My AMAZING Christmas gift ... (the video actually works now!)

In case you're looking for a Monday Minute, I wanted to let you guys know ... there won't be one this week.

In my mind, it's still Christmas.  I'm with my family. My husband and I are spending time with loved ones: family and friends alike.  Sorry if you guys are mad, but I needed the break and we've been enjoying our time together.  Look here next week though, cause I'll be back in full force.

NOW on to the reason I posted today...one of my husband's gifts to me this year was awesome and I wanted to share and brag a little.  Actually, both of his gifts were pretty kick ass. He got me the Wii Fit for our new Wii.  LOVE the thing.  So flippin fun.  He's a creative little sucker too.  We have a monetary limit on our gifts because quite frankly it's all we can afford.  The Wii Fit is much more than that, but leave it to him ... he got the Amazon discount and got a new one for $50.  Dang that's talent.

But in addition to that, Evan always likes doing something sweet and superbly romantic as well.  And I'm such a SWEET wife that I let him do that every time. ; ) 

Behold his gift to me.  

I LOVED this gift.  As you guys know, I'm not a bare belly fan.  As much as some might disagree with me, I don't find the pregnant belly very beautiful.  Maybe that's because mine WASN'T beautiful.  It was just big ... my belly got HUMONGOUS as you can see.   But, we took these pictures for us to remember how quickly our girl was cookin in my belly and cause I constantly searched you tube to see "what will my  belly look like in _____ weeks?"

And, oh yeah, you can get jealous cause I know my husband is amazing.  It took him hours to put it all together.  I will always treasure it.

My favorite part?  The music selection.  Carrie Underwood's "American Girl" was a song that we started listening to when we got pregnant.  Evan always said he wanted a girl first and would play this song on repeat.  Once we found out we were indeed having a girl, that was on nearly nonstop until Liliana was born!

Ok, time to get dressed and go have a million more people tell us Liliana is "gorgeous."  Brilliant people in my opinion.

Merry Christmas or as my niece says "Miss"!

apparently that's how you combine the two words if you're a two year old. haha.

What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag

A few weeks ago, I posted the essentials for a new Mommy's diaper bag.  This got me thinking...I needed to write a post about the essentials for the hospital bag.  The first tid bit of advice I can give for packing it is to do it EARLY!  Evan had been on my case to pack the bag since I had been about 34 weeks along.  I kept procrastinating for weeks.  I had the complete OPPOSITE of nesting...I just got terrified I think.  I think my brain said that as soon as I packed that hospital bag, it was real...I was going to be a Mommy.  Well, you wouldn't believe it, but I went in to labor the DAY after I packed the bag!  Thank goodness Evan finally forced me to do it!  So, here are the things we packed and then I'll list the things we forgot! 

Things we Packed in our Hospital Bag

• Snacks:  If you're in labor for a really long time, you'll be STARVING by the time you're done. We just went to Target and got some Oreos and some Vitamin Waters, but this held us over when I still had snack cravings.
• Pads:  The hospital gives you these HUGE pads to help with the bleeding.  Make sure to take some with you when you leave the hospital.  You don't need to pack any pads because you can't use any skinny ones.  Just, like I said, take some from the hospital!  Even if you're not bleeding as much when you leave, it'll pick up again, I promise.
• Small Sized Toiletries: I didn't want to bring this HUGE suitcase that weighed a million pounds, so I went to Target and bought small sized toiletries for those 2 days (or even more if you have a C-section).  I brought contact solution, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, and body lotion.  They say body lotion is great for massages during labor but my labor went really quickly so I never had the need for massages!
• Your Own Pillow:  I only recommend this if you're partial to your own pillow, which I am.  It was nice having ONE thing that was really comfortable in that bed after you deliver. 
• Camera/ Camcorder:  These are obvious, right?  Make sure to bring the batteries, etc.
• Two Outfits for Baby: I was really proud of myself here...you don't really know what size that baby is going to be!  For instance, since I delivered at 36 weeks, I would have brought a preemie outfit, except Liliana was nearly 7 pounds even though she was born so early!  Since you'll be packing this bag at 36 weeks, bring two sized outfits so that baby will come home in an adorable outfit that fits!
• For Mommy: no need for panties because the HUGE ones they give you at the hospital are beyond perfect.  Make sure to bring a robe and dress to cover up since you'll have so many visitors.  Just bring really LOOSE clothing.  I only brought a sleeping robe and a maternity dress which was perfect.  If you're breastfeeding, bring a nursing bra and some breast pads.
• Laptop:  Evan updated our progress on Facebook and it was really nice being able to read the trillion comments that people left.  Having the laptop was a nice distraction from the feeling of vomit after the epidural.  Plus, it's just a good way to communicate with all the people that want to say Congrats.
• What to do With your Pets:  Make sure to have your neighbors on call so that they can give your pet some food!  The last thing you want is to freak out because you forgot to give them water or food.
• Your "It's Time" List:  We had a list of about 10 people that we were going to call NO MATTER what time I went in to labor.  So those 10 people got a phone call at 4:30 in the morning and everyone answered "Is this the call we've been waiting for?" hee hee

Things we Forgot (oops!)

or rather, things that Evan had to go home to pick up

•  For Daddy:  Evan had brought a change of clothes, but he forgot to bring two!  He had to leave back home and that was REALLY tough emotionally on me for him to leave.  Don't get me wrong, I was NEVER alone because I had so many visistors, but I clung to Evan like crazy after delivery.  Another thing: bring a swimsuit for Daddy to get in the shower with you.  Evan helped me shower the first day since I was so sore and had so much blood.  I know that sounds disgusting, but it actually was such a special moment for us.  I've literally never NEEDED him as much as I did those two days.  
• Burping Cloths: can you believe it?  We forgot these!  Make sure to bring one.
• Boppy:  I didn't think I would need the Boppy that desperately since she wouldn't weigh that much yet, but the Boppy is even helpful when you're just holding the baby.
• Memory Card: Yep, make sure to  bring the memory card of your camera!!  I had been uploading pregnancy belly pictures the night before and forgot to put it back in our camera.  At five in the morning when they told us we were staying to have the baby, we pulled out the camera and FREAKED.  So, we called our friend (yeah, that early) and he drove over to our house and came to the hospital with the memory card in his hand!

 Well I hope this helps!  More than anything, just remember that camera.  If you can't shower, who cares?  What matters is that you get pictures of this:

The First Picture Ever Taken of Liliana

The First Time I Held Liliana...I was Obviously Overcome with Emotion.  

I know I look hideous in this picture, but it's my favorite of the day.

Being a Pregnant Law Student

I've noticed that a lot of people have been finding my blog through "pregnant during law school" or "can I do law school while pregnant" searches.  When I was about 5 months along, I did this post about Being Pregnant in Law School.  I thought I would write some more posts expanding on that and giving some more advice because now I can post when I think it's best to have a baby in law school and more so, whether I think it would be possible to be a mother to a newborn during law school.  For today's post, I'll expand more on just being pregnant in law school in general.  In the next few posts, I'll write about being a Mother during law school, and when I think it's best to have a baby in law school (if you have that kind of flexibility). 

As I had posted a few months ago, being pregnant during law school wasn't what I would call easy.  At first, it wasn't too bad, but when the morning sickness sets in, coupled with exhaustion during the first trimester, you're pretty miserable.  You wonder "how can I do this?"  Then, during the second trimester, you think "oh ok, I feel like a normal human being again...I can manage."  And finally, by the third trimester, your mind has gone to lala land and you do have some problems focusing.  There are many things to consider about having a baby in law school, or in my case, 6 days after graduation.  There are, quite honestly, positives and negatives to both.

I do, however, think a few things are essential.  If you are doing this completely on your own (in other words, wanting to be a single mommy), I would recommend you wait until at least the end of your first year.  If I wouldn't have had my wonderful husband around, I honestly would have taken a semester off.  Here's the problem with pregnancy: you can't plan how you'll feel!  Some women are really lucky and they never have anything out of the ordinary happen, or they have no morning sickness.  But, I had horrible morning sickness and I was still throwing up in to my trash can with my husband holding my hair up at nearly 20 weeks.  So don't think it'll be perfect and that you've timed everything your way.  My little precious girl was born nearly 4 weeks early.  I still have no idea how I would have managed if her due date had been June 1st and then she would have come smack dab in the middle of finals.  Yeah...not good.  These are all things I strongly encourage you to consider.

Another thing to consider is how important grades and extracurriculars are in your life. Once the morning sickness really started setting in, it was very hard to focus.  I'll give you an example:  when I was 8 weeks along and my morning sickness was pretty bad, I took my MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam).  I failed it the first time.  This test is not hard...seriously...it's embarrassing that I failed.  I took it the second time in my second trimester when I felt better and passed it with flying colors.  Additionally, you can't be in a million extracurriculars either because you'd be letting down your teammates when not feeling well.  I remained very involved on my journal, because I loved the people that I worked with.  I also worked approximately 20 hours a week at a law firm.  Looking back on it, I should have probably cut out my clerking at the firm.  Working and the journal were ok together, but adding in the school work was too much and that is also why my grades suffered so much.  You will have to learn what works for you and make sure to not over do it. 

Another thing I really noticed through this entire experience is that there isn't ever a perfect time to have a baby.  While my husband and I weren't exactly planning to get pregnant that fine day in September (oops! haha), I'm not sure it would have been any easier in the years following.  This is a decision that you and your partner have to make TOGETHER (that is, if it's planned).  Once Evan and I got to thinking about it, there were many positives about the timing.  Throughout Liliana's first year, Evan will be in his fourth year of medical school which isn't nearly as strenuous as his first year of residency!  So as I said, think about how things would be as a couple.  This is going to be a balancing act.  Get ready to start working together NOW, before you get pregnant, because you'll be a team more than ever once your cute bundle of joy comes along.

Note: if this is the first time you've seen my blog, I also recommend the following posts:

Just a Typical Saturday in the Lacefield House:  This could be the kind of schedule you'd have on a weekend with a newborn if your partner is available to help you 24 hours of the day.  Consider how this would fit in to your schedule during law school.  In some ways, it's perfect because you study on your own time most of the year.  It would obviously be hard during finals.

Pregnancy Doctor Visits:  At my law school, they took attendance during our classes and we could  typically miss between 2 - 6 class periods during each semester.  Consider how this schedule would fit in to all of this.  This is, in my opinion, a big positive for being in law school while pregnant because I don't care so much if I miss one class period, but when you're a brand new associate they will not be happy that you're missing so much work!

What to Expect when You're Done Expecting:  Here is the hardest part about having the baby during law school: the recovery.  If you had a job, you would have a couple weeks to physically recover.  Sure, you'll be exhausted during your hours as an associate, but the recovery while you're sitting in class would be rough.
 This is something to consider...talk with your school and see what their policies are.

Overall,  it's a decision you will have to make!  All I'm doing by writing these posts are giving you things to think about.  There are definitely positives and negatives to both.  That being said, personally, for me, if I didn't have the bar to be studying for this would have been perfect. I am happy I was pregnant during law school.  Even though our pregnancy was not per se planned...it ended up fitting our lives very well, much better than if I had been working as a new associate.  I saw how much the associates worked at the firm I clerked for... and let me tell you, when I left the office at 6 p.m. because I had had enough of the nausea, they had to stick around and keep getting their stuff done.  Like I said, if I had to miss class for an appointment, it wasn't a problem.  Also, yes my grades went down because I felt sick, but in the big scheme of things that sure sounds a lot better than the other option: when you're an associate, if your job performance goes down for months, there might be some more serious consequences.  Hope all this information helped!!  Please note, every pregnancy is different and some people might feel differently about this...I'm just giving my opinion from my experience.

Also...please excuse my subliminal messages ....  ;  ) 

What to Expect When You're Done Expecting

Before I talk about my recovery, I just want to give a shout out to my sweet husband's blog!  Have you seen it??  It looks amazing.  Mine also looks really snazzy too huh? I'm so thankful to him because he gave our blogs makeovers last night instead of studying! haha.

I have been wanting to write for a few weeks now about my recovery after giving birth to Lilibear.  It's really upsetting that the books rarely talk about this stuff.  They talk plenty about the pregnancy and about giving birth, but stop after that! Are you kidding me? Why didn't you warn me that the worst was yet to come?  I should also warn that this post is a little more graphic than some would like...there are definite moments of TMI, so if you don't wanna read about it, then just click the X at the top right hand corner! : )

For me, personally, the worst was yet to come!  I had a really tough time with recovery.  It was painful and didn't seem like the end was in sight.  I thought giving birth was a joke compared to the recovery.  I should probably start by saying I was fortunate and didn't have any kind of tear (other than a labial tear).  I didn't have an episiotomy, but mainly because my epidural wasn't working so my OB decided against it.  Because I was so lucky in all these regards, I thought the recovery would be a breeze...I was wrong.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was the bleeding!  I knew I would bleed, but I didn't know gallons of the stuff would come out!  It was disgusting and frustrating.  The hospital provides you with these huge underwear and I loved them, haha.  In fact, I asked for some extra ones before we headed home.  They also give you these huge pads.  Again, loved them.  One thing I wish the books would have said: the bleeding doesn't go away for a while.  I thought I would be done bleeding after just a week.  Nope.  And just when you think it starts getting better, you bleed heavily again.  As I said, very frustrating and very disgusting.

Another thing you might not expect: contractions.  Yep, that's right, you're not done with those.  Now, these I can't complain about too much because I didn't think contractions were that horrible when I was in labor.  And before you start saying "yeah but she had an epidural," I made it to 6 without complaining.  Really, I didn't think they were that bad, just weird feeling.  If you're breastfeeding, you'll get contractions more by the way.  A good way to help with this is to force yourself to walk around the hospital floor.  This makes you have contractions and makes you bleed more.  It's a way to speed up that recovery.  I wish I could have done more of it the first day but since we hadn't slept in over 24 hours, I was naturally pretty sleepy.

But the hardest thing, by far, for me was the pain in that area.  Every time I peed, it hurt like crazy...I cried and nearly screamed in pain.  That's how bad it was.  As I've said before, my epidural didn't work for the vaginal area, so I know pain...and yes, those last 3 pushes hurt like hell.  But, I didn't cry!  Yeah, that's how bad this stinging was when I peed.  To make matters worse, it lasted for about a week.  That was horrible.  I never wanted to pee and every time I did, I was in pain for at least 30 minutes after.

Now, I must admit, I'm lucky because I neither got hemorrhoids during or after pregnancy, so I can't give advice there.  But, let me tell you...I've heard they're the worst!   The one thing I can talk about is to also get ready for your booty to be sore!  I mean, you just pushed a baby out quite closely from that area.  Also, the hospital will give you stool softener and send you home with a prescription for it...take it.  That helps.

My last symptom was teaching my boobs that I wasn't going to breast feed.  First off, your boobs get huge and hard.  It wasn't super painful (for me at least) but it was uncomfortable.  I just wore two sports bras for three or four days full time.  Then, once I thought I was in the clear, the leaking started.  Just beware.  Don't wear anything without a bra for at least a month after giving birth.  In fact, just wear those pads just in case...I didn't...I should have.  Ewwwwww....I know.  I learned the hard, and embarrassing way.  Also, in case you don't know...you leak when your baby cries.  It's pretty fascinating and gross all at the same time.

Here's my advice for women recovering:  

(1) Walk. around as much as you can (obviously don't over do it.  I did that once and regretted it because then I didn't want to walk around for quite a few hours after).

(2) ICE PACK ICE PACK ICE PACK.  The stupid nurse didn't give me an ice pack the first day and I really wish she would have.  Evan went out and bought ice packs when we got home and I did that a couple times a day to help with the pain.  It really helped.

(3) Numbing Spray.  Oh yeah, this stuff ROCKS.  I used it 4 times a day for nearly two weeks.  While it sounds disgusting, I found it easier for Evan to spray it on there for me because he could get a better angle.  I'll do another post some day about how essential spousal support is through the recovery process.

(4)  Medication Regiment.  When you're at the hospital, they come and give you your medication every 4 to 6 hours (depending on what you're taking).  I wanted as much as possible to be medication free so I only took Ibuprofen.  But, when I got home I did some stupid things: I only took the medications when I started having pain.  Evan quickly changed this and even asked me if I wanted the Lortab.  I caved in...I took it for a week and also took the Ibuprofen.  Every four hours, like clock work, I took some sort of medication.  This was amazing.

OOOK, I think I'm done with recovery updates.  Was that some effective birth control or what? ; )

Pregnancy Doctor's Visits

Yesterday marked an epic day...I am officially done with all my doctor's visits for this pregnancy!  YAY!  I decided I would take this blog post to reminisce about the last 9 months and my time spend at each visit.  Plus, this can give some pregnant ladies (or ladies thinking about becoming pregnant) an idea of what the schedule looks like.  Before I talk about each doctor's visit, I wanted to give a word of advice. 

First, don't be afraid to call you OB's office.  I called them at least 5 times during my pregnancy and obviously, it ended up being nothing, but I'm glad I called.  Having peace of mind is very important throughout your pregnant months, so if you feel funny, have bleeding, don't feel the baby move, have huge amounts of nausea, or have cramps that just end up being bad round ligament pain, it's nothing they haven't heard before.  Just call. 

Second piece of advice: throughout the breaks between your visits, if you ever have questions that can wait, write them down somewhere!  During my first trimester, I would always think of questions and then when I got to the doctor's I would draw a blank.  That stopped later and if I was at school and thought of a question, into my planner it went.  From then on, I was a question machine at the visits and I think the doctor actually liked it because I was in and out in no time.

Now, before I describe my doctor's visits, I am dishing out a disclaimer...every doctor is different and if you have a high risk pregnancy, your schedule might differ, but for the most part, I believe the schedules look a little something like this:

First Trimester

overall: you go every four weeks.

Week 4: I got a positive pregnancy test and called the doctor's thinking I needed to make an appointment immediately...they told me I had another month before my first visit.  I hung up the phone a little disappointed, but nobody was going to get me down!  I was too excited/ shocked/ terrified...you get the idea.

Week 8: I went in for my first visit.  Evan's Mom came in to town with me and we went together, just us two.  It was really special.  However, the visit wasn't...they just hand you lots of papers and basically tell you about the structure of doctor's visits and how everything will work.  They took my blood to make sure I was actually pregnant. 

Week 12: Finally, I did something, and then I remembered how nice week 8 was...you get everthing checked.  This is the violation visit: boobs, cervix, vagina, uterus, toes, scalp...ok maybe the last two are an exaggeration.  But this visit we got to listen to the heartbeat and it marks a great visit because your chances of miscarrying after this visit are about 2%.  I also got more shots, blood work, and got the swine flu vaccine at this visit.  I also got chewed out by the nurse practitioner at this visit because she wanted to do a pap smear and I said no.  When she checked my cervix it hurt like hell, so I refused to get one done.  She got all huffy puffy and said I was just avoiding the inevitable because I would need it at my post partum visit...guess who didn't have to get one done at her post partum visit yesterday? : )

(side note: in the middle of these visits, I spotted a couple times.  I got an ultrasound in San Antonio with my Momma at 5 1/2 weeks and she immediately found this gorgeous heartbeat.  I spotted again, much worse, here in Lubbock and they wanted an ultrasound too, so we did that one at 8 1/2 weeks.  To make sure things were ok since I spotted twice, they also had me go back at 12 weeks for another ultrasound.)

Second Trimester

overall: still go every four weeks

Week 16: The second trimester was incredibly uneventful in terms of doctor's visits.  I got so excited that I was in my second trimester, but nothing really happens.  At the visits they do the following:
       (1) listen to the heartbeat
       (2) check your fundal height (how high your uterus is.  At 20 weeks, it should be around your belly button)
       (3) ask you if you feel the baby moving
       (4) have you pee in the cup.  Let me say something here: they have you pee in the cup at every single visit so make sure to hold your bladder before your visits!  Later in the pregnancy this won't be as tough since you're going to the restroom more, but at first, I found it helpful to hold my bladder and even ask for some water once I got to the doctor's office.
       (5) take your blood pressure

Week 20: at week 20 is usually your anatomy and gender ultrasound!  This is a fun visit.  We did ours around week 19 and we also chose to find out the sex of our baby.  But even if you don't want to know, you'll still be there for quite a while because the anatomy takes around 30 minutes to one hour (depending on how the baby is positioned that day).

Week 24: look at week 16 and repeat

Week 28: this visit is time consuming because they do the glucose test on you.  You drink this cup that tastes like some kool aid with a funky consistency and sit in the waiting room for an hour.  Then they bring you back and prick your finger (ouchie!).

Third Trimester

overall: go every two weeks until week 36 and then go weekly

Week 30: if you've noticed, it was only two weeks since my last visit.  In the third trimester, you do a lot of the same stuff, but go more often because they want to make sure that you're not going in to pre-term labor.

Week 32: my doctor's office did something that I really liked.  Starting around week 28, they had you do visits with different doctor's in their practice to try and get you acclimated to the different physicians incase your OB wasn't on call the day you went in to labor.  At week 32, I met Dr. Farooqi and she is the one that ended up delivering our baby!  When Dr. Casanova realized he wasn't gonig to be able to stay for delivery, he told us we had an option of four doctor's and thankfully I knew I wanted Farooqi since I had rotated and met nearly everyone.  All the doctor's were incredibly nice, but Dr. Farooqi and Dr. Casanova were by far our favorites, so it was an easy choice.  This is also the week I got put on exercise bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy because I would get contractions whenever I did squats, or even walked around the block.

Week 34: look at week 16 and repeat

Week 36: at this visit, things start changing.  Once you're at this point, you are almost full-term.  Starting at week 36, you go on a weekly basis and go back to your OB.  You also get your cervix checked to see if they can give you an estimate of when that baby is coming!  Dr. Casanova checked me and told me any day now because as I posted here, I was quite far along at my visit.  I went in to labor two days after this visit.  However, I believe weeks 36 - 40 would have been more of the same.  In this time too, you might discuss when you'd want to be induced.  I was going to be induced on my due date, but obviously that was never an issue.

Postpartum visit: usually your postpartum visit is around 6 weeks out.  I, however, had mine at 4 weeks and 5 days because Dr. Casanova is going to Spain for two weeks starting next week.  At this visit, they ask you how you're doing, the doctor gets to meet that sweet baby he delivered, they check your blood pressure, they ask you how your healing is progressing, they check your cervix to make sure it closed, they check your ovaries, and if everything is looking good they give you the green light to resume exercise and sexual intercourse (woo hoo!).  Last, they give you birth control (unless of course you want to immediately start trying for another child).  Dr. Casanova asked us almost immediately "so guys, when are you having the second?"  I laughed and told him I wanted some incredibly effective birth control!  Personally, we're waiting at least one and a half years before even thinking about #2, so I left with lots of birth control!  ; ) 

TADA!  Done with doctor's visits.  While the poking down there and on my arm weren't fun, it really wasn't all that bad or too burdensome.  In fact, at first I wanted to go to the doctor's more often because I'm a worry wart and liked hearing that everything looked good.  But, most importantly, they were really not bad because they gave me my sweet Liliana, who by the way was a "cute, huge baby" according to Dr. Casanova.  Oh no, I think she might be getting chubby!! OOOOPS....

Maternity Photo Shoot Tips

I was reading through some past posts today and realized I had mentioned our photo shoot with Amber in my Week 35 Survey Post.  I had promised I would post other pictures once we received them and forgot to do so. 

As I've mentioned a few times on this blog, I don't care too much for bare belly pictures.  I don't know why.  It's not that I think the belly is an ugly thing...ok, actually, I kinda do, but it's just that I like how it looks better with clothes on top of it! haha.  I have nothing against other people taking bare belly pictures.  In fact, I occasionally have thought they're cute.  They just aren't my cup of tea.  So, when our friend Amber came over to take our maternity shots, she knew my criteria and we had an amazing time taking pictures.

I thought I would post these to help other women with my dilemma who want nice maternity shots without their belly showing.  I had a really hard time finding these kinds of pictures on the internet.  Whenever I put in maternity photos on Google, nearly all of them had women in their bras and undies.  Yeah...no thanks. I want Liliana to look at these later and not think "ewww gross Mom!" 

So, thanks to Amber's guidance, I can now give some tips to have a great maternity photo shoot:

(1) DO include your partner in some of the shots;

 I wanted my husband in a bunch of the pictures, because after all, he did create half of that belly!  Plus, he is such a hands on dad and helps more than you'd ever imagine. 

(2) DO make sure to take them before your last month;

This belly looks pretty big right? 

Well, that's because I was going to deliver the next week, so if we hadn't taken these pictures at week 35, we would have missed out on our maternity shots!

(3) DO take some in the nursery;

 This is her toy chest, which currently serves as a wipes and diapers chest. 

One day though, it'll be filled with all her goodies.  

 Little did we know our precious girl would be sleeping in this crib so soon!

These two pictures from the nursery were my favorite of the whole photo shoot.

(4) DO try cute and different ideas; and 

 Since Evan is less than a year away from being Dr. Lacefield, our friend had this great idea!  

Our Christmas card announcement had him with the stethoscope too, but since I was so far along in these pictures, he could actually hear Liliana's heartbeat!  

 This was my favorite idea that our photographer had!  

She just took pieces of Scrabble and spelled out Liliana's name. If your babies name is much longer, it might not work, but at least try the nickname because I thought these were really cute.

(5) DO wear a bright colored shirt!

 We wore two outfits, one with black on and one with green on.  Amber told us to wear bright and she was right.  I liked the green outfits much better than the black ones.

The last good thing about bright shirts:

the photographer can mess with it more when doing special effects.

Hope you enjoyed these shots and got some ideas of your own!

Things I Wish People Had Told Me About Pregnancy

I had all these great blog post ideas for my last 4 weeks of pregnancy.  Liliana apparently decided that they weren't so great and I believe that's part of the reason that she decided to come early.  I do however, feel compelled to write about a few things I wish people had told me about pregnancy.  I warn you, some of these aren't pretty...they're very brutally honest...maybe that's why people don't talk about them.  So without further delay:

(1) When you pee, you toot...every single time.
This one mainly came out during the third trimester.  Every single time you pee, you fart!  I can't explain it, but it's true.  I thought it was hilarious, but frustrating all at the same time.  So just look out for it, because it's inevitable.

(2) Umm...what was I saying, thinking, anything?
Your mind goes to absolute shit during pregnancy.  I couldn't focus, even on my studies.  And even when I did focus, I didn't give a crap.  You just can't feel any emotions for a prolonged period of time because your mind is in lala land.  It's not even necessarily that you're only thinking about the baby.  You just have a million different things going on with your body that I don't think it's possible to focus on one thing.  This characteristic of pregnancy was very difficult on me during my studies.  My grades during my third year were quite lower than even my first year of law school, but I couldn't even care.  Like I said...lala land.

(3) Sex, how I miss you so
I think pregnancy is preparing you for the sex life you'll inevitably lead after children come in to the picture (although we still are disillusioned enough to say that won't happen to us...haha...for all of those that have children, laugh at our being so naive). Sex during pregnancy was ... well, just not happening as often as pre-pregnancy.  I joked around with Evan that God was punishing us for fornicating! haha.  As I've blogged about many times, we got put on bed rest a few times during our pregnancy.  Well, those stunk.  So, don't get me wrong, it still happens and you still enjoy each other a bunch, but at least for us, it did cut down some due to doctors orders.

(4) My hands and feet, oh my!
My hands and feet hurt like crazy in the last month of pregnancy.  This was the weirdest sensation ever.  Every time I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, I had to limp over to the restroom because my feet hurt.  I thought my Achilles tendon had broken the pain was so bad.  But, alas, it was just the pregnancy.  This was a symptom I had at least heard of.  I had to start wearing very comfortable shoes and even then, my feet just got tired from standing up.  Then, the weirdest thing happened: I started getting that sensation in my hands.  When I woke up in the morning, I couldn't make a fist for the first thirty minutes of each day...it just hurt too bad.  I had never heard of that happening to other women, so I looked it up on the internet and still found very little.  Then, I was reading one of my favorite blogs and she mentioned the same symptom!  She even had to put splints on her wrists and hands because the pain was so bad.  Fortunately, I never got that bad, but man did they hurt.

(5) Don't ask me to hold anything breakable...
When you're emotional (aka cry for no reason, which happened about twice a week) during pregnancy, the last thing you need is to start feeling like you can't even control your hands and your body.  I became such a klutz during my pregnancy.  It was, again, such a strange sensation.  I would be holding a glass and it would just slip from my fingers, or what happened really often to me was that Linda's food bowl woudl fall from my hands and the food would get all over the floor.  This would result in my being incredibly frustrated with myself, yelling at myself that this was getting really annoying, and tears welling up in my eyes while I wondered what other things I woudl drop that day.  I know it sounds crazy to have all these emotions over dropping things on the floor, but when you're growing bigger by the day, the last thing you need is to start losing some of your control.  It was a feeling of helplessness.

Well, there ya go...the things I wish someone had told me about pregnancy.  I realize they were all quirky or negative.  I could write out the top 5 things that were wonderful, because there were definitely wonderful parts about being pregnant.  But, the #1 wonderful thing about being pregnant is the squirming beautiful girl that's next to me right now and I'm going to go kiss her...yeah, those five things above don't seem so bad anymore.

My Labor Story Part II

Around 4:30 a.m. on May 21st, we found out our false alarm wasn't false at all...we were about to be parents.

I walked over to my labor and delivery suite (which was really nice by the way) and got hooked up to my IV, got blood drawn, and basically got poked everywhere.  Before we knew it, I was being checked again and had progressed to 5 cm already.  They started asking me if I wanted an epidural.  This ended up being a tough decision.  I am not opposed to getting the drugs.  But on the other hand, I had progressed half way without drugs and managed through the pain really well.  Yes the contractions hurt, but I managed without too many moans and groans.  Once I progressed to 6 cm, they really started asking me..."umm...are you going to get one or not?"  I finally decided it was time to get the epidural because anesthesia could have an emergency and I would have been out of luck.  Turns out, getting the epidural was a pretty unlucky experience.

This guy walked in and gave me the epidural, which was by far the most painful part of my delivery.  I got incredibly nervous, started sweating profusely, and poor Evan had to hold my drenched body while the doctor kept trying to start the epidural.  The doctor, in my opinion a complete asshole who did a horrible job, had to try three times to start the catheter.  He said I was too tilted and moving too much, but honestly, I really don't think I was.  I know I'm terrified of needles, but I actually do an excellent job of holding still.  I would much rather hold still than be poked again.  Evan started getting upset at the anesthesiologist as well because he was the one holding me, so he knew I wasn't moving around.  Anyway, after what seemed like eternity, the epidural was apparently set.  Now, I had two hours ahead of me that consisted of my head feeling tingly, my left leg hurting because it was so asleep, and having complete feeling in my vagina (which was quite horrible when they placed the catheter and my epidural that was supposed to make my live better did absolutely nothing).

After calling the mean anesthesiologist back and him claiming that he had done the best job ever, we called another time and the new nicer anesthesiologist came in the room.  He gave me some tips on how to lay and ordered me some Zofran because I was really nauseated.  My OB came in again and started me on Pitocin just so I would progress fast enough for him to be able to deliver the baby (the med school graduated the afternoon that Liliana was born).  They thought the Pitocin wasn't working very well and put the dosage up to a 10 and the nurse then realized that my monitor wasn't reading the contractions very well and I was actually contracting all the time.  By now, the epidural was working so I only felt two contractions in the next 2 hours.

At around 1:15, Dr. Casanova came in to check me and sure enough, I was 10 cm and ready to push!!  I couldn't believe it.  It all happened so fast.  Dr. Casanova, unfortunately had to be at the graduation ceremony and was crushed that he couldn't deliver (as were we).  Fortunately though, everybody loved Evan during his OB rotation and we had OB's lining up wanting to deliver our little girl.  One of them was even the chairman of the department!  He's a really famous OB who really wants Evan in their residency program.  We chose Dr. Farooki, who had been our very close second choice to being our OB.  Turns out, the way it all worked was perfect. Throughout the labor, Dr. Casanova was calming and reassuring.  During the pushing, I needed someone strong and boy oh boy, Dr. Farooki didn't fail me.

Usually, the OB stays in the room during the last stages of delivery.  But again, everyone including Dr. Farooki, loved Evan in this rotation, so she stayed in there the entire time.  For a first time Mom, I think I did pretty well and pushed for less than an hour and a half.  I really didn't mind the pushing, until the last 3 contractions.  For the first hour, I thought it was really fun.  I liked the challenge and Dr. Farooki gave me a good workout!  She had me grab towels, hold her hands and pull against her, hold my legs up, have Evan hold my legs up, hold the stirrups etc.  I know what I'm describing sounds horrible, but it wasn't...it was so exciting.  After one contraction, they told me they saw hair, lots of it, and very dark.  I was ready to see her!! I was going to do my damned best to ensure we saw her ASAP...I wanted to see that hair!!

Before I knew it, Dr. Farooki was suiting up and getting everything ready for "the time."  They called the NICU team in (they were necessary since Liliana was premature) and then the pain started.  Those last 3 contractions hurt like hell!  I did a little bit of screaming ("ouch that really hurts!") through the pushes and then apologized between the contractions. They thought it was funny that I apologized and said I was tame compared to all the ladies they saw. Once the head was out, I freaked...I couldn't believe it!  Dr. Farooki had me push a few more times because Liliana's chest was the same measurements as her head.  But once she did that, she pulled out my little girl and I immediately started bawling.  She was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen.  I will NEVER EVER forget that moment.  The NICU team immediately took Liliana and that's when I first heard her cry (again, an amazing sound).  The next 10 minutes were kind of a blur.  Dr. Farooki stitched up a slight labial tear (but not 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree tears...she did such a great job during delivery!), delivered the placenta, etc. etc.  This part was not fun and hurt pretty bad.  She thinks my epidural was no longer helping me, so I probably did the last part of delivery and the after part naturally, but it didn't matter...I didn't care...I had Liliana right next to me and was beyond happy.

I cried for the next 20 minutes straight.  Evan says I kept saying "Oh Evan..."  I don't remember.  I just know I was happy.  Our little girl was here, healthy, beautiful, and perfect.   

My Labor Story Part I

Today, on what marks the day that Liliana was supposed to be full term in my womb, I thought I would share my labor story.  I'm a long winded girl to begin with, so I naturally have lots and lots to say about this amazing day.  For that reason, I'll break up my story in two parts.

Last Wednesday, approximately one week ago, we had our 36 week appointment.  I posted here that I was pretty progressed and that the doctor had given us an "any day" schedule.  I was 100% effaced, 1.5 cm dilated, and + 2 station.  I was also starting to get puffy, so my doctor wanted me to come back on Friday for another blood pressure reading just to make sure I wasn't getting preeclamptic.

That evening, I had about 7 contractions and Evan even started timing them.  I told him that he was being ridiculous.  I mean, what were the chances I was going to go in to labor within a week of my Doctor's prognosis?  Isn't "any day" just a figure of speech?

On Thursday, I managed to do pretty well and was contraction free for the most part.  I called my parents and told them things were going perfectly and while I was on the phone with them....ooh no...the cramping and contractions started.  I managed to blow them off (again, I know) and Evan and I got in to bed at midnight.  Little did we know, we wouldn't be sleeping for quite some time.

I started having contraction after contraction.  Some were more painful than others.  Once it reached 1:30 a.m. Evan said "let's get out of bed ... we're not sleeping right now anyway."  He started acting a little panicked which made me act more panicked.  Evan's by far one of the calmed people I've ever met.  When he started acting like tonight might be the night, I knew there was a huge possibility.  After we got out of bed Evan started packing the last minute items that we couldn't put in the bag until it was "the time."  We really didn't want a false alarm and made sure my contractions were really 4 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, and for one hour...we did that for nearly two hours.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, I hadn't progressed any from my visit with Dr. Casanova.  They kept us there for an hour and of course, I hadn't had one single contraction while there.  I grew very frustrated with myself and started second guessing whether I was having any contractions in the first place!  Right as they were telling us that they were going to send us home, the doctor on call decided to check my progress.  It had only been an hour, so surely not much had happened right?  Well turns out my contractions at home were real and had done quite a lot of work.  As she checked me she said "ok, you're still 100% effaced, and you're...4 cm dilated...let's stay and have a baby!"  Evan and I looked at each other in complete and utter shock.

We quickly called our closest family members (yes, it was about 4:30 at this point).  Nearly every single person answered their phone, as if they had been waiting for the phone call.  Evan's Mom picked it up by saying "is this the call I've been waiting for?"

Evan and I were really shocked, quite terrified, and really excited for the hours that laid ahead.  We had no idea how perfect that day was going to be, but for a recap of the following 8 1/2 hours, you'll just have to read the second part of this story.

I should be studying...

I should be studying, I should be studying...

I can't focus, I can't focus...

We had our 36 week appointment today and I'm 1.5 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and + 2 station.  He said it could be "any day now" and "if I make it two more weeks."  It looks like I'll be a Mom before June 1st. 

Things going through my mind:

How will I know I'm in labor?  Will I notice my water break?  Who knows...

I go back in to the doctor's office on Friday to at least get my blood pressure checked to make sure I don't get preeclampsia. 

I have an interview with a firm tomorrow.  Hope I don't go in to labor while at the interview.

Ok...I should be studying, I should be studying. 

I need to focus.  Starting...n...o...w???

36 Week Survey

How far along? 36 weeks tomorrow!

Maternity clothes? Some of them are uncomfortable even.  I really prefer dresses.  I think after week 34 or so, dresses should be worn 100% of the time.  I  bought a new dress from Target and wore it to my graduation brunch yesterday.  This sounds really cocky, but I think I looked better in it than the model does!  Well, hot damn!

Stretch marks? Still none!  I've heard that lots of women get them below the belly, so I lifted this huge lump up just to take a look and still saw nada...alright! 

Sleep:  I had some really bad insomnia this weekend.  I don't know if it was stress of graduating, excitement of everybody coming to visit, or what, but it was tough.  I had pretty bad back pain last night, but Evan gave me a nice long massage which helped some.

Best moment this week: Graduation weekend! The weekend flew by!  I feel like I had been looking forward to this weekend for three years and it went by more quickly than I had ever imagined.  It went really nicely though.  I'll write a post tomorrow all about it.

Movement:  Liliana still moves all the time.  I know I say that every week, but I am just so surprised by how active she is.  I am obviously way more exhausted than she ever is.

Food cravings: I had some gummies, but didn't crave them all that much this week actually.  I've had an upset stomach this week so I think that contributed to it.

Gender: After this weekend, I got even more excited that Liliana is a she because we played with Sofia lots and I can't wait for them to be the best of friends together.

Labor Signs: Yeah I think so.  This is really scary...I hope everything is ok.  Yesterday, I had three pretty rough contractions during the day (and two at the brunch).  They weren't horrible, but I was definitely uncomfortable.  Then, last night around 6:30 a.m., I woke up with a really painful feeling low on my pelvis.  I thought that I had to pee but sitting up was the worst idea ever because it just made the pain a million times worse.  I started crying because it hurt so bad.  Couple this with my stomach problems and I'm starting to think Liliana might not make it to the full 40 weeks.  I have an appointment on Wednesday (I guess this is why they make you go every week at this stage) and will explain all of this to my OB.  Hopefully he tells me "oh yeah, hmm...she'll stay in there for 4 more weeks." (wishful thinking I'm afraid)

Belly Button in or out? I think it's about as out as it's gonna get,  but considering that I started having an outie around week 25, we gave it it's sweet time to come on out.

What I miss: Feeling better!  I'm aware I sound whiny, but these last two days have been hard!!  I just want to not worry about movements, contractions, stomach issues, boob pain, etc.  It'll be relaxing.

What I am looking forward to: My visit with Dr. Casanova on Wednesday afternoon!  I can't wait to hear what he has to say, although I'm a little afraid he might tell me to take it beyond easy (I don't wanna type the words bed rest) for the next couple of weeks to make sure I don't go in to labor)

Weekly Wisdom: Evan's been on me about packing this hospital bag for the last couple of weeks and I've been putting it off big time.  I have the toiletries and food down (how un useful).  I still need to pack the important stuff and realized that I should have when he was on my case about it.  These contractions have taught me that anything can happen, so you should be ready.

Milestones: I have my J.D.  That's the biggest milestone I've ever reached.

My Finals...

Well, yesterday marked a pretty big day in my life.  I am officially done with law school.  Finals, while I barely talked about them on my blog, were pretty brutal this semester.  I had FOUR of them.

(1) Criminal Procedure - 05/05 - I studied pretty hard for this one, but our professor did a horrbile job preparing us in class, so I did my best with what I could.  So while I read over the outlines a few times like I usually do, they just didn't have the substance they shoudl have had and honestly, the professor didn't do the job she should have to prepare us.  I think I passed though.  This will be the theme here...that's what's important.

(2) Texas Estate Administration - 05/10 - This class was probably one of my favorites this semester.  It's all about the job of an attorney or an executor and how to administer estates after someone passes.  It was SUCH a useful class.  I already started our wills when I had a few minutes between classes (yeah, law school does that to you...you start doing nerdy things like writing your own wills just for the heck of it).  This final was a tough one.  It was really detail oriented but again, I think I passed.

(3) Marital Property - 05/12 - This class had my favorite professor: Hatfield.  He's the funniest guy and his exam for Wills and Trusts last year was really fair, so I wasn't that worried.  Boy, was I wrong.  It was tough!  The reason though was because there were only 38 questions and questions 1- 15 were worth 5 points, questions 15 - 30 were worth 3, and questions 30 - 38 were worth 1 point.  So in other words, the fact that I was really confused by 5 of the first 15 is BAD...really really bad.  Again though, I made educated guessed and had studied, so I think (hope) I passed.  I've thought I did worse before on a law school final and came out with a passing grade, so I think I'll be alright.

(4) Family Law - 05/13 - Yeah, can you believe it?  I had three finals in a four day period.  That's freaking brutal and it's by far the worst I've had in law school.  Your first year, they give you 3 in a six day period.  These exams are long and cover a huge amount of information so it's really exhausting.  I remember in college I tried scheduling finals as close together as possible so I could be done for the semester!  Ha, how times have changed.  I could have done a better job studying for this test, but I have to admit, when I got home after my Marital Property exam, I was really beat!  I tried my  best to focus, but just couldn't.  My body and mind were overwhelmed and exhausted.  I decided to take a break and try to find some shoes for my graduation, and that helped a little.  But that break only bought me about 2 hours of studying before I was beat again.  This final really wasn't that tough, but I honestly wasn't as prepared as I could have been.  I, however, did my best and that's all you can ask for.

Sorry for the most uninteresting blog post ever.  For those of you in law school, you'll probably think "wow she doesn't sound nearly stressed enough about finals."  I assure you, I usually am, but third year is funny like that.  You just start not giving a shit.  You should, because if you're unemployed like I am, your grades still matter a lot, but you're just drained.

So to any third year law students out there, my advice is: do the best you can.  That's what you've done so far throughout law school and obviously you're still truckin', so keep it up...just this last time.  And then, like me: YOU'LL BE DONE!!

Week 35 Survey

How far along? 35 weeks today!

Maternity clothes? I keep wearing the same few outfits over and over again.  Evan gets frustrated with me because I won't buy more clothes, but I keep telling him that for all I know I'll go in to labor in three weeks and what a waste of money for only three weeks of use!  I know I know, I'll be pregnant again some time, but not for a while (a long long while), so I'm not planning ahead of time that much.

Stretch marks? I am still stretch mark less.  I am so lucky! : )  I'm starting to get jealous of women that go in to labor at 37 weeks because in 2 weeks I can't possibly accumulate that many marks, but give me another 5 weeks and it could get sloppy.

Sleep:  I haven't had the most discomfort in my back (or maybe I'm just getting used to it), but I do have weird insomnia moments every evening.  I wake up really hot and have to go to the restroom and feel really uncomfortable when I get back in to bed.  Usually, I get back to sleep and have very vivid dreams after that.  Last night, I had my first labor dreams!  I had a natural and C-section dream.  The C-section dream made me wake up feeling very nervous.  I actually haven't thought about labor that much through this process and these dreams made me realize that perhaps I should start mentally preparing myself for what could be the most exhausting day I've ever experienced. 

Best moment this week: Definitely our photo shoot with Amber!  Our great friend Amber (a third year medical student with Evan) took some shots for us.  She is such a talented girl.  She does photography on the side and had so many wonderful ideas.  We've been trying to take these pictures for a couple of weeks now, but it's inevitably always too cold, windy, cloudy, or rainy.  So, we just decided to at least take some inside the house.  Below are two of them that she edited.  I am obsessed with them, especially the cute one where Evan is pointing at my belly.

Maternity Photo Sample Shot #1

I scoured the internet last week for maternity photo shoots and didn't like any of them!  I don't see why women have to be naked in their shots.  Sorry if I'm traditional, but ... hello ... you're still nearly naked.  That's weird.  As I've said multiple times, I'm not a bare belly fan.  So, maybe this blog can provide some inspiration for women that don't like bare belly shots either.  For that reason, when we get more pictures from Amber, I'll post them on here!

Maternity Photo Sample Shot #2

Movement:  Last week, my husband had the most hilarious blog post and did his own "weekly survey" from a husband's perspective.  So, I'll quote him: "Liliana is moving like a squirrel" (whatever the heck that means!)  Really though, I haven't worried about her movements in weeks.  She moves so often...at least every 15 minutes.  I'm getting really used to it, I wonder if it'll feel weird after she's here and my stomach isn't moving around any more...???

Food cravings:I went 5 days w/o gummies!  I'm so proud of myself (I say this as I eat gummies, so I'm not that proud, haha).

Gender: Oh Liliana dearest, your Daddy today said that he hopes you're in the WNBA.  Poor thing!

Labor Signs:Last weekend, I had a really tough afternoon where Evan was a tad bit scared I was going in to pre-term labor.  I was having some pretty painful back contractions.  But since then, I've been ok thankfully!  I need to make it until Saturday!! (I'd prefer making it at least a couple weeks longer, but Saturday is the main step I really need to reach...I want to walk across that stage damn it).

Belly Button in or out? It's even more out.  I think I "dropped" yesterday.  Even Evan said "your belly looks different today," while I was thinking the same thing.  But, you know what?  I'm not embarrassed about my outie...there's nothing I can do about it.

What I miss: I reallyI miss hugging my husband.  I mean, I hug him everyday, but I mean really really hugging him.  I can't cuddle him anymore.  I mean, I'm a billion inches away from him when we hug! haha.  Soon and soon enough he can squeeze me just as tight as he did the day we got the positive.

What I am looking forward to: Wow, I have SO much to look forward to this upcoming week.  I am taking my last law school final ever on Thursday afternoon and I GRADUATE FROM LAW SCHOOL on Saturday!  I really really am excited to see everyone and celebrate.  We have a great weekend planned.  My parents and some family get in on Friday and then on Saturday, I graduate and we'll have a party at a local winery (I chose the locale before I knew I would be pregnant...oops!).  On Sunday, we're having a brunch here at our house before all our guests go back (it'll be about 30 people total traveling...I have such a supportive group of family).  

Weekly Wisdom: Something I've started doing just the last two visits: throughout the break between doctor's visits, write down your questions!!  At each visit, they always ask "what questions do you have for me?" and I know that I always had some, but I always forgot.  So just recently, I started writing questions down as soon as I thought of them.  That has been fantastic.  I think they find it entertaining because I go through them like a list, but at least I'm an efficient patient! 

Milestones: I have two finals down and two to go...that's been a big milestone, but next week's milestone will be WAY BETTER.

Cord Blood Banking

The new thing is cord blood banking.  When my brother and Annie were pregnant with Sofia (my niece), my Mother, a pediatrician, considered giving this as a gift to all her grandbabies.  Cord blood can be quite expensive, so this would have been an amazing gift.  My mom, in her typical organized fashion, sat down one Saturday morning with an extensive amount of research and read about all the medical information anyone had ever printed. She decided it wasn't worth it.  That's the medical part of this discussion.  Maybe if Evan has time, he can blog about this some time.  Again, that will be the medical part.  Now, I wanted to blog about the legal battles occurring with Cord Blood Banking.

Currently, a large amount of private Cord Blood Banking corporations are being sued.  Why?  Because parents that invested approximately $2,000 are finding out that their good lump of cash is not going to do a thing for their sick children.  The parents leave feeling deceived, disappointed, and defeated.  On the one hand, this hardly makes a law suit.  Something that a lawyer eventually learns is that sh*t happens.  It sounds cruel, but is true.  However, this is not what the parents are upset about.  They are suing for "false advertisement and consumer fraud."

What really convinced me that this legal battle was being won by the consumer, as opposed to the Cord Blood banking companies, is the outcry that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics have caused.  They have both voiced incredible concern over these companies and their only reason to do this is if they truly feel it isn't worth it for their patients.  After all, economically, you would think they would love the idea of cord blood banking.  Their skepticism is convincing.  They also agree that the marketing techniques are dishonest.  Instead, these organizations recommend donating the cord blood to a public bank.  These public banks make it free to anybody that needs them.

I suppose the legal question then is, to whom is it the responsibility of defragmenting the promises of advertising?  One case I read my first year of law school answers this question.  It was a case that involved a little boy dying in a fire due to a smoke alarm that did not go off.  The smoke alarm manual had in 10 point font in the middle of the brochure that said if placed within a certain distance of a corner, it would not go off.  The parents had not seen this, placed the smoke alarm in a corner, and unfortunately the fire spread too quickly.  In the holding, the court said the smoke alarm company was ultimately responsible, not the parents.  They said corporations hold an amount of responsiblity to let laymen know of unique circumstances, such as cord blood not being nearly as successful as they thought, or a random smoke alarm not functioning in certain places in a home.

The smoke alarm company was required to increase the font size, put it in bold, and place this placement statement on the first page of the brochure. 

The cord blood company needs to be honest in a bigger font size, bold print, and on the first page of each brochure.  But, they wouldn't be able to dupe all these parents then, would they?

34 Week Survey

How far along? 34 weeks tomorrow

Maternity clothes?Today I'm in my stretchy black maternity pants...yep, it's that time. Don't get me wrong, I still fit in to my maternity jeans, but they can get uncomfortable and the second I get home, they're off.  It's funny because this is a time in my life where not wearing pants is the most comfortable option, but I don't want my poor husband to have to see that! haha!  I also have a maternity shirt that isn't really fitting anymore...so yeah, I think I'm getting bigger!  The funniest thing about it all is I still don't feel that huge.  I know that's what bothers most women is feeling humongous.  I am big (obviously since my clothes aren't fitting), but it doesn't bother me too much.  It's mainly on my belly (well, aside from my arms, calves, feet, ass, face, etc.).

Stretch marks? No, but I have to say...I don't think they're far away.  My skin is kinda saggy on my upper back and getting pretty damn tight on this belly.  This morning I got a glimpse of what the stretch marks would look like (my skin has a bunch of marks when I wake up in the morning because it easily gets dimpled by the sheets since I'm getting pretty swollen) and got really depressed.  I am not at all used to seeing my body look like that.  I think it will be hard on me when the stretch marks finally do come because there's really nothing I can do about it. 

Sleep: I've had some tough nights, but not too bad overall.  I'm through the worst schedule wise thankfully because I'm on dead days now to study for finals so for instance, I don't have to wake up early until next week for one of my finals.  That way, if I get a horrible nights rest, I can let myself sleep in.  I had been bragging to Evan that the exhaustion of the first trimester hadn't hit me yet and I was thrilled.  Well, guess who took a one hour nap with Linda by her side today?  OOPS!  I don't have time to be napping!  I have four finals.  I haven't had that many since my first year of law school and honestly am incredibly stressed.  But, the nap happened and I feel pretty refreshed, so naturally I took that energy gained during my nap to heat up lunch and study! : )

Best moment this week: Last Friday (04/30) at 2:15 p.m. I officially was done with attending law school classes!  I can't even describe the moment.  I don't think it's really hit me yet.  Evan was beyond thrilled for me.  He sent me about 20 texts saying how excited he was for me and was waiting for me outside my class room with a huge smile on his face, and I kept thinking "why is he making such a big deal out of this?" But, you know what?? He's right!  It is SO exciting.  I'll never wake up for class again.  AWWWEEESSOME!!!

Movement: Liliana's movements have changed greatly, which is what's supposed to happen at this stage.  She no longer kicks or punches, but rolls around.  They're really interesting feeling.  A 5 pound human is squirming around inside of me! That being said, she's moved amazingly this week and I'm really proud of her.

Food cravings: I made some brownies last night...hee hee...1/3 of the pan is gone.  WHAT?? Evan had a small piece, so it wasn't ALL me. ; ) 

Gender: At this stage of pregnancy, I know I still have quite a few weeks left and yet I want so badly to meet our little GIRL! 

Labor Signs: I had another tough night on Saturday with lots of Braxton Hicks.  Boy oh boy, labor will not be fun.  I'm really uncomfortable for a minute at a time and then 10 minutes later, bam another one hits.  I think this happens when I'm a little dehydrated so I need to make sure and drink lots and lots of water around graduation day! 

Belly Button in or out? This week Evan discovered how fun it is to poke at my outie! DORK!  He likes how soft it is I guess.  Wow, you officially learn a lot about each other during pregnancy. I don't have the outie that goes 100% out because my belly button is strange...in three parts is the best way I can think of to explain it.  Hard to explain.  However, it definitely is an outie.  I don't mind it so much.  It gives character to my outfits.  Yeah, that's how I'll justify it to myself: character.

What I miss: My old body.  It's funny, before I got pregnant, I could stand in front of a mirror and pinch every area and complain.  Now all I can think to myself is "you had it good!"  

I've started feeling sorry for myself much more than before.  I watch "top 20 celeb bodies" on TV and get pretty down on myself.  I know that's stupid.  I know "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant," but I can't help but feel fat.  It's not just the body image.  It's the way it changes my every day life: working out, moving around, getting in and out of the car, and even using the whisk while I was making brownies last night (I had Evan do it, because I was scared I'd give myself some contractions and those just don't feel very good).

What I am looking forward to: I have my 34 week visit tomorrow and I think I'll have our final ultrasound soon too!  Dr. Casanova told me at week 20 that he wanted it around week 34, so I'll ask them tomorrow if we're still planning on doing that.  Honestly, I really want to see her again! : )  I know we just got an ultrasound a month ago, but I'm so curious how much she's weighing!

Weekly Wisdom: Buy Jenny McCarthy's books!  I bought two books a couple weeks ago: Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs.  Belly Laughs is all about pregnancy and Baby Laughs is all about the first year of motherhood.  I already finished Belly Laughs (the entire book took 1.5 hours to read) and I'm half way done with Baby Laughs.  I read 10 pages after every 45 minutes of studying.  It makes me so excited to get back to studying so I can read my 10 pages and laugh my ass off!  The Belly Laughs was AMAZING.  I felt so much more normal after seeing that somebody else had gone through the exact same thoughts I had experienced.  I'll definitely give a more depth book review later this week and maybe go through my favorite chapters.  The lady might have posed for playboy a thousand times and she might annoy the crap out of me with her Autism/ vaccine argument, but damn can she write some funny easy read books.

Milestones:  reaching 34 weeks.  It's funny...pregnancy is all about milestones.  Each week reached is another sigh of relief.  But in general, the big barriers are: 12 weeks (decreases chance of miscarriage greatly), 24 weeks (viability), 28 weeks (babies survive 85% of the time), 34 weeks (babies survive 97% of the time), and of course, full term.  Well, my Mom has been stressing me out through the entire pregnancy and whenever I had reached one of these barriers she kept saying "I'll be calm when you reach 34 weeks."  At 34 weeks, her lungs are fully developed, Abuela's finally calm, and Mommy is starting to get excited/ terrified...

Week 33 Survey

How far along? 33 weeks tomorrow

                                                   
Maternity clothes? I wish they made maternity shoes for my big ugly swollen feet!  My feet have started hurting this week which hadn't been too much of a problem before that.  I've heard alot of women like really soft, squishy flip flops but I (at least for now) refuse to buy something for only a few weeks of use.  The maternity purchases already frustrate me enough.  But, if they made cute maternity shoes that were comfier than usual, then I might be willing to fork over the cash.

Stretch marks? No sir!  Alright! : ) 

Sleep: You know, even if it isn't my back killing me, I rarely get very deep sleep any more.  I miss that.  I'm sleepy, but I still haven't hit that third trimester exhaustion.  I get tired for sure, but usually if I just lay down or relax for a little while, it rejuvenates me.  Around 6 p.m. everyday, I wish I could take a nap but I think that's so weird and funny...why six?  Who knows!?  So, I take a sip of coke or I lay down on the couch (if I'm home yet) and relax for 30 minutes.  After that, I'm good to go for the rest of the day.

Best moment this week:  My parents came to visit this weekend after our HORRIBLE week and it was amazing.  We were busy doing lots of household chores and things that just had to get done, but still had an amazing time.  My parents drove 12 hours this weekend just because I told them "would you come brighten up our week?"  Now that is the kind of Mommy I want to be to Liliana one day...

Movement: We sure did have some.  She was quieter yesterday, but that's really common at this stage of pregnancy.  Movement wise, I found weeks 26 - 30 to be the best because she wasn't too big yet.  Now, she doesn't have as much room to move around because my amniotic fluid levels max out around this stage of pregnancy.  I rarely have movements that hurt anymore, but when I lay down, I can definitely feel a body moving inside of me...weeeird.

Food cravings: My gummies are always in the pantry! ; )

Gender: We got a really fun box from Uncle Tyler on Friday and it was full of stuff for our baby girl!  That really brightened our week too.  It had the cutest little swim suit you've ever seen in it too.  It's for her to use when she's a year old, so maybe she'll get to put it on for July 4th!

Labor Signs:  Very few Braxton Hicks this week, which I like.  Even my Mom, who is a worry wart, said that at my week 34 survey, she won't be worried about the pregnancy at all.  Babies after 34 weeks usually come home within 3 - 5 days if they're otherwise healthy, so the fact that I haven't had signs of pre-term labor yet are reassuring.

Belly Button in or out? It's still out, but the whole thing didn't come out if that makes sense.  I don't think it will.  My belly button is WEIRD looking though!  Even my beloved parents who think I'm the prettiest little lady they've ever seen agree.  That's when you know you got a weird looking body part, when even your parents go "huh...that IS weird!"

What I miss: I know I've said that I miss working out, but I miss it more now than ever before because my Doctor put me on working out bed rest last Thursday.  Everytime I had worked out the previous week, it kept making my uterus hurt and harden.  She said that I'm ONLY allowed to swim.  I can't even go for nice walks with Evan or Linda because my uterus hardened once and she didn't like that.  She said that about 1% of women go in to pre-term labor when they're working out and she didn't want that happening to me, so I can't work out, unless I'm swimming, until week 37 and by then I'll be so huge that it'll be uncomfortable for different reasons.  Sigh.

What I am looking forward to: This isn't baby related, but this is my LAST week of law school courses and I'm really looking forward to never waking up for classes ever again...awesome.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't be afraid to say you have to slow down or have to eat, etc.  I think I took it a little too far on Saturday.  We were buying plants for my Mom and Evan to plant on Saturday and I started getting horrible back pain.  Instead of being straight up honest about it, I pushed myself a little too much.  I should have voiced my mind more because instead I was in pretty bad back and foot pain for a couple hours after we finally got home.  On the plus side though, our new landscaping (paid for by Abuela, thanks Abuela!) looks awesome!  Nothing EVER comes back in Lubbock because the winters are too harsh, so we do this every year.  And...every year, we're convinced maybe some of the plants will come back. HA!