Things To Do While You Wait...

I am not a very patient person and waiting for a baby to come definitely shows how impatient I am.  

For some reason in my head I think that my kids should come "early" since my firstborn came at 38 weeks.  That's not how it works and I know that but a girl can still hope and pray and dream. 

When you've had Braxton Hicks off and on for a month you really start to hope that you will go into labor soon.  However, in the meantime you have to stay busy and relax so here's a list that I've compiled of ways to get your mind off of your belly. 

1. Get your nails done
2. Get a massage
3. Rearrange your furniture
4. Have a Jane Austen movie marathon
5. Bake cookies with the kids and share them with your neighbors
6. Bake brownies with the kids and share them with your neighbors eat them all
7. Get an adjustment from your chiropractor
8. Drink gallons of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
9. Walk around your neighborhood and admire all of the flowers
10. Walk around your neighborhood and make fun of the street names
11. Hang out in the pool
12. Walk every aisle at Costco
13. Bounce on the exercise ball in the hopes of bouncing the baby out
14. Buy your kids new shoes because they outgrew their old ones
15. Cook in double batches so you have less to cook when the baby comes
16. Decide that you are going to eat the food you froze the day before because you are tired of cooking
17. Take a nap
18. Research ways to kick start labor
19. Eat the biggest and spiciest burrito EVER from Qudoba
20. Wake up in the middle of the night with the worst heartburn ever from a burrito and watch old episodes of Friends while waiting for Peppermint oil to work
21. Debate eating other spicy foods
22. Get into an argument on a natural parenting board and type ALL IN CAPS
23. Decide that parenting boards aren't worth your time 
24. Read some really good books that your friends have recommended
25. Write an outline for your business plan
26. Rethink your business plan and rewrite it
27. Harass your husband by asking for the millionth time if he thinks the baby has dropped
28. Rearrange your bathroom cabinets
29. Work in the yard Supervise your family working in the yard
30. Do as many squats as possible 
31. Soak in the bathtub because your legs hurt from squats
32. Do as many lunges as possible
33. Take a shower
34. Ignore phone calls, texts, messages, and neighbors asking; "When are you going to have that baby?"
35. Watch Zoolander and laugh through the ridiculousness of it 
36. Get addicted to Dr Who
37. Get your husband to rub your feet with Clary Sage oil 
38. Dance to 80's rap
39. Take each of your kids on a date
40. Surprise your kids with "gifts" from the new baby in the mail (you know your baby is shopping on Amazon right now)
41. Let your kids pick out a gift for the new baby
42. Journal
43. Have an "Art Day" and make a mess
44. Go on a date with your husband and don't complain about how you feel, how hot it is, and the fact that you are still pregnant
45. Meet a friend for coffee 
46. Get your nails done again because everything was starting to chip
47. Let your kids paint your belly
48. Sleep in
49. Have a pajama day
50. Make popcorn on the stove and read a bajillion books to your kids

My workouts are...

kind of not working the way I planned.  I'm 37 weeks pregnant today and the last month has not been what I had planned.  I'm struggling to get in a mile walk in every day and Prenatal Pilates is not done the two to three times a week I had planned.  I faithfully do my fifty squats and laugh at the thought of doing my weights or push ups.  

In my first trimester I swore that I would work hard through every single bit of this pregnancy.  Then we moved and things got a little wonky and scattered.  Now I'm literally weeks away from delivery and I'm TIRED and sore and uncomfortable.....literally the excuses could go on and on and on.  

Here's my big problem though, I feel better when I work out and it's good for me and the baby.  

On that note here is the Tired and Lazy Mom to be Workout:

Walk (or waddle) one time around the cul-de-sac or street 

15 Squats holding onto a chair

5 Push ups using an exercise or birthing ball.  These can also be done against a wall

Walk around the cul-de-sac again

15 Plie squats

10 Push ups

Walk the circle again!

10 Squats

10 Plie Squats

15 Push Ups

Slowly stretch out your body and drink a lot of water. 

Brag to all of your friends that you worked out.  

36 Weeks

As you all know I (Kelli) am pregnant.  It literally feels like I announced my pregnancy yesterday however, today I am 36 weeks!

People keep asking me how I feel.

Here's the funny thing about that question, these people apparently expect me to answer that I feel great.  So when I tell them that I feel like an elephant, beached whale, a gigantic baby eating monster, or whatever else pops into my head they look shocked.  

Here's a tip to everybody out there, don't ask this question if you aren't ready to hear a hormonal pregnant woman vent for a minute or two.  

We are all feeling huge, it is just the way it is.  Yes, this is my easiest pregnancy EVER!  

Yes, I do feel good but I am also uncomfortable and slowly ready to evict this little girl from my body. 

My workouts have changed in the last few months.  I am trying to do Pilates and weights but have been struggling with staying consistent.  I am walking still, at least a mile a day.  Well, walking is stretching the truth a bit there...I waddle about a mile a day.  

On Thursday my midwife will come over and do my first home visit.  

I never thought that I would have a baby at home.  In fact I adamantly stated on several occasions that I would NEVER birth at home.  

As we all know you should never say never.  

As I got ready to birth at the birth center I kept questioning why I would leave home to give birth only to leave a few hours later to go home.  I could make everybody come to me and be comfortable!  

The more I debated and prayed the more open I was to a home birth, my amazing husband commented, "Well we need new sheets anyway; might as well give birth on these before we throw them out!".  You've gotta love a husband like that!!!  

I'm excited about the delivery and quite honestly a little nervous too.  I've never birthed at home, I've never delivered without drugs, I've never dilated without meds; and yet this all feels right.  

In the next month or so I will get to tell you about my delivery and share with you my sweet little girls' entry into this world.  I don't know what to expect but I am so excited!  

Running on Empty

I had planned on doing a write up on my Hot Chocolate 5k.  I had a good time freezing my butt off with my running buddy from Dallas.  We finished, not with great times but not too shabby either since we walked most of it.  However, I'm going to be honest with you guys instead. 

I'm tired.  I'm 27 weeks pregnant and half the time I'm pretty sure that this baby girl is going to fall out.  

Walking isn't bad but running right now is miserable.  

Seriously.  I'm kind of starting to hate it. 

Will I always hate running?  NO!

However, right now it isn't pleasant and that's okay. 

I am really enjoying some workouts that I found online, weights and pilates are what my body  is craving. 

I sat in my midwifes office yesterday and told her that I was pushing myself to get in a run/walk two to three times a week but that I hated it.  She looked at me and asked me what I was trying to prove.  It really hit home that I have nothing to prove to anyone.  My job is to be as healthy as I can to have a healthy baby but if my body is saying, "STOP!" then it's okay.  I'm not sitting on the couch eating candy bars all day, I'm just doing what works for me right now.  

The most important thing for any of us, pregnant or not, is to listen to our bodies.  That's what I'm doing right now.  In my head I wanted to be a SuperMom that ran up until the day I delivered but I am okay with being a SuperMom that lifts weights and does Pilates instead. 

Mom 4ce Plus???

Since life wasn't crazy enough for Team Freese, we decided to mix it up a little.  You know, boring and calm is just well; boring!

I was feeling a little tired and stressed out.  I figured that it was just from getting MOPS off the ground for the year and starting the school year up was taking its toll.  

After almost passing out at our first MOPS meeting I decided that MAYBE I should go to the doctor.  Then, my coffee smelled weird to me and I didn't WANT coffee.  

That's when I knew.... Yep, the Freese 6 will be the Freese 7 in May!  

Lynette has decided to let me stay with Mom 4ce even though I will no longer be a 4ce but a 5ce.  However, that sounds ridiculous so we are not changing the name.  

What does this mean for you?  It means that you will get to read about what I am doing diet and nutrition wise throughout this pregnancy. Don't worry though, it won't ALL be about pregnancy!  

However, I do want to tell you the first thing that I have done is started consuming Red Raspberry Leaf Tea.  This is something everyone benefits from and I should have been drinking it before but it wasn't coffee.  However, I have so much energy and so little nausea that I refuse to go without it now!  Non pregnant women have even noticed a difference in their cycles while drinking it so I plan on continuing chugging this brew after our baby comes.  

Other than expecting, Team Freese is busy packing.  Our closing date has been moved back a little but time is flying quickly.  The kids are enjoying a laid back school year, little do they know that this summer will make up for it, bahahaha!  

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