30 Week Pregnancy Update

Can I say it's hard for me to believe that I'm already 30 weeks along and in a little over 2 months we'll be meeting our baby? It's crazy how quickly the time goes! I'm trying to enjoy every minute since I know this will be the last time I'm pregnant. Pregnancy is hard work though.

30 weeks along

Side view

Due date: May 4, 2012


How far along: 30 weeks


Maternity clothes: Ha! With a belly like that it has to be maternity. The shirt in the photo is a size small maternity top and it isn't going to fit another 3 months.


Baby bump: See for yourself in the pictures.

Gender: We aren't going to find out the gender. We are really excited to announce both the gender and the name once the baby is born.


Heartbeat: My 30 week appointment was on Friday and the baby's heartbeat was in the 140's.


Movement: I do have an anterior placenta which was confirmed at my ultrasound. I don't feel as much movement as people generally feel at this stage of pregnancy though the baby's movement is consistent and increasing. I still haven't felt the baby get hiccups yet but I know that is coming too.


Symptoms: Overall I still feel great and honestly feel really blessed to have avoided terrible morning sickness in both my pregnancies. My back hurts at the end of most days but it depends on my activity for the day. If I've been sitting a lot it tends to be worse. Sleep comes and goes for me. It is definitely better than it was from 8-18 weeks which I had horrible insomnia. About once a week I have a night where I am up for and hour or two but overall have been sleeping better. Last night I slept for 7 hours almost straight. For someone who needs 9-10 hours to function well that isn't a lot but compared to being up for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night I'll take it. We finished our 6 week Hypnobabies childbirth preparation course last week and the self hypnosis and relaxation techniques really help me sleep better.

Tests and midwife appointment updates: After the drama of my 26 week appointment, both my 28 and 30 week appointments were pretty low key. Last Friday was my 30 week appointment. I had lost a pound (yay, since I have gained more than I'd like already), baby was measuring 31 cm, and my blood pressure was still great (116/74). At both my 28 week and 30 week appointments I still did have trace amounts of white blood cells and protein in my urine but neither midwife seemed concerned since I passed the 24 hour urine screen with only moderate amounts and all my blood work came back normal. I'm glad to not have to worry about protein levels and increase in blood pressure for now. My next appointment is at 32 weeks with one of the midwives I haven't seen since 14 weeks so I am looking forward to chatting with her more.

Exercise: My 2nd session of prenatal water aerobics just ended and they canceled that time slot :-( I am now going to try dropping in to the other prenatal water aerobics class that isn't at a very convenient time and also dropping into a classic water aerobics class and just doing some modifications for pregnancy since I am familiar with the routines at this point. I'm still hoping for some nicer weather so the kids and I can get out and walk but lately there hasn't been much. The days in the 40's have had 40-50 MPH or greater winds so that doesn't make for great walking weather.

Next Appointment: Thursday, March 8th.

Here is the link to the Baby Center: Your Pregnancy: 30 Weeks Some of the highlights: your baby is about 15.7 inches long and almost 3 pounds. A pint and half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume decreases as she gets bigger, and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it is not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision - which means she'll only be able to make out objects a few inches from her face. 

Paid Cash For Our New Car!

It is probably something I don't talk about enough on my blog: money! If you've read over my goals the past two years it is probably no secret that we do things different than most Americans. We've loosely been following Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover plan since 2008. I say loosely because we've fallen off the wagon a few times and made some modifications for our specific circumstances but we've adhered the basic principles.

Some of the basic principles are: debt is bad, once you can pay off your debt you will reduce your stress dramatically, increase your quality of life dramatically, and begin to quickly build wealth. In America we are raised in a society of instant gratification. If you can't afford it, charge it! Everyone has two car loans, a mortgage they can't afford, and some credit card debt, as long as you can make the payments it's no big deal, right? Wrong!

Dave Ramsey's plan is laid out clearly and simply. The first step is to build a "baby emergency fund" of $1000 so you can stop putting emergency purchases on the credit card. Then you start hacking away at your debt in a very deliberate manner. You list all your debts, smallest to largest, regardless of interest rate and you start throwing all your extra money at the smallest. I would've paid towards the highest interest debt but seeing one thing after another paid off encourages you to keep going. At first you think you have no extra money but once you make a budget you realize you probably do and you probably can make some cuts to the budget. If you absolutely have no extra money Dave Ramsey suggests getting a 2nd job in the short term, selling items you can live without, or even selling cars with big car payments to free up money in the budget. If there's a will, there's a way!

Another thing he hammers home is delayed gratification. You do not buy a new car or go on vacation until you can pay for it with cash. How many people do you know without a car payment? Not many, I bet! I will tell you from personal experience this has freed up the most money in our budget and helped us the most in making progress in paying off our debts. Prior to starting the Total Money Makeover hubby and I each had $300 per month car payments, yikes! If you need or want a new car you don't buy it until you have the cash to pay for it. Even if you can afford it he never suggests buying a brand new car because they lose so much value in the first two years. If you can afford it he suggests buying a 2 year old car with low miles. This way it is very reliable but has already depreciated significantly while you weren't the owner. Saving cash to pay for a car in our credit based society sounds crazy but it is easily attainable once you pay off your other debts. For example if you previously had $600 in car payments and $400 in credit card payments. Once those are paid off you have $1000 extra each month. If you want to buy a $12,000 car you would only have to save for 12 months and you'd never have a car payment.

Since we started the plan we have paid off both our car loans, all our credit debt (we had A LOT), and have a 4 month living expenses emergency fund (though as a single income household our goal is 6 months living expenses). Due to financial freedom we now have without all that debt, we were able to purchase our first house this year. Our new home is much nicer and much bigger than our rental home but the mortgage is the same. Hubby and I both still have large balances on our student loans and our next goal will be to pay those off entirely. Since we owe so much it will likely be at least 3 years before we meet that goal but it will be so great to be debt free besides our mortgage. After that we start chipping away at our mortgage. Long before retirement our mortgage will be paid off and we'll enter retirement completely debt free. We are also able to be a single income family and I am able to stay home now while our children are little, which I am very thankful for.

We made a big step in our Total Money Makeover journey this past week. We purchased our first new (used) car entirely with cash. What an amazing feeling! In the process of negotiating the deal the dealer could not get the car within our budget at first and suggested we finance the difference. We held firm and told him we don't finance cars and don't take on new debt. The dealer flat out told us that paying cash for a car is un-American. Hubby and I silently chuckled to ourselves and knew we were on the right track. Dave Ramsey says in his book when people start telling you you're crazy for doing things this way you know you're on the right track! Another family with 5 kids was purchasing a different minivan and peeked their heads in at the end and said good job paying cash for our car. Apparently they overheard and the dealer said they also paid cash for their van, another Dave Ramsey follower I bet.

We now have a van that seats 7 and plenty of room for our soon-to-be family of 6. We got what we wanted and still don't have a car payment. It truly is an amazing feeling and I couldn't be happier!

Front view of our 2005 Toyota Sienna

Side view of our new car

Summer Camp

My two oldest kids are both 11 years old this year and I wanted to send them to summer camp this summer. We started looking into prices and quickly realized with 3 kids at home and another on the way summer camp was out of our price range. You'll imagine how thrilled I was to hear that The SITS Girls were giving away a free session  of summer camp to Catalina Island Camps . The giveaway is for one child and a friend so both my older kids could go together! I am entering to win a session of summer camp for a child at Catalina Island Camps from The SITS Girls!


The other neat part is that I have a lot of family in Southern California. My mom grew up in Palos Verdes and they had a sail boat growing up. They often sailed to Catalina Island. How neat would it be for my kids to go to summer camp the same place my mom played as a kid!


My two older kids would also love the independence. They would both be excited to fly alone to California and spend two weeks at summer camp without mom or dad. After browsing the website my kids would love all the activities. They love the beach, they love the water, and they love any outdoor activity. The activities highlighted on the Catalina Island Camps website are: skin diving (probably would be my daughter's favorite), kayaking, sailing, power boat activities, stand up paddleboards, target sports (would be my son's favorite), climbing, ropes course, challenge, gardening and composting, nature, outdoor cooking, photo journalism, arts and crafts, day trips, overnights, and Thursday morning adventure trips. All of those sound like so much fun.


I went to summer camp with church each summer in middle school and high school and had such a great time. I still have amazing memories of the fun times we had at camp. There is something about being away from home, having some independence, being surrounded by friends, and enjoying nature, that is so great for kids. I would feel so blessed if I won this giveaway and could give my kids this experience that they wouldn't otherwise have.

Confessions of the Formerly Habitually Late

My name is Michelle and I have a problem. No, I'm not a alcoholic, I'm habitually late. I've always been late for as long as I can remember. This problem bothered me some, mostly I was bothered by the consequences of being late to important events. Mainly I accepted it as a personality flaw and went about my life. You can't change who you are, right?

Last year in writing my goals, I set a personal goal to be more on time during 2011. And guess what some amazing things happened. Not only have I made some great improvements in this area. I now often show up early to meetings or events. There is nothing that makes a person who has been habitually late more happy than to be the first person to show up to a meeting or event. In the past 6 months I've often been the first one to show up to meetings with friends or events. Just this week hubby and I were the first ones to show up to the hospital tour and even beat the instructor there. Once it was 3-4 minutes before and none of the other 6 couples or instructor were there I even began to wonder if we were in the right place. Waiting for other people who are late doesn't bother me in fact it makes me happy to be the first one there. Each time is a tiny triumph for this formerly habitually late person.

So what have I been doing differently? There still aren't enough hours in the day. I still want to try to finish one last thing before I leave. I still underestimate how long it takes me to finish that one last thing. I also still underestimate how long it takes me to get places. The biggest thing I've changed in the past year is building in a time "buffer". If I think it will take me 15 minutes to get somewhere I plan to leave 30 minutes before. This way if I leave 5 minutes late and hit 5 minutes of traffic, I'll still be a few minutes early. If I think it will take me an hour to get ready for something I give myself an hour and half. It has been working great for me. Every time I have somewhere to be I add some extra time onto my leaving time and have been really successful at not being late. Sometimes I'm right on time or a few minutes early, sometimes I'm 10 minutes or more early, and sometimes I'm still late but the improvement for me personally has been amazing.

Giving myself more time to get places and get ready has really lowered my stress level. Since I was habitually late I didn't stress about it too much since it was my way of life. Now that I am on time or early 8/10 times I realize how much less stressful being early or on time is. Hubby generally runs on time so I think being more on time has made him happier too.

You too can recover from your habitual lateness. It just takes some extra planning and thought on your part and a desire to make being on time a priority. I'm not perfect but I love the improvements I've made and continue to delight on each on time or early arrival I make. Next time we meet for coffee, don't worry I'll be there 5 minutes early and silently delighting in my little triumph.

27 Week Update

I can't believe I haven't updated since 20 weeks! Here are some of my pregnancy photos from this last week.

 The 26 week belly, 1-29-2012

26 week profile shot, 1-29-2012

Due date: May 4, 2012


How far along: 27 weeks


Maternity clothes: Ha! With a belly like that it has to be maternity. The shirt in the photo is a size small maternity top and it isn't going to fit another 3 months.


Baby bump: This last week I definitely "popped" again. Between 26-27 weeks I started to feel huge and there is no question I have a big baby bump. I can't even imagine how much bigger it will get in the next 3 months. Hubby and I were looking at Brennan's baby book and I'm about the same size as I was at 35 weeks with Brennan.

Gender: We aren't going to find out the gender. We are really excited to announce both the gender and the name once the baby is born.


Heartbeat: The baby is getting bigger and their heart rate has slowed a bit. At my 26 week appointment it was 145-150 depending upon if the baby was moving or not. This last time the baby didn't want to stay still and let the midwife get a good heart rate.


Movement: I do have an anterior placenta which was confirmed at my ultrasound. I don't feel as much movement as people generally feel at this stage of pregnancy. I do feel at least 10 spontaneous movements throughout the day but rarely feel more than 1 kick or punch in a row. Yesterday the baby was extremely active and moving all over the place so maybe the baby is finally getting big enough that I can feel the movements despite the placement of my placenta. This past week I've definitely gotten some rib jabs and punches to the cervix. I've haven't felt the baby get hiccups yet but I know that is coming too.


Symptoms: Overall I still feel great and honestly feel really blessed to have avoided terrible morning sickness in both my pregnancies. I have been sleeping better these past few weeks. We started our Hypnobabies childbirth preparation and I think that has really helped me to relax and sleep better since we do our practice before bed. I'll write a separate post about why we chose Hypnobabies and what our experience with it has been so far. My back is starting to hurt, especially at the end of the day or if I have to do any extended periods of sitting. 

Tests and midwife appointment updates: Baby was back to measuring right on track after measuring 2 weeks ahead at my 22 week appointment and 5 days ahead at my ultrasound. I guess the baby must have just been in the middle of a growth spurt around 22 weeks. At 26 weeks I had my gestational diabetes screen which I passed with flying colors. The solution wasn't as bad as I remembered it though I did request lemon lime and drank it ice cold. At my 26 week appointment there was a moderate amount of protein in my urine as well as trace amounts of white blood cells. Due to my first trimester high blood pressure this warranted further testing. My midwife explained that there was a note in my chart to due the testing at 28 weeks due to my first trimester high blood pressure and that due to the protein it was safer to do it now rather than wait two weeks. My blood pressure was still 116/74 so at least that was good. in order to officially have pre-eclampsia you have to have both high protein levels (mine were moderate) and high blood pressure (mine was still normal). I had to do a 24 hour urine screen and a metabolic panel, both pre-eclampsia tests, to make sure that wasn't beginning to develop. I was stressing out over the weekend about the tests and the possibility of developing pre-eclampsia this early in my pregnancy since the only cure is delivery of the baby. I ended up getting several bad headaches but was able to determine they were sinus (and probably stress too) related. I completed the test Sunday since I had to essentially be home for 24 hours straight which rarely happens. Monday afternoon I heard back from the midwife and got some decent news. First my blood test results were all great and someone developing or who has pre-eclampsia should have markers in their blood to indicate that as well. My protein results were only ok. A normal result would be 50-70, mine was 168, but the 24 hr protein level has to be 300 or greater to be considered pre-eclampsia. My midwife said I would have to repeat the 24 hour urine screen and blood work at 28 weeks but to not worry and carry on like normal until then. She said it is possible with my Crohn's and medication I take that my baseline protein number is just simply higher. I'm slightly unsure about that because according to the in office screen at 8, 10, and 14 weeks I didn't have an protein in my urine (I transferred care at 14 weeks and this midwife practice doesn't routinely screen your urine in office until 26 weeks). Reading online there is a small possibility that a UTI can cause protein or white blood cells to show up in your urine. It doesn't seem like the likely cause but I am going to ask at my next appointment whether my urine was tested for a UTI and if not request it is before we do another 24 hour urine screen. Send prayers and good thoughts my way that this is just normal for my body and not the beginning of pre-eclampsia. Also in monitoring my blood pressure at home this week it has been slightly higher but staying under 130/85. My midwife did not seem concerned about this at all since she said they said now that I'm in the 3rd trimester that they expect my blood pressure to return to 1st trimester levels which for me were high. Every pregnant woman has lower blood pressure during the 2nd trimester due to hormonal changes in pregnancy. 

Exercise: I'm doing much better with exercise! I love my prenatal water aerobics class. It is great to have 2 days per week with a full hour of physical activity. It is nice to get out of the house and spend time with other pregnant women. My first session ended and I just started a 2nd session this week. We've also had several days  of weather in the 40's and 50's and the kids and I have been going for walks of about 2 miles or so. Between the walking and water aerobics I am getting 4-5 days of exercise which makes me happy. The water aerobics class isn't very strenuous but it is still a full hour of physical activity so I'll take it.

Next Appointment: I'm in the third trimester now so I have appointments every 2 weeks. My next appointment is on Friday, February 10th. Last appointment was the first pregnancy related thing hubby couldn't make it to. Now that my appointments are more frequent I am going to schedule them for Friday mornings because it is hard for him to get out of work at 3:30pm and then we have the problem of who is going to watch the kids. He's met a few of the midwives and I'll make sure at the end of the pregnancy when I schedule appointments with midwives he hasn't met to make the appointments for when he can go.

Here is the link to the Baby Center Your Pregnancy: 27 weeks . Some of the highlights: your baby weighs about 2 pounds now (size of a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping at regular intervals and waking at regular intervals and opening and closing her eyes and perhaps even sucking her thumb. Your baby's brain is very active. While her lungs are capable of functioning outside the womb with a lot of medical help they are still immature. Hiccups are common for babies at this point in pregnancy. At this point in pregnancy back pain and leg cramps are common.

Scientists Abound!

Last week was a busy week for our family. Wynter participated in the all subjects fair at her school and Brennan participated in an inventor's fair for district middle school students hosted by a local company.

Wynter's school hosts an all subjects fair instead of a science fair. The idea is the same as the science fair but students were not limited to only science topics to research. Wynter's project was titled, "Healthy Life" and focused on a healthy diet and exercise. It was neat that she chose to study healthy diet and exercise all on her own. I think she learned a few things and having to manage an 8 week long project with interim guidelines, a paper, and a presentation is a great skill to have.

Wynter's Healthy Life project

For Brennan's inventor's fair he could invent anything that didn't exist or make significant improvements to an existing product, similar to the guidelines for obtaining a patent. The company that hosted the inventor's fair was Wasson-ECE Instrumentation and they were very gracious hosts. They definitely encouraged the invention process within the kids. Each invention was judged and the students had to defend and discuss their inventions with the judges. The company provided plenty of snacks during the morning and while the judging results were tallied we were taken on a tour of their facility. While the entry materials said the top 20 inventions would receive $100 cash prize, all 32 entries received $100 cash. The top 3 inventions also received an opportunity to shadow one of the engineers at the company for 1/2 day.

Brennan's invention was a solar powered light built into a nook cover. He has a Nook Simple Touch which is not backlight so he can't read in the dark. He likes reading in bed and doesn't have a bedside lamp and also likes reading in the car. Since it gets dark so early often our car trips are in the dark too. He wanted a case with a light built in but when he searched for one he couldn't find it. Making it solar powered was just an added bonus so you never have to plug it in. After some research and discussions with my hubby, who thank goodness is a mechanical engineer himself, Brennan designed and built the case and solar powered light himself. It turned out great and he was super excited to receive the $100 cash prize!

His invention was called Solstice

Close up of invention and backboard

Certificate of completion and $100