2 months old (+ 2 days if we get technical) already!!

Today Bobby had his 2 month check up and got his first round of immunizations!

He is now 23" tall and weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces! Everyone says he's becoming a little chunker, but in actuality the height and weight only puts him at 49% and 42% so he's 'just right'... well speaking of right... he needs to work on looking right more often... he's getting a little flat on his left side. Whoops! He can thank his left handed mama for that...

Anyways Rob helped me take some photos of him last night for his 2 month photos and they turned out pretty well (from what I can tell). I will be uploading them hopefully in the next couple days! Think "hunting" and you will get what the theme was :)

End of Pregnancy + Delivery + Being Mom (Extra Long Post)

Well, a little over due but a BIG update since I'm now a mom to the cutest 3.5 week old son EVER! (I realize I may be bias just a bit...)

So my pregnancy went well, all in all. I never had odd cravings, morning sickness, reflux or anything like that. I often questioned whether my growing belly was a baby at all...as silly as that sounds...

All of my doctor appointments went well. I finally hit 32 weeks and was being seen every other week. I had had a few "high" blood pressures - high being top number over 140, and when mine were high they never went over 150. I remember at one appointment my doctor told me I had to start coming in weekly for NSTs (non stress tests) and an ultrasound because after 3 high blood pressures you're considered gestational hyper tension which I was at that point. I think this was week 34. It wasn't far off from weekly appointments (which typically start at 36 weeks). Doctor also told me that if my next appointments showed increasing blood pressure then the result would be induction. The next few appointments went well. I was even told by the other doctors that I was seeing that my primary was being a worry wart and my blood pressure was fine. I finally hit 37 weeks and had a Tuesday appointment, July 22, to be exact. I came in for my NST and ultrasound. Blood pressure was slightly elevated... Like 142/84... Not HIGH by any means. I didn't think anything of it. NST went well. Ultrasound showed I had an abundance of amniotic fluid. Nothing looked "bad".  I went in to meet with Dr. Kelley as I would always meet with a doctor to do a quick follow up after NSTs and ultrasounds. This was nothing out of the ordinary. 

Dr. Kelley walked in and told me that my blood pressure was high and that I needed to be induced. Funny the exact conversation was a blur. I just remember her pointing to a piece of paper multiple times that apparently listed e protocols they followed. The protocol was for induction to occur at 37-38 for hyper tension. She said she wanted to induce me Thursday or Friday. I replied with "next week?" To which she said "No, this week. You're at 37 weeks." And then she pointed to that paper. 

Again. I don't remember my exact response, but I basically told her I couldn't be induced in just 2-3 days. I wasn't ready. Work needed a heads up and the big thing was my parents were not in town yet. They were not going to come up until he following Wednesday. I was basically pulling all the excuses I could. Doctor and I concluded and compromised that Sunday would be the day because I would be 38 weeks Monday.So promptly leaving the doctors office I went to pickup my prescription at Meijer down the road and pause in the parking lot to have my "I'm not ready for a baby" meltdown and to 

call Rob and let him know. I remember his reaction- a big nervous laugh and "you're not serious" then he said "I have to go talk to my boss". I promptly called my parents and told them if they wanted to be here when baby was born they needed to be up by Sunday. They said "we'll be there Friday." 

The rest of the week was a blur. I let work know and tried my best to finish up loose ends before maternity leave. I had a follow-up NST on Friday and then the weekend started with my parents staying with us. I had been instructed to call the hospital at 6pm Sunday (July 27) to see if they were 

still wanting me to come in at 8pm as I was scheduled. Apparently with a scheduled induction, your 

time can be pushed back depending on how busy the hospital is. Well no push back for me. They wanted me at Labor and Delivery at 8pm. Bring on the nerves...

So I ate dinner around 5:30 and left for the hospital around 7:15. Got there and got checked in and talk about waiting game. Nothing says anxiety like knowing when you're being induced, the outcome of said induction and then waiting around for it to happen...so the actual induction didn't start till between 10pm and 11pm. They didn't want my uterus to spasm so they gave me a quarter dose do cytotech, a ripening agent since I had little progression - when admitted I was only thinned and at 1 cm. We waited for 4 hours with the fetal monitor and contraction monitor hooked up and nothing, absolutely nothing happened. So early morning the resident on call came in and started me on Pitocin. From there they increased the Pitocin 1-2 every half hour. Well they got me up to 12 (the dosage goes from lowest 1 to highest 20) and I pretty much stopped having contractions and had little progression. Depending on the doctor I was maybe 2 cm, but barely that.  

The next morning I was starving and I actually got my wish- since the Pitocin had little effect they decided that I hadn't been "ripened" enough but since you can't start ripening until after an hour after eating they decided to let me eat breakfast. An hour after breakfast they gave me a half dose of 

cytotech. This time I didn't take it orally so I had to lay on my back for an hour and then wait for 4 hours to see if there was more progress. At this point, Monday was really dragging. I had another dose of cytotech. All the staff switched over again. The doctor I knew went off duty. Now if I delivered it was going to be with someone I hadn't met. Not really a big deal, but still... So Monday was boring. We ate food (Rob, mom and me), we played games, and I tried to sleep which is near impossible with monitors on you, but I guess at one point I got a really good nap in. Rob and mom said I slept hard, to the point of snoring. Yay for sleep since I had had very little of it since arriving the night before.

Things got more interesting and more serious after dinner. I met Dr. Halverson. She was such a fun doctor, and though I'd never met her in the office I was very happy with her. Around 7-7:15, while she was checking me she felt something odd so trying to figure out what she was feeling. Apparently my cervix was thinner on one side than the other and she was trying to determine my dilation and make my cervix "symmetrical". She ended up breaking my waters, whoops... Well that sent me on another emotional wave. Things were going to get real and even sooner now... The doctor and staff felt bad as I cried really hard- tears of nervousness. I felt like a moron but at this point I was exhausted, emotionally drained, anxious and nervous. (I would find out later that Dr. has a "reputation" for breaking waters...)

So since my water was broke they said I was definitely a 2 or 3. And this also meant they wanted to hold off on Pitocin for an hour in hopes I progressed on my own. I wouldn't be that lucky. An hour 

later they hooked me up to Pitocin and the contractions started. The contractions got really intense really fast. I made it to 3 on the dosage before I cried to Rob and told him I wanted the epidural. I was a bit saddened by this because I wanted as natural of a birth as possible. I had never considered induction as part of the plan and Pitocin was not on it either. Luckily I had signed the paperwork for the epidural earlier (not to say I would have to have it but to save me time should I decide to use it). I'm glad I signed the consent form. By the time they gave me the epidural I was having strong contractions, one on top of another with little breaks in between. And the epidural that 'doesn't hurt'. Yea, it hurt me. That was hard - sitting still, getting the epidural while going through contractions... BUT a big amen once the epidural kicked in- aside from no feeling in my legs and lower abdomen I got relief from the contractions. I got sleep too. That was nice. They checked me later on (time unknown and a blur) and I was 7 cm. Finally between 3 and 4 am (best guess), I was fully dilated. I just had to wait to feel the urge to push. The nurse had me do practice pushes. The pushing didn't come easy. We waited a while and I started feeling more urges to push. Finally the nurse had me start pushing. I was actually making progress with moving baby. At one point I wondered when the doctor 

would come in... I kept pushing. Rob had one leg, my mom had my other and I was told to grab both legs though I found that difficult since I cpdidnt have feeling in them. I remember the nurse telling Rob to look because you could see the head and the baby had hair. The nurse FINALLY, what seemed like forever, went and got the doctors. Rob told me if I could push, we would have a baby by 5am.

I started pushing. I got to the point where I couldn't stop because I could feel the baby getting ready to come out and when I wasn't pushing it hurt. I had a bit of relief with the head out. Apparently the cord came out too, loosely wrapped around baby, a small scare at first which ended ok. I gave a few more pushes and it felt like baby just popped out. They laid the baby on me. I looked at Rob and said "what is it?" "It's a boy!" He responded. It was 4:58am July 29, 2014, when I became a mom for the first time and laid eyes on the most beautiful (yes BEAUTIFUL) little boy. Bobby. All 7 pounds, 2.6 ounces and 20 inches of perfection. What a glorious, amazing moment. I now know why when people go through childbirth and all the pain associated with it, they can do it again many times over. As soon as Bobby was laid on my chest (sucking his thumb too), I forgot what the pain was like and all 

the long anxiously awaited time it took to meet him.

Post delivery was not as smooth as we hoped. We had lots of visitors. I was exhausted. Bobby got an infection. He got an IV in his arm for antibiotics. I got discharged Thursday, and he didn't. I was not leaving him. I stayed in the Ellison Room until Sunday, August 3 when Bobby got discharged at 9:15pm. He had undergone 5 days of antibiotics for an unknown infection and 2 days of triple light photo therapy for jaundice. Finally he was coming home.

Now fast forward--- we've adjusted well. I'm not feeling too rested, but the little guy keeps me going. That and knowing that this time is passing very quickly. Bobby will be a month old at the end of next week! How time flies! I now know how stay at home moms do it. I never said I could do it, and now I want to... And I can't. BUT we have an amazing daycare provider that will start taking care of Bobby on Monday September 15 when I go back to work. It's going to be really tough, but work is going to be flexible and I know in time things will feel right. 

Having Bobby, despite the exhaustion, frustrations, worries, anxieties and every other emotion you can feel with a newborn, has been the most amazing thing I have ever done. This child was born and is now my all, my world, my everything. I now think I know the meaning of true love. My heart is full.

Baby L Update

Well this morning I had my 32 week check-up! I'm happy to be in the home stretch now, only 8 weeks left or just shy of 2 months!

Baby L is doing great! I am measuring right where I am supposed to be, baby's head is down (still) and little one was very active this morning- heart rate was up at 160! Funny about the head down though... The nurse kind of gave me an odd look after feeling around to see how baby was positioned. She asked if I get a lot of movement off to my right, to which I replied yes. Apparently head is down, butt is left and feet are right - so making an L shape essentially. Interesting, but makes complete sense with the way my stomach contorts to odd shapes as of late.I'm hoping that baby stays comfy in this position and remains head down so we don't have any goofy stuff to deal with when I get closer to Delivery (D-day).

In other news, Baby L is really spoiled, lucky and loved by all of our family and close friends. We had a small baby shower on June 7. And now aside from some minor rearranging, baby's room is really coming together nicely. We have the crib set all assembled and I have most of the baby items that need to be washed, washed. Extra necessities for baby are all in their place for the most part so now we just wait for baby. This week I am working on my birth plan and putting together items for my hospital bag. Oh and we need to buy gender specific take-home outfits for the hospital...

But all is well. I'm still feeling relatively well aside from increased peeing, swelling of my feet, exhaustion and general achiness (lower back mainly). But that is not me complaining because I have had a nice, easy pregnancy and I am just really looking forward to meeting little her or him in a few months!

Baby L - Wiggles on Camera

So I may or may not have an obsession with trying to catch my little babe on camera now that I've reached the stage where it seems like I have an alien inside me trying to bust out aka my stomach is in constant motion. Up until about a week or so ago, babe was camera shy and now s/he appears to not care, which is great and offers me hours of entertainment (literally). Rob isn't nearly as impressed. 

I've started terming poking at my stomach as "pissin' off the child" because I poke until I get poked back and then my belly bounces around for a while. Rob did however find amusement the other day at it, he took my stomach in both hands and shook it. A LOT. I was highly amused, and good thing for amniotic fluid or I would have been convinced that the child received shaken baby syndrome...

Anywho, here is a 2-minute snippet of what I call Zumba baby. And no, the music was not actually playing (like my parents may have thought), I added it in before I uploaded it. Enjoy and be prepared, it's 2 minutes long.

Ramblings on becoming a mom...

I've had nearly 16 weeks (since I found out I was pregnant SO early) now to absorb the fact that in a mere 20-ish weeks plus or minus a few days I will take on a new role in my life... that of a mom, mommy, mama or whatever our little child decides to call me. And I have finally hit the point of no return - maternity clothes. I'm wearing them in full force. My normal clothing does not fit me anymore. The few pants that had always been a bit big literally cut my stomach in half and make me look ridiculous... not to mention leaving marks on me where they are obviously too tight.


I won't deny the fact that I am SCARED beyond all belief - Will I make a good mom? Will I be able to support my kiddo financially, emotionally, physically? Will I survive on very little sleep (since I love it so)? Wait, lets take a step back - first fear: LABOR. I have told Rob all along that I would like to have as natural of a delivery as possible, un-medicated. I am not opposed to medication, but if I can keep myself calm, (God, mom and Rob help me) and have no serious complications - the goal from the get-go and forward is to labor without medicine - Wish me luck on that one. So once I get past that fun stuff (not), then we can skip to realtime fears that I mentioned first.

With all the uncertainty and fear I have I am extremely EXCITED because there are a few things I can say for sure about this little babe. He/she was and is wanted, he/she will be LOVED unconditionally, and that dad and I are going to be the best parents that we can be for this little one.

So as I've been feeling "flutters", "kicks" or whatever you want to call them (for a few weeks now), I need to come up with a name nickname for this kiddo. Seeing as we decided to not find out what we are having its hard to say Mister this or Misses that... but I've got some ideas, and so do a few others... As of now recent names have been "bean", "it" (as much as I hate referring to him or her as that), "Super Wonder Quad" (thanks Rob's family for that one) and this morning I thought of maybe "Wigglebean" or "Wiggleworm" since just about everyday there seems to be a constant dance party going on in my tummy. I am a part of a "secret" group of women that are all pregnant and due around the same time (between late July and early September) and one of the members mentioned in her weekly photo/journal how the baby feels like a bird pecking away inside, boy could that not be closer to the truth, so with that I could easily nickname wiggleworm to "baby bird" or "little bird".

So this women's group I am apart of - I've had quite a few people say that I shouldn't be in it because I would read into things (as many claim I did early on). For example, early on I was scared that something had happened or that something was wrong since I have had such an easy pregnancy and still continue to do so. I'm beyond that fear now that I have moving proof in me. But back to the topic of this women's/mom's group. I am so happy to be a part of it. I take what I hear with a grain of salt. Let me repeat, I take what I hear with a grain of salt! There has been a lot of useful information within this group, especially from those that have one or more kiddos. I am grateful for this group of knowledgeable women, not to mention its fun sharing in the "hump day, bump day" photos on Wednesdays and seeing everyone grow with their little ones!

So there be my random, very random, thoughts that have been going through my head as of late. This weekend I prepare myself to fly to Myrtle Beach to visit my parents. It will be wiggleworm's first opportunity to hear my mom and dad and I haven't seen them since the cruise, which was before I was pregnant - so I am beyond thrilled to see them!!

With that, I leave you with my weekly photo (sorry it's blurry, Rob apparently can't stand still long enough for it to be clear - LOL!)

Baby L

This past Monday, I had my first ultrasound- for anatomy! I was 18 weeks 0 days. We could have opted to find out gender but decided to stick with our original idea of having it be a surprise.

The 20 minutes of ultrasound was so amazing. Baby was very relaxed (heart rate of 154 bpm) and had one hand behind its head and it's feet crossed at the ankles. Only was did baby decide to be a little stubborn and turn while the ultrasound technician was trying to look at all areas of the heart. She was successful eventually.  Seeing baby and knowing I'm growing a human inside is very surreal and the ultrasound really brought to light my future as a mom, and Rob's as a dad. Baby was currently 265 g or 9.3 ounces which happens to be right in the middle of the pack (55th percentile) for weight. I am not promised I'll get another ultrasound unless I encounter any complications or they need to check things out as I get close to delivery, but this is surely a memory I will not forget. This pregnancy has truly been easy and if things keep as they have, I won't mind another 1 or 2 in the future. Here's our little bug :)

Bursting at the seams...

...Quite literally!

Now a future reason to blog more! 14 weeks today!

Fur Babies!

November 23: We... I... bought a dog! Advertised on Craigslist as a Poodle/Yorkie, but according to previous vet records Jack Russell Terrier Mix. He is adorable and I am in love!

Granted, he has now been with us going on 3 months, we LOVE him to pieces, and yes I said we. He is "my" dog, but Rob plays with him and adores him just the same. He may not admit that though...

So onto the cute photos of our new fur baby!

Coming home!

Loves his toy!

My boys :)

He has recently seen the groomer and looks less rag-a-muff, but I will post those later :)