Quick update and some pics!

I'm still going to tell that birthing story. It makes me shudder just to think about it. Ha! The really fantastic thing about it all is that I have a GORGEOUS little girl sitting in the room next to me who gives me the what-for every time her paci falls out of her mouth and I am not there to poke it right back in...which isn't often, because I am usually there...just staring. Not in a creepy way but in a fascinated kind of way.

We have been home for 10 days now, which is just exactly as long as we were in the hospital and I will tell you that the home part has been a LOT more enjoyable than the NICU part. I just want to take a second to say to all of you parents who have had babies in the NICU...you are my hero(es). I know that our 10 days was nothing in comparison to the weeks and even months that a lot of you have had to deal with and I honestly had a really hard time with it. I couldn't even stand the IV's that were in her tiny little head, so I don't know what I would have done if it had been more serious...anyway, moving on...you guys have my full respect!!!

Mothers Day was amazing! My husband made sure of that although he says Isabel did all of the planning! :) We are just trying to get a routine down and enjoying every second with our LONG AWAITED daughter! And of course managing our volume of visitors! This baby is rather popular! Gotta go, someone thinks they are starving to death! Here are some pics!

ON ANOTHER NOTE....DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH BLOGGER? Am I the only one having issues? Ok, thanks.

images by: http://brokenbikestudios.com/

Introducing to you....

Isabel Jade
April 21, 2011
9 lbs, 11 0unces
21 inches long

Isabel is doing great, but has to spend her first 10 days of life in the NICU on antibiotics.

Mom & Dad are exhausted and ready to be at home, but have never been so obsessed with anything in their whole lives. We could literally spend 24 hours a day just staring at her.



Birthing details to come. :)
No ladies, she was not a c-section.
I win a trophy, right?

Happy Due Date Isabel, now get the heck out of there!!! :)

Yes, today is my due date. Yes, it's time for her to come on out and meet the world. No, she hasn't chosen to do that yet. SIGH. I had 2 appt's last week with a different doctor. Mine is on vacation. Nice, huh? Not that doctor's shouldn't take vacations....but even a nurse told me that mine RARELY does, and he picked my due date week to go. Apparently, it doesn't matter anyway because this baby is in NO HURRY to come out. I have been hooked up to a non-stress monitor 4 times now and each time they tell me how happy she is in there and that everything is perfect. I am ready to get this show on the road!! This upcoming week will be my 3rd week of maternity leave!!!! I am going to run out of time soon. So, I am very thankful that she is healthy and happy to be right where she is....but I do plan to walk a marathon today to try to convince her to come out!!! Okay maybe not a marathon, but maybe a mile or so. Haha! So whatever you do, pray, wish, rain dance (er, baby dance)....will you do that for me and my child who likes to do things on her own time? :) I would love to go into labor today...or tomorrow....or ANY DAY NOW.....

Stillllllll pregnantttttttt, the sequel

• How far along: 39 Weeks


• Total weight gain/loss: 34 lbs gained. My goal was to keep it under 35.


• Maternity clothes: Ha! You could say that....


• Sleep: I take naps and still go to bed at 9 at night. I can't get enough sleep and I think I wear myself out during the night with all of the tossing and turning and bathroom runs.


• Best moment of the week: I was off work all week and got to hang out with J. I could get used to that. :)


• Food cravings/aversions: I mostly eat out of necessity at this point. Nothing really sounds good and I KNOW that whatever it is will give me heartburn.


• Belly button in or out: Flat. And not attractive looking at all.


• Stretch marks: If she doesn't come out soon, it's going to look like I've been mauled by a cougar.


• What I miss: Oh my...what a list that would be! I am super thankful to be pregnant with what seems to be a healthy baby, but NOW...I am ready for her to come OUT! Omg.


• What I am looking forward to: HAVING THIS BABY!!!! Out of the belly and into the arms!!!


• Weekly wisdom: Wisdom ha! I feel scatterbrained and clumsy at this point. I have no wisdom.

I'm still pregnant....

I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks, mainly because this was my last week of work and I was trying to get things wrapped up, but also because I promised pics the last time...and I haven't had the energy to mess with it. Sad but true. I am 38 weeks pregnant today. How do I feel? I don't really know what I am supposed to feel like at this point, but I'm uncomfortable at best. Sleeping is becoming non-existent and I have a cold which isn't making it any better. I am thankful that I am officially off work and now I am just ready for this baby to get here!!!! Other than that I feel okay. I'm marking things off of my to-do list and getting things put up and organized. We have had a total of 4 baby showers at this point and still have one baby event coming up that my husband's workplace sponsors. Needless to say, we've been very blessed and other than the world's most awesome jogging stroller that my husband is on the hunt for, I believe we have everything that we could possibly need at this point and more. I had an appointment this past Thursday and I was 50% effaced. Doc seems to think it won't be too long....we shall see. And I very much intended to keep my picture promise, but I just realized that I cannot find the pics that I'm looking for. Maybe they're not on this computer? Sigh...I can't even remember... I will get them on here eventually.

My Kid is Huge...an update

Yesterday I had an appointment with my OB. We'll call him Dr. Suck...because I'm not thrilled with him at the moment. Maybe next week he can go back to being Dr. M....we'll see how it goes.
Anyway the appointment started off with an ultrasound, YAY! This part was good. The tech was awesome and showed us some pretty cool stuff including a set of chubby hands and some super long toes. We also saw some chipmunk cheeks and a buddha belly....are you starting to notice a trend here? My kid is chunky. And so much for that "giving birth to Sasquatch" thing, (that's for you Amy) because not only is my kid chubby....she is also bald! Ha! Anyway, the ultrasound tech goes on to tell us that Isabel (yes...it is still Isabel, she wasn't hiding any boy parts) already weighs over 8 lbs. I am currently 36 weeks pregnant and I already have an 8 pounder in there! You do the math. Monster baby! I should have been freaked out, but I really wasn't. I have expected a big baby this whole time. And I was more concerned with the fact that she has all of her fingers and toes and is healthy and STILL A GIRL! Everything looked great!
She is also head down and the placenta is right where it should be. Good news!

So Mom, J, and I walk back into the lobby, pretty much on Cloud 9...because "Hey, I've got a great biggo healthy girl who could come out at any second and be fine (theoretically)"! And then they call my name to go back to see Dr. Suck. To make a long story short, he wanted to spend the 3 minutes that he dedicated to me, basically complaining about the 5 lbs I gained (over a 6 week span, mind you) and telling me not to eat sugar! OMG...I don't even eat that much sugar. This whole pregnancy I haven't wanted sugar. Read back if you don't believe me!!! Not only that, but my blood glucose and urine levels are perfect!!! And my blood pressure is low...and yet he is still griping at me!!! Grr. So anyway, I deal with it. He tells me to come back in a week and he will check me and we will discuss inducing at 39 weeks, but at this point he had already killed my buzz. So I go back into the waiting room and schedule next week's appointment and then we all leave and I spend the next 2 hours being mad. haha

Now that I have gotten over it (a little) I am trying to re-focus on the fact that at the VERY MOST, I will have a baby in my hands in 26 days....and most likely it will be more like 20-ish days. Whoa. And there's a pretty good chance that the outfit she wears home from the hospital will be 3-6 months!!! LOL. So even though Dr. Suck was having a cranky day--God answered our ultrasound prayers and our baby still looks great!

My next post will have pictures. Baby shower pictures, 36 week belly pictures....etc. I will make it happen.

Fancy pants, Attitude adjustments, & The day I almost lost an eyeball...

Disclaimer-I know how annoying it is for someone struggling with infertility to read about a pregnant person who is complaining. Some of you annoyed me at one time, I'll be honest. :)
BUT....I am still very thrilled, blessed and excited to be pregnant and I will tell you this, I've had a good one...but there are still some things that will chap your hind end, no matter what you had to go through to get to this point. And with that....

I mentioned before that I love to shop. And at one time a couple of years ago I would have considered myself pretty fashionable actually. Of course I was thinner than I had ever been in my life, I worked at a place where I had to dress up 5 days a week, and I was making more money than I ever had before...all contributing factors. Nevertheless, I think pregnant clothes can be really cute....on other people and potentially me too, if I had the energy to care. My point? I worked 8 hours yesterday, went to lunch in public with my friends, and also made a trip to Wal-Mart in a pair of maternity yoga pants (my fancy pants), a tank top with a cropped zip up hoodie over it, and a pair of basic black Old.Navy flip flops. My hair was a hot mess and I had on powder and mascara and that is all. Sadly there are more days like this than there are dressed up ones. But I'm tired. Note: I have on a dress today so that people don't forget that I am not actually homeless, but it took a lot out of me to put it on.

Like I mentioned above, I am so happy to be pregnant. I really am. My home life is great and even work is tolerable right now. I feel good, well okay anyway...just the typical uncomfortable, not sleeping well stuff that everyone deals with at some point...but I am CRANKY! I spent 30 minutes trying to come up with reasons why I might be cranky and I cannot figure out a single one, other than hormones. Hence, why I need an attitude adjustment. I've threatened myself with a timeout today if I can't be nice. I'll keep you updated.

I have all of these ideas for what is going to happen after I have the baby. Those of you who currently have children will need to take a breather and allow yourself to make fun of me after you read this part, and that's okay. Ultimately I want to get my body back in shape and lose the weight. Who doesn't? But beyond that I have about 15-20 fertility drug pounds that I want to get rid of too. I've been finding 5k's that I want to run and have discussed joining a gym with my Dad...you know because of all of the free time I will have. lol And there is the dieting.....this morning I had a sausage biscuit from McD's and actually said out loud to myself..."enjoy this now, because your fast food days are almost over".
Anyway, I have the fear of sinking into a sweat pants and no makeup rut, and ideally I don't want that to happen. I want to be a Mom obviously, but I still want to be a fashionable one whose husband is actually excited to see her when he comes home. Right now my morning routine WITHOUT a baby to tend to is this:
-Wake up 20 minutes later than I need to
-Fall asleep in the bathtub because I'm too lazy to stand up in the shower
-Get out, dry off...MAYBE remember to put on my stretch mark stuff (ugh, another post)
-Find whatever clothes are clean and will still cover me. There aren't any other rules than that.
-Towel dry my hair, slap some mousse in it, scrunch it and pull my somewhat grown out bangs up with a bobby pin
-Deodorant, very important
-Foundation (sometimes), blush, powder, mascara* and that is all...which is pointless because it still looks as though I didn't bother at all.
-Brush my teeth and think happy thoughts so I don't gag/throw up
-Let the dog out to pee
-Leave

(notice shaving my legs wasn't mentioned in there anywhere)

I don't want this to be a permanent routine!!! I'd like to think that someday I will once again flat iron my hair and put some thought into what clothing I am putting on my body. And that for the love of everything holy I will remember to put jewelry on again!!! I miss my wedding ring!!!
And make up....make up is important to me. Not that you could tell that right now.

*Mascara is a necessity because I have almost invisible eyelashes. One time I tried to apply fake eyelashes to see if I would like them, and I almost lost an eyeball. I've never even glanced at a package of them in Wal-Mart since. I was traumatized.


This is a long, dumb post. I'll leave you with an update:

35 Weeks (and 3 days)


Total weight gain/loss: I have gained 32 pounds. I actually gained about 30 of those in the 1st and 2nd trimester and have been pretty well stuck on this amount for over a month now. I'm good with the standstill. :)

Maternity clothes: You betcha. With the exception of some of J's t-shirts when I can get by with that.

Sleep: So tired. Reasons I can't sleep: mind will NOT shut down, back hurts, wrist hurts (tendonitis), HEARTBURN, and then the 48 trips to the bathroom of course.

Best moment of the week: JT got to feel her moving around a LOT last night. She was all over the place.

Food cravings/aversions: Nothing really. There isn't ANYTHING that doesn't give me heartburn. I had grapes yesterday and almost died. GRAPES PEOPLE!!!

Belly button in or out: Still in, can you believe that? It's ugly and flatter...but still in.

Stretch marks: I've seen worse, but mine are pretty gross. And still NONE on my belly. It's the weirdest thing.

What I miss: Riding the 4-wheeler with hub, bending over, sleeping...although I don't expect to do that again for a LONG time. I miss normal clothes too.

What I am looking forward to: 36 week ultrasound on Monday...PLEASE still be a girl. Don't get me wrong...a boy would be fabulous...but I don't have the mental capacity nor the time to return this many girly things and replace them with boy things...and more importantly, PLEASE STILL BE HEALTHY!

Weekly wisdom: 35 weeks is long enough. 40 is a dumb number. ha!