Seven Not So Quick Takes

Friday, December 11, 2009
I apologize for the delay in posting. I have every good intention of posting more, but I just can’t seem to find the time. Not only to blog, but to read other blogs, and to do things on my to-do list. My to-do list keeps growing, and GROWING, and G.R.O.W.I.N.G!!! I have marked very few things off of my list. Pretty depressing, but I’d rather spend time with my daughter and do the “little” things that I must do. Like laundry, dishes, cook, what little cleaning I can manage, and wash and sterilize bottles! FUN STUFF! :) So pretty much, my ambitious attempt to make my blog more entertaining and post more is getting pushed to the back burner. I do have a good plan, that with any luck, and probably a bit of a lack of creativity and lack of sleep I may be able to post once a week! If I write my blog post offline and save it I may manage to post more! HAHA! So here goes seven not so quick takes, as I need to catch everyone up on what has been going on.

1. I returned to work. That alone explains a lot of why I am so busy. Alice is getting into more of a routine…FINALLY! Of course, I now work full-time, so I actually have less time than before. I just have to be more efficient with my time. My husband actually told me the other day that I need to be more “time efficient”, which irritated me. I wanted to scream and slap him, but that would accomplish nothing. So what did I do? I went and got my hair cut and left him with Alice. See he had a long list of stuff that he wanted to accomplish, so I figured if he was in my shoes he would see how difficult it is. Sure you have nap-time, but Alice is not much of a napper during the day. Which during the week is nice and also a bit rough, but I get to spend more time with her. So when I returned home from my hair cut and running a few errands, he told me he doesn’t know how I manage to get any of the stuff I do get done, well done. He hadn’t started on anything that he wanted to do, except the dishes. This basically meant he piled them on one side of the sink, started the water, and never actually washed a dish! While I was happy that he realized how tough it is, I was a bit annoyed that he did not get anything done. Not even one dish! *sigh* He did manage to hop online for about the entire time I was gone *roll eyes*…so I suppose he did manage to get a lot done!
2. We had our first Thanksgiving(s) with Alice! Of course, she couldn’t enjoy any of the yummy food, and I’m sure it was just another day to her, but to me and all of her family members it was a time to realize how blessed we have been. I am so thankful for my little girl. I have no idea how I was so blessed to given her. I’m still not sure I’m deserving of her, or Sean. Without him, I would not have her. And while Sean may really irritate me (and sometimes worse) he is my best friend. I love him so much, and he has given me the best gift in the world!
3. Alice has reached a milestone! I’m a bit delayed on blogging about this (if you follow me on FB you may have seen the post), but she is now rolling over. In fact, she rolled from both sides for the first time on the same day. She was not quite 3 months when she did it. She is currently working on a “dead man’s” crawl right now. I can’t believe that at 3 ½ months she is mobile. I know this because we had gone out to start the car (it is that time of year!) and when we came back inside she had moved 7-8 feet. You’re probably thinking she rolled, but I know she didn’t. She pulled/kicked herself that far. I know she didn’t roll that far because of two reasons: she only rolls to the left (she can roll to the right, but won’t) and there was a couch in the way that she would have had to navigate around. While she is smart, I don’t think she is capable of calculating that quite yet. Plus she only had a few minutes to do all of this. Looks like I need to start cleaning the floors more (i.e. daily) and start child-proofing.
4. Back to the work thing. I found out that my job is getting phased out next year (August-September timeframe, though that is unofficial at this point). I really could not be happier! You’re probably wondering why in the world is she happy about getting laid off??? Well, I get to spend more time with Alice, and because I will get a severance package (roughly 22weeks or so) I will still get paid for awhile. Who wouldn’t be happy about that? I suppose if I had only been at my job for a couple of years I wouldn’t be as happy, but I will have been there for 11 years by this projected timeframe, so I couldn’t be happier! I still can’t believe I have been there for 10 years! That seems like such a long time!
5. So what am I planning on doing after getting “phased out”? Well spend time with Alice of course! However, I also would like to get back in school and get my nursing degree. After having a baby, I find that fascinating, and would like to be a Labor & Delivery Nurse. I may go and get medical transcriptionist training first, so I could work at home on the days I won’t be in class, and that would allow me to still have some income coming in. I’ll keep you posted on all of this!
6. I have been decorating for Christmas. This is a big deal, as I haven’t decorated in several years. I think it has a lot to do with having Alice. While she has no idea what all these lights are (ooh they are pretty!) I want to start traditions for our family. When it was Sean and me, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Perhaps I was suffering from a really long lasting case of the bah-humbugs! Now…well now it is a big deal to me.
7. My sister will be home soon! I can’t wait to see her…and hug her, and kiss her, and keep her for my very own (okay Elmyra)! I haven’t seen Lindsay since Christmas last year. She hasn’t seen Alice in person yet, so I’m even more excited for her to get to interact with Alice. I’m sure if Alice realized what a big deal this is she would be just as excited; if not more. Of course, Lindsay knew at Christmas last year (technically I called her on December 1st to announce the news!) that Alice (well we didn’t know she was Alice then) was in my belly. Lindsay was the only family member who knew. She is so good at keeping secrets! I’m sure it was killing her to not be able to share her joy with anyone else. And she is really good at keeping secrets because we didn’t tell family until after Valentine’s Day, so the poor dear had to keep it all to herself!!!
And just because it has been awhile, a bonus quick take!
8. It has been over a year now since I found out I was pregnant with Alice. I remember seeing that second line on the pregnancy test. I had a flood of emotions, and while I’d be lying to say that I wasn’t scared, all of the other emotions were very positive! I was excited, joyful, ecstatic! That was just a really great time and I can’t wait until one day down the road when I get to see two lines again. Okay, I can wait. I’d like to wait awhile, but there are days that I really miss being pregnant (never thought I’d say that!). And on those days, I wish I was pregnant again or want to try. I just take comfort in the fact that, when the time is right, God will bless us again with another little baby! I just wish I knew when that would be *wink*. Sean only wants one more kid, but I would like at least two more. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind. That is my prerogative! This is why I sometimes think that people that have kids back to back (to back to back!) know what they are doing. That way if you get to a “stage” where you find it extremely difficult, you don’t have that stage influencing your decision on more children. I’ll just let God handle the kid thing. He knows what He is doing. I just hope He has a few more little rug-rats for us :)

Pardon the Delay...

Tuesday, October 20
I’m going to attempt to make this blog more interesting. That is a big undertaking, so for my few readers don’t get your hopes up too high! I dated this because who knows when I will actually be able to post this. I have a very good reason, and her name is Alice. Alice is 2 months old today…so Happy Two Month Birthday Alice! I’m going to steal an idea from my sister, Lindsay. She does a thing each week called “7 Quick Takes”, and she got the idea from a few of her fellow bloggers. It is basically a summary of whatever you want; seven somethings to be exact. Seven in fact. So seeing as how I want to post more, I figured I could try to incorporate this idea into my blog. Thereby, I will hopefully post once a week J

7 Quick Takes
1. Today is Alice’s 2 month birthday today. Which means that she had her two month checkup. I am very pleased to report that she is doing awesome! She weighs 11lbs 12 oz and is 23 ¼ inches long. Her head circumference is 38.75. Her height and weight puts her in the 80th percentile of all babies her age. Her head circumference puts her in the 50th percentile. They say that head circumference directly relates to size of the brain (which relates to intelligence); I’m not going to worry that she is just average in head size. She had to get two vaccines today. She was supposed to get three, but we decided never more than two at a time. I will take her back in two weeks to get the other one. The nurse didn’t want to give her the shots. She was all smiles and grins, and was talking up a storm to the nurse. The nurse told me her smiling and talking to her made it harder for her to give her the shots. Most of the time babies are fussing or crying, but not Alice. Alice was all happy-go-lucky. That is my kid! Poor thing screamed bloody murder and cried real tears. She hasn’t cried tears yet. I’m happy to report that about an hour afterwards she was back to her happy-go-lucky self. She was a teeny bit more fussy than usual, but no crazy side effects.
2. I got a call from work today. Seems they’ve had a few changes. They got rid of the inclearing work (our checks that come from other banks), and so as to ensure the full-timers get their hours they moved all the branches to late cut-offs. Most of the branches were already on late cut-offs, but a few were so far out they decided to wait. Well now they all have 4pm or 5pm cut-offs. Great for our customers; bad for me. I’m was already having trouble finding someone to watch Alice (more on this later), now they throw this at me. You may be wondering what I’m complaining about. Before we would work until 8 or 9pm. Later than normal hours, but not so bad. The new hours would be 10-11pm. This is really bad. Yeah, I guess I’ll just throw in the towel on finding someone to watch Alice.
3. Finding someone to watch Alice…where do I start? I basically don’t want to leave her. Nor do I really trust anyone to watch her. There are a select few people that I would trust her with. And by trust, I really mean not constantly worrying if she is being taken good care of. Those few people have jobs. *Sigh* I’d be lying to say that part of me wouldn’t be very upset if I didn’t return to work, but that is a very small part of me. The thought of leaving my baby really upsets me. Sean and I went out to dinner the other night, and Ben and Lauren watched Alice. We were gone for three hours. Three hours! I really think it was about 10 minutes down the road before I started missing her…and worrying (Lauren wasn’t home from work yet, so I was a teeny bit nervous). We could have stayed out longer, but the fact is Sean and I both missed her. So we picked her up and came home; where we cuddled and watched the Yankees/Angels game.
4. There are ladybugs EVERYWHERE! I know that this is the time of year that they start to get out of the cold, but I have never seen this many. There are hundreds! Perhaps thousands! I googled how to get rid of them, but it seems they aren’t actually ladybugs, but Japanese lady beetles (or something-I’m going off the top of my head). They have no natural predators here (that explains the amount!) so they are taking over. The best advice I found was to use a wet/dry vac, suck them up, and then dump them far away from your house. WHAT?!?!?! Thanks internet!
5. I have been trying to lose weight. This has turned into trying not to GAIN any weight! I have never, ever, in my life had a sweet tooth this bad. Is it because I’m breastfeeding? Having Sean around while trying to lose weight makes things harder. He likes ice cream, brownies, cookies, etc. He usually asks twice a week if I will make something (not ice cream though-he buys it). I usually do. And because I’ve learned I have NO willpower I end up eating some. Or a lot. I am pretty good at first, but after a day or two I fall completely apart. Must have chocolate!!! The other reason I’m probably not losing any weight is that I usually don’t eat breakfast. Bad I know. Even worse because I’m breastfeeding. In fact, most days I do not eat until about 2pm. I’m that busy, and to be honest I don’t really get hungry until then and find it hard to force myself to eat.
6. Fall is here! I love this time of year because I can use my crockpot a lot. Who doesn’t love their crockpot? I made the best chocolate mousse last week! I found a recipe online (crockpot365.blogspot.com) to try in the crockpot. It was the best ever. Seriously! And it was super easy. Fall also means apple cider-YUM! It is also the start of cold/flu season (which really has been around for awhile now). I am going to get a flu shot this year for the first time because of Alice. It annoys me that every time flu shot season starts up you start hearing horror stories about why you shouldn’t get a flu shot. It is very unfortunate for those individuals that had horrible reactions and now their lives will be completely different from before. That still doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t get a flu shot. Of course, seeing as how I have never gotten one, I’m wondering if I’ll be in that small percentage that has a horrible reaction. Time will tell.
7. It is now Thursday. I will have to think of a new title for 7 Quick Takes, as it is not very quick on my part. It is difficult getting things done with an infant around. I currently have Alice in her swing. I put this clown that my brother and I had when we were little on the tray. She likes to kick the tray and make the clown move around (there is a bell inside) to hear the noise. All I hear right now is her squealing and the bell. I would take a picture and post it, but seeing as how my sister is deathly afraid of clowns (and she is approximately 25% of my readers) I won’t be doing that. I don’t want to scare away one of my loyal readers.
Well, I will be posting next week for sure. I enjoyed doing this 7 Quick Takes…even if it did take me 2 days! And please feel free to comment…I enjoy reading them!

P.S. I just noticed that I haven’t posted in exactly 2 months. You can thank Alice for that ;)

SHE'S HERE!!!

Okay...I know I said I would do a post showing the baby's room. Well, I have something MUCH more interesting today. I have the baby, her name, and pictures!!!

Let me get Alice's (yes, her name is Alice-more on that in a bit) birth story down...not that I'm likely to forget it, but for posterity. Alice was due on August 14th...well that came and went. My doctor scheduled an appt for that following Monday and here is where the tale begins.

Monday, August 17th: I awoke around 4:30am to horrible back cramps and some regular cramps. I get excited thinking maybe something is happening. Sean stayed home from work to accompany me to my appt. We get to the doctor's and they do a non-stress test (passed beautifully), and check me out. NO PROGRESS! So she schedules the induction for 6pm Wednesday...I'd be staying overnight so they could use cervidil to help thin/soften my cervix and then actually induce me the following morning. I stayed home from work because my back and cramps start getting worse and I was not feeling well.

Tuesday, August 18th: I don't know why I'm dividing the rest of this into "days" because it was like one big long one to me! I seriously did not get much sleep Monday night. The pain was getting worse and I kept timing contractions...5 minutes here, 12 minutes there...frustrating! Not true labor! I called work and told them I was officially on maternity leave...I was NOT going to work having back cramps and contractions like that. My contractions were getting more regular, stronger, and lasting longer (some well over a minute or two) but nothing that would get me admitted to the hospital. Around 2 pm, I took a shower and finished packing my bag. This took entirely way longer than it normally would, but it is hard to work through back labor and contractions. I woke Sean up at 4 pm and told him it was time to go. He was adamant that we didn't have to be there until 6 (he swore I was just being a cry baby). So after about 30 minutes of telling him I was serious (and a few threats on his life) I convinced him to just "be a little early". I told him to pack his bag, which he didn't do, because he was sure they wouldn't actually induce me until Thursday morning. We got in the car and headed to the hospital. The car ride was the worst experience of my life! To say that I was screaming, writhing in pain, and clawing the car doesn't really do it any justice. We got stuck behind some large farm equipment and I think I lost it at this point. I was hysterical and IN PAIN! We got to the hospital, and Sean wanted to park the car! WTH! I told him to park by the door and forget about the effing car! We started walking in and he asked if I needed a wheelchair. I told him no, I was okay. But after about 1 minute of waiting on the elevator, I got another contraction that almost brought me to my knees, so he ran and got a wheelchair and told me to hold the elevator! Yeah, that was a task as I couldn't move and the damn door didn't sense my arm in the way. So we get up to the third floor about 15 minutes early (THANKS SEAN!) and I announce to the nurse that I have an appt for a 6pm induction that didn't need inducing! They rushed me to a room, got me in a gown, and hooked me up to the monitors. Sean had gone to move the car and bring the bags up, and got back about the time that the nurse was like, "Well no wonder you are in so much pain! I haven't seen anyone with contractions like this until the transition phase. They are lasting well over 2 minutes and are 5 minutes apart. I can't believe you are only 3-4 cm dilated." She asked if I wanted an epidural to which I said YES! About an hour and a half later the anestheologist showed up and did my epidural. Oh thank the Lord! The next few hours were relatively uneventful. My water broke on its own sometime between 9-10 pm, but I couldn't feel it. I ended up stalling at 5cm, so they went and started pitocin anyway. Sean went home to take care of Bruno for awhile, and my wonderful sister-in-law, Lauren, came and kept me company. She was also at the hospital that day/night because, as coincidence may have it, my twin brother, Ben, had surgery earlier that day to remove a tumor on his parathyroid. Sean returned about 11 pm and I was 7cm dilated. I tried to get some rest in preparation for the big delivery, but that was hard to do with my nurse coming in every hour to check me. They had to get a refresher on my epidural because it was wearing off rapidly (I told them I have woken up during surgeries). Ahh-numbness! Plus Sean was watching TV (ironically he was watching some food show-which angered me because I was starving!) but he went to sleep about midnight.

Thursday, August 20th...D Day!
Around 2 or 3 am, I was 9 cm. I apparently stalled at 9 for the next few hours and heard my nurse consult a few other nurses. What ensued was a gymnastics event! They positioned me on my side for an hour. Then my other side for awhile. Then Sean helped the nurse put one of my legs on some table and I'm sure I looked rather funny. They must have called my OB because she showed up about 5:45 and checked me out. Sure enough, I was still at 9 and part of my cervical lip was still over the baby's head. So she went in and "flipped" it up over and announces it is time to push. She woke up Sean, and together with the nurse, they held my legs and I started pushing right about 6 or a few minutes after. My epidural was wearing off and they were debating about getting another refresher, but I'm glad we decided against it. I was able to feel my contractions coming on before the monitor would pick them up. About 40 minutes later (5 contractions-15 pushes), our little girl was here! Sean said, "She looks like a little alien that has been at the bottom of a pool for too long". The doctor laughed. I was laying there wondering just how ugly she was! They plopped her up on me, and she was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I looked at Sean and said, "She is NOT ugly!" And off she went with the nurse and her daddy to take pics, while they cleaned and stitched me up. I ended up with a third degree tear. Not too bad. Her head is pretty perfect! The dr was amazed that I got her out as quick as I did (I told the Dr I didn't want a baby with a funny shaped head...and that I was starving-could I have breakfast?). She was 7 lbs 11.8 oz (they rounded up to 12) and 20 1/2 inches long.
Very healthy baby girl! Thank you God!

It is absolutely amazing to see Sean with her. He is such the proud papa! He is very good with her. He dotes on her. It brings tears to my eyes to see him hold her and interact with her. I knew he would be a good daddy, but I am amazed at what a good daddy he is. I love him so much more every time I see him with her. I also never realized how much love you can have for something. My heart skips a beat when I lay my eyes upon her. I think it may burst sometimes because I am so happy!

We took awhile naming her. I was stuck on Scarlett prior to her being born, but once I saw her I knew she wasn't a Scarlett. So Sean and I took over a day deciding. I actually came up with her name when I saw her Friday morning. They had taken her to the nursery to do some tests, and when they brought her to me she had this little hat on with a bow. She was all precious! Laying there, swaddled snugly, and I looked at her and thought, "That is Alice Kay." Well her name isn't Alice Kay. When Sean got back to the hospital, I slept for a bit, and then after his mom and stepdad left, I told him we HAD to name her. He wanted to name her Oleandra (a combo of his great-aunt Oly and his mom Sandra) and call her Andi. I was okay with this, until I thought of his niece Olivia and how they call her Oly. I thought that was too close. He liked Kay for a middle name. I told him she was Alice. He said okay, "Oleandra Alice"...to which I said, "Alice Oleandra flows better"...and there you go. Little Alice Oleandra Parsons! Odd...I never in a million years would have thought of Alice. It is German (and related to Allison-which is my sister's middle name) and means noble truth. We are calling her Alice for now, but we may come up for a nickname.

This is when I knew she was Alice!

Uncle Ben with Alice (about an hour old)

This is one of my favorite pictures!

My first time getting to hold her after she and I got all cleaned up. She opened her eyes when I spoke to her!

Alice (5 days old) being held by daddy!