Just an update

So attached is a picture of the ski sweater I just finished for Katie. I was really scared that it would be too small for her but when I held it up to her the sleeves are about 2" too long. I'm really hoping she can wear it for most of the winter because it took me some time to get the thing done. I really thought that by working part time i'd have time to knit but by, was I wrong! If I can get two rows done in a day that's a huge accomplishment. I have now decided that since i've been letting my personal interests go by the wayside that i'm going to make time on most days that I can to do some knitting. I'm sure I won't be knitting sweaters in 3 weeks anymore but at least I can do SOMETHING that makes me feel like I still am a person who can do stuff and not just a mom who is always thinking and taking care of someone else 24 hours a day. Of course I won't neglect Katie but when she's happily playing in the exersaucer i'll be spending some ME time doing something I want to do. I'm sure by next April i'll stop being Amy and start being mom to Katie and X and never have free time again until they go to school. Yeesh, as I type this it really makes me want to cry. Not that I don't want to be a mom, not that I don't want two kids but it is so stressful sometimes. The not being able to sleep in anymore, I can't just go and get my hair cut anymore, I can't hit up the driving range anymore, I can't golf anymore. Sometimes I just feel so tied down. Heck, I can't even schedule a doctor appointment anymore without having to consult someone elses schedule or I just have to take Katie along in her seat, which weighs probably around 20 lbs with her in it. I can't wait until she can sit in a chair and play with a toy while I'm getting an exam or whatever. And it is only going to get worse when there are two of them. I seriously need more friends around here who could come and help out when i'm in a bind. It would be nice.

So enough of the pity party I guess. Katie is sitting up all by herself really well now and I can't imagine it will be long before she gets up on all 4's and starts crawling. I let her stay on her tummy and flail her arms and legs as much as possible. Today she got frustrated, got her legs under her and butt into the air! But her arms were collapsed and her head was on the ground. But it was progress, she's slowly figuring it out. And when she does i'll wonder why I ever wanted her to be mobile!!! Well, speaking of taking care of babies, she is crying and I have to go and get her.

To answer the age old question...

Who does Katie resemble more??? Her mommy of course! Okay so it depends on what pictures you use but the results have either been she looks more like me by a few % or she looks equally like the both of us. Silly fun but thought I would share.

Today we had parenting group and it was nice. We went to the home and studio of a professional photographer. She gave us some basic tips on how to use our cameras to take better pictures and also took a few pictures of our babies and she'll send one or two in the mail for us to keep. Katie fell asleep when she started doing pictures so she asked me if we could do some sleepy pictures. Katie woke up after a few shots but I think the photographer got a few good ones. I can't wait to see them! And if anyone is dying to know what I want for my birthday (and Christmas), you can always contribute to the "Amy's 8 months pregnant and Katie is 1 professional pictures" that I really want to have done. I'm assuming they would be pricey but they would be sooooooooo neat. I mean, this is my last pregnancy, don't you all want me to capture this moment? To capture Katie at 1 with her gargantu-mommy? It would be so sweet! Anyway...

I really think my child is just way too easy. The past two nights she has gone to bed when I put her down. No fuss, no cry, no problems. She just goes to sleep and sleeps 10 hours straight. (I'm sure i'll be kicking myself tonight when she is having a tantrum and I need to take her for a car ride to get to sleep!!!!). I can't help but think this next child is going to be evil. I'm getting it so easy right now and I really pray to God the next one is just the same. But "they" keep telling me the first one is easy, it tricks you into having more and then the second one is horrible, won't sleep, cries all the time, etc... I guess it all remains to be seen. Personally, i'm hoping to get through the pregnancy as easy as last time, except to omit the pre-eclampsia part at the end. Really, can't I just experience a "regular" labor and delivery? PLEASE!!! Like my water breaks at 8 in the morning, we go to the hospital after I have some contractions that aren't too bad, I get to the hospital and push for 20 minutes and poof, baby arrives! I know you're laughing and saying that never happens but it did. It happened to a friend of my sister in law with her first baby. So it CAN happen and i'm praying it happens to me!

On a happier note...

Thank God for small favors. I haven't had a migraine or thrown up in over a week. what a glorious week it has been too! I can deal with the usual tired and cranky but the migraines have got to go.

Friday I took Katie to JC Penny's to have her 6 month pictures done. I think they turned out well. She was ready for a nap when we got there so I was kind of scared, but the lady was able to get her to laugh out loud so we were able to get some great pictures of her smiling. I won't get them back until the 25th but they should be available online soon. I'll let everyone know when they can look at them! I also had a couple of pictures taken with her (even though my hair is two toned and hasn't been cut or colored in MONTHS). I think they turned out well considering...

Last week Nana was able to spend a few days at our house and watch Katie for us. It was nice to have her there. I could nap if I wanted to and go back to bed in the morning if need be. Of course as soon as I would try to lie down for a nap i'd get right back up. Too much on my mind and too many things to always be done. I guess my health can take a back seat to getting dishes done. Anyway, Katie loved spending time with Nana and I enjoyed having her there. This weekend we didn't do a whole lot and it was nice. Katie ended up taking a 2.5 hour nap on Sunday so I took advantage and got in a 2 hour nap myself. Oh glorious sleep, I will miss you come April!!!

And that's about it for us. Matt and the boys continue to be busy with sports, I try to not be a zombie and function like a human being at work and the world goes on!!

Even more sad

So they took the baby off life support and he died right away. They then arrested the babysitter and charged her with murder. I don't know all the details but I believe it is thought she shook him and that's why he stopped breathing and went into a coma. I can't even imagine...all I can do is keep them in my thoughts and prayers.

Very Sad...

My mom and step dad go to church with the parents of a guy I went to high school with. This guy and his wife have a baby who is three months younger than Katie. I do believe they had a bit of difficulty conceiving and after the baby was born there was a scare that he was maybe deaf. Last week he passed his hearing test and was given praise during church. I just found out that something terrible happened and he stopped breathing a few days ago. He then slipped into a coma. They are pulling the plug today as he has no brain activity and there's no hope. I am not close to them but I feel a real loss here. It makes me want to go and hug Katie and kiss her and spend as much time as I can with her. I never want to be in the situation these people are in and I can't even fathom how they will make it through.

Katie's birth story and why i'm afraid of #2...

So for the official announcement (i've been talking about it but haven't really made the announcement...) I'm pregnant again and due April 15th. We planned on two but not necessarily this soon. Guess God made the decision about when!

So, Katie's birth story. I know some of you already know the story, some were there but a lot of you haven't heard the full run down of my horrific time giving birth. New March Mommies, this is for you...

On March 11th (our first anniversary) I found out that I was just over the borderline for having pre-eclampsia. My doctor called me at home on Sunday morning and told me to pack my bags and head over to the hospital, I was going to have a baby. Now, had I known what I was in for I would have taken my time, had a ton to eat, watched some TV, lounged and THEN gone over. But NO, I had to rush over there, maybe I would be giving birth today and it would be over with!! I was scared to death, I cried. I knew the time was getting close but I wasn't ready to find out I'd be induced TODAY. So around noon we head over to the hospital. I get checked in and they take me to the little bed with the little curtain around it, have me put on a robe, hook me up to monitors and I lie there for a while just waiting. So the nurse comes back and asks if I know about the Magnesium. Nope, no clue! So she tells me that since I have pre-e that I will be put on an IV of Magnesium and because of that I won't be able to eat or walk and I'll have a catheter put in. OMG a catheter?! I think I was more afraid of that than actually giving birth. So eventually I get wheeled down to my room, get hooked up to every monitor known to man kind (two on my belly, a blood pressure cuff to take my pressure every 15 minutes, an IV) and then the wonderful nurse comes in to insert the catheter. okay, it wasn't as bad as I originally thought, hey at least I don't have to get up to pee!! Then the waiting begins. I am given a pill every 2 hours to get my cervix to thin out but if they show that you are having too many contractions they make you wait longer between pills. In the mean time I'm just laying in bed doing absolutely nothing. Everyone is standing over me looking at the monitor and asking if I feel the contraction the graph says i'm having, I don't. I am dying of hunger and tired of being in bed and then I find out the hospital has a killer food court, a Ben & Jerry's ice cream store and it's the only hospital in Michigan with a knitting store. But who cares because I can't enjoy them!

Sunday is over, Monday comes, no progress... One nurse tells me I can have a popsicle. This is the best popsicle I've ever eaten, I savor every bite. Around, oh i'd say 2:00 pm, an OB resident, not over the age of 14 i'm guessing, comes in with this rubber tube and tells me she's going to insert it through my cervix (barely dilated to 1) and then they'll blow it up like a balloon to simulate the head coming down. Well, this hurts like hell, i'm in pain and I tell her to get the effing tube away from me and don't come back. An hour later another OB resident comes back with the same tube, at least this time she may be 16 or so. Again, no luck getting the tube in, i'm in excruciating pain and so she decides to break my water. They tell you this doesn't hurt but i'm here to tell you it DOES hurt. It hurt bad. By this time i'm begging to just get a c-section, i'm hungry, I hate ice chips, I hate people who are not in labor, and the nurses are yelling at me because I rolled over without their permission and they had to come in the room and re-position my monitors. I'm about ready to tear the stinking monitors off. I love my baby but I was so tired of hearing a heartbeat by the time the whole thing was said and done.

Anyway, Monday around 5 my water is broken and things start to heat up. Thank GOD. I am having some contractions but not a lot of strong ones. I am continually monitored and they finally decide around oh I don't remember, maybe 9 that they could start the Pitocin. This stuff should be banned. It should be illegal. It was the most horrific pain i've ever felt. The contractions wouldn't go away. The chart said I had a break in between but I wanted to smack the person who said I wasn't currently having a contraction. It was one continuous contraction and by the time I was 2.5 cm dilated I was begging for an epidural. I was threatening everyone that I better get one and get one now, even though the nurses kept saying I'd have to be further dilated. Screw them, give me drugs. So the epidural guy comes in and puts it in. For 30 minutes i'm feeling great and then all of the sudden, why do I feel pain? The nurses think I'm crazy and the epi is working just fine but i'm here to tell you it wasn't. I felt every twinge of pain, every contraction. The only thing feeling good was my right leg. I have to say though that between 10 when I got the epi and 11 pm, I had dilated to 10 and was ready to push. And when I say ready to push, I mean READY TO PUSH. But nope, can't push. They didn't expect me to go that fast so they had to page the doctor. It took him a long, drawn out 40 minutes to make it to the hospital and i'm sitting there feeling like i have a bowling ball trying to make it's way out of my body.

Fortunately I only pushed for 1.5 hours, although it was very painful and there was some really odd horrible pain on my left side. I was crying and moaning and in horrible pain. I pushed like there was no tomorrow even though I hadn't eaten since Sunday morning. At 1:19 am Katie emerged and I was the happiest person on earth. Oh but it doesn't end there. After 1/2 hour of trying to get the placenta out, and it wasn't coming out, the dr stuck his whole arm up into my uterus to try to get it out. If you think child birth hurts, this hurt just as badly. With no luck, I had to be rushed in for an emergency D & C. By 4 am I was done, back to my room and not able to see my new baby until morning. Very sad.

So here's what I learned: 1) Childbirth classes are only to give you the illusion that you can handle child birth and do silly things like breathing to take the pain away (it doesn't work) 2) If you have to be induced, don't rush to the hospital. 3) Your body can really endure a lot of pain and agony and you will live!!

So why am I doing this again???

Steak update!

So my wonderful husband decided to stop at the store on the way home yesterday and pick up 2 big and juicy NY strip steaks for dinner. He BBQ'd them and they were wonderful!! So I finally got my steak!

In other news...For most of the day yesterday I couldn't even keep water down. I lost count of how many times I threw up and I felt awful. It was a migraine that turned horrible and yesterday was tough. I think the steak was the first thing I was able to keep down and I was glad to finally be able to eat. Nothing like throwing up after every drink of water!!!