Another update 11/28

First off we took baby to her 4 month check up (even though she's closer to 5 months if you go by weeks), and she is looking just wonderful the doc said! Her appt was on 11/18 and she was 13 lbs 1 oz, 24 in long. Head circumfrence was 16 in. She is around the 30th percentile for all 3 measurements. So she is doing wonderful! She is a very happy baby now, she loves to smile all the time. The only time she really cries still is when she is hungry or tired. We have had some of the fighting sleep at night but not too bad. And she loves her toys and TV now. She loves all the bright colors I think. She is our world though and we just love her to pieces!

Thanksgiving was kind of crazy this year! Lots of running around. Ben got up and made his apple pies - one for his family and one for mine. Then we stopped up at his Aunt Cathie's house for a few mins then his Grandma and Grandpa Boyd's. Carmie, Timmy, Ronnie, Chrissy and baby Johannah were all there also. It was nice to see them all on Thanksgiving and we got some pictures too. Then we went to Uncle Don and Aunt Bev's house for dinner #1. It was very good! Ben's grandpa, aunt and uncle, mom, cousin Bleu and his girlfriend Keri, me Ben and the baby were all there. Then around 4 we headed to my family's house. We had dinner over there as well so we ate a ton!! We stayed until around 8 then we headed home. I got up around 3:30 am on Friday and went shopping with my mom. I've only been out 1 other time for black friday and that was 2 years ago. I forgot how crazy it coudl be! The checkout line for Target wrapped ALL the way around the store. And Best Buy was a little better but still a pretty long line. It was a lot of fun though and I got my shopping finsihed for the baby. Now it's time to do everyone else. Hopefulyl that will get done this Friday when we get paid. So I will probabyl just go out and get it all done enxt weekend.

And I can't be more excited our family pics are next Sunday! I can't wait - the photographer is amazing and I can't wait to see what she captures. We just found a place to take them this (Univ of Akron Student Union and Quaker Square) so we will see what happens. Maybe it will be slightly warm and we can do some outside ones too. I'm excited to get a few of the baby too but most of them will be family group pics. Just hoping the baby cooperates. I want to gets lots of pics taken- we have 2 hours booked so I'm ready to take some pics!

Updates

So the baby is doing well! She is 4 months today - I just can't believe it. I don't even remember (or want to) life without her! She is doing soo good. She has just started this week with TONS of talking and gibbering. She loves her Tigger! She chews on it all the time. She is doing pretty well at sleeping through the night - she usually goes to bed around 10 pm and gets up between 5 and 6. Besides that, she is starting to grab things, especially her bottle. She is sleeping in her crib now, we started that about 2 weeks ago. She actually seems to like it a lot.

We went to Boo at the Zoo this past Sunday with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. It was a lot of fun! We just put the baby in a onesies that said my first halloween. But this coming SUnday is trick or treat in our neighborhood so we are going to dress her in a real costume - she is going to be Tigger. I can't wait! Lots of pictures will be taken :)

Not much else going on just working and working. Ben is doing a lot of the same. Not too much time for anything else! But that's ok - loving every minute of it. 

Update

Time for an update. Our little bug is doing pretty good! Things have just been so crazy lately. We had to switch her to the liquid formula since there was a recall on the powdered. That didn't sit well with her so we had to switch her back. So she was a bit fussy this wekeend! But other than that she is doing great. i dont think I posted about it but her 2 month check up was on Sept 16th. She was doing good - she weighed 10 lbs 2 oz, 21 3/4 in long. They said she looked good and everything was fine. They gave her 3 shots - it was heartbreaking. I hate seeing her cry like that :( But 5 mins later she was just fine.

Not much else going on - just working and trying to keep up with everything. My house work has been lacking lately and it's driving me nuts but I have no choice. There's just simply not enough time in the day for it all. Don't get me wrong, it's still clean I just don't get to deep clean like I used to.

We did just buy a new car on Sunday though! We traded in Ben's car for an '06 Honda Pilot. It's a green/blue/gray color and I love it. We need something 4wd anyways because we live on such a steep hill. Plus we need to be able to get around with the baby now. And it has plenty of room which I love! It can fit 8 people :) Probably not comfortably but it can! I'm pretty excited about it and now I just have to get used to driving it.

I lost two good friends yesterday. Well I thought they were good friends - now I'm thinking not so much. Oh well. I guess if they want to act as childish as they did yesterday then I don't need them in my life. Of course, I was upset about someting and they turned it around on me and made everything my fault and brought up so much shit. It was just childish and I'm over it. Oh well. We are better off without the drama.

Baby Pictures - Finally!

After her bath!

I love duckies!!
8 wks

8 wks

Sad face 8 wks

First trip to church

The next 3 are her 1 month professional pics we had taken...she might end up being a red head (the gma she is named after was a red head...)

Update and My Birthday!

So baby is doing alright right now. We took her to the ER on Sunday because she was SCREAMING almost all day Saturday and most of Sunday because she couldn't poop :( I just couldn't take it anymore and needed a peace of mind that it was nothing more serious. So we took her and she is ok. They recommended giving her apple juice and we also switched her formula back to the Similac fussiness and gas one, we had moved her to soy but they said that makes the stool hard. She just hasn't been herself the last few days though so that's sad to see. She is getting big though- she was 9.9 lbs when we were there on Sunday. Perfect for 9 weeks lol! She has outgrown most of her newborn stuff, she still kind of fits in it though. So she is mostly in that stuff still. I need to wash her 0-3 clothes. I don't know if I have a lot of those though - more of it is 3-6 months. I guess I just need to looks through it all again and see what we have! Sis smiling a lot more! She likes to look at things now so we have her bug that plays music on her car seat. We also are going to start putting her in her crib more when she is home so she can see her mobile. She is still sleeping in her bouncer or her boppy. Mostly in her bouncer at night by the bed right now - we need to start moving her to her crib though. I need to get the monitors set up though before we do that. We will still put her in the boppy in the crib to keep her upright so she doesn't have acid reflux problems.

Her baptism is on Sunday! We can't wait. Our friends Melanie and Brian, Kyle and Liz, my parents, my sister and her husband, Ben's mom and grandpa are who we know for sure will be there right now. There may be a few more but we aren't for sure yet. We are going to go out to breakfast afterwards as well.

My goddaughters 3rd birthday party is Sunday at 1 pm. I can't believe she is 3 already! So that is about all our plans for the weekend. Friday and Saturday I'm going to try to get her scrapbook done but we will see if I can. As long as I get some of it done I will be happy. I'm through her birth right now but I still have to do all the pictures from the hospital.

My birthday was this past Saturday. It was kind of a rough day though because like I said the baby was screaming and upset most of the day. I did go to lunch with my mom though at Swensons and then we went shopping at a few places and got the baby a dress for her baptism on Sunday. My mom got me a gift card to Wasabi (where we went for dinner Sat night), gift card to Kmart, and gift card to Archivers to get scrapbooking stuff. My sister got me a wall plugin from Yankee Candle and cash to go to another scrapbook store near my house. I'm very excited! I want to do a really good job on her scrapbook so I want to be sure I can get as much stuff as possible. Then Saturday night we left the baby at my parents and we went out to dinner wiht my sister and her husband, Melanie, Brian, Liz and Kyle. It was a pretty good time. No one was too happy about their bills though - it adds up so quick and they charged us the gratuity fee! After dinner me, Ben, Amy and Matt went to Muskateers for some drinks. It was a good time - we all got pretty drunk! I tried to count it but I'm not sure I got them all...I had at least 3 drinks and 9 shots at the bar alone. I did have 2 drinks at dinner too. So I was pretty wasted but it was a really good time. Except my camera got broken :*( Hopefully I can get kodak to fix it without it costing me anything. We got home around 2 am. I didn't get to sleep much though because my mom had to be at work at 6 am and so I had to get up with the baby. So I was pretty cranky on Sunday but I wasn't sick at all!

Again, you will need to see my facebook for all my pictures. I just takes too long to upload them on here...I might do a few in a minute though!

I think that's all for now! More updates after her baptism Sunday :)

Just some things I want to remember...

- Carter's newborn onesies were the smallest ones we could find for Tricia, she is just now growing out of them after 6 weeks.

- She was on the regular similiac and then we moved her recently to the orange label for fussiness and gas. I am starting to think though that she might be ok on the regular but she does have some tummy issues so I guess we will stick with the regualr. I do put mylicon drops in a few of her bottles because it seem to help her also

- She likes her baths! She is not happy when she is out of the tub and cold though.

- She only had a small diaper rash a week after she came home but it cleared right up with destin!

- She likes to be warm. She will wake up in the middle of the night whimpering because her legs are uncovered because she likes to kick her legs ALOT. So at night we are putting her in body suits so she stays warm.

- She is eating anywhere from 4-5 ounces now. She started wanting 5 right around her 6 week birthday but now she isn't really eating that at every feeding. Maybe only two or three a day. Some feedings right now she will barely eat 2-3 ounces. But sometimes then she will wake up an hour later wanting more. Crazy little girl for sure!!

- She has a rash or baby acne on her skin that just developed over the last few days. I thought it might be heat rash but it could be either. It seems to have spread down her face to her neck and chest a bit so I'm just not sure though!!

- I still haven't done anything on her scrapbook. I lost some of my pictures that I took weekly of my belly so I'm not happy at all and want to cry about that so I am almost too depressed to print the pics because I don't have them all like i should. But I'm hoping to do some work on it over Labor Day weekend. I'm going to get the pics printed here soon hopefully.

- I go back to work on Tuesday. I have so many emotions it's not even funny right now. I want to stay home with her so bad because I just think she needs me and I know her. And i know how she is and what to do with her and how to make her feel better. I'm just so worried. But financially we can't afford that. I don't know what we can even afford even if I do go back!! I'm just a huge stress ball right now...

Birth Story

**I wrote this back a few days after I came home**

I was having some pretty severe upper back pain since like July 1st. It wasn't horrible but everyone once in a while it would get bad but i would take Tylenol and it would go away. Well on Tuesday the 6th I couldn't take it anymore and went to the doctor. They gave me some percocet and sent me home and told me to take off the next two days from work. They did bloodwork and said they would call me if they saw anything. I laid down and about 2 hrs later my doc calls and tells me that my blood work showed I had pre eclampsia and that I needed to start heading to the hospital. That they would call and let them know I was on my way. And oh yeah by the way because of it no epidural. Of course I freaked out. Then 10 mins later get a call back again from the doctor and they said you need to go now because your levels are severe and you could have a seizure. So off we went to the hospital.

They started me on magnesium and got me induced with a foley ball and cervidel around 7 pm. It was really painful with the contractions and I'm pretty glad the magnesium made me feel so out of it. Around 3 pm on Weds they started saying I was around 9 cm and that I would be pushing soon. Then a resident came in and told me that I was only 6-7 not 9, after another doc and 2 nurses had told me I was. Everyone was pissed at the resident but then the doc came in and confirmed I was only 6-7. I did end up taking some pain meds at that time since I was only that far along they would allow me to have some. After that things did progress pretty quick and by about 8 pm I was back up to 9. So they started getting everything ready but my contractions were still so far apart - like 6-7 mins. They kept saying if they would just get closer together I would be able to get her out in like 1/2 hr. Finally the doc came in and they really had me start pushing which was so painful but i had a great nurse and she really helped me through it. I pushed for about 3 hours or so. The doc finally decided that things just weren't going quick enough so they got out the vacuum. They tried twice with the vacuum before they got it to work and they did end up having to cut me down there as well. Thank god she was as small as she was. But she was perfect.

I lost a lot of blood after delivery and they were having a hard time getting it to stop and I still don't remember a lot from that time. I do know my blood pressure dipped pretty low and they were worried about me. They kept me down in labor and delivery overnight so they could keep a closer eye on me rather than moving me to post partum right away. And from there things just have been not good with my health - I was on the magnesium for 24 hrs after her birth and then we thought things were ok. Then my blood work came back and I ended up needing calcium and a blood transfusion. Then I started to get that upper back pain again - turns out that was gall stones. Then my liver enzyme levels still aren't right and my blood pressure keeps going up. So they finally let me go but I do have to go back for blood work tomorrow.

2 weeks :*(

So my surgery went well last week. Still having some pain here and there but they got everything out. I was doing pretty good right after and felt pretty fine. Just a lot of pain in my stomach area but the motrin they prescribed helped a lot.

So what else is new...I'm just going to list these because it's easier for me...

- I gave up breastfeeding. She wasn't latching on and she was having some tummy issues. I thought it might be from breastfeeding and formula feeding. I think she was getting confused. I hurt to give it up but I feel ok about it. I really wanted to go at least 6 weeks but then I had to have this surgery also and I wouldn't have been able to anyways during that time. So it was 4 weeks but some times I'm still sad about it. Plus my production wasn't going up, in fact in seemed to be going down and I was having to use more and more formula.

-The baby is doing great. We did take her for 1 month pics and they were absoultely adorbale. I can't wait to do some family pics in a few months. Around Christmas time we are doing those and we are going to include my sister, her hubby and my parenst as well.

-Tricia is a lot more alert and awake now. She hasn't started really cooing or anything yet. Ben's cousin had a baby 11 days before me and her baby started that about 2 weeks ago. So I wonder when Tricia will start. I hate to be one of those mom's that compares their child to others but I can't help but wonder.

-I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks before I go back to work. I want to cry. I miss work more than anything because I love the people I work with and it will be nice to see everyone but I can't help but wonder how I will be away from her everyday :( I just hope I can handle it. I know I will be wreck when I go back the first few days.

-In prep for me going back to work and being away from her everyday, my sister took her all day today. My sis wanted practice with her anyways alone and I wanted to see what it was like. I miss her so much though :( Its too quiet and I'm bored without her. I just miss being able to look at her.

-Ben is having a meeting with his district mgr at work tomorrow so we will see what he wants. HE was supposed to get a raise and promotion to mgr months ago and it never happened. Tomorrow he might get promoted, or he might get demoted. He doesn't really know. I'm doubtful that he will get promoted but I'm also very angry with that company. He's been doing the managers job at his store for months now and they havne't even paid him for doing that work with the promise that it was coming "soon". So at this point I could care less if they do promote him because he's just so tired of doing all this work and not getting paid for it. So we will see...

- And last but not least, I love being a mommy :) I don't know what I would do without her but some days it's still hard to believe I have her and she's all mine. I just love her so much and she's my world!

I think that's all for now...still gotta come back with the birth story and pics...

Issues Issues

I still need to come back and post pics and the birth story but here's an update on what's going on now. Don't read on if you don't have a strong stomach.

So last Friday and Saturday I was having some bleeding issues - I was having these huge gushes of blood and then passing some larger clots. So after talking to the doctor 3 times between the two days I finally went to the ER on Saturday. Luckily we were at my parents house (we were making dinner for them and my sis and her hubby to say thank you for everything) and there is a satellite ER for AGMC right by my parents house in Bath. So we went there and I was in and out in a hour. They wanted to do an ultrasound but I would have needed to go to the main campus to get that done and after talking to my doc they decided not to send me. But my blood work came back fine and my exam went fine as well. So they had me go back to the doc on Monday. So Monday I see the doc and they want to do an ultrasound but again everything else was looking fine. So Weds this week I went for the ultrasound - it's what they thought - part of the placenta was still inside of me. I couldn't get in to see anyone Weds so I had to go back Fri (hello 3 times in 1 week!!). So now I get to have surgery on Tues to remove this part of the placenta that is still in there. It's about the size of a nickel. So they are going to knock me out for this because they coudl use a local and a numbing agent but I guess people still tend to squirm around a lot and because it's so precise what they are trying to do its easier to knock people out and just get it done. So I have to go at 1:30 pm on Tuesday and it's outpatient. So I will be in recovery for around 3 hrs and then I will get to come home. They said to take it easy that day but I should be back up and going on Weds.

Still waiting to hear what they are going to do about my gall stones. I just got the report sent over to my doc so hopefully next week I will hear something!!

She's here!

Our baby girl graced us with her presence almost 3 weeks early! Patricia Grace was born July 8th at 12:39 am, 5 lbs 5 oz, 18 in long. It was a really rough labor and delivery. I developed HELLP syndrome therefore I couldn't have an epidural and while I did have some other pain medicine, it was really rough. And I had some complications after but things are good now. We are doing well and just adjusting to having her here and getting on some sort of a schedule! I will hopefully jump back on here soon and post some pics!

It's the weekend!

I'm so ready for it to be the weekend. It's been a pretty rough week. I went to my appointment on Monday. Everything is still looking good and I'm measuring right on. I go back next Weds for my next appt and the Group B Strep culture. We will see then how things are going and if I'm dilated at all. I don't know if I am but I can hope! :) I don't like having to wait until Weds but they are closed Monday and no midwives are in on Tues for some reason. So then I will turn around and go the following Monday again because I'm off on Mondays so my appointment needs to be then. Hopefully they don't get mad about that!

I did have some upper back pain the other night. It was so bad that I got sick from it. Not sure what was going on there. It did stop for most of yesterday though and then it has come back some today again. Not sure if it is form the way she is laying or what but it doesn't feel good at all. I am taking some regular strength Tylenol and that helps some but I don't like to take too much of anything right now so I try not to take it unless I am really hurting. I also have started to get some pelvic pressure so that could be a sign of something? We will see!

We did finally get our crib mattress in the mail the other day. So that means this weekend I can put her bedding set on her crib finally! My sister bought our pack and play yesterday and a bottle set for us. And on Monday me and Ben are going shopping and picking up the rest of the things we need. There is still stuff we need from both stores so that should be fun. I'm excited to get the rest of our stuff and get everything put away and be done with it until she's here.

So plans for the 4th....Ben is going out of town. Not too happy about it but it's kind of his last chance before the baby. I don't want him to go but I know he won't be bale to go in the next few weeks because I could go at any time and even though he's only 2 hrs away that's too far if I do go in to labor. So he will be d own at the farm and I'm not doing much of anything tomorrow but Sunday I am going to my godmothers house in Austintown for the parade and a cookout at her house. She has a pool so I will probably take a dip in there. I think that's all my plans for this weekend since I just want to lay around and hopefully my back stops acting up!

I will need to come back and post pictures but Ben's cousin (who was due 10 days before me) had her baby this past Sunday, June 27th. She is absolutely adorable! She was born on 6/27 at 7:19 am, she was 7 lbs 4 oz and 19 in long. Kind of scares me because she was three weeks early and that would be next week for me! Everyone keeps saying they think I will go early but I'm not so sure. She seems quite comfortable in there and not ready to come out yet. But I know that could change overnight and plus I want people to stop saying that - they are going to get my hopes up! LOL!

Well i think that's all the updates I have for now. I will come back and post pics of the baby and from the 4th! Happy 4th of July everyone!

Busy Weekend!

So it's going to be a busy weekend!

Tonight I have to go to my boss's surprise 40th birthday party. It should be fun but it's quite a drive to get back home so I won't be home until late probably. Tomorrow I have to get up and go shopping (and try to return some stuff) to Babies R Us and Target. I have to get a baby shower gift for a coworker and then a wedding gift for someone. Then it's off to said wedding that is about an hour and a half away. Probably won't be home until late again (going with my parents and they say that they want to leave by a certain time but we will see!). Then Sunday I'm very excited to be getting my maternity pictures done! I think they are going to awesome and I can't wait!!! Then I am meeting my friend who lives in Michigan now for a bit because she wasn't able to make it to my shower and she has a gift for me. I'm very excited to see her because it's been a few months! :) Then Monday I have my next doctors appointment. So all in all a very busy weekend with not much time to relax or sleep. Hopefully I won't get too cranky.

I don't think I've done much of an update on how I'm doing with baby so I probably should. I'm still feeling pretty good overall. My right foot and ankle swell just about every day. But not my left. They say it has to do with how the baby is laying. I just look like a freak that's all! It doesn't really bother me until it gets really bad and hurts because the skin is stretching so much. But I try to stay off my feet as much as possible so I don't make it worse. Everything still looks good though and no other problems. At my last appointment two weeks ago I did have to do a non-stress test because I hadn't been feeling her as much but as soon as I was hooked up to everything she went crazy! So I think she was just relaxing for a few days but they wanted to be sure so we did it. I can't believe how time is flying. Only 34 more days until she (might) be here. I'm hoping I don't go over but knowing my luck I will! I'm working up to the last minute possible so hopefully there are no issues and I'm able to. After my appointment on Monday I will start going every week until she arrives so that will be fun. Hopefully she comes a little early though because I don't want to be late :) I'm also scheduled to go to a breastfeeding class on July 12th so hopefully she doesn't come before that because I would like to go to that class! I think that's about all the updates for now!

Our Baby Shower

So last Sunday was our baby shower and it was wonderful! We spent most of Saturday at my parents house getting last minute things done and it rained some so we were nervous. But there ended up being no rain at all! It was kind of humid and warm but I would take that over rain anyday!!


We were very blessed and got almost everything we needed for her! There is still some things we need to pick up but we will do that probably in the next 2 weeks. I might go shopping this weekend at Target and get some stuff. We will see. I have more clothes than I know what to do with (at least in the smaller sizes - bigger sizes not so much so I do need to buy a few things in bigger sizes) and we got tons of wipes! Not as many diapers but lots of wipes :)


See pics below!

Me right before the shower with my beautiful corsage made by my mom's coworker!

My mother in law and me
Ben's cousin Carmie Jo who is due 10 days before me
Our gifts and my pink chair!

Me and my wonderful momma!
My sister during the games
Ben was so excited about the diaper bag and all of the Michigan stuff my mom got him!
Amy, me and our cousin Kelsey

So much going on!

So much is going on right now I don't even know where to begin!

This week was our annual work meeting for GOJO. Everyone from the company was in. It was a good but long week!! It's nice to see everyone though. We did get to go out to Clay's Park on Weds but it had rained all day so it was really muddy. I almost fell a few times but luckily I didn't! I didn't win anything though which made me sad :( I won two years ago at bingo a few times but with the rain and not much else to do so many people were playing and so odds were slim. But it seemed like the same people won multiple times. Just luck of the draw with the cards I guess! My co-workers did have a baby shower for me on Monday though :) I was surprised - I had some idea that they were going to do it this week while everyone was in but I had no idea it was going to be Monday. They were all beyond generous with gifts and I'm so grateful. I got something I really wanted which was the rocker and ottoman! They also got me two activity sets (one that she can walk around the toys and the other was a jumper), our swing, our bouncer, the cover for the car seat for the winter time to keep her warm and the carrier to have her strapped on us. Plus some other people got me clothes, a glow worm, head bands/hair clips, diapers, wipes, books, and so much more! They were all so wonderful and I couldn't be more thankful!! I love them all dearly and they are the best!!

And on the note of showers - ours is the weekend! I can't believe it's here already. I took today off to recuperate from this week and to finish some last minute shopping with my mom. We are going to be doing that in a bit and then spending some final hours at my parents making sure everything is ready. Unfortunately, I think it's going to rain all weekend. It's just our luck. Oh well. We will just do the best we can. I can't wait to see everyone though!!

On a baby note - everything is looking good! I'm 33 weeks and 2 days today, less than 7 weeks to go! I can't believe how fast it is approaching. I think we have figured out our hospital (Akron General) and I think we are pretty much ready. We just have to finish up her room (Ben has painted but he has some trim to put up around the door still). Once Ben finishes that I just need to mop the floor and then its time to start putting everything together! I plan on doing some of it on Monday after the shower but knowing my hubby that's not going to happen. We will see though :)

Alright I will be back after this weekend to update on how the shower goes!