New Moms Don't Have Time to Blog

So, since becoming a mom, I've neglected my blog.  I really wanted to record memories here to be able to look back at them & share them with Liam later in life because I know I won't remember everything.  I have failed.  I have a legitimate excuse, though, because being a new mom is time consuming.
Let's backtrack a little...
Liam was born on October 30, 2012.  Although I was trying for a Halloween baby, Liam had other plans.  I went to have a sonogram on October 29 because he was breach & we wanted to make sure he hadn't flipped.  The sonogram indicated that my amniotic fluid levels were incredibly low, so they admitted me to the hospital that afternoon.  After being hooked up to monitors all night & morning, my 8 lb 2 oz, 20 inches  bundle of joy was brought into the world via c-section at 12:04 pm.  If you're a mom, you will understand when I say it was hands down the best moment of my life.  Nothing can or ever will compare to it.  Even though I didn't exactly want a c-section, it doesn't really matter in the end how he got here.  The first thing they looked at was his right foot, because we were told it was clubbed, and in fact had pictures from sonograms done showing that it was.  God must have performed a miracle, because his foot is perfectly fine. It does have a scar-like line across it where it was turned in.  So to our friends who were praying about this situation, I can't thank you enough.  I'm so happy my baby doesn't have to go through years of living in casts and boots.
Now I'll give you a short synopsis of what our lives have been like since October 30... Liam became very fussy during feedings & would scream and fuss all evening, so he was diagnosed with reflux & colic.  He's out grown that (thank God).  He's not much of a sleeper, which can be very frustrating at times.  He was doing really well at night, sleeping from about 8:00-4:00, eating, and then going back to sleep but lately he's been up every 1-2 hours.  It sucks, but hoping we get through it soon.  Today he laid down for a nap in his crib & put himself to sleep for the very first time.  So proud of him...let's hope he continues to do this.  Liam is working really hard on cutting some teeth.  They seem to really bother him some days & not so much others.  This has been going on for 2 months now, so I hope any day now they just pop out.  He's also trying to sit up (getting really close) & he loves to roll over to his side but has only rolled over 360 degrees once.  Let me brag for a moment and say that he has rolled from his tummy to his back since he was a week old, however.
I went back to work in January, so in the mornings Liam goes to a home daycare in Sherman, just a few blocks from where I teach preschool, and in the afternoons he gets to come to work with me & be in the nursery.  He refused the bottle the day I dropped him off, but has since then started taking a sippy cup.  On Wednesdays we go to a breastfeeding/mommy support group at St. John's hospital.  I originally started going when Liam was just a few weeks old to get some help with breastfeeding.  There are lactation consultants there to help, & they also weigh your baby before and after you feed them so you can see how much they're eating.  It's been really nice to go & to meet other moms with young babies, and it also kept me going with breastfeeding when it was really tough.  ]
I'm off work this week & it is my goal to get Liam sleeping in his crib (don't judge me... he still sleeps in his rock & play in our room), and I'd also like to get him napping better.... pray for me :)
Being a mom has been amazing so far.  I love every minute of it, even the minutes he's screaming and won't take a nap.  It's so cool to watch him grow day to day & see how he changes... I feel like he's doing something new every week.

In the Home Stretch...

Well, I can't believe it, but we have just a little over a month left until we finally get to meet this baby.  I had an appointment with our regular doctor & the specialist on Monday.  All is well, except that he is still breech.  Stubborn baby.  The good news his foot looks great, the specialist is still confident it will only need braced & his growth looks a lot better.  He's at 4 lbs 15 oz, so we should have a healthy sized baby by when all is said and done.  If you have any tips on how to turn a breech baby, let me know... I will be doing a lot of "elephant walking".  Maybe this could be an activity with the preschoolers.  I will not be having the doctor turn him.  Ouch is all I can say.  We were told that the baby is positioned the way he is for a reason, and that more than likely if they try & turn him, he will move back to the breech position.  I go back in October 8, & if he's still breech at that point, we will be discussing scheduling a c-section.  It would be pretty awesome if they scheduled it on Halloween.  Can you say, "trick or treat"? I know some of you think I'm nuts, but what a fun birthday.  That is, if he likes Halloween as much as Chadd and I do.  Also decided that for his 5th birthday, we will be taking him to Disney World for their Halloween events.  We shall start saving now.  Also, I've never been, so it's kind of like fulfilling one of my dreams.  I guess this is the point where I start living through my child.
Anywho, the kitchen is practically done.  It's usable.  I can, and have, been cooking in it & it is awesome.  It's so nice to have counter space to prep on, to be able to fit our appliances on the counter tops, to have extra space for storage (that's right, I have cabinets that don't have anything in them right now!).  Oh and not to mention flooring that I don't feel like I have to have shoes on when I walk on it because it's so gross.  Thanks so much to KSID--the designers who helped us out.  I love everything about it.  The baby's room is also practically done.  It's painted, thanks to Chadd's dad.  That was a huge help.  The new window is installed & looks awesome.  The crib & dresser are up (pics soon) thanks to Chadd.  I feel like we are inching closer to being ready for this baby.  Still not ready yet, though.  Give me 2 more weeks to get the house in order, & then I will probably be more than ready.  The closer it gets, the more overwhelmed I'm feeling.
Our neighbors had their sweet baby this week (possibly our son's future girlfriend).  I feel like we've gone through our whole pregnancies together & now they have their little one...makes me feel like we are so close to meeting ours.  As anxious as I am to finally hold him, I'm still not ready mentally or emotionally.  Physically..I'm getting there.  My newest ailment is that my hands go numb all the time, especially when I'm in bed, & my arms throb.  Sounds dumb, but sleeping (or not sleeping, in my case) has been very painful this week.  The doc says this is pregnancy induced carpal tunnel... which doesn't sound too bad, but now I know why people have surgery to fix it.  My hands are stiff all day, and I can hardly maneuver them.  I finally caved & took some Tylenol last night which helped until about 1 am.
Things left to do: purchase the swing, mattress, baby book & pack n play, put said baby items together, pack diaper bag for hospital, finish getting the house in order, and teach Chadd how to change a diaper.  I did wash all of his clothes newborn-3/6 months, install the carseat (still need to have it checked, I'll add that to the list), & get the stroller put together.
To those of you who read this,  prayers will greatly be appreciated in this next month, as life as we have known it will change when we bring this little man into the world.  I can't tell you how blessed we are to have wonderful family & friends who take care of us, because this journey has been so much fun but scary at the same time.  We wouldn't be where we are without any of you.  I guess I'm just trying to say that nothing anyone has done for us has gone unnoticed.  Not just baby stuff people have given us, but especially the support & advice we have received and will continue to receive.  There's really no manual for any of this.

Showered

Yesterday was my baby shower, and it was awesome!  My bestie, Jenni; sister, Darci;, & sister-in-law, Mallory did an awesome job.  Thank you so much!  It was "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" theme.  Mallory made & sent out cute invites, Darci had cupcakes & a cake made in the shape of the caterpillar (pics to follow) & Jenni made these awesome lanterns using circles cut out from the pages of the book that we can hang in the baby's room.  Everything looked great.  A lot of good friends & family came and we ended up with so much great stuff for the baby--clothes, blankets, bath stuff, diapers, baby monitor, bouncy seat, rock and play sleeper, tummy time boppy, cover for his changing pad, supplies for making baby food, decor for his room, etc... I feel so blessed!  Thank you so much to everyone who made it, I had a lot of fun!  Ooh almost forgot about the "candy bar" with candy I've been craving, and there were no cheesy baby shower games :) Just some fun ones--like trying not to say "baby" the entire time.  I may have been the first one out on that one.  Anyway, I feel a bit more prepared for the baby now.  Still not ready for his debut, though.

The decorations Jenni made are hanging, (I'll have to take a better picture), & the caterpillar cake is on the left (I will  also have to get a better picture of this, sorry!)

 Meanwhile, our kitchen is getting closer & closer to being finished!  All that's left are the final touches--trim, counter top  back splash, & the bench.  In fact, I was even able to start putting some things away this morning.  It's really hard trying to figure out where to put everything, though.  So I decided to procrastinate.  That's why I'm blogging.  So far I have the pantry set up, but I had a bit of a conundrum... spices & canned goods--pantry or lazy susan?  I think I decided to put spices/baking stuff on the lazy susan & canned goods in the pantry.  I just don't know about everything else, though.  Very tough decisions.

AND most important... the baby's room is also getting close to being done.  Kind of.  Chadd's dad, Todd, has been coming over & painting for us, & it is looking awesome.  After we bought our second gallon of green paint, I think we finally got the right color.  Green is hard to pick out.  We also painted the trim white, and I do believe that was a wise decision on my part (Chadd was opposed at first).  The trim looks really nice.  In a week we are having new windows put in his room as well.  The closet is semi-organized.  I've organized & hung all of his clothes, and even already put away everything from the shower.  We are still waiting on his dresser to arrive to be able to but clothes away in it (that's a whole other fiasco-- we were shipped the wrong crib & dresser, so we had to ship them back, then we were only shipped the correct crib, but no dresser.  Now they are supposedly shipping the right dresser.  We'll see).  For the most part, it's coming together.

It looks really bright here, but it's a really nice green.  Still needs another coat of paint.  And doesn't the trim look nice?

I suppose you'd like to know how the baby is doing?  I had a check-up this week & everything looks great. And in case you'd like to know, he's moving as I type.  In fact, he moves a lot these days.  Everything I feel is in my upper stomach, close to my ribs.  I'm not going to get excited & think that he's not breech anymore, though, because last time I thought that & it turned out he was still breech and had his feet & hands up by his head, which is why I felt movement by my ribs.  He still has time move, I'm just impatient & really don't want to end up having c-section.  Also, if he could move so he's not pressing on my sciatic nerve, that would be fantastic.  It honestly feels like there's an alien in my body.  Last night I went to dinner with my family & they were all able to see & feel him move, & feel hiccups.  Pretty cool.  I can feel where certain body parts are, too.  Everyone keeps asking me if I'm ready to have him out of my belly, and the answer is no, not quite.  I just don't feel like I'm prepared yet.  Maybe once his room is complete I'll feel ready, I don't know...I guess I'm just having a lot of anxiety about it at this point.
And I almost forgot, I started back with the preschoolers last week.  They are a very fun group, and are really curious about the baby.  Several of them like to touch my belly every day.  They don't understand how exactly the baby got in my belly.  They asked me if I ate it.  I guess that would be the logical explanation, lol.

28 Weeks & Counting...

Let the countdown begin! I'm officially in the third trimester, and I have to say I feel pretty good (probably just jinxed it).  We saw our regular OB-GYN last Thursday.  I was a little concerned because I had been feeling so much movement & strong kicks this past month, but all of the sudden it quieted down.  Of course the day of our appointment when I started to say something to the doctor about it, he started moving like crazy.  This could have been due to the fact that he was hyped up on sugar from the glucose test--which I passed with flying colors.  Ever since then I feel like he has been really active.  Everything checked out okay with the doctor.  He let us know that we will not be able to see the pediatric orthopedic surgeon pre-delivery because there's only one in Springfield right now, so we will have to wait til after he is born.  I'm sure he has a lot more serious things to deal with, and we already know a lot about what will happen once the baby is born, so no big deal.  I start my 2 week appointments now.  Can't believe I only have 12 weeks left!  I'm starting to have slight anxiety because I have all these things I want to get done, and they are not done yet.  We are currently remodeling our kitchen, and as soon as that's done I'll feel a lot better about everything else we need to get done.  Our house is just so torn apart now, it's hard to imagine it being ready for a baby.

We met with the specialist today & had another sonogram.  The baby was moving & kicking the whole time.  Right now he's positioned breech, but the doctor assured me that really they don't need to be head down until around 36 weeks, and because the baby's so active, he'll definitely change positions.  The doctor said that he's a little on the small side, but nothing to be concerned about.  His foot looks good--still mildly clubbed, and he thinks that it's possible he may only need splinted to fix it.  That's great news.  We'll see him again in September so he can check up on the baby's size & foot.  We got some awesome 4-D pictures.  For every sonogram he has been sucking his thumb, so we got one of him sucking his thumb, and then when the doctor went to take another one, we looked and his foot was in his mouth.  I do believe he gets this from Chadd...don't ask.

In other news, my grandpa passed away last week.  My grandma described him as "a kind & gentle soul", which is exactly what he was.  Even though our baby won't be able to meet him, I hope that he gets some of my grandpa's traits.  One of the things I always remember my grandpa saying was "this too shall pass".  It's a good reminder for a lot of things in life, and I need to remember it more often.  We'll miss him, but I know that he was at peace & ready to go home.

Appointment with the Specialist

We had our appointment with the specialist about the baby today.  It went pretty well.  Much better than last week.  We started with a sonogram, and he was definitely awake this time!  It was so awesome to be able to feel him & see him move at the same time.  He was much more cooperative this time, and the tech was able to get great shots of his heart & the rest of his vital organs that couldn't be seen last week.  He's definitely still a boy, and has no problem showing it off.

The tech spent a long time looking at his heart, to the point that I was a little worried, but she let me know that it looked great, he was just covering his face with his hands & it was casting a shadow on his heart so she was having a hard time getting some of the pictures.  We also got to see him in 3D/4D, but she couldn't get a good shot because he was covering his face.  

The specialist we met with was great.  He reassured us that this is no big deal, & a totally fixable problem.  He also said it's not a severe case at all & made us feel a lot better about it.  He did say that clubbed feet can be associated with chromosomal abnormalities, like down syndrome, so the risk for the baby having down syndrome is slightly increased.  He talked to us about doing amniocentesis, but we are opting out because it doesn't change anything for us whether or not we know.  Overall it was a great appointment & put both of our minds at ease.  We will meet with our regular doctor on July 20th, & then with the specialist again on August 13th.  After he gets more pictures of his leg & foot, we will meet with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon so he can look at the pictures & discuss possible treatments.  

Thank you to everyone who was thinking about us and praying for us this week, it means a lot!

Sucking his thumb

Profile shot (from last week, he was sleeping)

If you look close, you can see his features--ear, eye, nose, mouth

Gender reveal blizzard cake from last week 

  

It's a...

Boy!!! Looks like my maternal instincts have already kicked in.  I knew this all along.  It just took seeing his, ahem, not so little, manhood to prove it.  We went in for our 20 week appointment first.  We had to see a different doctor because ours just had surgery.  She was really nice & gave me some tips on sleeping better & for a possible gluten intolerance.  I'm trying to watch the gluten I take in to see if that keeps me from getting sick at night.  It's been a lot better the past few weeks, but regardless, I should watch eating so much gluten because it's not good for you anyway.  After our appointment we had a quick lunch & then went back  for the sonogram.  I was so anxious!  When we got into the room she told us she would do the gender part last.  And in this case, it was after two hours.  She kept saying it was one stubborn baby.  He was asleep, curled up with his butt in the air & facing in, so all we could see was his back side.  He would not move for anything.  She poked & jiggled as much as she could and he just stayed asleep.  Does this mean he'll be a good sleeper out of the womb as well?  I hope so.  After an hour she had me get up and pee & move around a little bit.  When she started again, he flipped for about 10 seconds, so she got a pretty good profile shot, & then he went right back to his original position & started sucking his thumb.  It was amazing to see all this.  Last time we had a sonogram was at 8 weeks, and he definitely didn't look like a baby yet.  I didn't know they were going to do this, but she even got a 3-D shot of the side of his face.  It's just a little creepy, but very cool to see his facial features.  I was worried that because he wouldn't move, we wouldn't be able to see the goods, but she assured me that wouldn't be a problem.  Finally, she zoomed in & said "See that?  You've got yourself a baby boy!"  Chadd was beside himself.  It was pretty funny.  He shouted "I'm a man!"  (I had a dream we had a sonogram last week & they told us it was a boy & Chadd started screaming & dancing around the room shouting that he was a man.  In fact, I had two dreams about the sex being revealed to me last week & both times it was a boy.) She kept trying to get him to uncross his legs after this & he did eventually stretch them out for a short while.  She got a picture of the heart, but not clear enough, so she finally gave up & said we would have to come back for another sonogram.

After a few minutes, a specialist came into the room & explained to us that the tech may have seen a possible  problem with one of his feet, and that she would check it out further.  When she pulled up the image, she showed us that his right foot is "clubbed" (this is an awful term, so I think I will refer to it with its technical term, talipes).  It means that his foot didn't grow the way it was supposed to.  Instead of growing forward, it grew rotated towards the other foot.  I think Chadd and I were both in shock, especially after being so elated from hearing the gender news.  I didn't really know what to say or ask.  I did ask if his foot was formed correctly, and she said that yes, it is, it just grew the wrong way.  There are several different ways to treat it, and we really won't know what way is best until he's born.  We will have to meet with a specialist in a week for a consultation.  I know it could be much worse, and that this is a very fixable problem.  It just really stinks to know there is something wrong with our baby.  We were assured that sometimes this just happens, & that it wasn't anything Chadd or I did.  It makes me really sad to think of my child being in a cast & a brace for at least the first year of his life.  And like my sister-in-law said, it's scary being a new mom in the first place, but already knowing you are going to have to overcome difficulties makes it even scarier.  Everyone that I have talked to has said that it's really not a big deal, very common, especially in boys, & totally fixable.  Again, I am so thankful that so far everything else about the baby is healthy, and I know we will overcome this & that everything will work out like it's supposed to.  We are in good hands, and will be taken care of.  

On that note, I'm excited to finally be able to do some clothes shopping (I may have already done some.. a lot.. on Friday :)
Almost forgot... Chadd got to celebrate his first father's day on Sunday.  I got him a sweet coffee mug that has a mustache on it & says "dad".  We had breakfast with our neighbors.  I took my dad out for lunch at panera (fancy, right?) & then we had dinner with Chadd's family.  It was a great day.  Then on Saturday, we had a birthday/gender reveal party for Chadd.  We took his grandpa's boat out with his family & some of our friends for a little while.  It was really hard not to slip up and call the baby "he".  When we got back, we had everyone pick a pink bow or a mustache to wear.  I think the mustaches outnumbered the pink bows :) After an awesome dinner prepared by his dad (ribeye & pork chop sandwiches, yum), we got the cake out. My boss at the after school program owns our local Dairy Queen & made a blizzard cake for us with pink bows, mustaches, & question marks all over it.  After Chadd blew out the candles, he got to cut it and, drum roll, there was blue icing in the middle!  I'm glad we did this, it was a lot of fun keeping everyone on their toes, and a fun way to celebrate Chadd's birthday (with the help of Joe, he got a smoker & some bbq tools from me...I expect dinner tonight).  I don't know if there was much surprise, since I had expressed all along that I thought it was a boy, but it was a good time regardless.  

One Week of Waiting Left

One week from today we will know the sex of the baby! I feel like this is the biggest thing I've waited for thus far in my life.  This has surmounted even the wedding, I think (love you, Chadd ;).  I probably won't sleep all week.  I remember finding out we were pregnant in February, and then finding out that we wouldn't find out the sex of the baby until the end of June, and thinking "holy crap, that's months away".  Now we have just a week.

In other news, Chadd and I celebrated our second anniversary last week.  He totally surprised me by taking me to eat at the top of the Hilton.  I had told him I wanted to go to Steak & Shake.  So he took me to a steak house & ordered a shake (how clever, I know).  He had also already gone there during the day & told the hostess his plans (that I'd wanted to go to steak & shake, that's where he proposed, & that we are pregnant, etc.) & taken flowers & a card.  I was wondering why everyone acted so strange when we got there & kept looking at my belly.  It took a while for me to figure everything out.  Actually, I didn't.  Chadd had to explain to me.  It was a great night, though, with a wonderful husband & delicious food.  He also bought me a set of fiesta ware dishes & silverware for our new kitchen.  If we ever get our new kitchen.  We currently have our new dishwasher & microwave in the living room, cabinets are in, refrigerator on its way, but no contractor yet.  Hopefully we get that taken care of this week & we can start.  I can't wait to have everyone over once it's done...we are talking a total gut of our kitchen.  New everything.  

I am now 20 weeks & half way through the pregnancy!  Still craving cherry coke & chocolate milk, as well as green olives, watermelon, hot dogs, & DQ cheeseburgers.  The list goes on and on.  Also still having an aversion to certain meats.  My sciatic nerve isn't bothering me much anymore, which is great because it was pretty painful for a little while.  I now can't sleep on my back because it's hard to breath, and have found that sleeping on my right side is most comfortable (when I do sleep, that is..haven't really slept much since I've been pregnant.  Guess I should just get used to it).  I have been feeling a ton of movement, especially if certain music is playing.  We were at J.T. & Ashley's wedding (congrats, by the way!!!) & the dj played the cupid shuffle...the baby went nuts.  It also responds to certain foods when I'm eating them (no, it's not gas, I can now tell the difference).  I have graduated to mostly maternity clothes or shorts that have an elastic waist band.  It really sucked when I put on a pair of shorts that fit me 40 pounds ago & now I can wear them again.  Its for a different reason, I guess, so it's not as bad.  But still.  Bleh.  At least I have Jenni to walk with  sometimes now.  

Sunday is father's day, a first for our growing brood.  Can't wait to celebrate with my hubby, the dad to be. I know he will be a great dad.  He already is :) He is so worried about the baby & me all the time.  I also can't wait to celebrate with my dad.  I couldn't have gotten a better dad :) This week he came & got my car from work & changed the oil for me.  He also takes me to lunch on a regular basis, mows our lawn & has been great to talk to during out family's circumstances the past 18 months.  Not that I couldn't talk to him before, but I think we've gotten especially closer through the difficulties this year.  If I need anything he is there, no hesitations (remember when you moved that futon up stairs for us?  We need to move it back down now :).  I hope that I can be like this with my child.  He already is an awesome grandpa to our nephew, Reed, & I know he will be just as great with our baby.  A little side note, so far he does not want to know the sex of our baby.  He tried this with Reed, but found out by accident eventually.  And this was before he had a facebook.  I think inevitably he will find about ours as well, and I'd rather he found out from Chadd & me than by accident on facebook.  He is supposed to let me know what he wants to do this week.  For now, if you see him, please don't tell him what the sex is.  

Anywho, can't wait for my next blog because it will probably be about the sex of the baby.  Maybe.  Unless I get excited and blog again before that.  

7 DAYS!