Friday, December 19, 2008




Merry Christmas everyone!! This wiill be my last post for a couple of weeks. My sister is going to be in town from AZ until after the new year. It has been 5 months since we have seen her... and this will be the first time she gets to meet Brock! She was there with me on the webcam during labor and shortly after delivering Brock. They "talk" on the webcam every once in a while too :-) We're so excited for the two of them to meet one another!

Anyway, we hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a safe and happy new year.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

I need a personal assistant!

Phew! I feel like its been forever since I had a minute to myself. Since I started working I have had a really hard time getting anything done around the house. Some days I really think I need to hire a personal assistant. I don't think I've gone grocery shopping since before Thanksgiving. I haven't done laundry in FOREVER. Spike's been helping a lot with the laundry - thank God! I just haven't gotten around to folding it and putting it away.

It is so hard juggling being a professional, a mom, and a wife. I'm exhausted, yet I feel like I don't get anything done! Brock is such a good baby, but now that he's awake more often, I feel like I need to entertain him all the time. I'm so tired by the time I'm done working, I don't have the energy to cook, clean, or play mom & wife. I just don't. I hope it gets easier!

Wow... ok, pitty party over! Did you see how many times I used "I"

So we finally got our Christmas cards done! What a chore. We sent out 100 cards, and were up til almost midnight stuffing, stamping, and labeling our envelopes! But it was fun.

Brock's been sleeping soooooooo well this week. He's been going to bed between 8:30pm & 9:30pm and stays asleep until about 4:30/5am! Now I've got to make sure I'm in bed soon after him! I've been staying up until 11pm to either spend some time with Spike, clean a little, or read my book.

We have an appointment tomorrow. His 2 month appointment. I think he might get his fist set of shots tomorrow... My poor baby is going to hate me! He's a trooper though, so hopefully he handles it well!

Alright, I've gotta get going. Brock is with my sister-in-law today. I miss my little munchkin! Today is the longest we've been apart :-( Waaa!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Realizing your blessings

Its really sad that it sometimes takes a persons death to remind us how truly blessed we are. Spike and I attended a memorial service for the wife of a family friend. She was pregnant with their first child and developed H.E.L.L.P. syndrome in the 3rd trimester of her pregnancy. The only cure was to deliver the baby. She gave birth to their daughter on November 7, 2008. From what we heard, she only saw the baby for 20 minutes. There were some complications which resulted in a medically induced coma. In her last few days of life, her system started shutting down. She passed last week.

We were at the funeral home for a good two hours last night. I was totally fine when we got there, but the longer we stayed, all of the pictures in the room, and the woman's mother holding her new granddaughter really got a hold of my heart strings. When I saw her mom holding the baby, she was staring at the baby so deeply - almost as if she was looking for the little girl she just lost, but trying so hard to hold on to her daughter's memory by memorizing her granddaughters face - I got pretty emotional. We were talking to the baby's fathers mom and she was saying how there weren't any pictures of the mom holding her new baby. The only picture they had was one of grandma holding the baby next to the moms bed. You can only see part of the moms face in the picture. So sad :-( Thankfully I was sitting by myself when my emotions got to me and I wasn't standing with the group of people that Spike and his sister were standing with. All that I wanted to do was leave and go give my baby a million kisses.

Its sad that it took the death of someone for me to realize that I am so blessed to have had a healthy pregnancy and delivery. I thank God for Brock every single day, but my love for him has become so much deeper. So much so, that I can't believe I didn't love him this deeply from the beginning. I know that sounds harsh because I really love Brock, but somehow, something changed for me last night.

Ugh... I'm getting emotional just thinking about it again. I had a really hard time sleeping last night. I could not stop praying. I think I prayed for an hour straight! For my family, for my friends, for this new little baby girl who will never meet her mommy, and for her dad. May he find the strength to raise his little girl to carry her mother's legacy.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Merry Christmas! Love, Brock!!

Sorry the video is kind of dark, but I HAD to post this!!!

Story time and a cute observation

So most nights, either Spike or myself read a book to Brock before bedtime. Well we noticed that if he starts getting fussy before we start reading, he'll calm down as soon as we open a book and start reading! Then, the last two times we read to him he actually fell asleep (like a deep sleep, out for the night kind of sleep) as soon as we finished the book! How cute! He loves story time! He doesn't look at the book yet, but he stops fussing and wiggling around, so I assume he's listening! :-)

We also noticed that Brock started rubbing his eyes when he's tired and ready for bed! I guess I assumed this was a learned behavior, but neither one of us do it! It is the cutest thing ever!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Quick family update

Sorry I don't have time to post a long update, but we've been sort of MIA in the blog world in the last two weeks. After my dad came to visit, I came down with a cold. Brock caught it by the end of the week and the week after that, Spike caught it. Brock had it pretty bad because he couldn't blow his nose. So needless to say there was lots of sneezing, flying snot, and a nasty cough that broke my heart. He's feeling so much better now!

We enjoyed our very first Thanksgiving as a new family with both of our families. We started at Spike's family's house for lunch, then headed to my mom's for dinner. Brock looked so cute. We had him dressed in the cutest sweater vest and khaki pants. He looked like a little man!


Here are all of my nieces and nephews with Brock! So cute!!



The day after Thanksgiving Brock and I went to my sister-in-law's house for our annual all-day cookie baking day! While its always a hoot, this year ended up being 12 hours long! The longest yet! And the funny thing is that we thought we had a plan put in place to make the day not be as long... obviously the plan was a little flawed!




Anyway, my other sister-in-law was there with her son too. Everything was going great until he got mad that he couldn't have candy, and chucked a toy at our niece (who was holding Brock at the time). Well, the toy happened to hit Brock straight in the face! My poor baby boy! He's ok and didn't even bruise.

So, on to yesterday's ordeal... I was getting ready for my 6 week check up. I had Brock hanging out with me on our bed. I stood up and propped some pillows up around him so he wouldn't fall while I went across the hall to get his bouncy seat... well out of nowhere our cat jumped up on our bed (he was hyper so he came flying from the living room). He managed to jump over Brock, but his back paw got caught on Brock's cheek. He scratched him pretty bad. I freaked out! I pressed a towel to his face to stop the bleeding and called the pediatrician. Since he is so little, they wanted to take a look at him ASAP. Spike came home from work and we took him to the doctor. She looked at it and was concerned with how deep it was. The scratch is about an inch long right next to his lips. So anyway, the doctor came in and looked at it, then had another pediatrician come in to take a look... then they referred us to a plastic surgeon. They felt that if any intervention were to take place, it would be best if a plastic surgeon took care of it. So off we went. The plastic surgeon looked at it and felt that it wasn't deep enough to require stitches or any tape. All we have to do is apply neosporin once a day until it heals. He said that babies heal really fast, so it is highly unlikely to have a visible scar. All I have to say about yesterday is that my son is tougher than nails. Not anything like the saying "tough as nails" because he really is tougher! He was smiling away within minutes, while I was sitting there bawling my eyes out!

So... all in all... I've proven to be a bad mother in the last two weeks. I gave my son a nasty cold, couldn't protect him from a flying toy, and allowed our cat to scratch his face :-( I think I need to start going to church. I have no clue how I am going to handle Brock getting any more serious injuries or illnesses. I've been a mess. I need to become a much stronger woman to raise a boy.

Wow. This ended up being a lot longer than I planned. Sorry! Its nice to get it all out! Brock is sound asleep in daddy's arms!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

He rolled over!!!!

Yeah! You read that right!!! Brock rolled over last night for the 1st time! I read that this doesn't happen until a baby is 4-6 months... Brock is 5 weeks old! Maybe it wa an accident, but he did it and I'm counting it! I put him down on his belly for tummy-time and within a few minutes, he lifted his head and looked around. Then he rolled onto his side! I had a feeling he was going to roll onto his back, so I woke Spike up from his nap so he wouldn't miss it. Within a minute Brock rolled onto his back!! We could NOT believe it!!!

Another huge milestone that happened yesterday is visual tracking. I had Brock in his boppy lounger on the floor changing his diaper. Spike came over and was standing behind me talking to Brock. When he was done he started walking around our coffee table, and Brock followed him with his eyes all the way to the couch! Totally crazy!!

On a side note, Brock has his 1st cold and it is breaking my heart. My nephew came over last weekend and I didn't know he was sick. Long story short, I caught the cold and passed it to Brock. His nose is so stuffy. Since yesterday he's been sneezing out bloody snot. I called the nurse at the doctors office and she said the blood could be from broken capillaries from the force of sneezing. She also said it could be dryness in his nose. He's had his humidifier on in his room since Sunday night, and I bought a new one for the living room. I also have to put saline drops in his nose and suck out some snot with a ball syringe before each feeding. He doesn't like those so much. I hope he starts feeling better soon.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Wiggle-worm!

Last night when I put Brock to sleep, he was parallel to his crib. When I went in his room to give him his night time feeding, he was totally perpendicular to the crib! I couldn't believe that he wiggled his way to be sideways! And to top that off, he was still swaddled! I don't know how it didn't come undone. Pretty soon he's going to roll over in his sleep and wake up on his belly! YIKES! I should probably get him one of those pillow wedges!

Baby's 1st bath!

So up until yesterday I gave Brock sponge baths. I was too scared to use his little bath tub. Well last night Spike and I gave Brock his 1st bubble bath! LOL! He was fussy at first, but he liked it :-) He was so slippery! Anyway, here are a few pictures (I'm sure he'll thank me for this later!).




Friday, November 14, 2008

One month old!!


Wow! That's all I can say! WOW! I cannot believe that we have had Brock for one month already! We've made it!!! LOL. He is doing well and getting bigger every single day :-( That makes me sad! In the last week or so, Brock has started to find his voice! His coo's are soooooo adorable! Sometimes when he starts, I start talking to him and it almost feels like we're having a conversation! I love it! He's also started gripping things. For about 2 weeks he grabs my hair and my necklace. But in the last day or two I've found him grabbing his pacifier (whether its in his mouth or close to him).

On a side note, I went to the gym the other night and walked the treadmill for like 45 minutes! I haven't been cleared by my doctor to start working out, but I figured walking was harmless. I was a little uncomfortable about half way through, but I pushed through it. While I felt like the lamest person in the gym (because everyone around me was running and I was walking at a speed of 2.0), I felt AMAZING afterwards! LOL. So yesterday I went to Old Navy and bought a ton of sweat pants and tank tops for working out! I couldn't resist! Everything was on sale! I love sales!!!

Spike started working 10 hour days, 4 days a week so that he could be home with Brock and I on Fridays for a few weeks :-) YAY! I'm excited cause I get to make him help me with the chores today!!! He's going to be sorry that he decided to stay home!

Well, have a great weekend guys!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Busy, busy, busy!

Yikes! Sorry I haven't put a new post up in a while. We've been pretty busy around here! Last week, Brock and I went to a dinner party at one of my girlfriends house. We got to meet 2 new babies!! When I was pregnant with Brock, 3 other close friends of mine were also pregnant. 3 of us have had our babies, and we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby Madison, making her debut in January!!! Here's a picture of the gang from the other night:


This weekend, Brock got to meet his grandpa, my dad! Here are a few pictures of them!






HE DID IT!!!!! Spike changed his first diaper last night!! It was a wet one, not a dirty one! He did a great job :-) I was so excited! Ahh, the small things that make me happy! LOL!

Today was an extremely busy day! I woke up early because we had a nurse coming here to take some blood samples from me for our life insurance. I had to get up and straighten up the house. My appt was at 11am, but thankfully she called at 10am and said her last appt finished sooner than she thought. I was excited because I had to fast since yesterday evening... so needless to say, I was starving!!

After she left I had to jump in the shower real quick because Spike's aunt came over with her daughter and my sister-in-law's son. So we got to visit with family for a little while today.

Then I had to get started on dinner. I'm making a Paula Dean pot roast recipe. I realized I didn't have any onions, so I had to run to the store with Brock. I was freaking out because he was supposed to wake up from his nap for his next feeding when we left, but thankfully he slept until we got home... and then some!!! His super long nap, let me go get some groceries, come home and clean the kitchen, and get the roast in the oven!! I feel soooo accomplished today!!! Oh! And I even started talking to my supervisor about coming back to work... which I cannot believe is right around the corner - Dec. 1st to be exact. I'm sad, but I'm incredibly anxious. I hate being out of the loop! Hopefully my transition back to work is smooth.

OMG!!!! I almost forgot! The coolest thing happened this weekend! I caught my beautiful niece taking her first steps on video! It was a sweet moment because, as most of you know, my youngest sister moved to Arizona this summer. Well, we had her on the webcam that night so she could see my dad and talk to all of us and the kids. So she got to see Lenna taking her first steps when we did!! I've gotten into the habit of taking my laptop to my mom's house when all of us are there so my youngest sister can see all of the kids. Its nice cause they all take the laptop and hang out with her for a few minutes! Well, here's the video:

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

3 weeks old!!!



I cant believe Brock is already 3 weeks old!! So crazy!
Look at that SMILE!!!

Since I'm a huge slacker and can never get pictures up on the day I need to, yesterday was election day! What a historic day for our country. Thankfully I didn't have to wait in line to vote!! I was going to take Brock with me, but my mom ended up coming over in the morning to watch him so I could go vote. I had Spike take this picture of Brock with my "I voted" sticker so we could put it in his scrapbook :-)


Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!

I didn't get a chance to post this last night, but here is Brock in his little Halloween outfit.



We didn't get him a costume this year, but this was just too cute! We went to the hospital to visit his grandpa Russ who had surgery that morning, then came home and passed out candy! My sister-in-law came over with her husband and their son so we could see him in his costume! So cute! He was a pit crew member. Then my mom came over to hang out with us for a little while like she does every Halloween!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

2 weeks old! My chunky monkey!


So my little man is 2 weeks old (yesterday)! We had his 2 week appointment today with the pediatrician. She is so cute. I found out today that she is from Chile, so of course she spoke Spanish to me the whole time! LOL! She kept saying that I HAVE to talk to Brock in Spanish. She also said that we have to talk Spanish at the next appointment! YIKES! That makes me nervous :-) LOL!

Brock had little lumps under his nipples, so I asked the Dr about it because I was concerned. She kind of giggled, told me NOT to tell Spike, and squeezed Brock's nipples... um... did you know that babies can produce Colostrum? For those that don't know, that's the "pre-milk" that mothers make in their breasts before real milk comes in! So she sqeezed most of the colostrum out of him and the lumps went away! She told me not to do that at home because it will go away on its own. She just helped the process along. I was completely disgusted because I didn't know that was even possible! So weird! Of course I HAD to tell Spike. How could I not tell him? LOL! He was grossed out and was mad that I told him that! LOL!

Anyhow, the Dr. said that Brock is doing great! Here are his new stats:

Weight: 9 pounds, 2.8 ounces (75th percentile)
Length: 22 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
Head circumference: 15 1/4inches (75th percentile)

Brock has been waking up and needing to eat every 2 hours this past week... which means mommy doesn't get much sleep now :-( So sad. But we get to take a nap from like 10 or 11am to 12:30 or 1pm. So its okay :-)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Finally - my birth story!

Thanks to a friend of mine, I just typed up my birth story for her in an email. I figured that I might as well get it on here too!

I had a contraction wake me up out of the dead of sleep at like 1:40am the day I had him. I started timing them and they were 3-5 minutes apart. After like the 3rd contraction, I had a little bit of spotting and figured "this is it!" So I timed them for an hour, called the Dr. and woke Spike up when the Dr said to go in. I was already 4cm when I got to the hospital. I was 3-4cm at my appt. a few days before then. Once I was admitted to the hospital I walked around the maternity floor for an hour to try and help things along. Nothing happened... So I got into bed and had them give me some staidol for the pain. I believe I made it to 6cm before I even asked for an epidural. Once I got that, I waited a while. I think it was about 10:30am when the Dr came in and broke my water. I stayed at 6cm until 12:30pm. The Dr then came back and started me on pitocin to get things moving. I'm assuming I was on a really low dose, because I was stuck at 6cm until 3pm. I was having back labor (contractions I felt across my lower back), so they gave me some more epi. At 4pm, the Dr. came back in and increased the pitocin.... A LOT... By 4:15pm my contractions were so big and were back to back with no break. I kept telling the nurse that I needed to push and that the pain was so bad. So the Dr. comes back in and was like OMG you're 9cm! Its almost time to push! I was like, I can't NOT push right now! So they let me push a little whenever I felt like I needed to. Just so you know, there is soooo much rectal pressure that it seriously feels like you are about to take the biggest poop in your life. No joke! I wish someone had prepared me for that. I never would have imagined having rectal pressure. But anyway, I started pushing and actually pushed the whole time lying on my right side, until the last push. For that one, I managed to get on my back. On my last push, the Dr told me to STOP pushing, and I could actually feel her trying to push Brock back in! I guess he was coming out with his hand up next to his head. By that point there was noooo stopping me. I couldn't help it! I blasted that baby right out! Because I did that, I ended up with a 3rd degree partial tear :-( The Dr. took about an hour to stitch me up - at least that's what it felt like. I'm sure it was less. But that part hurt wayyyy more than the birth itself. I'm not kidding. I was miserable. My recovery has been alright. About 3-4 days later I hit my maximum swelling point and could barely walk. Motrin wasn't cutting it! Now, almost 2 weeks post partum, I feel so much better. My swelling is almost gone! I don't have to take as much motrin either.

Friday, October 24, 2008

How long will it last?

So we had a pretty busy day yesterday. Spike and I were brave enough to go to the movies with Brock! He was awesome! He fussed for the first few minutes until we got settled in, and then he slept the rest of the time! I was so proud of him!!

We came home after the movie for a little bit, then went to my mom's house to celebrate my nephew's birthday. Brock slept until about 8:30pm. He actually stayed awake until 11pm or so.... and didn't wake up until 5am!! I can't believe I actually got 6 hours of uninterupted sleep!! YAY! I woke up, changed his diaper and fed him. He fell asleep again til 8am! How long will this last? It was so nice to have that solid 6 hours :-)

Today is my first day alone with Brock for a few hours because Spike went across town to buy a new fish tank for the living room! At first I was afraid to be alone with him... and of course, as soon as daddy left Brock had a hissy fit! I fed him a little and he fell asleep.

I'm going to try to take a nap while the baby's sleeping! Later!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

1 week old... yesterday!


I can't believe we've been parents for a week already! Here's our little man yesterday at one week old! So crazy! Brock was a little crabby yesterday, but we think he was just gassy because we had a hard time burping him after two feeds.

Today we went out to Target with Brock to get a few things. He slept the whole time :-) Afterwards, we went to Potbelly to have lunch and visit with the people I used to work with there. They were so excited to see Brock! It was nice seeing them again!

We've spent the rest of today doing laundry and cleaning up the house some. Brock's been asleep most of the day today. He was up in the morning from 10-1pm, then slept until 4. He woke up at 4, ate, and has been asleep since! Its almost 7:30 and he's sleeping on daddy's chest. So sweet!

Monday, October 20, 2008

1st Time Parents: Baby's first doctor visit

Brock had his first visit today with the pediatrician. It went very well! He's already gone past his birth weight and he's only 6 days old!! Here are his new "stats" for today:

Weight: 8lbs, 11oz.
Length: 22 inches
Head circumference: 14 3/4inches

The nurse and the doctor said he's going to be a big boy! DUH! LOL!

Well that's it for today. He's been sleeping ALL day today.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

1st Time Parents: The first few days at home.

Just had a few minutes before bed and wanted to write about how our first few days at home have been! Besides a whirlwind of emotions, its been quite an adjustment.

The first night we came home Brock initiated me into motherhood by peeing on me when I was changing his diaper! What a treat :-) I was sooo tired, Spike had to keep waking me up because I never heard the baby on the monitor. I was completely delirious and every time I woke up, I kept asking Spike "where's the other one?" Totally convinced we had another baby! LOL!

The boys spent a good part of the day on Saturday watching football! Sooo cute :-) Spike was talking to Brock and Brock started making noises back at him. Adorable! It was like they were talking!! Night time was much better on Saturday. During the day, I was able to take a nap so that helped me A LOT at night time. Thankfully Brock had a late feeding and slept until 4am. He's been sleeping 3-4 hours at a time!

Today, Brock's umbilical cord stump fell off and freaked me out! I thought it was a little early, being that he's only 5 days old but my sister-in-law was here and reassured me that he was okay. I'm still a little freaked out, and Spike is totally grossed out.

Tomorrow is Brock's first visit with the Pediatrician! So it'll be our first time out in public together as a family :-) Awww!

Alright, so not a fun post, but whatever! I'm sleep deprived. I'll figure it out soon.

1st Time Parents: We're home!!!



After Brock's last blood draw, we were told that his bilirubin level was low enough for us to take him home!! We got home at about 5pm on Friday evening.

Everyone is doing great! Spike and I are trying to get used to having a baby in the house - as are the cat and the 2 dogs :-)

Brock loves to eat and sleep :-) He's such a good baby! Its still pretty weird that we have a baby, but we couldn't be more in love with him. Both of us could sit here and stare at Brock for hours!! He has already brought us so much joy and he's only 5 days old!

Brock has his first appt with the pediatrician on Monday! So hopefully that goes well.

Friday, October 17, 2008

1st Time Parents: Bilirubin update

Brock had his blood drawn again this morning at 6am to check his bilirubin levels. At around 8am the neonatologist came in and told me that his levels came down to 9.9!! He discontinued the photo therapy, but wants to keep him at the hospital and do another blood draw at 3pm. They said there is usually a rebound effect when they take the lights off, so they want to see how his body does without the lights.

I'll post another update later! I'm headed to see my Dr because my swelling is getting worse :-( Ugh...

Thursday, October 16, 2008

1st Time Parents: Almost home

So we're still at the hospital today. I've officially been discharged, but Brock has jaundice and the pediatrician wanted him to stay in the Special Care Unit and recieve 24 hours of photo therapy. Spike and I decided that I would stay with Brock at the hospital so that I could continue nursing him through the night. Spike went home to get some rest and to finish a few projects around the house. I miss him so much!! He's been such an awesome support and coach through my entire labor, delivery, recovery, and nursing! He's amazing!

The results of the latest blood work showed that his bilirubin levels are decreasing... albeit slowly, but they are coming down. 24 hours after birth, his level was 9.3. Another 24 hours after that, they were up to 11.9. The latest drawing shows his levels to be at 11.0. So this is good! Hopefully all of the supplemental milk he has gotten today helps with passing the bilirubin!

Here is an album with some of his pictures that we took yesterday and the day he was born. Since he's been receiving photo therapy all day today, I only took like 2 pictures. Those are still on the camera, so it'll be a little while before I add them.

Pictures of Brock David: click here

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

1st Time Parents: Meet the newest member of the family!!


HE'S HERE!!! Meet our son, Brock David! Born on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 4:54pm. Weighing in at 8 pounds and 6 ounces! He is 21 1/4 inches!

We're all doing well and should be home soon! I'll post a birth story as soon as I can.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

1st-time-parents: HOLY CONTRACTIONS!!!

Owie!

Its about 2:20am right now and I've been having contractions since about 7pm. The ones I had earlier were about 7 minutes apart, but not very intense. I woke up from a dead sleep with a contraction at 1:42am. Holy Christ! Since then, they've been coming about every 5-7 minutes and hurt like crazy! I have a little spotting with these ones too which kind of has me thinking that baby Brock my soon be on his way!! I'm going to hold out as long as I can before I wake Spike up and call the Dr.

We'll post an update soon :-)

Sunday, October 12, 2008

1st Time Parents: Past my due date...

Yup! You read that correctly... I'm past my due date (10/11/08). I'm still here, very pregnant :-( I was really hoping to have Brock this weekend. I guess I just never imagined that I would go past my due date. I also can't believe how bummed I am about it! I am sooo uncomfortable - especially trying to sleep at night. I've been having a lot of hot flashes too. These last few days I have found that I am pretty much constantly hungry. I get full really fast, so I don't eat as much initially, but like 20 minutes later I feel like I'm starving.

I really shouldn't complain! I've had such a wonderful pregnancy. But people are right when they say that the last week is the hardest.

My next scheduled OB appt is this coming Thursday. I pray to God that I have Brock before then. Who knows... maybe tonight will be the night??

My sister-in-law thinks it will be tomorrow because of the full moon, and Spike thinks it will be tomorrow too because it'll be the 13th and 13 is his lucky number... and oddly enough, I was born the 13th of June...! Could be fate! LOL! Wishful thinking I guess :-)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

1st Time Parents: 39/40 week appt.

I'm still here... still pregnant... c'mon baby!! GET OUT!!

I had an appt this morning. Today I am 39 weeks and 5 days... so pretty much about 40 weeks. She did a cervical exam and told me that I am now 3-4 cm dilated, and really close to 4cm. Once I get past 4cm, she said that things start moving real fast :-) She also said that my cervix is still 1/2 way there... which is weird because the Dr at the hospital on Sunday said I was 70% effaced. Oh well. Either way, I've made a little more progress. She also said that the baby's head is lower and that my uterus is pretty big ;-)

We scheduled an induction date for October 22nd just in case. At that point, I'll be 41 1/2 weeks pregnant. I (as well as the Dr) highly doubt I'll make it that far. I really hope Brock wants to come out this weekend. I'm so tired and getting so uncomfortable. I know that the sleep thing will be an issue for a while, but I'll have Spike's help after the baby and I'll be able to take naps at least.

I had expected the Dr to strip my membranes today, but I think because I'm so close to 4cm, she decided not to. I didn't bring it up because I was still pretty undecided about it anyway.

Well, here's hoping to having a baby this weekend!!!

Monday, October 6, 2008

1st Time Parents: Early Labor

Ok, for starters, labor is not fun, no matter what stage of it you're in. I've been having timeable contractions since last Thursday. On Sunday this past weekend I started having contractions 5 minutes apart. I waited an hour and had my Dr. paged. She didn't get back to me for 2 1/2 hrs! Apparently she was in surgery. Meanwhile, my contractions were still 5 min. apart. She called and I told her what was going on. She said it sounded like early labor, so she instructed me to drink 2 glasses of water, take a warm shower, and lie down for a while. She said if my contractions didn't go away or slow down, to come to the hospital. So by 9pm I had done what she asked and my contractions were getting closer, like 3-5 min. apart. Mind you, my contractions were just really intense, but not painful - just uncomfortable. Anyway, I decided to page the Dr. again to see if I should come in. She was not able to be found again and now it was 10:45pm. So Spike and I decided to go to the hospital. We made a stop by my mom's house because she was insistent on being at the hospital. So we're on our way and the Dr. calls my cell phone and told me that I couldn't come to the Novi hospital and that I had to go to Providence in Southfield because the Novi hospital was too busy and they couldn’t take me! Apparently they didn’t have enough nurses there to deliver safely if I was in full, active labor. So I had a serious emotional breakdown. I called her back like 10 minutes later to see if there was ANY way they could get me in at Novi and she said no. So whatever. Long story short, I’m thankful I went to Southfield, but we were just really upset because we had expected (and still do) to deliver at Novi... We’ll see. We have to decide now where we want to go before I actually go into labor. We got discharged at like 2:30am after TWO internal cervical exams only to hear that I was still only 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. So I'm just in early labor (and have been for a few days now). So they sent me home and said to come back if my water breaks, or if my contractions get so bad that I can’t talk, breathe, or walk through them. So... That’s that!

I couldn't sleep last night because my contractions are always pretty bad after an internal exam. I'm still exhausted, but I'll be alright. I just want this baby out!

The Dr. said that the baby looked great. They did an ultra sound too to check his fluids and he's got enough in there. Well, that's it for now. Hopefully our next update includes a birth story ;-)

Friday, October 3, 2008

1st Time Parents: 38/39 week appt!!

I had an appt yesterday where I was 38 weeks and 4 days. Close enough to 39 weeks I suppose! LOL! Anyway, I've made more progress!!! The Dr. said I am now 2 to 3 cm dilated and the baby's head is really low! I felt a little sick after she did the internal exam because it hurt pretty bad. My blood pressure was a little high when I got there. It was 130/80. My normal bp is 110/60, but since being pregnant it is usually in the 120's/70's. So they had to retake it after my appt and thankfully it came down to 127/74.

At about 5:30pm yesterday I started having contractions pretty regularly. I had to leave to go see my niece for her b-day party. In a 25 minute drive, I had regular contractions every 5-8 minutes. That lasted until I got home and started timing again. I started timing just before 9pm and y contractions ranged from 5-7 minutes, then went to 7 minutes, back to 5-7 minutes, then finally started tapering off at 11pm when they were 7-10 minutes apart. I didn't call the Dr. because she said to call when my contractions are 3-5 minutes apart. I wasn't in any pain, just really uncomfortable. I went to bed and felt some more contractions but fell asleep before I could time them! I feel better today and have only had a few contractions so far. Nothing regular. I'm feeling Brock move really low today too...

I dunno! I hope I have him this weekend because my favorite Dr. is on-call this weekend. But we'll see. One more week until my official due date!

I'll keep you posted :-)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

1st Time Parents: 37 week appointment


I made it to FULL TERM!! YAY! That means that if Brock was born today, his chances of having to go to NICU would be pretty low :-) 

I had my 37 week appt. today and got all sorts of crazy news! I had a growth ultra sound today since I've been measuring inconsistently over the last few weeks. The ultra sound showed that Brock is doing great... and he is estimated to weigh 8lbs 4oz! I almost had a heart attack, so the technologist gave me a range of 7lbs 13oz - 8lbs 4oz... LOL! Her way of making me feel better :-) 8lbs already!! WHOA! Brock is gonna be a big boy!! 

I also had an internal exam to check if my cervix has made any changes since last week. Last week my cervix was "long and slightly open." Today my cervix was 1cm dilated, 50% effaced (which means that my cervix is softening and thinning), and the baby was at -3 station (If you look at the picture, we're at the top line of decent. So the baby's head is just starting to enter the pelvis). I was pretty excited with this news! I told the Dr. that I hope I continue to make progress and don't get stuck at 1cm! She said she didn't think that would happen. She felt that I might not even make it to my due date. So we'll see... My next appt is next Thursday :-) 

I also got us all set up with a pediatrician today, thanks to a recommendation from a family friend. Its nice to have that part all set!

Oh! And my breast feeding class for Saturday got cancelled today because I was the only one that signed up! I was crying because I was so mad. I tried calling a few lactation consultants but neither one of them could meet with me before I have the baby. So... I guess I just have to trust myself that I can do this and hope that the delivery nurses can help me make sure Brock latches on correctly when I have him. 

Well, thats all for now! Spike & I will do our best to keep you all posted of my progress! 

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

1st Time Parents: 36 week appointment

I had an appointment today, at 36 weeks! I can't believe how fast this is going! Today's appointment was the typical get my weight (OMG - gained 5 lbs since my last appt!), pee in a cup, get my BP taken, hear the baby's heart beat (my favorite), measure the fundal height (basically measuring my uterus), and a special treat for today - the Group B Strep test. This test checks to see if you carry a certain type of bacteria. If you do, then you get put on antibiotics during delivery so the baby doesn't catch it. The unpleasant part of the test is that they do a (TMI WARNING) vaginal and rectal swab... no wonder Spike didn't want to go to this appt. with me!

Anyhow, the Dr. said that I was measuring a little small so he has me coming in next week for an ultra sound in addition to my 37 week appointment.

The last few days I've been waking up in the middle of the night with my right thumb locked in an over-extended "thumbs up." Then when I wake up in the morning, my thumb, index, and middle finger are numb for like 30 minutes. I asked the Dr. about it today and he said it sounds like carpal tunnel... lovely! There isn't much we can do about it, so thankfully my sister has a brace she's going to let me borrow.

House update: Spike's been working hard on getting our hardwood floors installed. Today he ripped up the carpet in the living room and found a pretty big hole in the concrete! He fixed it though! He's awesome :-) So now we just have to wait for it to dry and then he can finish the floors :-) I also painted some wood letters that spell the baby's name, and Spike hung them up over the baby's crib! I'll try to get some pictures up soon. It looks soooo cute! I love it!

Until next time!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

1st Time Parents: Hospital Tour

I was officially 36 weeks yesterday (9/13). I can't believe our little man will be here so soon! Only 4 more weeks until my due date - October 11th!

We had our hospital tour this morning. We LOVE the hospital! We'll have our own HUGE private room! Every patient gets their own nurse, and the nurses all have their own private number that we call when we need them instead of pushing the "nurse" button from your bed. They really encourage you to have the baby in the room with you 24/7, unless of course you need to get some rest. They also really encourage breast feeding, which is really awesome! They have a lactation consultant available Monday thru Saturday and the consultant makes rounds daily in case you have additional questions or are having difficulty with breast feeding. When we walked past the little nursery, I got so teary-eyed! I just pictured seeing Brock in there! Spike wouldn't stop teasing me after that! LOL! It was funny. They also have a professional photagrapher there to do the hospital pictures, except instead of having the pictures taken in your room with the baby swaddled in a blanket, they had a little studio set up and do an actual photo shoot! Sooo awesome!

Oh yeah, the rooms are cool because you get admitted to a room, and that room is where you labor, deliver, recover, and stay for postpartum care! So convenient! The rooms are also hooked up wirelessly, so we'll be able to blog while we're there!! So if I have a long labor, Spike & I will be able to keep people posted of our progress... and it'll help to keep Spike's sanity ;-)

They also had a really nice NICU section too. But hopefully we won't need to be on that side of the floor!

The next big thing on my list is to make it to September 27th! Thats the date of my breastfeeding class! Then Brock is welcome to come anytime after that! LOL!

Well that's all for now. I'll try to get a new picture & video up soon since its been 2 weeks since my last picture! Brock's movements are way more profound than the last video. Its pretty crazy!!

Friday, September 5, 2008

1st Time Parents: 34/35 week appt.


So I had another Dr. appointment today. I wasn't sure whether to call it my 34 or 35 week appointment because today I am 34 weeks and 6 days... Making tomorrow 35 weeks. So whatever!

Anyway, there have been MANY comments from family and friends that my belly is too big for one baby. Could there possibly be two in there? Well I asked the Dr. today and she said that there is only ONE baby in there! There's only one heartbeat :-)

I go to an office that has more than one OB and all pregnant patients are required to meet with all of them, since we won't know who will be on call when we go into labor. The Dr. I had today was kind of a biotch. I wasn't happy with her attitude! So I hope she's not the one delivering Brock, because she'll probably get on my nerves!

I asked her lots of questions and she just seemed annoyed with me. But I did find out that they only let women go one-week past their due date and then they induce. So that's cool. She also told me not to worry about providing them with a birth plan because labor and delivery are so unpredictable. She said that I could write my wishes down and let people know as they came in, but she said it wasn't really necessary.

I'm not too picky, I just want to be able to walk around and get into different laboring positions. Having an epidural would prevent me from that... because of my tachycardia and syncope, I'll have to have an epidural anyway, but hopefully I can get a "walking epidural" or maybe there are lower doses or other options I can choose from. I'll have to ask my regular OB next time I see her. I have one more Dr. to see and then I think I can choose to see whoever I want. The next Dr. I am going to see has answered some of my after-hours calls so it'll be nice to put a face to the name!

Anyway, the Dr. today said that the baby is doing great. She said my weight gain has been appropriate (LOL... I've gained A LOT)... They have a digital scale at the office, and when I stood up on the scale, my belly hit the bar in front of me! LOL! I was so embarrassed! It was pretty funny though.

So now I'll start seeing the Dr. weekly! Holy CRAP! I hope Brock doesn't come early. I'm not ready for his arrival yet! There's still LOTS to do around the house... oh my!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

1st Time Parents: Keeping your gag reflex in check!

Am I going to be a good mother? Can I handle picking up my own child's puke? These are the questions I had to ask myself today numerous times!

WARNING: Puking story below:

I was watching our 5-year-old niece today. At lunch, we decided to have some pizza. I cut hers into small pieces. Well not even 5 minutes into lunch, she started coughing. I asked her if she was okay and she nodded back. So I continue to eat.... then a few seconds later I hear her making this weird sound, look over and her jaw drops and she is just sitting there throwing up with no effort. Mouth hung wide open and puke just pouring out - how's that for a visual? Well try being there in person! I immediately jumped up and ran to the kitchen to compose myself and keep myself from puking. I grab some paper towel and run it over to her. I tried to hard to help her, but started gagging! So I ran back to the kitchen and puked in a paper towel. I couldn't even go back out to help her. So from the kitchen I asked her to go to the bathroom. After a minute or so, I went to the bathroom to help her clean up. As soon as I got into the bathroom.. guess what? I puked AGAIN! She laughed at me! So I had her strip down so I could wash her clothes. We went back to the living room, and yup, there was more puke on her pillow! UGH! So I try to go get it, and totally puked for the 3rd time! So... I ask her to clean it because I just can't do it! So I go back to the bathroom to blow my nose and end up blowing some more chunks! Good God! It was disgusting. This was maybe the 2nd time I've puked during my entire pregnancy! So nasty!

So here I sit, feeling like a horrible aunt because I couldn't clean up her puke! I felt like I let her down! I really hope I can do this with Brock.

I posted this whole puke-fest fiasco on the nest.com (an online message board for women trying to conceive, women in each trimester of pregnancy, and for women after they have their children). Thankfully some of the girls on there told me that they've heard that this gets better when its your own children. God has a way of starting us off with little baby spit ups, so that by the time they are 5 years old, we have the stomach to clean up after them! God I hope this is true. I've always had a weak stomach, so I hope I can handle this when it happens with Brock!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

1st Time Parents: Week 33

So Brock has been insanely active in the last few weeks! Last night, Spike and I were finally able to capture some baby movements on video (video below)!

Brock is running out of room in there, so his movements are much more pronounced and kinda hurt! Some take my breath away, and some stop me right in my tracks. At least once a night, I tell Spike that I think Brock is trying to push his way out of my belly! Its crazy!

My mom came over last night and brought us some Halloween garb that she bought Brock. She got him the cutest little Halloween socks and slippers along with a little knit hat! God! I can't wait to see our baby!! I have such vivid dreams about what he's going to look like. I'm anxious to see if I'm close or not!!

Here's a look at the baby moving in my belly (turn down your volume because I was right in front of the TV and it was LOUD):


Here is the most recent picture of me (so about 3 weeks ago):

1st Time Parents: Grown up Stuff - Wills, Life Insurance, etc.

Sorry we haven't posted in a while... We've been pretty busy around here getting all of our "grown-up" stuff put in order.

Last Friday, Spike and I met with our Financial Advisor and an Attorney to put our Living Wills, Life Insurance, and Trust in place for our future. WHOA! Talk about stressful! It was very hard to make the decisions we made, but they are necessary and I'm glad its over with now. I feel better that this is one less thing we'll have to worry about after baby Brock gets here!

If anyone (locally) is interested in getting assistance with their finances or with their "grown-up" stuff, let me know and I'll get you in contact with our financial advisor. He's amazing!!!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

1st Time Parents: 32 week appointment

So I had my 32 week check up today. The doctor said that my belly was measuring a little big today, but she mentioned that the baby was all over the place because she felt his legs up really high. She said I was measuring at 33 weeks, but she wasn't concerned because today I am technically 32 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I will be 33 weeks on Saturday.

My blood pressure was within normal limits, so thats good :-) I start seeing the Dr. every 2 weeks now! Yikes! That means we're getting closer to meeting baby Brock :-)

She also told me that if I go into labor for whatever reason at 34 weeks, they will not stop the labor. They will let me have the baby. So please pray that this little stinker stays in there until I'm at LEAST 37 weeks. That's when I'll be considered full term!

She wants me to take it easy for the next two weeks, but then when I hit 34 weeks she wants me to start walking again. I was walking 2 miles a day, but I was having a lot of contractions when I got home, so I stopped.

I also asked about this strange noise I've been hearing sometimes when the baby moves. Its like a popping or cracking noise, like when you crack your knuckles.

My Dr. said that she's never heard anything like that before. No one has ever mentioned it to her. She told me not to worry about it. Her ideas of what it could be were:

- a hip click in the baby (which she said isn't audible on the outside)
- a joint cracking (like when we crack our knuckles)

She said she was going to talk to her partners about it and see if they might know, so I'll follow-up at my next appt. in 2 weeks.

She did tell me to make sure I tell the pediatrician about it after I have the baby, because after you deliver they run a Range of Motion test where they usually identify hip dysplasia - which she did say was more common in baby girls.

So that's that for now!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

1st Time Parents: Installing the car seat!


So here I sit blogging, while Spike is sitting on the couch reading the installation manual for the car seat! I'm so excited!!! Yeah we still have 8 weeks to go, but at least this way installing the car seat is one less thing we have to do when the time comes!

Here's a quick look at our car seat (and lots of gifts from our baby shower that we have yet to put away!) The car seat is the Chicco Keyfit 30. LOVE IT! We have the matching stroller for it too!!

Check out this link for installation info: The Car Seat Lady

Sunday, August 17, 2008

1st Time Parents: Nesting mode is in full gear!

I would have to say that I started nesting *a little* at about 26 weeks or so. I had a good 2 weeks where got a good amount of cleaning done. Once week 31 hit, I started getting a little crazy! I'm just starting week 32 and Spike (my husband) told me today that I'm killing him!! I haven't seen my house so clean since we moved in 2 yrs. ago!

I still have to organize my closets and cabinets and hope I can get them done in the next 8 weeks!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

1st Time Parents

Welcome to our blog on being 1st time parents! We hope this site becomes a helpful tool for many 1st time parents. Please follow our journey through pregnancy, the birth of our first child, and the many ups and downs we will face as 1st time parents!