Personal Challenge.

The personal fitness side of a pregnancy can really modivate a woman to get into shape. Of course, some women are able to stay fit during their pregnancy; but to my misfortune, I was not one of them. I am not just talking about pounds here, even though it is a large contributor, but am talking about the ability to feel physically healthy. I definitely did not feel healthy when I would: lose my breath when walking up the stairs, need help standing up after sitting on the floor, need help getting out of bed, etc. There are so many other circumstances that I can think of, but we don't want this post to take all day long to read! Anyways, I do realize that there is a very large and heavy tummy attached to the front of you; but to me, it does not make a difference. You still feel like your physical health is suffering. By the end of my pregnancy, I was ready to feel physically fit again.

So, what will I do to feel physically healthy once more? The solution comes from P90X.

Again, I am not just exercising to lose the pounds, however it is a nice bonus, I am doing this program to feel good again. And I haven't felt the way I want to since my high school years when I was doing cheer. This involved running, lifting, and lots of exercising. During these years, I just felt healthy. I was able to go hike up any mountain I pleased [to a certain extent], play tennis for hours on end, and run around the golf course in my neighborhood with my good friends. If I tried any of these activities now, I would be done after twenty minutes. Yes, I hate to think of this.

So, endurance and strength is what I hope to accomplish through this program. My first day was yesterday, exactly one month after giving birth, and I practically died in the first twenty minutes. I couldn't even do half of the exercises that the men and women on the video were doing... My goal? To be able to do every single exercise well by the end of the 90 days. I have confidence that I can make it.

I cannot wait to feel great again. In order to keep myself motivated, I will post my weekly progress report on the blog. That way, I know I need to do it. :]

Wish me luck.

A Day We Will Never Forget.

It all began on Saturday, November 6th. Austin had to attend a school convention for most of the day, so I decided that it would be a perfect time for me to get out and do some activities to bring about labor. I was so anxious to finally have our little boy in my arms! So what did I do? I walked, and walked, and walked some more. First, I shopped and strolled around the mall with my mom and sister for four hours. Then, we went and shopped at Costco for another hour and a half. That was followed by a trip to Albertsons for another hour. I was exhausted by the time we finally got home, but made another trip to the mall an hour later to shop with my hubby.

Throughout the entire day I was having mild contractions and loving it! I wanted to keep walking all night long to make them get stronger. To our surprise, the next event happened so fast. When Austin and I were driving away from the mall that night, I lost the plug that protects the amniotic sac surrounding the baby!!! We were thrilled! This was when my contractions finally started coming on stronger and closer together. W knew that my water could break at any moment, so we went home and waited... I walked up and down the stairs for what seemed like forever, and sped-walked around the neighborhood with Austin until I couldn't anymore. I was exhausted and my feet were definitely agreeing!

I didn't have any big signs of my water breaking so we finally decided to 'go to bed.' Keep in mind that I was still having some contractions at this point that were about 10-14 minutes apart. I didn't want to go to the hospital for fear that they would tell me to wait until my water had officially broken. Austin and I were up all night long timing my contractions with hope that they would get closer together. I also thought that I was still losing my 'plug' as well due to all the bathroom runs that I was making.

By Sunday morning, my contractions were about 10 minutes apart and much worse so we decided that we better go to the hospital to see what was going on. We were taken into triage where they test to see if you can be admitted into labor and delivery. At this point, I was still worried that they would just send me back home! But when the nurses came back into the room after running my tests, they had an IV bag in their hands and told me that I was in!!! Little did I know that my water had really broken at 7:30 pm the night before and I had been in active labor all night!

Now, this is where it gets fun! I was told that my water had broken too early. We know this because my body was very far from being ready to deliver. Let's just say that it was as far from it as anyone could possibly get. I was barely dilated at all and was hardly even effaced! We were quickly informed that this would be a long labor. I did not mind. I would do anything that would give us our son.

So, to show you a summary of our Sunday, I will go by hour:

9:08 am - Arrive at Banner Gateway.
10:00 am - Officially admitted into Labor and Delivery Room 8.
10:50 am - Begin  IV Oxytocin. [This is a hormone that is used for inducing women. Since I was so far away from dilating, they began me on this right away. Mind you, this also brings on contractions much worse than doing it naturally...]
...
...
...
...
...
4:00 pm - Doctor Mikels [doctor-on-call for my regular OB/GYN] comes in to see my dilation. He unfortunately told me that nothing had changed. I was still far from delivery.
**My contractions were now about 2-3 minutes apart and very painful. But there was no way I was getting an epidural only dilated to a 1!
...
...
7:00 pm - Begin fake epidural. I was having contractions every minute, so I was given some medicine through the epidural tube that was not as strong as the real stuff.
7:30 pm - Given antibiotics through my IV. By this time, my water had been broken for 24 hours and the doctor feared infection.
...
8:26 pm - Water officially breaks! The leak had finally been broken!
9:00 pm - The nurse tests to find that I am finally dilated to a 2...
9:30 pm - Given the real epidural. Bad contractions.
...
10:40 pm - Given an oxygen mask. Every time my one-minute contractions would come, the baby's heart rate would sadly drop about 40-50 bpm below normal. He was hurting... The oxygen mask fortunately helped a lot!
10:50 pm - The doctor cut my Oxytocin in half. By this point I was at the highest dosage possible and they wanted to half-it to see if my body would start dilating on its own.
...
12:00 am - The nurse comes back in to test my dilation. She was shocked and had another nurse check to see if this miracle could really happen with me... I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push!!! Had I really gone from 2 centimeters to 10 centimeters in three hours???
12:20 am - Begin practice pushing with the nurse.
12:40 am - The doctor arrives at the hospital once more.
...
1:42 am - Baby Ryker is born!!!!!!

Ryker is a dream come true! He is perfectly healthy and we could not be more grateful. There is nothing in this world that we would not do for him.

This definitely was a day we will never forget!!!

Weekly Baby Update

I had my weekly doctor's appointment this morning.

We are so blessed that our baby is perfectly healthy and weighs almost a whopping 7 pounds now!

Unfortunately, nothing to do with my body has changed since last week's appointment...

Yes, this is very sad since I am due in two and a half weeks!

There should be changes happening.

Any-who, little Ryker will come when he is ready!

But just in case... our bags are packed, his clothes are clean, his bed is made, his diapers are bought, his blankets are washed, and his mommy and daddy could not be more excited!

In the meantime, Austin and I are planning a fun-filled weekend.

Who knows, this may be our last weekend alone together, just as a couple!

On our weekend to-do list:

Carve pumpkins,

Go out to eat at some of our favorite restaurants,

Take long walks,

Hand out candy at our ward's Trunk-or-Treat,

Get all dressed-up in our Halloween costumes for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat,

Watch movies,

Cuddle,

Do some homework [of course],

Take a bike ride,

And just relax!

It sure will be a wonderful weekend!

Losing It

Pregnancy mind has really affected me.

For example...

1. I always forget what day of the week it is. Of course this happens to everyone, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, most people can usually remember what day it is. I can't.

2. I lost my husband's keys. Yesterday, I drove Austin's car home from his parent's house and placed his keys somewhere. After all night of searching, we still could not find them. Lucky me, I finally found them today. By accident.

3. I tried to return Target items at Wal-Mart. I even looked at the receipt right before, to make sure I had the correct one. Obviously, I thought the big target symbol at the top meant Wal-Mart... The lady at costumer service must have felt bad for me because she sweetly made me aware of my mistake.

4. Once leaving Wal-Mart, I could not find where I parked my car for a whole five minutes. This may not seem like a long time, but when you are roaming aimlessly around the parking lot, it becomes a long time. I even found myself looking for my husband's car at moments.

5. I went to the wrong bank to deposit money. Note to self: Wells Fargo is not my bank. I have not gone there in over a year; since before I was married. I go to CHASE now...

6. I went to Target with one intention: to return some items... and I left the items in the car. The time when I actually get the store right, I forget my sole purpose of going there in the first place. Beautiful. Now I have to make my poor, swollen feet do more work.

7. I know there are plenty more instances just as bad or worse than the ones above. But silly me, I just cannot remember them. I am losing it.



...



However, I have not forgotten that 21 years ago today, I was introduced into this beautiful world.

Happy Birthday to me!♥

Closer and Closer

I am 37 weeks today.

And this is my 36 Week Belly.

It's crazy to think that pretty soon we will be parents.

We are more than excited!

Ryker Okuda

...is head down and ready to come into this world!

When the doctor checked my dilation at my OB appointment this week, 

he said he felt our baby's head!

I could not believe it!

Our little man is completely set in position and ready for his big day!

We are all on his time now.

Also, since these last few weeks have been taking a toll on my back, 

my amazing husband gifted me with an hour of pure delightfulness today at the beloved...

I sure do have the best husband ever!

Baby Shower!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful mom and sister who put on the most amazing baby shower for me!

Anyone who came could attest to how much work was put into this special day!

There was plenty of food, games, friends, and fun!

The day was fantastic!

As you can see from the pictures, every detail was perfectly thought-out and planned to-the-t!

Also, I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends who came and supported me!

My family is always there for me!

I am so lucky to have them.

 [My Mom, Kristell, Me, Kristel, and Kelly]

 [My Sister-in-laws: Audrie, Kellie, Jessie, Natalee, and Kristie]

 [My Mother-in-law!]

 [The cute girlies in my family!]

And last, but not least...

The two women who put this whole thing together and who I am so grateful for...

 [My most amazing mom!]

[My beautiful sister, Kristel!]

Thank You!

And thank you to everyone who came to spend the day celebrating our cute baby-to-be!

Going on 35...

...and ready to POP.

I may not look like I am about to pop, but I sure do feel like I am going to!

I believe that my tummy is stretched to its max.

Oh it is wonderful!

Our little Ryker is doing so well.

He continues to keep me up all night long with his strong gymnastic skills!

He gets the hiccups every night right before I go to bed.

He absolutely loves to constantly push against a nerve on the right side of my stomach!

He loves when I eat sweets... :]

He enjoys pushing down hard on my bladder; sending me shooting messages that I need to empty it.

He gets so excited when his daddy talks to him and gives him kisses!

He loves when mommy sings to him.

And he may come sooner than expected.

I would not trade any of these sweet experiences for anything.

Every little thing that our boy does makes me so so so happy because I know that he is just getting himself ready to come into this beautiful world!

Saturday Night!

After the Relief Society Broadcast, my night was spent shopping with my mom and little brother!

It was wonderful!

[Austin was unfortunately doing homework...]

We went to Burlington Coat Factory, Mor, K-Mart, and Target.

And guess what?!

We bought some more baby supplies for the little guy growing in my tummy!

By far the best purchases tonight were:

[Thank you to my mommy!]

and

Ahhh, we are so happy to have finally found the right bedding!

Austin likes the sports theme so we have looked everywhere for something nice and not too pricey.

And we finally found it. :]

Beautiful Life♥

So... I am just so amazed that my sweet husband got onto blogger and posted his very first post! It is the cutest thing and I love him so very much for it! Now, I must add that he is correct about how exhausted I am feeling all the time. That is not the only thing I am feeling! As I am sure most of you already know, there comes a lot of bonuses to a pregnancy!

1. Like Austin mentioned, I am always tired. He works very early in the morning, so we try to go to bed at a decent hour. This means that I get at least ten hours of sleep every night... and I am still exhausted during the day!

2. I am hungry continuously. There is never a moment when my stomach is not growling! I go to work and school each day fully prepared with my snacks. If I do not eat something at least every hour, I start getting shaky and weak. This is definitely not a good feeling!

3. I learned that I should be drinking about a gallon a day! I love water, so I never thought anything of it. Then I learned that this can be quite hard; especially since your bladder cannot even hold a little amount when you are pregnant :] Let's just say that I need to use the restroom about every half an hour!

4. I have been fortunate enough to have not had very bad morning sickness. I do feel nauseated very often, but it can sometimes be fixed with food or more sleep!

5. Lastly, and the most amazing and beautiful bonus that has come along so far with pregnancy, is knowing that I have a son/daughter of Heavenly Father growing peacefully inside of me. I have been given this opportunity to take care of this wonderful baby and I am going to try my hardest to do the best that I can! I feel so blessed every single second of the day knowing that all I am feeling is completely and 100% worth it. None of my feelings matter know. It is all about what is best for our sweet baby!

I love being pregnant! It is the greatest feeling! Austin and I went to my very first appointment with my doctor today. It was amazing! We got plenty of baby books from him and are ready to start reading! We also made an appointment for my very first real ultrasound at ten weeks! We LOVE all of this excitement, and could not be any more happy!

PREGNANT

I AM PREGNANT!♥

My sweet husband and I are going to have a baby!

As soon as we found out, we wanted to tell the whole world!
[It sure was fun telling our families!]

It has been so hard keeping it to ourselves, but we had to be sure first!
So today, I had an ultrasound at my work and... I am definitely pregnant!!!!!!! [Or as Austin says it, prego]
The computer used for the ultrasound estimated our sweet little baby to be about
5 weeks and 2 days!

Of course the real age of our baby will be determined by the radiologist, but at least we got a rough estimate!

Austin and I are so very happy and grateful for this opportunity and experience in our lives. We are so humbled and blessed to know that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with the care of one of his beloved son or daughter!

We could not be more happy about this news and are very anxious and excited for what is to come!

[We will keep updating the blogging world of any news that we receive.]