I’m going to try and keep it short but these are too cute not to share. 🙂
First, from our baseball game on Friday night–
(do you like my legs?)
Then a few from Cait’s little party at home and her new birthday tricycle–yeah, she’s a bruiser 🙂 Notice her trendy tattoo. 🙂
The rest are from the fair and the demo derby. Take note of Dead Mickey Mouse
And probably my favorite one of all–Eddie watching the derby
This past weekend took a lot out of all of us.
Friday night we went to the baseball game down town and stayed for the fireworks afterward. The kids had a really good time, but we didn’t get home until after 11PM.
Saturday, we had cake for Cait’s birthday in the afternoon and then later went to the county fair and saw the school bus demolition derby with my MIL. The kids loved it! A few of the busses were painted really well and we rooted for the Spiderman Bus all night long. Our second favorite was the Mickey Mouse Bus that had a Mickey Mouse figure standing on top of it. Unfortunately, after a few hits Mickey fell down which upset Caitlyn quite a bit. Then his head fell off and another bus ran it over which caused her to go in to a fit of hysterics. Ed and I were trying to calm her down telling her it wasn’t the real Mickey and so on when Eddie screams “MICKEY IS DEAD CAIT!!!” and kind of rolled his eyes like “deal with it already”. We couldn’t help but laugh. We aren’t winning any awards for parents of the year, that’s for sure.
We took a lot of photos but I haven’t had the chance to download them yet. We spent the day doing pretty much nothing Sunday and everyone was pretty crabby from lack of sleep.
Yesterday was day one at the new daycare and drop off went well; we spent some time with each of the kids in their new room and they were good. Today, not so much. Eddie was fine, but Caitlyn freaked out. Ed wanted to stay with her until she was calm and I wanted to leave and let her work it out. He stayed, arguing that it was like we were leaving her with strangers, and I left. I see his point and where he is coming from; I do. But I feel like if we baby her she will refuse to get used to it. I know that I’m doing the right thing, but I feel horrible when I leave her.
They really do enjoy the new place so far though. Eddie has a guinea pig named Max in his room and he can bring him home for a weekend if he wants.
(God, please don’t let him want to bring the guinea pig home.) He also enjoyed the hermit crabs in another room. Cait had fun riding tricycles and playing with a little girl named Anna.
I’m still tired from the weekend and from having Eddie in our bed last night, and on top of it, I’m strangely nauseous. I’d really just like to go home to bed, but I have too much to do at work.
Maybe we could start today over……
Dear Caitlyn,
Tomorrow is Saturday and you will be two years old. I don’t know where the time has gone because I swear that just yesterday you were your tiny baby self content to lie in my arms or be carried in your sling all day long.
You have accomplished a lot since your first birthday. Learning to walk was especially great and running and jumping came soon after. You knew many words on your first birthday and you gradually began stringing them together this year, and now, you speak full clear sentences and enjoy conversation with all of us. You’ve always been able to communicate your needs, wants, pleasure and displeasure, but to hear you put it in to words is absolutely amazing.
You still love to eat, and will try anything once. Your personal policy when it comes to food is “what’s on your plate is mine” and you help yourself accordingly. You are the best eating child I know.
For a 2-year-old, you are still quite small, but what you lack in size you make up for with personality. You are tiny, but tenacious, and quite honestly, you are something else. Everything is 100% with you; there are no in betweens. And for as frustrating as it can be sometimes, I hope you never lose this quality. Being headstrong as you are (just like your daddy) will take you places in life.
And though you are 2 now and not quite a baby anymore, you have the sweetest baby face I’ve ever seen. I could stare at your adorable nose and those big, beautiful hazel eyes all day long, kiss your chubby cheeks a million times and never be tired.
Happy birthday baby girl. I love you more than you know.
Love,
Mama
We found out last week that our daycare center is closing as of December 31st. Our center is a smaller offshoot of a local chain and they can not offer what their newer centers do. (The chain has been opening “state of the art” centers all over our area, so the real reason ours is closing is $$.) The kids were guaranteed a spot at their “BRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART CENTER” which opens in January and is where the entire staff is transferring to, but unfortunately, it is nowhere near our house or where I work and therefore is not an option.
This was extremely upsetting for me being that the kids have gone there since they were each 8 weeks old and Ed and I are both extremely comfortable with the staff and the care that they receive there. I don’t want to rehash everything I’ve been through since Thursday, but our saga has gone from changing centers in January, to changing in September, to what is actually happening which is changing centers on Monday, 8/20. This was the only way to guarantee a position at their other location that is just as close to our house. In other words, they won’t hold an open spot until January.
That being said, the kids move over next week and I am stuck filling out paperwork on their personalities as they have likely changed since the last time I filled the packets out when they were babies. They ask inane questions such as “what upsets your child?” and I’m tempted to answer “changing centers!” but I’m giving helpful answers instead. Have you ever tried putting your 2-year-old’s personality in to words? On paper? It’s not the easiest thing to do.
In any case, we toured the new center with the kids on Friday. Ed and I had been there before because this is originally where we wanted Eddie to go when he was a baby, but they were full-this is how we ended up at the smaller center. Both children were excited about the indoor playground and the huge playground and garden out back. They also get to choose between taking dance or tae kwon do as enrichment activities. Eddie was amazed by their computer room as well. He actually wanted to start going there today. As a bonus, he will be placed in the same room as his cousin Kayla, so there will be a familiar face, and we’re hoping that his best friend Emma will be there soon too. I’m worried about Caitlyn though, who has a hard time at drop off anyway. We haven’t heard yet that any of her friends are transferring. Next Monday is going to be a hard day all around.
The new center also comes at an increased cost, but starting in September, the kids will be home with Ed 2 days a week, so we will actually be saving money, just less than we would have if they were not moving.
It truly is a better equipped center and as far as programs go, the kids will be better off there. It is bittersweet though, leaving behind the teachers and aides who have been so good to them, and have loved them so much as well as the friends they have.
Kids are resilient. I just wish that I was.
I have to say that I was more than a little bit irritated while listening to the local radio station on my way in to work this morning. I was actually kind of, well, furious. I tuned in and they were taking tips from moms on how to stop a temper tantrum, or how they react to a kid’s temper tantrum. Here are a few of the suggestions:
• Tell them Santa is watching and if they keep it up, there will be no presents.
• Pick them up and hold them tight giving them tons of kisses and hugs
• If the tantrum is about wanting something in the store, offer them something else to quiet them down. That way, they’re not winning, but they’re still happy and quiet.
• If in public, walk away so that you’re out of sight and make your child think you left them there. Scare the tantrum right out of them.
And my personal favorite, and the only point where the radio personality cut the caller off:
• If it’s a bad tantrum, where they begin to hyperventilate, jam your knuckles in to the child’s chest to “shock them out of it”, or pinch them with your fingernail, or splash water in their face.
I’m not intending to pass judgment here, although, ultimately it will come off sounding like I am. I realize that different things work for different children and that everyone has a different parenting style, and that this was a random sampling of parents in my area, but I can’t see how any of these are good ideas. You child knows you are full of crap when you pull the Santa card. Believe me. My own mother would pull that crap out in July. Your kid knows they’re getting presents regardless. Picking them up and hugging and kissing the tantrum right out of them….what? Giving the child something else but not what they want so “you are the winner” does not seem like the way to go either. Somehow I don’t think it’s about winning. And as far as I’m concerned, shocking or scaring a child out of a tantrum is abuse.
Here is my personal policy on tantrums- they are not allowed. That is not to say that my kids don’t throw tantrums, because on occasion, they do. We all have our moments, right? When a tantrum does come on, Ed and I are consistent in our approach. If we are at home, the child is welcome to cry and carry on, so long as they do it in the privacy of their bedroom. Once they have pulled themselves together, we will discuss what has occurred and what the resolution should be. If we are in public, whether it’s a store, church or party, the child is removed from the situation. No questions asked, and again, we discuss it once they have calmed down. We also set the expectation of what is going to occur before going someplace, i.e. “We are going to Target to buy a gift for your cousin. That is all we are buying today.” Giving it to them straight, up front, goes a long way with my kids.
Again, I’m lucky in that my kids aren’t tantrum throwers. Perhaps I’d have a different perspective if they were, or if I’d experienced some of the extreme behavior others talk about. The reality is that they’re a product of their environment and I’m a strong believer in the fact that my kids behave the way that they do because of the way we interact with them. This may not be the case for other people, I don’t know. I’m definitely not judging the parents of kids who do act out because like I said, all kids are different.(Unless you’re letting them scream in church and not taking them out. Then I am judging you.) I do know some great parents whose kids have horrendous tantrums.
What does everyone else out there think? How do you deter the temper tantrum?
This started out as a comment on Swistle’s Blog, right here, but it got too long. I love talking about baby clothes though, so here it goes.
Oh boy! Baby clothes is one of my favorite subjects! When Eddie was born in the dead of winter, I had no problem just keeping him in the footed sleepers at home. He stayed warm, and I was sure he was warm. When he started daycare I sent him in a new outfit every day. Sometimes he’d go through 3 outfits a day, but he was always fully clothed.
When Cait was born in the dead heat of summer, I kept her in onsies, but I bought the ones with the little skirt around them so she was a bit dressed up. I had the same policy on her leaving the house though, always dressed.
I openly admit that I am neurotic about my children’s appearance and clothing and I know that this is a direct result of not having a lot of clothes, especially the “cool clothes” while I was growing up. I don’t ever want my kids to feel like I did. EVER. So even though it makes no difference to them right now, it makes a huge difference to me.
We tend to get lucky in the hand me down department as both kids have cousins, a brother/sister pair who are about a year older than them, whose grandma shops at high end stores. They get a lot of high quality never worn stuff as well as winter coats and snow pants—a tremendous help. When it comes to buying clothes, I do a lot of Old Navy and Target clearance, plus the Okee Dokee branch at JC Penny and Sears has a play clothes line that is extremely reasonable $5-$6 per piece, pants and shirts. They usually run a 2 for $9 special at season change and that’s where I get a lot. They get plenty of clothes for gifts as well.
Oh, Swistle, by the way—I am the same way with girly clothes, even if I end up having another girl. Cait has way more than she will ever need or wear and I just.can’t.stop.buying…..
And when they’re done with the clothes, they are stored in labeled bankers boxes categorized by gender and size and stored in age order in my basement so that I’ll know right where they are when the time comes.
Neurotic much?
Unfortunately, I don’t have an entire back story about Caitlyn’s conception. Ed and I were not being particularly careful and my cycles were completely erratic. I took at least one pregnancy test a month because after ceasing nursing at 7 months (along with coping with the demands of an infant) I had no idea where I was in my cycle at any given time.
I remember, right after Thanksgiving, telling Ed “I’m sure I’m done ovulating by now…”
Yeah.
There was a work Christmas party on 12/16/04 and I planned on drinking for maybe the 3rd time since I had Eddie. When I woke up that morning I had it in my head to take a pregnancy test before I went to dinner or else I would never forgive myself. For peace of mind, you know. I did not even consider for a second that it would be positive.
SURPRISE!!
I had never experienced a positive home pregnancy test since I found out about Eddie in the doctor’s office. I peed on the stick and continued on with my business. It blared a positive result after about 3 seconds. I, of course, went in to panic mode. I had an 11-month-old. And I was pregnant, again. I was just starting to look normal again. And oh.my.god. What was Ed going to say? I woke him up at 6:00am. He’d had no idea I’d even taken the test. I told him, we talked about it a bit, and decided that we were totally fine with it.
We told our families early this time, over Christmas, with Eddie wearing an “I’m the Big Brother T-shirt” on Christmas Eve. We wrapped it up for my mom to help Eddie open on Christmas Day. People were surprised, for sure. But we all knew that Caitlyn was meant to be. My due date was 8/26/05.
Early on in the pregnancy, I contracted a horrible kidney infection and was hospitalized for 2 days. I continued to have urinary tract infections through the pregnancy, but that was my only complaint. In comparison to my first pregnancy, this one was cake! As much as I hated pregnancy the first time around, I just loved it this time. I was never sick. I was no more tired than I had been while caring for Eddie. I felt great!
The cravings were a lot different the second time as well. I still drank my coffee, 1 cup of regular in the morning and a cup of half-caf in the afternoon. I loved on strawberries and whipped cream. I needed to have Cedar Point Corn Dogs and Ed wouldn’t go get them for me. Instead, I wrapped hotdogs in crescent rolls and ate them for lunch and dinner for at least 2 weeks. I went to Starbucks almost daily for the strawberries and crème frappucino with a shot of vanilla.
I knew from the beginning that this was a girl, and we had it confirmed with our 20 week ultrasound. We knew her name already, and until about 3 weeks before she was born it was going to be spelled Catelyn. I changed it to Caitlyn and then we moved on to the middle name, (which to this day, Ed is not a fan of.) Her name would be Caitlyn Renee.
We traveled to Virginia Beach and Richmond when I was 8 months pregnant and it was probably the most miserable car ride of my life. We walked everywhere though and had a really good time. Here is a photo of me 8 months pregnant feeding a giraffe. If you recall the photos from my 1st pregnancy, you can see that I carried her a whole lot differently. She was up high and under my ribs for the entire pregnancy.
I worked up until the beginning of August. The summer averaged about 90 degrees every day and I could hardly walk because my ankles were so swollen. I saw the one doctor at my practice that I hated, and she pulled me, so she was my new best friend. I wanted to nest, I really did, but I could barely move. I had until the end of the month, right? The good news was that we had never put the bassinette away after we moved Eddie to the crib. All I had to do was put the linens back in. I did manage to get her clothes washed and put away in all of their pink and frilly over-abundance.
On August 16th, we went to our county fair. I was having tons of contractions as we walked around in the 95 degree heat. Figuring I was dehydrated, I drank 3 bottles of water. Everything settled down by the time we got home. I went to the doctor in the morning and saw my very favorite midwife, the one who assisted in delivering Eddie. I told her about everything that was going on and she checked me out. I was 2 cm but very thinned out so she stripped my membranes with her finger. (This apparently separates membranes from the cervix…….I can still feel it when I think about it. Not cool.) She was sure I would go in to labor that night.
I was nervous because Ed was working out of town that day, but the contractions held off. I honestly had my first one as he walked in the door at 7pm. They were sporadic all night and I went to sleep in the recliner wondering if I actually was in labor. I woke around 2am definitely in labor. I had the classic feeling of “maybe if I just poop I’ll feel better.” I didn’t. I woke Ed up and told him we had to go. Then I proceeded to do 150 other things to make sure Eddie was taken care of. I called the midwife (the nasty one was on call) myself and she told me that if I was talking to her, there was no way I was in hard labor, but that she would meet me at the hospital anyway.
Ed took this picture right before we left. He’s charming, isn’t he? (to be uploaded later because i don’t have it at work–it’s a miserable picture)
My water broke in the driveway at 3:45 AM. We were at the hospital by 4 and I was in excruciating pain. It took them forever to get the IV started and me hooked up to everything, so I had to wait for the epidural. The anesthesiologist was in around 5:15am to do the epidural asking me all kinds of questions. The midwife was still not there. He finally started threading it through and gave me the initial shot. I started pushing (involuntarily) just was the midwife walked in. The anesthesiologist never even started the drip because Caitlyn was coming. Ed ran back in the room just as they flipped me over to get going. 3 pushes and she was out. (Don’t worry, the epidural kicked in just in time for my 3 stitches)
Caitlyn Renee was born at 5:37am on August 18, 2005. She weighed 9lbs 5oz and was 21 inches long. As with her brother, the NICU was paged because of her size. She was also hypoglycemic, but the doctor also felt an abnormal bulge in her belly. She was taken away before I could nurse her, and just after I held her for a minute.
They were afraid that the bulge was an intestinal problem, and didn’t want her to eat anything, so they started an IV to get her blood sugar up. We were relieved to hear that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her after a few hours, but disappointed to hear that because an IV was started, they would have to wean her off of it. Unlike an adult, a baby couldn’t handle the IV just being taken out and it had to be reduced gradually.
And so began the long ordeal of Caitlyn in the NICU. I could go up there to nurse her, but they were giving her formula to keep her sugar up. Every time they reduced the IV, her levels dropped just enough to be considered “unstable”. Day one turned in to day two and she was still on the IV.
All of my hopes and dreams were shattered in this horrendous post partum state. She was supposed to be in the room with me, and Eddie was supposed to come bounding in, wearing his big brother t-shirt, and climb up in my bed and hold his baby sister for the first time. Everyone was supposed to be there to fawn over my baby girl. Instead, Eddie came for about 30 minutes and played cars with me on the floor in my hospital room. Outside of Ed’s Mom, his Aunt Gail and Uncle Rich, and Marisa and George, nobody came to see me. Why would they if they couldn’t see the baby, right? I gave up at that point. I didn’t go up and nurse her regularly. I stayed in my room, slept and watched TV, checking on her sporadically. Ed and I fought because I wasn’t doing enough. I just couldn’t do it, physically or mentally.
Day 3 arrived and they had no idea if she would be released along with me. Her final reading was scheduled for 10pm. I decided that sitting around the hospital hoping she could come home wouldn’t do anyone any good, so I went home. I pumped. I spent time with Eddie. And then Ed and I went to his 10 year high school reunion for a bit and waited for a call.
The hospital did call just after 10 to say that we could come and get her. Her reading was still low, but nothing that I couldn’t handle, they said. So off we went. I still hadn’t put the bassinette linens on and the car seat straps needed to be adjusted from the last time Eddie used it. I went to the NICU for the final time and put her in her going home outfit, even though it was after 11 by the time we got there, and we took our baby girl home.
Fortunately, this was where any feelings of depression subsided.
Caitlyn was a great baby, came home sleeping 4 hours at a pop. She fit right in. Eddie wasn’t thrilled with her at first, as she took up a lot of my time, but he quickly became a good big brother. We got in to a routine right away because Ed worked a lot. I kept her in the front carrier quite a bit so that my hands were free to tend to Eddie and housework. She came to the park with us, on the car ride while I took Eddie to school. I think the most important part of integrating her in to the family was keeping everything very much the same. She did what we always did.
Our family was, and is, perfect.
****On a side note, I know this is really long…I know****
I spoke briefly about this in my 100 facts list. When Caitlyn was about a month old, she spiked a really high fever and was hospitalized with suspected meningitis. A ton of tests determined that it was just a viral infection; however, they kept her hospitalized because a baby that young should not have a fever. I spent three days in the hospital with her, nursing her, hanging out and taking care of her. At that point, I felt like we finally bonded. Ed said it to me then, and I truly believe that this was sent from God. No, it is never fun to have your child hospitalized and it was certainly stressful. But I spent the time with her, just me, alone, that I should have to begin with. And somehow, I finally felt complete. He does work in mysterious ways.
I got this over at Swistle’s, and it seems to be turning in to a meme, so of course, I couldn’t resist!
First write a nauseatingly perky paragraph about your life, the type of paragraph you see in alumni newsletters. Then write a franker, funnier one.
Here goes:
Sara and Ed have been married since 2002 and have 2 beautiful children, Eddie who is 3 and Caitlyn who is 2. Sara works a fulfilling full time job while Ed runs a carpet cleaning business from home. They enjoy spending time together as a family and finding fun family oriented activities to do together on the weekends.
Although Sara and Ed have been married since 2002, they had been together for 13 years. They’re starting to grate on each other’s nerves. Add two toddlers to the mix and it’s a freaking party!! Sara is so frazzled that she spent 5 minutes at the medicine cabinet this morning just trying to decide which toothbrush was hers. Our house is madness, and by the way, it’s falling apart. If you ever cared for me, please come help us! Take the kids to the park or grab a mop!
If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.
It was January 6th, 2004 and I was officially 2 days overdue. Other than having spent our entire dinner at Applebee’s the night before in the bathroom, I was feeling pretty good. I had a routine doctor’s appointment to discuss exactly how long they were going to let me be overdue before they induced. My appointment was around 11am so Ed and I had a quick breakfast at home and headed over there.
At my OBGYN office, anytime you are seeing the doctor over the midwife, there is a wait. We waited nearly two hours before we saw her. She asked a lot of questions about how I was feeling before she even checked me. When she did check me, she looked up in amazement and asked if I was sure that I wasn’t having contractions. I told her that I didn’t think so, and she said “well you’re 5cm!!” She decided to do an ultrasound to see what was going on with the baby, and again there was a wild and surprised look on her face.
“This baby is at least 9 lbs.”, she said. “You need to go to the hospital!!”
She then gave me a 15 minute lecture about how my worst fear might come true; I may have to have a c-section. I felt all of the color drain from my face and I felt like I was going to throw up. When you’ve been told since you were 15 years old that you have “the perfect hips for birthing”, the thought of a C-section never comes in to play. For my entire pregnancy, I never even considered that I would have a c-section. Much like the day that I was told I was going to have a baby, I was in shock. I walked out of the doctor’s office barely hearing her call after me “Make sure you don’t eat anything in case we do the c- section! Have them call me when you get to the hospital!”
As soon as we got in the car, I lost it. I sobbed hysterically. I couldn’t breath. I made Ed call Marisa at work to tell her everything, and then I got on the phone and blubbered to her. I know that I called my parents, but I can’t remember speaking to either of them. I was sure that I was having a nervous breakdown. I had just about calmed down when we got home, but as soon as we got in the house and started getting my stuff together, I was hysterical again. I went in the bathroom to compose myself, and Ed took this wonderful picture of me:
We left the house around 3:00PM and had to run a few errands, stop at the bank, etc. It was going on 6 hours since I had eaten and Ed was hungry too. He grabbed some food and we were at the hospital by about 5:30 PM.
As soon as we were checking in, they got me hooked up to the pitocin, which immediately gave me intense contractions. It was about 2 hours before I was in tears and needed the epidural, the greatest invention I know of. Marisa and George, my parents and Ed’s mother were in and out of the room. Marisa had to work the next day, so when things weren’t happening, they left around 10PM. Very soon after that it was time to push. I can’t remember anything that happened during the pushing phase other than telling Ed that if he put one more FUCKING ice chip in my mouth, I would strangle him. I pushed until about midnight before I overheard the doctor saying she wouldn’t let me push much longer. I had a renewed strength at that point because there was no way I was going through all of this crap just to be cut open, and started pushing like a crazy person after that. The problem: Eddie was posterior or sunny side up. After another 2 hours, his head was nearly out but we needed some help. (Apparently, all of the tearing didn’t help at all) Ed describes my episiotomy with great detail. “They both had a pair of scissors in each hand! They snipped you everywhere!” They ended up using the vacuum and finally, after 4 hours of pushing, I had my baby boy!
Edmund Mason, Jr. was born at 2:13 AM January 7, 2004. He weighed 10lbs 2oz and was 23 inches long. We couldn’t believe how much he looked exactly like his daddy.
I had never been happier. Ed held him while I was being stitched up and then the neonatal doctor took him to be checked out because of his size. His blood sugar was a bit low, so they took him upstairs and gave him some sugar water in a bottle. By the time I was in my room and slept for about 30 minutes, he was ok, and ready to nurse.
Now everything that I ever read said that babies are not hungry at birth; it takes them a few days to have that kick in. Eddie was ravenous when he was born. He nursed every 2 hours like clockwork the entire time we were in the hospital. So I would nurse for an hour, sleep for an hour nurse again…and so on. I couldn’t believe what I had signed on for.
Our second night in the hospital was the worst. First of all, I was more sore, and sore in the oddest places, than I had ever been in my entire life. Then I was more exhausted than I had ever been, and in the middle of the night, my 1-day-old baby forgot how to nurse. I couldn’t get him to latch on, he was screaming, and I was crying hysterically. I called the nursery and sobbed/screamed in to the phone that someone needed to come and help me. I think they thought I hurt the baby because they were down there so fast. And there I was, half naked on the bed, trying to get him to take a boob, just defeated. And you know what? The nurses acted like I was normal; like it was no big deal. They brought in some sugar water and helped me get him going. The whole nursing thing went reasonable well after that.
I loved staying in the hospital. We had tons of visitors, and Eddie was a hit. I had my fill of hospital food (which I love because I’m a F R E A K) and also my gourmet dinner. The nurses in the nursery loved him, and my favorite one, an older Indian woman, showed him off to all of the girl babies and thought about which one would be his girlfriend. (She kissed him on the head on her last shift before we left and whispered “I will see you back in a year or so with a baby sister” which is just way too weird) Nurses and doctors from all over the hospital came to meet me because I was the girl that pushed out the 10 lb posterior baby. In fact, on our way out to go home, our delivery room nurse introduced me to the patient she was walking out as “the girl I told you about, with the 10 lb baby.”
And home we went to start our life as a family. Having a baby was the best thing I ever did, and I had never felt more fulfilled as a person than when I became a mother. All of the misery of pregnancy and the horrendous delivery were worth it; worth it enough to do it again……and maybe even again some day.
My pregnancy, at the beginning anyway, was horrendous.
First there was the constant nausea. I never once threw up, I just always felt like I was going to. I kept food on my night stand and just did the best I could. I couldn’t stand to drink or smell coffee which was a feeling so foreign that I can’t even describe it.
After the nausea came the bleeding. Incessant bleeding. Nothing was ever wrong, it just turned out that I had “a very vascular cervix” but to be safe, relations were suspended by my doctor until after the 1st trimester.
And after those two things came the worry; the ever-present worry. I had read so much about things going wrong for someone with my particular thyroid condition. I was so nervous about losing the baby, so nervous that it would be gone forever, I just counted the days until my 1st trimester was over.
The most defining moment in my pregnancy was having a cautious ultra-sound when I was 7 weeks along, during the bleeding. There was the baby, a teeny tiny bean in there with a heartbeat. A HEARTBEAT!! When I was 7 weeks…which is really only 3 weeks after my missed period-I was in complete wonder at the evidence of life in me so early on. 7 weeks.
When the 2nd trimester began, so did the cravings. I did not crave a single thing that was good for me. I was on a Twinkie binge for nearly a month (to the point where my boss was smuggling in Twinkies to work because Ed forbade me to eat them), and with the exception of having to have orange juice with my breakfast, I drank root beer, Mug Root Beer to be exact, morning, noon and night. I could not eat tomatoes in any form and thinking about baked macaroni and cheese with breadcrumbs on it made me sick. I craved favorite foods from my childhood: creamed cucumbers, peanut butter cookies, and my aunt’s deviled potato salad. Later on, it was breaded pork chops. We ate them for a week straight before Ed said anything.
I was huge and in full maternity clothes by the time I was 4 months pregnant.
At my 20 week appointment I was ecstatic to find out that we were having a boy. I sobbed in the ultrasound room and Ed was sure it was because I wanted to have a girl, but really, it just made it so much more real. A boy, and he would be Edmund Mason Jr.
Of course, we registered immediately and my mother and aunt began planning my baby shower. I had never been so excited in my life. All the clothes and toys and blankets. Who knew that there was even so much out there for babies? I felt like an idiot, let me tell you.
Here is me at 7 months:
And here is me at my baby shower, with my mother.
I had planned on working right up until my due date because I had just been promoted, but just before Thanksgiving I started having contractions. Ed and I went to the hospital, and I was in labor, 6 weeks early. I was re-hydrated and given something to stop the contractions and sent home. I worked for just about another week before I was pulled indefinitely. This was actually pretty cool because I got Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years off. I felt fine, other than the heartburn that had me sleeping upright in our recliner, and we took the time to put things together and set up Eddie’s room.
Christmas came and everyone marveled at my huge belly and we all laughed at how I balanced my dinner plate and pop can on it for the duration of our meal.
It was perfectly relaxing, and a wonderful experience to have no obligations, and just be able to enjoy the last weeks of my pregnancy at home, just getting ready for this life changing event.
Incubation Nation 