More Symptoms

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Bemusings of a Baby Life:  More Symptoms

My symptoms in my 4 – 12 weeks of pregnancy.

For all you ladies who would like to know what to expect when expecting!  I sure did!

  1. Cramping

    This concerned me at first.  Especially since they felt almost exactly like medicated period cramps.  Medicated is the key word and why I wasn’t as concerned as I could have been because I was not on any medication.  None-the-less, I wanted to be sure my body was rejecting the baby.  After a little reading I decided I was normal and shouldn’t fret.  In my reading I learned that this kind of cramping signifies the expansion of the uterus.  My body was just making room for baby.

  2. Dizzy spells

    Sometimes I get dizzy when I am malnourished or ill and stand up too fast.  When I’m in a really sad condition I may even see stars as my world spins.  Well, with this baby growing up in my belly I find that I am almost always malnourished and in a really sad condition so I happen to see stars a lot lately.  Don’t worry, I don’t fall over, but I am surprised I haven’t yet.  To solve my problem I finally got in the habit of carrying food around with me everywhere.  It helps.

  3. Hunger

    This doesn’t feel like I’m starving.  It also doesn’t feel like I’m just, plain hungry.  No, it feels like my body has become a monster and taken over my mental facilities in desperation to get food instantly.  Finally learning to keep food with me 24/7 also helped this problem.

  4. Rashes

    I usually get alligator skin when the dry winter hits.  I think because of that and pregnancy hormones my skin is breaking out in rashes at random.  They are particularly permanent and angry on my shins and hands but sometimes they also attack my belly, my elbows and my bum.  These rashes aren’t just any ‘ol rash either!  Picture being bitten by 50 mosquitoes almost on top of each other, feel that itch, then compound that itch by 10 times because that’s what my skin feels like.  The itch is absolutely insatiable!  My secret to ease the pain: coconut oil.  It doesn’t immediately dull the itch but if I put it on and determine not to touch my warring skin I win the battle and the itch subsides until the next attack.

  5. Cravings

    I rarely experience the raw sensation of wanting something so bad it won’t abate until I devour whatever item holds my attention.  On the occasion I do come up with a craving it is much to the disappointment of my hubby.  He loves fulfilling my cravings.  I just think he wishes more of my cravings were things he wanted to enjoy with me.  So far my cravings have been things like cheese and crackers, miso soup, sushi, fried rice, prunes, beer cheese soup, carrots and ranch dip, and blueberry muffins.   If he had it his way I would only crave pizza and ice cream 😉

  6. Crying

    I don’t cry.  Now I’m pregnant and I get teary reading books, watching movies, witnessing a mildly tender moment, and in moments when I feel intensely loved.  But look out if I’m stressed then the whole dam breaks loose and the flow doesn’t relent until my teary reservoir is emptied.  The tears have never flowed like this!  There is no stopping it.  They gush out.  It’s like I have extra fluid and the only way it can be released is by crying it out.  Also, this is ugly crying.  I am a hyperventilating hyena and by the end of it I’m sporting some pretty serious pot head eyes.  And yet, I’ve decided I’m ok with this.  Growing up my mom would get teary when she was proud of me, when I really did something great for her, or when I was in tears.  Crying like that is a gift, and I’m excited to be able to give my sappy mommy heart, tears and all, to our little baby.

Symptoms I did not experience in my 4 – 12 weeks of pregnancy.

  1. Nausea

    Ok, I was not entirely spared.  Occasionally I experienced a queasy sensation rumbling in my belly.  But, based on the horror stories I’ve heard of other women’s pregnancy woes, I have nothing to complain about.  I have not vomited and I figure that would have occurred by now if it was going to happen.

All of this being said.  I am far from miserable.  All of my symptoms pop up every now and then and I consider them a blessing because it is a reminder that I am carrying a precious one around in my belly.  Without symptoms I might actually be concerned the baby was having trouble.  So thank God for pregnancy woes! 😉

Dolphins Spotting with Baby

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Bemusings of a Baby Life

Adventures with Baby

– Story takes place December 29, 2013 at 16 weeks pregnant.

Dolphins have been my favorite animal since first grade.

The morning we were scheduled leave Fort Meyers Beach was a dreary one.  I hoped to go for a run on the beach, particularly to try and spot one of the dolphins my brother raved about, but with the rain I decided on going to the work out room.  After my work out I contemplated going on a walk to try and see some dolphins, but it was still raining so that didn’t sound like fun and I thought my dad might be up and ready to go to breakfast with me.  After breakfast with Dad I contemplated going straight out to the beach to look for dolphins but he needed to stop back at the room.  While still in the room my soaked mom and brother appeared after an apparently exciting experience with some dolphins.  I was upset.  All week I visited and revisited the beach in hopes of spotting a dolphin.  Instead, either just before or after I went out I would hear yet another exciting dolphin experience from my brother.  So, on the brink of our departure and having missed another dolphin spotting opportunity, I reverted back to childhood for a moment and exclaimed, “How come I always miss the dolphins!”  My ever encouraging Mom said I should go out and check anyway.  So my dad and I did, we booked it out there hoping we didn’t miss all the action.

After scouring the waters for any sign of a fin I started having a heated, pleading discussion with God.  My dad interrupted my rant every now and then with a proclamation and point in the direction of a fin.  I missed every one.  I started getting demanding towards God.  And finally, in the middle of trying to guilt-trip God into showing me dolphins, I saw my first fin.  I admit all of this heavily.  Demanding that God show me dolphins wasn’t exactly a proud moment.  But when I did see those dolphins my heart was so overjoyed and filled with love that tears filled my eyes.  I remember thinking what a loving parent I had: that the Father of the universe cared to take the time to let emotional, pregnant me see a dolphin that day.  In that moment, I felt the warmth and love that only His hugs can give.

My dad and I found a pair of dolphins close to the shore and waded waist-deep into the chilly water in hopes they might come over and say hi.  I went in just deep enough to give the baby a swim in the salty water because I wanted to share my big and adventurous moment with Peanut.

How about you?  Is there a moment in your life when God very specifically loved on you, however juvenile or silly?

Parasailing with Baby

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Bemusings of a Baby Life

Adventures with Baby

Joshua and I went on Christmas vacation with my family this year.  Our destination:  Fort Meyers Beach, FL.  The trip was a delightful escape from bitter cold winter weather.  I got to enjoy Belgium waffles with syrup and whipped cream, eggs, and pineapple every morning.  Ready-made breakfast for a pregnant lady is bliss!  Then, after overeating at breakfast, Joshua and I would walk it off on the beach – going up and down the shore finding treasures along the way.  The rest of our days were filled with either soaking up the sun or going on adventures… like parasailing.

Parasailing made my favorites list from this trip.  The day after Josh traveled home for a gig we all ventured out into the gulf to do some parasailing.  I was a little creeped out when I had to sign a waiver stating I wouldn’t sue if my toe was bitten off by a shark.  We took a smallish, boat-like shuttle out to the parasailing boat and all the way out there my brother asked question after question about sharks.  So are there sharks in this water?  What kinds of sharks are there?  Are any of them a threat?  The answers were yes, a good handful of breeds I can’t remember the names of, and all but the hammerheads were a potential danger.

I went up with my mom after my dad and brother had their turn.  No fear.  This taught me a little something about myself and I have decided there are two kinds of people. Ok, maybe three.

  1. The type that don’t like falling from the sky.
  2. The type that don’t like ascending into the sky.
  3. The type that don’t like anything to do with being in the sky.

On parasailing day I learned I am Type 1.

I studied abroad in Africa for five months.  On my trip I bungee jumped over the Nile.  I hadn’t planned on it but when we arrived at the bungee jump location it occurred to me that if I was ever going to bungee jump this would be the place: one, I was there; two, it doesn’t get much cooler than bungee jumping over the Nile River.  Truth be told, I was scared to death!  I mean, really, I just chose to bungee jump over the Nile River in Africa.  Who knows what sort of safety regulations they adhere to?

Time raced by and suddenly it was my turn to take the leap.  Some guy strapped me in and told me one guideline that mostly sounded like it came to my ears through a long distance tunnel:  jump out but not like you’re diving unless you want to dunk.  Then he counted to three.  I remained firmly planted on the platform.  He tried again.  At “three” I still didn’t budge.  I think he kept trying the countdown but I tuned him out in an effort to calm myself or talk myself into getting into the air.  Finally, I simply told myself, “you’re here, all strapped in… you have to jump… you’ll probably be fine.”  Somehow my semi convinced brain forced my legs to propel me off the platform and into the abyss.  I did my best jump-out-but-not-dive I could and prayed for the best.

The moment my feet left the platform I entered a surreal world of total peace.  I was flying through the air.  Suddenly I became aware of voices hooping and calling my name. I looked all around but it took me a while to realize I had to look past my feet to find “up” and the voices cheering me on.  I loved the bungee ride after my initial leap of terror but, truthfully, that was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.

My parasailing ride was a breeze.  To think about it realistically I went 440 feet into the air with nothing but fabric keeping me afloat.  I can’t remember how high my bungee jump trip was, but I don’t think it was 440 feet high.  However, I remained in a complete state of bliss before, during, and after my parasailing trip.  Why?  Because I am the type that doesn’t like falling from the sky not the type that doesn’t like ascending into the sky.

It is when we came down that I realized these “types.”  The four of us excitedly jabbered about our experiences together and I learned all too quickly that my brother (a well versed sky diver) and my dad (a hearty adventure-seeker) were terrified in the air.  Apparently they do much better with falling from the sky rather than floating around high up in the sky for a while.  My mom (your average “I want to keep two feet planted on the ground at all times” type) only complained about the uncomfortable nature of the harness straps.  We were the champs in this scenario and we were beyond surprised.  However, my mom was a riot as we ascended into the air, her two yelps of fear were laced with surprised terror.

What I loved so much about our parasailing trip was sharing such a peaceful and beautiful moment with my unborn baby.  With the air gently blowing over my body and the quiet of being far enough up to lose all sound waves was pure joy to my soul.  Add that bliss to looking around at the expanse of ocean water and beach city all around us and I was in my own earthly heaven.  I love that, while I’m pregnant, I can take my baby on cool adventures like this.  It’s not like you can casually take an infant up parasailing after all.  Hopefully, I’ll have a few more adventures with this little peanut before birthing day comes!

Web Design for Author-Speaker Amy Hammond-Hagberg

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Amy Hammond-Hagberg is an author-speaker from Minnesota.  She’s authored and coauthored several books.  My personal favorite is 100 Answers to 100 Questions Before You Say I Do but Facing the Dragon seems to be her most popular.  Not only was I super blessed to grow up under the care of this spunky and hardworking woman, but I have had the privilege of proofreading for her, taking her head shots, and now designing her website!

Working with my mom on this big project was both very fun and challenging.  Suddenly proofreading and taking head shots looked like child’s play!  Not that designing the site itself was particularly hard, although each graphic design experience I’ve had certainly is enough to puzzle through on its own, I just found the dynamic between playing designer and daughter at the same time to be much more challenging.  In proofreading and head shots I get to send my mom a finished product, with design there is proofing along the way and a whole manner of preferences to sift through together.  We had to play a lot of back and forth on deciding what the look would be and why – occasionally I had squish one of her ideas and occasionally she had to dump one of mine.  Because of all of this I learned a lot about myself and I think it grew our relationship in a cool, unique way!  I’m also very grateful that I got to work on the design with her because I think it is worlds better because of her input and evaluation along the way!  Two minds are better than one right!

Thanks Mom for your patience with me on this project and for asking me to work with you on it!  Love you!

CLICK HERE or on the screenshot below to see the new site!

Screen Shot 2014-02-21 at 1.19.24 PM

Some ins and outs…

I designed this website primarily in Photoshop.  I based the design off of a number of resources but the most influential was the template we chose to work off of.  Working with templates like this is great because it is easier to customize and change the content.  If you would like a web design that is easily accessible and changed I recommend going with a ProPhoto template, rigging it to your WordPress account, and don’t forget your hosting and domain (I use GoDaddy and they are great!)

Surprise Pregnancy Reveal #3

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Bemusings of a Baby Life

– Story takes place December 8, 2013 at 14 weeks pregnant.

I have only missed Hagberg Christmas once.  That was last year.  And after missing last year I vowed to never miss another one, even if Josh couldn’t make the trip with me (he had to miss again this year).  Yeah, that’s how awesome my family is!

We are a family steeped in beloved traditions and boisterous celebration.  Between the singing, all the uncles sporting booming voices, the large collection of cousins, the Christmas meal, and the Christmas presents it surely is an event unlike any other!  I have always loved getting together with this family.

We are loud. I remember forewarning Josh about the very loud, very big experience he was about to have as we walked into his first Hagberg Christmas.  I told him they are overly loving and rapidly hearty question askers.  He was not disappointed.

We love to sing. In fact, every year we sing carols together and are treated to a barber shop quartet performance of “Go Tell it on the Mountain” by the Hagberg brothers.

My dad is the handsome fella on the left.  And can you tell which uncle is a professional musician? 😉

We are many.  All of us 14 cousins (17 including Joshua and my cousin’s serious boyfriends) are around the same age, only a year or two apart between each of us with lots of overlap.  Add on our parents and you get the picture!

We eat heartily!  Every year we have a Christmas spread that could feed an army.  Our army.  The traditional meal center piece is Chicken Divan.  Since we are of Swedish heritage sometimes we also serve dishes like Swedish meatballs or lefse.  But, the one food item you can count on at a Hagberg Christmas extravaganza is Grandma’s famous rice pudding.  Every year she folds a raisin into the mix and it is tradition that whoever receives the raisin in their scoop will have good luck for the year.  At least we have the bragging rights to a lucky year anyway 😉

We love to give gifts.  Over the years this tradition has morphed.  In the younger years all the cousins drew names for a gift exchange while the adults participated in a White Elephant exchange.  When a cousin reached the age of 18 we graduated into the White Elephant tradition until all the cousins were a part of the adult circle.  A couple of years back we retired the White Elephant exchange completely and now we all give gifts to Grandma and Grandpa and they have a little something special they give out to all of us.  Every year we all get a handcrafted Christmas ornament made by Grandma and then some sort of collection of very randomly appealing items.  For example, a couple of years ago all the granddaughters received a care package from Japan (Grandma and Grandpa took a vacation there that year) including the world’s smallest tube of toothpaste (which if you take a look at my “Itty Bitty” Pinterest board you will rapidly understand why a gift like that was so appealing to me), terry cloth hotel shower slippers (I use these religiously in the summers, especially when we lived in a run-down, wood floor covered apartment that refused to get clean even with daily sweeping), and a little coin purse (mine was all the bright warm colors).

To keep up with our surprise baby announcement tactic I wrote Grandma and Grandpa a Christmas card with a Christmas poem announcing the summer arrival of their first great-grandchild.  And now, I’ll let the video do the rest of the talking 🙂  I have posted the words to the Christmas poem grandma is reading below the video.

A Christmas Poem

by Kaia Calhoun

We bring you warm wishes this bright Christmas season,
Bringing cheer like caroling and bear hugs for no reason.
Our hearts are always holding you close,
And are excited to give you a great-grandchild who will love you the most!