My pregnancy at 31 weeks.

Hey guys! I'm another couple of weeks done with this pregnancy, and that much closer to meeting our little man! I am getting so excited with every week that passes. I am truly an inpatient woman and waiting 40 weeks for something so incredible is a true test of my patience. This pregnancy seems to be going by pretty fast, which is good and bad. Like I said in my previous pregancy post, we are waiting (still) to hear about our future with the Marine Corps. 

I thought for sure that I would have some good news to finally share with my friends, family, and blog followers about the whole thing, but we've been told that news wont come for ANOTHER 3 weeks. We've been waiting on this news for months now, and it just keeps getting pushed back. It has been hard dealing with the stress of not knowing where we will be working or living come the middle of July. But- that's life, I suppose.

Back to a more positive topic- THIS PREGNANCY! I saw my OB last week, and happened to see the one that delivered Opal in December 2013. (I have a whole team of OB's that I see through the span of my pregnancy. On the day of my delivery it will be whoever is on call that delivers my baby. I don't really get to choose just one.) So anyways, I shared an update on my personal IG, but not on my blog instagram.

I had a pretty great visit. She answered a lot of my questions about my upcoming VBAC.

I was told that if we don't have child care Opal can be with us in the room unless for some crazy reason I have to have a c-section again, I'd be in the operating room alone. I can go for a while without an epidural, but I do have to have one placed at some point (but it can be set to the setting JUST above a walking epi).

I only gained 2 lbs during that last month which is perfect. My gestational diabetes test came back great. My fundal height was measuring ahead, so she will order an ultrasound at my next appointment if it still is. I also came back as anemic so I'm on iron pills now. Basically, everything went great. I loved hearing from her especially that she thinks I am a good candidate for VBAC, because she remembers everything about my last delivery.

Hopefully when I give my 33rd week update I will have some more great news to share, both about the baby and our future with the USMC. :-) 

xoxo- Chelsea.

9 month update.

Nine Month Update!

My beautiful, amazing, brilliant baby is 9 months old!

I can't even believe this! She is pulling herself up,

attempting to stand on her own, and even walk on her own!

I know it is coming soon. Hopefully she will stand on her

own while her daddy is here to experience it!

 

She has been eating off of my plate non stop now.

She loves yogurt.

She gets to see daddy in one day!

 

*edit: She stood up for her first time: 9/15/2014

Eight month update.

 I know I say this every month, but I seriously cannot believe it has been 8 months since this precious girl came into our life. She changed our lives so much. She makes every argument and disagreement seem miniscule compared to the magnitude of what our family means and stands for. Living apart from my husband the past 2 months has shown not only I, but Dillon too, how much we love each other and want to raise our daughter together.

This past month, she has changed so much. She mastered the crawl, and then surprised us by pulling herself up and standing! She started this with her playpen gate, and now does it in her crib, to the couch, toys, and even to me! She is brilliant!

She has 5 teeth now, her bald spot grew in, and she says "da-da!" We started her on 3rd step foods, but she actually has been eating food off of my plate. She hates eating the mushy baby foods and is all about the textures of actual food.

Jake and the Neverland Pirates has been her favorite tv show, and it still is. She also is loving Sofia the First and Doc Mcstuffins. She also loves the intro song to The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Last but not least, she has learned the "Happy and you know it" song... but instead of clapping, she slaps her thighs with her little hands. It is honestly the cutest thing. She is so cool.

I cannot wait for Dillon to see her next month, he is going to be so amazed at how much she has grown so far. I can't even imagine what I will be writing and sharing in another month. She blows me away every time.

Thankfully, next month I will also be preparing to pick her daddy up from the airport days later! Let the countdown begin!!

-Chels.

7 months of fabulousness.

 

Can y'all believe that my winter baby is now over 1/2 a year old?! I swear, it honestly feels like just last week I was rocking her in the nursery with Dillon, scared to death that we were going to mess something up. I can't even begin to explain just how much my life has changed since becoming a mother. Some days I don't even want to leave the house alone with Opal, because I don't want to do it all by myself. Little things are actually tough to do! Things like, loading/ unloading her stroller and carseat, opening a door to a building WITH the stroller, paying/ getting gas, grocery shopping in general, etc..

It has been especially harder the past 2 months, because Dillon is still in DC, while I am here in California. My family gets annoyed with me, because I tend to ask for help a lot (not really, they're just not quite used to it all yet). It was much easier to hand her off to Dillon, because that's her daddy! Its his job to love on her while I hide in the bathroom! (haha!) But- good news- (fingers crossed and prayers welcome) is that Dillon, Opal, and I may be living under one roof again as soon as January 2015! That's only 5 months from now! Woo-hoo!

Wait, 5 months!?!?!? Holy cow, do you know what that means? That also means that Opal will be turning 1 in 5 months! (begins sobbing*) My younger sister Reyna, is already pinning away on Pinterest for her birthday party ideas.. It is that serious around here. 

Here are a list of some of Opal's milestone achieved this past month:

1. she began crawling forward this month.
2. that led to sitting. I walked away for 30 seconds, came back and found her watching tv sitting up on her own! I nearly cried I was so proud.
3. Its been 5 days of sitting and she has already mastered balancing and doesnt fall over much either!
4. She is beginning to wave to us.
5. She is also learning ways to communicate to us, such as asking for someone to grab her, no, yes, more, etc.
6. She has decided that she is NOT a fan of pureed food. So, I just feed her mashed up vegis/fruits and she also eats what I eat. She's actually pretty great at mashing/"chewing" her food.
7. She also LOVES the apple juice/ water mixture. 
8. We're still breastfeeding, and she still prefers it over everything :-)
9. Oh, she also is trying really hard to pull herself up while in her crib.
10. Wait, did I mention she has transitioned successfully to a crib! Yep, that too!

Papa.

So, I moved home to help my mom out for a while this month.

Life here is bananas.

My mom had shoulder surgery a year ago, and they hadn't let her go back to work until this month. She can't lift anything over 10 lbs, and has lots of pain still with her left side. Doing everyday things is pretty tough, and takes her so much longer to do them. It's hard for her to even do things like laundry, dishes, and sewing. It's pretty heartbreaking to watch her not be able to sew, because that is her most favorite thing to do. 

In December, about. A week before Opal was born, my papa was driving and blacked out (from his heart medication) behind the wheel. His truck went into a tree and was totaled. Had he been in a smaller vehicle, he wouldn't be here today. 

Well, he's been rehabilitating his new hip and learning to walk again since then.. Up until 2 weeks ago. 

He was using his walker to walk in front of the house and lost balance, fell, and fractured the same hip again.

SO, now he is back in a rehabilitation facility learning to walk again.

And me? I'm here helping my mom with housekeeping, watching my younger sister, and waiting for papa to return home. Once he is home I will taking him to his physical therapy and doctors appointments at the Veteran's hospital.

Hopefully things here will be back to normal before I leave again. I really hate being away knowing that my mom and sister need my help.

Holy moly

So, I've been MIA because our laptop has been down! I am not a fan of using my phone to write out a blog post, so I am a bit upset that I haven't been able to update in a month + !!!!! Well, baby Opal is due any day now, I wish she would come today!! That would be heavenly. 

Anyways! 

November was a good month. We had a couple blessings and were definitely thankful for everything that happened to us that month. We thought we were going to have to dish out almost $500 for car maintenance, all to find out from a very kind soul on base that we were lied to by a major name brand auto garage. So, we didn't have to spend a dime! So thankful for that! 

We also decided spur of the moment to cook a thanksgiving meal... On Thanksgiving DAY! I somehow managed to get a pretty big meal cooked for my husband and 2 of his coworkers! :) even at 38 weeks pregnant and very, very tired! 

And now it is December already! I am officially in my 40th week, and considered extremely full term! We have had a couple moments when we really let ourselves believe it was "the real deal" all to get sent home from L&D and for the contractions to fizzle. Prodromal labor is heartbreaking to a tired mama. 

So, now I am waiting for labor signs... And praying they be real. We have tried all the wacky "labor starters" and nothing has worked. I have given up on those.

Today I am going to run out to Best Buy and try to find a charging cord for our laptop, so that by the time Opal arrives I can update with photos and my birth story. Wish me luck!