First date

Me and Nathan had our first post baby date last night. We went out to a very nice dinner. It was so good to spend some quality time together not changing diapers. We love baby boy, but we need to make sure and have that time together. Plus it's good for my parents to babysit without us there and have that bonding time. I also went to BRU and Motherhood and got some things I needed and lil boy needed. I bought him some more clothes. He has tons, but nothing fits. I know he will grow, but I want him to have a few things that fit. We have a hard time keeping our house warm, so he needed something warm to wear. I got this cool head rest that will be great in the car seat, but it's also great for the swing. For all the new moms out there, make sure the swing and bouncy chair you get has a head rest in it. Or you could register for the head rest too. I was going to have to buy a new swing, but this thing makes it perfect.

I'm feeling better except for a little soreness and irritation and a nasty headache. I'm not sure what's causing these headaches, but I've had a lot lately. I'm drinking a dr. pepper to see if that helps. Hopefully that doesn't keep lil boy up at night any more than usual. I don't think it will. If it did I would almost rather him be fussy till 12 or 1 am and then sleep... Wishful thinking. But I love him and I know this will pass... one day...

Sleepy Boy

Here are some pics I just took during the 3 minutes he slept in his bassinet before he started fussing. This is his first time to wear pants. They are still pretty big, but the preemie clothes are too little, and the sleepers are way too long. He is growing so fast though. I will try to get some pics later when my parents come over of eyes open. It's very hard to get up and get the camera sometimes when the moment is perfect. He was very fussy last night. I slept from 10-11 and then from 1-2 am. Then I woke Nathan up at 4:30am when I was so miserable I couldn't move. He held the baby till 7 am and then went to work. I did get to get out of the house last night! It's just nice to be a regular person again. I need to go pick up a package from the post office. I might take him in there in the sling. It would be quick. And I'm getting my hair cut today. And mom and dad are going to babysit for us to go out to dinner. So I'll get a bit of a break from fussy boy today. And tomorrow I might go to BRU to get a few things. I'm still sore and hurting a little, but not too bad. It hurts worse if I lift something too heavy, so I try not to do that.

Separation

I realized yesterday that I have not yet been separated from my son except for when he was in the nursery in the hospital. Even then I called exactly when it was time to feed him if they hadn't brought him yet. I love him and don't want to be separated for long, but a little break would be nice. Nathan was supposed to come straight home from work so I can run some errands, but he didn't. I wasn't happy, but I know he just didn't pay attention to time, a bad habit of his. So hopefully today he will. It will just be good to get out of the house by myself since I am feeling better. I pumped a little bottle yesterday, and I might do another one today. Lil boy is still keeping his same mommy-killing schedule of waking up at 3 am till 7 am. I didn't wake up Nathan till 5 am when I was miserable. But he does have to work. And I did sleep till 9:30. So it seems to be working out. He said this weekend he will stay up more so I can sleep.

Oh, and we are getting a lot of $$ for tax return (not intentional) so I might stay home another couple of weeks. It will be nice to have some extra time at home with lil boy where we can actually go places. The thought of him laying in the crib at daycare crying with no one to pick him up... horrible. He is very fussy lately. Hopefully when he gets bigger he can sit by himself in a bouncy chair or swing for a few minutes awake without getting mad. But for now, momma holds him a lot.

Our first outing

Yesterday, I had my first outing with the baby. It was so tiring! He has a blocked tear duct, which causes nasty discharge from his right eye and looks really sad and painful. I took him to the dr, and they gave me some eye drops which seem to be helping. And we have to massage the tear duct with a q-tip and clean the eye. Lil boy doesn't mind too much.

How bout this?? Lil boy weighed 7 lbs. 15 ozs.!!!! I couldn't believe it. What a piggy big boy! I bet he'll be wearing his newborn clothes soon. He'll still in preemies. It's funny how when I was pregnant the newborn clothes looked so tiny, but when he got here, being small, they looked huge! They still look really long, but I'm sure he'll be there soon.

I meant to use the stroller instead of carrying the car seat in the office until I realized I don't know how to use the stroller. So when I got home yesterday my back was killing me and I was cramping and bleeding a lot. I'm feeling better today though. I realized that I still need more time to recover. I think I will be ok to run a couple of errands and get around a little more as long as I keep it short and there is no heavy lifting involved. I think next time I will bring the small diaper bag and use the baby sling carrier when I have the baby by myself for a dr appt or short errand. Trial and error... Lil boy is sleeping now. He's tired... since he doesn't sleep from 3 am till 7 am. Nathan has been really great about giving me a break. Sometimes I can't fall asleep when Nathan has him, but I still need that break. Nathan said he's really not too tired. So things are going well.

Wish me luck. I'm going to work on our taxes. Maybe if we get a good refund I'll take an extra week or two off... I don't believe it's good to get a big refund instead of having the money during the year, but because of the pregnancy I worked less and made less money. So we'll see.

Nancy's survey

Nancy posted a survey and I typed so much I figured I would post my response. Plus I don't know how much longer I can sit in this chair... Ouch... Any mommies out there, please share your responses.

1. Early "symptoms" of pregnancy - Was what you actually felt/experienced different from what you thought they would be like? -
Expected to feel crappy and sick. I did feel crappy and sick at 5 weeks.

2. Many women are afraid they won't be able to tell the difference between a braxton hicks and a real contraction. When you got a real contraction, was there and obvious difference? - Expected to just know the difference. Still not sure about this one. I consider that I went into labor Wed. night at 8 pm and had baby Fri. at noon. For a while contractions weren't too bad, but they kept getting worse. I had some false labor a few weeks before that felt very similar, but not quite as painful. Then at 6 pm Friday night, they got more painful. I was pretty sure it was the real deal, but not 100% till a few hours later at the hospital.

3. Drug Free Labor. A) If you wanted a drug free labor and delivery, did you succeed? B) Regardless of the outcome (opting for drugs or not), has your opinion about natural labor and delivery changed at all?
I totally wanted drugs during labor and delivery. I seriously thought that delivery would be super easy due to epi, like I see on tv. BUT epi did not work for me. My legs were dead and vaginal area dead, but I felt everything in my belly due to scar tissue in my spine. So no, L&D was much more traumatic than I expected.

4. Inductions. I didn't really want one, but dr scheduled for 39 weeks. Baby decided to come at 38 weeks. BUT they did have to use pitocin on me due to magnesium sulfate used for blood pressure slowing things down. Pitocin is EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Recovery. Was recovery as you imagined?
Recovery is so much harder than I thought. I expected to come home and spend maternity leave playing house, cooking, going on walks... I had episiotomy which is horrible and painful. After two weeks and 3 days, I can finally sit in a chair for a little while and not cry. It's so hard to get up and down out of the bed. Things are getting better, but this is way worse than I imagined.

6. Post delivery body. Did your own body surprise you?
I expected to look 6 months pregnant, but I only had a very small pouch going home. I've already lost almost 20 lbs of 34 gained. I'm not dieting or exercising of course. I have had tummy problems and not much appetite. So my appearance is much different than I expected.

7. Postpartum bleeding. Were you ready for it?
I expected super heavy flow for weeks, but it was only heavy for about a week. Now I'll have heavy flow every day or two, but no huge clots. PROBABLY because the OB who delivered me... pushed with all his might on my belly after delivery. I screamed my head off for real. But I guess he got everything out.

8. Postpartum period. Anything in this category surprising?
Haven't had yet.

9. Did you experience the "newborn honeymoon"?
YES!! First week home, he only woke up one or two times at night and went right back to sleep. Week two we were in for a rude awakening!! 3am till 6 am is wakey fussy time.

10. Sleep deprivation and general feelings of taking care of a newborn. Did you have any idea just how hard it would really be?
I'm crying right now typing this. Sleep deprivation is so hard. There is no way to describe how it feels to wake up for an hour to feed, then sleep for one hour, then do it again. Then sometimes he cries all the way through till it's time to eat again. The first few nights of this, I was still feeling horrible, and Nathan did not help. He got mad at me when I woke him up. Now he rocks the baby so I can sleep for a little while between feedings. I keep telling myself that eventually this will pass. It's so hard.

Extra Credit: Is there anything else in regards to expected vs actual you would like to share?This sounds corny, but I had no idea I could love somebody this much. Even with all of the crying and not sleeping, I just can't get mad at him. I can cry about it, but I can't get mad. I love him so much. The thought of something happening to him makes me seriously panicky. I have dreams about people trying to take him and waking up to check on him. I check on him to make sure he is breathing. One more - I thought I would be anal about other people holding him, but I'm really not. People can hold him all day as long as it's not eating time. I don't even remember usually to ask people to wash their hands (maybe not good). I guess I'm proud of him and want other people to experience his sweetness.

Lazy Day

Me and lil boy are having a lazy day, like usual. Nathan spent the morning with us, even cooked me breakfast, and now he is working on his car outside, which is fine. I want him to spend lots of time with us, but he needs some time to do what he likes too. Maybe one day soon I'll be able to go and do something. I'm sure sometime in the next week or so I will feel up to getting out and about. I'm a little afraid to have to go out with him. I would only go to a friend or family's house or a quick errand. The dr said not to life anything heavier than the baby, and going out means carseat, stroller, diaper bag. I guess if Nathan put the carseat in the car, and I used the sling instead of the stroller, I'm be ok. I just really want everything to heal properly. I'm feeling pretty good today. My tummy is not bothering me for once. Still sore down there, but I think it's finally starting to heal properly after two weeks. I think I just had too many bad stitches. I think in another week I'll be feeling like a new person. I gave lil boy a bath in his tub, and he didn't care for it too much. He liked it last time, but not so much this time. He really hates the sponge bath, which we do when we are too lazy to get the baby tub out. I have the rainforest tub, and it's really great. It has a sling/hammock for little ones. Well, we have some visitors. Hope everyone has a good day.

Mommy doesn't feel good

I am having tummy problems again. Every time I eat my tummy hurts and cramps. Lil boy seemed to have tummy problems last night too. I hope we didn't catch something at the hospital or dr office yesterday. Nathan stayed up for the graveyard shift last night, 3-5 am. He fed lil boy his first bottle. Some milk got wasted because I didn't have any idea how much he would drink. He drank about 1.5 oz. I had 4 in the bottle. Oh well. I breastfed at 3 am, and Nathan bottle fed at 5 am, then I breastfed at 8 am. So I didn't really go too long between. I didn't sleep very well though because my tummy was hurting a lot. But it was nice to rest. My breasts are a little sore still from missing a feeding. I don't think I want to do that again for a while. Maybe just once or twice a week. I found some tiny 2.5 oz bottles that I will pump in when I do it again. And lil boy had no trouble breastfeeding after bottle feeding. He is spitting up a lot today. That makes for lots of dirty laundry. Well that's an insight to my world right now, Babyland!

Lil piggy boy

We went to the dr today for lil boy's weigh in and check up. He weighs 7 lbs. 4 oz.!! What a big boy. He is still only 15% on the growth curve on weight, but he is gaining well. Dr said he is doing great. The dr was so sweet holding him and looking at him and checking him out. Lil boy is almost 21" long. I think before long he'll be able to wear newborn size clothes. For now we're still in preemie clothes. He also had his newborn screening blood test this morning, required in tx. Yes, I cried when he cried. The lady was not very nice. Nathan did a little better last night helping me, but he still needs improvement. Lil boy was up from 3 am till 7 am again. I took a nap today so I'm ok. I pumped for the first time today. I just did one bottle from both breasts. I still want to be able to nurse him when he wakes up. Hopefully there is enough left. We -might- give lil boy a bottle tonight. He is such a good breastfeeder. I don't think it will hurt him. Plus it would be good bonding for dad.

Hard times

I knew that having a newborn would be hard, but I had no idea how hard. I'm actually feeling pretty good today, and I got enough sleep after sleeping till 10am. But... lil boy is still not sleeping much at night. He was up from 2:00 till 3:00 then 4:00 till 7:30. I just need a few hours of sleep in a row. Then later in the afternoon if I can catch a nap, I'm ok. But it's so hard to wake up in the middle of the night 100 times. He is a hungry little momma's boy. Right now he is sort of strapped to my chest with a blanket fussing. He really likes his bouncy chair and not so much his bed. And Nathan wasn't so great with us last night. He refused to help at all. So I'm a little mad at him. If he could have just let me sleep one hour, that would have been great.

At the dr yesterday, she clipped a couple more of my stitches, owwwww. So I was pretty tired and feeling crappy after that. And my tummy was very sore yesterday. But today it's a lot better. Good thing because lil boy is very fussy today. Lil boy has a dr appt tomorrow for weight check. I have a feeling he has gained a lot. He looks big to me.

And we got our family pictures online to view! Hopefully she will post some on her website soon and I will share that. They are really beautiful. My face looks fat in some of them, but I think there are a few of me that I do like. We'll just say it's the camera adding 10 lbs.

Little angel

Here are some pics of our little boy. I love the ones of him and daddy looking at each other. Those were some really sweet moments. I am noticing that most of the pictures are of daddy and not mommy. Maybe we'll get some more mommy pictures when mommy doesn't look like death warmed over... I am feeling a little better each day, so I know it won't last forever, and of course it's all worth it, every stitch!
I guess lil boy just doesn't much like to sleep at night any more. He was up every hour. Finally at 6 am I woke up daddy. I was so tired I couldn't move to get him. Now that I slept late, I'm fine, it's just hard in the middle of the night when I'm tired. Maybe once I get off pain meds I won't be so groggy in the middle of the night.
Lil boy's umbilical cord is hanging by a thread. For some strange reason, I'm a little sad that the piece that connected him to me is falling off. Weird, I know.

I'm going to look online for some nursing tops and see what I find. Mom got me a couple that are very cute. My bp has been pretty good the last couple of days, about 130-140/80s or 90. So we'll see what the dr says tomorrow.

We are having peepee pants crisis!!!! Any ideas? We are using Pampers Newborn size. They fit very well. We have peepee pants through the diaper, through the clothes, through the blanket 3-4 times a day. We tried Huggies, but they are too big, and they made big peepee pants. It's not that his teetee is pointed the wrong way, the whole diaper gets completely soaked! I change him every time he wakes up. I guess I need to check him in his sleep, but then he will get mad and cry. I guess I would rather have peepee pants and peace than clean pants and mad baby.

Daddy's at work

So Nathan went to work today. I was so sad yesterday just thinking about it. I cried like a big baby, and this morning was hard letting him go. I just feel like he needs to be here with us. Hopefully he will come home at a decent time and be able to hang out with us. It will be nice when I can do more around the house so he can have more baby time. I'm feeling a little better today. I'm still taking the pain meds, but if I stretch out the dose a little, I don't hurt quite so bad as yesterday. Little boy was awake from 1:30 am till 4:30 am again... He would eat, sleep, wake, eat, sleep wake every 30 mins or hour. I dozed off a little bit, but it's not the same sleeping with him draped over me. I know it's not good to do, but I can't help fall asleep. At 4:30 I broke down and got Nathan to put him in his bed and find his hat. I think he sleeps better with his hat on. It gets cool at night and it's hot during the day. So we need air conditioner during the day and heater at night. So Nathan had to turn the heater on at 4:30. He didn't seem to mind getting up for a few minutes. Lil boy ate again at 7 am, then slept till almost 10 am. I feel pretty rested, but I might do a few things on the computer while he is sleeping, then take a little nap.

My body

It's really amazing to me what all my body has done in the past 10 months or so, with IVF, pregnancy, labor, delivery, and recovery. I updated the "My Changing Body" stats with my measurements today. I was hoping for less on the belly, but it's definitely going down. When I wear a loose shirt, you can't really tell I just had a baby. My breasts are huge! (Well they seem huge to me at least.) Pre-pregnancy I was 34B minus. Now I'm measuring 36C at least. I'm wearing sleeping bras for now and I'll buy some real ones later. I'm still hurting but feeling better. Little boy had a rough night last night. He was up from 1:30 till 5:00 off and on. Nathan was up for the majority of that with him. I got really tired and needed help. He rocked him, put him in his bouncy chair, but no luck. Finally we let him sleep in his bouncy chair at 5:00 till 7:00. I know you're not supposed to, but dang, he was happy in it, and we were tired. Now he is sleeping soundly in his bed. At some point around 4:00, Nathan saw the drug dealer at the park next door and called the cops. A little later I heard noises outside, and there were 3 or 4 cop cars searching that car. I think they eventually let the guy go... I just don't understand drug dealing at a park in the middle of the night. Now that we will be up at all hours, we will keep the PD phone number on speed dial and call every time we see the drug dealers. Maybe they will eventually go somewhere else. I just hope they don't see our lights on at night and know it's us...

Visitor weekend

So this is visitor weekend where lots of people are coming over. We had a few friends over last night, and that was fun. We just hung out and passed the baby around. Dad and Tabatha came over today, and some of Nathan's family and Paulina are coming tonight. Nathan is having some daddy time right now before he gets the baby stolen from him. Little boy slept very good last night. He went down at 11 pm, woke up at 2:30 am till 3:00 am, then slept till 6:00, back down at 7:15, then slept till 10 am. I think this is the most sleep I've gotten in a long time. Still feeling sore and hurting. I started the antibiotics for my UTI yesterday, so hopefully I'll get some relief from that. My BP is still high, 150s/90s. I'm feeling a little better, but still crappy.

Just Hangin out

Today Nathan is 30! I got him a card, cd, and a dvd. Poor daddy has to do housework today. We will be having lots of visitors this weekend. It will be fun to see everybody hold the baby, but it will be a lot of work for Nathan to play host and keep the house clean. Of course we are letting things go a little bit and getting a little cluttery, but still keeping it pretty clean.

Getting better

Today is the first day where I can say I feel a little better instead of worse. It still hurts like hell down there, but it's just a little better than yesterday. So I think whatever the dr did must be helping. We had Amber Hamilton come this morning for a photo session. It was fun, and I think that we are going to great some great pictures. He was really good for a little while, then he got fussy and hungry, so I feds him a little, and he cooperated just long enough to get some more pics. He is so precious... Taking the naked pics was fun. I was waiting to see who would get pooped on. It was Nathan. I got puked on twice today. Like major pukage where I had to change clothes. I got peed on too. I think we have gone through about 6 outfits today. The diapers must just not hold enough pee. It's annoying. But we love him so it's ok...

Introducing Mr. Chesley

So I finally made my way downstairs and I'll try to sit at the computer for a little while. Introducing Mr. Chesley Jefferson Phillips. He was born January 9, 2009 at 12:10 pm at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, TX. He was delivered by Dr. Victores as our regular OB was out of town.

We went to the hospital Thursday night after I had been having contractions since Wednesday evening. Around 6:30 pm Thursday the contractions got to be 5 mins. apart. We waited until 9:30 pm to go to the hospital. We live about 5 mins away and I wanted to stay home as long as possible. When we got there, I was only 1 cm dilated, but my blood pressure was 185/115. They admitted me and started an iv with magnesium sulfate to lower bp. My contractions got stronger, and I was in lots of pain. At 3:00 am, I got my epidural, and things got a little better. Then, the magnesium slowed the contractions down, so they started pitocin.... OWWWWW. The contractions got worse, and I got feeling back in my belly. So the epidural worked in my bottom and my legs were dead, but I felt everything in my belly. It was excrutiating. I really didn't think I was going to be able to do it. Then around 10 am, I was fully dilated, and the dr said I could push... but I didn't feel the need to push. By this point the contractions were so painful that I was screaming my head off every 2 minutes. Finally, the nurse convinced me that pushing might feel better. And it did. Then the baby was about to come and the dr wasn't there... But he made it. I screamed and pushed and screamed and finally he came out. The dr had to do an episitomy, which is why I'm still feeling so crappy. Baby had some mucus in his lungs, so they brought him to the nursery for a little while, then they brought him to us for a few minutes, then they took him back. Those few minutes where we first got to hold him were so precious. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for that moment. He is the most beautiful baby in the world.

So I had to stay on the mag iv for 24 hours after delivery, which meant I had to stay on the catheter too. They were very concerned about pre-eclampsia, but the dr said it was probably just chronic high blood pressure. My bp stayed high my whole hospital stay. So Friday night was rough. Episiotomy + catheter = PAIN. It was bad. Plus they were checking vital signs every hour. Saturday I got to get off the iv, take a bath, put on real clothes and keep the baby all day. Saturday night we kept the baby in our room till 3 am when the nursery nurse came to check on us and the baby had not gone to sleep at all. She saved me because I would not have called and asked for help. Then Sunday we had to stay till late afternoon because we had to wait for the dr to do the circumcism.

Our first few nights at home have been pretty good. He is a good baby. He eats, then sleeps, then eats, then sleeps... He loves breastfeeding and is very good at it. We went to the pediatrician for a weigh-in this morning. He was down to 5 lbs. 12 oz. when we left the hospital Sunday. He was back up to 6 lbs. 4 oz. today!! Very good boy.

I saw my OB today for her to check my bp and see what she wants to do with me. She also checked my stitches and some were not quite right. She pulled a couple out.... So I'm really hurting now, but hopefully things will start getting better. I'm still pretty miserable from pain down there. I'm not too tired though. I try to get a long nap during the afternoon if I can. Well that's about all the torture of sitting in a chair I can handle. Sorry formatting is crappy on this post. I will fix later.

I'm so thrilled that my little boy is here. He is so precious and sweet. He's everything I ever dreamed of and more.

Congrats 2 Nancy for her

Congrats 2 Nancy for her baby boy. Nathan read your blog n gave me an update. Sorry things were rough but glad u r ok. Cant wait 2 see his pics.

Our 2nd Night

This is Hollie's husband, Nathan. Hollie asked me to post an update. Our second night went fairly well. Lil Chesley didn't want to go to sleep at first but then he ended up sleeping for about 2.5 hours straight early this morning. That was nice for us to be able to get one long nap. Hollie is doing OK. She is still quite sore, but I think by the end of the week, most of the pain should be gone. We have a weight check at 8AM tomorrow morning, which should be fun to try to get going that early, especially with someone else in-tow. Then we have an appointment with the OB. Hopefully Hollie and Chesley both get good reports. Thanks for all your support and I will try to post some pics soon. Nathan.

We had our 1st night

We had our 1st night at home n it was pretty good. He slept well n I got enough sleep. I hope 2 feel better soon so I can sit at the computer.

We r goin home later

We r goin home later 2day with Chesley. He didnt sleep much last night. He is a very good breastfeeder. Im feelin ok still sore from stitches.

We are in the hospital

We are in the hospital lovin on our little guy. I am still feelin pretty sore and tired but better than yesterday. We should go home tomorrow.

Chesley Jefferson Phillips was born

Chesley Jefferson Phillips was born today at 12:10 pm 6 lbs 3 oz 19 in long. Things just progressed naturally. He is so beautiful. More later.

Still survivin

I'm still alive and still havin contractions about every 10-15 mins. They are still pretty intense. I did manage to get a nice long nap in there, so I'm feeling ok.

Seriously rough night

So last night got really rough. I started getting pretty nasty contractions around 8:00 about 15 mins apart. Then they kept inching closer together and getting worse. By 12:30 am they started gettting 5 mins apart and very painful. I was going crazy trying to fall asleep so I got up, ate some cereal, drank some water, sat in the spare bedroom for a little while. Then I took a bath and finally got some relief around 2:00 am and the contractions got a little farther apart. I fell asleep around 3:00 am till 5:00, then got up, then till 8:00, then got up, then got up at 9:00 for good. I had a contraction each time I got up that was pretty bad. I took another bath this morning that helped. Maybe I'll just live in the bathtub. This is either early labor or torture. I'm just glad I was able to get some sleep.

Got it done!

I'm pretty proud of myself that I managed to get batteries put in to all of little boy's things. I actually had to use a screwdriver... Yes, I have a degree in engineering. No, I am not very mechanically inclined. I also just got dinner started. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes homemade with cornbread and some kind of vegetables to come soon. I guess I really am feeling better. I usually start feeling tired in the evening, so I figured that I would get dinner started early. Nathan should be happy to get a break from dinner duty, not that he complains, but he is pretty good to me. Also, for those of you who know what I'm talking about, we scheduled to do Main Dish next Tuesday night. Yes, I said we! Assuming we don't have the baby before then, we will be preparing some yummy meals at the local business to go in the freezer. It's pretty easy, but I don't know if I can handle it by myself, so I may go and just sit on the couch there and help a little bit here and there. I couldn't believe Nathan actually wanted to do it. But then again, he likes to eat.

Out of the fog...

I'm finally coming out of the fog of this cold. I'm doing a few things around the house with resting in between. I really felt crappy last night though with super nausea. I guess it's just part of the misery of the end of pregnancy. I'm just excited to have an end date in mind. 7 days left! When the dr told us she wanted to induce next Thursday, Jan. 15th, we mentioned that the 16th is Nathan's birthday. She said that we could wait and have the baby that day, but we both would rather just get things going. We'll see if we change our minds. Plus I figure it will be a more fun birthday for Nathan to get to relax a little bit and hold his son rather than be in labor all day. I already bought his gift, the new Disturbed cd and a Metallics music video dvd. I think I'm going to wrap them and put them in our suitcase for the hospital. I'm going to try and find batteries for all of the baby gadgets and make sure everything is working. Nathan put everything together, so I think I can handle testing things out. Fun times.

Back from dr

We got back from the dr a little while ago. I had to have a snack before I got on the computer. She said everything is going well. My BP gets a little high, but not too bad. I have been spotting a lot, probably mucus plug, which she said is a good sign. She wasn't too worried about anything. She said my cervix hasn't changed much since last week. The exam was killer. I'm still hurting from it and just not feeling well. When I told her I'm pretty miserable, she asked if I would feel better to have a date. YES! So I am going to see her next Wednesday for her to check me and see how things are going. Then if my cervix is still not open, she will do the cervical ripening Wednesday evening and induce labor on Thursday! So we have a plan. So only a week away we will be getting ready for our son, unless of course he decides he doesn't want to wait. I'm very excited about all of this, even in my miserable condition. I would like to keep the dates a bit on the down low from the family though... We'll see how that works out. We'll just tell them we're going back to see the dr next week to see what happens next. I'm still nervous about having people want to sit up at the hospital for the whole ordeal. I'm really trying to let go of it though. I will have to accept whatever happens. Maybe if Nathan does tell his family, he can ask them to wait until we are ready for visitors. I'll just be the one in the bed having the baby...

So my posts for the next week will be centered around how crappy I feel and how excited I am and if anything changes. I'm going to celebrate with a nice long bath.

Actually left the house

So I actually left the house today. I think partially I felt a little better and partially I got stir-crazy. I went to Motherhood and bought two comfy nursing bras and a gown/robe set. I went to Best Buy and bought Nathan a cd and a music video dvd for his birthday. And I went to Walgreens for a few things. I was going to go to the family dr tomorrow for the cold and congestion, but I called the OB nurse first because they are very conservative about what they want to let me take. The nurse said I don't need antibiotics, and that there is really nothing I can take that I haven't tried. I was about in tears. She even said not to use nose spray. I might have to cheat on that one. I have taken Sudafed, Claritin, Tylenol Cold, and none of that did anything. Mucinex actually helps a little bit. She did suggest to take Benedryl, but that makes me super drowsy, like I got run over by a truck for about 14 hours. She suggested I get the liquid and take a small dose. So I'm going to try that tonight. But I did feel better today than yesterday, so here's to hoping tomorrow will be better yet. I'm very interested to hear what the dr has to say tomorrow. Maybe we will be scheduling an induction?

Still here

I'm still here and still miserable. Family dr is booked for today, so I'll have to wait till tomorrow. If I could just get some decent decongestants that would be great. Nothing is working. Poor Nathan... I wake him up at least 2-3 times in the night with my getting up and down. And my back is really hurting. I realized yesterday that I haven't left the house since Friday. How sad is that? I barely left the couch all weekend. Yesterday, I had a few hours of extreme dizziness. Everytime I got up, I felt like I was going to pass out, even if I sat up for a few minutes and got up slowly. It eventually got better. My BP got down to 85/55. Then later it got up to 145/98 or something. I'm definitely talking to the dr about this tomorrow. I'm just hoping my body goes back to normal after having the baby.

Once again

Still feeling really crappy with this cold. Nothing really seems to help. Plus my tummy was upset last night. Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow. If not, I probably go see the family dr just to see if they can give me anything to help. I didn't hardly get off the couch yesterday, and today will probably be the same. Hope everybody out there has a good day.

Another day of fun

Not really. I guess I should try and enjoy the peace and quiet I get these days. I know things will get crazy with the baby. I'm really looking forward to just having him here, taking care of him, watching him grow, feeding him, bathing him, AND not being pregnant anymore. It will be nice to (after recovery) be able to do the things I used to do... like go to the grocery store, to the mall, do laundry. Our washing machine and dryer are in a very small closet, and I sort of have to turn and lean over to take things in and out... not so easy these days. I guess I still won't get much sleep, but at least when I do sleep, it will be good hard sleep.

Ultrasound update

We are home after getting our ultrasound. We got a good report from the dr. But, I am a little concerned. He measured at 5 lbs. 15 oz. Ummm... he was 5 lbs. 11 oz. 2 weeks ago. He measured in the 13% percentile. The dr said she wasn't worried at all. She said that the measurements at this stage are not very accurate. So I'm trying not to be worried. They did the biophysical profile, and he moved around, practiced breathing, and generally looked very good. So maybe we are just having a small baby. I just hope he is getting all the nutrients he needs and that he has room to grow in there. We go back to the dr on Tuesday.

I am still feeling crappy from this cold. I was up every single hour last night, sometimes twice an hour. We did sleep late, so I got enough sleep, but it's just not the same. Yuck. I'm going to my post on the couch to rest.

Happy New Year 2009!

Well, as I sit here drinking hot tea and smelling the cinnamon rolls cooking, I am thinking life is not too bad. Today is my 28th birthday. I'm thankful for another year on this earth with my friends and family. I can hear Nathan coming down the stairs so hopefully he will be happy to have coffee and cinnamon rolls. We are going to Grandpa's to eat black-eyed peas and cabbage and roast. Yummy... Then if I'm feeling ok, we may go to Nathan's sister's house. This cold has got me down a little. I didn't sleep well. But hopefully I can gather enough energy to visit with family. BP is good. I'm thinking about our u/s tomorrow and hoping little boy is growing big and strong.

Hope everyone has a great day this first day of 2009.