PREGNANCY UPDATE: 21.5 Weeks

I have not been the best at documenting this pregnancy. Especially on this blog:( So here is a little bit about what is going on!

-We found out a couple weeks ago that IT'S A BOY! at first I really wanted a girl but now that I know it's a boy it will be so nice not to buy anything! and Chase can have a little buddy.

-I've been going to my doctor every 2 weeks! (due to my preterm labor and delivering Chase early) kind of a pain but it will be worth it in the end

-I started doing Makena (progesterone) shots at 17 weeks. In my butt-every week,  not fun. Casey learned to do them which is kind of nice and convenient. 

-I started getting my cervix checked via ultrasound at every appointment and so far so good!

-I can't exercise and I have to take it easy. This has been pretty hard for me. I love exercising and especially surfing and now that we live in California it's been even harder. I have to keep telling myself that it will be worth it to have a healthy baby. And I know that it's a blessing that I am even able to have another one. 

-2nd Trimester is the best! I have so much more energy. I finally stopped feeling sick around 18-19 weeks. And I feel somewhat normal now. 

-Watching my body change is even harder the second time. Oh well. Growing bellies make healthy babies! 

Make Your Own: Family First-Aid/Hygiene Kit

Since moving to California and not having family less than a few miles away, I have been more concerned about disaster preparedness. Living in Utah gave me peace of mind because it seemed like EVERYONE is prepared (food storage, water barrels, first-aid kids, etc). I feel like it is a different scenario here in California. 

I got thinking about what would happen if there were riots in LA or a terrorist attack and suddenly there was a run on the bank, gas station, grocery stores. It's a scary thought if you are not prepared. So I decided to make some goals on the things we need to work on as a family to be more prepared.

1. Have mini (fanny-pack) size first-aid kits in our cars- FINISHED this one while making the big kit-super easy.

2. Family Survival First-aid/Hygiene kit -FINISHED! well almost-still have some little things to add

3. WATER- always have at least 3 or 4 cases of water bottles(costco) in our garage-this is super easy, I just pick up a few more every time I go to Costco or the grocery store

4. Store Gasoline in our garage -Still need to work on this. Think about if you need to get out of town or evacuate fast. 

5. Make 72-hours kits --I'm going to find a good list for this one

6. Work on consolidating our food storage

This post is all about #2. Here is my list that I used for my homemade first-aid/hygiene kit:

JUST SO YOU KNOW: this is the very thorough list. These are not ALL necessities. My kit doesn’t have all of these yet (I’m still working on it). You can pick and choose what your family will need the most. Suprisingling you can fit it all in a backpack-especially after you take things OUT of the packages.

I’m going to put ******** next to the items that I feel are a necessity for all people.

Get a backpack to put everything in. I don’t recommend RED because you might NOT want that kind of attention in an actual end of the world scenario.

**Get a small notebook and pen and write expiration dates of everything so you can keep track of what you have in there*** A pen and paper is also good to journal/take notes of things as they are happening in a disaster situation.

INFECTION PREVENTERS

• Nitrile or Vinyl Gloves ***(no latex- ppl are deathly allergic)
• masks (surgical or N95-swine flu) - not necessary to have but still good to prevent infection
• bulb syringe (use to clean out babies noses) or medicine syringe-*** just ask your local pharmacy and they will give you them for FREE- Use to irrigate wound
• Alcohol Pads***- clean wounds/skin
• Betadine pads or liquid- used to clean wounds and disinfect water
• Bacitracin***- antibiotic ointment (better than neosporin)

BANDAGES/WOUND CARE

• Fabric band aids*** (try to get non latex)-all sizes
• Gauze rolls
• ABD pads ***(amazon) or feminine pads-to stop bleeding
• 2x2 or 4x4 gauze pads
• ACE bandage***
• q-tips
• Bandage scissors*** (amazon)
• Paper tape, medipore or cloth tape (amazon)***
• Matches*** (to sterilize needles/safety pin)
• Duct tape***
• Super glue*** - good for small cuts
• Safety pin***
• Sterile Saline solution or water***- I just bought a huge thing of contact solution (to clean wounds)
• Burn gel/cream
• Hydrocortisone cream/ bug bite relief***

MEDICATIONS

• Infant/Childrens
• Tylenol***
• Ibuprofen***
• Benadryl ****must have***
• your doctors recommended dosage chart for those under 2 years old
• Adults Medicine ( you can do more than this if you want. If you have left over precription meds I would include them, Especially pain pills/muscle relaxers and ibuprofen 800. They don’t really expire when they say they do)
• Ibuprofen*** (advil, aleve)
• Tylenol*** (acetiminophen)
• Diphenhydramine (benadryl)*must have***
• cold medicine (optional)
• Tums (calcium carbonate)
• Stool Softeners (colace)
• Loperamide (immodium) for diarrhea
• EpiPen- if you have someone in your family with a life-threatening allergy (need a prescription to get one)

OTHER STUFF

• thermometer***
• mini flashlight/ batteries***
• tweezers***

HYGIENE ITEMS-all are pretty necessary

• toothpaste/ toothbrush
• soap
• hand sanitizer
• tampons/pads
• baby wipes/ diapers***
• lotion
• sunscreen***
• bug repellent ***
• Depending on your family- you may need child/infant medications and hygiene items like diapers/wipes, diaper rash cream.

WHERE TO BUY THIS STUFF: Most of this stuff I kind of had lying around my house (wipes, toothbrush, medicine, tweezers, scissors, flashlights, tampons, etc)

• COSTCO: Try to find someone to go in on some of the stuff and split with you
• medicine is cheap in their generic brand
• Aspirin 325 mg or baby aspirin 81 mg
• ibuprofen and tylenol (acetaminophen)
• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• Baby/kids medicine (tylenol, ibu, and benadryl)
• Alcohol Swabs
• Contact Solution
• Nitrile Gloves
• bandaids
• AMAZON.COM ( especially if you have prime-free shipping)
• Some things I found were cheaper or similar to walmart/target prices and I just order them here for convenience
• wound care items (gauze, tape, abd pads, burn cream, bacitracin, scissors)
• TARGET/WALMART
• these tend to be cheaper than CVS, walgreens, rite aid
• medicine is in smaller sizes which is nice
• their store brand generic items are cheaper

First-Aid guide book? Here are few I thought looked good.

1. http://www.amazon.com/Living-Ready-Pocket-Manual-Fundamentals/dp/1440333548/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1410649325&sr=8-4&keywords=survival+first+aid+guide

2. http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Medicine-Handbook-Guide-When/dp/0988872536/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410649407&sr=8-1&keywords=survival+first+aid+guide

3. http://www.amazon.com/Preppers-Emergency-Survival-Medicine-Handbook/dp/1500579181/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1410649427&sr=8-6&keywords=survival+first+aid+guide

Summer is for VISITORS!

We have definitely been putting our extra room to good use lately! In July we had Casey's sister Kelly, her two boys and my mother-in-law Christy come visit for a few days. We pretty much do the same things with all our visitors: Go to our favorite beaches (Doheny, Rivi's) and eat at our favorite places, go on beach walks (trail, pier), visit the tide pools and just show them around our new town! It was so good for Chase to spend time with his cousins (they all live in Utah :(

Later in July my cousin Scotty and his wife Whitney came to visit. They have two girls and I had never met their baby so it was so good to see them! We pretty much had the same itinerary with them.

And just this last week Casey's parent's came down for a few days. They first spent the weekend in La Canada playing in a golf tournament with my dad then they headed down here. We showed my father-in-law around San Clemente. We went to the beach one day, paddle boarded Dana Point harbor, had some yummy chinese food, toured the Stance office headquarters (Casey's Aunt works there), and went to Pines park. 

It has been so nice to see so much of our family! My traveling days are coming to an end with this pregnancy so I'm glad we live in a destination that people like to visit! 

Casey's Birthday Weekend!

Casey celebrated his birthday on August 23- it was a Saturday so naturally we partied all weekend! On Friday we headed down to Encinitas to meet up with my brother Trent and his fiancé Rachel so Casey could surf. Then they watched Chase so we could go out to dinner alone! (thanks Ray!) We went to this super yummy seafood place in Del Mar called Brigantine. They had the best mud pie dessert ever!

Saturday I got out of bed early and surprised Casey with Bagel Shack (avocado bagel is amazzzzzing)- I have a problem lately with food as you can see. We then drove up to La Canada so Casey could meet my dad to golf. Chase and I just hung out with my friend Ariana and then he took a nap while I laid out. That night we went to a Dodger Game with my Dad and one of Casey's friends. We decided to stay Sunday so we could do a family dinner for Casey. I surprised him with an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. 

I would say it was a pretty successful birthday weekend! Here's to another great year with my old man :)