The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Well I just looked at my friends blog and realized that there are a few things that I could write about. Last week was my 28 week check up and glucose tolerance test. The sugary drink that they give you to drink ended up not being as bad as I had thought and the sugar didn’t even bother me. I had heard all sorts of stories about how it gave so and so a headache and was SOOO sugary and then after reading the possible side effects, headache, passing out nausea, you can imagine I was nervous about the whole thing. I was also very nervous about failing because I didn’t want to have to go in for the big 3 hour long test involving 4 needle pokes. I am not scared of needles persay but 4 times in one 3 hour period is a bit overwhelming for just about anyone. I will tell you the outcome of this test after a few words about my appointment.

At the appointment the doctor expressed that I had gained 10 pounds in 4 weeks. (For a total of 30 pounds thus far in my pregnancy.) I have to say that I was a bit shocked at this number because I have been more active in the last 2 months and trying to eat a little better. I am glad to know that I am not alone in this weight gain because my friend Jen gained equally as much. He then went on to measure my fundus height…Instead of measuring 29 like it ought to have it was measuring 31 1/2. He told me that I could be measuring normally again by 36 weeks but then proceeded to tell me that the baby approx. triples it’s weight the last trimester and that by his best estimation Aiden is probably 3.25 pounds and that I could possibly have a 9 pound baby. Can you imagine little me having a baby that large? Doubtful. So of course this has me very worried as well. He explained that when women gain more then the average then the baby tends to gain a little extra as well. Oi. So, I called my mom and she reassured me that babies gain weight independently of their mom’s weight gain but that the more you gain the harder it is to lose. We also both agreed that I had gained some water weight with my swollen feet and that part of that weight gain could be attributed to that. You can definitely bet that I will be trying not to gain anymore weight during this pregnancy….If only sweets weren’t so enticing, they have been my biggest downfall I think. I also plan to eat less sodium/salt to try and lessen the water weight gain.

The reason I put off telling you all my glucose test results is because I just barely found out yesterday. MY TEST CAME BACK AS NORMAL!!!!! You do not know the relief that this is to me. I was incredibly worried.

Well, tonight we start our childbirth class. I am very excited because I am hoping that some of the unknowns of pregnancy, labor & delivery, and breastfeeding will become known to me. I will have to write about my experiences tonight at the class in the morning tomorrow. Next week is my 30 week check up and then on saturday the 15th Brandon and I are flying to AZ to visit his family. It should be interesting to fly while 31 weeks pregnant. Also, when Brandon received his first bit of payment for the website he has been working on we were able to get our stroller/car seat combo, it has a cute noah’s ark-ish print so now we at least have a way to get the baby home and a place for him to sleep. 🙂 Both very important things. Well, I guess that is all for now. Happy Holidays!

I thought I would briefly write about my job and our plans.  The CEO of Independence University saw that the numbers of enrollments were not justifying all the pay that was going out, and decided it was time to let some people go.  Unfortunately, I was on the low end of the numbers and was let go.  There is opportunity for re-hire in January, which I plan to take advantage of.

In the mean-time, I’m looking for some work to get us through December.  Wish me luck!

Well, apparently I have not written a post in two weeks.  I haven’t even had anything to rant about politics wise.  I can promise you that I still have opinions on several things, it is just that right now there are other more pressing matters on my mind.  As you all know I have a tendency to worry about everything.  In my teenage days and before, people would often worry that this stress would cause me ulcers…I am glad to say that it has not and that I think it is just part of my personality, so my body is used to it.  Also, it is not like I spend all day and all night worrying.  I like to laugh and be silly so I think perhaps this balances it out.  Anyway…

For those of you who are curious Brandon and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I was hankering for snow that day.  It just always feels so wrong not to have snow on the ground during thanksgiving and most of the month of december (especially Christmas).  We ate at my my aunt Vicky’s (she is my dad’s sister) and I was assigned to bring 2 pies.  I made cherry cheesecake and I tried making apple pie for the first time.  It turned out mostly ok, but I forgot to add the butter which helps the apple juices to coagulate and the pie crust was a bit small for my deep pie plate.  The pie tasted good but looked a bit goofy.  We were also lucky to have celebrated thanksgiving the Sunday before as well.  That one we celebrated at my step-grandma’s house.  It was lots of fun and there was a 6 week old baby girl to hold, which after a few minutes I was just toooo warm because of having Aiden in my belly and holding a swaddled baby girl.

Over thankgiving break Brandon and I went to dinner and a movie with my pa.  We saw Enchanted, which was every bit as good as I dreamed it would be.  Also, Brandon lost his job 2 days before thanksgiving.  He told me that he wanted to blog about that, so I will let him tell you all the details and the plans for the future.

As for this past week, it has been nice having Brandon home.  He worked on a paper all week and by friday we were both just burnt out with it.  He has another big paper to write this week but it should be much easier because it is in regular research paper format, whereas his other one had to be a legal brief (more like legal pain if you ask me).  But he seems to be in good spirits and I think relieved that the semester is nearing the end.

Next I would just like to say for those who keep asking me how I am feeling pregnancy wise, that I feel wonderful.  I have had little to no nausea this whole pregnancy which has been a HUGE blessing.  The pregnancy related maladies that I have been experiencing are these, heartburn from pretty much day 1, gestational carpal tunnel, dry patches of skin, some back pain and swelling of my feet.  Everything has been proceeding according to the norm.  I did gain 10 pounds over the last month and measured 2 weeks bigger according to the doctor, but I don’t feel too much heavier and am hoping that a lot of that weight is water weight.  Also when I got home I found where the top of my uterus is and measured and it seemed to be right on.  The doc said I could be measuring big now and be measuring normal by week 36 so I guess I will just wait and see what happens.  It got me scared because he said I could possibly be having a 9 pound baby.  Oh and if some of you mothers could tell me what a contraction feels like I would appreciate it because the doctor asked if I had been having contractions and I told him I didn’t think so.

Lastly, this weekend we will be putting up our Christmas tree as well as helping my mom to put up hers.  It is always a lot of fun and so I am excited.  We love you all!

Well, I still have not received much feedback on this blog.  Perhaps, less people read our weekly e-mails then I thought?  Who knows…for those of you who do read this, here are the highlights of what we have been up to since I last wrote.  I started to take water aerobics twice a week.  This has been nice because I really hate to excercise but being in the water makes it almost fun…Sadly, because I have such dry skin and the chlorine is so strong and bothersome I will have to re-think going twice a week and will probably only end up going once a week.

I also went and volunteered at Legacy Preparatory Academy last wednesday.  I ended up just sitting in on a class and then attending the assembly with that same class, but it was fun and one of my math students from last year seemed excited to see me.  I will be volunteering at the school approximately once a week through the end of January.

I feel that the highlight of our week last week was seeing one of Brandon’s best friends be sealed in the temple.  He has been searching for the right girl quite long enough and has now found her and snatched her right up.  The spirit of the day was amazing and attending sealings always makes me remember the beauty and joy of my own sealing to Brandon.  I choked up when they talked about eternal families because I was sitting there next to Brandon, with our very own posterity growing in my tummy.  What a wonderful blessing to be together for eternity.

The two of us attended a preparedness fair (it was more like a fireside) on Saturday.  They went over a lot of the basics which Brandon and I already knew, but we got a cool 5 gallon water jug from it and also a yummy refreshment of donuts.  After the fair, because Brandon had been paid for some design work he did, we were able to go and buy our stroller/car seat.  HOORAY!

Brandon has just continued to do what he always does, go to work, come home, do homework or design work, and go to bed.  He has a few big assignments that are due at the end of the month and so we are going to have to give up some of the more fun activities so he can get his work done on time.  I also keep telling him that he needs to write some blog entries too so hopefully he will in the near future.  We love you all.

Hello!  So last week was Halloween.  Tuesday evening we went to our friend Dan’s to watch Transformers and carve pumpkins.  Brandon and I dressed up as an Angel and a Devil and I wore a sign that said, “The Devil made me do it.”  It was pretty fun and I enjoyed Transformers, that was the first time I had seen it.  Wednesday was of course the official holiday and so I dressed up in my costume to hand out the candy.  The trick or treaters started coming at 6:00 and I had run out of candy/otter pops by 7:30.  Of course we didn’t have all that much to begin with so it isn’t saying much.  Luckily here at the apartment complex they give us an orange sign to put up if we accept trick or treaters so I was able to take that down and nobody else rang the doorbell.  Nice! 

Saturday night, we went to Dan’s (grocery store) to pick up some milk and they were doing a cake walk when we got there.  Unfortunately we didn’t get in on the fun, but as we were finishing up they had a trivia question.  It was, “When did the first Thanksgiving take place?” It was multiple choice or I wouldn’t have been able to guess.  They said, “1492, 1621, 17??,” and one other year.  Well, once they had said 1621 I said to Brandon, “I think it is that one.” and the guy stocking milk said, “1621.”  So Brandon and I picked up our milk and started to run to the customer service desk.  We were arriving at the same time as another girl and she was starting to say, “164..” so the guy at the counter pointed to me and I said the correct year.  The prize was a pumpkin pie!  Yay, for Brandon because he gets to eat the WHOLE thing.  (I don’t like pumpkin pie.)

Well, those are the highlights for the week of halloween, I know that they are a bit late.  Love you all!

Hello everyone, I know that it has been awhile since I last wrote. It has been somewhat uneventful around here. I mean aside from me working on making little baby booties and pushing on my stomach to try and feel little Aiden moving. I think that this little guy will have the funnest personality. I mean I don’t really know much yet but I have been giggling a lot and being silly (as I am prone to do) and I just think that he will come out knowing that life is good.

Anyway, today is an eventful day. It is the day that I go with my fairy godfather and get Aiden his crib and mattress. I am very excited because aside from a few clothes that I inherited, a pack-n-play that I inherited, and the things that I have made for Aiden, we still don’t really have anything.

In just two short weeks I will start my third trimester and another exciting thing is that after my prenatal visit on Nov. 29th, I will start having prenatal visits every 2 weeks! There will still be 12 weeks left in my pregnancy but I think going in for prenatal visits more regularly will help the time pass more quickly. 🙂 We will also start birthing classes on Dec. 6th.

Well, that is all for now. I will take pictures of the crib when we get it put together and I will also take pictures of the baby booties I have been working on, as well as any little outfits that I make. I also realize that I have not yet finished and taken a picture of the crib quilt, so I will get around to that as well. Adios!

We successfully got the nursery painted friday night! Hooray! You can see pictures of the progress in the photo albums. We only painted two walls because we did not want to fuss with the cinderblock. Yesterday I also got his crib quilt mostly finished, made a pair of booties and started on a romper that will have a red shirt on the top half and car print fabric on the bottom. (It is a one piece) I look forward to getting some fleece and other non-fraying fabric so that I can make a myriad more little booties. It is super fun (and easy). Ta ta for now.

Hey everyone!  Here is a little bit of what we have been up to this week…First of all, starting Wednesday November 7th I will be volunteering at Legacy Preparatory Academy once a week to help with testing and substitute for classes.  This will be unpaid as any change in our income could cause us to lose medicaid which is our health insurance for the duration of the pregnancy.  I am excited to be going back, even for just a few hours a week, because it was probably my favorite job thus far in my life.  I know what you are all thinking, Erin, you should become a teacher.  Well, I tell you this, I want to be a full time mom.  Also, I worry too much and get overwhelmed somewhat easily and I think that the stress of being a full time teacher would be too much.  This part time job as an instructor was perfect because I taught 3 classes with only 6-10 kids.  I was able to get to know them more individually and the grades weren’t too much. 

Next, I will probably be helping grandma with projects, gift wrapping, and organizing, once a week through the end of my pregnancy.  I helped her this last week wrapping some dishes and going through a small portion of her Christmas stuff to organize it.  She also had me vacuum.  It went pretty well and grandma is fun company.

Yesterday I worked on Aiden’s baby quilt, started sewing a romper and completed a pair of baby booties.  Last night, Brandon and I finally painted two of the walls in Aiden’s room and it looks pretty good.  (For photos of the progress in the nursery visit Aiden’s site)  We both really love having a splash of color in there. 

Brandon is still just busy with the same old, same old.  Today he is spending a little bit of time creating a hood for his halloween costume.  We also bought a cool trident and some little devil horns.  It is fun when things start to come together.  We love you all!  Take care.

While sad news, it is important to recognize that Aiden’s great grandmother Trudy Cheel passed away last night, she was preceeded in death by her husband Joe Cheel in July, 2000.  She has had several hard months and we are greatful that she has gone to a better place.  Perhaps she will get to spend some time with Aiden with he begins his sojourn here on earth and they can swap stories.

Hey everybody! I am writing because last night I finally felt what I am 95% sure was the baby moving. I was laying on my back and had my hand on my belly and I felt, well it is hard to describe, but it was like a little bump up and then a slight brush along my hand. This happened twice. It would be similar to taking your knuckle and running it gently along your other hand. How very exciting! I hope that this starts to happen more and more because I would really like Brandon to feel little Aiden moving around. It was pretty exciting!

We also have everything out of the nursery that we can move without a truck (and also Brandon’s drums). I plan to finish taping the walls this week so that the painting can begin!! It is very exciting. On top of that a little birdy told me that when the room is ready (which mostly just means the painted walls are dry) they would be obliged to take me to go get the baby crib and crib mattress. Yippee! I can start to see things coming together a little bit and this is very good. Brandon was given a web design job a few weeks ago that will pay well enough for us to buy the stroller/car seat and the swing/bouncer that we wanted with enough to have a little bit left over. Those are the three major purchases that we had and I am glad that we have a way to get them.