Free Range Family

This week has been a little rough on me, I apologize about the extreme lack of posts. Early Tuesday morning, I was admitted into the hospital again for morning sickness and dehydration. Once again, I started having contractions from the dehydration, though this time around they were much stronger. I was given two dosages to fight the nausea and a pain killer shot to bring down the contractions. And thankfully after five hours in the hospital, my contractions ceased and I was able to go home. Miss Anna, you need to stay in there a little bit longer! :) Here is this week's Pregnancy Post! How far along:  37 weeks and 4 days Size of Baby:  Almost 7 pounds and 19 inches long or the size of a stalk of Swiss chard Developments of Baby:  Baby girl is shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-mont

Saturday was a busy day for us. I had to work in the morning and was Sophie's second birthday party plus the monster truck rally later that night. It was a hot one, but thankfully Sophie's party was the wading pool at Pioneer Park. Alan, Grandma Melanie and Uncle Kalvin went swimming in the pool while I was able to catch up with my grandparents and cousins. It was nice to see my cousin Ashley and Julie again, it had been since Christmas that I had last seen them! Alan and Kalvin had a blast playing with their GI Joes and boats in the pool and though they were kinda far away from me, I got some cute pictures of them. After swimming for a bit, the boys dried off and had dinner. Ashley's husband Cody barbecued so Alan enjoyed a yummy hot dog and some Cheetos, which he shared with Sophie. :) Then it was time for cake and ice cream. Oddly enough, Alan didn't want his piece of cake so I had to have two lol. Oh well, Anna didn't mind. :) We sat next to Great Grandma C

Last night Alan and I went to Alan's friend Tatum's third birthday party. It was Hawaiian themed and they set up several water activities for the kids to partake in. There was a water table, a small swimming pool and two fun sprinklers. Alan didn't know any of the other kids but quickly warmed up again to Miss Tatum. Alan playing alone at the water table The two of them sat in the pool together for maybe a half an hour, playing with the various water toys and occasionally arguing over them lol. I think Alan finally met his match with Tatum, she is just as stubborn and feisty as he is. She kinda gave him a run for his money lol, which was good because he is normally doing it to other kids. :) They got into several water gun fights too and soaked each other by the end of it lol. Rub a dub-dub, two cute kids in a tub (pool lol) :D After playing in the water for a while, it was time for birthday cake. Tatum's mother Heather did a great job on the cake, she made

Happy Friday! Today I don't work so we don't have too much planned, but we will probably go do something fun with Grandma Melanie, Uncle Kalvin and cousin Morgan later tonight. Tomorrow we have cousin Sophie's birthday party and then the monster truck races, and on Sunday we are going to the Symphony in the Park. Busy weekend ahead! :) Here is this week's Five Question Friday!! What do you keep a stock pile of? Trident gum and some sort of smelly perfume lol. Because this pregnant mama sometimes doesn't always get a chance to brush her teeth or shower, or comb her hair or even change her clothes... Lol in other words, sometimes I stink. :P Trident and smelly stuff usually helps to take the edge off. If Ben & Jerry asked you to invent an ice cream, what would it be? I am not too sure on what the name would be but it would have brownie chunks, peanut butter cups and chocolate chips in it. Mmmmmmmm... How do you blow off steam? Meditation and yoga

Today I had my first weekly midwife appointment. I again met with Katie, one of my new favorite midwives. I took my Group B Strep test and thankfully it wasn't all that bad. She weighed me and to our surprise, I gained a pound finally! :D Yes! My blood pressure was good, it was its usual low self lol. She then checked on Miss Anna and estimated her to weigh about five and a half pounds, similar to the ultrasound technician's prediction. Anna is still head down and had a healthy heart beat of 140 bpm. Then we talked about the hospital visit. She gave me a handout to fill out for my birth plan but I told her since this was my second, I had already written my own. Katie was very pleased with this and asked me to bring it next week. Here it is, for anyone who might need an idea what of a thorough birth plan looks like: Birth Plan Mother's Name: Jillian Andersen Baby's Name: Anna Ariel Andersen Due Date: July 17, 2012 Blood Type: O+ Allergies: No Known Allergies

I cannot believe that I have at the most three and a half weeks until Anna makes her appearance! It seems like just yesterday I was twenty weeks and finding out we were adding a little princess into the mix! And now she is almost here! I have been a very busy little pregnant bee this past week lol, preparing for my hospital trip. Most of Anna's clothes are washed, I've started the packing process lol, and my birth plan is all written out. Now to just wait for her appearance! :) This week I have a midwife appointment and two birthday parties to take Alan to, one for his little friend Tatum and the other for his cousin Sophie. Both parties are gonna be around water, so it should be pretty cool lol (haha, I meant it in both ways). Enough of my craziness, here is this week's Pregnancy Post! How far along:  36 weeks and 3 days Size of Baby:  6 pounds and 18 1/2 inches long or the size of a crenshaw melon Dev

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! Especially to Lon, my brother Darren, my father Kevin, my father-in-law Steve, my Grandfather Louie, my Grandfather Floyd, my Grandfather Gordon, my Grandfather-in-law Stan and my other Grandfather-in-law Floyd. I hope everyone's Father's Day is fantastic and relaxing. You men deserve it! :) Today for Father's Day, Alan and I made Lon breakfast. I cooked him eggs and sausage while Alan helped me cut fruit and cook the waffles. Then we gave him his gift, new clothes and a homemade card from the both of us. Lon loved them. Then I read Lon Alan's Dad in the Eyes of a Two Year Old , which he throughly enjoyed. Here it is: Dad in the Eyes of a Two Year Old What is something Dad always says to you? Yes and No (Lol okay, I guess he does sometimes but I think he says other things more) What makes Dad happy? A song, an elephant, a Transformer and a car (I understand the song, Transformer and car but the ele

I had my ultrasound yesterday morning bright and early at 8:50. I was a little exhausted and a little nervous lol, but excited to see Miss Anna. On the way into the appointment, I ran into my cousin Blake. He works at the building where my appointment was. It was nice to see him, since I hadn't seen him since my baby shower. He hugged me and told me to call him asap when I go into labor. His girlfriend and he are very excited for Anna's arrival lol. :) Anna's 4D shot of her little face The technician measured all of Anna (and yes, she still is an Anna lol, I had her check) to double check that she was up with her gestational age and thankfully, she only measured a couple days behind, which the technician said was no concern. Anna's heartbeat was a healthy 136 bpm, right where it should be now. And then she took a couple pictures for me. Anna was sleeping so they were pretty easy to get, except she had her arm over her face and wouldn't move it no matter what l