31 Weeks - An Update on Life

29 weeks

The lull here on M+B has been long... and necessary! On December 15th I had my last day working at Sunrise Home Health and Hospice which was SO sad (I LOVED that job) and Michael took his last final. That gave us about 72 hours to do the rest of our packing, load the cubes (luckily we didn't have to make the cross-country drive), be thrown an absolutely ADORABLE baby shower (more on this very soon), and skip town! Leaving American Fork was a sad event. We love our friends and family in the area and are going to miss all of you DEARLY! That being said, driving away from that house was one of the most relieving feelings in the WORLD! I started packing on October 17th and hadn't stopped since then.

Our first stop was in the fabulous Las Vegas where we were generously hosted by my Assistant Mama, Joyce! We got in super late on Tuesday night and were warmly welcomed with hugs and a place to sleep. The next morning my mom arrived from California to spend the next couple of days with us doing a lot of laughing, a lot of eating, and a lot of relaxing - all of which were much needed!! We saw the lights at the race track, went to the cactus garden, celebrated Christmas early, ate Golden Spoon frozen yogurt, painted each others' toe nails, and took the dogs to the park. I just adore Joyce so being able to go and spend time with her in her home was nothing short of a dream.

On Friday morning we woke up early and jumped back in the car to head to spend Christmas with Michael's parents in Irvine, CA. Michael and I are in complete agreement that we will one day retire in Irvine. It has everything you could ever want... including sun 365 days a year. Aaaahhhh... While in Irvine we played hard and ate well. Highlights included a day at Disneyland, a day at Universal Studios, lots of Christmas excitement, taking maternity pictures, Christmas dinner at a seafood place that served animals with eyeballs, and an amazing Chinese lunch. The best part, though, was the company. I love spending time with Chad and Rachel. Their energy is happy and refreshing and they are always genuinely interested in Michael and I while we are with them. They love to do things that they know we'll like (hence the seafood place that serves animals with eyeballs) and they are always interested in what we have going on and what is going on in the world around them. I also LOVED being able to spend time with Stephie (my sister in law) and her two kids Zach and Zoye (I'm an aunt and I love it!). She can make me laugh so hard and is always doing her best to make me as pretty as possible (with cute clothes and doing my hair and makeup). I feel a really strong connection with Stephie and I know that we are in each others' lives for a very specific reason. I love that I can talk to Stephie every couple of months and never skip a beat - it is so refreshing!

The day after Christmas we packed our bags and dogs and headed for the airport. Chad and Rachel offered to travel with us to our new home in Connecticut and I am so glad they did. There was something restless about that plane ride... It could have been my ULTRA swollen pregnant elephant feet... but I think it was the anticipation of the situation. Flying across the country to see your new home for the first time is a little bit unnerving to say the least!!

To Be Continued...

26 Weeks and Happy as a Lark!

Can you believe I'm already 26 weeks along?? You may be wondering what happened to our fun weekly vegetable pictures... Well... rest easy! They are being taken we just haven't quite gotten around to putting them in that cute little format that tells the week number at the bottom and therefore have not been put into circulation. Things up until now have seriously been a dream come true. I have heard the word 'pop' far too frequently lately as people glance down at my tummy... which now contains a basketball-sized uterus... yikes! No wonder it takes 6 weeks for that thing to shrink back into its rightful size!

Baby Murdock is now OVER 2 POUNDS!!! I don't know how I feel about the whole "mom has gained 18, baby has only gained 2" thing but I am right where I should be weight-wise and remember... I measured a week big at my last appointment, lol!! This amazing little one is not only on the charts in weight but can also open and close his eyes and breathe normally! I need a PROUD MAMA pin.

My recent vice has been found in the wee hours of the morning lately when I have been waking up just to feel him wiggle. I am absolutely in love. He has found two ticklish spots so far and uses them liberally when he needs a good laugh/earthquake. Michael is sure I am giving him brain damage when I laugh because of how much it makes him bounce... poor kid. He shakes when I laugh like a bowl full of jelly (name that tune??). He also enjoys kicking the inside of my ribs and just recently located my BLADDER... with his HEEL. He is one funny baby.

I do have to say that one of the hardest parts right now is keeping this little guy's supplies to a minimum... Michael says that we can't buy a lot of stuff before we move across the country because then we have to ship it. Not fun. So I normally pretend I didn't hear him and hide it in the closet. Last week I found little mittens on sale and absolutely HAD to have them... I mean... the BABY had to have them. Everything is just so CUTE when it is tiny!! We also used our Black Friday Kohl's Kash to get a $130 baby monitor for $7! Supposedly it's a really good one and I am thrilled to try it out. It even came with a little motion sensor pad that is meant to be placed under the baby's mattress so that you can tell when he is moving around! Beautiful idea.

Life outside of baby-prep world has been falling into place incredibly. When Michael was offered this job in Connecticut we were thrilled... and clueless... and a little bit scared! I really do think, though, that if something is right for you that things will work themselves out. It is one of the ways that the Lord answers our prayers. Well... we are moving in 2 weeks and as of yesterday had no prospective renters for the house. Talk about panic attack. The man that was supposed to come by in the evening called before hand to let us know that he wouldn't be able to make it and then we had a surprise interest that popped up and asked to come last night as well. As we took her on the grand tour of our place everything just felt right. She seemed reliable, enjoyable, and like she will bring something special to the neighborhood. I felt so good about it that when we sat down in the kitchen after our walk-through I offered her the place without a family pow-wow or anything. I could tell that all three of us were getting great vibes. This morning she called Michael to let him know that she had canceled her current contract and would be ready to move into our place on January 1st!! We will all be getting together on Saturday to sign contracts and make things official. I could not be more thrilled. Back to packing!

23 Weeks

Well Friends... we have an 8'' yam-boy in our presence!! Now is probably a good time to remember that the fruits and veggies our little one is compared to each week are for length only... he definitely was not the size of that huge smiling squash last week, that's for sure. The measurements are also still from crown to rump, so they don't include his little leggies! Word on the street is, though, that once we hit the third trimester (in just 5 weeks!!) that the measurements do include his legs so that will be fun.

Anyway, this week has been really exciting. I have decided that if I ever write a book on pregnancy (not in my future plans, but that's ok) that I am going to re-do the trimester system. Weeks 1-14 will still be section #1 and called the 'babymoon phase' because nothing really happens but everything is SO EXCITING. Weeks 15-20 will be called 'the pudge' - you have actually started to show but it mostly just looks like you ate too many doughnuts last week... you're still mostly waiting and anticipating. Weeks 21-40 will be called 'nesting phase' - you now know the gender of your baby, you look pregnant, you can feel him moving around 24 hours a day, and all you really want to do is make lists and clean out closets (weird). I LOVE NESTING PHASE!! On Thursday I was in a meeting at work and had my arms crossed over my little baby bump when something KICKED my forearm. Embarrassingly enough, I squeaked with alarm then felt silly when I realized that it was my wild child from within - just doing his daily jailbreak routine. No sweetheart - I will not let you out right now. I'm in a meeting. It has been really fun that Michael and I are both able to feel him pretty much every day now from the outside. He is one active little thing. Michael is sure that we are going to be naming him Sargent. Sargent Michael Murdock... don't worry future grandmothers - it has already been vetoed but I really like thinking of calling an infant Sarge - it makes me laugh every time.

Another interesting pregnancy thought - from what I have heard, pregnancy = crazy hormones. I don't know what the deal is but ever since I got pregnant I have been the woman of great logic and no emotion. Previous to pregnancy I considered myself a healthy emotional woman. I cried when I was touched, hurt, sad, happy, etc. Now, however, I am almost completely tear free. There have been more than a few instances that I have come close to getting in car wrecks/stressful situations and have experienced absolutely no adrenaline. I have also had a lot going on in my personal life and the lives of my loved ones that could possibly call for a tear or two... I have honestly cried 3 times since June due to sadness and once due to happiness (when I found out I was pregnant :-) Don't get me wrong - my heart is still in place. I still experience ups and downs... maybe my tear ducts are just broken? Michael is POSITIVE that it is because it is his son... I wonder if I'm normal? I have never heard of a LACK of emotion as a pregnancy symptom. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I'm not sure if I like it or not but I do wonder if it will adjust back once I start breast feeding, once I actually have a baby, or once my baby hits a certain milestone? Very interesting...

Baby Supplies...

Recently Michael and I went on a fun date to Target to get our baby registration taken care of. I took a list with me that I had found on thebump.com and we tried to get registered for most of the things that it suggested. I seriously had no idea that when my friends said that babies need "SO MUCH STUFF" that they could be so right! This little thing is going to be a 7 lb hoarder with all of the things it requires!! Later, I was talking to my DARLING cousin Larynn and she told me that she had OVER-bought and ended up with tons of things that every list suggested but she never touched. So my big question is... What are the necessities?? We can go ahead and take diapers, wipes, a crib, a stroller, and a breast pump as obvious necessities... but others??

22 Weeks and counting!

This has been a FUN week of baby progress! We have both felt him from the outside now and I am beginning to believe that he sleeps for approximately 1 hour per day as he is definitely wiggling for the other 23... at least!! I love feeling this little one squirm around to remind me he is there. I think this is exactly what is meant my the term 'love tap'. Yesterday, however, began the escape of the monkeys!! I am not sure what triggered his excitement (I probably ate peanut butter - he goes crazy when I eat peanut butter) but I am positive that he was doing everything in his power to figure a way out through my belly button. I actually looked down and watched him push on my stomach! It made me laugh... then we had a heart to heart about why he really does need to stay put for at least another 18 weeks.

A couple of weeks ago Michael and I had a garage sale to try and get rid of the things that we won't be able to take with us to Connecticut in a couple of months. Toward the end of the sale a friend of ours from the ward stopped by with her brand new baby boy, Lincoln. I had not yet seen Lincoln and had no idea that I was so unprepared for his reveal. She opened his little carrier to give me a look at his SWEET face and... the right side of my body went into baby-talking, bundle-cuddling, cooing mother mode while the left side underwent a severe heart attack. Lincoln is the first newborn little BOY that I have seen since we found out that I would be dressing my sweetheart in blue and it was a complete reality shock. Don't get me wrong - I would have him today if I could but actually seeing a baby is different that theorizing about whatever is moving around in your tummy. After a couple of days of wonderment and shock I realized that I really am going to be a mother and all will be well. I am sure every expectant mom goes through this at some point during her pregnancy and it is a wonderful thing to realize that you really will be welcoming a little person into your home. Can't wait to meet you little one!!

How Good is Your Sniffer??

It wasn't too long ago that I realized that I don't talk about the specifics of work at home, or to anyone, very often at all. I do a reasonable amount of general complaining and provide broad concepts but specifics are typically not bothered with... Until I got off of the phone one evening laughing at yet another incident centered around poop (I am the program director for a Home Health and Hospice company). Michael asked what had happened, I told him how one of the aides had forgotten to take the poop out of a towel before putting it in a patient's washing machine, and he thought it was hysterical... so I told him another one - more laughter. The more I thought about it the more I realized how funny my job really is.

Just this morning I had a nurse call to let me know that the aide that morning had not showered her patient while she was there and he didn't smell very pleasant. Knowing that this aide is very thorough but also VERY dramatic, I apologized to the nurse and called the aide to ask what had happened. The conversation went like this:

me "Hello Aide, did you see Patient this morning?"
Aide "Yes I did - at 7am"
Me "Did he get a shower while you were there?"
Aide "No he refused, why?"
Me "His nurse just called to let me know that he doesn't look or smell particularly clean and I wanted to know a little more about the situation."
Aide "Oh my gosh! Nurse is blowing things WAY out of proportion!! He smelled just fine! I will be in shortly to explain what happened."
Me "If you need to come in to turn in paperwork that is fine but don't worry about Patient. I will let his nurse know what happened."
Aide "Ya - she is blowing things WAY out of proportion, I'll be right in."

When she got here, Aide insisted upon demonstrating on me just HOW CLOSE she had been to Patient by pressing herself right up against me, smoothing my hair and sniffing my neck. She told me that her sense of smell was the strongest sense that she had and that she would have KNOWN if the patient had smelled bad... I decided not to mention the fact that the nurse told me his socks were saturated in urine, didn't want to insult the sniffer. Aide started to cry when I told her it was not a big deal, because she doesn't want me to think she does a bad job. Having been through 209 tearful encounters with this aide, I concluded the conversation as quickly as humanly possible as I watched my personal bubble shrivel to lifelessness on the ground and encouraged her to get to her next patient.

Note to friends: I don't care if we are BFF's, married, or close family - please never let me sniff your neck. Gross.

21 Weeks: More than Halfway There!

This week the baby is the length (crown to rump, so not including his legs) of a banana! You know that feeling like the days are dragging but the weeks are flying by!? There has been a lot of that going on lately. I am feeling the baby move around every day now but we still have not felt him from the outside. I have a theory that he really likes to be touched because it seems like every time he is moving around, putting my hand on my tummy stops him dead in his tracks; he seems to just immediately calm down. I guess that means we will see how things go these next couple weeks. I really want to be able to feel him from the outside when I see my family at Thanksgiving so that my Grandma and parents can feel him.

The What to Expect When You're Expecting site says that this is the time that my ligaments are supposed to loosen more, allowing possible bone growth in particular areas... namely my feet. When my mom got pregnant with me she wore a size 8 shoe... two babies later she wears a size 10. Needless to say, I am petrified (not that I don't love your feet Mom) that my 7.5's are going to grow to 13's by the time I am done with my children - even if there are not 6 children in the plan.

A couple people have asked if being pregnant has helped us to decide how many kids we want total. Honestly, no. Not really. If pregnancy didn't result in babies I'd be fine doing this over and over. I love the excitement and I love the responsibility. Pregnancy, however, DOES lead to babies and I have still never had one of those. We have always said that we would like 3 or 4 and I think that we are still on track there. As for spacing... I really want to have the first two back to back. As some of you may know, it took Michael and I 13 months to get pregnant with this baby, eventually doing so with the help of Clomid. 13 months may not sound like a long time when you can read it quickly in a sentence but it was pretty rough. We don't know if getting pregnant with this little one will resolve the problems that we had this time or if we will need Clomid again in the future, but right now we both feel like the smartest thing for my body would be to stay off of birth control after the baby is born. So, yes! We could have Irish twins or we could have them spaced a couple of years apart. We'll let my body decide. With our preference to have them close together, staying off of the pill was an easy decision. I think I am going to write a post on our journey to pregnancy. Everyone's experiences are so different but it really helped me to hear the details of other women's stories, both for emotional support and to know how to move forward in my own situation. My gratitude and love for this little boy is growing faster than my belly is. I can't believe it's more than halfway over already!