Christmas

Will post up some Christmas pics later on but overall it has been a wonderful holiday.

With the birth of Mr Man and recovery from that surgery/hip problems I didn't do much for holiday decor this year. We got the (pre-lit) tree up but I didn't put any decorations on it. I did hang the stockings on the fireplace though - that should count for something. Right?

Next year I assume I wont be having major abdominal surgery nor a newborn during the Christmas holiday so I'll be quite a bit more festive.

My mom flew in on the evening of the 22nd and we took Mr Man and went Christmas shopping all day on the 23rd, cooked dinner on the 24th and went over to Sam's mom's today. It was so good to spend time with family.

Sam got me the Wii I was wanting so badly and Dad/Lulu got me a netbook which I was wanting badly also. The only thing that could have been better than that was a Burberry tote haha! No but seriously, what a wonderful day and family made it all the sweeter.

Sam and I were so happy to have Mr Man and start our little family this year. We're so blessed.

Thanksgiving with Mr Man

For our first Thanksgiving with Mr Man we went over to Sam's brother's house. What a blessing it was to not have to cook this year. :)

My dad, stepmom, stepbrother and grandfather came with us. Here's the four generations pic we took:In addition to his brother's family, there was Sam's mom and his sister's family. That meant 10 kiddos including Mr Man. What a large group, but it was a really great time. We're very grateful to them for hosting all of us.

Thanksgiving also meant the end to my post-birth helpers. Serious sad face here. Both my mom and stepmom (Lulu) were great and I'm not sure how we would have gotten through the first 3 weeks with Mr Man without their help. They cooked, they cleaned, they shopped, they lifted things for me and did pretty much everything around the house. Both of them pretty much kept us all alive and well for those first few weeks. I'm so incredibly grateful for them and the advice and lessons in parenting they gave Sam and I. I swear Lulu is the baby whisperer. Truly, she's amazing.

To mom and Lulu - I love you both. Sam and I are grateful for you both and the love and kindness you give.

Mr Man's first Pediatrician Visit

So we went to the pediatrician's office on Monday 11/9 for Mr Man's first visit.

He left the hospital weighing 8lb 6oz on Friday 11/6. At the visit, he weighed in at exactly 9.0 lbs. not a bad weight gain for 1 weekend! He was circumsized the morning after he was born and that looks to be all healed up.

I'm breastfeeding exclusively and my milk didn't come in until Friday, so he had lost the 10% or so that is normal for babies in their first week. Was really glad to see he'd gained some back so quickly!

Now, so that part of the doctors visit went really well. Baby looks great, perfect healthy 1 week old. I however was in a fair amount of pain. And it was bloody HOT in the pediatrician clinic. We're talking like literally 90 degrees in the office. Not good for a new mom with crazy hormones, who is recovering from surgery, pelvis/hips killing her etc etc. I felt like I was going to pass out the entire time I was there.

It was also about 71 degrees outside. I swear I was probably sweating buckets.

It gets better.

So as we were going to leave, Sam goes to start the car and nothing. Dead battery. You have got to be kidding me. The car is just over 2 years old, how in gracious name is the battery dead?
I, being the noob mom that I am, also didn't have any water in the diaper bag/car for myself.
So I'm sitting here in the car fanning myself, nursing a hungry son, my pain med is wearing off quickly and I'm really starting to hurt, I'm shaking from being overheated and waiting for AAA to arrive. Sam is still not quite over being sick and is cranky. And I'm hungry. Ugh.

Mercifully the AAA man arrives (early!) and yep, its the battery. Not only can he jump us but he can replace our dead battery with a brand new one in less than 10 minutes. Go right ahead my man. Hallelujah we're on our way, new battery, healthy happy kiddo and I make it home to find that my mom had just prepared lunch which was waiting for us.

Ahhh, yes. Life sometimes works out quite well!

Mr Man has arrived!

My apologies on the tardy post. I've been busy: new mom, recovering from delivery etc.

So we checked into the hospital around 10PM on Sunday, November 1st. They started me on the Cervidil to start my labor induction. The plan then was to start the Petocin in the morning once my cervix had been "ripened". Wellllllll that didn't go as planned. I apparently am one of the rare people in this world with a reaction to Cervidil. I started shaking violently, burning pain etc. So they took it out and started me on the Petocin right away.

By late afternoon on 11/2 I was well on my way to being dilated. I honestly don't remember how far dilated I was when I got the epidural nor what time of day it was - there were no windows or clocks in my room that I could see, so the whole day was sort of a blur. I do know I started pushing around 5PM or so. The pain was excruciating. Not the pushing, haha pushing was a breeze. It was the pain of having my legs held. I couldn't feel the contractions or anything but I could feel my hip/pelvic pain every single push. So they called in the anesthesiologist to max out my epidural (4x this was done) so that I would be able to push - or rather, survive the pain of having my legs held back while pushing.

This went on for ~3 hours. I pushed in 1minute increments. At the end of the 3 hours, it was determined that his head couldn't make it past my pelvic bone and even if that could, his shoulders probably wouldn't.

So at that point we went in for the C-section. The doctor spent probably ~10 minutes just getting poor Mr Man's head un-stuck from the birth canal. He came out looking perfect and being in perfect health at 10:26 PM. Mr Man weighed 9lbs 4.7oz at birth and was 21 1/4 inches long.

After that I went on to the recovery area and Sam/Mr Man went to the nursery for a more thorough physical, cleaning and shots. Sam says during everything, Mr Man just winced as they gave him a shot or whatnot but never cried. Such a little trooper he is!

Mr Man and I were released on Friday, Nov 6th (Sam's birthday). During our stay in the hospital, Sam picked up the Flu. Poor guy, goes into the hospital for the birth perfectly healthy, comes out being sick. So Mr Man and I were quarantined to the master bedroom while Sam was downstairs in the living room until Monday of this week (11/9).
My mother flew in on 11/4 and has been taking care of Sam, Mr Man and myself. She leaves to go back to Seattle on Saturday. It has been SUCH a blessing to have her here. We wouldn't have survived without her.

I've had such a rough recovery. I figured it was because of the c-section. But honestly my incision barely hurts. What is so painful is my hip/pelvis/pubic bones. Standing hurts, walking hurts, sitting hurts, laying down hurts. I went in to the doctors office yesterday and it turns out that I have a piece of cartilage that connects the pelvic bone which has become detached on one side. It will heal on its own, just it hurts like hell and will take about 6-8 weeks to heal fully. Sadly, I'm also allergic to Aspirin/Ibuprofen so I can't take any anti-inflammatory medications to help. Tylenol and/or pain pill is all I can do for pain control. :( Story of my life there.
I will be going back to Physical Therapy next week - twice a week until the area is healed and the pain has subsided.

That issue aside, I'm doing well. My water weight is falling off quicker than I thought. I can actually fit into a fair chunk of my shoes as of this afternoon. So things are on the up and up!

More pics of our son, Mr Man:

D-Day - Monday Nov 2

So I went to the Dr's office yesterday for my 39 week visit and to see about delivery options for big lil baby Mr Man.

Short story is that despite all my hip/pelvis issues they think that I can push Mr Man out and will consider a C-section as a last resort (hallelujah).

My next concern was...but what if we have to do the C-section? How will this be determined? Knowing ahead of time that he's expected to be big, they're more willing to change up the situation sooner if it looks like I'm just not progressing at all or Mr Man gets "stuck" versus letting me labor on for hours and hours then doing it. I like that strat. While I'd like to avoid the C-section, I am realistic that it is a possibility and would rather deal with it sooner than later if it comes to it.

That all said, they also want to induce me - before he gets even more big. So, Sunday night at 10pm I check into the hospital and hopefully Monday (Nov 2nd) Mr Man will be born. Hurray!!!!!

I'm SOOOOOOOOO excited to meet my little man. I want to see what he looks like - the combination of Sam and I. I can't wait to see the fingers, toes and face he's been hiding on all those sono's we had.

As excited as I am, I've got to be honest in that I'm also a little sad. I've really had an enjoyable pregnancy and really liked having my passenger with me. Just he and I. Don't get me wrong, at this stage I'm veryyy ready to be done being pregnant. But I did find it really fun and really did love it. Before getting pregnant I couldn't understand why some women would say that. Now I do. Hopefully I'll get to experience it another time (or two?). :)

Its quite interesting to me how people treat you when you're pregnant. At first, when no one can tell - its just the daily routine as normal. But as that big beautiful belly starts to bulge out and its pretty obvious what's cooking inside, well...the comments and reactions are so funny.

The best reaction I had was at this Dutch Market near our house. I was coming out with my purchase (an obscenely buttered fresh baked pretzel and fresh squeezed lemonade) and this black man and his 2 lady friends were walking in. As I went to open the door, he snatched it open for me and yelled out "MAMA COMIN' THROUGH, MAMA COMIN' THROUGH" and parted the waves of people going in/out of the market for me like Moses parting the Sea. I nearly died. No one around could help but smile and chuckle.
Then of course come all the tidbits of wisdom and oohs/ahhs from other women. Nothing like a big 'ol pregnant woman nearby to get the conversation flowing. I'm curious as to what tidbits of wisdom is the most commonly received? I think mine by far was "enjoy the time now most when baby's hands are inside the tummy instead of all over everything else".

TLDR: Mr Man is being born on Nov 2 and pregnancy is fun.

Still waiting

I've spent the last few days with contractions - today nearly all day long. But they're on/off and not worth calling the doctor about. Boy do they wear me out!

Let me say that being able to work from home has been such a blessing. I can work when I have the energy and nap when I don't. I can also be OCD about stuff to finish before Mr Man arrives too! Oddly I find that I'm even more productive working from home than I was at the office. Who woulda thunk it?!
I talked with work and after maternity leave I'll be still working (albeit part-time instead of full-time) but will be at home 100% so that I can be a full time mommy to Mr Man. I'm very thankful for where I work and the people I work with that I can have this flexibility.

I must say, I resisted Facebook for years. I'm still not a huge fan - however I will give credit where credit is due. It has enabled me to reconnect with more than a few old friends and that's a good thing! Its so interesting to me, after being out of the loop the last few years, to see what people are up to, who is married, who has kids (and how many!), who is living where, etc. Its been so fun to read and see. I still like sending snail mail and cards however - to me there's such a sense of joy to open up the mail box and find amongst all the junk mail and bills a card/letter. So any friends out there, if you want to update me with your mailing address (hey include birthday/anniversary info) I'll send snail mail too! :)

Regarding cooking

I'm sort of a novice at cooking. After several years of not really being allowed to cook, I can finally do so. So I'm learning.

One thing I've found though is that there are certain things you like in the kitchen and think 'wow self, how did I live without this before'. I have a few of those things.

This is one of them:
This is the oval pot from Rachel Ray's line. I absolutely love this pot for pastas, asparagus and all sorts of other neat things.

One other must have that I absolutely adore is from Crate and Barrel. Mine is plastic and not bamboo, but same price/place. Great for scraping all sorts of stuff off china, glass, non-stick pots/pans and etc. Anyways, spend the $1.95 and you'll love it as much as I do I'm sure.

Oh its been a while

Well as the title says, its been a while. I'm about 36 weeks now.

We've been to the hospital once - everything was right (severe contractions, 3-5 min apart, each lasting 1-3 min) but I wasn't dilated yet, so back home we went. I've been having contractions almost daily now for a week. Sometimes they last just 2-3 hours and sometimes they last 5-6 hours. But so far, none seem to be the "head to the hospital" type.

I'm also on a partial bed-rest/reduced activity. I'm not very good at this sitting still thing. My first day of bed-rest involved me cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming 2 floors of the house, doing 3 loads of laundry and cooking dinner. Apparently that's not what they meant by 'reduced activity'. I did sit for a while and take a couple naps though. That's good right? right?

So that's been this past week.

At my 34 week visit last week we had a standard sono performed. They determined that Mr Man was measuring in at 37.5 weeks from the body measurements they took. The sono tech kept saying "man this baby is HUGE". They decided to adjust my due date ahead a week (again) so that's why I'm now 36 weeks even though my 34 week scan was last week. Confusing...I know. They estimate that if I get to full term with him he'll likely be 10-11 lbs. Time to shift my birthing thoughts towards C-section if that's the case. Ouchie! I'd post his sono pics normally but he's so dang big they couldn't really get a good shot of him. They just look like blurs. Blech, not worth posting. You'll just have to wait and see him after he's born!

As for the time since the last post - nursery is all done. I was sort of obsessed to get the big stuff all done before 27 weeks (which I did). But now all the wall decor is up, all the clothes/blankets and stuff are washed. The diaper kit is all ready to go. Birthing class is done, hospital tour is done. Pediatrician has been selected. Only thing not done is that the earliest appointment we could get to install the car-seat is Oct 15th. We'll see if I make it. If not, Sam will be swinging by the local Fire Dept to have them check/install it in an 'emergency' situation.

Here's a pic of the nursery with furniture:

I was given 2 baby showers by family - one from my family in Seattle when we were there for the 4th of July and one a couple weeks back with Sam's family. Both were really great and Mr Man has so many adorable outfits to wear now.

Here's a pic from the Seattle shower:

My pregnancy overall has been really good. No morning sickness, no weird cravings, no weird smell issues, no back pain. Just hip pain that started towards the end of my 2nd trimester. I've been going to PT for it, which has helped a TON. Highly recommend it. One of these days I intend to do a long winded series of posts with my take on pregnancy. Some of the do's and don'ts and a lot of the stuff your girlfriends/family just frankly didn't tell you. But that's for later. Right now, here's to wishing this little guy arrives soon and is super healthy.

Baby's room is on the way...

The room has been painted


The furniture has arrived...setup is halfway complete

(pic to be inserted later)

Its a boy!

We're thrilled to announce that we're having a little boy! His name will be Mr Man.

At the recent ultrasound they decided I'm a week farther along now.

MrMan was doing all sorts of flips and turns and generally hamming it up for the ultrasound camera during the exam! We're expecting an active little guy.

It is a....

...bean! Well, that's what it resembles on our very first sonogram.

Shopping excursion for prego clothes

Ok well so I went shopping this weekend for prego pants because well, mine were too small and really getting uncomfortable.

So I went to the mall on Saturday and found A pregnancy store. Yep, one solitary store. They had some "cute" things. So 4 pairs of pants and 2 pairs of jeans later my bill was around $600. I choked - golly how do people afford this if they're lower income? How is stuff you're only going to wear for 9 months that friggin expensive?

Well I soon found out why. That was just a really pricey store! As I went online a day later I found that there are other stores nearby (not in the mall however) who's prices are about 70% cheaper than that place. Well, I can't return 2 items but I'm pretty sure they'll get the other 4 back this week!

Its no longer a secret

Well most of the friends and family know about our recent good news. Now I just have to keep you updated regularly.


Sam wants me to do a weekly tummy photo, but I don't think I want the world to see me in my undies. Maybe we can find a middle ground here....no pun intended actually.

Snuggly Bear and the big tummy controversy

Well, the tummy is getting bigger - that's what happens when you get pregnant I guess. Granted I'm in the very very early stages here, basically I just found out!

It seems this is happening to me earlier than it should be. Should I be alarmed? Should I be excersizing more and eating less? Either way it means one thing...shopping this weekend for new pants because hey, I can't fit into my current size 4's or even my size 6's. Oh sure I can get them on, just my little tummy prevents me from zippering/buttoning/eye-hooking them.

Did you kow they make pants designed for "all nine months"? I didn't but apparently they do. They also make teensy weensy bikinis, that even when not pregnant, I wouldn't go near with a 10ft pole! Well this will be an adventure to see what I can find to wear now that I can also wear months from now when I'm HUGE!