What a difference a year makes

July 17 2009: I got my period, which officially meant we were not pregnant. It was a Friday and that night, Joe and I spent a lot of time reflecting and truly reconnecting with one another about what we wanted in life. The pain that had consumed us for so long, we almost seemed to come to terms with that night. We decided we would move forward with one more IUI, but then a break was needed. I definitely was losing who I was. I had become so sad.

Our new gluten free diet was working well. We felt really good and clear headed.

On that Saturday, we spent a glorious day together at Water Country. No cell phones...no worries...no stress. We just had each other. We spent the rest of that month having a blast together. We focused on each other and the food we put into our bodies. On July 31st, we had what would be our final IUI, which as we all know produced the son we were meant to have.

As I began this blog entry, Joe came down into the office to tell me how amazingly lucky we are to have such a wonderful son. Joe and I are truly so connected, as I had literally just begun this entry.

This year, July 17, 2010: Our son is napping in his swing and we are reflecting on what a wonderful blessing he is in our lives. A year can bring so much change. We were meant to go through what we went through to have him. It brought Joe and I closer and stronger as a couple. And lets face it, there is only one Maddox and I would not trade him for ANYTHING. He was meant for us, so conception date July 31, 2009 was when we were meant to conceive.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Birth plan?

Our little man has arrived! April 14th, 2010 at 8:52 AM. Maddox weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 19.5 inches long.

Maddox's arrival was not necessarily unexpected on April 14th. We were scheduled for induction on April 14th and admitted to the hospital on the evening of April 13th. An induction was planned based on my blood pressure issues over the remaining 6 weeks of the pregnancy.

Hubs and I had attended many childbirth prep classes and had determined that we really wanted to try and have a natural childbirth. We also had decided though that we would not develop a birth plan, as we felt it can sometimes lead to disappointment should the birth not going according to "plan". Once it was determined that we would be going in for induction, I became doubtful of our desire for a natural childbirth.

So, that evening, I was hooked up to the monitors and settled in to "rest" before the induction in the morning. Dr H would be coming in that morning to break my waters and the Pitocin would begin. That evening was not restful though. I was frustrated because I was not having any contractions (mind you, I had contractions the entire last 6 weeks of the pregnancy) and I was "nearly 1 cm" dilated upon arrival. I was fearful that the birth would be an all day event and extremely nervous that it would end up as a C-section. Not to mention the fact that I was starving and could no longer eat any food- except for those yummy ice chips.

I barely slept. Joe slept peacefully in a reclining rocking chair next to me. I literally had to use the bathroom on the hour, every hour, and needed the nurse's assistance because of the monitors and the IV fluids. At 6:15AM, I started having extreme menstrual cramps. I looked at the monitor, but did not notice anything in terms of contractions. Suddenly my water broke! I started yelling for Joe to wake up. I called the nurse, who came down and confirmed that my water in fact had broken. She checked my dilation, which was now considered between a 1-2 cm.

Side note--SO weird when your water breaks. It was a lot of water!

The nurse needed to call Dr. H for new direction in terms of what he wanted to happen, now that my water had broken on its' own. Dr. H decided that they would move forward with the pitocin a little bit earlier than initially planned. During this time, I was having stronger contractions. At 7:00, with the shift change, they began the administration of the pitocin and checked dilation again...still 1-2 cm. The contractions started getting even stronger. I was trying to tell Joe just how bad they were. For some reason, the monitor literally was not picking up anything as a contraction. He and the nurse probably thought I was crazy. I was asked to rate the pain on a scale of 1-10--I said a 5. Truly, it was like a 20, but looking at the monitor I knew I would seem crazy if I said that. By the way, that contraction belt had to have been broken!

Joe asked if there was any pain relief that I would have. Too early for the epidural and they could not administer IV pain relief because Maddox had fallen asleep.

I had to use the restroom again. Joe told me that he heard a nurse say the night before, that when you have to go to the bathroom, that means it is almost time to push. I snapped at him that it WAS NOT almost time to push, since I was 1-2 cm dilated. The nurse helped me to the bathroom, where I has nothing but the urge to PUSH. I was screaming, like you would not even believe! The nurse asked me not to push and to return to the bed for her to check me. She said, maybe if you are a 3, Dr H will approve the epidural. So, she checked me and said she needed a second opinion and left the room. I cried to Joe that I couldn't do it. The pain was so intense. The two nurses returned and did a check again--looked at each other, then looked at me and said "Yeah, you are 10 cm dilated. DON'T PUSH". In 30 minutes, I had dilated to a full 10 cm!

They immediately started prepping the room and called Dr. H, who had not yet arrived at the hospital. There would be no time for an epidural and Maddox was still sleeping in his little womb. We were going to get our natural birth! I had to breathe through the intense contractions and not push. Dr H arrived at 7:45AM, checked me and instructed the nurse to push with me initially and to call him once the head had descended more. I cried, you're not leaving the hospital right?? He was not...Thank God!

We pushed with the nurse for about 45 minutes and then with the last cycle of pushes, his head was ready and I was instructed to STOP. Let me just say, that is not the easiest thing to do. Everything happened so quickly. They didn't even have enough nurses in the delivery room. It was just Dr H., Sarah our nurse, Joe and I. Once Dr H came in, I still could not push because they needed to replace the iodine cleaning solution with saline because I have an iodine allergy.

We pushed 2 or 3 cycles of pushes with Dr H and then Maddox was here at 8:52 AM. I was in active labor they tell me for 2.5 hours and we pushed for approximately 50 minutes. My writing of this story does not do it justice. I need to say too, that my husband was the ultimate labor coach. I could not have done it without him.

As many of you know, there are pictures that I clearly took right after the birth. I cannot begin to tell you the state of mind I was in right then. I barely remember anything at that point. Neither Joe nor I, remember how I got the camera, since it was in Joe's pocket, but I started taking pictures right away and shocked Dr. H. I even started instructing him to pose. I will surely get teased about that at his office at my 6 week follow up.

It's a Beautiful Day!

The sun is shining and the Easter bunny is coming...doesn't get much better than that! I am looking forward to sitting outside on our swing, reading a book.

Maddox is running out of room in my belly. His body parts appear to be sticking out of my body! We have another ultrasound on Monday. We were so spoiled with ultrasounds during this pregnancy. When and if we get pregnant again, I wonder if we will be able to have as many, especially if we conceive naturally. We are so excited to see him again and cannot wait to hear his estimated weight!! 2 weeks ago he was 6.5 pounds. On average, they can 1/2 pound per week here at the end, so I guess we will see!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Easter!

Totally not baby related

...but everyone should check out Zac Brown Band's song, "Free". Even Hubs likes it and he is not a country fan. Granted, everyone should be warned, I do have a mild obsession with Zac Brown Band.

With the message of the song, when was the time that you felt the MOST free in your life? For me, it was when we moved to Virginia. It was a very 'freeing' experience...a new adventure. For Hubs, it was the same, but specifically when we were driving over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

"No we don't have a lot of money, but all we need is love" :-)

Blah

Just feeling a little down today... Perhaps I am going stir crazy, perhaps it is the fact that I am getting more uncomfortable, or just the fact that the only people I have seen in weeks are my hubby, my aunt, and doctors/nurses.

I am expecting the UPS man on Monday, maybe he will come and have lunch with me for a while...at least I just made myself laugh.

Everything is all ready now. Bag is packed, emergency bottles cleaned/sterilized, and hubby even cleaned my car, so Maddox can come home in a clean car.

And that's all I have to say today my friends...

Week 36

Today marks the start of Week 36! Craziness my friends. To think, we found out in Week 3, saw our little sac of a baby in Week 5, saw his heartbeat for the first time in Week 6 and now here we are. Last weeks ultrasound showed he was now 6.5 pounds. IF I go full term he will probably be a little chunker...We love it!!!

Still on bed rest, but my blood pressure is the lowest it has probably ever been. I have always had a blood pressure of 120/70 and my last 3 doctors appointments have been 110/70! Bed rest works. I am still having contractions, some pretty big ones and the cervix is thinning out. Mucus plug is gradually being lost, which can happen in a lot of cases. Most times people do not just lose it all it once and apparently, some people never even realize that they have lost it.

I already took guesses on FB as to when people think little Maddox will arrive. Most people picked dates within Week 39, which just may be a safe bet.

Recall Alert- baby sling

I researched slings extensively before I made my decision. This sling was very affordable, but almost all reviews on this product were horrible and thankfully, a recall has been made.

http://www.parenting.com/gear-gallery/Gear/Baby-Gear-Recalls?cid=tw

Reflecting

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG ENTRY. FEEL FREE TO NOT READ. I HATE LONG BLOG ENTRIES TOO :-)

I am nearing the end of my pregnancy and bed rest gives me a lot of time to think and as of late, reflect. It was such an emotional and hard process that we went through to get to where we are today. It is still so hard to believe sometimes that we are pregnant, about to give birth in 5 weeks or less!

I had started this blog during our fertility process, but found it too painful to share. I subsequently deleted all the previous entries. I wish now that I hadn't. Here is one long entry for you of what we went through.

Hubs and I have been together since high school. We met my junior year, his senior year, and within 2 months had already said the all important "I Love You!". I remember family members being nervous about how hard I would fall when and if it ended. I knew then and was not afraid to tell people, that he was the man I was going to marry. During college, we talked about how many kids we would want to have. Hubs wanted 4 and I wanted 2. At this point, we are happy with our one on the way!

When we married, we relocated to Virginia and lived with family for the first 6 months while we were house hunting. Not finding anything immediately, we decided to move into an apartment. We were there for 6 months before closing on our house. January 2008 we started to try to get pregnant. I am one who shares probably too much information with people, so I told EVERYONE we were trying. Seriously, who really wants to hear that you are having sex with your husband. Months went by with negative at home pregnancy tests. By 6 months in, I was freaked out! I really felt like something was wrong. Dr H. ran tests and found that I had low progesterone levels, which was causing me to not ovulate each month. I had to take pills each month to "bring on my cycle".

October of 2008, Dr H. performed a laproscopic surgery, a D+C, and hysteroscopic surgery. I recovered from that for one week. He cleaned up endometrious, which was causing painful menstruation cycles. There were no blockages in my tubes, which naturally was good news.

I had a renewed sense of hope. I started taking Clomid as well. Perhaps we would be pregnant by Christmas; however, that was not the case. We spent the holidays with our family, surrounded by the love of our niece and younger cousin. Also, my sister-in-law was pregnant. Please do not get me wrong, we love them all SO much. It was so painful though to sit there wondering, will that ever be us. Will we ever wake up with a child of our own on Christmas morning? Will we ever take a family picture together?

By January of 2009, I was getting very depressed. I always try to put on a big smile and "fake it" as best I can, but most people were seeing through that now. I developed a horrible attitude of "why us" and "nothing good happens to us". Dr H. suggested that month that we move onto trying an IUI (Intrauterine Insemination). Here they use a cathetor to inject the sperm sample directly into the uterus. They used injectable and oral medication for me with the IUI treatments. For IUI number one, I took 100 MG of Clomid for 7 days and one shot of follistim. These medications are used to stimulate the release of eggs. Once an ultrasound shows good follicles, we do an injection of Novaril. One February 1st, we went in for our first IUI! We was so excited. This was the one and only procedure that hubby went with me for. This one happened to fall on a Sunday, making it easier for him to attend. After the procedure is done you enter your "2 weeks waiting", which happens to be one of the worst times ever. I had to take promentrium starting two days after the IUI. All of this medicine was making life pretty hard. I felt so sick, experienced headaches, and horrible hot flashes. On February 13th, we found out the procedure had not worked. Time to get ready for month 2.

Same cycle of meds ensued, with our second IUI happening on March 4th, 2009. Again on March 16th, we found out the procedure failed.

Month 3, IUI on April 1, 2009--blood test on April 15th revealed we were not pregnant.

In May, I was diagnosed with PCOS, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. I was given an additional regime of drugs to take. (Being on bed rest, I cannot put my hands of that information right now) In June of 2009, we did a 4th round for IUI. IUI occurred on July 3rd. That month was unsuccessful as well.

Cousin J called me during this time to let me know that she was pregnant! She and her hubby had tried for so long. She suggested removing gluten from our diets for the next round of IUI. Hubs and I discussed and we were all for it.

Hubs and I also took some time to discuss happiness and what it meant in our lives. My depressive state had taken over so much of who I was. It was hard for Hubs to watch that happen to me. Hubs was ready to take a break completely from treatments and just focus on our overall health and happiness. The meds were taking such a toll on my mind and body, and surely seeing me go through all that was taking a toll on his.

So, heading into this treatment we had fun. We went to Water Country, the beach, had friends stay with us for a week, we had date nights, and overall tried to focus on anything but getting pregnant. This is quite hard to to do when you are taking medication everyday, but we truly worked at it. Having a new gluten free diet to focus on too, kept us busy.

That month required more medication than ever. 3 shots of follistim, oral medication of Femara, and of course the Novaril. And as with each procedure, Promentrium two days after the IUI. Oh, and lets not forget all the meds for the PCOS. On July 31st, I had my 5th and what would be my last, IUI. On August 11, 2009 I went into the doctor's office for my BETA test. I was feeling crampy and my legs were sore, which typically happens before I get my period. I told the nurse that I didn't think this month was it. By 11:30AM my phone was ringing. My heart was pounding because they never call this early. Dr H. was on the other end and it was at that moment that I heard for the first time ever, that our test was positive. I burst into tears. I couldn't for the life of me, ever tell you what else he said to me that day. I sat there when we hung up in shock. I literally was sitting on the floor of our studio at work. My phone rang again and it read "Dr H". I was afraid that they had made a mistake, he was calling to take it back. But it was all the nurses gathered together to call and tell me how happy they were.

I called Hubs for over an hour. He was stuck in a meeting, but had a feeling it was good news when I called continuously. Once he called back, my heart felt so complete.

At any rate, that is a summary for you of a year and 8 months of "trying to get pregnant". I truly wish I had never deleted all my previous entries, but it is done. We are so incredibly blessed with our son on the way. Our infertility process made us stronger as a couple and I think we appreciate our pregnancy much more than we ever would have. So many people prayed for us and were supportive rocks for us, and for that we will always be grateful.

I cried writing the last 3 paragraphs of this blog entry and little Maddox is going a little bit crazy inside the belly! I guess he is trying to tell me, "it's all alright now Mama, I'm here".

Things I don't like about bed rest

Obviously, there are things I would not like about bed rest:

• Feeling helpless and lazy: We are usually more active, so being confined to home is hard!
• Not being able to get up and do something when I think of it
• Getting comfortable. This is VERY hard to accomplish at times.
• Not being able to get ready for our baby's arrival. Thankfully, I had already nested for months so there is not really anything that needs to be done.
• Not making meals: Now I know I listed not making meals under this I like about bed rest, but it belongs under both. There are some days when I long to cook. For example, Hubs birthday, came and went without a special meal. Thankfully, Crazy Auntie bought a cake for me, so that was a nice surprise for him.

Overall though, I have to admit, bed rest has been a good thing for me. It has really helped with my breathing difficulties that I have had for the entire pregnancy. I also know that I would never have forced myself to slow down, which I am sure in 5 short weeks I will look back on my bed rest time with envy. :-)

What I like about bed rest...

There are a few things that I do like about bed rest...

• Spending quality time with Puggie before Maddox arrives
• Scrapbooking from bed
• Having a cooler packed for me everyday with my food needs
• Not having to do the dishes!
• Afternoon naps, which unfortunately only seem to last 15 minutes
• Not making meals
• No prep work for the next day!
• Forced to rest, because otherwise I would never do it!

Come back soon to find out what I don't like about bed rest!

Graco Recall Alert

Was alerted to this through Twitter today. Thankfully not the Graco high chair we will be getting!

http://www.parenting.com/article/Mom/parenting-recalls/Graco-Recalls-12-Million-High-Chairs

I *HEART* Coupons!

I received a 10% off completion coupon from Target today for the baby registry. First off, the fact that this has arrived means that we are THAT close to having our little one join us. Secondly, I love to save money. I bought a little octopus Baby Einstein toy that I just know little Maddox will love :-) I also picked up ANOTHER diaper bag. One will be for baby, the other for my breast pump items.

I think I will add things to the Babies R US registry to use when they send their coupon. Is that wrong??For some reason, I have 15% off in my head for their coupon. I tend to make things up for the way I like or want them to be.

Like today, Crazy Auntie pointed out that Maddox could be a 10 pound baby. I said, "OH Dr H would never let me go past 8 pounds!" CA: "Why not, ours was 10 pounds!" (Mind you, Dr H delivered Crazy Auntie's baby as well.) It was then that we realized, my 8 pound mark was my own assumption, and not actually a FACT that I knew about Dr H.

Mumsy's first child was a 10 pounder. When she had me, I was 7 pounds. When she and my father saw me, they thought sometime was wrong with me, since they were comparing me to my brother!

Back to rest. I love Monday nights...good TV time :-)

IS THIS OK?

Is it ok for me to just have a post that says I am feeling grumpy and a little miserable today. I am having contractions again, I am tired, and my feet are sore and a little swollen. I feel a little bad complaining about my swollen feet because I know many pregnant women suffer from it worse than mine are right now.

Overall, I feel bad complaining at all because I feel so lucky and blessed to even have Maddox in my belly. My grumpiness more comes from the worry that I have now of him coming early. You're suppossed to take situations like this day-to-day from what I hear, but I can't help but setting a goal of wanting him to AT LEAST get to 36 weeks. Thursday marks the start of Week 34.

On a brighter note, Hubs turns 30 tomorrow! I am so lucky to have him in my life and he is going to make such an awesome dad. I have a secret mission in the works for Crazy Auntie to get a cake for me for him. I handmade a card, since I hadn't gotten one before the bed rest prescription. I think he will love it. He already got his present, so I was ahead of the game on that one.

Well, honestly, writing a little bit took my overall grumpiness away. Time to get back on my side and just watch some TV.

And it is true...

You can pass out while laying on your back while pregnant! A friend from high school posted a Facebook comment a couple months ago about how she had passed out during her ultrasound, seeing her beautiful twins. I had never heard of it, but now understand.

Yesterday, I was seen in the office for another non-stress test. I was hooked up to the monitors, laying on my back. Everything was going great. I was enjoying listening to Maddox's heartbeat, but suddenly felt "funny".

The room starting spinning and I broke out in a cold sweat. I felt sick to my stomach as well. I tried yelling for help, but apparently no one heard me. I am honestly not sure if I did in fact pass out, but it seems likely. I was in the room for at least 40+ minutes, yet it does not seem to me like I was aware at the time of just how long it had been. Rumor has it that Nurse Ratchet forgot about me.

When Nurse R came into the room, I told her what had happened. She explained that when pregnant, laying on your back can cause dizziness and faintness, resulting in passing out.

Still seems crazy to me. I felt a little off for the remainder of the day yesterday. Slipping in and out of sleep at no will of my own. Hubby pushed me full of liquids when he got home from work, which seemed to help me come back.

Upside to the appointment, my blood pressure was down to 128/78, which is still crazy to me. My blood pressure is ALWAYS 120/70, but still 128/78 is perfectly safe and normal. Looks like the prescription of bed rest worked for that. I am still having contractions though.

I've been hit with bed rest

I honestly had started to believe that my pregnancy was going to be smooth sailing. Mumsy kept joking with me about how I kept talking like the pregnancy was nearly over; however at that point still having 10 weeks to go.

Well here I am, 33 weeks pregnant and sentenced to bed rest. When I went into the office for an "emergency visit" for a rash I had developed on my hands/feet/legs/arms, I left with absolutely no diagnosis for the rash, but determination that I now had high blood pressure and was experiencing contractions. My blood pressure was 150/100 as of that day and my feet and hands were/are nicely swollen. Dr H said to me, "So you are having some swelling.", I said "No, not really right now." He then said that I was and pushed in on my cankle for me to see. Opps.

That day, I was honestly in shock. Complete bed rest... that was never something I envisioned for the pregnancy. I will do whatever is necessary to keep Maddox and myself healthy, but it is a huge adjustment on so many levels. I take care of a majority of things within our household, because I like to. It is a big change for me to not do laundry, wash dishes, make my hubby dinner, even just get the mail! Hubs is amazing though. He has certainly stepped up to the plate, even taking the opportunity to rearrange a few things to ways he likes them! He brings me a cooler in the morning filled with food and drinks to keep me supplied for the day while he is at work. He calls during the day to check in on me too, which I think is sweet. I have stopped calling him because I don't want him to think that something is wrong every time he sees my name come up on the phone.

I spoke with Dr H as well about still working on bed rest. He supports that, as long as I "listen to my body" and remain free of stress. When you factor in the high blood pressure, the elevated heart rate, and the "real" contractions, I run the risk of Maddox not going full term. I need to keep him cooking in my belly for as long as possible!!

A wonderful friend of mine did point out to me that she was born 7 weeks early and she turned out ok :-) I truly needed to hear that! Sometimes people say the right things at just the right times.

So at this point, I am at an overwhelmed stage of preparing for 7 weeks of bed rest. I worry foremost about the baby. Trying to work out working from home on bed rest has been less than thrilling, but we are working through it all and I am sure after a week of it, it will flow easily. I feel badly for Hubs working all day, then coming home and making dinner, doing dishes, and getting food ready for the next day. He seems happy though- I secretly think it makes him happy to take care of me and little Maddox. I am not necessarily bored yet, but anticipate that in a matter of weeks that could set in.

I have also determined, that for me at least, bed rest has not been restful. I was put on bed rest on Tuesday. Wednesday, I had to go for an ultrasound and Friday I had a doctors appointment. Then of course with my swirling mind of thoughts...I am going to refocus my energy this weekend though and hopefully start the next week in a better state of mind.

To top everything off my friends...I still have an itchy undiagnosed rash. I will be seeing the dermatologist though, so stay tuned.

Falling behind again

As you can see, I am in dire need of updating the blog. I still want to do my secondary post on my life as a green eyed monster and of course lots of baby stuff, including my apparent inability to understand sizes of clothes.

This is Valentines Day weekend. I am making Hubs a yummy Valentines Day dinner: steak, baked potatoes, and asparagus. Also, making some cupcakes for him- he loves cupcakes.

I would also like to point out that it is snowing for the third weekend in a row! I called my uncle this morning to whine about the snow and he also pointed out that not only has it been snowing, but it has also been SO cold!! So true!!

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day! We truly are not big Valentine's Day celebrators, but it is nice to have a day dedicated to love. Also, Happy Anniversary to Pooh Bear and her Love Bear :-)

My thoughts of the week

I have had a lot on my mind this week. When that happens, I tend to find even more things to think about, which then leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am just like my grandmother as many would say. I will share a few of my thoughts with you today.

1. Will I be a good mother? This was a tough one for me for a few days this week. I guess I can say it was probably tough for the Hubs too, since he had to reassure me repeatedly. I truly felt overcome with a hopeless and I guess I will say worthless feeling. It was porbbaly just a hormonal issue, but at any rate I really began to question if I was even capable of taking care of baby. What if I cannot soothe him? What if I just don't know what to do? As I have said before, "What if" is not a way to live your life. The truth is I believe that I will be a great mother. I have had wonderful role models in my life and as I have said before as well, I believe being a mother is what I am meant to do in life. Thankfully, I appear to have moved on at this point from that fear.

2. Having additional children: We had difficulty getting pregnant with our precious little miracle. It was an extremely emotional, long, and expensive process. We remain undecided on whether we will ever put ourselves through it again. I am convinced that the fertility medicines "messed with" with my brain a bit. (Or could just be age or baby brain too) I had many questions running through my head, so at my prenatal appointment this week, I spoke with the office about them. Like, CAN we get pregnant on our own? They believe that we can and there is no reason that we would not want to try that way to begin with. Also, we know the gluten trick now too :-) They believe that I should use birth control after the baby is born, which we had decided we would never use birth control again. I guess we need to reconsider this. There are health risks to getting pregnant within the first 18 months after giving birth apparently. DO NOT get me wrong: we would not be TRYING to get pregnant, but it just seemed as though after all the heartache we had gone through getting pregnant, that it would be odd to prevent a pregnancy from happening.

3. New thought that just entered my head: Hubs would hate that I discuss things on this blog. Perhaps I should keep that in mind sometimes.

4. My green eyed monster mentality: I am ALWAYS looking at other people's lives...how come they have this, how come they can do this, what are we doing wrong. Even though I have all I need in life: a loving husband who is my best friend, a beautiful baby on the way, and amazing family, and friends that mean the world to us, I still end up envious of others. A wise woman in my life has been experiencing the same emotions and gained some great perspective this week. She was gracious enough to share it with me as well. I hope that I have overcome and will continue to work on my green eyed monster syndrome. Tune in for my next post for more on my life as a green eyed monster.

5. TAXES---I hate doing them, but they have to get done. That is on my agenda for this weekend.

6. My heart: I am still anxious about what may or may not be wrong with my heart. I do believe though at this point, that my racing heartbeat is heavily connected to stress AND my constant battle with dehydration. Since my prenatal this week, I have been working hard to push fluids and I have noticed a difference in the pounding feeling in my chest. I am still very much so out of breath all day long, but it does not feel like a band is playing on top of my chest!

That's a summary of a majority of my thoughts for the week. All I can say is how lucky I am to have such a great husband who listens to my ramblings and reassures me about everything. We make such an amazing team. If I do say so myself, Maddox is going to be lucky to have us.

Goodnight :-)

The Value of Parenting Class

We attended Parenting class last night at Chesapeake General Hospital. We were really impressed with the material that was covered. Many of the things that were on our mind, which may seem minor, were covered. For example, they went over the care of the umbilical cord and the treatment after the circumcision procedure.

First, a local pediatrician spoke with us covering so many things. He spoke a lot about breastfeeding and really provided me with my first "a-ha moment" in regards to breastfeeding. I do harbor a lot of worry about it, but feel a little more relaxed hearing the more medical side of how your milk comes in, hormones required for it to come in, etc...

Once he was done, the session was passed to one of the nursery room RNs, who herself is 39 weeks pregnant! She was also very interesting to talk to. She covered care for the newborn when you get home, including bathing, swaddling, and diaper changing. One great thing about her too, was that she was close to our ages and had a lot of first hand experience as a mother to offer us.

This Saturday we have our Relaxation and breathing class. I know it is necessary, but I just feel like I am going to feel weird down on the floor in front of a room of people, breathing...

First Childbirth Class

Last week we attended our first childbirth class: Medical Options. The class was taught at the hospital where we will give birth, Chesapeake General Hospital. Very awesome RN, Jessica taught the class. The material is very biased, toward the use of an epidural. With that being said, it did calm my nerves a bit about the epidural.

One thing that I have been worried about was becoming paralyzed. Apparently, these stories have remained since the beginning of the use of epidural. When the product was first developed, it contained preservatives that were making the women paralyzed. It was not in fact the procedure itself. These preservatives have been removed and no one has been paralyzed since. I thought it was very interesting.

There was one annoying couple. The male had comments to say about pretty much everything, usually nothing positive. The female was VERY affectionate with her partner, which at times was very creepy. We hope they will not be in any more of the classes we have signed up for.

This coming Monday we have our first Parenting class. I hope it's informative, especially about the care of the newborn when we come home, like how do we care for his umbilical cord stub and care for his circumcision. Look for an update next week about Parenting class Part 1.

Grocery shopping=FAIL

I used to be so good at grocery shopping: going through all the circulars, clipping coupons, buying only sale items, and shopping in bulk.

I am not quite sure what happened. It does not happen that way anymore. I will use coupons if I have one for the item that we are purchasing, but is no longer the process that it used to be. Let me just say it needs to be!

Today's grocery bill: $177.80!!!! FOR TWO PEOPLE! What on earth is going on? I bought one meat item, turkey meatballs. I did purchase a lot of frozen meals that were on sale because I figure they will be easy to have on the nights that we have childbirth classes.

Honestly though, that is ridiculous. With baby on the way and my part-time hours being cut to part-time of that, changes need to be made. An amendment to my "get organized" resolution for the year, needs to include the return to SMART shopping techniques. For a woman, who loves to 'brag' about her good deals, this is certainly not a post I am proud of.

What are some techniques you use when shopping? Anyone have any good suggestions for online coupons?

Third Trimester!

Can you even believe it!?! I am now in the third trimester. Today marks the start of Week 28. It is amazing how quick the time has gone by and from what I am told, the last trimester will go by the quickest!

We are on target for the most part with our things to do before Maddox arrives, except for finding a pediatrician. I really need to take some time and focus on it. Perhaps next week...

What did people do when they chose their pediatrician? Did you perform interviews, take referrals, or just open the yellow pages and point?

So what causes my elevated heart rate?

Now keep in mind, this is not a medical diagnosis, but stress definitely is a contributing factor. Hubby is currently protecting me from certain family drama that causes my heart to race! But the shortness of breath surely is connected to physical activity, like my walk from the car to the mail box yesterday. Then the shortness of breath causes your heart rate to rise, so again, I am not a doctor, so this clearly is not a diagnosis blog entry.

At any rate, I have an appointment in about 2 weeks with the specialist...apparently that's a "rushed" appointment. I have calmed down a lot since initially having the EKG done, but I am still overcome with worry at times. All the What If's...

What If is no way to live your life.

Putting together the baby's room

Who knew how tiring, yet exciting this would be!

Last weekend, Hubs painted the nursery! No pictures until we have it all done. I took random progession pictures, but we prefer to do a "big" reveal.

I am currently trying to figure out the most effective way to organize the changing table...any thoughts, suggestions are appreciated.

Graco recall

I was shocked to read about the latest recall. A large volume of Graco stroller models have been recalled due to the risk of amputation of a child's finger. This is an instance where it is so important for parents to fill out the registrations cards that come with virtually all baby products.

For more information regarding the recall, please read this: http://tinyurl.com/yev3s7a

Everything that Hubs opens for Maddox, I hound him for the registration card until I have it in hand. It has pretty much become a joke for us now. The best thing to do though is fill it out right away, then stick it in the mail. NO STAMP REQUIRED!! I especially love the ones that come preprinted with model information.

Clearance!!!

Ok, let me tell you! Last week our local Target had a MAJOR clearance markdown session in their baby department. I assume they must be making room for new items. We purchased the Baby Bjorn, regular price $99.00 for....$24.00!!!!!! I could not even believe it! We momentarily lost our minds when we put a second one in the cart...why on earth would we need two...there will only be one baby!!

Some other fab purchases that day, Avent bottle sterilizer, various breast feeding needed items, and some onesies (not that we needed them). I even got a bottle of baby lotion for about .50 after I used a coupon on it too! I love getting good buys and envision that this blog will inform people of my good buys even more once Maddox is born. Since I will not be back to work my usual amount of hours, money will definitely be tighter.

Mumsy in turn hit up their local Target, but things were pretty well picked over by that time, as is our's now.

Last 4 week checkup!!

Hard to believe that I will now be going to the doctor every two weeks! Then ultimately every week. This past Wednesday I had my last 4 week visit. Little Maddox is doing great, thank goodness. Strong heartbeat! I just love hearing his little heart beating.

I've gained 15 pounds now, which is right on target for where I should be. The weight gain since last month is probably because morning sickness has finally left me, going on about two weeks now.

Unfortunately, I am exhibiting some symptoms on the not so great side. Dr H, being the fabulous doctor that he is, picked up on a breathing issue. Once he and I discussed my breathing patterns, he listened to my lungs and determined they were fine, but wanted to do an EKG to be on the safe side, especially since I have recently started to have numbness in my left arm. The EKG revealed that I currently have a rapid heartbeat, in a resting position. I now need to go see a cardiologist.

It could be nothing. Perhaps elevated from stress or the fact that I am dehydrated. He also spoke to me about that (story of my life...I seem to always be dehydrated) and advised I need to be much more diligent about pushing water. I was worried he was going to tell me I had to go for an IV of fluids, but I guess I will have the chance to rectify the situation myself.

I have had my first limitation, other than lifting anything over 20 lbs, put on me since the pregnancy. He wanted to know about my typical day...work, home, etc. He is fine with my day-to-day life at this point, but advised that at this point, event day work seemed a bit much for me to handle. Thankfully, we only have two more events before Maddox's arrival. I was able to find someone to fill in for me this weekend for setup of a Bat Mitzvah.

So at any rate, I will be seeing a cardiologist in the coming week and then of course two weeks for my next prenatal appointment. Glucose screening again at that appointment.

My Baby Shower

On January 10th, our moms hosted a beautiful baby shower for me. We traveled back to Massachusetts for the weekend. COLD weather, but thankfully no snow! The location was the same place that we were married at, The Spencer Country Inn.

We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Our friends and family showered little Maddox with so much love! It was an amazing time and I was so thankful to be able to share a moment like that with so many lovely ladies! Being that we have moved far away, I was certain I would probably not have a baby shower. I was so happy to be able to share this moment in our lives with everyone!

Here are a few pictures that my fab friend Jenny Boom Boom took! (She was the "assigned" photographer for the day...sorry Jen!)

The shower was an wonderful day that I will never forget. We are so thankful for all that we have in our lives, and most importantly our family and friends.

Special delivery

I met a beautiful baby boy a couple weeks ago. Such a blessing.

Getting things ready

We have been having fun lately getting Maddox's things put together. It still amazes us that we are finally at this point! I mean, we are in the third trimester!!! For a while, I doubted our ability to ever get pregnant. That magnificent Hubs of mine never wavered his belief though. He is my rock... "You complete me".


Hubs is really enjoying putting the stuff together. I think I will enjoy more the organization process, which will begin once the room is painted. The weekend after Christmas, Hubs put together the crib. Our first son was very helpful, plopping himself down in the middle of all the action!

So this weekend begins the painting project. Hubs will be taking that one on. Ocean theme...pictures to be posted once complete! Sooooo excited!!!

Moving Maddox

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE feeling Maddox move. On January 9th, Hubs was able to feel him for the first time too, which was so exciting! Now tonight, we were laying down feeling him move and you could see my stomach jumping!! It was crazy, fascinating, and nearly moved me to tears.

I've been missed...

I know! It has been quite a while. Things were just so busy with the holidays, fashion show at work, and heading back to MA for a shower.

I have lots to blog about people, so stay tuned. My shower, the journey of putting together Maddox's stuff, the start of Braxton Hicks contractions, birthing classes...just to a name a few.

This weekend is the fashion show for a local bridal show. We have been hard at work to ensure a successful event! So excited to see it all come together! Laying easy today, until the 4:00PM rehearsal, then tomorrow I will be there all day. Look to hear back from this week. I have another event for work next weekend, which I think will be it for us until little Maddox arrives.

Have a great weekend everyone!