It's been a while.

A lot has happened since my last post.

I've graduated and worked for a nurse for 14 months now. I started out in a community hospital operating room. As of, August 29, I'm now on a med-surg floor and actually loving my job. After a year of dreading going to work every day M-F because I hated to leave Paige and the environment was not what I imagined myself working in, I finally found a place that makes me want to go to work. I work 3 days a week (Sat/Sun and 1 weekday) which feels more like a part time job for a SAHM than a real job. So far, it's great =)

Michael has moved bases from Atlanta to Detroit. He also likes his job a lot better now aside from the crappy hours and pay. The management is alot better =) He also gets to see his Aunt Vicki and Aunt Cathy and their families more often which has been great.

Paige has grown like a weed. I'll post some new pictures on here of her soon. She says at least one new word almost every day. She is a constant source of entertainment from the time she wakes up in the morning. She is full of life, energy, enthusiasm and determination. She does not like no or stop for an answer and lives her life in full force. She is trying to potty training, but has yet to go in the potty once yet, despite running around naked for hours at a time and having 3 potties to choose from.

Baby 2 is also growing like a weed. She/he is 24.5 weeks now and will probably be here before we know it. We have yet to pick a name and will probably do the same as we did with Paige and not disclose it until after the birth. We plan to do another home birth and are praying that labor starts at home when we are both at home. I'm sure if I'm working and labor starts, I'd be forced into the L&D unit and have to leave AMA when no one is looking. Not fun at all. We'll take all the prayers we can get that 2 will behave and come at home when daddy is here =)

Another Major Update

I'm really going to try to do better, especially since we're not taking as many pictures, or we are, but just taking longer to get them on flickr. The pictures can only say so much about how amazing little Paige is. I know every parent gushes over their child -- and we are no different =)

I'll try to fill everyone in on her milestones .. and hopefully I'll get around to adding them to her Baby's First Year Calendar as well.

Paige is still doing great with C who keeps her while I'm in class or working at the hospital. Paige loves the interaction with C's two children who are 1 and 2.5 y.o. I like that she isn't around a bunch of infants doing the same things they're doing, but around older kids getting more interaction. =)

On 1/27 - she put herself to sleep twice. I don't remember how long she slept, but it was a step in a good direction! =)

On 1/30 - she spent her first all day with daddy - she gave him a run for his money at times, but they both survived and enjoyed the time together =)

The last couple of weeks of Jan. she was finding her fingers and intentionally sucking them more often - which meant mommy and daddy had to step up their game of intervention with paci =)
She also started blowing bubbles more - so cute!

The first week of February she began to pay more attention to mommy's shirt designs while nursing and would play with the shirt while eating.

For Valentine's weekend - Michael surprised us with a trip to the Inn on Biltmore Estate. He planned it while mommy was at clinical and we left right after mommy took a shower after getting home =)

Paige slept through the night on 2/19 and 2/20 from about 8-6 or 7 each night, which meant mommy woke up very sore. She's tried a few more times, but doesn't usually make it past about 4am.

On 2/25, she rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time. She's done it only a couple times since. She can hold her head up well, but hates tummy time, so we don't make it last too long.

We have been borrowing the Bumbo from C and she usually likes sitting in that for a while.

Around the time she turned 4 months we let her try some banana because she acted very interested. She liked it alot and so every now and then we left her have a taste. Mommy also let her try some oatmeal on 3/20 which she also enjoyed =)

We just got back this morning from a trip to Cincinnati to see Michael - which makes her 3rd? plane trip with a total of about 8 times on a plane I think. She loves it for the most part. She usually sleeps and has only cried on a couple of them. Most people comment on how great she does and some have even said they forgot a baby was on board because she hardly made any noise =)

Major update

Wow. It's been a while.

Babies take up a lot of time. lol. Paige just turned 2 months or 10 weeks - whichever way you want to count. She's growing fast - mommy milk is powerful stuff. She had her 2 month check up and weighed in at 10 lbs, 10oz. A whopping 4 lb gain since birth. She's also stretched out about 2 1/4 inches.

She is making eye contact more and more these days and we've decided to try to sign with her. Michael first brought it up when I was pregnant - I think - so we're going to give it a try. If nothing else, the hand motions give her a good laugh. haha. We've started with the basic things that she cries for - milk, diaper, and sleep. I've also added in hello and i love you. We'll add in others as she begins to pay more attention and encounter new things.

She hates tummy time, but can hold her head up pretty good - I'm guessing it's from the time she spends in the Moby wrap. Some days she loves the Moby and some days she hates it. Like most things with her. haha. I got her some rattles and colorful hand toys to look at when she lays on her tummy but they didn't make her more interested.

Her sleeping is great! She sleeps great at night - she stirs just enough to wake me up so I can feed her and she falls asleep eating. I consider it sleeping through the night because she doesn't scream or play and we all wake up rested - aside from school days.

Her latest accomplishment is falling asleep by herself!!! It's still of a challenge for her sometimes - like right now - but it usually doesn't take long if her tummy is topped off and she has something soft to hold.

She has found her thumb =( We try to intervene with paci but sometimes that makes her mad. I finally found a paci she'll take other than the one she favored since 2 weeks old - that's been recalled. I'm very happy we found a replacement. Now I just have to go buy more of the new kind before they stop selling them. haha.

I've started school which means Paige is now being cared for during the days by someone else. We were going to do daycare, but only because that seemed like our only option. Michael and I really wanted someone to keep her though. Luckily we found someone!!! She lives about 5 minutes from the school, has 2 young children of her own (2.5 & 10 months), and has also had homebirths. So far it's been great. =) And Michael keeps her on his days off.

Michael's still flying - back to high speeds though. I have one more semester. 6 weeks of clinical and then 120 hours with a "preceptor" between spring break and graduation. Luckily it's someone I know and it should be a wonderful experience =). And its on an OB ward!!! =)

Paige Noelle's Birth Story

The homebirth as a whole went great. The labor was short and intense - which was unexpected since this was my first baby. I felt a pop at 9:45pm (11/15), started contracting at 10, and she was here by 2:30am (11/16).

Michael and I had just finished watching Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector when I got up to go to the bathroom, felt the pop and saw a little blood. I was going to get up again for something and felt a pain like a contraction and told Michael “Ouch, that kinda hurt.” They kept coming after that one.

We went upstairs and Michael starting trying to call (our midwife’s assistant) at 10:05. I sat on the toilet in case I started leaking water and asked Michael to bring the laptop so we could time the contractions on Contraction Master. After that, I only let him leave in between contractions and would holler at him to come back when I felt one starting. They started out 2.5 minutes apart lasting 60-90 seconds and stayed that way the entire labor. When MWA called back about 10:30, she could hear me moaning in the background. She asked “Is that MaryBeth?” She was on her way immediately.

Michael asked if I wanted a bath since that made contractions go away in the past, so I decided to try it. MWA called back and suggested taking a bath to “slow things down” and help me feel better to which Michael responded, “One step ahead of you. She’s already in there.”

MWA and backup MW got to the house just before 11 and I was back on the toilet because it was more comfortable to sit straight up than recline in the tub. They started setting up the bed and birthing tub and checked the baby’s heart rate between contractions - it was in the 140s. Michael tried to help them as much as he could, but stayed with me for the most part to help me through the contractions. He was wonderful about supporting me during contractions. We didn't really have a chance to get into a relaxation rhythm because the intensity started so soon, but he caught onto my pattern quickly and was able to breathe with me and help focus me. He did sustain a few injuries to his hand before he took his wedding band off, and I bit him once and pinched him a couple of times when I lost focus during a contraction. Oops! He was very forgiving about that though =)

I tried various positions –sitting, standing, leaning – before getting into the birthing tub. They moved me to the bed about 11:45 to do an internal - 5 cm, 50% effaced, and 0 station. Then off to the birthing tub in the baby’s room at 12:07am. The tub felt good and I was able to move into different positions – Michael had to keep switching sides to be close to me. The contractions became more intense and I got behind a few of them. Michael was pretty good about refocusing me though. They checked the baby’s heart rate at 12:15am and 12:52am - 130s. At 1:00am I felt the baby “pushing”. At 1:10am they checked me again - 7-8cm, 75% effaced, and head “almost crowning”.

MWA and MW were great. MW was actually a backup because ours was out of the country. They were very noninvasive, very quiet and reserved during the labor, and were great about following my lead. They only did a couple of internal checks and they encouraged me to feel the baby and feel the progression. That was great for me because it encouraged me not to push until I was complete. They listened to her heartbeat a couple of times during contractions and a couple times in between. They would tell me ahead of time "Ok during the next contraction…” or “after this contraction, we're going to...." They also encouraged me to get up about every hour or two to go to the bathroom to help relieve pressure, as well as drink as much as I could tolerate. So in between contractions I tried to drink lots of juice and water. I did throw up a couple of times, but I still continued to drink which helped me feel a lot better.

I stayed in the tub until about 1:30am. I was no longer comfortable and decided to get out. We intended to have a water birth, but because I started out so intense I got exhausted and really uncomfortable and decided to birth her in the bed. I tried going to bathroom one last time before getting in the bed. At 1:40am they checked the heart rate again - it was 148. They were pretty sure it wouldn’t be much longer. I tried standing, leaning, squatting, and sitting at the side of the bed. Finally we decided to try on the bed. I tried a few, but not many positions on the bed and they suggested having Michael lie on the bed propped up, and I lay between his legs against his chest. After a short time on the bed they suggested I try pushing lightly to see how it would go and if it would provide relief. It did.

I started really pushing (2:05am) and there was nothing but encouragement from the other side of the bed. Every push they saw more and more head peeking out. They encouraged me to feel. I felt the head go back up after a contraction and after that I started pushing more to keep it down. I was ready for her to be here and feeling her head was enough incentive to focus and push. At 2:15am the head had crowned. About 2-3 pushes in I started to really feel the pain. I didn’t get behind the contractions though and about 2 pushes later our baby was completely out (2:21am). MWA didn’t even have a chance to tell me to stop pushing so she could check to make sure the cord wasn’t around the baby’s neck. She just flew right out. And there she finally was – our daughter Paige Noelle.

Up onto my belly she went. I bled more than what they anticipated and although they were very serious and intent on taking care of my immediate medical needs, they didn't do it in a way that made me scared. They had a look on their face that they were worried, but they were very reassuring that they had it under control. They gave me oxygen and two shots of Pitocin in my legs to help slow the bleeding and then allowed me to push the placenta out (2:39am) once the cord had stopped pulsating. MW filled a dropper with medicine (we still don’t know what it was – something for the bleeding) that tasted like battery acid. They did the APGAR test immediately and she was a 9. They did another APGAR at 5 minutes and she was a perfect 10.

They watched me for a while then asked me to slide to the end of the bed. They used some chairs from the other room to put my legs up. They handed Michael the baby, numbed me and stitched closed the small, but very uncomfortable, tear I had received from the explosive birth. You would think feeling of pushing a 6.5 pound object would top the feeling of a needle in the crotch … but no. I’ll take another kid to a needle.

They encouraged me to get up and go to the bathroom after suturing me if I felt good enough. I did at the time so MWA and MW helped me up and to the bathroom in our bedroom. Once done I wanted a shower and try to get washed off. They were great helping me get back and forth between the bedroom and bathroom. They slowly walked me to the shower but before I could get in, I felt weak and wanted to lie down. On the way to the room I passed out and fell into MW’s arms. All I remember is her saying “MaryBeth, MaryBeth, can you hear me?” and it slowly fading out. They guided me to the ground, propped my head up on MW's lap, and put pillows under my legs. MW called for ammonia but before they could get it I woke up. Their voices sounded really far away as I came back. The noises slowly got louder and louder. I heard MW ask for ammonia and then her say “MaryBeth, can you hear me?” I think I asked her if I passed out or something. I think Michael was more scared then I was. I looked over at him, he looked absolutely terrified. He was looking at me with these huge eyes like “Is she going to be ok?” He was doing a wonderful job keeping our daughter content.

MW stayed with me on the floor while MWA pulled the sheets off the bed and remade it. She put down chucks where I was going to lay. After the rest on the floor they helped me crawl to the bed. I felt like one of the crippled people you see in movies when someone pushes them out of their wheelchair and they have to crawl halfway across the room to get it. Needless to say, I didn't walk for the rest of the day - I crawled back and forth to our bathroom. They got me back on the bed and monitored me for about 3 hours as they continued to clean up. They put the dirty sheets and towels in the washer, put hydrogen peroxide in with it, and let it soak. Later we ran the load and all the stains came out!

So that's how the homebirth went in a nutshell. Shorter and more intense than we expected, but overall a great experience =)

The postpartum checks have been great also. MWA called me on Sunday (11/16), came out on Monday (11/17), (our midwife) and MWA came again Wednesday (11/19). The final visit was this past Wednesday (11/26). At the final visit, MWA did the PKU test for the baby, as well as the hearing screen which she passed =)

And the countdown begins ....

Things going on with us ....

We had a couple of 3d/4d ultrasounds in the hopes of getting of good shot of baby girl Lopez ... she was semi-cooperative ... she's a snuggler and likes her arm ... Michael has posted them to flickr ... feel free to check them out, as well as nursery pics ... Baby Pics
As we get closer to her birth, I get more and more excited ... I'm so glad we have chosen to have her at home - I'm excited that we'll be able to spend her first few hours together at home without noisy interruptions, beeping IVs, medical staff interruptions, or trips to the nursery for shots, etc.
The nursery is slowly getting put together - I'm looking forward to getting it finished.
I think her birth will really feel close when we order the birth kit and start having checks every 2 weeks - it - she will be here before we know it.

Michael is still enjoying flying. More senior people are going to his base so we're not sure how that will affect his flying, but it's not too bad at the moment. We're hoping we can work out some time off for him to be home for the baby's birth and some time afterwards.

I had my first nursing test today and did pretty good on it - which is a big relief. I'm hoping things will stay that way so I don't have to stay in school longer than planned.

On a final happy note ... I baked some cupcakes tonight that were quick, easy, and really yummy - even without the icing .. so I thought I'd share the RECIPE

Check in Often =)

Baby Update

Baby continues to be active .... nothing too exciting to report. She's a good little baby and doesn't cause me any problems or drama ... hopefully that will carry over into labor and her birth =)

We have our blessing on Saturday and then leave early Sunday morning for a week in Jamaica. Our honeymoon has turned into our "babymoon" and we're looking forward to it. We have a nice room that's supposed to be near the beach. I can't wait to get in the sand and water!!!

As people continue to ask "What doctor are you seeing? What hospital are you delivering at?" I have started wondering when birth became a medical procedure and not another life event. Michael and I are so excited to have the opportunity to have our daughter at home and as we get to know our midwife and plan the birth, I can't imagine having her any other way. I'm excited about being able to relax in our home and let our daughter come when she's ready.

Michael has been phenomenal. I have heard of husbands and fathers not being very involved in their wife's pregnancy/child's birth. I can't imagine not having Michael as involved as he is. He takes such good care of us =)

This is all for now! I'll update again when we get back from Jamaica and have another prenatal with our wonderful midwife =)

How Time Flies

I received a message today that reminded me to enjoy the kicks and rolls in the belly because time flies. It brought tears to my eyes as I thought about how true that was.

This time last year, I was a few weeks away from meeting Michael. This past year with him has been absolutely wonderful. He captured my heart from the beginning. When I saw him for the first time, I knew he was the one I'd waited my whole life for. I instantly fell in love with him and have been head over heels ever since. He is the truly the most amazing man I know and I'm so lucky to have him as my husband.

I never thought last year that I'd be married and expecting a child. Life surprises us. I remember when we found out we were pregnant .. we could hardly believe it. I think I cried alot the first couple of days wondering how in the world I could be a good mommy without neglecting Michael or school. That soon turned to happiness as we began planning for life with a new baby.
I remember the first ultrasound and seeing the heartbeat. We created it? Wow. I worried so much in between each prenatal ... what if something happens and I don't know it??? Then I started showing. Then I felt kicking. Then sleeping became uncomfortable. Then we found out it's a little girl.

Time has flown so fast. I want it to all slow down. I know before long ... she'll be here. Then she'll smile. Roll over. Coo. Crawl. Toddle. Walk. Run. Skip. Jump. Grow up. Before long ... she won't even be a baby anymore.

Time flies so fast. Don't take it for granted. Love the one you're with and tell them everyday =)