"What would we do if...

...I went into labor NOW??"* 

This was a question Bryan and I somewhat jokingly kept asking each other two weekends ago when we decided to get away at the last minute down to Arches National Park for an overnight.  We went to Arches in October when I was about 7-8 weeks pregnant and I just loved it (not that I haven't loved all the places we've visited)!  Its about 4 hours from SLC so totally doable for a quick get-away.

The problem?  Its in the middle of no where!  At 33 weeks pregnant, I was still in the "able to travel zone" given to me by my OB but after a college friend recently had her baby at 31 weeks (baby is doing great!) and another friend gave birth last year at 33-34 weeks, we were a little nervous.  Add to this to the fact that we were hiking and camping (yes, camping at 33 weeks pregnant!), which walking is an old wives tail for stimulating labor, but everything was fine and we had a great trip!!

I did however get MANY comments and looks from strangers as they saw my big belly coming toward them (and sometimes passing them) on the trails.  All the comments were positive with lots of "WOW!  Good for you!" or "That's awesome!  Inspiring!"  However, I did notice a few side eyes and obvious stares at my belly by some less-positive people.  Oh well...I bet they were just jealous that a pregnant chick just passed them on the hike :)

**Warning....picture overload below!**

 Before we got all sweaty from hiking, I wanted a few nice pictures of me and B-Fo.  These were taken at our campsite...pretty cool spot, huh??

Day 1 on our hike through Devil's Garden

Bryan's artistic shot of our campsite at night...and proof that I actually did camp!

 

Day two after hiking up to Delicate Arch...its the most famous one but its probably my favorite too

Hiking through the Klondike Bluffs, which we didn't do last time we were there.  

(I was disappointed that there weren't Klondike bars at the end)

As you can see, the weather was perfect and it felt so good to get out of town and into some sun for a couple days.  Luckily we never had to answer the question "what would we do if...?"

*For the record, my vote was to drive back to SLC since most 1st time moms don't deliver within 4 hours of labor starting.  Bryan wanted to go to Moab or Price but if you've ever been to southeastern Utah, you'd understand my fear in this idea!

My cravings

People keep asking me if I've had any cravings during my pregnancy.  I think they are hoping I say something cliche like pickles and ice cream or something totally bad for you like french fries.  While I have indulged in a few many fries and ice cream scoops (sorry, not together) over the past 9 months, I'm sorry to inform you all that these things aren't what I crave.  Also, while these three foods are something that I've wanted more during pregnancy, I'm also sorry to say that I have never truly craved them as in "Bryan go out to the store right this minute and buy me XX!"

But for those of you who asked, these are the three things I've been craving during pregnancy:

Berries:  strawberries, blueberries, blackberries...all berries.  Luckily this craving hit around the time that berry prices were coming down from their winter high so I was able to buy pints at a time without going broke!

 Orange juice:  Now I was never a big fan of orange juice but over the past few months, I've been drinking pretty much a glass a day.  I think its the citrus (which doesn't help the heartburn) that I crave and drinking OJ is a heck of a lot easier than peeling an orange!  I do cut it in half with water because full strength OJ is a little too strong for me.

Dr. Pepper:  I've never been a big soda drinker and probably only have some 1-2 times per month.  While I'm definitely not drinking liters of soda a day now, its probably become more like a 1-2 times per week craving for me.  And Dr. Pepper is my soda of choice right now!

 So there you have it!  Sorry its not that interesting and with the exception of the soda, its actually very healthy*  :)

*notice I didn't include the almost pound of Easter candy I consumed this weekend??  But I'm pretty sure many non-pregnant people also did that so it doesn't really count!

In Honor of Marathon Monday

Marathon Monday in Boston just might be one of the best days of the entire year.  Obviously in my 8 month pregnant state, I was in no shape to race this year.  But this was also the first year in 9 years that I haven't lived in Boston and I truly missed the excitement that comes with the Boston Marathon.  This excitement was even greater given the AMAZING performances at both the elite level and of many of my friends!

It was a great race for American distance running and makes me excited to see how these people will do with the Olympics coming up in 2012.  Desiree Davila came within 2 seconds of breaking the tape and becoming the first American to win in over 25 years.  Ryan Hall set a new American marathon record.  Kara Goucher ran a minute personal best just 6.5 months after giving birth to her son.  Plus the men's winner, Geoffrey Mutai (Kenyan),  ran the fastest marathon time EVER with a time of 2:03:02.  (not an official World Record though because Boston has a net downhill and is a point-to-point course)

And while I watched all the race coverage from the comfort of my living room and was sad to not be a part of it this year, I do realize that the running I've been able to do during my pregnancy is nothing to be sad about.  Not only am I keeping myself in shape (and somewhat sane) by continuing to run, but a new study says I might just be making B-Fo's heart stronger and more efficient in the process!

So HUGE congratulations to all the Boston Marathon finishers out there!!  Whether it was your 1st or 10th time toeing the line in Hopkinton, I hope you realize just how special this race truly is.  And to all you other runners, keep at it no matter how slow you think you are....I promise that right now I know at least one two (B-Fo counts, right??) people you are faster than ;)

I think my pace is inversely proportional to how tight my running shirts get! 

(For you non-math people that means the tighter the shirt, the slower the pace!)

                             20 weeks                             27 weeks                            31 weeks
                                                  (Click the pictures to make them larger)

Too good to be true!?!

I don't get my nails done very often.  The main reason is that the polish just doesn't last very long and I hate the look of chipped nails.  There is nothing more frustrating than paying $15-$20 for a manicure that chips within days (or hours if you are impatient with the drying process like me)! 

I decided to get my nails done two weeks ago before my baby showers.  The woman asked me if I wanted to try a new type of polish called Shellac.  She claimed that it would last, without chipping, for 14 days and that I would walk out of the salon with 100% dry nail polish.  Under my breath I was thinking "yeah right lady...not the way I treat my nails!"  I was skeptical but decided to give it a try. The process is similar to regular polish but between each coat, you put your hand under a little UV light that actually bonds the nail polish.  The whole process took about the same amount of time as a regular manicure and cost about $10-$15 more. 

Its been two weeks since I first got them done and I'm happy to report that I loved it!  I was able to walk out of the salon and pull my keys out of my bag without worrying about smudging them.  I went grocery shopping right away and packed my bags for the weekend without any problems.  That alone is worth the extra money in my book!!  (as I said above, I'm very impatient with the drying process!)  Two weeks later and the only reason I needed to have them redone was because my nails were growing out.  Otherwise, the polish looked almost as good as day one. 

Now I know the proof is in the pictures and I forgot to take before and after shots of the first application but here is Day 1 of my second Shellac experience.

I'll report back and let you know if this application lasts as long as the first.  For now, I love that I could get them done over lunch and be back to work with dry nails (which is a very big deal since I work in a lab and need to wear gloves).  I can see this Shellac manicure coming in handy once baby is here and I'm pressed for time! 

Utah Skiing

I just had to share this awesome video that Bryan shot with our Flip and edited in iMovie.  Its from a couple weeks ago when his high school friends were out visiting (although I'm pretty sure the opening scene was shot from our patio sometime last week).  The three of them Telemark ski and it's really fun to watch them, especially in powder!

Hope you enjoy!
(turn your sound on first)

The first video of many!

This week I had a follow-up ultrasound to make sure everything with the baby is looking good (it is!).  Because Bryan is a radiologist, he knows all the ultrasound techs and fortunately for me, they all love him (it's debatable whether it's actually him or the peanut butter bars he brought in for them one day).  Our tech this time was fabulous and took so much extra time showing us the baby and just letting us watch him move around.  In addition to many pictures, she also took a video for us.  Bryan being the technology savvy person that he is (and with the help of iMovie), edited it down and added some background music.  I love the images of his little lips moving around and then how it looks like he's sucking on the umbilical cord...so cute!  And we found out that he already has some hair on his head (which is surprising because his mommy was bald as can be until about 2 years of age!).

So here is our little B-Fo staring in his first movie...we have a feeling there will be many more over the next 18+ years!

Our Pseudo Babymoon

Two weeks ago Bryan was attending and presenting at a conference in Carlsbad, CA, just a little north of San Diego.  Since his flight, hotel, food, and car were paid for by the hospital, I joined him for a virtually free vacation!  Even though the weather wasn't ideal by San Diego standards (it was in the low 60's with partly cloudy skies and an occasional shower, but I'll take it!), we had a great trip.

While Bryan went to the conference, I walked along the beach and relaxed with my Kindle.  He was able to skip out on some of the conference so we could do some things together.

At the Carlsbad Flower Fields (30 weeks)

A cloudy afternoon walk on the beach

The sun was shining the next day for our daily beach walk

We hit up the San Diego Zoo!  I think we walked at least 5 miles around that place but it was definitely worth it!  We didn't take many pictures (Bryan claims he shoots only animals in nature) but one of the male peacocks that wanders free in the park was showing off for one of the females....beautiful!

The seals on the beach in La Jolla....I'm starting to feel about as big as they look! 

Then we headed just south of San Diego to Bryan's uncle and aunt's house to visit.  There was an added bonus since Bryan's 90 year old Nana from back in Boston was out visiting her son so we got to see her too!  Thanks so much to Keith and Annabelle for hosting us at their house....and for the fabulous tostadas that Annabelle made us!!

All in all, it was a great trip.  I didn't get the tan I was hoping for but it was so nice to get away for a few days, spend time with Bryan, and see some family all at the same time.  And the fact that the trip was virtually free is just an added bonus!

PS.  Sorry to my FB friends reading this that have already seen these pictures!