I feel better, so much better.....

...But I'd feel even better if I could get the Doc McStuffins theme out of my head. Even while Alice is sleeping, I hum the theme songs to various Disney Jr. shows. Now mind you, we limit Alice's TV viewing time, but it's just long enough to hear Hot Dog on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and then Mike and I are singing it well into the evening.

Alice in now 9 months old and has 6 teeth. Time goes by so fast. It's so great seeing her discover all kinds of new things. We went camping on Memorial Day weekend with Mike's parents, and even though it was mostly rainy, we had a blast. That Monday we were able to go to the beach and Alice was delighted to play in the sand. We also got to go to the playground while we were camping, but she wasn't as thrilled with that, but still had fun with Grampa and Gramma Laurie.

Alice is crawling all over the place now and has been pulling herself up and trying to walk. We are in a lot of trouble once that happens. She already gets into everything. Last weekend, we tried to bring her to the lake that my family used to have a camp on, but the water was still slightly cold. She was not happy about it and wouldn't allow me to put her in the baby float we had.

 

I'm glad summer is here. While I don't like the heat too much, I like the feeling of freedom that summer brings. So many more things that we can do with Alice, and I can do my gardening and canning again (which I'm really excited about this year). Also, I graduate with my Associates Degree next month!!! Woot!! And in August, Alice will be 1!!!!! Unbelievable.

Well, I'd like to say that I will keep up on writing here, but sometimes the time just gets away from me. Once school is over though, I'm going to TRY to get on more often... we'll see how that goes.

~Mrs. C.

Regarding the Boston Marathon 2013

There are so many things that I could say about the tragedy that occurred in Boston this week. To be honest, I don't know where to begin.

As some of you know, I live in New Hampshire. Boston is maybe an hour and a half away from me. It's so close to home this time. I know people who live there, who work there, who had family members in the marathon. When 9/11 happened, obviously I was affected. Everyone was affected. But personally I was not. I didn't know anyone there, know people who worked there, or even people visiting.

When this happened in Boston, I thought of the families there to have a fun day. To spend time with each other. And that 8 year old boy, Martin Richard, who lost his life because of some senseless act.
I think of my daughter, and the things I want to take her to and enjoy with her. And how that could all be taken away from me in one second. I think of in a few years when she goes off to school and the dangers that are now there.

But I am also very angry. I want to fight. Fight against whoever did this. And if that means living with no fear, and teaching my daughter to not be afraid -- to be cautious -- but not afraid of living. Then that's what I will do.

I will be the first to say that I worry about EVERYTHING. As soon as I put my daughter to bed at night, my brain starts going over everything that could possibly happen when I'm not right next to her. But the reality is that sometimes you can't help even if you are by their side. It's a harsh reality but it is the truth.

The other part of this whole tragedy that has stuck with me was that photo. That uncensored photo of the young man who had his legs blown off. THAT was what kept me up that night. THAT was all I could think of the next day. And then last night, I find out that he works with a friend of ours. I was relieved to hear he survived and was recovering.

It's too close to home. And it angers me that someone thinks they can do this and expect us to lie down and take it. I am in awe of the amount of people who ran towards the site to help, and the runners that kept running to hospital to give blood. These people are the heroes and the role models of the future of humanity. We need to teach our children kindness, generosity, and helping one another out. We need to teach them to work together to accomplish something. I could say more but I don't want to get political. All I want to say is that this incident happened and people worked together to help and save lives. There were no Democrats, no Republicans, no Conservatives, no Liberals. Just a community of good people doing what they thought needed to be done. I commend each and everyone of them for doing what they did and saving as many people as they could. They are the heroes.

~Mrs. C.


P.S. This is a fundraiser for the young man who lost his legs. Jeff Bauman. Please donate if you can. His medical bills I'm sure are through the roof. Every little bit helps. Please pass it around to your friends as well. Thank you.

 http://www.gofundme.com/BucksforBauman

Trying to keep up with this....

So, I want to try to update this a little more often than I have been. Once every 3 or 4 months is not going to cut it.

Right now, I'm watching Alice sitting in her bouncer, with a blanket that she pulled up under her chin, while watching Doc McStuffins and drinking from her sippy cup. Where has the time gone. She is growing up so fast. I feel like I haven't been able to spend the type of time with her that I want. I've decided that now that she is a little older and can do more stuff, it's time to start doing some crafts with her. My goal for this week is to do a print with her feet and make it into some type of drawing...a butterfly or something. I want to get more pics of these things so that she has these when she gets older. There aren't many pics of me when I was a baby and I always wished there were more. Not to say I don't have a gazillion pics of Alice,  but I want more than just her sitting in her bouncer.

She was babbling when I took this pic. Lol.

It's been hard this winter. I've wanted to go outside with her and the weather has just not allowed that. Now that spring is around the corner, I feel like it opens a door to so many activities we can do together. We are planning to go camping with my husband's parents and brother on Memorial Day weekend. I think that will be awesome! I can't wait.

I've started "shopping" for Alice's birthday this summer. I've been looking online and saving things I find that would be great for the party. We are doing a strawberry theme. My husband calls her "Ichigo" which means strawberry in Japanese. He's been studying Japanese for about 2 1/2 years. We started calling her this when I was still pregnant with her and it stuck. We actually brought her home from the hospital in a strawberry outfit.

She wasn't happy here.

Anyway, I'm trying to get a bunch of craft ideas for little ones so that I can do more with her. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

~Mrs. C.

Crawling, baby food, and teething.

Time has gotten away from me and Alice is now 7 MONTHS OLD! She's getting so big. She has recently started (somewhat) crawling and just last week, she called me "Mama" and my husband "Dada"!  I can't believe how fast time is going.

Alice is LOVING getting to try new foods. She loves just about everything except peas and bananas. She's got two bottom teeth in and is working on those pesky top ones now. We recently got her a amber teething necklace, which seems to be helping a bit. She still occasionally needs some meds, but not as often.

I'm so happy that the warm weather is just around the corner, cause we definitely need to get out and enjoy some sunshine. I can't wait to take her swimming and all that fun stuff. We are going to try to sign her up for swim lessons this summer. They have one type of class in which they teach the babies how to float and swim to safety if they fall in a pool or whatever, and I thought that was really cool. It's called Infant Swim Self Rescue.

On another topic, my job recently cut hours....like, drastically. I work as a housekeeper at a local hospital, and since I had Alice, I went to an on-call status. This was ok because I was still getting about 26-30 hours a week and got the hours I needed. Now, they have chopped all on call (per diem) hours to ZERO. Yep. So I have no income coming in. I knew this was coming, but didn't know it would be completely nothing. I went in and tried to hand in my resignation so I could work somewhere else. My boss asked me to stay. I caved and figured, "Well, if hours do come up, I can get them." So far, I've gotten nothing.

Now, 2 months ago, when I first heard that hours were going to be cut, I started planning on opening my own cleaning business. Then the rumors became more definite. Then I started working on getting it opened. Two weeks ago I got my papers in the mail saying my business was officially registered as an LLC in the state of NH. The next day, all hours were cut.

I feel like this is a sign. I don't usually base things upon "signs", but this seems to be working out more and more each day. I have hit bumps along the way, and then things just...work out. At one point, I was like, "I've used every bit of money that I saved for this, and I still need things." Then randomly, on my last paycheck, I got a bonus from when I worked full-time last year. Today I am in the process of getting my small business insurance and getting bonded. After that, I'm all set to work.

Anyway, wanted to update on everything going on. Go here to see a great video of Alice that I took the other day (she says, "Hi, Mama" in it!). And here are some pics from the past couple months...

Alice doing her best Wilford Brimley impression.

Yeah, so I had 3 months of pics to share. At least I didn't post them all. :)

~Mrs. C.

4 Months Old...

Whew...time has been going by FAST! Alice will be 4 months old next Thursday! We are getting prepared to start feeding her cereal and oatmeal... She is getting so big!

She totally cracks me up. She's got such a great personality and smiles so much. She's been sleeping through the night for just about 2 weeks now. She goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up around 6:30-7 a.m. It's great, but sucks for me...I don't get home from work until midnight or later and getting to bed right off is sometimes difficult. Tonight, I worked late and here it is, 1:30 a.m., and I'm writing a blog entry.

I'm very excited for the holidays this year. Having Alice has made me enjoy the season like I did when I was younger. I'm looking forward to creating new family traditions and involving her in the old ones. Her face completely lit up when she saw the Christmas tree the first time. She didn't know what to think!

Anyway, since it is so late, I'm going to keep this short, but I wanted to update since I haven't done so in quite a while.

Here are some recent pictures.

 

 Happy Holidays!!

~Mrs. C.

Picture update.

Alice has been keeping me busy!!!! Today, since I am very sleep deprived and have only had the chance to have 1 cup of coffee, I'm going to just do a picture update. The first five pics are from the first month and the rest are more recent. The Halloween ones are from today. I did a photo shoot in our living room. Enjoy! :)

~Mrs. C.

She's here!!!!

So, haven't had much of a chance to update this but I will start by saying that Alice Olivia was born August 20, 2012 at 9:39 p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long.

Now, going back to the beginning of the story...

Sunday, August 19th, I wake up in the morning and get up to use the restroom, which is where I noticed I was bleeding. I realized I was in the beginning of labor and went to wake up my husband. I don't think I've ever seen him get out of bed that fast.

I called the doctors office and they said to wait until the contractions were about 5 minutes apart. So we waited......and waited.....and around 2:30 p.m. we headed down to the hospital. They hooked me up to the monitor and checked me out and said that I was still only about 1 cm dilated and maybe 75% effaced. My blood pressure was high so they decided to keep me overnight, especially since I was getting induced in the morning. So they gave me some meds to help me sleep and that was the last night I slept.

The next morning my contractions had gotten MUCH stronger and when they checked me at around 11:30 a.m. they said that I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They decided it was time to move me to one of the labor rooms. When I stood up and walked to the room, it threw me into full blown active labor. By the time I got into the bed, I was in tears, begging for the epidural. I had the worst back labor and was on the verge of blacking out. Finally, around 3:30p.m., I got the epidural and the doctor gave me Pitocin because my contractions were very irregular. I was able to sleep through the rest of the labor until it was time to push. I slept for about 3 hours and woke up when the doctor came in to check me and told me I was fully dilated and effaced. I waited a little longer to labor down before we started pushing.

My husband stood next to me the whole time and then he suggested watching in the mirror. I really didn't want to, but he said it might motivate me. I decided to try and as soon as I saw that image, the first thing I thought was "Get this kid outta me!". So, yeah, I guess it did motivate me. With two pushes her head came out (and she was screaming already, I might add). One more push and she was out. It was amazing. Definitely a life changing experience and I'm so glad she is with us now (even though I'm soooo tired).

The first few days was really hard because she wouldn't stop screaming. And she wanted to eat constantly. I'm breastfeeding and I was feeding her non-stop. I was on the verge of tears. We called the hospital and they told us that she was just cluster feeding and that it was normal. We had an appt. with the pediatrician on the 3rd day and when they weighed her, she had gone from 7 lbs. 11 oz. to 6 lbs. 5 oz. It was then that we realized that she was not cluster feeding. She was starving because my milk had not come in.

The doctor told us to supplement with formula and come back in 5 days. The day after the appt., a visiting nurse came to the house and weighed her and said she had already gained 5 oz. back. We were so happy. What I was not happy about was the lack of information the hospital had actually given me. Apparently, while I was at the hospital, the lactation consultant there had made note that I did not have a lot of glandular tissue and could possibly not have the milk ducts to exclusively breastfeed. Had they told me this, it could have saved a lot of issues with Alice losing weight and could have caused a lot more issues had we not seen the doctor when we did.

We ended up going back to the doctors this past week and Alice is now up to 7 lbs. We have an appt. on Wednesday and we are hoping she will be back up to her birth weight by then. She is doing so much better with the supplementing. I'm still having issues with having enough milk but it has come in and she's at least getting some.

I can't believe that tomorrow she will be 2 weeks old already. Time flies when you don't get any sleep. :)

Introducing Alice Olivia -

 

~Mrs. C.

1 more day....

I'm getting induced on Monday which means....one more full day and my baby girl will be here. Provided she decides she wants to come out when they induce. My doctor told me on Thursday that I am now 50% effaced, but still 1 cm dilated. Hopefully, everything works out fine and by the end of Monday, I will have my little one in my arms. I can't wait!!!!

~Mrs. C.

1 more to go...

Today I have my last appointment before my induction on Monday. I'm so excited that I'm so close to holding her. I'm hoping she decides to come on her own, but at least I know the process will begin on Monday if nothing else.

Today I am just meeting with the doctor. No non stress test (as far as I know) and no ultrasound. Hopefully she will tell me I have dilated a little more. I'm nervous to be induced if I haven't dilated more since I've been at 1 cm for 2 weeks. I don't want it to cause a longer labor if she isn't ready.

Got an interesting fortune message in my cookie last night.....hoping it's an omen that I will go into labor today...

~Mrs. C.

Baby update!

Went to the doctors today for my non-stress test and check up. They did an ultrasound and said that my amniotic fluid has gone down and is now well within the normal range.

I talked to my doctor about how I have been feeling - nauseous, super tired, achy, and just all around yucky. She thinks I'm in the beginning stages of labor and feels that I will be going into labor sometime this week. HOWEVER, if for some reason I don't go into labor this week, she scheduled an induction for next Monday the 20th! Yay! Almost done!! I can't wait to meet Alice! :)

Mrs. C.

Almost there!!!!!!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.....hopefully Alice can too. She dropped a lot last night and I'm thinking it won't be much longer.

I was taken off of bed rest (which made me VERY happy) and I got a lot done around the house. Now I'm just waiting. And waiting. AND waiting. Come on, Alice! Hurry up!

Here's my 38 week pic....she's so LOW!

38 weeks!

~Mrs. C.

Day One of Bed Rest.

It's noon and I feel like this is the longest day ever. I have so much trouble just sitting here doing nothing. I updated my iPod with music for when I am at the hospital and now I'm listening to Florence + the Machine. I love that woman. Her voice just is completely amazing. It's definitely kept me from doing anything cause I'm so caught up in her music.

I've had a little more pain today but only when I have to get up and walk. I also had quite a bit of discomfort when I was trying to sleep last night, but that's not anything new. I have been sleeping on the couch for the past 3 weeks. I go between there and the bed and I just can't get comfortable. I'm so ready for this whole pregnancy thing to be done. I want her here and in my arms. I just keep reminding myself that all the discomfort is totally worth it in the end.

Mrs. C.

The beginning of the end....

That's what I'm hoping anyway. I will 37 weeks tomorrow and considered full term. Today I went in for my non-stress test ( which I am now doing 2 a week and weekly ultrasounds) and in the middle of the test I looked at the monitor and realized I had been having quite a few contractions. The nurse noticed too and called in the doctor. I asked her how far apart they were and she said 3-6 minutes apart. I got really excited and she was like "well, it could be that this doesn't progress". So they did an exam and said I was 1 cm dilated, and then said that my blood pressure was a little high. So they decided to send me to the hospital (where I work, mind you) to monitor me for awhile. I ended up having all kinds of tests and such, and now I'm home again and on bed rest. No more work, no more anything until Alice decides to make her debut. I've been home half a day and I'm already bored and restless.

I'm still having regular contractions, but I was told that I wasn't uncomfortable enough yet to be in labor. I asked "How am I supposed to know to come back when everything I've been told is to come when contractions are around 5 minutes apart, and I've already got that?" I was just told, "You will know." Actually, it's my first baby and I don't know, that's why I'm asking you. So, here I sit, every pain, every contraction, wondering, "This is uncomfortable...Is it uncomfortable enough?" I've just been hoping that when the time does come that my water actually breaks so I have a concrete sign that it's time to go. Ugh, I'm so impatient.

So I'm sure I will be updating this page more, seeing how all I can really do anyway is watch movies and play on my laptop. Here are some weekly photos I haven't posted and some new ultrasound pics of Alice.

Alice sucking her thumb.

She was practicing breathing when they were doing the ultrasound. :)

~Mrs. C.

6 weeks left!!

Ugh, I can't wait for this to be over. I'm so uncomfortable. I was fine up until this past weekend. Now the pressure is worse and I've had quite a bit of pain (although not enough to think I am in labor or something is wrong). I can't sleep at all. Every time I move during the night, I get sharp pains in my sides. I just want my baby girl here. Granted, I won't get sleep then either, but at least I will be comfortable for the 1 hour of sleep I will get.

We had our baby shower last weekend and we got so much stuff! We are so thankful for everything we received. The party was so much fun and so was going through everything again when we got home. :)

Here are some weekly photos that I've failed to put up over the past few weeks.

This is the day of my baby shower. Mind the mess in the background.

Mrs.C.