An Interesting Update...

This picture is actually from last week, but it will have to do! (38 Weeks)

So I have been frustrated each week as I go to the doctor, because my belly has yet to drop, and each check up, my doctor has just told me that absolutely nothing is happening, good luck with making something happen, and he'll see me the next week.

Before I talk about today's appointment, let me go back to the very beginning. My original due date was February 27th. Upon going to the doctor, he moved my due date back almost two weeks to March 10th... if hadn't adjusted my due date, I would already be one week overdue.

So...Today, after another exam, he dropped a pretty big bomb on us. He said that the baby is still as high as he could possibly be and he has no reason to think this is going to change. He has been head down for over a month, but has yet to descend into the pelvis at all. The baby isn't huge, so there's no reason why he wouldn't have descended unless the pelvis is too narrow or shaped incorrectly to allow the baby to descend. Without the baby descending, there's no way for me to progress toward labor. Basically, I won't be going into labor by myself.

This, really, was no surprise to me. I have been planning to be induced a few days after my due date, because I have just felt like I would not go into labor by myself.

BUT, because he thinks the issue is my pelvis, he is worried that even inducing labor and pushing will be to no avail, as the baby won't be able to fit through the birth canal. Intense pushing to try to force him down into the pelvis could cause distress and lead to an emergency C-section after hours of labor and lots of pushing. Instead, if nothing has progressed or changed by Monday, he'd like to schedule a C-section for sometime in the week, rather than an induction.

I'm not sure how I'm feeling about everything - I'm kind of just waiting to see what happens on Monday. But I just wanted to update everyone on the crazy news we received today!!!

Just some info on C-sections:

Nearly 30% of all deliveries are done via C-section

C-sections are commonly used for women with an abnormally-shaped pelvis, or when the fetus' head is believed to be too large to fit through the pelvis (cephalopelvic disproportion)

Recovery from a C-section is similar to recovery from any abdominal surgery

Many C-section deliverees find themselves more mobile - faster than vaginal deliverees, and have an edge when it comes to sitting

C-section deliverees can lift, cuddle, and breastfeed their babies just like everyone else

:)

The most important thing to keep in mind is this: the BEST birth is the one that's safest, and sometimes, that's a C-section. Any delivery that brings a healthy baby to the world is a perfect delivery :)

Bottle Advice Time!!!

Hey there all you mommies! As most of you know, I will be going back to work at about 5 1/2 weeks after our little guy is born. I'm looking for advice on the best type of bottles I can use while I'm away, as I am planning to breastfeed.

So far in the research I've done, the top ones are the Avent Newborn and the Playtex Nurser. I also found a new type that's supposed to be great at Babies 'R Us that I'll probably try out. I was planning on just buying one of each to see which works best before buying more, but I'd love some advice if you have any for me!

What bottles worked for your breastfeeding babies and which did NOT?

4 Weeks to Go, and a Good Samaritan??

Alright, here's a belly update. This picture was taken this evening, and I am exactly 36 weeks. Noah says I look the same as the picture we posted a month ago, but I'm definitely FEELING bigger. Putting on socks, tying my shoes, painting my toenails - all not so easy anymore.

I really wanted to wait to take a picture until I got ready and looked cute, but anyone who knows me knows that I really don't get ready, ever! So what you see is what you get. Enjoy!!!

Also, an extra base for our car seat arrived at our house today. We didn't order it, and it didn't come with any sort of registry information - just showed up at the door. If you or anyone else you know is responsible for this extra car seat base (which we were registered for at Target - BTW), please let us know so we can thank you properly!!!

I had to post this

I love finding random things on the internet...

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The Fun has Arrived!!!!

Since my amazing baby shower in Utah, I have been totally inspired to get moving on getting together our important baby items. Using the gift cards we received, we went on a shopping spree! Well, not really...but we did go get the crib, the crib mattress, the carseat, the stroller, the diaper bag, and a boppy pillow! My sisters and my mom had purchased all our nursery items and had them shipped to Gilbert, so I was very antsy just waiting for them to arrive. They finally came!!! Here you go...

Here is the crib with the bedding set...it's SO cute and we are so in love. Also, you can kind of see the rug - which turned out to be even SO much cuter than I could have imagined. It's so fluffy and awesome. Thank you to my wonderful sisters and mom! (PS that shelf full of stuff will be moving from the room, don't worry!)

And here is the carseat and stroller that we got (also note the diaper bag that matches everything). We drove all over the Phoenix valley to find the last one available. I've been wanting it since I saw it, and I refused to give up! Of course my easy going husband just drove from one end of the valley to the other and called every Target in existence to find the one remaining carseat I wanted.

I'll keep updating as we continue to get the room set up. I also got a cute diaper stacker, which you can kind of see in the background, but I'll highlight it when we get the changing table all done (right now it's missing the actually changing pad and cover).

Thanks again to everyone who came to the shower and brought yourselves and such awesome gifts. I was able to get almost everything home on the plane, and you should be watching for updates of where and when your gifts are being used!

A Bigger Bump

Alright folks, here's a bump update for you! I'm currently 32 1/2 weeks, so I have fewer than 8 weeks to go! And aren't my jeans cute? (Thanks Anissa!)

I'm going to Utah this weekend for a baby shower, and I'm so excited! If there's anyone that should have been invited and wasn't, please accept my biggest apologies and come join us! It's at Billie Jo's house at 1:00 pm and I'm dying to see everyone again...

Farewell Appendix!

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling a little sick to my stomach. I thought I might be coming down with a stomach flu or something but as the day went on I started to feel worse and the pain localized to the lower right portion of my abdomen and the pain got so intense that I knew something was wrong. At around 11:30 am I told Giselle that I was feeling so bad that I probably needed to consider going to the hospital. My symptoms included: Hot flashes and severe chills, goose bumps all over my body, intense abdominal pain and pressure, wanting to get in the fetal position and never move again, and other similar things. So, Giselle drove me to the Urgent Care and they directed us immediately to the ER (by now it was 1:30pm) where I was admitted and diagnosed with appendicitis. The did a CT scan on my stomach and confirmed the infected and swollen appendix. I was then given a morphine injection which I must say was one of the most interesting feelings I've ever had (warm fuzzies x100) this immediately eased the pain and I was able to feel more rested. I was taken up to the operating room around 6:30 pm and was prepped for immediate surgery. I remember the feeling of starting to go out as the room got fuzzy and before I knew it I was waking up, an ounce lighter, and without the pain and pressure. By 9:00 pm I was moved to my room and enjoying a few good laughs with the nurses, docs, Giselle and Nate and Celeste (they all claim I was somewhat more "happy" and "talkative" than normal, but I think I was just being myself). Nik made it in around 10 pm to come see me and then we called it a night. This morning Giselle and I woke up around 5 am and she was able to get ready and go to work and around 8 or 9 am Nik came by to hang out with me. I was feeling sore but with quite a bit of energy, I was able to get up and use the restroom and walk around a bit and by 1:00 pm I was ready to come home! Now I'm just relaxing at home but I was able to walk outside to check the mail and even walked to the gas station with Nik and Giselle to get some milk so I can have some cereal (my real medicine). All in all, it's been quite an amazing experience. I'm very grateful for the doctors and the hospital and the wonderful technology that makes appendectomies much less invasive than before. Instead of one big cut, I was given a laparoscopic appendectomy (see definition below) I'm out of commission as far as exercising for at least a couple of weeks but other that that I feel ready to resume most of my daily activities! Thanks again to everyone for their love, prayers and support. Thank you Nik for your help and visits. Thanks Giselle for being such a trooper and staying over night with me!
 
What is a laparoscopic appendectomy?
 
The laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgical technique involves making several tiny cuts in the abdomen and inserting a miniature camera and surgical instruments. As many as three or four incisions are made. The surgeon then removes the appendix with the instruments, so there is usually no need to make a large incision in the abdomen. The camera projects a magnified image of the area onto a television monitor which helps guide the surgeons as they remove the appendix.
 
What is the benefit of laparoscopic appendectomy?
 
Most cases of acute appendicitis can be treated laparoscopically. The main advantages are:
 
  * Less post-operative pain
  * Faster recovery and return to normal activity
  * Shorter hospital stay
  * Less post-operative complications
  * Minimally sized incisions/scars
 
In most cases, patients can be discharged within 24 to 36 hours. By contrast, the hospital stay is typically two to five days for an open procedure.
 
This is a picture of me right before going into the operating room:

This is a picture of the blood that spilled while they were putting my IV in. This was my first experience with and IV and the nurse struggled putting this in. My arm was soaked in blood and the sheets as well. This picture was taken after they cleaned it all up, so you can imagine how much was there before!

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Preparing for Baby!!!

I JUST DID TWO POSTS, SO MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THE ONE BELOW :)

So with everyone around being so generous with letting us use their baby stuff, an entire room in our house had been taken over! I needed to organize, consolidate, etc... I didn't take a before picture, but I did want to show you what we did this weekend.

This is ALL the storage stuff, packaged up nice and neat for the garage. It doesn't look great right now, but we're planning on getting a big shelving unit for the small stuff so it's not just piled. I am TERRIFIED of the thought of Scorpions getting into our stuff, and I hate the cockroaches and crickets that are around anyway, so everything that was not in a tupperware container got put in a big garbage bag and vacuum sealed :) Now I just need my shelves to finish organizing!

My friend Celeste and I were talking about nursery stuff and she told me that her sister had embellished regular plastic storage baskets with ribbon to match her baby's room. I decided to take a stab at it, and they turned out so cute. Thanks, Celeste!
Below is the finished product with the baskets on the changing table. Joni and Shane gave us this changing table (thank you guys) and we just went in and tightened it up, touched it up, and it's looking pretty good, I think... In my dream world, I'll end up getting both the crib and matching changing table that I am dreaming about for my baby's room, and these baskets will still look great, because the changing table is brown. But, if not, I still think this looks great, and will look even better with my brown changing pad cover that I want from Babies R Us :)

This is the changing pad cover I plan to get. Don't you think it will look so cute?

Christmas in Utah

So before leaving, we did decorate our house...I thought I'd include a few pictures, because I do LOVE our tree. This isn't the greatest picture of it, but I thought I'd include it just the same. Every year when my brown and gold tree goes up and I start wrapping all the matching presents to put below it, I just love it!

Our tree, gifts, nativity, and stockings...
The beautiful nativity my mom gave us last year had nowhere to go except right under the tree..

Then we headed north to the snow. And WOW, we got snow. It was one of the strangest storms I've ever seen in Kamas. It seemed like the snow was coming in from the side or up from the ground! These are just a few pictures Noah snapped of the snow. He'll probably want to add some other photos that he took while he was there.

The snow in Tim and Billie Jo's backyard...

On the Saturday after Christmas, we had the Bisel family Christmas party. We had a horse drawn sleigh ride, sledding, and of course a HUGE buffet. Here are some pics of the awesome party!
Sleigh Ride!


Mia playing in the snow at the church.
Rick and Baby Noah
Billie Jo and Tess
Billie Jo and Tess
Luke and Noah

Noah LOVING life in the snow...
Noah flying down the hill...
Amber and Ellie after just one of their many crashes...
Rick
Noah and Tess
Rob enjoyed the snow, too!

Thank you to everyone for hosting us for Christmas. It was wonderful to be in the snow, and around my family! It was so much fun! Thank you for Tim and Billie Jo for letting us stay in your home. We loved seeing everyone and I want to do it more and more often!

Geneology

I decided to do some genealogy and I discovered a 2 interesting things:

1) I look a lot like my great, great, grandfather who was pictured here just before getting on the Titanic:


2) I realized that I have royal blood: