lot of money because we had no supplies to begin with.  We planted yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, jalapenos, and cilantro.  We ended up harvesting 3 jalapenos, 3 bell peppers, 1 squash, 1 zucchini, and 1 eggplant!!!  It was a success and I can't wait to plant more next year :)

Now, onto the harder tasks on the lists to complete--like tackling those student loans :(

Birth Story--Makena June!

On June 11th, I went into the doctor because I was not feeling any movement all day and needed to know baby was ok. They checked me and said I was still only 1cm and the ultrasound showed that,while she was not moving a lot, she was still moving her fingers and toes. I decided that I just needed to be more patient--my due date was 2 days away and I knew that didn't mean much anyway.

The next day, I went to work and felt fine until 10am when contractions started but were mild and very inconsistent. I called Ryan when I left work to tell him that I had been having contractions and of course he got super excited. The same pains happened until midnight and I finally fell asleep. I woke up at 7am and realized the contractions stopped. Ryan stayed home from work because we thought this was still going to be the day. We took walks and hung out with my mom all day, but the contractions we very inconsistent and not getting any stronger. At night, they stopped again!
Friday came and Ryan went back to work. My mom and I walked all morning and the contractions started getting more consistent. At about 3:30pm, I called Ryan to tell him they were about 7 minutes apart. He got home from work around 5pm and they were 5.5 minutes apart and getting stronger. I couldn't even eat dinner so we knew it was probably the real thing! We called our doula but by the time she got to town, we had to meet her at the hospital. I checked in at 8pm with contractions about 3 minutes apart. I was 5cm and handling the contractions very well.

They checked me 2 hours later because I wanted to get in the labor tub. The nurse told me I was 9.5cm!!! That felt awesome! I didn't even know anything was happening and I had made so much progress. My doula thought something was wrong because I didn't even go through transition.
Ryan and I got in the tub and labored for a bit. We got out and walked and bounced on the ball until my water broke at midnight. I was having a lot of back pain so my doula rubbed my back forever! The doctor checked me again at 2am. She looked at me and said, "I am sorry but you are only 8.5cm." I was so sad! The nurse earlier told me the wrong thing and I had done all that work for 4 hours thinking I was going to start pushing at any time. My doula and husband were so instrumental in keeping me sane and focused after this setback. They rubbed my back all night nonstop! The doctor checked me again a couple hours later and said I was at 9cm and there was about to be a shift change. My least favorite doctor was coming in. I was very disappointed and extremely exhausted emotionally. I got very quiet and focused all my energy in getting my baby out!

Things got serious around 8am and the nurse started prepping everything and monitoring me more regularly. At 9am, I was 10cm and could start pushing! I started practicing (I thought I was actually pushing at the time). I tried 2 different positions before settling into backwards kneeling on the bed. I pushed that way for about 1.5 hours and couldn't do it anymore. I was pushing 3 times every contraction and felt like I was doing so much, but I wasn't. I laid on my back and they held my legs...the exact position I was trying to avoid...for the rest of the time. I pushed for another 2 hours and the baby was just bobbing in and out. I was frustrated and exhausted so I begged for something to help. My doctor, who ended up being a great labor coach, suggested the vacuum, c-section, or resting and trying again later. I didn't want c-section because there was no need for it. I couldn't rest because the contractions were pushing for me too much. I decided the vacuum was the extra help I needed. It attached the very first time and I pushed only about 5 more times and she was out! Makena was born on June 15th at 12:47pm. The vacuum was the only thing that was not on our birth plan, but I still do not regret it. We were both healthy! After 2 days of random contractions and 25 hours in active labor, I just wanted to meet our baby

Baby, BABY, Baby :)

So, I realized I have not talked much on my blog about our pregnancy and all the exciting changes we are making in our life these day. Here is goes…

　

**We have two other friends in Williamsburg area that are pregnant as well. We are all due within a month of each other—which has made this pregnancy SO much better! We all get to share different stories of things that are happening to us and often find that we have very similar stories. I do not know what I would do without these two ladies to lean on when pregnancy gets a little weird J

**We recently started a birth class. We are taking the Bradley Method classes. Most people think of Lamaze and breathing…heeeee hoooo heeee hoooo…NO. I will not be doing any of that nonsense. The Bradley method teaches every in and out of what could happen in labor and what is normal. It is actually mainly for the partner and teaching him how to cope with all of the very normal, but awkward, things the mom goes through. We are planning to have a natural birth…no epidural, pitocin, episiotomy….just me feeling how my body and the baby are working together to get the heck outta there! I like our classes so much because they really prepare you for any circumstance—so, while we are going in thinking we would like to try it alone, if something goes wrong or I am simply too tired we will know what other measures are available. We still have 8 weeks left in the pregnancy and about 8 classes left! I am excited for both of us to become more educated so that when it actually happens we can be a bit more prepared!

**We are delivering at our most local hospital. Unlike Northern Michigan, there are MANY choices for hospitals, but we have chosen to stay local so that we do not have to worry about driving in summer traffic to get to another location. There are a lot of advantages to the OB department at our hospital. We are taking a tour soon to find out even more information!

Lots of updates!

AHHHH---where does the time go? I know things are going to get worse when the baby comes, but time is flying by right now! I only have 10 weeks left until my due date. It feels like the 10 weeks will never end because daily tasks are getting a little harder now, but when I look back at what we have done in the last 10 weeks, I know our daughter will be here SO soon!

So…what have we done since the last time I wrote????

1. Trip to West Virginia
• Winter could not go by without a ski trip for the Husband. We went on a weekend trip to Snowshoe Mtn in West Virginia (about 4 hours away) with his former teammate and his wife. It was no Rocky Mountain experience, but we will go back and absolutely cannot wait to teach Baby how to ski in a few years!


2. Surprise Trip Home/Baby Shower
• Almost everyone who reads my blog knew about this before I knew about it. My wonderful, thoughtful, caring husband knew how much it killed me that no one from home would get to see my baby bump and the emotions were getting to me a lot. It was nice to see family and friends who have not gotten to share our excitement with being pregnant and expanding my family. We got some great presents, endless surprises, and some much needed time at home.


3. Day trip to DC
• We took a day trip to one of our favorite East Coast cities—Washington DC. Our family friends, The Kihntopf’s, were visiting from Wisconsin and we needed to see some familiar faces! We spent the day exploring and laughing.


4. Husband works nights L
• Since the week of St Patty’s Day, the paper mill has been working on starting up and getting back into a groove after closing down for routine maintenance and cleaning. My husband got to work nights through the process and it was/is not FUN! He worked two weeks of 60+ hours and many days we only saw each other in passing in the mornings. Now, things are starting to go back to normal, but I think we still have a week or so of weird hours L

 

Opening presents at my shower :)

Besties surprised me at my shower--Baby's first time meeting her Aunties :)

25 weeks! Taken at the end of February

i'm back!

Whooooops! It has been FAR too long since the last time I posted.  I am so sorry! I do not have a good excuse, but I will name some of the ones I usually try to use---
*busy at work
*preggo brain
*2 jobs, less energy, and scatterbrained :)

FIRST of all...I did not announce on my blog that Baby Glaser is a GIRL!  We sent postcards to our family that announced the big news in the form of a lottery scratch off (will post picture soon).  We are very excited to welcome our little girl in 3 months.

I think those all just about sum it up!  I am still working both jobs and my day job (recruiting) has gotten much busier.  I have made THREE placements so far this year, which I think is really good.  I get a bit of commission for each of them so I feel a little more worthwhile and like I am pulling my weight a bit more with bills.

We are getting ready for the baby to come in so many ways.  We are cleaning stuff out of our apartment, parting with things we never use, buying things we know we will need once she gets here.

Second trimester has been a breeze (which makes me wonder about the 3rd!)  We have been able to keep doing everything we did in the past, but some things are getting a little harder now that my belly is starting to get in the way.  I am on the verge of losing more energy again as well, but I am not afraid to relax and have Ryan pick up my slack :)

I PROMISE to post more! I am going to post pictures soon and keep a little more updated on our daily adventures :)

new year...

I cannot wait to see what 2013 has in store for us. Although, we have never gone through as many changes in one year as we did in 2012, I know we were just setting ourselves up for an awesome year this year.

2012 brought us….

• Ryan’s Bachelor’s Degree (Technically 2011, but 2012 was his first year out of school in 5 years!)
• Our move out of Michigan to Illinois
• Ryan starting his first career
• Finishing my Masters
• Celebrating our first anniversary
• Our second move to VA—even further from family
• Find out we are pregnant!
• Traveling to Europe—Ryan’s first time out of the country
• Starting my first career
• Having our first Christmas away from family :(

　

Whew, what a year!!!!

Like I said, we were only setting ourselves up for an awesome year….and I cannot wait!

adults?

I have a confession to make—I am at work. Writing a blog post. OOOPS.

The reason I do not feel bad for this is because I think this week I had to take a lot of steps toward being more adult-like …and being productive at work 100% of the time is just pushing me over the limit.

This week…

We had Christmas (like a lot of the world)….


ALONE! It was just Ryan and me and our television. We spent a lot of time relaxing in front of the TV. We watched Christmas movies, made Christmas dinner, and checked out some lights around town.
We had to work….


So long are the days of Christmas break and switching semesters. Both of us are now out of school for a very long time and that means we have more responsibility during the time we used to have NONE! Ryan was on call the whole weekend and holiday and had to go in for some time every day. I worked at my second job Christmas Eve and had to go right back to work on the 26^th! There are 5 people in my whole office this week. It is utterly boring.
I look pregnant now.


My tummy started sticking out big time yesterday. I do not think it will go back to it’s old self any time soon! It is here to stay for at least the next…24 weeks!

Do you see how all these things could lead me to feel a little TOO grown up all at once!

On a better note, we had a GREAT holiday. We are so blessed to have family and friends who definitely did not forget us even though we are further than we ever have been away during the holidays. We even had tons of presents to open from our parents and other family. We got to Skype with my family during their holiday dinner—which made us feel much more at home.

I thought it would be a lot harder than it was to be away. We got to start a few of our own traditions around our new town and spent so much time together. Lately, we really crave time together and last weekend was just what we needed to feel a bit better about spending endless hours working and keeping up a house (ugh more adult talk!)