Saturday, February 21, 2009

New Blog

Since I'm no longer pregnant we need a change of venue. Check out the happenings of Brielle, Ben, the furkids and I at our new blog: OMG! We're Parents!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

SHE'S HERE!!!!!

Please welcome to the world Brielle Marie. She made her arrival on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 5:09pm. She weighs 7 pounds 12 ounces and is 20 inches long. We are completely in love!



Sunday, February 8, 2009

Older Siblings

I know I've mentioned them before but I thought I would share some pictures of Brielle's older "siblings".

Kita
Kira

Naughtia

Sierra

Mia

Ella



Saturday, February 7, 2009

A few more thank yous

I want to take a minute to tell everyone, again, about my awesome friends! Last weekend while I was worrying about Kita and the arrival of Brielle my friends were busy doing good deeds.

First on Saturday my best friend, Lori, came over to help me clean my house. Boy did it need it too! I had baby stuff all over the place! Lori helped me organize the items, get laundry done, dust and vacuum! My house was my own again when she was done! On top of that she spent the day sitting around talking to me. It was just the distraction I needed.

Later that night 4 other friends joined the group. Jennifer, Dan, Shane and Kelly all came over to help pitch in. Shane helped Ben get the chair rail and door trim up in Bri's room. Everyone else painted our upstairs hallway! Wow! With 4 people working on the painting there was no room for me. I sat in awe at the work everyone was doing. Not to mention I kept reminding myself how lucky Ben and I are to have the most awesome friends in the world. We're beyond lucky!

After a hard day of cleaning and painting our group went out for some dinner. We all managed to eat and laugh too much! I personally ate so much that I couldn't sleep! Once I did fall asleep I was out.

I wish I would have got myself out of bed because my friend Erin dropped off a gift for Brielle's room. She made a plaque with Bri's initials. It's beautiful and you'll be seeing it hanging in her room soon.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us out. If I missed thanking you on here I apologize. It doesn't mean we don't appreciate what you've done, it just means I have baby brain!

Friday, February 6, 2009

The End Is Near

Less then a week till my due date. Wow! It's hard to believe that I've managed to get through a pregnancy. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be....but then again, I haven't gone through labor yet.

The last few weeks have been crazy! First off Kita has been ill. We thought she had a digestive track blockage. Well we got things "moving" in her and she still wasn't right. Last weekend things got worse. My girl who always greets visitors with a bark wouldn't even lift up her head to look at anyone. No playing. No waggles. No eating. Just sleeping. After thinking of all of the horrible things that could be wrong with her and crying a whole day, Monday finally arrived! As soon as I could I took Kita to the vet. We talked about what could be wrong and all of them were not good news. The doctor decided to do a complete workup on her. I agreed and left with instructions to come back for Kita in an hour. I managed to waste time hanging out at Panera, sipping hot chocolate. That had to be the longest hour ever!!

I got back to the vet's an hour after I left. The put me in the consultation room were the doctor, thankfully, did not leave me waiting for long. After a sigh he told me that the blood work showed that Kita was diabetic!! I could have kissed that man! LOL! My reaction of "that's it!" was greeted with a laugh by the doctor. Yes, it sounds crazy that I'm happy my dog is diabetic. You have to understand that this is something we can control. We honestly thought she was going to have cancer or something else we wouldn't be able to do anything about. After talking about her blood work numbers we talked about treatment - Two insulin shots a day. No problem! Thank goodness I took that diabetes class back in the summer. Giving the shots to Kita is VERY similar to giving a shot to a person.

So with Kita feeling better (within an hour of her first insulin shot she was outside chasing squirrels again) it was time to concentrate on me.

On Monday before I took Kita to the vet I went for my last ultrasound. Brielle is doing great! She's still in the 50ish percentile for size, my placenta is holding up and the umbilical cord is doing it's job!

On Tuesday I went to my regular doctor (Dr. K). They took my blood pressure and it was a little high. The nurse then hooked me up for my weekly non-stress test (NST). After the required 20 minutes Dr. K came in. We talked about how the NST looked fine. Then I asked if she had the ultrasound report. She hadn't seen it yet. So she flip through my chart. Then she stops and looks at me with a sad expression. Then the word I never thought I would hear came out of her mouth: "We have to induce you". I was shocked, scared and disappointed.

My first question - Why? The high risk doctor doesn't want me to go over 39 weeks (yesterday). After telling her I don't want to be induced she agrees to check my progress. There was no real change in a couple of weeks. So we talk more about an induction. Dr. K is torn on what to do. So we come to an agreement. I'll do a 24 hour urine collection to check for preeclampsia. The doctor's office will schedule the induction for Monday (go in Sunday night). I have to come back on Friday (today) for another blood pressure check and to see how I'm feeling.

So on Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday I did everything I could think of to induce labor. I woke up this morning feeling like Bri was sitting a little lower. I went and had my hair trimmed and then headed to my doctor's appointment. My blood pressure was still a little high. After consulting with a doctor in the office the nurse agreed to ask Dr. K to put off the induction for me. While I was talking to her about other things (namely Kita and her dogs) the nurse asks me "how long have you had those contractions?" Come to find out she could see my abdomen contracting! She was the second person in 24 hours to tell me they could see the contractions. So things are moving along.

This afternoon I received a call that Dr. K was not changing her mind about inducing me. So I have to head to the hospital Sunday night and will get the full on induction Monday morning. I'm hoping that the contractions I've had along with the feeling that Bri is sitting lower and the cramping is signs that I'll go into labor on my own. My dad is SOOO hoping I have her on his birthday....tomorrow! We'll see though.

I'm pretty sad that I may not have the birth experience I wanted. I'm trying to move things along and I've even thought of excuses to not go in on Sunday. After talking with Ben though I think I just need to make peace with the induction. I'm working on it but I flip back and forth on being o.k. and being sad. I guess that's to be expected. Just about everyone else around me is excited. I'm getting on the bandwagon slowly but surely. The fact remains that I'll get to see and hold my daughter sometime on Monday at the latest!! How awesome is that?!?!!

So I may not have another post until after Bri's arrival. I will be sure to post pictures of her here as soon as I can. Yes I know I still owe everyone pictures of the nursery. It's still not done though! Bri will be "bunking" in our room for a week or so. As soon as I can I'll get those pictures up too.

I'll take any and all labor vibes and wishes I can get! I'll admit I'm greedy and want to do this my way! LOL!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Things are moving along. Won't be too much longer

I've been busy nesting this week. My dad and I have Brielle's room painted. Ben is working on getting the chair rail and door trim up. The carpet will be another week or so before we have money to buy it and have it installed. Today our friends Kelly and Shane are coming over to help with painting our upstairs hall. Lori is coming over to help me with whatever I need done. I've been up since 6:30 this morning getting things in order. I may not have Bri's room completely ready but I'm not going to bring her home to a dirty house. See.....nesting instinct in overdrive! LOL!

I've had cramping on and off for about a week. Yesterday the cramping was pretty steady and I lost my "plug" (sorry if that's TMI). Not to mention the nesting took on a whole new level yesterday. Yes, I don't think Brielle will be waiting too much longer to make her arrival.

Monday we have our final ultrasound. After that the next time we see Bri will be when she makes her big debut. I'm excited, nervous and scared all at once. Of course those feelings pretty much sum up my whole pregnancy.

I took some time last night to spend time with a group of girls from a chat board I'm on. What a great time we had! There was so much yummy food! I drooled over the bottles of wine and the great looking cocktails. Not too much longer until I can indulge.

This entry is pretty choppy. That's how my brain is functioning right now though. Small, short, efficient clip. Gets the job done and you can move on. Later I have to write another post to brag about my awesome friends some more! Until then, be well!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Firsts

Tagged by Sara for this:

My First

1. Who was your FIRST prom date? Myself. I didn't go to Prom with anyone....either time!
2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? Every now and then but not very often.
3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink? Do you mean legal alchoholic drink? If so it was a strawberry daquari
4. What was your FIRST job? Line server at Old Country Buffet
5. What was your FIRST car? 1995 Neon.
6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? No text today.
7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? Kita. She had to go potty (hey! She's a person!)
8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Oh geez! If I think about it long enough I might remember.
9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? Florida
10. Who was your FIRST best friend and are you still friends with them? Nicole O. and Jenny Z. I don't talk to either one nearly enough!
11. What was your FIRST sport played? Softball
12. Where was your FIRST sleep over? Uh....I don't remember.
13. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Kita (what can I say, Ben's out of town! LOL)
14. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? I was a flower girl in my uncle's wedding years ago!
15. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Let Kita out.
16. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Firehouse.
17. FIRST tattoo or piercing? I had my ears pierced at 3 months old.
18. FIRST foreign country you went to? Uh.....Canada! LOL!
19. What was your FIRST run in with the law? I got a speeding ticket when I was about 19 or 20 years old.
20. When was your FIRST detention? Bwahahahahahaha! My junior year. That teacher DID NOT like us!
21. What was the FIRST state you lived in? The good ol' Mitten!
22. Who was the FIRST person to break your heart? My first love of course. I should thank him for that!
23. Who was your FIRST roommate? Ben
24. Where did you go on your FIRST limo ride? Uh....my brother's wedding a few years ago.
25.Who will be the FIRST to repost this? I have no idea.

Tagging: Anyone else who wants to participate