Getting There...

We had our first real weekly appointment today. For those of you who don't know what they do for these, let's just say they do some measuring. I am already at 2 cm and 70% effaced. Again, if you don't know what that means.... don't go look it up. If you do know what it means, you are probably a woman who has had a child and this won't gross you out :) Basically... I'm already starting the first stages of labor! I was fairly surprised when my doctor threw out those numbers because I'm only at 35 weeks. I was a little worried it meant this little man would come early, but she said she still expects him to come at 39-40 weeks. She also estimated him to weigh in at about 7 to 7.5 lbs at delivery. Glorious day! He won't be gigantic!

Lendel and I both had to resist cracking up while she was checking some things out because she kept saying, "Oh you have a wonderful pelvis" and "This looks great, your pelvis is fantastic". In normal words: I GOT ME SOME GOOD CHILD-BEARIN' HIPS! Hahaha sweet....

I bought some decorations for his room yesterday, and I got so excited! Now I just need to hurry up and move so I can set up his room. Yes.... we've decided to move. We found a great place that is still really cheap and sooooo much bigger so we decided to go for it.

Graduation was on Saturday, and I am officially a college graduate with a Bachelors in Exercise Science and a Minor in Psychology. It doesn't seem real yet, but I guess it will when Lendel has to go back to school and I get to stay home with Baby :)

On Sunday, we were sitting in a meeting and Lendel leaned over to me and asked, "How long has it been since you've seen your Dad?". I started bawling. Man I miss my family, but especially my Dad. It's been about six months since I have seen him and it's just not right! I can't wait for them to come out and visit when Baby is born. I love my parents and my brothers and my sister. I also love my in-laws. I know... that can be a rare thing, but I really do have the best family on both sides.

VAMPIRE! Sort Of....

"I WANT GRILLED TERYAKI CHICKEN AND I WANT IT NOW!!! and some rice and broccoli stir fry... "
Yep... that's the text message I just sent my husband. Lendel thinks it's funny.... I think it's miserable. For those of you who have read the Twilight series, you will understand this comparison, but those who haven't: don't judge me I was in high school when I read them! I feel like the vampires do when they describe how it is to first be turned into a vampire. It's described as a "burning" feeling in your throat that just can't be satisfied! Having an intense craving when pregnant feels like if you don't get that food item right at the moment, you could probably punch a hole in a cinder block wall. So.... I feel like a vampire. Except I don't want blood (eww) and I could easily drive down the road to Panda Express, but I'm too lazy to do that (also due to pregnancy).

I think it's safe to say I'm reaching that "Oh man please just hurry up and get out of me...but not too soon because you wouldn't be ready and I would be scared for you...but as soon as possible!" phase of pregnancy. This whole time I have received numerous compliments on how I don't look "as pregnant" as I really am. Honestly, I have loved it! What waddling pregnant woman wouldn't love being told she looked small? Especially when sitting in a small bathtub makes you feel like a hippo... However, the last few days, I have received at least 4 comments along the lines of, "Wow Nicole! You've gotten a lot bigger!" Granted I'm not offended, but I really did enjoy the "small" comments. It's like this little baby is saying, "Ha Mom! You just thought I was going to play nice! But now I'm going to sit in a position that makes you look gigantic and put extra pressure on your sciatic nerve!" What a punk... good thing I love him.

Only 6 more weeks!

[*cOuNtDoWn!*]

We had another ultrasound today to check on our Boy's big ol' head! Luckily for us: His head is measuring normal!!! He weighs 4 lbs 11 oz and all of his measurements were around the 50th %ile. Surprisingly enough his femur was higher on the charts than all his other body parts. Could we possibly have a tall child on our hands? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Lendel and I are both the smallest children in our families, but our siblings are quite.... large. Lendel has also been teasing me this whole time that "it might actually be a girl". The ultrasound tech overheard us and did a check.... don't worry.... He's still a HE!

Unfortunately, baby Boy was too big and his head was really far down so we didn't get any cute face pictures. I was really looking forward to some profiles of his face, but in 7 weeks time we will know what he looks like! All I can think about now is this little guy. Lendel and I both love him so much already, and we haven't even been able to hold him yet! 

I've seen a couple friends track some of their pregnancy facts and I think it's a good idea. Here are some random facts about my pregnancy:

-Weight gain: 30 lbs thus far. Let's hope it doesn't get to be much more...

-Stretch marks: on my sides, but luckily none on the front of my belly

-Belly button: still exists! I may not get an outtie after all!

-Favorite Smell: Johnsons all over baby wash. Oh my gosh! I could walk aroung smelling that stuff all day long. I got 4 bottles from my showers and it's a dang good thing I did.

-Weird Dislikes: dirty dishes, onion breath (Lendel is aware that if he eats onions I won't go near him for 2 days), some people.... haha I really am a bit more easily annoyed nowadays so I do apologize to anyone that feels that!

That's all I can think of :) I'm sure there's much, much more but it's not coming to my mind right now. I can't wait to meet this little man!

Spring! Glorious Spring!

My brain is super scattered about what's going on in my life, so I'm just going to make a list of my top 10 thoughts. Again, it's a really long post.... sorry! 

1. Warm Weather!!!!!!!!! (Haha sorry all you Colorado people that are just enduring tremendous bursts of wind.... I really don't envy you)

2. Only 32 days until I graduate from college..... and only 10 weeks until I have this baby!

3. I had a fantastic time with my Mom and Sister last week, but it also made me sad that I live so far away from them. I realized the other day that my Dad won't really even get to see me pregnant. Last time we went down there I was only 16 weeks along and not really showing, but next time I see him I will have a baby. Shoot.... now I'm crying.... curse these hormones!

4. Baby Boy is really starting to hurt me! I don't know what position he is in right now but some part of him keeps jabbing into my lower left side and boy does it hurt. He's only 3 lbs right now, so I'm a little nervous to see what he can do when he's 6 lbs!

5. We got a whole lot more money in tax returns than we thought we would! The Lord sure is looking out for us and our little guy, because that extra money just guaranteed our financial security while I'm on maternity leave. 

6. Although my goal is to be a stay-at-home Mom, I will be working for the next few years to put Lendel through school. It doesn't really bother me to do so though because my baby will always have one of his parents with him. I'm also glad that Lendel is going to get some great bonding experience with our little guy while I'm at work. He's going to be such an amazing Dad. I don't know how I got such a good guy.

7. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am SOOOOOOO glad that Utah State will not really be turning into BYU-Logan. 

8. I have accepted the fact that my apartment is small, but other people do it and so can I!!! (self motivation really works you see.... I just have to keep telling myself that)

9. I am an epic failure when it comes to April Fools jokes on Lendel. Yesterday I set traps up over our entire apartment including: setting the TV to loudest volume and turning it off for him to discover, putting food coloring in everything I could think of in our Fridge, taping the faucet so it sprayed on him, duck taping the toilet seat shut, and putting bowls of water at the tops of doors. Basically nothing worked, and if it did, he didn't give the response I wanted. Boo on Lendel for being no fun at all to pull pranks on!

10. I'm so sick of my hair and my face. My hair is doing weird things, and my skin is breaking out. Just a couple of things to add to the ridiculously long list of things that make you feel ugly when pregnant. Luckily I have a husband who tells me I'm still beautiful, and I know he really thinks so, although I'm starting to think maybe he just needs an eye check up...

Oh! I also wanted to send a huge shout out to those of you who came to my Baby shower. I have the best friends and family and I loved everything I got! Even more so, thanks to my great friend Hillary for throwing the best parties around! She is so talented in so many ways, and if you ever need pictures done, she's also an awesome photographer :) Her blog is titled "hillarymuelleckphotography" and you should probably check it out!

3rd Trimester!

Today is the day that marks the 3rd trimester for me! Only 12 more weeks to go until we have this little guy with us :) [13 max if I follow the trends of all my cousins and go a week overdue.... I'm really hoping this doesn't happen.]

Pretty much all I do anymore is NEST! For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the constant preparation of the home for baby to come. I am constantly planning and organizing where everything is going to go, and yes, decorations are included. I can't focus on school at all anymore!

I had a check up yesterday and my belly is measuring right on track, along with my weight gain (Hallelujah!). His heart rate was at 140 bpm and everything is looking good. I took the glucose test, and lucky for me I couldn't taste it. My husband was kind enough to pass on his cold to me right at the end of spring break. I have never had to call in sick for a cold, but man this one is a killer! Apparently pregnant women's immune systems are in the same category as the immune system of someone with AIDS.... awesome =/ Good thing I can take my go-to drug, Mucinex. I still sound like a stuffed up fool whenever I talk though.

Yesterday I had my insurance benefits meeting with my company reps. Here's a little math for you:

•  We make around $2000 a month
• Our rent is $515 a month
• INSURANCE IS GOING TO BE $415 A MONTH!!!

Yep, that's right. Not to mention the fact that the deductible went up from $3000 to $5000 from last year, and the total out-of-pocket expenses went from $5000 to $9000.

Thank you very much Obamacare....NOT! We made the decision to be self-reliant and get our own insurance instead of using medicaid, and now pretty much we are being punished for that decision. Boy was Lendel angry when he saw those numbers! We can afford it, but goodbye extra savings for a while! Luckily we have been blessed greatly thus far in our marriage financially and we will be able to handle it, but it just sickens me to know I could put $10,000 toward medical expenses before my insurance even kicks in. Better safe than sorry right? 

Other than the stress of insurance, all is well in the Jeppesen home. 

Oh... P.S.

If you ask me what I'm going to name my child and I don't tell you, don't be offended. Everybody else has pretty much annoyed the heck out of me by putting in their opinions of what I should and shouldn't name my baby. Lesson learned: We won't even be mentioning ideas with the next kid :)

Crafty-Crafts!

My craft side has decided to show up all of the sudden. I've been able to hold off for most of my schooling because I knew I would lose control and just want to do projects all the time! I'm taking an introductory sewing class at USU because I wanted some easy credits for my last semester, and I am loving it! My Mom and Grandma are amazing seamstresses, but neither are close enough to show me all the cool tricks on my sewing machine that my awesome in-laws gave me.

Here are a couple of pillows I made yesterday :) the long one is sewn shut and just stuffed with filling, but the square one has a zipper (that's way too small) and is a pillow cover. It was my first time sewing a zipper and it didn't turn out too bad! I had fun making them too!

Don't mind how crooked the clock looks, it's just the angle I took the picture at!

Yes, our couch is ugly navy blue. Oh well, we're poor college students and love it anyway!

Lucky for me I have pretty much the same color scheme in my bedroom and living room so I have one in each room. Now I just have all these to get done:

• Apron
• Car seat cover
• Car seat blanket
• Nursing cover
• Baby quilt
• Curtains for baby room

Oh so many projects so do.... I can't wait to be done with school!

Decisions, Decisions!

It seems like all my life is made up of lately is decisions! I have quite a few decisions already made that I know for a fact will not change:

1.) I am marching into that hospital, getting an epidural and any other drugs they offer me, and delivering my baby in a delivery room. (This may sound odd, but I have had tons of people ask me what kind of childbirth I was doing.) Here are my reasons:

• I was not born a dolphin, so why would I have a baby in the water??? Ha.... just my personal opinion :)
• Medicine is a brilliant thing, and if that epidural can make it so I'm not cussing my husband during labor, why not!?
• I would rather be surrounded by a staff of nurses and doctors with plenty of hospital equipment than just one midwife at home. What if something goes wrong?
• These are just my thoughts :) I obviously don't think anyone is crazy for doing natural childbirth (ok maybe just a bit), but I just don't want to go there!

2.) I am most likely going to stick with disposable diapers. 

• I have run the numbers and for me personally, it is totally worth it to spend money on disposables! I know a lot of mother's who love cloth diapers, but if it costs me $20 extra a month to not have to rinse poop down my sink or in my toilet, I'll take it :)

3.) We won't be moving into a house just yet....

• We have actually been looking, and even been to see a mortgage guy, but sadly we would have NO money left over at the end of the month in case something happened.
• Renting is great right!? Right? 
• Who am I kidding.... renting sucks. Oh well, if you can't afford it, you can't afford it :)

And here are some decisions I still have to make:

1.) Do we stay in Aggie Village?

• We could save the most money that way
• A townhome would end up costing us $80 more a month than AV
• Wouldn't that be worth it to have a dishwasher, extra bathroom, AND my dryer INSIDE my house??? Not to mention almost 300 sq ft of extra space...
• Ugh.... this is a tough one

2.) What colors am I going to do this little guys room in!?

• I'm thinking of Gray, Orange, and Cream. I want to go with a very vintage, clean look. I would love a room with mostly light colors, and tiny pops of a vintage orange color. Good thing my Mom and Aunts are pros at interior decorating!

Wow, that's pretty much it. This post really did help me organize my mind (which is a hard thing to do when you have prego brain). Excel has been my best friend lately because I have been making so many charts to figure out our finances. This baby is not really going to cost that much more for us. Hallelujah! Can't wait for this little guy to join us :)