Blessed With Three

Moving! May 13, 2009

New Blog – www.blessed-with-three.blogspot.com

I am having major technical issues with wordpress.  See ya over there!

Carpenter Ants May 11, 2009

Oh boy.  These suckers are HUGE and they BITE.   Oh, and they are living in the walls of my house, apparently.   Lovely.

I’ve spent the day calling around getting estimates from exterminators.   Orkin wants $600 for their services.  $175 for the initial visit, and you are required to sign a year contract, saying you will received their services every other month.

I think I’m going with a local guy who charges $53.  Of course, he also has no guarantee so if you need him again, it will cost you another $53.  Hopefully this is a one time shot.   I don’t think they are that bad yet, but each day there seems to be more and more.

I stepped on one yesterday and it bite my foot.  It still hurts.

Emilie wants to keep them as pets.  Ha.

Motherhood. May 10, 2009

This morning, as I was bombarded with demands such as “Make me cereal!”, “Put my hair in my favorite ponytail!”, “Mellows, Mama, Melloooowwwsss”, I began thinking about how I got to this point.   The mother of three beautiful, wonderful, sometimes annoying, but always fun little girls.

In the fall of 2001, when I was a young 18 years old, I found myself pregnant with my first daughter.  I can remember vividly taking the test and watching the lines instantly pop up.  I was nervous, excited and nauseous.    Although I had been living with her father, I was still scared to tell my own mother (she would know I was having sex lol).  She took it extremely well (a shock to me), and was excited to learn that she would be becoming a grandmother.

On February 14, 2002, as her father and I were lounging on the couch watching television, I felt her kick for the first time.   This was an actual kick that could be felt from the outside.  We spent 10 minutes or so poking at my belly desperately wanting her to do it again, and she did not dissappoint.   From that time on, it seems like she moved non-stop.

This pregnancy seemed to go on forever.   I felt like there would never be an end.   During the last two months, I would spend hours in her nursery – daydreaming of the day I would meet her, talking to her, unfolding and folding her tiny clothes over and over again.

My due date came and went.  41 weeks came and went.  The 42 week mark came and went.  At 42+1, my OB decided that she would schedule my induction the following Friday.  This would put me at 42 weeks 5 days pregnant.  At the time, I was so disappointed she did not send to me straight to the hospital from her office, but the baby looked great so there was no need.

On Thursday, July 17th, around 10 p.m. I was eating a very late dinner and started cramping.   These cramps soon became very painful, so at 10:30 I called my mother and she drove us to the hospital.  At the hospital my progress was checked and I was only at 1 cm.  However my contractions were making mountains on the the monitor screen so instead of sending me back home they decided to make me walk around the hallway.   Around 12 a.m., I was 2 cm dilated and got into bed.   At this point the contractions were the worst pain I have ever felt.   Little did I know, it was not “normal” for it to hurt that bad.    I spent the next 4 hours crying, sitting in bed, paralyzed from the contractions.  I was so angry that my mother and husband were napping while I was in such extreme pain.   At 4 a.m., my waters broke.  I felt a pop and then the bed and floor were soaked.   One of the nurses used a mop to get it up.   At this point, they checked me and I was only 4 cm dilated.

I refused all pain medication, and sat there for four more hours leaking and contracting.   At 8 a.m., I was checked again and found to be 10 cm – but I knew there was a problem when the nurse said “I think I feel a  butt!”   She immediately ran out of the room to call my doctor.  About a 1/2 hour later my doctor came in and checked and said “That is not a butt.  That is a FACE”.  My daughter was stuck in a face presentation, and had possible been that way for weeks.  That would explain why it took so long for me to go into labor and why my labor did not progress “normally”.  At this point, she decided to do a csection, because my daughters heart rate would drop with each contraction.  At one point it start dropping and was not coming up.  They started an IV and literally ran me to the OR.  The actual surgery was a blur.  I found myself back in my hospital room with a nurse saying “Congrats! You have a girl!”.    They finally brought the baby in to me.   I freaked out, because she was purple! I assumed she was not getting enough oxygen, but she was only bruised.  Her entire face and neck area was one huge bruise.  Her eyes and lips were swollen, and her neck was stiff, so she did not turn it at all for the first day.  She had been stuck in that position for so long it had caused this damage.

She seemed so tiny to me, but everyone else commented on how large she was.   She was 21.5 inches, 9 lbs 7 oz and beautiful!   The first diaper change took 15 minutes.  This was my first time changing a diaper, and she looked so fragile I was afraid I would break her somehow lol.

Our first night at home was miserable for me.  My breasts were swollen and I had developed a nasty mastitis infection.  The pain from that was worse than the pain from the csection.  B. would wake up crying every hour.   She was sleeping in a bassinet beside my bed, but it was still so hard to get up with her (going from a laying down position to sitting is hard work when your midsection has been cut open).  I finally decided to put her in bed with me, and thus began my co-sleeping journey.   She was happy, I was happy and we both fell into a peaceful sleep.

It seems like it was only yesterday when I fell asleep cuddled up with my first tiny newborn daughter.  Today, she is a big soon to be 7 year old singing me a mothers day song she made up by herself.   The time goes by so, so fast.

The journey through motherhood is stressful, amazing, painful, wonderful and sometimes frustrating but I would never give it up.  I LOVE being a mother.

Briana, two days old (before i had a digital camera so this is the only pic I have on the computer) –

Emilie, the day she was born (10 lbs 3 oz, 22.5 inches of baby love)  –

Maddie, one week old (the date is wrong)  –

♥

mmm….marshmallows! May 10, 2009

Maddie says “mmm” after every bite.

So sweet ♥

Sizzle… ssszzzz… breathe May 5, 2009

Despite having a nasty cough and runny nose, Maddie is not letting it get her down.  She is being as sweet, funny and crazy as ever.  Yesterday I pulled out my “sweatin’ to the oldies 2” dvd (yes, i really own this … no, i never actually do the workout…)   Madelyn LOVED it.  Especially the knee slaps.

He starts the knee slaps around 50 seconds into this…

Now here is Maddie’s version  (getting ready to slap that knee!)

and of course, the “sizzle” –

This kid is hilarious.

Maddie is sick again May 3, 2009

She woke up today with a horrible runny nose and seemed to be having a little trouble breathing.   No other symptoms so far, but we have to keep on top of this because the common cold can turn very serious very fast for her.

Along with taking her treatments, I’m letting her snack on blueberries, apples and bananas as much as she wants.  All of which are “super foods” (and of course, delicious!) This child would eat blueberries non-stop if I let her.

She hates getting her breathing treatments, so she’s always taking the mask off..

Chewing on it…

… and even licking it!

Hopefully this proves to be a short lasting, minor cold.

Kid Questionnaire Contest April 28, 2009

{Contest Link}

These answers were given by Briana (age 6) and Emilie (age 5)

1. What is something mom always says to you?

B – I love you!    /   E – Clean your room!

2. What makes mom happy?

B – Making me happy / E – Cleaning the house

3. What makes mom sad?

B – When the house is messy / E – When we say mean things

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

B –  Telling cow jokes/ E – She tickles me!

5. What was your mom like as a child?

B – A  beautiful little girl/ E – The same as you are now.

6. How old is your mom?

B – 26  / E – As old as dad.

7. How tall is your mom?

B – I need to measure you / E – Almost the size of dad

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?

B – The show about the old ladies  / E – The old ladies  (they are talking about the golden girls)

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around? –

B – Cleans up the house  / E – Sleeps

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

B – I don’t know yet  / E – Being on the news

11. What is your mom really good at?

B – Cleaning  / E – I don’t know, but not cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at?

B – Learning about ellipses and trapezoids / E – Cooking

13. What does your mom do for her job?

B – Cleaning our house  / E  – Taking care of us

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?

B – That stinky smelling stuff  / E –  stinky noodles (jalapeno jack pasta!)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

B – When she cooks our food / E – She’s smart

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

B – Sandy Cheeks / E – Old Man Jenkins

17. What do you and your mom do together?

B – We have fun  / E – We read together a lot.

18. How are you and your mom the same?

B – We both have black hair / E – We are both girls

19. How are you and your mom different?

B – Our face looks different / E –  She wears pajama pants all day and i don’t (hahaha.. it’s true)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

B – She cleans my room / E – She tells me all the time.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

B – He’s a nice and great dad / E – He cleans the house for her

22. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?

B – Taco Bell / E – To bed, she sleeps a lot.

It was fun to get their answers, although some of them could not be further from the truth … cleaning the house makes me happy?!  NO

Remembering… April 28, 2009

The month of April has brought so much heartache to my online community.   There have been 5 children taken too soon from their loving parents.  Five babies, in twenty-seven short day.   All were sudden and unexpected.  First there was the beautiful Tasha.  A child I have watched grow up for the past five years via her mothers blog.   Then within 24 hours, two women I post with at a small parenting forum had stillbirths.  Perfectly healthy pregnancies, but something happened with each during labor.  Then, just days after that I found out about  Maddie Spohr, and baby Thalon.    Now,  beautiful little Kayleigh and her family desperately need our prayers, thoughts, and positive energy.

I only “know” these people though their blogs, but my heart is breaking for them the same that it would if they were my best friends.    It is truly devastating.

Little Maddie’s death has especially hit me hard.  My own Maddie has so many of the same health issues – prematurity, CLD, the frequent respiratory infections, the list goes on and on…     It makes me realize how easily my precious girl could be taken.  It physically hurts to even think of this.

Happy Birthday, Madelyn Elizabeth! April 13, 2009

Two years ago, I was blessed with the most wonderful baby ever, and she has grown into such an amazing little girl.

In this picture, she is minutes old.. this is the only picture I have of her birth that isn’t traumatic to look at.  (She was put on oxygen right after this).

Her first week at home…

She was so tiny, weighing only 5 lbs 15 oz at 8 days old (she lost a full pound within days of her birth. I was told her birth weight was inflated from the medications I had received).

… and now, my big birthday girl!

This child brings so much joy to my life. Everyday with her is a new adventure.

I want to do a longer post later, but right now I’m going to go back to bed and cuddle with my birthday girl.

Happy Easter! April 12, 2009