To Be a Doodles

Whoda Thought?!

2011-01-15T02:54:00.004-06:00

So, I'm sure that most of you are aware of this little fact that I am about to confess "officially" on here.... but for those of you that aren't aware.... I am going to be the proudest ever mother of 2 in August. I am currently 10 weeks pregnant with baby number 2. I can't even believe it! (Alright, I'm about to do that TMI business that I so frequently like to do) I only had 2 periods since having Addie Marie. And I had only weaned her a week before I ovulated... and bada bing- positive pregnancy test. Turns out, I might be a little fertile. Joey told me that I tricked him. LOL. I promise I didn't. I really thought that I was semi infertile. But, it turns out that Jesus had this little plan all along. That Jesus, he is quite a guy. :)
I feel obligated to speak about how I am feeling... as if you care. I feel pretty fair. Nothing to complain about that is for sure. I absolutely feel much much more tired this time around. But it is very hard to know if it is because of pregnancy or because of Adrianna. In regards to my irritable bowel- it is wonderful! I have had NO ISSUES! Yay!! I have to admit, nearly pooping my pants daily was a bit exhausting. Plus the uncontrollable bearing down during the cramping episodes really worried me that I was going to push out my baby. I even spoke to one of the doctors about it...she thought I was crazy. But she didn't know how bad I would bear down. I mean honestly, now that I have attempted to push out a baby- I know what kind of bearing down is required. And let me tell you, the bearing down that was accompanying my irritable bowel attacks could have pushed out a baby in one push- YIKES! So luckily I do not have that this time. (Side note: I would ABSOLUTELY take it if it meant I would have a healthy baby. I don't care. I'm willing to endure whatever is required to make a healthy baby!) Nausea wise, I have a small constant underlying sick feeling. It isn't too bad, its a little worse than with Addie... but I have never thrown up. There have only been 2 times where I thought I was going to, but I never did. I also wonder if I'm a little more nauseous because I am depleting my body's resources much more due to less sleep. I am not as hungry as the first time. I'm hungry, but not CONSTANTLY. I'm appropriately hungry. I don't have a meat aversion, I sometimes will be grossed out by chicken or something... but that is kind of normal for me. So there are things that are the same as with Addie, but some things that are different.
I am super excited to find out what this baby is going to be. I did get to see his/her amazing picture at 8 weeks. This beanie is much less willing to show its cute little limb buds. LOL. Only 9 more weeks until I get to see him/her again! I can't wait!! My sister just found out she is having a boy. She is 10 weeks ahead of me. So we will have daughters that are 4 months apart, and our next kids will be 10 weeks apart. I promise, this wasn't even planned. That Jesus works in mysterious ways!

All Grown Up

2010-11-06T02:47:00.003-05:00

Wow. I haven't written since March. I am very very sorry. In my defense though, I have been way mega out of control busy. Busier than I can even describe. So busy, in fact, that Joey and I are thinking about hiring a cleaning lady. Can you even imagine a couple frugal fannies like us hiring a cleaning lady?! You guys, we need it so desperately. My house is a disaster! It doesn't help that Addie Marie is a little Tasmanian devil! She will leave a room and we have to do a double check that it wasn't a TORNADO! She is crazy.. and I mean that in the most positive, loving, sweetest way possible. She has more energy than I could ever dream of having, she climbs, stands and pushes anything and everything she can get her tiny adorable hands on.... She is a tiny tornado. And, everyone, this tiny tornado is the greatest blessing Jesus has ever given me. She is so funny. She is stubborn, but so sweet. I am so in love. It is just crazy to believe that she is mine- Thank you Jesus!

Addie Marie is going to be turning one on Tuesday. Can you believe it?! It feels like I just found out I was pregnant with her... and now she is turning one! I am so excited for her birthday party (even though I have SO MUCH TO DO before Sunday!). I know she is going to tear up her cake! This sweet baby girl loves sweets. She doesn't get them too often, but sometimes I let her have bites of ice cream and she goes crazy! She also started walking a little before she turned 11 months. She is a pro now! She nearly runs. I can tell she wants to run, she just isn't quite there. This baby is always on the go! I was excited that she started walking so early because I knew she would be a pro by her birthday party... and she is. I don't mean to toot her horn too much, but TOOT TOOT! HaHa. With this upcoming birthday comes the end to breastfeeding. I made it a whole year without formula, just breast milk! Whoo hoo! And, I absolutely loved it. Addie loved it. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that everything worked out! I was so worried that Addie wouldn't want to stop.. she loved the boob... but that girl loves people food too. She did such a good job weaning herself. I think I just need to wean myself now. :/ It is just so weird to know that she doesn't need me anymore. I mean, I know she still needs me... but she doesn't need me. You know? I get anxious just talking about this. Yikes. Is there a breast feeders anonymous group? Maybe I should join. Hi, I'm MaryBeth and I'm addicted to breastfeeding. ;)

Side note: Have any of you breastfed for a year and then when your periods resumed.. where they abnormal? I JUST started mine a month ago and am wondering if I should expect to have super long cycles. I'm not used to going into day 33 with no period (especially when I know I ovulated on day 14-16). Any suggestions or comments would be welcomed! Thanks!

I will try and upload pics really soon, I don't have any pics on the computer Im using right now. Sorry.

Better

2010-03-10T00:40:00.003-06:00

I have now been a mommy for 4 months. I always knew that I would love being a mom... and I was right. I feel like my life is better as a mommy. My heart is fuller and my smile is a bit brighter because of Addie. She is absolutely everything I prayed for! I still feel like my love grows deeper everyday! I am borderline obsessive about her. I kiss her probably 200 times a day and tell her I love her just as much. When I have to work I will cuddle with her all day. I just give her the boobie buffet so that I can rest for a little bit. Side note: the boobie buffet naps are going to stop once I start weekend option- I really need to get her back to her good nap schedule. When she got sick a month ago her nap schedule got all messed up and since I have returned to work I haven't had the patience or time to fix it.
It is wonderful being Addie's mommy and I hope that I feel this much happiness with my future babies. I feel pretty strongly that my future pregnancies won't be nearly as much fun as Addie's was. All the feelings that I had during my pregnancy with Addie were so brand new. My only true worry was that Addie wouldn't be healthy and I was somewhat worried about the changes that would be coming to Joey and I's relationship. But, man I sure loved being pregnant! I worry that with my next pregnancy I will be so worried about how Addie will do that I won't enjoy it as much... I guess I will just have to make sure that that doesn't happen. ;) Right now I am just enjoying watching Addie get bigger and reach new milestones (more about that in a future blog entry).
Here is a list of everything that I loved about pregnancy:
*Watching my belly get bigger every week
*Being able to feel Addie kick- I could be sitting at work and she would just be kicking away. No one else would know that I had this adorable little life kicking the crap out of my uterus- and I loved it!
*Reading about my babies development every week.. and sometimes reading the next weeks development because I would get so excited.
*Talking to people about the baby I was growing. I loved it when people would ask me questions regarding my pregnancy. i.e. How far along I was, Boy or Girl, How I was feeling...
*Knowing that no matter where I went.. Addie was always with me.
*I loved having this amazing baby growing in my belly... but since she wasn't outside of my body, I could sleep whenever I wanted. LOL

I could pretty much continue this list forever. I loved every single moment of growing Addie... and I am enjoying every single moment of raising her.

Addies Beautiful Cousin

2010-03-10T00:02:00.004-06:00

I became the proud aunt, and Addie became the proud cousin of Mahayla Sue Goodwillie on Friday (March 5th). She weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 19.5 inches long. She is absolutely perfect! Becky (my older sister) had a c-section because Haley (that's what we call her for short) was breech...well we thought at least. They last checked the Friday before and Haley was still head up, butt down. The nurse and doctor didn't check before the section because... they didn't think it was necessary. But then once Dr.Adams (yep, he is her doctor too...he is just great!) cut her open, he found Haley head down.

I feel like this is a good place to mention that Haley is going to be sassy! She caused Becky so much trouble when she was pregnant! Haley was known to stop moving for a little bit just to cause Becky some worry. Then starting around 32 weeks Becky started having contractions that she ended up having to go to the hospital for. She would get a few doses of Terbutaline and head home.. and then they ended up giving her some pills to start taking for the contractions. Then when we found out that this little sas-a-frass was breech.. just icing on the cake. And then to find out that she flipped at the last possible minute- are you kidding me! HaHa! But I'm sure Becky forgot about all the trouble Haley caused the minute she held her. :)

She is absolutely adorable! I am soo excited that Becky and I had our girls so close together! I feel like this was Gods way of bringing Becky and I close again. It has been really nice to share pregnancy and motherhood with my sister. She was always the person that I looked up to when I was little- I would always want to hang out with her and her friends, do what she would do and dress like she would dress (Becky was always the better dresser). We are really excited about taking the girls photos together and dressing them alike. I can tell that this is going to be SO MUCH FUN! Addie is already so cute around her. She will just look at her, she is so curious. She also wants to eat every time that Haley eats. Which P.S. Haley is already a boobie baby- Addie must have told her how awesome the boob is. haha.

Oxyclean Nightmare

2010-03-01T00:31:00.003-06:00

Who knew that a little bit too much oxyclean could cause so much discomfort, pain and itchiness... I certainly didn't. My husband is determined that I was trying to kill him. I promise you that I wasn't. I was only trying to get his work clothes clean. The only problem with that is that when I wash his work clothes, I also wash his boxers, comfy pants and shorts... and anything else that he puts on his body.

On Monday, Joey started to develop these little bumps on his legs and arm and stomach. By Tuesday the bumps started to get a little bit bigger and widespread. We initially thought that they were just flea bites that he got at a foreclosure property that he had went to. I know that it is a bit cold outside for fleas.. but the house that he went to hadn't been vacant for very long... so we were just guessing that it was fleas. Well by Wednesday they were a little bit worse and spreading out more... but we were still sticking to our initial diagnosis of flea bites. When I went to work on Wednesday night Joey was complaining that his red bumps were much more itchy, widespread and super uncomfortable. I continued to think that it wasn't that big of a deal and that he was fine and we would just have to wait for the bites to fade away. Joey had a horrible night on Wednesday due to the discomfort of the rash and having difficulty falling asleep due to taking care of Addie. He didn't want to take Benadryl since he was with Addie by himself. So I come home Thursday morning (to Joey singing "Boobie buffet" to Addie) and I catch a glimpse of Joeys legs. Holy Cow! I immediately knew something was wrong. This was much much more that just flea bites. It was the worst rash I had ever seen! It was red, crazy inflamed and even more uncomfortable. His rash by this time was everywhere (and I mean everywhere), it was even on the palms of his hands. The only place he didn't have a spot was his face. I told Joey he had to go to the doctor! Luckily he was able to work his schedule out to be able to make it to the minute clinic at CVS by 3:00. The nurse at the Minute Clinic couldn't have been more delightful. She was super sweet! Joey had done a little investigation and read that oxyclean has been known to cause rashes on people all of a sudden who have previously had no issues with it. Then when he found out that ALL of his clothes had been washed in extra oxyclean... a new diagnosis was born. The nurse practitioner agreed that it was just contact dermatitis and wrote a script for prednisone and steroid cream. As a side note... the scripts were super cheap! The prednisone was only 79 cents and the steriod cream was only 49 cents. Crazy huh! Luckily the prednisone started kicking this yucky rashes butt pretty fast. I went home and washed all of Joeys clothes multiple times to make sure that all the oxyclean was rinsed out and then I put the loads on the extra rinse cycle. Hopefully we don't have any of these issues again.

Now just picture this everywhere. Maybe a little uncomfortable... I also don't think this pic does his rash any justice. This was taken when it was already healing.

I feel like it is also important to note that I don't think this is all my fault. I have always used oxyclean on my hubbys clothes (although I did use extra this time...). I think that he reacted the way he did because his poor body is wiped out. He hasn't been getting much sleep since I went back to work, he is crazy stressed with his work and on Tuesday he was sick from paint fumes and denatured alcohol from stripping paint in a room. Last week was not his week! So I feel like his immune system is not at its top potential!

My Sick Baby

2010-02-19T03:01:00.003-06:00

On February 8th my beautiful sweets started running a fever in the middle of the night. :( She wasn't sleeping great and when she woke to feed she just acted like she was miserable. It broke my heart. She had just recently started sleeping pretty good again and it was really out of the ordinary how she was acting. Joey had to work the next day so I was trying my hardest not to wake him up. Unfortunately we did not succeed.. Joey woke up. I had taken Addie to her room to attempt to calm her down and Joey came in to check on us. He ended up getting a bath ready for us. Addie loves her baths and we thought it would help her start feeling a little better. So we took a bath and then snuggled on the recliner together. Although I absolutely hated her feeling so yucky, it was so great getting to snuggle so much! Her temp remained low grade at 99 degrees but maxed out at 101.2. On the 9th (Addies 3 month birthday) we ended up taking her to the doctor because she continued to run fevers and she was just miserable. Due to her lack of other symptoms the doctor decided we needed to cath her to check for a UTI. The nurse (or aid lady) came in to catheterize her. She did a terrible job! She missed her urethra multiple times and didn't use sterile technique at all. It really ticked me off, although I completely understand that it is really hard to cath such a little baby... but it didn't make me feel any less angry at this dang nurse/aid. The verdict: she had a UTI. :( I felt horrible! Dr.Grahm reassured me that it was not my fault, but I couldn't help but feel responsible. He gave me a script for Bactrim and one for Zantac(per my request) and sent me out the door. I also got a coupon for Culturelle, I know how aweful antibiotics can be to your stomach! For the next couple days Addie fought the fevers off and on, pretty much couldn't nap unless she was being held or breastfed and we took many baths.. middle of the day or night- she didn't care. My poor baby made me so sad! Then the nurse called a few days later and said that E-Coli had grown out of the culture and Dr.Grahm wanted to have a renal ultrasound and a VCUG done to rule out any anatomical abnormalities or urniary reflux. Joey and I discussed it and finally decided we didn't want to put Addie through that unneccessarily, so we are not going to do it unless she has another UTI. I am so excited to be done with these dang antibiotics! I think they are bothering her stomach (even with the Culturelle) and I just hate giving her that much medicine. I haven't started the Zantac because I didn't want to put too much medicine on her tiny belly. Unfortunately Addie has not napped well or slept very long through the night since this UTI business. She had previously been sleeping 6-8 hours before waking up.. now we are lucky if we get 3 hours. I am hoping all of this will improve once the antibiotics are done (which will be tomorrow- YAY!).
Even though my baby girl felt yucky she still was able to give me some smiles. It seemed that she would always perk up in the 3rd hour after receiving Tylenol. My goodness I sure love this pretty girl!

The Dreaded...

2010-02-19T02:18:00.004-06:00

I started maternity leave exactly one week before I had Addie. I was originally only going to take 12 weeks off of work.. but as the days went on Joey and I decided that just wasn't going to be long enough. I continued to push back my return date until I simply couldn't put it off any longer. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to stay off work and continue having insurance. Darn you insurance!! So.. unfortunately that brought me to the dreaded day of returning to work. I could literally feel part of my heart tearing! I knew Addie would be fine without me, but I was pretty uncertain on whether I would be fine without her. For 14 weeks I was the primary caregiver. I changed her diaper, fed her and was with her 24-7. I absolutely loved it! Jesus put me on this earth to be a mommy and I was taking my job very seriously and enjoying every minute of it! So due to my impending return to work Joey had to buckle down. We had to make sure that Addie and Daddy could survive without me. Joey had yet to change a diaper and now it was time to learn. So, starting on Friday the 12Th, he changed his first diaper, bathed her and did his best to give her a bottle. He did fantastic with the diaper change! Adrianna even gave him a poopy one and he did awesome.
Next came the bath. He put on his swim trunks and jumped in with her. She was really fidgety and didn't do as well as she normally does. I think she could sense that things were about to be changing. :( Joey still did really good with her and didn't let her fussiness get him down. Then... he attempted the bottle. After Christmas we started giving her a bottle every night and she got to the point where she did AWESOME! I quit giving her the bottle at night because she had been doing so well, but Addie showed me how big of a mistake it was. She hated this bottle business. She cried and cried until she finally cried herself to sleep. Talk about heartbroken! I hate seeing Addie crying for the boob and I can't give it to her! She only slept for about 45 minutes and then started the crying again. We decided we just didn't think she was feeling well because while Joey was holding her and trying to calm her down she threw up on him (yummy). After she cried for a while longer we finally decided that she just wasn't feeling well and I should just go ahead and breastfeed her (thank goodness!). I try to stay calm and let Joey do his thing when she is getting really upset about the bottle, but I am always secretly hoping Joey just tells me I can go ahead and feed her and hold her. My heart breathes a sigh of relief when he tells me to go ahead and do my mommy thing with her. :)That night she woke up every 1.5-2 hours (yikes!) The next night, Saturday the 13Th, Addie did phenomenal! She took the bottle great and slept fairly well. Then on Sunday, the 14Th she did fair.. not great.. but not horrible. That brings us to Monday the 15Th.... I literally felt sick to my stomach I was so sad about coming back! I was excited to see everyone at work.. and I love my job. But come on.. I love my job as a mommy much much more! I felt like a cat being put into water and trying to claw my way out. It was such a helpless feeling! But I couldn't just sit and feel sorry myself. So I made sure everything was ready to go for Joey and I cuddled with my sweets as long as I could. When it was finally time to head to work I couldn't help but shed a few tears. I didn't want to, but they just flowed out when I was trying to kiss her goodbye. I might be a little over dramatic.. But I love my daughter more than I could ever put into words and it hurt so bad leaving. With that being said I feel so extremely blessed that I don't have to leave Addie in daycare- she gets to stay home with her daddy. Hopefully soon she will start sleeping better and it will make it easier on him!
Here are a couple pictures of us before my first night back to work:

P.S. Everyone at work was so super great and once I got there I didn't cry again. Also Addie did good with Daddy and didn't give him too much trouble with taking a bottle.. she didn't sleep the greatest, but she hasn't really slept great ever since being sick (that's another blog entry...)

My Valentine

2010-02-19T01:49:00.007-06:00

This was Adriannas first Valentines Day and I had so much fun! Daddy bought Addie her first dozen roses. They were pink and smelled so good. Daddy also bought me a dozen red roses and some wild flowers- they were gorgeous!

I got Addie a Snoopy doll that blows a kiss and then opens its arms for a hug. Its really cute! I know she is a bit young this year.. but she will soon learn to love it. :) I couldn't find a Valentines dress that I really liked for Addie, but luckily I had a really cute dress from one of my baby showers for her. I even had a hair bow that matched her perfectly! Addie looked absolutely adorable! We went out to brunch at the Gaslight Grill. It was yummy!! Addie was so good while we were there. She just hung out in her car seat almost the whole time. She has really been teething lately so I just gave her the teething ring and she was occupied!

Addie talks all the time now! It seems like if I am going to take her picture and I tell her to say "cheese" she will start talking. It is soo cute. That is what is going on here... I love it!

I also bought Addie an outfit that says "Babys 1st Valentines". It is hard to resist!

We had a great Valentines Day as a family and I can't wait to see what the future holds.. they can only get better!! :)

Bath Time Fun!

2010-01-29T12:23:00.006-06:00

My new favorite part of the day is bath time! Addie used to HATE it! The first pictures are from Adriannas first bath at home. I knew she wasn't going to be a fan because the nurses would tell me how much she hated it at the hospital (they had to give her one a couple times because diapers didn't like to stay on her tiny tushy). At first she didn't mind so much but then she was quick to notify us of her displeasure. Because of her hate of baths at the beginning we used to only give her one every other day. I would try and make her baths as comfortable as possible, but would always be super careful about how warm her bathwater was. At my baby shower I received like 3 of those duck thermometers for the bathtub, so I was aware that babies shouldn't have too hot of water. I would always give Addie her bath in our sink, I could fill the water up high enough to keep her warm and wouldn't waste too much water by using our big bathtub. So... around 5 weeks I was giving Addie a bath and at the end of her bath I always spray her off to make sure that all the soap is off. She was crying (like usual) and I started to spray her off with the warm water and then all of a sudden the water starts to get really warm, I was just about to try and make it colder... and Addie stops crying. Yep, Addie is definitely like her momma- she loves hot water (of course nothing too hot... but pretty warm). After that I discovered that as long as I make her baths with nice warm warm water- she loves it. I started to give her nightly baths at about 6 weeks since she was so much fun during bathtime! I started to throw her in the bath with me too- then she REALLY loved her baths. She will just lounge in the bath, kicking and talking. I love it!! It is so nice to spend the quality time together and we both get to relax! So here is some pics of our bath time together. I always put a washcloth on her head to keep her head warm. She seems to like it.. so I keep doing it. I know it looks silly (I think it looks cute!).

With all the bath talk.. I must also tell you that we have had one accident. I decided to give Addie a bath in the middle of the day because she was cranky and acted like she didn't feel well. So we are in the bath and she toots.. and that's alright- no harm there. Then I hear a rumble and the water starts turning yellow- YIKES! So I quickly scoop her up and am standing in this yellow yucky water. That day Addie took her first shower. LOL. The shower went well and I cleaned up the bath tub right after our shower. Even with the accident, I am not afraid to take our nightly bath. Our nightly baths are so much fun!

My Big Girl!

2010-01-18T11:08:00.002-06:00

I may be partial... but I think she is the cutest ever!

Shot In My Heart

2010-01-18T10:28:00.003-06:00

Before the dreaded shots!

Addie is 10 weeks old today! I can't even believe how fast my baby girl is growing up! I don't even realize how big she is getting until I look at all the clothes that she can't wear anymore. :( But... she can't stay tiny forever. She has so much fun stuff to do as she gets older and I am excited for all those things!

Unfortunately, because she is getting older... it is time for vaccinations. I never in a million years thought I was going to be the mom who would cry when her baby got shots or was in pain. I always thought I would think of it more from a medical stand point and just comfort my baby.. but know that it was completely necessary and therefore not get emotional. Boy was I wrong! Addie went for her 2 month check up last Monday and boy was it a doosy! She had to get 3 shots and then the rotavirus vaccine by mouth. Addie has always been a champ at taking medicine by mouth. She takes her gas drops and vitamin D like it is the yummiest stuff around (other than my milk... she really digs that!). She took the rota vaccine just as good- that's my baby! Then it was time for the shots- yuck! The nurse (or aid... I don't know what she is) asked if I had Tylenol and if not she would give me some. I didn't know she was going to give me a bottle of tylenol- had I known that, I wouldn't have even hesitated about asking for some! I had a bottle of tylenol.. but an extra free bottle is always great! So we gave her the yummy tylenol and then it was time. :( I was hoping to be able to breastfeed while she was getting the shots because I had read that it helps decrease the pain quite a bit... but I was fine with feeding afterward. So the nurse/aid held down Addie's legs and I held on to her hands for support. Shot 1 went in and my poor baby looked stunned and then started screaming. My heart nearly fell out on the floor! It was HORRIBLE! Shot 2 & 3 weren't as bad as the first, but shot 1 was enough to break my heart. Luckily as soon as I started feeding her she calmed down. She still would eat a little and then let out a whimper cry to let me know how much it hurt. I had no idea that it would hurt my heart so much! Addie and I were blessed enough to have Aunt Becky with us. It was SOOO nice to have Becky there with me. I could give support to Addie and Becky could give me support! I was in tears and Becky was in tears... a true bonding experience. LOL. I will have to return the favor once Baby Haley starts getting her vaccines! For the rest of the day Addie kind of felt like junk. She took a nap around 6ish and when she woke up she started screaming. I tried feeding her to calm her down and she would eat and then scream.. eat and then scream. It was awful! So I gave her some tylenol and we took a bath together. When Addie and I take baths together she is able to stretch out and soak a little bit. She LOVES her baths now and she enjoys our baths together a lot! Once she was in the bath she calmed down a lot and was able to relax. She then slept fine that night and didn't have any problems after that. Yay! Our first shots done... so many more to come. ;(

On a brighter note- Addie got a clean bill of health and always does great with the doctor! She is such a good baby!!

As The Story Goes- Part 2

2010-01-15T13:00:00.002-06:00

Addie isn't very happy here!

My wonderful friend/nurse Shellie!

I am really sorry that I am just now finishing the story. I rarely get on the computer lately and I always find that there is stuff to do. But... I fear that I am starting to forget stuff about my day of labor- so I really want to finish the story!!

Alright- so I was starting to feel the pressure with every contraction. I could feel my lower abdomen tightening and I could feel pressure on my sacrum. Shellie (my nurse) was turning me quite often (I can't remember if it was hourly or every 2 hours)to make sure the baby didn't come down crooked. Shellie had started pitocin on me pretty early in the morning because after the epidural my contractions started to slow down a bit. She was slowly titrating the pitocin up. The highest I got was 12/hr. Everything was going great thus far. My family was all there pretty much and I wasn't too uncomfortable at this point. And Addie was still doing great.. until about 11am. Shellie came in to turn me to my left side. When she did this she started to mess with my monitor around my belly quite a bit- I didn't think this was weird because that sucker always fell off. Then someone came over the intercom and asked Shellie if she needed any help. Shell said "No, I think its picking up moms heart rate". I don't know much about labor and delivery- just a little from nursing school... but I knew something was probably wrong. The nurse on the intercom stayed on for a sec and then said "Call me if you need help". Its nice that they all watch out for each other! So after that Shellie finally was able to pick up Addies heart rate for sure and YIKES it was in the lower 60s. Shellie hit the call button and asked for a nurse to come in and place a fetal scalp probe. She then put me flat on my back, turned off my pitocin, started a fluid bolus and started me on oxygen. Luckily Shellie is a great nurse and was able to stay calm- because that really helped me not freak out. Addies heart rate came back up finally (slowly but surely) and Shellie told her she couldn't do that again. LOL. After Shellie left the room my mom asked me if that scared me and I started to cry. I didn't realize in the moment how scary it was- but afterward I felt it. Its scary because if anything went wrong- she is inside of me and we couldn't get to her immediately. However, Shellie did a good job of making me feel better and assured me everything was fine. After that anytime Shell would try to turn me Addie would drop her heart rate. I had to continue wearing oxygen for the rest of the day...I'm not going to lie- it sucked. It was a face mask! But oh well- I would do anything to keep Addie safe. I got in trouble a couple times for letting it just sit around my neck (well.. not in trouble, but I was asked to put it back on. LOL) So for the rest of the day I was mostly stuck laying on my back. Sometimes I would try to sit my bed up and Addie would always drop her heart rate. I would frequently hit my stomach and tell her to stop (sometimes it worked!). Shellie would always turn back on the pitocin and then end up having to stop it again and give me another fluid bolus. Dr.Adams came in a couple times and would always say I wasn't as dilated as the nurses would- he sure is stingy! But he continued to be optimistic and let me continue to labor as long as I would continue dilating. Shellie stayed in pretty close contact with him. When I was first admitted he had told Shellie to place a mint on my pillow and give Joey as much demerol as he wanted- LOL... I love him! Ok sorry- back to the story. Well the time kept tickin away and I was very slowly but surely dilating. At one point I felt like I was going to poop (such a horrible feeling!) so I called Shell in and she checked me and I was only a 7. Blah! As the day progressed my body was getting so worn out from the pressure of contractions and being unable to move very much. My back was starting to ache and I had a headache from being so hungry and worn out... I was physically and emotionally exhausted! Everyone kept asking if they should leave to give me quite time to rest and I kept telling them no. It didn't matter if people were there or not- I wasn't going to sleep. I was able to take cat naps here and there, but quality sleep wasn't on the agenda. And that's fine... it was only one day of my life! Around 6ish I was close to 9cm dilated so Shell and another nurse turned me on my stomach/left side and contorted my legs... it was suppose to help me finish dilating. They were ever so gentle to not upset Addie and have her drop her HR. She dropped a little, but then recovered just fine. Finally around 7:45 I was a 10 and fully effaced! YAY!!!! I started pushing and Dr.Adams had warned me that it would probably take around 2 hours to push her out. You guys- I had practiced pushing almost my whole life- I was PUMPED! I was also however having a horrible back ache from the 100 hours of laying on my back. So between contractions Shellie would rub my back- what an amazing nurse/friend!!! I pushed for 15 minutes and then Dr.Adams said he was going to leave for a bit and would come back in 30 minutes to see how much progressed I had made. Joey, Shellie and another nurse Shellie stayed to continue to help me push. Joey and Shellie (number 2) held my legs as I pushed. I was told that I was a "very good pusher" Yay! I had practiced and was hoping I would do a good job! Being told I was a good pusher is one of the best compliments I could have ever received!! :) Well... Dr.Adams came back and NOPE, nothing had happened. He then said he would be back in another 30 minutes and see what would happen. During this time Shellie tried everything possible with me. Dr.Adams had them turn my epidural way down so I could feel when to push (they didn't have to do that... I knew when I was having a contraction anyway- I actually would tell them when I needed to push before the contraction showed up on the monitor). So I could move my legs fairly well- they had me squat and push, they had me hold a towel and pull while pushing... nothing was working. Dr.Adams came back in- notta! Addie still hadn't moved. He let me push another 15 minutes and then said it was time to throw in the towel. He thought a c-section was in order and I certainly believed him after 1.5 hours of pushing and absolutely no progress. They had already taken out my catheter so they had to put it back in- I was SO swollen that they had some difficulties... but got it done. The nurse anesthetist was there and they were just waiting on the anesthesiologist. I didn't go back to have my c-section until after 9:30pm. I was shaking so bad- the nurse anesthesis said it was just from my body being so worn out and all the medications. Because I was shaking so bad the freakin blood pressure cuff kept airing up because it couldn't get a good reading. I was tired, worn out, hungry (I kept talking about what I was going to eat after I pushed Addie out while I was pushing), and emotional. I was in no mood for this stupid cuff- it was hurting my arm and I wanted to break it. I even said a few choice swear words about this dumb blood pressure cuff. So Im in the OR and they are starting to clean me off and I can feel it. I tell the nurse anesthetist and she continues to load me with meds in my epidural. She had me wait just a bit and then asked if I could feel it- I could feel it on the left side.. Oh crap. She talked to the anesthesiologist (who is a jerk!) and he said that if I don't get numb then they were going to have to put me under and Joey would have to leave. She continues to give me stuff and I continue feeling sensation on the left side of my stomach... so they kick Joey out. That sucked! I wanted my husband there to see Adrianna be born and to hold my hand. Shellie quickly moved in and held my hand and tried to make me feel better. Luckily the anesthetist was great and just kept trying to get me numb- mission accomplished. I was numb enough down low that they didn't have to put me under. It was definitely a different feeling on the left side than the left- but it didn't hurt and thats all that counted. They had to find Joey because they had already kicked him out of the OR. Finally it was time to get my baby out! Dr.Adams moved quickly and before I knew it (10:37pm) Adrianna was born. It was the weirdest feeling ever! The beautiful baby I had been growing was finally here and we were spatted. We had been together for close to 10 months- it was weird to have her out of me. She was PO'd!! She was sore and hungry. Joey went over and took pics of her and they started sewing me up. Because I had so much pitocin my uterus didn't think it would be fun to contact back down. Dr.Adams had to massage it and they gave me an IM injection to help it go back down. I also had a JP drain to help get some of the fluid out that didn't want to drain on its own. Crazy huh! So Im all sewn shut and ... the needle count is off. WHAT! I heard Dr.Adams say that I needed an abdominal x-ray because of the needle count and I said "Aww dang it". He laughed and assured me that the needle isn't in me.. they think they know what happened (someone just put an extra tally on the board), but they have to check to be sure. It took FOREVER for them to come do the x-ray. The nurse anesthetist kept asking me if I was feeling sick to my stomach and I kept saying no and then BAM- here comes nausea. I got sick a couple times. Then Joey brought over Addie, we took some pics and then I said "Can you take her, I have to throw up". I was laying flat on my back so it was quite the obstacle to get sick! Joey was holding Addie and trying to keep her calm. She was sore from the long labor and pushing so he found that rubbing her legs and feet kept her calm. By now it was after midnight and I asked Dr.Adams to let my family know everything was ok. They had been in the waiting room since 7:45! I finally get back to my room and get to hold my beautiful baby girl! She was absolutely perfect!! I also breastfed her for the first time- she was HUNGRY and did GREAT! I was so proud of her! My family came back to the room around 1:15ish, everyone held her and then went home- it had been a really long day for everyone! Although the day was crazy long and nothing went according to plan- I would do it over in a minute! I loved it!

Meeting Santa Clause

2009-12-21T12:41:00.005-06:00

After a couple attempts Addie was able to meet Santa Clause yesterday. She did soo good! We even had a wardrobe change in the middle of bass pro but she didn't even care! I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to see Santa (he is pretty popular you know!), so I didn't want to put her in the dress and then not see Santa again. I don't think she likes the dress. The frilly stuff is pretty scratchy. Also, in the first pic I realize that she has her pants to her boobs- I hate that everything is sized so different. She is in mostly 0-3mo clothes so I bought her some jeans in that size and they are HUGE! If I pick her up they fall down. LOL. But she is a growing girl and I know they will fit really soon! For the time being Becky gave me some little white pants that are super adorable and they fit good.

The Story Goes... Part 1

2009-12-21T11:46:00.003-06:00

Hello all! It has been nearly 6 weeks since my beautiful daughter came into this world... and I was thinking its time I get back on the blogging wagon. :) I am home all the time and yet I still don't find the time to blog. Its a shame and I apologize.

I was thinking I would fill you in on the birth story (even though I'm sure anyone who reads my blog is already aware of the days events...) Well, I want to preface this with saying that I absolutely loved it and I am really sad that I will never again get to feel labor or attempt to push out another one of my stubborn babies. The story goes like this: So I went in on Sunday night 11/8 to get my cervidil and the plan was to take out the cervidil in the morning and start my pitocin. So I get to the hospital and my wonderful friend Shellie is there to greet me and be my nurse (how lucky am I??!!). She told me the plan for the night which was pretty much nothing.. a little cervidil, a little monitoring and then attempt to get some good rest for the long day I had in front of me. Shellie did notify me, however, that anytime she gives someone cervidil- their water usually breaks around 3am. I guess that normally your water doesn't break and you don't usually go into labor- strong cramping yes, labor no. But Shellie has her way with things and she has a habit of knocking us preggos into labor and breaking our water. :) Also.. did you know that cervidil is like a long piece of scratchy paper? All this time I thought it was some type of cream or gel- who knew! And also that the cervidil is removed after 12 hours- what the heck?! I also thought that business stayed in you and it just dissolved. Let me tell you- I learned a lot during my hospital stay! So I get my cervidil around 8ish at night and I had to lay in bed for a couple hours and be monitored. Whenever the cervidil is placed you have to lay in bed for 2 hours ( or so.. I can't remember the exact amount of time). You can't even get up to go potty. Also, they don't let you eat or drink during those 2 hours either. So after 2 hours I was able to get up and use the restroom and such, but I had to continue to be monitored via fetal monitor. It was nice to be able to hear Addies heartbeat all the time... but it was a bit loud to try and sleep to. Joey had went and got me a little something to eat and my parents and Joeys parents stayed to keep me company. It was nice. :) Shellie had went home to get some rest since she was going to be my nurse in the morning and the charge nurse took over my care. Around 11:30 Joey decided to head home to try and get some rest and I was suppose to do the same.... I just kept laying there and I could not get comfortable. Those birthing beds are brutal! They are stiff and lumpy. I also kept having to go pee, those fluids were just going right through me. I had been warned about the potential of pretty bad cramping and I definitely had started to notice it around 12:30ish. They didn't help with the sleeping and trying to get comfortable.. I had been offered Ambien or Morphine (what!! Morphine.. really.. just to help me sleep. Oh heavens!) to help me get some rest since Cervidil can cause cramping and such, but I declined. I didn't want anything making me extra tired in the morning and I knew I wasn't going to be able to get a full 8 hours of sleep since the cervidil was going to be removed around 5:30 in the morning or so. That meant Ambien was out and that left me with Morphine. I would have been willing to take morphine if I wanted to make my baby tired and pretend to be a druggy... but I decided I would just be normal and take nothing.. since I'm not a drug seeker. :) So the cramping kept getting a little bit stronger and at times I would look at the monitor to see if it was a contraction. I had NO CLUE how to read the monitor so I would always see 0 and assume I was just being dramatic and I needed to go to sleep. After going potty for the 20th time I decided I should just try to rest in the recliner. I thought that would be a little more comfortable than my bed. I also decided to put on some pants. I only had on my hospital gown and I thought maybe I wasn't able to sleep because I was going camando (Im not a fan of not wearing something on my lower half). I went pee and when I did I felt something funny- like a gas bubble had come down but couldn't come out... it was weird. I then went over to the recliner and leaned back in the chair and then pop. I felt something really funny (down there). I went to the bathroom and when I sat down to pee a big gush came out. I was pretty sure my water had just broke. The water was kinda cloudy and it definitely didn't look like urine. However, I thought it was just wishful thinking, but I thought I should call the nurse in just in case. When she asked what I needed I said "Um.. this is probably really stupid, but I think my water just broke". She came in and looked in the toilet and decided she should check me, and if water leaked out afterward then my water had definitely broken. She checked me and YAY! My water had broken!! I always wanted to know what it felt like. After that the rest of the night if I moved very much more would come out, or if I had a contraction more would come out. It felt really funny.. like I was peeing my pants or something. Needless to say, I was now in active labor- HIP HIP HOORAY! The contractions started coming about 5 minutes apart and were about a 3 on the pain scale. I called Joey around 2:30ish and let him know my water had broken at 1:45. He asked if he should come up and I hesitantly said "No, I guess I will just call you if they get stronger". Around 3:45 they were getting stronger and I felt like they were back to back. The nurse said they were about every 2-3 minutes apart. I was just starting to think I wanted to call Joey and ask if he would come up- and then he walked in the door. YAY! I knew he couldn't do much to help, but I just wanted him there to sit with me. The contractions continued and just kept getting stronger. Finally at about 5:30 I asked the nurse to come check me because I felt like there was no break between contractions and they were really strong. The nurse said "I saw you were having some pretty good contractions, but I didn't want to bother you because I thought you were sleeping". Im glad she agreed that the contractions were "pretty good". :) She checked me and said I was a good 2 cm dilated. WHAT! Only a 2?! Yikes- I had a long day ahead of me. She offered me IV pain medication but I definitely wanted to hold out for the epidural. I didn't want anything that would affect my dear Addie! Joey and I went for a walk and then when I came back to the room my nurse offered me my epidural (by now it was close to 6:30). I asked if it was ok to get it since I was only a 2 and she had previously said most wait until they were a 4 and she said "Oh ya, usually people wait until they are a 4 because their water hasn't broken yet. Since your water has broken you are in active labor and can get one anytime". She also said that since I was having consistent contractions I would be fine to get one. At about 5:45 my wonderful friend Shellie showed back up so she was there for the epidural. Next- in comes the anesthesiologist. I got the epidural at about 7am. Can you say AMAZING! WOW!! He did such a great job!! When I got the epidural I rated my pain at an 8-9 and within a minute it was back to a 3.. then a 0. I can't even describe the feeling- pure bliss. I could barely keep my eyes open I felt so good. Any ache or pain I had previously had vanished. I didn't even realize how many aches I had until they were gone. I stayed in this blissful state for almost 2 hours- after that I started to feel pressure with every contraction.

I know this has been a long read- so I am going to stop here and pick back up a little bit later. :)

Just a Growin Away!

2009-12-01T15:14:00.002-06:00

I can't believe my baby is already 3 weeks old. I feel like I just had her last week! And you know what.. everyday I love her more. Each day I think "I couldn't love her more than I do right now" and then the next day.. BAM- more love has grown! In my first week of having her I would just look at her and tear up because I loved her soo much (do you think that was a wee bit of the hormones..). It doesn't help that she is like the cutest thing I have ever seen. I guess I might be partial, but WOW she is so dang cute! Even her poop face is adorable. I will attempt to get a photo of it next time she poops (which P.S. is like ALWAYS!).

I must say that motherhood is everything I thought it would be. It is amazing, tiring, full of worry and even more full of love. My first week was a big adjustment. My life is so different and it took me a couple days to fully take it all in. I am soo happy for the journey that Joey and I have started, but I had a hard time of letting go of the journey that had ended by having a baby. I knew from the beginning that it would be hard, but add in all those dang pregnancy hormones that my body was getting rid of and I was (as Janet says) "one hot mess". Luckily my family was great and I got thru it. Becky (my sis) was able to come up to the hospital everyday and keep me company. Becky was absolutely GREAT after Addie was born. Joey had to work so much that he wasn't able to be up there as much as he wanted to be, so Beck was able to help me do tasks that I needed much assistance with. She even helped me shower (now thats a good sister!). She had to hold my JP drain while I showered the first day after I had her. Needless to say- I have some big favors to return when she gives birth my beautiful neice Mahayla in March!

For those of you who knew how much I was fretting about how breastfeeding would go- It is a success! I had to use stupid nipple sheilds at first, but Adrianna weaned off of them great and now its going great. I am still a worry wart. I always worry that she isn't getting enough milk (even though she is) and I worry that she snacks too much. Through the night she does great- eats about every 3-4 hours and sleeps great in between. But during the day I worry that I am giving her my boob as a pacifier. I only offer her it when she is acting hungry, but sometimes she will eat for 30 minutes and then 30 minutes later she is ready to eat again... I don't know what to do. I don't want her to use me as a pacifier, but I try everything else first and when she doesn't calm down I feed her (even if she just ate. Anyone who has breastfed before- feel free to comment. When I go back to work I don't want to leave Joey with a baby that requires my boob to be soothed.. but sometimes I think that is all she wants. Is it ok for her to eat so frequently sometimes. And at what age do they get into a routine? So many questions... But the good news is that I am breastfeeding and I can't tell you how bad I have wanted to have this experience! I have dreamed of these sore boobs for you don't know how long! ;) Lately I have started to leak a little on the opposite boob whenever I am feeding her. LOL. I don't mind, I just like to see my milk be in good supply!

Alright- I am sorry for all the rambling. I obviously need to write more often! I have started to write about her birth- thats a long one folks. So I am hoping to get that one up before too long.

Simply Amazing

2009-11-11T13:00:00.005-06:00

I will post the whole rocky road birth story soon, but for now I just want to say... Wow! She is so perfect and I can't believe she is mine. Born at 10:37pm, 7.05lbs and 21 inches long. She has become quite the eater so I am pumped for engorgement so I will have something more to give her! :) Here are a couple pics that my sister took. She is a good mix of Joey and I both. Also I just want to say that I had the best nurse EVER (she is also a best friend!). Her name is Shellie and she stuck with me from 5:45am until 11pm- she was there through every bump in the road and got Adrianna and I to the end safe and sound. I couldn't love her more!!

Update!

2009-11-04T14:59:00.002-06:00

Dr.Adams nurse called me and I am being induced on MONDAY! Holy cow! They originally wanted me to go in tomorrow night and have the cervidil and then start pitocin early Friday morning. However, because Joey has 2 big jobs that are being done right now, we decided Monday would be better. So I will go into the hospital on Sunday night to get the cervidil and then start the pitocin on Monday morning. I am soo excited and sooo nervous about being a mom!! I am really excited because a good friend from nursing school, Shellie, is going to be my nurse on Monday! She is even coming in on Sunday night to get me started- isn't she amazing! Hopefully all goes well and a c-section can be avoided, but I know the chance is there and I am fine with that. Wish me luck and I will let you know how everything goes! :)

And I Keep On...

2009-11-04T10:49:00.003-06:00

One week until my due date! And although that sounds sooo close... I don't think its gonna happen. I have been having my weekly appointments and at first my progress was great. I went from 25% effaced at week 36 to 60-70% effaced at week 37. Then.. week 38 threw me a curve ball and decided that no more progress would be required and my daughter still thought it would be tons of fun to not engage in my pelvis. Oh boy is she proving to be a little turkey! I didn't get to see Dr.Adams last week, instead I saw Dr.Dowd. He was really nice, but also not very optimistic about my small pelvis. After he checked me last week he said "Well... I have seen smaller" and gave a small chuckle. Yikes! He also reiterated the point that an induction while she hasn't dropped and I haven't progressed much would not be beneficial at all and would mostly end in c-section. This darn pelvis! So this week (today) I had my appt with Dr.Dowd again because I couldn't get into Dr.Adams, when he checked he said I was dilated to a 1, but everything else was the same. Ugh! What is Addy/Miras deal?! I have given her pep talks, I have used a downward motion when putting on my lotion and I have been sitting on my exercise ball in a manner that should encourage her to drop... yet I still sit here with my daughter all balled up in my hip. What is so darn cool about my hip?! There is one blogger who said she has always imagined that if your baby doesn't want to come out then your uterus must be similar to a fancy hotel. I have been trying to think of what hotel my uterus resembles. Maybe The Fairmont... or Ritz Carlton? Because the way this child acts it certainly isn't like Motel 6 or The Super 8... oh no, it is much nicer than those! Maybe she enjoys the pillow like cushioning in there, who knows!
I feel like it is muy importante to say that I don't mind having a child that likes to stay in my womb, maybe I should take it as a compliment. The only thing that worries me is that I can't deliver too large of a baby. I can't deliver anything in the 8s or up. And Dr.Dowd seemed a little pessimistic about a late 7s baby. I had a photoshoot last week to see how big she was and thankfully she was 6lb 10oz. Which is really good! However, the longer she cooks the bigger she gets. What that means my dear readers is that the clock is ticking. After my appt today I called and left a message with Dr.Adams to call me so I can figure out the plan of care. I just need to know how far they will let me go.... I will update you once I get word from Dr.Adams. I do get to see him next week (Whoo hoo!). Here are a couple pics from the last few weeks.

The Fun Continues

2009-10-19T03:26:00.003-05:00

Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading this little blog of mine. I know that I am not as good at updating it as I once may have promised.. and for that I must apologize. Also- I know that on multiple occasions I have provided TMI. Well folks.. this blog will continue that tradition. If you have a weak stomach or don't enjoy TMI- you need to go up to your address line and type in another site to go to. I will write this blog and attempt to not be too graphic.. but no promises. :)

Well my unilateral pitting edema continues. I thought that if I drank enough water then I can stop the swelling.. but no such luck. I am pretty sure it is because I continue to wear my crocs. I need to just wear my tennies, they provide much more support for my waddling legs. I realized that it is mainly the right side (the left swells, but on a much smaller level than the right). Last week when I got off work the swelling was a definite 2+ pitting edema. It was quite the site. It took a couple days to completely come down. I have began another 3 in a row and the swelling has already began. I have attempted to take a picture of it, but I must admit it does not do it justice. LOL

I went to the doctors for my 36 week appt. That appointment started the beginning of my weekly appointments. Whoo hoo! I am siked about getting to hear my babies heartbeat weekly (and also get checked for dilation weekly!!). Wow, I gotta tell ya- there is nothing better than having someone reach up and push at your cervix. This 36 week appt also included my strep b swab (there is nothing like a vaginal-rectal swab!) and checking for dilation. Dr.Adams ended up having to be at surgery that day so I had to see the nurse midwife. I was nervous that she wasn't going to check me for dilation- you have no idea how much I was looking forward to this part of my appt. So I made sure to make a point and ask if she was going to check me. Much to my happiness- I was checked!! I was 25% effaced with no dilation. The midwife said that my dear daughter is head down (which she has been for a while) however she is not completely wedged down into my pelvis. She felt Antebellums head, but then the baby quickly moved her head up. She said once Antebellum wedges down into the pelvis further I will much more quickly dilate. So with that being said... I think I may have dilated a little bit. I was using the restroom and felt something a bit funny "down there" and when I went to wipe I got this big blob of clear mucus. That my friends.. was my mucus plug... and I lost it! Whoo hoo! It was not bloody at all- which makes me think I am not very dilated at all. I read that if it is bloody that means that you have opened up quite a bit and some small blood vessels that have dilated with the cervix have started bleeding a little. I guess time will tell... but I have told my dear daughter to hold until Nov 1st. But if she chooses to go ahead and come in October- I won't be mad. :) I have posted a pic of dilation and effacement below.. enjoy!

The Clock Keeps Tickin

2009-10-09T10:46:00.005-05:00

35 Weeks and 2 days. Holy molly I am not even 2 weeks away from being full term. Crazy!! The whole pregnancy thing has been wonderful! I know I need to enjoy it now because soon enough I am going to be going on no sleep and have sore boobs ( I can't wait!!). :) My baby girl has settled down and isn't awake all the time now. I'm hoping she is going into more of a better sleep/wake pattern. She is also very good to me! Anytime I start to get concerned that she hasn't moved in a while, I will place my hand on my stomach and she will kick it. Its as if she knows exactly what I'm thinking and she puts my mind to rest. Baby girl has also started getting the hiccups. They are so adorable!! Joey felt them on Wednesday- they felt as if they were in my hip bone. She must be pretty low by now. Because if I walk more than 5 steps I feel like I am going to tinkle in my pants. I guess a pantie liner should be called a necessity by this point... And then whenever I do go tinkle, it is max 200ml. I feel like my bladder is going to explode and then when I sit to pee I barely pee anything. It can be a bit frustrating. When I was running the vending route with Joey on Wednesday, I peed like 8 times (we only have 8 locations we go to). Joey is a trooper though and doesn't say much when I have to pee twice at the same location. :) He only has a couple more weeks of the constant peeing.

I also have recently started to swell a bit. It is definitely not symmetrical. I swell more to the right ankle than the left.
Dr.Adams said it is probably the way she is laying and putting pressure more on my right hip than my left. However.. I did discover somewhat of a solution to the swelling. See, I was told the more water you drink the less swelling you should have. And I was doing magnificent on my drinking- always drinking at least 64oz/day. However, once she dropped so low I thought she was going to push out my bladder.. I slowed down (alot). I would notice I was only drinking like 30oz/day max. It was at that point that I started swelling. So, in the last 3 days I have started back on my heavy drinking and there hasn't been hardly any swelling- even after I ran the vending route! Whoo hoo! Maybe at my next doctors appt I won't have such an increase in my weight since the swelling has went down. Only time will tell.

My next doctors appt is next Friday. At that point they will swab me for Strep B and check me for dilation. Whoo hoo! I can't wait.. is that weird?! Probably, but I don't care! And then at 38 weeks I am going to have a sonogram to see how big the baby of mine is. That way we know if I can push her out. I have started to not eat anything in hopes of her not gaining any more weight... YA RIGHT. I don't care if she has to be a c-section baby. I just want a healthy baby! But honestly, my hopes are to have her naturally. I guess Jesus is the only one who knows what will happen. :)

P.S. I have finally updated my belly pics. However.. I skipped my 32 week photo shoot. Not intentionally, just because I was so outrageously tired and couldn't get motivated to take the pic. So I have a 30 wk, then a 34 and 35 wk photo up. Sorry for such delay!!
I also have pics from the baby showers.. they were awesome! I will try and post those soon!

Finally The Pics!

2009-09-15T09:45:00.004-05:00

First I want to show off my beautiful daughter. She was absolutely perfect when I saw her during my 3D sonogram. She even smiled. The tech lady did however have to have me lay updside down and on my left side to get this darling baby to cooperate.. but I don't mind. Anything for a good photoshoot!!

Next is a pic of my belly button. I have been told by a couple people that it looks like a butt hole. Thank you Pam, Christa and Brenda.. No, it doesn't bother me. So you can be the judge. If this bare belly business creeps or grosses you out- I apologize and you don't have to look. Also important to note- I had just taken a shower and lubed up with my vitamin E oil and cocoa butter, so I look a bit greasy. The same goes for my 30 week pic at the top of the blog.

I felt that a side view of the belly button was better because I have verbalized my strong feelings about how front pics of a belly are dumb. What is the point of them? You can't see how big the person is...

Wobbling Happy

2009-09-14T22:45:00.005-05:00

As my stomach continues to expand beyond an imaginable size, the wobbling continues to worsen. I began to have the pregnancy waddle at about 22 weeks or so, and boy has it gotten more impressive! I don't mean to walk that way, it just happens. I personally think it is because my legs have continued to expand as well. There is no denying the fact that my butt and legs have grown a bit too. I just blame it on making my body more prepared to carry this extra weight in front. However.. it is probably because I am just a lard butt. Oh well- I have every intention to work my butt off (literally) during the 12 weeks I'm off work (of coarse I will only work out intensely the last 6). I have continued my leg exercises as well as my tricep dips- but Jesus continues to provide me with cushion to support this baby (YIKES!). My weight gain has been appropriate thus far- but I still have 8 weeks left.
I also am one of those preggos that find it appropriate to hold her stomach while walking. I do this for a couple reasons. 1. Anytime I walk my bladder suddenly has absolutely no room at all.. none. So if I hold my stomach up a bit it takes a little pressure off. 2. I like to hold my baby. I like her to know that I am always thinking of her.. always. And I think that if I let her know that I love her so much- maybe she won't poke at my bladder. I mean, she can if she wants. I don't really mind.. but if she wants to be kind to my bladder- super! P.S.- ONLY 8 WEEKS! Holy cow! That is 5 weeks till full term. I couldn't be more psyched. I am off for 3 days and I am hoping to get a small amount of work done on the baby room and hopefully the baby's bathroom. We will see..

Speaking of the babies room- I just re bought the babies bedding and the valance that matches because they were on sale and I saved $20. Whoo hoo! I originally spent $140 for just the bedding and then Target had a baby sale, so I took back the bedding and got back all my money and then re bought the bedding AND the valance and only spent $120. Now that is what I call a deal! I also bought the breast pump on sale- $30 off. I am very excited about that- AND I got a $20 target gift card for buying a medela pump. I bought the Pump In Style Advanced. I have heard good things, I hope they prove to be true. I am going to be devastated if breastfeeding doesn't work out. I so badly want to use boobie juice as my baby girls primary source of nutrition. :) Plus- I am counting on that as another way to help me lose weight.

Running Randall

2009-09-14T21:59:00.003-05:00

Joey and I recently had the pleasure of loaning out garage space to a fuzzy fella. We have decided to name "Running Randall" (actually Joey came up with the name). We kept finding weird things happening in our garage. We do vending and so we have a box of pastries (has donuts, cupcakes, zingers..ect), well when we went to get some of the pastries out we noticed that we had a couple packages of donuts that were open. The first package was crumb donuts (yummy!), and they only had a few nibbles out of them. The second package was powdered and they had like 3 donuts missing. Joey asked if I knew what the deal was and of course I had no idea. Joey then said that he kept finding stuff knocked off the shelves in our garage. And it was stuff that was on shelves really high up on the wall. Obviously we were baffled.. but we had no other reason to suspect a mammal friend visiting us and shacking in the garage. THEN.. on Saturday night we were hosting a Reid Shindig and Joey went to the garage to grab something and he saw an animal run across the garage. First and foremost we had to make sure it wasn't our first fuzzy child- The Son Bun. Thank goodness it wasn't, I would feel awful if he was stuck out in our garage. So.. we looked all over our garage and couldn't find this little critter. Important to note though- our garage is organized and recently cleaned, but still very very jammed full of stuff due to Joeys business. We kept hitting things on the walls hoping that this intruder would show his/her face- but no luck. Later on at like 2am Joey went to the garage and saw a possum run across the floor and vanish. We again looked very hard for him/her- but still no luck. This little turkey was probably "playing possum". What a little jokester this little animal is! Sunday my mom and step dad David come over- David used to be an animal control officer and this certainly wasn't his first rodeo when it came to getting a possum. However- Joey and David had the same issue that we had already had, this possum was playing dead somewhere and was no where to be found. We decided setting a trap would be the best way to hopefully catch this furry friend (even though Randall had it pretty good in the garage- plenty of food, space and privacy). Joey set the trap late in the evening and I had to go to work. Later, when I talked to Joey he informed me that we only had "one fuzzy guy living at our house now". Apparently Joey had went to grab something from the garage and Randall was caught red handed hiding behind the box Joey needed to get into. Randall got a little spooked and tried to run but was partially paralyzed from the fear of Joeys big muscles and the fact that he was holding cat tongs (which are similar to the old people grabbers). Joey grabbed Randall under the armpits with the tongs and carried him to the street as quickly as possible. Joey said Randall looked pretty scared and hissed a couple times. As soon as he let Randall go he ran rather quickly down the street. Poor Randall, but we just have too much stuff in the garage to let him permanently shack up out there. Here are a couple pics of cute little possums- the first is my favorite. I love how the babies are just holding on to their mother for dear life! I also love how Joey has just as soft of a heart for animals as I do- I think I picked a pretty great husband!!

Sooo Close

2009-09-10T05:03:00.004-05:00

Once again I have managed to go over 1 month since my last blog. Wow.. I really suck at this blogging business. I just get tired or busy and my blog suffers horribly. Well, only 62 days till the due date of my daughter(I can't beleive I get to say that)! That is very very close in case you weren't aware. Because 62 days is only about 2 months and... wow! The pregnancy has gone by so fast! I have started to get serious about getting ready for the baby.. finally. I recently bought the high chair, bed set and the furniture. Of course, I waited until most of these were on sale to buy. However, I do have to return my bedset and rebuy it because it is now on sale with free shipping. Whoo hoo! I am all about saving $30! I have registered at Babies R'Us and Target- that was quite an adventure! My baby shower is going to be September 26th and I am pumped. My work shower is going to be the 24th and I am also really excited about that one as well. It will just be nice to be all ready for this precious baby. I am hoping to get the room painted pretty soon and then we can set up the crib. I also had my 3D (it was actually 4D) ultrasound last week. I will tell you more about that later, but Baby Antebellum proved how turkeyish she can be!

Here is a pic of the highchair that I bought. It is pretty nifty. It is a highchair that can also turn into a booster seat and then a "toddler seat". I have included a pic of all 3 ways the chair can be used. It is pretty nice.

I also will post my 28 and 30 week photos within the next couple days. I promise to do another blog by next week. :)

96 Days!

2009-08-07T12:23:00.002-05:00

Lately time has been going by really fast. Joey and I have been really busy lately and when we aren't working or doing vending we just want to sit, relax and not do a darn thing. Well.. while I was being busy, time has just flown by! I only have 96 days left with this wonderful growing baby girl. I can't even believe it!! She has been so super active lately, I love it. I like that she lets me know that she is ok and that she is continuing to grow and get stronger. My belly has really taken off lately as well. In the last 2 weeks strangers have started to ask me about my pregnancy "When are you due", "How far along are you", ect. It has been such a delight. :) I worked hard on growing this belly and I am more than happy to discuss it.
Here is the only problem with getting closer and closer to the grand entrance... I am not ready AT ALL! I haven't started to prepare her room, I haven't started buying things and I still have no idea what we are going to name her. Do I feel a little anxious about this: YES! At work everyone keeps having there babies and each time it happens I think "Crap MB, what are you doing? You need to get off your lazy butt and get that room ready, clean the house and register". But instead.. nothing.. I do nothing. I know that we still have 14 weeks till due date, but if 26 weeks have flown by this fast- I can only imagine how fast 14 weeks will. I did pick out a dresser and book shelf that I think will go with Joeys old crib (if we use it). We just need to order it. It is on clearance- thank goodness! The amount of money they charge for furniture is enough to make me throw up!! Once we have that, I think it will all come together nicely. I am planning on have the baby shower on Sept 26th (thats a whole nother story.. sigh). But I am really excited for that! It is going to be a couples shower- should be fun.
On Tuesday I did my glucose tolerance test- it wasn't too bad. I drank the orange glucola. You are suppose to drink it within 5 minutes and I drank it within 3 (Do I get extra points for that?). I had worked the night before so I had to stop eating at 4 am- at least I think I did. I was pretty sure that Dr.Adams said you had to fast for 4 hrs prior to the test. I actually cheated a bit. I ate some yogurt at 4:10, and it took me a bit to eat it. Side note: A&E yogurt was on sale for 39 cents. Yummo! That is my favorite! I bought like 24 of them- those suckers are usually like 72 cents!! Ok, back to the GTT. So I drank the stuff and then went to the lab to have my blood drawn. Holy cow, I am pretty sure they used an 18 guage to draw my blood- it certainly wasn't a 22! Good thing I had a honkin vein for them. The lady asked how far along I was and I said 26 with the anticipation that she was going to say " You don't look like you are that far along"- everyone says that (or they used to). But nope, she said "You look further along than 26 weeks". She even asked if it was twins. LOL. I don't think I am that big- but I still enjoyed the comments. Like I said before- showing off this belly is a pleasure. :) After the test I did feel a bit nauseous because I had drank so much sugar on an empty stomach, but other than that I was fine. I do feel like it is a bit crazy to put a preggo npo for any certain period of time! Couldn't they just let me eat meat and cheese until I drank my sugar water? Oh well.. I survived. I will hopefully find out today if I passed- wish me luck! :) I have my 26 week doctors appt today and then I go every 2 weeks. Hip hip hoorey!!! I posted my 26 week photo and I also posted a photo with my shirt down- you will probably like that one better. Hopefully you aren't getting tired of the bare belly pics. ;)

Slightly Emotional

2009-08-04T15:04:00.005-05:00

I must say my pregnancy emotions have been at an all time high. Heavens... Joey probably doesn't even know what to do with me. I cry so easily! Not only do I cry crazy easy- but I am quick to get mad about something. I do attempt to have a handle on these OOC emotions- but when tears start to well up there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop them. And I will continue crying as long as someone asks me about it. And all I can say is "I don't know.. I guess its these dang pregnancy emotions". LOL A couple weeks ago I had a crying outburst prior to leaving for work and Joey just tried to cheer me up- but there was nothing he could do. The next day after I got up from sleeping (at 5:00 because Joey had crawled in bed with me so I slept an extra 1.5 hours), I went downstairs to find flowers on the kitchen table! Joey had bought me these gorgeous flowers. And on top of that he had also went and had my prevacid prescription filled. I had ran out of the free samples and hadn't gotten my script filled yet. I had told Joey that my heartburn was nearing an all time high and that if I didn't work extra that night I was definitely going to get my prevacid (because P.S. Prevacid is AMAZING!). So he went ahead and got my script filled- it was sitting behind the flowers. He is such a great husband. I am very lucky to have him. Hopefully he will continue to want to keep me. I must get these emotions under control. Although, I must say.. it has been a bit better these last couple weeks. So maybe it was just a horrible 4 week stretch of a surge in hormones. Who knows. Here is a couple pics of the pretty flowers. :)

Domination Continues

2009-08-04T14:52:00.003-05:00

Wiffle ball has been going strong again this year. Man I love me some wiffle ball. Joey has been out of control with his pitching- he should be a shoe in for the Cy Young Award. Im so proud of him! He continues to be undefeated while pitching. This year he made the all star team. North vs South. The first team for the North (Joeys division) was made up of The Hicktown Bombers (Joeys team). haha. They are pretty much amazing! The second team was made up of two players from The Woodcocks (Chris B- pitcher and Jim K) and Cody from Soco. The first got a strong lead in the beginning and then the second team finished the south off. Really, its no surprise. The North is undoubtedly the stronger division. Here is a couple pics of the winners!

Ages

2009-07-12T01:53:00.003-05:00

I am very very sorry for the outrageous delay in updating my blog. I can only blame it on laziness and tiredness. I am so tired and so busy.. horrible combo. Not that the tiredness is anything outlandish or horrible.. just continuous. When my alarm goes off at 3:30 to wake up, I am having the hardest time getting up and keeping my eyes open. Maybe it is because I am growing a baby or it could be because I only get backaches when I sleep which decreases the quality of sleep. I don't know.. but its silly. However, I don't mind, just another reminder of my sweet baby growing in my womb.
Speaking of my womb, I absolutely love to feel the borders of my uty (uterus). I frequently ask Joey to feel it. I wonder how he feels about that. I mean, I don't ask him to feel it inappropriately.. just to feel the borders and when it is tight. I love the growth every week. Lately it has been tightening up and you can feel it really well. It tightened up while I was at the OBs office and he said he thought it was just the way she was laying because it wasn't completely firm in all quadrants. (Can you tell I enjoy talking about the uterus?) :) It is so weird to know how big it is compared to my pre-pregnancy uty. It is now about 2 inches above my belly button. Which, by the way, is really starting to flatten out. I used to have somewhat of a deep belly button, I don't know why.. just what Jesus gave me. But now it is slowly coming closer and closer to the surface of the rest of my belly. I wonder if it will pop out at any point or just get flat. Only time will tell. :)

So I had my 22 week appointment on Friday. All went amazingly well. Babies heart rate was 140 (super!) and she was moving lots. The nurse kept having to chase her around my belly to get a good consistent reading. Already as ornery as her father and I. Joey has been able to go to all of my appointments except for one. It has been wonderful to have Joey at my appointments. I think it is so cute that he wants to go to them all. He is going to be such a great father!! Dr.Adams started measuring my belly at this appointment. I was so excited when he said he was going to measure my belly. I don't know why I was so excited.. probably because it is related to pregnancy and I love it! I measured slightly big at 23 weeks, but he said it really depends on your pelvic shape. And he said the measurement is just the starting point and the ones after this are the most important because they note my growth. I only have one more appointment that is 4 weeks apart then I go to q2 week appointments. Whoo hoo!! And only 2 more weeks till viability! Not that being born at 24 weeks would be good.. but at least it would be viable.

My tummy growth has really taken off lately. I still need to post my 22 week photo, but you can see the outrageous growth from 18-20 weeks. I love it! My original plan was going to be to take a photo every week after 20 weeks. But I think I am going to stick to the q2 week photos until about 36 weeks. After that I will take them weekly due to the possibility of having the baby. Hard to imagine I have less than 18 weeks till my due date. I know that sounds like a lot of weeks, but it is only about 4 months away. CRAZY!! Another amazing development- Joey and I felt her kick on Thursday. I had felt her kick inside- inconsistently but still... I could feel it. Then on Thursday I was laying on the floor and she started to kick and I could feel it on my hand. So I had Joey feel her and it was so neat!! I love that we were able to feel her at the same time. I didn't want it to be one of those things where I could feel it for weeks before he did- I wanted to share this moment with him. Funny, as I was typing about her kicking- she started to kick. What a silly goose. I guess she knows what I am thinking about. :) Its weird, its almost like I know when she is getting ready to kick. I have this weird feeling in my gut, almost like my stomach is dropping, and then she starts to move and kick. Have I mentioned how adorable she is?!
Alright.. that's enough for now. Sorry for the long post. Much to update you on. I will attempt to 1.Post my 22 week photo soon and 2. Update more often. :) Wish me luck.

Time to Introduce To You..

2009-06-12T17:19:00.006-05:00

This is my growing baby girl. Isn't she adorable!! I can't even believe that this adorable little person is inside of me.. just baking away until its time to pop open the oven and introduce her to the world. By the size of her the adjusted due date was 11/6, however they are going to keep my due date 11/11. I am kind of happy about that because I like that date. It just seems exciting and fun to say.
I went to the doctors on Wednesday (sorry for the delay in writing.. I have been a little exhausted to say the least). I first had my sonogram and it was delightful! The ultrasound technician was super nice and funny. I have to admit I was terrified coming into this photo shoot. I was so worried that Baby Antebellum was not going to be healthy.. or her heart wouldn't be beating. The good news.. the worrying was for no reason. She was as healthy as a .. I don't know. Something very healthy. We got a really good picture of her heart, which was so adorable and little. Her tummy was the size of a pea. It is so little. No wonder she only requires 10 or so calories a day. At the beginning of the ultrasound I told the tech that I had told the baby to cooperate so we would know if it was a boy or a girl. Right after I said that Baby Antebellum shook her head no. I just knew we would have a stubborn baby. Thats what Joey and I get for always being stubborn and hard headed as kids. :) I was a little concerned about the babies position.. it didn't look too comfortable. She was laying/floating on her back and her legs were up over her stomach, like her body was in a V position. The lady said it was completely fine and that she would move positions a lot... and the positions normally don't look too comfy. Baby Antebellum was so calm during this photo shoot. She had her hands up by her face and would just move her little face sometimes along with opening and shutting her mouth. Yumm... amniotic fluid. I was very relieved to know that I do have plenty of amniotic fluid. This was a worry of mine only because I read too many blogs. But she had good healthy kidneys and my mind was set to rest. YAY!

Next was my appointment with Dr.Adams. It was very uneventful. He just said that Baby Antebellum and I were very healthy and everything looked great. He also said that I only have 2 more appointments that will be spread 4 weeks apart. Holy cow! 2 more months and I will be seeing him every 2 weeks. Yay!! That milestone seems so far, yet so close. I also asked about my weight gain since it has been minimal and he said everything was fine. As long as my baby was growing perfectly.. then there was nothing to worry about. Whew! He said that in the next 10 weeks I could gain 12-20lbs in water weight and swelling alone. YIKES! I am totally for gaining weight to keep baby healthy.. but come on.. swelling! I don't want to gain 20lbs in swelling. Oh well, it all comes with the territory and I will take was Jesus blesses me with. Just as long as Baby Antebellum stays healthy.

Next issue: Naming this little princess. We originally thought that we would name her Adrianna Marie. But then I decided I liked the name Maribella Lynn. Needless to say.. we have no clue what we are going to go with. If we name her Adrianna we will call her Addie for short and if we name her Maribella we will call her Mari (sounded like Mara) for short. Only time will tell what this beautiful girl will be called. Please feel free to comment on your favorite name. :)

The Count Down Begins

2009-06-06T22:18:00.003-05:00

Four more days till I find out if Baby Antebellum is an Anthony or an Adrianna/Maribella !! Yeah!! The suspense is killing me. The current poll says that I am having a boy. The chinese gender chart says girl..except if I put in my birthday and the date of conception- then it says boy. My maternal instinct says.. nothing. It says NOTHING! How can I not have a single clue about what this baby could be?! Oh well, Im not too mad at myself. This is only my first pregnancy.. cut me some slack.

Next on the agenda: My baby has decided it would be fun to start kicking me. I thought I felt it at week 15 (I know its early) and I became positive about the feeling last Thursday. And I must say.. It is soo fun!! I wish I could feel it consistently, but I can't yet. I wouldn't describe this wonderful feeling as a butterfly flutter or as "gas bubbles", but more like a true jab or kick. Not a hard kick by any means.. but a small tiny adorable jab. I am positive that this baby is going to have the strength of Joey. Joey has pretty big muscles and I imagine baby Reid does as well. When I go for the ultrasound on Wednesday, I think that if they measured the babys thigh muscles and biceps.. they would be HUGE! I bet he/she will have big baseball pitcher legs and calves... just like daddy. :) I am already a proud glowing mommy about how strong Baby Antebellum is!

I have also developed a bit of a leak problem..not bad though. I had no clue that colostrum could even start coming in this early. Thank goodness I have my pregnancy consultant (Ashley Wrecke) to talk to about all my symptoms. She does a tremendous job of reassuring me that this is all normal. So.. I have started to pump so that I can save every bit of this precious nutrient filled fluid. Haha. I'm just kidding- that would be crazy!! On a side note- I am so glad to have Ashley right now and I know that I will be even more happy after this baby is born. I am going to use her as my lactation consultant.. and I think that she will be amazingly supportive and reassuring. I have already started to prepare myself for a difficult first month or so with breastfeeding- but I am still crazy excited about this wonderful mommy opportunity!!

I was consoling a baby last night and I started to think that in nearly 5 months I will be consoling my own child. I feel so amazingly blessed that I can't even describe the emotion! I have wanted to be a mommy since I was a little girl. Now it is coming true and it is unbelievable. Jesus has blessed me with a super great pregnancy (knock on wood) and I don't even know what to say. I love this growing belly of mine! I am doing my darnedest to keep only my belly growing and not my butt, thighs, face and arms.. but whatever Jesus blesses me with I will be happy. I know that no matter what- there will be some much needed workouts to be completed following this babys arrival. I am trying my hardest right now to work out.. but it is so hard with Joeys business and working full time. That is still no excuse.. so I will get my butt in gear. Maybe starting on Tuesday, when my 4 in a row will finally be complete. I want to start strength training.. at a moderate pace. Joey has started to eat good recently and since he is the amazing cook in our house.. we have had some amazingly good (tasting and good for us) meals. Plus I am having a bit of a fruit addiction lately.. ooh and a milk addiction. YUMMY! So thankfully this baby hasn't made me crave any food that is very bad- isn't Baby Antebellum amazing!!

Well wish me luck at my ultrasound and I will update you asap after my ultrasound. After we tell our parents of course.. Ooh! And I will also have to post my 18 week photo (Can you believe I will be 18 weeks!!!).

Bridal Bliss

2009-05-27T23:47:00.003-05:00

Becky had her bachelorette party a couple weeks ago. I went out to dinner with all her crazy friends and it was a blast. I didn't go out after dinner because I had been fighting a pretty severe headache. But I think Becky had a lot of fun that night.. I thought I would post a couple pics from the night. You can tell the who the preggo one is.. the one who is all conservative in the attire.

Just A Growin

2009-05-27T23:17:00.005-05:00

24 weeks to go!! Yay! Everything has been going smoothly. I was unable to post a pic in photobucket tonight due to the computer I am on.. so here is the most recent pic. I know that it is harder to see my growth when it isn't next to the previous pic.. but this is all you get for now. I definitely think I am growing. My mom said "Wow. You look pregnant today". I loved it needless to say!

Symptoms wise.. heartburn continues. That was a no brainer. I knew I would have it, no biggy. At the least I think I can handle a little burning esophagus and stomach. I have some prevacid that I got for free that I will soon start taking. I got it from my PCP a while ago to try, I just figured that I would wait till I was preggo because I could only imagine that that's when I would need it most. I am still holding off until it is close to unbearable. Its funny, my stomach isn't that big, yet when I sit up it puts alot of pressure on my stomach and esophagus and up comes the acid.
Next.. my boobs are finally growing! Yay! I have now reached C status. I have never had the luxury to be in the C status before and I gotta say.. I am loving it. I wonder how huge they will get when they are engorged with milk.. maybe D status?! On the subject of boobs... well this picture says it best.

You can thank Katie Mo for that wonderful illustration. :) That illustration had a couple more fun pictures with it.. hopefully I will be able to find a reason to post those soon.

Also, headaches have become more of an issue. Holy cow. Sometimes I think my head is going to fall off. Last weekend I even called the doctor because I had a headache for 3 days strait.. with no relief. I would go to bed with a headache and then wake up with one. 1000mg of tylenol could knock the pounding to a dull knock... but still.. crap! The doctor said that the only symptom in pregnancy that causes headaches was preeclampsia.. and that was highly unlikely at my stage in pregnancy (which I completely knew and didn't think that was the issue). I had just been told that if you have a headache for several days you should notify your doctor. So I did.. and it was dumb. He told me to go to the ER since I had a headache for so many days without relief. I said "Ok, thanks". Then.. I went on with my day. Really?! I am not going to go to the ER for a stupid headache. That seems a bit excessive doesn't it. I might as well be going to the hospital because I have vaginal discharge. C'mon.. lets be real. So I started to drink 1 cup of tea a day. I figured that excedrine migraine has caffeine in it.. so it must help a little. It is amazing. Technically you can have 200mg of caffeine a day and I am only drinking about 30mg. So... alls well. And I must say that the headaches have improved slightly. I quit drinking tea for 4 days and the headaches have slowly started back up. I had a mega one last night. Possibly important to note- the weather has NO IDEA what it wants to do. 60s-80s.. never know what it wants to do. Ridiculous! Oh well, I can manage.

I get to find out the sex of this baby in 2 weeks. WOW! 2 weeks is so close.. yet ages away. Please post what you think this baby is going to be, I must write it down in my pregnancy book that Katie B gave me. :)

Checkup Time

2009-05-15T11:08:00.004-05:00

I had my 14 week checkup on Wednesday and everything was great. Doodles Baby had a heart rate of 153.. very excellent. And I hadn't gained too much weight, thank goodness. Don't get me wrong, I want to gain enough to have a healthy baby and a healthy pregnancy.. but we don't need to be going all willy nilly with the weight gain. Only 4 more weeks till I (hopefully) get to find out if Baby Antebellum is a boy or girl. I am soo excited to get to call this little munchkin by a name. It is so crazy to think that this little tiny being is growing inside of me. I think I quite enjoy being an incubator. :) I have posted my 14 week photo. It looks like I am growing quite a bit. Yesterday morning I woke up and BAM.. my belly was even bigger, just from the night before. I am hopeful that I can keep those pesky stretch marks away.. but also realistic and know how high the potential is that they will creep up on me. I talked to Dr.Adams about the voiding issue and he said that it can be quite normal due to how big my uterus is and how it is taking up a lot of my pelvic space.. including my bladders area. He also said it should subside within a couple more weeks or so. Soon the uterus will come out of my pelvic space and impede on other organs.. I can't wait! (Seriously.. I think it will be fun times all around. This could be amazing!)

Other news.. Joey and I had our 2nd Wedding anniversary on Tuesday the 12Th. We went to Fogo De Chaos on the plaza. It was soo much fun. It is a Brazilian steak house and they serve tons of different kinds of meat. They have a salad bar that you can go to as many times as you desire (that is quite delish). And then when you are ready for "the meat" you turn over this card on your table to green. Green means the Gauchos (the guys with the meat) will come out and offer you tons of different types of meat.. like steak, chicken wrapped in bacon, lamb, ribs.. ect. Then when your plate is full or you think you have enough, you turn your card back to red. Red means you don't want any more meat (till later.. ;) They give you cheesy bread, garlic potatoes, polenta and caramelized bananas as sides- these are endless. You also don't just have waiter or waitress, there are several and they all help all the tables. Whenever you go to get up they will help pull your chair out and when you are ready to sit down, they will push your chair in. I felt like pretty woman. I didn't know the appropriate etiquette for such a fancy restaurant. When I got ribs I said to Joey "How am I suppose to eat this". I didn't know if it would be appropriate to pick up with my fingers. haha. Joey just said to pick it up. The bartender was very nice also. He made me a fresh limeade (made with fresh limes and condensed milk). I was worried it was going to be like $12, and he kept just bringing me out new ones without even asking. I thought "holy crap, this is gonna be expensive". So when the waitress offered to get me a fresh limeade I told her I didn't want anymore because they were so sweet. Turns out that it was only $4.25 and it was free refills. haha. I wasn't sure. Lastly I asked the waitress to take Joey and I's photo because it was our anniversary and she said "Oh.. its your anniversary" and then told someone to do something. Then she brings out this amazing chocolate turtle cheesecake mousse dessert. AMAZING! We were soo stuffed. She offered to put most of it in a to go box (thank goodness!). The restaurant was tons of fun! Then we went home and watched a movie. It was a very great anniversary!

Beauty

2009-05-09T01:43:00.008-05:00

So 13 weeks preggo and I feel like a big fat lard butt. And I don't mean because my belly is growing so much. Because believe me.. I have waited a long time to grow this adorable baby bump. I love it, I love it, I love it!! However, my legs feel gargantuous (that means huge), my butt feels like it is growing by the minute and my face is all chunky. Also, my hair is all frizzy. I got my hair cut today, its a lil short. I didn't have time to style it (we'll get to that later), so it is back in a lil ponytail. But my ponytail is pretty small. I already feel tons better about my appearance just due to my hair. I also got my eyebrows waxed. They look tons better!! I feel like this would be an important place to tell you that I haven't gained too much weight. I think I have only gained a couple pounds thus far in the pregnancy.. so I probably don't look as awful as I am describing. However.. I feel nasty. (Side note: I don't like the word nasty. I have no idea why I decided to use that word. It sounds so.. sexual. You know what I'm saying? Oh ya.. you know. Ok that's enough.) My clothes still fit fine, I am wearing maternity clothes though. I can still wear some of my shirts, but can't wear any of my capris. My baby bump just won't allow it. I know it isn't huge.. but its big enough to make a difference in the clothes I wear. I bought some cute capris at Kohls (they were having a super good sale). I currently love them.. but I think I must buy another pair soon. I think another sale will be here before I know it. Because we all know that I won't buy a non-sale maternity item. Lets be real here!

Other news.. Im in my second trimester!! Yay. I love that Baby Antebellum and I have made this wondrous milestone. Have you seen how big Doodles Baby is? So big!! About 3.5 inches now, holy cow! Jen said that that's about the size of a poly pocket. haha

Hopefully Doodles Baby doesn't look like this, yikes! Lately I have been having a bit of flight of ideas. When I was using the restroom yesterday I was thinking "What would happen if I accidentally pushed my baby out". ( I think I was pushing too hard)How awful would that be? I know I shouldn't think about this stuff. But honestly I don't think it would really happen, I'm truly not worried about it at all. I just have these random scenarios pop into my head. Its crazy huh! But I never told anyone that I was normal.. you just assumed.

So second trimester is here (barely) and I am exhausted. Most people say that your second trimester is the easiest and all your symptoms subside for a bit, but mine are coming now. Its crazy! Like if I do anything at all (go to the bathroom, eat dinner, go to the grocery store.. ect) I need to lay down for a bit. Not always take a nap, but at least rest for a while. And a nap daily would be most amazing! What would make it even more amazing.. if Joey took it with me! I LOVE THAT! Today when I got my haircut I had complete intentions to style my hair prior to work. However, I was really exhausted and decided to take a nap instead. It was dreamy and definately worth it! I am also having issues with going potty. I literally go potty all the time. And sometimes I will go potty, stand up and have to sit back down because I still have to go. I have even done some exercises while on the toilet to help make sure all the urine is out of my bladder. Those are obviously useless. Sometimes I will go potty literally like 3 times in 10 minutes. OOC! Another issue.. I will have to go soo bad, I mean like I feel like my bladder literally can't hold any more urine. I go to the bathroom and a tiny little stream starts to trickle out. I feel as if the stream may even stop at any minute because it is going soo slow. Or sometimes it will stop in between, like this: pssss....pss...pssssss...psss and so on. It will take me 2 minutes just to get out all the urine. I feel as if I am straining muscles just trying to get this urine to empty out of my bladder. These episodes only happen at night though. Last night I had this happen and when I came back to bed Joey asked "Is everything ok?". I told him I just had to potty and he said "Well, I wasn't sure because you were in there for a long time". haha. I was in there forever because my body wouldn't allow the potty to come out at a reasonable rate.

But in all seriousness I absolutely love all the symptoms Jesus is blessing me with. I have waited long enough and I don't ever want to sound like I am complaining. I thank Jesus frequently for what he has blessed me with!

Almost There

2009-05-03T13:25:00.003-05:00

Wow!! I am already 12 weeks and 4 days. Almost to 2nd Trimester (I think). I have had trouble figuring out when the 2nd trimester starts. Many websites have a difference in opinion. So I am just going to stick with 13 weeks. But not matter what, it is amazing. I absolutely can't wait to feel this little life inside of me kick and have hiccups. I have heard it frequently be described as "freaking you out" when it first happens.. however I am skeptical that those will be my feelings. I am so looking forward to that. I look forward to everything in my pregnancy. I need to work hard not to get a big booty though.. I kinda don't want that. But again, whatever Jesus gives me with this pregnancy I am greatful for.
My food aversions are slowly going away. I have mixed emotions about that. On one hand, now I can eat meat and don't have to worry about if Im getting enough protein. On the other hand, now I can eat almost everything. Now is when self control comes into play. I have pep talks with myself. "MaryBeth, I know that you are hungry ALL THE TIME.. but make wise choices. You can do it. Good job MaryBeth, an apple is a good choice". In reality, I don't really have too hard of a time making good choices because healthy food sounds really good. I continue to love and crave fruit and yogurt. Ooh, and on that note.. yogurt was on sale for 25 cents a container. Wow! What a mega good deal. You better believe that my frugal butt stocked up. Woohoo!! We also might be able to throw cottage cheese into the line up of yummy foods that sound delish. Man, I think I am making myself hungry. That doesn't take much.

In other news.. Beckys bridal shower was yesterday. I must say it was a success. Her cake was really cute. It said "Sweetest wishes for the soon to be Mrs". I think she really liked it. And she got a lot of amazing stuff. She gets married May 28th in the Bahamas. I must say I am a bit jelous. The Bahamas sound pretty amazing right about now.

Well, I must go eat now. I have made a photobucket slideshow of my belly growing. I know it is minimal growth at this point ( I feel as if it is mega growth.. but I see myself naked so...) I will continue to add photos every 2 weeks. Enjoy and don't make fun. :)

Let the Photos Begin

2009-04-15T14:43:00.006-05:00

5 Weeks

7 Weeks (Joey held the camera crooked)

8 Weeks (I thought I was getting bigger so I took it a week early)

10 Weeks

Another 10 Week a little closer up.

Those are the belly pics thus far. I definitely have gotten bigger lately. But I don't mind, I love that my baby is wanting to be seen. :) I went to the doctor today for a checkup. Everything looked great. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat via doppler. It was a little difficult for the nurse to find, Baby Antebellum was moving around quite a bit. He/she just grew muscles and I guess was trying to get a good workout in. The heartbeat was 167 beats per minute. Dr.Adams said that is picture perfect healthy heart rate. Yay!! I am exactly 10 weeks today. What a relief! Dr.Adams also said weeks 8-10 are the worst for symptoms and soon should subside. So I feel super blessed because I have symptoms.. but are minimal and very easy to deal with. So.. I would like to take this time to thank Jesus for helping me and baby feel good. But also I want to send Jesus a reminder that it is fine to give me more symptoms.. just keep Baby Antebellum healthy.
We scheduled me next two appointments today. I think at the next one they will start to measure me. I am very excited for that (is that weird?). And then June 10th I am scheduled for a sonogram to find out what this little jelly bean inside of me is. Please feel free to leave a comment on what you think it might be. I have NO CLUE! I have had a lot of dreams that I have a boy. I even had a dream at the end of December that I delivered a baby boy and they handed him to me in a santa suit. The baby was soo cute, with blond hair and was so little. So in January I actually bought a baby santa suit because I felt like Jesus was sending me a message. But.. who know. I am so anxious to find out though!!

Oh Man We Were Living

2009-04-08T00:35:00.003-05:00

As most of you know by now.. my womb is occupied!! I took down the for rent sign in my uterus because it has been filled. YAY! It has been filled for approximately 9 weeks 1 day. And let me tell you it has been amazing. I have been to the doctor and have had 3 ultrasounds. Might I say that my baby looks amazing! The last heartbeat was 176 beats per minutes which is a very healthy rate. Did I mention how smart my baby is? Oh ya.. really smart! It is so smart that it was growing 1 day big at last photo shoot. Ya.. Baby Reids brain is so full of knowledge that it had to grow 1 day bigger. :) Also..Baby Antebellum Reid is now an embryo. An EMBRYO! Getting so big, they just grow up so fast. I haven't been able to see any photos since reaching this milestone (it happened yesterday). But I do have the widget in the right hand corner for you to keep tabs on the growth. Don't be embarrassed if you check it daily.. I do.

Symptoms wise I must say I am doing pretty good. I have only had mild (very very mild) nausea. It is just the kind where I say in my head "I feel a bit nauseous right now" and then out loud I say "Lets eat, I'm starving". Holy cow, Baby Reid currently requires 1 calorie and yet constantly tells me shes/he's hungry. I am hungry non stop! But it is a hunger that is not satisfied.. ever! I am starving, so I eat and then 10 minutes later.. starving. I don't know what to do about it. Dr. Adams says to eat whenever I am hungry, but I don't think he realizes how hungry I am all the time. I have been trying to make good choices, like fruit and yogurt, but sometimes my choices aren't so grand. Things I love.. fruit, yogurt, milk and ice cream. Things that make me want to vomit: hamburger (I just threw up in my mouth while typing it), steak and ... any kind of meat really. (Ok not ALL meat) :) The first two are the absolute worst. They sound awful.

Next symptom: My irritable bowel should no longer be called just "irritable". I think I will now call it Raging Pissed Off Bowel Syndrome. I have approx 5 minutes to high tail it to the bathroom once the heat waves and stomach cramps hit. There is no cooling measure option by rolling down the windows when it is 20 degrees outside.. oh no that measure has been taken away completely. There is also no option to hold the sphincter muscle closed or attempt to pucker the butt closed (sorry for the TMI). Those options have been revoked entirely! I have to quickly run to the bathroom or else. I think you know what the "or else" option is. I will stop on the Raging Bowel Syndrome as I do not want to offend or gross you out while reading my blog. I just never knew this would be a symptom. And although I take all my symptoms and rejoice that I have symptoms because I am finally uno pregnato.. I was taken by surprise with this one. But that's fine, I tell Jesus all the time that I will gladly take any symptom he wants to give me. As I frequently say.. BRING IT!

Well thats all I have for now.. I will definately update you within the next couple days. I have some belly photos to put up. I know its early.. but we must start somewhere. :)

Maybe A Little Something

2009-02-28T23:37:00.008-06:00

For months I have been looking at this blog. I would look at it and want so badly to write on it. But like I had said before, I was waiting to start writing again until my womb was occupied. Truth be told, for approx 2 weeks my womb was occupied. I found out I was pregnant on February 4th and started bleeding on February 5th. Darn you aunt flo. She loves me so much that she just can't stay away. Maybe I should start buying the non fluffy pillows, make her less comfortable. Needless to say... I was devastated. I wanted that beautiful little bean more than I can ever attempt to explain. But I do believe that things happen for a reason, so I have glued my heart back together and decided to get back to work. It is a bit difficult these days because nearly everyone who has decided to start trying have been impregnated on the first try. THE FIRST TRY! How does that happen?! BLAH! I am happy for them though. Jesus knows how sucky this route of TTCing is! Since the last time I wrote I have quit doing some things though. Such as: I quit praying for things that don't warrant a prayer. Such as... when I am driving in my car and am having an irritable bowel attack, I no longer pray that I can make it home without pooping in my pants or my car. If I poop in my pants... I poop in my pants. I am not going to waste a cherished prayer that could be used to help me get pregnant on not pooping in my car! I also have quit wishing. I don't wish on 11:11 anymore. Its pointless and disappointing. I have, however, started to pray almost 3 times a day. I pray to our wonderful Jesus and also to Saint Gerard. I have decided that next time I get pregnant I will name the little sticky bean Gerard. It will hold the name Gerard until the sex is decided, at which time the adorable sticky bean will then be called by thier name (Anthony, Dominic or Adrianna). Alright.. enough about that! I will be sure to post more before too long.

Here is a picture of what my baby looked like before Aunt Flo evicted him/her. Shes a jerk. (Important to note- my baby was not as sticky as this one)

On The Mind

2008-11-23T02:55:00.003-06:00

Day 2 of 2 at work and I can't stop thinking about babies!! This is about the time of month that I start to feel impatient and antsy. My right lower abdomen has been sore tonight and someone said "Maybe you are ovulating". Yay!! I love it when my eggs decide to make an appearance... they just haven't decided to appear when Joeys swimmers make their appearance. Maybe they are shy? They better buck up because Reid/Ahring babies are NOT shy!! Or.. maybe they are. Frankly, I don't care if they are outgoing or shy.. I just want them NOW! :) Tonight JonAnn told me that her sister tried for nearly 1 year before getting pregnant and it gave me hope. I always read about these people who try for over a year and require IVF. That just SUCKS! I do not want IVF! I want to do this thing naturally. Alright alright.. I am going to try and quite thinking about it because we are not technically trying this month. I just need to calm down, relax and just enjoy my husband. I just wanted to share my thoughts.. even though they were a bit lengthy and .. of course about TTC! Thanks for listening (reading) guys.

I Just Couldn't

2008-11-16T23:19:00.006-06:00

I'm sorry .. but several days pass and I just kept looking at my blog. My poor little page with no new updates. So I just HAD to writes SOMETHING. I figured that we aren't trying this month anyway.. so if it prevents pregnancy this month I won't even know or have my hopes up. Alright.. lets get real about this. EVERY month I get my hopes up. But... I will not press the TTC issue this month so it shouldn't hurt as bad. Alright.. that's enough of TTC talk.. I could just go on and on about it. You know how I love to talk about my FBR (future baby Reid)~!
On another note.. I am freaking exhausted today! I worked Friday and was off on Saturday. So I slept from like 0830 to 1245. Then I cleaned up the basement (not a small task). I picked up all the trash and boxes, swept the floors then shop vacced the baseboards. Joey and John finished up the fireplace crown moulding. It looks AMAZING!! I am super excited about it! So after we finished up down there Joey and I laid on the kitchen floor for a while. We frequently do that... just lay on the floor and rest. I am pretty sure that nobody else ever does that.. but we certainly love to. Then we went to the store and picked up all sorts of goodies for dinner. Joey made steak, baked potato, mushrooms and garlic bread. Can anyone say delicioso! And I made some chocolate chip toffee cookies. They too were delicious. After that it was back down to the basement for us. Brent even came over to help with all the basement festivities. I am pretty sure that if Brent hadn't came over that we wouldn't have went back to down there to work. Thank you Brent for helping us be productive. Alright.. so then I painted the bottom of all the walls. We didn't get done until 1245. Holy cow is my back is killing me! But overall it was a very productive day. Ok, finally that leads me to today. Joey woke me up at 1045 and said we were going to Nebraska Furniture Mart. He had to pick up a stove for a property so he wanted to look at bedroom furniture. Well... WE FOUND SOME FINALLY!! Yay!! I posted some pics of the furniture. Unfortunately we won't get the set until March since it is an order out. But that's ok.. we have waited this long. We didn't get the mirror to go with the nightstand. It seemed unnecessary.

Then we found this curio in the clearance section. Joey got them to go down an additional $50 from the clearance price. YAY! He is such a good salesman! This curio is going to go in our front room. I am super excited about it! Then we found this curio. Sorry the picture is so small.
It will go in our dining room to put our fine china in. Joey bought some fine china for Christmas last year.. but it has remained in the buffet because we didn't want it to get broken. We might cancel this curio because Joey thinks it might be the wrong color. Who knows! But I am super excited about everything. The only problem about today was 1. I felt like my body had been ran over by a truck and 2.I had to work tonight and I woke up early and didn't get much of a nap. I got home at like 4:30 and tried sleeping until like 5:50. Overall I think I got about 30 minutes of sleep.. but over an hour of rest. And that 30 minutes actually did make me feel tons better!

Sorry for another long blog entry, but obviously it takes a while to explain approx 3 days worth of activities. :)

Until Further Notice

2008-11-11T06:29:00.003-06:00

ATTENTION: Per the request of Ashley Wrecke I have decided to stop blogging for a while. I will restart my blogging adventure once I have been blessed with a growing uterus, nausea and excess urination. Ashley reported that people with blogs "don't get pregnant". She is not sure why.. but she has noticed this trend. And frankly.. I have as well. So I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I will attempt to enjoy my blog free time. Thank you and feel free to leave comments on how you feel about Ashleys request.

Too Long!

2008-11-10T02:35:00.010-06:00

This might be the longest I have went without blogging. Sorry for the delay!! Much has happened.. Halloween, The Election, Broke my big toe...maybe! I guess we should start with Halloween. It was really fun. J came over in his cute lil elmo outfit and was talking TONS! I can't believe he is already 2 years old. He is so grown up now. Keeley was a scary witch and Sophia was a princess with blue hair. It was fun all around. We had 8 bags of candy and ran out by 9:00. I felt awful because there was a lonely kid that was dressed as a pizza chef and we had already turned off out light. I hope he had already gotten a lot of candy! I was doing my best to only hand out 1-2 pieces of candy.. to make it last. But around 8ish a little girl came up and helped herself to a hand full of candy... HOW RUDE! If her dad wasn't standing there I would have taken a few pieces back.. alright I probably wouldn't have. But shoot, I was already running low! This was the first year that Joey and I had handed out candy and it was tons of fun!! It was hilarious to see all the kids costumes. Unfortunately Joey and I hadn't been feeling all that great that week, so we were both a little tired and cranky by the end of the night.
NEXT... THE ELECTION!! So I did my patriotic act and voted. I must admit I was so concentrated on the presidential election I didn't look up too many of the local candidates. However.. I refuse to vote on someone that I don't know much about. I did that once, the result... Matt Blunt. WOW! He was a very poor choice!!! I felt really proud after I voted, I fulfilled my responsibility.. I helped determine our future. :) I probably don't need to tell you that I voted for Barack- I Baracked The Vote. I knew he would win, I really did. And in my heart I wanted it to be a close election. I wanted John McCain to have a lot of votes. He is so darn cute and old! I just wanted him to think that he almost had it.. just not quite. However Barack came out the very popular candidate. I might have shed a couple tears with his concession (is that how you spell it?) speech. How sad! He said, "The people have spoken and they have spoken clearly". Aww, tear. Then he told the crowd that it was his fault that he lost (which is was) but DANG! Why does he have to make us all feel so sorry for him! How about I vote for John McCain as the cutest old guy in politics? Is there an award for that? With that said I think I should say I have a lot of hope for the future and I think President Obama is the best man for the job!! YAY Barack Obama!!
Next up on the list of things that happened... Joeys grandma died. She was on hospice so it wasn't a surprise. She died on Monday and she went pretty fast once she started to go. The family is doing good and Debbi (Joeys mom) is doing surprisingly well. So I am definitely thanking Jesus for that one. ( I have yet to thank Jesus for the baby growing in my belly because... THERE STILL ISN'T ONE!!) I know Jesus... I'm still giving you time. But PLEASE BE SOON! Ok, I am done talking to Jesus on my blog.
Ok, I know you are wondering about my foot. Thank you for your concern. So I was at Pump It Up on Friday, a place with tons of blow up bouncy things and blow up obstacle courses. It was my friend Christas sons (Jack) birthday party and Christa had challenged Joey on the obstacle course. So Joey had hurt his big toe by jumping over one of the hills and falling strait down on his toes while they were curled. He told me about it and said that his toe "hurt really bad". I thought "ya, ok.. sure. that must suck". Then I went to race Megan on the course and I did the same darn thing on the opposite foot. I think that it is a reflex to tuck those toes in and BAM, then you fall and put all your body weight on those poor little piggys. I had to drag myself through the rest of the course. On the top of my big toe there was a rug burn and a little bit of blood. (Joeys was the same way) I even had to cancel my extra for Saturday due to the possibility of it sucking to walk the next day. I was acting like a true baby. But then later when we got home my foot was really swollen and tender. I have a really bad bruise to my big toe and right above it. My toe and foot look really swollen but they are actually just fat. I think my mom mated with Barney Rubble and got pregnant with me. Christa assessed my foot and then compared it to my other foot and said "You know, your right foot looked really swollen until I saw you left foot. And that is a really bad nail polish." She then proceeded to remove the nail polish. Thank you for the help Christa! Megan also assessed my foot and said "You really don't have pretty feet".
Thanks for all of the encouragement guys! You totally helped my self esteem. Christa also told me "The wool socks weren't your best choice". My feet may have stunk a little bit due to the heat inside the puffy socks.
I just wanted a soft cushion for my poor little fat foot!

**Important to note that this IS NOT my foot or leg. I just thought it was funny and proved my point**

Well guys, I think that is it for now. I have much more to discuss but I have rambled on long enough.

Before and After Pics

2008-10-24T11:12:00.009-05:00

The view from our upstairs looking at the dining room and entry way. We remodeled the dining room and changed the entry way light.

This is the dining room a little closer up. It still needs a bit of decorating. Joey did the marble himself. Pretty impressive!

.This is the basement. We took too long to take before pics. But this is when they just started to put up the framing. The next picture is after the dry wall is up. Its the media room with the bathroom right off of it
The bar!! Yay!! I still need to take updated pictures with the fireplace in it.. but this is all I have for now.
Sorry there is so many pictures! I just had a lot I wanted to show you. I must admit.. its much better in person. lol

Busy Bee

2008-10-23T03:16:00.005-05:00

Life has been pretty busy lately. Joey and I have been working extra hard. I have really been trying to pick up a lot of extras lately.. nothing too crazy (3-4 this month). Whenever I'm not working at the hospital I am working at home. I am either working on Joeys business stuff or working on the basement. It hasn't been too difficult though. I really enjoy working on our basement! The fireplace is in with the oak trim around it. It is soo much fun to see it come together. I have almost the whole top half of the walls painted. We are doing a chair rail so that's why it is only the top half. :) Joey and I also went on Tuesday and bought carpet for the media room in the basement and our living room. I am even more excited about that. I have been embarrassed about our living room carpet since we moved in. It had bleach stains on it... I have no idea how that happens!! Soon our house will be almost like new. I am still working on posting some pics but Joey keeps taking the camera to work with him so I can't take the pictures off of it. But I promise... soon. Our hope is to have the basement completed by Thanksgiving. We have been working on it for almost a year. Joey just keeps adding more and more stuff. But I think it is going to be well worth the wait!

Thus far.. everything has been going well with the NOT trying to conceive. I think about it quite a bit, but not too much. I still ask friends some TMI questions related to TTC, but not too many. I have been trying to focus on working out more. I have only officially worked out 3 times, my work schedule sometimes makes it difficult to work out when I really should. My bowflex recommended only working out on Mon, Wed and Fri. I am not going to weigh myself for a little while, I feel good so I want to think that I HAVE lost weight. Its all part of my positive thinking campaign. ( I just wanted to use the word campaign).

My Thoughts...

2008-10-16T21:12:00.003-05:00

Last night was the third and last presidential debate. It was definitely the best one! McCain came out throwing punches. He also seemed really antsy, Joey thought he had taken some Ritalin. LOL. What was with all the blinking?! However, no matter what McCain would blurt out.. Obama was quick with a come back and remained calm. Obama never ceases to amaze me.. always so calm, cool and collected AND knowledgeable. He is really smart on the issues and has yet to say something that I disagree with. I like his ideas for the economic crisis. I also happen to adore his running mate. During the vice president debate he KILLED Palin with his knowledge. But lets also be real here.. it doesn't take much knowledge to make Palin look silly. I cringe at the possibility that someday Palin could be running this country. She is very pretty and very dumb. :) I completely agree with Katie, I love to talk about politics and listen to others ideas. I am not usually up for a debate though. I never want to tell someone why I feel like their decision is wrong.. I just like to listen to why they have made that decision. I will however correct people when they bring up uneducated "facts" about Obama. i.e. 1.Obama took the American flag off of his plane. 2. He won't say the pledge of allegiance or hold his hand to his heart during the national anthem. 3. He is Muslim. All of these are untrue and if you come to me and tell me you don't like Obama for these reasons I may or may not tell you that you're wrong but I WILL think that you are not smart and worry that you are going to be voting for our future off of false facts. On that note.. I will end my discussion.

So I started to work out this week and I feel really good. I have just been doing my stair climber and the bow flex. I am doing the workout that the bow flex manual suggested and thus far I really like it. It has not helped me take my mind off of TTC but it is making me feel a little better about myself and that is much needed. :) I will keep you posted on the success of the losing weight battle.

I have previously spoke about a family that I adore. The Mooney family. They are the parents of Eliot who had Trisomy 18. They would celebrate his birthday everyday because they knew the odds said he shouldn't be alive. He lived fro 99 days and his life was amazing! His parents couldn't be more awesome! I even emailed his parents and they so graciously emailed me back. Well.. they just had another baby! I am so excited for them! They inspire me to be a better person and to have faith that everything happens when it is suppose to! I am following their blog, it is to the right and called SV. You should check it out.

Time For A Break

2008-10-08T22:36:00.007-05:00

As you probably already know, the delay in writing is because I was waiting to find out if I was pregnant. The answer.. no. I already knew I wasn't, but that rude mother nature put a period at the end of it (literally). So.. I was ok with it, really. I thought, "Ok, thats alright. I can work out and lose a couple pounds". I had told Joey that I wanted to take a couple months off of trying to clear the mind and frustration and work out to get back in shape. I had been saying that for a while, I said if I wasn't pregnant by October I would take some time off. What that means is no ovulation kits and no constant checking for pregnancy symptoms. We'll see how I do on that last part :). So when I first started I was like, "Dangit, but I guess thats ok". However, when I told Joey that I wasn't pregnant I got a little teary (thats been a constant thing lately though). I just want to be a mommy so bad and I know Joey is going to be the best dad EVER!

This morning I was cleaning out my purse looking for a receipt and I found a fortune I had gotton a couple weeks ago while eating chinese. We ate chinese food like 3 times within a week and a half and had previously had the fortunes that said "Don't feel like a failure for not making it, feel like a success for trying" and the other one said " Your aspirations will soon be fullfilled". So the time after that my fortune said "To conquer your flaws, you must first accept them". I assumed it was talking about how I had gained weight. But today when I found the fortune in my purse I noticed on the back it had the thing where it tries to teach you to say a chinese word. The word was "Hopeful". And although I currently have tears in my eyes due to my disappointment R/T not being pregnant.. I am hopeful! I feel like it will happen when it is time and Jesus knows what he is doing, as does St.Gerard. I will continue to pray to St. Gerard daily.. multiple times daily, and I will try my best to be patient. I am hopeful that I will get pregnant by 2009. This month was hard because the doctor said it takes a "normal, healthy couple" 4-6 months to get pregnant.. this is month 5 (tear). But I am going to be positive and confident that is WILL happen and there was a reason it didn't this month. So anyway.. my fortune today said "Welcome the change coming soon into your life". What on earth! I keep getting fortunes that I swear are saying "You are having a baby soon, stay calm and get ready to be pregnant". My assumption is that for any other person they would think something COMPLETELY different.. but I feel good about these fortunes. Maybe it is Jesus's way of saying "Don't get down MB, it going to happen soon. Just stop stressing out". So this is me saying "OK Jesus, thank you for letting me know. I will do my best to quite being so crazy and emotional about the whole ordeal".

Alright.. so now I need to refocus and get ready to lose some poundage and "Start getting excited about my life" (thats from Dr.Phil). So.. as usual, here are some pictures of working out. It first is from South Park. That show is pretty funny! And the next one.. a squirrel working out. HOW FREAKIN CUTE! The last.. just a funny picture.

Dog For Free- CUTIE!

2008-09-30T03:27:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! I need a favor

Our neighbor has a puppy he's giving away (FREE). It's a Dachshund, it's house broken, and it's great with kids. He's giving it away because his wife says the dog 'stares' at her when she is undressing, and that gives her the heebie jeebies. I think she is just weird! If you're interested, or know someone who is, let me know. Here's a picture of the dog (see below).

Fortunate

2008-09-27T22:25:00.006-05:00

Well after a small amount of time off from blogging I am back and refreshed. I, of course, have had TTC on the mind quite a bit. Mostly exciting stuff though. I read that it is mucho importante to be positive about the whole thing.. so I have been doing my best. I have been using some imagery technique that a website recommended.. I feel like they are already helping. I also am very superstitious and was elated to get two very reassuring fortunes from my chinese fortune cookies. The first one said something like "Don't feel like a failure for not making it, feel like a success for trying". OMG! When I read that it pretty much said "Don't feel sad for not making a baby this month, you will next month". Then the second time we ate chinese my fortune cookie said "Your aspirations will soon be fulfilled" or something like that. Um... I almost peed in my pantalones when I got that. I just feel really positive about this month. However.. if this happens to NOT be the month of conception I am going to do my best to be positive about that as well. I do need to lose a bit of weight and taking off a couple months of TTC would provide the time and I could put forth the same amount of dedication to losing weight as I do TTC. My good friend, Christa, gave me a medal and prayer for St.Gerard, The Saint of Motherhood. I have been praying to St.Gerard frequently and feel really good about it! THANK YOU CHRISTA! When I get pregnant I am going to hug you, you will be slightly responsible! Joeys grandma always would pray to different Saints and would always have her prayers answered, maybe Grandma Reid could talk to St.Gerard in person now. :) Below is a pic of positive thinking. Although it does not relate to TTC positive thinking.. you get the positive picture! :)

On another note, our basement is getting closer to getting done. The bar is really close, YAY! I will post pictures in the next couple days.

Couple Points

2008-09-11T01:35:00.007-05:00

Well ladies and gent.. ok I guess its mostly ladies, I have decided to make a couple phrases or sayings off limits. I am going to list them and the reasons why they are off limits.
* Stop trying and you will get pregnant.
YOU GUYS! How on earth do you stop trying when you are so desperate to get pregnant? When every single moment you think about how much you want to be pregnant and how much you want to be a mom. It really doesn't matter if I say "We aren't going to try this month" because in all honesty.. I AM going to try that month. I may not use an ovulation predictor kit, I may not monitor every single symptom for ovulation... ok, ya I will. I will totally monitor my body for possible ovulation symptoms. But know this- I will try NOT to monitor myself, but I will. Its a fact that I myself will just have to learn to deal with. The below picture is a picture of a "conception pillow". :) Who would buy that?! It is like $30!

Alright that lead us to the next phrase:
*Just don't think about it, you are thinking about it too much.
This one leaves me speechless. I want to say "ARE YOU KIDDING ME" in a really high pitched tone. If you ever want to hear me actually say it in that tone, just ask. I have thought about it nearly everyday for at least, AT LEAST 5 years. I didn't want to be pregnant during all that time, but I thought about it. I thought about the anticipation of getting pregnant, how long it would take, how many I will have, and what gender they would be. Believe you me, I don't want to think about it. I really don't. I wish I could think about kitties all the time or cleaning my house or decorating my house.. but I don't. All trains of thought lead back to pregnancy and having kids. Let me take you down a train of thought that happens in my mind, just to show you I can turn anything into thinking about babies. I think "Man, I need to clean the house.. tomorrow I should clean the floors really good.. the floors will need to be cleaned all the time when we have babies". I can change anything in my mind into being pregnant or thinking about having kids. So the moral of this long paragraph.. I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! I chose the below graphic because it had kids on it. I thought graphic.. being pregnant.. kids. :)

* Just have sex all the time and enjoy it.
1. How do you know I don't?! 2. I never stopped enjoying it! I very much enjoy this part of trying. I do agree that it puts a little pressure on the "act of love" but it still is very much enjoyable. Ok.. I will stop there on that subject. I don't want to get into the TMI zone.

Well guys, I think those are the three that are the most common. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the advice. However, that advice is not helpful.

Much Of The Same

2008-09-10T05:18:00.002-05:00

Well everyone.. no good news to report. My body has failed me once again... no bundle of cells attaching to me and making me nauseous or causing excess urination. Dangit I want that excess urination and constant nausea! I must admit I was really let down this month. I had a good feeling and I even thought about taking a preggo test a bit early. I did everything people told me to do. I didn't work any overtimes after I got the positive on my ovulation test, I took naps and I tried to not think about it. The last one is more difficult than most can imagine when you are as obsessed with having kids as I am. So this next month I will give the ovulation test a go once again. I have good feelings about this month though because Joeys mowing season is slowing and he should have his work done on other houses. So hopefully we can relax and take it easy together and... make a FBR -Future Baby Reid(as Jessica says). I also told my mom that we were TTC. I have been trying to hold it from her because I really wanted to suprise her with it, but that was a no go. It was nice to be able to talk to my mom about it because I can ask her all about her pregnancy symptoms without having to worry about her wondering why I am asking. My mom was a fertile myrtle, which I can't lie.. ticks me off. Why didn't she pass that on to me!! If it takes me much longer to get preggo she might get fired for a little bit as my mother.. ok maybe not. But don't think I won't think about it! :)

Funsies

2008-09-02T09:12:00.003-05:00

I thought I would post a couple "throw back" pics of Joey and I in honour of our 8 year anniversary on 8/28. To celebrate our anniversary we went to Burger King and a rental property to do some work.. ok well maybe that wasn't our celebration. We actually were driving in the car and I said "Hey! Today is our 8 year anniversary" and Joey said "Do you wanna break up?". Man he is so sweet.. he is a keeper, I gotta tell ya! haha! The first pic is from maybe 2002-2003 time about when we had gotton a hotel room. And the second picture if from the night of my nursing graduation. It is a family picture of Joey, Sonny and Me.. it was only appropriate!

Well Joey got Rookie of the Year for wiffle ball.. like there was a question! Clint got golden claw (that means he does great in outfield :) and Cory got BFP and the best pitching award. Ya.. Hicktown pretty much swept the awards ceremony! Im so proud of all of them and am already itching for next season to be here!! :)

I am officially off work for 6 days! I worked 4 in a row and am now off for 6 whole days.. I won't even know what to do with myself. Joey picked the recliners up on Sunday, they are super comfortable! And we got a king sized bed. We don't however have a bedframe for it, so we are gonna be sleeping on our queen for a bit. But thats ok! I am just excited to have a little more leg room, I am sure Joey is too!!

Winners!!

2008-08-29T14:37:00.006-05:00

Joey and the Hicktown Bombers defeated Green Machine for the World Series Championship trophy! They didn't have much of a competition, Hicktown is pretty good! Joey had 5 homeruns by himself. His first at bat was a homerun!! Im so proud of him! The only thing that sucks is that wiffle ball is over. I loved watching wiffle ball. I loved talking crap to the other teams and yelling "Hit him in the face" when Brent was up to bat. They are going to have a "fall classic" in a couple weeks, so I guess I can look forward to that! But there are plenty of things that need to get done around the house now that wiffleball is done. i.e. the basement, the kitchen, new carpet, a deck... the list just keeps going and going.
The good news is that I think Sonny will be excited that its over, he would get bored at home by himself on wiffle ball days. And he would always get upset because he couldn't come with us. He loved watching Joey practice in the backyard. The Son Bun was a true fan!
This was Sonnys face when we told him that Daddy had won the world series and he would not be playing every week for a while.

Doggonnit he is the cutest!!

Well I have been trying to keep myself unstressed and calm. I have been laying off on my extras (I only did 2 in August) and I have been using stress relief lotion. If it says stress relief on the bottle it HAS to work.. right? We used an ovulation predictor kit this month so... keep your fingers crossed for me.

World Series Bound

2008-08-20T11:25:00.004-05:00

Joeys team made it to the world series! They played 2 games against the Woodcocks, no contest! Joey pitched the first game and he rocked them. I posted a picture of Joey pitching and striking out Brent. Its always fun to give Brent crap.. he should love this picture. :) So there is only one week left for wiffle ball.. I don't know what I am going to do without it. They are going to have a Fall Classic league for a little bit, but it should only be about 2 weeks long. I don't know how many of you actually cared about the wiffle ball, but it was always the highlight of my week so I just wanted to share!

Joey gave me these roses last week when I was feeling down.. you know, in my emotional slump. He came home from going to the store and he brought these in. What a sweet gesture. He can be pretty thoughtful. Well sorry there isn't a better update.. not too much has been going on.

Phelps Fan

2008-08-17T05:38:00.003-05:00

In honor of Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals I decided to post a couple pictures of him. The first is my favorite.. inappropriate and uncomfortable to see. It is a picture that you shouldn't look at but just can't look away. The next picture is a little bit more pleasing on the eyes. As in Christas words, "Me Riky". It was her asian form of me likey. I hope you enjoy these as much I do! Comments welcome!

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll just eat worms

2008-08-15T23:27:00.003-05:00

I just came back to work after being off for 4 days. Those days off were WONDERFUL! It made it really hard to come back to work! I have been really tired lately and it is making it really hard to be productive. I have been trying to workout and clean the house, but instead all I end up doing is falling asleep on the couch. I have been trying to keep up my spirits, but I feel sad. I don't know why, I just don't feel like doing anything.. thats probably why I am so tired. I think it is just a slump. So I have decided to compile a list of things I am looking forward to.
* Being off for another 4 days after tomorrow
* Wiffle ball playoffs on Sunday
* Getting our recliners next week (we went to NFM and bought 2 new recliners, they rock and recline.. AWESOME!)
*Maybe going to worlds of fun again next week.

While making this list it did make me a little more excited about life. Well.. that sounded bad. I am excited about life.. just anxious and sad about it. Who knows why.. I am just an emotional girl and I am in an emotional slump. Sorry about this post being so down in the dumps.. this will be the last one. I am going to try and work on being happy and less emotional (any ideas on how to do so, just let me know!)I named this post after a song my stepmom would sing to me when I was a kid anytime I was feeling sorry for myself or was sad.

Failed.. AGAIN

2008-08-10T00:06:00.004-05:00

So I knew in my soul that I wasn't pregnant this month, I just knew it. However, that did not stop me from having hopes that I was and talking to Jesus about it every day. I wasn't even suppose to start stupid Aunt Flo until NEXT Friday. That intrusive (blank) came TODAY! TODAY!!! Approx 6 days early, can you believe the nerve she has. Not only did she come early, she reared her nasty face with pretty yucky cramps. Ok, so let me get this strait... Not trying to get pregnant- 29 day perfectly on time normal cycle. First month of trying- 32 day cycle with all the pregnancy signs and symptoms (yet no mold spore growing in my belly). The month after that a normal 32 day cycle. Now..27 day cycle. Im telling you.. my body just can't get this thing right! But on a positive note, this month Joey and I can get started early on this baby making business! Lisa even brought me some ovulation predictor strips. Isn't that nice! I didn't want to have to use stuff like that but it is obvious that my body isn't going to give me anything to work with me here. I am going to try and not work as many extras this month so I can relax a bit more. I think thats what helped the first month. When I work I am constantly looking up crap on the internet, but at home Joey keeps my mind off of it (as much as possible).

Happy Birthday!

2008-08-06T05:56:00.004-05:00

Yesterday 8/5 was Sonnys 3rd Birthday. My baby is growing up! I felt bad because I had to work, day 3 of 4, so I couldn't spend all day with him. But he did come sleep with me for a while, so I didn't feel as bad. I think he enjoys his naps with me. Joey made steak for dinner because it is one of Sonnys favorite meals. We didn't give him a whole steak, we just gave him small peices of ours. And I can tell that some of you are rolling your eyes and laughing at me, but IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY! We would have given him a whole steak if we didn't think it would make him sick. We didn't really have any gifts for him, just some snacks and steak. He also broke one of his toys, he tore the bell off of it. So I attached the bell to one of his straws, he was in heaven. He LOVED it! I can't wait to be off on Thursday, we can spend some nice quality time together! I do feel obligated to say I am equally excited to be off so I can spend some nice quality time with my husbano! I really start to miss him after working 4 in a row. And I have really been tired these last couple days. It has felt like I am on my 4th when I am only on my 2nd or 3rd. But I will survive.

Tonight I showed Amanda W. the video about Eliot Mooney. Most of you know how much I love that baby and his family. I have never met them but I feel so close to them just because I have read every entry of thier blog. Eliot was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 at 30 weeks gestation. When he was born the doctors said they didn't think he would live very long, if at all after birth. Well he did, he lived for 99 days and every day they celebrated a birthday. When I read the blog it fills me with hope. It makes me realize how much little stuff doesn't matter and that some people are just simply amazing. Those are the only words that I can find to describe the Mooney family- Simply Amazing. Their blog is http://www.ninetynineballoons.com/. If you want a whole lot of tears, laughter and hope- this is the blog you should read. I want to share with you one of the entrys that really tugged at my heart strings. Matt Mooney is the author and he is one of the best writers I have ever seen.

Eliot passed away on 10/26/06. This entry was written on 12/13/06. Tell me what you think.
____________________________________________________________________________________

For the first time that I am aware of, I did that which I had asked for the previous week. I tell you just so you know, but also in the event that you prayed for such. The memory of Eliot brought first a smile. May more of the same come.

Genesis 32 recounts an unusual story. A heavenly WrestleMania, if you will:

This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” … Then he blessed Jacob there.

Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.

This story, strangely, was the first scripture that came to my mind upon finding out about Eliot’s diagnosis. I would love to insert some great epic reason for why that was the case, but the truth is- I had no idea why.

I assume from the story that this “man” is some sort of heavenly being. Particularly what sort of being is not important to me just now.

Here’s what I do see. Jacob got his blessing. He wanted it, asked for it, fought for it, and received it. But that is not all that he got.

Jacob left this encounter with a limp. Not a sermon often preached. However, Jacob’s story of blessing could not be told without the follow-up that he was never able to walk right again. That’s the funny thing about God, the blessing doesn’t always come as we expected and although we receive the blessing, we're left to limp along.

Eliot was a blessing. We’ll never be all right without him. But he was well worth the limp.
_________________________________________________________________

I sometimes get a little nervous because I am so drawn to stories similar to these. I can't help but wonder if this is God preparing me for a child with a deadly genetic condition. But as Joey says "You can't worry about that, all you can do is hope for the best. If thats what is planned, we can't do anything about it". Joey is also very resistant to the thought of anything being wrong with any of our children. (If we ever get pregnant :)

Emotions

2008-08-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

My grandparents came in town on Friday from Phoenix Arizona. It was really nice to see them. My grandpa is getting a wee bit confused at his age, but it only gives him character. He kept thinking my grandma was my aunt and I would have to keep correcting him. But thats ok! My grandma made breakfast this morning, buttermilk pancakes. They were really good. I could only eat 3 small ones though because they really fill you up. Joey made me feel like a heffer because he only had 2. But it was really nice having breakfast with them. They are going to be driving up to Iowa and then they will drive back through before they head back to Phoenix.
I have kind of felt sorry for Joey these past couple days. I will cry at the drop of a hat. A poem, a card, or a commercial. Yesterday it was that I had to work and for some reason I thought that I was off. When I found out I was a bit of an emotional mess. My mom even asked me if I was pregnant because I was being so emotional. I told her no, but secretly I hope that I am (of course you know that). I hope that I am because I am excited to get pregnant but also because I don't want to be this emotional for no reason! I felt like an idiot. I just sat in my car for about an hour because we were at my parents house and I didn't want everyone to know I was crying. I feel stupid even saying anything on here, but oh well.
Ok now for the fun news. So at work one of the nursing supervisors came up and said that she knew this really fun predictor of how many kids you would have and what gender they would be. She used her medal necklace and put it over my wrist. It goes back and fourth if you were going to have a boy and in a circle if its a girl. Then it will stop in between the kids. Mine went boy, girl, boy and then it stopped moving. I was SOOO excited. Thats exactly what I want!!! We even tried the people we knew had kids and it predicted right. Isn't that exciting! So thats it for now. Hopefully I will have more fun stuff to talk about soon!

Again...

2008-07-30T04:06:00.006-05:00

I am sorry.. ONCE AGAIN.. that it has taken me so long to update. I was sick for a while and I didn't feel like moving, so updating the blog wasn't on the top of the list. So we will start from the top. Joeys mom had her surgery for the tracheal stenosis. She was 95% closed off. Can you believe that?! Thats crazy, she only had 5%of airway to breathe thru. The good new is that they were able to open her airway to 80%. So that was Thursday, then on Friday I started to get sick. I was hoping that at first it was pregnancy sickness, but that idea soon subsided when I developed diarrhea (sorry, I know thats TMI). Joey even skipped his wiffle ball because.. well there are 2 reasons: 1. A renter totally tore up a property and he had to make a police report and board up the windows. 2. He wanted to be home to take care of little ol me! What a sweetie huh!

***Pregnancy Thoughts***
Well I wasn't suppose to start ovulating until 7/29 (per the calender method), but my body told me otherwise last week. So Joey and I did a little bit of "baby dancing", but I am not sure it was enough. My nintendo wii told me I would get pregnant this month. It wouldn't lie to me would it? I had a consultation with Megan B. and Amanda W. Amanda told me that I had a 50/50 chance of pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, I am still actively trying as if I am currently ovulating but I am pretty sure the time has passed. Megan also told me I need to quite thinking so "scientifically" and leave it up to Jesus (What if Jesus comes today). The only thing about that is I talk with Jesus all the time. We talk about lots of things and pregnancy frequently comes up. However, I have not heard anything back as of yet. Joey's parents are really laying it on thick now. Twice now they have told us to "Get busy". The other day Joeys mom called and said, "Hasn't it been about 14 days since the start of your last period, maybe you guys should try tonight". The weird thing- it HAD been exactly 14 days since the start of my last period, and of course we did do it that night.We haven't even told his parent that we are trying, they just took it upon themselves to bring this subject matter up. Joeys dad even bought us KU baby outfits (which makes me super excited!). So.. once again think happy thoughts for me. I am hoping the nintendo is right and that this little lady will be carrying a baby by next month!!
P.S. Joeys team finished out the wiffle ball season 19-1. Yeah!!

A Few Pics

2008-07-23T17:16:00.001-05:00

I thought I would share a few pics that I took these last few weeks. Me being the Suzie home maker that I am, made a coconut cream pie last week. I bought a recipe magazine and told Joey to pick out a recipe and I would make it. Of course he had to pick the most complicated. But I was pretty happy with the result, as you can see it is gorgeous!

This is a picture of the Son Bun. He always likes to play in the soda boxes and it never gets old. His belly is a little bigger than it used to be, so he has to try harder to get all the way in (thats what she said). He is quite possibly the cutest cat ever though don't you think! :)

Love

2008-07-22T22:50:00.000-05:00

Joey and I were laying in bed watching The Today Show this morning when I got home and they showed this video. It is about a lion named Christian and his owners who had to let him go in the wild. It made me a bit teary eyed because it reminded me of the Son Bun. I think he would jump all over us if we had to let him go in the wild and came back to see him after a year. I hope it brings a warm fuzzy feeling to you as it did for me! I know some of you are laughing at me and my love for the Son Bun, but I can't help it. He is my first son! :) I hope when Joey and I finally have a baby that Sonny won't be sad. We read that when cats get lonely they will over clean themselves and make themselves sick so that the owners will give them attention. So, I have been watching Sonny very closely to make sure he isn't over cleaning himself. Its really funny because if you say to him "Sonny, are you going to clean your butt?" he will get up and walk away. He will them give us a mean look with both ears down, its pretty funny. I think I might be laughing more than you right now. :)

Favorites

2008-07-22T02:19:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the delay in writing. It seems like I never do anything interesting. I had to miss Joeys wiffle ball games yet again this week because I work. His team is 17-1 now though. They pretty much rock. I love going to the games because I like to heckle the players on the other teams. I usually say things like "Hit him in the face" or if they throw the ball and it hits one of our players I will say "Hey sucka, keep it clean. Do it again and Im rushing the mound". I even have signs made up that say "Give it up, its over kids" or "Joey Reid for president". I am really hoping to have off for the playoffs and the world series games. It should be awesome. I might be more into it than most wives, but I think Im more dedicated when it comes to the wife position. :)
I got a Wii Fit for my birthday and I have been working out quite a bit (at least 2 days a week, thats good right?). I have determined I have really bad balance and I should probably never go snowboarding. My goal is to lose about 5-10 pounds before I get pregnant. The thing is.. I want to get pregnant now. So I have approximately 6 days before ovulation time. After that hopefully I will be gaining weight. If you don't have any other wishes you want, at 11:11 each day and night you can go ahead and wish that I get pregnant this month. It would be perfect to get pregnant now because then I would be due in April and I would have off July 4th next year!! Yeah! I am trying to calm down and not get to anxious about the whole ordeal. If you have any ideas on calming down and being worry free, Im open to suggestions. This month I am going to try some Rasberry tea per a coworkers suggestion. The wii fit has yoga and I have been doing that. It is fun and I like it, but I don't think it relaxes me. The only thing it helps let loose is my toots. Ok, not really. I just said that because I know the face Katie is making right now! :)
Well I thought I would leave you with some hilarious videos that I thoroughly enjoy. Everytime I watch them I laugh hysterically!
Rock Of Love- SNL
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=982f797c-87a2-456f-9781-54958c94ef4c

http://www.truveo.com/Grape-stomping-lady-falls/id/1548024970

www.truveo.com/Saturday-Night-Live-Surprise-Party/id/1464363109 - 65k -
Justin Timberlake- SNL (D*** In A Box)
http://uncutvideo.aol.com/videos/35c82886ddcdd7d2c1593defee5525fe

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!

Reminicing

2008-07-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

I was looking at some pictures of my wedding today to make a book for Joeys mother and I was reminded of what a beautiful day it was. The day was perfect, Joey looked awesome, my dress was great and our cake was wonderful. Oh wait, never mind our cake was eerily similar to a snowman. So I decided I would show a picture of what it was SUPPOSE to be, what it was, and what it might as well been.

What it was suppose to be

What it was

What it might as well of been!!

Even still thought I don't think I would change anything about my wedding day. It just gave it character!

Time to Wave Goodbye

2008-07-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

Well... I thought this could be it, I really did. I went to sleep, no Aunt Flo. Woke up, no Aunt Flo. So I took a pregnancy test when I got up and it was a BFN (thats big fat negative in the trying to conceive world)! How frustrating I thought. But there is still hope right.. those dumb tests are wrong all the time right (wishfull thinking). So I got ready for work and finished eating dinner. I was having mild cramps, nothing special or harsh, just cramps. But in my head I thought, "Maybe this is implantation cramps". LOL. So I went to the bathroom to double check. Well surprise! there was Aunt Flo right there. Excuse my language but what a b**ch!!! She wasn't welcome, I didn't invite her this month. I told her to not come for another 9 months! What is her deal?! So once again I must look down at the toilet and wave goodbye to a small piece of me. "Goodbye little half complete bundle of cells, you could have been amazing!" LOL. So now all of a sudden I have a 32 day cycle. Well at least next month I won't get excited prematurely.

Could It Be?!?!

2008-07-14T01:47:00.000-05:00

Alright, I am officially 3 days late!! I still haven't taken a test because I am nervous. Joey also told me to only test if I am pretty sure because if I just take one to take one then its like peeing on five dollars. And most of you know I wouldn't usually pee on five dollars... fifty cents maybe, but not five dollars. No actually I wouldn't pee on a quarter.. maybe a penny. Ok I have gotton off the subject. Back to pregnancy talk. I don't have any symptoms of pregnancy. No sore boobs, no increased urination.. nothing. I did have cramps and I have bloating.. but no cramps since Thursday night. I should have started on Friday. I am really excited at the possibility but at the same time I am telling myself Im probably not. Last month I was also 3 days late, but I started by 12:30 am on the 4th day. It is 1:54 am and no sign of Aunt Flo. Maybe its because she knows she isn't welcome! :) I think if I still haven't started by the time I wake up tomorrow (around 3:00ish) then I will take a test. So.. stay tuned and think happy thoughts for me!!!

Catching Up

2008-07-11T12:20:00.001-05:00

Sorry for such a delay in my updating! It has been a crazy 10 days off!!!

So to start my days off my mom wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. I get to dinner (late like always) and my brother Nathan comes walking to the table. Nathan lives in Canada and it has been almost a year since I've seen him!! I was sooo excited!!!

So on my birthday we all went to WOF. It was Joey, Nathan, Amanda B., Christa, Jack, Jenn, Mellissa and me. It really meant a lot to me that everyone went! We all had a blast. Joey and I were the only ones who rode everything. Everyone rode things with us but we rode it all. I have noticed that the older I get the more wore out I get. By the end of the day I was tired, hungry and had a headache. However, it was completely worth it! The whole day it was partly cloudy and a bit muggy, but it was a perfect day. We decided we were going to ride one more ride, the detonator, and then the rain drops started coming down and soon they were coming faster and harder (thats what she said). So we skipped the last ride and scooted to the car. The picture is us taking cover from the rain for a small while until the rain slowed down. The only thing is... it never slowed down and we just had to suck it up. By the time I reached the car my toes were prunes because of all the water in my shoes. The day was PERFECT! It was going to be great but since Nathan was there it was even better.

Next came the 4th of July. In the morning Joey's dad had called and said we had better get up to the nursing home to see his grandmother Mary because she wasn't doing too well. She was on hospice and had took a turn for the worse. When we got there Joey told her we were there and she opened her eyes and looked at us but didn't keep them open long. We held her hands and brushed her hair for nearly 2 hours. She had strong pulses and was breathing 12 a minute. Joey and I both agreed that she was a fighter and would hold on for at least a couple more days. Joey told her we would be back that night and we both told her we loved her. She nodded her head when we told her we were leaving. We left and went to my sisters for a bit. Hoping for some good food we got there and found burnt cookies. Ok well, not all of them were burnt. She made hamburgers and hot dogs and we both ate and had some pop. I had been trying to avoid pop, you know just in case I was pregnant. But I thought, "Screw it, Im probably not and a pop sounds darn good!". Then we headed home and took a much needed nap, we have been pretty exhausted lately! When we woke up from our nap Joeys dad called and told us that Mary had passed away. They thought it was only appropriate because Mary was a stubborn Italian who was definately a firecracker! Needless to say it wasn't the best 4th I've ever had.

Alright, I know that you guys are wondering... pregnant or not. Well the answer is Im not sure. Hopefully I will know in about a week or so. My bodies so crazy I just don't know what to think. So stayed tuned!!

Day 4 Finally!

2008-07-01T00:18:00.000-05:00

So today is finally day 4 of 4 at work. I have had great kids but I am sooo excited to be off for 5 days! I have been at the same station as Chrissy for the past 2 days, we have been having a little bit of fun. But I am a little bit of life after all. We have heard I Kissed A Girl maybe 50 times. (You have to love 93.3) I think the song is awesome. Joey thought that Katie and I would like it because "we like that kind of music". LOL. But Chrissy and I have been telling funny stories, we always try to one up eachother. I mostly win. But I have big plans for my days off. Tuesday- clean house. Wednesday- MY BIRTHDAY. Thursday- Clean a little more, have friends over. Friday- Hopefully getting pregnancy symptoms. Maybe throwing up, maybe peeing a lot. Im not picky. I don't care which symptoms, I just want some kind of them!

My birthday is on Wednesday and I am really excited. I am like a little kid when it comes to birthdays, I might even be a little bratty on my birthday. My plan is to go to worlds of fun with Joey and some friends from work, I am super excited!! I haven't been to worlds of fun in a couple years and I absolutely love rollercoasters. My friend Jenn is going and she has not been to WOF since she was 7.. 7 !! Can you believe that! I plan on showing her a good time (thats what she said). So if you are bored on Wednesday then you can think to yourself "Happy Birthday MaryBeth". I will definately repost after WOF so you will know just how much fun we had ourselves!

Grace, my friend at work, showed me this super cute website that has hilarious animal pictures on it. The picture above was my absolute favorite!! I have printed it off and posted it at my station. I have shown everyone, I laugh a lot more than them most of the time. I don't think they appreciate how funny the picture is! I used to have pictures of Puddles, Goldie and Gina up when Katie was here, but now I just can't put them out. Then they will just ask where Puddles is. (Katie took it to Austin with her, Puddles really wanted to go and be with her).

A Couple Photos

2008-06-28T00:51:00.000-05:00

So this is Joey and I- The Doodles'es. Isn't he handsome!! The photo of a bunch of people is us at our friend Brents wedding. Brent happen to have thier wedding on the day of KU vs North Carolina during the final four. Brent is also a big KU fan so there was a tv with the game on. All of the people in the photo above were glued to the game. I am a die hard KU basketball fan (I don't care much for other sports). We all had on our lucky KU gear (I had on my lucky chonies). During basketball season you will really get to know how much in love with the jayhawks I am. Yes I said it- In Love!!

This is the Son Bun. I have more pics but I am currently at work and couldn't find any better ones. This shows how cute he is though! He always get annoyed with me, as you can see by his ears being partly down. But he is just so dang cute!!!

And a doodles begins

2008-06-27T23:18:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog and I am kind of excited about it. My really wonderful friend Katie (see blog list on the side) created a blog and I told her I would too. I named my blog "To Be a Doodles" because my husband and I call each other doodles. Its similar to "honey" or "babe" but its different. A pet name you don't hear people call each other often. We started out with the name being secret (its a bit embarrassing), then we started to say it in public because it was just a reflex. I would want him to come over to me and I would automatically say doodles. It has had spin offs like pumpkin doodles, sugar doodles.. etc. I love it now though because it is our thing. When he proposed he called me his doodles, it brought tears to my eyes!! I love being married, it is amazing to call him my husband! Joey bought me Sonny (my adorable kitty) for Christmas 2 years ago. He was the best present I have ever gotten. He is an Abyssinian and has the BEST personality. I will put pictures up shortly of Sonny and Joey.
I wrote a lot about myself in the "about me" section, but here is a bit more. I talk A LOT about my personal life and am constantly asking people for advice. I'm not going to lie, I ask a lot about pregnancy. I am a nurse but I think I was put on earth to be a mommy. I can't wait to be nauseous, pee all the time and have a huge belly!! My husband Joey would like to have kids, but definitely not as much as me. We recently decided to have a kid sooner rather than later and I am SUPER excited. The problem.. every month I am very disappointed when stupid aunt flo comes to town. Ok, well I can't lie we have only officially tried once (this month will be the second). I think everyone I work with knows my cycle by heart, but oh well. That's why I call them true friends! :) Some of them even know the intimate details of TTC (trying to conceive). Ha ha! I try my hardest not to tell them such personal details, but I can't help it. If they ask, I must tell! But that's ok, I don't think they mind. All of the best friends I have had never minded a little TMI every once in a while. :) I feel obligated to say that today was my most fertile day of my ovulation week (according to the calender method). My fingers are currently crossed in hopes that soon I will have a small mold spore growing inside me :)
Well I probably have said too much considering this is my first blog, but I wanted to give a lot of info about me.. the doodles.