A Quick (okay, really long) Game of Catch Up

Hey there, followers!
I haven't blogged in a very long time, compared to the weekly updates I was doing throughout my pregnancy.
These last few months have flown by. Let me try to catch you up.
September flew by and I enjoyed every second of it with Mia (and Sean, of course).

Then, in October, Terra came out for a visit.

After she went back home, Mia and I spent the month trying to get into a normal routine. It was tough trying to get her naps timed right with Sean's work schedule. Long story short, we have it worked out that she and I wake up around 5 or 6 (7 on a lucky day) in the morning and migrate to the living room couch. She eats, and we snuggle on the couch and go back to sleep for a few hours. We get up and get going when Sean wakes up. Eat again then nap after he leaves for work. During this nap, I get as much done around the house as I can. Then she wakes up, eats again, and we play until she starts getting cranky. At this point, she eats right before I cook dinner, she naps while I make dinner, then she wakes up in time to see Dad on his lunch break. Then it's more playing until bath time. After bath we wind down with the lights turned low and just chill out together until she decides to go to sleep. Sometimes I'll throw in a movie for my own entertainment but I'm trying to get out of the habit of always having the TV on (more on that later in the post). She still wakes up a few times at night to eat (especially when Dad gets home from work...the great thing is, she always wakes up happy to see him), but she's good about staying asleep while I'm sleeping, so it works for me. Then we start the cycle over!
Hm. Maybe that wasn't the shortest story. Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, October.

First Bath!

 Sean and Mia napping at Grandma Cindy's house.

 Mia just chilling with Mommy.

 She sleeps in funny positions sometimes :P

I caught a half smile while she was slightly falling over.

Halloween!

Then November came and went. I don't even really remember what all happened so here are a few pictures to sum it up.

1st of November

One of her first smiles captured on camera

Sean making a lovely face (ha) and Mia in an outfit her Great-Grandmom Jacki made for her. (How special!?)

"I know I'm cute, but look at what's happening over there, Mom!"

This picture cracks me up. I left her for a minute while I went to the bathroom and when I came back she had scooted all the way down, her dress rode up, and she kicked her blanket down to reveal her bright socks. Love It!!

Lazy Sunday morning with Mom

Toward the end of November. She sure has grown!

Playing with her elephant.

"Mom-Chair"

Now it's the end of December. Mia is coming up on 4 months old (holy crap!). She's trying so hard to sit up on her own these days (but she's not quite there yet). She is very wiggly (especially during diaper changes). She is growing like a weed (I'm pretty sure all babies do that, though). She has become a very chatty little girl. I can hold a conversation with her better than some of the people my own age (it helps that she always seems to agree with what I'm saying with a cute little "cooo"). She is a very smiley baby. She is always grinning or laughing at something or someone.
Here is a recent picture of her:

Her first Christmas went well. We slept in as a family until about 11 or so. We opened presents; Mia got lots of clothes and toys as well as a little spending money (that she won't get to spend for quite a while...Don't worry, I'm hanging on to it for her :P). Sean got a few new video games (really, he bought them for himself during the black Friday sales but we decided they count as Christmas presents). I got a super cute scarf, gloves, and some great lipstick from my sister and some spending money. Honestly, aside from the gifts, it felt like any other day. We didn't have a big dinner (we actually just ate lunch at Sonic on our way to Sean's parents house). We didn't get together with the family (because my side lives too far away now :( and his side was mostly sick). We did hang out with his Dad and step-mom but it was like every other Sunday visit.
BUT, Mia and I did get to see Santa earlier in the week, and I think that makes up for not having a huge Christmas bash this year.

The poor kid looks so tired in this picture. She missed her afternoon nap that day.

I have a lot more to add, but I'll have to do it later because someone is up from her nap and she does not like it that I'm paying attention to the computer instead of her.

So long for now!

My Life With A Newborn

It's been a whole week since Mia was born, can you believe it?! Time really flies when your days and nights are completely jumbled together :) Surprisingly enough, I can function fairly well on almost no sleep.

Mia had her first doctor's appointment today. She weighs 7lbs now and is still 20 inches long. (Which means we're both doing really well as far as breast feeding goes. I had a bit of a fear that she wasn't getting enough to eat and I'd have to give her formula. I'm so glad that we've gotten the hang of nursing.) The doctor says she looks healthy, happy, and extremely loved. Unless we have any problems, she goes back in a month for her next check up. Not that I had any doubts, but it's really nice to hear that I'm doing a good job as a mommy from her doctor. (Okay, maybe I had a teeny tiny fear that I wouldn't be a good mommy, but Sean says that's just because it's something I really want to succeed at). Anyway...

Everyone was right; having a baby changes everything. Now, my days goes about like this...
I go to sleep around 11pm. Sean is awake while I sleep and plays on the computer; if Mia decides she doesn't want to sleep after I feed her, she'll hang out on his lap while he plays....if not, she sleeps in her bassinet. She is usually hungry every 2 or 3 hours so I get up around 1 or 2 to change and feed her then I go back to bed for another 2 or 3 hours of sleep. Sean usually comes to bed before I get up a second time around 4 or 5. Once I get up this time, I usually stay up (hence why I'm writing this blog entry at 6:30). Mia gets changed, has breakfast, and goes back to sleep (lucky ducky). Then I grab something for breakfast and either play on the computer or zone out to the TV until Sean wakes up. Once in a while, I'll fall asleep on the couch but for the most part, whatever sleep I got during the night is enough to keep me going for a while. From there, I don't really have much of a routine. Mia wakes up when she's hungry, I change her diaper before I feed her, and when I'm done feeding her she usually goes back to sleep. Occasionally she'll stay awake after she eats and make faces at me, but most of the time she just sleeps, eats, and poops. Sean helps out when he can, but since he can't feed her there's not a whole lot he can do. He helps around the apartment, brings me water and food when I've got my hands full with the baby, and listens to my craziness when the hormone monster attacks :P He's also our chauffeur since I'm not allowed to drive (I've been taking pain killers and driving under the influence isn't my style). He's really excited for her to start staying awake longer so they can play together. :)
I could probably sleep a lot more than I do...but after I feed her I have a habit of sitting on the couch with her sleeping in my arms. I lose track of time and by the time I realize I could have gone to bed and gotten some sleep, it's about time for her to wake up again. I would never take my eyes off her if I had the choice.
All in all, life is really great. I love Mia more than I ever thought I could love anyone. I'm not quite sure how I lived my life without her because it seems so complete now that she's in it.

 She makes silly faces at me already...

And she sleeps in the funniest positions. :P

Quick pictures and videos

Here are some pictures and videos I've taken of Mia. Enjoy!

Birthday Party!!

I bet you're all excited to hear my story (probably not as excited as I am to tell it lol). Here we go!
P.S. Unless you have a strong stomach, don't eat while you read this. I'm going to go into detail for my lovely family because they can't be here with me :(

Yesterday morning I had a doctor's appointment at 9:45am. I asked my doctor to strip my membranes seeing as it was my due date and I really wanted to get things going. She happily obliged. Once that was done she sent me home with the usual....go to labor and delivery when my contractions are at least a minute long, 5 minutes apart, and consistent for an hour; if they start taking my breath away or I can't walk/talk through them; or if my water breaks.
Well, pretty much as soon as I got home I was having contractions that were about 5-10 minutes apart but weren't too consistent. They were a little painful but nothing I couldn't handle.
Sean was scheduled to work from 2:30 to 11:30pm. Since they weren't consistent enough to worry about (and my doctor said to expect some cramping because she was "aggressive" during the procedure) I told Sean to go ahead and go to work but come home during lunch and we would re-evaluate then. Basically, he could take his 2 week leave any time he wanted, but he didn't have the option to miss a day and go back if there was a false alarm. You can imagine the extra stress that caused me. I didn't want to go in if it wasn't time.
Fast forward a few hours....
Around 4 I decided I wanted to take a nap but I was in too much pain with my contractions (still) to fall asleep. I texted Sean and let him know what was going on but not to come home until his lunch break at 6:30 because I still wasn't sure if this was IT.
By the time he got home, I was pretty certain that it was time to head to the hospital. He ate a quick dinner while I finished packing our overnight bag. I gave the cat some love and extra food and water and we headed out the door.

When we got to the hospital they kept me in Triage for about 2 hours.
First, I was dilated to about 3 1/2 cm but I had keytones (sp?) in my urine. [[I was told that meant my body had used up all of it's stored sugars and was now using fat reserves for energy which can cause painful contractions.]] This tidbit of info about broke my heart. The first thing that came to mind was "Oh great, because I haven't felt well enough to eat today I'm having false labor pains and Sean has already started his time off. Crap." The nurse gave me apple juice, Sprite, and graham crackers to try to get my levels back to normal. As soon as I drank the apple juice I started feeling nauseous so I couldn't even touch my Sprite. After an hour, the nurse checked me and said I had dilated to a full 4cm. She called my doctor and since I was having painful contractions, albeit still not super consistent, they told her to keep me in Triage for another hour and they'd reevaluate then.
Fast forward an hour. No change but still in pain. They decided to admit me!!

I have my own room with a pull out bed for Sean. He says it's super uncomfortable so I told him tonight I want him to go home and sleep in our bed so he's well rested for when baby and I come home (plus, I feel bad that Ashes is home alone).
Around 11:00pm my nurse asked if the contractions were very painful...ie if I wanted an epidural so I could get some sleep. I said yes please! The anesthesiologist showed up around midnight and got right to work. I was expecting a lot more pain considering there was a needle being shoved in my back. It was uncomfortable but not too bad. The triage nurse putting in the IV hurt worse, actually. (But she wasn't the most gentle at any of the things she did...)
Once that lovely epidural started to take hold, I felt instantly better. In fact, my contractions started to get closer together (which apparently isn't too common....go me!) I ended up not being able to fall asleep until close to 5, and even then as soon as I started to fall asleep my stupid blood pressure monitor would kick on and wake me up. Ugh. It's okay, though. I got a few patches of sleep within 2 hours or so and I actually do feel rather rested this morning (oddly enough).

And now it's morning. My nurse called my doctor around 6:00am and asked her if she should start Pitocin (the contraction causing medicine). Doc said go for it, and it was so. It officially got started around 6:30am.
Then, my doctor came in around 8:00am. She broke my water (haha it was funny, as soon as she said I'm going to break your water Sean woke up immediately :P) and upped my dose of Pitocin. She also put an internal monitor under the baby's head to monitor my contractions (apparently they're more accurate). I was dilated to about 5cm at that point and the nurses said they'll be in every hour or two to check on me. Since it's a little after 9:00am now I'm half expecting them to come in any time.
Oh, did I mention my doctor says we'll probably be having a birthday party around noon unless I progress faster!? Because that's the plan!

So, to update my current status in a few final words....
I'm numb from the waist down (and it's the weirdest feeling ever to barely be able to move my legs). I'm really hungry but I have to stick to ice chips....which isn't too bad. I really like ice. I've got internet access (obviously), my cell phone, and cable tv to entertain me while I wait. My water is broken and I'm sitting in a big puddle of it (which isn't that bad since I can't feel it :P) Everything is looking good and, according to my doctor, my only job at this point is to continue dilating.

Sorry I don't have a final pregnancy picture. I have a few that Sean took when they gave me the medicine to relax before my epidural...but I'm not going to post them on here because my computer battery is about to die. Stay tuned to see them eventually though, I looked high as a kite lol.

To my family: I love you all and I wish you could be here...to see Mia when she decides to make her grand arrival. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of her too :P

Wish me luck, this is it!!

39 weeks and post #100!

Check this out! I'm officially 39 weeks pregnant today AND this is my 100th post.
So on that note, here's what's new:

I went to the doctor today. She says my vitals look good, I haven't gained any weight in the past week, and she's surprised she didn't see me this weekend but I have made progress.
I'm 3cm dilated and 75% effaced. I guess the contractions that almost sent me to the hospital Sunday night did some good. (Oh, I didn't tell you? I had contractions that were about 4 1/2 minutes apart lasting 30 seconds or so for about 2 hours on Sunday night. Since they weren't painful, I figured they must not have been the real thing. Darn.)
Every week, the doctor asks me if I've been feeling the baby move quite a bit still. Normally, she's all over the place doing rolls and jabs and pokes and whatnot. This morning, however, I didn't feel her at all before my appointment. I didn't really think anything of it because I'm usually not awake that early so I figured she was probably just sleeping in like we usually do. I let the doctor know I hadn't felt her yet today, but she's moved quite a bit before today. She ended up hooking me up to monitors just to be safe. I had one monitor on my belly that measured any contractions I was having, one that listened to her heartbeat, and one in my hand with a button I pushed every time I felt her move. She left me there for about 20 minutes while the machine printed out a record of her heartbeat and my contractions (speaking of which, I was having small contractions the whole time and didn't even know it!). Turns out, Mia was fine. Like I had assumed, she was just napping or being lazy this morning.

Since I only have a week left until my due date, my doctor and I have discussed induction (just in case she decides to be late). I told her I really don't want to be induced because I've heard and read so many horror stories about the process (not to mention, if it doesn't work there's a strong chance I'll have to have a C-section...which is definitely one of the last things I want). We decided that going a week over my due date wouldn't be the end of the world (assuming, of course, that Mia is still doing well at that point). She scheduled a 5:00AM induction for September 21st (which puts me at 41 weeks and 1 day).
Of course, she is completely convinced that I will have Mia on my own way before then. She was even so bold as to say she thinks I'll have her before my next appointment, which is on my due date (a week from today, for those who aren't keeping track).

I'm still trying to get my head around the concept that this pregnancy is almost over. It feels like it's never ending. The idea of having a baby in my arms within (a maximum of) 2 weeks is such a crazy concept. Obviously, it's what I've been waiting for the last 9 (10) months....maybe the incredibly long wait is what makes it surreal still. Who knows.

Anyway. Now that I've gotten you all up to date, here are some pictures I took today. I'm not sure if I'm getting any bigger or not any more. I would have to assume so, considering how much I eat every day :P What do you think?

 Here's mommy, big and puffy :P

 Notice she's sitting significantly lower than the past?

Oh, and here's a side view. Yep. Quite large indeed. 

Perhaps these will be some of the last pictures of me while I'm pregnant. 

Cross your fingers!

38 Weeks and Still Pregnant.

Alright. So I know that most pregnancies go to 40 weeks (and a lot of first pregnancies will go over that!) but I'm starting to get just a little impatient.
Like I'm sure I've stated before, my mom had me at 38 weeks. I'm really hoping I follow in her footsteps. Then again, the more I think about it, the less I think it's going to happen.
Maybe I should just quit thinking for a while. :P

I wish I had something else to do to prepare myself. I feel like I've made and remade her bed a dozen times. I've folded and organized her cloths over and over. I've spent hours scrubbing floors and vacuuming every little crevice in my apartment. It's getting to the point where I want to try giving the cat a haircut because I get so bored just waiting around all day. (Then again, that little voice of reason in my head is telling me not to try. It'll be too dangerous :P)

Oh well. Yesterday, at the end of my appointment, my doctor casually mentioned that if I have the baby this weekend she is the doctor on call and hopefully she'll see me then. I think I'll go ahead and take that as a sign that she knows something I don't. Ha!
Anyway. I'm done being chatty, I'm going to go clean out the fridge and make my lovely husband and I lunch before he has to go to work.

Here's a couple pictures of me at 38 weeks (38 weeks and 1 day, technically. I took them yesterday.)

 This one shows that she's moved down a little bit more since last week (I think so, at least...either that or my belly button has moved up!)

And here's my side view.
See you next week....
Unless I have a baby before then!

37 Weeks

Hey guys! Sorry I missed week 36...it just got away from me somehow.
Anyway, things are still looking excellent. Mia is head down and still growing at a good rate. My blood pressure is awesome, I'm gaining the right amount of weight, and I'm not too uncomfortable (most days)....yeah. Everything looks good. I scrubbed my bathroom walls and floor yesterday, vacuumed every crevice I could find the day before, and have been obsessively folding and refolding baby clothes and blankets...today I'm going to unpack and repack my hospital bag because I have nothing else to do and I have to be doing something! :P I guess that means I'm nesting. I'm not sure if I'm nesting because the baby is coming soon or because I want her to come soon haha!

Here are my 37 week pictures::

Holy big baby!! :P

Tough Morning

So I was going to post something quick about this on FaceBook but I decided I don't want the people who live here in Oklahoma to read it and I don't think they read my blog. If they do....hi guys! Sorry you had to join in on the pity party and sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining....but I am, so deal with it or quit reading now.

It's obvious that I'm home sick. I've been home sick since the day I moved here. Normally it's not too bad, but this month there are quite a few birthdays in my family. This means they're having lots of fun get togethers with everyone and, for the first time in my life, I'm not there to celebrate with them. It's funny. When you do the same thing every year (ie going to grandma's house to celebrate my sister and grandma's birthday with dinner, cake, and ice cream) you kind of stop realizing what a special event it is. Now that I'm half way across the country, I realize just how special this time with family is and it makes me so sad that I can't be there. My mom called me and left a message on my phone (because I never hear my phone when it rings lol) telling me how my sister came over and my other grandma was visiting. She happened to mention how much she's missing me and how it would have been fun if I were there to celebrate birthdays with them.  Even missing out on a night of snacks and conversation with my mom and grandma makes me sad. It's not nearly the same as talking on the phone (which I do with everyone in my family quite often).

Anyway. That's my sad story of the day. It makes it extra hard when everyone tells me how much they miss me and how often they're thinking of me, wishing I was there. It's also extra hard that my family here in Oklahoma (Sean's parents, brother, uncles, cousins, etc) don't really get together the way my family does. Sure, we're over at his parents' house every weekend to do laundry (I HATE not having my own washer and dryer). But I would hardly call that spending time with them. Most of the time, they're doing their thing and we're doing ours (watching tv, reading, playing on the computer, etc). Their extended family doesn't really get together very often either. (Which is really weird to me because Sean's aunt, uncle, and one of his cousins lives next door to his parents). I'm not sure if they just don't get along or if they're just not the "get togther" type of family.
All I know is when my aunt, uncles, cousins, or whoever are in town it's a BIG deal and we always make sure to get together.

I think I tried to finish my "sad story" and then I kept going. Oh well. I'm really done now. I'm gonna go find some lunch and call my mommy back.
Wish me luck holding back the tears while I'm talking.

35 Weeks.

So 35 weeks down, 5 to go....that is assuming little Mia decides to come on her due date.
I have a feeling that she might decide to come a bit earlier than that, though. My mom's mom delivered her 2 babies early (according to my mom, at least) and my mom delivered my sister and I about 2 weeks early as well.
I'm not sure if it's actually hereditary or if it's just coincidence, but if she decides to join us a week or 2 early I won't complain. (Watch, I'm announcing to everyone that I swear she's going to come early and she'll probably end up coming a week late. lol! BUT I was right about my gut feeling that she was a girl before I had the ultrasound to prove it, so you never know!)

Anyway, I forgot to mention last week that I had my baby shower. It was...an interesting day. That's probably the best way to put it. I'll be honest, even though it was totally generous of my friend to let me share her baby shower, I wasn't completely looking forward to it. I just kept thinking "what's going to be fun about a party where I'm not going to know more than 3 or 4 people there?" Well....I was kind of right. I didn't know more than 4 people (I knew Jen, the other girl who's pregnant, her sister in law Sarah, their friend AJ (I met her once before and she's really nice), and my mother-in-law Cindy. Sean's aunt and cousin didn't show up. They didn't bother returning my phone calls or emails asking if they wanted to come. Whatever....I don't talk to them much anyway.
But everyone at the party was really nice. A few of Jen's guests even got me little gifts (which I was TOTALLY not expecting!!). Sarah gave me a TON of her daughter's old clothes, and a super cute nursing pillow (which I already use for naps and watching movies...it's SO comfy. I got a few super nice blankets and other little things.
I didn't think to take too many pictures during the shower, but I did take a few. I'll post them below.
OH yeah. The shower was held in an non-air conditioned hallway at the Oklahoma City Capitol building. It was like 106 degrees that day, so you can imagine how nasty and sweaty everyone got by the time we finished opening presents. I felt bad but everyone left early because it was so hot lol. That's okay...there wasn't much time to eat so I got lots of leftovers :P

Anyway. This week I realized I've started nesting quite a bit. I keep feeling weird urges to go through all of the baby supplies in the closet and re-pack the diaper bag; I've been doing the same thing with her clothes...no matter how I organize them, I keep wanting to go through them all and refold them. lol!

So...yeah. That's my little update for now. Here are the pictures!

This is the snack table. Punch, apples and caramel, cookies, and cake. Yum!

 Here's a close-up of the cake. As you probably know, I'm doing everything Winnie the Pooh. Jen is doing everything Little Mermaid. Cute, right?

 Here's the gift table. I was so so so surprised that a few were actually for me. lol

 Haha I was so proud that I made bottle-shaped sugar cookies. They were so yummy.

 This is how many people actually showed up on time. (haha) A few more came late. It was a rather small party..

 And here's a picture of everything I got spoiled with at the shower. I'm so excited to be able to wrap my baby in the super soft blankets. :)

 Oh yeah. Here's my latest picture. 35 weeks! 

People keep telling me that I'm carrying her low....and yet my poor ribs are always taking a beating. What does it look like to you? Honestly, I think I'm carrying her all over. I don't have a very long torso so I think the poor little thing is starting to really run out of room! 

I do know one thing for sure...she likes to hang out on the left side more than the right. (I'm all lopsided when I look down! :P)

 

Well, that's that. See you next week!!