It's amazing how tiny her hands are.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
New Job #1177
This week I started what is hopefully my last job ever. I have a salary, I have full benefits, and they offer retirement after 20 years. As someone who has worked part-time, or switched jobs every few months, the fact that I've landed in a career is completely and utterly magical.
I work 12 hour shifts, 3 days a week. It kind of sucks being away from Ducky for that long. When I get home, I'm sure to give her a good cuddle. It was funny, yesterday, the minute I came home and started talking to Hubbs, she heard my voice, and started crying until Hubbs handed her to me.
I'm only 2 days in to training, a process that is going to take 6 months to complete entirely, and I can already tell that I am going to be good at this. So hurray for that!
It's actually pretty great, Hubbs' boss is being really laid back, and is letting him take off the days that I work. So he stays home with Ducky on my work days, and I stay home with her on his. I still need to work the whole sleep thing out, because by the time I get home, it's almost time to go to bed so I can get up early enough for work. I'm really curious to see what happens when I switch to graves because then Hubbs will be at work in the day, and I'll work at night. Basically our "sleep time" will also be "take care of baby time". Hopefully by then she'll be sleeping for longer stretches and it will be more manageable.
In other news, breastfeeding as totally and epically failed. I'm OK with it honestly. Formula is easier and faster. We just got off to such a rough start that I think we never really had a chance. My supply suffered and I tried everything to boost it, but nothing worked. Now I know just to do everything possible in the beginning next time. Hopefully then we don't have a jaundice-y, failure to gain, lazy sucking baby. Assuming of course we're lucky enough to even have another one. lol.
And that's my queue. More updates later!
I work 12 hour shifts, 3 days a week. It kind of sucks being away from Ducky for that long. When I get home, I'm sure to give her a good cuddle. It was funny, yesterday, the minute I came home and started talking to Hubbs, she heard my voice, and started crying until Hubbs handed her to me.
I'm only 2 days in to training, a process that is going to take 6 months to complete entirely, and I can already tell that I am going to be good at this. So hurray for that!
It's actually pretty great, Hubbs' boss is being really laid back, and is letting him take off the days that I work. So he stays home with Ducky on my work days, and I stay home with her on his. I still need to work the whole sleep thing out, because by the time I get home, it's almost time to go to bed so I can get up early enough for work. I'm really curious to see what happens when I switch to graves because then Hubbs will be at work in the day, and I'll work at night. Basically our "sleep time" will also be "take care of baby time". Hopefully by then she'll be sleeping for longer stretches and it will be more manageable.
In other news, breastfeeding as totally and epically failed. I'm OK with it honestly. Formula is easier and faster. We just got off to such a rough start that I think we never really had a chance. My supply suffered and I tried everything to boost it, but nothing worked. Now I know just to do everything possible in the beginning next time. Hopefully then we don't have a jaundice-y, failure to gain, lazy sucking baby. Assuming of course we're lucky enough to even have another one. lol.
And that's my queue. More updates later!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
We're Parents!
On 2/3/14 I'd noticed that my feet/ankles had gotten way fatter than
they'd been looking. I chalked it up to just being further along in the
pregnancy. That evening, the swelling still hadn't gone down and I
decided to check my blood pressure for fun. It was about 180/120, so Hubbs and I decided to take a trip to the hospital to get checked
out. We checked in at 11:30pm. By midnight, they told us that we'd be
having a baby that day. Thank you pre-eclampsia...
Emergency inductions are fun. They started Cyotec at 1am, twelve hours later they started the pitocin and broke my water. I progressed about a centimeter an hour until 4pm. This is the point where I begged for the epidural. At 5pm I was at 10 cm. and almost ready. I spiked a fever at this point so they started antibiotics. After about twenty minutes of pushing and some oxygen, she was born.
They were a little worried about her lungs, so she went to the NICU for an hour or so and was put on a CPAP machine to help them along. Hubbs went with her while they fixed me up. Two days later, we went home.
After a few days home, she was diagnosed with jaundice and needed photo-therapy. Luckily, we were able to do it at home. She really was not a huge fan of the lights, but took it like a champ. We had to take her to get a blood test every day, but we got the all clear after four days. She'd also lost 12% of her birth weight, so we had to wake her up every 2 hours to feed her. By her 1 week appointment, she still hadn't gained enough, so the pediatrician put her on a high calorie formula. Now she's finally a little ways past her birth weight and seems to be gaining well.
We're all happy, healthy, and a little tired, but are loving the time we get to spend together learning how to be a family of three.
Emergency inductions are fun. They started Cyotec at 1am, twelve hours later they started the pitocin and broke my water. I progressed about a centimeter an hour until 4pm. This is the point where I begged for the epidural. At 5pm I was at 10 cm. and almost ready. I spiked a fever at this point so they started antibiotics. After about twenty minutes of pushing and some oxygen, she was born.
They were a little worried about her lungs, so she went to the NICU for an hour or so and was put on a CPAP machine to help them along. Hubbs went with her while they fixed me up. Two days later, we went home.
After a few days home, she was diagnosed with jaundice and needed photo-therapy. Luckily, we were able to do it at home. She really was not a huge fan of the lights, but took it like a champ. We had to take her to get a blood test every day, but we got the all clear after four days. She'd also lost 12% of her birth weight, so we had to wake her up every 2 hours to feed her. By her 1 week appointment, she still hadn't gained enough, so the pediatrician put her on a high calorie formula. Now she's finally a little ways past her birth weight and seems to be gaining well.
We're all happy, healthy, and a little tired, but are loving the time we get to spend together learning how to be a family of three.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Fat Feet
Well, I almost made it to 38 weeks before my feet/ankles grew in to monsters. I could totally see my ankles until late last night, and then they puffed up and went away. Why yes, that is as close as I could manage to wedge my monstrous extremities together without serious pelvic pain.
Goodness my toes look like overstuffed sausages. Good times. I mean they're not quite fully "cankle status" because there's still a slight narrowing in the calf, but it's just bad. My flip flops don't even really fit anymore. In other news, I've been having annoying contractions since yesterday. They're still not painful and ranging from 7.5-4.5 minutes apart. This basically means nothing at this point. Since I've been having contractions so often, I have to wait until they become too painful or my water breaks to go into L&D.
There is some good news, my labs cam back negative for Cholestasis which means no induction for me this week. A part of me is slightly bummed about that though, it would be nice just to have this baby already. Hopefully she'll come on her own on Friday, our "half-iversary" (aka 6 months from our anniversary). Plus it would be a fun number nerd birthday 02/07/14 because 2x7=14. See, nerdy goodness.
Goodness my toes look like overstuffed sausages. Good times. I mean they're not quite fully "cankle status" because there's still a slight narrowing in the calf, but it's just bad. My flip flops don't even really fit anymore. In other news, I've been having annoying contractions since yesterday. They're still not painful and ranging from 7.5-4.5 minutes apart. This basically means nothing at this point. Since I've been having contractions so often, I have to wait until they become too painful or my water breaks to go into L&D.
There is some good news, my labs cam back negative for Cholestasis which means no induction for me this week. A part of me is slightly bummed about that though, it would be nice just to have this baby already. Hopefully she'll come on her own on Friday, our "half-iversary" (aka 6 months from our anniversary). Plus it would be a fun number nerd birthday 02/07/14 because 2x7=14. See, nerdy goodness.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Two Week Wait v. 2.0
When dealing with IF and struggling to get pregnant, your life is consumed by 2 Week Waits. You wait patiently for your positive OPK's or charting your temps to indicate the big "O" date. You get busy with some sexy time and then you have yet another 2 Week Wait for that BFP or more commonly BFN and start the cycle all over again.
I'm going to call the next 2 weeks, the 2 Week Wait version 2.0, because we have about 2 weeks to go until my "due date". I put that in quotes because this entire time, Dr's have been absolutely 100% convinced we were never actually going to make it that far. My BP was all misbehaving starting around 28 weeks, but it's finally calmed down. Now I'm waiting for my blood work to check for cholestasis, which if positive, means induction next week.
All the while though, I'm just sitting here, hoping to just go into labor the good old fashioned way. Maybe if I trick myself into thinking the baby won't be here till March, I can just relax and every day won't drag on endlessly. It seriously feels like time couldn't go any slower if it tried, but something tells me it could be worse. lol.
Everything is ready and I think we're pretty good to go. My parents are super excited and can't wait to come up here. I'm not sure how long they'll be able to stay because the both have work stuff, but it will be nice for them to visit their first grandchild. I don't know what they're planning on doing up here though. You what, see the baby for like 5 minutes and go "aww soo cute" and then head on your merry way, right? I wish! I was hoping we would get some time to just bond as a family and figure things out before visitors came. It will be nice if they bring us food and clean our apartment though, that would be super helpful. I am certain my mom's OCD will kick in and she'll feel the need to clean the heck out of everything. Not to mention her Jewish mother-ness will kick in and she'll insist that we're not eating enough food, or don't have enough food, and they will have to go grocery shopping for us. That part will be fun.
I really don't know what to expect over the next month. Visitors, yes. A whole new family member, yes. Hubbs' and my world is about to change so drastically, and maybe I'm in denial, but I'm not worried. I really think we're going to be alright.
I'm going to call the next 2 weeks, the 2 Week Wait version 2.0, because we have about 2 weeks to go until my "due date". I put that in quotes because this entire time, Dr's have been absolutely 100% convinced we were never actually going to make it that far. My BP was all misbehaving starting around 28 weeks, but it's finally calmed down. Now I'm waiting for my blood work to check for cholestasis, which if positive, means induction next week.
All the while though, I'm just sitting here, hoping to just go into labor the good old fashioned way. Maybe if I trick myself into thinking the baby won't be here till March, I can just relax and every day won't drag on endlessly. It seriously feels like time couldn't go any slower if it tried, but something tells me it could be worse. lol.
Everything is ready and I think we're pretty good to go. My parents are super excited and can't wait to come up here. I'm not sure how long they'll be able to stay because the both have work stuff, but it will be nice for them to visit their first grandchild. I don't know what they're planning on doing up here though. You what, see the baby for like 5 minutes and go "aww soo cute" and then head on your merry way, right? I wish! I was hoping we would get some time to just bond as a family and figure things out before visitors came. It will be nice if they bring us food and clean our apartment though, that would be super helpful. I am certain my mom's OCD will kick in and she'll feel the need to clean the heck out of everything. Not to mention her Jewish mother-ness will kick in and she'll insist that we're not eating enough food, or don't have enough food, and they will have to go grocery shopping for us. That part will be fun.
I really don't know what to expect over the next month. Visitors, yes. A whole new family member, yes. Hubbs' and my world is about to change so drastically, and maybe I'm in denial, but I'm not worried. I really think we're going to be alright.
Friday, January 31, 2014
37.5 Week Belly Update
Had my check up and weekly NST yesterday. Ducky is still looking good. Her head is waaaay down which adds an awesome amount of pelvic pressure, but it's all good.
They took some blood and they're sending it off to test for Cholestasis because I've been itching like crazy. If the tests come back elevated, it looks like I'll have to be induced next week. I'm not sure which I'm hoping for at this point.
I'm seriously struggling to find things to occupy my time. I can only sit at my desk for so long before my butt/hips start to kill me. So I go lounge on the couch or lie down in bed. Last night I was so uncomfortable trying to get to sleep. I found one position that didn't involve constant pain, so that was nice. I tried to stay like that forever. lol.
I know Ducky can stand to cook for a good while longer, but I am still hoping she comes a teeny bit early. I'm honestly shocked and amazed we made it to February. Well, unless something very exciting happens in the next 10 hours, I'm pretty sure we're making it to February. I know it's totally selfish, but I really hope she's not born on Tuesday. The 4th is my mother's birthday and I would honestly HATE it if they shared a birthday. Mostly because of my past with my mother, but still. I think it would be fun if she's born on the 7th, because that will be 6 months from Hubbs' and my anniversary. Plus I think it'll be easy to remember.
I know, babies will come when they want though, so I'll just be here, trying to distract myself from the seemingly endless wait.
In the mean time, here's my ever-growing belly...
They took some blood and they're sending it off to test for Cholestasis because I've been itching like crazy. If the tests come back elevated, it looks like I'll have to be induced next week. I'm not sure which I'm hoping for at this point.
I'm seriously struggling to find things to occupy my time. I can only sit at my desk for so long before my butt/hips start to kill me. So I go lounge on the couch or lie down in bed. Last night I was so uncomfortable trying to get to sleep. I found one position that didn't involve constant pain, so that was nice. I tried to stay like that forever. lol.
I know Ducky can stand to cook for a good while longer, but I am still hoping she comes a teeny bit early. I'm honestly shocked and amazed we made it to February. Well, unless something very exciting happens in the next 10 hours, I'm pretty sure we're making it to February. I know it's totally selfish, but I really hope she's not born on Tuesday. The 4th is my mother's birthday and I would honestly HATE it if they shared a birthday. Mostly because of my past with my mother, but still. I think it would be fun if she's born on the 7th, because that will be 6 months from Hubbs' and my anniversary. Plus I think it'll be easy to remember.
I know, babies will come when they want though, so I'll just be here, trying to distract myself from the seemingly endless wait.
In the mean time, here's my ever-growing belly...
Monday, January 27, 2014
Lack of Blogging
I'm just so tired. Honestly, nothing exciting happens. lol. Every day is the same. I wake up, goof around online for an hour or so, stream stuff, eat, nap, stream more stuff, occasionally play WoW, and go to bed. Rinse, repeat. It's getting pretty monotonous.
We'll hit the 37 week mark tomorrow, so I'll be sure to post a belly pic of that. I really hope I don't have to put up with 3 more weeks of "any day now". Next Dr's appointment is Thursday and I'm seriously tempted to just ask to be induced at 39 weeks so we at least have a definitive deadline. The idea of going OVER my due date is horrifying at this point.
Hubbs is still sweet and awesome and continues to be lovely. So I've got that going for me. Gibbs is a little love sponge and is super attentive and cuddly. I'm feeling pretty ready to have this kid. I'm sure it's going to be ridiculously hard, but rewarding, and it has to be way better than just waiting around for it to happen. At least once she pops out we have someone to fawn over and remember that the past 9 months were worth it.
We'll hit the 37 week mark tomorrow, so I'll be sure to post a belly pic of that. I really hope I don't have to put up with 3 more weeks of "any day now". Next Dr's appointment is Thursday and I'm seriously tempted to just ask to be induced at 39 weeks so we at least have a definitive deadline. The idea of going OVER my due date is horrifying at this point.
Hubbs is still sweet and awesome and continues to be lovely. So I've got that going for me. Gibbs is a little love sponge and is super attentive and cuddly. I'm feeling pretty ready to have this kid. I'm sure it's going to be ridiculously hard, but rewarding, and it has to be way better than just waiting around for it to happen. At least once she pops out we have someone to fawn over and remember that the past 9 months were worth it.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sleep Time
Seriously, I am so tired all of the time. I go to bed around 10 or 11-ish and wake up around 3:30 -4. Eventually, I fall back to sleep after an hour or so and wake up around 10 or 11. I still feel the need for a nap in the middle of the day.
I've still been having contractions on and off and while they feel like they've definitely gotten stronger, they're far more sporadic and irregular. I seriously have no idea what to expect when real labor finally happens. These past two weeks of false labor have been kicking my ass. If the 5-1-1 rule doesn't work, then what will?!
In other news, Hubbs is leaving shortly to pick us up some donuts, because even though it's late, I am craving them something fierce. Donuts and like, and entire gallon of milk. Sounds totally amazing right now. I just have to stay awake long enough to eat them. lol.
My parents are prepping for their trip up here. Apparently they're going to rent a car and drive up and just hang out in a hotel. I want to wait a while before we allow visitors, but they're planning on driving up once I'm in labor. If they want to sit around bored in a hotel room, that's totally fine I suppose. I think having visitors in the hospital is weird, so we're just going to wait until we're home to allow it. I kind of wish we could get away with a week of bonding and just figuring out a schedule and stuff, but that's a little too much to ask for. Oh well.
Filling out this background check packet is seriously hard. List every single job you've ever had over the last 10 years... for some people, maybe that list isn't so long, but for me, it's a lot. I was excited when I calculated I was only waiting for 4 W2's this year. That's far better than last year's 6 in my opinion. Hopefully I can say I only have 1 for 2014. That would be nice. Everyone is very convinced I'll pass all of the tests, but I'm not so sure. A lie detector and a psych profile are scary things to think about. I know the trick is "don't lie" and "go with your gut answer" for each, but it's still scary.
February is almost here. I've become increasingly aware that this kid could seriously pop out any day now and I'm really not freaking out. I kind of just want her to get here already and I still have 4 weeks to go until the due date. At least my OB still thinks I'm not making it that far, so it's kind of nice to know she'll likely be born before that.
The biggest news in our house from this week though, is that the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. Hubbs could not be more excited. Watching the game on Sunday was incredibly intense and it was definitely not good for my BP. Maybe the baby will be good and decide to stay in until after the game, but who knows. Hubbs still wants her to be born the day the Seahawks win the Super Bowl, maybe he'll get lucky.
I've still been having contractions on and off and while they feel like they've definitely gotten stronger, they're far more sporadic and irregular. I seriously have no idea what to expect when real labor finally happens. These past two weeks of false labor have been kicking my ass. If the 5-1-1 rule doesn't work, then what will?!
In other news, Hubbs is leaving shortly to pick us up some donuts, because even though it's late, I am craving them something fierce. Donuts and like, and entire gallon of milk. Sounds totally amazing right now. I just have to stay awake long enough to eat them. lol.
My parents are prepping for their trip up here. Apparently they're going to rent a car and drive up and just hang out in a hotel. I want to wait a while before we allow visitors, but they're planning on driving up once I'm in labor. If they want to sit around bored in a hotel room, that's totally fine I suppose. I think having visitors in the hospital is weird, so we're just going to wait until we're home to allow it. I kind of wish we could get away with a week of bonding and just figuring out a schedule and stuff, but that's a little too much to ask for. Oh well.
Filling out this background check packet is seriously hard. List every single job you've ever had over the last 10 years... for some people, maybe that list isn't so long, but for me, it's a lot. I was excited when I calculated I was only waiting for 4 W2's this year. That's far better than last year's 6 in my opinion. Hopefully I can say I only have 1 for 2014. That would be nice. Everyone is very convinced I'll pass all of the tests, but I'm not so sure. A lie detector and a psych profile are scary things to think about. I know the trick is "don't lie" and "go with your gut answer" for each, but it's still scary.
February is almost here. I've become increasingly aware that this kid could seriously pop out any day now and I'm really not freaking out. I kind of just want her to get here already and I still have 4 weeks to go until the due date. At least my OB still thinks I'm not making it that far, so it's kind of nice to know she'll likely be born before that.
The biggest news in our house from this week though, is that the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl. Hubbs could not be more excited. Watching the game on Sunday was incredibly intense and it was definitely not good for my BP. Maybe the baby will be good and decide to stay in until after the game, but who knows. Hubbs still wants her to be born the day the Seahawks win the Super Bowl, maybe he'll get lucky.
Friday, January 17, 2014
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