The girls are finally getting to have a sleep over tonight with a couple friends. Life has been so crazy since the baby and the start of school. Although, looking back I did let Abby have a slumber birthday party when Brock was only like 8 weeks. : ) What was I thinking??
Anyway, the girls were playing "office" with their friends and Abby was using Brock as her baby. By default because I said, "Here, hold the baby while I clean the kitchen." Avery tells Abby that she is 18 years old in this pretend office scenario. Abby yells, "Avery! I cannot be 18 years old! I have a baby! And I'm married! I'm 35. No wait, I'm 30. No! I'm 29. Yes, I'm 29."
I am washing dishes and just busted out laughing. How is it that whether we are really 35, like me or pretend were 30, like Abby, really we all just want to be 29 and holding baby!
Hysterical!
The daily life of our sweet, growing family!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Playing catch up
Almost every Saturday is catch up day. In a family of 7, there is just no way not to be behind all the time. Today was catch up on laundry, grocery shopping, and cooking. Scot, my awesome, handsome husband, employed the older girls and together they did all the laundry! Woo hoo! For about 2 minutes we will have no dirty laundry. : )
I did all the food catch up. Empty the fridge, take inventory, plan the weeks menu, grocery shop and cook. I really hate Walmart on a Saturday. But Walmart by myself, I can do that any day! It was like a mini vacation slowly going up and down each isle. No one asking for anything or growing impatient or needing to go potty or throwing fits. It was divine. The only thing that would have made it better was a hot Starbucks in my hand. Oh well, can't have it all.
Tonight I made zucchini casserole, pot roast for tomorrow's lunch, and crock pot peach oatmeal for breakfast.
We also played some catch up on just being together as a family. Lots of hugs and kisses. Lots of playing outside. And for Scot, he even got to watch some football. Wow! We must have an almost 4 month old baby in the house. Wait, we do! I can't believe it but in about a week our B-rock will be 4 months old. He has figured out how to put things in his mouth. He is a happy boy about that. He almost has the thumb sucking thing down. He can hold his head up really well and has developed quite a bit of upper body strength. He loves to stand on our laps, blow spit bubbles, and smile with his mouth wide open! What a cutie he is. He sleeps all night long, takes great naps and unless he's in his car seat, we almost never hear him fuss. Love my Brocky boy.
All my kids are growing so fast. Rapidly changing and reminding me every day how fleeting these moments are.
I did all the food catch up. Empty the fridge, take inventory, plan the weeks menu, grocery shop and cook. I really hate Walmart on a Saturday. But Walmart by myself, I can do that any day! It was like a mini vacation slowly going up and down each isle. No one asking for anything or growing impatient or needing to go potty or throwing fits. It was divine. The only thing that would have made it better was a hot Starbucks in my hand. Oh well, can't have it all.
Tonight I made zucchini casserole, pot roast for tomorrow's lunch, and crock pot peach oatmeal for breakfast.
We also played some catch up on just being together as a family. Lots of hugs and kisses. Lots of playing outside. And for Scot, he even got to watch some football. Wow! We must have an almost 4 month old baby in the house. Wait, we do! I can't believe it but in about a week our B-rock will be 4 months old. He has figured out how to put things in his mouth. He is a happy boy about that. He almost has the thumb sucking thing down. He can hold his head up really well and has developed quite a bit of upper body strength. He loves to stand on our laps, blow spit bubbles, and smile with his mouth wide open! What a cutie he is. He sleeps all night long, takes great naps and unless he's in his car seat, we almost never hear him fuss. Love my Brocky boy.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Owwwweeee!
Ok, I made a really bad decision today and it cost me. I had a dermatology appointment for a yearly check up. She found one suspicious spot on the back of my leg that she biopsied. She said it didn't look like melanoma but it didn't look normal so she removed it. Hopefully, I will hear nothing because no news is good news with them. I talked to her about my other spots that concerned me and other skin issues I was having. Then I moved on to the wart on my finger. Because of my auto-immune issues a wart can sometimes pop up on my hands. This one on my left middle finger has bothered me a lot because of it's location. I've had it longer than a year and other methods weren't removing it because as a mom, I can't keep my hands out of water for more than 30 minutes at a time. So I thought, hey I'm here at the doctor, I'll just have her freeze it off for me.
Last month, when Scot went for his checkup that turned into you have skin cancer, you need surgery, he had a spot frozen on his arm. It hurt but later he said nothing about it. We were more concerned with his biopsies on his nose. So I am at this appointment thinking it's only going to hurt for a minute. The freezing didn't last longer than 10 seconds. But it felt much longer. It hurt, ALOT. I became sweaty and nauseous. The doctor ran out of the room stating she doesn't like to stick around when she's hurting her patients. Such a great bedside manner. lol. The nurse got me a juice and trash can and I read a people magazine article about Snoocky and her new baby. Not distracting enough. I asked the nurse several times, is it supposed to hurt this bad? She assured me that the ends of the fingers are extremely sensitive and to take some Tylenol when I get home. Tylenol? What the heck? This is I need general anesthesia kinda pain!
I get dressed continue to inform the staff that this is crazy painful. I'm becoming concerned that my level of pain isn't normal but they seem to think it is and look at me like I'm a wimp. I drive home calling my mother, because I am very mad at myself and concerned with the amount of pain I am having. What was I thinking? Why didn't I ask more questions? I'm a nurse!
I pull into a drive thru to get a coke. The nausea is really bad, but the pain is extreme. A monsoon has come to town and I'm getting soaking wet ordering this coke. I sit in the parking lot for a few minutes. How am I going to take care of my kids the rest of the day? What was I thinking? What was I thinking? IT was just a wart. It wasn't killing me. It wasn't hurting anyone. Now it is killing me. Oh the madness!
I called Scot to warn him. WARNING, I'M IN BAD SHAPE!
He runs out the door when I get home and says he's sorry I'm feeling bad. But he has an appointment to get back to work. A couple hours and one mega dose of Ibuprofen later my pain has come down from 100 to 90. Brit-bree has come to the rescue. And I can focus long enough to type with one hand. Things are definitely looking up from the path I was on. Thank you Jesus. Daddy will be home soon and I have the stronger pain med in reserve for his arrival. Then it's night night kids. Mommy's going to bed!
This has to stop hurting eventually, right?
Last month, when Scot went for his checkup that turned into you have skin cancer, you need surgery, he had a spot frozen on his arm. It hurt but later he said nothing about it. We were more concerned with his biopsies on his nose. So I am at this appointment thinking it's only going to hurt for a minute. The freezing didn't last longer than 10 seconds. But it felt much longer. It hurt, ALOT. I became sweaty and nauseous. The doctor ran out of the room stating she doesn't like to stick around when she's hurting her patients. Such a great bedside manner. lol. The nurse got me a juice and trash can and I read a people magazine article about Snoocky and her new baby. Not distracting enough. I asked the nurse several times, is it supposed to hurt this bad? She assured me that the ends of the fingers are extremely sensitive and to take some Tylenol when I get home. Tylenol? What the heck? This is I need general anesthesia kinda pain!
I get dressed continue to inform the staff that this is crazy painful. I'm becoming concerned that my level of pain isn't normal but they seem to think it is and look at me like I'm a wimp. I drive home calling my mother, because I am very mad at myself and concerned with the amount of pain I am having. What was I thinking? Why didn't I ask more questions? I'm a nurse!
I pull into a drive thru to get a coke. The nausea is really bad, but the pain is extreme. A monsoon has come to town and I'm getting soaking wet ordering this coke. I sit in the parking lot for a few minutes. How am I going to take care of my kids the rest of the day? What was I thinking? What was I thinking? IT was just a wart. It wasn't killing me. It wasn't hurting anyone. Now it is killing me. Oh the madness!
I called Scot to warn him. WARNING, I'M IN BAD SHAPE!
He runs out the door when I get home and says he's sorry I'm feeling bad. But he has an appointment to get back to work. A couple hours and one mega dose of Ibuprofen later my pain has come down from 100 to 90. Brit-bree has come to the rescue. And I can focus long enough to type with one hand. Things are definitely looking up from the path I was on. Thank you Jesus. Daddy will be home soon and I have the stronger pain med in reserve for his arrival. Then it's night night kids. Mommy's going to bed!
This has to stop hurting eventually, right?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Brock's birth: part 2
Scot and the kids got home really quickly to find me on the birth ball in the closet. Scot's eyes were wide as he questioned whether we should go to the hospital or not. I felt like we should just call Shelley. I have had so many bouts of contractions with each child that didn't end in delivery. Just long nights of laying awake. Here I was 39 weeks. So I just felt for sure that this had to be false labor. Although, I feel like false is a misnomer. My body was working hard.
We called Shelley and she came over after she was finished with her last client. She checked me and I was still the same. 2cm and 70%. She felt like if Scot would go get me some alcohol, like a glass of wine, they might go away. And that can work. Dr. Bell said they used to hook women up to grain alcohol IV's. He said obviously they don't do that anymore. Poor drunk babies and mommas. But a little alcohol can go along way to relax the uterus and the body. Alcohol was the very last thing I wanted in this moment. I was incredibly nauseous. VERY nauseous, in fact. Anything to make these contractions stop.
Scot ran to the local liquor store, picked up some Hard Mike's Lemonade, only thing I thought I could stomach. He said a police officer walked in and he felt like he needed to say, "this isn't for me! My wife's in labor and the midwife said she's needs this." We certainly had a good laugh when he got home. So with a drink in one hand, crackers in the other, I was able to get about three sips down. So much for that.
Shelley left about 10pm and encouraged me to just try to sleep. Scot and I watched part of a movie. Made the girls go to bed, promising we would let them know if anything happened. I was restless and tired. We decided to try and get some sleep. I kept a rice heating pad on my lower belly. And kept having to get up and heat it. I was miserable.
About 2 in the morning I decided that getting back in the bath was the only way to get comfortable. I was starting to breath slowly through some contractions. They didn't seem regular and they didn't seem close together, but they weren't stopping. Looking back at my handy dandy contraction app, I decided to start timing contractions at 2:53am. The next 30 minutes looked like this:
2:52 Duration: 1min25sec
2:56 Duration: 1min11sec Freq: 4min25sec
3:01 Duration: 1min46sec Freq: 4min41sec
So at this point, I'm thinking, "ok they are coming regular so far, but this isn't intolerable or anything."
3:07 Duration: 1min5sec Freq: 6min27sec
"I'm definitely not in real labor. These are erratic and some are this last one was nothing. Oh, I just wish this would go away. I'm SO tired."
3:09 Duration: 55sec Freq: 1min38sec
Suddenly, a little note pops up. You are having contractions at least 4 minutes apart lasting longer than 1 minute. You should start heading to the hospital.
I laughed. I didn't even know Contraction Master also bossed you around in labor. Or false labor. lol.
3:11 Duration: 1min7sec Freq: 2min31sec
And then it seemed like forever and this happened...
3:18 Duration: 2min27sec Freq: 6min16sec
Uh, yes my body had been gearing up for that one. I had to vocalize through that contraction and it occurred to me that maybe the Contraction Master knew something I didn't and I should go to the hospital. I thought to myself, "I could just stay in this bathtub and have a baby. But we have no supplies and we didn't plan for it and my husband will be really mad if he has to help me deliver. I'll time one more."
3:23 Duration: 1min22sec Freq: 5:35
And that one hurt, like the last one. And I pretty much thought that I could stay in that bath so long I might not have time to get to the hospital, end up having another baby in the tub, and a mad husband. So I got out of the bath. Put my clothes back on and woke my very sleepy husband. I told him I was tired of contracting and the last two contractions felt more serious. I was worried that I might be progressing and I knew he didn't want me to have the baby at home so we should probably at least go check and make sure nothing was happening.
We called our sweet neighbor to come sit with the kids until our babysitter could get there. I informed her I'd probably be back soon.
I had Scot pray for me before we got out of the car at the hospital. I was anxious and nervous. I didn't want to be in labor and I also did want to be in a labor. It was so weird. But he prayed and God's peace overwhelmed me. The contractions were spacing farther apart and didn't hurt at all.
We checked in on the 3rd floor Labor and Delivery window. I said, "uh, I'm in labor." I know they were thinking, yea right. But once the lady pulled up my info and everyone was now aware this was my 5th, they quickly got me to the observation room. I waddled down the hall, undressed in a flash, peed in a cup and complained about the observation room. It was the loud, earth shaking one right with an elevator running behind it. The nurse said she didn't think we would be in there long but sweetly moved me across the hall. Finally, she checked me in and then checked me. Da da dum.
"You're a good stretchy 5, " she says calmly.
A 5!! What!?? I honestly was shocked and I know looking back that my brain was in some sort of labor, transcendent, birth denial state, but I really was truly shocked. Scot was excited. He started the phone calls and got our bags. I continued in my denial state, slowly letting the news sink in as we moved to a labor and delivery suite. Now I was nervous again. All the questions I had been having about this moment were coming to a head.
We were in a hospital, not at home in my nice warm bath. We were using a doctor, not my precious and dearly loved midwife. There were unfamiliar faces everywhere, not my house abuzz with excitement and my sweet family and friend around. And the anxiety began to build. The hospital fire alarms were going off.
I asked my nurse, "do we need to exit the building?"
"Oh no," she said. "Just an irritating drill."
"At 5 am?" I said. "While women are in labor and babies are sleeping?" Like that's not happening all the time at a hospital. Labor brain.
"Yes, it's upsetting to everyone. We are hoping it stops soon, but they don't tell us."
Across the hall, screams can be heard of a momma in labor. Oh, she's not doing well. I learn it's her first baby and she's 1cm. Wow! Imagine the screams at 10.
Scot is finally back. Contractions are kicking into gear again and I finally have more bloody show.
"Pray for me," I plead. "I don't think I can do this here. I know we are where we are supposed to be, but I want to go home."
to be continued....
We called Shelley and she came over after she was finished with her last client. She checked me and I was still the same. 2cm and 70%. She felt like if Scot would go get me some alcohol, like a glass of wine, they might go away. And that can work. Dr. Bell said they used to hook women up to grain alcohol IV's. He said obviously they don't do that anymore. Poor drunk babies and mommas. But a little alcohol can go along way to relax the uterus and the body. Alcohol was the very last thing I wanted in this moment. I was incredibly nauseous. VERY nauseous, in fact. Anything to make these contractions stop.
Scot ran to the local liquor store, picked up some Hard Mike's Lemonade, only thing I thought I could stomach. He said a police officer walked in and he felt like he needed to say, "this isn't for me! My wife's in labor and the midwife said she's needs this." We certainly had a good laugh when he got home. So with a drink in one hand, crackers in the other, I was able to get about three sips down. So much for that.
Shelley left about 10pm and encouraged me to just try to sleep. Scot and I watched part of a movie. Made the girls go to bed, promising we would let them know if anything happened. I was restless and tired. We decided to try and get some sleep. I kept a rice heating pad on my lower belly. And kept having to get up and heat it. I was miserable.
About 2 in the morning I decided that getting back in the bath was the only way to get comfortable. I was starting to breath slowly through some contractions. They didn't seem regular and they didn't seem close together, but they weren't stopping. Looking back at my handy dandy contraction app, I decided to start timing contractions at 2:53am. The next 30 minutes looked like this:
2:52 Duration: 1min25sec
2:56 Duration: 1min11sec Freq: 4min25sec
3:01 Duration: 1min46sec Freq: 4min41sec
So at this point, I'm thinking, "ok they are coming regular so far, but this isn't intolerable or anything."
3:07 Duration: 1min5sec Freq: 6min27sec
"I'm definitely not in real labor. These are erratic and some are this last one was nothing. Oh, I just wish this would go away. I'm SO tired."
3:09 Duration: 55sec Freq: 1min38sec
Suddenly, a little note pops up. You are having contractions at least 4 minutes apart lasting longer than 1 minute. You should start heading to the hospital.
I laughed. I didn't even know Contraction Master also bossed you around in labor. Or false labor. lol.
3:11 Duration: 1min7sec Freq: 2min31sec
And then it seemed like forever and this happened...
3:18 Duration: 2min27sec Freq: 6min16sec
Uh, yes my body had been gearing up for that one. I had to vocalize through that contraction and it occurred to me that maybe the Contraction Master knew something I didn't and I should go to the hospital. I thought to myself, "I could just stay in this bathtub and have a baby. But we have no supplies and we didn't plan for it and my husband will be really mad if he has to help me deliver. I'll time one more."
3:23 Duration: 1min22sec Freq: 5:35
And that one hurt, like the last one. And I pretty much thought that I could stay in that bath so long I might not have time to get to the hospital, end up having another baby in the tub, and a mad husband. So I got out of the bath. Put my clothes back on and woke my very sleepy husband. I told him I was tired of contracting and the last two contractions felt more serious. I was worried that I might be progressing and I knew he didn't want me to have the baby at home so we should probably at least go check and make sure nothing was happening.
We called our sweet neighbor to come sit with the kids until our babysitter could get there. I informed her I'd probably be back soon.
I had Scot pray for me before we got out of the car at the hospital. I was anxious and nervous. I didn't want to be in labor and I also did want to be in a labor. It was so weird. But he prayed and God's peace overwhelmed me. The contractions were spacing farther apart and didn't hurt at all.
We checked in on the 3rd floor Labor and Delivery window. I said, "uh, I'm in labor." I know they were thinking, yea right. But once the lady pulled up my info and everyone was now aware this was my 5th, they quickly got me to the observation room. I waddled down the hall, undressed in a flash, peed in a cup and complained about the observation room. It was the loud, earth shaking one right with an elevator running behind it. The nurse said she didn't think we would be in there long but sweetly moved me across the hall. Finally, she checked me in and then checked me. Da da dum.
"You're a good stretchy 5, " she says calmly.
A 5!! What!?? I honestly was shocked and I know looking back that my brain was in some sort of labor, transcendent, birth denial state, but I really was truly shocked. Scot was excited. He started the phone calls and got our bags. I continued in my denial state, slowly letting the news sink in as we moved to a labor and delivery suite. Now I was nervous again. All the questions I had been having about this moment were coming to a head.
We were in a hospital, not at home in my nice warm bath. We were using a doctor, not my precious and dearly loved midwife. There were unfamiliar faces everywhere, not my house abuzz with excitement and my sweet family and friend around. And the anxiety began to build. The hospital fire alarms were going off.
I asked my nurse, "do we need to exit the building?"
"Oh no," she said. "Just an irritating drill."
"At 5 am?" I said. "While women are in labor and babies are sleeping?" Like that's not happening all the time at a hospital. Labor brain.
"Yes, it's upsetting to everyone. We are hoping it stops soon, but they don't tell us."
Across the hall, screams can be heard of a momma in labor. Oh, she's not doing well. I learn it's her first baby and she's 1cm. Wow! Imagine the screams at 10.
Scot is finally back. Contractions are kicking into gear again and I finally have more bloody show.
"Pray for me," I plead. "I don't think I can do this here. I know we are where we are supposed to be, but I want to go home."
to be continued....
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
BarreOne
Today I exercised. Left the house, showed up to a class, and got my butt kicked. For the 3rd time this week! Oh, how I did not want to go. It's finally fall. It's chilly, overcast, and raining. I just wanted to stay in my pjs. My fibro certainly doesn't ever like cold fronts. And when I say, doesn't like, I mean pain so bad, fatigue so fierce that I want to tell my husband to come home right now, take 600mg of ibuprofen, and curl up with a heating pad. So I did the most logical thing, I threw on some workout clothes and loaded 5 kids in the suburban.
I showed up to class, 5 kids in tow and I am very thankful there's a playroom to stick them in. It usually takes about 10 minutes for my body to get warmed up and then only 10 more minutes until I'm begging for mercy. She played that song today, "you got me begging for mercy." That was me.
This is one of the hardest workouts I have ever done. It combines yoga, Pilate's, and barre work. It is supposed to give you a dancer's body. Yes, please. But my fibro is definitely saying no. I am pushing up against a hard wall. A wall that has stood firm for over 15 years. This is the year it's coming down. 3 back to back pregnancies, the last one ending with 10 weeks of bed rest, I am determined to reclaim the ground this disease has stolen. For me, for my husband, for my kids.
Exercise is first a battle of the mind, then the will, then the body. Each time I have to psyche myself up at least a day in advance. I am scared to go more than a couple days without a workout for fear that my body will seize up and shut down. It's happened before and it was not fun.
Tomorrow is massage day.
Looking forward to Monday's class.
Check out barreOne on facebook. My friend Jennifer is an awesome instructor and encourager!
She has a special going for October, $100 unlimited! Great deal! Oh yes, and Jennifer doesn't even know I am posting this. This is all my own, unsolicited opinion. : )
I showed up to class, 5 kids in tow and I am very thankful there's a playroom to stick them in. It usually takes about 10 minutes for my body to get warmed up and then only 10 more minutes until I'm begging for mercy. She played that song today, "you got me begging for mercy." That was me.
This is one of the hardest workouts I have ever done. It combines yoga, Pilate's, and barre work. It is supposed to give you a dancer's body. Yes, please. But my fibro is definitely saying no. I am pushing up against a hard wall. A wall that has stood firm for over 15 years. This is the year it's coming down. 3 back to back pregnancies, the last one ending with 10 weeks of bed rest, I am determined to reclaim the ground this disease has stolen. For me, for my husband, for my kids.
Exercise is first a battle of the mind, then the will, then the body. Each time I have to psyche myself up at least a day in advance. I am scared to go more than a couple days without a workout for fear that my body will seize up and shut down. It's happened before and it was not fun.
Tomorrow is massage day.
Looking forward to Monday's class.
Check out barreOne on facebook. My friend Jennifer is an awesome instructor and encourager!
She has a special going for October, $100 unlimited! Great deal! Oh yes, and Jennifer doesn't even know I am posting this. This is all my own, unsolicited opinion. : )
Crazy toddler days
Avery and I had a discussion yesterday about a little boy who they discovered after allergy tests and medications and diet restrictions and many doctors that he had a Lego wheel in his nose! Avery questioned who would do that. To which I replied curious toddlers. I said that I was thankful that none of my kids had ever stuck anything up their nose. Until today.
Kid you not, I look up from the stove because my mom radar was going off. And I see a very quiet Aubrey in her high chair, left eye watering and a strange look on her face. And I knew. She stuck something in her nose. I go over and start looking and questioning. What's wrong Aubrey? My nose, she says pointing. Did you stick something in your nose? She nods, tear streaming, panic beginning to set in. I can barely see something in the back of her nose. I send Avery after a bulb syringe. No luck with that except to pull it a little more into view. Pumpkin seed. She had some at lunch and obviously one left on her tray. Tweezers! Get tweezers! Don't cry Aubrey, I can't see it when you cry. Slippery little seed! Three careful attempts and lots of calming words, that slippery seed is out. Lots of relief and tears and lessons about not sticking things in your nose, she's recovered.
Kid you not, I look up from the stove because my mom radar was going off. And I see a very quiet Aubrey in her high chair, left eye watering and a strange look on her face. And I knew. She stuck something in her nose. I go over and start looking and questioning. What's wrong Aubrey? My nose, she says pointing. Did you stick something in your nose? She nods, tear streaming, panic beginning to set in. I can barely see something in the back of her nose. I send Avery after a bulb syringe. No luck with that except to pull it a little more into view. Pumpkin seed. She had some at lunch and obviously one left on her tray. Tweezers! Get tweezers! Don't cry Aubrey, I can't see it when you cry. Slippery little seed! Three careful attempts and lots of calming words, that slippery seed is out. Lots of relief and tears and lessons about not sticking things in your nose, she's recovered.
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