About Me

Hi! My name is Lexy Briest. I am a teacher, artist, wife, and best of all mom to Delilah Poppy. This blog is meant to document what I love and discover along the way of becoming a mommy, which to me is a never ending journey. Hope you enjoy!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Final Countdown....

I am convinced that the reason we have pregnancy brain/ mom brain is so that we can't remember how awful the third trimester is. Pregnancy brain is really just mom brain in training. Because if I can remember the physical aliments of right now, I am not sure I would rush off to do it again. Of course, ask me in a few months, a year, or five years. But I want to get this out there before my brain sneakily hides this information from me!

Last week I had my first trip to the hospital, at 32 weeks, which is way too early for this bambino to come out and play. I started having contractions after a day of cramps that got worse, spreading from my lower abdomen into my thighs and my lower back. A call to the doctor, and I was sent to the hospital to rule out pre-term labor.

Now, I know I have been preaching how I want this baby to come earlier than her due date, but I didn't mean that early!!! And yes, I want all these leg cramps, bathroom trips, unending hunger pains and heartburn adventures to end. But now that I had that little taste of what if she is coming NOW, I feel like nothing is really ready!!!! She can't come because look at the pile of clothes that have to be washed. The floor boards have to be wiped. Fix that darn sink! Get that table out of my house. Hang (and purchase) those curtains. Write your sub plans and clean your classroom for the nice lady who is coming to be you for three months (thank you nice lady!). OH, and finish your homework for the three classes you took, knowing full well you would be in your third trimester.

The drive to the hospital took us 50 minutes, including getting gas. Not bad. Trying to navigate through a crowded parking lot while having to release your bladder after that long of a trip- really bad. I could hear myself being nasty with Bryan even though it was not his fault all the parking spots were full. At least I noted to myself that I was doing it, and that I should try not to. So once I was out of the car and waddling to the entrance, I calmly pointed out the route for Labor and Delivery and how he would need to proceed there in the future (you know, the part six feet away from the door with loads of parking spaces!)

The registration process took almost an hour, even though my doctor called ahead.  The lady registering us did ask if I was okay enough to do it, though. It is nice to know that if I was really far into labor they would rush us and take care of the business later.  By the time we were put into a room and I changed into the lovely hospital gown (really, they call it a gown. Why?) my uterus stopped contracting. The cramping stopped a little while later. The nurse told us that the rooms there were special, causing contractions to stop all the time.

I had two monitors put on my belly, one for the now non-existent contractions and one to listen to the baby's heartbeat, which was perfect. My blood pressure was great, no fever, urine test showed I had plenty of water. And after an hour of this, an exam revealed my cervix is still closed and there are no infections down there. Go home.

All in all, I am glad and relieved we went to the hospital. I know she is okay, that I am okay, that I have cramps that are normal, and that I will be having a baby girl sometime soon. Who by the way, is possibly going to be an Olympian based on her non stop ricochets off my uterus walls, all the time. I don't think she sleeps. 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

The Nursery Diaries: Part Three

It's official. This baby room is the best room in the house. It is the only space that has been redone floor to ceiling. I love these brand new Pergo floors! They were the best we could afford and I feel good about having them in the baby's room.  Bryan did such a great job putting them in! 


Now all that is left to do is to retouch some of the painting, install the window treatments, set up the crib and dresser, and bring baby home:)
I already got a head start on her wardrobe:


Saturday, February 2, 2013

The Second Trimester Rocks

Before becoming pregnant and even through the first and second trimester I just didn't get why every person I spoke to, magazine or article I read glorified the second trimester. And then I entered my third trimester and my eyes are now WIDE open. Oh My BNSGHTHSTHGVCD!!!! The woes, the pains, and I am still 11 weeks to due date! (10 weeks, 2 days...but whose counting?)

My first trimester is sort of a blur. I was really lucky not to have morning sickness. I had a few hormone induced pimples and mood swings, and I was tired. I remember thinking if this is how tired I am, how would I ever be able to be pregnant again while raising my first child? But, honey, I didn't know what tired is.

So I thought it can't get worse. It got worse. But not before it got better. When I was in my second trimester I didn't realize I wasn't so tired. The first and second trimester  you have so many exciting things: passing countless blood tests, ultrasounds at 8, 13, and 20 weeks, milestones- first visible bump (the one that is actually baby, not just bloating), first flutterings and then full on bladder punch (the first time is cute, really). My uterus moved up so I didn't have to use the bathroom all the time. I slept through the night, mostly. No more pimples, thicker hair, glowing skin. A cute, perfect sized bump. And when you enter the second trimester you are ready to share the wonderful news with everyone, so you are always being congratulated and asked how you feel.

As soon as I hit the third trimester, the wave of exhaustion hit me like a bus going 60 mph. I read and heard about swelling in your feet and legs. Wow, who knew your legs could look so much like logs? They can. (Solution so far: bought ankle socks so as not to cut off circulation, or at least not see the line left from my socks where the width of my leg is really suppose to be). Also, what is up with the return of pimples from the first trimester? Oh and the return of really weird dreams, insomnia wakings at 2 am, countless trips to the bathroom- all day and night, and this hunger- I need food all the time, right now, and in 20 minutes. What about that "mom brain?"  And to cap it all off, incredibly itchy skin everywhere and places I didn't know could itch. Did I mention I am tired all the time, like this morning I woke up at 1:30 am.

What's worst then all that you might ask?  The level of stress I didn't experience before. In the first trimester you are just focused on the baby being okay, that you don't miscarry or anything terrible comes up from your blood tests. The second trimester you are mostly relieved (though still a little worried because a baby can miscarry even then) and still feel like you have time to get everything ready. Enter the third trimester, and suddenly, the baby is coming, really soon. You have no time. Bryan, get the floor done, put the crib together, buy this, yell at your husband for no real reason, get your paperwork in, HURRY UP!!!!!!

But you know what? No matter how tired I am, stressed out,  how itchy and red from scratching, or extremely hungry, every time my amazing baby girl nudges, kicks, or shakes her booty causing my stomach to jump, stretch, and appear like there is an alien ready to come out through the skin, I get immediately calm and happy. A smile stretches over my face and I can't help but love her more. I even giggle a little because it is just so darn cute when I go to lay down and she wants to practice her reflexes on my organs and ribs. Seriously, I am giggling as I go to bed. And even when I wake up in the middle night and feel her stir, I am so happy she is there. That pretty much excuses everything else- although it doesn't help with my sleepiness. Thankfully I work with kids, and they are forgiving people. They don't mind if I yawn, sit down for a minute, and possibly stare at them for a few seconds without saying anything. You know, because I forgot what I was going to say.