Heart on Your Sleeve

I have heard the saying "When you are a parent, you wear your heart on your sleeve."

That saying hit home the night Bunny was born. She had an infection, breathing trouble, and low body temperature so she was rushed to the NICU. Yet again, this was a particular plan I had NOT wanted to happen! I had wanted to avoid the NICU but alas there we were, 11:00 p.m. on Bunny's birth day, being escorted to the NICU. 

 The first night, I was so tired from lack of sleep, drug hangover, and giving birth that it did not really sink in what exactly was happening. The next day was a different story. I have never felt so helpless in my life than when I had to stand there, looking at my wired and tubed child crying and I could not hold her or soothe her.

Three months later, as I am writing this I still get this sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach at that memory.

Ten days.

That is how long they kept her in the NICU. Only two of them were we allowed to really hold her because she eventually had to have a PICC line put into her head.

It was the most freeing feeling when we were allowed to pack her up in her carseat and take her home! We were one of the lucky ones though, there were babies that had been there for a long time and still had a while to go before they could go home. I definitely pray differently now for mother's with sick children. That is an emotional place I hope to never have to visit again.

The Moment Our Life Changed

"Lets have a baby."

Those were the words my doctor said to me at my 37 week appointment. They did not let me leave the hospital because my blood pressure was high. I went straight down to labor and delivery to be admitted. I had to call The Mom and have her go to my house to pack my bag. Luckily I had made my list! I walked her through the house to get each item. 

I was admitted and they said they would start the pitocin at midnight. I did not write a specific birth plan down but I have to say that this was the one way I had hoped NOT to do. I really did not want to be induced because it takes so long but alas 12 a.m. on Thursday, August 30, 2012 I was induced.

Sleep was impossible. My mind was going in every direction. Amazingly I was not nervous at all just antsy about the long wait and getting too tired. At 5 a.m., they arrived to break my water. I have to say that was the strangest part of the whole process. It is just weird, gross, icky, and eww!

There is not much to tell of the next few hours except that I amazingly only had to feel 45 minutes of contractions thanks to modern medicine! I dilated fairly quickly, but I did take a dose of Nubain before my epidural.

I have never done recreational drugs but I think that the Nubain was the closest experience I have ever had to them! It was psychedelic!

The epidural was nothing! I did not feel a thing, though I was shuddering constantly as a side effect of the Nubain. The funniest part was my left leg swelled up so big but my right leg stayed normal so I had this cartoon look to my body. The Mom would pat my left leg and it was the oddest thing because I knew I should be able to feel it, and my brain could see it, but there was no feeling in that leg!

Then finally around 1:30ish, it came time for action. She was "sunny side up" as they call it, so I did a lot of useless pushing before they were able to turn her. I did not think she was ever going to come out of me! I kept praying "God just get her out, please!" Even with the epidural dulling the pain, I do not think I have done anything that strenuous before in my entire life!

I was not the calm, sweet, moaning woman we saw on the videos in the birthing class. Now proudly I can say I did not curse, yell, or scream angrily.

However, I did throw up, cry, cough, shudder, fuss at the stupid blood pressure cuff, grunt, and gasp for air a lot!

But at 3:18 p.m. on Thursday August 30, 2012, our life changed.

A head full of dark hair, 20 inches long and weighing 6lbs 5oz, "Bunny" (as we will now call her on this blog) was born!

One of the funniest things was when they tried to place her on my chest, her umbilical cord was too short so they had to wait until E cut it before she could really be placed on my chest.

It was love at first goo covered sight!

Baby Showers: Shower #3

My third and final baby shower was held by my friends. It was an awesome ladybug themed shower!

It had super cute invites that my friend K made and I kept one for Miss Priss' baby book. 


She also made a diaper cake that said Cuddle Bug and had a headband, ladybug hairbows and ladybug socks on the top. It was great!

She also made something I had never seen and it was a diaper baby. It was looked like a sleeping baby and it was made completely out of diapers! It was dressed like a baby. I am going to have to do one of these some time. It was such a unique idea!

To top it all off she made these scrumptious cake pops that I will be stealing the recipe for even though I do not have a cake pop maker LOL

It was great to have a shower with just my friends. The summer has been crazy for me with moving and pregnancy so I have not had the time to see my friends. It was a good time to catch up and chat with each other.

Of course, Miss Priss got more beautiful things and she is one set little girl.

My favorite gift from this shower (not that I did not like them all) was these absolutely, stinking cute bloomers that say Miss Priss!! I love them! I cannot wait to get an awesome photo shoot with them on her :) Until Next Time...

Baby Showers: Shower #2

 My second shower was thrown by E's family. I am very blessed that I gained a second family when I married my husband. I fit right in with his family from the beginning and enjoy being with them as much as my own.

My MIL and one of E's cousins put together this shower for us and we also used it as a ruse to throw a surprise birthday party for his aunt after the shower.

Because of the party, E was invited to this shower and got to get a good dose of pink. He even got to wear a pink ribbon and paci that said Dad to Be.
They hung cute onesies, and my MIL put out some of E's baby items and pictures which were awesome to see.
Miss Priss got her first baby doll at this shower. I look at this photo and am amazed at how large I was and I was not even through growing! Ha!

 Miss Priss got all kinds of pretty things at this shower. She is definitely one loved little girl!
She got a pretty pink bathtub, blankets, diapers, a highchair, stroller, clothes, etc.
My favorite items had to be a quilt that E's grandmother made before she passed away and a set of bibs that E's cousin gave us that were all computer based. Too cute!

Until Next Time...

Baby Showers: Shower #1

I was blessed with three baby showers!

The first one was for my side of the family. My SIL was the hostess and she did a fantastic job! The colors were pink and purple. She had yummy food with a super pretty (and yummy) cake.
She also made one of the super cute baby in a wagon melon trays.

I had family come all the way from Mississippi to join in the celebration. I was so glad to be surrounded by those I love and to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Miss Priss.
Miss Priss got all kinds of goodies from my family, including a huge collection of hairbows that will last for years from my cousin!

It was a great start to August and a wonderful baby shower!

Until Next Time...

You know you are eight months pregnant when....

You know you are eight month pregnant when...
Warning some of these may be TMI :)

• You have been in the shower for 15 minutes, washed your hair, washed your face, shaved your underarms, go to soap the rest of your body and realize the place under your bump is still dry. 
• You realize how short your arms are because it is so stinking hard to wipe!
• Your cat gives you a look of disdain as if to say "lay off the cookies, woman!" when he tries to lay in your ever shrinking lap
• You have to grunt so much to move you begin to wonder about your relation to a hog.
• Even if you have never taken anatomy you know where every major organ in your body is because it has been punched, kicked, headbutted, kneed or elbowed. 
• You do not "roll" over in bed anymore at night, you "heave" over in bed.
• When trying to "heave" over in bed at night, you understand how a bug stuck on it's back feels.
• You have to look in a mirror to see your private areas.
• You try to show your husband something beside you and he has to lean way forward to see around you.
• You could care less that it is "unladylike" to sit back in a chair with your legs spread open because it is the only comfortable way to sit.
• You get punched from within the gut if you try to slump over while sitting at your computer.
• When you drop something the thought of just leaving it there does cross your mind because the act of picking it back up is equivalent to one bootcamp exercise workout.
• You realize that you should have invested in toilet paper stock before you got pregnant.
• You know you need to "stay hydrated" but realize to do this properly you might as well just live on the toilet.
• Feeling as if you are about to explode means you really only have three drops to tinkle.
• You knew your "Girls" were going to change but didn't realize they were going to try to race to the floor.
• You cannot believe you ONLY have two months left at the same time as you cannot believe you STILL have two months left!
• You are increasingly glad you do not have the gestational period of an elephant!

Oh I have many more but that is enough for tonight :) Got to go "heave" into bed!
Until Next Time...

Preparing for Parenthood Classes

So a quick note, I will from now on refer to Sexy Husband as E. It is much less to type and shortening Sexy Husband to SH might be thought of as other things and I don't want that LOL

Now on to our post...

So E and I have attended 2 out of 4 Preparing for Parenthood classes that we are taking at the hospital where Miss Priss will be born. Now these classes are extremely informative and I am enjoying taking them but I really should not be allowed to take them with other expectant mothers!

Why you ask?

Because I cannot hold back my peanut gallery comments and giggle or gag way too much. Now I do make all my comments to E, but I am sure it is still not helpful since I am not known for my ability to quietly do anything.
For example my comment about the video with the Douala present for the birth who was coaching in a soft, calm voice "You are strong. You can do this" I said I would show her how strong I was when the bedpan connected with her skull. But then again I am not a Douala kind of girl!
And then perhaps my comment about the staple looking thing that is supposed to screw into my child's head if they do internal fetal monitoring. Sorry but I just called it like it was, looked painful to me!

Plus I am a question-asker. I am going to ask questions just because I want to know things, probably more than most of the other mother's in the room (since none asked questions!) I will not hold back because by golly I paid for this class, I want info!

The thing I dislike most about the classes so far are the videos of the births.

First I do not need to see some other woman's hoohah being stretched out by her baby's head! Just be a bit ambiguous, people and I can fill in the details! I do NOT need to see that, nor does my husband!! Talk about nasty! I barely want to see my own on that day much less some strange woman from the early nineties when they filmed this video!
Second, they are too dang calm on those videos! So far out of all the videos we have seen, only one has been drugged, so the rest are all "natural" births and they are too dang nice. I am sorry but I need to see at least one of the screaming, cursing woman that is ruing the day she ever let her husband near her. I need both sides so that if I fall somewhere in between I will not be like "Well I must have been the worst birthing mother in the world because I wasn't all calm and nice"
I fear I am going to be "that" room, you know, the room all the nurses whisper about at the nurses station. I probably won't in reality but there is always that fear of the unknown behavior of labor, not all calm and sweet like the video birth star!

The last thing I do not like about the classes is that they are all about the birthing so far, which in itself is not a bad thing, but I am still nine weeks away from it! It makes me antsy and ready to "do this" but then I realize I have to wait a whole report card time length before I can even try to find out if I will be "that room" or not!

So I think I have a love/hate relationship with the Preparing for Parenthood. I do recommend them though except to say "close your eyes when they show the birthing videos and just listen!"

Until Next Time....

Update on Miss Priss

So I thought I would give an update on Miss Priss and the progression of the pregnancy. I am actually stealing this question format from Amanda at ASquared. She is a childhood friend that, via Facebook, we have been able to reconnect and share our lives with each other again! She is two weeks ahead of me in pregnancy which we both think is so funny and awesome. If you are looking for another fun blog to read then definitely take up reading hers :)

So here is the stolen question format:

How far along are you? 

31 Weeks

Total weight gain: 

Actually not too bad given I gained so much weight while we were trying to get pregnant!

How big is baby?:

Baby Center says that Miss Priss weighs as much as four navel oranges. (Length: over 16 inches, head to heel.) My Lilypie tickers says 4lbs and 17in. Which if either of these are accurate and I have already warned Miss Priss that she is getting an eviction notice at 7lbs, she had better grow slow these next nine weeks!

 

 Maternity clothes: 

I am starting to get to the point where only certain things fit and certain things are comfortable. I have not quite reached the point of being tired of the same clothes but I feel it coming quickly LOL

 

Stretch marks?:  

  Ohhh yes, let me tell you on this white girl skin they are a lovely sight indeed! NOT :) I will not be having any public bare pregnant belly pictures because of stretch marks and I got the lovely "hair on belly" symptom!

Sleep?: 

I have been able to sleep though I do toss quite a bit. The hardest part is turning over because getting the momentum to get that belly over without straining something is a lot of work! LOL I will be glad when I can sleep flat on my back or on my stomach again :)

Movement?: 

She has actually gotten pretty active the last week or two. E has finally been able to see and feel her move. She likes to punch me a lot when I sit in certain positions or lay too far on my side. My favorite though is when she is just sorta of moving around and I can see her rolling around in there.

Food cravings?:

Not really

Food aversions?:

Amazingly no. 

Labor signs?: 

No and she is to stay put for another nine weeks. I have had two friends have babies early (in the last two months) and both ended up in NICU, we want to avoid that if possible!

Belly button in or out?: 

Still in, but I can feel that it is definitely shallower than it used to be

What I miss: 

Sleeping like the dead.

 Being able to sit any way I want without my legs hurting or falling asleep. 

Being able to turn over in bed without straining something or a muscle cramping LOL 

What I'm looking forward to: 

My baby showers! They are all scheduled in August :)

What I'm not looking forward to: 

I am super excited to be pregnant and have enjoyed the pregnancy but I am starting to get to the "antsy" point. I am not looking forward to the wait of the next nine weeks while balancing it with trying to enjoy the time while it is here. If that makes sense!

Milestone: 

Being in single digit weeks left!

Well that is it for now, until next time....

Pittsburgh, PA

 So Sexy Husband went to college and lived in Pittsburgh, PA for six years. We have been wanting to visit since we got married but not have had the time to go yet. It is quite the trip from B-ham to Pitt, so when we realized we would be practically half way when we went to VA for the wedding we decided to extend our trip to encompass Pittsburgh.
When you are going to Pittsburgh you are surrounded by rolling hills and countryside and then you go through this tunnel and "viola!" there is a city and three rivers that comes out of nowhere. The first picture is my very first view of the city.
One of the cool things about Pitt, are the inclines. They were designed back in the day to carry the steel workers up and down the hill. Pitt actually has two inclines but we decided to ride the Duquesne Incline. I was a bit nervous on the way up but the view made it worth the ride!
The view was great of Point State Park which is the place where all three rivers meet and the city comes to a point. Unfortunately I was unable to see the famous fountain that resides in the park because they were remodeling it. But our hotel was directly across the street from the park so we had great views from our window! I was actually excited we got such a great room with an even greater view. We scored a deal on Priceline and figured we would end up in the basement or such, ha!
We had a fantastic view both day and night, it was awesome!

One of the place we visited was the Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park. It is like a botanical gardens that is mostly indoors. I love any kind of botanical gardens and it was amazing! I had to take it slow because I was extra tired that day but it was the type of place you almost have to take slowly to be able to see it all. My favorite part is what they call the Stove Room, which is a butterfly area! I love live butterflies. I am not really a fan of fake butterflies, drawings of butterflies, or butterfly jewelry but live ones I love! I made poor Sexy Husband stay in the hottest room in the conservatory so I could get some good shots of the butterflies. They do not stay still long so you have to work fast! I did get quite a few shots but this one that I am putting on here is my absolute favorite!

We also went to visit Carnegie Mellon University which is where Sexy Husband went to college and where he got his degree. It is a beautiful campus, especially in the summer, and I had a good time walking around, letting him reminiscence and who me everything. We got to go to the bookstore and managed to find Miss Priss a Carnegie Mellon onesie!
I cannot wait to get a picture of her and her Daddy in their matching Carnegie Mellon outfits :)

Near CMU is an apartment building where Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers, lived and not far from the area is the studio where he recorded Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. We drove by the studio where Fredosaurus Rex stands outside with two puppets from the show. Sexy Husband likes to joke that during college he actually lived in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.

As I have mentioned on here before ever since our honeymoon, we have ended up going to Hard Rock Cafe if there is one in the city where we are visiting. There is one in Pittsburgh so we had to go and eat there one night. We got shirts as we usually do but I won't be able to wear mine for a while because they do not sell maternity shirts, ha!

On Thursday, we headed out with two of Sexy Husband's friends and went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. It was a very interesting piece of architecture that was definitely nifty for the time period in which it was built. The best part though was Andrew, our guide. I think by the end of the tour, he was very glad to get rid of us. He obviously thought that Frank Lloyd Wright was god-like and so when I mentioned he was arrogant and pompous, Andrew puffed up and quickly "corrected" me by saying FLW was an artist! I had to laugh and tell Andrew that usually those two things went hand in hand. On one floor which was supposedly Kaufman Jr.'s area, there were windows that looked down into the guest bathroom. Now sure you had to get on your knees to look down through the window but it was still there. Andrew puffed up yet again when I mentioned that perhaps Kaufman Jr. was a playa. No! Kaufman Jr. was a studious man who kept to himself, he was not a playa! Andrew knew this for sure! I did not point out to Andrew that if Kaufman wasn't a playa then FLW was definitely a perv since he designed the house. Ha!

Last but not least we spent our last day hanging out with Sexy Husband's friends. They grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, we sat in the shade and enjoyed the weather with each other's company!

It was an absolutely fantastic trip and I am so glad we got to take it! Until Next Time....

New River Gorge, WV

 On our way to Pittsburgh, we stopped at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. The New River Gorge Bridge is located there and was for many years the world's longest steel single-span arch bridge. It has a place where you can stop and view it.
It rained on us most of the way there so we were pleasantly surprised when it stopped raining long enough for us to see the bridge and snap a picture with it behind us.

 Since we had plenty of time to make it to Pitt, we decided to take our time and explore the New River Gorge. We  headed to the south end of the gorge where the Sandstone Falls are located. We had to go down this very narrow river front road that had about a third of it torn to pieces for construction. The Mini did so well but I know that car was calling us names by the time we got back to civilization, ha!

The area was beautiful though and let's just say that being six months pregnant did not slow this girl down when exploring the area! I love water, especially in the form of the waterfalls. This area was very natural and woodsy. There were rocks to climbs, paths that used to be a creek bed that have huge, smooth rocks that just make a gorgeous scene.

One of the coolest things that happened was this little guy who was out for his lunch and had no fear whatsoever with me getting close enough to take his picture. Actually instead of fear I swear he looked mildly annoyed that I was interrupting his lunch!

It was definitely worth the time we took to scout out this area and I am glad we got to stop there on our way to Pitt!

 Until Next Time...

Surprise, Impromptu Baby Shower

So while we were in VA, my family there threw me a quick but wonderful baby shower!

The day after the wedding we all got together to clean up the reception area and just be together as a family. The plan was to eat lunch there with the leftover food and wedding cake. They surprised me by having a few decorations and presents in the midst of the food!

I think it was so thoughtful of them all to even try to have something when most had been running around in circles to plan the wedding! It was a very nice surprise and I am glad I got to celebrate with them. They live such a distance we do not get to celebrate together often.

We got some really nice things for Baby Girl and a lot of help from The Niece opening the presents! Ha! I did not mind her helping, but she was a super sonic opener who would take everything out of the bag, place it in Sexy Husband's lap then put it all back into the bag before we even got a chance to look at it. It was too funny! When we got back to the hotel later that evening, we went back through just to see what was given!

I told her mom that at the AL family baby shower, we will have to see about slowing the help down LOL

 

Of course, I had to include this lovely picture of my family being....my family. The Brother is hidden behind Sexy Husband :) Goofballs! I would not have them any other way!

Part two of our 10 day vacation up next.

Until Next Time....

A Wedding in VA

As I mentioned in a previous post, on June 8th we left for 10 days of vacation. The first stop of the trip was The Dad's hometown, Galax, VA, for my younger cousin's wedding.

I have to say the weather was absolutely perfect the whole time we were there and the wedding was great. She got married on the river which was a gorgeous location, though the Mini Cooper did seem to question the dirt road :)

We got there Friday so we were able to go to the rehearsal dinner and the kids played in the river. The Dad has a brother that is 17 years younger than he is, so I actually have cousins who are around the same age as the Nephews and Niece. It was such an awesome sight to see the Nephews and Niece playing outdoors and just being kids. No electronics, just good old dirt, water, and imaginations!

They had some cute things at the wedding, one of them being a "Smore Love" station that had the ingredients for smores to be made when the bonfire was lit after the wedding. Sexy Husband and I got a picture near it before it was lit!

I have not taken too many pictures during this pregnancy so I definitely wanted one from the wedding to remember both events.

I had to capture this picture of The Parents because it shows them pretty true to form. The Mom will probably fuss that I posted it because of The Dad but it is a classic picture: The Dad misbehaving and The Mom scolding! Ha!

The actual wedding day was a beautiful, clear day and the heat was not at all bad, of course, we were in the mountains! The Niece looked super cute in her dress and korker ribbon bows. I caught this picture of her cutting her eyes at her Uncle Sexy Husband before the ceremony started.

It was The Dad's youngest sister who was the Mother of the Bride. I do not really look like either of The Parents but actually look more like this aunt. She looked absolutely gorgeous on the wedding day and I just hope that I look half as good when Baby Girl gets married!

The bride herself was beautiful and it was a simple but lovely ceremony. The oldest nephew (who is Catholic) joked how he was glad it was a Baptist ceremony and not a Catholic ceremony because it would be short. Ha! That kid cracks me up sometimes.


One of the young boys in the wedding came up the aisle with a "Last Chance to Run" sign and the groom's running shoes which was too cute.

Though the best part of the ceremony was the baby skunks. Yes I said skunks! Due to some ground leveling that had happened to the area near the ceremony a mama skunk had been accidentally killed and the babies were left on their own to wander the area. Luckily none of them sprayed during the ceremony but we could see them waddling around in the distance. It was kinda funny!

The reception was fun and my family definitely knows how to have a good time! They all danced and laughed. As with most weddings, I think we had more fun than the bride and groom because we got to party while they had to make the rounds and greet/thank everyone! We did not get to really see them much but it was still a great visit with everybody else :) 

 And this last photo is of me and my grandmother being photo bombed by none other than Sexy Husband!

Next I will tell about the awesome surprise, impromptu baby shower they threw me!

Until next time...

Hardwood and Hard Working Parents/Friends

So we had to do a few things to the house to make it "livable" mainly for my allergies.

One big demolition part was the wall between the dining room and kitchen. It really needed to come down to make the space more open and that is one of the first things we did! The Dad is great at this type of thing and so we did not have to hire a contractor we did not know. I put a picture of the before, middle and after of The Dad's awesome wall removal. He has done a kazillion other things in the new house but this was one of the first major projects!


Upon removing the carpet, we were excited to find that half of the house (the hall and bedrooms) had existing hardwood floors. Unfortunately we think that the electric stapler had just been invented when they put the carpets in back in the 60's because there was 400,000 staples that we had to pull out of the hardwood. By we, I mainly mean, The Mom!

She sat on her bottom for days pulling staples from the floor. I will never be able to express my thanks enough for just that but then she went on to hand stain and polyurethane the floors after The Dad sanded them! 
This picture of the nursery shows what a fantastic job she did! She and The Dad saved us a lot of money by re-finishing our floors while we were on vacation. (It had to be done while I was gone because of fumes)

The rest of the house (living room, kitchen/dining room, and den) needed flooring. We decided to go with bamboo because it is very durable, even more durable than most hardwoods, and it is a greener choice because bamboo replenishes much faster than trees. We were able to get a great deal at Lumber Liquidators and saved more money by installing it ourselves! (plus a few friends!) I have put together two before and after pictures of the living room and den. Also there is a collage of the work put into the floors and yes this pregnant woman definitely handled the power tools! Baby Girl will be very familiar with the sound of power tools by the time she arrives!

I did not get a picture of The Dad helping with the floors but he actually did quite a bit, including the last few rows in each room that had to be hand drilled because the air-nailer would not fit!

But now thanks to many friends and my fantastic family we have beautiful restored hardwoods and new bamboo floors in the house!

Until next time...