Life and Learning for the Campbell Family : Third trimester updates

Well here is an old update that I never published... sort of obsolete now, but still a few stories worth sharing:

Dan's shoulder surgery:
Dan had surgery in the end of October on his torn labrum. His recovery has been slow and steady, and his function is finally returning to normal! He is able to hold our baby boy and help with lifting that I couldn't do later in the third trimester and early postpartum period- so we have been very grateful for the timing of that schedule. Trapping Dan at home for two weeks while he recovered from surgery was interesting... we have little house projects we want to accomplish, and my poor hubby was only able to use one arm, aka look at his to do list and be helpless. I know he's glad to be back to normal now and working on projects :)

The worst day of his recovery, for me as his wife, was my second day back to work- three days after his surgery. I was getting ready for work and I caught Wally digging up a storm in the backyard. He was standing in a hole wide enough to fit his whole body, and deep enough to be knee deep! I yelled at him to stop and rushed out to the back porch, only to see on the opposite side of the yard, something fluffy and white on the ground. My first thought was a racoon or something injured. As I got closer, I realize it was a cat, looking awfully dead to me. So I throw the tiniest, pencil size stick at it. Cat doesn't move (definitely dead) but now Wally discovers the cat and fetches this mini stick for me. We didn't have a shovel or anything for me to pick up said dead cat with, so I usher Wally inside, update Dan- who had just taken another round of pain meds and returned to his upright sleeping position- and go to eat my breakfast. At this point in the morning, 7am, I decide to chalk the day up to a loss for healthy eating and I enjoyed not one, but two cupcakes for breakfast. They're like muffins right?

Baby showers:
Dan and I were blessed to have not one, but two baby showers thrown for us.

In Omaha, my mom and sister threw a shower with games, friends, family, and yummy munchies! We got tons of blankets and clothes for Jackson, which have been so wonderful since he was an early surprise. What's funny is at the Omaha shower we got multiple newborn outfits and I thought "shame he won't fit into these for long"- as I was expecting an 8-9 pound baby. Well, thank you Omaha shower attendants for the cute, tiny clothes!! Our 22 day early baby boy came in just under 8 pounds, and needs Newborn size clothes :)

In Orlando, Dan's mom and sister threw us our second shower, and in true Campbell fashion, it was a to-do! I think they enjoyed having something else to focus on besides finals, because there were lots of crafts, games and snacks that I am sure were Pinterest researched :) This shower was co-ed and complete with adult beverages, TONS OF FOOD, and so, so many gifts. We were so grateful to be able to share this shower together and see everyone while we were home. My favorite part of this day was as Sara and I returned from pre-party pedis and I wanted lunch. Since we were only having "a few snacks" I figured I should eat lunch, so I didn't pig out on all of the food for the party. (Seriously, Campbell family and friends reading this- I should know better than to ever show up at a Campbell/ Cook/ Kaiser function and NOT expect way too much food). Anyway, we drove thru a new McDonald's to pick us up lunch and Dan a snack and it went something like this:

"Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order"
"Yes, can we have a Quarter Pounder Meal, a peppermint mocha, and a fruit and walnut salad, please?"
"Um, let me see if we have that..." (What?)
returns..."Ma'am, we don't have the fruit and walnut salad, can I get you something else instead?"
"Oh, ok, um... can I have a fruit and yogurt parfait please?"
"Fruit and yogurt parfait?"
"Yes ma'am"
"Let me see if we have that..." (again... what? as we start to laugh)
returns... "I'm sorry, but we don't have that either. Would you like some cookies for free instead?"
(Who replaces salad and/or a yogurt with cookies?!) "No thank you, we'll just take the meal with Diet Coke and the mocha please."
"Oh, you want a meal drink and the mocha?"
"If we can..."
"Ok, do you want me to ring up them mocha as your meal drink and purchase an extra Diet Coke, or do you just want the meal with the mocha in addition?"
(we can barely stop from laughing in disbelief at this point) "Whatever's easier"
"Do you want the mocha hot or iced?"
"Iced would be great"
"Let me see if we have that..." (OMGOSH... this must be a prank).
"Ok ma'am, you're total is... (some random amount). Please pull to the first window."
Pull around, pay and then learn this:
"Sorry, our power just went out so we don't have some of the menu items. So sorry about all of that."
"Oh, ok, no big deal."
Second window: "Hi, you have a quarter pounder meal with Diet Coke and a small, iced, skim peppermint mocha?"
"Yes."
"Ok, here's your diet coke... for the quarter pounder, we can't toast the bun, so is a cold bun ok?" (at this point I'm just smiling, laughing, and think to myself, do we have a choice?
garage pee)
"Non toasted is just fine." (to ourselves: what next, raw potatoes? Ma'am, is it ok if we give you potato slices, and you just microwave them at home? We both keep laughing...)
Finally, after about 10 minutes in the drive thru "OK, here's your Peppermint Mocha, we gave you a large even though you only ordered a small. And we threw in some apple pies for you too. Sorry again and come back soon."
"Thank you."

What a mess that trip to McD's turned out to be! Worst part- the house was FILLED with food. It's like every person brought a book, present AND food. So there was plenty to eat, and leftover. Hence, my McD's stop was not necessary, and Sara didn't even get anything to eat, except free apple pies I guess."

Pregnancy bladder:
For those of you who've been pregnant or currently are, pregnancy bladder is self explanatory. For the rest of you, or anyone who enjoys a great story, here's the definition in story form:

One night, I was unloading groceries into our garage with the house door closed, then from the garage to the house with the garage door closed. Our dog LOVES to play catch me if you can by darting out any open door to the front yard, and I did not feel like playing, hence my use the garage tactic. (We still have things to be hauled away and our donation pile in the garage, so parking my car inside was not an option). Dan was still recovering from surgery, so he wasn't able to use his right arm to carry anything. I had one light box left from Sam's to unload, but it was big enough to need two arms to balance, so I was bringing it in. Now, our garage door has something wrong with it and you have to hold the button down for the door to shut. Since I have this darting puppy, the garage door NEEDS to be shut before I open the house door. So I prop the box between my hip and the door frame, hold the button with one hand and the box with the other, and then it happens. Jackson shifted. All of a sudden an uncontrollable urge to pee hit me and I was trapped. If I open the door and run, Wally will escape through the not yet closed door. Finally the door closes, but then I am paralyzed. The trickle has started. If I move, surely the flood gates will open and I will full on pee, but if I don't move, I will keep peeing in my pants. I finally manage to kick open the house door, crying in laughter, to have Dan come around the corner and say "What are you doing?!" "I'm peeing my pants!!!" "What? You peed your pants?!" "NO! I AM peeing my pants!" Finally, by the grace of God I get to a stopping point and I'm able to dam the flood to make a run for it. As I step in the house, Dan says, "Take your shoes off!" "I didn't pee on them" "Yes you did! Take them off!" still laughing I say "ok, haha" and dart towards the hallway. Dan: "Wait, take your pants off and put them in the washer, you just peed on them." "oh my gosh, ok, haha". (remove pants and now REALLY dart towards the hallway because I am now bottomless in the kitchen/ washroom. "Wait, where are you going?" "To the bathroom!!" "you just peed your pants!" Me: "Yes I did, but I'm not done, I just got to a stopping point!" (as I run down the hallway, top covered, bottom bare as a baby's butt.) Needless to say, I now understand pregnancy bladder. And have a funny story to share :)

Pregnancy symptoms:
Third trimester brought a sudden onset of fatigue, heartburn all over again, late night bathroom breaks increased in frequency, my back was sore ALL the time, and insomnia (between bathroom breaks) increased. I had increasing anxiety over our preparedness and my pregnancy body. At one point, while out with friends in Orlando, I felt totally judged for being the big ole prego lady in the bar. Chances are noone there noticed me, let alone my prego, swollen belly. The best relief for pregnancy back pain was the yoga ball to bounce/ rock on, and laying on the floor on my back. I know I'm not supposed to lay on my back, but laying on the floor and rolling my back into the ground, stretching out the lower part of my back, was the best feeling ever. I attributed some of my soreness and fatigue to the fact that Jackson was measuring ahead. Although I was convinced he wouldn't be early, I figured he'd be a big baby when he came on time, or even late (boy was I wrong there.)

Job, nursery, and holidays:
Apparently I decided that at 30 weeks pregnant, it was a good idea to start a new job. My old job had pros and cons, and the new one has the opposite pros and cons. It's been an adjustment, but such a huge blessing for my career, schedule and our monthly budget. The nursery is complete, and at time of delivery was only missing our dresser, which was in place before we left the hospital :) For thanksgiving my family came into town for a few days, and we were able to relax and enjoy way too much food together. For Christmas, Dan and I celebrated just the two of us with Wally. We missed our families terribly, but tried to relish in the last few weeks of solitude. Little did we know we were down to the last few days already. The weekend after Christmas, Dan's family came into town for a late holiday and to celebrate New Year's Eve with us. That's when things got interesting...

Photos to share: