The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

I had another prenatal appointment today. I was dialated to 3 cm. and still just 85% effaced. My fundal height has now officially reached 40 cm. Last week the doctor told us that he would be out of town during Aiden’s due date and that we could schedule to be induced, so we made the appointment today. For those of you who are curious I am scheduled to go into labor and delivery on Friday February 8th to be induced. This is fine and well and is nice because there is an official and ultimate end in sight, but for Brandon and I we would really prefer that Aiden makes the decision to travel down the birth canal and into our arms of his own free will before next friday comes along and would appreciate any prayers offered on Aiden’s behalf. We will continue to keep everyone posted in the event that Aiden does arrive sooner. But in my excitement I would like to end by saying 8 days and counting until our little boy joins our family!

This evening the beloved prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints passed away surrounded by family.  News reports state that his passing was due to complications of old age.  I find comfort in knowing that he was preceeded in death by his lovely wife Majorie Hinckley and that their reunion in Heaven was nothing less then a joyous event.  Ever since my return into full activity of the church in 1999 the only face I have ever known as “the face of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” has been that of the kind and wise President Hinckley.  I have grown to love and trust him and am sad to see him go, but I trust that the next prophet of the church will become as beloved as Pres. Hinckley was and will bring his own unique personality to the calling.  Brandon also feels a sense of loss and he remarked, “it seemed that he would be a permanent fixture of the church.”  Which leads him to have a sense of disbelief about the loss.

Okay, alright, I was hoping that my next entry would be annoucing to the world that Aiden had arrived and that is why I didn’t write an update after my last prenatal visit. He has not yet arrived so I thought it would be a good idea to write.

As of Thursday I was dialated to 2 1/2 cm and 85% effaced. My fundal height was 39 cm. The doctor also explained that he will be at a conference in Park City Feb. 11, 12, & 13 and that if we wanted to be sure that it would be him delivering our baby then we can arrange to be induced Friday Feb. 8th if Aiden makes it that long. We plan to make an appointment for induction on Feb. 8 this week just in case. The doctor said it would be easier to cancel the appointment then it would be to squeeze us in.

So there you have the latest baby news. We promise to spread the word once Aiden arrives. Until next time…

     For those of you who enjoyed 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight’s Tale, or The Brother’s Grimm and look forward to the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, it is sad to note that Health Ledger was found dead in his New York home earlier today.  Reports say that he was found on his bed with an open bottle of sleeping pills nearby.  I have always felt that Heath Ledger was a talented actor and am slightly saddened by his passing.  Though Brandon is greatly saddened at the early loss of such a talented actor, he is grateful that “The Dark Knight” is in post production. 😉

Well, our most major news this week is that yesterday I had another allergic reaction.  We went to a luncheon at our bishops home and after filling my plate I grabbed what looked to be a harmless chocolate chip cookie.  I ate my food periodically smelling the chocolate chip cookie to make sure it smelled normal…even my mom’s chocolate chip cookies (which she carefully bakes so that I can eat them) for some reason have a faint hint of peanut smell so I deemed the cookie to smell ok.  Nevertheless, it was the very last thing I ate.  (In hindsight I think Heavenly Father might have been trying to warn me not to eat it, I NEVER smell cookies that many times before finally eating them.)  Anyway, I ate probably oh, 2-3 bites of the cookie (thank goodness I didn’t eat all of it) and started to feel the familiar tingling in the throat and swelling of the lips.  I was somewhat baffled as to why I was reacting to what I thought was a regular chocolate chip cookie but since the cookies were all home baked I chalked it up to the fact that maybe they had been baked on the same pan as the nutty cookies and the oils had mixed.  Anyway, I asked Brandon and the bishop to give me a blessing and Brandon and I drove home so that I could take a loratadine (which is an antihistamine) and I brushed my teeth, gargled some mouthwash and ate a couple otter pops before we headed toward Desert Star to go and see a play.  Well, on the way to the show I started to feel bad again, my mouth and throat felt ok but I started to itch and my esophagus was burning.  Upon parking at the theatre I tossed my cookies.  So I sent Brandon in to see what he could arrange for seeing the show another time and decided that we should head home so that I could try and recover from my allergy.  Well, I was really thirsty so we stopped and bought a sprite at 7-11 and I used the restroom.  Well, as we passed 3300 south on state street and my breathing became increasingly restricted, I decided that we had better go to the emergency room at St. Mark’s.  We got there and Brandon dropped me off at the door while he parked the car.  I went in and explained what was happening and within just a few minutes I was in a room being attended to.  They took some blood and then gave me some steroids and a dose of epinephrine.  You would not believe the shock of each nurse and the doctor as I explained that I am allergic to Benedryl and that the reaction I have when I am given Benedryl is anaphylatic shock.  Because that is generally what they give patients having an allergic reaction it just baffled them extensively.  I have decided that I need to type up a little card that I can give a doctor in the event that I can not talk so that they don’t give me Benedryl to help me.  That could potentially be fatal.  They also gave me a dose of breathing treatment on the nebulizer.  That took me back to my childhood, and was actually oddly comforting.  After all of that they monitored me for another hour or so before sending me to labor and deliver to have Aiden monitored to make sure that all was well.  When E.R. discharged me they sent me with a prescription for an Epipen, prednisol, and pepcid to prevent another reaction to that same nut.  They told me that sometimes there can still be bits of nut that haven’t come out yet, or just the memory of the nut and that those can cause a second reaction with 10-12 hours of the first.  Needless to say they took very good care of me.

In labor and delivery they hooked me up to the monitor that measures Aiden’s heartbeats and my contractions.  After what was probably 45 mins. the nurse came in and asked if I was feeling the contractions that I had been having.  I said no.  She asked if Aiden had been moving and I told her he had, then she explained that Aiden’s heart beat was a little high (185 b.p.m) and that my contractions were probably due to my being dehydrated.  She said that she had spoken to my obgyn and that because Aiden’s heartbeat was so high they wanted to monitor me a bit longer and also put an I.V. in me to give me some liquids to see if the contractions would even out and spread apart.  So we stayed another hour or so and I watched as Aiden’s heartbeat gradually went back down to normal and as my contractions spread out and became less intense.  At 8:00 or so they said that baby is doing good and we were given the all clear to go home.  Brandon brought the car around and the nurse wheeled me out.  It was a good dry run for labor in a few weeks.  We were there 5-6 hours and I didn’t get to eat anything (I did have two tiny apple juices to help with dehydration), we also didn’t have much to do.  I got to watch t.v. in the E.R. and I started a movie on Brandon’s Ipod in the labor and delivery triage room.  As for the cause of the allergy, we found out today at church that there had been walnuts in the cookie.  Bad walnuts!

As for the rest of the week, Brandon worked 4 1/2 at a temp. job this week and applied at what felt like a gazillion places.  Still no interviews but he plans to contact people tomorrow to follow up on the jobs he applied for.  He has also been enjoying school.

Friday night we invited some friends over because Brandon wanted to make sushi with them.  I of course knew from the beginning that I would be eating something else, but did taste a cucumber and rice roll (I removed the seaweed from it because it smelled terrible).  Brandon also made some chicken and rice asian stir fry which was good, I ate around the things I didn’t like and the seasoning was tasty.  As always his friends were good company and the time passed by too quickly.

Well, that is all for this week.  I promise not to have another emergency room visit in the near or distant future.  The next time I am admitted into the hospital will be to deliver a little baby boy into the world!  🙂  We will keep you posted!

So, for those of you who are curious, I went in for my prenatal visit today. This was the first visit at which the doctor checked my cervix, it was also at this visit that the strep b culture was done. I will not get the strep b culture results back until next week sometime but for those of you who are dying to know, I am dialated to 1 1/2 centimeters and I am 70% effaced. I am also measuring at a fundal height of 38 1/2. The doctor said that this is no indicator of when I will go into labor, but he has now given me the go ahead to go into labor whenever Aiden feels like it. It could be days or still a couple of weeks before he comes. Anyway, how exciting. My life will be drastically different before I know it. I plan to hibernate until the weather warms up permanently (to reduce the chance of Aiden getting RSV) but am SOOOO excited for spring and summer. He and I will go on walks, and enjoy the sunshine. Once he can sit up he will get to play in his tiny pool (with me close by to keep him safe). It will all be so much fun.

A few bits of information that you all should know prior to Aiden’s birth. First of all, I will have visiting hours (both at the hospital and once I return home) for the first few weeks while I adjust to nursing and having no sleep. They will likely be 2:30-6:30 but Brandon and I will keep people posted about the exact times and if I am nursing you will probably have to wait for me to finish. Secondly, Aiden’s baby blessing is tentatively scheduled for May 4th. (Tentatively meaning that I still have to confirm with the bishop) We are doing it so far away because March seemed too soon, April is conference and we didn’t know for sure which Sunday would be fast Sunday, and the next choice was May. Well, there you have it! Stay warm!

     Well, Brandon and I sincerely hope that everyone had a good Christmas holiday and that you had a good time ringing in the new year.  We enjoyed spending one of my yearly famiy traditions on Christmas Eve and went to my grandma’s for dinner and a good time with all of my extended family.  Afterwards we went to my mom’s and spent the night there with my sister and her husband so that “Santa could come.”  It was a lot of fun. 

     On the 29th I had my first of two baby showers.  I got a lot of cute gifts, many blankets, bibs, and of course cute little clothes for Aiden.  One of the gifts I received was a little inflatable baby pool which I am excited to use when the weather turns warmer.  This shower was also exciting for another reason, I ate an eclair (which I can usually eat just fine, I even ate a real eclair IN Paris without a problem) and had an allergic reaction…I of course had no medication with me what so ever, my epipen is expired and I had left my usual allergy medicine at home.  I had already borrowed my aunt’s albuterol inhaler an hour earlier because I had accidentally left my purse (and inhaler) in the car and Brandon had gone to see a movie with his friend.  Well anyway, I did my usual thing to try and combat the allergy by drinking lots and LOTS of water, brushing my teeth, and swishing my mouth out.  I was also very lucky because by that time I had my uncle Neal, uncle Paul, and cousin Mike all at the party (these things are supposed to be for girls only) and they were able to give me a blessing.  It still took awhile for the swelling in my throat and lips to go down but the blessing helped me to avert hives and other normal symptoms that I get when I have an allergic reaction.  Thank goodness for the priesthood.

     Brandon and I spent our New Year’s Eve at home this year.  I was too exhausted to do otherwise.  We watched an on t.v. movie and then flipped back and forth between various countdown specials.  All in all it was a good evening. 

     This past Saturday I had my 2nd baby shower.  It was at my mom’s and it went really well.  I again got a lot of good stuff, clothes, toys, diapers, and a play gym thing to keep Aiden occupied.  😉  Lucky baby.

     The only other news is that Brandon started back at school.  He is pretty excited about his classes this semester and especially about his visual media class, which actually turns out to be a filming class.  We originally thought it would be a graphic design class and thus an easy A.  I think this will actually be more exciting for Brandon.  He just has two more semesters after this one and then the two (plus Aiden) of us will embark on a different journey. 

     Lastly, Brandon is still looking for a job.  Our specifications are as follows.  It needs to work with his school schedule (so like a 12:30-7:00 shift) while still being 32 hours a week so that we are eligible for health insurance (which needs to be good), we would also prefer that he has weekends off so that he can spend time with mom and baby, lastly, we would really like to make $15.00+ a week or $30,000+ a year so that we can afford health insurance and baby expenses.  If any of you know of anything please let us know and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  That is all for now.   Have a good week!

Well, the weeks until Aiden is born are winding down quickly. We are wrapping up all of our preparations as quickly as we can in the off chance he decides to come early. There are just a few more things that we need and a few more crafts and little things to do in the nursery to finish up.

For those of you who don’t know, Brandon and I have decided to go the route of cloth diapers. I read up on them and found that not only are they cost efficient (they can be re-used over and over for multiple children, whereas if you buy disposable diapers you need at least four $10.00 packages a month for 1 child), they are also economical (not that I buy into that too much but it is nice to know that I won’t be sending piles and piles of diapers to the dump), the cloth allows the little baby bum skin to breath better, thus creating less diaper rash, and lastly, (and I guess that I will see if this actually proves to be true) I read that children who wear cloth diapers potty train earlier. Who doesn’t want that? I do want to add the caveat to all those who would consider baby sitting for me, if you baby sit I will bring Aiden to you in a disposable diaper (with other disposables) so that you do not have to deal with swishing the poo off the cloth diaper and wrapping all the diapers up in a bag to be washed by me later. No worries!

So really I wanted to write about our experience with our car seat. First of all may I highly encourage all future moms to install the car seat 4-5 weeks BEFORE you are due and then take it to be inspected for proper installation. After our last birthing class on Thursday Brandon and I saw a set of new parents putting their car seat in the car. The mom was standing by the car and the husband appeared to be struggling with the car seat. I don’t know about you but if I were the mom I would be frustrated, especially since I know that I will just want to get home and climb into bed as quickly as possible. Our experience installing ours was definitely a little bit more complicated then we anticipated. We followed the directions exactly but found that after our first attempt the base was angled and leaning to the side. So of course we tried a 2nd time, this time the seat belt was too loose and we could move the base around. Well, the third time worked much better because I found that instead of just simply, “pulling on the shoulder strap” like it said in the instructions (which caused the funny angle of our first attempt), that you actually push down on the base, pull up on the part of the buckle in the seat, then pull on the shoulder strap. After all of that is done, you then have to attach a little locking clip 1/2 inch from the locking part of the seat belt. Needless to say, in my little car there is not more then 1 1/2″ of seat belt below the car seat base, so the locking clip (which is like 1 1/4″ tall) is only 1/4″ away from the locking mechanism. The good news is that the car seat is installed at the proper angle and will not slide anywhere. I feel confident that when I get it inspected they will give me a thumbs up.

Related to this was our attempt at installing the shades for the baby. Luckily we had been given vinyl window cling ones because it quickly became apparent that the blinds that open and close would not have worked in my funny shaped rear windows, as it is we will have to cut the vinyl ones to the appropriate size and shape before they will be able to install fully and without wrinkles.

So there you have my experiences for the week. Thanks to everyone who attended my baby showers and sorry to those of you who I neglected (due to pregnancy forgetfulness) to invite. Oh, one last thing. After my last visit to the doctor on Thursday he decided to have me start coming every week. Originally I was to have one more 2 week visit and then come once a week but due to my symptoms (and the closeness that I will be to 36 weeks at my next visit ) he changed it. As of next Friday Aiden is free to come whenever he wants and they will not do anything to stop my labor. WOOT!!!! The light is at the end of the tunnel! Ta ta for now!

Well, it has only been 2 weeks since I last wrote but I figured I would write again. Brandon and I only have one birthing class left and it’s focus will be on breastfeeding. I enjoyed the tour of the hospital, but was dissapointed to find that the labor and delivery rooms are a thousand times cooler then the post partum rooms. But, what can you expect? They want you comfortable during the hard stuff and just semi-comfortable afterwards.

The last week and a half or so have been interesting. On the 27th of December I was feeling a lot of pressure in the lower part of my pelvis and the baby seemed to be somewhat lower in my tummy. It isn’t incredibly noticeable but both Brandon and I could tell. Since then I have just been feeling somewhat out of sorts, very tired all the time, everything takes even more exertion then ever before, and my tummy has been hardening a lot more. This past Sunday the 6th I was sitting at church and felt the baby move right near my pelvis. It was the strangest and not exactly comfortable feeling in the world. As the day wore on I was feeling mild cramping and lower back pain, which I have felt off and on since. My next prenatal appointment is Thursday, but I think my body is definitely preparing itself for Aiden’s arrival, whenever it may be.

Which brings me to my next thought, I have no real way of knowing how big Aiden truly is right now. I have no way to know if he is measuring bigger because of his position, extra fat on my stomach, or because he really is bigger. The doctor was saying that hopefully nature will kick in the end of January. I would just like everyone to know that I am ok with Aiden coming whenever he wants to between week 36 and his due date. I will not be dissapointed if he doesn’t come early. I just pray with all my heart that I am able to birth him vaginally because I am absolutely terrified of c-section. My dad’s family thinks that I will have a large baby because my grandma and all of her daughters had huge babies. But, I tend to disagree since my dad (her son) happened to have exactly average sized babies with my mom (I was 7 lbs. 7 oz.). Brandon was 8 lbs. 15 oz. but he was also 8 days late, which added at very least an extra 1/2 lb. to his weight. So there you go.

I have also been experiencing a mix of emotions, which I am sure is normal. Some times I am excited and look forward to all of the firsts, plus all of the innately baby things (like tiny toes, baby powder, baby expressions, baby cuddles, etc.). Other times, I lament the loss of the era of newly wedness that we have shared over the past 2 years and 5 months, the times of being at one with your spouse, a duo, a team, and I only hope that what the future holds is even better then all of that. I hope that I didn’t take our solo time for granted and have cherished every moment that he and I have been able to share due to the loss of his job in Nov. (Although it is about time that something pan out so he and I can pay our January and February bills.) Still other moments, I worry about my abilities as a mom, and about whether Brandon and I will have the monetary means to provide little Aiden with everything that he needs. I worry that I won’t remember the brilliant tricks and ideas that I have picked up through working at daycares, watching other moms, and from my own mom. Sometimes, I forget that I have a whole support system of my spouse, family and friends behind me to help my raise my little one (and future little ones) and worry about my own ability to relate to a little boy. Which is just silly.

Anyway, we are getting prepared for whenever he may come. There are still a few things that we need but Aiden will at least have a car seat to come home in, a place to sleep, and things to wear. Brandon and I both love this little guy so much already. We both find joy in feeling him move around and knowing that he is a live and well. Wish us luck and pray that Aiden will come to earth via the birth canal. Love you all.

My life is one bit of irony fading into the next. A prime example of that occurred this afternoon. It was disgustingly obvious that it was time to empty the dirt canister of our vacuum cleaner. As the man of the house, that chore falls to my charge.

I walked to the dumpster and threw open the lid.  As I was shaking and banging the canister of filth, the wind blew and very silently closed the lid, directly onto my hand. After yelling angrily at the wind, I realized that with the fateful impact, my hand had opened and the canister was lost to the force of gravity.  I peered into the dumpster and to my relief the canister was only halfway down inside, sitting on trash that I prayed would be the dry variety.

I knew I was too short to reach the canister and walked back to the apartment, grabbing a chair to offset that genetic misfortune. I set the chair very near the dumpster and, after looking around for witnesses, half-climbed in.  I easily reached the canister this time and removed myself from the smelly, gaping jaws of the municipal waste bin. Brushing dirt (dry dirt, thank heaven) from my shirt, I realized that I had been dumpster-diving while advertising, “TRUST ME. I DO THIS ALL THE TIME.” on my chest.