29 Week Appointment

Went to the Dr today. I weigh 280 lbs. There. I said it. I worked so hard to get down below 250, and once I hit 249, BAM! like a bitch slap from Superman, I got pregnant.

When I had my first couple of appt's, my dr and I talked about how I could come out ahead. Since I had some to lose still, I could potentially put on no pounds and still be incredibly healthy! I tried watching my weight as much as possible. At last months appt, at 25 weeks, I had still only gained about 13 lbs. Not too shabby. If I continued like I was, I would have probably only gained 30 lbs.

Well, here it is my almost 30 week and I've hit 30 lbs. HOW?! WHY?!

Needless to say, I can only pin point one thing that has changed since last month... Child Birth Classes. We are doing the Bradley Method which is a 12 week course. They strongly encourage healthy eating habits so mom and baby are healthy at labor and post partum. Jason and I have been working diligently on the check sheet. Per day I am to consume: 5 grains, 5 proteins, 2 eggs, 2 green veggies, 1 green veggie, 1 fruit, 3 fats and a bunch of water. (I think that's everything). I'm also to eat 1 liver, 5 baked potatoes and 5 yellow or orange fruits/veggies.

I was totally stoked cause I was having a bowl movement nearly every day! Coming from someone who unpregnant was having 1 every 3-5 days and pregnant about the same, you could see why I was so excited! I thought that because I was eating so good and making BM's so often that I was on the right track to healthy pregnancy.

However, when the dr told me I was at 280, I was instantly bummed. Am I eating too much? I felt like I was. I was eating all the time, but I think I was eating meals instead of snacks for most things. Way too many calories.

THE ACTION PLAN:
Jason and I discussed the situation and my concerns and whatnot. I did start eating more grains and meats than I have been this entire pregnancy. I love bread, pasta and meat so much that I can't control myself sometimes and overeat them. We've decided that fruits and veggies are great for me. I can continue steaming 2 cups of broccoli and eating that as the main dish with minimal other sides to go with it. I will continue snacking on fruit cups, yogurt and other things. Don't worry, I love food too much to not eat, it's just that even for me, I knew that I was eating too much cause I was always on full.

We're having a honeymoon baby!!!

As mostly everyone knows, Jason and I were married on Leap Day 2008. It was a beautiful Friday night. No wind. Not cold. From the week that it was, which was very windy and cold, we were blessed to have such perfect weather for our outdoor ceremony and reception.

That night, we made a choice. Jason wanted to use some kind of "prevention", but then I reminded him of the kind of people we were... open many doors and Heavenly Father will guide us into the right one. We decided that prevention wasn't necessary and Heavenly Father would bless us with a child when he was ready to.

Years went by, test after test, poke after every prod, tear after every negative and still no Baby Graf. Little did we know that Heavenly Father did bless us with a Wedding Night/Honeymoon baby. He was just working on Leap Years instead of normal human years.

You with me still??? This coming Monday night we will be married for 3 human years which is 3/4 of a Leap Years. Human gestation is 9-10 months. We are due on May 13 which is just past 3/4 of a year, which is just past 9 months, which means we got pregnant on our wedding night or during our honeymoon!!!

Isn't that exciting??? yes, I know. I'm a big nerd and have way too much commuting time to think about silly things like this.

Please get out of my hiding spot

For a few weeks now, since we found out that BG can hear every little thing we do, we decided to start reading to him. Every night, we do our nighttime exercises, then read a chapter or story from one of the books we have.

I read through The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Jason has been working through Grimm's Fairy Tales. Well, since Jason has been reading, I get to goof off and not pay attention. So what do I do? I try to get BG to listen and show us that he's paying attention.

I have found the trick to get him in an uproar! Down at the bottom of the "Fundus", I put the side of my hand. I push in real deep trying to get him out of the cradle of my pelvic bone. I then push up, towards my belly and chest. Not a lot. Just enough to feel him from that angle. In no time at all, he is moving and squirming like he's trying to shove me out of his hiding space!

Jason was wondering why I was giggling, so as he continued reading, I took his hand and replaced mine and he started giggling. Never had we felt him so strong.

Hiccup!

I hate getting the hiccups. No kidding, every time I get them, I have them for at least 15-20 minutes and they're strong ones. Ones that almost hurt. That's why I hate getting them.


When will I be able to start feeling BG's hiccups though? I thought by now I'd feel them, but still... nothing. Someone in my group said that they feel like kicks, but more rhythmic. Have you not met BG's dad? He has rhythm! So, is he just tapping to the rhythm that is naturally inside him? Or am I mistaking hiccups for kicks? Someone, please help and explain! Draw me a picture if need be.

Sleep now, cause you won't be able to when the baby comes.

This morning was very interesting and funny to Jason and I. Mornings are our hang out time. We use to never have them, except on Sundays, but lately (due to Jason's situation), we've had them quite regularly.

Jason got up before me, and then came and laid and hung out in bed with me. We were trying to get Lucas to wake up, but we were unsuccessful. We tried singing to him, talking to him, scaring him by randomly screaming. Then we went to the physical attempts. We got a mag-lite and was circling my belly with it. We tried pushing him around. Little bugger had no response.

Jason asked if he was ok, and I told him, "If he's anything like his parents or his parents families, he's probably in there, pissed cause we won't leave him alone to sleep!"

Jason then laid his head on my belly, and said in his best Darth voice, "Lucas, I am your father. Please move." To which he got a kick in the head. LOL It sufficed us. We left him alone after that.

He has moved more today. I ate a lot of good food at the What to Expect Vegas Mommies meet up, but he didn't move hardly at all. Then I went to a ward activity where we had tacos. I put some lime on the tacos and boy oh boy did he start kicking! It was awesome cause he moved for quite a while. I guess he likes citrus, so I will be getting more rainbow sherbet!

Anyway, from what my mom and Jason's mom has told me about us as babies, I am pretty sure BG and I will be getting lots of sleep together. I know he's still awake at night. I stayed up way too late last night watching a movie, and he was still kicking then. But, I know he's gonna be an eater and a sleeper, which is AOK with me.

YOWCHIE!!!

What was that?!

Have I expressed to you all how great Jason is? We signed up for a birthing class that started last Tuesday and the instructor told us to read 3 books. One specifically for mom's, one specifically for dad's and the last for us both. I ordered the books shortly after signing up for the class and they arrived the week after Christmas (when we were still figuring out what was the deal with Jason's foot).

When we found out Jason was going to have to have surgery and wouldn't be working for quite a few weeks, we both thought it was the perfect time for him to read "his" book. A month should be adequate time for him to read a book, even if TV and WOW took up some time in his non-working life.

I was very impressed that he finished the book last Wednesday. I haven't even really touched my books. (Deer caught in the headlights!) Last night, as I was laying in bed reading to BG, and Jason, I got a pain in my lower back. It slowly came around to the front of my belly/uterus/whatever, and made laying down really uncomfortable. I tried breathing. I tried moving around. WHY WON'T THIS GO AWAY?!

After a minute or so, it was over. Nothing. Jason was confused for a second, and after I explained what had just happened, he said, "Oh. That's just the Braxton Hicks."

First of all Buddy, how do you know? You didn't feel it. Second of all, WHY DO YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING THAN ME?!

He then told me that I am at a stage where I can start having them and that he's pretty sure that's what had happened. I feel so stupid. I really need to catch up on my reading if he's gonna outsmart me!

Anyway, at the birthing class tonight I explained what happened to the Instructor and she told me the same thing. Great, now Jason's gonna have gloating rights. However, I am stoked that I know what they are now and won't confuse them with "stretching". And, I'm SUPER stoked that I have a few more months to practice getting through them. It wasn't so much painful as it was uncomfortable. They'll probably get worse, more intense, but after practicing how to deal with them, I'm sure I will be fine.

Mom, Jason drank my drink!

He really did. When I did my first original chug, I left maybe 3 drops in there so he could see how potent it was. When I described it as the juice we had at church events with cookies, it tasted like that but with a little bit of Dimetapp flavor too. He believed me, but you don't really get the effect of the powerfulness of the drink from 3 drops.

After finding out I didn't need to take the retest, I left the drink in the car. It wasn't exactly hot outside, it was still pretty chilly, but I think the drink is best when chilled. However, driving home from church today did not stop Jason from trying the lukewarm orange flavored glucose sugar drink. I tried to stop him and tell him to chill it first, but then he said it wasn't that bad. He kept milking it and I told him, I had to chug it in 5 minutes. You have to too to get the full effect.

When he was finished with the drink, he agreed with me on many points:

• the drink is better when chilled
• it does taste like the "bug juice" with a small hint of Dimetapp flavor
• he needs to take a nap (after all the sugar burned and he "crashed")

I love my husband. He is so goofy and his curiosities crack me up!

I'm my Dr's favorite

Ok, maybe not. However, I got another call from my Dr's office today (3 calls in 3 days!). This time from the Dr's Assistant (that's what we'll call her, cause she's not really the nurse, but she is ALWAYS with the dr, taking down his notes and stuff).

"Hi Jessica! This is Crystal from Dr Swainston's office. I spoke with Dr Swainston about the situation that happened with your glucose test and he said that you don't need to retest on Monday. He said that if your body can handle 2 drinks and that's all it went up, you will be fine. If you have any questions, you can call us back."

Sweet! But what am I gonna do with this sugar drink? Maybe I can get Jason to drink it. He's curious enough...

Glucose Test Results

I had to work today. So, when I took my lunch at 11 am and saw I had a missed call from my Dr, I wasn't surprised. They had called a little before 9:30 and left me a message saying, "Hi Jessica. This is Cheryl from Dr Swainston's office. We got your test results back from yesterday and need you to call us back at your earliest convenience."

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

I call, "Hi Cheryl, this is Jessica Graf. You got my test results?"

"We did. And, with the results, it looks like you have high sugar content, so we're gonna need for you to come in and do more testing."

"Ok. Well, let me tell you a funny story and we'll go from there..."

I then told Cheryl about the situation the day before and she told me that my story makes the results make sense. Everything was in normal range except my sugar level which was extremely high (which like gasoline goes into the system immediately). She kept apologizing profusely. I told her it was ok. If they made me drink gasoline that's one thing to try and swallow, but it was just over concentrated juice. I'd live. She also informed me the regular Phleb is on vaca and New Girl really isn't New Girl, she's Fill-In Girl.

Cheryl told me that I would just have to retest the one hour test, we'll get the results from it and if that one isn't better, then we'll go from there. She left a bottle for me at the front desk to pick up and I could come in on Monday for the retest.

Funny how fast good gossip travels! When picking up the newest bottle of sugar, the front desk clerk kept apologizing and telling me how bad she felt for me. Not that I'm a fit thrower, but what would've happened if I was?!

GLUCOSE TEST

At my last appointment (Jan 31), my dr told me that I will need to do my Glucose Test the next week. They gave me a 50mL of barely liquidized sugar and sent me on my way with my instructions.

-Drink Juice within a 5 minute period
-45 minutes later, show up to Dr office to have blood drawn

Easy enough. (The instructions were a little more detailed, but I figured I'd spare you the boring details.) We decided that Wednesday was a perfect day for taking the test. It was then or Monday, and Monday was already jam packed with events, so we went on Wednesday. After Jason's dr appt, off Flamingo and Sandhill, I chugged my drink then headed to Lake Mead and Buffalo to my dr's office. I let them know I needed to see the phlebotomist to take my blood and into the back I went. (Without Jason. See, we got to the west side of town so quickly and had just enough time to run to Jo-Ann's. The cutting line at Jo-Ann's was nothing, but when we went to check out, there were tons of people! Jason told me to go to the dr and he would stay there til I was done.)

There was a different girl, a small white girl compared to the ethnic (I'm not sure what ethnicity she is) small girl that has been doing the blood tests for me for the last year. No worries though. As long as you know how to do your job, I'm ok with it. I tell New Girl that I'm there for a glucose test and she gets out a juice. She gets a 50 mL juice out and tells me to drink it within 5 minutes. I start to chug.

When I worked at the Dr's office many moons ago, I never really paid attention to the glucose tests. They were done in back, not at the front counter where I was, so how was I supposed to know that I wasn't supposed to have 2 drinks?!

I finished the drink in 3 minutes and New Girl told me to come back in an hour to have the blood drawn. I told her that's why I was there cause I just had a drink an hour ago. (OH SHIZ! face on New Girl.) "You what?!"

"I had a drink an hour ago. Was I not supposed to drink this one?"

"No! Oh crap!"

After a minute of freaking out, on her part, I told her to just draw the blood real quick and hopefully the results would be ok. Maybe the sugar wasn't in my system yet. But after talking to my dad, he explained it as such...

You have built a really nice bonfire. Now, because I have silly brothers, and guy friends, they think it will be cool to throw some gasoline on the fire. As soon as they throw it on the fire, it burns up til it's gone. My body is the fire, and the gasoline is the sugar. It goes into your system immediately and burns off.

OH! Ok. I get it. That explains sugar highs! My results are going to be off the chart!!! (they come back tomorrow)

3 things learned from today; 1. Don't go to Dr appt without Jason. 2. Know the procedure and make sure your tech knows the procedure for that office. 3. A large dose of sugar means you will need a nap for when you crash.

Eye Color

My genetics class my junior year of high school taught me that blue eyes are dominate in genes. It also taught me that boobs come from the dad's mother's side and baldness comes from the mother's dad side.

I wonder what traits our little BG will have. Already, I know he's like his daddy. He has one mannerism like his daddy I can tell already. I have never been able to sleep with my arms above my head. If I get hot under the covers, I pull my arms out of the hot and rest them on top of the blanket. A few weeks ago I spotted Jason with his hands above his head sleeping like he hadn't a care in the world. I thought it was a one time thing, but no. I've caught him that way quite a lot. In one of BG's ultrasound pic's, that's exactly how he was laying. Arms above his head without a care in the world.

(In this pic you can see BG and his arms above his head.)

I know it's Fast Sunday, but it's hard for me to fast while I have a little monster inside that makes me sick if I don't eat. So, this morning, I had a juice box. Ya, it wasn't much, but I also had some of Jason's oatmeal. ha ha Like that sounds any better. I knew I'd be hungry shortly, so I made some egg salad sandwiches for lunch (during or after church).

Because church was over at 330, and we decided we'd stay for our combined ward choir, we had our sandwiches in between the end of church and choir. While sitting on the sofa in the foyer, I took about 2 bites and BG went crazy! He gets so excited when I eat. It really is cute. I hope he keeps that personality when he gets here. Just like his dad... let him sleep, he's happy; feed him, he's happy. There's not much that will make him upset. Not that he's inside screaming. It's like a hot tub in there. Except for the jets. However, he does get belly massages, so it's still pretty nice.

There are other things I wonder about this little guy. Will he have green eyes like Jason? Or, blue eyes like me? Will he have short sausage toes or long monkey toes he can pick things up with? Will he have musical abilities? Will he have the toe head I have always dreamed of? Will he have a short button nose like mine? Or, a long strong nose like Jason? It's so exciting to see what this little guy will look like and how he'll act. I'm hoping that since Jason and I are pretty laid back (except for when I'm super stressed), he'll be the same. Sleep, eat, laugh, repeat.

Hospital Tours

When we first found out we were pregnant, there were 2 hospital choices - Centennial Hills or Mountain View. Jason told me that while he's "down", he wants to take tours cause he will be able to get a wheelchair to "tour" with. (I wish I got a cool vehicle to cruise around the maternity ward in.)

We went to Centennial Hills tour on Sunday. This was Jason's first choice. I really liked the idea of it. It's newer than MV, which means it has newer equipment which we really liked. However, with the birth method/plan we have, we aren't going to need much more than a bed so new equipment doesn't really matter unless we have an emergency. Based on the very basics we knew about CH, we really liked it. We still wanted to tour the ward just cause we wanted to get the feel of it.

We showed up and there was a lady with a wheelchair dropping someone off at their car. I asked if Jason could use the wheelchair and she was all for it. We told her we were there for the tour and she told us to follow her cause she was the one directing it. We followed her to the maternity ward and there it was. A beautiful table with cookies, juice and water. Yes. We will deliver here! ha ha ha just kidding.

5 minutes til tour time and Jason and I were the 7th couple to show up. I thought, oh good, this will be a small group, we'll be able to have answers to our questions and have a great tour. Well, then, as the nurse came out to start the tour, about 3 more couples showed up, one of which who brought 3 little boys, a sister and her boyfriend and their mother! I was hoping someone was staying in the lobby with the boys, but nope. EVERYONE in the family joined the tour. It was a little rough trying to get into all the rooms with all the other people, and the nurse didn't talk too loud, so it was a little bothersome. What I do like about CH is that they only take the baby from the room if the mother/father asks. Also, they provide a steak dinner for the new parents with sparkling cider. I LOVE Sparkling Cider!

On a spiritual note, I was looking for a sign that would help me know which hospital to deliver at. While viewing the Recovery Room, I got a warm fuzzy. I pictured Jason and I in our room with our friends and family visiting, coming to see us and the newest addition to the Graf-Claessens family. I could fel the pang behind my eyes that was trying to tell my ducts to start tearing, but I fought it, recooped and finished the tour.

I figured there should be more questions to ask, but I couldn't think of any. Also, Jason, Mr Information, didn't ask many questions. I guess being the last people in the group made it a little difficult for us to be up by the nurse to hear everyone's questions and ask some ourselves.

Today, Saturday, we toured Mountain View. I have many friends who have delivered there and since I work right down the street from MV, we get a lot of customers who work at MV and some at MV and CH. I ask them how they feel about each one and they all say, MV. Since it is an older hospital, Jason and I were not as excited about it. I like that it is not even 5 minutes from work. And, there is a lot of food places around to have food brought over! I also have a special little interest in MV because it is a Sunrise company and nearly 30 years ago, I was delivered at Sunrise. As were 2 of my other siblings.

As we walked inside the building, a rush of "yes, this is the place" came over me. Tears actually pooled as I was asking to borrow a wheelchair. I went outside with the wheelchair and then we both came in and waited in the lobby with the other expectant couples/mothers. Michelle, our tour guide, introduced herself and then took us back to the education rooms. We had to go through the kitchen to get to them, which I could smell the gravy and started craving it. Good thing tours are only 20 min. I know I just had some Chipotle before the tour, but can't you smell that country gravy?! Probably being smothered over some potatoes or biscuits or even better yet, french fries?!

There were about 8 couples. Nice size group. And, not that I'm against kids, but it was only the couples. Michelle went over all the things we could ever possibly know about MV. She told us about visiting hours, different classes the hospital offers, and other history about the hospital. One thing I was really impressed with, is she went over what we need to do before coming in for the big event. She told us there are 3 things we need to do: Pre-register (and why), find a pediatrician, and get a car seat, get it out of the box, play with it, install it and stop by one of the places that does free car seat checks. Wow. Thank you for the info Michelle!

After about 10 minutes in there, we went to the Maternity Level. As I walked off the elevator, Another wave of warm fuzzies attacked me. (Geez, am I having an emotional day today? Or is it just this place?) We walked to the level 2 nursery (for premies and other babies that need special attention) and saw a couple little babies in there. They were so adorable! So tiny, but so happy to be swaddled in their little blankets and sleeping in a low lit room. We then walked down to LND. These rooms aren't as nice as CH, but they are nice. There are large rooms and small rooms. Rooms with tubs and jets and rooms with showers. I felt like I was in a Cat in the Hat LND ward. Any kind of room you could dream of they had. I really liked that they had tubs. That was something I forgot to ask at CH.

Jason, being so well read on Husband Coached Childbirth, was asking lots of questions too. He asked how they felt about natural childbirth, do they offer hot compresses or would we need to bring some, what about perennial massages, and do they follow birth plans? For first time parents, there were other vet parents that were very impressed with us. They strongly encourage skin to skin contact and as long as both mom and baby are fine, baby can stay on mom for however long she wants.

The only thing I did not like about MV is that there is no choice, they will take your baby away for a couple hours. Preferably when the mother is needing time to clean up herself and rest. However, they try to make you feel better by saying, the dad or someone else can have a wristband that will allow them to stay with the baby at all times. This is something I'm having a problem with cause that means that Jason will have to leave me. And, if I don't want him to leave me, he leaves BG for those couple hours. Our little family gets separated. Boo! I understand why they do it, I just think that it should be a case by case kind of thing. Michelle told us that they take the baby out cause generally the rooms are so full of people and noise that the nurses aren't able to hear and monitor the baby to make sure everything is as it should be. They also take the baby in the nursery to give them their first bath. CH does everything in the room with the parents. So, we have to figure out if that will work for us. I'm sure it will, but it still super sucks.

We then went to the Recovery Rooms. I've been there before visiting friends. They're nice comfy rooms with views. Again, some are larger than others. They said that you can request a larger or smaller room and if they have it available, you get it. While in this room, I had yet another warm fuzzy attack.

With everything that went on, and how the tour itself went at MV, I am pretty sure that is where we will be going. CH had many great things and we will still take another tour, preferably a non-Sunday one, and ask all our questions, but I still think, MV is our choice.

Carl chooses Mountain View too! Good Choice Carl.

Heartburn = Ugh!

I haven't had too much heartburn since getting pregnant. Just the normal stuff that I get every few months.

HOWEVER, the last week has been excruciating!!! Kid you not, as I was making spaghetti and meat sauce last week, I could feel the heartburn starting. I WASN'T EVEN EATING IT, JUST PREPARING IT, AND I GOT IT!

This week hasn't been any better. I think I will be carrying a little tub of TUMS with me. That way I'm not making an emergency pit stop at the Pharmacy for a few like I did tonight.