The birth of a Rainbow Prt 1

Monday the 14th I went to the doctor for a routine check, not expecting much news, but I was hopeful.  The verdict was 1 1/2 cm with the option to be induced on the 21st.  I took it.  Went home.

The cramping started off and on around noon, after I ate.  I was not surprised as the ONLY time I seemed to have contractions was after a cervical check.  They stopped after a few hours and I went about my day.  I contemplated going to Meijer's to finish up the grocery shopping...I really wanted strawberries and they had them on sale, but then I started cramping again after I ate supper.  I suddenly got this HUGE urge to vacuum the house, which I didnt do and later regretted, but suddenly I was able to actually time the contractions.  NEVER had I EVER been able to do that.  Not even while in labor with Luke.  I started texting my MIL who was going to be one of my support people in the delivery room to let her know what was going on.  It was around 6pm when suddenly there was some blood mixed in with every thing else going on "down there."  I called the hospital around 9pm and they said to lay down and see if they got better...call back in half an hour.  At this point they were about 10-12 minutes apart and NOTHING was making them better at all. 

I laid down on my left side and watched as the contractions got closer and closer.  At the end of my half hour they were 3 minutes apart.  The nurse told me to come on in....I really wasnt having any pain issues at this point at all.  We walked to the car...I joked all the way to the hospital about how we had left the car seat in the front room.  Duh.  I was admitted around 10:30pm and hooked up....and my contractions stopped.  Yeah.

I walked the halls, did the birthing ball, and still my contractions where random and not very strong.  At the same time, I was making cervical changes.  I found that just like at home my contractions got stronger if I laid down.  Thing started picking up once I ignored the nurse and laid down..."trying to get some sleep"  I said.  I was actually told that they were going to keep me till 7am when the doctor came in and let him decide.  I felt awful cause my  MIL had come all the way from Carey, Landon was up...ugh.  It would so be like me for this to be a false alarm.  They were really not planning on anything happening, but said if I had meds and an IV they would have to keep and deliver me.  Around 1am Things got a little rough.  Not too bad, but I didnt want it getting ahead of me.  I was about 3cm and decided we needed to do something to take the edge off to keep my blood pressure down.  Once it starts going up it's hard for me to get it back in check.  I was given Nubain with the promise that it shouldnt slow things down...it would just help with the pain.  All I can say about Nubain is that it's like drinking 2 bottles of wine by yourself.  I was looped, doped, and didnt care that I was in pain.  I was able to get a little sleep, and the next time they checked me I was PAST the magical number for my epidural.  It had SPED me up!  There is a lot to be said for relaxing while in labor!  I was about 6cm dilated when they came to do my epidural.

The rest will come later...up until this point I was still smiling, in a good mood.  I was so shocked.  NOTHING was the same from my labor with Luke.  I was in  pain, but it wasnt nearly all that bad.  I knew they were intense, but I had had worse with kidney stones and cysts.  I was JUST getting to the point to where I was in real pain when the anesthesiologist came in.  I know God had everything to do with this....the situation was so different from the first time...and I had my Landon by my side.

My boys

Ok, so I'm really late doing this, but I've been really busy...Daniel was born on March 15th at 10 am...such a little peanut! I will post his birth story soon. I really want to get all the details down so I dont forget anything! Still, on demand nursing is making it hard to do anything! Thank you for your prayers and support. I appreciate each and every one of them!

Change of Plans!

Looks like little man doesnt like it when momma makes plan!  We are officially IN LABOR!  Doing some bleeding and a ton of cramping.  Labor and Delivery said tonight is the night!  Will see you all later!  Keep us in your prayers...PLEASE!

Daniel is coming!

Being pregnant around the one year was hard...now I discover that I will be DELIVERING then as well.  I knew it was VERY much a possiblity since we learned we were pregnant with our little girl on the 24th and I am due with Daniel the 26th, but I was pretty confident he would come early.  No such luck. 

We just got back from the doctor and I was 1 1/2 cm dilated...despite all that walking I did last week.  Ugh.  My cervix is not thinning out, however, and that causes some problems.  LoL!  She said his head is literally RIGHT there, but because I'm not thinning out, he cant drop any further.  As she was pulling me off the bed she looked at me very sympathetically and asked if I wanted an induction, or to wait.  I would LOVE to go on my own.  Really I would.  I know that it is better for both of us if I just let nature take it's course, but as a pregnant woman who is struggling with the phrase 9 1/2 months pregnant...one who cant hardly get around she's so big...well, that easy way out looks pretty dang good!  So I took it.  LoL!  I would rather get him out now then wait around for God only knows how long and then deal with either pushing out a rather large baby, being induced any way cause he waits too long (again, large baby) or facing a C-section.  I was more or less induced with Luke too so no big deal.

Unless our darling Daniel graces us with his presence this week sometime (full moon!)  He will be evicted from my uterus on Monday, March 21st, at the glorious time of 5am.  Good thing I'm an early riser! 

Almost a year ago...

A year ago I was pregnant, but I had no idea.  We discovered our little peanut had taken up residency on March 24th, 2010.  I remember being so scared and so insanely happy all at the same time.  We found these adorable little poems written from the baby's point of view telling our family members about the upcoming addition.  Luke was in Disney that week and we told him as soon as he came home.  He was so excited!  A few family members were told about our peanut by Luke exclaiming, "I'm a big brother!!"  He had so much fun telling everyone.

I remember feeling like I was glowing from day one.  I was a little nauseous but nothing too bad.  I craved taco bell and steaks cooked medium well.  SO weird for me because I am a die hard WELL cooked type of girl.  As soon as that second line popped up I went to Hobby Lobby and got yarn for a baby blanket.  I crocheted like crazy.  I KNEW in my heart of hearts that it was a little girl.  Just knew.  I would talk to her while I folded clothes, cooked dinner, and any time that was not spent talking to someone else.  We went geo caching a lot last spring and I remember one time we were on the way home and I was feeling so content with life and everything in the world....Landon looked at me and told me I was "a completely different creature."  That I seemed more at ease, more comfortable with life.  That lasted for about two weeks.

Something Is Happening...

As I start this it is almost 3:30am.  I've been up for over an hour.  Each morning/night? is worse.  A little earlier.  It doesnt help that I've been going to bed at about 8pm.  LoL!  Perhaps I need to trade in my early bed time for a nap.  Still, Daniel just woke up so I get to enjoy him squirm a little.

Is anyone else out there prone to separation anxiety?  I know I am.  Especially when I have a pregnancy drawing to an end.  I cant stand for Landon to be out of my sight. I follow him around like a lost puppy unless there is something really holding my attention.  *sigh* scares me to think of how I will be with the hormone changes after birth and him going back to school right away.  I want to throw FMLA in his face and tell him he gets 6 weeks just like I would have, but he's in his last semester and soooo close to finishing!  I'll just have to suck it up...pray for me though.  I had such a hard time with PPD after Luke was born.  Granted, the situation with Daniel is A LOT different, but my body does NOT like those pesky hormones changes one bit.

Aside from the anxiety, Daniel has really dropped.  I can tell when I sit down...I can still breath.  LoL!  There are still moments when he stretches his little legs up in my rib cage, but there is so much pressure around my bladder.  Ugh.  If he lays or hits it just right I get these sharp shooting pains that feel JUST like trying to pass a kidney stone.  OMG.  It's awful. 

I just feel different, you know?  My moods are pretty stable, but I WILL bite your head off and then smile sweetly.  LoL!  That's just me knowing I'm being unreasonable and trying to make up for it.  Hormones again.  I'm really trying to work on those knee jerk reactions, but old habits and all.

Remember the rest of the boys in your prayers too.  Landon is getting nervous, Luke is getting sick again, Dad IS sick.  This sinus stuff is really wiping us all out.  I would LOVE to avoid it with delivery looming so close.  It would be wonderful to be able to breath while pushing. 

37 week check-up

We went in this morning for our 37 week check-up and cervical exam.  I was so excited going in!  My blood pressure was a whopping 102/60ish.  I was so excited I probably raised it 10 points.  LoL!  Even if it DOES spike during delivery that is an awesome number to start out on.  I normally run 102 when I'm NOT pregnant. 

Daniel's heart rate was really good.  Doc was able to get him first try this time.  Apparently the little something that keeps poking out of me is, in fact, his butt.  LoL!  Silly boy.  It hurts because he does it all the time, but it's so tiny!  The last time we were in we met with the nurse practitioner who guessed we would be in labor this weekend at the very latest.  Dr. H today told us that we basically will not be meeting our little man until around St. Patty's day at the earliest.  I bout cried.  I KNOW they have no idea about these things, but the man has seen enough pregnant women in his day to have an idea.  Plus, I'm not really cramping a lot...my poos are normal.  LoL.  I was 1cm dilated and 25% effaced.  Baby is down and ready to go...eventually.

We were really hoping for a sooner delivery since Landon is on spring break.  It would have been great to have him here to help me out, instead it looks like I will just another thing to do.  LoL!  His narcolepsy makes him like another kid half..well 3/4... of the time.

Wait, I think you're missing one....

I have been thinking about this post for awhile and am finally getting around to posting it.  Holly recently had a similar experience and reminded me of what happened.  All of you Baby Lost momma's know there is one question you dread more than any other...THE question.  Not the ultimate question...42 is too easy of an answer to spit out.  LoL.  I'm talking about the much feared, "How many children do you have?"  Recently this has taken the form of some variation of, "So how many does this make for you?"  *sigh*  Normally I just say it's my second.  I know the easy way is not always the right way, but I just get so tired of it.  This time it was a little different.  Here's what happened...

I went up to get my mail last week and our neighbor, who's daughter is expecting in June, was just leaving her driveway.  She had her husband stop and rolled down the window.  I was expecting the, "Oh, my!  Not much longer!"  comments.  Sure enough, they came.  I smiled and was happy to answer.  We are getting so close!  Luke was just getting out of our car in the drive way and heading to the house with his book bag when she asked me, "so this makes 2 for you now?"  Ugh.  There it was.  I smiled and really just wanted to confuse her because I was annoyed that she asked me, but she didnt know.  "No. This is my third."  The look on her face was priceless as she scanned the yard, looked at me like I had forgotten something, and then I seen her mentally tick through the years...none of which she had EVER seen another child in the yard.  I was starting to get uncomfortable....wondering if she was going to ask where the other went....when she smiled at me and said, "That's so wonderful!  Do you think you'll try for number 4?!"  I was floored.  No one had ever had that response before.  It made me feel good that she had not, verbally at least, negated my Nessa's existence, and I was very impressed that she was able to hide her surprise and know that something had happened along the way to make one of my children disappear from my life.  For all I know she prolly thinks I had one even earlier than Luke and gave it up, but she still didnt ask.  She just happily went on with the conversation.  I was so thankful that, for once, I didnt walk away from that question depressed.

Sinuses Take....well, 3 or 4.

Yesterday I started feeling congested and stuff again...nothing too bad, but it was there.  Went to bed at about 7pm.  I knew something was up when I slept almost all night.  Got up feeling like that Mac Truck from December came back and flattened me all over again.  I was rather looking forward to having a baby within the next week and a half, but it seriously would not work when I cant breath!  Perhaps adrenalin works as a natural decongestant and will clear it up...at the same time I've heard that labor will wait till a sinus infection clears up.  I'm hoping the former is the true one.  LoL!  Please send prayers our way...that this goes away real soon, and also that Luke doesn't catch it again.  Wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake?

The Home Stretch

Thinking back I remember month upon month upon month of wishing...waiting...freaking out each and every month.  I remember standing in the baby dept. with tears in my eyes because I wanted another so bad.  I hated being pregnant, but I couldnt get that feeling I had the first time I laid eyes on Luke out of my head.  I have a super low pain tolerance and super high anxiety.  I remember watching them take him over to clean him up...laying there staring at him...and knowing in that instant that I would do it all over again in a heart beat, no questions asked.  Now, 6 1/2 years later, I find myself 50 pounds heavier wondering what in the world I was thinking. 

I think our bodies are programed to think this way.  It's a sort of way to help us get past the pain of childbirth.  Yes, I'm excited as all get out to meet this little one, but I'm even more excited to have this pregnancy over.  I'm done with the weight, done with the fat, done with being treated like I cant do anything.  I'm over the fat on my thighs, over living in my bathroom, and over the waddle.  I'm finished with the mood swings, finished with the anxiety, finished with all the unknown.  I will feel better when I am the only person inhabiting this bloated body, when I can see with my own two eyes that my son is healthy, and when the entire process is done and over with.  Then I will be able to relax.  When I find myself dwelling on all the things that COULD go wrong...or thinking about the pain I'm about to willing throw myself into...I think of all the things that I will be able to do in just a few days...weeks...whatever.

I cant wait to cuddle my son.  I cant wait to have my lap back for Luke.  I want to get my clothes line up and be able to use it.  I want to get the garden out.  I'm so super excited to cuddle and nurse a baby again.  I cant wait until I hold each of my son's in my arms at the same time.  I want to see my husbands face when that screaming little lump comes out.  I want to watch my older son as he meets his baby.  I want to take my youngest and show him off to the world...Look at what we did!

I WILL, however, miss being able to gain weight with an excuse, will miss feeling him move, getting the hiccups, and sticking his little butt out at odd angles.  That's about it.  LoL!

This sunday we are officially term.  Dr. H's practioner has estimated that we wont go much farther than that.  Monday we have an appointment with Dr. H himself and I'm seriously thinking about seeing if he will "speed things along."  Landon starts spring break that day and it would really be great to be able to have him home those first few weeks.  If Daniel comes while class is in session he plans on going back the very next day...leaving me at home to take care of the house, get Luke to and from school, recover myself, and deal with a newborn....all alone.  Keep us all in your prayers please.  None of us really know what to expect and it feels like this entire house is holding it's breath...just waiting on little Daniel to relieve our tension.

Spring Blog Party

I'm feeling rather "springy" today so I linked up with Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground for Lynnette's spring blog party.  The sun is finally shining here and I have some rugs out drying on the railing of the steps (my "clothes line" until the real one is up) so I figured, why not!


What is your comfort food/drink?
Food: chocolate.  I'm addicted.  Badly.

Drink: Sweet tea.  REAL sweet tea.  I'm convinced you have to be southern born to make it right though.  Unless you are my MIL.  That woman makes some good sweet tea.


Be brave – tell us something very random and weird about yourself.
I HATE cleaning my bathroom and unloading my dishwasher.  The bathroom is the smallest room in the house and takes the least amount of time, but I hate that chore.  As far as the dishwasher...I will load that thing up with dirty dishes ANY day, but I down right HATE unloading it and putting away the clean ones.


Do you have a strong desire to do something you’ve never done? What is it?
Hmmm.  Cloth diaper.  LoL!  I'm so excited for this little one to come so that I can put his butt in some of this fluff laying around!  I'm convinced that delivery will be much easier for me if they just hold a cloth diaper down there and tell me to place the baby in the diaper.  LoL!


Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Biographies, True Stories, Self-Help, Devotional/Study? 
What are your favorite types of reading material?
Fiction.  I like to get lost in another reality entirely.  I'm a sucker for the Harry Potter series...and The Hitch Hiker's Guide. 

Music: Funk, Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Film Score, Blues, Classic Rock, Crooner, Alternative, Heavy Metal, Techno? What are your favorite types?
Man, where to start.  I grew up on classic rock.  I LOVE jazz, enjoy playing the blues, and would rather sing Opera.  Our radio is stuck on KLOVE and my husband and I share a slightly unhealthy obsession with Frank Sinatra.  Some of my favorite songs are Country and Hip-Hop.    I think you get the picture.

If you inherited a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with your money?
House.  Nothing extravagant.  I want the one next door.  New car, pay off bills.  The rest gets saved back.  Seriously.  I dont really WANT of earthly things.  I just want to be comfortable, not have to worry.  I enjoy saving money much more than spending it.  I would probably take some and get some chickens, honestly.  My personal splurge would be egg producers.  LoL!

Name one weakness of yours (confession is good for the soul).
I'm very gullible.  I will believe just about anything you tell me. 

If you could live anywhere at all (and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?
Turks and Caicos.  Landon and I went there a few years ago for his cousins wedding at the Beaches resort there.  I fell in love with the place.  That million dollars would probably send me back for a week too.  It's also the place Landon proposed to me.

Strange Talent? Can you juggle basketballs, put your legs behind your head or perform some other strange feat?
I make milk.  You?

What’s something you consider yourself to be good at? (Don’t worry, it’s not bragging, it’s acknowledging a God given gift).
Domestic things.  I LOVE taking care of my family.  I cook, I clean, I mow, I garden, and I love each and every minute of it.  I did the work thing and I was MISERABLE the entire time.  Now that I'm home taking care of my boys and my house....well, I've honestly never been happier.

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?
Polo Black.  Landon wore that cologne when we first started dating.  I also love Baby Magic lotion, lilacs, and the smell of fish.  Seriously.  I grew up on a fishing boat and it's just not summer with out the smell of rotting fish carcass.  LoL!

If money wasn’t a factor, what stores would you shop in?
Saving money is a game to me so I'd shop the same places.  I would, however, splurge a little in places like Hobby Lobby.  Love me some craft supplies!

What is your greatest fear or strange phobia?
Ok, this is strange when you think about how far modern medicine has come, but I'm scared to death that I will die in child birth.  Yeah, me of all people.  Little miss "I love babies, want so many" is scared out of her mind.  Each time I get pregnant I feel as though I am cheating death in the delivery room.  Does NOTHING for my anxiety.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
My kiddos.  I think that the greatest gift we can give to the Earth...and humanity in general...would be our kids.  The things we teach them, how we raise them.  I hope my legacy is a good one.  Look closely to this picture...there are two of my babies in it.

What are your favorite animals?
Sloths.  They always happy in a "high as a kite" sort of way.  Like they really dont care whats going on around them.  They just take life so easily and always have that goofy grin.