Double Digits

Wow. How has it been two months since Maggie joined us? She's ten weeks old today- TEN! WEEKS! I can't believe it. September just blew by. Well, really October did too. It's amazing how fast the days go by, even the hard ones. They seem slower but looking back they really go by just as fast. We really are blessed- Maggie is a good baby. She gets the most upset when she's hungry, and moderately upset when wet or tired. Other than that she just hangs out. I sometimes feel like she's bored, so we travel from swing to play mat to blanket with toys, etc. She really loves her changing table and I think would stay there kicking all day if I let her. Her first month was full of getting used to each other and figuring things out. And lots of pictures.

Getting ready to watch the Bears game

Whoo hoo!

It's amazing how much she changed in a month. The first few weeks it was a struggle trying to figure out her feeding needs. Then, like magic, we fell into a groove when she turned one month old. We were sidelined with a bout of thrush that took quite some time to go away, but it didn't seem to bother her and she continued to grow and thrive. At her one month appointment she weighed 7lbs 7oz and 20 3/4 inches long.

October brought more alone time with just mommy as visits started to thin out, especially during the day, and all my help went back to work. So we just enjoyed each other. Through the month we went to Target for the first time, the pumpkin patch and celebrated our birthdays. A couple weeks ago, Maggie really started smiling with intent and at our silly voices and my heart melted. We're in trouble when she gets older. But put her by the ceiling fan and forget it- good luck getting her attention! It doesn't even have to be going, as long as she can look at it she's happy.

On the business side of things, we're working on tummy time (which she doesn't really like) and not favoring the right side so much (per the doctor). I find myself getting worked up about the littlest things so I'm working on myself too. I'm definitely the worrier parent and really need to learn just because something changes out of our "normal rhythm" doesn't mean it's bad or that something is wrong. Otherwise this is going to be tough since babies change all the time. Dale is the much more relaxed parent and takes things in stride and doesn't worry. It's amazing really. I wish I can be more like that sometimes and I wonder if it's a mother/father difference or if it's just my personality to worry more. Anyway- back to Maggie. Her naps during the day are more like cat naps. 25-40 minutes and a time but she's not cranky in between and sleeps well at night, which I'm thankful for. She likes spending time in her swing and on her mat still, but when she's had enough she definitely lets me know. She absolutely loves her bath. I can't wait until she's bigger and starts kicking and playing in it. I should probably invest in ponchos! Her two month doctor appointment was on Halloween. She now weighs 9lb 5oz and 22 inches long. She's really growing! I had to retire her newborn clothes and we're now in 3 months. Some are still big but I know she'll grow into them in no time. I can't imagine life before her now even though she's only been her for a short time. She's already daddy's girl and I can't wait to see their relationship grow.

Enjoying her whale tub

We think this lion is her best friend. She stares and talks to him.

2 months old- 10/28/11

Nom nom nom. 1st Halloween- 10/31/11

I'm so excited to see her personality really come through in the coming months. But that means she'll grow up too! She's getting so big before my very eyes and before I know it she'll be running around. A part of me can't wait, but a part of me would love for her to be a little baby forever.

The Birth Story

My due date was August 22^nd. Ever since hearing that day, I had convinced myself that I was going to go early, only by a week or so, because no way would my body not send an early eviction notice in the hot, hot summer. (Holy cow were there some hot July days!) I had a doctor’s appointment the Friday before and was making no progress. They did an ultrasound and estimated she would weigh 7lb 7oz. I knew they could be off, but then I started to get nervous about how big she was going to get and when she was going to come. I was a little surprised that I wasn’t dilated at all, but knew that didn’t mean I couldn’t go into labor at any time. My due date came and went and I became frustrated. Then I was mad at myself for being frustrated and not just going with the flow. My husband was getting antsy and ready for his girl to make his appearance and I was all “Yea me too buddy!” As the week went on I started to cringe when the phone rang because I knew it was someone asking if I had the baby yet. I didn’t want to be rude of course, but I couldn’t understand why my little girl didn’t want to arrive. My next appointment was the 26^th and I just knew I had to be making progress. I had felt some contractions over the past couple days so I knew I had to be getting close to time. I was somewhat right. I was dialated 1cm and 50% effaced. Finally at least something was going on! Because I was almost a week late, my doctor said if I didn’t have the baby by Monday the 29^th I’d be induced that night. She also said she wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t go into labor on my own in the next 24-36 hours. That made me feel a little better because as much as I wanted her to come out I really wanted to do it on my own. After the appointment, we went to breakfast, where I had the best stuffed French toast EVER and went for a walk outside, all around CostCo then went home and super cleaned the house. The contractions picked up that night and I thought this was it- but once I relaxed and laid down that night, they went away. I woke up Saturday feeling a little off. I couldn’t explain it, but something was amiss. We finished cleaning, had lunch with friends and hung around at home. Later that day, we went to my brother in laws and that’s where the contractions picked up. We downloaded a contraction timer on Dale’s IPad (because clearly a regular watch wouldn’t work- but he was so excited about it) and there I sat for the next hour or so pressing the start and stop button. They were about 7-8 minutes apart and not that consistent but I knew this was the night. We went to our friend’s house next and I continued to time contractions. I even sat on a wooden kitchen chair instead of the comfy couch in case my water broke. Even though we were closer to the hospital being at their house, we went home around 11pm and walked around the block. It got to the point where I couldn’t anymore, so we went inside and I took a quick shower just to make sure the contractions would keep up. Once I got out we decided it was time to get ready to go- some were as close as 3 minutes and lasting a minute, but for the most part, they were 4 minutes apart for the last 2 hours. We got everything together and Dale made me make a video and talk about how excited I was. At the time I was not too pleased about it, but now, I’m glad we have the memory. The whole way to the hospital I was so nervous about being sent home, but as the contractions got stronger I knew we were good to go. We checked in and were put in a triage room- apparently they were very busy so I had to wait for a delivery room- but at least I was staying. I was now 3cm and 100% effaced and everything was going smoothly and just continued to labor. After a few hours- I lost all track of time as it was so late and was trying to get some rest- but probably around 3am sometime, I was hit with a double whammy contraction that was extra sharp and painful. That’s when I forget a lot of the details. Right after that contraction, the baby’s heart rate dropped. I knew something was not right when I heard it and then nurses and residents rushed in. They put oxygen on me and started moving me around. I was hooked up to an internal monitor and when they broke my water- there was meconium present. During this whole time, which felt like an eternity, her heart rate still didn’t go back up. They paged my doctor and told me that I may need to consider having a c-section. I didn’t have an epidural at this point so they told me I may need to be knocked out and Dale couldn’t be there with me. That thought was completely terrifying. I couldn’t imagine having to be asleep during all of this and wake up not really knowing what went on. Finally after about 8-9 minutes, her heart rate went back up and stabilized. But they were watching it very closely. I have never been so scared in my life- it’s actually really hard to write this. I looked at Dale and he was grayish white and I thought he was going to pass out. He stepped out of the room (which was tiny and hot since I still was never transferred to a proper delivery room) and the nurses helped him come to. Surprisingly on the outside, I was much calmer than I thought, but after seeing him like that, I knew I couldn’t endure that again. My doctor came in and checked me and I was 5 cm. He said I could try to labor more and see what happens, but since it was my first baby, it could be another 5-6 hours before I’m ready to push and during that time her HR could drop again. Or I could have a c-section and if she remained stable for the next 15 minutes, I could just receive the spinal and be awake with Dale with me. We couldn’t bear going through another episode like that and together decided it was safest for her to have the c-section. I feel like they had everything ready quite quickly and before I know it I was in the operating room (Grey’s Anatomy is almost spot on). I received the spinal, which is such a strange feeling, they brought Dale in and before I know it she was out. She didn’t cry right away, which the nurse said was a good thing since she had meconium all over, but they cleaned her out and then we heard the best sound in the world. My baby was here, and despite what happened, she was fine. They wrapped her up and showed her to me, and I could hardly see though the tears. Everything may have not gone the way I really wanted it too, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. She was beautiful- and so tiny! Maggie Grace arrived at 6:09am Sunday August 28^th 6lbs 1oz and 19 ½ inches long. Big brown eyes and a lot of dark hair. And perfect. I could never forget the perfect.

Re-Introduction

Well hello dusty, mistreated blog. It's been 8 months. Wow- 8 months to the day, actually. (Well to the day when I started writing this.) Since I last blogged, we've entered our third change of season, baseball has started and is about to end, football season is here and I had a baby. Yes, a beautiful baby that arrived August 28th. I could name a bunch of reasons why I haven't blogged, but I'm going to forgo that and just update and move on.

About a week after my last blog entry, I was laid off. It wasn't completely unexpected, but it was still a hard pill to swallow. Even though I knew it had nothing to do with me, I went through a bunch of emotions and had a hard time dealing with it for awhile. And I'm sure the pregnancy hormones probably didn't help. I found out I was pregnant a month before this happened- on December 19th to be exact. I even told my bosses 2 weeks before which made it even harder for them to let me go. I looked for jobs and sent out resumes, but nothing came of them. Then when I started to show I knew it might be harder to find something. But on the happier side of things, my pregnancy was going very smoothly and we were THRILLED. I was feeling good, only a little sick during the first trimester and it seemed like exactly at 12 weeks and 1 day I woke up with no sickness and wasn't as exhausted. I was a new woman! The only thing we kept close watch on was gestational diabetes. My family has a history of diabetes so they wanted to be sure this didn't pop up. 3 one hour and 2 three hour glucose tests later, I remained in the clear for my entire pregnancy. While out of work I went about my business of growing and planning for our little bundle to arrive. Originally, I wasn't going to find out the baby's gender. My husband said he was finding out with or without me, but my plan was to wait until the shower and have the decorations do the big reveal. That plan didn't last for long and we were both too anxious to wait. Finally at the big ultrasound, we found out we were having a girl. I was shocked as I would've put big money on us having a boy, but I cried tears of joy that we were having her and more importantly that she was healthy. Once we knew, nursery plans, names and everything else was in full swing. Even though it was sometimes difficult, I will admit it was nice to have the summer off- my first one ever since I turned 16 and started working- and it was nice to relax during those hot, hot days. All in all, I was blessed to have a wonderful pregnancy. Of course I had some bad days, some uncontrollable crying days and days I couldn't.stop.eating. (I'm ashamed to admit one week I went to Chipotle three times becuase I couldn't get enough of their rice. My only real craving.) And now here we are at the end of September, and my baby girl is about to be a month old. I can't wrap my head around how fast time went. I feel like I just took the pregnancy test. I'm very excited to watch her grow and share our journey here so we can always come back and never forget. Next to come, our birth story.

A Sad Day

It's a sad day, well sad last night as well, in my household. My husband's beloved Bears were booted out of the race for Superbowl champs and the right to relive the glory of 1985. Some might not warrant this worthy of a blog post, but friends, it really affects my husband. He was in such a mood last night that we hardly spoke and he didn't want to watch the second game- he was done with football. It didn't help that he spent all week gloating and telling anyone that will listen that they were going to win. He posted all kinds of anti-Green Bay pictures on his Facebook...

(There were ones that were much worse that I will not share haha)

All the preparation and stress of the week to be let down. I quote "My head hurts, my heart hurts and I hate life". haha. He wants to put the house up for sale because our next door neighbors are Packers fans and he can't take the shame. Now, of course he's being dramatic with all the hating life and selling the house business because come on, it really is just a football game. He told me I don't understand because I'm a Cubs fan and I'm used to feeling the pain of losing. (Baseball season is always rough in our house). After the loss, he promptly ripped off his #54 jersey (he already rid himself of the Cutler jersey he started the game off with when he did not come back in to play) grabbed his White Sox fleece blanket and laid on the couch the rest of the night. I talked to him this morning on my way to work and he said he felt better but it would take time. (I'm laughing as I type this). I just looked at his Facebook page and he just replaced his Bears profile picture with that of the White Sox emblem. I questioned him and the sudden change and he said "I'm ready to move on to better and brighter days." So friends, if your husbands or wives are seemingly distraught over the game and you think the entire week is ruined, fear not, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now, let's see if our house divided will survive baseball season. GO CUBS!!!

Circle Gets the Square

Does anyone else remember Hollywood Squares?? I love that show!! Anyway. I digress. This weeks assignment was circles. I had fun trying to think creatively and spot circles I wouldn't normally seek out. So, the other morning when I was getting ready  for work I was all "Hey!!! Circle shower curtain!"

Bonus for the tissue holder too.

My next set is something I often enjoy...

These are my favorite wine glasses. They are so much fun and I feel fancy because they are from Pampered Chef. It's the only thing I own from there. Clearly I'm not that fancy though if I only have wine glasses and none of the gadgets they sell.

And lastly, behold my favorite circles of all...

The Target bag. I love Target. I go there at least once a week and this bag contained my latest purchases: dish washing detergent and Lemonheads. You know, life's essentials.

I had fun with this You Capture this week! Go head over to Beth's for more!

I'm back- You Capture!

It's been awhile since I've done a You Capture and I'm not proud of that. BUT, I'm going to try my best to participate in every challenge and to use my actual camera. I've had it for awhile but haven't really become acquainted with it yet. So, this year I'm going to learn more about it and read some books on how to use it better. I'm really excited about this goal of mine.

So- here are my doorways. I tried to get creative with the "meaning" and angle and stuff, but these are what I came up with.

This is the view of my doorway from right up the stairs into the beginning of the kitchen . I LOVE the light fixture there. I think that's one of my favorites things about my house- all the light fixtures match.

This is the view from my front doorway. I love the snowman "Season's Greetings" I have hanging. And of course my husband felt it necessary to put the Bears chair right next to the door. It's actually the first thing he moved into the house. Our next door neighbors are Packers fans so you can imagine what that's like.
There you have it!! Go check out some more doorways over at Beth's!!!

1914

My beautiful, wonderful, awe-inspiring great-grandmother turned 97 on Saturday. 97! Can you believe it? She is the most amazing woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and I'm blessed to call her my grandma.

The birthday girl

  Since some of my cousins have kids, there are 5 generations in our family. When I tell people I still have my great grandma, people are shocked because they never met their great grandparents or sometimes even grandparents (that thought is SO sad to me).

Only about half of the great grandchildren

 Some of my family members and I went to the nursing home she lives in and surprised her with a lunch party. It was so much fun and to see the joy in her face and hear it in here voice.

My grandma (her daughter) and grandpa, my mom and my aunts and uncles

Her eye sight is mostly gone, but she can tell who each person is and loves to just sit back and listen to all of us talk. She's in otherwise good health and her mind is all there- she was telling us things she remembers from when she was 3! I'm so thankful to be able to hear stories about her parents and her early life. My how things are different now. I hope one day my kids will be able to meet her, if not, I'll tell them stories about her everyday for the rest of my life and let them know how much she loves them- even if she's not here. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving family. Happy 97th birthday Grandma! We all love you so much!