Potter Maternity Shoot

Hey loves,

Super excited to finally blog about this! We just got back our maternity pictures and I am so freaking excited about them! We did our shoot with PR moments photography. Priscilla, is sincerely and truly amazing and great! We loved working with her! We took our pictures at Jessie's Grove winery in Lodi, Ca. There had to be a little bit of dramatic flair for our day! I had originally wanted a sunny, shadowy sunset shoot. Of course, the day we did our pictures was the day the weather decided to unleash massive rain storm. I was pretty bummed. I wanted to reschedule, but Priscilla and hubs were very optimistic everything would be fine. Thankfully they were right! Even though it was cloudy, the clouds were spectacular and I'm very excited how they turned out! Our "theme" (if you will) was modern meets country chic. I couldn't be more pleased with the turn out!  Enjoy!

Grandparents

 2 weeks ago, we went to a Superbowl party at a friend's house. The guys were hanging out and one asked Shannon about our baby and her "grandparents".

Shannon then had to explain that both of his parents and my father are deceased, so our little girl will have just one grandparent, my mother. Our friend was so taken aback that Shannon has lost both parents and I had already lost my dad. Normally, people our age don't lose our parents that young.

Shannon's story breaks my heart into million little pieces. When Shannon was 18, his beautiful mother passed away from colon cancer. Then on Memorial day 2005, his dad also passed away from  cancer. About 4 months later, my father passed away from cancer. While talking about my dad is very therapeutic for me, talking about Shannon's parents is extremely painful for him. The thing that amazes me about my wonderful hubby is that he is doing so incredibly well considering he has lost so much family already (he has also lost all of his grandparents). 

Shannon shared with me his conversation from the Superbowl. Thanks to my awesome hormones, I broke down and cried. It kills me that our precious little girl will never know of her amazing Potter grandparents, nor my incredible father. I am OF COURSE not discounting my mama. She is the most amazing woman in the world, and is fantastic grandmother to her grandbabies. It just hurts my heart that my girl won't get to experience all of her grandparents.

This has been a tender subject for me. When I got married, my heart ached because I longed to have my dad walk me down the aisle and felt very jealous of girls who had that opportunity. When my girlfriends or girls in general would complain about their in-laws, it hurt, because I have never had the opportunity to get to know mine. I wish so badly I could have known them. From the stories I have heard, they were the most incredible people. I wish Shannon knew my father. Daddy was a gentleman, charming, hilarious and precious.

I remember the first time we laid eyes on Muggle, at our ultrasound. She was this cute, tiny little bean pole then. I remember leaving and breaking down (thanks hormones). It just seemed to hit me all at once that my daddy wouldn't be here to be a part of this, and neither would Shan's parents. It just didn't seem fair.

::Going back to the Superbowl conversation::

I jokingly said to Shan that we should put out a Craigslist ad for "Wanted, 3 grandparents". While he did laugh, Shannon reminded me that even though our little Muggle wouldn't have all of her grandparents, she had oodles of other family members and good friends that already love the crap out of her. This is so true! At times, Shannon and I have been overwhelmed (in a good way) by people's good wishes, love and support. It brought more tears to my eyes because Shannon is right, she is so loved, and ultimately, loved immensely by our heavenly father.

It is a good thing to know that while our girl may not have all of her grandparents in the traditional sense, she will definitely be loved by so many. Our girl is already so incredibly blessed. 

The 20 week scan

Last Wednesday, I had the 20 week ultrasound.
I was very excited to see how my precious baby was progressing but I was insanely anxious.

Why?

Well, early on in our pregnancy, we were given the option to do prenatal testing. For my peeps with no kids and don't what that is, it's basically test  that "tests" for markers such as down syndrome, spinal biffida (sp?), cleft palate, brain abnormalities, etc. They will run another blood test at another point in the pregnancy (before 20 weeks), but that in no way guarantees something is wrong with your baby, only gives an indication that it could be there. The only way to be sure is amniocentesis, which carries a risk of miscarriage.

Between my sister and I, we had a slew of friends who took this test, and each was told something was very wrong. It caused a lot of stress and in the end, their babies were healthy. I personally can't handle that type of stress, plus it wouldn't change anything about my pregnancy. We decided against it. However, there were some doubts in the back of my mind that I just wanted to be sure my baby was fine. Now let me preface, even if later there was a diagnosis of some sort, it wouldn't change a thing. My baby would be amazing and perfect, regardless of any diagnosis. However, every parent simply want their baby to be okay. I would love to say I wasn't worried about it, but I was. Thankfully, I had a lot of people on my side praying and lifting me up. Thanks to that, I felt more peace, but I was so anxious for January 15th to get here.

So,  the big day came! I drank my 32 oz. of water, and picked up an orange juice. I wanted Muggle to not be a sleepy baby, and I heard OJ peps them up! Even though we weren't finding out that day, I wanted Muggle to cooperate so the tech could see their bits, lol!
 I got checked in and was definitely feeling uncomfortable, but nonetheless excited. I was so thankful I didn't have to wait long (Kaiser is notorious for running behind in this department) and a lovely lady Roxanne got the process started.

I wish I could have taken pics of the process but Kaiser is pretty strict. So sadly, no fun pics to document. Shannon wasn't allowed in for the first 20-30 minutes, as this was the point where they were taking the "big ticket" pictures of baby's anatomy. I couldn't even see! As she was taking her pictures, she commented "Wow, your baby is awfully wiggly". She was digging into my belly (in a safe manner) because my child decided to not be still. I realized the OJ was a bad idea, despite I didn't even drink half the bottle. She would ask me "whoa, did you feel that?" Apparently Muggle was auditioning for Cirque du Solei! What was weird was I wasn't feeling anything! Thankfully baby cooperated enough to let her get the important anatomy shots, phew!!! After what should have only taken 20 minutes (it took over 30) she let me pee and then Shannon came in.

At this point, she turned the screen towards us and showed us more profile shots of Muggle. I cried because I couldn't believe how big and beautiful our precious baby looked! Muggle has quite the personality though! At one point, baby stuck their tongue out at us. Oh boy...

I left feeling really good and excited. Now all I had to do was wait for Friday for my doctor's appointment to go over everything. People were very surprised I didn't know anything right then. The way Kaiser operates is that the tech ONLY takes the shots. It is then processed by a radiologist, who then sends the results to my doc. It makes sense, but the wait sucks!

Friday finally did come and after school I zipped to my appointment. I had to wait an hour (agony!) because my doc was pulled in to a procedure. Once she came in, we went over the usual stuff and then she delivered the sweetest news: "your baby's scans came back completely normal. The radiologist didn't find any red flag indicators and baby is progressing beautifully." THANK YOU JESUS!!! I was very happy and relieved Muggle was doing just fine!

I am realizing more and more that worrying doesn't do a single dang thing and I need to let go and give it to God. I am just feeling so thankful  my baby is doing well!!

Here are some latest pics of my little love. I hate that my maiden name shows up rather than Potter. Oh well I guess:

Muggle smiling!

That precious profile! Ahh I can't hardly stand it! So cute!

Another profile  :)

5 months!!!!!!

Wow. 5 months already?!?!? Crazy! This pregnancy is flying by at an insane rate. I feel like it was just September 22nd, when I found out I was pregnant.


I am very excited and terrified at the same time, knowing that a HUGE but beautiful change is coming in a quick 4 months. I pray everyday that God can prepare me physically, mentally and emotionally for this radical change.

Here is a round up of my pregnancy so far:

How Far Along: 20 weeks today!!!

Size of Muggle: Muggle butt is the size of a banana. Supposedly, Muggle is about 10.5 ounces now! He/She is getting so big!!

Total Weight Gain: 7 lbs so far.

Crazy mood swings? It has improved. I still feel weepy at times, and still get a little too irritated over nonsense! Trying to work on that!  

What I miss: I would like to say nothing, but if I am really being honest, I super miss wine and bloody marys, LOL!!!! And I know I know, its worth it, but to answer the question that's my honest truth!

Sleep: I am mastering the sleeping on my sides. My body pillow has been great and I sleep soundly most nights. There are times when I need to pee. Practice for night feedings!!!

Symptoms: Besides my body being mad for the crazy hike last week, I have felt pretty great! Nothing out of control or crazy! I just feel sleepy at night. 

Cravings:YES. Dairy, dairy dairy. Shakes, chocolate milk, cheese...yes please! Also baby dill pickles, smoothies and of course cereal.  


Aversions: None. I think that went away after the 3rd month. 

Movement: I felt Muggle on Christmas, but then I didn't feel him/her as much! I thought I just imagined it, but in the last week or two, I can definitely feel Muggle! More so at night. It's awesome to feel him/her!!!! 

Belly stats: Oh man, do I have a belly! I  feel like I'm huge! I really felt self conscious about it considering there were other preggos who basically didn't have a belly at 5 months. I learned to get over it quickly, because having a preggo belly is beautiful and it's absurd to feel self conscious!  Everyone is different! Plus, I have learned that the women on my mom's side all had HUGE bellies when pregnant. Makes sense then! I love rubbing my belly too, it's the best feeling in the world!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, mainly in the pants department, thanks to my burgeoning belly. Oh how I love maternity jeans! I have some maternity tops, but a lot of my tops and dresses still fit.

Stretch marks? I found a tiny one on my side. Guess the stretch mark train might find me! And for the record, I slathered on those "anti stretch mark" creams. It looks like it's starting to prove the theory "no matter what you do, you either going to get them or you don't".

Best Moments this week: people being so kind and supportive! A lot of people in our lives are very excited for Muggle to be here! Hubby and I feel thankful that our precious baby is so loved by many!
Another best moment is feeling Muggle move! 

What I'm looking forward to: Our 20 week ultrasound (not excited about all the water I have to drink). I am actually feeling nervous because I am praying Muggle is healthy and developing normally (we opted out of prenatal testing). I am also very excited, as next weekend we are having our gender reveal!!!

Thankful everyday for this sweet baby!!! Our adventure is only beginning!!!

Surviving the infamous glucose test

Okay, so I have been meaning to do this post, because I feel there is a lot negative crap out there and I want my fellow first time preggos to be encouraged. Yep, I'm talking about the famous, awesome glucose test.

At about 7 weeks, I had my very first appointment, saw my precious baby, and ran through a series of questions regarding, health, etc. It came up as a concern on how much diabetes runs in my family. Literally everyone in their mom has it, on both sides of the family.

The doctor wanted me to take the test that day, but because of prior commitment, I couldn't. Now normally, one would not have to do it this early. Usually, its at 28 weeks. Due to our crazy family history, they wanted it done ASAP. Mind you at this point I am just 7 weeks preggo. Great.

So, I did the worst thing a first time preggo can do...I read the mommy forums. For those of you who know me, y'all know I'm a hypochondriac and my family has jokingly banned me from WebMD. Those mommy forums can be super scary and make you feel like you will have a 2 headed baby. I had been told by many of the doctors and nurses to stay away, but of course I didn't listen.

 Every topic basically said that this test was torture, you will feel like dying, its the worst thing in the world etc. etc. Of course I was nervous. Even though I never suffered through morning sickness, I have a weak stomach and have had loads of tummy issues prior to pregnancy. I was super nervous for this test, like so nervous I prayed about it (I'm sure God was rolling his eyes the whole time, lol!).

So, a week later, I arrived, got checked in, etc. I was extra chatty with the lab tech, because I wanted to stall. She hands me this beauty

and tells me I have 5 minutes. Gulp.  I open it and told myself to grow a pair. I start to drink it, and actually, IT IS NOT THAT BAD! I was pleasantly surprised!!! I threw it back like my favorite shot and called it good.  A few days later....I failed by ONE MERE POINT. WTH?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I was so irritated! I got a phone call to set up my 3 hour and I even tried to negotiate with the lab technician, who was cracking up. Nope, I still had to take my 3 hour test.
Now, I was even more annoyed than nervous! The 3 hour requires a specific fasting the night before, a  more horrid tasting drink (100 mg), plus you get your blood drawn a grand total of 4 times. You have to just sit there in a sugar induced coma. Ugh. SO fun.

I decided to get it over with, so I march in the first thing in the morning. Same procedures checking in, first blood drawn. Then, they produce this pretty:

 It already looked nasty. My stomach was churning. Again, I stall by making stupid small talk but the technician gave me a look, so again, I told myself to "grow a pair" and I opened it up.
Now, I won't lie. Its pretty gross. Imagine a yummy lemonade drink, but up the sugar x 1,000. It was so freaking sweet.
Then there is the wait. I felt like complete and total crap thanks to all the sugar. I would get dizzy each time I stood up (and no, you can't have any water). By the end of it all, my arms were completely bruised up. I will say it was nice to catch up on reading, and watch some of my favorite shows. Not a bad deal!
 To be perfectly honest with you, this whole experience wasn't all that bad. Thankfully, my results came in and I passed! Thank God!

Sure, it wasn't fun, but I know labor will be much worse. I figured people are dying of cancer, going through horrible radiation or chemo, and here I am, just drinking sugar. Really, it could be worse!

So, what was my take away? Words of Wisdom? For my first timers (which there is a few of you):

1. DON'T read the forums! DO NOT DO IT!  Honestly, it will scare you and make you nervous. For the exception of those mamas dealing with morning sickness (which this test will make you feel worse), a lot of the other mamas were complaining for nothing. Honestly, it is not that bad. And trust me, I am kind of a wimp!

2.  The drink, especially the 50 mg. isn't that bad. It tastes just like orange soda. Even though the lemon is very sweet, its chuggable. Just don't think about it!

3. The wait is a perfect opportunity to read/catch up on shows. Each test requires a wait. Take advantage and bring stuff with you. It was nice getting a chance to read and just sit there.

4. Go in with a positive attitude. I truly believe if you go in with a positive mindset, it won't be that bad.

So while I was overjoyed I got this over with. However, the joy was fleeting as I had another bombshell at my last appointment.

I will have to take this test again. 
 Why why why why?!?!?!?!!?!?  Praying my doctor was just being forgetful, but word on the street is that this supposed to happen again.
Well, since I have done it twice, it should be a no biggie, right??!?

Pshhh....till next time loves!

The perfect pregnancy has met its nemesis

I realize its my last day of vacation and I pretty much haven't blogged anything.
I think my new year's resolution is to blog at least once a week. Hrumph. We will see if that really happens lol.

Well, for the most part, this pregnancy has been very Pollyanna-esque. It has been awesome and I have enjoyed every second of it.

I know my mama friends and fellow preggos who have had/or currently struggling with rough pregnancies are one post away from murdering me. Well, take heart, not everything can be easy and perfect for this preggo!

A few weeks ago, in the beginning of December, I woke up with  awful cramping, in my pelvis and lower abdominal area. I had no clue what it was but I wasn't spotting or bleeding (sorry for the tmi) so I plowed on with my school day. I was busy, running around and the whole time I was cramping.

As the day went on, it got progressively worse. The pain was non stop. I called Kaiser, went on the scary internet (LOL), and came up with the conclusion as long as I wasn't bleeding, I should be fine, make sure I'm chugging tons of water. The next day the pain was unbearable. Again, the pain was non-stop. Like literally, there was no reprieve at all. It wouldn't go away.  To describe it accurately, imagine someone punching you in the stomach and at the same exact time, imagine someone squeezing your insides. Now, some of you might scoff and think I'm exaggerating, but sadly, I'm not. It hurt that bad, and it was way worse than period cramps, that's for sure!

I tried to be very warrior woman about the pain. I would try and breathe through it. I figured this was a dress rehearsal for contractions and I tried to just deal with it. However by day 2 and a half, I had enough. I was in the middle of teaching and I happened to be sitting. As I got up, the pain was so intense it literally took my breath away and I doubled over. My students grew very alarmed and I knew I had to get my booty to Kaiser.

Long story short, I was fine, thankfully! We saw Muggle on an ultrasound, and he/she was happy as a little clam, jumping around and flipping over. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen! I checked out completely fine, but the pain was thanks to round ligament and uterus stretching. The only thing to "cure" it is tons of water, and putting up your feet. The next day I wisely took the day off, and did just that. Thankfully, it went away!

Fast forward to yesterday.....
I had been dying to get outdoors and do a nice walk/hike. We hiked yesterday right near the water. The hike wasn't crazy at all. If anything, the trail was flat and smooth. There were some stairs but I was very careful, went very slowly, had my water with me.

About an hour later, the amazing and fabulous cramping I felt a few weeks ago came with a vengeance. On our 2 hour ride home, the pain was unbearable again. I tried again to just breathe through it and stay calm. After almost 3 hours of agony I called Kaiser again. The sweet nurse that I spoke to confirmed with ER doc to make sure I didn't need to come in. The good doctor recommended that within a 1 hour period, chug 2 liters of water and lay on my left side. If it wasn't gone, I needed to come in.

I followed the instructions to a T, and again, it worked! Ladies, if you deal with round ligament, try these instructions. It definitely worked!

So, what's my take away from this? Words of wisdom to impart?

1. DON'T OVERDO IT! That's the obvious one. Being on your feet, running around,
overdoing it with exercise makes round ligament worse.

2. Round ligament is totally normal! This is extremely normal in the 2nd trimester, especially for first timers like me. If you are bleeding, hightail it to your doc. Otherwise, its normal. Our bodies need to grow and accommodate our precious babies.

3. Don't suffer in pain if it gets too bad! I went almost 3 days in agony. Why did I do that to myself? I think I just wanted to be tough, but I was so miserable!

4. Truly, putting your feet up, laying down on your left side, and drinking TONS of water truly helps. It seems silly, but really, it works! Warm (not hot) showers feel really good too!

So, while this pregnancy has been great, round ligament truly has kicked my arse. I feel more knowledgeable of what it all means and I am proud myself staying calm through the pain. Hope this means I can handle contractions calmly, LOL! Well, we shall see about that one...

Happy Friday all,