Birth story

I am shocked at how many people read birth stories. I enjoy reading some every now and then. I really like to know what other people went through and what to expect. My daughter's birth story is not very exciting but I know I read a lot about inductions when I was going to get one so here it goes.

Monday, January 5th 2015 at 4:00AM we woke up to head to the hospital; it was about 28 degrees outside. We had gone out to dinner and a movie the night before trying to hold our anxiety at bay, but that wasn't really successful. I remember thinking as my husband drove us to the hospital that everything was about to change. I was filled with every kind of emotion there was. 

When we arrived, the receptionist at the main entrance of the hospital wished us luck and we went up to the second floor, labor and delivery. We checked in at 5:30AM, got out super official wrist bands and got our room. By 7:30 we had filled out all the paper work, been hooked up to all the machines and started the pitocin. This is also when I met my two new best friends Amira, my nurse, and Dr. Bowe, my anesthesiologist. Shortly after we became acquainted, my doctor came in and broke my water. This is not a painful expierence. A little uncomfortable and wet, but not painful.

At first I was just so excited we were finally going to have a baby. I labored for about 4 hours while Miles and I watched TV and he fed me ice chips. After about 4cm I called in my friend Dr. Bowe, sadly she was in a c-section and I labored in pain for about an hour. Just as I was about ready to jump out of the bed and choke someone, she appeared to save the day. Epidurals do not hurt, well they might, but not as bad as active labor. If you are one that had a med free birth, you are a super hero. It wasn't something I was willing to put myself through. After the epidural I tried to sleep for about 2 hours. I say tried because I was constantly being moved. My baby's heart beat was unstable because of the pitocin. After two doctors and two nurses were in my room at the same time, I started to worry a little and sleep wasn't going to happen. 

Once baby's heart was more stabilized, they started the petocin again. By this time it was almost 4 o'clock and I was starting to feel a pressure in my right hip. I couldn't get comfortable since I couldn't move my legs very well, so I called in my bff. When she came in to up my epidural, my nurse informed her that I would be pushing soon so she wouldn't give me too much. What?! It's time? My nurse did one last cervical check and told me I was "complete" the word that every labor ing mother longs for! 

At that point there was a table brought in that was covered. We were told not touch anything under there since it was sterile, yeah okay let me just jump on out of this bed with numb legs. They also brought in a tiny diaper and a little hat, this is when my husband got excited. It had been almost 12 hours and he doesn't do well with daytime television, he was ready. 

My nurse came in for the final time after getting someone to keep an eye on her other patient. She took my bed apart, the bottoms drop off, qand took her place. She was a fantastic coach, I always thought pushing would be like having a horrible bowel movement but it's really like an awkward crunch. Pushing also isn't like the movies, you take breaks in between contractions. After about 5 rounds of pushing, my doctor came in. She had been waiting to deliver my baby and since it was already 5:40, I knew it was generous of her. While she suited up we apparently missed two sets of contractions, I don't know, I didn't feel a thing. Once she was in place I did one more set of pushing and my baby was here. January 5, 2015 at 5:59PM

They placed her on my belly/chest and I stared at her in amazement while my lady parts were being sewn back together. My husband, being well trained, took lots of very appropriate pictures of the first moments of our daughter's life. She stayed in the delivery room with me for an hour. After that her daddy accompanied her to the nursey for her first bath and such. That's when I got to eat for the first time in almost 24 hours.

After I ate they came in to clean me up and clear out the room for the next lady! My new nurse was not nearly as kind and as loving as my day nurse Amira. She came in and  ripped the epidural tape off my back, that hurt almost as much as labor, then I tried to walk. That was interesting. They wanted me to try to pee since I had had a catheter, the nurse helped to the toilet and when I went to sit down I fell into the wall. That was awesome! Then I was given the beautiful hospital underwear and wheeled up to my post partum room. I was feeling good and ready for my baby. We said goodbye to all of our visitors for the night and enjoyed out first night as parents. 

3rd Trimester

One day I am going to get together bad blog when things actually happen. Our daughter was born on January 5th, but there will be more on that later. 

The third trimester was easy in the beginning. The second tri honeymoon was awesome. I was fortunate that I had very limited swelling. The only day it was bad was when I coached a basketball tournament at 36 weeks pregnant. My ankles quickly turned in to cankles 

December was a very uncomfortable month for me. I started to get the "I've been pregnant forever" attitude and became very anxious to meet my girl. At my OB appointment on the 22nd I asked about going back to work on the 5th of January. My doctor and I decided that since my LMP due date would have been December 28th ,and I work 2 and a half hours from the hospital, that we would induce on the 5th if she didn't come on her own. There is no joy when you're 37 weeks pregnant than knowing a for sure date you won't be pregnant anymore! 

I did not see the high risk OB after Thanksgiving because they were seeing more serious cases during the holidays. When we did see her, she looked great at every scan so I wasn't worried. 

They last few weeks of pregnancy were hard, especially being that pregnant during the holidays. Although I didn't love being pregnant, I did enjoy it and it is so worth the prize in the end. 

2nd trimester

With only 8 weeks to go, I feel the need to update our story. I went back and forth with myself about how much to share about this very eventful trimester. I finally decided to share it all.

Like most parents we were excited to enter the 2nd trimester. We announced to everyone on Facebook that we were adding to our family and the excitement began.

At 20 weeks we had our ultrasound. We were both very nervous and excited to see our little for the first time in 14 weeks! It was wonderful to see how much change had happened,the little blob from the first ultrasound was now looking like a real baby! We also found out that the baby is a girl! While we waited to see the doctor after the ultrasound we talked about what her name would be and how we were so sure it was a boy. 

We were not expecting any complications so you can imagine the shock when we were told there may be something wrong. They had seen a spot on her heart, an echogenic intracardiac focus. The doctor was sure it was nothing to worry about and ordered a genetic blood test for "peace of mind".

A few days later I got a call from the doctor. I knew it wasn't good because with her no news is always good news. We were told we be referred to a high risk specialist for further ultrasounds because our daughter has Turners Syndrome. 

If you have find yourself in high risk OB office you find the office full of rules, restrictions and other women with "complications". The staff is sensitive and friendly, but the rooms feel so sad. Seeing the high risk OB is the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. In the week that went by between the test results and our meeting, every possible situauton went through my mind. It was reassuring to hear that our daughter looked healthy. It was not reassuring to hear that it is impossible to tell how this will affect her until after she is born. All we have now is hope.

No parent wants to hear that there may be something wrong with their perfect little baby. If I had sat down to write this entry at the time we found out, I can assure that it would be much more emotional. The fact is, at 32 weeks, we have accepted the situation God has given us. She is our daughter no matter what happens once she's born. We love her and are preparing for her like all parents do for their babies. 

The doctors can't tell us if she has Turners or not because we denied further testing on our unborn child. They will test her at birth and we will begin to prepare for any complications after that. I am lucky that I have already found a support group and find comfort in the things the mothers there talk about. It is amazing to me that only 1% of girls with this abnormality are ever live birthed and many of them do not survive the first trimester. 

As far as anyone can tell, they are not expecting any complications at birth and she appears to be healthy. Our daughter is truly a miracle. I wrote about our expierence because I found comfort in hearing the stories of other families going this. I hope that I can bring that same comfort to a mother expierencing that overwhelming emotion that I felt the day we were diagnosed and the emotion I continue to feel. 

Our little one- 1st trimester

I don't really know why I have been absent from the blog except that getting pregnant and pregnancy has been a time consuming journey. I am going to attempt to catch up in the next few days.

We first found out we are pregnant in May. We had been trying for several months and had given up and were waiting for August for me to have surgery in hopes to fix the issue. God had other plans and we are thrilled. 

Then in June we went to the doctor and it became very real. We saw our sweet little baby and a strong heart. I think we have expierenced what every new parent goes through, extreme excitement and fear. I was lucky enough to take a very distracting and relaxing trip to Hawaii to wrap up the first trimester.

Our sweet baby is due January 10th.

Spring Break

Every teacher in the world loves Spring Break. Shoot we all loved it as students and I'm sure no one would complain about a week off of work. Do not be fooled, I don't really have a week off. I'm a coach, a track coach. I will be going to a track meet tomorrow. 

I haven't let the fact that I have to work stop me from getting some things done 

Piece one stained

Piece two stained and drying 

And I painted this for my nephew. My  husband made it I painted. I don't typically work with saws. 

Now I have anniversary gift to work on and a gallery wall to finish. 

But first here is a picture of the momogram I made 

The best acne treatment ever

Allow me to be candid for awhile. Coming back from Spring Break is tough, I'm exhausted, stressed and I gotta keep going. This combined with the extreme winter we have had have really done a number on my skin. I mean I think I have more pimples than my teenage students. Oh wait I can call them "blemishes" now, right? Anyway they are annoying, even more annoying than when I was 17. 

Luckily, I have found an acne treatment that works!! It's all natural, super cheap, has not dried my skin out yet. It also smells good and my darling husband says it also tastes good. So here it is...

2 parts honey

1 part nutmeg 

1 part cinnamon

This is no secret, in fact it's all over the Internet, but unlike most things on the Internet this is true. This stuff cleared up my face in 3 days. I have found that it is not a cure, those nasty little bumps will come back, but if used regularly it works great. 

I'm not really into beauty products, but I am into not looking like a teenager. Hope it works for you. 

It's not pretty and it is really sticky, but it works like a charm!!

This old house

We love our old house but it has quirks. When we bought this home there were no interior doors. We decided today that that would change. 

We ordered the two doors for the downstairs bedrooms during Christmas. We ordered plain slab doors because we need then cut for a mortise lock and we needed them to fit in out door jams. 

First the doors had to be shaved down. I know there is a correct term, but I didn't work on that part. Then tools were sharpened. 

Then the place for the hinges had to be chiseled out.

Then we, I mean Miles while I tried to help, hung the door and then started working on drilling out the space for the mortise lock. 

After the holes the rest had to be chiseled and slowly worked out. Then chiseling around the outer part if the lock piece, I got to help this time.

Then several fitting attempts, a little more here, and a little more there...

Finally a bedroom door!! Yes it would have been a lot easier to hire someone, but it was fun! Using a regular style lock and knob would have been a lot easier too, but it was important to keep it time period. Still have one more to go.