Hi, all! Today is Wednesday, May 23rd, and at 37 weeks today, our baby is considered full term. Of course, I've been telling him that he doesn't need to come anytime soon, he needs to wait until his grandparents get here. :) Things have been going well, besides sleeping. I think, as time draws ever nearer, I get more and more anxious. I don't know how I'm going to know when I'm going into labor, I am most certainly nervous about the pain, and until a few days ago, we didn't have everything we needed for our little man. I'm most worried that he'll be late, and I won't have my mom with me during labor. If he's early, she can come as soon as she finds out that he's on his way, but there's still no guarantee that she'll make it on time. I feel like a little girl again, wanting to hold my mom's hand as I walk into kindergarten or get a shot for the first time. But those are the mental things keeping me awake at night. Then there's the heartburn. Last week, I had a 3-day reprieve from the heartburn, barely had any at all, was even able to sleep on my side like I prefer. After that, though, it seems to never end! I feel it nearly all the time, and the worst part is that nothing seems to work. Tums just aren't cutting it anymore. I try milk, as a natural antacid, but I can only drink so much, and lately I really haven't been wanting it. I had been eating ice cream about an hour before I went to bed, and that had helped for a while, but that stopped being effective as well. I could handle it during the day, because I could change positions pretty easily to lessen the impact. But at night, I didn't want to be moving around all the time and disturbing Bryan. Lying on my back was the best for the heartburn, but it was getting to where that wasn't comfortable for some reason. Lying on my side was more physically comfortable, but that let the heartburn flare up in a big way. I found myself cursing my childhood gastroesophageal disorder that made it to where my heartburn gets this bad. The sphincter at the end of my esophagus, which regulates what goes in and out of my stomach in that direction, is dysfunctional. Normally, it doesn't bother me, I get a little acid reflux now and again, but otherwise, it's fine. But with pregnancy hormones relaxing my muscles and my uterus pushing up on my stomach, it's a recipe for disaster. I say this so that the people reading this who have yet to have kids realize that my heartburn is more severe than normal, and not to expect to experience it like I have.
But anyway, my mental worries and the heartburn have been keeping me awake. My lack of sleep has been turning me into a major grouch. It got so bad that I decided I was going to start sleeping on the couch. It's incredible comfortable, because I can sleep in a reclined position with the back support I don't get in the bed. But when it came time for Bryan to go to bed, we both realized that we really didn't want that. Neither of us wanted him to go to bed alone. I told him there was one more thing we could try. We had to simulate the couch sleeping position. He jumped on it, because he had been contemplating how he could sleep on the couch, or bringing blankets and pillows down and sleeping on the floor next to me. I wanted to cry, he was being so sweet... But we put my body pillow up against the wall, and piled blankets and pillows behind my head. I brought one of the pillows from the couch to add to the pile. After a few adjustments, it was pretty close. After a few more, it was great. It wasn't like the couch as far as where my rear was, you can't make your mattress softer unless you have one of those Sleep Numbers or something, but it was good enough to where I was comfortable. And it worked! I got more sleep that night than I had in a week. But I still had heartburn. So yesterday, I went to see my doctor for some Zantac. And last night, I slept through the night for the first time in two weeks! It was really nice.
Now to talk about the doctor's visits. Monday was my 36 week visit with the OB. I was due for my Group B strep test. If they found the strep bacteria around my vagina, the baby would need antibiotics for it when he was born. So the doctor got one of those gigantically long Q-tip things and took a swab of the outer rim of my vagina. It hurt at first, because my body didn't produce any natural lubrication. Once it did, it was fine. She asked questions about the baby's movements, if I was having any Braxton-Hicks, and birth control postpartum. The baby's been moving like crazy, I haven't been having Braxton-Hicks very much in the last week or so, and I was planning to use the three-month supply of my Evra patch for birth control. The doctor said that if I'm breastfeeding, I shouldn't use anything with estrogen at least until my 6-week postpartum checkup, because it could interfere with milk supply. She actually suggested the Nuva-Ring that I'd been hearing about on TV. She showed me how it was used, and said that out of all the estrogen birth control methods, it has the lowest amount. I still have some questions about its use, but I might go ahead and look into getting it. It still seems a bit messy to me, especially putting it back in after the week without it is over, but I have plenty of time for that. I asked her about elective induction, where I would have labor induced when I wanted. She told me that they don't do that at that hospital, mainly because they are really busy. But induction when the body's not ready increases the incidence of needing a C-section, and can actually make labor longer and worse than it would be normally. Of course, she asked why I wanted to know. I wanted to know about doing that so that if Junior doesn't want to come when my mom's here, I can be induced to make sure that he does. But that's not a good enough reason for the hospital to do that for me. Can you tell that I want my mom here?
Bryan's starting to get nervous, too. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do in the labor room besides hold my hand. So I had him read the section about labor and how the coach can help in the pregnancy book the hospital gave us. I also looked up information on www.babycenter.com and www.americanbaby.com for him to read. I know he read the book, but I don't know about the websites. I may still stop by the library and get him something to read through. I told him we could practice if he wants to. I've been practicing some breathing techniques here and there, but there are still some things I want to go over with him, like relaxation options he can help with, and what my focus or focal point is going to be. I don't even know that yet. I've been trying to think of one. I could use a memory or visualization of a peaceful place, I could use a picture of someone I care about, some object that makes me feel relaxed or peaceful like a stuffed animal. There's infinite possibilities. I have no idea.
Another worry on my mind is that I still don't have my labor bag packed! Part of that is knowing I need to get a nightgown that buttons in the front for nursing purposes, and that I don't have any idea what my focal point is going to be. I also need to find my CD player and either burn or buy a classical music CD. I used to go to sleep to that stuff, especially the Native American flute music. I know that would help me relax. And we still don't have a diaper bag for Junior. Bryan wants this thing that looks like a tool belt that goes over the shoulder. I want something more traditional. I showed him a few websites with diaper bags, hoping he'd pick a more traditional one that didn't look too babyish or girly, and he picked this Baby Bandolier thing. I just worry that it won't have room for everything we need. I'm still going to order it, but I may go ahead and get a different one for me. I don't know yet. We picked out a stroller, but haven't bought it yet. And we don't have a baby carrier. We're not getting any of that stuff until after payday, which is a week away. I know we're getting it, but I worry that he'll come early and we won't have any of it.
And Bryan and I still have to talk about our birth plan, what I want done, what I don't want done, things I'd like to have with me, etc. Lots of stuff still to do, and I haven't finished cleaning the house, either. I had made a list of all the little things that needed done, and decided we (think "I") needed to do two things on the list each day to get everything done in time. I've been seriously slacking off for the last four days, haven't done anything. I've just been too tired. No energy. Even now, I'm dragging. I keep misspelling words. I slept til ten after taking Bryan to work at 5:30, and it's only noon, but I am so wanting to go lie down and take a nap. I probably will, because I know I need the rest. But it just drives me crazy because I don't feel like I'm doing anything productive.
This post has gone on long enough. Time to quit griping and go take a nap.
TTFN!!!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Crunch Time/Time Grows Short
I look up at my calendar and freak, every day... As of tomorrow, May 9th, we will have five weeks left until Junior's due date. *Silent screaming ensues*
Mentally, I am so freaking out. I want to go out and buy everything we don't already have for this little guy, right now, just so it's done. I want to get this house spotless for when grandparents arrive. I want to plan for every contingency. Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Physically, I haven't been doing much. I don't want to stress, there's no point. I have time. Besides a couple of little things that are incredibly easy to find (diapers and wipes, and baby toiletry items), we have mostly everything we need if he comes early. Junior's bed's not set up yet, but I've already warned Bryan, our bedroom is getting cleaned, and his bed's getting put up this weekend. But there's some stuff that we don't need to buy right now, like a high chair. I want to breastfeed, so I'll need a pump, but if I can't breastfeed, I don't want to have wasted the money. There's not much cleaning I can do, with the animals shedding like they've got alopecia, I'm only going to have to do it all over again. I do want to make this place more presentable, especially with Bryan's stepmom coming. She keeps an impeccable house, and her opinion of me is pretty important. I don't want to give her anything to say against me. But I'm going to try to do a little bit every day, starting this weekend. I still freak out a little every time I look at a calendar and realize how incredibly close it's getting, but I think I'll be okay. Bryan hasn't said much, I wonder how and when it's going to hit him, if it does.
It still amazes me that I'm back on decent terms with my dad. It's hard to believe that he's actually planning to be here for this little man's arrival. It makes me really happy that he's coming, though. He seems really excited about becoming a grandpa, and that puts a smile in my heart. I can't wait to see him hold his grandson for the first time.
Now for the list of uncomfortables... I have been having SO much heartburn lately. And it seems that Junior has found a new place to rest his feet: my ribcage! He gets his little feet up in there and pushes, and it drives me crazy! It feels like my ribs are being pulled apart from inside. The other day, he was messing around in my lower left abdomen, which I'd been calling my kidney, ALL DAY LONG!!! After Bryan showed me where my kidneys were normally, I realized that wasn't what he was pushing on after all. It's probably my ovary or something. But either way, IT HURT! Bryan saw me wince in pain while I was dressing one day and started chuckling. I told him that I wish I had some sort of telepathy, so I could project into his mind what it feels like to be getting beat up from the inside. He just kinda laughed, and said he'd never felt luckier to be a guy. Silly boy. I told him he's getting the poopy diapers for a month, and I'm waking him up for every nighttime feeding even if I'm breastfeeding. He can bring Junior to me and take him back to bed when he's done eating. Then I stuck my tongue out at him and moved on.
I'm getting really tired of Tums, they dry out my mouth and leave an odd aftertaste, so I'm resorting to other methods to reduce my heartburn. Ice cream is absolutely wonderful, but I know it's seriously not good for me. So I've started drinking an eight-ounce glass of chocolate milk when I get heartburn. And I'm back to my Sprite. The carbonation helps me get the most air out of my stomach, which is a major cause of my heartburn. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but it works. Unfortunately, I can't keep a glass of chocolate milk by my bedside, and flat Sprite does no good, so when it flares at night, I have to take Tums. I keep a water bottle on the bedside table to wash it down, but it still leaves a funny aftertaste. Oh well. I deal.
My cravings are becoming less acute. TV food commercials still get to me, but less so. They got so bad at one point, I had to close my eyes, plug my ears, and hum so I wouldn't see them. Inevitably, I would want almost anything they were advertising, especially the unhealthy stuff, like donuts, ice cream, and candy. But I can sit through one now and be okay. A Reese's one got me yesterday, but the craving went away.
I think my belly button's going to pop soon. I can see the bottom(?) of it now, and it kinda sticks out a little. I found new stretch marks forming on the underside of my belly while we were on our trip. That was another routine that fell by the wayside while we were gone: lotion on my belly and thighs and hips before bed. I figure that's why I've got those stretch marks. I also think he's starting to drop into my pelvic cavity. I feel like I'm carrying differently, and my pants don't fit the same. That could also account for the new marks. So far, they're not as angry-looking as the ones on my upper thighs. I actually can't see them unless I look in a mirror, since they're below my belly button. Luckily, even though my belly feels like it's gotten bigger, my weight gain has leveled off, which is wonderful. My neighbor told me she didn't think Junior was going to wait until his due date. I just told her to hush, he was gonna wait, or I was gonna tan his little hide when he came out.
The baby also seems to be getting more active. He contributes to my heartburn by bumping up against my stomach. But it's good to feel him moving. Bryan's gotten to see and feel him move more in the last week than he has the whole pregnancy. I'm waiting to find out if I'll be able to see the outline of a little foot or hand on my belly... so far it's only looked like a big round thing moving under my skin. He's getting hiccups quite a bit lately, and sometimes they're visible. Bryan likes to poke around on my belly to feel where he's at. I let him do it instead of telling him where Junior's sitting. Bryan seems to enjoy it, and I'm okay with it as long as he doesn't get his fingernails involved. At times, he'll hit a painful spot and I'll have to tell him to go somewhere else, but most of the time it's okay.
Anyway, that's pretty much it for now. I don't have any new pictures to post, though I really should buckle down and take a couple. Sure, why not, I'm a month behind anyway... Off to bed with me now...
TTFN!!!
Mentally, I am so freaking out. I want to go out and buy everything we don't already have for this little guy, right now, just so it's done. I want to get this house spotless for when grandparents arrive. I want to plan for every contingency. Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Physically, I haven't been doing much. I don't want to stress, there's no point. I have time. Besides a couple of little things that are incredibly easy to find (diapers and wipes, and baby toiletry items), we have mostly everything we need if he comes early. Junior's bed's not set up yet, but I've already warned Bryan, our bedroom is getting cleaned, and his bed's getting put up this weekend. But there's some stuff that we don't need to buy right now, like a high chair. I want to breastfeed, so I'll need a pump, but if I can't breastfeed, I don't want to have wasted the money. There's not much cleaning I can do, with the animals shedding like they've got alopecia, I'm only going to have to do it all over again. I do want to make this place more presentable, especially with Bryan's stepmom coming. She keeps an impeccable house, and her opinion of me is pretty important. I don't want to give her anything to say against me. But I'm going to try to do a little bit every day, starting this weekend. I still freak out a little every time I look at a calendar and realize how incredibly close it's getting, but I think I'll be okay. Bryan hasn't said much, I wonder how and when it's going to hit him, if it does.
It still amazes me that I'm back on decent terms with my dad. It's hard to believe that he's actually planning to be here for this little man's arrival. It makes me really happy that he's coming, though. He seems really excited about becoming a grandpa, and that puts a smile in my heart. I can't wait to see him hold his grandson for the first time.
Now for the list of uncomfortables... I have been having SO much heartburn lately. And it seems that Junior has found a new place to rest his feet: my ribcage! He gets his little feet up in there and pushes, and it drives me crazy! It feels like my ribs are being pulled apart from inside. The other day, he was messing around in my lower left abdomen, which I'd been calling my kidney, ALL DAY LONG!!! After Bryan showed me where my kidneys were normally, I realized that wasn't what he was pushing on after all. It's probably my ovary or something. But either way, IT HURT! Bryan saw me wince in pain while I was dressing one day and started chuckling. I told him that I wish I had some sort of telepathy, so I could project into his mind what it feels like to be getting beat up from the inside. He just kinda laughed, and said he'd never felt luckier to be a guy. Silly boy. I told him he's getting the poopy diapers for a month, and I'm waking him up for every nighttime feeding even if I'm breastfeeding. He can bring Junior to me and take him back to bed when he's done eating. Then I stuck my tongue out at him and moved on.
I'm getting really tired of Tums, they dry out my mouth and leave an odd aftertaste, so I'm resorting to other methods to reduce my heartburn. Ice cream is absolutely wonderful, but I know it's seriously not good for me. So I've started drinking an eight-ounce glass of chocolate milk when I get heartburn. And I'm back to my Sprite. The carbonation helps me get the most air out of my stomach, which is a major cause of my heartburn. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but it works. Unfortunately, I can't keep a glass of chocolate milk by my bedside, and flat Sprite does no good, so when it flares at night, I have to take Tums. I keep a water bottle on the bedside table to wash it down, but it still leaves a funny aftertaste. Oh well. I deal.
My cravings are becoming less acute. TV food commercials still get to me, but less so. They got so bad at one point, I had to close my eyes, plug my ears, and hum so I wouldn't see them. Inevitably, I would want almost anything they were advertising, especially the unhealthy stuff, like donuts, ice cream, and candy. But I can sit through one now and be okay. A Reese's one got me yesterday, but the craving went away.
I think my belly button's going to pop soon. I can see the bottom(?) of it now, and it kinda sticks out a little. I found new stretch marks forming on the underside of my belly while we were on our trip. That was another routine that fell by the wayside while we were gone: lotion on my belly and thighs and hips before bed. I figure that's why I've got those stretch marks. I also think he's starting to drop into my pelvic cavity. I feel like I'm carrying differently, and my pants don't fit the same. That could also account for the new marks. So far, they're not as angry-looking as the ones on my upper thighs. I actually can't see them unless I look in a mirror, since they're below my belly button. Luckily, even though my belly feels like it's gotten bigger, my weight gain has leveled off, which is wonderful. My neighbor told me she didn't think Junior was going to wait until his due date. I just told her to hush, he was gonna wait, or I was gonna tan his little hide when he came out.
The baby also seems to be getting more active. He contributes to my heartburn by bumping up against my stomach. But it's good to feel him moving. Bryan's gotten to see and feel him move more in the last week than he has the whole pregnancy. I'm waiting to find out if I'll be able to see the outline of a little foot or hand on my belly... so far it's only looked like a big round thing moving under my skin. He's getting hiccups quite a bit lately, and sometimes they're visible. Bryan likes to poke around on my belly to feel where he's at. I let him do it instead of telling him where Junior's sitting. Bryan seems to enjoy it, and I'm okay with it as long as he doesn't get his fingernails involved. At times, he'll hit a painful spot and I'll have to tell him to go somewhere else, but most of the time it's okay.
Anyway, that's pretty much it for now. I don't have any new pictures to post, though I really should buckle down and take a couple. Sure, why not, I'm a month behind anyway... Off to bed with me now...
TTFN!!!
Sorry It's Been So Long/Trip Update
Sorry this update's so long in coming... It got pretty busy around here for a while. I did go to the doctor like I said I would about going on the trip. She wasn't sure what she should do, so she called the referral department at TriCare, and then gave me the information I needed. It was easy. I was in and out really fast. I had another appointment with Women's Health the day before we left for Missouri. I got a refill on my iron pills, and the doctor palpated my belly to determine Junior's position. She found him head down, which is good. As he gets less and less room in there, he's less likely to suddenly switch positions on me and become breech. That would mean a C-section, no doubt. But, oh, man! Junior did not like all the poking and prodding she did! He started pushing and kicking as soon as she stopped! I just kinda laughed. The doctor did tell me that the next time I come in, at my 36-week appt., I was going to have a test for Group B strep bacteria. Apparently this is a normal bacteria in our intestines, and given the proximity of our waste disposal area to our playground, it is possible for that bacteria to find its way into the birth canal. They will swab the outer rim of the vagina, and if they find the strep, the baby will be given antibiotics soon after birth. I haven't had a vaginal exam since November, this should be fun.... heh, heh, heh.... ahem.
Anyhow, we left for our trip on Saturday morning. We made really good time, and were able to stay in a familiar city with the smell of cattle farms nearby, what a great smell to farm kids... :) We made it to Bryan's mom's house in the early afternoon, and hung out there for a few hours. We had to leave Sabre with her, since our resort didn't allow pets. But we were back the next day to have lunch at the restaurant where Bryan used to work, and to see some of his extended family. That night we were at his mom's so he could have her help him with his resume. They got to talking about the online game they play together, then his stepdad and brother joined in, since they play too. I just sat there twiddling my thumbs. I don't play the game, don't really have much desire to play the game, so I had no idea what they were talking about. Oh well.
Our resort was beautiful. We had an incredible view of the lake, a full kitchen with all utensils and cooking pots and pans provided. We had a dishwasher, which was awesome! The master bedroom housed a king size bed and a whirlpool tub. The place had two bathrooms as well. It was also equipped with high speed internet, which helped out immensely with Bryan's job hunting, since we'd brought the laptop. The dining room table was glass, which made me glad that we didn't bring any young children. There was a TV in the living room, master bedroom, and second bedroom. It was absolutely gorgeous. We lived better there that week than we do here at home!
Most of the rest of that week was spent doing Bryan's job hunting. We drove through the industrial areas and stopped by several places so that he could drop resumes, and got a couple leads from that. We went to a property management office with which I'd done business before and got a short list of (3) housing options to look at. The first one we turned down immediately, bad looking neighborhood, not so great looking house, too much money for what was there (or not there). The second one was an apartment. The worst thing about it was that there was very little place to let Sabre out. He wouldn't have been able to get any exercise at all, since it was right off a main road. The third place we liked from the start. It was a cute little three bedroom house. I didn't care for the barn red color on the outside, but it looked nice and had a fenced backyard, perfect for Sabre. We got to take a tour with the tenant, who was in the process of moving out. She told us she'd lived there for two years, and loved the place. She was moving because they'd found a bigger place in the country with some land for their horses. The only thing about the place that we would have liked to have was for it to be in a more secluded area. But it's in a quiet neighborhood, from what the tenant said, and well off the main roads. Nearly everything in it was no more than two years old, including the carpet and appliances. It needed a couple of small repairs, but otherwise, it was perfect. We told the management that we wanted it. The only hangup they had was that we didn't want to move in until August. But they took a deposit check, and said they'd only cash it if the owner changed his mind about waiting to see if another person wanted to move in sooner. The guy we worked with at the office actually called us yesterday to let us know that the owner was replacing the carpet in one of the bedrooms. He said he'd call once a week to let us know how or if things were progressing with the owner of the house. How awesome is that???!!!
So the house hunt went well. Unfortunately, Bryan's job hunt didn't go quite as well. He didn't pass part of the physical test for the Highway Patrol, so he's out of the running until next year. He plans to try again, but it put him down in the dumps for a while. He went to a job fair about an hour and a half away from where we will be living, but no one had any leads for our area. We found several jobs for which he was well qualified, but it never got any farther than putting in applications. Of course, now that we're back home, he is unable to do face-to-face interviews. But he's planning to put his resume up on websites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. I may have to remind him to do it, though. We've been home for a week, and he hasn't yet. We'll see.
As far as pregnancy stuff, since that's what this blog is supposed to be about... My feet swelled to scary proportions on the trip there. Elevating them didn't do much, so we went out and bought support hose and tube socks. They helped tremendously. I also made myself get out of the car more often when Bryan did, since I'd sit in the car when he would go into places to drop off resumes. So my feet went back to their normal size, though my legs itched like crazy from the pantyhose. I did get to go swimming on our last day at the resort. I'd gone out and bought a cute maternity swimsuit just for the trip, since I knew we were going to have an indoor pool. Unfortunately it doesn't hide much of my stretch marks, since they're all on my thighs and hips. But I didn't care. I got to go swimming! An unfortunate side effect of my daily routine changing was that I didn't take my vitamins and iron pills like I should have, and I didn't stay hydrated like I should have. I ate okay, not as much as I do at home, but I think that was a good thing. On our way back, though, I had to force myself to eat. I didn't want to eat anything, even when I was starving, absolutely nothing sounded good. But I made myself eat. Luckily doing that didn't make me sick. I think I was getting depressed about going back home. It was so nice being back in Missouri, where things move at a slower pace, and the people are so much more considerate. I felt the change in my attitude when we got back. Our neighbors wanted to socialize a lot, since it'd been a while, our cat stayed glued to us nearly all of the first day we were back, and I wanted nothing to do with any of it. When I told Bryan how I was feeling, he said I masked it well, which made me happy. I wanted him to know that it wasn't directed toward him at all, I just didn't think I really wanted to be back home. It's nice because I have all my comforts nearby, but being away was such a nice change. I'm better now, though.
Well, that's about all for the trip update. I'll try to get a couple of pictures taken tonight or tomorrow and get them posted, so check back in a week. I might even get one of me in my sexy maternity swimsuit! :)
I'm going to start a new post to talk about what's been going on the last few days, so my readers can take a break. I know I tend to write mini-novels in these things. TTFN!!!
Anyhow, we left for our trip on Saturday morning. We made really good time, and were able to stay in a familiar city with the smell of cattle farms nearby, what a great smell to farm kids... :) We made it to Bryan's mom's house in the early afternoon, and hung out there for a few hours. We had to leave Sabre with her, since our resort didn't allow pets. But we were back the next day to have lunch at the restaurant where Bryan used to work, and to see some of his extended family. That night we were at his mom's so he could have her help him with his resume. They got to talking about the online game they play together, then his stepdad and brother joined in, since they play too. I just sat there twiddling my thumbs. I don't play the game, don't really have much desire to play the game, so I had no idea what they were talking about. Oh well.
Our resort was beautiful. We had an incredible view of the lake, a full kitchen with all utensils and cooking pots and pans provided. We had a dishwasher, which was awesome! The master bedroom housed a king size bed and a whirlpool tub. The place had two bathrooms as well. It was also equipped with high speed internet, which helped out immensely with Bryan's job hunting, since we'd brought the laptop. The dining room table was glass, which made me glad that we didn't bring any young children. There was a TV in the living room, master bedroom, and second bedroom. It was absolutely gorgeous. We lived better there that week than we do here at home!
Most of the rest of that week was spent doing Bryan's job hunting. We drove through the industrial areas and stopped by several places so that he could drop resumes, and got a couple leads from that. We went to a property management office with which I'd done business before and got a short list of (3) housing options to look at. The first one we turned down immediately, bad looking neighborhood, not so great looking house, too much money for what was there (or not there). The second one was an apartment. The worst thing about it was that there was very little place to let Sabre out. He wouldn't have been able to get any exercise at all, since it was right off a main road. The third place we liked from the start. It was a cute little three bedroom house. I didn't care for the barn red color on the outside, but it looked nice and had a fenced backyard, perfect for Sabre. We got to take a tour with the tenant, who was in the process of moving out. She told us she'd lived there for two years, and loved the place. She was moving because they'd found a bigger place in the country with some land for their horses. The only thing about the place that we would have liked to have was for it to be in a more secluded area. But it's in a quiet neighborhood, from what the tenant said, and well off the main roads. Nearly everything in it was no more than two years old, including the carpet and appliances. It needed a couple of small repairs, but otherwise, it was perfect. We told the management that we wanted it. The only hangup they had was that we didn't want to move in until August. But they took a deposit check, and said they'd only cash it if the owner changed his mind about waiting to see if another person wanted to move in sooner. The guy we worked with at the office actually called us yesterday to let us know that the owner was replacing the carpet in one of the bedrooms. He said he'd call once a week to let us know how or if things were progressing with the owner of the house. How awesome is that???!!!
So the house hunt went well. Unfortunately, Bryan's job hunt didn't go quite as well. He didn't pass part of the physical test for the Highway Patrol, so he's out of the running until next year. He plans to try again, but it put him down in the dumps for a while. He went to a job fair about an hour and a half away from where we will be living, but no one had any leads for our area. We found several jobs for which he was well qualified, but it never got any farther than putting in applications. Of course, now that we're back home, he is unable to do face-to-face interviews. But he's planning to put his resume up on websites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. I may have to remind him to do it, though. We've been home for a week, and he hasn't yet. We'll see.
As far as pregnancy stuff, since that's what this blog is supposed to be about... My feet swelled to scary proportions on the trip there. Elevating them didn't do much, so we went out and bought support hose and tube socks. They helped tremendously. I also made myself get out of the car more often when Bryan did, since I'd sit in the car when he would go into places to drop off resumes. So my feet went back to their normal size, though my legs itched like crazy from the pantyhose. I did get to go swimming on our last day at the resort. I'd gone out and bought a cute maternity swimsuit just for the trip, since I knew we were going to have an indoor pool. Unfortunately it doesn't hide much of my stretch marks, since they're all on my thighs and hips. But I didn't care. I got to go swimming! An unfortunate side effect of my daily routine changing was that I didn't take my vitamins and iron pills like I should have, and I didn't stay hydrated like I should have. I ate okay, not as much as I do at home, but I think that was a good thing. On our way back, though, I had to force myself to eat. I didn't want to eat anything, even when I was starving, absolutely nothing sounded good. But I made myself eat. Luckily doing that didn't make me sick. I think I was getting depressed about going back home. It was so nice being back in Missouri, where things move at a slower pace, and the people are so much more considerate. I felt the change in my attitude when we got back. Our neighbors wanted to socialize a lot, since it'd been a while, our cat stayed glued to us nearly all of the first day we were back, and I wanted nothing to do with any of it. When I told Bryan how I was feeling, he said I masked it well, which made me happy. I wanted him to know that it wasn't directed toward him at all, I just didn't think I really wanted to be back home. It's nice because I have all my comforts nearby, but being away was such a nice change. I'm better now, though.
Well, that's about all for the trip update. I'll try to get a couple of pictures taken tonight or tomorrow and get them posted, so check back in a week. I might even get one of me in my sexy maternity swimsuit! :)
I'm going to start a new post to talk about what's been going on the last few days, so my readers can take a break. I know I tend to write mini-novels in these things. TTFN!!!
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