Monday, January 20, 2014

Braelin's Nursery

So this last saturday we moved our room upstairs and moved the crib and everything into the basement where our room was. It took ALL day but we got it all done and it looks great and we are very happy with the change, and it is adorable! I love the colors and the few little decorarions I made and especially the crib bedding! Now  just a few more weeks and hopefully there will be a baby in that crib! 








Baby Shower!

I never thought the day would actually come that I would have a baby shower for me. It is so surreal at times how close I am to having this baby! My shower was on January 11th at my parents house and it turned out perfect!! My sister Kari did ALL the decorations and I loved it, it looked so cute and girly! We started to worry if many people would come because we had a few people call and say they couldn't make it because they were sick and a few days before the shower there was a big snowstorm, so people further away didn't make it. But we ended up having a GREAT turn out! So many people showed up and it was packed. I was so spoiled with so much clothes and everything I need for her! I am definitely blessed.

 My only regret from the shower was that we didn't take any pictures of the actual party or opening up presents. But I guess these ones will have to do :)















Worst two pictures ever of me, They both make me look like a beached whale. But I figured I would include them anyways to document. 







Thank you so much to everyone that came to my baby shower and making the day so special for me and getting excited for baby Braelin! It was such a fun day and im so blessed!

Friday, January 17, 2014

Black Friday

After a long thanksgiving day of lots of turkey and mashed potatoes and spending time with family, Kari, hunter Makenzie and I thought we would hit up walmart for some black friday shopping! Now... we don't get crazy like most people. We just go for the movies and thats it. This year they had it so organized that only 20 people could go in at a time and you could only grab 5 movies per person and then you had to go wait in line again if you wanted more. I also love it cause they start at 6pm this year!


                      Hunter was quite the trooper, I love that he'll come do things liket his with me :)




We made it out with all the movies we came for! They are soooo cheap and we decided to stock up on a few kids movies as well since they were so cheap :) I'm loving this new tradition! This year we didn't just do walmart though, we decided cabelas would be fun since they give giftcards/prizes to the first few hundred people. Hunter had some people from work that were camping out overnight, so around 8pm we went and set up chairs and left and our plan was to go back around 3 or 4 am to go sit for a few hours and wait. But unfortunately being pregnant you can't always plan everything and I ended up throwing up ALL night long. It was the worst. And Kari ended up being sick as well. SO hunter went by himself at 2 am and had a blast and came home with $10 gift card to cabelas :) Next year we hope to be able to do it again!

Hunters Ankle Surgery

Most of you who know hunter know how he broke his ankle in basketball in high school and then again on his mission while doing service where he walked on it for 6 months before his companion told on him since his leg was black and purple up to his knee. He has had 3 surgeries to fix it and has had his Dr. tell him he has the ankle of a 90 year old man.



 On November 1 he had ankle surgery number 4! We had been planning on it for awhile and his dad was getting laid off from his job that had great insurance, so we figured we'd do it before december so we could do it while having good insurance!



We woke up bright and early around 4 and then left to the surgery center around 4:30 to be there at 5. We checked in and then they took Hunter right back and hooked up the IV and then after being with them for 30 minutes they called us back and let us sit with him till he went into surgery. We met with the Dr. and he said that he would remove the bone spurs that were in his ankle, make sure the anchors were still holding up, check all the ligaments and check for a few possible tendon tears. After meeting with the Dr. I felt we made the right decision in getting this done and hopefully get hunter out of pain! Then they had us go  out in the waiting room where we waited for almost 2 hours before the Dr. came out again.. He came out, showed us some pictures of the scope they did in hunters ankle and said they removed and smoothed down the bone spurs and that his tendons looked great! (thank goodness) but that his ligaments were really really lose so he tightened them up really tight. He explained to me that he wouldn't be able to move his ankle very well and it will take months to get back to feeling normal but he tightened them up so tight so he wouldn't be able to roll his ankle again (hopefully) but the dr. was VERY confident that this is the last surgery.


They had us wait for about 30 minutes and then took us back to see hunter who was still completely out.. then he started to wake up and just talked for over an hour. I took so many hilarious videos.. if only he'd let me share :) He was in a hard cast for 2 weeks and then a walking boot for 4-5 extra weeks... well only 2 probably cause hunter is so stubborn and wouldn't wear it. But now with physical therapy once every few weeks it seems a lot better! The best part about the surgery is the temporary handicap pass :)







Thursday, January 9, 2014

Pregnancy

The long awaited post!!


Due: February 19,2014

Was this  baby a surprise?

Yes it was a complete surprise! We were shocked when we found out we were expecting a baby. We weren't even going to try for two or three more years, and that was our plan. But obviously someone else didn't care about our plan and decided to send down a little baby when we weren't expecting :) But we couldn't be more excited to start our family even though it wasn't expected at all!





Have you been sick?

Yes, very sick.. and was all the way till about 29 weeks and then I was just a little nauseous and would only throw up once a week. But now at 33 weeks it is back again! It is awful. I live off of Zofran and chicken noodle soup. The dr. was concerned for the first few months of the pregnancy because I was so sick I couldn't even keep water or soup or anything down at all and had lost a lot of weight, and didn't gain any weight until my 24 week appointment. But luckily it has gotten better to wear that I can eat. But being a dental assistant is NOT easy when pregnant. I haven't missed a day at work even though I am usually throwing up at least 3 times before work and when I get to work. And occasionally run out of a room to throw up some more. But looking at spit in the back of peoples mouths is rough. Haha :)

How did you find out??


We found out on June 24! After being almost 10 days late we didn't think much because I am almost always at least a week late.. And there was no chance we could be pregnant. NONE. But then that day at work while looking at the back of peoples mouths and suctioning spit. It was making me gag and dry heave all morning! Luckily one of the girls brought me  sprite and that saved me. After that happened I felt like we should at least just buy a pregnancy test just to confirm that I wasn't pregnant.  So I got home from work, took the test.. waited maybe ten seconds with it flipped down so I couldn't see. When I finally got the courage to look at it. It was Positive! I just started bawling and shaking... all I could think about is if it was real.. what would we do? where would the baby sleep since we lived in my parents basement, we both have insurance through our parents but our baby wouldn't have any insurance... so now we look into Medicaid and chip? What if we cant get either of those? What about work? All these questions running through my head and I still had to tell hunter. Definitely unexpected but at the same time I was so excited to start our little family. All I did was give hunter the pregnancy test and he said, "Are you serious?!?" he was SOO excited. Not exactly how I wanted to tell him but it is what it is :)


How we told our families

We had known we were pregnant just for a week or two when we told my parents on July 3. We would have waited longer to tell them but I thought I would have had to go to the dr. sooner than 12 weeks along so I would need their insurance card and they would want to know why. So we handed my dad his birthday gift and handed my mom a pregnancy test in an envelope and said we got her a gift too. My parents didn't believe us when we told them and neither did my siblings and we told them. Everyone knew it wasn't even in our plans to think about trying for a baby for at least 2 more years.

We waited a few more weeks before we told Hunter's parents on July 24th. We had something special planned for this one. We always wanted to tell everyone in a fun way so a couple days before the owlz baseball game and I had a thought that it would be so fun to have them announce that we were having a baby in February or have some announcement like that when they announce birthdays in the 7th inning. So I called hunter and told him to ask his parents if they wanted to go with us and my parents to the game and they said yes! We were so excited to tell them this way. AND we got the perfect reaction on video! But I can't figure out how to load it... but I guess this picture of hunter's mom will do...




Did you think it was a boy or girl?

We both thought it was a girl. Ever since we got married we just knew our first baby would be a girl! Any dream ive ever had about having a baby it has always been a girl! And we were right :)

 Ultrasound at 16 weeks!


 Ultrasound at 20 weeks! She is definitely not a shy little girl!
GENDER REVEAL
Everyone always asked when we would find out what we were having. We told everyone we didn't want to do the early ultrasound that they offer at 16 weeks because we didn't trust them... but little did they know that we really did go and do one on September 7 :) We got a bunch of blue and pink balloons and put a couple pink balloons in a box and then let them go in my parents house to tell them. they were so excited cause now they have one of each grandchild!
Hunters parents we had an idea to tie a blue and pink balloon  to a target and hunter would shoot one, and whatever Balloon was left was what we were having! They loved it and it was such a fun way to announce the gender!



Names??

We are naming her Braelin Nicole Chamberlain. I have always loved the name Braelin since my sophomore year in high school and when hunter and I met he loved it too. And The middle name Nicole after Hunters sister. 

20 weeks!!

24 weeks!!

28 weeks!

So at 28 weeks they had me do the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I was a little worried just because they said it is hereditary and my sister Kari had it very bad when she was pregnant. So I went in early in the morning, drank the nasty sugary drink and waited for the poke! It was really hard to wait and not throw up that drink. They only give you five minutes to drink it and I barely made it half way through the drink and almost threw it up. But luckily was able to keep it all down!






So I had my appointment a few days after the glucose test. They had my results back and I had low iron.. which I have most of the time so far. They gave me a list of foods to eat that can help increase the iron intake. They said when I'm low on iron, the baby is taking so much already and i'm not getting as much as I need. They also said that for the glucose they like you to be under 139 and I was right on 139. They said they weren't majorly concerned since my levels weren't high.. but they would have liked it under 139. My dr. said to just go easy on candy, ice cream and soda and I said I already haven't really eaten any of that since I've been pregnant and then he talked about how I was right on the border of having gestational diabetes being hereditary. Definitely not what I wanted to hear. But thankfully they didn't send me to do the test again and I don't need to see a diabetes dr. since my levels weren't high. They just said they would probably do an ultrasound once I get closer to check on her and make sure she is okay and isn't bigger. Since most babies that the moms have gestational diabetes are born bigger. But so far she is still very healthy and I haven't had any problems!


 We LOVE our car seat and stroller and got such a great deal on it too!! I can't wait till our sweet baby girl is in it! 

 And Hunter's mom made this cute car seat cover! I'm in love with it.

 



32 weeks!


 Christmas Eve at 32 Weeks :)

 16 weeks

 24 weeks!

 Our flexible girl at 28 weeks!


AND I finally gave in at 34 weeks to buying some maternity scrubs for work. I still think I could have made it the whole way in my scrubs, it was just getting hard to breath :)


WHAT I NOW KNOW AT 34 WEEKS!

-- Watching your weight on the scale go up every few weeks  is hard.. Although I do feel fortunate that i've only gained 15 pounds and only have 6 weeks to go! 

-- I can now say that I'm going to give birth next month! I think its finally starting to sink in.

--I'm really hoping she is born Valentines weekend sometime, that way on that monday (presidents day) Hunter won't have school :) But with my luck it will be a random day during the week. 

-- I have contractions a lot! And have the past few months. Nothing too painful yet though :)

-- Going to the bathroom a million times a day. Really. I couldn't even count how many times. 

-- Heart burn is the worst!! I feel like I could breath fire. Tums just make me throw up so I take zantac but only being able to take 2 a day doesn't cut it. 

-- Nausea. The worst part and throwing up, but hey I've learned I can multitask and drive while throwing up :)

--Charlie horses are the WORST. So painful. 
 
-- I have had zero cravings so far. 

-- No stretch marks.... yet! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

--My wedding ring still fits perfect! A lot of people have told me how lucky I am for that cause most of them had to stop wearing it at 5 months. 

-- This little girl is SO active! Every ultrasound we've had the dr. said how active she was or the ultrasound tech usually called her a mischief maker because she was so stubborn and we had to have a few extra ultrasounds so they could see her heart,lungs, stomach and all that stuff!

-- We got a free 4D ultrasound that some students did and practiced on me when I was 28 weeks. She has the BIGGEST lips! I mean, how could she not with me and hunter, but she is so cute. Although I've only showed a few family members and refuse to show anyone else because we showed a friend and they just said how creepy she was. That is not something you say to a pregnant woman. 

-- I'm still working and am planning  on it until the day I have the baby! AND I haven't missed a day of work yet. Not many pregnant women can say that ;)  It gets exhausting hunching over people all day long but I love it and it keeps me busy and keeps my mind off things. I'm excited to get six weeks off to spend with my baby girl till I have to send her off to a sitter :( 













Sunday, January 5, 2014

Las Vegas!!

Back in the first week of july we went to Las Vegas for a little vacation! We hadn't been anywhere since our honeymoon and thought it would be fun to just go somewhere close to get away. We booked our hotel which was the mirage and Left June 30 early in the morning. About a week or two before we had our vacation we found out that I was pregnant. We thought about cancelling the trip but decided to just go. I almost wish we would have cancelled because I was SO sick the whole time. I felt so bad but Hunter is the best husband ever cause he was so good to just take care of me and let me stay in the hotel pretty much the whole time.

We went to Pawn stars early the first morning we were there and there were only a few people there. We probably stayed for an hour at least just walking around looking at everything. And a few people from the show were there so that was fun! But you aren't allowed to take pictures.




After that we put went to the Counts Kustoms place and hunter wanted to see if somehow we could go in. We got there and they let us right in and they do tours all day so we were able to do that as well!









Although I did manage to do this, the Gatorade bottle had a hole in it somewhere.... Luckily the cleaning person was really really nice and said not to worry about it but normally they would charge for something like this.




Sadly that is about all we did while in vegas. That first week of july it was 120 degrees the whole time we were there. We only went to the hotel pool 2 times when I felt good enough and maybe lasted an hour at the most. The water was so hot and  it was way too hot outside. Most of the time If I even walked outside I always smelt something BBQ or smoke and would just start throwing up in the elevators, garbage cans, anywhere I could. So we literally spent most of the time in our hotel room watching tv with the AC cranked up or walking around the hotel when I felt I could do it. It was still a fun little get away, but would have been much better if I wasn't so sick with pregnancy!!