Friday, December 31, 2010

Saying goodbye really sucks...especially when it's family.

I always HATE goodbyes. I can't help it. I get really emotional, and I cry, and it can be embarrassing. I especially hate it when I have to say goodbye to someone I really love.

Which is why Monday night sucked so badly. Kristin and Scott were leaving Tuesday morning to go to their new job in California. I'd gotten to know them and their boys so much better the few months they were here, and I really love them. I've learned tons of fun stuff from Kristin and just generally had a blast!

To make matters even worse, Kristin and Scott's U-Haul trailer was stolen from their hotel parking lot while they were staying in Oklahoma City overnight. Gah, that makes me so angry. It had literally ALL of their stuff, at least everything they brought here from Utah. All their clothes (minus 2 or 3 outfits for travelling), all their toys, all the Christmas presents, my mom's piano that has been in the family for over 30 years, their TV, their Wii, all their Wii games and equipment, and all of Kristin's specialized baking equipment (which those who know Kristin and her amazing baking talent will agree is a tragedy in an of itself).

Although they did have insurance on their trailer, we all know how insurance companies are. It's likely to take a while for them to get anything back from the insurance, and it's even more likely that their possessions will never be found.

A page has been set up to accept donations on their behalf: http://pledgie.com/campaigns/14298

If you are able and willing, please take a moment to help out this family. They are fantastic people, and this is really tragic.

Christmas!

Our Christmas this year has been so amazing! Of course, we've actually had TWO Christmases, but I'll talk about Christmas with my family first.

First of all, my sister Sharon and her family came up for the holidays. We don't usually see them at Christmas, so that was so much fun! I really love her and her husband, and their adorable kids. They have four girls and a little baby boy. They're just so much fun! The girls are quite adventurous, as we saw Christmas morning when the girls jumped at the chance to have a snowball fight with their uncle Brett. :)

Brett and I went down to my mom's several times while they were in town. We actual spent the night Christmas Eve because it had already snowed and was supposed to continue to do so. I didn't want to go home and then get stuck there, away from my family! So we slept on an air mattress on the floor next to the Christmas tree. And little Amy slept in a laundry basket! It was pretty cute. I really wish I'd gotten a picture of it.

Christmas morning was fun and hectic! The kids opened up their stockings and looked through the goodies, and then we had a quick and tasty breakfast before opening presents. Kristin made 2 different types of scones: chocolate peppermint and white chocolate cranberry. They were so delicious! I was partial to the white chocolate cranberry ones. Yum....

Present-opening was great fun, although it was definitely crazy! The kids all loved their gifts, and there were some really fun ones. I got exactly what I wanted--everything I need to make beautiful cakes! (And other desserts.) I got some other fun things, too, like a pair of hand towels from my mom that say 'naughty' on one and 'nice' on the other. I love her sense of humor! She knew I'd like them, of course.

It's so fun to watch people get so excited over their presents. I love seeing the expressions on their faces!

And of course, more amazing food was involved. :)

A few random things

Several things happened in December that weren't either a holiday or a car crash. :) So here are some more fun things that went on this month.

~My younger sister Chandra's 22nd birthday. The sisters who were in town and Mom went out to lunch at Red Lobster to celebrate. It was delicious! Kristin, Heather, and I all shared this gigantic plate of food. It had crab legs, a couple different types of shrimp, and a lobster tail. I also had a salad, and of course their amazing biscuits! Yum.....

~Scott got a job offer, which he accepted. This was great, but definitely bittersweet as the job is located in Ridgecrest, California. That's so far away! I'm glad they have a job, but we were all hoping they'd find one in the Midwest so that they wouldn't be so far away now. Alas, apparently it was not meant to be.

~Harry Potter 7 (part 1) came out. Yeah, yeah, I know. Maybe it's a little lame for me to list this one, but I was really excited to see it. It was fabulous! Each movie seems better than the one before. I can hardly wait for Part 2 to come out next summer!

~Our annual Holiday Dinner with our friends. We started doing this a few years ago for several reasons. 1) I LOVE to cook, and if we didn't have people over, there really wouldn't be a point in cooking so much food for just two people. 2) We have awesome friends, and not all of them have family in the area. 3) Why not celebrate another time? I love food, and I love good company. So it just makes sense! We usually have our friends Sue & Justin, and Liz and Dustin over. This year we added another couple who were just married several weeks ago, David and Karen. It was so much fun (although a bit crowded) to sit around and eat amazing food, and the play games and hang out.

At the rate we're going, next year we won't be able to do it at our apartment. We're expanding our dinner, and I hope we keep expanding it. The more, the merrier!

Hockey weekend!

As part of our Christmas present, Brett's parents bought us tickets to the Penguins @ Bluejackets game the weekend after Thanksgiving. We were so stoked to be able to go! I'd only gotten to see them twice before, and they'd lost both times, so I was looking forward to hopefully seeing a win!

We left nice and early since it was a bit snowy. Amy stayed behind with her grandparents. We'd only been on our way for about 15 minutes when...we got into a car accident. Yikes! There were technically four cars involved, but we only made contact with one other vehicle. Our back bumper got smashed up, and then our front bumper was damaged when we made contact with the cement barricade.

Fortunately no one was injured and our car was still drivable. So, after talking to the police, we decided to continue on to the arena. The streets cleared up very soon after that, so the rest of our drive was uneventful.

The game was amazing! Much to Columbus' chagrin, there were twice as many Pens fans as there were Bluejackets fans. It was an exciting game, with the Penguins soundly beating Columbus 7-3.

So despite the crash, it was a great weekend! We always enjoy spending time with Brett's parents.

Thanksgiving weekend

So, our Thanksgiving was fabulous. One of my sisters, Annette, and her family came up just before Thanksgiving to my mom's, so we got to have an early celebration with them. It's just so much fun to be around family and spend time with everyone! Kimball and Rebecah are getting so big, I love seeing them! The food was, of course, amazing....I love food.

The evening before Thanksgiving, we made the drive up to Ohio to spend it with Brett's family. I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but initially it was just going to be us and Brett's brother, Brandon. Well, it turned out that all the siblings made the trip, so we got to have a fun little mini-reunion. I'm so fortunate that I married into that family, they are really amazing people, and so much fun to be around!

We didn't do anything earth-shattering while we were there, just hung out together, stayed up late (very late) playing games, chatting, etc. Or at least TRYING to play games....I attempted to introduce the game Werewolves (which I borrowed from my sister Heather). Yeah, not such a successful attempt. It's a fun game, but takes a lot of explaining. Despite that only the adults were awake to play, people were getting a bit antsy while I was going over the directions. We still had a good time, but I don't think we'll be playing Werewolves again any time soon!

Wow, have I been busy!

So much has happened the past month or so, that I just haven't had a lot of time to post updates. I'm afraid this is going to be another occasion for cluster posting. Oh, well, better than nothing, right?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Pictures! Pictures!

Here are some random (and cute!) pictures of Nugget from the last month or so.







My new calling

For the past year or so, I've been a ward missionary. I didn't particularly enjoy the calling for various reasons, and I finally was released and extended a different calling a few weeks ago.

I'm actually pretty excited about it, although it is a little daunting as well. I'm the new ward choir director. (And if Miriam is reading this, she's probably either laughing or wondering why in the world I was asked to do it! I understand!)

The reason I was called was...well, I sort of accidentally volunteered. I'm good friends with the ward music chairperson. She and I served in the Young Women's presidency, and now she is my visiting teacher. So we've known each other since Brett and I moved into the Maryland Heights area. We were just chatting one afternoon, and she mentioned that our (then current) choir director was moving soon, and she was afraid they were going to ask her to take over. She doesn't have any choir experience nor the personality to direct a choir (according to her). I told her if that was the case, that I'd be more than willing to help her out.....hence my being asked to do it. :)

We had our first rehearsal on Sunday to get ready for the Christmas program. We're singing 'Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains', which is actually one of my favorite Christmas songs. Practice went really well! I guess I shouldn't be terribly surprised, but...I kind of am. Nearly all the choir members are older than I (most of them considerably so), and I have to admit I was a little nervous that they would be, I don't know, a little unwilling to take directions and constructive criticism from some young little twit. Apparently, I was quite wrong. Everyone was great, and the song is already shaping up to sound fabulous.

I'm really looking forward to working with them. We're planning on singing a musical number as a choir every other month, so I've got my work cut out for me!

The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming!

I absolutely LOVE the holiday season. I just love everything about it! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. It's just fabulous. I look forward to so many different things, and it just makes the entire season so much fun! Here are some things I'm looking forward to this year.

~Thanksgiving

--We're going up to Brett's parents' house in Ohio. We really miss them since they moved away from us, so it's always fun to see them!
--Brett's ENTIRE family is going to be there! I'm so stoked about this. I don't think we've all been together since Brett and I were sealed. I know his family reads this, and I really don't mean to be corny, but I just love his family! I really hit the jackpot with all my in-laws. They are so much fun! So I'm really looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with them.
--The traditional Minster appetizers for lunch. Shrimp ball, stuffed mushrooms, and all the other yummy food. Delicious.
--Since we're going to be in Ohio for Thanksgiving, we're celebrating it early with my family. My sister Annette and her family are coming up a few days before the holiday, so we'll get to have Thanksgiving with them, Kristin and her family, and of course my mom, Heather, and Chandra. I just love spending time with family!
--And since Kristin is here, we're sure to have some amazing new food, too!

~Christmas

--We're spending Christmas here, with my family, so we'll get to take part in some of the Johnson family traditions. (I'm hoping Christmas Eve will include the long-standing tradition of Seafood Bisque....)
--My sister Sharon and her family are coming up for Christmas. This hasn't happened in so long! They do visit pretty regularly, but I don't usually get to see them for holidays. Her family is so great, and I just love spending time with Sharon! I'm really excited for this!
--Food. Of course, I could easily mention food any time we get together with ANY family, so....yeah. But I love food. And our family (on BOTH sides) knows how to cook some tasty, tasty food.

~New Year!

--We're going back up to Ohio to celebrate the New Year. I'm not sure about other plans as far as this holiday, probably because it's the furthest away. Regardless of what happens and who all is there, I know we'll have fun!


I know I've said it several times already, but I love spending time with family. Family has always been important to me. I've really enjoyed the past few months getting to know my sister Kristin better and spending time with her and her family. I never really had a relationship with my older sisters since I was little and obnoxious when they were teenagers, so it's been really fun lately. I enjoy it when my sisters come to visit so I can spend time with them, and I really look forward to their visits. I'm glad I live so close to Mom so that I can go down and see them at least once while they're here! I'm so excited to see so much family over the holiday season!

My "real" mom

This is something that has ALWAYS bothered me, but it's come up a lot lately so I just want to get this out there. I belong to an online community that is focused on women who are trying to have a baby, are pregnant, or are new moms (or even not-so-new moms). Adoption has been a popular topic recently, and of course, I like to chime in with my 2 cents.

The thing that bothers me is this: People will ask about my family, I'll explain that I'm adopted, and they'll make a comment. Then they ask about my "real" mom, or my "real" parents.

Um...as opposed to my fake mom?

They are referring to my biological parents. Of course, I then have to explain to them that my adoptive parents ARE my "real" parents.

My real mom is the woman who raised me. She is the one who took care of me after the abuse I endured at the hands of my biological mother (either directly or indirectly through her neglect). My real mom is the one who changed my bandages after my many surgeries. She's the one who loved me, despite how mean and hateful I could be sometimes. My REAL mom is the one who took me in and made me a part of her family. She is the one who refused to give up on me, regardless of the direction I had taken in my life. She is the one who has always encouraged me, has motivated me to try harder, to take advantage of my potential, to be a better person. My real mom is the one who has loved me unconditionally, who has protected me, and done everything else that a mother should. She may not be perfect, but in my book, she is pretty darn close.

This is my "real" mom, the only mom I remember. The only one that counts.


Quick update

So here's a quick update on what's going on with us.

Brett is doing well in school. He has four classes this semester, and we're working on signing him up for next semester. It sounds corny, but I'm so proud of him! I know it's tough to juggle work and school, and now he has even more responsibility at home. He does well, and even manages to give me a break when he gets home. (A good thing, since I'm sure he would like to have a sane wife.)

Amy continues to grow. She has a checkup at the end of the month, so we'll see just how much bigger she's gotten. I'm guessing she's grown at least a couple of inches, and she's definitely getting heavier. Not chubby by a long shot, but she's filling out! Fortunately our pediatrician knows Brett, so he's not worried by her long and skinny frame.

I'm still adapting to life as a stay-at-home mom. It seems like every time Amy and I get a good schedule going, she decides it's time to change it up. Definitely keeps me on my toes! By and large, she's really a good, mellow baby. But she has her days. Like yesterday. She was so crabby and unhappy all day, and just cried most of the time. Of course, it was only AFTER Brett got home that we figured out she probably had gas all day. She felt better after a little bit, and didn't scream anymore. Again, good for my sanity.

I'm trying to figure out now what I want to do with my time, once I've really got a handle on the whole baby thing. Granted, I think I do fairly well now, but I'm definitely still figuring things out. I've already offered to volunteer for the Burns Recovered Support Group, so that will give me something to do. I keep thinking about taking up something like crocheting, but...that just isn't really me.

I need a hobby.

Time for cluster posting!

So I haven't been great about updating this. I know. I would like to blame it on Amy, but of course it's not completely her fault. :)

We finally got internet in our apartment two weeks ago (and promptly had to get it fixed, because something was wrong with the wiring and the first guy didn't do anything about it). It's running well now, and at the speed it's supposed to instead of more than 3 times slower.

The only downside to this is that now I have unlimited access to the internet! It's great for email, keeping up to date with stuff, finding recipes....but I don't have great self-control, especially when I would rather be doing something fun, like playing online, rather than doing something awful, like cleaning. I'm working on it, but my willpower just...isn't really there.

Rather than posting a huge long update that would take forever to read, I'm going to post several short ones. Much easier that way. Plus, then I can put up more pictures.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Nothing but pictures!

The three of us:



Amy and me:




Amy was sleeping here. She's decided she likes grabbing my wedding ring (which still can't fit on my finger):



Big yawn for such a tiny girl!



The three of us on her blessing day:

Oh, goodness.

Well, it's been over a month since I posted. Amazing how TIRED I am all the time. I sleep when I can, but it seems like the sleep issues I've had for years are only exacerbated now. Not fun. But all in all, things are progressing quite well. I think I'm adapting well to life as a stay-at-home mom. I enjoy it (most of the time), and I'm glad things are working out so that I don't have to go back to work. It's so much fun to be with Amy and to watch her learning and getting bigger. It really seems these days like you can actually see the wheels turning. She just loves watching things and stares, like, "I can't figure you out yet....but I'm gonna!" She's getting so much stronger, too! She loves standing up, and her legs are strong enough that I don't really even have to help her much. Her neck muscles have also gotten stronger, so she has pretty good control of her head, too. It seems like she's eager to be moving, she gets pretty frustrated when she realizes she's 'stuck' somewhere. Poor kid.

She's starting to coo a little more now, which is cute. And she turned over a few days ago without any help! We were having some playtime, so I was down next to her on the floor. She looked over at me at seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something, and next thing I know, she just flipped over onto her back and gave me a huge grin! It was so adorable!

Amy is a little over two months now, so here are some pictures.

Just because I want to, here's a progression from newborn to now (or rather, now to newborn, since for some reason it isn't letting me copy/paste the pictures):




I think since I'm having such a difficult time with the pictures, I'll make a new post with more pictures.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Quick update

Amy is almost a month old now! Holy cow! It's hard to believe. She's grown so much already. The first few weeks of her life have gone well. She had a bit of jaundice and dropped enough weight at first to worry the pediatrician, but she's made up for it and now weighs 7 1/2 pounds. She is such a sweet girl! Granted, we definitely have our little battles with Ms. Crankypants, but by and large she is a very happy, mellow baby. She already sleeps 5-6 hours solid during the night, which I certainly appreciate. She enjoys tummy time and tries so hard to scoot herself around, but she hasn't quite gotten the hang of bracing her feet against the floor. She seems much happier when Brett helps to brace her feet against his hands, and she'll push off like a champ!

I'm also doing well. My recovery has been remarkably easy, for the most part. I did have a uterine infection and so was on antibiotics for a while, but that's over and done with now. It's taking quite a bit of adjusting to get used to taking care of a newborn 24/7! She just loves being held and will cry frequently if I put her down. We're trying to come to a compromise so that mom and baby can be happy (and I can actually get stuff done!). I'm tired a lot, but that's to be expected. One would think that being mostly nocturnal and having spent most of my life sleep deprived, that I would be used to this, but alas....it was not meant to be. Fortunately I get to nap on a regular basis.

I am starting to notice that I'm not feeling...quite myself. I know it's normal to get the "baby blues," and I have to say....I've got them. I can't really pinpoint it, but I'm just....not quite happy. I love Amy, and I love being with her and holding her and cuddling her, but I just don't feel normal. I've been really bummed all day today, and I can't put my finger on a reason why. I just try to keep in mind that it's normal, that it'll pass, and remind myself not to take it out on my poor husband. Hopefully this won't last long. I don't like being unhappy.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Wow! I am officially a mom!

I had an appointment on Monday, Aug. 2nd at the Perinatal Center at my hospital to do some routine testing since Nugget was technically overdue. They did a non-stress test, but she wasn't moving around a lot, so they took me into another room for a biophysical profile, which uses the ultrasound machine. She was moving a little bit more, but the nurse noticed that her heartbeat was irregular. They also measured my amniotic fluid level, and it was fairly low. So they moved me into another room where they did a bigger ultrasound to recheck the fluid levels and take a closer look at Amy's heart. This whole process took about two hours.

Finally the doctor in the Perinatal Center came in and explained to me what they'd seen, and that he was going to call my OB, Dr. Whalen, to recommend that I be induced that night as he didn't feel comfortable sending me home with such a low level of fluids. Dr. Whalen agreed with him, so I was taken straight up to labor & delivery. This was quite unexpected! I knew I'd be having the baby soon, but I didn't think it was going to be then! I made several phone calls while I was waiting for transport to take me upstairs, so Brett left work to grab the bag and our parents knew what was going on.

I have to admit, it was kind of scary. Granted, I was going to be induced Wednesday night, but I'd prepared myself for that, not Monday! I don't like that kind of surprise! I also felt bad because I hadn't gotten the laundry done that morning. Silly, maybe, when I was about to have a baby, but I'd intended to do all the laundry and make some cookies that day, and it just didn't happen.

Once I got upstairs, they hooked me up to two monitors--one to monitor my contractions (or rather, lack thereof), and one to monitor Nugget's heartbeat. They started an IV and ran some fluids, and I just kind of hung out for a while. Brett got there shortly thereafter (with a contraband milkshake and a parfait for me, bless him!). A little bit later they came in to administer Cervadil, which is a gel that is intended to help the cervix soften and dilate, which helps to bring on contractions. They leave it in for 12 hours.

Yeah....that didn't work. I was kind of bitter, I really had not wanted Pitocin. I had hoped to labor without an epidural, and I pretty much knew that if I got Pitocin, my contractions would be bad enough that I would need one. I'm proud to say that I managed to labor for eight hours on Pitocin without any drugs, but finally they were intense enough that I asked for some pain meds. I took a shot of Stadol first....wow. I will NEVER take that drug again. I felt so high! The nurse had warned me I would feel loopy, but I hadn't expected it to be that bad! The funny part was that I was with it just enough to realize how out of it I was! We'd called Scott, my brother-in-law, to come up and help Brett give me a blessing. When he got to the hospital, I remember telling him I wanted him to tell my mom about a dream I'd had on the drug. I'd dreamt about purple cows hopping around in a pasture, and cows always remind me of my mom because she likes cows.

Once the Stadol wore off (thankfully), I decided to get the epidural. I actually ended up getting two of them because the first one wasn't numbing my right side no matter how long I laid on that side! It just wasn't happening! Still, I got a lot of relief, so I was able to relax. Thank goodness. Mom came up to the hospital around 8:30pm. I was still only dilated to a 6, and I had been progressing very slowly. Dr. Whalen told us that if I hadn't progressed in the next hour, we would have to have a C-section. (He'd broken my water earlier that day.) Well, I guess Nugget just needed to be threatened a little bit! Around 9:00 I started feeling some pressure, and by 9:30 I told the nurse I was feeling a LOT of pressure. 20 minutes later, I started feeling the urge to push. She had me do a little test push to see if she needed to help me labor before calling the doctor, and...nope. I was good. Dr. Whalen arrived five minutes later. After only seven minutes of pushing, Amy Rebekah arrived at 10:02 pm.

The three of us just after Amy was born:


Amy weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long, with a full head of hair!


Brett, the proud new dad:


Our adorable little nugget of a girl:


The happy new family at home (yes, we're big Penguins fans, and yes, Amy is wrapped in a Terrible Towel):

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Happy birthday to me!

Today is my 24th birthday. We had a lot of fun hanging out this afternoon with Mom, Heather, and Kristin & her family. I just think my family is so much fun! I'm really glad I've gotten to the point in my life where I actually enjoy spending time with my family, rather than feeling like it's a chore or an obligation. I have to say that by this point, I think I have one of the coolest families ever! I know none of us is perfect, but I really love my family. I feel so blessed to be able to be part of the families that I am. I know my 'arrival' to the Johnson family wasn't necessarily traditional, but I've always felt welcome and loved. And I'm so fortunate to have the in-laws that I do. I really love Brett's family. I was always sort of...apprehensive about what in-laws I'd get "stuck with", but Brett has such a cool family, too! I enjoy and look forward to the times I get to spend with both sides of my family. Hopefully eventually Amy will feel the same way!

Speaking of the little Nugget, she's still baking away. I'm technically overdue now, but that's okay, really. I've got a non-stress test on Monday to make sure she's still doing all right, and then we've got an induction scheduled for Wednesday evening. So keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Surreality

In looking back over my life, I've noticed something of a trend. I've had so many big changes in my life, both good and bad. Every time something changes, there's sort of a surreal feeling about it, often for a good long time. Like when Brett and I were married, it seemed really unreal for probably over a year. Like....wow. Am I really married?

I've really been noticing this lately. It's kind of hard to deny that I'm pregnant since it affects every aspect of my life. But it's still so difficult to wrap my head around the idea that I'm going to be a mom any day now. I know it's happening, but it just...doesn't quite seem real. I think it's my brain's way of adjusting to the changes, especially since they are such huge changes, like it takes some time to get used to. But it always sort of throws me off. Hm.

Just as an added bonus (sort of), here's a picture of me today at 39 weeks and 2 days. And yes, I look really tired. I don't think I have any makeup on.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Pictures!

I've posted belly pictures on Facebook, but not on here. I was informed a little while ago that one of my nephews in particular was very disappointed that I didn't have pictures of myself on my blog.

So here you go, Sam! I'll post some more recent ones when I get the chance.

(Unfortunately since this was my first time posting photos, they're in backwards order. Oops.)

29 weeks 4 days. This is, I think, my favorite picture of me being pregnant:



29 weeks 4 days:

24 weeks 4 days:

20 weeks:

Two weeks left! (Give or take)

Yes, I'm definitely counting down, although I know due dates are estimates and don't really count for a whole lot. I can't help it. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope. I've had a good pregnancy. I've enjoyed it, for the most part. There's really nothing quite like feeling her move, and I'm going to miss the little nudges (although not the kung fu moves against my bladder) once she's born. But I am so ready to be done. I'm hot, and I'm tired, and uncomfortable. I can't sleep because my ribs hurt so badly, and of course you're "supposed to" sleep on your side.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm so grateful that I haven't had any "real" problems during my pregnancy. I'm grateful that I'm able to have this baby. I'm so excited to be a mom (although the idea is still quite daunting)! It's just so close to the end, and I'm ready to be done. It tends to make me a little crabby.

No real progress since the last post. I'm still only dilated 1cm, not even enough for the doctor to strip my membranes. I had my final ultrasound yesterday. She is looking just perfect! Everything looks as it should, my fluid levels are good, she's still head down. They're estimating her weight at around 6lb10oz, although of course the weight can be off by a pound either way, so...that's really not saying much.

Anyone have a mini trampoline I can borrow?

Friday, June 25, 2010

Progress....ish

So I had another doctor's appointment yesterday. I got my Group B Strep test (for those unfamiliar with this, it's standard now to test pregnant women to see if they carry this common bacteria. If a woman is positive, she receives antibiotics during labor so as not to pass it on to her child), which was...okay. I'll find out this coming week if I'm positive for it or not, but I'm not worried, it's not a big deal either way. I was a little less than thrilled, though, because I was waiting in the exam room half naked for almost 45 minutes before my doctor came in. The woman whose appointment was before mine was carrying twins, so I'm guessing that's why it took so long. Why they don't schedule a longer block for multiples, I just don't know, but...whatever.

One bad thing was that my blood pressure spiked quite a bit. Usually it's 120s/60s-70s, but this time it was 140/85. It's a big jump, and it's really unusual for me. Apparently it's also borderline pre-eclampsia, so I have to check my blood pressure a couple times, and if it goes up a little more I have to have additional appointments. I'm a little bummed since I'm managed to avoid complications thus far, but...meh. We'll see. Either it goes up or it doesn't, and it's late enough in my pregnancy that it won't be a huge problem.

The (sort of) good news is that he checked me for dilation, and I'm 1 cm dilated and slightly effaced. True, it's not much (and Dr. Whalen made a point to tell me that women can easily stay at 1 cm for weeks, so not to get too excited), but I can't help but feel like at least I'm doing something. Hopefully I'll continue to progress for the next few weeks, I really don't want to be induced.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Poor cat.

Who would've thought that Brett and I would actually be cat people? Not me, that's for sure. But a couple of years ago, we took in a cat that our friends were getting rid of. He was a little black cat, they'd taken him in as a stray and named him Darth Vader. Being the nerds we are, we kept the name. It was just too funny to change.

After several months of being cat owners, Vader decided to liberate himself. Brett was disappointed, but not terribly broken up about it. I, on the other hand, was really bummed and wanted to get another cat. About a month or so after he ran away, I convinced Brett to adopt a kitten from PetSmart. She was also black, and so tiny! We named her Evey and took her home.

Right from the start I just loved her! She was so feisty and playful. Brett teased me often about picking the feistiest cat in the litter, and it's true. She had two siblings there as well, and both were more docile than Evey. But I just couldn't help it. At any rate, we really got to love the little fluffy creature, far more than either of us expected to. Sure, she was mischievous at times (like when she would inexplicably knead and entire roll of toilet paper....) but she was so playful and affectionate. She would come over when we'd be on the couch watching a movie and climb up on my stomach and just curl up and purr.

For the past few months we've been debating whether to keep her or find her a new home, since we have a baby coming (and having a pet in our new apartment is incredibly expensive). At length we decided to find a new home for her. It was really difficult, because I didn't WANT to get rid of her. I really grew attached to her, as did Brett. Finally, though, we found a girl around our age who wanted a playmate for her cat, who is about the same age as Evey. So we took Evey over to the woman's apartment. Poor kitty.

I have to admit, leaving my cat with another person was really hard, especially knowing that I'm probably never going to see her again. As soon as we walked out of her apartment, I started crying. Of course, I think I can partly blame it on my hormones, but I am really sad. I loved the little furball.

Brett and I have agreed--no more pets until we have a house. There's no way I want to go through that again. Giving up something you love is way too difficult, even when it is for the best.

I love my family!

So we have had a completely AWESOME month so far. All of the out-of-town sisters either have or will be visiting this month! How cool is that! I love being able to hang out with my family. It's different now that I'm an adult (and much more mature than several years ago). It's more fun, and I really enjoy getting to know my sisters again as an adult, not as one of the 'little girls'.

Sharon, Kristin, and Annette and their families have all visited so far. Miriam and her family will be here next week. We've had so much fun! It was especially great to see Kristin and Scott and their boys. We haven't seen them in four years, and they had never even met Brett. It was really cool to find out how many things we have similar tastes in (like music). Go figure. Also, I have to say, I LOVED having Kristin cook. I'm always so jealous of her posts on Facebook about the amazing things she's been making, so it was really fun to be able to sample some of her delicious food! But it's probably a good thing she hasn't been here throughout my pregnancy, because I would probably be a whale by now. A really big whale. It was kind of funny, because Brett mentioned something about the Johnson girls liking to cook, and either Sharon or Kristin said that it's because we love to eat! How true!

Since Brett and I still had to work, we didn't get to do a lot of the day activities with everyone. But I did get to go to the Zoo with Sharon, Kristin, their families, and Mom and Heather. It was a lot of fun, although it was really hot. I was careful, stayed in the shade when I could, and kept hydrated (plus wore a hefty sunscreen), so it actually wasn't unpleasant at all. I loved seeing how excited my nieces & nephews got about all the animals. They were especially cute about the penguins, although that may have something to do with the fabulous temperature of the Penguin House. After the Zoo we had a little picnic lunch/dinner. It was fun to sit and talk while the kids ran around playing hide & seek. Also probably a good thing that we ate so late, because Sharon and Shellie helped me make Polynesian food for dinner, and it takes a while to make. So technically we had dinner at, like, 8:30 or so that night. But surprisingly, the Poly food was a fairly big hit. I was really proud of the kids for trying the stuff, I'm sure it was a little...scary.

We didn't get to see a whole lot of Annette and Joseph and their kids because they were also up this way for a wedding, but we did get to hang out for a little while. We celebrated Heather & Kristin's birthday with a party (and some amazingly delicious food....thank you, Kristin). It was way fun to have the sisters there, as well as several of Heather's friends. We played Werewolves, which is kind of like Mafia. I'd never played either, but it was a lot of fun!

I'm looking forward to seeing Miriam and her family next week. I'm sure there will be more fun tales to tell!

So much to catch up on!

Okay, so I'm going to completely bypass the fact that I'm a complete slacker and just move along with my post. :)

It's been really hectic the past couple months. We found a new apartment and moved, which is great because of course we need more room for the baby when she makes her appearance. I HATE moving, and it's always a really stressful time for me. Even more so this time since I couldn't help out very much as most of our furniture (and many of the boxes) were too heavy for me to lift. Fortunately Brett was great about it, and we had a couple of really fantastic friends come over to help us for a few days. Thanks, Liz and Dustin! Brett and Dustin managed to move all the furniture and most of the other stuff, leaving just some odds and ends for me to finish up, which was just fine. Long story short, we got out and got the old place cleaned up in time, and now we're nicely ensconced in our new place. It's been kind of slow going, getting everything where we want it, but we're almost done now. Finally!

Also, we finally got the crib & mattress ordered. I had been waiting til after we moved so that I could have it delivered to the new apartment (rather than having to move it with all our other stuff), and last time I went to place the order, it was out of stock! I have to admit, I freaked out a little bit, because they never give you a time frame for how long they expect it to be out of stock. So of course my prego brain starts going crazy and worrying about not having a crib, etc. But it's all good, I decided to check yesterday and it was back in stock! It was a little irritating, because they were supposed to email me when it came back in, but they never did. At any rate, I ordered the crib I want, and the mattress to go with it. I'm totally excited! I guess I'm really starting to feel the nesting urge now, because I just want to get things done! I know I'll be able to relax more when I'm not worrying about all of this stuff.

There's so much more to write about, but I'm going to make separate posts so it'll be easier to read.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

I'm such a slacker.

It's been just shy of a month since I've posted last, which means I've totally been slacking off. Yikes. I would make my point again that I don't feel like anything big has happened, but since that's my usual justification, we'll just gloss over that and get on with it!

Pretty much everything is the same here. We're both still working, and Brett's still in school. The semester will end in a few weeks (yikes!), so I'm sure he'll be studying like crazy for finals pretty soon here. Other than that, we're honing in on a new place to live and just trying to stay sane!

Some fun things that happened over the past month:

Brett and I drove up to Ohio to spend Easter weekend with his parents. I really like going up there. It's been kind of strange since they moved away, because I got so used to being over at their house all the time. So at any rate, we like making the trip (plus, we got some more delicious baklava!). We went up for a long weekend. We took a nap after Brett's class and got up in the very wee hours of the morning, then drove through to Ohio. It actually worked out really well, so we may be taking this approach rather than the drive-all-night-and arrive-very-early-morning approach. A lot of the time we just hung out (and watched General Conference), but I think the most fun thing we did was go to the Air Force Museum at the Wright-Patterson AFB. It was so cool! They had planes from the Wright brothers all the way through to modern times. Brett especially is a bit of a nerd when it comes to military history, so he really loved seeing the WWII planes. They even had a cockpit you could climb into! (I was surprised, not only that I fit, but also that I was able to get back out with very little help!) There was also an area on space stuff, including a capsule that had been to the moon, and some missiles. We actually took the tour, so it took us about three hours or so to go through the three hangars (which were, as you can imagine, ginormous). It was so fascinating, and the tour guide, having been in the military and actually flown planes, knew so much! I loved it. We got some cool pictures, and generally just had a blast. It was a bummer to have to come home and go back to work.

One not-fun thing that happened in connection with our trip to Ohio takes a brief backstory. We had planned on doing laundry right before leaving, but it turned out the water main for the lease office and several surrounding buildings had busted, so we ended up taking our laundry with us to Ohio. (Cheesy, I know, but it really needed to be done.) Everything went fine....until we realized the morning after we were home that we'd left a load in the dryer. The load with all of Brett's work shirts and my scrubs. Yeah. Not so cool. Fortunately Brett's parents were nice about it and mailed them to us, so it wasn't completely disastrous. (And can I just say, Barbara knows how to pack a box! I really had doubts when I saw the package, and Brett just sort of laughed at me, like, "oh, ye of little faith". I don't know how she managed it, but she did!)

The only other thing that's really happened in the last month is my appointment this past Tuesday. Everything is looking great with little Amy. I had to do the glucose test (which would have been less miserable had it not been orange-flavored, which I HATE), and I'll hear by tomorrow if I passed or not. I'm assuming I did, since I haven't really been having any problems or symptoms of gestational diabetes. So everything is going well, and my belly is definitely growing! It's a little irritating to hear some of the incredibly insensitive things people say, but by and large I'm able to ignore them. One funny thing Brett and I discovered yesterday: my belly button totally pops out when I cough now! Brett was putting lotion on my feet (what a fantastic husband), so I was lying down looking at him (past my stomach) when something made me cough. I noticed my belly button popping out when I coughed, which made me really laugh. He thinks it's weird and is a little freaked out by it, but I think it's cute. At least the "snooze button" hasn't actually popped yet! (Though I'm sure it will soon. Me coughing is probably just previews of coming attractions.)

Well, hopefully I'll have more interesting things to write about soon!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I love food.

So, how about a happy non-baby related post?

I really like food. I love cooking (most of the time), especially baking, and I really love to eat. It's just fun! I know that makes me sound like a cow, but I can't help it! I also really love hearing about the things my family cooks, like my sister Kristin who lives in Utah. She Facebooks a lot about what she's made for dinner. I somehow always manage to read it when I'm hungry, and my mouth starts to water every time! Everything she makes just sounds so yummy!

I also have really fun memories of food when we would go to visit my sister Sharon when they lived in Kentucky. She would make such fantastic desserts! Yum....I really want some chocolate truffle cake now. Also, I remember having a Passover dinner with her family once. That was really neat, and something I'd like to do again.

I have lots of opportunities for fun cooking/baking. I really love making treats at Christmas time. Especially fudge, which is so easy and so delicious! Also, there are some traditional foods in Brett's family that we make, like Czech food at Christmas and baklava at Easter (which we'll hopefully make tonight, yum!).

I was really excited for St. Patrick's Day this year, because I've been looking forward to making corned beef and cabbage. I remember having it growing up, and I always loved it. Last year I attempted, and as I recall, the meat was sort of on the tough side. I think I overcooked it that time. At any rate, this year I let the beef and cabbage cook in the crockpot on low all day, and then made some red potatoes when it was time for dinner. It was so delicious! The meat was perfectly tender, and the cabbage was tasty. The potatoes were good, too, but it was really the corned beef I was looking forward to! We're going to get another thing of corned beef to make, because we really want to make Reuben sandwiches, but now we don't have enough leftover beef. Because I ate it. I couldn't help myself, it was amazing.

I'm also really looking forward to summer when berries are cheaper again. I love fruit and yogurt bowl, and I'm so ready to have some yummy smoothies! I love berries, and peaches, and I'm really excited to eat lots of them! I seem to crave fruit all the time these days, so it'll be nice to actually find some good produce without spending an arm and a leg!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

About the apartment complex (Sorry, it's really long)

I said I'd post about this, so here I go. Some people I've already talked with about this, so sorry if this is old news!

We've lived in our current apartment for just shy of two years. The first year wasn't terrible, although I wasn't entirely thrilled with the maintenance, which was rather lax. Just after we resigned our lease, the apartment above & across from us, which had been unoccupied for quite a while, was rented.

Anyone who knows me will know that I am certainly not racist, and I try really hard not to judge people based on stereotypes. The people (either 3 or 4 actual residents, it's hard to tell because there are so many going in and out of that apartment) who moved in are from eastern Europe, and it's terrible, but the most accurate description I can come up with for them is Eurotrash. I know it's mean. But really.

Shortly after they moved in, we noticed that they were throwing trash off their balcony onto the ground in front of the building. And cigarette butts. And beer cans. And glass beer bottles. We reported it to the lease office several times. The time we found the shattered glass bottle in front of the apartment, it took maintenance 48 HOURS to come clean the glass up from the sidewalk and nearby grass. So there was quite a history of us complaining about the slobs above us.

In addition, these people have FIVE VEHICLES. It started out as four, but then they got ANOTHER car. So, there is a huge utility van, a minivan, and now three cars. And where do they park them? All lined up in front of the entrance to the building. Now, the thing about our building is that it is the first right off the street, so there are...maybe six or seven parking spaces right in front for us to use. With all four units in our building occupied, that means there are, right now, 11 cars to be parked. And the slobs above us move their vehicles so seldom that unless we're lucky enough to get a space near the door, we can pretty much count on having to walk a fair distance every single day for most of a week.

Brett and I have complained no fewer than four times in the past six months about the parking situation. My biggest thing is that, especially now that I'm pregnant, it is ridiculous that I should have to walk uphill half a block lugging my laundry/groceries/etc. because the people in that unit are so inconsiderate. It's rude even if I weren't pregnant! The lease office basically told us they couldn't/wouldn't do anything about it, because there's nothing in the lease that limits the number of vehicles per unit. I think that's stupid, and I told them that since clearly it is a problem, it might be advantageous for them to look into an addendum to the lease. Well, I wasn't that nice about it, but...same idea.

Also, in looking into 2 bedroom apartments, we checked with the lease office to see if they could offer us a good deal. Well, not only do we have to reapply and re-submit all of our financial information, but we also have to pay $150 administration fee and a $300 transfer fee. WHAT?!?

So, even after all the complaints we've made (including me going to the lease office to speak with a manager TWICE), I came home from apartment hunting last week to find a lovely little notice on our door. It informed us that we had 24 hours to remove the cigarette butts from the grounds in front of our building or we would be fined.

Yeah, that's right. After we had been complaining for MONTHS about the slobs upstairs, WE were the ones who got a notice. I looked around at other people's doors--no papers there. So, at least in my mind, we were the only ones to get the notice. (I just realized how much I'm typing in all caps. Can you tell I'm still irritated about this?) So I called Brett, because I was immediately ticked off since Brett and I don't smoke, and because hello, I'm freaking pregnant! Of course I don't smoke! I better move on, I'm getting all worked up about it again. He told me to go talk to the manager about it, so I headed over to the office with the notice in hand.

I'm just going to say right here that I probably could've handled the situation better, but I was really angry, so I did the best I could. I informed the receptionist when I walked in that I was a resident and I wanted to speak with a manager immediately. No doubt the tone of my voice and my body language made it obvious something was wrong. She asked what it was concerning, and I showed her the notice. She told me that everyone in the building had gotten the same notice. I told her that was nice, but I still wanted to speak with the manager. She asked for my ID. I asked her why she wanted it, because I'd never been asked for it before. She said it was so the manager could look up my account information. I could hardly see why that would be necessary, but I figured I'd save the arguing for the manager, so I gave her my license. She disappeared.

Several minutes later, she finally came back out and asked me if I was ready. I managed to bite back my snarky response, and instead just told her yes. She pointed me in the direction of an office. It was a different manager than I usually dealt with, and I have to say, the girl in there had to have been younger than me. First impressions really do mean something, and I was NOT impressed with the girl behind that desk. She had bleached blonde hair (not that I have anything against blondes, but when it's an obvious bleach job combined with the rest of the way she looked, I have a hard time taking them seriously), and she was dressed very unprofessionally. She looked like she was getting ready to go clubbing, not to work!

At any rate, I sat down, and long story short, explained the problem to her and why I was fairly offended by the notice. She reiterated that the notice had been put on everyone's door. I told her that didn't matter, that I had no way of knowing that, and since they were aware of who was actually the cause of the problem, that they should go to the people responsible instead of hassling the rest of us. She replied that if we weren't the ones doing it, then we should just ignore the notice. Um, excuse me? I pointed out that the notice threatened that we would be fined if we did that. I also told her that, considering all the other problems we had had with them, we didn't appreciate getting a note on our door demanding that we pick up someone else's cigarette butts. She started getting really condescending, which is when I lost it. I can deal with outright rudeness, but I HATE it when someone talks to me like I'm stupid. Ack, self-editing. I was about to say something really mean.

So, I lost my temper. I didn't yell at her, but I definitely raised my voice, sort of in Mom's very emphatic tone. It's not really yelling, but it's quite obvious that I'm unhappy and that the conversation was pretty much over. I told her that I didn't appreciate the office's complete unwillingness to resolve any problem that we brought to them. I again enumerated all of the complaints that we'd made about the residents above us. I pointed out again that we'd been looking to move into a bigger apartment, and that their refusal to negotiate their ridiculous fees meant that we would be paying an exorbitant amount to stay in the complex. (I have to admit here that I really like using big-ish words when I lose my temper. It confuses people. And as petty as it is, it's so much fun to see the look on their face that says 'what did she just say?' Yeah. I'm kind of evil.) Then she made a really big mistake.

She told me to calm down.

OK, I wasn't raving at her or anything. Yes, my voice was slightly elevated, but it was in no way inappropriate. I wasn't yelling, I was still seated, I wasn't threatening or wildly gesticulating. Other than my angry, emphatic voice, I was fine. Granted, I had a really big adrenaline rush, so I was trying not to shake (I haven't confronted someone like that in a long time, hence me not being used to it and getting shaky). But really, I wasn't going crazy on her. So, I decided I was finished, and I told her so. I told her that I was done coming to them to resolve the problem, since it obviously wasn't doing any good, and that she should be aware that because of their continual refusal to do anything to resolve said problems, that not only would we not be renewing our lease, but we would also make sure that people were aware of how problematic the complex was. I stood up and started walking out. She sort of half-shouted "Have a good day!" to me as I walked into the main part of the office that had all the cubicles in it. As livid as I was at that point, I probably should've known better but I couldn't help myself. I turned around and in front of her employees told her that I would have a good day the day I moved out of that place and no longer had to deal with her incompetence.

Yeah....I was pretty mean.

I know this is a really long post, but this just took the cake: last week we got a notice that for security reasons, they were changing the locks on ALL of the apartment doors on...last Friday, I think. I thought it was stupid since we're moving out in a couple months, but given my last encounter with them, I decided not to go talk to the office about it. So I got home from the hospital, hoping to grab a quick nap before having to get up, eat, and go to work. Well, they had already changed the lock, so I went down to the lease office to pick up the new keys. There were about 15 other people in the office also waiting to get their keys.

I waited for almost an hour! Yeah. An hour. And why, you may ask? Well, the person from maintenance hadn't brought back that set of keys yet. And could they page him? No. We just all had to wait. So, fat pregnant woman was locked out of her apartment, tired, grumpy, hungry, and having to use the bathroom (which they have in the office, but still). The funny part was that three or four people came in to inquire about leasing, and they had to wait. And while they were waiting, they talked to the disgruntled residents who were also waiting. I actually had a pretty lengthy conversation with one guy, and basically told him not to rent there unless he had no other choice. Ha. Take that, West Pointe.

Have I mentioned yet how thrilled I will be to move at the end of May?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

My back hurts.

So, not the most creative title for a blog post, but I'm feeling decidedly un-creative today. I'm not really sure why. Maybe because my back has been aching for the past several days, therefore making it incredibly difficult to sleep (although the Benadryl helped a lot last night, so thanks Mom), which means that I'm tossing and turning all night and getting little rest, which only exacerbates the problem. Yuck.

It hasn't been a really eventful week (or two, or however many), and so I haven't felt like I have anything to write about. Little things happen, or I can't stop thinking (and worrying) about being pregnant, but then I feel like, why would someone want to read my complaints about my pregnancy? Or not even complaints, but really any part of it? And then I realized that, although I do hope people find my blog at least halfway entertaining, that's not really the reason why I'm writing it. I'm pregnant right now. That's a huge part of my life, and it affects everything I do. So if people don't want to read about me feeling fat (which only happens sometimes, like when I try to tie my shoes), then they don't have to read my blog. I'm just saying.

Anyway, probably the biggest thing that's happened lately is that Heather (my sister Heather, not Brett's sister Heather) had to go to the hospital a week ago. Long story short, she had a kidney stone that blocked drainage from her kidney, and she got an infection that reached her bloodstream, and she was septic. She'll probably post about in on her blog (which is amazing, by the way, if anyone hasn't already read it I would really encourage you to do so) in the next few days, so I won't steal her thunder. Suffice it to say that she was in the ICU for a week, and she's doing much better and got to go home last night. I was up at the hospital pretty much every day...actually, maybe it was every day expect yesterday, because I had to work. It's not crazy fun or anything, but I like being with my family, and I think it helps to have people to visit with when you're stuck there and can't do much else.

I've started the apartment search, since our lease is up on June 3rd and we are most definitely NOT staying in our current complex. Wow, I really dislike the people at the lease office. I'm going to have to post about that later. They're idiots, and they refuse to do anything about the myriad of problems we've reported, and I can't stand them. Plus, they are SO condescending when I try to talk to them, and if there is one thing in this world I can't stand, it is being talked down to. So. At any rate, I was really proud of myself, because I typed up a sheet so I could be all organized when I went around to different lease offices. I looked at seven different places, and I only spent 20-30 minutes at each since I didn't look at any of the units. I figured we'd narrow down the list to about four, and then go tour the places when Brett could go with me. It's fairly clear which two are the frontrunners, and there's one place in particular that we really like. So, we'll just have to see. Either way, we'll be moving at the end of May.

Thank goodness.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I think this kid is going to give me a run for my money.

Well, we had another ultrasound this past Thursday, and the doctor's initial guess was confirmed. IT'S A GIRL! I'm super excited. I really thought she was a girl, but...you know. I love my OB, he cracks me up. He showed us the lines that indicate her...um...parts...and said that if she turned out to be a boy, he was retiring because he'd clearly lost his touch if that happened. I thought it was hilarious, but then I am fairly easily amused.

So she continues to be super active, which he again commented about. She barely held still during the ultrasound, and clearly doesn't like to be squished even a little bit, because she starts moving like crazy when my bladder is really full! It's like she's trying to tell me "Hey, Mom, I need some more room in here!"

I have to admit, even now that I feel her move sometimes, this still seems so surreal to me. I mean, we've been wanting to start our family, and we were trying for quite a while, but it's still hard to believe that it's actually HAPPENING. I'm doing everything I can to be ready for her when she comes, but it's so...disconcerting at times. Like, holy cow, I'm going to be responsible for someone who will be completely dependent on me. Am I ready for this? Are we ready for this? I know we're doing everything I can, but it's a very daunting task once you actually look at it. Fortunately I have Brett, and both of our parents are fantastic and will always be there to help us when we need it. But really...who would've thought a few years ago that I would be getting ready to be a mom? I couldn't have imagined it. I've done so much growing up the past few years it's almost difficult to recognize the person that I was. I'm glad of that, really. I didn't really like the person I was, and I'm so much happier now.

Wow, random, but she totally just kicked me. It makes me grin every time I feel her move.

Today was actually really fun. Mom called this morning because the girl that was supposed to help them was sick, and so I got to go down to help out with Heather. I haven't been involved in her morning routine for a long time, and so I was pretty pleasantly surprised that I didn't do anything stupid. Ha! Of course, I do stuff like turn patients all the time, but we don't dress our patients. I'm really glad Mom and Heather are patient with me while I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm looking forward to being around them more often after the baby is born. At any rate, I actually did Heather's hair while Mom went grocery shopping, and got her all set up with her computer--not really a difficult task, but I've never actually blow-dried someone else's hair! Heck, I don't usually blow-dry my hair. I'm sure it wasn't like Heather usually has it, but I think I did pretty well, all things considered.

Mom and I got to chat once she got home from the store. I really love her, and I'm so glad we're friends now! I know I've mentioned it before, but seriously. She is such a fun person, and has so much advice to give (even if I choose not to take it). I love spending time down there, especially when Mom and I get the chance to catch up.

Well, I've gone on long enough, so I'll quit while I'm ahead.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Work, work, and more work....blech.

So, after 2 1/2 years working at the hospital, my manager FINALLY got me into the PCT class. Let me explain. I'll try to be brief.

At St. John's, nurse's aids aren't actually called nurse's aides. Of course, everyone has to have special names for it, right? Well, at St. John's there are two different levels of aides. The first is a PCA, or patient care associate, which is your basic tech who does all the bathing and feeding and cleaning up poo. Glamorous, right? :) Well, in the Burn Unit we do a lot more stuff, like dressing changes and wound debridement and lots of fun stuff like that. I love my job. So anyway, a PCT (patient care technician) can do more "advanced" things--tube feedings, wound care, sterile procedures (like some wound care requires), removal of foley catheters, some respiratory care like suctioning and other stuff, and phlebotomy.

So. When I was hired, I was told I'd be put through PCT training as soon as possible; however, clearly that's not how it happened. I was a little irked when two new PCAs got to go through the training right after their 90-day probationary period, when I'd already been waiting for 2 years. At any rate, I'm there now. I didn't realize until now how much "extra" stuff they have us do in the burn unit...I haven't actually learned anything NEW yet, but phlebotomy isn't until a week from Monday.

Still, it's kept me very busy. Class/clinicals are Mon-Fri, 7:30-4. We were running around all day today, which is actually sort of not true, because the instructor has to be there to watch us do whatever it is we're doing, and so if you're not the one or two people actually doing the work, you just....stand there. A PCA class and a bunch of nursing students are in house right now, so all the extra work we'd usually help with is just.... nonexistent. Kinda sucks.

Anyway, I got a prescription for the kind of Zofran that dissolves on your tongue...fabulous stuff. I'd been throwing up a lot over the past few days (three times Sunday, yippee), so I feel way better now.

Brett keeps asking me: 1) if it's his "turn" on the computer yet, and 2) if he can write one of my blog posts. Yikes. Scary thought....just kidding. He probably wouldn't do anything too terribly embarrassing. Although I did have a psycho pregnant chick moment on him just a little bit ago. I told him he could have the computer in a minute when I was done with my blog post. He teased me a little bit, and I totally freaked out on him. I told him he was ticking me off and...I don't really remember what else. It wasn't terribly mean, but...poor guy. I don't know how he puts up with me sometimes.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sweet!

Had another dr's appointment today. Everything is right on track for my due date of July 30. I was sad today because Brett didn't get to go with me, and I think it's really neat when he gets to. But it was still a really fun appointment. I love seeing the doctor. :)

One good thing was that I'm far enough along that I get to have normal abdominal ultrasounds now. Yay! Not that the other kind was terrible, but it was a little uncomfortable. I'm really glad that the mound of goo he put on my stomach was warm! So I got to see little Nugget again. Wow, was Nug active! He (or she--he is just so much easier to type, so I go with the sort of gender-neutral 'he') barely quit moving the entire time. It was really cute, because at one point we could see both of his arms up over his head, and Brett totally sleeps with his hands behind his head sometimes, so I started laughing. I got to see feet with toes, and hands with fingers. It was so much fun! Even Dr. Whalen was surprised at how much Nugget was moving (and kicking! Not looking forward so much to THAT in a few months). We got some good pictures, and I'm really happy that everything is going so well. I've been terrified of miscarrying, especially since it took us a while to get pregnant in the first place. I know something could still happen, but it's nice to be safely out of my first trimester!

I'm also looking forward to my worst symptoms hopefully going away. Granted, I hear horror stories about women having morning sickness their entire pregnancy, but hopefully that won't be the case with me! The biggest thing is the fatigue, though. It's not easy working 12-hour shifts when I feel like I need a nap after lunch!

We had lot of fun celebrating Brett's birthday with Mom, Heather, and Chandra. They're always so much fun, and the game night Heather had was a blast. We didn't do a whole lot for his actual birthday on Saturday, since I worked all day, but I did give him his gift--a Penguin's third jersey, which he's been wanting for AGES. He was so excited. It's really cute, because when he gets all thrilled about his present, it's seriously like watching a little kid at Christmas. His entire face lights up, and he gets this huge smile. It's fabulous. I love it. So, anyway, we had some friends over for dinner on Sunday and I made a delicious Tollhouse pie....yum. Actually Brett's request, although of course I was more than happy to make my favorite dessert!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Okay, so I'm a slacker....

Maybe it's just me, but somehow it often seems like I'm just SO busy, and then I look back and think that...well, not a whole lot went on that was actually noteworthy. Anyone else?

So December seemed busy, but not a whole lot really happened. We had another Dr's appointment and another ultrasound. Everything looked good and we got to hear little Nugget's heartbeat. Yeah...I totally cried. Not, like, a lot, but there were definitely tears. :) I can't help it. Nugget's starting to actually resemble a human more than a sea monkey now, which is nice. :D

I had to work on Christmas since we switch off holidays at the hospital. I had Thanksgiving off, so...Christmas it was. It actually wasn't all that bad. We celebrated the night before and had our best friends over for dinner since I refuse to cook a real turkey dinner for just two people. It was really neat, and Sue and Justin brought her brother Phil, who was in town for the holidays. I love cooking for company. It's just so much fun! I actually stuffed the turkey this year, which was a new experience. It turned out just fine, although I think I ended up cooking it a little long, because the temp dot popped out, like, an hour before it was really supposed to, and I thought "It can't possibly be done yet," so I left it in. The turkey was a little drier than last year's (disappointing), but it wasn't terrible. Maybe I'll trust the thermometer a little more next time.

I just have to point out that it's totally weird to think about the fact that by next year, it won't just be Brett and me....Holy cow.

Brett's parents drove down to see us a few days after Christmas. It was so fantastic to see them. We really miss Barry & Barbara. I got so used to having them just a few minutes away, and hanging out all the time, and eating Sunday dinner together. It's weird that they're five hours away now. I'm not really a big fan. So anyway, they drove down and spent a couple days with us. We hung out, and went ice skating, and just spent time together. It was really nice. Ha, and Brett totally scared some little kid. It was justified, though.

Well, I'm officially 11 weeks along and some change. I'm really hoping my symptoms taper off in the next few weeks. I don't like being exhausted 24/7, and nauseous....although quite honestly, I'm so happy to finally be pregnant that I'll deal with whatever. We got our first baby gift today, which really surprised us, but the Relief Society gave us a really cute baby quilt. After Sis. Fisher walked away, Brett and I looked at each other and were like, "Isn't it a bit....early for this?" Well, yeah, but I'm still happy to have a cute quilt.

Speaking of babies, Annette had her little baby girl a few days ago, Rebecah Eve. Joseph sent some pictures...she looks so adorable! Mom said Annette went home yesterday and is doing fine. I'm really excited for them. I bet Kimball will be a great big brother. Congratulations, Annette and Joseph!