Week 12

Hi everyone, I know it's been AGES since I've written. But I figure maybe this way would be a good way to keep everyone up to date on how our Small Fry, aka, Baby Koehn, is a-cookin'. So, without further adieu, here, in bullet-point format, is how my pregnancy has been going. In a nutshell.

Leading up to this week, here are a few of the symptoms I have been experiencing:

• Starting in week 7, I had severe dizziness/fainting. Yes, I said fainting. Nothing a little hydration through an IV couldn't fix!

• A HUGE increase in appetite. Those books that say you should only eat an extra 300 calories/day (approx 1 bagel, without cream cheese) has clearly never been pregnant.

• Nausea off and on, but has mostly subsided

• Constantly needing to pee.
  

• Constipation. Severe. Eww.

• Occasional migraines-oh the agony! So miserable when you can't take a single thing. Sometimes a few sips of coffee seem to do the trick.
  

• Decrease in motivation/ability to work out. I am SO unbelievably tired that taking myself for a walk around the block is nearly impossible. Pretty crazy for me, considering I was working out pretty intensely, 5 days a week, before this "alien" has taken over my body. Hopefully in the second trimester I will gain some energy back to start up a workout regimen again.
  

That pretty sums up the first trimester. Here, again in bullet-point format, is a list of my most recent symptoms:

• A growing belly. NO JOKE. My belly seems as though it's growing by the minute. No pictures yet, because I'm frankly not quite ready to accept that it's ok to get "fat." (This is a whole issue in itself, one to be discussed in another post.) I never realized that this would be such an issue for me! (Well, maybe I did.)
  

• No cravings, per se, just a beastly appetite for LOTS of food. One thing that I have NOT wanted since the minute I found outI was pregnant is beef. Not steak, not barbecue, no slab of beef in any form. I can barely choke down beef tacos. However-chicken is a whole different story! Give me chicken in any form-baked, fried, in quesadillas, enchiladas, on pizza. Wherever I can get it! Weird, because I've NEVER been a huge fan of chicken. Hmm.
  

• Foods that I have wanted in my diet recently: yellow squash, eggplant, apples (granny smith or honey crisp) with grandma's caramel apple dip, lots of CHEESE! (hmm, constipation cause???) and wheat thins. And to be real honest, I would eat hamburgers and pizza every night if I could. I have never in my life allowed myself to do that, but this pregnancy has really opened up my abilities to eat junk food whenever offered! (Let's just say Halloween was areally difficult holiday to get through.) Next up: THANKSGIVING! Yessss. A pregnant woman's dream!

• (I really miss lunch meat. I used to eat it all the time for a quick piece of protein.)

• Horrible constipation. This is an ongoing issue. We'll leave it that.

• Indigestion. This is an issue that my NAET dr and I are working on. Gotta get that liver motivated again!

• I've been super super tired, but just the last few days have seemed to pep up *ever so slightly.* I'm hoping that this is a good sign!

Well, I think that is really as much as you probably want to hear for now. I must say that when people ask me "How are you feeling? Do you feel different?" I think to myself, "YES! I feel nothing like myself!" All these symptoms are SO foreign to me, along with getting "fat," I'm just hoping that the second trimester will bring me some more energy in hopes of feeling like a real person again. But as they all say, it's all worth it in the end! Cheers to our little Small Fry!

Update

Oh my, how time has flown since my last post! And I seem to remember promising to post more often ; )

Since Christmas, our (i.e. my) main focus has been wedding, wedding, wedding. I feel like there is so much to do and time keeps going faster and faster. Alex reminds me every so often that majority of the wedding is planned, which it really is. But at this point it's all about the details. Wedding/reception/rehearsal dinner decorations, wedding favors, centerpieces, flower bouquets and corsages, jewelry, hair...and the list goes on! I am trying to cherish these wedding planning days while they last, but I'm also very much looking forward to our honeymoon. We booked a week-long vacation at the Dreams Riviera Cancun, which is located just south of Cancun, Mexico. It is an all-inclusive resort with lots of day activities and most importantly, a great beach. We are also looking into getting certified to Scuba Dive before we go, that way we can go out for a day and dive somewhere nearby. So exciting! Sadly, I think this will be our only big trip for awhile, so I say milk it for all it's worth!

Our latest endeavor with the house has been the second bedroom. Alex's parents came up this past weekend and helped with scraping the first layer of wallpaper/paint off the wall. It's turning out to be just as tough as the last room, so we were extremely thankful to have an extra set of hands scraping! I will post pictures sometime of our progress, but let's just say it looks an awful lot like the other bedroom-1940's wallpaper and all! I'm really hoping we can buckle down and finish this project so that we can move on to our next one, which will hopefully be the kitchen. The kitchen will be a HUGE project, but so worth it. Such a bittersweet excitement.

As for Alex and I, we are doing fine. Alex is still trucking along (pun intended) at his job at MHC Kenworth, which I will remind you is a heavy trucking dealership. Again, he is an Inventory Control Manager and keeps track of every single part that comes into the company, and every part that goes out. He absolutely loves the people he works with, but is a trade off because he works extremely long hours with minimal vacation time. He is, though, getting to the point of being a pretty well respected member of team because of his knowledge and experience, so we're hoping that someday that pays off for him :D So at this point I think he'll stick with what he's doing and hope someday its gets better in one way or another.

I, on the other hand, have made a change, and for the better I might add! I am working in a different unit of the hospital called Post Anesthesia Care Unit, or PACU. It is the place where people go immediately after surgery to "recover," as we in the biz like to call it. Basically, my job is to make sure the patient's pain is at a quote unquote tolerable level, and to make sure they are stable enough to move to another area, whether it be the med-surg floor (such as East 7, my old unit) or go home. This area is considered critical care since we deal with fresh wounds, heavy anesthesia, and complicated illnesses. I have always had an interest in critical care and think that this area is a perfect mix of an ICU and surgery. So far, the people I work with are incredibly supportive and have been helpful whenever I have had questions, which makes ANYONE's job much funner : ) And actually, I just finished my orientation this last week, so I am on my own, again, feeling like a brand new nurse! Oh, and the hours. I went from working 6:45am to 7:15pm (or much later, as on most days) 3 days a week, including weekends and holidays, to now working 4 days a week Monday thru Friday, 10:00-7:30. I do take a decent amount of call, (which I experienced for the first time this past Saturday night) but get paid graciously for it if I do come in, which makes a little more tolerable ; ) So all in all, it has so far been a great move for me. I am learning so much every day and am loving being able to have more regular personal life.

Well, I think that is enough for today. I'll try to keep ya posted on the progress of our other bedroom. Toodles!

Emily

Pictures!

Pictures are now online folks! Just go to: http://www.pictage.com/760758

Feel free to make a folder of your favorites! I have yet to make mine, but I will! We are using one of these for our "Save the Dates" so let me know if you have any suggestions.

Mom and Dad left today; they were up here for a quick getaway. We had a great dinner at Cinzetti's Friday night, a tour of where I work today, and my friend Katie showed us around her beautiful mansion. I'm tired and have to work the next 3 days, but it's worth it to be home for Thanksgiving in a few days.

Enjoy the pics!

Update!

We have been so busy for the month of October that although we've done so much, it feels like we haven't accomplished a thing around the house or for wedding planning.

I'll start with today, since I feel like I'm ready to drop dead with all my baking. Yes, I said baking. I started my day with an early morning (8:30am) Barre Intensity class. It was tiring, yet refreshing. I just love how those workouts make me feel-so extremely sore, but so empowering to know what your body can handle.

After my workout, I made a quick stop at the grocery store then went home. I ate a quick after-workout snack/breakfast, then into the kitchen I went! I made up, like, 4 dozen of Jana's famous Chocolate Chip Crunch cookies. About 2 hours later, I had finished baking/cooling/sampling all of the cookies and thought I should take them to Alex's work, mainly so I couldn't eat them all :) So then I showered and made the 30 minute trek up North, only to find Alex on the run and eating a HiBoy hamburger and some onion rings. Uggh. So basically I got to drop the cookies off, sit in a chair for about 20 minutes watching Alex scarf his lunch and return emails, and came home. Sweeet.

So now I'm home, have a sink full of dishes and not an ounce of energy to do them. Alex will be home late tonight so who really cares if I get them done in a timely manner, or if I even have a dinner tonight. Bahh.

One of our adventures over the last month was having our engagement pictures taken this last weekend by Dan and Brenda Kliewer. We went back to McPherson for this and had them taken out at "The Farm," just ?north? of McPherson. The farm is where Alex's dad, "Bags," grew up. It was old, rustic and the weather was absolutely perfect. There were tons of old cars and farm equipment, too, that we got to pose with. Brenda said she was maybe gonna have them ready for us on Sunday before we left, but no such luck. So she is planning on sending us a jump drive with all the pictures, copyrights and all. I am chomping at the bit to get them in the mail! I'm ready to see them and pick out our save the dates! I'll be sure and post some of them, but I think they will be also available to view online at some point. Keep an eye on Dan and Brenda's website for the pictures!

Ok, I'm exhausted. I think I'm gonna lay down for a bit. I really am gonna *try *to start keeping this thing more up to date! So check back more often!

Website!

Just wanted to let you all know that the wedding website it up and running! It's not finished yet and more will be added as the planning continues, but if you're interested, here it is:
http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/EmilyFast&AlexKoehn

Please sign the guest book if you visit!

More posts to come soon. I know I know, I'm behind. :)

Laugh It Up

So I was at work on Saturday and we were rather *slow.* (I say this with hesitancy because it is NEVER slow at work and we all are extremely superstitious, so we wouldn't want to ruin any good luck coming our way.) Michelle, one of the nurses who used to be full time on our floor but is now considered a "float" nurse, was saying how her ear was hurting. So we pulled out the otoscope to start examining each other's ear canals. It was discovered (and confirmed a previous "diagnosis") that I have a lot of wax buildup in my ears. I blame it on my sinuses, but that's another post. So we started talking about ear candles, and I piped in that I had bought some, but hadn't had a chance to use them yet-something I obviously need to do! And yes, I have used them before. A doctor-in-training just so happened to be standing there listening to our conversation, and looked at me and said "I suppose you use a neti-pot too." I said absolutely! So then our conversation evolved and everyone was poking fun at me for being the "homeopathic, naturopathic girl." It's fine, I'm really getting used to being "that girl" that they all poke fun at about *trying* to be healthy and as all-natural as possible. Hey, we'll just see who's laughing when they're the ones that are sickly and western medicine can't help them! Well actually I probably wouldn't be laughing, I be the one to offer the different alternative :) Then they will thank me for making their lives better, even if my practices were "weird." haha

Anyway, I just thought I share that quick tidbit of work "fun." In other news, we are all fine and dandy. Alex just finished his inventory month at work and is very glad it's over. According to his documentation, he worked just under 100 hours last week. He amazes me with his work habits and the fact that he never complains about it. I don't know how he does it. We are hoping that his boss comes through with the bonus that he's been speaking of for a year now, and it's looking as though he should get a substantial raise, as well. I am so proud of him and am glad that I'm marrying someone with such a strong work ethic!

I have been well, also. I've been continuing my weekly NAET treatments and have seen incredible results. I feel my body is continuing to get stronger and stronger in so many ways. I have also started attending a few new workout classes at a place called Fusion Fitness. The studio itself is literally just down the road from me and the classes are unbelievable. They vary from class to class, but the "Fusion Lite" class that we (as in my friend Maura and I) have mostly frequented is a mix of pilates, yoga, ballet and calisthenics. It is essentially a non-stop one hour class of everything from push-ups to weight lifting to downward-facing-dogs to ballet moves on a bar to sit-ups with a ball. It is one of those classes that you leave wondering if you can make it down the stairs to the parking lot! Check out more info about the classes, etc at http://www.fusionfitnesskc.com I think I may have just found my newfound weekly (soon to be bi-weekly, once I get in better shape, that is) workouts! I'm also thinking that my 24 Hour Fitness membership may just go by the wayside. I don't think I can afford to do both! Any suggestions on what to do if I quit my gym? Any at-home-workout suggestions? Road workouts? DVD's? Tell me what you all do!

And of course wedding planning. Who can forget wedding planning! My best friend and maid of honor, Alyson Reimer, and I went dress shopping a few weeks ago, me fully expecting to browse around and have a day of relaxation. Turns out, I bought the dress of my dreams! It was completely unexpected and scary, but it is now one more thing checked off my list. And, I must say this it.is.gorgeous. The whole engagement and wedding planning is still so surreal to me, the fact that by this time next year, Alex and I will have already been newlyweds for almost 2 months! We also have our engagement pictures tentatively scheduled for October 31st, so we are pondering ideas as to where we may want those taken. Dan and Brenda Kliewer are doing our photography, so I know they will turn out beautiful! I can't wait!

Well, must go. I've got some packing to do for this upcoming weekend since I will be working the next few days. Thanks for visiting and don't forget to leave some comments! Have a great day!

Long Time, No Post!

My life has been an absolute whirlwind these days, hence the drought of posting. In a nutshell, here is what I've been doing:
-got engaged June 28, 2009
-started planning almost immediately; date set for July 10, 2010
-went home with the new fiance for a wonderful 4th of July weekend
-went home, again, for a dentist appointment and wedding planning
-worked on a few mini-projects around the house while Alex vacationed in New Orleans
-just returned home from my own vacation in Phoenix, Arizona
-while completing all of the above projects, I have somehow maintained my full-time position as a nurse at St. Luke's

The month of August is already set to bring in lots of activity. Alex is already headed into MHC's yearly inventory count, and I have a full calendar. I'm hoping that once September gets here we'll be able to kick back a little.

That's all I got for now. Will update more when I have the energy!