Yoga and Tornadoes

Last night I had my first prenatal yoga class.  Now for those who have gone to yoga with me in the past, you know that I do not excel at the art of relaxation.  I have always left yoga more stressed than I started because I push myself too hard.  Needless to say, I was hesitant to do prenatal yoga but decided it was a good idea to find something active to do and possibly meet other pregnant women in the area.

My first class was not what I expected.  We sat around for 40 minutes talking before any yoga ever occurred.  Our instructor is a doula and seems very informative about the birthing process.  She told us 3 birth stories from women who had been taking the class and had their babies over the past week.  It was interesting to hear them and I even learned a couple of things.  After the stories, we went around in a circle, stated how far along we were, and any aches/facts that were happening related to our pregnancies.  The dula gave a few women advice and other class members occasionally gave feedback as well.  Although it seemed a little too chatty for me, I think it will be good for me to attend and hear about other pregnancies and child births.

While we were talking the electricity went out for a minute and it started to rain...at the time I didn't think anything of it.....

The yoga itself was actually very relaxing!  The poses were much simpler than other yoga classes I had attended.  Additionally, I could tell that the stretches were helping at just the right places.  I was especially happy to learn a pose that will help stretch out my stomach which is rapidly expanding.  Also, since there were many full-term women present, I knew I wasn't the worst yoga student in the class!  Who says you can't be competitive at yoga :)

At the end of the class, I was very relaxed and happy to see it wasn't raining outside.  I grabbed my cell phone from my bag and saw I had quite a few missed calls....and all of them were from Ryan.  Apparently while I was relaxing in yoga, Ryan was trying to get Oli into the basement because the tornado sirens were going off by our house.  I had never told him what time yoga was going to end and he assumed I would be home earlier.  While he was worrying and I was relaxing, there were reported tornadoes and flash flooding throughout the Madison area.  I felt horrible that I had caused Ryan to worry about my safety.  At the same time, I realized how wonderful it is to have a great husband who cares so much about me.

Halfway there!

We finally reached the halfway point...20 weeks!  

On Monday we had our 20 week ultrasound and got to see our little BOY!

He moved around during the entire ultrasound.  They had to shift me to several different positions to get all the measurements they needed and get a few good pics.  He kept moving his hands around and I felt like he was trying to say "mom, make them stop!"

It is so surreal to see this tiny human that is growing inside of me.

Movement: I'm starting to feel small movements every now and then.  Yesterday I felt like the baby was doing boxing aerobics!  I can feel my belly expanding and I'm guessing that in the next couple of weeks I will start to feel this baby squirm.

Sleep: I don't sleep very well, but then again, I never really did!  I shift positions a lot at night and move my snoogle pillow in and out of the bed on a nightly basis.  Ryan doesn't complain but I know I wake him at least once a night.

Cravings: Candy!  Not sure that this is specific to being pregnant but I would prefer to eat candy with every meal right now.  I currently don't seem to have any food aversions.

What's to come in the next month...we are going to start working on the baby nursery and registering.  I see trips to target and Babies r us in our plans for next weekend.  My sister Kasey and Brandi are throwing me a shower in WV next month and I'm excited to celebrate with my hometown friends and family.  Another shower is in the works for my Wisconsin family and friends for later this summer/early fall.

Names: We haven't chosen one yet.  Feel free to give us some ideas!  We don't plan to share the baby name we chose until he is born but we would love to hear more names to throw into the mix.

We can't wait to meet our little man!

Daycare Dilemmas

We have always known that our baby would have to attend daycare; what we didn't know is how hard chosing a daycare can be.  Here is a brief description of what we found...

Daycare #1 Playhaven (Construction Zone): This daycare had a decent infant room, but surprisingly seemed to be missing kids in the older age groups. The building needed renovations and they informed us that the daycare was going co-op to pay for these renovations.  Overall, the whole co-op thing seemed weird to us and we really could care less about owning a part of a daycare center.

Daycare #2 Campus for kids (Cult for kids):  This daycare is run by a church.  So before going to the daycare, we decided to attend a church service.  After 5 minutes, we decided it was too cult-like for us.  We are just too traditional and don't get into dancing and screaming out during church services.  Since we don't want our child brainwashed, we decided not to tour their daycare.

Daycare #3 Bright Horizons ($$$$$)  This daycare was awesome.  The infant room was wonderful and they even had cribs on wheels ready to go in case of a tornado or other need for evacuation.  It was also obvious that the classrooms for the 2-4 year olds were set up similar to my moms first grade classroom which I consider to be a good sign.  My only complaint was that there was no gym.  The catch...$$$$$.  This place is by far the most expensive place we looked at.

Daycare #4 Little Explorers (The Learning Farm)  This daycare is a child's dream.  There are tons of animals both inside and outside of the facility.  There was even an expecting llama!  They have a great curriculum for the children and a wonderful facility.  Waitlist: 2 years.  Can anyone explain how there is a 2-year waitlist for the infant room when you can't get on the waitlist until you are pregnant?  Who are the infants in the infant room if their parents were on this waitlist?

Daycare #5 LaPetite (Child Abuse)   This place made me cry.  It was so horrible I felt like taking the little ones with me when I left.  The facility was dirty and the teachers had no control over the classroom.  Our response was a "HELL NO"! We left there as quickly as possible.

Daycare #6 Monkey Business (Home away from home) This is an in-home daycare in our neighborhood with 2 adults and 8 children. If I ever run an in-home daycare, I will set it up exactly the same way.  And when the owner referred to me as Miss Stacy, I felt right at home.  Also, this place is significantly cheaper.

THE DECISION:  Our baby is pre-enrolled at Bright Horizons ($$$$).  We will be starting there and are on a waitlist to go to Monkey Business (Home away from home) when there is an opening. We are also on the 2 year waitlist at Little Explorers (The Learning Farm) and hope to get our child in at age 2...assuming we still live here!

I never thought it would be so hard to not only pick a daycare, but to find one with an opening.  I wish all expecting parents the best of luck in making this difficult decision.