Alright, Alright!!! I'm gettin' a lot of Guff from certain people from certain states (Montana, you know who you are) to update my blog. Nobody else seems to care too much so this one's for you Ash. :)

So, I'm still pregnant. Yep, still puking on occasion. Still feeling nauseous every morning but at least not puking every morning (have I mentioned that I HATE puking??) I've been getting a lot of headaches, my hips hurt, and my hands fall asleep at night ... I am more uncomfortable with this pregnancy than I was with Abby. Maybe that will make the birth easier. (Fingers Crossed)

Speaking of birth. Not only do I have a great mid-wife that I like but I've taken it upon myself to be more proactive with this birth. I DO NOT want what happened last time to be what happens this time around. Here's what I've been doing to prepare myself for a different experience.

A few weeks ago, Jason and I watched a documentary on Natural Childbirth called it "The Business of Being Born" produced by Ricki Lake (yep, the same lady that had the famous 90's talk show.) Jason was a trooper and watched it with me. If you ever have kids, I think it's a MUST WATCH before you give birth. (A warning: you see a lot of "bush" and they are very blunt leaving nothing to the imagination. Mom, if you don't know what "bush" is, don't look it up.) Although it seems kind of crude, it was actually very touching and done very well.

The other thing I've been doing is research on the Bradley Birthing Technique. It's a natural birthing technique that really incorporates the help of the husband through the whole process. With Abby's birth, I felt like Jason was helpless and he didn't really have any tools to help me through the process. This time around we're going to work as a team. There's also Bradley classes that start in April which several of my friends who have had natural child birth have strongly recommended and I am pretty sure we're going to sign up for them as well.

Lastly, Jason and I are both reading a book written by the "Dr. Bradley" of the Bradley Birthing technique called "Husband Coached Childbirth." I think doing a lot of these activities together as a team will really make a difference when it comes to actually having the baby. I'm so grateful that Jason is willing to go through all of this to show his support and help me achieve the type of birth that I truly want.

I know this birth is going to be different than the last. At this point, we have done so much extra research and we intend to do so much more that it would be impossible for us to have the exact same birth. I'm glad we're on a different track than we were with my first birth.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to be more vigilant with my blog-up-keep. :p Enjoy this picture of my belly. (just ignore the fact that I haven't washed the mirror for a long time.)



PS, we find out the gender of the baby in about 6 weeks. My prediction is that it's a boy. Here's why I think that; I've been more sick with this one, my acne is terrible (got better with Abby), the hair on my legs is growing like weeds, I'm easily irritated recently. (Maybe the later is not pregnancy related, for Jason's sake, I hope it is.) I'll keep you posted as to the gender when we find out. :)

A List of Pregnancy Updates

Since I've been pregnant, I can't remember a dang thing so I've taken to making lists. So here's a list of things that have happened, things I've experienced and just other items I may have forgotten to tell you earlier.

1. With the mid-wife I've been seeing, I've also been looking into my options of having a VBAC (vaginal birth after cecearean). It's a scary thought but these days, anythings possible. I haven't decided officially on what I'm going to do but it's an options still. All this thinking has made me realize how terrifying, horrifying, scary and unnatural my first birth was. I'm dealing with a lot of anger and frustration with having a c-section the first time that I DON'T want to deal with again. On a lighter note, I got to hear the heartbeat while I met with her for the first time ... there's definitely a baby in there, 150 bpm. :)

2. If you remember, when I started writing this blog, one of the things I was going to update you was on my weight. Recently I haven't done that because I've been at a stand still with my weight at about 155. But, since I've been pregnant I've lost about 10 more pounds. Ugh! I'm kind of embarassed to say it because of the way I've lost it. I haven't been working out because I'm sick. I'm not eating and I throw up almost daily. I'm not recommending this type of weight loss but, I haven't weighed 145 since I graduated from UMD. Hopefully once I stop puking and can start having an appetite again I'll be able to maintain a health pregnancy weight.

3. Speaking of puking ... I'm not a pukey type of person. Some people barf at the thought of giving a public speech, I have never had that problem and I will suppress the feeling as LONG as possible. So, this puking thing is really annoying. The first time I puked I was taking Abby to daycare and we pulled up to Susie's house and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I didn't even throw the car in park, I just had my foot on the breaks, I opened the car door with my seatbelt still fastened and puked on the road. Luckily it was a side road with barely any traffic. I've started carrying a glass jar in the car with me just incase this happens again.

4. Speaking of nausea ... the only thing I've found to keep the nausea at bay is Apple Juice. It's like the miracle juice. I will literally take a swig, and it gets rid of my nausea immediately. Unfortunately it only lasts 3-5 minutes before I have to take another swig.

5. When you're pregnant, you do weird things. Here's a wierd thing I've done ... Maybe you've done this too ... but I am constantly COLD. I just can't get warm enough especially in the shower. Recently when I take a shower I've cranked the hot water up, sat in the bottom of the tup and let the water fill up in the tub. I know, I know, it's wierd but it feels incredibly comforting to be so warm. It's the next best thing to a hot tub. :)

6. Abby is really excited to be a big sister these days. She's convinced it's going to be a girl ... I hope I don't disappoint her. :) I know she's going to be a great big sister, there's a few babies at daycare and she just adores them. She's always giving them toys and explaining things to them and helping them work the toys. It's going to be amazing to see her interact with her own brother or sister.

7. Lastly, my husband has been such a trooper through this whole pregnancy. He's always doing little things to make me feel better. He'll do the dishes, take out the garbage, make me and Abby dinner (attempt to make something that might please my tummy, these days that's a REALLY difficult task). He's so great, every day he does things for me that remind me why he's the perfecxt husband. I love you My Jay

OMGosh, it's been a LONG time since I've updated the blog. There's been tons happening and I just haven't been quite able to keep up with it all AND blog at the same time.

ABOUT THE BIG NEWS!!!

So, if you haven't heard through FaceBook or from a friend or relative yet, Jason and I are expecting another baby sometime at the end of August. YEAH!!! Baby's are fun! The second time around things have been different though. For instance, Jason and I don't feel the need for him to come to EVERY appointment like he did last time, we don't really need to purchase anything big since we have it all from when Abby was little (although a 2 kid stroller would be nice), which brings me to the next difference that Jason was SUPER bummed to find out that on the second kid you don't have a baby shower, there will be no upgrade in the houseing situation due to the economy etc, and THIS time around the experiences are remembering what it was like to be pregnant last time. Recently I've done a lot of ... "oh yeah, I forgot that's what happens when you're pregnant."

BUT there are a few new things that go along with baby number 2. First of all, I feel more prepared in the fact that I know exactly what I DON'T want to do as far as having the baby goes. We're actually planning on going to Waconia for the birth because the birthing center out there is just like a medical hotel. I know, Waconia ... seems far away, right. Yes, you are correct, it's in the middle of no where but, if you come and visit me at the hospital out there, you'll know exactly why we're willing to drive that far for comfort, espeically if I have another C-section and I have to be hospitalized for a long period of time. Second of all, we have a different dynamic of having a child already that needs to be preped about the upcoming new arrival. Abby knows she's going to be a big sister but, it really took some convincing. For a few weeks, we tried to tell her but she didn't believe Jason or me. She's also convinced it's going to be a girl so if it comes out a boy, I hope she's not to disoppointed. :)

ABOUT ACCEL AND BE WELL!

To make matters more intense, recently my business partner has had to go into the hospital for pregnancy related issues as well. She's actually several months ahead of me in her pregnancy and went to the hospital with some issues Thursday night through Sunday. She now has to be on bedrest for a week and that means that I am now taking on all her patients as well as managing my own patients. At this point, I only work 3 days a week MWF and Desiree works T,Th,F and it works out really well for us because we don't have to both be at the clinic all the time, plus I get 2 days a week with Abby which makes me feel not as guilty as a mom for sending her to daycare. But, with all the recent events, Abby is going to go back to daycare full time and I'll be running the show for a while.

It's kind of a bummer, but ... at the same time, this is exactly why we decided to partner. We knew we wanted to be partners with someone who'd be able to step in for us when these situations happen so we can have a family life as well as be working professionals.

TO SAY THE LEAST I'VE BEEN A LITTLE STRESSED

With the baby scenario and the business scenario, it's kind of an understatement of the kind of stress I've been under and THUS ... we haven't blogged recently. But, as I go through these challenges, I hope to take things in stride and I'll keep you updated about the new challenges I encounter.

Thanks for reading.
~Mama Beal

Results

The food challenge was definitely a challenge. Here's the results.

We did not eat out for a total of 12 days. (oye) Honestly, I'm actually really proud of us for doing it for 12 days. We didn't do it the full 21 days but the 12 days was hard enough. Here was the breaking point.

It was a hard day of work for both Jason and I. I treated 6 patients that day and virtually received no money for treating them that day. Jason had come home from work after having an entire day full of meetings and not getting much of his regular work done from the day. It's no excuse but ... the days had definitely drained us. The last thing either of us wanted to do was cook. So we broke and went to Culver's for supper. (Double oye).

Oh well. All in all, we noticed a change in the amount of money we spent and we know we want to try to do it again. We'll just have to have a different game plan for those days that are really hard.

We'll keep you posted on this.

As for other things going on, recently I've started to receive checks in the mail from insurance patients. SWEET!!! I can't tell you how exciting it was to get the first check in the mail. Unfortunately it's for work that I've done 2-3 months ago. Jeez. I can't start to emphasize how ridiculous health care is from my perspective. Over the past 6 months, we've been either profiting (a little) or breaking even so any additional income is just a bonus!

That's all for now.

Mama Beal

21 day FOOD CHALLENGE

I heard, somewhere, that in order to break a habit, you have to change the pattern of the habit 21 times consecutively. Has anyone else heard this? The other day, I was thinking about saving money and bad habits that we have and about living within your means and cutting the things that we don't need in life. Thus, one of the main things that our family has cut down on is eating out. BUT, we still eat out on the weekends. We have been really good about not eating out during the week but once the weekend rolls around, we run right out to Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili's, Noodles, etc.

Eating out is not something that we NEED to do, it's something that we WANT to do. It's also something that costs us more money than if we ate at home. We always tend to over-indulge and eat more calories than if we ate at home. It's also a REALLY BAD HABIT. Therefore, on Monday, our family started a 21 day food challenge to break this bad habit. We are challenging ourselves to not eat out AT ALL for 21 straight days. This includes our bad habit weekends. The rules are, we can not eat anything that comes from any restaurant or restaurant like store.

Now, one of the reasons we eat out on the weekends is because we use it as a social tool. The 2 main reasons we eat out on the weekends are; to hang out with friends or because we're bored (I'll admit reason #2 and then reiterate that this is the worst reason to eat out but it's true). Because we use it as a social tool, we've decided we can GO to restaurants with friends but we just can't eat there. (I know, you're thinking "good luck with that!")

But, that's exactly my point. It wouldn't be a "Challenge" if it wasn't somewhat difficult.

Today is day 3 of our 21 day challenge and I would like to extend the challenge to everyone reading this post. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain; less calories consumed, weight lost, money saved, a habit broken ... Could you do it? I dare you. ;)

Dr. Seuss Art

My best girl friend from graduate school is going to have a baby in 10 weeks and for her baby shower I wanted to do something special for her so, I found out what her and her husbands favorite books were when they were kids and one of them was "Green Eggs & Ham" ... Sam I am ...

This picture was a little more challenging than the last one I did. Painting is not only relaxing for me but it's therapeutic. If anyone ever wants me to paint them something, you'd be doing me a favor. :) Just let me know, I'd be happy to do it.

10 years of Lady Du-Lax

Last weekend, I went up to Duluth for a Lacrosse Alumni banquet and I thought I'd share the highlights.

Before we left, I was SO excited because these banquets are Bi-Annual (every other year) and the last time I went, Abby was about 4 months old so last time I played in the game, pulled a muscle and went straight to bed after the banquet and missed all the fun. But, mind you, that was the only time I was actually getting any sleep at that point so I was greatful to get a full night sleep then. NOW, Abby is 2 and I was SO PUMPED to see all the girls that I spent so many games, bus trips, sweat, blood and tears with.

We left for Duluth Friday evening and we stayed in Park point. For those of you not familiar with Duluth, Park Point is literally on the other side of the lift bridge. So we could hear the lift bridge horn and see the huge boats pulling into the harbor. (Amazing, I forget how much I really miss the lake until I see it again coming down from the top of the hill on interstate 35). When we got settled in, we met with some other people and were up/awake until 3 a.m. (I can't remember the last time I was awake for that long.)

The next morning, we had our Alumni Game and I'm going to toot my own horn, we won our game 5-4 and I scored 2 goals. (yep, I still got it. :)) I'm not as fast as I used to be but I can still keep up with those young-in's.

We then had the Banquet that evening and it was a great time to reminisce with all the girls I haven't seen in the last few years. The ABSOLUTE BEST part was seeing the core group of girls that I really bonded with. (Again, we were up till 3 a.m. oye).

Jen, my best Girlfriend from WI! I miss her so much when she's not here.

Crazy Girls in a clown car. (Left to right: Meghan, Julie, Ashlee)

At the Banquet, aren't we pur-dy, we polish up nicely. (Ashlee, Tessa, Julie, Meghan, Jen, Lisa)

The Whole Crew, Old balls and New Balls. (And a random girl taking the picture.)

This is a Tribute ... to the best team in the world.

Goodbye Duluth and Lake Superior, until next time.