If I Were Invisible

If you know my wife and I at all, you know that whenever one of us is in the shower and the other one is in bathroom, we start singing the infamous stalker song, "If I Were Invisible." This morning, when Malea began singing that song to me I informed her that if I were invisible I would do something useful with my super powers, instead of just creepily watching people shower. This sparked an interesting conversation about what you could do with invisibility.

After some serious thought and conversation I came to the conclusion that the only useful thing you could do with invisibility was to become a world famous assassin or a first class thief. So basically what I am saying is that invisibility is more of a super villain power.

If you can think of anything more useful to use invisibility for, then good for you, but I couldn't.

33 Weeks

Here I am at 33 weeks. I'm really surprised that I feel so exhausted and that my body aches so much. I wish I could just work 3-4 hours per day and then rest. It's tough being among so many other pregnant women at work and being the only one that is struggling to be there all day everyday. My ribs and back hurt most of the time, but being exhausted is the worst. I think since I was so sick during the first and second trimesters that I lost all muscle tone. I'm learning what I want to do "next time" to make this easier. I'm also pretty sure "next time" is going to take some serious recovery time.

Hypnotoad... Err I Mean Babies

So, as I am pretty sure you already know, Malea and I are doing a hypnosis birthing class. One of the questions the instructor asked prior to starting class was what I thought of the class and I responded with "Meh."

When I first heard about the class I thought of babies with strange glowing eyes. This probably had a lot to do with the fact my favorite television show is Futurama and the hypnotoad is a great character from the show. For some reason I picture a babies face on the hypotoad.


Barring my weird obsession with Futurama, I have a lot of faith in the hypnosis program. Hypnosis is a very powerful tool that everyone uses. If you have every been tickled and forced yourself to not laugh, you have used your brain in a semi-hypnotic state. Anytime that you drive home and don't realize what you are doing until you get home, you are using hypnosis.

I am very glad that Malea has found something she feels comfortable with. I fully support her in her endeavor. I am excited to use the program and feel that we can use some of the principles we are learning in other avenues. Maybe we can use these techniques to help Malea sleep more soundly at night.

Hypnobabies

Last night we had our first childbirthing class. We had our pick from the hospital classes, Lamaze, and other birthing technique classes - and we (ok, James wasn't really involved) decided to go with Hypnobabies. The first class was good and I thought I'd share my thoughts.

For those who aren't aware, there are lots of choices in having babies these days. There are traditional hospital births, birthing center births, home births. They can be attended by an Obstetrician, a Primary Care Physician, a Certified Nurse Midwife or a nurse. For labor, people can choose from traditional anesthesia (epidural), traditional medication (opiates), or various non-medicated techniques. Some more common ones are the Bradley Method, Lamaze, Hypnobirthing and Hypnobabies.

Hypnobabies is a pretty complete natural birthing program that uses hypnosis (deep relaxation) to help your body work with contractions to help labor progress comfortably and more efficiently. My good friend, Esther, first introduced me and since then I've heard only great experiences. I'm not particularly scared of the labor and delivery, so I can easily buy into the fact that it doesn't have to be terrible. In fact, it can be a really memorable and wonderful experience. I think my sister, Amanda, is also thinking of using this technique. (eh, Manie?) My colleague who used it told me she wishes she could go back and redo her labor and delivery because it was such a wonderful experience. That's pretty cool.

I'm thinking I'll still deliver at the hospital, but maybe find a doctor/nurse that is on board with my "alternative" pain-relief choice. Having never had a baby, I reserve the right to use traditional medication without eliciting anyone's judgement. But I really think I can do this naturally.

What are YOUR thoughts on the choices in child birth these days? Anyone else used Hypnobabies?

Mother's Day

Since I was 9, I wanted to be a mom. That's when my sister Krista was born and I fell in love with her and taking care of her. Amanda and I shared the room next to her and I still remember some nights hearing her cry and getting up before my mom could. I remember rocking her to sleep and singing primary songs. I knew that was all I wanted to do as soon as I grew up.

Life doesn't really go the way you plan. I went to college and got my degree. I found a wonderful man to commit to forever. I took a job and James and I decided to let fate decide when we got pregnant. A year went by. Two years went by. Three years went by. James graduated. I was promoted at work. Four years went by. I started to read more about what might be wrong. I went to my Primary Care doctor. I went to an OB Specialist. I went to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. I turned 27. We were approaching 5 years of marriage.

Last Mother's Day, I was blessed to borrow my beloved nieces Liz and Madi. I cannot tell Karla what it meant to me to have a baby in my arms on that day. I still cried myself to sleep like every year, but I felt such love for those girls and I had renewed hope. These are my little women last year:

Then, an amazing blessing. My colleague and his wife got pregnant through the Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine office in Utah. He talked about it and mentioned I might like to call them. I'd been burned and didn't think much about it. He emailed me the number and I still ignored it. Several weeks later, I finally made the call. I was in their office within the week. Right away, I knew they were different. They looked at ME and MY situation. Not just the normal "take Clomid and call me in 3 months." As soon as they got a picture of my needs, they set up an aggressive treatment plan. Clomid, shots, bi-weekly ultrasounds to see how it was working, HCG, progesterone and perfect timing. 15 days later, I got my blood work back and I was PREGNANT! Anne Marie Martin and Cristin Slater are miracle workers. I truly believe God placed them on this earth to help families achieve procreation.

While my pregnancy has been rough, Sunday's Mother's Day was a day for me to pass on the usual wallowing in self-pity. I was able to stop thinking about my sad situation, and I thought about those mothers who made me who I am. I think I'm proving to myself that as I get closer to being a mother, I learn what being a mother is really about: putting yourself aside and thanking Heavenly Father for those that have blessed your life.

Thanks, Da Mamma Stephenson. You are a wonderful role model and I can't wait to give my baby the love and joy you shared with me! Thanks to all of those mother's that I know (I do mean YOU) who show me how to be patient, loving, giving, fun, attentive, educational, organized and to value the gift of new life. Finally, it's my turn!

Kitchen Remodel: The Floor

The floor is done! Here's the progression from nasty floorboards to mesh stuff to pretty stone tile!

30 Weeks

Man, my body hurts. Am I a total weakling? Maybe my lack of experience with pain is skewing my perspective. Maybe sitting in an office chair all day is why I feel like I'm going to break in half. 10 more weeks to go! Wahoo!