My mother has informed me (all the way from Mongolia), that I am "not a happy pregnant woman!" In fact she has informed others of this as well. Thanks mom! So, I feel obligated to defend myself just a little bit.
First of all, I am SO grateful to be pregnant. It means I get to be a mother (again.) I am not one that can just get pregnant. WIth Gracie it took us a long time, a lot of Dr. appointments, a lot of disappointment, a lot of tears, and ultimately fertility drugs. But, she was worth it. I love my little Gracie more than I could ever have imagined, and I love being a Mommy.
Luckily I didn't have to go on fertility drugs with this baby (though right before I found out I was pregnant I had an appointment scheduled so I could go back on them), because we had been trying for a bit, and I wasn't sure my body was working right by itself. So when I found out I was pregnant again, I was so excited. So was Bryant!
This pregnancy has been difficult for me in many ways.
Physically it has been a huge trial. I started getting sick around 6 or 7 weeks, but the sickness got worse and worse. It was almost debilitating some days. I tried 3 different medications to help with the nausea and vomiting until we found one that worked. Not to mention I still had a toddler to take care of during the day. As soon as I started getting over the pregnancy sickness at about 4 1/2 months along (and that's a long time to be sick!), I couldn't keep myself healthy. If it wasn't a little cold or sore throat that I got, it was something much more serious like Shingles (as I posted a few months ago) or a horrible ear infection, or the stomach flu, etc. It has been exhausting. In the middle of all of this mind you, I had to pack up our apartment and prepare to move. And besides two good friends in Spokane who watch Gracie for me, I packed our apartment all by myself. I had no help from anybody (until the week before we moved and Bryant was able to help quite a bit). Still 7 months pregnant, being sick, having a two year old and moving with no help was really really hard.
Emotionally this pregnancy has been hard as well. We have known since Bryant's 2 quarter of school that we would be coming to Eugene for his first internship. However, I wasn't quite prepared for my Mom and Dad to get a mission call to Mongolia and leave just two months before the baby was due. That has been hard for me to deal with. Every girl needs her Mother....especially when she's having a baby! Coming to terms with their mission call was really hard for me. I feel selfish now, but I really struggled with knowing my parents wouldn't see this baby (or be around to help me) for the first 16 months of her life, and that they would be so very far away.
It has also been stressful moving to a new place, hoping to find a good Doctor willing to deliver this baby so far along, and hoping to get insurance as well. Luckily this ward has been so friendly and helpful, and I everything has worked out--or at least it will be all worked out Friday (Oct 1) when I can get insurance here!
I am now at the stage where I am just uncomfortable all the time. My back aches from carrying this baby all out front. My body is hyper sensitive to everything it seems, I can't sleep very well, I have to go to the bathroom ALL the time, I keep having Braxton Hicks Contractions that are really quite painful (I never had any braxton hicks with Gracie), and I'm just plain exhausted. Between Gracie waking up two or three time a night, having to go to the bathroom two or three times a night, and then just waking up because my hips hurt or something, I'm lucky to get 4 hours of sleep a night.
So, I probably complain lately more than I should (more like whine actually), but that does not mean I am not super excited to meet this new little bundle of joy, or that I'm not so grateful for the opportunity to have another child. It is a miraculous experience to bring another human being into this world!
I can't promise I won't completely stop complaining, but I have less than 3 weeks left, so I think we will all survive!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Adopting Mongolian Culture
My Mom and Dad have been actually in Mongolia now for just over two weeks now, and they have absolutely fallen in love with the Mongolian people. It has been so fun to hear about their experiences so far. Thank goodness for Skype! And thank goodness senior couples don't have the same "rules" to follow as young missionaries when it comes to communicating with family!
One thing about the Mongolian culture my parents told me about is that their is literally no rudeness. For example, if Bryant and I were walking down the street side by side, and someone walked in between us, that is not rude. It was simply they needed to get past us somehow, and that was the easiest way to do it. A person over there my "move you" as well, as in kind of nudge you out of the way so they could get past or see something, etc. Now here in the U.S. these things would be considered rude, but not in Mongolia. It's beyond their comprehension to think they were doing something offensive or inappropriate. In fact they don't even have words like "Excuse Me" or "I'm sorry" even.
I thought that was really interesting, and shows how different cultures are around the world. I also decided I really like this attitude. If there is no "Rudeness" there is also no "Offense" taken by people. I think in our culture (and especially in the church) we allow ourselves to get offended way too easily. How great would it be if we all worked harder at not offending others, and if we also all worked harder at not being offended. We would have better family relationships, better friends, less contention in our lives in general.
So, I am going to try to adopt this Mongolian attitude as much as possible I've decided! Of course I realize we do live in a culture where I can't just walk between people on the street! That's not what I mean. I am just going to try really hard to make sure I never do something rude or offensive (not that I ever try to, but we can always improve right?), and I am NOT going to allow myself to be offended by things.
Even though I'm not there, and I have never even met a Mongolian person, I am beginning to fall in love with them too! I especially love how those wonderful people (strangers or not) have welcomed my parents into their country and made their experiences so far priceless!
(By the way, for more amazing stories, check out my Mom's blog. She has been great at keeping it updated. Go to www.elderandsistercarter.blogspot.com )
One thing about the Mongolian culture my parents told me about is that their is literally no rudeness. For example, if Bryant and I were walking down the street side by side, and someone walked in between us, that is not rude. It was simply they needed to get past us somehow, and that was the easiest way to do it. A person over there my "move you" as well, as in kind of nudge you out of the way so they could get past or see something, etc. Now here in the U.S. these things would be considered rude, but not in Mongolia. It's beyond their comprehension to think they were doing something offensive or inappropriate. In fact they don't even have words like "Excuse Me" or "I'm sorry" even.
I thought that was really interesting, and shows how different cultures are around the world. I also decided I really like this attitude. If there is no "Rudeness" there is also no "Offense" taken by people. I think in our culture (and especially in the church) we allow ourselves to get offended way too easily. How great would it be if we all worked harder at not offending others, and if we also all worked harder at not being offended. We would have better family relationships, better friends, less contention in our lives in general.
So, I am going to try to adopt this Mongolian attitude as much as possible I've decided! Of course I realize we do live in a culture where I can't just walk between people on the street! That's not what I mean. I am just going to try really hard to make sure I never do something rude or offensive (not that I ever try to, but we can always improve right?), and I am NOT going to allow myself to be offended by things.
Even though I'm not there, and I have never even met a Mongolian person, I am beginning to fall in love with them too! I especially love how those wonderful people (strangers or not) have welcomed my parents into their country and made their experiences so far priceless!
(By the way, for more amazing stories, check out my Mom's blog. She has been great at keeping it updated. Go to www.elderandsistercarter.blogspot.com )
Friday, September 17, 2010
Baby Updates, Etc
First of all, I have to shout out a HUGE Thank you to the girls that left me comments on my last post. It really is so comforting to know that my kid isn't the only 2 year old going through this horrible "mid toddler life crisis!" It has given me hope that she will get over it sooner than later!
So, I went to the Doctor on Wednesday. I was so grateful to find a Dr. that would see me so far along in my pregnancy. The only bad thing is that I can't get insurance coverage in Oregon until October 1, so we had to pay for this first appointment out of pocket. And when you're husband is a student and you live on student loans, that's a good little chunk of money! But, it was totally worth it. Plus I really am far enough along that I needed to go before October.
I really like the doctor. He was very friendly and personable, as was his nurse and the staff. The baby sounds great. She has a good strong heart beat and is moving around like crazy. I talked to him about being induced. I know some people can be very opinionated about this, but I was induced with Gracie and it was a really good experience for me. Plus, she was big for being a week early, and both the Dr. in Spokane and the Dr. here think this baby will be big as well. On top of that, my labor was super fast...especially for my first baby and they say typically your second and subsequent labors tend to go faster. So, with all of these factors in play, I really want to be induced with this baby as well.
The Dr. seems comfortable with this, so if she doesn't make an appearance sooner, we will have this little girl around October 16 or 17 (depending on when we schedule the induction)! I hope I'm ready for this!
So, I went to the Doctor on Wednesday. I was so grateful to find a Dr. that would see me so far along in my pregnancy. The only bad thing is that I can't get insurance coverage in Oregon until October 1, so we had to pay for this first appointment out of pocket. And when you're husband is a student and you live on student loans, that's a good little chunk of money! But, it was totally worth it. Plus I really am far enough along that I needed to go before October.
I really like the doctor. He was very friendly and personable, as was his nurse and the staff. The baby sounds great. She has a good strong heart beat and is moving around like crazy. I talked to him about being induced. I know some people can be very opinionated about this, but I was induced with Gracie and it was a really good experience for me. Plus, she was big for being a week early, and both the Dr. in Spokane and the Dr. here think this baby will be big as well. On top of that, my labor was super fast...especially for my first baby and they say typically your second and subsequent labors tend to go faster. So, with all of these factors in play, I really want to be induced with this baby as well.
The Dr. seems comfortable with this, so if she doesn't make an appearance sooner, we will have this little girl around October 16 or 17 (depending on when we schedule the induction)! I hope I'm ready for this!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Mid-Toddler-Life-Crisis
So, the past three or four weeks, Gracie has totally gone from an easy going, cooperative little toddler, to a clingy, emotional basket case. I am guessing the move was more traumatic for her than we realized or thought, but I'm now wondering if she is ever going to snap out of it.
She completely freaks out if either Bryant or I aren't around. She is not sleeping through the night. In fact--I don't think Bryant and I have slept in the same bed together since we got to Oregon 2 1/2 weeks ago. It's so bad at night actually that one of us has to lay down with her and wait until she is good and asleep and then try to quietly sneak out. Even then, she often times won't allow herself to completely fall asleep so if she hears a creek or anything she wakes right up. She usually wakes up around 3am or so anyway and one of us has to sleep with her for the rest of the night. Same with nap time.
She also LOVES going to nursery, but here we have to stay with her or she is just beside herself. And, because I understand that nursery is not just a "babysitting" service, and allowing her to stay in there crying uncontrollably not only upsets the other kids, but takes away from the purpose of nursery, we have had to tag team staying in nursery with her.
So, for whatever reason my child is traumatized and having some serious anxiety about something. I really don't know what to do for her at this point. She has always been able to find either Bryant or I when she needs us. We haven't left her anywhere at night, we haven't snuck out on her at all. We have tried to reassure her that we will always be close by if she needs us, but nothing is helping.
So, I have decided that right now, Gracie is going through a "Mid Toddler Life Crisis" and I just hope she gets over it before the baby comes or we are all going to be in for a not so fun adjustment!
She completely freaks out if either Bryant or I aren't around. She is not sleeping through the night. In fact--I don't think Bryant and I have slept in the same bed together since we got to Oregon 2 1/2 weeks ago. It's so bad at night actually that one of us has to lay down with her and wait until she is good and asleep and then try to quietly sneak out. Even then, she often times won't allow herself to completely fall asleep so if she hears a creek or anything she wakes right up. She usually wakes up around 3am or so anyway and one of us has to sleep with her for the rest of the night. Same with nap time.
She also LOVES going to nursery, but here we have to stay with her or she is just beside herself. And, because I understand that nursery is not just a "babysitting" service, and allowing her to stay in there crying uncontrollably not only upsets the other kids, but takes away from the purpose of nursery, we have had to tag team staying in nursery with her.
So, for whatever reason my child is traumatized and having some serious anxiety about something. I really don't know what to do for her at this point. She has always been able to find either Bryant or I when she needs us. We haven't left her anywhere at night, we haven't snuck out on her at all. We have tried to reassure her that we will always be close by if she needs us, but nothing is helping.
So, I have decided that right now, Gracie is going through a "Mid Toddler Life Crisis" and I just hope she gets over it before the baby comes or we are all going to be in for a not so fun adjustment!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The Oregon Coast
We decided a while ago that we wanted to take a trip over to the Oregon Coast while we are here. It's only about an hour and a half away from us, and I've heard it's just beautiful. So, kind of on the spur of the moment, we decided the weather was going to be good, and we should go! So, we headed almost directly west of us over to FLorence and drove north from there. I think we drove about 80-90 miles of coastline and we just took our time stopping along the way.
There are sea lion caves along the stretch we drove. We didn't actually go down the cave (we thought it would freak Gracie out a little bit) but we did find a great lookout place and saw the sea lions in the water! So cool!!! We also saw three lighthouses along the stretch of coast. There are 11 lighthouses along the Oregon Coast--10 of them still working lighthouses in fact, and the ones we saw are all very old, and in the historic building society. We took a tour of two of the three of them as well. We were too late to take a tour of the third one. They are so beautiful!
We also decided to take Gracie to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. She really enjoyed it....as long as we were close by of course! She loves animals and fish and stuff, but if they get too close she gets very nervous! Our last stop before heading to Portland was to a little beach. Bryant LOVES the ocean and he wanted to take Gracie to a little beach so bad. It was so fun to watch the two of them run in the sand and put their feet in the freezing cold Pacific Ocean!
We then headed away from the coast and over to Portland where we scored a sweet deal on a three star hotel---(we got it for $65 total)--which was totally worth. We also have been wanting to go to the Temple, so we decided since we were so close to Portland anyway we would stay the night and then we could each do a session before we had to be out of the hotel. That way we would have some entertainment for Gracie as well! It worked out perfectly! Except I was having stupid Braxton Hicks contractions the whole time I was in the session and they really hurt! Oh well, at least I got to go one more time before the baby comes!
Here are a few pics of our fun little outing!
Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We didn't get to tour this one. By the time we got to it, tours were closed for the day. But it sure was pretty to look at!
Playing in the water! They had so much fun...despite how freezing it was!
Yaquina Bay lighthouse. This one is actually no longer working. It was only in operation for three years before they built the Yaquina Head lighthouse just a few miles north of it. I thought it was interesting how it's basically just a house with the lighthouse on top of it!
Just a scenic view. Some nice person offered to take a picture of all three of us.
Bryant and Gracie with the Heceda Head lighthouse in the background. We took a tour of this one also which was so awesome!
There are sea lion caves along the stretch we drove. We didn't actually go down the cave (we thought it would freak Gracie out a little bit) but we did find a great lookout place and saw the sea lions in the water! So cool!!! We also saw three lighthouses along the stretch of coast. There are 11 lighthouses along the Oregon Coast--10 of them still working lighthouses in fact, and the ones we saw are all very old, and in the historic building society. We took a tour of two of the three of them as well. We were too late to take a tour of the third one. They are so beautiful!
We also decided to take Gracie to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. She really enjoyed it....as long as we were close by of course! She loves animals and fish and stuff, but if they get too close she gets very nervous! Our last stop before heading to Portland was to a little beach. Bryant LOVES the ocean and he wanted to take Gracie to a little beach so bad. It was so fun to watch the two of them run in the sand and put their feet in the freezing cold Pacific Ocean!
We then headed away from the coast and over to Portland where we scored a sweet deal on a three star hotel---(we got it for $65 total)--which was totally worth. We also have been wanting to go to the Temple, so we decided since we were so close to Portland anyway we would stay the night and then we could each do a session before we had to be out of the hotel. That way we would have some entertainment for Gracie as well! It worked out perfectly! Except I was having stupid Braxton Hicks contractions the whole time I was in the session and they really hurt! Oh well, at least I got to go one more time before the baby comes!
Here are a few pics of our fun little outing!
Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We didn't get to tour this one. By the time we got to it, tours were closed for the day. But it sure was pretty to look at!
Playing in the water! They had so much fun...despite how freezing it was!
Yaquina Bay lighthouse. This one is actually no longer working. It was only in operation for three years before they built the Yaquina Head lighthouse just a few miles north of it. I thought it was interesting how it's basically just a house with the lighthouse on top of it!
Just a scenic view. Some nice person offered to take a picture of all three of us.
Bryant and Gracie with the Heceda Head lighthouse in the background. We took a tour of this one also which was so awesome!
Emeralds Baseball
Most of you know that we are big baseball fans, especially Bryant! In Spokane we sadly only made it to one Indians game (the minor league ball team they have there), but the one game we went to was really fun. It's an inexpensive family evening that we all--including Gracie--enjoy!
Well, luckily Eugene also has a minor league ball team, and we were able to go to one of their last home games of the season. It was a beautiful stadium, and another fun family evening!
Well, luckily Eugene also has a minor league ball team, and we were able to go to one of their last home games of the season. It was a beautiful stadium, and another fun family evening!
Multnomah Falls and the Oregon Zoo
We finally got checked out of our apartment in Spokane on August 27 and got on the road to Eugene. We had hoped to leave early in the day, but the new apartment manager (who was suppose to check us out at 10am) didn't show up until almost 3:30 in the afternoon. We weren't too happy, but there wasn't much we could do about it. Originally we had planned to drive to Seattle and spend night and then drive the rest of the way to Eugene the next day, but since we got out so late, we decided to take the shorter route and find a place to stay along the way.
I am actually kind of glad we took the different route because it was SO beautiful. We drove along the Columbia River for a lot of the drive. Gracie traveled really well. We stopped in The Dalles for the night and all had a MUCH needed good night sleep. The next morning we headed out again and decided to make a few stops along the way.
First we stopped at Multnomah Falls. We didn't stay too long, but it was definitely worth checking out. These natural waterfalls, etc always amaze me for some reason! Here are a few pictures from that stop. (Don't mind my HUGE belly!)
We then made it into Portland. Since Gracie is such an animal lover, and since she really had a kind of lame birthday, we thought it would be fun to take a few hours and go to the Zoo. She got really tired at the end, but she enjoyed looking at all the animals. It was so funny, if any of the animals got too close--even though they were behind cages or glass, she got very nervous! Bryant got lots of "hugs" since he would hold her to see the animals and she wanted to make sure he would save her if they got any closer! She's such a funny girl!
I didn't get a ton of pictures from the zoo, but here are a few that turned out pretty cute!
I am actually kind of glad we took the different route because it was SO beautiful. We drove along the Columbia River for a lot of the drive. Gracie traveled really well. We stopped in The Dalles for the night and all had a MUCH needed good night sleep. The next morning we headed out again and decided to make a few stops along the way.
First we stopped at Multnomah Falls. We didn't stay too long, but it was definitely worth checking out. These natural waterfalls, etc always amaze me for some reason! Here are a few pictures from that stop. (Don't mind my HUGE belly!)
We then made it into Portland. Since Gracie is such an animal lover, and since she really had a kind of lame birthday, we thought it would be fun to take a few hours and go to the Zoo. She got really tired at the end, but she enjoyed looking at all the animals. It was so funny, if any of the animals got too close--even though they were behind cages or glass, she got very nervous! Bryant got lots of "hugs" since he would hold her to see the animals and she wanted to make sure he would save her if they got any closer! She's such a funny girl!
I didn't get a ton of pictures from the zoo, but here are a few that turned out pretty cute!
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