Checking In

Well, I kind of feel like I have fallen off the face of the earth. I have been super busy keeping up with these cute kiddos:

I'm not sure if anyone reads my blog anymore, but I wanted to do a quick check-in. I apologize in advance that this is going to be a bit choppy, but bear with me.

Honestly, the days are just flying by. Add to it that I have been trying to work a little bit from home while on maternity leave (since I used up all my FMLA when J was born), and by the time I have any spare time, all I want to do is sleep. But, I wouldn't change a minute of it. I am so in LOVE with these little kids.

J is almost one and A is already seven weeks old...where has the time gone? I have started planning a little family birthday party for J, and I am super excited. I am planning a Mickey Mouse themed party, since he loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning and he gets a huge smile on his face whenever he sees Mickey.

I will be going back to work pretty soon, and even though it is just a few days a week, I am still not looking forward to it. I have really enjoyed the time I have had with them.

It is looking like I have a fertile sister, and of course it would be the one who is only 20 and in a super unstable marriage - they are always talking about leaving each other. Apparently she wasn't taking any BCP because she was afraid that they would make her infertile, but her husband didn't know that. When he found out she was KU, he wanted her to get an abortion, but at least she has refused to do so. She is only 6 or 7 weeks along, so it is super early, but still...out of all the people to get pg, it would be her, who can hardly even take care of herself! It is just frustrating.

So, as evidenced by my lack of posting, it seems like my blogging time has been drastically cut. I really don't want to stop hearing about what is going on with everyone and lose touch with all of my blogging buddies. However, I kind of feel like I don't totally fit in with this community as much. Even though I will always be infertile, I don't know that I will blog as much about it for a while since DH and I will not be TTC for at least two or three years. So, I would like to invite anyone that still reads this and is interested to come follow me over on our family blog: mikeandlisafamily.blogspot.com. I hope that if I am only focusing on one blog, it will be easier to keep it updated and stay current on what is going on with everyone. I don't plan to leave this blog completely, but at the same time, I don't know how often I will post on it. All I ask is that if you do choose to visit my family blog, that you don't mention this one, since I haven't shared it with my IRL friends and family.

I hope that everyone is doing well, and hopefully I will be able to catch up with you soon!

Where Has the Time Gone?

Wow, I can't believe that it has already been over two weeks since my sweet little A joined our family. Time as gone by so quickly!

Things are going really well. It has helped A LOT that DH was able to take four weeks off of work, plus my sister lives with us. It has been nice to have so many extra helping hands. I think the hardest part has been finding a good routine that meets both kids needs. There have been a few times when both J and A have been crying/needing something, and it is hard to make one of them "wait", even if it isn't a long wait. Although J seems so grown up now, he is still a baby himself and is trying to adjust to all these changes and not getting all the attention.

That said, DH will be going back to work a week from Monday, so that will be when the true test comes. My sister will still be here of course, but she has school a few days a week, including my first day on my own. I am not too nervous...most days A will eat and go back to sleep before J wakes up, and mornings seem to be the busiest part of the day. But, we will see.

Overall I am feeling pretty good. I have been able to start wearing some pre-pregnancy jeans, although they definitely accentuate my muffin top. I am starting to feel a little bit anxious to be able to start exercising again. I love to run, especially this time of year, so hopefully I will still have some nice running weather once I get the all clear to start again.

Besides that, not too much is new with me. I am just enjoying being able to be home with my family. I feel bad that I haven't been able to keep up with reading everybody's blogs. It seems like there is always something else going on and blogging always ends up on the back burner. I am hoping that I will have some spare time to get caught up on what is going on with everyone soon.

Here's the Scoop...

I am so happy to have this sweet little girl here! I apologize that this post might be a little long...I had originally planned to post an update last week, but didn't get a chance.

Last Wednesday night, I noticed that I hadn't been feeling the baby move as much as normal. I could still feel her, but it just felt kind of sluggish. DH and I were eventually able to get her a little more active, so we decided to go to bed and see how things were in the morning. On Thursday morning, I still felt like she wasn't as active as she should've been, so I called my doctor's office and they got me in for a non-stress test. Fortunately, everything looked perfect, and it was good to have another u/s of Jumper and hear her little heartbeat.

On Friday, I was officially 40 weeks and had a doctor's appointment. At that point, I was dilated to a 'tight 2' and 80% effaced. She said that it was their policy not to induce first-time moms until 1 week after their due date, which would have met being induced on September 9th. However, she wasn't going to be in that day, so she said if I hadn't had the baby, they would induce me on September 11th. However, she was really doubtful that I would make it that long without going into labor on my own. For the meanwhile, I was supposed to have two more non-stress tests and I also had another appointment scheduled with her. I figured that if I did have to wait until the 11th to be induced, I could handle it because I was feeling pretty good overall.

Before I left my appointment, I was told that I would have a lot more cramping and contractions, and that definitely proved to be true! I expected them to kind of fade away like they had the week before, but they never did. I typically had one contraction every hour or so, but sometimes they would start to build up and happen more frequently, while other times they weren't strong and hardly noticeable. On Saturday, we went to a couple of different family activities, and while I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, it wasn't like I was miserable. Overall, I just felt really tired.

On Sunday, I noticed that I was feeling my contractions in my lower back/tailbone area, and they were getting to be really painful. The problem was that they were still pretty irregular. They would start to get closer together until they were 6 minutes apart, and then they would start to fade again. By this point, I was pretty miserable. We went to a family dinner, and I pretty much just laid on my mom's sofa for most of the time. I remember commenting to DH and my sister that I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it another week if this is how I was going to have to be feeling.

As we were getting ready for bed Sunday night, I was feeling more and more miserable, but my contractions were still so irregular. Finally, around midnight, they got to where they were 3-4 minutes a part and I could hardly talk through them. At that point, DH and I decided it was time to head to the hospital. We arrived about 1:00 Monday morning, and when they did my initial assessment, I was dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced. They decided to admit me, and during my next check, I was dilated to a 4.

After I got admitted, I got an epidural and they broke my water. They ended up giving me a little bit of Pitocin, and that definitely worked...I went from a 4 to an 8 by the next check. I felt really comfortable and it was nice to be able to just rest while I let me body keep getting ready for the delivery. I started pushing at around 9:15, and I think that at that point, it really sank in that this was happening and I was in the middle of giving birth. The whole experience seemed a little surreal. I pushed for about two hours, which wasn't too bad. I was able to feel my contractions enough to know when to push without being in pain. Our little Baby A was born at 11:25...they had to have the NICU nurses there to suction her because she aspirated so much meconium, but after a little work, she pinked right up and has been healthy. She is such a sweet little girl, and DH and I are so in love with her. We can't imagine not having her in our family.

I know I need to post some more pictures and give some more updates about having her home from the hospital, so I will try to get to those within the next few days or so. Right now I am just enjoying the time I have being home with my family. :)

She's Here!

Born September 5, 2011 at 11:25 AM.

7lbs, 11oz

21" long

More details and pictures to come soon!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Almost There!

Well, I feel like things are going better than they were last week. It is crazy to look over at my ticker and see that it says there are only three days left!

My appointment last week went well. The doctor said that I was 80% effaced and dilated to a 1+, so that is a little bit of improvement from before. She also stripped my membranes, in the hopes that would help move things along. She encouraged me to do a lot of walking and of course, have s.ex, which is the last thing on my mind. :) At least something I am doing has been paying off, because I lost my mucous plug on Friday. It is really good to know that things are progressing and my body is getting ready.

Part of me just wishes that I would go into labor, but part of me still feels like this has gone by so quickly and that I need to cherish every last minute. I hope that I will have the opportunity to experience pregnancy again in the future, but I know that I can't count on it.

Going forward, I have another appointment this Friday, which is my actual due date. Last week, my doctor told me that they typically won't do an induction until the baby is a week overdue, so hopefully that means no later than a week from this Friday. I have been joking with my family that Jumper is going to wait to be born until then so that she can join our family's September birthday party - between me and two sisters, there are three birthdays within four days (September 10, 12, and 13).

In other news, I just received a really sad phone call while I was typing this post. I got a phone call from K's (J's birthmom) mom, who said she wanted to let me know that K has relapsed on drugs and that she wanted to warn us so that we could take adequate steps to protect our family. We talked for a while, and it broke my heart to hear about the choices that K has made. I have been thinking about her so much lately, and perhaps this is why. Her mom did say several times that she has so much peace knowing that J is with us and part of our family, and it scares her to think about where he would be if K hadn't placed him for adoption. I love J so much, and it is horrible to think of what type of environment he could be living in or what kind of life he could have. I also still have such a love for K for the decision that she made to place J with us...I wish there was something I could do, but I don't think there is anything other than praying for her. At her mom's recommendation, I think that DH and I will likely stop e-mailing K and making a few other changes just to be on the safe side, but we need to talk about it some more.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Still Here

I know this post might rub some people the wrong way, so I would recommend NOT reading it if you are having a hard time right now...

I am 38 weeks 4 days right now, but I am ready to be done. I have really enjoyed my pregnancy, and it hasn't been until recently that I have started to feel more uncomfortable and miserable. I keep telling myself that I need to just be grateful and enjoy this ride for as long as it lasts, but it is getting hard.

For the past 10 days or so, I have had contractions pretty much every day. Sometimes it is just a few contractions, and those are manageable, but there are also days when I will have them for hours. On both Saturday and Sunday nights, I had them so badly and they were starting to get close enough together that DH and I were thinking that it was time to head to the hospital...and then they started to fade away. I am sure that these false labor contractions serve some purpose, but it is getting old to have them and feel so exhausted after, and then have it all be for nothing. Add to it that the worst ones usually come at night, so I am not really sleeping.

I think that one of the hardest things has also been that it is getting hard for me to take care of J. He had a pretty bad cold last week that we had to deal with, but now that he is back to normal, he is all over the place...and sometimes I physically can't keep up with him. It makes me feel like such a bad mom to know that it is getting so hard for me to take care of him. I know he won't remember any of this, but it kind of feels like he got the short end of the stick in regards to his first year of life. I am sure that he didn't ask to get a mom who has no energy to play with him or do fun things with him.

I go to the doctor again on Thursday and I am hoping that she will give me some good news. When I went to my appointment last week, she had been called to do an emergency C-section, so I had to see the nurse. The good news from that appointment was that I was measuring a half week ahead, but the bad news was that they didn't check to see if I had effaced or dilated more.

I know that my due date is next week and even if I do go over, the end isn't too far away...I am just ready for it to be the end now! I am so anxious to meet this little girl and enjoy our family of four!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

37 Weeks 4 Days

Still here, just keeping busy taking care of J and getting ready for Jumper's arrival. Just a head's up, but this post is pretty random!

As of last week's doctor's appointment, nothing had changed as far as effacement or dilation. I wasn't too surprised and had pretty much planned on not having any progress. So many people keep telling me that "there is no way" I'll make it to September, but I don't want to get my hopes up or plan on it.

On Sunday night, I started having some irregular contractions. They lasted for a couple hours on Sunday and then they came back yesterday afternoon. On Sunday, they weren't too bad because I was able to go to bed and sleep, so I didn't feel too tired from them. Yesterday, they started while I was at work and lasted for almost 4 hours. Part of me really wanted to just leave work and go to bed, but part of me knew that they weren't legitimate, so I might as well keep getting paid while I was feeling miserable. By the time they finally subsided, I was exhausted! We had to go to a family birthday dinner after work, and everyone kept saying how tired I looked and asking if I was okay. I guess one nice thing was that there were plenty of people around to help entertain J, so I just got to sit back and rest for a while. I have had a few more this afternoon, but they are still really irregular and they haven't been as strong as they were yesterday. It is so exciting to get to this point and know that Jumper really will be here soon, but it also makes me so nervous! I am getting nervous about the actual labor, but also the thought of having a newborn and J to take care. It makes me tired to just think about it.

Besides that, I am trying to just enjoy the last few weeks of this pregnancy and enjoy having time with just J. A few weeks ago, my mom watched J so that DH and I could get away over night...it was a much needed break, and I think everyone realized that it is going to be a long time before we get to do anything like that again. I also went with my family and took J up to a nearby lake for a picnic and walk. He LOVED being by the lake and looking at the water. After, I went out with my mom, sisters, cousin, and aunt for a girls night...pedicures and dinner. It was so nice!

For the most part, I feel like we are pretty prepared for Jumper, even though there are still some things that need to get purchased. I also really want to get my house nice and clean, but I just haven't seemed to have the energy to get it done these past few days. I know I need to just make myself do it while J is napping, but I really just want to take advantage of that quiet time and lay down myself...