The Bundle of Joy
Warning: Some descriptions may be graphic, or unpleasant. You have been warned!
After finding out that we were expecting, of course we anticipated the “big” day that we would meet our future child. We initially found out we were having a girl in September of 2009, and both myself and Andrew were ecstatic. I think the both of us were really hoping for a girl; although we would have been pleased with a boy as well, a girl just seemed so much more fascinating and exciting for the both of us. We wanted a Princess. I must admit (and brag a bit too) that I had, what I believe, was one of the easiest, most pleasurable pregnancies ever. Not having any other previous pregnancies to compare it to, I was pleased with my ability to work full time, go to school full time, and gestate a baby full time. Sure, I was beyond exhausted and emotional at times – but I took it as a blessing that I was still able to work hard and suffer little-to-no physical side effects associated with pregnancy. Nine months certainly flew by fast, and our initial due date of February 14th, 2010 was fast approaching.
At the end of January and the beginning of February, Andrew had a slew of work projects coming up. Myself, ready to pop at any given second, had reached the point where I was pretty much physically done being pregnant. I’m a petite woman, standing only about 5′4″ – and the stomach made it to where my lower back ached for days, and my pelvis would pop when I would waddle constantly. Of course all women experience some discomfort towards the end of their pregnancies – but to be told repeatedly by Andrew to “wait until next week before [I] go into labor” really put a damper on things. All I knew was that 1.) I was done being pregnant, 2.) I wanted to meet our little girl, and 3.) I wanted our journey as a family to begin.
I made it through his big work projects without going into labor (thankfully!). And now the waiting game had begun. Two of my friends who were due around the same time as me gave birth during the first week of February which just added to my anticipation. Andrew was still working long hours, but I was comforted to have him in town and close to home if anything were to happen. On February 11th, I had finished up some schoolwork for finals and was finally relaxing at home. I had been to the doctors on February 9th, and was informed that I was already 2cm dilated. But it is possible for women to walk around dilated for WEEKS without actually going into active labor. I remember that it was a mild winter day, and having a bit of cabin fever my mom and I decided to go to the next town over and walk around a local hardware store and some other places. It was early afternoon, and I could really tell that the baby had dropped lower. I kept having a few back spasms while walking, and decided that they were contractions, but nothing to be seriously concerned about since they weren’t coming at regular intervals and because they weren’t extremely uncomfortable. Early evening the contractions subsided, and my mom and I had a nice dinner and just relaxed. Andrew was working late that evening, so he had decided he would stay at his mom’s house that night and I would stay here just to get a goodnights rest. I was talking to Andrew at about 12:30am on February 12th on the phone. We were getting ready to say goodnight, and I told him that I had had a tummy ache a majority of the afternoon. He asked if it was time yet, and I honestly told him that I must be a little “backed up” since I was unable to have a bowel movement that day. I then proceeded to tell him that I wanted to try to use the washroom, but I was scared that any straining or pushing would actually cause me to go into labor. He assured me that I was just being silly and that everything would be okay if I were to try and use the washroom. Taking his advice, I told him goodnight and that I would call him the next morning.
So here I am at 1:00am trying to use the washroom and nothing is happening. Frustrated, I decided to lay down and deal with it in the morning. As soon as I laid down, it hit me: a strong, undeniable contraction. I laid there for awhile in the fetal position, just assuming that perhaps she was sitting wrong or that I disturbed her rest by straining/pushing. I clumsily fumbled for my iPod touch to use the “contraction” app just to see if they were coming at regular intervals. I remember just laying there, uncomfortable, in the dark and wishing Andrew had been there. While timing the contractions, I hadn’t realized that I was timing them for over two hours. When I had looked at the clock next, it was already 3:00am. I knew this was the real thing considering two hours flew by without my even noticing! I then decided to review the app information and realized my contractions were running 5-6 minutes apart. By this time I decided it was time to tell somebody, anybody, just to make them aware that I thought I was in actual labor. I woke my mom up at about 3:15am, and explained that I had been having contractions for the past 2.5 hours and that they were coming in regular intervals. I even had a couple of contractions while explaining this to her as well. I guess I was so composed and not making such a big deal about it that my mom sort of shrugged it off as very early or false labor and told me to try and go back to sleep for a little while longer. But that was the entire problem! I hadn’t slept – I hadn’t been able to get comfortable enough to sleep! I came out into our living room, curled up with a heating pad and proceeded to watch 3 hours of Golden Girls on late night television.
By 6am, I noticed that my contractions were now running 3-4 minutes apart and were slowly getting stronger. Although my water had not broken, I realized that this was it. My mom got up for good this time, and I ran around getting dressed and some last minute items together. My mom called Andrew and told him that she thought it was time. I was still in a bit of disbelief that this was it: this was the moment we had waited NINE months for. I still wasn’t sure if it was ACTUAL labor. Andrew came to get me and my things and I was sure to tell my mom not to tell anyone yet – we were just going to go down to the hospital and get checked out. I figured that they would have given me a little something for the pain and sent me home until it got worse.
We drove twenty minutes to the Niagara Falls hospital. By the time we arrived it was roughly 6:45am. We went down to the maternity floor where I met my 2 day nurses. They hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. When I arrived at the hospital, my contractions were starting to become irregular – coming as quickly as 2 minutes apart and then stopping for 10 minutes. It was the strangest thing. I was proud of myself because I thought I had done a majority of my laboring at home. Heck, I had already been through almost 6 hours of labor at home – how much longer could it last? Ohhhhh how naive I was. The nurses checked me and I was only 4cm dilated. Thankfully, because of the irregular contractions and due to their strength I was admitted. It was time!!!!
I got moved into a laboring room, and eventually my mom came. Her, Andrew and myself attempted to walk around the hospital halls to try and speed up the process. By the time I started walking I was so tired and so uncomfortable that I only walked for maybe an hour total. We went back to my room and I got checked again, and after walking/standing, I some how DILATED BACKWARDS (so contracted) back to 2cm. I was so peeved at this point! I had been up since Thursday morning and was beyond tired and so uncomfortable. By this time, I was already requesting an epidural. Luckily, because our hospitals are so short-staffed, they actually push people to receive epidurals when the doctor is available because there are no guarantees that you’ll be able to get it after the fact. At 11:30am I received the epidural and became much more comfortable.
My OB finally showed up and my dilation was back to 3cm. Unpleased with my irregular labor, we decided it would be in my best interest, as well as the baby’s, to break my water in an attempt to speed up the process. They went ahead and did that. A couple of hours later I was checked again, and I was STILL making little-to-no progress. Then they decided to fullforce induce me and hook me up to pitocin. And oh, what fun THAT was……
(to be continued)
Awhile.
I feel so guilty for neglecting my little spot on the internet here for so long. I have not updated since January, and so so much has happened since then! Attempting to begin a blog at the end of a pregnancy did not work too well for me. Eventually all the exciting events after the holidays caught up to me, along with school and just regular daily life that I had little to no energy to even conjure up a post by the end of the day.
From what I vaguely recall, January was a pretty uneventful month. It was a long, long, long winter, and I enjoyed my bit of a holiday break during the beginning half of January. Mid-January my family threw me my baby shower at a little Italian restaurant in town. It was absolutely delightful and we had about sixty women show up for the celebration. The unfortunate thing was that we did not receive a lot of “big ticket” items for the shower. We didn’t even get any diapers or wipes! But luckily we received some cash and gift cards to help cover the difference. I started my school semester at the end of January, and took two classes for the spring semester. I must tell you, walking around campus 8 months pregnant during the Buffalo winter was NOT an exciting experience. Matter of fact, I even had my mother drive me to a few of my classes just so I could avoid the long walks in the snow and ice.
We’ll fast forward a bit….to the summer at least. I decided to retake my Microbiology course over the summer semester (in 6 weeks even!) and passed with flying colors. This pleased me SO much. It was so much work, but it puts me right back on track with my degree, and I will be starting my Nursing clinicals on August 24th!!!
Unfortunately, I found out I had gallstones this summer as well. What a terrible experience that has been considering I have to wait until October 14th to get them out. And to make matters even worse, I don’t think I will be able to take the time off school and clinical rotations to get them out / recover. So realistically, I’m looking at having them out at the end of January since that’s the next surgery booking they’re doing. You have to love government healthcare.
That’s pretty much all that has been going on here. Aside from being a mom!!! I figure before I post anything regarding motherhood and my daughter that I would start working on my labor and delivery post 
! So look for that shortly! Hopefully I will be able to find a little more time to finish this website and actually start posting regularly.
Holiday Recap
So our Holiday season was pretty eventful, which was to be expected. Matter of fact, Andrew and I are just getting back into the swing of things and are slowly recooperating from all the festivities and dinners we had.
We were both very blessed this Christmas, as was our baby. Financially it’s been a tough year for both Andrew and myself as well as our families. Christmas morning was nothing short of extraordinary, and I was more appreciative this year for what we did get and the time we got to spend with each other and our families.
I also feel as though this Christmas was surreal in a way. It was our “last” Christmas to be selfish and for it to just focus on the two of us. This time next year, we’ll have a 10-month old baby to be celebrating the festivities with.
Our New Year’s was pretty uneventful. We ended up hanging out with a couple of our friends at a local church and played some basketball and ate some awesome food. It was weird ringing in the New Year without alcohol, but it’s something I could definately get used to – and in general it really didn’t bother me.
So like I said, with everything winding down, we’re just enjoying the slow-pace that this month has to offer. Next month we’re due to have our baby girl on February 14th, but in all honesty I think I’m going to end up going beforehand. My baby shower is scheduled for January 16th, and the last couple of days I’ve been nesting really hard core. I still don’t have the nursery set up, but I’ve made that my big priority for the week.
Oh, I was also laid off from work effective as of yesterday. Tourism in the Falls has been down all summer, so it came as no surprise since we’ve already had 3 major layoffs. Myself personally, I’ll make do – especially with the fact that I’d be going out on maternity leave shortly anyway. As my mom and Andrew have both been saying….it’s officially my turn to relax and pamper myself. We’ll see how that goes.
That’s all for now! Hope everybody had an awesome Holiday season and a safe and happy new year!
Busy, Busy, Busy!
It’s been a busy and crazy week over here. I think mainly due to the fact that I’m resting up from exams last week, and because I’ve been running around trying to Christmas shop & get my invitations out for my baby shower in January.
All is slowly down soon, and all I have left to really do is buy some last minute stocking-stuffers & tidy up the house & of course – RELAX.
Between Andrew & I, we have about eight different Christmas dinners we attend between the two families. The Christmas kick-off dinner started tonight at his Grandma Sylvia’s, and it was fun to see that entire side of the family (a lot of them we haven’t seen for awhile! – probably since our engagement party in August 2008!) So with that being initiated and started, it definatly feels like the Holiday’s are here!
As of now, I’m fighting a killer sinus headache, so I’m going to cut this post short. Hope you all have a very happy Holiday with your loved ones !
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Submitted by: admin
Made these the other night to satisfy my sweet craving. Pretty easy to make from scratch and not as time consuming as other cookies.
- Details
- Prep Time: 15 minutes.
- Cook Time: 8 minutes.
- Ready in 23 Minutes.
- Makes: 2 Dozen
- Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cup oatmeal
- Add 1 cup raisins OR chocolate chips
- Directions
- Mix ingredients together. Bake at 375F for 8 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.
Friday Five
Figured I would get in the habit of partaking in the Friday Five as well
- When did you last experience emailer’s remorse?
Earlier this month, I had sent an e-mail to my school’s head of Math & Natural Sciences Department. Back in Fall of 2008, I “failed” a class by Nursing standards by receiving a 72% instead of a 73%. The purpose of the e-mail was to fight the grade, as after that semester the school never renewed the Professor’s contract. I was fine with sending the e-mail and standing up for myself. But I was rejected the grade, and told that I wasn’t competent enough to continue my Nursing education at that particular school. I think I was also remorseful because there was finally a name to my situation and I was no longer “anonymous” in fighting the grade.
2. When did you last experience diner’s remorse?
A couple of months ago, I went to dinner with a few co-workers to a local Steak Restaurant. I really, really, really wanted prime rib – but of course they were conveniently sold out. I settled for an over priced filet mignon cut that did not satisfy my craving, and surely was far too expensive.
3. When did you last experience movie-goer’s remorse?
Bruno. Enough said.
4. When did you last experience caring friend’s remorse?
I accidentally hooked one of my close friends up with a guy I hardly knew anything about. They ended up having a short-term marriage, and eventually split a couple of months ago. Lesson learned: Never set your friends up. I have felt terrible ever since – especially because of how he’s been treating her and all of things they have gone through personally.
5. When did you last experience lover’s remorse?
Certainly sometime before Andrew & I had gotten together, LOL. We all have that at least once…
Christmas Shopping !
With finals finally being finished for me as of yesterday, Andrew decided to go into work late today so we could get some running around started (and hopefully finished) today.
We woke up around 10:00am this morning, and decided to get the in-town errands finished with. We ran to the post office and picked up a couple of packages I had been waiting for, and got salt to hopefully de-ice the driveway from the terrible storm we had Wednesday night.
Afterwards, we decided to head to Niagara Falls to start some of our Christmas shopping. I say start because Andrew has not really made a dent in his yet… but that’s ok, he has been really busy at work (in retail). I have already made a dent in my Christmas shopping and I am pretty much just finishing up at this point.
Anyway, we went to Wal*Mart, and I got my mom a couple of things for her as stocking stuffers. We already gave her her “big” gift this year, which was a new wireless phone for the house because our other one was pooched. We also stopped at Hallmark, and I got my mom this really cute grandma book to give to her from me and the baby. Even though the baby is not due until February, she can still Christmas shop !
After we did our shopping, we decided to get a light lunch and eventually headed back home. I just finished wrapping most of the gifts, and I just have to tag them. I work tomorrow, which is always good, and I might do some light baking tonight. My mom, Aunt and I are supposed to do our annual Christmas Drink & Bake tomorrow (no drinking for me!) so that is something to look forward to as well.
I love the holidays, the scents and foods of the holidays, and spending time with family. I am just SO delighted to be on break from classes until January 19th ! Hope everybody else is enjoying this time of year as well
First.
Hi there! And welcome to my little spot on the internet.
First and foremost, I would love to give a big thanks to my hostess, Shellie. Without her kindness and WordPress expertise, this site would not be possible.
Although it has been awhile since I have had my “own space”, I plan on making the most of this. I just plan on using this as a personal blog – no strings attached. I realize my life may not be the most interesting to follow, but I am always looking for new reads for my daily section, and of course, new friends.
I will be a new mommy in a very short time, and I am always looking for people to network/connect with to help me out and vice versa.
SO! Please hang in there while I get everything organized and figure my way around WordPress. Hopefully I will actually have some content up eventually
