Lazy Summer Days

Well, my oh so good intentions of spending my summer with the perfect blend of relaxation (a.k.a. "doing squat") and being productive (a.k.a. organizing for the upcoming school year and getting my house spotlessly clean) have gone to poo. Mostly I've just been "doing squat". haha I had envisioned myself being motivated seeing as there is a baby on the way and I want everything to be perfect, but alas this has not been the case. 4 weeks left to get my butt moving...

I have done a few things though when a burst of energy hits. I have started working on binders for the upcoming school year. I'm trying to get organized and think of the easiest ways to collect data and keep up with all the unending paperwork. After spending hours on Pinterest I have not come up with too much, surprisingly. So it's up to me and my thoughts on how to make last year better. I have decided on 5 main binders: Sped binder, planning binder, reading data binder, math data binder, and RTI binder. I may do a post when I figure them all out so all of my teacher friends can add comments and suggestions and such. I'm still really trying to figure out how to organize the reading and math binders to hold the data I need for each individual student's goals.

One thing I have seriously enjoyed this summer is the time to catch up on reading! And if you know me at all, you know that I love reading children/young adult books. I found a list of the top 100 children's chapter books on Pinterest, ( check it out here: Children's Books Guide) and have decided to work my way through this list. I found the list to be pretty thorough although I would have to disagree with the placement of a few of the books. After reading through the list I found that I had read 21 of the books or more. I say or more because some I had read as a kid and am choosing to reread as a refresher. I have just finished rereading The Secret Garden which is one of the ones I read growing up. Before finding this list I was reading the series Maximum Ride by James Patterson so I will be returning to that now and reading one more before hopefully diving into Bridge to Terabithia. 

And now...

BABY UPDATE!!

Not too too much to report when it comes to Aria. The day is drawing ever closer! We are now at 36 weeks and counting. On our last doctor's visit we found out (in a very uncomfortable manner I might add) that Aria has finally decided to turn her little self around and get into position. Thank goodness! I was so worried because she had decided to stay breech for so long.

I think we are as ready as we will ever be for her arrival. The nursery is done. Her clothes are washed and ready to be worn. And the hospital bags are packed! (Which was a task that should have taken an hour tops, that I stretched into weeks of not being motivated to get it done.) All I have to do when the time comes is throw in my makeup bag and straightener. Oh, and the phone charger, cannot forget that one!

Her movements are much more pronounced now and are very very uncomfortable for me. I'm ok with it though because it lets me know she's ok in there. I don't think it has fully hit me yet that I'm going to be a mom. I can see myself now in the hospital and when I start pushing that's when it'll hit me. Holy Crap I'm having a baby!!!

The Shock and Aftermath of Birthing Class

Ok, so my title may be a little over dramatized. haha We actually went into the class and realized we were more knowledgeable than we had previously thought. And after two sessions of 3 1/2 hours each, we were on information overload.

There have been many things that I have had to complain about the military hospital here when it comes to our care and their bedside manner, but I have to say that I am very grateful that we had the chance to take this class as well as the breastfeeding class I'm taking on Monday. It was very informative and at least now we know what to expect as to what is specific to this hospital's labor and delivery.

I'm very excited that Tripler doesn't have a nursery so Aria gets to stay with us the whole time. They also highly advocate for skin on skin immediately after birth. At first I was a little put off by the obvious mess that this will be. If you know me, you know that I can heave at almost anything remotely disgusting. But I am actually very excited about the thought of her being close to me those first precious moments of her entrance into the world. That's something that only she and I will get to share and she can be as messy as can be and it's still going to be the greatest moment of my life. I cannot wait to look into her eyes and bond with her immediately! If, by chance, I need a c-section Ethan will go to recovery with her immediately and do skin to skin.

After this class I feel much better about the epidural as well. There were only 2 women in the class that have the intention of giving birth naturally. Which I commend them for! I never really felt bad about the fact that I knew I wanted an epidural. It won't make me feel like less of a woman or less of a mother. I personally do not handle pain very well. I'm an emotional person to begin with and add pain to the mix and I quickly become a wreck. I would rather not be that way when giving birth to my child. The nurse anesthetist came in and talked with us and showed us the epidural needle and catheter. Ethan swears it's no big deal cause he's had a needle twice as big in his arm from all the plasma giving during college. haha I do plan on trying to go as long as I can without the epidural because I do not want to be confined to the bed. This hospital has a jacuzzi in every room but 2, exercise ball, birth chair, squatting bar... the works. I would like to be able to take advantage of those things and keep mobile as long as possible.

All of the videos we watched were from the 90s. Seriously outdated. I got a kick out of the outfits and big glasses. But the logistics don't really change I guess, so they were still relevant.

I did not enjoy seeing how big 10 cm actually is. (I've been avoiding this. Better for me not to think about it.) Ethan keeps poking fun that his whole fist fits in 10 cm. (duh). It was also hard to sit through the breastfeeding portion of the class when your husband and the husband behind you are cracking up at the baby going at the boob! So immature, but it made both me and the other mom crack up as well. Yes, we were those people off to the side of the room.

There were know-it-alls in there of course and we had to also sit through lots of questions that were kind of duh questions. I got a funny look from one of the girls when I raised my hand that I was going back to work soon after. I was one of 3, and the only one not in the military. I hate that I had to deal with that. But you gotta do what you gotta do and I would go crazy at home. All in all though not too bad of an experience. Nothing so shocking that I wanted to run. Ethan was already prepared to play the role that he will and he knows me well. He knows that the best thing he can do is distract me and keep me laughing. I plan on having as joyful a birthing experience as possible through the pain. With a husband like mine I'm not too too worried. I'm taking this ride one step at a time. No sense in worrying now. It's a tad too late...