36 Week Appointment

Yesterday was our 36 week appointment. There was an unexpected outcome to this one. It was a normal check up starting with the measurements and heart rate. The midwife ended up having a really hard time finding the heart beat. She wasn't concerned because she could tell he was moving a lot. After about 15 minutes of trying, she decided to use the ultrasound. It turns out the reason she was having a hard time is because he is breech. I couldn't believe it. The last appointment he was head down so within a month he somehow managed to flip on us.

She recommended doing a procedure to turn him head down. I would go to the hospital where the doctors try to manipulate him from the outside of my belly. At first Dave and I weren't 100% sure about this. There are some risks is why you do it at the hospital. If something would go wrong during the procedure they may have to preform an emergency c-section. The other thing is that he might still flip back around. If he is still breech, I would be scheduled for a c-section at 39 weeks. I would much rather have him vaginally is why we decided to go ahead with the procedure. After thinking about it and talking it over, I think giving it a try is better than not. They will be watching everything during the procedure so if something does go wrong they will stop.

So right now I was given some exercises to get him to turn on his own that I'm going to do. I'm hoping that those will help him and then we won't have to worry about doing the procedure when we get there. If not, it is scheduled for Nov. 12. I go back to see the midwife Nov. 16th and pray that he has stayed head down so I won't be scheduled for a c-section that next week.

As soon as she told me about the emergency c-section, my mind started racing about all the things we still needed to get done before we are ready. I still have a few loads of his laundry to do. I need to get his room completely set up. Even though I plan to breast feed, I still need to sanitize his bottles in case. So this weekend we are going to work together to get everything ready. Hopefully it'll work out so I can relax a little bit more about all of this.

Officially Unemployed

This past week was my last week of work. It was really hard knowing that I wasn't going to be working with the family anymore. It turned out to be a great week though. Hayden was wonderful. He started saying my name the last 2 weeks. It's the cutest thing. Go figure that he would learn my name when I'm leaving. I didn't want to leave on Friday though. It was definitely tough saying good bye for the last time. I really hope the new nanny works out for them because they deserve it. Even though I've got my fingers crossed that it doesn't and they ask me to come back in January. I said that I would love to continue to babysit so hopefully it won't be too long until I see them again.

We didn't end up doing much this weekend. I was going to go to this craft thing with my friend Jenny but she couldn't get out of work and I didn't get home in time cause I had to do some running around after work. Dave and I went to Applebee's for dinner was our big thing that night. I have been craving buffalo wings and they have really good boneless ones. It's so weird because I usually don't eat or like hot/spicy food like that. I guess we can call that a pregnancy craving for sure. Dave's hoping I continue to like hot food because he loves it. Saturday we went to pick up our recliner we bought so I can use to feed D.J. We decided to rearrange the living room furniture so Dave could use the chair to watch tv. It's pretty funny because once we were finished, I don't think he's left the chair since. I have to admit it's really comfy and a great purchase for us. We kept asking each other why haven't we gotten one of these earlier. Dave is already planning on buying another before we go to Guam. I wanted to check Old Navy out for their maternity clothes. I need to start looking for some nursing shirts and bras. We went shopping and I was a little disappointed with their selection. I got 2 pairs of comfy pants but that was it. We also went to Border's and got the book Baby Wise. The family suggested it which helped them get Hayden to sleep through the night at 6 weeks. We're definitely going to do it because I want D.J. to be able to sleep through the night as soon as possible. I hope it works cause I need my sleep too! :) Today was a great day because we watched the Steelers beat Minnesota. Minnesota came in undefeated so it was a big game for us. It was a great game to watch too. Our defense ended up taking over in the fourth quarter. The Vikings were driving for a score when we recovered a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown. After that we allowed a kick off return giving them another chance to win. The next drive when it looked like Minnesota was going to score, we got an interception for a touchdown. That pretty much sealed the win. That makes us 4-2 and still in the hunt! It was another close game which makes it hard being pregnant. I swear I'm going to go in labor during one of these Sundays. The rest of the day I just relaxed or I should say napped on the couch. A pretty easy, uneventful weekend for us.

It's pretty weird that I won't be getting up to go to work starting tomorrow. I love that but it's going to be different. I've got a list of things that I want to get done this week though. I'm going to do a major cleaning within the next couple of weeks in each room of our place. I just want to get everything cleaned for when the baby comes. Tomorrow I'm going to work on our bedroom and bathroom. I'm also going to try to get at least one scrapbook page done a day. I still haven't finished our cross country album that I've been working on FOREVER. I need to finish that so I can start D.J.'s album so I stay on top of his with the little time I'll have. Tuesday afternoon we have a tour scheduled at the hospital for labor and delivery. Wednesday I'm going to fleet and family support center to have them help me apply for the teaching position in Guam. I'm hoping they can answer the questions I have about that position as well. I'm going to check the Navy exchange for any nursing tops/bras while I'm down there too. I'm going to take Thursday easy because I'm sure I'll be a little tired from running around the last couple of days. I'll probably do lots of scraping that day. Friday we have our 36 week appointment in the afternoon. Sometime this week we need to get/make our Halloween costumes for the party Saturday. I'm going to be a peanut m&m since I have the belly and everything. I need to look for a yellow tshirt that I can pin an M on and white gloves. We aren't sure what Dave's going to be yet so we need to do a little shopping to see what we can put together. Even though I won't be working, I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished this week.

Big Changes

This was a pretty emotional week. I found out Monday that I won't be returning to nanny the boy I watch now. They weren't able to find a replacement for the 2 months that I was going to be off on their own. They tried using Craig's list and another nanny agency but didn't find anyone. They decided to go back to the agency they used to find me. That meant they had to spend a good amount of money for the service. Because of that they decided to keep the lady full time. I'm still upset they couldn't ask her to work only 2 months but there's nothing I can do about it. I have accepted it but it's still going to be tough not seeing the boy everyday. Plus the parents have been so great. I'm hoping to be able to spend sometime with them on the Friday's she has off. My last day is Oct. 23rd. I'm looking forward to having some time off before the baby comes though. I hope to use that time to officially get everything ready for when he's here. I've been a little worried about what I'm going to do come January but I have put my name down at a daycare already. It's a private daycare that a few of my old coworkers work at. One of my closest friends Jodi has her daughter there so it's been great to be able to talk to her to see if I would really want to put D.J. there if I work there. I think I have a good chance of getting the job so I'm keeping my fingers crossed things work out for us. It will be a little weird not having a job to rush to everyday. Oh what I hope to accomplish!!

Wednesday after work I come home to find out what orders Dave is going to take come next summer. His shore duty is up in Aug so we've been hoping to get back to the east coast to be closer to Pittsburgh. The Navy has changed the way it's giving orders away. Long story short, he was offered a sub in Guam. Dave asked his detailer what happens if he doesn't want them. He was told that he would be forced to go to Iraq or Afghanistan. The Navy is the military being forced over there right now. Since no one is volunteering, they are using the transfers to get people. So much for Obama pulling our troops out but that's a totally different post.

I wasn't the happiest when I heard this. It's just sooo far away. After talking with Dave I've accepted it and started to look forward to it. I would much rather stay as a family and Dave be somewhere safe. The thing is that Dave will have to extend for a year and half for these orders. He only had a year and half left to finish his duty on a sub. He was leaning towards getting out once that was up. Guam requires people to stay there for a 3 year tour. That will take Dave to 11 years which means he will most likely stay in for 20 for retirement. There are definitely some pluses with going there. The sub Dave will go to doesn't make 6 month deployments. They will only take 6-8 week missions, which is a big plus. We will actually be able to afford living in a house! It's very close to Australia so I am hoping to take a few trips to the place I've always wanted to visit. When Dave is done with this tour, he will be back on shore duty where ever he wants. There are special circumstances with these orders that allow Dave to get first pick. We will most likely be the closest we can to Pittsburgh. I most likely will be able to get back into teaching elementary. There are US based schools run through the government. From reading the website I would become a government employee starting at at least $80,000. I'm not 100% sure about the salary yet but I'm going to use the fleet and family support center out here to help me apply and answer my questions. We are hoping I would make that much cause it would get us out of debt and be able to save money to put on a house when ever we move back. Even though it's going to be soooo far away and expensive to get back to the states, we are taking this as an experience we might never get again.

There are still a ton of things to figure out but it looks like we will transfer sometime between June and September. Dave thinks he should have a month leave before having to be over there so we would leave Diego June, be in Pittsburgh for July and fly to Guam in Aug. My parents seem to take the news better than I thought. I think having my mom retire has helped her be happy cause she'll be able to come visit and stay with us as long as she wants. My sister doesn't like this at all cause she is REALLY looking forward to having a nephew. I can understand her feelings. Hopefully she will be able to come visit. We haven't told Dave's mom cause we are both very worried about how she will handle it. She hates us being clear across the country now. She also wants Dave out of the military so that will be another hard thing to tell her. Dave is going to wait until after the holidays to tell her.

Once I find out more I will update everyone with the latest.

Glucose Results

Well I had a little scare with my sugar levels from my last appointment. The hour glucose test I did about a month or so ago came back just a slight higher than normal. I had to do the 3 hour glucose test to see how I reacted on Saturday. I was supposed to hear from my midwife Monday and never did. She said to call Tuesday if so. We ended up missing each other so I spent most of the day trying to track her down today. She ended up calling and reassuring me that the test came back normal!! That made me feel sooooo much better. I have been worried about it since Friday. I just kept thinking about having to take my blood to track my sugar levels. That was the last thing I wanted to worry about the last 2 months of this pregnancy. But everything turned out great!! That was a such a relief.

Baby Update

Well Friday was my 32 week appointment. Things were a little mixed. It turns out that my glucose came back just a little high so they are concerned that I might have gestational diabetes. I took the test about a month ago so I totally wasn't expecting that bad news. They were supposed to notify me immediately if something was wrong. The midwife isn't sure how that happened but that meant that I needed to do the 3 hour glucose test as soon as possible. Luckily we didn't have anything planned Saturday so I could do it in the morning. Other than that everything looked good. Even better news is that the midwife was very happy with my weight this time!!! It felt good cause I've been eating better and working out. So hopefully the glucose screening comes back fine and I don't have to worry about checking my sugar and what not. I should hear Monday, Tuesday by the latest.

We went to check out this center that my old director and a few of my friends work at now. I wanted to go speak to her about any openings come January and check out the center if we need to put D.J. in. It seems like a great center and makes me feel better that it's my old director running the place. She's not sure about any job openings come January so once I find out if I will have my nanny job or not I will let her know to keep me in mind. I still have mixed feelings about all of this. I hope the family finds out soon just so I know what I'm going to have to do in January.

The best part of our day was getting to see our little guy at the 4d ultrasound. We did one when my parents were out and had a coupon to come back later. I was definitely ready to see how much he had grown and changed. It was the best experience. He was pretty much sleeping the whole time but we did get to see him move a little. He was head down laying up against my belly. He had his left hand covering his one eye pretty much the whole time. The lady said that we shouldn't be surprised if that's how he sleeps when he's born. Every once in awhile he would bring his foot up to his hand. He was kicking and we got to see him move a little. It was neat to know how he was laying so I have a better understanding of the movements I feel. We think that he's got Dave's lips and nose. The whole time I kept thinking how cute he is and I cannot wait to meet him. I want to be able to kiss those chubby cheeks and hold those fingers. He's so going to have me wrapped about his little fingers. Seeing him really made me excited for the end of November. If anyone is pregnant or for future pregnancies I would definitely recommend doing a 4D ultrasound because they are the coolest thing to be able to get such a real picture of your child.

Here are a few of the great pictures we got from the ultrasound.