Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Feeling the Volusion Love

Last week was full of fun surprises and lots of girly, lacy fun!

Volusion Surprise Shower

My amazing team at work threw a surprise shower for the two soon-to-be parents on the team. My friend and colleague, Harlan, and his wife, Rachel, are also expecting a baby girl in a few weeks so we were all showered together. My sneaky manager called an "All Marketing" meeting (which seemed a little odd, but I went w/ it) last Tuesday and it ended up being an "All Marketing Pig-Out Fest" complete w/ an amazing cake made by my friend, Adelle, and another cake made by our HR director, Sandra.We also had lots of yummy snacks and of course gifts for Harlan/Rachel's baby and Quinn!

I am SO very blessed to work for such an awesome company, and even more blessed to be on the marketing team that works hard, has fun and supports each other every step of the way. It was also fun that a lot of other random Volusioners came to the shower. I have worked here long enough and in a few different positions, so I know people in other departments pretty well. We are all one big family and it's so fun!

Here are a few pics from the shower:

Our sweet sign!
 
The card w/ the Volusion "Lil Slugger" on it. This is the character our designers created for our Volusion Family Picnic t-shirts. He doesn't have a name, but he (she) is cute!
 
Harlan and Rachel
Story on Harlan's beard: He has been growing it out for the entire pregnancy and he slowly started to shave it off last week. This week it's a Fu Manchu...pretty awesome. My friend Adelle calls their baby "Ginger Snap"
 because we are all thinking she will be a Ginger. :)
P.S. Rachel looks amazing for 38 weeks!
 
Adelle's incredible cake w/ strawberry filling (oozing out..yum)
and Mexican vanilla frosting!!
 
Yes, I had two pieces that day.
 
My director, Olga, is Russian and this is an animated character
in Russia called a Cheburashka.
Olga loves this little guy and she couldn't help herself...she had to draw him! 
The story about him is pretty cute...worth reading!
 
Quite possibly the most unflattering picture of me, EVER.
But, I heart my girls Anjuli, Adelle and Sandra.
 
Shameless SEO plug for Volusion!

Monday, September 19, 2011

32 Week Baby Jicama Sylestine


Don't worry, her name is still Quinn but she is apparently the size of a jicama, which is really funny to me for some reason. Eight(ish) more weeks! AHHH! I can't believe we are two months out. I am definitely starting to get a little anxious. I have started to realize our life is going to change drastically when Quinn gets here and it's a little nerve wracking. It's just the fear of the unknown I suppose. Moms can give me all the advice in the world, but nothing will compare to hands-on experience.

32 Week Update

Amazing:

-Quinn is so strong now! It's definitely feeling like an alien is in my belly trying to bust out. It's also pretty cool that I can tell where her feet are. Right now she is head down and her feet are under (and in) my right ribs. I love sharing that with other people. My good friends Allison and Jordan got to feel her a couple of weeks ago when they stayed w/ us (they were Steiner Ranch fire evacuees). I will never forget Allison's face when she felt Quinn kick and then of course we both started crying!

-Up until the kidney stone ordeal I was still walking and keeping up w/ my yoga practice. I still love that and I am hoping that I can get back on track this week. I think it keeps my blood pumping and my lungs strong. Although, let's be honest, I get winded going up the stairs!

-A couple of pregnancy woes I have NOT gotten yet are swollen feet/ankles and the inability to sleep. I really hope this doesn't jinx me!

-My new favorite not-guilty-at-all pleasure is Light Blue Bell Vanilla w/ Mint Oreos crushed up in it! OMG...it's so good. I love that Jeremy always partakes in my dessert cravings too. Fortunately, he has kept his svelte shape by running and working out...hopefully that will motivate me post-baby.

-Pregnant lady/new mommy bonding. I have several friends, family members and acquaintances who are pregnant right now or who have just had babies. Unfortunately not a lot of them live close enough to see on a regular basis but some of them do. I think it is so cool how this experience brings women together. Honestly, a lot of my communication w/ these women is on Facebook, but even still, I love being able to vent or share sweet stories or thoughts and get feedback from women who know exactly what I am going through. I hope I can be a mentor to other preggos later on. (That's a hint to my close Austin girlfriends that it's time to get pregnant...c'mon!!) :)

-A feeling of success! I didn't really think about this until today, but I have come so far. I have made it through 32 weeks of a baby growing inside me! I went through about 18 weeks of nausea, a kidney stone, moving into a new house and other random pregnancy fun. I can't imagine how successful I will feel after I have Quinn (other than the fact that I will be in love w/ my precious new baby girl). 

-Jeremy is pretty darn awesome. He continues to support me and maintain his patience with my craziness. A few examples:
  • The other day I wanted to eat at one restaurant, but I wanted lemonade from Chic-Fil-A. So, Jeremy got my lemonade and we made our way to the other restaurant. 
  • He has decided my only chore should be vacuuming since I can do that pretty easily standing up. He does the dishes, helps me cook, does all the laundry and other random chores around the house.
  • He still buys me flowers on a regular basis. This is something he's done for a long time now, but it's extra special while I am preggo for some reason. I hope that tradition continues even when we have spit up all over us and baby toys all over our house. 
  • Pretty much every night I forget something downstairs when we head upstairs for bed. It could be my phone, heartburn medicine (which I take every night before bed), my cup of water, etc. He always goes back downstairs (sometimes more than once) and now it's just a running joke. His reaction is always "seriously!" and then we usually both laugh.
-Praise the Lord, the weather is starting to cool off...woohoo! (By cool off I mean the highs are in the 90s instead of 100s...hey it makes a difference.)


Not So Amazing:

-If the old wives tale is true, Quinn is going to have a LOT of hair because she is giving me some major heartburn. Bleh! I keep Tums and Zantac handy all the time.

-I feel like my back is starting to sway more since I am getting heavier in the front. I notice it when I am standing still and try to adjust so I don't have major back pain later. I anticipate it will get worse though...thank goodness for my yoga stretches.

-One word: cellulite.

-Nesting! It's kind of fun at first because it's a feeling of excitement as I prepare for Quinn, but the not so amazing part of nesting at this point is that my body won't let me do as much as I want. I decorated the house for fall on Saturday and it was pathetic how many breaks I had to take. And don't get me started on how much I want to clean every inch of my house. I have thought about shaving the dogs...is that wrong?

-I might have said this before, but I don't know how really fat people make it. That sounds so mean, but feeling heavy and slow is miserable. I HATE not being able to move. It takes me forever to get out of bed, off the couch or even walk from my car to a building. It's also getting hard for me to put my pants on and dry my legs when I get out of the shower. Shaving...well let's just say that's not a priority. I also grunt a lot...it's not very becoming, but luckily Jeremy puts up with me. 

-I am hungry all the time. I eat lunch and 30 minutes later I want to eat again. It doesn't help that the heartburn prevents me from eating a normal amount. I have gotten to where I can't eat as much because I feel so full so soon and then the heartburn sets in. But then, like I said, I am hungry soon after. I always think of myself as a Hungry Hungry Hippo. I found this cute little comic and had to share.


 -A few things I am starting to miss a lot include: micheladas and red wine, cuddling with Jeremy w/out my pillow fort getting in the way, running (working out in general), hot yoga, normal trendy clothes and sushi. 

All in all, I must say I am feeling pretty good at 32 weeks. I am so glad Quinn is healthy and on track, and I am so thankful that I have had a healthy pregnancy (other than the kidney stone).

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks:

 31 Weeks in San Antonio

32 week belly
(I love the contrast of our wedding photo and my preggo belly!)

Jeremy putting the pack and play together

If we are this cruel to Ella (who hates her duck slippers), imagine how much fun I will have playing dress-up with Baby Quinn! 

This is how Ella felt about her slippers...is that not the guiltiest face you have ever seen!? We went to the store and found this when we came home.

*Shameless plug: Ella's duck slippers are brought to you by one of my favorite sites: www.alldogboots.com

Thursday, September 15, 2011

A Trial Run at Labor (The Story of a Girl and Her Kidney Stone)

Good News: We got some practice staying in the hospital and I am no longer afraid of giving birth.

Bad News: I had a kidney stone. Ugh.

Well, our weekend in San Antonio that was supposed to be a romantic, relaxing "babymoon" ended at the hospital on Sunday evening.

Before I talk about the crappy part of the story, I have to give Jeremy credit for planning an amazing weekend complete with prenatal massage, facial and mani/pedi. He had everything set up at the JW Marriott and I must say I am the luckiest girl in the world. Get this, my husband didn't play golf. He hung out with me and even took advantage of the spa with me. I love hanging out with my best friend.

Here are a few pics from the trip before the craziness began:

Our view from the room

 I can't believe I am posting this, but my face tells you how I feel about my maternity swimsuit.

Right after dinner (and another potty break for me)

So, Saturday evening after all the pampering and dinner, I started feeling weird. I was a little nauseous and I had to pee a lot. Jeremy and I both laughed and blamed it on Quinn getting bigger, but by bedtime it was out of control and it hurt. Jeremy insisted that I call the after hours number for our doctor, but I felt silly thinking it was just Quinn sitting on my bladder or something. I finally gave in around 3am and called the doctor. The on-call doctor called in some meds to treat a UTI (which is what I told her I felt like I had) and sweet Jeremy went to a random Walgreens in San Antonio to get my meds. I stayed up the rest of the night in pain. I had a weird sharp pain in my lower back, I had to pee every five minutes and I was still nauseous.

We got back to Austin Sunday afternoon and I kept feeling awful. Jeremy made me call the after hours number again and this time they told me to come into labor and delivery and just have someone check me out. They were afraid it had turned into a kidney infection and I might need some IV antibiotics. I remember leaving the house at 8:30pm and thinking "man I hope we are home by 11...I am tired!" HA!

I won't go into detail, but the doctor at the hospital did a bunch of testing and an ultrasound of my kidneys and found something was blocking the ureter (the tube between my kidney and bladder...see diagram below). She said it was most likely a kidney stone, and basically told me I needed to just chill at the hospital until the next day when they could get a urologist to check me out. At that point, they recommended that I get some morphine and anti-nausea medicine so I could sleep and get more info. in the morning. I happily took the meds and slept in a labor and delivery room that night with Jeremy on the couch next to me. I am so glad to be married to a strong, supportive man. He was calm and sweet the whole time.

 An Educational Diagram

The next day the urologist called and my OB came in to check on me. They both decided it would be best to put a stent in my ureter (by going through my urethra, not cutting me open) to open things up and still allow the stone to pass. I was totally fine with that knowing they didn't have to cut me open and it wasn't going to hurt Quinn. I was afraid I was going to have to wait until 4:30 that afternoon to go into surgery which meant no food or even ice chips until then! But, thank the Lord, they snuck me in at 11am.

Oddly enough, I was more nervous about the spinal to numb my lower half than I was the whole surgery! The thought of that huge needle just freaked me out. But, I am so glad I did that rather than general anesthetics because I was awake during the whole thing and I didn't have to get over a "drunk" feeling afterward. The surgery was interesting. I kept hearing the Dr. say things like "oh, there it is" or "look at all that crap." I laughed out loud. When he was finished he told me that when he got in there, the kidney stone was crowning sort of like a baby and that it was soft enough for him to break up a bit. He said once he unblocked things, the kidney was so happy and released a lot of crap. Doctors are funny...he was so excited. He still put the stent in and told me to schedule a followup the next week. That was it. The whole thing took about an hour from pre-op to recovery and back to my room.

It took the rest of the afternoon for the spinal to wear off and for me to be able to pee on my own, but I was so thankful that we were home by about 7:30 that night. The effects of the surgery are still there including urgency to pee and soreness, but I am so glad to be done with that awful pain. I am also so glad Quinn is perfectly fine and didn't even know what was going on. They monitored her throughout the whole process and she was still moving around like crazy.

I go in on Friday to have a follow-up with the urologist so hopefully he will tell me we can take the stent out soon. Apparently this sense of urgency lasts the whole time you have a stent, and from what I understand they don't want to take it out until after I deliver. AH! I can't live like this for two + months. Especially as Quinn starts putting more pressure on my bladder! I guess I should look into wearing Depends if that's the case. I am praying I hear good news Friday!

So, I guess you can say I had a practice run at labor. I had intense pain, I stayed in labor and delivery and I had a spinal (which is similar to an epidural). So my friends, that is the good news.