how to survive Arizona's summer weather while pregnant

photo credit

Many people have asked me how I am surviving pregnancy in the absurdly warm weather.

This is how I do it:

1. I use the air conditioner

2. I take cold showers. I think I have only taken 1 hot shower since arriving.

3. I go to the pool almost every day.

4. Wherever I am in the house, I try to bring along our portable fan

5. I eat lots and lots of ice cream. Blue Bell recently had a sale and let's just say there wasn't much room in our freezer for much else. Except otter pops - because that is another secret to successful cooling.

6. Sometimes I just spray water on myself and then go sit under/by a fan

7. I avoid cooking hot meals (mmmmm...cereal)

8. Brian occasionally makes me ice packs - like last night. I snuggled with an ice pack until I fell asleep.

9. I always try to park in the shade even if it means walking further to my destination

10. I spend a lot of time out of the house at places with great air conditioning (ie the grocery store, Sam's Club, the library, etc)

11. Water - drink it up!

12. I wear lots of deodorant... because despite all of these measures, it is still hot.

Today I saw something that made me so excited! The weather is cooling down (for the moment)! Check it out... We're going to be in the 90's by next week! That is another way to survive:

13. I try to remember that the winter is going to be heavenly.

3-D ultrasound of baby girl!

Just a little slice of cuteness to brighten your day!

Too bad my placenta/her hand was in the way.

Ok, confession: I think that 3D ultrasounds are a little weird. I alternate between thinking she's super cute to thinking she looks like a creepy alien gummy bear. Right now? CUTE!

34 weeks! And... welcome to baby girl's room :)

Well hello there internet world! I apologize for being a little (or a lot) neglectful of the blog. I guess I've had some different priorities the last little while. Don't worry though, I am feeling more committed again! Especially now that I am miles and miles away from dear friends and family.

I might get teary about that sometimes. I blame it on pregnancy hormones.

Anyhoo (anywho?)...

We are finally feeling settled in! It was quite the move and I am 100% serious when I say I never want to move again until we are out of dental school. Thanks to the incredible help of my mother-in-law and brother-in-law, we were able to make it out of our old apartment on schedule and head down to the valley of death. Ok, it is not the valley of death. But when I walk outside and I immediately begin to sweat like a pig perspire, I wish I was back in good ol' Utah - or anywhere that gets below 90 degrees at night. 

Minus the heat, I really, really like it here! It is so much greener and landscaped than I was expecting! There are flowers, trees, bushes, and even grass almost everywhere you look! I have no idea how much the city shells out for water, but I imagine it is a pretty penny. 

We upgraded a bit and moved into a 2 bedroom apartment (pictures of that to come). I love that it A. has air conditioning B. has new paint/carpet C. is in the corner of the complex so we have some privacy D. It has a pool/gym/etc and E. It has air conditioning (that deserves double gratitude). It's a great place to live and only 2.5 miles from campus so Brian can bike there in less than 20 minutes. 

Oh yeah, and we have palm trees. I'm a sucker for palm trees!

Now, call me crazy, but I really think that Glendale feels a bit like southern California. Not the weather, but the landscaping, houses, etc. If I pretend that the ocean isn't far, sometimes I can fool myself.

While Brian is away for pretty much the entire day, I am trying to make some new friends before I am chained to the apartment with an infant. Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited for her to make her debut, but I am realistic enough to know that new moms do not socialize too much. Too busy trying to keep a wee one fed and happy! That said, I've met some really great people already and am excited to meet more!

All right, enough updating. On to the pictures!

34 weeks - taken this morning after swimming. Along with what I see when I look down!

Side note: I was swimming at a new friend's house this morning and I asked one of the little girls if she knew what my name was. She said, "Oh yeah! Your name is 'Belly'!" Haha :)

And... introducing the "project." I won't go into detail about why it has been such a project, let's just say there were some setbacks. But, the room is well on its way to completion!

We painted the walls (gray... or actually "timberwolf" or something like that), put up molding around the ceiling (thanks to our tape job not working as well as hoped), painted the molding, put together the crib and cube shelf, put up curtains, made tissue paper pom poms, found a rug & other decoration, etc.

What's left to do:

Find a reasonably priced rocking chair/recliner

Paint the bookshelves white and hang them

Decide if we need a dresser/buy a dresser if we do

Hang all the artwork we have for the walls

Decide if we want (mesh) crib bumpers or a crib skirt or a mobile

Probably more.

It's been a lot of fun. Now I like to sit in there and just think about a little baby being in there.

It's crazy!

I can't believe I'm going to be a mom! And SOON! 

Time to pack the hospital bag...

24 weeks and 2nd anniversary!

This pregnancy sure seems to be flying by. I can't believe I'm already 26 weeks! TWENTY SIX! That means I only have approximately 14 weeks left to get my act together and be ready for this babe. 

Yikes.

I haven't taken any photos this week, but we did take some on our anniversary trip a couple of weeks ago... so here is my 24 week bump!

She's growing!

I still feel great - it is getting a little more uncomfortable to sleep.

Overall I feel very lucky with this pregnancy. Lucky to be pregnant and lucky to have a good pregnancy. I know I'm exposed to worse-case scenarios at my job and it makes me paranoid, so every time I go I thank my lucky stars that she is healthy, growing, and still in my belly!

Well, we also took our "2nd year" photo (we're trying to take one every year on our anniversary so we can see how we change through the years). Here is last year's...

And this year's!

Awwwww....

Well, things are starting to get crazy. I only have 2 shifts left at work and then we're packing up and then we're moving to hell the desert! 

I really am excited for the adventure, just a little nervous about the heat :)

Update!

So much has been going on lately - it seems like summer is just flying by. Too fast. Much too fast. Good thing I'm going to have a summer that never ends as soon as we move to Arizona I guess :).

I don't think I ever even "announced" on here that we are officially going to Arizona for dental school. Brian will be attending Midwestern Dental School, Glendale and we are thrilled! We are also on the "alternate" list for the Navy HSPS scholarship. To make a complicated explanation short, that means that he will either A) receive a full 4 year scholarship starting in October (we would get back-paid for tuition) B) Receive a 3.5 year scholarship starting in January or C) receive a 3 year scholarship and we would be responsible for paying the first year's tuition.

Obviously we are hoping for alternative A! We are trying to get out of this dental school party with zero debt. I believe they will let us know next month which one we are getting. Cross your fingers (and toes) for us!

Many people ask me what I am going to be doing in Arizona while Brian learns how to inflict pain on people's mouths (kidding, kidding...). Well, with the Navy scholarship comes a lovely monthly living stipend that should be enough to cover our needs. Consequently, this momma isn't going to have to work for the first little while! I am relieved and grateful that I won't have to put our newborn baby girl in daycare. I do plan on going back to work in Arizona, but just not right away. So, I will get to stay home and kiss her chubby little cheeks all day long! I am worried about cabin fever, but more about that some other time.

My last day at the NICU is going to be July 16th. While the prospect of sleeping in past 5 makes me very happy, I am seriously sad about leaving my job. It is such a great job! I love who I work with, the patients I care for, feeling like I'm making a difference, and bringing home the bacon! I don't think I'll ever find a unit quite like the NICU where I work and I'll really miss the friends I've made :/. Luckily there are several NICUs in the Phoenix area, so I should be able to find a job out there with babies. Sorry, adults, but babies are where it's at!

We've had a few adventures this summer already with the latest one being a trip out east to visit Dan & Laura and go to Dan's graduation! We stayed in Princeton, NJ during the graduation shenanigans and then traveled up the coast through New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and into Massachusetts where we stayed for a few days in Cape Cod. We felt very spoiled. Brian, Dan, and I hit up New York City on the way back to Princeton - My first time in a big city like that. Definitely an experience worth having.

Pregnancy is still going great! Brian felt her move for the first time last night and I was glad to finally be able to share that with him - it's my favorite part! I imagine it will be less favorite once she gets bigger and starts kicking my ribs... but for now it's just so cute! She's around 11 inches long nowadays and growing like crazy! I must say, it is a little strange taking care of babies at work who are just a tiny bit bigger than her. We have our fair share of 24 weekers in there. Yikes!

Anyway, this is getting long and I'm going swimming - hopefully I can update more soon!

I love them!

the graduate!! so proud!