Happy Birthday, Corelle Elyse Christensen!

I am going to put this in my journal, so this is the unabridged version...sorry for all the lengthy details! You may not really want to read this!!!

On Monday December 1st, I had one of my regular twice-weekly visits with the doctor, and he mentioned something about stripping my membranes. I had no idea what that meant, but I simply told him that I did not want to be induced. Well, I went home and called everyone I knew who might be able to tell me more, since at the moment the doc told me I didn't even want to ask questions about it. I learned, over the process of asking around, that it really isn't induction and that it will only take if your body is ready to have the baby anyway. I still had an internal battle going on all week about whether or not I wanted to do it, and even when I went in for my appointment on Friday the doc said he'd be happy to do it and promised me it wouldn't hurt the baby. I told him I wasn't worried about it hurting the baby, but that I am just a quirky person about some things. What it all boiled down to was wondering if I would feel guilty that I didn't just let her come in God's good time, which I would normally have done, except that we were hoping to head to Arizona on the 20th of December and I just wanted the baby to have time to get bigger and for me to have time to recover. I still wasn't decided on Saturday morning but knew the doc was in the office that morning, and when Corban asked if I was going to do it, I told him I didn't think so because there was too much house to be cleaned and too much to do still (including Corban's big online final that was due early Monday morning). He was under the impression that even if stripping my membranes did work, we'd be able to come home for several hours while my body started the labor process and he'd be able to do his test and help clean up around the house. I told Corb I wasn't going to do it alone because I'd heard it hurts to get it done, and I also didn't want to be stuck driving myself if I went into labor right away or anything.

We headed to the doctor's together, and around 1:30 PM he stripped my membranes, telling me I was already dilated to a 4.5 and effaced to 80 or 90%. I don't even remember what the stripping felt like...I certainly wouldn't say it hurt, although it was a tad uncomfortable. (Anything pales in comparison to labor, though, right!?) The doc told us that it might work better if I kept moving and walking around for the rest of the day, if I was able to do so, and I asked him what the chances were that it would work. He said that being as dilated and effaced as I was, he would probably see me soon. We called the doula after getting our of the doc's office and she said that she has known people who had their membranes stripped being dilated to a 5 who still didn't go into labor for several weeks, hence the uncertainty that follows about whether or not I was really going into labor.

Wanting to take the doc's advice, Corb and I decided to do our regular grocery store hopping. We always start at one store and look for all the sales and then move on to the other 3 grocery stores. We figured doing this would allow me to get some walking in and not get too far from the car! Walking through the first store, I started feeling like I was having contractions, but with this being my first baby, I wasn't so sure they were the real deal or not, and I didn't want to make much ado about nothing. We proceeded on to the next store, and while we were walking through the parking lot, I had what seemed to be a pretty serious contraction, and I stopped and leaned on Corban. Some guy who was ringing a Christmas bell came up and asked Corban what he did to my leg. (Corb said afterwards that I had lifted up my leg when I leaned on him). I told the guy there was nothing wrong with my leg, that I was in labor. I saw some other people staring at me too. Wo we walked through the store and I started having more frequent contractions...or were they contractions? I realized I didn't like all the people staring at me, so I headed down an empty aisle for the most painful one of all. I told Corban I was ready for the next store, and as we were walking to the car, I decided I just wanted to go home so people would stop looking at me. On the drive home, we got stuck in parade traffic, and I started having some contractions that were a minute and a half long. They were pretty intense, but still I didn't want to go to the hosptial...especially since if laboring took me several hours, they wouldn't let me leave if I got there being dilated to a 4 or more. On the way home, Corb asked if he could wash his car. Bless his heart, he is so embarassed and doesn't want anyone to know he washed the car, but I told him to go ahead and do it. I didn't care...so long as I wasn't at the hospital and people weren't staring at me anymore. I wanted to be certain I was in labor before we headed to the hospital. We got home at 2:45 and I just wanted to kneel on the floor with my elbows on the couch, and I finally consented to go to the hospital after what seemed like two very serious contractions. Corb had already packed all the bags in the car, so we got in and Corb was driving as quickly as he could. At one point, the seatbelt felt tight on my stomach and I cried out, "It's tight! It's too tight! Make it stop!" Corb leaned over and undid the seatbelt. (Of course I hadn't even thought of that!)

At 3, I walked in to Labor and Delivery and didn't even stop to sign in. I said, "I need to go to the bathroom! I need to go to the bathroom!" I'd been feeling that sensation since grocery store number one but I couldn't go, but I wanted to try again! One of the nurses came out and took me to a delivery room. She told me to put a gown on when I got done in the bathroom, and I remember the few minutes that followed as being the only moments that I got "angry" during the labor. I tried getting the gown on and I could only find ONE arm hole. Where the heck was the other one? I cried out to the nurse to come and help me, and after she got it on, she told me I had to sit on the bed. I said, "I don't WANT to sit on the bed! It hurts to sit down!" She urged me to sit down for a few minutes while they measured the contractions and the baby's heart rate, so I sat down for an unbearable few minutes, learning that I was dilated to a 7. I asked, "If I change my mind and want an epidural, can I still get one?" They told me I'd have this baby before I'd even have time to get an epidural. So I asked, "What if I want to get in the bathtub!?" They moved me to another room and turned on the bathtub. I sat in the tub with my head on Corban's lap, forgetting the intensity of the contractions as he gently stroked my cheek (I KNEW they were contractions by this point...not sure when I truly realized they were, though!) Sadly, after about 15 minutes, they made me get out of the tub, certain I was starting to have the baby and not being "equipped" to deliver a baby in the water. Begrudgingly, I got on the bed and learned I was dilated to a 10. They called the doc and told him to get to the hospital, and I heard them say something about "the only thing keeping the baby from coming was the bag of waters." The doc arrived quickly and broke my water, which was at the top of my list of the two things I enjoyed most about labor...my water breaking and Corban stroking my cheek. I just loved how warm the water was...it was such a comforting feeling amidst the discomfort of the contractions.

From that moment, Ahhhhh!!! Labor began. Corban had tried to call the doula but couldn't get a hold of her, so I thought, "Here we go. We're just gonna do this." I didn't really feel comfortable with these nurses who were total strangers and can't tell you how grateful I felt when the Bishop's wife (a nurse) showed up and taught me how to push. If it wasn't for her, that baby may still be trying to come into this world even today! She coached me to "hold my breath, make it count." So I held my breath and pushed. It was so intense I could barely stand the pushing. I got used to pushing twice even though the doctor asked for three every time. Towards the end, I got better. There was a mirror so I could watch the whole thing, but I got frustrated when the doc kept asking, "There's a lot of dark hair! Do you see all that hair?" And I wanted to scream (maybe I did), "I don't see ANYTHING!" I wanted to see it, I wanted her to come so the pushing would end, and not seeing it made it seem like it would last FOREVER! I started crying, "How long is this going to take? This is going to take forever. I can't do this! Please just do a C-section! I can't do this! Is this pushing really doing anything!?" The doctor and the Bishop's wife reassured me that I was making a difference with every push, but in my mind I imagined that I was taking too long and the doctor wanted to go home. He was so patient with me. He kept doing perineal massages, which I did NOT like one bit...they were terribly uncomfrotable, but I figured he knew what he was doing to get her to come faster, so I didn't ask him to stop. I did, however, ask the nurses multiple times to stop putting the fetal heart monitor on me. "It's uncomfortable! Take it off. I don't want it touching my stomach! Please!" I probably said that half a dozen times, but they weren't listening to me! They insisted that they wanted to make sure the baby wasn't in distress. Finally, at 4:55 PM, having gotten to the hospital at 3, I gave one final push with a searing burning pain (the only part of the whole labor that I would say actually hurt...the rest of it I would say was just an intensity that seemed unbearable) and our little Corelle Elyse Christensen came into the world...7 pounds even, 18 inches long. I watched her daddy cut the cord, which he had expressed not being sure he'd be able to do over the last several months, and the baby was handed to me. I was so inexplicably happy. I just held her and stared, noticing first her beautiful little lips, then her DARK hair and blue eyes. What an amazing thing I had just done! My eyes had never beheld such beauty.

The pain that followed is a blur. I don't even associate it with labor, as the labor brought me my baby...the pain was unnecessar! The complications that followed, they reassured me, don't happen to most women, and "probably won't happen again in subsequent births," which was a good thing to hear because I'd already said, "I'm done. I'm not doing this again." To which Corban smiled and said, "You're done for now!" The doctor told me he had to stitch internal tears and was worried about my excessive bleeding and clotting. It literally lasted more than 10 times longer than the birth, which was only TWO hours! Every hour they came in and pushed on my poor tender tummy, giving me lots of pain medications that brought on nausea and vomiting. I kept asking for a shower, but they insisted that with as much blood as I had lost, I was not getting out of that bed. Nevertheless, I continued asking relentlessly, and I am sure I really was in no condition to be standing up at all! Sometime in the middle of the night, they decided I was stable enough to move me into a recovery room. I was in and out of sleep all night, with the pain and the sounds of the hospital and nurses coming in all night to make sure I was okay. At 3 AM, the door opened and I rolled over to see which pain would be inflicted upon me next, and I got the surprise of my life! In walked my mom and my sister-in-law, Amy, having just driven 9 hours from Arizona ! I hadn't expected to see my mom until Christmas!!! I said, "What are you doing!?" For two hours, we talked and admired Corelle and they finally went to my house to get some rest. The next two days were the best days of my life. Although they kept me longer than usual because of all the complications, I had a lot of time to just hold and bond with my little Corelle. Oh, and after noon the next day, I finally got my shower. I was glad my mom was there because I was so lightheaded I could barely stand up in the shower. It was nice to have my mom there! What daughter wouldn't want her mom there to help her after a rough labor! We had lots of visitors while in the hospital and everyone who came to see Corelle said she looks just like her daddy, but I think she looks like me. (Not that I mind if she looks like her daddy, but I don't see it!)

The latest pregnancy excitement...happy 2nd anniversary (or not!)

On November 17, 2008, at 2 in the morning, a blurred night of vomiting and diarrhea began. Sorry to be so explicit in my descriptions, but the details are necessary to explain what happened as a result. I threw up every hour at least once, until 7 in the morning when I just couldn't stand it any more. I was dehydrated, nauseous, and hurting, and the part they told us in our prenatal classes about the dangers of the baby getting dehydrated kept coming into my mind. I waited until 7 AM to call my doctor, and he told me to go into labor and delivery. The only thing that redeemed me that day was the IV they gave me (but I still felt EXTREMELY thirsty and dreamed of when I'd be able to again get a nice big glass of ice water from the fridge and drink to my heart's content). I was so out of it, the nurse at the hospital (who thankfully was my bishop's wife) had to take care of me, even having to lift me out of the bed to go to the bathroom and listen to me whine all day. She told me she was going to check to see if I had dilated at all, and sure enough, the vomiting and the diarrhea had caused me to start going into labor (not sure why or how that works...whether it was the intensity of it or just the dehydration that caused it). I started out that day at a 2, and by the end of the day went home dilated to a 4 and effaced to 80%. I remember crying when the nurse told me I was dilating. I was saying, "I caaaaaan't do this today. I don't have any energy. I can't even push!" (After being awake throwing up since 2 in the morning, I really was so weak and had no nutrients left in my body whatsoever, and if it helps to paint the picture of how pathetic and out of it I really was, I can add the part that I had to call the nurse in to change my sheets twice because I accidentally went on my bed...it was really SAD!) Having the baby that day was my worst nightmare...I don't think I could have enjoyed her at all. So, they stopped labor enough to go home...with the IVs and meds they gave me...and Corban came home from work in time to take me home, since they wouldn't let me drive myself home and Corban works 45 minutes away and couldn't just run over and take me home real quick. We'd been home about 5 minutes before I ran into the bathroom and tossed my cookies all over the place. I felt SO bad. I was crying, "Please bring me a rag and a bucket. I'm already down here (on the floor). I'll clean it up." He insisted that I was NOT cleaning it up and that I needed to go get in bed, so I went and got in bed while my sweet husband did a dirty job I wouldn't want to do if the tables were turned! The next day was our second anniversary. He got me the most beautiful red roses I have ever seen, we made homemade chicken noodle soup (the first meal I'd eaten in two days) and then I fell asleep on the couch. What an anniversary, huh? I don't even remember having a 2 year anniversary! My poor sweet hubby had to do so much that week. I had so many meds given to me that day in the hospital that it made the baby sluggish and it scared me that she didn't move much the rest of the week and I had to go have her heartrate checked to make sure she was still healthy and kicking in there (her heart rate was slower than usual, but it was still healthy! How could all those strong meds NOT slow down her little developing system!?) So, for two weeks I have been walking around dilated to 4 and effaced to 80%, which the doctor has confirmed twice since then! He told me before he left for 5 days for Thanksgiving that I was to have no strenuous activity...having hiked 10 miles in Alaska and 6 in Zion just last month, I thought he was referring to me outlandish unpregnancy-like behavior. When I asked what he meant by strenuous, he said, "NO HANKY PANKY and NO WALKS!" Well, my mom called Thanksgiving morning and what was I doing? WALKING! That's my favorite thing to do! But, it obviously didn't bring labor on because here I am still waiting to have this baby! Pregnancy has still been good to me, although my body just hasn't been the same since that day I spent in the hospital! It only started this week that I can't get up out of bed to go to the potty in the middle of the night without grasping for my hubby to help get this butterball out of bed (I officially hit 50 pounds of weight gain last week!). And, this baby is taking over my stomach in a way I never imagined. There is always some huge bump somewhere...I can't believe she isn't uncomfortable enough in there to want to make her way out already! It's a bit frightening to have learned last week that my grandma was 10 pounds when she was born, my aunt was nearly 10 pounds, and my brother was nearly 10 pounds. And here I am, 39 weeks today, and no sign of this baby coming yet. I can't even begin to imagine me giving birth to a 10 pound baby. Oh, the excitement this birth will bring! Corban is hoping she won't come the TWO days of the entire semester that he has to give presentations, which are Tuesday (2nd) and Wednesday (3rd). I am hoping she will come on December 4th or 6th, just cuz they fit into my schedule best, but I guess only God knows when she will come. Ah, the fun waiting game of pregnancy! ;) People are surprised to learn that I am walking around dilated to a 4 and effaced to 80%, but hopefully it just means that once labor starts, it will go quickly! (One can only hope, right!? Especially when I'd like to do this without an epidural!) Next post I will likely be a brand new mom to a healthy and perfect little Corelle Elyse Christensen!

Election Shmection...eat, drink, and have someone else work and pay your taxes, for tomorrow you die!

Warning! If you are someone who voted for Obama and who gets offended by political talk and the commentary of a conservative, then stop reading now or I am not responsible for your feeling defensive! Read at your own risk!

The election is over. As quickly as it started, it is over. In a way, I am disappointed, only because I got such a kick out of hearing the completely uneducated people talk about how wonderfully utopian our society would be once Obama took over. The Howard Stern show, for example, asked a woman, "How do you like Obama's vice presidential choice, Sarah Palin?" (Yes, I said Sarah Palin...while you and I know it should be Biden, that is the point of this story...the woman was CLUELESS!) The woman replied, "Oh, I think she's great! I really like that he chose her!" The same lady was asked what she thought about Obama leaving the troops in Iraq? "I think it's a great idea. I am glad he is going to do that!" And then the lady on election day who, on National Radio, said, "I'm not going to have to pay my mortgage or my car payment or buy gas once Obama wins!" The sad thing is, HOW MANY PEOPLE REALLY BELIEVED THIS STUFF? What gets me most is, I was talking to someone on my facebook about some of the stuff Obama said, like the comment he made about putting the coal companies out of business and that he stands for socialism and has some very liberal views, and another friend had the nerve to say that us Republicans are using scare tactics to try to get people to vote for McCain. How asinine is THAT!? Scare tactics? How about quoting STRAIGHT from the HORSE'S mouth? How can there be any arguing of pure and simple fact? Leave it to the democrats to find a way. They were comparing Obama to Palin as if Palin was running for president because there wasn't enough flaw to find in McCain...that's like comparing your mama to my cockatoo. They aren't even in the same league. When Sarah runs for President, then let's talk about her in comparison to the other presidential candidate, but until then, we should only have been comparing her to Biden, but NO....we didn't spend time looking at how qualified he is, see tabloids about him, hear about his fashion or his glasses or his imperfect family. WAIT? I hear you saying his family IS perfect? Okay...I should have done better research, but I thought that there aren't any perfect families out there. The funny thing is, you never heard anyone saying, "When McCain takes office, we're all going to get free groceries" or any other asinine thing like that. That's because people who were voting for McCain UNDERSTOOD his values, researched who he was, and didn't just go on blind worshipping ignorance perpetuated by the media. That's not to say that some democrats didn't do their research, but I'd really be interested to know how many actually did! It makes me wonder, however, when I hear someone really intelligent tell me, "All that is just scare tactics" when it's all based on FACTUAL research. Did this intelligent person even do their research as I would have guessed? Or why would they be telling me that something quoted directly from the mouth of their Presidential choice wasn't true? Did they even know what Obama said or didn't say? McCain voters knew all about Obama AND McCain...many Obama voters seemed to know next to nothing about McCain...or Obama for that matter!

Some might say I am just being bitter because McCain lost, but in reality, it's not that at all. I don't lose sleep over this election. I know the world will go on. It is just that I do think a lot, and I rarely take the time to put my thoughts on paper or to share them with anyone else. Did you ever think that most of the Classics (I am talking books, the ones that have been around for centuries!) have some kind of hidden political undertone that they are centered around? Well, back then they had to hide behind putting their deep thoughts into books because coming right out and saying them wasn't allowed...in this country (at least for today) it is allowed and I will orate as I feel the urge to do so. The thing that lingers for me following this election is, NOW? When I am having a child? But I like America the way it is! We all have roofs over our heads, we have shoes on our feet, we have food in our bellies, we have the freedom to worship as we choose, we are all pretty much spoiled. Don't get me wrong, I know there are people out there who don't have all of these things, but the majority of us do, and we work hard. What better way to discourage an already increasingly lazy country to not want to work? Who would need to if the working people of the nation will pay for their ride? If you haven't lived in a socialist country, I HAVE! Do you know how many people lived off the government simply because they COULD? It wasn't a pretty sight. I really hope we don't head that direction as a country! I think back to what Clinton did and wonder how the parents of the world explained that one to their kids? It reminds me of the (new) Miracle on 34th Street when the news said, "Parents, you may want to take your kids out of the room for this next story. Tonight, Santa Claus is in jail." Whether the president's role is, for all intents and purposes, to be that of example or spiritual leader or NOT, he does take on that role anyway. I imagine parents saying to their kids of Clinton, "He's a good man, Honey. We have to respect him because he is our president. Just don't do what he does. Having sexual relations with other women besides his wife is none of our business because he is a person with a life, and he can do what he wants on his own time." YEAH RIGHT! When you are in office, all eyes are on you. Are mistakes acceptable? By all means, yes. But what about things that are disgustingly and obviously perverse. Fortunately my baby will still be a baby for the next 4 years, but I hope we haven't just headed down a path of increasingly lower morals and a nation with an attitude of "If it feels good, do it," which will permeate into our schools, our children's beliefs, normalizing things that years ago we wouldn't have imagined being acceptable. How do you explain to your kindergartener, 'God meant for man and woman to get married." Child: "Mommy, then why are they teaching us at school that women marry women and men marry men?" And, parent to child, 'Honey, taking the life of another is wrong, God taught us not to kill." Child: "Then why did the President tell us on TV that it's okay to kill babies if they aren't born yet?" Oh...I know this is all only speculation, that it may not come to this, but as a parent-to-be, I do have to wonder what the future will be like for this little girl and her siblings. I know I must not be the only one out here. The scariest part? How loose the morals of our nation already must be to vote for a man who has so few. It seems we are moving farther and farther away from being a nation who worships God and knows that In God We Trust(including doing the things He would want for such a blessed and wonderful nation He created) and more and more into becoming a nation who wants to ignore the consequences of choices and just live for today. After all, who wants to get up and go to work every day? Let's make sure to provide for the people who don't so they won't ever learn to be responsible and provide for themselves (and I am not talking about people who really fall on hard times, who lose their job through no fault of their own, who can benefit from welfare and food stamps for a period in time while they get themselves back on their feet).

A friend sent me the blog of her cousin that I found to be really quite informative. I am going to include a link to it...it's the November 2nd entry that had so many awesome things in it! I especially like the comic about taking Obama's wealth...even if you only go there for that, it's worth it! The African American guy on u-tube is really funny (and true) too! http://robbieandtiffanynolan.blogspot.com/

Pioneer women squatting behind a tree giving birth would scream "Give me that epidural, NOW!"

So, birth classes have been interesting...the perk of them is that they are the one thing Daddy really gets to do that includes him in the experience of being pregnant! 2 hours a week for six weeks, and whammo! You know everything there is to know about the birthing process. OK, so not really, but you really do learn so much that you have to decipher which stuff you want to use and which info you want to let slip right on out the other ear. The thing that got me most was that we finished watching an epidural movie, and it listed the pros and cons of having an epidural. I have absolutely nothing against women who get epidurals...God gave us the intelligence to be able to create them, and I know many women love them, and if a woman has been in labor for hours upon days, why not give her body the rest?! I also know I could totally change my mind when the time comes, but I, for one, am NOT enticed by the idea of:

having possible fever, sweats and chills
possible vomiting and diarrhea
a possible migraine for 2-3 days after
a needle being stuck in my back (YUCK!)
not being able to walk and move around as much as I would like to (I want to be in the BATHTUB, for Pete's sake!)
and, worst of all...
my baby's heartrate and breathing possibly slowing down

I know all of these are only possibilities, but I would definitely rather endure labor for 12 hours and get it over with than have a migraine for 3 days following. There isn't much worse than a migraine, in my opinion, and 1 day of pain is way better than 3! So I was talking to our prenatal teacher about this, and she is PRO-EPIDURAL (even though she's never given birth) and she said that giving birth is not something for which you get a medal of honor for enduring the pain. I wanted to reassure her that it was not a medal of honor I was seeking, but a lack of all the other crap that goes along with getting one. She told me that a pioneer woman squatting behind a tree giving birth would scream, "Give me that epidural now," so why not take full advantage!?

I had to laugh. Those poor pioneer women. They were so strong they could probably survive a lot more than the rest of us. I wonder, actually, how many of them didn't find birth to be THAT bad because they didn't have epidurals as a way out so they just braced themselves for what was to come and knew they HAD to get through. I say that only because I have read or heard somewhere that our perception of labor has changed because women tell horror stories about it as if it's not something that thousands upon millions of women have survived for millenium. I am practicing the self-talk that tells me "I can survive...my mom didn't even have epidurals back when she had me and she survived, my grandma didn't have them either and she survived," and I hope to be able to go without as well. I just want to live every moment of the short experience, the painful and the not-so-painful. I am not telling any other woman that this is the right thing for her, only that it feels like what I want to be the right thing for me!

The other things we learned in our birth class...they either do an episiotomy on first time moms or they tear, in 99% of cases. Yeah, took this one to OB/GYN and he said it is NOT true. He said they have ways of helping the head to come out without cutting or tearing and that they will only do it in emergency situations. We also learned in birth class that they won't let you go over 41 weeks at Valley View Medical Center. Checked this one out with doc, too. He said that it is not uncommon for a first time mom to go over (even by two weeks) and that while he would monitor the baby a lot, they will NOT make you give birth just because you hit week 41. That was also reassuring, since I have heard that being induced makes labor even more painful. My mom was overdue with me (due on the 4th and I was born on the 20th) so I am not in any rush to give birth just because I hit 40 weeks. After all, I am still normal (at least I think so!) and I was born when I was good and ready! But, my favorite part about prenatal classes was learning all the possible things I can do during labor...take a bath, walk, dance with my husband, listen to music, roll on the ball, and lots of other things I totally want to try! And I can't try them if I'm flat in bed without the use of my legs!

So, adventures in birthing have been quite like following the election that just took place. You have to hear it all and then research for yourself what is true and what works for you. That's what I've been doing. Oh, and at my last appointment I asked my OB/GYN which pediatrician he recommended. He said he likes them all, but it's a matter of getting the right personalities together. I asked him again who he would recommend. He said he would recommend Dr. So and So because he is soft-spoken and we'd get along really well. I had to look at him to make sure he was talking to the right person, because a doctor soft-spoken enough might run the other direction if I dished out a little of my teasing. The ladies at the front desk of the OB's office said that they go to the "soft spoken pediatrician" who IS NOT soft-spoken at all and that they LOVE HIM! So, who knows what to expect going in...but at least he comes highly recommended!

Oh...how could I post a blog about my OB/GYN and not mention my weight!? Last time I went in, he said to me, "I won't mention the 48 pounds you've gained since it seems to be a sensitive subject, but you were really small to begin with." I laughed right out loud. I mean, besides Corban hearing the doc comment about my weight and being the literal person he is and taking it very seriously, and telling my mom on the phone that I have gained too much weight, I am really not worried about it! It's all in my stomach. Have you seen the rest of me lately...I mean, yeah, my feet get fat some days, but other than that, I look just like I always did. So, anyone who's concerned about my weight...suck it up and don't worry! There is one HEALTHY chubby little baby in there! And, for the record, the doc's records are wrong...I have only gained 40!

Oh...and when the doctor learned I hiked to Upper Emerald Falls, he didn't have a word to say! He isn't even SURPRISED by what I get up to anymore ;) Okay, so he did say one thing..."It's a good thing you are in shape!" he said!

Free trips to the bathroom with one regularly priced ticket!

Okay, so it's been a while (again) since I wrote, so I am writing out of neglect rather than having something to say, but I never wind up with a lack of things! It's amazing how I can turn nothing into 2 pages! Hey, I had to make it through college somehow! ;) But, things are great! My parents came up for 4 days in October (they hadn't seen my pregnant belly yet, so they were motivated to make the 8.5 hour drive, with the last hour being a treacherously snowy road over a mountain pass) and we had a blast together! I will have to post some of the pics for all to see...we hiked to Upper Emerald Falls at the start of my 7th month of pregnancy, and while it wasn't the 10 mile hike we did in Alaska in my 5th month, it was still quite rigorous for a lady with a big looming belly (it got pretty steep at the top and my balance isn't so good now that my body is out of proportion!) I was able to show my parents Angels Landing, and they had a whole new appreciation for the pictures of Corban standing on top of a tower of rocks on top of Angels Landing posed like a flamingo...I had to wonder if he had any brains in his head at that moment! The other thing we did was go to Les Mis at Tuacahn. It was my second time seeing it, but my parents hadn't ever and who could ever see Les Mis too many times anyway? It is so amazing! The amount of depth and symbolism in that play really enthrall me...but I think people seeing the play who haven't read the book wouldn't necessarily grasp just how much symbolism there really is in Hugo's writing! Although they aren't paying me, I must use this opportunity to advertise for Tuacahn, our outdoor amphitheater in St. George (well, Ivans, technically!) Their shows are always AMAZING, so if you ever get the chance to go through St George in the summer or fall, I would really recommend you stop! Corb and I would even be happy to come down and join you!

Speaking of plays, I won tickets to a Shakespeare show here in Cedar City, the home of the Shakespearean Festival (people from all over the nation come here to see our Shakespeare plays) and the problem was, people kept asking me, "Oh, have you seen one of the plays?" And I understand the concept of taking advantage of having something so renowned so close and being able to say you've experienced it...my problem is I've never been a fan of Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I like his story lines, but his language to me is like trying to read a book in Chinese when I don't speak a lick of it. I don't get the accent or the phraseology, nor do I appreciate the costumes. So, when asked if I had seen a show, I always said, "Not my thing," and the part I didn't add was, "And for $40 a ticket, there's not a chance you'd catch me at one of those shows!" So when they were giving away tickets on Tradio one morning (a radio version of a garage sale, so to speak) I called in with the answer to the trivia question and won tickets! WOW! Finally, my chance to experience the thing Cedar is most renowned for! And for free! A safer bet on something you almost know you'll be mad at having spent the money on before you even go! So, Corb and I went. It wasn't the show that bothered me so much as the fact that, minutes before it was starting, I had to relieve my pregnant bladder. I understand the bit about not walking in late to plays and it being disrespectful and/or disruptful or whatever word you want to use to describe it, but if you've been pregnant, you know how it gets after your 7th month when you can pee before you leave the house, but the bounce of walking quickly into the show makes you have to pee again 10 minutes later! So I go to use the restroom and get ready to walk in RIGHT AS the show was starting. Two ushers had an absolute conniption fit and would not let me go in to the show. They were so not kind about it! I seriously felt they were totally NOT understanding about pregnancy and I even half contemplated talking to their boss about their discrimination towards full-bladdered pregnant women. While the two YAY-HOOS sat there and talked about what to do with me, I wound up missing the first SEVEN minutes of the show. Free or not, it was my RIGHT to see those first SEVEN minutes, which were critical to the play, but instead I got to hang out in the lobby with my two favorite ushers of all time. Then, even though my seat was only 6 rows from the back, and I was in the aisle seat, they insisted that I sit in the very back row by myself. So I sat there more frustrated than anything, unable to completely enjoy the show because I really felt like telling someone off, in addition to wishing I were sitting with Corban holding his hand and wishing I hadn't missed the first part of the show. The first time they dimmed the lights (half an hour later!) I got up and ran over to my seat and was finally content. I learned two things that day...First, as we were walking out, Corban said that he much prefers Tuacahn to the Shakespearean Festival, and we both agreed that we aren't missing much if we never see another Shakespeare play, and Second, I won't ever go to a play again while I am pregnant in the event that I MIGHT have to pee because feeling like I am being treated like I've committed a crime of some sort isn't at the top of my list of favorite things to do. What can I say, you live and learn! So, if you get the chance, unless you have a deep appreciation for and love of Shakespeare, I would highly recommend a Tuacahn show...the outdoor setting is BEAUTIFUL and they understand if you have to use the little girls' room, AND you get a much better show on top of all that! Three amazing bonuses for one low cost (ha ha! Only a pregnant woman would appreciate the perk of Free trips to the bathroom included in the cost of one regularly priced ticket!)

On the topic of pregnancy weight...

I went in for my every-other-week visit on Monday, and I was informed by the doctor that I have gained 38 pounds. His records are a little off since, before I knew I was pregnant, I lost close to 10 pounds...this little girl was apparently taking all nourishment I put into my body for her development! (Not that I mind one bit!) But, I started at 128 and I am now at 160, with 2 months to go. I am also measuring two centimeters bigger than I am supposed to be at this point...(my thoughts are that I am 2 weeks further along in my pregnancy than we initially thought, which would make me a little bigger than I'm SUPPOSED to be at this point!) While there are a lot of women I know who go to my doctor, every single one of them says the doctor has never brought up their weight...but for some reason, I am the chosen "weight girl" and it's been mentioned on numerous occasions! I am starting to be paranoid..."Is it really too much? Should I do something differently? Do other women not gain this much? What am I doing that I shouldn't be!?" I admit, I didn't like food for the first 4 months and I HATED anything sugary, and my appetite has certainly picked up since then (and for about a month I have really craved sugary foods, but I promise I don't sit around and eat them all the time! I've had a few binges, but they haven't lasted forever) but I don't eat excessively! So, I just find myself wondering...how much do women gain!? Is this really a lot? I don't have toxemia and nowhere on my body is swelling except my stomach, so is 32 pounds at 7 months okay? All you who've been pregnant...am I so out of the ordinary? Or was your similar!? So...to top it all off...we went to the grocery store last night and I REALLY wanted a cake donut...my husband tells me that if I want to get something to eat, I could get a corn dog (that's a TON healthier than a donut, eh!?) or a cheese stick or something like that. (Don't get me wrong, he'd let me get a donut if I really wanted to, but he's probably right...there are healthier things to eat) but the point is, the doctor even has my husband worried about my weight! Argh! So I call my mom when we leave the store and tell her Corban won't let me get a donut. She said she couldn't blame him...so now they're in cahoots. But, the funniest part of it is, we went back into the store later to get some baby wipes that were on sale, and the lady behind the counter offered me a piece of German Chocolate cake. I told her I couldn't because I gained too much weight in my pregnancy already. She insisted that I look great for 7 months and said she sees women who look like they've totally exploded and that I don't have anything to worry about. So, I go about my shopping and decide that I really would like a piece of cake. So while Corban is paying, I went and took her up on her offer. Corban couldn't believe I had somehow gotten myself a piece of cake and told me I was grounded! The lady in the store just laughed when I told her about it on the way out! So, I got to have my cake and eat it too! LOL. And I am pretty sure that cake had a lot more calories than that cake donut! ;)

While I sit at home and watch TV eating bon-bons!

It's interesting how after quitting my full-time job, I get comments from friends and neighbors like "Are you bored yet?," "So what do you do all day," and my favorite unsolicited comment..."I don't have time to sleep in...I work" (as if I just sit around and watch TV and eat bon-bons all day!) For the record, we don't even HAVE TV, and if we did, I don't have time to watch it anyway and have never been a TV watcher (at least not since Jr. High when I watched Saved By the Bell and Ducktales after school!) I am as busy or busier now than I was when I was working full-time. Granted, I do make sure I get my 8 or 9 hours of sleep as opposed to when I was working 3 jobs and burned the midnight oil paying bills and cleaning the house and doing dishes, but that is because I am PREGNANT! Everyone says to get my sleep now because there won't be time for it after the baby, and that is the one thing I am making sure to do for myself! But, once the day begins, it's run, run, run. After quitting my full-time job, I was stressing about how we would pay for Corban's tuition for his MBA (which increased quite a bit once he finished his undergrad classes...$2500 per semester for THREE classes....outrageous, isn't it!?) Things were a little slow right after I quit my full-time job, but clients have steadily increased at LDS Family Services and my other job as well. I am up to 15 sessions per week (that doesn't include the paperwork, phone calls to bishops and referral sources, and preparation for these sessions, which is at least 45 minutes for every hour), a 1.5 hour group, and a 3 hour pornography group. In addition to that, I am trying to get this house baby-ready and get Corelle a bedroom prepared, and I am trying to find a place for all of the stuff that used to be in the office-turned-baby-room since we have no office now. There is never enough time! Corban is gone two nights a week to class and spends much of the time he is home doing homework, and we spend one night a week doing prenatal classes and I have a doctor appointment every other week. I know there is something else I am not thinking of, but the details are probably boring you anyway. But there you have it...the way a "non-working" woman actually has no time to get anything done! And I am absolutely sure that women who don't work part-time stay just as busy cleaning house and being moms...I can't even imagine having other people to care for mixed into this craziness! There is so much that goes into keeping a house clean and organized, eh!? Thanks to the fact that my part-time work has increased to almost full-time hours, I think we are going to be able to make this tuition bill AND get some baby stuff too (no one told me how much it all costs...strollers and carseats and cribs not to mention clothes and hospital bills...welcome to being a parent, right!) So anyhow, I really need to get back to the counseling notes I should have been doing, but I realized what a boring blog I have since I never have time to write anything on it, so I decided to take a minute! My thought is, aren't we just all toooooo busy! Who has time to be bored? Someone I know used to say, "Only boring people get bored." (If it's you, let me know so we can get you credit for your quote!) ;) My husband disagrees with the statement, but it just stuck with me for some reason (whether it's true or not!) But, I can say, boredom certainly isn't on my to-do list!

Birdie oh Birdie

So I got home from work last night and Corban informed me that the trick I played on the bird wasn't very nice. I hadn't a clue what he was talking about, for I never played a trick on the bird. At least, not intentionally! We give her boxes frequently, as her hobby is to chew boxes to shreds better than any paper shredder, and I gave her an egg carton with an empty egg shell in it. I figured she'd chew or eat the egg shell like she does everything else, but instead, Corban got home yesterday and found the bird to be nesting!!! She is sitting on this empty half egg shell as if it were her own baby! I seriously wouldn't have imagined she'd have thought something that big came out of her, so now we feel bad taking it away from her, although when we do (soon!), she will probably miss it so much that she will have her own...she's only laid 3 eggs in her lifetime and we fully expect another one now that we've triggered her baby-hunger! The funny habits of animals ;)

The Baby...29 week ultrasound

So we went in for our 29 week ultrasound yesterday and Little Girl Christensen was healthy as could be. We saw everything...the little bladder, the stuff that was in it, her little hands, her hand holding her knee, her head (Corban said to the doctor, "We both have big heads...are you sure her head isn't big? And the doctor reassured him that her head it of normal size!), her other hand holding her knee, her little "Virginia" as the doctor calls it (I half-feared we'd go in yesterday and she'd have a little 'thingey' since we've already got so many pink clothes, but the doctor said it is the funniest looking boy's thingey he's ever seen if it is one!), and the two things that stand out in my mind were that the doctor said she was "long-legged and has a little pot belly!" I thought it was so cute! With the two of us, I'm not sure how she wouldn't be long-legged! I love it! I'd love to post a pic of the ultrasound, but the electricity went out before we could see any more, and so we get to go back and have another one! YEAH! My mom says they aren't good for the baby, but I can never see enough of her (she was kicking in protest of the ultrasound, I must say! I was having earthquakes in my stomach!) The electricity went out right as I was looking at her cute little hand and I was disappointed! We've been looking at my fat-faced double chinned baby pics all week and wondering if she will look like I did as a baby! I could have won FIRST prize in a funny-looking baby contest when I was 3.5 months old, believe it or not (no worries, Mom, I turned out okay!) Anyhow, aren't ultrasounds and babies FUN!? I look forward to meeting her (in late November or early December...not NOW!)

Back From Alaska...

Will I ever remember how to post new blogs? I still struggle every time! Maybe it's just me, but I don't find blogging land very user friendly! But it must just be me, since everyone else figures it out! Alaska was quite the adventure...even starting at the airport in Vegas! The lady told us we were too late to board our flight, and we were over an hour early. She said they like you to be in the boarding area 45 minutes prior to boarding and we were like 10 minutes too late, give or take a gew minutes. I about started crying right in the airport. The lady said, "I will put you on the next flight...it leaves Vegas at about 12:30." Our flight was due to leave at 9:45. I told her we were boarding a cruise that just wasn't going to wait for us, and stood there for a few minutes with nothing to say, praying that somehow God would be able to get us on that plane. After several minutes of watching my probably grief-stricken face, she called a supervisor and asked if she could put this young couple through even though we were late. She was given the go-ahead, and we were told to RUN! (Literally!) I nearly forgot my purse sitting there on the check-in counter, ran back to grab it, and we were off like olympian athletes. You have probably never seen a pregnant lady run like I did that day! We ran the mile and a half through the airport, me holding my belly and Corban insisting that I give him my backpack, even though I kept insisting I was fine. We found the shortest lines you have ever seen at the x-ray machines, and they didn't give us hassle about anything. We made it to the terminal just as the people were getting in line to board the plane, and I finally caught my breath. Corban said, "I bet we don't have seats next to each other." I said, "At this point, I don't even care so long as we get on that plane!" They placed me on the emergency exit aisle, and I thought I had heard on previous flights that pregnant women couldn't sit there, but they never asked, so I never said anything. All I knew at this point was that I had to use the bathroom, and of course, the pilot was waiting for Christmas to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign and I absolutely thought I was going to die. He finally turned it off after we'd been on the plane about an hour, which was 4 hours since leaving Cedar City, and that is just way too long for a pregnant lady to wait! After the 3 hour flight to Seattle, we had a layover and they didn't let us off the plane. At that point, Corban hadn't eaten all day and I hadn't had much, and we had no food. I wanted to sit next to Corban and tried explaining this to a stewardess, but there was nothing she could do. Then, the lady sitting next to me realized I was pregnant and told the stewardess they never should have sat me in the emergency exit aisle. Well, they moved me really quickly but it still wasn't next to Corban...but I insisted just a little that I didn't want to sit without him for another 3.5 hours, and they finally moved us to two empty seats! Hallellujiah! We had a little airplane meal we purchased on the way to Anchorage (not much, but enough to hold us over until we got to the land of plenty...if you've ever been on a cruise, you know what I'm talking about!) We got to Anchorage and our luggage wasn't there. AYE! I didn't panick, but the lady next to me whose luggage didn't show up about went into hysteria saying she couldn't live without her makeup and evening gown. I was trying to be optimistic, but she was still in tears, so I wandered over to find some men to talk to who'd been sitting for over 24 hours in the Anchorage airport waiting for their luggage to arrive! They bussed us the hour to the cruise (we'd been traveling and hadn't had much to eat or much chance to go to the bathroom for about 12 hours at this point) and we finally sat down to a meal. Ah, sweet rest. I think the baby was probably exhausted by this point...I know I was. Fortunately, we had two days on the ship before our first port, so we rested and ate to our hearts content before our next adventure...a 10 mile hike to Sturgill's Landing outside of Skagway. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. Only now after getting home did I google the hike...it says "A half-day or overnight hike to the site of an early woodcutter’s camp on the coast of Taiya Inlet. Sturgill’s Landing, the site of a woodcutter’s camp in a small, rocky cove on Taiya Inlet, dates from Skagway’s early days." An overnight hike for a nearly 6 months pregnant lady! AYE! I kept reassuring Corban I was fine (and really, I did feel fine...I was thinking I was in pretty good shape) but the last mile or two, I didn't think I'd make it back to town. Corban said, "We'll sleep well tonight, eh!?" He was so attentive to me that whole day, holding my hand and asking if I was okay and he was worried about the baby when I took a pretty hard fall when tripping over a root in the rain forest (I really couldn't be married to a guy who loves me any more than he does!) It hadn't occured to me that the feet of all pregnant women swell...and especially after long hikes! My ankles, legs, knees, hands, FACE, and everywhere else on my body was swollen and pretty tender the rest of the trip! So, we took it easy the rest of the time, not walking nearly as much and doing some guided bus tours (and it still hurt to walk even just to get on and off the busses!) The next day, I fell in love with Juneau, telling Corban he could take a job there (so long as it wasn't meant to last forever) if one was ever offered (although I'd probably hit the first week of winter and change my little Arizona mind!) It was gorgeous!!! We went to the salmon fish hatchery and the Mendenhill Glacier, and I loved every moment! The next day, after going to the Totem Pole place I don't remember the name of and seeing a black bear and some eagles and eating a quarter pound of homemade peanut butter fudge, we were out of things to do in Ketchikan when a guy selling souvenirs saw my Globe Track sweatshirt and inquired, "Like GLOBE ARIZONA!?" He was from Mesa, AZ and his best friend was from Rigby, Idaho (but more recently Scottsdale, AZ). So, we had two guys from close to both mine and Corb's hometowns, and they were SO nice, and the one from Rigby offered to take us fishing. Corban said no at first, and I was like, "We don't have anything else to do ALL day...are you crazy!? Who doesn't want to say they've fished Alaska!?" With a little persuasion, we were off to get a fishing license, and within a two hour time period we'd caught 16 pink salmon. It was FUN! Corban said it was the most fun he had the whole time! I was sure glad he decided to go! We returned to the ship, shoes and some of our clothes covered with fish blood (gross, I know) but we had FUN! The whole time, I could only think of how my dads and Corban's dad and brothers would have loved to be there with us! The next day was another day on the ship, and we were HAULING bootie to our last stop...Vancouver. I was so seasick (I get carsick easily and cruises really aren't bad, I assure you...the only time I really knew I was on a ship was this last day when we were going so fast!) and I slept most of the day because I couldn't bear to feel nauseas! I asked Corban if he was ok that I slept so much, and he said, "Everyone needs a vacation from their vacation, right?" So he watched TV most of the day while I slept. Getting through customs in Vancouver was an absolute nightmare, but we made it! We got home at about 9 PM on Saturday, only to learn of a tragic plane crash that killed 10 people in Cedar City the day before, two of them being the father and sister of one of my dearest sweet friends here in Cedar City. This has been weighing on my mind ever since getting home. This, combined with an article about a Somalian runner in the Olympics (Samia Yusuf Omar, who on most days survives only on water and flat bread) really left me feeling humbled and extremely blessed. In pondering the shortness of life, I called all of my family yesterday to tell them all how much I love them, vowing to never take a single day for granted. I've had a country song in my mind that keeps replaying over and over. A line from the chorus says, "Even my bad days ain't that bad. Lord knows I'm a lucky man." So, with that, I will come to a sober finish of our Alaskan vacation and a return to every day life, a life that I am extremely grateful for every day that I am in it. Don't we all have so many things to be grateful for?

Pregnancy ills

For the last two days, I've been sick. With what? Who knows...the flu? food poisoning? Whichever it is, it's got two very undesirable symptoms which prevent you from keeping food in your stomach. What it is I'm sick with exactly, I'll probably never know. The one thing I do know quite clearly is that being pregnant changes the way I look at everything! I worry that salmonella or bacteria or whatever it is might possibly cross through the placenta and affect the baby...but it's not really a big deal how I feel so long as Baby's okay! We're staying at a hotel and I'd sure LOVE to sit in that hottub...but, not a chance if it could possibly hurt Baby! There are times when I could really use a Tylenol, and yes, they say it's okay to take when you are pregnant, but what if you need one frequently for reccuring sinus headaches? I find myself wondering if Baby could be adversely affected by the regular taking of any medicine, thus I refrain from everything but tums. When I walk through a crowded place, I find my eyes watching every person I pass, my hands ready to jump up and protect my stomach if one of them gets too close. Amazing how the world becomes all about baby and a lot less about Mom when you are pregnant, isn't it? It must be one of those built in in instincts Heavenly Father blesses us with...and the thing that causes Moms to love their babies so much from the very start!

I think I got it figured out

Okay, so after several attempts to log in to my blog this morning, I have finally discovered that I did it under the email address I have never used with my married name. I am certainly blog challenged. That's what I get for not logging in for 5 days after creating my profile! I have had such a busy week finishing things up at my old job. It's been insane completing everything there. My official last day was July 18th, but I was so behind because of the insane amounts of work they always have us doing there, I just barely finished up on August 7th. I just loved spending my first three weeks of being unemployed working for no pay (well, minus the 3 days we spent going to Idaho for Corban's family reunion). But alas, I am done! Such a relieving feeling! I can finally start getting down to business with things like cleaning out the computer room to turn it into a baby's room. No easy task, let me tell you. There is so much stuff stored in that room that I don't even know what to do with. We will be making several trips to the DI, that's for sure! Anyhow, this is boring me so I am probably boring the rest of you. I just had to say that I am alive out here in blogger land, even if it took me almost a week to respond to everyone! I will write more later when I actually have something to share besides excuses for why I haven't written!

Does anyone else frequently reflect upon how truly blessed we are?

It occurs to me so often that we are so entirely blessed in this nation. Heck, who knows, there are probably many others in other nations as well, but I know that I, for one, am definitely among the most blessed. Never do I have to wonder where I am going to sleep, where my next meal is coming from, where I will get medical care, if I will be able to get to church on Sunday and whether or not I will be able to worship without fear of persecution, or anything else for that matter. It has occurred to me even more overwhelmingly so since being pregnant how truly blessed we are. Within the first few weeks of being pregnant, I was reading an article in a magazine while waiting to get my hair done, and it was all about a woman who went through in vitro three times at $50 thousand a pop. The article then listed the percentage of women who struggle to conceive each year, going through depressions and turmoils of in vitro followed by attempts to adopt, and all the while there are so many women in this world who conceive so easily and bring babies in to less than healthy living conditions with drugs and molestation and so much more. Tears instantly stung my eyes to think how something that came so easily to me would be so difficult for someone else. I sat there and thanked my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the child who was just beginning to grow inside of me. Then, as I experienced horrible morning sickness, I had to ask myself how the pioneer women did it. They didn't have their choice of food available to them, or a meal every 2 hours as I became accustomed to after my first trimester. And they didn't have a comfortable bed to sleep in or healthcare avaialble and they walked all day, rain or cold or snow. I was such a baby for my first trimester...how would I have survived the plains!? Then today, I learned that one of my friends who is expecting a child a few months before me, one of the sweetest people I know, learned that her baby has Trisomy 13. This means the child was given 3 chromosomes it only needed 3 of. She will likely carry the baby to term, but the baby isn't expected to live. This happens to 1 in 3000 or 4000 women. Every single time we conceive a healthy baby, it is so much more of a miracle than we probably tend to realize. I just can't help but thank my Heavenly Father for the true miracles and blessings in my life.

blog, blog, blog...what am I getting myself into? Can anyone deny that this will become addicting?

So, at the insistence of the ladies at enrichment tonight, I have given in and become a blogger...it didn't take much persuasion! I am always up for something new if it involved keeping in touch with people...my favorite hobby of all time. I do, after all, keep Hallmark and Current in business! I just fear this will be something I will develop a new addiction to...I have always been one who, after all, LOVES email, and now that I have discovered Facebook, I love it too. Now I will probably become a blog lover! I was told this is the most fun (and easy) way to keep everyone updated about baby and viewing all the baby pics we will be taking, so here goes! ;)
Hugs, all! Noëlle