Monday, September 28, 2009

Birth Story


Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this. Having a newborn and a three year old takes up quite a bit of my time, not to mention my brain function required for writing. So, here's a quick recap of how my little guy came into this world.

A few months into my pregnancy, my iron level started to drop. I had been treated for anemia in the past, so I wasn't really all that surprised. But even with eating more iron-rich foods and taking iron supplements, my iron level kept dropping. Eventually, my anemia got so bad that I was sent to L&D triage for IV iron infusions twice a week for two weeks. On the day of my last scheduled infusion (8/13), while I was getting my non-stress test and iron IV, my blood pressure was a bit high, so the nurse told my OB, and he ordered urine and blood tests to check for pre-eclampsia (since I had it last time). Well, my urine came back clean, but my blood showed that my potassium level was "critically low." It also showed that the iron infusions had done absolutely nothing to improve my iron levels.

So, I was admitted to the Antepartum unit so I could be given potassium in my IV. Let me tell you that if you've never had that done, the potassium burns like hell going into your veins. While I was getting that done, my OB ordered a 24-hour urine collection to test for pre-eclampsia since a single urine sample may not show that there really is protein being thrown out. The potassium didn't increase my levels like the docs wanted, so they had to keep giving me more and more of it (and I pigged out on bananas the whole time, too).

Eventually, my 24-hour urine results came back and showed that I did indeed have pre-eclampsia, though it was not nearly as severe as it had been when I was pregnant with Katie, so my doc decided that they would induce my labor when I reached 37 weeks on Tuesday, the 18th. My potassium level did eventually get back to normal, and my BP didn't go completely crazy, so everything looked like it would be smooth sailing when the time came.

We were all completely WRONG about that! Apparently, my body just did not want to cooperate with anything. Even though I delivered my last two babies within two hours of my water breaking, this time, my cervix just didn't want to cooperate at all. And my epidurals (that's right - plural because I had more than one) did absolutely nothing to relieve the excruciating pain I was in. I had never felt pain like that in my entire life, and I was literally begging for death. That is, when I wasn't passed out and not breathing - scary, I know.

Anyhow, the pain was so horrible that I was vomiting, or really mostly dry-heaving, from it with just about every contraction. When I finally got fully dilated, the nurses told me not to push because we had to wait for the OB to get there. (The one who was supposed to be delivering was stuck in a c-section, so they had to call another one from the office down the block.) But, once they got me turned onto my back so I could get into position to push, I started vomiting uncontrollably. And the force of my vomiting pushed my baby's head right on out. Since he was already half way out, I had to go ahead and push him the rest of the way out before the doc ever got there, and thankfully, it only took one actually push to do that.

As soon as he was out, the pain was almost 100% gone. I was amazed at the difference it made. I instantly felt human again. I was thoroughly exhausted and quite a bit in shock from the whole experience, but felt so much better than I had been feeling.

David Christopher was born, thus relieving my misery, at 1:39 pm on Tuesday, August 18th, and is perfect in every way.

Oh, and my iron level was back to normal before we left the hospital the next day, thus confirming my theory that the baby was actually sucking the life out of me.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I give you the official hospital photos of my gorgeous baby boy.









Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Wait is Over

I'm sure you've all been holding your breath, just waiting for an update to my blog.

What's that? You haven't been sitting at your computers waiting on little ole me? You've actually moved on with your lives? Well, um, okay then.

I guess I can forgive you. But will you forgive me? For holding out on you like this? Yeah, I've been a total slacker. I had my baby three weeks ago, and I'm just now getting around to updating my blog.

And honestly, I'm too tired right now (and my house is currently in total chaos) to do a proper update, so I'm just going to give you the basic info and a few pics from the first days.

David Christopher was born on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, at 1:39 in the afternoon. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces, and measured 20 inches long.






Stay tuned for the exciting story of Davie's birth...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Dead End

I think it's time to call it quits with this whole blogging thing. I used to love it, but now it seems like just another neglected chore. I am so incredibly busy right now. You would think that being busy would provide me with some nice blog fodder, but instead, it has just kept me from having the time to actually blog.

Maybe I will return someday, when my life has slowed down a bit. With a new baby on the way, though, I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Thanks to the ability to type out quick little updates every now and then, I will be sticking with Facebook, though I can't guarantee a daily status update. If you're on Facebook, and would like to be my "friend," please let me know how to find you there. If you are one of my regular readers, and I feel there is no threat that you will stalk me, I'll add you to my friends list, and you can keep up with me there.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Where Did the Time Go?

I can't believe that it's been two weeks since I last updated this blog! I guess I've just been really busy doing completely boring stuff. What was I doing?

Well, I had a garage sale, for one. The turnout wasn't great, but I did make a little more than $200. Of course, between dinner out and shopping for new clothes for Katie, there wasn't much leftover. And, we still have so much stuff to get rid of. I'm going to go through all of the clothes again, and figure out what to just donate and what to list on eBay.

My garage sale completely wore me out, and I was still too exhausted to attempt to fight the crowds for the Grand Opening of the new IKEA in town on Wednesday. I had been looking forward to being there on opening day ever since I heard they were building one here. I still haven't been yet, but since it's not opening day anymore, there's really no point in going until Phil gets his bonus check and I have money to spend.

Thursday, Emily came home from school complaining of pain in her appendix area, and she also had a bit of a fever (only 99.6). Since she didn't have any of the other symptoms of appendicitis, I decided to wait until the morning to see how she was feeling. Friday morning came, and she said the pain was worse, though her fever was completely gone.

So, I took her to the pediatrician just to be sure that I wasn't just ignoring a case of appendicitis. The pediatrician sent Emily for a CT scan, which took forever to get done because she had to drink this nasty contrast drink over an hour before they could scan her. After waiting impatiently all afternoon, we finally found out that she did not have appendicitis, but she does have ovarian cysts, with the one on her right side being much larger than the one on the left.

Saturday was spent trying to convince Katie to take a nap before the birthday party she was to attend in the afternoon, shopping for a gift for the birthday boy, and then actually attending the party. Katie had a great time at the party, and I had a good time, too. They rented a bouncy house, and now Katie is intent on having a bouncy house for her party, too.

After the party, I had to take Sarah shopping for her 8th grade dance dress. I attempted to do this on Friday night, but she was extremely uncooperative, so I just took her home. She had changed her tune by Saturday morning, so I decided to give her one more chance after the party. She wasn't extremely helpful in picking out a dress for herself, but we eventually found a couple of dresses for her - one for the dance and one for her confirmation that's coming up in June. Thank GOD I don't have to take her dress shopping again now!

I had a pretty decent Mothers' Day on Sunday. It was nothing spectacular, but I wasn't at all stressed out and I was able to relax most of the day. That's really all I ever want anyway.

The chaos started back up first thing Monday morning, though. At 7:40am, Sarah informed me that I needed to drive her to school because she had to be there by 8:00am for an NJHS event. When I demanded to see the information from school that stated this, I also found out that the NJHS induction/awards ceremony was that very morning. So, I had to rush to get myself and Katie ready and drive Sarah to school. When we got there, I found out that the ceremony wasn't going to start until 9:30am, so Katie and I left to go have breakfast at Dunkin Donuts before going back to the school. Later that afternoon, I got a phone call from Sarah that she had left her money for her dance ticket on her bed, so I had to drive back to the school to take it to her since it was the last day to purchase tickets.

So, I'm exhausted from all of the running around, to say the least, and I really only have today to relax because the rest of my week is jam packed again.


ETA: I just got a call from Emily. She's feeling sick, so I have to go pick her back up from school. Oh, Joy!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Lost a Week

I had another appointment with my OB this morning. Everything went well; the baby is fine, I'm fine, blah, blah, blah. This was my first OB appointment since my Level 2 ultrasound with the perinatologist, though, and my OB doesn't feel that my due date needs to be changed to what the perinatologist says it is. So, we're going back to September 8th as my due date. I don't like that idea one bit. I'm now back to only being 21 weeks 1 day pregnant.

My mother kept Katie for me this morning, so I thought I'd take advantage of her absence and hit the mall after my appointment. I first went to Children's Place to get some cute new duds for my little guy. I had picked a couple of outfits out on-line, one for a girl and one for a boy, and just hadn't had the chance (or money or energy) to go get the boy outfit yet.

After TCP, I hit Motherhood Maternity to look for pants. Up until this point, I had just been making my pre-pregnancy pants work by using a Bella Band. But that was getting tight, and I was getting sick of constantly adjusting it, so I knew I needed to give in and get some actual maternity pants. Take a look at what I got.


Both the capris and the shorts have the Secret Fit Bellys. This wasn't around when I was pregnant with Katie, and I am in love with it. It is so comfy and versatile. I don't have to worry about constantly pulling my pants back up when my belly pushes them down, and it's not as cumbersome as the old-fashioned full-belly panels because the belly material is super thin and comfortable.

I also picked up this super cute and comfy outfit.


Being able to finally get some cute and comfy maternity pants sort of balanced out my disappointment in my due date. I may have to be pregnant a week longer, but at least I'll have cute clothes to wear!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Progress?

I am 21 weeks 4 days pregnant today. This morning, for the very first time during this pregnancy, the number on my scale was higher than it was when I got pregnant.


I've only exceeded my pre-pregnancy weight by .2 pounds, so the above chart really just looks like I'm only back up to where I started, but I am hoping to continue on an upward pattern. I figure that if I can gain between 3/4 and 1 pound per week for the rest of my pregnancy, I'll end up hitting my target weight gain (15 pounds). Wish me luck!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Neighbor News

Do you remember the lovely house next door to mine? It's been vacant since those nasty people got foreclosed on. Well, the house finally sold, and we'll be getting new neighbors as soon as they finish renovating the house. (They are completely gutting the inside of the house and redoing everything.) This is both good news and bad news.

The bad news is that these neighbors do not have young children. Their children are all grown and out of the house. So, that means there will be no new little playmates for Katie.

The good news is that they don't have any punk-ass little teenagers who will want to break in to or vandalize my house. Also, since they are putting so much work and money into renovating the house, they'll probably take better care of the yard than the last people who lived there. Of course, it wouldn't take much effort to do a better job than before, would it?

Facebook v. Blogger

I've been noticing something lately. Some of my favorite bloggers have not been posting very often lately. These same bloggers have been posting updates on Facebook quite a bit, though, so I know they have not disappeared from the face of the earth. So, it makes me wonder if Facebook will be the end of blogging for some people. What do you think?

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Total Liquidation

Due to my pregnancy and my upcoming re-entry into the world of babies, I have come to the realization that I just don't have the time required to devote to my Mary Kay business. Therefore, I am having a Going Out of Business Sale to try to recoup my losses on my current stock. EVERYTHING in stock is now 40% off regular price. I have lots of Miracle Sets, Microdermabrasion Sets, Color Products (lips, eyes, cheeks), and specialty items in stock. I can also still get any out-of-stock items for you, if you wish. Check out my website and call or email me today!

For those of you out-of-town readers, YES, I will ship your items (US addresses only) to you.

Oh, and please do not take this action as any indication that I don't love Mary Kay. I still LOVE my Mary Kay products and will continue to use them myself.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter

Even though I prayed it wouldn't happen, I ended up pretty sick on Easter. I had actually felt almost good a few days before hand, so good that my asthma doctor said I didn't need to be seen again for three months. That was Tuesday. Wednesday, Katie and I braved the cold and wind for an Easter play date with my moms group. By Wednesday night, I started to get sick again, and it just went down hill from there.

We never made it to church on Sunday morning, which really upset Katie, but we did make it to my dad's house for a small family get-together. I pretty much rested on the love seat the entire time we were there because I felt so ill. And another side effect of my illness was the fact that I didn't take very many photos on Easter, but I'll share what I do have.

On Saturday night, Phil and Katie dyed eggs. I didn't get a pic of the dying process or of the finished products, but I did snap a pick of Katie eating one of the eggs they didn't dye.


This next pic is one of Katie and her Easter basket. The bunny is the only piece of candy it contained. She also got some Yo Gabba Gabba toys, gardening gloves, and gardening tools.


This final pic was taken at my dad's house while we were waiting for everyone to come back from the neighbor's house where their neighborhood Easter egg hunt was held. I found Katie's dress a month or so ago at Old Navy and fell in love with it. I usually go a bit fancier with Katie's Easter dresses, but I just couldn't resist the adorable sundress. As it turned out, the dress was the perfect choice because the pattern completely hid the Hawaiian Punch and blackberry-raspberry pie that Katie got on it that day.


I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families!