Friday, June 27, 2008

Doing alright

All is well...just busy. I just wanted to let you all know. I'll update when I have a chance!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Quickly

I quickly wanted to post a few things...not much time, but I'm trying to keep up-to-date.

As of last Friday, Conrey was down to 7 lbs 12 oz from his birthweight of 8 lbs 10 oz. From Friday to yesterday (Wed), he gained a WHOLE POUND and is now at 8 lbs 12 oz. YAY!

Another thing that happened yesterday was that his cord fell off. I was so glad and gave him a real bath today in the kitchen sink. Sponge baths are just not adequate!!! :)

Last night, Conrey ate at 9:00, I went to bed at 9:30. Mark brought him up to eat at 11:00. He ate again at 3:00 and then at 6:00. YAY for sleep!!! Cassie didn't wake up until 7:50, so we all slept until then and then Conrey ate again at 8. I feel sooo rested today! However, I still feel exhausted in other ways! HA!

The other day, Cassie said, "We're good friends..." I said, "Who's good friends?" She said, "Me and baby buddy..." That's what she calls him. I thought that was so sweet. I'm glad that she considers him a friend instead of an enemy or competition at this point! :)

Last night, my in-laws were over and apparently Grandad built a tall tower with Cassie while I was feeding Conrey. Later in the evening after they were gone she said, "Grandad built a tall, tall tower." I said, "COOL!" She said, "It was AWESOME!" HA! I wasn't even aware that we use the word 'awesome,' but apparently one of us does!

Well, that's my quick update on the happenings around here. Hope you all have a great day and I'll do some more updates soon!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The FULL Story

So, I finally have a little time to chronicle the events leading up to the birth of Mr. Beautiful...AKA Conrey.

SUNDAY, JUNE 8th, 2008: With the selling of our car (Millenia), we were trying to be nice to this lady that bought it, so we agreed to meet her about 20 minutes from our house. She lives over an hour from our house, so we were trying to help her out. We're on the highway...me in the Millenia in front of Mark and Cassie in the Civic. Remember that I'm not supposed to be driving? Don't worry...I didn't pass out, but I was nervous about it. Anyway, we're on the highway going about 70. All of the sudden, the van in front of me slammed on their breaks and then jetted over into the fast lane with about a foot in front and behind him. I look in the road and there is a big, full tire...metal wheel and all. I swerved over to the avoid it and looked into my rearview mirror in horror as Mark hit it straight on. Then, I see the stupid thing in front of him again! His car was so low that he hit and threw the stupid thing forward. He lurched over to the other lane, barely missing the car that was there and then came back to the middle lane after avoiding the tire. The guy that had been behind him pulled up next to him and told him that it had blown out his radiator and that the fluid was all over the guy's car, so he'd better watch his heat gauge. As we get to the exit that we're getting off on, his car goes from normal heat, to all the way at the "H," to smoking within a matter of 30 seconds. He pulls into a gas station and quickly gets Cassie out before the car overheats and blows up...which DIDN'T happen, but could have. I went on to meet the lady and then she brings me over to the gas station. She never said she was sorry it had happened or can I take you anywhere or anything...just left with our only functioning car with a 2-year-old and a 39-week pregnant woman in 90 degree heat. Nice...

We got it towed and Mark's dad came. His mom met us at our house so that we could borrow their other vehicle since I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. the next morning. Needless to say, it was a crazy, stressful way to spend our last evening without an infant. It was truly a miracle and blessing from God that Mark and Cassie didn't flip. By all rights, they should have. God was really watching out for them!

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2008...6:00 a.m.: We left the house at 6 so that we could put gas in Mark's mom's car that we borrowed and get a little McDonald's. I was too sick to my stomach from nerves to eat, so just Mark did. I went and checked in to the hospital at 6:30 with it pouring rain outside. We got up to our room (which was the room my nephew, Lucas, had been born in 6 years earlier), got changed and into bed with the monitors, and settled in to wait...which we were quite used to with all of the hospital stays as of late. At about 8:20, my pitocin was going and I was watching my contractions (I had been having them since arriving at the hospital) and was thinking that by mid afternoon, I'd be holding my darling baby...not so much...

My contractions increased in intensity, but not really frequency. By early/mid afternoon, I was ready for an epidural...it did NOT come soon enough. I had to have a whole bag of fluid before the epidural could be administered and then there was the matter of getting the doctor to my room. By the time all of that had happened, my pain level had skyrocketed and my pain was out of control. I was screaming and crying through each contractions. I can honestly say that I have never, ever had that kind of pain in my entire life and I was only dialated to a 4. With my last delivery, I never screamed or cried. I never even felt like screaming or crying. This time was at LEAST 3 times worse thanks to my good friend, pitocin. Let's just say that I would NEVER, EVER choose to be induced again without getting an epidural when my pain is like at a 3 out of 1-10. This time, I waited until it was like a 5-6 and by the time I got the drugs, it was like 15!

Well, at about 8:00 p.m., the dr came in and said we were ready to push. By this time, I was feeling the contractions as a dull ache. By the time they got me set up to push, I was feeling whenever I had a contraction, so I was able to dictate when to push. Two contractions and 7 pushes later, he was out at 8:09! After the first push, the doctor said he had blonde hair. I was stunned! We had been thinking he'd be dark. Cassie was even dark haired when she was born, so to have him come out blonde was a surprise! He was the MESSIEST baby EVER! He was absolutely covered in vernix...the cheesy/waxy stuff that protects their skin in the womb. He was a little bit blue because he was holding his breath, so between that and the cheese...he was quite the sight! However, it's not too hard to look past all of the guck when you've got such a beautiful face underneath it all, and MAN was he beautiful! There was not a blemish to be seen and his head was perfectly shaped (thanks to minimal time in the 'ol birth canal). PERFECT! They got him all cleaned up, weighed, measured, etc. When they did his foot prints, they were quite a bit bigger than the space available in which to print his feet, so they overlap quite a bit. I kept trying to figure out what on earth was poking me in there and now I know that it was just BIG FEET!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2008, 9:40 a.m.: We left the hospital! We were both doing great and saw NO reason to stay and eat crummy hospital food, so we got out of there and were home by 10 (with a little stop to get Daddy some breakfast)!!!

Let's see...what have I left out of interest? Oh, yeah...this is kind of important...when I got my epidural, they wanted to watch me very closely, as it makes your blood pressure go down, which I'd already been having trouble with along with the passing out and such. So, all of the sudden, I get extremely sick and start puking. My blood pressure bottomed out. I seriously didn't know if I was going to live to see my baby. It was all pretty scary. They gave me a dose of ephedrin (basically speed), which helped a tiny bit, but I was still low and in bad shape. They ended up giving me 3 doses total before getting me stabilized. Because of the drug, my heart was racing and beating out of my chest and I couldn't rest as I had intended to with the epidural and all. It was really scary for us all and they kept a really, REALLY close eye on me the remainder of the time. In total, I threw up at 3 different times; once at this point, once right before delivery, and once after delivery. It's strange how the body deals with trauma. Puking seems to be my response most of the time. I don't love it...

Well, I think that that is about all I have to report. With the trauma and the loooooooong labor, he sure is a perfect little guy and such a good baby! We couldn't be happier than we are with our 2 healthy, beautiful children that God has blessed us with. I don't know if we'll ever have another or not. I guess that's in God's hands and that's all I can say about that for now. My heart still aches for another, but God has truly blessed us and I can't ask to be blessed more than we already are. We don't feel deserving and feel the burden of raising them to be children of God.

Before I end this, I will tell a little about big sister, Cassie. She is finally adjusting a bit better. Daddy started back to work today, so hopefully we can get back into our little routine and help her feel more comfortable with all of the changes. She has a name that she calls Conrey. She has started calling him "Baby Buddy." I think that it is sooooo cute and absolutely love it! I hope she calls him that for a long time to come.

Speaking of Baby Buddy, it's time for him to eat, so I'd best go do that. Sorry this was soooo long and I hope you have all enjoyed the saga. :) More stories and pics to come!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Conrey Graham: In Living Color

So, better late than never, here are some pics:

After his bath
First Family Picture
Momma and her kiddos
Big Sister Cassie holding baby Brother
A little sibling love
BIG YAWN!!!
Chubby Face for some reason...must have been how he was laying.
My handsome mister deep in thought.

So, that's all I have time for. I can't type 1-handed, nurse Conrey, and wrangle Cassie all at once and her Diego show is over, so I must take care of the kiddos and blog later. Such is the life of a mother of 2.

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband. I love you!

OH, wait! Here is the link to his webnursery pics. Enjoy!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Short and Sweet, but an update, nonetheless

Conrey Graham came Monday, June 9th at 8:09 p.m. after a looooooooong, really hard day. I will certainly give you a full report AND pictures tomorrow, but I'm still so tired and we had a rough night last night with tummy troubles. I'm feeling great and he's doing great. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches. He's got a good-sized head (14 inches) and is just about the most precious thing...I can't say he IS the most precious thing, because he pretty much ties with big sis. She's doing well, too, though pretty whiney right now while adjusting to baby brother.



I promise I'll update the full story and post pics ASAP! Thanks for all of your prayers!!!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

2 Memes

I was tagged for a meme and came across a random meme that was tagged to all readers. SO, without further ado, here we go!

MEME 1:

RANDOMOSITY

Rules are as follows:
*Link to the person who tagged you
*Post the rules on your blog
*Write six random things about yourself
*Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
*Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog
*Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Lots of Rules... Here we go:

1. I delight in a well-cooked/well-presented meal. I believe that presentation is half of the success and delight of cooking/entertaining. If something looks good and then tastes as good as it looks, then it is doubly pleasing.

2. I have written this on my blog before, but I have 2 secret dreams in life. The first would be to be a professional chef, the second would be to be a beautician. I don't think either will ever happen, but I love being a professional chef to my husband. :)

3. If it weren't for my phobia of needles, I would be a nurse...probably in labor and delivery. I just could NEVER start an IV, draw blood, or give someone a shot...especially kids/babies. UGH! Plus, I could never make it through the training in nursing school where you have to give each other shots and draw blood from each other (the other students...that thought really makes me quiver!!!).

4. I love to be wined and dined (though I don't drink wine...I'm just using that expression). If Mark ever plans out a date where he takes care of everything and just tells me when to be ready...that is definitely my kind of thing. ESPECIALLY, if the date does NOT involve Mexican food. That's his favorite and we go way too often.

5. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the game Settlers of Catan. If you haven't heard of it OR haven't played it ever, you need to!!! It is GREAT!

6. I love pictures, but am HORRIBLE at taking them. I always feel guilty that I don't take enough of Cassie and I'm sure it will be even worse with Conrey. I just don't think of it! I regret it often, but am not sure how to change this habit.

OK...there you have it. NOW for the tagging. I tag: Meshellyn, Heather, Holly, Bek P, Bekah Lynn, and Jamie.

-----------------------------------

MEME 2

QUIRKS

The rules of this meme are simple. List some of your quirks...as many as you'd like. Go ahead...list 'em! Then, tag people and tell them you tagged 'em.

~I HATE feet. They make me gag. If someone is over the age of 3 or so, forget it! I'm not touching them! I figure I have about a year to get over this, as I'll then have a 3-year-old. However, I don't anticipate being grossed out by my kids' feet...we'll see.

~I have some OCD tendencies. One involves counting. I count things a lot and have to have them end up where it makes sense. Sometimes that means an even number...sometimes that means the numbers have to be multiples of themselves. The volume on the TV has to be on like 55 or 63 (because they are divisible).

~When walking, I always have to start with my left foot and end with my right. If I'm on the sidewalk, I have to step the same number of steps in each square with both feet. Ie: Left, Right, Left, Right -crack- Left, Right, Left, Right. You will literally see me speed up or slow down so that I get at least 1 left and 1 right in each square. If it is a tile floor with smaller squares, I will do 1 foot in each square. If they are little squares where my feet are too big to fit in them, it doesn't bother me.

~Most of the time, my husband and I sleep at opposite ends of our bed. He HAS to have a fan blowing on him to sleep and it gives me a headache, earache, and sinus issues if I have one blowing on me for more than about 5 minutes. SO, I make him sleep with his head at the foot of the bed. When it's open window time, he doesn't have to have the fan directly on him (though still going because we're both addicted to the noise), so we get to sleep like normal, married people.

That's all I'm gonna do for now. You all already think I'm a weird-o now, I'm sure! :)

TAG: Shalee, R Family of 5, Jen, Kelly, Lori, Mandi, MD, AND anyone else who wants to share their quirks with the world!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Boring Update

So, there is absolutely zero news to report from my dr's appt. Basically, I'm the same...he doesn't forsee me going into labor before Monday (though it's not out of the question...just not likely). He said he'll see me Monday morning. Not the news I was hoping for, but I'm just trying to stay positive. Come on out, Conrey Graham!

As for the other "issue," he told me to take 3 stool softeners in the morning and 3 at night with tons of water. He said that, if I'm still having issues by Sunday afternoon, to take some milk of magnesia. I'm not so sure I can tolerate drinking that stuff, so I hope to get it taken care of the other way.

Yeah...that's about it. Exciting, huh?

Vickers, OUT!

*YAWN*

Another day has come and gone. Each morning when I wake up, I think to myself, "Well, at least I didn't lose a night of sleep from being in labor!" Cassie woke up at 6:20 this morning. That was not nice. It is convienent, though, because she has to nap early today so that my s-i-l can pick us up at 2 for my dr's appt, which is at 2:30. I am sooooooo tired of not being able to drive! It is really getting on my nerves!!! In fact, I just might decide to drive myself home from the hospital when we leave with Conrey. :) Just teasing!

So, I puked a BUNCH last night. Wanna know why? I tried to down some castor oil for my constipation. I got about 2 gulps down before the puking began. Why on EARTH did I try that? Because NOTHING ELSE IS WORKING!!!!!!!! I will definitely be talking to my dr about it today. I didn't enjoy it with Cassie, but I was desperate to get her out, so I handled it okay. I think this time with the hurting gut and lack of real motivation to keep it down, it just didn't stay put. My goal wasn't to get Conrey out...that would have just been a bonus, so I didn't have that pushing me to keep it down. Oh, well. I'll talk to my doc and get something figured out before labor.

SO, remember when I told you about our new van and selling our car and such? Well, we sold the car last night. They aren't picking it up until tomorrow afternoon, which is great so that I'm not stranded without a car in case I need to rush to the hospital or something. Mark will be home early on Saturday and then he'll be home on Sunday. We don't get the van until mom and dad come up when Conrey is born, so at the latest, Monday. We're super excited and just think that it is going to be perfect for us.

So, we all know that my 2-year-old is a nut. She says all kinds of things and is just so funny. Last night, we were laying on my bed and she pulled up my shirt. She got close to my belly and said, "BIG, FAT CONREY GRAHAM!!! YOU COME OUT OF THERE, CONREY GRAHAM!!!" I laughed and laughed. She is as anxious as Daddy and I to get him out, I guess! She is just too funny!

Well, that's all I have time for now. If there is anything noteworthy, I'll update again this afternoon after my appt. Hope you all have a great day!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

4 Days...

...to get this little guy OUT! :) Lord willing, if not before, then 4 days from right now, I will be in the heat of active labor sweating and toiling to get this baby out of my belly!

HOWEVER, I'm definitely having "something" going on right now. I have a TON of increased pressure in my groin/girlie bits/pelvis and am not fully enjoying walking around with said pressure. WARNING: This next part may not be for the squemish! Also, I've got some sort of...well...oozing going on. I am really, really debating as to whether I should go get it checked out or not. I just hate, hate, hate not knowing and not wanting to go in and be sent home after my billions of hospital trips during this pregnancy. I know that I should be "better safe than sorry," but with me not being able to drive and such and with Cassie, it is all just so much more complicated and I have to inconvience at least 1 person...if not 2 to go. Golly.

So, I broke down about bought a book on acupressure. It is on naturally inducing labor if you're set to be induced and want to try to avoid it OR if you're overdue and on pain/anxiety/fear management. There are a few more topics, but they don't interest or pertain to me at this time, so I'm just going for the other stuff. Anyway, I think that it will be helpful. After I did the "opening up your pelvis for the baby to descend" stuff, that is when I started getting all of the pressure, so it seems to me like it worked. We'll see what happens. I wish that Mark was here to do some of the stuff that I can't do (like my low back points and such that are supposed to stimulate contractions). I'll let you all know if it seems to be helpful and will certainly "share the wealth" if it puts me into labor!!! It's an e-book, so I can share it with whomever would like to have it.

In other news, I had a small success in the iron-issues department last night. Aren't you all thrilled to hear that?!? :) Mark wasn't so much. After 5 days, it was news I had to share whether he liked it or not. He quite literally might be the most poo-aphobic person I know. I believe he's changed like 5 dirty diapers in the past 2 years...1 of them being her first ever dirty diaper, so I don't really count that when it was meconium (so not regular poo) and the nurse was helping him (which I imagine means she did most of it). He's funny. Anyway, I had a little progress and hope to have more today. He's for hoping!!!

Well, I'm off to play with the Cassie girl. More updates as necessary!!!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

5 Days To Go

A couple nights and another day have gone by since last I emailed. If Conrey doesn't come out on his own, then we will be at the hospital 5 days from right now...hopefully with the pitocin started and things on their way. I am still really hesitant to be induced, so I'm still praying he comes on his own before then. Either way, I will have my baby boy out soon. That's both exciting and scary, as I look around at how much I have yet to do. Oh, well. It will all get done in due time, no?

Today is my m-i-l's birthday. I thought that it would be nice to give her a baby for her birthday, but I have no signs that he has the intention to come today.

I mentioned my iron issues in my last post in passing. I'm having some major "back up" issues from that. I've tried several remedies with no benefit. I'm not really sure what plan...(what am I up to now???) maybe plan G...is going to be. Here's TMI, so if you don't want to know it, don't read it: I've tried glycerin suppositories, stool softeners, tea that is supposed to be a natural laxative, fruit, juice. I've tried many things. I just have so much stinkin' iron coursing through me that I'm bound up in a bad way. If anyone has any suggestions...you know where to send 'em! :)

You know what DOESN'T help when you have a very full digestive tract that won't clear out? A gianormous baby kicking around in there like he's got all the room in the world. Seriously...he has NOT slowed down on the movement and beats me up so much! I would think that all of that activity in there would get things moving, but apparently, the only thing that is moving is Conrey.

Cassie has been really good lately. I think that she still senses weird things afoot, but she's played nice and just been a sweet girl as of late. Except for the sassiness. Yesterday, I told her to take her toys to her room. She said no. I gave her the "do NOT tell me no" look and firmly repeated my instructions. She turned and looked at me and said, "I...said...no!" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! When did my baby girl turn into a sassy little back-talker?!? I was so stunned that I didn't react for like 30 seconds or something...just looked at her bewildered! Oh, brother. If she's like this at 2, how's she going to be at 15? Scary!

Well, I'd best go play with the Cassie girl. I'm gonna try to stay up and active again today, but it's gonna be hard. I woke up before 6 and am just pooped. We'll see how well I do. I might have to crash at some point, but you know what? That's ok. I deserve to rest when I need to. After all, I AM in the process of growing a baby. :)

Everyone have a great day and I'll update more if I have any news.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Blah

Blah, blah, blah. That is how I'm feeling tonight as I type this. Well, that and stuck, stuck, stuck...as in I've had too much iron in my system and now said system is stuck. Too much info shared? Sorry.

We are down past the 1 week mark. Lord willing, 1 week from this moment, I will be snuggling my baby boy. At the latest...1 week. I am still trying to convince him to come out on his own earlier than that. I actually thought that this Saturday would be neat, because his b-day would be 06-07-08. The other preferred date would be Wed, as that is my m-i-l's birthday. Worst-case scenario is Monday, though. I can deal with that.
I think that if I were having a normal life right now, it would be soooo much easier. However, since I can't operate a motorized vehicle (okay, I couldn't operate a man-powered vehicle either), I am just dreading this week. I have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, most of Friday, and all of Saturday at home...me and Cassie...by ourselves...unable to go anywhere or do anything like take a walk or whatever. It just leaves nothing to look forward to. Why did I say MOST of Friday? Because I get to go be proded at the doctor's office!!! YAY! THAT'S something to look forward to!!! I just have to keep telling myself that it's temporary and that at the end of it is Conrey...healthy and safe.

On a much brighter note, we had something pretty exciting come up completely out of the blue. Meshellyn...get ready to turn green with envy...when my parents come up whenever I go into labor, they're driving up our new minivan! It is an '07 Toyota Sienna with about 30,000 miles on it. If you know anything about our vehicle history, you know that we seem to have a "signature color" that has haunted us. Every time we find a "great deal" on a vehicle, it is always nearly the same color and it's not one that we would ever choose if we had a full range of options (with the exception of the car that we're selling...we really like it's color a lot). Basically, it's the gold/beige/sand realm of colors. This one happens to be called "Desert Sand Mica." Anyway, I have an uncle who has his dealer's license. He goes to auction every so often...mainly for himself, friends, or family. He happened to come across this great deal and bought it on a whim. My dad heard about it and promptly said he'd take it. Then, he offered the deal on to us with him as our "bank" making it not only possible, but something we could not pass up!

SO, now we have a car for sale. It is a great car and we're both sad to be getting rid of it. It is a 2000 Mazda Millenia...the general beige/sand color. :) It only has 120,000 and this car has been known to get up into the 200,000's easy, so we're sad to be parting with it. We would have kept it and sold the Civic, but the Civic gets about 10 more miles per gallon on gas and the minivan gets about the same as the Mazda, so it was a no-brainer. If anyone knows of someone that needs a great car, send them my way. It's been really well taken care of and has a new timing belt, water pump, and all 4 tires, so it really is like new as far as all of the expensive stuff.

Anyway, this was not supposed to be a car ad...merely a sharing of news about our new van. I'm really excited and NOW Mark will let me get a double stroller...I'm on the hunt if anyone sees one cheap on craigslist or a garage sale or something!

Well, that's my story for tonight. Oh, wait...maybe I should update on my condition... I'm feeling pretty good aside from the general I'm-9-months-pregnant-and-ready-to-be-done feelings and the too-much-iron constipated issues. I haven't been dizzy or fainted, so that's good. I'm tired most of the time, but who wouldn't be when you have a 35 lb watermelon attached to your abdomen? I'm just thankful that I feel good in general and haven't had any more blood-related issues.
Well, that's really the end of my story now. Have a good one and I'll catch ya later...maybe to tell you that I've had a baby! :)