First of all, I owe a huge thanks to all of you guys who sent me well wishes over the last 36 hours!

THANK YOU

For everyone who is close to us, I’d like to post our latest adventure, as I can’t call everyone and tell you every detail about it! I’d like to, but then I’d leave things out by accident, ramble on and on, or fall asleep from the drug hangover I’m in right now. With text, I can at least re read it to make sure it makes a tiny bit of sense!

Do know that normally I don’t even tell people when we have any kind of incident with the DR when it’s actually happening, because it turns into everyone talking to everyone else over the phone about my body parts. Of course it’s out of concern and love for me from others, but I want to be the one to tell you about my vagnina. I don’t want it to be what you call others up to talk about. Maybe it’s the hippocratic oath beaten into my head from years in the medical profession, but it just is uncomfortable for me to think that people converse about my insides without me! Does anyone else get touchy about this? I guess my solution is to wait until I know everything is perfectly fine, so there’s less up in the air to talk about without me. This time I just got too nervous to keep it to myself so I told the ones closest to me sooner than I normally do! How ticked would everyone be if we had the baby and didn’t give anyone a heads up? “Oh whoops, he just slid right out, ya’ll!’

Anyways:

Thursday afternoon, I wore new pants.

I noticed my pants were too tight. But they looked fabulous, I am just big. So in turn, they are just tight around my belly/hoo haa region.

I get home from errands which included lots of stooping down to pick up Harper…lifting a couple of cases of water into my car… and heave ho-ing a metric ton of panera bread into my face. I notice that I’ve been spotting (I presume all day just because I didn’t go to the potty the entire time I was out to even check). I just kept saying “those damn pants…they were just too tight!!!!” I called my DR and they basically said “if you want to come in, come in and we will check you out, but if you want to wait, that’s fine too, just see if anything changes”.

Lately, I’d rather not go to the doctor. My kid SCREAMS when we go. She thinks it’s her time to get shots. It makes it nearly impossible for the doctor to even speak to me. They just throw my papers at me and run in fear of their lives…and the other 20 pregnant ladies in the office get the look of fear plastered on their faces. So, I chose the “lets just wait and see” option. I mean, I wasn’t dying.

Friday it was still happening, along with cramps, so I worked up a sweat over it, and decided to ditch the kid and run to the doctors before they closed at noon! Props to everyone who took my child Friday AND today!

Doctor’s visit went this way:

1. Sit in a recliner with monitors hooked to me to watch baby 2.0 and myself.
2. I get a CRAZY hot/nausea/dizzy flash that prompts me to call the front desk seeking 911 help. “Hey…..I’m in the back of the office…….I’m pretty sure I’m fainting and about to throw up….and I’m hooked to machines….and I don’t want to scream for help….so can you come back here???”
3. 5 people come into the 5×5 room I was shut inside of to hand me juices and wet wash cloths, oh yea, and fan me with magazines. It worked.
4. The doctor shows me that the cause of that spell was a contraction. Well, don’t I feel stupid, it didn’t really feel like one.
5. “Your cervix is long and closed, so that’s good, but go get and ultrasound and head to high risk floor to be admitted.”
6. Ultrasound shows baby 2.0 is 5.5 lbs (That puts him measuring at 35.5 weeks, when the due date says he is only 33 weeks). I like this.
7. Remove my car from the illegal concrete barrier I parked it onto (because my car is the size of a nickel and can fit almost ANYWHERE), and zoom over to valet parking, where I know the dudes will take care of my precious nissan cube. Oh yea, and all I have to do is park it at the door and pay when I pick it up. Lazy girl’s dream spot.
8. Get the full work up, IV, injections, asked to sport a nice gown…you know the drill.
9. Here’s where things get confusing for me. Nurse A says “Not a huge deal, your baby looks perfect, we will make the contractions disappear with Procardia and you’ll go home in a few hours, but if anything progresses (which it probably won’t) they’ll first give you magnesium to try to stop it, THEN steroids to develop baby’s lungs for delivery. But don’t worry about that stuff.” Nurse B says “You’re contractions are closer together than we thought so lets give you the Procardia again, and throw a dash of demerol/phenergan in your butt cheek. Tell your husband he just needs to come pick you up later and take you home” Nurse C (which was our favorite by her attitude) is super cool the whole time. Until I call her because I am getting lightening pains in my crotch. This is when she realizes we have a planned C section, something she did not know, and was apparently valuable information to her. She lets us know that she needs to send us to another floor within the hour so they can start my magnesium. Ya know, the stuff they give you when the current drugs aren’t working. Then she throws in, they’ll give you steroids too so your baby’s lungs are developed if the mag doesn’t work. I then announce that I’m freaking out. Just because things are going too fast for me- it made me flash back to our previous C section. Within 4 minutes they decided on a major surgery and had me wheeling down the hall towards the OR with Harper, our first. Nurse D (I know, it’s getting hard to keep up with now)- was the same “oh no big deal, we’ll give you this, and you’ll be all gravy baby”. I didn’t really like nurse D- she wouldn’t get me a big girl cup of water and it irritated me. I wanted the water. She did have the sweet knowledge to tell John to bundle up because she was turning the thermostat down to below zero since mag will make me feel like I am on fire. I also notice a vomit bag next to her, waiting for me. Good thinking. Luckily, no vomit. It really wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Don’t ever google magnesium side effects, and don’t ask anyone about it either. It’s not as bad as I thought. THEN around 7am, a DR comes by to tell me that nothing has changed, but….wait for it….she’s sending me home at 4pm. HUH? Why did you even admit me if you don’t care that this stuff is happening? furthermore, why are you giving me all these drugs UNTIL FOUR if they aren’t doing anything, AND why are you sending me home on drugs that haven’t effected my contractions? I’m a little baffled. BUT she tells me I can eat breakfast if my contractions ease up some. I ticked nurse D off when I told her that I was eating breakfast and let her know I was more than willing to lie about feeling better to get some bacon. She never came back. I ate an extra sandwich for lunch in her honor. Nurse E (last one I promise) lets me know I’m not in “real labor”, which further confuses me, because WHY AM I HERE? WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THESE DRUGS?
10. I go home at 4pm.
11. I’m in bed eating fried food. I’m considering skipping my DR appointment wednesday.

I’ll go on to something more positive- BABY IS NO LONGER BREECH. He’s head down and facing posterior!

I’m now faced with the question of “Do I TRY for a VBAC 14/15 months after a C section”? Here’s my rough plan. I want to schedule the c section at 39 weeks like I’ve discussed with my DR. BUTTTTTT if something crazy happens, like my water breaks and I go into labor before 39 weeks, I’ll consider it a sign that I need to try. Many people will say it’s selfish to schedule a C section when you can try for a VBAC, but this is where I’m coming from: My DR told me she was moderately concerned I wasn’t healed enough, and that it would lead to uterine rupture. Don’t EVER google that. One of the side effects is death to both mom and baby. You guys, I have another baby at home. That’s scary stuff.

I also often think about not being able to pick up Harper for 4 weeks. About missing easter egg hunting fun because 39 weeks puts me at getting a C section the week before Easter. Asking people to help me out more than I would need if I go with a VBAC. Having a hard time getting out of bed when baby 2.0 cries. Having pain trying to feed baby 2.0 because of my incision.

This was much easier when baby 2.0 was running the show with his breech position and making all the decisions for me. Thanks little guy, now it’s all on The Mommy, and what if she screws up?!

Anybody out there want to share their VBAC stories? Especially the ones so soon after a first baby? GO!

XOXO

Bell

PS I have EIGHT band aids on my butt from shots. EIGHT.

I know…you must have noticed I’ve been working out lately.

Okay bunny, very funny, now let The Mommy go home!!!!

This has been the last 15 hours of my life- hooked up to IVs and monitors! Early contractions are no good – but ultrasounds show my boy is 5.5lbs, and that’s super encouraging!!!! In a couple weeks he will weigh what Harper weighed when she was born at 39 weeks (he’ll weigh that at 36 weeks!!!)

Until then ill just lay here attached!
Xoxo
Bell

HAND made by Harper for The Daddy

We got him an old school ipod tied to a snickers bar. He out did us. And that’s okay.

John got me a FABULOUS goody basket!!!

Contents:

1. My favorite lipgloss
2. An OWL iphone case- so cute!
3. The chocolates that I keep stocked in my bedside table.
4. Cream soda (he left this on my apartment door step for our first valentine’s day ever.)
5. Gummy worms.
6. Pretzels with jalapeno dip that I’ve been eating every night lately.
7. TWO boxes of oragel. (teething issues in the house!)
8. A box of ear plugs. (see above)
9. AND A SET OF MATCHING SCARVES FOR HARPER AND I! (From this etsy shop)

Before bed, we had to finish making some heart shaped cookies. Well, some of them were heart shaped…some of them resembled organs. I didn’t photograph those.

This is her Boogie Stance. We have a dance party every night filled with this.

\

We also made a nifty little painting with these feet:

See:

What did everyone else do for Valentine’s Day? Or hey, what do you plan to do next year?! Not everyone is crazy like me and does a bunch of stuff for a random holiday like this!

While you’re here, please VOTE for us on Top Baby Blogs! It’s bringing me a ton of new visitors, which I LOVE!!! New followers, YAY! New commenters, which I also LOVE. Keep it coming!

XOXO

Bell

What does carpal tunnel feel like? Is pregnancy carpal tunnel really a thing? I either have it, or I’ve sprain both of my wrists from lifting my metric ton a$$ up. They really feel sprained. They may just not be used to all this jelly.

NEXT, my belly button hurts. Has anyone attempted to relieve belly button pain? Do people do that? I thought about duct taping a marble inside of it. No really, I thought about that. It needs a support system so it doesn’t collapse on itself anymore. Are there belly button stints on the market? A button brace? No?

Look at it, it’s gross. And yea, those are marks from laying down, because it’s all I do.

(Don’t watch this if you’re related to me- spare yourself, it’s not for you)

Favorite part:

“Did I forget to mention yo triple D t*ts”?

I died.

I’ve always really liked Valentine’s day- but now we are on the next level since I have the cutest baby ever that makes a perfect valentine’s day model and will soon make pretty pink crafts with me!  I’ve been trying to find more things for her to do with me, but most stuff isn’t really for true babies, it’s more for 2+ age kids!  Still, though, I can plan our next 10 Valentine’s days right?

This year:

Kissing booth with FRIENZZZZZ!!!

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be brave enough to dip into some paints I have stashed away for this:

http://theturquoisepiano.blogspot.com/2013/01/kid-valentine-decor.html

Next year:

http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2012/02/simple-dotty-valentines-cookies/  (Okay hear me out on this one- I think I can find already made dots…I think I can make this work for us)

http://skiptomylou.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/lollipop-lily-007-1a.jpg

And the NEXT year:

http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2013/01/diy-valentines-advent-calendar.html (OMG I LOVE ADVENT STUFF!!!!)

http://media-cache-ec5.pinterest.com/originals/67/c0/93/67c0932d0b9c75e0766bb49c26ca8fb3.jpg

http://gigglesgalore.net/valentines-boxes/

http://www.confessionsofanover-workedmom.com/2013/01/simple-home-decorating-ideas.html (with glue not sewing)

If you guys found something amaze-balls for Valentine’s day, please send it to me!!!  Or even St. Patrick’s day, heck- I’m excited about that too.

XOXO

Bell

If you have time please VOTE for us on top baby blogs today!  Just click the owl on the left to submit your vote!

but she will be mean to you if you’re her mother.

But let’s not forget, she’s cute.

My baby has had an A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E with me the last few days. I don’t know where it came from, but I’m hoping it leaves soon. She knows she’s being mean too, if a stranger sees her acting that way, she totally stops. Like she thinks “oh no, they caught me acting that way!” I’m chalking it up to teeth. I need something to explain my lack of night time, and day time sleep. I keep telling myself she’s teething. I’m not sure if I believe it because it’s been a couple of weeks and there are no new teeth. Am I just looking for something to blame?

We have been almost skipping our daytime nap 4-5 days a week now. I say we, because I like to nap too. I also think the baby inside me likes to nap with me, so I get the right of saying “we”. WE are all tired. None of us are sleeping. Then we are tired. Then we don’t sleep. You get it…….

When Harper was a 6-12 month old baby, I had a mental rule of only letting her cry for 10 minutes or so MAX when I put her down to sleep and she didn’t want to go. She would hardly EVER last that full 10 minutes. When she was a NEWBORN (like 1-5 months), she would only last 5 minutes of crying, then we would watch her give up and go into sleep mode right on our baby monitor! It was like she thought “this screaming thing sucks, I think I’ll go to the other side now”.

We are passing our 14 month marker, and SHE WILL STAY AWAKE FOR 2.5 HOURS DURING NAP TIME. She will sleep 30 minutes.

IT IS DRIVING ME INSANE.

I’ll address some questions to set up our scenario a little better:

1. Is she REALLY tired, or are you just putting her down? She’s SO tired. I wait until all the signs are present. She rubs her eyes, they have dark circles underneath them and are puffy, she melts down easily, she’s been awake 4 hours. STRANGERS see her around this time and will comment on my sleepy baby!

See: tired baby!

2. Is she wet? I change her before every nap. Then I come back if she fusses for a long time just to make sure she hasn’t pooped after I put her down.

3. Is she hungry? I always put her down with a bottle at nap time. Sometimes she drinks it, sometimes she gets mad when I try to hand it to her and tosses it aside.

4. Does she have a lovie? She has “Fake Tom” her raccoon. Sometimes she will throw him (and everything else) outside of the crib, then cry for them to come back. Doesn’t work like that sister!

5. Does she have a pacifier?Pacifier is always given. Recently, it’s always thrown out of the crib, pitching of the fit ensues.

6. Do you rock her to sleep? She gets SO MAD when I try to rock her or hold her when she’s upset. She wants none of it. She FIGHTS me to get away because when I pick her up from sleepy time, it means it’s play time.

7. Can’t you just take her to bed with you? I can’t if it’s daylight. OR if I want to have any sort of electronic or light on. Hence this doesn’t work at all for daytime naps. Only night time, and if she’s not feeling good. She just tries to get off the bed and play, and when I stop her, oh it’s on.

8. Do you have a routine? I have a rough routine. It’s not like we read a book and sing a certain song before bedtime though, it’s more like I start to watch for signs of a sleepy baby, then take her to her room and give her a bottle and tell her it’s time for a nap.

9. You mean you let her cry for HOURS? She doesn’t cry the whole time. The first hour will consist of her babbling to herself, throwing items out of the crib, or banging the things she kept against her rails. The next 30 minutes will be crying. She’s mad. She’s mad she threw all of her toys away. I only go back one time to hand her the things she threw away, out of desperation. She will usually fall asleep at this point for 30 -ish minutes. Then she’s back up talking to herself, kicking the rails, and throwing things out of the crib. I was told by a doctor to keep her down for the entire “quiet period” that I expected her to nap. She went from 3 hour naps to almost diddly squat.

I need help from internet land. I need you guys to write her a letter or something asking her to nap. 🙂 At least tell ME how to make her nap because I refuse to accept that she’s just done with naps at 14 months. Not an option. She will nap until she’s 4 because that’s when all the sleep books say she can officially throw away her nap time if she pleases. NOT A MOMENT SOONER, PEOPLE.

She’s so cute, now I need her to stop being mean to me.

I’d like to now reflect on the last day I remember her falling to sleep for her daytime nap without issue:

That was nice.

Thanks in advance for helping out a desperate fellow mother. Oh and while you’re helping me out, go ahead and VOTE for the blog on Top Baby Blogs today! 🙂 We are in the top 20 – YAHOO! This means more visitors, and I do love visitors, and comments, and emails!

XOXO

Bell

Unrelated news: I got her a baby doll today at the store and it’s pretty cute. Until she throws him into the floor. Small steps.

Here’s what the bump looks like:

The difference in my 32.5 weeks now compared to my 32.5 weeks along with Harper is crazy to me! She is the top picture, and our new boy is the bottom picture…he’s so SQUARE!!!! Stretch out little guy, there IS room above the belly button for you.

32.5 week stats

Size of the baby: Thebump.com says he is about 4.5 lbs (the weight of a pineapple). He has passed 17 inches in length. I wish I knew EXACTLY how big OUR BOY is- but maybe we will get an ultrasound at our next appointment! Maybe!???

Weight gain: Almost too large to pass through standard doorways.

Gender: In case you missed our gender reveal video:

Movement: ALWAYS. We can feel hiccups now too!

What I miss: Being able to do simple tasks without huffing and puffing! If I get ANY bit flustered, I start sweating profusely…like if I’m at a store and I can’t find what I need while toting a fussy baby around, I can feel the sweat pour down my back. It’s crazy!!! Then I get even more stressed out because what if people see it!? AHHH!!!

Cravings: Steak subs from Jersey Mikes still.

Symptoms: Other than the uncomfortable-ness, I still feel like something is just NOT RIGHT half of the time. I can’t explain why I feel that way, I just feel off.

Best moment this week: Taking our faux taxidermy heads out of the boxes. 🙂 You’ll see them later on.

Worst moment this week: Calling local salons to be told that after I pay 100 plus bucks for a hair color, that I would be charged FORY FIVE EXTRA DOLLARS JUST TO BLOW IT DRY AFTERWARDS!!! This is nuts to me. Is this a thing? I’ve never been told that if I didn’t pay extra, I would leave the salon with wet hair! I mean they’re already getting 100 bucks or more from me, shouldn’t a 10 minute blow dry be included in that?! GEEZ. This is why I’ve dyed my own hair most of my life I guess!

Since I ended the stats with something bad, here is Harper playing peek a boo with herself in my iphone camera!

While you’re here, please go to Top baby blogs and VOTE for us!  Just click the owl on the left to confirm your vote!

XOXO

Bell

I found a great article on breastfeeding via my friend Theek over at the Laotian Commotion! (Thanks, Theek!!)

Almost every aspect of the article rang true with my own breastfeeding experiences! Here is the link to the article: HERE .

I’ll touch on some of it’s topics that are my favorites!

“Your mother (or step-mother, or mother-in-law, or mentor), didn’t breastfeed, so she can’t show you how, share her experience, or tell you what to expect. Not so with burping and diapers. At worst, our mothers may be uncomfortable with breastfeeding, have unresolved feelings of guilt or anger, be prey to myths and misinformation, and intentionally or unintentionally undermine us. While we understand that the previous generation didn’t know better, like seatbelts and sunscreen, it is a tough issue to deal with when we are at our most vulnerable as new mothers. At best, our mothers want to support us, but don’t know how. – Cultural Booby Trap!”

All of the women family in my life told me they did not have success with breastfeeding. It was discouraging to hear that so many of my own kind couldn’t do it. Right on spot with having the other knowledge of changing diapers and such! My sister in law taught us how to be pros!

“The clock is ticking and your husband or partner hates to see you suffer and struggle, so he tells you ”it’s okay to give the baby formula, I wasn’t breastfed and I turned out fine,” instead of helping you get expert help to fix the problem. He means well, but he doesn’t know any better either. You go online and don’t realize you are swimming in a sea of misinformation–even from well-respected, popular parenting sites. You go to a breastfeeding website, and it is either totally unappealing, or the language is so technically scientific, it’s over your head.- Cultural Booby Trap!”

John wanted me to lose all the guilt I was feeling with breast feeding for sure! I knew he meant well, but it just confirmed to me that I wasn’t doing good enough and that killed me. I had to have a talk with him about the F word. Formula haha! I told him that I would decide when. ONLY ME. And I’d let him know when I could no longer help Harper with just my supply. That’s exactly how we did it.

“Miraculously, you get help, stick it out, go to great lengths to leave the room every time you nurse the baby, yet yourmother-in-law and friends are uncomfortable with breastfeeding, so they ask you “when are you going to give that baby a bottle,” or make comments to your husband that perpetuate myths and misinformation. – Cultural Booby Trap!”

I encountered SEVERAL folks that were uncomfortable handling my stored milk, and they all let me know. It made me feel shameful that I’d brought it over. I shouldn’t have to be ashamed of the awesome nutrients I pack for my baby, and breast milk is NOT gross! I was sort of prepared for this when hearing a coworker make a ride comment to another coworker when she put her breast milk in the fridge. Comments I got more than once by more than one person was “maybe your milk is bad” or “maybe she doesn’t like your milk” or “your milk must give her gas”…there were several others along that line, and they all made me feel like garbage. I also was taken aback by my friends and family making fun of mothers who chose to breast feed after the first year. 😦

THIS TIME I WILL BE PREPARED!!!!!! I will have a talk with John about the F word so he doesn’t put himself in a situation where he could be smacked. I will address any comments that offend me, make me feel guilty, or make me feel like less of a mom. After all, people don’t know they’ve offended you, unless you let them know, and usually it wasn’t their intention so they will apologize and try not to repeat the same mistake!

Hope you guys liked the article!

XOXO

BEll

As I head into the 33nd week of pregnancy (almost), I feel like I’m so unprepared even though I’ve done this before! If I KNEW when the baby was coming, it would be so much easier to have everything ready that week, but the fact is I don’t know when he will come! It could be in 2 weeks and it could be in 6 weeks!

It’s time to start my pre-appointment preparing. I did this after we went into early labor with Harper, because I was stuck at the hospital (although John got me my things very quickly) with nothing! No phone charger, no bra, and NO BLANKIE. I need my blankie. It smells like home and it makes me comfortable. My parents probably didn’t think I would have it 25 years. I’m sure they thought it would be lost or in bits and pieces by now. Somehow it still sleeps with me every night. I wonder if Fake Tom will last as long as my blankie…

Anyways here’s the day before ritual:

Pack the “NEED to have” bag:

• Phone Charger
• Laptop and charger
• Blankie
• Maternity bra
• Soft leggings (2 pair)
• Soft shirts (2)
• Shampoo & Conditioner
• Deoderant
• Razor
• Lotion
• Body spray
• Makeup

Make sure my toes and nails aren’t totally destroyed.

Shave my legs.

Light personal grooming so I don’t scare anyone.

The day OF I’ll need to:

Eat on the way to the appointment, because I’m selfish and don’t want to go without food even if I am in early labor. They have a record of starving me.

Avoid wearing boots. Because I don’t like to get in a fight with my shoes when the DR tells me “okay everything off from the waist down”

Charge my phone 100% on the way.

Tomorrow is our next appointment, so I have to go prepare myself!

XOXO

Bell

Harper’s reaction to my level of crazy:

We are totally honored to be on Apartment Therapy’s 2013 list of Best home and family blogs!  If you think I’m sort of cool, head over there and vote for me!  🙂  EXCITING STUFF PEOPLE!  Here’s the link, you’ll have to sign in, then vote for The Homies 2013 Best home and family section.  

Thanks for everyone’s support!

XOXO

Bell