Baby Young is BREECH

We confirmed our suspicions that baby is still in the heads up position at our 36 week doctor appointment. Can't say I was surprised, but definitely a bit disappointed. After all the anticipation and reading about a natural delivery, hearing the doc utter the words "scheduled c-section" was a hard pill to swallow. And even more mind blowing was that if we do schedule a c-section, it will take place around 39 weeks. I told my doctor that wouldn't work for me since I am planning on working until I'm 40 weeks pregnant....not to mention 39 weeks is a mere three weeks away. I had fully convinced myself this baby was going to come first week in September which gave us about five more weeks to mentally and physically prepare. But three? Oh my goodness, that is so soon!

We have some options to try and get the baby to flip. There is a manual procedure called version where a doctor pushes on your abdomen and tries to manually flip the baby, but there are risks involved that could lead to an emergency c-section. After doing some research we have decided not to try this procedure.

Another option that is far less intrusive and encourages baby to flip in a much more natural way, is to practice a few yoga type poses we read about on the internet. Basically, we have two weeks. If baby is still in breech position at 38 weeks we will have no choice but to schedule a c-section for the last week in August. Until then, you will find me doing hand stands in a pool, crawling around on my hands and knees, or lying on an inverted ironing board with a bag of frozen vegetables on the top of my belly hoping for the best.

 

 

At the end of the day, all that matters is that we deliver a healthy baby. If it's a c-section, then so be it. I know that the moment we meet our baby, our lives will be forever changed and the manner in which he/she came into this world will suddenly seem so insignificant compared to the new little bundle we hold in our arms.

  

35 weeks

How far along: 35 weeks as of 7/26/13 = 35 days left until due date.

How are you feeling: Feeling pretty large lately, not too sure how much bigger this belly can get. Baby must have dropped slightly or something because all of a sudden I can eat again and don't feel quite so full or out of breath.

Emotions: Definitely feeling very hormonal lately, like I'm going to cry over the smallest thing at any given moment. Also been feeling a bit anxious in the last few days, ready to meet our little one. And at the same time, complete anxiety about the pregnancy being over and baby being here! Poor Luke! :-)

Miss anything: Running! I never thought I would miss running so much, but I've really started looking forward to and thinking about my first run and race after baby.

Best moment this week: My mom hosted a beautiful baby shower at her house and the guests all decorated onesies for Baby Young to wear. Had a blast at the shower and even more fun washing and folding all the decorated onesies. I can't wait to see our babe wear them!

Looking forward to: We have our 36 week appointment this week and will find out if baby is head down - fingers crossed! Not convinced this kiddo has flipped yet, but hoping for the best.

Gender prediction: Most people are guessing BOY! I'm honestly not sure one way or another. However, I will be more surprised if we have a boy than if we have a girl.

Names: Ha! You really think I would tell you the names we are thinking? Sorry, top secret! We have a list and have narrowed down our favorites. I will say that we are more solid on a boy name than a girl name at this point, so if we do have a girl, there is a good chance she won't have a name for a little while.

Anything else: I've been putting off a few things until August, and here we are, just a few days away from August already! Time to start filling out my maternity leave paperwork for work and the state, visit the police station to make sure the car seat is installed correctly, and pack the hospital bag. Whoa. My heart literally starting pounding as I typed that out. Car seat and hospital bag make this whole thing seem so close and real.

Our summer plans are winding down. No trips planned for August. Let the nesting begin!

Belly Progression 14 - 33

 

It's been fun watching this belly grow and change over the past 7 1/2 months. Quick look from 14 weeks to 33 weeks.

 

Maternity Pictures

My brother came home for a quick visit over the 4th of July weekend and was kind enough to take some maternity pictures of us while he was home. He took our engagement photos (here and here) and it means so much to us that he was able to document this next journey as well. He has a great eye and somehow makes both of us feel totally comfortable in front of the camera. I can't believe how good they came out considering we had spent the entire day in 100+ heat swimming in the dirty delta water! Thanks, Jimmy, for taking these pictures. Here are a few of our favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

33 weeks

How far along - 33 weeks as of 7/12/13

Total weight gain - 20 pounds

How are you feeling - Full and out of breath! I feel like I'm going to burst if I eat more than a few bites of anything, there is just no space for food in there with baby!

Movement - Oh yes! It is such a trip to watch my belly literally move like an ocean wave as the baby moves.

Best moment this week - Hearing the heartbeat at our 33 week appointment and having dr. tell us baby is continuing to grow right on track with that August 30 due date.

Looking forward to - My last 5 day work week is next week. We are down to 7 weeks left of work and 7 weeks before baby's due date. Any guesses on which will come first - scheduled last day of work or baby? Let's hope it's my last scheduled day of work! My money is on this baby arriving first week of September, but we shall see.

Anything else - After next week, work tapers down to 4 day weeks, with my last two weeks being 3 day weeks. I'm down to three dr. appointments (36, 38, 40 weeks), we have a newborn care class and then a late pregnancy class including a hospital tour and THAT'S IT! We were just given our hospital paperwork to fill out and submit as well as our birthing plan paperwork which is blowing my mind right now that we are so close to having this baby and becoming parents.

I'm starting to feel pretty uncomfortable and definitely getting to the point where I'm ready to get this baby out. But until then, I'm just trying to enjoy these last few weeks of peace and quiet and take in every moment of our life as two, before we become a family of three.

   

30 weeks

 

How far along: 30 weeks

 

How are you feeling: Wake up feeling great, hit a wall around 2:30-3:00 and all I want to do is take a nap. Get a second wind in the evenings and can't fall asleep until after 11:00.

 

Sleep: Sleeping pretty soundly. Consistently waking up about twice a night to use the bathroom. Hips starting to ache a bit from only sleeping on my sides, but using a pillow under my knee seems to help.

 

Belly button: Officially an outie as of a few days ago! You can see it if you look close in this week's picture.

 

Movement: Counting kicks every day. Some days I notice more movement than others, but I always look forward to laying down at night and focusing all my attention to the babe. I've also been setting my alarm for a few minutes early so that I can lay in bed and see if baby is moving. Luke likes to give the baby raspberries by blowing on my stomach. So far it seems to get this kiddo moving - it's pretty funny!

 

Food cravings: Fruit and spinach this week. And ice cream, can't seem to stop eating ice cream! Oh and hot dogs! I've really been missing hot dogs, and then a friend told me about nitrate free hot dogs from Trader Joe's. Seriously, amazing.

 

Looking forward to: Our 32 week ultrasound is 1 1/2 weeks away and I can't wait! I am so curious about how the baby is situated in there and how big he or she is measuring.

 

Anything else: Nursery is really coming together. I had my final talk with my boss about maternity leave so that is all set. I have a few appointments set up to check out home daycares. July is a busy month filled with baby classes. We have three baby showers in the next 4 weeks. It feels like we are in the home stretch! And with each passing day, we get more and more excited to meet our little one!

 



 

Babymoon

We wanted to squeeze in one last road trip before Baby Young arrives. Six years ago when Luke and I traveled across the country, we checked out a lot of National Parks and both agreed Zion was by far our favorite. We have wanted to go back ever since and so it was an easy choice when it came to deciding on where to go on our babymoon.

The drive to Utah is long and not very interesting so we took the most scenic route we could by driving through Yosemite and the Eastern Sierras and spending our first night at June Lake.

Driving through Yosemite

First night and Luke caught us a fish for dinner! Camping at June Lake.

It was a long and hot drive across Nevada, how people do that drive with kids is beyond me! We stayed in the small town of Springdale, Utah, about 1 mile from the entrance to Zion NP, at the same campground we stayed at six years ago. At one point I said to Luke how crazy to think that the last time we were here we hadn’t even been dating for six months and hardly knew each other, and now look at us, back at the same campground, married, with a child on the way!

After some negotiating, we were able to get a prime shady site right on the Virgin River which made our five night stay absolutely perfect.

Our campsite in Springdale, UT

Our first full day in Utah was Luke’s birthday and the birthday boy wanted to float the river. It was so fun and the perfect way to beat the 95+ temps. The town of Springdale runs free shuttles all day long from one end of town to the entrance of Zion NP which made floating the river and getting back to camp a breeze. We got in the river just above our campsite, floated down for about two hours, got out and caught a shuttle back to camp. 

Katrina floating the Virgin River

Luke with Zion NP in the back

Birthday float

The next day we thought we would ride our bikes into Zion, go to the Visitor’s Center and plan out the rest of the week. We packed a few snacks for our morning in the park, thinking we would come back to the trailer for lunch. Once in the park, we realized there was so much we wanted to see and do that we quickly forgot about not having a lunch and just got started on doing as much as possible. No cars are allowed inside the park. Instead there are free shuttles that run every 10 minutes taking you where you need to go. This makes for a great bike ride. We pretty much had the road to ourselves, with the exception of having to pull over for a shuttle every now and then. We would highly recommend biking through Zion, it is the best way to see the park!

 

Our ultimate destination for the day was the end of the road at what they call The Narrows. We stopped along the way for a quick three mile hike up through some canyons and got a great view of the valley.

 

We made it to The Narrows around 1:00 – the heat of the day. Hiking The Narrows means hiking in the Virgin River up through the canyon walls of Zion. As you walk up the river, the canyon gets more and more narrow creating some of the most dramatic scenery you’ve ever seen. At 1:00 in the afternoon, walking in that river was the only place we wanted to be. Man was it hot outside! The last time we were in Zion, we hiked up The Narrows as well, but it was April and the weather was about 30 degrees cooler – a much different experience! We could have hiked up that river for hours, and wanted to, but by 3:40 this pregnant lady was feeling the effects of skipping lunch so sadly we turned around and hiked back down. A special permit is required, but apparently you can do the entire 16 mile top-down hike through The Narrows which is definitely something we would like to check out the next time we visit (we just hiked a portion of the river bottom-up so no permit was required).  

Start of The Narrows

Luke walking up a section called Wall Street

At the end of the day, we had biked 20 miles, hiked 5 miles, and river walked 5-6 miles. Luke made venison burgers for dinner when we got back. A burger has never tasted so good as it did that night.

Well earned burgers for dinner

Our other big adventure that week was hiking to Angels Landing. We had heard so much about this hike (even saw t-shirts saying ‘I made it to the top of Angels Landing!’) that we just had to see what all the fuss was about. The hike is relatively short, about 5 miles round trip, but fairly steep and definitely a little treacherous at the top. The climb wasn’t that bad at all. What was tough, was walking the last ½ mile or so on the narrow spine of the mountain with sheer cliffs on either side and pulling yourself up another 500 feet in elevation with the help of some very worn cables. My heart is pounding as I type this just thinking about it! We nearly turned around, but very glad we stuck it out and made it to the top. We were rewarded with spectacular views in every direction.

Early morning in the park, start of Angels Landing hike

Start of the cables

So relieved to have made it across the spine!

This is the spine you had to walk across, very scary!

Made it to the top!

Top of Angels Landing

We got so many comments and looks of surprise from people when they realized I was pregnant. It made the hike that much more entertaining and memorable! My favorite was a comment from a crazy hippie man practically running down the steepest section of Angels Landing. When he saw me, he stopped and said “You are hiking this in that condition? Wow, you are all right!”

We spent the rest of our time in Zion cooling off in the river by our campsite and relaxing in our hammocks. Each afternoon as I lay on the hammock I would check in with Baby Young and see if I could feel any movement. Not only did I feel lots of movement, but it was the first time I saw the baby moving from watching my stomach! I just love that Luke and I were both able to experience this for the first time on our babymoon – how appropriate!

Afternoon nap

Luke relaxing

 

When it was time to say good bye to Zion and head back home, we weren't quite ready for our babymoon to end so we once again decided to take a slightly longer, but far more beautiful route home through Carson City and Tahoe. We stopped in Carson City and had breakfast with Luke's grandma, aunt, and cousin, and then finished up the trip with a night along the Truckee River. Saturday afternoon was spent floating down the Truckee River and Sunday we enjoyed a 35 mile bike ride from Squaw Valley to Tahoma and back. The weather was beyond gorgeous and it was the perfect way to end a wonderful trip.

Luke fishing the Truckee River

Final night of our trip. Camping in Tahoe.

Biking along the Truckee River

Biking around Take Tahoe

Our new trailer worked out great! Very comfortable, plenty of space, and easy to tow. So crazy and exciting to think that the next time we take the trailer out, there will be three of us!