Maybe an epidural isn't such a bad thing?!

Now that I'm so far along, I'm going to the doctor's office every week for checks. This week, I was asking about how many women deliver before and after their due date. He said its evenly split 50-50. So then I asked how long I'd have to wait before they'd induce me and here's what he said: "well, if you have a favorable cervix and you've dilated to 2 or 3 centimeters, than we could induce you at 39 weeks. Its the same for 40 weeks. However, if you're sick of being pregnant after 40 weeks, then you can just pick a day and I'll meet you at the hospital to induce you". SO, now I'm thinking if she is going to be late, how long do I want to wait, AND if I do pick a day to get induced, maybe I'll just get an epidural right away so I feel no pain. How bad can that be? I don't know what to expect, so maybe that's why I'm a little freaked out about feeling contractions. However things do happen, I won't be afraid to ask for drugs. I feel calm about that decision, so happy day.

Reasons to be grateful

I have not been in the best mood lately, mostly due to discomfort with the pregnancy, but I've decided to turn my frown upside down and attempt to make the next few weeks brighter and happier because we have a lot to be thankful for! Namely:

1. A healthy baby girl who will be here soon! (We went to the doctor's office today and everything is going well. All my measurements are all where they need to be and when I told the doctor I was planning on delivering naturally, he said casually "oh yeah....you can do it no problem". Thank the good Lord for a doctor who has faith in me! AND, when they were using their dopplar hand held thingy to find the baby's heart rate, she totally kicked it off....this baby is going to take after me)

2. Big fatty grants that let Gordon go to school FOR FREE! (Thats right... it pays to be poor! Who knew?)

3. Family members who are supportive of us and who are traveling from all over to help with the baby once she is born.

4. Icy hot - who says you have to suffer in pain?!

5. The start of a new semester! The more school Gordon finishes, the closer he is to graduation! The light at the end of the tunnel IS getting brighter.

6. My day of pampering at the spa! I think I truly do have the best husband in the world because he knew I needed this badly so he got me a gift card to the spa in town. 2 weeks today, I will be ready to put my feet up (so they can be rubbed). Gordon = Genius

7. We have a clean warm spacious house to live in! I love our little house with the granite counter tops and the three bedrooms. Feels like home (except not quite)

8. My sister and her family who live close by to keep me sane. Hallelujah. Enough said.

9. Dan, Karen and their family who gave me a stand mixer yesterday! (They're tight.....like unto a dish)

10. The random people who gave us an (italian made, $3000 ) crib! Now, if only we could find the other half...

11. My old friends who are coming back into town who want to come visit me! Oh how great they are!

12. Working Internet! No more of this on again, off again silly business.

13. A dinner of BBQ meatballs and rice and salad. Gordon said "seriously....the best way to a man's heart IS through his stomach". It was so good that he did the dishes afterwards; which he usually is good about doing anyways, but tonight, he actually stated "I'll finish the rest of the dishes. You go sit down". Music to a girls' ears'.

14. And finally, my unfailing friends, Amy and Amy, who will always take my text messages and calls no matter how silly or dumb they are! You guys are the best. Hope to see you soon. If not, talk to you later.

Hope this has enlightened you to look for the brighter parts in your day! I feel much happier.

Finally, our internet is working!

So, lots has happened in the past two weeks! We have been having a great vacation and we definitely had a good Christmas. I made 2 recipe's of my mom's wreath (which makes 4 of them) and Gordon made a 'gingerbread' house at Shayna and Tony's out of graham crackers, complete with a garage and a car. My birthday was considered a paid holiday at my work, so I had the day off even though I got paid. Shayna and her kids came with Gordon and I to the Olive Garden in Idaho Falls for lunch on the 29th and it was divine. I haven't eaten there in a while and boy was it good. (A special thanks to Tamara and her family for the baby gifts and the Olive Garden gift card--it was amazing!) Gordon and I have been working through the break with the occasional day off. Gordon has been sleeping in because he can and will be starting his next semester on the 7th and only has classes from 2-5 every day with an online class. I start my maternity leave on the 16th of January which I cannot wait for. Seriously, all I want to do is rest, relax, practice my breathing and relaxation techniques and get everything ready for the baby. 2 more weeks and I'll be there! I'm already coming up to my 35 week mark and cannot believe how time flies. I look back at different photos of myself and think how little my belly was compared to now. Its a little ridiculous how huge I am, but the bigger the baby, the healthier she'll be when she's born.

Right now, we're at our house watching Zoe and Keegan for Shayna because she has a lot of work to do for check-in's at her apartment complex. They are such a blast, but it makes me realize that I'm going to need a lot more energy come baby. I'm really looking forward to seeing different family members that are traveling many many miles to come visit and help once the baby is born (ie both sets of parents). OH- and we have narrowed down the baby's name to Kate, Emma, Brooke, or Jane. We're undecided, and I wouldn't be surprised if we came up with something completely different from these four once she is born. I want Elizabeth as a middle name, so I think that is set in stone for now. But again, who knows. I tend to be indecisive. Anyways, here are some pictures from the holidays that I couldn't post until now. Any suggestions on the name are welcome!

Gordon's gingerbread house. This is the front view with the garage and the car.


Me at 34 weeks-my belly is huge! If my back doesn't hurt, my ribs sure do. Thank goodness my doctor okayed icy hot.


Gordon on Christmas morning sporting his new sweater from his wonderful wife.


Our little tree with our gifts! It was a great Christmas! I got spoiled rotton!


One of four wreaths I made over the break. We still have one in the freezer for later! Delicious!

The joys of pregnancy

I just wanted to point out that I have a new found love for the following foods, probably thanks to pregnancy:

1. Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on white bread
2. Reduced fat oreos with cold milk
3. Christmas wreath pastry(an Ernhofer family tradition in which we partook yesterday)
4. Spaghetti
5. Tuna fish sandwiches with pickles
6. Sundried tomato salad dressing
7. 9 layer dip
8. Fresca
9. Ice water
10. Sharp cheddar cheese

I am grateful for food.

Everything is turning into baby

On Saturday, Gordon and I went to a baby birthing class! It was very informative (especially for Gordon). It also convinced me to try to have my baby au naturale. Epidurals have a lot of side effects and that makes me nervous, so hopefully, I can handle the pain. My mom did it, my sister did it, so I can too. My mom said its easy as long as I practice and prepare. We learned all about breathing and relaxation techniques. AND, my new favorite thing: counter pressure. My back has been hurting and when Gordon presses on my back it feels great. We also got a tour of the hospital which made me really excited to deliver. The maternity wing has been newly renovated and its so pretty and huge! The nurse giving the tour showed us the monitors that will be on my belly and asked for a volunteer to show everyone how they work. No one did at first, so I raised my hand. I lifted my shirt and sat on the bed in the room and the nurse was like "wow....no stretch marks!" and Gordon under his breath was like "thats right...:)". I guess he was proud. But yeah, the class made us very excited for the upcoming life changing events.

Since my belly is so huge, I have trouble keeping my shirts clean and Gordon finds this humerous. Yesterday, I counted 9 stains on my shirt...all from dinner. Spaghetti sauce and grape juice. Gordon took a picture. Enjoy.

I also attempted to make a homemade lemon merangue pie, however it didn't set. (Thanks a lot Alton Brown) I followed the recipe but it still didn't work. Oh well. We ate half of it.




We got our car seat and stroller in the mail last week after ordering it online! We love love love it! As you can see, we had a fun time putting them both together. It works great!

31 weeks!

So, not much has happened since the last post, except for some severe back pain. I helped someone move from a wheelchair to a chair at work and I think it messed up my lower back. I've been taking tylenol to help and yesterday Gordon got me icy hot. I put it on and then realized I probably should have checked with the doctor first. Online, there are a lot of message boards that say its ok, but I'll probably call tomorrow just to double check. Today at church was pretty brutal- sitting for 3 hours is never a good thing, plus I forgot my usual granola bar and crackers. Silly me.

This coming week, Gordon will be working hard studying and finishing projects for school cause the last day of the semester is the 12th. (I wish that was my last day, too) He's been getting good grades up to this point, so hopefully they won't change/maybe get bumped up a little. He's also been thinking of different masters programs he'd want to take and then started thinking law school. At this point, who knows what the future will hold, but law school seems pretty ambitious. I told him that he should do it, but the thought of 3 more years of (harder) school kind of gave him a headache. We'll keep you all posted about future plans.

Christmas is coming! Surprisingly, Rexburg has not received any snow. Last year at this time, it had snowed over a foot by Halloween. (Thank you global warming) We're holding out on switching our all season tires to the studded ones...I don't know how long it'll last, but hopefully another week. We'll see. Coming up on the 13th, we'll be attending our baby class. I'm pretty excited, but Gordon was invited to go shooting that day, so its almost like i'm dragging him to it. I said that he didn't have to go and I'd find another labor coach and then he insisted on coming. I may have guilted him into it, but he'll thank me later.

9 weeks 3 days to go...

So, I have gotten through the first two trimesters fine and dandy and am cruising through the third. I was extremely tired in the first, really energetic and great in the second and now back to tired (as you can probably tell by the photo...). My body needs to make up its mind.
About the gestational diabetes: all test results came back normal, so still no problems. Hooray. I was happy to hear that I didn't have diabetes, however I was feeling really grouchy and light headed the morning I had to fast. Each hour I returned to get blood drawn, the nurse would ask how I was feeling. I had the same response every time: "hungry, tired, dizzy, light headed". The nurse then said "yup, sounds about right". This exact conversation happened three times that morning, although the second time she said I could have a little water to 'hold me over' (like water holds anyone over....please, lady). I don't think Gordon liked me very much that morning because I was so grouchy. Luckily, for his sake, that didn't last long. At 11 am I had scrambled eggs, toast, and 2-6 pieces of pumpkin pie (Its unclear to me how much I had--I ate a lot of it....but am surprisingly not ashamed).
Today, I had this really weird feeling after dinner and realized it was a craving! I haven't really had any cravings until now. Lucky for Gordon it was chocolate! He was happy to oblige and bought me a big bag of peanut M&M's and caramel hershey kisses. So good! I ate so many I felt sick afterwards, but it was worth it.
Since this blog has sort of become all about me and the baby, I decided to post some photos of Gordon because he's an important part of our little family, too.

I made no-bake cookies and typically, I scoop them out small. Gordon wanted a big one, so that cookie he's eating is like 14 regular sized cookies in one.

We went out to eat for lunch at wingers and Gordon was hungry- I guess he gets hungry like pregnant women do.