Dramatic Baby
We were so lucky to have gotten a video of part of the ultrasound! The nugget was jumping all around for the first part of the ultrasound and the u/s tech kept trying to get the baby to flip over on it’s back. She was poking around, having me flip to one side, flip to the other, cough, sit up, just anything to get Nugget to move. Then, she caught this on video, as if the baby is saying, “Oh fine! If I must!” We laughed and laughed and the baby finally turned!
The Business of Being Born
I recently renewed my Netfilx subscription (love!) and decided to watch The Business of Being Born after a girl on one of my Preggo forums mentioned it. It really got me thinking and wondering about my options for our “birth plan.”
Years ago I was terrified of needles. Deathly afraid. So, I thought there was no way in hell I’d ever consider an epidural. (I’ve seen the videos of those; the needles are bigger than my arm and they want to stick it in between my spine?!) But, I’m one to face my fears head on so I got myself a couple tattoos and decided needles aren’t so bad afterall. I’ve also had the displeasure of experiencing some pretty serious monthly cramps in my time and decided perhaps a prick of one giant needle might not be so bad to the alternative of a “natural” birth.
I’ve witnessed two births in person – one with mild drugs, one epidural, both with doctors in the hospital. The epidural seemed to be the way to go as far as being cognizant of what was going on AND having less pain. After that I thought I’d be an epidural-all-the-way kind of girl. And then I watched that movie tonight.
I saw women (including Ricki Lake) giving birth they way THEY chose – at home, in water, standing up, with clothes on, etc. And I realized, hey, maybe I don’t want to be all nekked, flat on my back, feet up in stirrups with my junk up and out for all to see. No, I really don’t. Who does? The water thing looked pretty comfortable. And rolling around on a yoga ball seems much better than people strapping down your thighs yelling at you to “Push!” and “Don’t forget to breathe!”
Now, I don’t know about the whole at home thing, that might be a little too much for me. I don’t really want to clean up that mess. But I am interested in what my options are, whether they’re normal or extreme. Nobody likes stark-white, sterile hospitals. And I’ve never been one to go to the doctor for anything other than my required annual checkup. The only reason I did is because they wouldn’t give me those lovely birth control pills without a checkup. Andy nearly carried me to the doctor one year b/c I was hacking up a lung for like two weeks. I don’t know why I don’t go to the doctor, or don’t take much medicine…it’s not that I’m afraid, I guess I just think my body is capable of healing itself. I like natural, homeopathic methods too. I dunno, I’m not a hippie or anything like that, I’ve just always been a little weird I guess. I like to go against the grain.
I am going to start seeing a midwife I think at my next visit. Not that I have anything against doctors, I just think a midwife might be more my style. Speaking of style, if I could have my way I think I’d have my birthing room like a spa…quiet and tranquil, dimly lit with relaxing scents, warm blankets and atmosphere with calming music. I want to keep some clothes on. None of this completely naked, Amazon woman stuff for me. And yeah, maybe one of those birthing tubs/mini pools and a yoga ball, just in case. Of course, it would be reassuring to know there would be doctors and all that scary hospital equipment next door if necessary.
Think I can hook that up?!
Anyway, the movie was interesting and I would recommend it. But, I would like to hear stories and opinions of people of all kinds. Tell me about your past or current birthing plans – what did you like? Dislike? What would you do different or do again? Epidural? Meds? Nothing? Doctor? Midwife?
Prefenz Hand Sanitizer
My friend Heather told me about how Prefenz Hand Sanitizer is supposed to last through 10 washes or 24 hour. With all the illnesses going around I decided it couldn’t hurt to get some. It was a whopping $17 for an 8oz bottle, which is supposed to last 366 pumps. That was a couple weeks ago. I went to Hy-Vee yesterday to get a bottle for my grandparents and was pleasantly surprised to find the same bottle on sale for $9. Or, they had a purse-sized 1.5 oz bottle for $4.
So far I like it, it doesn’t have alcohol and doesn’t dry your hands like the other alcohol based hand sanitizers. Short of not getting sick lately, I cannot comment on the validity of its claims, however. I had every intention of looking into this product a little deeper, reading reviews and case studies of its effectiveness. But, my friend Tim (Heather’s husband) beat me to it. And, he probably did a much better job of scrutinizing its claims. He’s somewhat cynical of Prefenz, but if you read his post on the product I think his thoughts are reasonable since there are little to no true. unbiased third party opinions.
So, it’s probably easier to just say yeah…what he said.
ActivTrax – Slowly but Surely
Had a pretty good week last week:
Sunday – Went to Anytime Fitness with Andy, followed his ActivTrax routine with MUCH lighter weights 
Monday – Signed up at the Anytime Fitness, once again followed Andy’s routine with lighter weights
Tuesday – Went to yoga with Heather at Ultimate Fitness
Wednesday – Went to Anytime Fitness and did my first ActivTrax Workout #1
Thursday – Took the night off but can’t remember why
Friday & Saturday – Took these days off
Sunday – ActivTrax Workout #2
So far it’s not so bad but I’ve bumped the time of my workouts up to about 35-45 minutes of weights so the breakdown is as follows:
5 min – Warmup
5 min – Stretch
35-45 min – Weights
20 min – Cardio
So, I’m at just over an hour. Andy would like me to increase it even more to coincide with his 1.5 hour workouts. We’ll see. As I’ve said before, baby steps. If nothing else I can spend another 20 minutes on the treadmill, or 20 minutes playing on my iPhone in the car.
What are your thoughts on ActivTrax? One of these days I will post more specifics for those of you who are unfamiliar with the program.
Oops!
I realized I missed Thankful Thursday last week. =( Time is flying by again and I’ve decided I need to start scheduling time for myself again (for blogging, reading, crafting, etc.) and not feel guilty about it. So, I guess I’m thankful I have a full life with more things to do than I have time. How about that?
Well, Kim is throwing a Blog Party so hopefully that will help motivate me to make time to do some crafting and blogging. I have a few ideas and even got started on a couple, but some weeks will be a challenge. If you’ve got any ideas I’d welcome them. =) I’m not super into holidays other than Halloween but I’m working on it. I do decorate for fall, but not Thanksgiving specifically. But Andy & I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year so that gives me a good reason to get a tablescape going, right? And holiday Traditions…we don’t really have traditions but I would certainly like to start some. I should look into that.
If you’re interested, she’s looking for more participants!
Here are the fabulous details:
Party Date: Monday, Nov. 16
Dare to… be thankful!
Take some time making your own DIY Thanksgiving project. It could be a fun Thanksgiving advent calendar, a banner or something completely unique. Post about what you made, how you made it and photos in its new home.
Party Date: Monday, Nov. 23
Dare to… entertain!
Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.
Party Date: Monday, Nov. 30
Dare to… eat cookies!
As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don’t worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.
Party Date: Monday, Dec. 7
Dare to… give homemade gifts!
Nothing is more special than a gift made by you. Try out something new to give this year – ideas include bath and body items, kitchen gifts, hand-sewn clothing or home decor.
Party Date: Monday, Dec. 14
Dare to… deck the halls!
Make something new to deck your halls. Did you find something in a catalog that you wish you had? Wreaths, stockings, pillows or advent calendars? Make it! Inspire us all to do the same.
Party Date: Monday, Dec. 21
Dare to… have traditions!
Everyone has traditions for the Holidays. Tell us all about your favorites or start a new tradition to share.
Happy Anniversary to Us
To celebrate our first anniversary Andy & I took a mini-vaca to Galena, Illinois. We headed out around 7:30 in the morning and arrived with plenty of time to stop and have a cup of coffee at Kaladi’s before our walking tour.
At 10:00am we headed over to the DeSoto House to meet our (highly recommended) tour guide, Steve Repp. Mr. Repp took us on a one hour walking tour of downtown historical Galena.
We learned that Abraham Lincoln addressed the public from the balcony of DeSoto House and people gathered around, crowding in the very street we were standing upon.
We were told about the great floods that nearly wiped out the entire downtown area until the flood walls were built. Over the years the streets and buildings have been updated but the public has fought to preserve the history of this little town as best they can.
Notice the curve of the street & the buildings:
After our tour we did a little shopping. (Mostly window shopping.) I love all the cute little shop! Lots of antiques and novelties to be found. I like to look at everything but don’t really care to bring a bunch home. We did enjoy some delicious treats from the Rocky Mountain Candy Factory. Andy & I have never met a sweets shop we didn’t like. (Reminded me of when I visited him in South Texas when we were first dating; we went to this open air mall and gorged ourselves on chocolate, toffee and other goodies.)
Then we had a couple drinks at the Grape Escape as we watched our Hawkeyes win another game! After a couple hours of walking around we thought we’d go tour the Ryan Mansion.
The wind was blowing and we huddled on the front porch. The sign read “No reservations necessary! Tours begin approximately every 15 minutes. Ring bell and we will be with you momentarily.” Perfect timing! It was 11:55pm. So I rang the bell and we waited. And waited. Waited some more as the wind contined to whip through our clothes. Andy rang the bell. We continued to wait. The wind continued to blow. At 12:05 we decided we were done freezing and did not want to see the mansion that badly. Guess they must not have wanted our $20 that badly either. Oh well.
As we were waiting there we discussed how cold it was going to be at the Parade that evening so off to Wally World we went to get some long underwear, gloves, a scarf, and some kind of earmuff/headband thing-a-majig. We were geared up, ready for the Halloween weather so we headed back downtown and waited for the parade to begin.
The parade was a lot of fun – TONS of costumes everywhere! Lots of fun floats but I think my favorite at the time were all the hot air balloon baskets that were shooting flames overhead; it was REALLY warm! Andy got a video, which I will try to post soon.
After the parade we walked down to the DeSoto House where we had our Haunted Dinner!
When I booked I had no idea what we were in for. There were people in full costume and full character all night! Ghosts and historical characters reenacted scenes from the early 1800s. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife even visted our table asking for our votes. Well, Andy’s vote anyway, as I would not have had the right to vote at that time. To remind me to stand up and fight for my rights, Susan B. Anthony and a couple other women stopped by to remind us to push for women’s right to vote.
After dinner we went up to the ballroom for dessert with the Paranormal Research of Illinois. This group gave a presentation and showed us actual footage of some of their investigations around Galena & Illinois. I loved it! Andy is convinced it was purely entertainment. I respectfully disagree. If you’re into this kind of thing you should visit their site and check out the audio and video clips – spooky!! The evening wrapped up just before the stroke of midnight so we drove to the Country Inn and Suites and promptly fell asleep.
Wow. What a jam-packed, fun filled day. I would highly recommend a trip to Galena if you’ve never been. Our original intent was to do some wine tasting, which is one thing Galena is known for. However, we never got around to it. And that’s okay, that just gives us another reason to go back.
I told Andy that we should plan a trip every year for our Anniversary. Halloween is probably my favorite holiday and there’s sure to be something going on no matter where we go. He liked that idea and suggested Vegas next year. Sounds good!
Have you ever done these things in Galena? What else should we put on our list of things to do next time? Where would you suggest we go to celebrate future anniversaries?
One Extra Hour
By now I’m sure you are all aware that we turned the clocks back this past weekend for Daylight Savings Time. Andy and I were celebrating our anniversary in Galena (details and photos will be posted this week!) When we got home I was in an “in-between” mood, not sure what I wanted to do. Andy decided to pounce on this opportunity and convince me to go to the gym with him.
You may recall awhile back that I have already joined Ultimate Fitness in Bettendorf. While I enjoy the gym for the classes, I’ve never been a big fan of the rest of the gym. I was (poorly) attempting to take advantage of the ActiveTrax that came with my membership. I only made it through one workout and for one reason or another I never got back to the gym.
So, yesterday I decide to spend my extra hour from Daylight Savings working out at Anytime Fitness, which is Andy’s gym. Although I probably would have equally enjoyed that extra hour sleeping, or reading, or plain wasting it surfing the Net, I’m glad I went with him. It may very well turn out to be a turning point in my life.
I’m really trying to look at exercising in a new light. Andy has gotten into the routine and truly made a lifestyle change; he has been going almost daily for the last two months. (Yay Andy!) Equally important, he has the mindset that it truly is a lifestyle change – not a fad, not a short term weight-loss or muscle gain goal, an honest change to his life and daily schedule. And it’s not just for his own purposes, it’s for us as a healthy couple and for our future family. He put it to me this way, “If you start working out regularly now you can add 11 healthy years to your life. Maybe you’ll still live those 11 years without working out but maybe you’ll do so with some kind of illness…we’ve got a long life together ahead of us. I want to enjoy it.” Well said. I’ve decided to look at it like that a little more rather than a chore. It’s one more thing we can do together that will improve our overall quality of living. How can I argue with that?
I will probably continue to hit UF for the classes, because those are usually more enjoyable than weights, but we’re headed tonight to get me signed up at AF as well. It’s an investment in our future and well-being. Andy goes at least 5 days a week so there’s no real reason I can’t do the same. Besides, it’s really hard to say no when you carpool and your 6′2″ muscle bound driver is heading straight for the gym after work.
I got all that out of one extra hour yesterday. Feels rather productive so far. What did you do with your extra hour?
A Good Marriage
Okay, so I’m guilty of posting this late and back dating it, but I’m trying to stick with my weekly schedule of Thankful Thursday one way or another. 
This week I am thankful for having a good marriage. No, a GREAT marriage and a wonderful partner. On November 1 Andy & I will be celebrating our 1-year anniversary and I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had so many consecutive days of being happy. And as he always says, “we’ve got a lot of life to live.” I can only hope so.
To celebrate we will be headed to the beautiful little town of Galena this weekend to walk downtown, maybe do some shopping, tour a mansion, enjoy a little wine tasting, maybe catch the Halloween Parade and I cannot believe it, but Andy agreed to a Haunted Dinner & Ghost Tour! =) See, I told you he’s the best!
What are you thankful for today?
Safe Travels
For today’s edition of Thankful Thursday I am so thankful for Andy’s safe return from the Ukraine. While I don’t mind a few days to myself I was so excited to have him back home again. I could not stop loving on him last night, I missed hugging my Giant. He was exhausted and is still trying to adjust to the time change but at least he is home.
Check out these fun souvenirs he brought back with him:
An authentic Ukrainian weapon (a “good conversation piece” as Andy refers to it):
Some of the assumingly most delicious vodka in the world in a very cool bottle:
Fun doll toy/knick-knack (I can’t remember the official name of it!):
And a cute little amber bracelet:
On his flight back they had a layover in Amsterdam. He said it was really neat and that we should vacation there sometime. I’m game for most any international vacation. Perhaps for our 5 yr anniversary?
So Internet, what are you thankful for today?
ActivTrax Day 1 – For Real!
Once again, I tried to be an overachiever at the gym and doubled up on my workouts. (Actually, it makes me feel like less of a loser for skipping out so many in between gym visits!) Heather & I tried out yoga for the first time, which I really enjoyed. It wasn’t difficult, but it was challenging.
After yoga last Tuesday I decided to see what the big deal is with this ActivTrax that Andy is so obsessed over. I must admit, it was pretty good. I grabbed my customized workout sheet, decided 40 minutes of yoga should be an acceptable substitute for the recommended 5 minute warm up, and went to each machine, listed by number, on my list. I was able to do most of them as instructed but there were maybe two that I could not to the minimum reps. I don’t know if that was because I’m that weak, or if doing yoga beforehand hindered my strength a bit.
It was an arms day so I did all upper body stuff in about 20 minutes. I did wuss out on the ab stuff because I just wasn’t feeling it that night. But, then again, when am I ever in the mood to do ab work? Surprisingly, for possibly the first time ever I did enjoy the ab workout in my Zumba class taught my Dominic; one girl in the class said he had the best ab workout ever and I do believe she is right.
So yeah, after the machines and skipping abs, I did another mild 25 minutes on the treadmill. In hindsight I guess I only put in about an hour and a half of actual working out, which is nothing to true gym rats, but quite a lot to couch potatoes Internet Junkies like me.
Honestly, it’s not working out that gets me, it’s just GETTING myself to the gym. Or GETTING OUT of bed early. My original goal was to do ActivTrax 3 times a week. Now that I’m over my 10-day cold, that seems attainable but we’ll see. Right now I’m happy with establishing good habits of just DOING something on a regular basis. I still probably prefer classes but it was nice to have a “virtual” personal trainer of sorts. And I like checking things off lists so it’s got that whole mental thing going for it.
Andy showed me his guns the other day and after his nearly consecutive 40-something workouts, I can honestly say I can truly see the results. I’m a long way from 40 workouts but I’ve got a start at least.
