working on a tooth

Tomorrow Lucy will be 11 weeks old. I actually had to just count that up on the calendar because it didn't seem like it could be 11 already. Her most recent development is that she is working on her first tooth! Yep, 2 months old and she is teething. Last weekend she was not herself. I kept telling Tommy that if I didn't know better I would think she was getting a tooth. I didn't think that it could actually be true. She was fussy, drooling A LOT, not wanting to sleep or eat and when she did eat it was for short amount of times. Also, when she eats it started to feel like she has little razor blades in her mouth, yea-ouch. She was born with two little white dots on her lower gum. That is the spot where the tooth seems to be moving. My sister in law was actually the one who felt it and brought it to my attention. Now we are just waiting to see if it actually pokes through or stays like it is for a while. Thank goodness for Aunt Mindi or we would probably still be trying to figure out what is going on with her.

It is just hard to believe that our little girl is already growing up. Almost every day Tommy tells her that she needs to stop growing. I can't wait to see who she becomes but I really want to cherish these cuddly baby moments because I know they will soon be gone.

it started with a trickle and ended with a wail

On Saturday, May 9th, 2009 I woke up around 7:30 and took the dogs outside. Since it was Saturday morning and I was really pregnant I decided that I would just go back to bed for a little while longer. Tommy had worked the night before and would be home around 9:00 so I thought I would just hang out in bed until he got home. I fell asleep watching Nickelodeon cartoons as usual for a Saturday morning and woke again at 8:45. I got out of bed faster than usual and as soon as I put my feet on the ground I felt something. There was something trickling down my compression socked feet. "Hmmm, I wonder if my water just broke?" I thought to myself. I just blew it off thinking I was just wishing that were the case. I went to the bathroom and there was more. (sorry if this is TMI but there will most likely be more of that in this post) Now I was really thinking that something was up. I started to panic a little. I immediately called Kimberly. Josh answered the phone and I told him that I really hated to bother her because I knew she was having a yard sale but I really needed to talk to Kimberly. She got on the phone and I explained what had happened. We talked for a few moments and decided that I should wait to see if I "leaked" more. I walked into the bathroom and there was for sure more fluid. We decided that I should call my Dr.'s office. Before I called the Dr. I called to check in with Tommy. I asked where he was and he said he was not too far away. I told him that was good because I was pretty sure that my water had broken and we were going to have a baby soon. Next, I quickly dialed the number for my Dr. and before I knew it was I explaining to the nurse what had happened. She agreed that my membranes had ruptured and I was going into labor. She said that she would call the hospital and let them know I was on the way. She asked if I had someone to drive me and I just chuckled and said, "Actually my husband is just getting home from working midnights." Perfect timing we agreed. I remember telling her that "this is not supposed to happen." She laughed at me and told me that it would have happened eventually. I agreed with her, but I just did not expect her to make her arrival so soon! I hung up with her and just stood there in the middle of the bathroom rather indisposed leaking. Tommy walked in and kind of laughed at me. I'm sure it was a site.

Tommy quickly jumped in the shower. I decided that I needed to wash my hair but I didn't want to get in the shower because at that moment I could not remember if I was not supposed to take a bath or was it a shower. I just decided that I would lean my head into the shower and he could wash my hair for me. I knew that I would feel so much better with clean hair. Once we were both all cleaned up I finally put some clothes on. That was a process. I had no idea what to put on. I finally opted for some black shorts so that my "problem" was not as obvious as I walked into the hospital. Tommy was flying around the house throwing things into our bags that were already semi-packed and in the car from our trip to the hospital on the 7th. Before I knew it my sister in law, Mindi was there and my mom and niece Clara were not too far behind. We were all just somewhat in shock. I went into the kitchen to grab my bottle of water and said, "I don't know what to do." I think it was my mom who finally said, "I do. You need to be getting in the car and going to the hospital." So, that is pretty much what I did. We put a blanket down on the seat and off we went. We first stopped at the gas station for an energy drink for Tommy and more Fiji water for me. He also grabbed a sandwich since he was just getting home from work.

After our pit stop, we started our almost hour drive to the hospital. At this point I was having contractions but they were more like cramps and tolerable. I remembered that I had downloaded contraction master on my iPod so I pulled it out to start recording. I also started to call just about every number in my phone. It helped me to keep my mind off of what was happening. I think Tommy and I were both in such shock that our little girl was coming that we barely remember the drive to the hospital. Before I knew it we were at the hospital. Tommy dropped me off at the front door and I walked, in leaking the entire way. He went to park the car and I got checked in. While I was standing at the desk a lady standing there said, "Oh, your feet look like mine did." I looked down at my horribly swollen feet. I noticed that even they were getting a little damp. "Please don't look at my feet," I thought to myself. The admitting clerk finally got me a wheelchair and Tommy got there. They took us up to the 3rd floor to the triage room where we had been two days before. The nurse asked me a few questions and gave me a gown to change into. She came with me to the bathroom to check things out. She took one look and said, "Oh, yeah, you are ruptured." Once I was changed they took me right to a room.

We were both very calm and just kind of laughing at the whole situation. Once in room #307 I got into the bed and settled in. My nurse (who was amazing and deserves a post of her own) started to hook up monitors and ask me questions. This was around 11:00 am. Before I knew it there was a MALE resident in my room to check things out. (This was the first time I was check by male throughout the pregnancy, but it actually didn't phase me.) I was 70% effaced and only 1 cm dilated. They put in a call to the on call Dr. Since my membranes had ruptured they would not let me get out of bed. That really sucked. I did not want to labor in bed, but I dealt with it. The contractions were getting stronger, but were still tolerable. The resident came back in and explained that since I was not more dilated the Dr. wanted to start pitocin. I told him that I really did not want to do that and asked if we could wait. He said that would be fine and we could wait a little while to see if I progressed any on my own.

Around noon my nurse, J, started to work on getting my IV started. Ugh, I HATE IVs. I think it goes back to my experience with the lumbar puncture and subsequent IV therapy. I told her that I'm usually a hard stick. She work very hard on finding a good vein to get it on the first try. Like I said, she was amazing. At this point my mom (who we had asked to be in the delivery room with us) and I had convinced Tommy that he really needed to get some sleep before things got too intense. He was happy to oblige and was out and moaning before long. Around 1:00 I had a blue-raspberry Popsicle. My aunt Paula called to check in on me. I told her that we were just waiting things out for a little while. My contractions were around 3 minutes apart at this point and getting stronger. At 1:25 pm the resident checked me again. Not much progress. He said that they wanted to place an internal monitor to see how strong my contractions were. He also said that we really needed to consider starting the pitocin to get things going. I asked if I could think about it. He said that was fine. I really did not want to have pitocin. In my mind I wanted no drugs and I was worried about stronger contractions. On the other hand I knew that since I had been ruptured since earlier that morning the clock was ticking and my baby girl was coming out one way or another. I turned on my side to get a little more comfortable. I talked over starting the pitocin with everyone and decided that it would be best.

Around 1:45 pm J came back with the pitocin. She joked about how some women just need to smell the stuff and they go down. Well, guess what, I'm one of those women. She had barely hung the bag on the pole and my contractions were really intense. By this time I was very quiet and Tommy was helping me to breath through the pain. He was an awesome coach. Around 2:20 pm I started to get really really hot. My mom and Tommy were freezing in the room. My nurse came back in and noticed that my demeanor had changed. The contractions were intense enough to bring tears to my eyes. J checked me around 2:45 pm. My mom's copious notes do not say if I had made any progress at this point. I was getting frustrated with myself and said, "This sucks, I thought I was stronger than this." Tommy was watching the contractions on the monitor. It was great because he was able to watch for a contraction and help me breath through it. At this point I was starting to get back labor. That really SUCKED. I decided that I wanted something to take the edge off the pain but I didn't want an epidural yet. I figured if I had something to give me a little break I would not be as tired later. J gave me some New Bane (sp?) around 3:00 pm. I had some in my IV and some in a shot. Whew, that was some crazy stuff. I felt intoxicated. The pain was still very much there but I just felt very much at ease between them.

They helped me to get comfortable on my left side and changed some of my bedding. By 4:15 pm I was having very strong back labor and steady contractions. J checked me again at 4:30 pm. I was at 4 cm. She asked if I needed anything for pain. I still wanted to hold out. I didn't last as long as I would have liked. J came back in before long and I looked at her and said, "I think I'm going to have to wimp out and get an epidural." She reassured me that I was not wimping out and said that she put in a call. It seemed like things got really intense then. I was having a hard time staying focused through the contractions. Tommy was right there in my face helping me but I still could not focus on staying calm. It just hurt SO BAD. I felt like I was being ripped apart. The Dr. came in to place the epidural and Tommy and my mom had to step out. That was by far the worst part of the day. I was still groggy from the New Bane and I was in so much pain that I was having a hard time sitting up and over the bed. J was right there in my face the entire time helping me to stay focused through the pain. I was all too familiar with needles in my back so that didn't really bother me. I was more worried about holding still so that nothing went wrong and I had to endure another spinal headache!! Before I knew it the torture was over and I was started to feel numb. Oh, how glorious it was indeed. J asked how I was doing at one point. I told her I was fine. She just smiled and informed me that I was having a very strong contraction. I was glad that I had waited though so that I was able to have the experience of labor.

5:00 pm: While my mom and Tommy were out of the room waiting she called a few people to update them. She reported that Casey and Kimberly were going crazy waiting to hear how things were going and that they were proud of me. I felt a little down on myself for getting the epidural but I decided that it was what was best for myself and my little dumpling. By 5:30 p.m. my mom and Tommy were back in the room. My mom's notes say that I was much more at ease. 5:45 pm I was trying to rest. Dr. B came in around then and checked my progress. Still at 4 cm. At this point I started to shake really bad. I could not hold still. I was trying to catch up on Twitter updates on my iPod and listen to music but I was shaking so bad that I thought I would drop it. I finally gave up and just laid there. J kept checking in on me and told me to let them know when I stared to feel pressure. She had told me earlier in the day that I needed to have the baby before 7:00pm because her shift ended then. Well, a few minutes before 7 I started to feel something. I called for J and she came in to check me. She got a big smile on her face and said it was good news. I was at 9 cm!! She kind of laughed and said she guessed she was working over. My mom was on the phone with my sister in law, Mindi at that time. They were trying to decide when to pick up my dad and head to the hospital. When J announced that I was a 9 Mindi decided that was a good time to make the trip.

J told me to let them know if I felt more pressure. Everything happened so quickly after that. According to my mom around 7:20 I felt more pressure and called them. All of the sudden lights and mirrors were coming out of the ceiling and there were a lot more people in the room. Besides Tommy and my mom there was the resident from earlier that day, a med student, my nurse J, and the Dr. I guess there was at least one nurse waiting for dumpling as well but I don't really remember.

At 7:53 pm I started to push. Wow, that was hard. Not that it hurt, it was just really difficult to tell where to focus the pushing. My mom had one leg and held the back of my head and Tommy had the other leg. Everyone kept telling me how great I was doing. I did pretty good through the first two sets of pushes but by the third I was too out of breath most of the time to do much good. They kept encouraging me. Finally dumpling started to show us that she had dark hair. It took me a little while to focus in the mirror and see what they were talking about. Once I could see her head that gave me all that much more to focus on. I was able to better focus my pushing. Finally her head was right there and almost out. I knew that with the next set of contractions I was going to push her out. All of the sudden it was happening. At 8:40 pm there she was, little dumpling was out, Lucy Ella was alive and wailing to let us all know that she was fine.

Someone said, "It's a girl," and I was relieved. Deep down inside I was somewhat worried that she would turn out to be a he. They asked if I wanted her on me before they cleaned her off. Um, of course I do. They my squirmy, crying, goo covered little daughter on my chest. I stroked her little head and told her hello. I expected to cry like you always see women do on TV. I didn't. Honestly I think I was still in shock from the entire day. Sure, I knew that it would happen eventually, like the nurse on the phone said, but I just wasn't ready for it 16 days early. They took her and cleaned her up. She weighed in at 6 lbs 8.8 oz and was 20 inches long. She was a healthy little girl. Her daddy and grandma were right by her side with the cameras to record her first few moments outside the womb. The "team" finished up with me. I only had a small little one stitch tear to take care of. Before I knew it my little Lucy was cleaned up, swaddled and back in my arms. I could not believe it was finally happening, I was holding my daughter. After all the heartbreak of last year I was holding the child we so longed to have. Our family was complete. There are so many more stories to tell about our first few days as parents, but I think I have babbled on long enough. I'm sure that most of you (all 4 people who read my blog) could care less about all the nitty gritty details of my labor and delivery but I wanted to get it down while I could still remember what happened so that I can day share it with Lucy. She is amazing and her daddy and I are sure proud of her. Everyone says that she looks like her daddy and I would have to agree. We can't wait to watch her grow and change. For right now we are soaking in every moment of baby love that we can.

burnt plastic

Today after work I decided to be ambitious and make some homemade chicken soup. I figured it would be something that would not make me sick. I got the pot on the stove and started to wash up some dishes. A few seconds later I smelled something hot. I turned around to see smoke rolling out from under my coffee pot that was on the back burner of the stove. Why a coffee pot on the stove you ask? Well, I have a tiny kitchen and since we have been giving said kitchen a bit of a face lift I have things stored on every inch of space I can find. So, in my haste to get the soup going I turned on the WRONG burner. Yep, I melted the bottom of my coffee pot to my ceramic cook-top stove. The smell was horrendous. I opened the windows and aired the house out. The smell is still lingering as I type this post. I'm not sure how I managed to turn the wrong burner on. I guess I can blame it on the pregnancy right? I'm just glad that I'm not a daily coffee drinker. Of course I did just buy some decaf. I guess I can add a coffee pot to my wish list.

Today was supposed to be my first Dr.'s appointment. Well, around 8:30 I got a call that my Dr. is sick and she had to cancel her appointments for the day. Now I have to wait until the 28Th. I guess I was just really hoping to get the reassurance that everything is okay.

Last week I was on vacation and I didn't do much of anything. I'm not sleeping very well at night so during the day I rest when I can. It was nice to be home and not really having anything looming over my head to do. I did manage to work on some jewelry pieces done. Also my mom and I worked on sanding and painting the cabinets. On Friday I decided that I needed to go hang out with Kimberly. She is officially on maternity leave and just waiting for her little one to come into this big world. It was really nice to just spend some time with her and Josh. That was pretty much the highlight of my vacation. Now it is back to work and a daily routine. So I guess that means I need to think about trying to go to bed sometime soon.

the most beautiful sound in the world

Yesterday I heard the most beautiful sound in the world, my baby's heartbeat. Let me back up a little. On September 17th I had a feeling and I took a test. To my absolute shock I passed. The reason I was so surprised is that Tommy and I had decided to not try last month. No more taking my temperature, no more ovulation predictor sticks, no more um... scheduling of things. Wow, can't believe I just wrote that but lets face it you all know what I'm talking about anyway. Well, like everyone has said, when you least expect it things will happen. I guess they were right.



I was cooking dinner that night and I asked Tommy to run to the local pharmacy to get me a box of tests. Now, I have been used to a certain test and even had a coupon for said brand but he came back with a generic version. I asked why. He said that he only had so much cash on him and did not have his debit card. He informed me that they took the coupon and he still had to borrow a dime from the cashier. I just laughed at what must have been going through the cashier's mind. "Poor guy got some girl in trouble and he can't even afford to buy a box of pregnancy test." I asked if he told her that we have bought countless boxes and have been at this for about a year and a half now? He didn't. Oh well. If I knew who she was I would be glad to pay her back for making my day. Well, I took the test right away. I laid it on the counter and I was pretty sure it would come up negative. I had no idea where I was in my cycle so I could be testing really early. Well much to my surprise two lines appeared right away. My mouth dropped to the sink in disbelief. I yelled for Tommy. He came in. I was speechless. "Look at this," I said. A big grin came across his face. He stood there for a few moments then said he had to leave the room because he was going to cry. I think I stood there for a few more minutes just sure that the lines would disappear. They didn't, matter of fact they are still there. The test I took the next morning and the next are still there as well. I did end up buying another box of tests because I was just sure that the generic brand was wrong. I'm so glad it wasn't.



On Friday morning I called my Dr. They wanted me to get some blood work done. Next thing I knew I was at my family Dr. getting blood drawn. They did not get back to me until the following Monday. That was the weekend we put a new roof on the house. I told Tommy that I had to tell my mom. I could not be around her all weekend and NOT say anything. I told her and my sister in law, Mindi. I had already called Kimberly as well (pretty much as soon as I saw the lines). All weekend I was so nervous. Monday came and they said that my levels were good and could I come up next week for an ultrasound? The next week drug by. I wished the weekend away. Any little pain or twinge freaked me out.



On Monday Tommy and I both took the day off. The entire way to Springfield I felt sick. They got us in right away and next thing I knew there was our little dumpling (Tommy's nickname for baby) on the screen. So tiny but there. The technician thought she saw a flicker of a heartbeat but with baby being so small she could not be sure. I told myself that was to be expected and didn't mean anything. The technician consulted my Dr. and informed me that everything looked good and they would like to see me again in a week for another ultrasound. Another week of development should bring about a stronger more noticeable heartbeat. So I waited through another week and wished away another weekend.



Fast forward to yesterday. Again I took the day off. This time my mom took the day off with me instead of Tommy. I hated to not have him there, but we kind of need money to pay for the Dr. bills so off to work he went. The technician called me back right away. It didn't take long at all for the little dumpling to show up. Right away I recognized the flicker of the heartbeat. She poked around and measured and finally switched the machine so my mom and I could hear the heartbeat. I totally teared up. It was such a welcome sound to my ears. She measured a few more things and she was done. She consulted my Dr. and another nurse came out and gave me an appointment card for my first prenatal visit on the 20th. I don't have an "official" due date yet. For now I'm just saying end of May around the 28th. Yesterday the baby measured at 6 weeks 5 days.

All of this has brought on a whirlwind of emotions. That is for another post though.


So there you have it. That pretty much wraps up the past few weeks for me. I guess I should add that I have not felt the best. Yes, there is the "morning" sickness but also I have been fighting a cold for a week now. Minor little bump in the road.



I'll end this really long post with a picture of our little dumpling. Doesn't look like much yet, but it's there and so is the heartbeat and that's all that matters to me at this point!

frozen in time

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are completely frozen in time and can't move no matter how much you want to? You know you should be doing something, anything to help but you just have not idea what that might be? I had one of those moments yesterday. Let me back up a little bit.



My parents (my dad really) have been looking for an older Jeep to buy and fix up. They found one that fit the bill last week and my dad brought it home yesterday. Tommy and I decided that we would go check it out. My dad wanted me to take some pictures before he started any work and I was happy to oblige. I was really excited when we got there and saw that the Jeep was white. I have always wanted a Jeep especially a white one. Perhaps it is because of the movie Clueless. Anyway, I took a few pictures then we ate some dinner. Afterwards, Tommy and my dad went out to look under the hood to see if they could get it started. My mom and I walked around the yard looking at her flowers and once again looking for interesting insects for me to take pictures of. We didn't find anything. We headed back to the front of the house to see what the guys were up to. As we got to the driveway we heard the sound of the Jeep starting. We looked at each other in surprise. Wow, that didn't take long, I thought to myself.



Then it happened. It all happened so fast. I saw flames shoot out from underneath the hood and the next thing I knew my dad was on fire. ON FIRE. Oh, my gosh, my dad is on FIRE. His head was flaming as was his torso. I stood there on the sidewalk watching in horror not having a clue what to do. I had the D40 around my neck and part of me wanted to snap a picture, but I thought that was disturbing to take a picture of my dad burning. All I could think was that the Jeep was going to blow up with my husband still in it. You see Tommy was sitting in the driver's seat turning the key while my dad was under the hood putting gas in the carburetor. Tommy said he had no idea what was going on. He just heard my dad yell and knew something wasn't right. I hear my mom yell, "Roll on ground, Jay. Roll on the ground!!!!" I snapped back to reality and remembered, Stop. Drop. And Roll. My dad ran across the driveway and rolled on the ground. I remained right where I was motionless and about ready to throw up in my mom's flower bed. Tommy jumped out of the Jeep and my mom ran to get the hose to put out the flames under the hood. My dad, no longer flaming, yelled "You don't use water." He ran into the garage and got a tarp or something. The flames were out. Except for the ones that were now in the driveway. Tommy went over to stomp them out then his shoes caught fire. He said it wasn't but that's all I saw from the spot I was stuck to. On the sidewalk.



My dad went inside and my mom followed. I stood there for what seemed like forever then I just started to shake. What the heck had just happened? My dad's head was on fire. What? It was like something from a movie. I made sure Tommy was okay. My mom came back out and I asked how he was. She said that he was in the shower. "What should we do?", she asked. I just stood there and said I have no idea. I have seen that safety video at work so many times, yet I could not remember any of it. You never think you might actually have to use that information, right? We agreed that he needed to go to the ER. We went inside to see how he was. He said that he was fine and didn't need to go anywhere. He got some clean clothes and then came back out to the kitchen. I could see singed hair on the back of his head and his cheek was already peeling. He took a drink and I noticed his hand trembling. He looked at me and asked if I got pictures. I just kind of chuckled and told him that I didn't because I really didn't know what to do at the time. He laughed and sat down at the table. He started to put on his shoes. I knew he realized he needed to go to the ER.



He told us what had happened. When the engine started it backfired and the gas he was pouring in caught fire. It startled him so he jumped back and the gas in the cup he was holding spilled. This caused a chain reaction of fire. He chuckled and said that is why you don't use a whole gas can. As he smiled I could tell his cheek was already causing him pain as the skin pulled. He finished putting on his shoes and he and my mom left for the ER. They came back a little while later. The ER doctor had told him that he was very lucky and it looked to be just a superficial burn. They want him to follow up with his doctor on Monday. They gave him a salve to put on his face, ears and hands. Remarkably his shirt showed no signs of burn marks. It smelled horribly of gasoline, but no marks. Luckily he was able to put the fire out so quickly before caused any more damage to his skin.



Looking back, part of me wished I had taken a picture. I realize that sounds sick, but if you could see what I saw you would know that Someone had their hands on my father yesterday. Wow. Thank you God. I did get one picture as the flame flickered out under the hood. If you look closely to the bottom right of the photo you can see the flames in the driveway as well and you can see the reflection on my mom's car. Crazy. So, this is my moment where time froze and I had no idea what to do, what's yours?


My dad is doing okay today. My mom reports that his face looks dirty from burnt skin and his right ear has a blister on it the size of a grape. He has been sitting inside most of the day, but doesn't seem to be in much pain. As for the Jeep, it is resting inside the garage waiting for another day to be worked on...