3 weeks to go

I was able to go see the specialist and they told me my blood sugars were looking great. That is where I also found out that baby Adalynn is growing really well! A little too well for my sake.. At 33 weeks she was weighing 5lbs 15oz. 34 weeks, 6lbs 5oz and our last appointment was 35.5 weeks and she was 6lbs 12oz! I am now 36 weeks and nervous that I wont be able to get this baby out on my own if I go full term! As of a few days ago, she was in the 71% for her weight and the specialist told me that if i go full term she will be well over 9lbs according to the measurments through the ultrasound. For my first baby, thats a little scary! What I am most afraid of is going through labor for hours and hours and then having to go into an emergency c-section because I couldnt do it on my own. Two weeks ago I had an appointment with my OB and I saw a different Dr. than I normally do but that was the week we wanted to ask about being induced a little early. When we asked, the Dr said inducing makes labor harder and I dont believe anyone should get induced unless totally necessary. So in my case, I was not going to get induced. That didnt calm my mind in the slightest. Luckily, we have an appointment every week and the next week we learned the real plan. After we had our appointment our normal Dr says okay well the plan is still the same, we will induce you at week 39 and go from there. Jared and I look at each other in confusion, wait what? We were told that I wouldnt be induced unless something was wrong? Dr says well because of the Gestational Diabetes, we wont let you go any further than week 39. Jared and I still looking at each other in shock and say well, okay then.. it was funny how knowing that she would be here no later than March 21st was scarier than just waiting for me to go into labor on my own. But it brought a little more comfort knowing that she will be one week smaller! I still secretly hope that she will get here before then on her own..
I am so ready. So ready to have my body back, to be able to move and sleep any way that I want, run, play soccer! My body hurts. At the end of the day Im ready to just sit and do nothing. But now is the time that I should be walking and walking to get this going! Its a lot harder said than done. Now what Im not necessarily ready for is having a baby! Ready or not, she will be here in three weeks!
In the past week, I have had two baby showers. One was a complete surprise. Jareds co-workers threw us a baby shower Friday, I could not believe all the gifts they spoiled us with! They really went through a lot of effort to make it special for us. I was so grateful for the love and support they have showed through talking with Jared through adventures of becoming a new dad and the perfect shower. Then Tuesday I had Activity days with my girls. They threw me a surprise shower! I was SHOCKED to say the least. I really had NO idea. This was my last week because of the baby coming and I was so touched how much all of them care so much. Each of them participated in some way, bringing food, decorations, and planning the games. They were all so excited to show me what they had done or given me. It was so sweet! i felt like a big fat jerk because all day I had been laying around because my head was hurting and I was so close to calling and saying I couldnt come when here they were all getting there early to put it all together for me. I have only been teaching them for a few months and I didnt think we had spent enough time together for them to even care. But as I mentioned before I was truly touched. 
Its amazing how many people love and care about Jared and I when we have known them for so little time. Im overwhelmed with gratitude. 
I cant wait to see this little girl and see all of my family when that time comes! 3 weeks and counting...  

Everything happens at once!



Our trip to Destin



Once Jared graduated we took a short vacation to Destin with his family. We got home and packed up! It was overwhelming to say the least. We didn't know where we were moving all we knew is that we needed to be in Virginia in May so Jared could start flying with his unit and we were leaving on our honeymoon in a few days! Our plan was to move all of our stuff into a storage unit in VA while we went to New Zealand/Australia and when we got back, I would fly home to Alabama with my family and Jared would fly back to VA and start working away and search for our new home.



Australia



Side note: We chose to go to New Zealand on our official honeymoon because the first day we met we started talking about places we wanted to travel and since Jared had traveled everywhere already, New Zealand was the place he decided he would take me because neither of us had been there. So when we got married there wasnt a more perfect place to go!

We get back from our fairytale vacation and the real world hits us. We have no home, we dont know when we will see each other next since Jared was living in the barracks temporarily while we were searching for a place. I stayed with my family for a few weeks and decided it was time to head to Pennsylvania to stay with my sister Kelsey and her family while we were really buckling down on buying a house, which was so much fun. It was about a 4 hour drive to DC where Jared was staying and where our potential home could be.

The baby talk still happened during this whole time. We were both overwhelmed and starting a family was the last thing on Jareds mind at this point, which is very understandable. If we didnt have houses to look at during the weekend, Jared would come stay with me at Kelseys for a few days before he had to be back at work. One weekend, I brought up starting a family again. He wanted me to tell him why I all of the sudden changed my mind, why I felt the way that i did, what my plan was. My answers? I don't know.. its just how I'm feeling. It was then that I realized, guys don't understand why changing our whole world on a "feeling" is reasonable or logical. It just doesn't make sense to them, there needs to be solid reasoning as to why we should change our plans (which makes it difficult to determine whether its you that just wants a baby because you have baby fever or because you really are being prompted that its time).

We continued to converse (argue) back and forth and tears were definitely flowing. In the end, we both said we would pray about it, I would start school, and we would go from there. I agreed and we moved on. The next day I was DYING! No, not because I wanted a baby, I was literally dying. I was so sick, I had a headache where I couldnt even open my eyes, I had NO energy, my throat was killing me and I just wanted to lay in bed all day and DIE. I refused to go to the Doctor and decided to take some medicine and go to bed in hopes that I would feel better the next day. I really thought it could only get better from there, I WAS WRONG. I was worse the next day. It took all I had to drag myself to the Dr. I got there and they sat me in a room, ran some tests and left my room for an eternity. A good hour later they walked in the room after I had fallen asleep on the bed and announced "YOUR PREGNANT!" I say what? The Dr repeats "you're actually pregnant". Whats the next thing I say? "OH SHOOT." yep. thats the first thing that came out of my mouth when I found out we were going to have a baby! In my defense, I was worried about what Jared was going to say because not two days earlier we were going to wait until we really prayed about it and I started school in VA.Turns out at that point I was already 4 weeks along. I was in shock. I drove as quickly as I could to the store and bought myself a few pregnancy tests because the Dr determining that I was pregnant just wasnt good enough. I took all three tests before I decided it was time to tell my sweet husband.

I kept all three tests, bought a daddy card and a babys first year book and headed to VA to give him the surprising/exciting news. When I got there we immediately went out to the museum to meet some friends and the whole time I am going crazy wanting to hurry him up so we could go back to his room and I could tell him everything. I dont hide things well so it was a good thing that I was getting over this sickness so I could blame my weirdness on that. Finally, we get back and I didnt know what to do or say so I just go to my purse and hand him everything as he was sitting there watching TV. He looks down and looks back up at me and just smiles, hugs and kisses me. He was just as surprised as I was! But, he was very excited. Yes a million things started running through his mind like, we dont have a house to put this baby in, kenzie hasnt started school or work, I just started work, and so on.. I would say it was an overwhelmingly exciting day.

While I was in PA I looked for an OBGYN and scheduled an appointment as soon as I could because the first doctor and the three positive tests just wasnt good enough to believe.



There she is! Our sweet baby in her first Sonogram!

We settled on a house shortly after that. Started moving in and fixing it up. I found a new job and we decided I would wait to start school again until after the baby arrives. Talk about starting a whole new life all at once!

The morning sickness wasnt too bad unless I didnt eat enough or I tried painting. The smell made me sick! But I could eat anything I normally did and have been able to eat normally. The pregnancy has been smooth so far. She has always measured slightly bigger than average and I have had absolutely NO problem gaining weight. Week 28 is when you have the Glucose screening test and thats where we hit a little bump in the road. After two different tests it was determined that I was one of the unlucky ones who has Gestational Diabtes. I was immediately sent to s specialist where they told me to change my diet and test my blood sugar 4 times a day! I was a little upset when I found out. I kept thinking "this pregnancy couldnt have just been perfect. Something just had to go wrong." I was mostly upset because i thought I had been pretty healthy and I will admit I could exercise more but I was on occasion! I felt almost as if i were failing as a mother before I even gave birth because it was  making the sweet baby inside me work harder than she already had to! ( Yes this sounds ridiculous, I blame it on the hormones.) As i read more about Gestational Diabetes, I found that its genetic. There is not a thing I could have done to prevent it, that brought some comfort. Thankfully, since I have been testing 4 times a day I have had completely normal levels. So much so that I almost feel like I want to go retake the test to pass the stinkin thing so I can stop poking myself with a needle every single day! But, I have to remember to be grateful for the advances in medicine to help monitor this seemingly silly condition. I go to the specialist next week and I still I hope they tell me I can stop testing so much! I am grateful for my husband and for the love, patience and support he has given me throughout this whirlwind of a year. (yes I have become even more of a crazy person since pregnancy) I am now 33.5 weeks, I am terrified for whats to come but I cannot wait to have this sweet baby in our arms.

32 weeks

A little background..



Our first date weekend at Monte Sano



I decided it was about time to start this blog with our new arrival coming so soon! I just dont know where to start.. A little background on Jared and I, we met at a YSA conference. That sounds so silly! But its true, neither of us cared to go to these conferences but I guess it was meant to be that we both just so happened (were forced) to be at this one.

If you ask him, he will say that I was the one who started it all because he was just so irresistible. Partly true, we were at a service project and he was the last person working! I felt bad seeing him work all alone so I went over to offer him some help. We were tending to the gardens at a shelter and what does he say to me you ask? "Oh good, I've been looking for a good hoe" yep, thats him! I suppose he caught me with that goofy line. After that it was kind of a whirlwind, from dating, to engaged, to married all in a matter of months.



After the wedding I moved to Fort Rucker Alabama with Jared while he finished flght school. Boy was that an adjustment. I loved being married! But it was difficult going from my parents house with family and friends all around, and a job that kept me pretty busy, to being a full-time at home wife! I didnt know what to do with myself, I looked for a job but after a short time gave up because once Jared finished school we were off to Virginia! So I started cleaning, cooking, crocheting and trying not to let myself go crazy! I was so excited to move when the time came not only because we were going on our official honeymoon to Austrailia/New Zealand, but I could finally start to do something like school or work or anything but being home all the time!





Plans quickly changed once I started getting the feeling that our plan to start a family after I finished school wasnt quite the right plan. Jared is a planner, we make a plan and he is really more comfortable sticking to it. He is also very strong willed. SO! A man with a plan and a very strong mind? Hard to change.. At first, I gradually started talking to him about what I was feeling. He might have thought that I was baby hungry because I was a bored house wife who needed something to do... I started to think the same thing! But I still had that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that waiting until I finished school was too long, especially on Sundays when we were sitting there in Sacrament meeting the feeling was even stronger. I kept bringing it up to Jared and we would talk/argue and then drop it because we would get no where. Jared finshed flight school and thats where everything started to get complicated..We had to grow up!