Feeling Blessed...and completely surprised!

I'm 29 weeks today, and had the biggest surprise of my life (to date)! My mom threw me a baby shower, and I had absolutely no clue!

Every Christmas my mom, sisters, aunt, cousin, and I have a "Girl's night out" for dinner! Well, a few weeks back we started planning our annual dinner. Since my sister works in retail, it didn't look like dinner was possible, so we planned a lunch date for The Cheeesecake Factory. Said lunch was supposed to be today. The plan was for me to head over to mom's house, pick up the girls, and head to lunch at 11:30. Jeff was great, and agreed to watch Mason! And Allison (my sister in law that works at The Cheesecake Factory) was helping me decide what I wanted to eat for lunch! Little did I know that our annual girl's lunch was just a cover. I got to mom's house, and we went inside to see a "gift" my Aunt Dee Dee had given to my mom. Everything seemed totally normal, until I rounded the hall corner and came into view of the dinning room table decorated with a lovely food spread. As I walked closer, I came into the living room to an entourage of 16 amazing women! I'm told they shouted surprise, but I was in such shock at what was happening, that I can't really recall much after that. It was clear from the pink balloons and decorations that this was a celebration for our impending arrival, but I was so taken aback I was at a complete loss for words (something I don't think has ever happened to me). I was trying to talk, and was making no sense at all. Once I finally began to realize what was happening, I got to enjoy an amazing afternoon with some of my amazing family and friends.

We had delicious sandwiches, potato salad, dips, fruit medeley, and cake! I got to relax, and visit and enjoy the excitment of a new baby on the way. And, Baby Girl was spoiled! Everyone was so generous, and showered us with adorable outfits, blankets, bottles, binkies, and so much more! Even as I type, I'm in awe of the afternoon I had. It was a wonderful day!

After the shower ended, and I came home to share the day with Jeff, I couldn't hold in my excitment and disbelief! He asked if I was more surprised today or the day he proposed. While his proposal was amazing, today had to be far more surprising because so many people were a part of the surprise, and I had no idea! And while I type this blog trying to find the words to share my appreciation and excitment, words cannot describe how truly blessed I feel! I am so grateful for the people in my life!

Here are a few pics from the shower. I wish I had one of my face when they yelled "surprise" but my mom only had a disposable camera (I guess they still sell those). These are ones that I was lucky enough to take with my camera (that I carry with me everywhere I go).

28 Weeks...feeling uncomfortable!

It's pretty scary that I'm 28 weeks and getting uncomfortable! I know I have 12 more weeks to go, hence the reason why it's scary. Maybe it's just Baby Girl's way of reminding me that she is there, but it doesn't put my mind at ease.

On Friday I had my 28 week check up, and everything looked good! Blood pressure was low, heartbeat was 132bpm, I was up five pounds from my last appointment (up nine overall), and I passed my one hour glucose test! That was a huge relief since I had failed it with Mason. Things were going great! I left the appointment, and went to dinner with some friends. On my drive home, things started to get uncomfortable, and it stayed that way for the whole weekend!

During this pregnancy I've had four migraines that come with blurred vision and the forgetting of words. Well, that is exactly what happened Friday night. I came home and went right to bed, hoping the migraine would subside. It didn't go away all night, so I barely slept. I woke up Saturday with a headache that lingered all day! I tried resting, Tylenol, water, etc. and nothing helped. Thankfully it reached night, and I was able to sleep. My headache was gone Sunday morning. Then, later Sunday afternoon I started getting really bad menstrual type cramps. They didn't feel like contractions, and I hadn't had them before. Once again I tried laying down, drinking water, etc. and nothing helped. After an hour of pretty uncomfortable cramps I called the advice nurse. They were concerned as well, and I ended up spending two hours in labor and delivery being monitored. The baby's heartrate and ultrasound looked great! After two hours, and no concrete answers they released me. My doctor (who happened to be working in L & D) thinks it's a torn ligament or a bladder infection. I have a follow up appointment tomorrow, so I'm hoping to know more then. So yeah, I'd say uncomfortable is the right word! I'm hoping to take it easy the next few weeks, and really rest once winter break begins! Here are the 28 week belly shots!

26 Weeks...A Survey!

How far along? 26 weeks
Total weight gain/loss? According to the home scale I'm up 5lbs. maybe 6, it just depends on the time of day I weigh myself
Maternity clothes? Yes, but I'm still wearing some of my pre pregnancy tops
Stretch marks? No
Sleep? Not so much, I wake up two to three times a night to go to the bathroom
Best moment last week? Finishing conferences and being on Thanksgiving break
Movement? I feel Baby Girl mostly at night. Her kicks are getting stronger, but she isn't nearly as active as Mason was in my tummy. I'm hoping this is a good sign, and that she is a little calmer.
Food cravings? Mexican food and sweets! I want sugar in a bad way!
Food aversions? None really, although too much grease makes me sick still
Gender? Team Pink
Labor signs? No
Belly button in/out? In, but it's getting flater
What I miss: Sleeping through the night without having to get up to pee
What I am looking forward to: Thanksgiving, and Mason staying at my mom's Thursday night so I can sleep in!!!!
Milestones: Not one I'm looking forward to, but I'm taking the one hour glucose test this week. I failed the one hour with Mason and had to take the three hour which was awful! Fingers crossed that I pass the one hour this time.

24 Weeks- Viability Baby!!!

Hi there! I'm 24 weeks today, and that means VIABILITY! For those who are unaware, viability is a great point to get to in pregnancy because it means that if something were to happen, and the baby arrived early, they would make every attempt to save the baby! She better stay put for another 15 weeks or so, but I'm always happy to get to this point! I'm especially happy to get to 24 weeks, as things have been a little (lot) stressful.

It began two weeks ago when my father-in-law wasn't feeling well, and was having trouble breathing. He went in to the doctor only to find out that his arteries were severaly clogged, and his heart was working at 30%. They admitted him, and three days later had a six way bipass surgery. He was sedated for about five days. Jeff and his family were at the hospital everyday, so I was on Mason duty. Jeff's dad is finally off the sedation meds, but he is still in the hospital and has a long road of recovery ahead of him. We are so grateful that he had the surgery when he did since I've already lost my dad to a heart attack!

To help us out, mom has been watching Cassie. Today, I went to pick her up from my mom's house. I loaded her in the car, grabbed a few fun size candy bars from mom's Halloween leftovers, threw those in the cup holder and got in the car not even 30 seconds later. I glanced over at Cassie, and found that in less than 30 seconds she ate three of the candy bars, wrappers and all. In a state of panic, I jumped out of the car and tried to get Cassie to throw up the chocolate. It didn't work, and we found ourselves on hold with the vet. The vet doesn't feel she ate a toxic dose of chocolate, but now I'm completely worried. She can have vommiting, diahrrea, and be a little hyper from the chocolate. Due to our living situation with the other dog, I couldn't bring Cassie home and keep her outside, so mom is keeping an eye on her and she will be there for another night or two.

So, I've been a little stressed. Thank goodness everything has been going well pregnancy wise because I have all the stress I can handle. I'm hoping my next post will be uneventful and upbeat, and maybe a little pregnancy related.

I'll leave you with the 24 weeks pictures. I'm up four pounds total, and Baby Girl has a heart rate of 155 bpm.

22 Weeks...and we've started shopping!

Hello out there in blogger land! It has been a busy two weeks, so let me catch you up on things around here. About two weeks ago I had two days of really bad migraines. I don't typically get headaches, and migraines are pretty unheard of for me, so when I had two I got a little worried. They also weren't your typical migraine. I had the headache, blurred vision, nausea, etc. but what was really scary was that I couldn't remember the names of things. Seriously, Jeff said Mason's name, and I questioned whether that was what his name really was. In light of this, I called my doctor, and she had me go in to see my General Doctor. He was concerned as well, so they had me go in for an MRI. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but let me tell you, it was pretty damn scary. I had to be in the machine for 20 minutes, and it was loud, cold, and tight. I was so relieved when it was finally over. Later that same day, I had an appointment with a neurologist to assess the migraines I had. Thankfully, the MRI came back normal, and the neurologist didn't have any concerns. I haven't had any migraines since, so I'm hoping it was a fluke thing.

I also had my 21 week anatomy scan. I was eager to see our baby again, and make sure that she was healthy and in fact still a she. The tech confirmed it is a little girl, and all her measurements came out perfect! It's nice to know that all my morning sickness hasn't slowed down her growth. :)

And since her gender was confirmed, I started doing some shopping for baby girl! We bought her crib bedding (see the picture below), and we've even purchased several outfits for her. It's totally overwhelming to shop for a girl, and I'm so conditioned by having a boy that I have to force myself into the girl section for clothes. I think I'm getting the hang of it though, and thankfully I have the next four months to practice!

So, that is our bi-weekly update! Here is the bump and the baby bedding! It is becoming more real everyday that we are having a little girl!

18 Weeks and Growing!

I'm 18 weeks today, and feel like I have grown. My bump is pretty noticebale now, which is weird since I didn't show for so long last time. I know you show sooner with subsequent pregnancies, so that prompted me to dig out the maternity clothes this weekend. I went through three HUGE tub fulls of clothes. I washed them, got them on hangers, and boxed up some clothes from my closet that I won't be able to wear for much longer. It will be days now before I'm in the maternity clothes. I'm so grateful to have been given maternity clothes from my sister in law and friends. I have hardly had to buy anything, and won't have to buy anything this time around. That means I will have more money to spend on Baby Girl (don't tell Jeff ;)). I'm still down three pounds, but I was down seven, so I think that's pretty good. At this time with Mason I was down one pound, so pretty close to where I was with him.

I also think my morning sickness may be going away ::knocks on wood::. There were two days last week I didn't have to take my medicine. And let me tell you, I felt like a whole different person. When I'm on the meds they make me sooooo tired. I literally feel like a zombie on them. I was even going to bed at 8:20pm, and sleeping until 6:00am. The days I didn't take the meds I stayed up until 9:00pm. I know that doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but for me it was. I did have to take the meds the past two days, but so far today I have been med free.

The most exciting part of the past week is that I'm feeling Baby Girl move more regularly. I started feeling her at 16 weeks, but now the flutters are a little stronger. I wonder how active she will be???!!! With Mason, it was constant movement, and he is that same way today.

And, I'll end the post with this...we still do not have a name for Baby Girl! The names we loved with Mason have changed, so we are back at the drawing board. I promise, I will post the name once we have one. I think it's obnoxious when people keep the name a secret because really, very few people care that much what someone chooses to name their child. So, there you have it! 18 weeks and growing! And here are the bump pics! Have a great week!

20 Weeks- Half baked!!!

I'm officially half-way through this pregnancy! Most people say that with the second child it goes by much faster than with the first. For me, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Maybe time has dragged by because I have been so sick, or maybe it's our living situation, but for me, I never thought the half way point would get here. I'm trying to take it all in and enjoy every flutter, comment, and thought about our baby girl since this will be my last pregnancy (I just can't go through the morning...all day...sickness again). But it's hard because I really want February to get here for a multitude of reasons (i.e. baby, house, time with my kiddos).

Things in pregnancy land seem to be getting better though. Now, instead of all day sickness I actually have good days when I don't have to take my medicine. I've also gained back the 7lbs. I've lost, so I'm now at my prepregnancy weight! I feel baby girl move pretty regularly, and Jeff has even gotten to feel her moving. And, on Friday we get to have our anatonmy scan to confirm this baby is healthy, and still a girl! I can't wait! It's crazy to think that if we hadn't paid for an early ultrasound we still wouldn't know what we are having! So, Friday can't come fast enough! We still don't have a name, but I think I've finally decided on baby bedding! I'll wait until after Friday to order it though, just to be sure we are ordering for the correct gender!

That's the update from here! Here is the 20 week belly pictures! The pictures were taken in the morning, so the bump looks a lot smaller than it actually is. It gets bigger as the day goes on!

It's a GIRL!!!!

Well, if you read my last post you know I was hoping this little one would be a girl, and she is! We had an early gender scan this weekend, and the tech confirmed that she has little lady bits! When the tech started the scan I was nervous that he wouldn't be able to tell what we were having, but as soon as he pointed out the legs and the "three little lines" I knew my dream was coming true. I immediately started to tear up as we watched our little girl dance on the screen.

I had a bit of an "idea" that this baby would be a girl! At our NT scan at 12 weeks, I asked the tech if she could guess the gender. She said "oh, no I'll just tell you what you're having." At the time, she was 85-90% sure it was a girl based off of the angle of the dangle! Lol! Once that had been put in my mind, I couldn't convince myself otherwise even though I tried not to get my hopes up.

And, the old Wives Tales seemed to point to girl as well. The ring test said girl, I'm sicker this time than with Mason, I'm craving sweets where with Mason I wanted salty foods, and they say girls steal your beauty and I'm having some serious hair loss. Of course we're not going to go out and buy a bunch of girl stuff until after the anatomy scan on October 12th, but it was obvious even to my untrained eye. Hopefully she is still a girl at our anatomy scan. In the meantime, we will start having the "name talk" because we have nothing picked out.

Mason is excited to have a sister too! He has said since the beginning that it was a girl baby in Mommy's tummy, so it was pretty cool that he was right (although he did say he wanted a brother even though he thought it was a girl ha ha). Here is a picture of Mason sharing the news, and a picture (kind of blurry though) of our little princess!

The Great Gender Debate

As with every child, and possibly more so with your second child, you get the question "what are you hoping for?" I don't mind being asked this question, and I'm probably more honest in my answer than most people. So, what am I hoping for?

Well, first and foremost I want a healthy baby. I would love nothing more than to have a child with no reflux, jaundice, and colic, or other issues, and a head size that doesn't require a vaccuum delivery. Since those are things I had with Mason, I know how hard each and every one of them are to deal with. Providing baby is healthy, I would love to have a little baby girl.

I'm of the belief that everyone wants to have one of each gender. Before Mason was born, I had no preference since I wanted one of each anyway. Jeff on the other hand really wanted a boy first. This time, I'd love to have a girl. Will I be disappointed if this little one turns out to be a boy? I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be a little disappointed. But, I will get over it in a day or two. And, we have everything we need for a little boy! I say that because I was always open to the idea of having three children. Then I got pregnant, and have been so sick I know I can't do this again. So, this will be our last baby. I will love my child no matter what, and he/she will be such an important member of our family. But, to have a little girl, and share the kind of relationship I have with my mom would be something indescribeable.

We aren't supposed to find out what we are having until Oct. 12th, which is still five weeks away. However, impatient me made an appointment to find out early. I wasn't planning on doing this, but after some early gender predictions I couldn't help myself. We will hopefully find out what we are having on Sept. 15th, less than a week away ::squeee::! I haven't decided if we will tell "the world" on the 15th or wait for our anatomy scan on Oct. 12th. Just in case though, please vote on the poll for if you think we are having a boy or girl! Edit: the poll is currently not working, so leave your vote in the comment section.

My post-morning sickness "To Eat" list!

If there is anything that morning sickness gives you, it's a great appreciation for eating something that actually sounds good and that you won't throw up! Based on my pregnancy with Mason, I'm probably a few more weeks away from keeping anything down, but I can't help fanticize about the foods I will eat when I actually feel well enough to do so! So, here is my list:

1. Thick crust pizza from Round Table with salami, cheese, and olives! Yum!!!
2. A shredded beef chimichanga from Xochimilco (my hole in the wall Mexican restaurant).
3. An Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box, seasoned fries with ranch dressing, and a Dr. Pepper (which will be weird since I try to avoid caffeine during pregnancy)!
4. A chicken burrtio with rice, pinto beans, extra cheese, and sour cream from Chipotle!
5. A salami sandwich from Subway! I know I could probably stomache this one now, but I avoid all uncooked deli meat during pregnancy, so once again, someone will be bringing this to the delivery room. In fact, that's how I told my mom I was in labor with Mason. I called her from the hospital and said "Hey mom, I wanted to let you know that I get to have a salami sandwich for dinner tonight!"

Yes, I know, if I eat all this I will be sure to gain tons of weight and probably have a big baby! Well, I'm currently down 6 lbs. on the scale, and I had a big baby the first time without eating this, so what could a little greasy food do ;).

We're back! And growing by two feet!

Hello out there in blogger land! I know, I've been a very bad blogger! It's been what, about two and a half years since my last post? I figured, if I wanted to get back into this blogging thing, I would need a really good post to get me back into it! Well, here it is! We are having a BABY!!! That's right, baby #2 is on the way! We are so excited for this new addition! So, let me fill you in on the past 15 weeks.

From our experiences with Mason, we knew we wanted to have a baby in the winter months, when I could be home for as long as possible. January wasn't an option because we didn't want to overshadow Mason's birthday (Jan. 24th). We also knew we wanted a baby no earlier than February because that is our timeframe for buying a house. So, February was our goal. I went off birth control back in January with the hope of trying in May! We must be pretty fertile because cycle number one was our lucky cycle for this baby and for Mason. Baby #2 is due to arrive on Feb. 24, 2013!

We told our families on Father's Day! We bought Mason a Big Brother T-shirt to wear. My mom was the first to know, and she was excited to say the least! We caught the whole thing on video, and it never gets old watching it! Jeff's family took a little longer to catch on! We had Mason in his shirt, and had him give Grandma and Papi many hugs before they finally saw the shirt. At one point we even had to say "Look at Mason's shirt!" They were excited as well, but a little more surprised than my mom! Jeff's dad even made the awkward comment of "How did this happen, you haven't had any private time?" I'm glad I have a good sense of humor and can laugh about it.

We had our first appointment on July 9th, and it couldn't have come any sooner! By five weeks I was already throwing up regularly, so I was eager to get some medicine! Thankfully, the baby looked great with a nice strong heartbeat. I got Zofran for my morning (all day) sickness, and we got some pictures of our little Baby Bean! The Zofran helped the first week or so, but I've been on a downward sprial ever since. I can't keep much down, nothing tastes/sound good to eat, I'm totally constipated, and I'm exhausted ALL DAY LONG! I even ended up in the ER at 9 weeks with severe dehydration! They gave me an IV of fluids, and it helped so much! I'm tempted to go back every few days to get an IV just to feel somewhat human. So now, at 12 weeks I'm on Reglan, Zofran, compazine, stool softener, B6 vitamin, and of course my prenatal vitamin. They wanted to put me on a class c medicine, but that wasn't a chance i was willing to take. I have been officailly diagnosed as having hyperemesis gravidarum aka extreme morning sickness! I guess that means the baby is healthy!

The downside to my appointment was that I found out I had to take the one hour glucose test...TWICE! Since Mason was over 9lbs. I had to take the test at 7 weeks, and then I will have to take it again at 28 weeks. Thankfully I passed my first one hour test, and my fingers are crossed that I will pass it again. I had to take the three hour test with Mason, and it was awful!

So, that is the update from here! I'm going to try REALLY hard to be a good blogger! Mainly for the fact that I don't want this baby to feel like the "second child" before he/she even arrives. I'm speaking from personal experience people, my baby book is empty! So, I hope you enjoy following us through this journey! Here is the pee stick shot and the 7 week belly shot!I'll be back soon to post the ultrasound photo and an 11 week bump pic!

11 Weeks Old...Lots of pictures!

Mason is 11 weeks old, 2 1/2 months, and growing like a weed! We took him in for his 2 month check-up last week , and the doctor confirmed his "weed-like" growth. He weighs 13lbs. 8oz. (75th percentile) and is 24.5 inches (86th percentile). His large head is growing as well (82nd percentile) which must mean he has lots of brains! He got three shots, and was such a brave little guy only crying a little bit, but I was a big baby and cried a lot! Thankfully, my mom (Grandma) went with us to the appointment to get me through it ;). Mason is cooing all the time now, smiles regularly, and rolls over on occasion. I actually caught him rolling over on video, but I'm lame and don't know how to attach a video to this blog. He has been really good about having only one feeding at night around 3am, but last night he slept from 9:30pm to 6:00am. I was super excited, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up that it will be a nightly occurrence. He sleeps in his bassinet in our room at night, but I'm now trying to get him to nap in his crib during the day. This way the transition won't be as bad when we do move him into his room. I'm guessing that it will be harder on me than on him. What can I say, he has a sensitive mommy! And thankfully, this sensitive mommy will be staying home with Mason until August. I was originally going to go back to work in May, but made the decision to be home with Mason for a few more months! They grow so fast, and this time will be gone before we know it.

Mason also celebrated his first Easter last week. He got a very cute Easter basket from the Easter bunny. He also went to church for the first time, and was wayyyyyyyyyy better than the screaming two year old that was also in the cry room. For Easter we celebrated with Jeff's family on Saturday, where Mason got to meet his Great Grandpa. Then on Sunday we had a nice steak dinner with mom. Don't worry, Mason had milk ;).

I know the update isn't all that exciting, but come on, you would all rather see pictures anyway. Soooooooooo, here they are!

6 Weeks...and I'm a lame blogger!

Mason is 6 1/2 weeks old, and I am the lamest blogger ever. Though, to be fair, I did forewarn you that I wasn't sure how often I would update this thing. In fact, I'm not even sure if anyone comes to read this anymore, you've all probably given up hope on me. I'm really going to try and update this thing more often than I have been, and if you are a reader of this blog, and want to ensure that I actually do update more regularly, then become a follower. If I know there are followers, I will be inclined to update more. Ok, now for the actual update.

In my last post, I commented how Mason is a good baby who doesn't cry often. Well, I jinxed myself. He cries A LOT! I'm talking, all the time people. You hear of babies with colic, but you don't think it could be THAT bad...it is. Poor baby has reflux, which increases his colic, which increases mommy and daddy's frustration. We talked to the pediatrician about it, and have tried two different medicines. The medicine Mason is on now seems to help, but we still have one or two horrible feedings a day. And this makes breast feeding sooooo much fun ::sarcastically::. But, despite the crying, he is gaining weight (12 pounds now, my little porker). Mason also doesn't sleep a whole lot. During the day he takes one good nap, but he is pretty alert the rest of the day. We fill our days with tummy time, activity mats, stories, bouncer seats, etc. You name it, we pretty much do it. He is a very active baby, and likes to be entertained all day long.

Mason is also getting better at holding his head up. It's a big head, so it's a lot of work, but those muscles are certainly getting strong. In fact, he rolled himself over for the first time at five weeks old, and rolled himself over again last night. I think the size of his head helped will him over, but he did it nonetheless. He has also been smiling and gripping onto things! I'm so exciting to see him hitting all of these milestones.

We have also started going to a mommy and me group offered through Kaiser. It is great meeting with other moms, and getting suggestions for the reflux issues we've been having. Mason is one of the younger babies there, yet he is bigger than some of the three month olds. I'm going to be a buff mom!

Well, that's the update from here. And just 'cause he's sooo cute, here are some pics of our precious baby boy! I love the picture of him smiling, and I only had to take about 500 shots to get it!

3 Weeks Already???!!!

Mason is 3 weeks old already! I can't believe how fast the past three weeks have gone by, I guess sheer exhaustion will do that to you! I will try to continue to update the blog with all of the exciting things happening in the "World of Mason" although I can't say how good I'll actually be at updating. It's funny how little time you have with a newborn, and if it comes down to it, a shower will win over a blog update ;).

So, here goes. Jeff and I have been getting settled into our new role as parents. The countless feedings, diaper changes, spit ups, etc. have certainly been keeping us busy. Mason has become quite the fussy baby, and tends to cry a significant portion of the day. He is great, however, whenever we have company, so if anyone would like to come by for a visit, we'd gladly accept your offer ;). I think all of this fussiness may be the result of reflux/gas, so the pediatrician prescribed some medicine that "might" help. It can take one to two weeks to make any improvement and we are keeping our fingers crossed. If not, we'll see what else the pediatrician can suggest, and hope that it's not colic.

At his two week check-up his weight gain was up, tipping the scales at 10 lbs. 2.5 oz. He was in the 85th percentile for weight...yikes! That explains my growing muscles. He is also very alert. He can follow me with his eyes, and he's getting really good at holding his head up, a miraculous feat given his head size! He also does great on car rides, and ventured out with Auntie Kym and myself on a shopping excursion last Sunday. It was our first trip out somewhere besides the doctor's office, and also our first trip lugging the stroller/diaper bag. I felt a little silly pushing the stroller, and by silly I mean it was so surreal to have a real live baby. I felt like I was back in high school, pushing a stroller with the mechanical baby from my health class. I came back to reality while changing his diaper out of the back of the car when he decided to pee all over.

Here are a few pics from the first three weeks, including some pictures from his first bath. He is so stinkin' cute, and no, I'm not biased at all ;)!

Mason is here!!!

Our baby boy, Mason Jeffrey arrived on Sunday, January 24th at 3:15pm. A lot of people have asked about his birth story, so I thought I'd post it here. So, if you don't want to hear anything too "graphic", change the channel now ;).

I woke up at 5:15 Sunday morning to what I thought was my water breaking. It turns out, it wasn't my water, just a loss of bladder control (a pregnancy symptom I won't miss). Since I thought it was my water, I called labor and delivery and they told me to come in, but that I had time to shower and eat breakfast. Contractions hadn't started yet, but Jeff and I proceeded to get ready. Not even five minutes later the contractions started, and they were hard and fast. They were immediately five minutes apart, and they hurt like hell!!! I took a shower while Jeff ate breakfast, and by the time I got out of the shower my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. I was in so much pain, that Jeff bypassed the shower and we went straight to the hospital.

Once we arrived (6:40am), they checked my water, which hadn't broken, but saw that I was five centimeters dilated and 90% effaced. I was having a baby...today! We got settled into our labor and delivery room, and I got my epidural at 8:10am. It was such a relief considering the amount of pain I was in, but it took four tries for the anesthesiologist to get the epidural in the right place. I dilated to ten centimeters by noon, at which point, they broke the flood gates (my water) and I began to push. The nurse thought it would take about an hour and a half to push him out based on how quickly I dilated, and they estimated he would be 7 1/2 pounds. Three hours later, I was still pushing, and Mason wasn't any closer to joining us. He actually had his head turned sideways, and despite the doctor's efforts to turn him twice, he wouldn't turn. After a daunting three hours, we decided to use the vacuum since I was so tired, and he was not coming. The vacuum delivery was horrible!!!! It was the worst pain I have EVER felt, and Jeff said it was the most horrible thing to watch. He actually had to look away. The vacuum helped and Mason arrived at 3:15pm. I wasn't able to hold him right away since they had to check him quickly due to the vacuum. In the meantime, I was getting stitched up. I tore really bad in EVERY direction. I asked the doctor how many stitches I needed, he said it was too many to count. I asked the doctor what degree tear I had, he said they don't "score" them in these directions because it wasn't a common tear. I was so nauseous from the blood loss, and I just wanted to see and hold our baby.

Mason did great after being born. He weighed in at 9lbs. 3oz. (not the 7 1/2 pounds they thought). He was 20 inches long, and had a head circumference of 14.5 cm. No wonder he couldn't come out. He scored 8 and 9 on his apgars. And, he is the most beautiful baby ever! He looks just like his dad! He has blue eyes, and brown hair with frosted blond tips! When I finally got to hold him, I instantly fell in love! It was so amazing to see this little man that had been in my belly for nine months!

The doctor told us that had we not done the vacuum, I easily would have been pushing for another few hours, and it was doubtful he would've come after that. After Mason arrived, and I was "repaired" they moved us to the recovery room. We had to stay in the hospital for two days because of the severity of my pain, and Mason had a jaundice level they were monitoring. We had to supplement with formula in the hospital to help lower the jaundice level since my milk hadn't come in yet. I was devastated by this because I wanted to breast feed exclusively. But, we gave him the formula, and his level went down enough for us to be released. The day after we were released, we had our first doctor's appointment, and his jaundice level went back up despite supplementing with formula at home as well. Due to the incline in his jaundice, he has had to be on a photo therapy lamp at home for the past five days. We've had to take him back to the hospital everyday to have his blood drawn, and his levels checked. His levels have been going down, and today they were finally low enough for us to take him off the lamp, but we have to get his blood drawn later this week to make sure the jaundice levels continue to drop. We have been breastfeeding at home since my milk finally came in. It has been a rough transition, but it is worth it to be able to nurse our son.

Mason is a very sleepy baby, and we have to wake him up to feed him. He doesn't cry too much, and loves being held. We are so excited to have him here!

Here are some pics of Mason, as well as some postpartum pictures of me (40 week pics to be exact, good thing he came early, or he would've been ten pounds...yikes!) Also, and please don't hate me, but I'm actually back to my pre-pregnancy weight! I haven't been dieting at all. I guess when your baby is a third of your weight gain, it makes it easy to lose those extra pounds. My clothes still don't fit right, and my tummy sticks out, but exercising right now is the last thing on my mind. I need to heal and take care of our baby!