Pittsburgh: The road so far...

I am in Pittsburgh for a little bit and loving it. It is a much needed vacation.

I got here saturday and Eric and his sisters and friends picked me up from the airport. It was very fun to have a welcoming party for me.

     We came home and they cooked a yummy dinner for me. Then we headed over to our friend's house where the YSA(young single adults) were doing a cookie party. We Just wanted to see the Johnson's so we sat in the living room and chatted and ate cookies. Now I have to admit one of the coolest Pittsburgh traditions is this idea of having cookie parties. They do it for all types of events and the cookies are heavenly!!!

     Anyways... after the cookie party we decided to go to the park and light flying laterns into the sky. We all took a lantern and wrote a wish on it. Then we let it go. It was beautiful. The first few attempts were not as good as the last few. One of them did not stop burning before it hit the ground so Ana jumped a fence and ran out to make sure it did not burn anything down. Luckily we realized there was no harm the fire just went out and everything was ok. But still we were unsure if this was okay to be doing or not so we kept joking that a fire truck was going to appear. Around our 6th or 7th lantern we saw what seemed to be a fire truck pull up. We all booked it to the car and drove away. Out of breath we decided we should drive by this fire truck... we did so only to realize it was in fact not a fire truck but a trailer pulling up to the farm  that was by the park. 

first lantern of the night

Getting them ready

This picture doesn't even begin to show how cool it was

Eric explaining the Lanterns to us

So excited!!!

We had fun :)

Getting ready to launch

Getting ready....

.

Here we all are!

Our wishes for the baby

      We decided to go to another park and light off the last few. It was beautiful. Everyone decided to write a bunch of wishes on the lantern for baby Wahlstrom. We titled it TO: BABY WAHLSTROM   LOVE: YOUR FAIRYGODMOTHERS

It was adorable. It was really neat to watch that lantern float off into the sky. I was filled with such love and excitement for this baby girl. I also felt such gratitude that my baby is coming into this world with so many people that love and adore her and want the best for her. It makes me so happy to know that she will never have to wonder if she is loved. 

A silly wish Eric wrote on a different lantern

Eric was in charge of lighting each lantern

Getting ready to launch!

Holding on 

Waiting for the right moment

Last three of the night :)

     Sunday we went to church. We were welcomed by the wonderful members of the ward there and I felt so at home. Everyone is so kind and loving in this ward here. It was wonderful to see people who I am blessed enough to call friends now. The meetings were wonderful and I felt the spirit so strongly. 

     After church we ran off to a band banquet for the girls followed by a piano recital. 

My sisters are so talented. all the kids who played were it was so impressive. I was mostly just amazed at how much patience, practice and time goes into these pieces. It was so beautiful and enjoyable.

I was so grateful to be able to see my sisters preform. They did such an amazing job and have such grace and beauty. They are such amazing girls.

At the band banquet.. I asked them to smile... They all refused. haha

Beautiful girls at their recital 

Monday was a fun day too. Eric and I spent the morning at a golf course. He called ahead and asked if his 7 month pregnant wife could ride along while he played 18 holes. The lady was so nice and agreed. When we showed up she said, "OH there is the sweet beautiful pregnant lady!" Every time we passed the pro shop she would come out to chat and ask how we were doing. It was so fun and sweet. I really enjoyed watching Eric play. I also loved how beautiful PA is and how serene the course was.

me in the cart!!!

Watching were his chip went

Putting

Later we got the girls and shot off a model rocket Eric had built. That was a lot of fun and I was suprised at how high that thing went. The second time we launched the rocket, it went into the neighbors yard but she was so nice and thought it was so fun what we were doing!

We ended the night having family home evening. Eric taught us a lovely lesson about the Atonement and we played scatagories and listened to courtney play us a beautiful song on the piano. What stood out to me most about this was that the girls did not argue or complain about having Family home evening. They were excited and wanted to help. When Eric gave the lesson they didn't complain that it was too long or try to leave, they sat and listened and gave input. It was so awesome to see such young girls so willing to be with family and talk about God. I hope that my daughter is like her beautiful Aunts. Because they are truely special and amazing girls. I am so glad I can call them sisters. 

So I have a few more days here. I look forward to what they bring. :)

I am so glad to be here and to be having such a nice relaxing time. 

What I didn't know...

     Well Ladies and Gentleman... I have reached the third trimester. I feel like it has taken quite a while to get here but none the less... I have arrived. (Ok so technically I am 28 weeks tomorrow... But... its all the same.)
     So now that I have been pregnant for 28 weeks or 196 days (according to my neat little baby bump app on my phone) I think its time to write this fun post I have been thinking about for some time now. You see when I got pregnant I read some stuff and talked to my friends who were or had been pregnant and I felt very prepared (or as prepared as I could be...) for the next nine months that stood in front of me. I figured I knew what was going to happen and how it would be. I figured I could handle it all and anything I didn't know other people could help me out with.
I laugh now at my naivety.
      I realize there were so many things I didn't know. SO MANY. And so for that reason I write this post. For others who will one day be pregnant and need a perspective of what could be in store and also for my future self who may be pregnant again someday. Please don't forget these things future Janelle....

The biggest thing I didn't realize and I need to remember is that pregnancy is different for everyone. EVERYONE. I heard that and still I thought, "Ha. Well I can still relate myself and compare myself to other people's pregnancies becuase it can't be that different." Don't do it... it will make you sad becuase truth is my friends, every pregnancy handles itself differently. Some people get super sick with some pregnancies and not with others. Some people gain tons of weight and some gain almost nothing. Some people feel the baby move early and some don't till later. Some people carry their baby out and some baby carry their baby down lower. Any one who tells you exactly how it will be for you is wrong... (unless its your doctor... he may have a little bit more insight...)
I think that it was becuase I had seen people be pregnant and I thought I had read so many things about pregnancy that I was expecting things that didn't happen exactly as I had thought they would. (I will explain this more as you read on.) I have since realized its great to read and talk to your friends about pregnancy but my pregnancy is mine and its different than everyone else's. So as long as I am healthy and baby is healthy then that is all that matters. I should take things with a grain of salt.

      Pregnancy is uncomfortable. Okay.. well duh. But really... its uncomfortable. And anyone who says it isn't is either lying or extremely lucky. This also is an example of how everyone is different. Everyone carries their baby differently. Everyone has a different body. Some people's bodies have to stretch like crazy and some don't. When I was just a few weeks pregnant, before I knew I was pregnant I had really bad menstrual cramps. I kept waiting for my period... that never came. I asked my doctor about this during my 5 week ultrasound and he told me my uterus had stretched a lot in those first few weeks and was really enlarged already. That is why I felt those cramps. Interesting.
Pregnancy also causes backaches and leg cramps. I have experienced these things only in a minimal amount so far but I am sure I have not felt the end to them. The first time I had a leg cramp I woke up stretched my leg and felt pain so bad I thought my leg was going to have to get cut off. I stretched it more and walked around on it and it went away. Since then I am more cautious about stretching my legs throughout the day to prevent such horrible pains in the morning.

     Babies kick and move a lot but that doesn't mean you will feel it. "They" say you can start feeling it around 16 weeks. I was so unsure about what were kicks and what were stomach grumblings for a long time. It was more around 23 weeks that I felt a definite "OH BOY... What is inside of me moving like that" type of kick. And baby kicks are awesome and adorable and I still get excited every time I  feel one. Sometimes I laugh out loud becuase its so strange to feel something moving like that inside me.
I didn't realize that some times baby kicks can be uncomfortable. No one ever said that to me... but they can be. The baby moves around and I have other things in my body besides just the baby like my stomach, intestines, kidneys... you know things like that and they don't always agree. But its not awful just strange.

     One of the hardest things for me with pregnancy has been the gaining of the weight. I step on the scale and I see a number I have never before seen and its disheartening at times. This is where I really have to remind myself not to compare myself to others. Becuase I have gained a lot of weight and other people have not. And I get upset. And I feel bad. And I think "Woe is me that I must be cursed to be so gigantic and other's are so cute and small with just a little baby bump!" And my bump is so big.
AND THEN I remind myself... "Um hey Janelle... You have a BABY inside you. Who cares?!" My doctor is not at all worried about my weight. And he informed me that he wrote a paper about pregnancy and weight gain in Med school that won a ton of awards so he knows what he is talking about. I am so blessed with this little adorable baby girl inside of me. And if she needs a lot of room to grow then so be it!!! I didn't ever realize I would get so big... But HEY! its awesome. I go on walks and eat healthy and I am big becuase there is another human growing inside of me. I am blessed and so happy to let her take over my body. Small sacrifice to pay for such an awesome reward as a tiny baby girl right?

     Along the same lines... I had heard it said that people will say things about your weight but I never realized that they really would. THEY REALLY DO.
Its so funny. People comment things like... "Look how big your getting!" and "OH your tummy is so huge!" And if I was't growing a small human I would be offended but since I am its awesome. I think its fun when people notice. Plus it means my baby is getting bigger and that is a good thing!
   I have had some pretty crazy things said to me though. For example one person told me when I was only 4 months pregnant that I was as big as their friend who was due next month and asked if I was  sure I was not carrying twins. I started rambling and tried to explain something about how I have a shorter torso and therefore I show a bit more than others. This person responded, "No! You are both the same size." I then explained that I must just be fat. I won't lie, I let that one hurt my feelings for like a day and then I started realizing that being big and pregnant is fun. When else am I going to be able to gain tons of weight and have people say, "How cute is your tummy?!" and "Look at how big your getting... so fun!" Plus like I already mentioned... its for a good cause!
    Another fun weight story happened just a few weeks ago. We had a BBQ at our house and one of our friends brought a girl I didn't know. He told us later that when he took her home She told him he was attractive. He was flattered but tried to explain that attractiveness is not the most important thing to him relationship wise. She told him that she could tell by his friends. Shocked he asked if she thought he had ugly friends. She said, "No not really but your one skinny friend married that really fat girl." he had to explain that I was in fact 6 months pregnant. Eric and I got a pretty big laugh out of that one.
   I also have random people touch my belly. I am super open and I don't mind being touched so its not weird at all to me. But I can see how people who don't like to be touched could be really uncomfortable. I think its fun though... so if you see me, go ahead... though I do like to be asked before hand most the time.

     Another thing I didn't realize about pregnancy is that you can get really sick. I didn't expect it. You hear stories about super hero moms who are able to be pregnant, go to school and work three jobs while building a house on the side and starting their own scrapbooking company. I realized early on that I am not one of those super hero women. I had to try for a while to not be jealous of other people I knew who were pregnant and who would write about how they were able to do all this stuff. I finally realized that this is my pregnancy and my being sick and weak is part of the experience. Heavenly Father knows me very well. He knows that I can handle this and that I am learning from these challenges. I still find myself at times feeling down or sad that I don't have a ton of energy or strength but I realize that its ok. I am doing my best. I am not perfect but I am doing my best and the Lord has blessed me so much.
     Along these lines... I need to remember that I can't do everything I used to do. I am larger then I used to be and more easily worn out. I have found the past few weeks of work have been incredibly difficult becuase I beat myself up about not being as strong as I used to be. I may or may not have had a few days where I came home crying from work becuase I feel like I am not doing my best. That of course is not true... I am doing my best... my best is just not what it used to be. And its frustrating and I feel so angry with myself. I want to be able to do everything and have tons of energy. I try to prove time and time again that I am ok and force myself to work harder and harder which is great. But I have to remember that its ok to just take a moment to rest. I need to give myself a break and realize that I really am doing all I can do. And that I am not like every one else. I am just me. I can't expect to be anything less. I just need to trust the Lord and take advantage of the down time that I get becuase soon a small child will be here and there will be no down time or rest time. My life will forever be changed... for the better. But it will not be easy.

     Another thing I didn't realize is how my emotions really do feel messed with on a daily basis. I can go from super happy to extremely depressed in a matter of minutes. My anxiety is out of control. Not to mention that I feel more and more irritable (this could be becuase I am tired though...).
Needless to say I have to remember to not let my emotions get the best of me. I have to remember that I am strong and that there are good things in store. And when I just cry for a few hours becuase "I am so sad!" I just have to remember this is all part of the experience.

I also didn't realize my depth perception of where my body can fit would be so off. Let me give you an example for this one. Ok so Imagine you are in a grocery store. You are there to buy one thing. You see a lady with a cart in the middle of the aisle. You figure, "I can walk past her cart with out any problems..." and so you go walk past her cart and bump it with your belly and it hits her, knocking her glazed look of which pickle to buy off her face. Her face become furious and you try to apologize. This may happen on like a daily basis to me. I see a small space I normally can walk in or through and BAM. Nope... fail.

     I hope this Post doesn't seem like me complaining. That was not the point at all. I am so grateful that I am pregnant and that I am learning. I have been so blessed. I have an AWESOME Doctor. He is simply amazing and he cares about me as his patient. I have heard him many times tell other people I am one of his favorite patients which makes me feel so happy.
I have an amazing husband who puts up with every crazy mood swing. He cleans out the bucket and holds my hair every time I throw up. He picks up the things that are too far away from me to reach. He gets me food and drinks and rubs my feet when they are super sore. He always always always does the dishes. He says I am beautiful when I feel like I am not. He reassures me when I start to freak out about being a mom. He is my best friend and truly a blessing from the Lord.
I have great friends and co workers who make me feel so loved. My co workers pick up my slack when I fail to be my best. And make me smile when they can see I need it.
I have a lovely mom who did her best and helped raise me in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Becuase of this I have faith and hope. She helped me to have the testimony that I have and I hope I can do for my daughter what she did for me in that way.
I am so grateful that baby girl is good and growing well. I have not had complications and things are good.

I need to remember that above all else this pregnancy is not about me. Its about my baby. I can complain and feel sad or I can realize that there is a reason for this. I am learning and growing and in the end... there will be a baby. What a beautiful thing this is.

So Hooray for third trimester. I have learned a lot so far but I know I have more to go.
12 more weeks my friends...

26 weeks 

28 weeks! 

Thank Goodness for the Sunshine

There has been some wonderful weather this last week or so and it has made for some very fun adventures around here.
     Eric finished his finals a week ago and we had a BBQ to celebrate with some of his friends and a few of mine. It was super wonderful weather and a lot of fun.
     Eric and I decided the best way to enjoy the sun was to hit the driving range. We got a large bucket of balls and set up his clubs.
I learned a few things from this adventure... One: My husband is extremely attractive while he golfs! Two: pregnant bellies ruin your golf swing... don't even try, its just embarrassing how bad you are. Three: Utah is very beautiful.

Getting an IV... again haha

My wonderful husband waiting

So last Tuesday Eric and I went to dinner with some friends. I felt fine the whole time. When I got home I started to feel really nauseated. I figured it was just my normal nausea so I ignored it. Until my mouth started to shake and the room got really blurry. I realized I was going to throw up. So I ran to the bathroom and lost everything in my system. I felt better after that so I laid down and watched some tv. An hour later... threw up some more. So I  called the doctor since I have not thrown up like this in a while and it was pretty violent to say the least. I had my 24 week check up with him on thursday so He asked if I could try and switch it for Wednesday (the next day). He then told me to go to bed. I did just that. I woke up at 2 am for one more session of throwing up and finally went back to sleep. The next day I went to work with nothing in my system and feeling really weak. I tried to drink some juice at work but I ended throwing that up too. So my boss (whom I am so grateful for everyday) let me leave and I called my doctor to try and come in for an appointment. He had me come in right away. They checked everything they would for a 24 week check up and everything was fine... except for my urinalyses. My doctor said I was incredibly dehydrated and he sent me over to labor and delivery to get my 4th IV of the pregnancy!

Bursted Vessel TWO

Bursted Vessel ONE

They hooked my belly up to this weird machine that monitored baby girl's heart beat to make sure she was ok. She was. The cool part was that the whole time I laid there getting the fluids I could hear her little heart beat. Randomly I would feel her move and then I could hear her kick the machine on my belly. Eric and I were pretty amused by the number of times she kicked my belly and how loud her little kicks were. Even the nurse made a comment about how active this little girl is! After the Iv was all done, I was good to go. I went home, got some sleep and felt a million times better the next day. I must have either eaten something bad or gotten the 24 hour flu. Either way...I got TWO bursted blood vessels in my eye this time! My little sister Courtney said, "Mama's gotta earn her stripes!" She is right! The bursted blood vessels are just another addition to my war scars. And I know this little girl is worth it.

More than halfway!!!

25 weeks!!!

In other news....

TWENTY FIVE WEEKS DOWN... FIFTEEN MORE TO GO!

As the weeks progress I feel this little squirt more and more. I absolutely love her. I didn't know you could love someone you have never met so much. She is so funny and so active. I find that I am more and more emotional, which I hear is normal. We were singing "Families can be together forever" in church a few sunday's ago and I found myself crying. I am so grateful that my daughter is able to be mine forever. I just can't wait to meet her.

OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT! ...

3D feet 24 weeks

Baby face (as good as we could get) 24 weeks

 We had to do another ultra sound becuase they couldn't check everything at our twenty week appointment becuase little girl wouldn't cooperate. So we got to see her again last thursday. We tried for a while to get a 3d picture of her face but she kept blocking it with her hands. We kept begging for her to move... but she just kept showing us her feet. So we got an awesome 3D picture of her feet! Silly little girl.

Well... Like I said the weather has been great so Saturday Eric and I woke up, looked outside and decided to go to the zoo. 

We had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of our adventure.

I decided to get dressed up for the day... Eric had to take a picture!

Adorable Owl ... his head is turned around in the picture.

Handsome Eric with the elephants!

Black and white monkey... Eric's Favorite

Rhinos!

Monkey!!!

Eric reading signs... His favorite thing to do

This a mommy and a baby monkey... Their tails are linked... ADORABLE

Giraffe 

Giraffe licking the wall....

This big sheep was hiding... then he head Eric's voice and he came on out to see us!

Awesome Tortoises. 

Mr. Sloth taking a nap!

Beautiful Rooster

Fruit bats... Tons of them... Kinda creepy

Little fruit bat Getting a drink!

Eric and I right before we left!

Eric and GreatGrandma Gladys

So after the zoo we decided to take a trip to Ogden and see Eric's Great Grandma. We went out to dinner and chatted for a while. Then we headed back down to provo.

We have had a wonderful past few weeks. I am loving the sun and loving our fun. The next few weeks may be kinda crazy as Eric is preparing for the MCAT but all in all we are just happy to be together.

I am grateful that God has given us so much to be happy about! :)

Till next time....

Suddenly, I feel so incredibly pregnant.

The past few weeks have flown by so fast!!! I can't believe I have not updated more. This is going to be a long one.

We haven't scanned in all the pictures yet... but this picture is pretty great! 

I guess I should start with our 20 week check up that we had. We went into the doctors and got an ultra sound and baby girl looks great. Except she kept sitting with her hands over her face and knees curled up to her chin so the tech had a hard time finding everything he needed. So after about 40 minutes of trying he told us we will have to come back in a month (which is next week now...) and get another ultra sound to finish checking everything he couldn't see. The good news is... she will be bigger and they will probably let us have a 3d picture of her... so I am pretty excited.

The tech did inform us that baby girls head is measuring two weeks ahead of schedule... Yes.. she has a big head. hahaa Hopefully that means she will be smart :)

     The day after the ultra sound I went and saw my doctor. He said everything was great and we are all on track with everything. But right as I left he took my blood pressure one more time. He informed me that since my 16 month appt. I have been getting higher blood pressure readings and I need to be careful and be aware of my blood pressure so that it does not get worse or anything. He told me not to worry but that if I got a really bad headache that did not go away I should call him right away.

Me on my IV and Morphine

     So the next day I started getting a really bad headache in my left temple. I just ignored it and kept going with my life. It lasted all weekend long and come monday it was getting pretty unbearable. So after work I called my doctor. He gave me a prescription for a migraine medicine and said if it didn't go away by morning to call back. Tuesday morning it was still there so I called and left a message. Ten minutes later I got a call from the nurse telling me to go to the hospital right away. So I went to labor and delivery and my doctor checked on the baby. She was fine. THANK GOODNESS. They checked my blood pressure. It was fine. But he was worried about my headache. They gave me a ct scan and everything looked good so they gave me some percaset and sent me home. I couldn't drive though and Eric was down in Salem teaching an American Lung association class to some kids in an Elementary school. Luckily My brother in and law Spencer and Sara are wonderful and they came to get me. Despite me being really loopy they took me to get some food at Zupas. I had not eaten all day and it was almost 4. As we were heading home I started to get really nauseated. I reached over just in time and grabbed a bag. I then lost my entire lunch into it. Delicious. I will not be craving Zupas anytime soon.  Sara and Spencer took me home and I went straight to bed for the rest of the day.

I am just this cool...

       The next morning it was still hurting. So this time I went to same day surgery and they gave me an IV. Then they gave me a shot of morphine which helped my head for an hour... but then nothing. So they sent me to the ER still on an IV. The doctor there ran more tests and everything came back normal. So they gave me another shot of morphine (the previous had wore off by now...) and sent me home.
       I slept all day thursday and sat with a bag of tater tots on my head. The cold felt nice. Eric's family came into town and his little sister, Courtney spent the evening with us. It was so fun having her there and I know that Eric and her had a fun friday morning rock climbing. I wish my head had not hurt so I could have been more fun.
       Needless to say Friday I attempted to go back to work. I was pretty sick of being in bed by then. I was able to manage but my headache was still there.
That afternoon Eric, Courtney and I went up to Ogden to visit the rest of his family. It was so much fun to see everyone. But my headache was unbearable. So I called the doctor again to update him on my status. He gave me some hardcore migraine medicine that I was only supposed to take one of and then he told me to take ibuprofen for the next two days. I took the nasty pill... and it made me throw up. Not only that it made me so dizzy I felt like I was going to die. So I went to sleep finally and swore never to take that again.
      Saturday I started out the morning with a slight headache. We went with Eric's parents and visited the Bountiful Temple to do a session. It was such a pretty temple! I am so glad we went. Of coarse my head started hurting like crazy though so as soon as we left I decided to start on the Ibuprofen. We went to lunch down at the city creek center. Which was super fun and really neat. I started to notice my head ache was starting to dull. I got really happy. The rest of night was fun and I barely noticed my head ache.
      Sunday was Easter. We went to Music and The spoken word down in Salt Lake City's temple square. Armed with Ibuprofen I survived without a terrible ache and was able to enjoy the beautiful music and wonderful spirit that was there. The prophet, Thomas s. Monson was there too and Eric and I were able to go steal a glance at him before he left out of the backdoor. It was a wonderful morning. We spent the rest of the day dying eggs and eating delicious food. It was so great to be surrounded by family and loved ones.

At Music and The spoken word

     The next week was "Spring break" So I didn't have to go to work. Monday I spent the day with Eric's little sister Emily while he took a test and went to class. Then we headed back to Ogden and went mini golfing.
     Tuesday Eric's family left so him and I went back down to Provo and I spent the rest of the day resting. My headache was only a dull ache now and I really think that had to do with the two days of Ibuprofen. Wednesday I spent the day resting and by thursday my headache was no more.
     I have no idea what caused it but I am glad its gone. I guess this story is a bit anti climatic since I have no idea what caused the wonderful adventure that was my headache. But I am really glad to have a great doctor who helps me and cares about what is going on. I spent the rest of last week headache free. It wasn't until yesterday that I started to feel it come again but I have been taking tylenol and that is seeming to kick it.
Oh well... Its all apart of the experience.

I have been doing great other then the headache of doom. And I have been able to experience the most amazing thing ever... BABY GIRL KICKING. Its been so fun becuase I can actually tell that she is kicking me! It's a strange feeling but it helps me to feel like this is more real.
     I am also REALLY starting to show. Like pretty badly hahaha. I feel so overwhelmed looking in the mirror. How much bigger can I get?! I still have a little over three more months!
     I know this will all be worth it. I had to keep remembering that Heavenly Father is teaching me something through all these trails. I am so grateful for my friends and my wonderful family who have been so supportive and loving to me. I am also grateful for my wonderful job and co-workers who are so understanding of my situation and help me all they can.
     I am so happy to meet this little bundle of fun inside me. And also...I am excited to not be pregnant anymore... but until then I am ready to keep going through... I have a lot more ahead and I am honestly excited. This adventure has been pretty fun, crazy and exciting so far.
The best thing is... I am not doing this alone. I know my Heavenly Father is aware of me. My husband is so supportive. And I know my Dad is helping me and rooting for me all he can on the other side.
:)

Hope everyone is doing well.

22 weeks

23 weeks