Endless Stories from Emily

Our First Hospital Stay

2010-11-20T14:22:00.003-06:00

Poor Baby!

November has been a rough month for our family... especially the littlest member. Henry started off being sick with diarrhea on November 2, and luckily mom had some free days to take off to stay with him. That night he woke up at 2AM puking and Tyler and I rushed into his room to clean him up. I know I am in nursing, but something about your own child being sick is just terrible. I would much rather it be me that's sick.

I kept thinking he was getting better because he acted fine the next couple of days, and he was eating okay, and he had a lot of energy. Friday morning he was acting not quite right so I figured I should just keep him home with me just in case. I always feel like an idiot for calling the doctor all the time especially when I know they cannot do much for flu symptoms, but I just wanted to speak with them to get some advice before the weekend came. The receptionist said she would speak with the nurse or doctor and call me back. Less than an hour later I ended up calling them back to schedule an appointment because Henry puked all over me and himself at a gas station.... It was so gross and all he wanted to do was have me hold him and I'm thinking, 'What am I suppose to do? How are we going to get home in these clothes?!' Luckily, a lady at the gas station gave us a bag to put his clothes in and my coat, and we headed home for a bath.

A couple of hours later, we headed to the doctor's office. They took one look at him and she said, "I could send you home and have you push fluids on him, but I think I would be more comfortable with putting him in the hospital to check his labs and give him some fluids." I packed him up in the car and headed to the hospital and he was whining the whole time I filled out the admission paperwork. We got in our room on the hospital floor and I was almost in tears from the whole process already! What a day!

The staff did good with Henry. Luckily they didn't have to do too many needle sticks in order to get the labs they needed. The doctor came up to check him out, and she showed me his lab values. His bicarbonate was only 15 and it is suppose to be 20 and his sodium was low. His blood sugar was only 47! (Average is 100). She asked me if he had been acting confused at all. I told her that when we were home earlier, he saw me walk into the kitchen but then he started banging on the bathroom door because he thought I had left him! Guess he was starting to show some confusion..... so the doctor was like, "He's in worse shape than we thought. It's a good thing we admitted him". Jeesh, and to think I wasn't even wanting to take him to the doctor.

I was nervous for the IV start, but it actually went well. He just layed there and watched them do it. He gave a little whimper, but nothing horrible. I thought once they got those fluids in his he would be back to his normal self, but he didn't perk up until the morning which scared me. It was a long night, but I was glad that they had done something to improve the illness. We were definitely ready to go home!

Of course, he had plenty of visitors in his 24 hour stay including Grammy and Grandpa Kevin, Aunt Ellie, Grandma Tracy, and Aunt Courtney. He got some new books and toys, but he wasn't excited about them until the morning after our admission to the hospital. Tyler took some pictures of him to show that he had ALL of these toys and books in bed with him! And he looks a lot happier and healthier in this picture.

I wish I could say we went home and everything was great, but the next week was also full of sickness. The diarrhea and vomitting were still occuring pretty frequently, and the babysitter called me a few times that week to have me come pick him up because he was sick. I called the doctor again the following Thursday and I was like, "HE IS NOT BETTER! I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!" When I took him to the doctor Thursday, they weighed him and he had lost 3 POUNDS from Saturday! He's a little guy anyway, but that amount of weight loss is very significant in a child with the flu. They put us on a strict diet for him, absolutely no milk products, everything bland allowed such as toast, crackers, etc. 2 days later his weight was up by oz. This last week he has been acting like we have starved him though.... so I think he is finally feeling better. Throughout these three weeks, Tyler, my mother, myself, the doctor, Ellie's friend, and other kids at the daycare have been battling flu symptoms. It must've been one NASTY BUG!

Now, he just has a runny nose, a cough, and he's been grabbing his ears. Grrrr. If it's not the flu, it's respiratory problems and ear infections. When I was answering admission questions at the hospital for Henry, I realized that he has a far more extensive medical history than Tyler and I combined. As a parent, you feel as though you are doing something wrong, but it seems like almost every parent I talk to has experienced similar problems with their young children. Are germs just getting worse or are we prescribing so many medications at young ages that the kids have no immune systems built up?? I'm not sure, but I hope November isn't a foreshadowing of what is to come in the following winter months....

Halloween Fun

2010-11-20T14:14:00.002-06:00

Although it's almost Thanksgiving, I need to post about Halloween. I really struggled with trying to decide what Henry should dress up as this year. I fell in love with a lobster costume, and I was so excited about it! Unfortunately, the company sent us the WRONG SIZE and they had no more lobster costumes in stock. The back-up plan for a costume was this blue monster costume that I wasn't a huge fan of until I saw how adorable Henry looked in it! He's developing such a personality, and this seemed to be one of the first times that he "realized" we all thought he was cute. I was afraid he would be yanking the hat off or cry from being hot, but he did great and we all had a lot of fun and laughs!

He's just recently discovered different body parts that he can identify and he was emphasizing where his nose was as my mom took his picture. Too funny!

I wish I knew how to get rid of the red eye, but this was my favorite picture of the night by far. Something about little kids in costumes, they are just TOO CUTE!

The Last 8 Months

2010-08-10T14:06:00.005-05:00

I've completely FAILED at blogging since Christmas. I have had numerous people scolding me about how the world is not in touch with my life or more importantly, how Henry is changing and what he is doing because I have stopped blogging. I actually didn't realize that anyone even looked at what I posted, but boy was I wrong! So I will start with what is going on today, and then I will try to go back and post things about the months that I missed.

The Henry update: I'm sure you can tell by this picture what his best feature is. Those bright, big blue eyes. And this summer he's turned into a little blondie. He's turning into a handsome little boy and I'm very proud to say he's my child. But, I will also say, he's got quite a personality to go with those looks. He's not saying many words but he babbles all the time. He talks with his eyes though, and sometimes he's got an attitude. His favorite thing to yell is, "DA, GA, CA, GUH"... I think he gets frustrated because we don't always understand what he's trying to tell us. I'm sure a lot of people boast about their children being smart, but some of the things Henry does impresses me. I love watching him learn new things, and everyday he's doing something different.

Our new thing has been brushing his teeth. Of course, I have to help with the brushing, but if I say, "Henry, it's time to brush your teeth.." he runs straight to the bathroom and looks up at the counter. He kind of chews on the toothbrush rather than brushing. Today he CRIED when I took his toothbrush away. Yes, he's dramatic.

I think he's been blessed with my corky sense of humor. But he's got the curiousness of his father, and he climbs on EVERYTHING! He loves the stairs. He loves climbing on tables. I don't know how to break this habit. I attempted to put him in time-out a couple of weeks ago. That lasted a whole 20 seconds, but he knew he was in trouble because he was pouting the whole time. When he's upset he stomps his feet and sticks his arms out all stiff and gives me his "mean" face. Sometimes he sticks out his bottom lip too. My mom laughs at us all the time because I'm the bad guy and he likes to test my patience.

I could go on and on and on about Henry stories, but my recent favorite is the donut story. My mom was craving donuts and chocolate milk on Friday night so me, mom, Ellie, and Henry packed up and went to BP for a donut run. My mom got the kind with the cream filling, and Henry tried to eat some of it, but she wouldn't let him because it was his bedtime. I took carried him into the livingroom, sat him down on the couch, and noticed that he had something in his ear and on the side of his face. CREAM FILLING!!!! We were all laughing to the point where we were crying. It's still a mystery how he got the cream in his ear and running down his face since he didn't even eat any of the donut. Too funny.

So what's been going on with me in 2010? My life's definitely not as comical or as fun as Henry's. I've been living and breathing nursing school. This last Spring, I took the hardest class I've ever taken in my life: Pathophysiology-Pharmacology 2. I'm serious, it was the most intense class I've ever experienced and there was a lot of time, energy, and tears associated with that class. I also took OB last semester and HATED it. Kind of depressing considering OB is my area of interest. It was just so busy. Not only did I do clinicals at SBL, but I was also going places like Indianapolis for a fertility clinic visit, a 12 hours overnight shift on the unit, two weekends at Carle, and a day shadowing in the Doc's office. Mind you, all of these experiences were on weekends or my spring break so I began to HATE that class.

After I survived this spring semester, I decided to do the accelerated track which meant I had no summer. 8 hour clinicals and 5 hour classes. But I made it and I'm going to be graduating with my BSN in December. This last semester is suppose to be really tough, but I've heard that about every semester so I guess I'll have to see. I'm just ready to be a nurse and to have more time with Henry. So if anyone sees me around Christmas Time I will probably be overly happy for the holiday :)

Farewell to the Rat tail

2009-12-14T14:08:00.000-06:00

Most parents don't have to worry about their child's first hair cut until they are a lot older than 6 months. We put off cutting Henry's hair for awhile, but when he began to get a long rat tail we decided it was due time for a trim. I've found that other babies Henry's age are bald or just have patches of hair. He had a head full of hair when he was born, and it has grown very fast. (And in case you're wondering, YES I had TERRIBLE HEARTBURN during the last few months of my pregnancy. There's conflicting views on whether heartburn is an indication that your child will have hair. All I know is heartburn was my biggest complaint through my pregnancy & Henry's got beautiful hair to show for it!) Henry's first official haircut was December 13.... and his Grandma Tracy was person who gave him his new do.

This is a BEFORE picture. It looks like a botched haircut has already taken place. This is a great picture of the "Rat Tail"

It just had to go....

The first snip... I think I was more nervous than Henry

Look at that shaggy hair

It's easiest to cut a baby's hair when they're asleep, but that was hard to accomplish since Henry only takes cat naps. It was quite a process getting him to hold still... me holding his face, Tyler occupying his attention with teething toys, and Tracy working her magic

We had some fun with him by giving him a mohawk

Then we made him a porcupine

The new hairdo! (We rewarded him with cereal for doing such a good job holding still!)

Looking an awfully lot like dad with his new haircut

Who's ready for Christmas?

2009-12-13T17:15:00.000-06:00

For all of you who don't know, my mother (Henry's Grammy), loves Christmas. During the entire month of December, there's always Christmas tunes playing in her house... anything from Reba to Nsync holiday songs. She usually puts up about 7 trees all around the house that each have a theme. (ex: gingerbread, stocking, snowmen, etc.) All of the Christmas movies shown on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas and FaLaLaLa Lifetime..... my mom's watched them all. If you'll refer back to a year ago on Christmas, she bought us all matching holiday pajamas. I'm sure that tradition will continue, and I will definitely post pictures because who wants to forget that? So with all of this being said, it's no surprise that I'm carrying on the tradition with my child. In his defense, he wasn't feeling the best when we took these pictures. I was frustrated when we were trying to take the pictures because he didn't smile and kept choking himself with the candycane. Now that I look at them though, I think they're pretty cute. This is only the beginning though, because me and my mom have several ideas for holiday pictures so there'll be more fun photos to come.

What a pose! He's all about his feet and toes these days so this picture is perfect

All cuddled up with stocking number 1. This one stays at Grammy's and Grandpa Kev's. (It's way cuter than the stockings for the rest of the family so this one hangs all by itself in the kitchen! *L*)

Stocking number 2. This one's from Uncle Todd and it's for Mommy and Henry's house.

On a side note, this has also been a bittersweet week. Henry turned 6 months old on December 7. Half a year gone already!! When people tell you it goes by fast, they aren't kidding. While it seems impossible for him to be half of a year already, I can't remember my life not including him. I had a rough day with finals for nursing, but he made all my worries fade when he smiled at me when I walked through the door. His smiles are the best! Because I haven't kept up with my blogging, I should give some highlights from the last couple of months.

Henry is very long and skinny. He must have a high metabolism because he eats all the time! He's now wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. We used to use Dr. Brown's bottles to prevent his "spitting up" episodes, but now that he is on Enfamil AR (a special formula for spit up babies) he rarely spits up. We now use Playtex bottles because they are much easier to clean. Henry also has a short patience because we have to use a fast speed nipple or he refuses to take the bottle. *L* He loves bathtime and his new favorite thing to do is to try to kick so hard that he jumps out of the tub. It terrifies me, but he seems pretty proud of himself for splashing so much. He also loves grabbing the washcloth and sucking the water out of it. Again, a little irritating for mommy but he gets a kick out of it.

At about 5 months, Henry started to suck his thumb. Such a horrible habit to break, but I don't know how to stop it. He also has a blankie and he finally takes his pacifier. We've been trying babyfood and I must say I never knew carrots could be so messy! In the last two weeks, he's really been jumpy and fidgety like he wants to move. He almost has the sitting up thing down, but sometimes he falls too far to the side or front and then he gets ticked off. He can't crawl yet either, and I'm not sure that's a bad thing. My apartment isn't baby-proofed yet! One last thing that is significant is that Henry chews on and tries to eat EVERYTHING! His mouth is like a faucet of drool that never stops. I like to think that he gives me kisses when he grabs on to both sides of my face and "kisses" my cheek. Tyler claims Henry's just trying to eat me, but I know he does it with love. hahaha. No teeth yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if one popped out soon!

I get four weeks off of school for the holidays so I'm going to try to update my blog more with old photos and stories about Henry so I won't forget them. I must say its a little sad to go shopping and realize that he's not a tiny baby anymore. But, with getting older he's developed such a funny personality and I love him more and more each day. Happy 6 months Henry!

Is it Deer Season?

2009-10-24T17:54:00.001-05:00

Is Henry lying in a pile of leaves??

No, no. That's just his dad!!! Tyler bought this "hunting gear," and he tried it on for me and Henry. He asked me if I thought he would blend in with the woods.... I don't know how you could blend in more! I'm sure it will only be a couple of years before Henry wants a "Leafy Outfit" of his own.

My Favorite

2009-10-24T17:28:00.001-05:00

This is my favorite picture of me and Henry. I took it over Labor Day weekend, but I never got around to posting it.

Big Shoes to Fill

2009-09-30T01:04:00.001-05:00

Me, Tyler, and Henry got family pictures taken last Friday. I can't wait to see the results because Henry was the cutest, most "smiley" baby! After the photoshoot, we headed to the Eagle Football game. I dressed Henry in an adorable football outfit and had to try out some matching shoes (yes, this is the 2nd time he's worn shoes... EVER.) I had him "stand up" next to Tyler and we compared their feet. Too cute

White Coats

2009-09-27T22:25:00.000-05:00

There's a tradition in nursing school where you get presented your white coats. The ceremony for Lakeview College of Nursing was held two weeks ago. (A little behind on blogging but this was important so I couldn't skip posting this!) I was looking forward to the ceremony because 1. I'm a big dork and 2. I feel like its another step further towards completing my nursing degree. Of course, this exciting day was tampered when my babysitter called and said she couldn't watch Henry that day.... as I'm walking out the door to take him to daycare. I was frazzled and had no idea where to take him so I just packed him up and took him with me to school. My friends and the faculty were thrilled to meet/hold Mr. Henry thank goodness. I had finally gotten in contact with Tyler's mom and she was coming to get Henry but she didn't get there before the ceremony started. So here I am.... in my uniform with all of my fellow nurses and all faculty (including the dean) and I have Henry with me. I was just praying he didn't puke on me or even worse.... the faculty members that decided to hold him! The Dean spoke at the beginning of the ceremony and Henry thought that would be a perfect opportunity for him to fill his pants. LOL. Oh yes, he was grunting and making a bit of a scene while the DEAN was speaking. And, he has a tendency to suck on his fingers and lately he's been forming a habit of accidentally choking himself. So here's Henry, grunting and gagging. Thank goodness Tyler's mom sent me a text saying she was in the parking lot. The ceremony turned out okay, and me and my girlfriends had to get a picture to look back and laugh at when we graduate. From left to right: Holli, Kelsey, Jenna, and me. (I look huge because I didn't have my coat buttoned. Note to self, no need to look pregnant again.... button the coat!)

Oh Henry....

2009-09-16T03:04:00.000-05:00

He looks like such a chunk, but he's actually still very tiny

His dad gave him his bath for once so I could do dishes.... So Tyler gave him a mohawk! We gave Henry a mohawk when he was 3 days old and his hair was so much shorter! I'm not kidding you, this kid's hair is so thick and LONG!!!

Awww... my little sweet pea. Cuddling with his blankie Gma Amy got him

First time in the BUMBO! I'd been wanting one of these for months! All I found when I was preggo was pink and green ones but then we got a gift from Tyler's Aunt and Uncle and it was a BLUE bumbo... Love it.

"My Personal Nursing Diagnosis"

2009-09-16T02:11:00.000-05:00

So.... In case any of you were wondering, I started nursing school at Lakeview College of Nursing a few weeks ago. I've been wanting to post sooooo many life happening moments to my blog since I started the program but that has been IMPOSSIBLE! Looking back at this summer, I wish I would've posted more things because I actually had time, but now I have no time. I wish I was exagerrating but I'm not.... so got some conclusions/jokes/thoughts/memorable moments/stuff, etc..... I would like to share from the last few weeks.

First off: I've met 3 AMAZING girls in my nursing program. Obviously I've met almost everyone (50 people) in the program... I see them all everyday.... but these three girls and I instantly hit it off.

My 3 Bffs are Kelsey, Holli, and Jenna. All very very individual.... such interesting ppl. I luv them. I get multiple texts from them. Daily. Poor Tyler, he just doesn't understand why my phone keeps getting messages from these girls..... (my phone has a cool function where it states the name OUT LOUD when they call or text. Best thing ever, you might want to get it on your phone if you can.)

Found out in the 2nd week that Jenna has a boyfriend.... that's a Miami Dolphin :) just got recruited as a corner and he played for U of I when they were pretty awesome. She's so modest about it though, and its adorable. But I still thought it was funny when Tyler/my family turns on Sunday Football and they're all asking about Jenna's boyfriend.... and she's like yeah he played, but they lost. She doesn't highlight the fact that he plays, but he actually does play rather than stand on the sideline.... and when she talks about him its soooo sweet

ok, next bestie. She's from F-ing town. Apparently we know the same people, but never knew each other and now we're great friends. Then, I learned from my Aunt that Holli worked for the family that lived in the "mansion" in Effingham. Any of you that are from around this area know what I'm talking about. She was their nanny.

Then, there's Kelsey. She's a few years younger and she's from my hometown. I've NEVER talked to her before seeing her at orientation. I'm shocked. She's the most down-to-earth, sweetest girl I've ever met and I'm so glad we've become friends through this nursing thing.

Ok, so now to the good part, not that my friends aren't interesting enough! This is what I've learned about nursing/myself in the last few weeks:

*I have the attention span of a Child! All of our classes are at least 3 hours long. After about 1 hour I'm all fidgety and I just CANNOT focus anymore. I tend to doodle a lot. Or daydream.... lately its been about weddings and I have no idea why. Maybe because there's lots to think about with that.... and I tend to follow "New Beginnings" blog. And she had the most beautiful wedding and I've shown Tyler lots of pictures & explained that I want my ideal wedding like that. He doesn't get it but at least he knows I have expectations for someday :)

*I'm the nerd of the class. Yep, who wants to be that kid. You know, "THAT" kid.... loser/teacher's pet that raises their hand all the time.... that's me. I can't help it. I've had experience so I know the answers, but I also just wish the lecture would go quicker so we could get out sooner.....

*If I apply myself, I do well. I had a rough couple of years at U of I, but I've learned so much with how to take test and how to write papers. I'm still so glad to have that degree from U of I. this nursing stuff is TOUGH. I have no time at all, but at least it seems do'able as long as I read the material for class.

* I've lost my hearing. Okay, I've joked about it for years, but I really can't hear. Even when I take blood pressures... its a struggle bc I simply CAN'T HEAR! I blame the headphones I used with my portable cd player in junior high... on the volleyball/cheerleader bus.

*I'm an ORANGE! We are taking this stupid weekend class for Lakeview and we have to attend 3 weekend classes this semester... the first weekend (6 days in a row for the first week of class.. plus only Sunday off, then 4 more lovely days of quizzes and tests), but we also have the weekend class this weekend.... and Halloween weekend. (don't even get me started with that! It's Henry's first Halloween & I can't do Friday or Saturday dressing up.... grrrr..) Back to topic. ORANGE. We took a personality test and had to pair up in groups. I scored very close in all catergories, but I had the most points in orange which is the Spontaneous person... very competitive, makes rash decisions. Our teacher decided to tell us that Oranges were BAD! um.... not too happy about that. Not at all. I used to be the "Blue" category, but I've become more Orange with life's experiences.

*I love being in Nursing School when I can actually breathe and realize, "I'm in nursing school. This has been my ultimate goal." seriously, I've waited to be in this program for so long, I'm just very very fortunate to be in it. And to be doing well in my grades. We have a test of quiz every time we go to class and its rough.

Swinging in the Jumper

2009-09-08T00:18:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of weeks Henry has been acting more like a toddler than a baby so me and Tyler have been eager to try out some of his toys and gadgets. Obviously, this contraption is way too BIG for him to use appropriately, but we tried it out anyway. I love it because the Johnny Jump Up looks like a big pair of underwear! His tiny head peaking out of the top of the "underpants" made us laugh so hard.

He didn't quite get the "jumping" concept.... it was more like a swinging device.

"Hey guys, what's so funny?"

Eagle Football

2009-09-07T23:54:00.000-05:00

I took Henry to his very first football game last Friday. We saw so many babies that looked identical to Henry in their cute Eagle onesies. We saw Quincy & Beckett and all of the boys looked adorable in orange and blue. Too bad we lost to Robinson, but at least we had a good time.

My sister, Ellie, is a freshman in highschool. She's the baby of our family so its been a huge adjustment for all of us to think of her as growing up. She'd only been in school a week and she found a boyfriend! He's a sophomore and he plays football. Ellie went to his game last Monday and her, mom, and Kevin all packed up to go to his game tonight. I helped her to get all dolled up for the game... did her hair and makeup and I even painted a Newton Eagles ribbon for her hair. (Very adorable.) Kevin joked that she acted like she was going to prom. (He said its ok for her to date this guy up until he gets his license in May. haha) And the biggest kicker: he's 6 feet tall so he towers over little 5'2 Ellie. I'm sure I'll be getting pictures of these two lovebirds soon!

Visit from Lala

2009-08-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

My cousin Lauren, a.k.a Lala, came to visit us this weekend. (Her and her husband lived in Omaha, Nebraska for the last year, and they just moved back to Bloomington, Indiana woohoo!) Of course she had to come see her new little cousin. He LOVED her!!

The best picture we could get of these two.

These are the responses Lauren got from Henry. He was cooing and giggling and throwing smiles all over the place.

Just wouldn't stop. Definitely going to be a heartbreaker with those huge grins.

Lauren and Evan were married on June 7, 2008 and I was the maid of honor. Henry was born on their first anniversary! I have pictures up in my apartment from their wedding and I think Henry recognized Lauren from the pictures because he kept looking at the pictures then back at Lauren. Quite the observer.

We put his hair in a mohawk. This pic says, "I just had a rough night of being a rockstar." Thanks Lauren for coming to visit because we had such a great time. Since you live closer now, we expect more visits soon!

Sleepy Shopper

2009-08-23T22:36:00.000-05:00

Me, Mom, Ellie, and Henry went on a shopping trip a week ago. Henry wasn't into the whole shopping experience.

He's fighting the sleep. Tired of all of the stores and people.

"Mom, can we please go home?"

Baby Einstein... Future Einstein?

2009-08-23T22:24:00.000-05:00

Tyler & I have been purchasing Baby Einstein dvds for Mr. Henry and he's finding them very entertaining so far. I also just bought new glasses and I wanted to see how Henry would look in them. He's definitely got the "nerd" look down and he looks so serious in this picture. Who knows, maybe this kid will be the next Einstein or Beethoven or President. So many possibilities!

2 months already!

2009-08-09T13:06:00.000-05:00

Where did the time go? Summertime does tend to fly by. My little man turned 2 months old last Friday. I can't hardly believe how much he's grown. Everyone says they grow up so fast and its true! There have been some sleepless nights when I felt like he was going to be a newborn forever, but he's been starting to have a routine in the last few weeks so its getting easier. On Friday I took him to see all of the girls I work with and we weighed him. He weighed in at 11 lbs. 11 oz. WOW! I guess eating about 6 oz. every four hours will make a little guy gain some weight. :)

He loves the bear mobile on his swing at Grandma Amy's and Grandpa Kevin's house

Sometimes Henry has a temper especially when I'm trying to blog like right now! Guess this is all for now.

My Cuddlebug

2009-07-29T14:28:00.000-05:00

I survived my first night of work! It was nice to get back and see my work friends, but I was ready to come back to my baby the next morning. He seems HUGE compared to those newborns I work with. My mom and Ellie printed this picture of him for me to take to work to put on my locker. Such a cutie!

The End is Here.... of my maternity leave anyway

2009-07-27T15:17:00.000-05:00

My maternity leave is OVER! That's right, I'm headed back to work tonight for the good ol 7pm- 7:30 am night shift. I'm very sad about it of course. I'd like to think the picture above shows how Henry feels. It's like he's thinking,"Are you sure you have to go back mom? You mean I have to spend the nights with my Grandma Amy.... the one who takes lots of pictures of me all the time? C'mon Mom, why would you do that to me?" I really do hope that he is good for my mom tonight and actually sleeps because she's really the only person that can keep him until school starts again. We don't need her to get burnt out.

I wish he could wear onesies like this all the time as a reminder that I'm still his favorite.

He really likes his Dr. Seuss quilt his Aunt Julie made for him.

This is the most recent picture I have of us. He's getting a jumpstart on football season... with the way he eats he may not be able to wear this sleeper by the time its time for Eagle Football.

I'm very nervous about going back to work tonight. What if I can't handle the night shift anymore?? I haven't stayed awake all night long since my last shift at the hospital which was 8 weeks ago. I'm also nervous about c-sections & just getting back into the flow of working. While today has been full of mixed emotions, it has been kind of bittersweet. Henry woke up this morning and he was full of energy and SMILES! He's been grinning and half smiling frequently in the last week, but today it was definitely real. What an exciting milestone!

Showers & Tractors

2009-07-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

This last weekend was CRAZY BUSY! I felt like Henry & I were on the road most of the time traveling back & forth between Newton and Montrose (where Tyler lives). On Friday we went to Tyler's cousin Clay's house and sat by a campfire. Henry loved it! He's such an outdoors guy... it just calms him instantly. I'm guessing I need to get a rocking chair for my porch for those sleepless nights :) On Saturday we came back to Newton for Courtney's Bridal Shower. (She will marry Kyle in the beginning of August... destination wedding. Can't wait to see those pictures) She looked adorable as always. Also, it could have won an award for "Best Decorated Shower". Everything was pink and girly and I loved it. I wish I could've gotten more pictures but the shower went so fast I completely forgot to get pictures of everything.

Lora, Rachel, and Courtney. I wanted to get a picture of all of us... including me, Henry, Taryn, and Beckett but of course the boys weren't up for pictures. I also got a picture with Courtney, but it was blurry. I think my camera is having issues.

After Courtney's shower, we headed back to Montrose for the annual Tractor Pull. It's such a big deal for the little community & they had a great turn out considering it stormed the night before. It was the first time we've put Henry in his stroller & it was challenge trying to get it in and out of my tiny trunk. On Sunday we went all the way to Willow Hill to have dinner at my Grandma Burtch's. DELICIOUS! Henry's cousins Frances and Jack were there to play with. Jack was a big fan of playing Grandma's old piano, and by the end of the day he was composing his own music. His song was titled, "The Sunset Rises at Night"... hahaha. He might have a future in the music industry.

Our Visit with Beckett

2009-07-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

Henry & I went to visit Taryn, Torrey, & their new baby boy Beckett Lee. He was born last Friday, July 17 at 2:04 p.m. He was 8 lbs. and 19 & 1/2 inches long. The boys looked close to the same size, but there's definitely a difference between a newborn and a 6 weeker. This is the best picture we could get of the four of us because Beckett wanted to eat and Henry was a little grumpy.

Look how huge his hands are!! He was so fragile & sweet compared to my monster child :)

Sorry Tor, but I think he gets his good looks from his mama. Thanks guys for letting us come visit. He's precious! Can't wait til the boys are playing ball together.

The Birth Story

2009-07-18T22:59:00.000-05:00

"The Birth Story"

I've held off on writing about my labor experience because I know this experience will take time as far as blogging all of the details. One thing I've learned from working in Labor & Delivery is that every single woman has a different birth story. No two people experience the same pain, dilate the same, get induced or go natural... so many possibilities with childbirth. Let's start at the very beginning...

I worked my usual 12 hr. night shift at the hospital on Thursday May 30 & when I left work that next morning I thought wow, I really can't do this anymore. I ached all over & I felt sick & poor Tyler definitely got to hear all about it that morning when I went to his place to catch some shut eye before my doctor's appointment. At the doc appt. I explained to Dr. Meyer what I'd been feeling & he said he thought I was going to have the baby very soon. (cruel man). He decided I needed to stop working (what a relief) because he thought the baby's growing was restricted because I hadn't gained any centimeters in the last few weeks. He thought I needed to keep track of the baby's movements very carefully to make sure things were still going good. And I was soooo swollen. He said I could get induced as soon as the next Thursday but I said I wanted to wait it out until my due date (Sunday June 7). He signed me up for an induction for Sunday, but I was to go to the hospital on Saturday June 6 to get cervadil (a device that thins the cervix because I hadn't began to dilate at all). Thank goodness I had that week before my due date off of work because I had so many last minute things to do like get more bottles, newborn outfits in case he was super tiny, finished decorating the nursery, etc.

The night before the big day (Friday), Tyler's mom called & suggested me and Tyler get pictures together before we go to the hospital. Sounded like a great idea but man it put stress on me. My mom & I went to Kohls to find a cute top for pictures. BAD IDEA! Who wants to shop for a shirt that actually looks cute when they are almost full term pregnant. I bet I tried on 20 different shirts & the more I tried on, the more ridiculously enormous I felt. I was almost in tears & very unfriendly to my mother at that point. She reassured me that I probably had several shirts in my closet that would look great. I was not convinced.

I love this picture. This was us all ready to get the day started on Saturday. Notice the black shirt, that was the winner for the pregnancy pictures & I decided to curl my hair which was a nice touch. I was soooo nervous, but very eager for this wild labor rollarcoaster to begin. Mine & Tyler's pictures turn out amazing, considering I was very pregnant & swollen. I'm so glad we took them :)

Saturday June 6-4:00 pm. Me & Tyler were definitely rocking out to guitar hero to release some stress & settle my nerves. Didn't help so much, I was a wreck!

4:30- headed to the mall to get some last minute socks/robe for the hospital.

5:10- Going through Taco Bell for Tyler. He just had to have something that would make him gassy.... I was taking out all stress on him & I really let him have it when we were going through the drive-thru. Would've been great to witness.

5:11- Somehow we end up driving around the mall parking lot & Tyler can't find the way out. Yes, we were at the mall in Mattoon, how hard is it?! We ended up driving around the back part of the mall... potholes & all. I was LIVID!

5:20- We arrived at the hospital but couldn't go in yet because Tyler had to eat his tacos. So furious I wont even speak to him that this point. I couldn't believe we were going to be late for our labor experience!

5:35- I approach the Women's & Children's Unit at the hospital (where I work), & I'm walking to my room, freaking out. I didn't know what to expect. They all made fun of me because I looked all dolled up since we got pictures that day. I must've looked put together but me and Tyler were both scared out of our minds.

8:00- They finally put in the cervadil. Let the cramping begin. We watched Mall Cop.... I officially despise that movie now. They gave me an Ambien to sleep which apparently has no effect on me. I was constantly going to the bathroom & I had so many thoughts running through my head.

Sunday June 7-5:30 am. I showered & put on makeup (a lost cause). There were 3 or 4 babies born that night so we kept hearing the lullaby being played & I was envious. I just hoped I would be next.

7:30- bad news! I wasn't dilated at all so they wanted to send me home. I said absolutely not. Give me options. You are not sending me home because I won't come back! (Yeah, I was that crazy demanding patient). The doctor gave me 2 other options: 1) Cytitek- pretty much the same as cervadil which was pointless. 2) a balloon to help me dilate. The balloon sounded intriguing so after hearing all about how it worked... (best part: I would be dilated to a 4 for sure by the time it fell out)... I was on board. The doctor checked me & was all ready to put in the balloon & he was like, "Oh, actually, I think you are dilated to a 2!" Woohoo! My body was actually started to try to push this kid out!

8:00- Start of the Pitocin. I hear this is nasty stuff, but I don't think it had a huge effect on me because I felt no different. I couldn't feel the contractions & they couldn't read them on the monitor.

10ish- Still dilated to a 2. Thinking about putting an internal device in to monitor my contractions more carefully. Doctor refuses because the longest it would last was 18 hours. He thought that wouldn't be long enough?!?!

8-1- Walking the halls... walking the halls... hating the halls.

1- Time to break the water. And this was when the real fun began. I swear when the water popped, I was in instant pain. My nurse, Leslie, & the doctor left the room and I layed there in misery. Tyler helped me go to the bathroom and I sat in there for awhile thinking, 'Wow, this is awful, I think I'm going to die. I'm still only dilated to a 2! This is going to get so much worse! I'm NEVER doing this again!' haha. I thought I would never be a dramatic patient but now I understood why labor made women turn into very angry women.

1:30- Poor Tyler is freaking out. He walked me to the bathroom again & I said, "I don't care what kind of sounds you hear coming from this bathroom, don't you dare come in!" Welcome Monster Emily. Tyler was smart enough to call the nurse in for me & she was like oh, em, why didn't you tell me you were in so much pain. I was just scared I would ask for pain meds too soon & since we were going at a turtle pace with this labor I knew the pain meds wouldn't last as long as I needed them. I was all sprawled out on the bed, gown up to my face, sheet off.... Tyler was trying to cover me up to make me presentable & I was like just leave me alone. (And to think the night before I was yelling at him to not look at my butt because the gowns open in the back. Active Labor makes all modesty fly out the window!)

1:45- Nubane in the IV. I felt like I'd gained 500 lbs... so heavy. But I still felt excruiciating pain like someone was slicing me in half. Leslie said I was dilated close enough to a 4 so she called anaestesia for an epidural.

3ish- The doc finally shows up. I thought I was on my deathbead at this point. I was so heavy from the Nubane... I was laying my head on Tyler's shoulder because I couldn't hold it up. I signed a consent for the epidural without even looking up! The pain for the epidural was nothing compared to the abdominal pain I'd been feeling.

3:05ish- Oh yeah. Feeling great already. Wow, that epidural is AMAZING!... p.s. I wanted my mom :(

4:30- Mom, Kevin, & Ellie stop in. I'm feeling great now. Completely numb. I'm sure I said some silly stuff too because I was groggy.

5- Tyler leaves to get some food. When he comes back I have oxygen on and he's freaking out. Apparently the baby was very relaxed like his mom because his heartrate wasn't fluctuating much... but the O2 helped.

5:30- Dilated to a 6-7. Finally, some progress. They say after breaking the water it usually takes about 12 hours before baby will arrive (with a first baby). Mom decides I need to nap so they leave.

6ish- Tyler had to move me in bed in a better position in bed to sleep because I had no control over my lower limbs. It was quite comical because he was like, "I dont want to hurt you." There's no way he was hurting me cause I felt nothing. All of a sudden I felt intense pressure in my butt.... called in Leslie & she said it was time to push :)

6:15- Pushing begins. Very strange being the patient pushing rather than the coaches delivering. I was calling the shots because they couldn't read my contractions still. The epidural made my left leg completely numb but I still felt everything on my right side which was perfect for knowing how to get the baby out.

7:02 pm- I hear the most beautiful sound ever... Mr. Henry Mason wailing at the top of his lungs. Then Tyler yells, "It's a boy!!!" (We already had been told that but we never got 100% clear pictures on the ultrasounds.) They threw him on my chest & I thought oh my he's got the biggest features EVER! Tyler's crying & I'm smiling & feeling awesome. I couldn't believe I'd just done it! First thing Tyler does when he looks at Henry in the baby warmer was say, "Hey Emily..." then he pointed to his chin. He's got my butt chin!!! awwww.... at least I know he definitely got that from me :)

All in all, my labor experience was very very slow until they broke my water & I got an epidural to relax me. I'm so grateful I got an epidural because I really enjoyed the birthing experience because my pain was controlled. Also, I tend to freak out so that was just what I needed to help me relax enough to let my body do its thing. All of my nurses & my Doctor were incredible. We got VIP treatment the whole time & I couldn't have asked for a better birth story.

Here I am trying to post updates on facebook during labor. Yeah, that lasted a whole 5 minutes! And notice the cell phone. Tyler made so many group lists so he could send updates & pictures to peoples' cell phones. He was the best labor coach ever and I could have never made it through without him :)

All cuddled up after my epidural.

He looks HUGE here! Remember he was only a little 6 lbs. 7 oz baby

Me & my little bright eyed miracle. I'm so proud of him

He had to go in the warmer a few hours after birth because he was too cold for his bath. That's when I really got to take a good look at how long and skinny he was.

The Spray Tan Nightmare

2009-07-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I would blog about my spray tan experience at some point so here it goes. I will try to be very descriptive with the story because it was priceless. I've used different kinds of tanning creams during my pregnancy just to add some color to my lovely huge body, but for a special occasion (my sister's graduation haha) I decided a spray tan was necessary. Of course I had just worked the night shift-12 hours, no sleep- so I was a bit out of it and tired when I went to the tanning salon. The lady at the counter kind of gave me a look like 'what is this pregnant lady thinking coming to tan?' I quickly informed her that I was interested in getting a spray tan. With relief, she looked at me and said, "Oh. Have you ever had a spray tan? If not, then you need to watch a video first." Seriously. This was going to be more complicated than I thought. I sat there yawning while I watched this video & I tried to focus on all of the instructions. After the completion of the video the tanning clerk asked, "So you think you're ready?" I laughed a little and joked about the Friends episode where Ross gets a spray tan & forgets to turn around so he gets all tan on the front.... and the girl informs me that some idiot had made that mistake the day before. She had no idea how the client had managed to not turn around because the tanning booth speaks instructions to you during the tanning process. There would be a voice that would tell me to turn around so I had nothing to worry about.

So I get in the room with the booth & look around at this bonnet & this lotion stuff they had mentioned in the video. Hmmm... now was I suppose to put the bonnet over my ears? No, that would leave a weird line on my face. Then I looked at the lotion. The girl specifically said that I needed to really apply a good amount of lotion over my heels of my feet & ankles because that's where people usually get orange. Oh, and they had a lovely full sized mirror on the wall so I got to admire my hugeness. (Remember I was almost 38 weeks pregnant during this experience).

Ok. Here goes nothing. I put my hand over the sensor by the door of the tanning booth & a husky woman's voice chimes in saying, "Welcome to Mystic Tan.... Please step inside the booth & face the wall with the sprays..." alright, obviously not exactly what was said, but I know I laughed a little by the voice. I stood in position with my arms held away from my body, fingers spread because we don't need any crazy "spray" lines. I held my breath & closed my eyes. Nothing. After maintaining the position for about a minute, I opened them and realized the door was still open. Silly me, I had forgotten to push the sensor to START the tan. So I took position again & OH MY! This extreme cold spray starts shooting at me. I'm like, do I hold my breath? I can't possibly hold it for too long or I might die.... but was it ok to inhale this fumes? Yuck. Gross... it was hard to breathe, why had I thought this was a good idea?! Then I hear this muffled sound & I'm thinking 'Oh gosh, am I suppose to turn around? Was that what the lady said???..... I turned around THANK GOODNESS. And it sprayed me again. Finally the spraying stopped & the door opened & I was free of this cloud of spray haze. I got out & wiped myself off with a towel (I know, the whole process is very strange, why wipe off your tan?) And when I left the salon the clerk said, "How'd it go?" Ha, if she only knew.

I learned a lot that day. As I was getting ready for my sister's graduation that evening, I realized my hands were a dark dirty orange color. They looked rusted. Oh my, how did this happen?! I missed a very crucial part of the spray tan training video! When I turned around I was suppose to hide my palms in front of my body so they didn't get sprayed. I was so overwhelmed by worrying about turning at the right time that I completely forgot about my palms. It was hideous. My mother just kept saying, "Oh Emily, Why did you think it was a good idea to get a spray tan? Look at those hands! I hope you don't go into labor with that stuff still on your hands... they will think you are dirty!" I clearly failed at getting a spray tan. And notice the picture above! That lady is hysterical.... I definitely did not look that calm when I was getting sprayed that's for sure.

Congratulations to Taryn & Torrey

2009-07-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

One of my good friends, Taryn, had a baby boy on Friday July 17. His name is Beckett Lee & it sounds like everything went very well. I may have to give them a visit sometime this week. Congratulations to Taryn and Torrey & their new addition to their family.

I promise to do better...

2009-07-18T17:46:00.000-05:00

The whole reason I started blogging was so I could put up pictures of baby Henry & give people updates about him and maybe put a little bit up about myself every once in awhile. I have FAILED miserably so far. Anyone who's ever been a mother should understand.... having a new baby puts your life in crazy mode. He will be 6 weeks old tomorrow & we have had 6 weeks full of visitors, doctor's appointments, bachelor/bachelorette parties, weddings, 4th of July, etc. Also, I don't have internet at my place so I can only blog when I visit my parents. I'm planning on getting internet hooked up at my apartment this week though since school will be starting soon.

I go back to work from maternity leave on Monday July 27. Only one more week home with my little guy! I'm soooo sad to go back, but I'm hoping it won't be as bad as I think it will be once I actually get back in the work mode. Okay, who am I kidding. I work in OB, surrounded by babies. Tons of babies, but not my baby Henry. Also, I'm so afraid I'm going to miss little moments with him like first smiles, rolling over, crawling. I'm also going back to school for Nursing this Fall. Starts in late August so at least I have a month of juggling work and mommyhood before throwing studies in the mix. Ugh. It's all becoming a bit overwhelming, but I have lots of help from family and friends which I'm very greatful for.

I love looking back at my old posts on my blog because it tells the story of my life and helps me remember everything. My goal for the next couple of days is to catch up on everything I've been wanting to blog about for the past month and half. HA! I know what you're all thinking, how will she have time for that? I have no idea, but I'm hoping Henry cooperates & I think his dad is visiting tomorrow so hopefully that will give me blog time. Sooo be warned, I'm going to be updating this blog like crazy with lots of random stories/pictures & they may not even be in any order or pattern at all. I just hate to leave anything out because my life has been full of special moments lately & I have to share them.

Introducing Mr. Henry Mason

2009-06-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

Henry Mason was born on Sunday June 7, 2009 at 7:02 PM. He weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. & he was 21 inches long. He has a head full of hair, huge blue eyes, and his mommy's butt chin. When it comes to length, he's definitely got everything from his dad though. I may be biased because I'm his mom, but I think he's one of the most adorable babies ever. Tyler and I are very proud of him.

I've just recently been informed that several blogstockers are anxiously awaiting my blogging all about the new baby. I apologize that it has taken so long... I can't believe he's already 11 days old! Being a new mom is absolutely wonderful, but having a new baby changes EVERYTHING. I'm no longer on a schedule. I'm on Henry's schedule which is not quite consistent each day. My new quote for life is, "Well, maybe I will get to it tomorrow....." This post is just for the purpose of putting a few pictures up of the little guy, but there will be more stories and several more pictures that I will post soon I promise!

Any new parent needs a boppy. They are wonderful for helping people hold tiny babies and they are small enough for the baby to lay in. We caught this precious picture when he was 2 days old. (He had just survived his first night home with mom and dad.)

1 Am feeding his first night at the hospital. We were both grinning from ear to ear because we had looked forward to this day for so long.

We took him to the nursery in his Henry hat so everyone would know exactly who he was. There were several other baby boys in the nursery that night... it was a full moon which means it was time for a baby boom!

Our very first family picture.

More Belly Pictures... Wishing they were Baby Pictures!

2009-05-28T13:18:00.001-05:00

30 weeks. I know I'm going steps backwards because I already have 34 weeks posted.... but somehow I lost these pics and just found them. It amazing how much you grow once you hit 30 weeks!

35 weeks. My face is puffy! I don't look so happy either.

I took these pictures right after Ellie's grade school graduation last Thursday. 37 weeks and 4 days. That was quite a day... my mother begged me to wear something else because I was showing too much skin and she swore I would look back at these pictures and be angry. I was hot and this was the best outfit I could come up with. I also got a spray tan that morning thinking it would give me some color. I don't look much darker in these pictures.... I think my Banana Boat tanning lotion is more effective. Maybe I will blog about the spray tan experience later because it was a doozy!

For some reason, I love this picture! My facial expression is hilarious, and the position of my hands look like I'm truly "carrying" this baby.

38 weeks!! Look at the picture on the left. Whoa.... that is one big baby belly! And the picture on the right.... if I would have zoomed in we could have had a nice shot of the swollen feet. I know everyone's feet swell during pregnancy especially when its hot, but it is the strangest thing. I look down at my feet and wonder if they're someone elses! I have NEVER had fat feet so its pretty comical.

I would love for my next post to be of baby pictures rather than belly pictures. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

Taryn's Shower

2009-05-28T13:01:00.000-05:00

I keep giving Taryn a hard time because she won't post any belly pictures of herself on facebook. She even insisted that we only take a picture from the chest up but I wasn't having that! Might as well flaunt the swollen bodies so we can really feel good about ourselves later! She thought she looked so much bigger than me, but you can't tell it with these pictures. Taryn is due on July 24. Poor thing, the summer heat will be miserable and I don't envy her a bit! She is another one of my friends I have frequently talked to throughout the entire pregnancy process. She is having a boy also.

Here's the "chest up" picture she wanted. I think this just makes us look like fat heads. *L*

All the pretty ladies. Left to right: Rachel, me, Lora, Taryn, Courtney, and Lynn. Courtney just got engaged and her ring is gorgeous! They are having a destination wedding in August. I haven't seen Lynn since her wedding a year and half ago! It was a nice little reunion :)

This little thing was so neat. Made out of blankets, a bib, shoes, socks, and a hat. How creative!

I've seen several diaper cakes, but this one ranks close to the top. Courtney and her mother made it for Taryn's shower.... I think they should consider going into business! Nice work ladies!

Shower 2

2009-05-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

My 2nd shower was held by Cindy, my stepmom. She's pictured above with me and my dad. The shower was held on Sunday May 17 at Cindy's house. We played lots of games which I love! I even won the mixed up words one.... she let me have a gift too (foot rub for my amazingly swollen clown feet). One of the games was to try to remember all of the baby neccessities that were found in the bath tub. There were 26 items I believe.... all for baby! They also got me a pack and play for my bedroom. After all of the stuff I received at this shower, I decided I was pretty much ready for him to arrive!

The shower participants. Left to right: Becky, Connie, Grandma Chestnut, Meredith, me, Caroline, and Julie.

I look so puffy in these pictures! Can you tell it was hot that day!? This worm cake was great.... so yum and the head of the worm was a rattle.

Me and Grandma Matson. She's very excited about this baby.... her and my grandpa venture south to Zapata, TX for the Winter. I feel like the trip south will be a bit harder this year with the baby around.

Me and my quilt! Grandma Chestnut and I started this quilt right after I graduated high school. We pieced it together in about 3 weeks. The day my grandma sat me down to show me how to actually quilt the thing, I looked at her like she was crazy. There was no way I had the patience of eyesight to make this quilt look right. 5 years down the road, she decided to take the quilt to get it quilted and surprised me with it at the shower. What a nice surprise!

Shower Time

2009-05-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

I was informed last weekend that people do in fact look at my blog & its time for me to start updating it! This baby is running my entire life and he's not even here yet. I've been so busy in the last couple of months preparing for his arrival and lots of pictures have been taken. I apologize for all the people looking at my blog that also have facebook because there might be duplicate pictures. I will try to post more of the story on my blog though.

These pictures are from the first baby shower I had. It was held on May 3 at Cody's Restaurant in Mattoon. My fellow nurses at the hospital put it on. Cody's is such a great place to eat but we unfortunately had the worst service ever. We "expressed" our concern to the manager and he took care of our entire bill. We were all shocked because that wasn't our intentions, but we thought our poor service needed to be recognized as a problem. This shower was wonderful because its always fun to hang out with coworkers outside of scrubs. Also, they got me a lot of great stuff!! Here are some pictures from the shower.

Me and my cake. Isn't it adorable? Nikki's aunt made it for the shower and it tasted just as great as it looks.

Katie and Natosha. All three of us girls have the exact same rotation at the hospital so we are "forced" to be friends. JUST KIDDING! Katie is an OB nurse and Natosha is a Pediatrics nurse. I love working with both of them because they are definitely entertaining girls.

This is Cassie and her baby Owen. Owen was born at 29 weeks back in October! Despite being born early, he has managed to have little health problems. Cassie has been a nurse for a long time and she used to be a workaholic, picking up shifts all over the place. All of that changed after baby Owen came into her life :)

Here is Susan and her children Jade and Lance. Lance was born in January. He was part of the baby boom on our unit of the hospital. (We had 9 nurses pregnant at the same time!) Everyone has delivered their babies but ME! Also, everyone seemed to have their babies early.... I have 9 days to go and I don't see this happening anytime soon. Guess I'm breaking the trend.

The last two pregnant ladies left. Nikki was due 10 days before me so it has been so interesting to swap pregnancy stories and complaints with her. She had a baby girl named Addison Claire on Monday May 25 at 6:34 PM. She weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz and is so beautiful. She looks a lot like her daddy Adam. I guess Nikki yelled several times during her labor that she couldn't wait to tell me just how bad this hurts and that its the worst pain I will ever experience. I believe she said it about 10 times! Glad she thought of me through her labor. Haha. She found out she was having a girl two weeks before I found out I was having a boy. The minute I told her I was having a boy she said our children will definitely have to date. Well, if my kid would just get here to meet Addison....

Group picture. Left to right.... Kathy, Cassie, Owen, Natosha, Katie. Kathy is a Pediatrics nurse. She has more energy than all of us combined. One of her worst habits is to follow all of her statements with "You know what I mean?" We give her so much grief about it. She has four children and she refers to her crazy life as taking care of her 50 million children. Good thing she has lots of energy because I don't know how she does it.

Terrible posture. I look exhausted in this picture too. But I had to post a pic of the guest of honor.

Look at him grow!

2009-04-28T14:33:00.000-05:00

34 Weeks!!

Notice the sweat pants. Old Navy special.... I wish I had them in 7 different colors so I could wear them everyday. I'm so over the discomfort of jeans.

I can't wait to see how much bigger my stomach gets in the next 6 weeks because look at the difference between week 29 and now! (And I thought I was getting big then!) I must say I've still had an amazing pregnancy so far with little complaints. Last week I swear he grew at least a pound or more because I could feel myself getting bigger by the minute. And my mood reflected how I felt. (Many apologies to the girls at work for having to put up with me last weekend when I really felt miserable.) I have a doctor's appointment this Thursday so I will have good news to report hopefully. So far I have gained 16 pounds!

Other baby news. He just started getting the hiccups at 31.5 weeks. At first it was cute. Now, it's not so cute because he gets them all the time. They hooked me up to the fetal monitors at work a couple of weeks ago. He had been sleeping so soundly, but once those monitors were on my belly he was ticked off. He kept trying to kick it out of the way and it felt like he was having a bit of a tantrum. Next thing I know, he gave himself the hiccups because he was all stirred up! You could even see it on the fetal monitor. Haha. What a personality he has already!

I definitely have noticed a major case of the pregnant brain lately too. I cannot think straight or talk correctly because I've got "baby on the brain". For example, last weekend I went to my parents and realized I had left my cell phone at my apartment. I went back to the apartment to get the phone and got distracted. I grabbed my sunglasses and a book and headed out the door. A few miles down the road I realized..... oh my gosh, I had managed to forget the cell phone AGAIN! So the last time I ventured back to my place I ended up successfully getting my phone. A few days before that, my stepdad came over and I said, "Hey did you notice the new picture of the family I put on my fridge?" He looked over and noticed I have absolutely nothing on my fridge. I just looked at him and laughed and said, "Um, yeah, I meant the TV." All of the pregnancy books weren't lying about "frequent urination" either. I swear I spend at least half of my day in the restroom! Last night I went to wash my hands after using the restroom. I turned on the water, put soap on my hands, then turned the water off. I was like, 'so how am I going to rinse this off?'.... preggo brain! I'm sure its only going to get worse.

Flashbacks and the Latest

2009-04-05T17:19:00.000-05:00

Tyler decided to go to Georgia to visit his Army friends for spring break. He left on Friday and won't be back until Wednesday. We've been spending so much time together lately that I'm a little bored with him not around. Saying goodbye to him reminded me of when I used to have to say bye to him every Sunday when he was active in the army and he would go back to Chicago for a week. Times like these make me realize that sometimes I take my time with him for granted. But.... I do hope he is having a good vacation. Maybe I'm just a little jealous he gets to take a trip.

Other news: I've had so many problems with my cell phone lately and I finally got a new one. I have a great talent for breaking them. My new phone is an EnV 2 and I kinda love it. I sent a text message to one of my friends yesterday and my phone actually spoke to me and said, "You have received a message from so and so..." Way creepy, but neat. And I'm not sure how to turn that function off so I'm getting used to it.

Last night I took a trip to Terre Haute with my family. We stopped in Hobby Lobby to get materials to make baby shower invites. There's so much to do in the next two months before the little one gets here! Hopefully I can get some stuff accomplished while Tyler is out of town :)

Look at all the baby stuff

2009-03-22T22:26:00.000-05:00

Lots and Lots of clothes from Grandmas, Rachel, and Me of course. Grandma Short has already started stocking up on diapers!

Already a St. Louis Cardinal fan

I couldn't decide if I wanted to make him a quilt or crochet an afghan. I chose to do both

Time for the "Belly Pics"

2009-03-22T21:59:00.000-05:00

I haven't taken any pictures of my growing stomach since the end of January so I decided it was time. Today I am officially 29 WEEKS! The last couple of doctor's appointments have went well. According to the ultrasound at 18 weeks, the baby is measuring at the 70th percentile. I'm not a very big person so I'm curious to see how big he's going to be on the big day. And he's a kicker. The average times the baby should move an hour is 10 times and my kid moves 10 times in a few minutes sometimes! Even the doctor commented on how strong and frequent his kicking was when she tried to find his heart rate. Thanks to my night work schedule, he is a night owl.... Even on my days off, he is way more active at night than during the day. I'm sure that's going to be lots of fun for Tyler when he's got night duty when I'm working :) I start going to the doctor every other week now so I will report more later.

side shot. it hasn't popped out much, but it's very WIDE

I need to work on perfecting my heart.... *L*

I was talking while my mom took this pic, but it's the best shot of the belly

The Name Game

2009-03-22T14:25:00.001-05:00

I don't care what anyone says, the hardest thing about having a baby is choosing a name. Keep in mind, I have not been through labor yet so that may change. But with the name thing, it has been crazy. First I didn't want to tell a name we liked because there are so many "name stealers". You know who they are, those people that all of a sudden name their baby the exact name you had told them you really liked. I once knew someone that told her mother-in-law a name she liked for her baby, and the MIL bought a dog the next week and gave her the name!! True story. Also, Tyler's mother told me there's a boy in his class named T.J. which is short for Tyler Joseph. Tyler's parents had told these parents that they were going to go with that name, and this couple decided to name their child that as well. I mean, come on people... didn't anyone teach you not to steal?
So I wanted to keep the name hush hush, but then I found out everyone that we know is having boys. I decided maybe it would be a good idea to get the name out there before someone else comes up with it first. Tyler really liked his dad's middle name and there was no changing his mind. I came up with several ideas but we kept coming back to the name Tyler initially liked. A few weeks ago, I said, "Fine, that's what we're going to go with because it's the only one we can agree on." Plus, my mom was bugging me about not having a name so she could buy little initial outfits and accessories.... yadda yadda.
All is great in the name world now right? WRONG! Tyler finally tells his family the name last night, and it turns out that his dad doesn't even like his middle name!!!!
Now we might be stuck at square one with choosing a name again and I've got nothing so far. Naming a child is such a difficult decision..... especially since I work in OB. Once I think I like a name, there are a few patients at work that go with that name and I decide I don't like it after all. Also, you don't want to go with something too unique because it might end up sounding dorky or dumb. And name books..... a lot of the unique names somehow end up sounding Italian or foreign. My mom was reading through the name book a couple of months ago and she came across the name Dingbang. Can you believe that's an actual name??? *L* Guess my kid's gonna be Dingbang till we come up with something! I'm at a loss, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears :)

Let's Eat Cake

2009-03-13T21:58:00.000-05:00

I'm a little behind on blogging because my life has been a whirlwind lately. I'm in the process of moving into a new place which of course is very exciting but so much work. My birthday was on February 8th and I got a new camera so I can post recent pics finally! Here are some pictures from my big 23rd birthday.

Me, Luke, and Ellie

Look at all of these desserts! 2 Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies!!! I love my little sister, Elle, cause she's the best cook. Anytime I make a request for food she's on top of it. I keep telling everyone that my baby's going to come out saying screw the milk, I want some cake :)

Winter Blues!!

2009-01-29T01:53:00.000-06:00

Who loves the snow??? I do, but I'm tired of driving in it. I was lucky enough to work on Monday and Tuesday nights so I made the adventurous drive a few times. Driving from Charleston to Greenup was the best part though... I was the snow plow. My sister and mom have definitely enjoyed their snow days as I'm sure many of the other people in this area have. A little bad weather won't keep me in on my days off though. Tomorrow I plan on making a trip to Champaign to visit my friend Rachel and then I have a doctor's appointment on Friday.

Single shots

2009-01-28T23:35:00.000-06:00

I hate getting pictures of myself because I never know how to stand and I feel like a big dork. Before I went to work on Monday night my mom insisted that she had to snap some pictures of the belly because it's really starting to "pooch" out. So here they are... (don't mind the dumbfounded look on my face haha)

Not going to lie. I was pushing it out a little!!

I show more from the front I think!

"The Preggo Diaries"

2009-01-26T01:30:00.001-06:00

My entire family is getting very enthused about the pregnancy ordeal, but no one has been as excited as my mom. She won't admit it, but I know she's on cloud nine about being a grandma for the first time. She has even been making me a scrapbook for my pregnancy. I told her that just means lots of fat shots of me, but she swears I will appreciate it one day. Here are some of the pics from the book:

At a family weiner roast in October..... we just found out a secret!!

Me and Rachel before Jacy's Wedding. (9 weeks preggo.. last time I'll be wearing a dress for awhile!)

Pregnancy makes me look very tired so sometimes I hate him for always being photogenic. The first pic was Christmas dinner. The 2nd was us opening our first baby gift from Grandma Amy and Grandpa Kevin.... a photo album, adorable white blankie, mini snowman, and pacifier clip. (16 weeks preggo)

Headed to Champaign for New Year's (17 weeks)

It all began with some Margaritas.....

2009-01-26T01:30:00.000-06:00

Several people have asked how me and Tyler met so I thought I would give a recap on the blog. Back when me and Rachel first were roommates in August of '06, Tyler sent her a message on myspace and asked her her "hot roommate" was in the picture on her profile. At the time he was overseas in Iraq so I told Rachel it was ridiculous to even talk to him. In the middle of March after I got home from Springbreak in Panama City guess who showed up at our door..... Mr. Tyler. The three of us went to Chili's for drinks. After a few Margaritas, I whispered to Rachel that this kid was pretty cute. The only problem was that he was stationed in Waukegan with the Army (which is an hour north of Chicago). A long distance relationship was not an option. He stopped in again to see us in Champaign in May and I was hooked this time. He asked Rachel for my number after he left and I had to wait 6 long weeks to see him because he had to complete training in Fort Knox in Kentucky. When I finally got to see him in late June, we really hit it off. It was tough to keep the relationship going with him living all the way in Chicago, but we managed. I loved having butterflies in my stomach when riding the train up to see him in Chicago and seeing him in uniform of course. He got out of the Army in May and I graduated so now we are both closer to home and each other.

Can't wait til June!

2009-01-26T00:00:00.000-06:00

My boyfriend Tyler and I have been dating for a year and a half and we are having a baby that's due on June 7th. Two weeks ago we found out we are having a boy, and ever since then we have both been eager for June to arrive. At first we didn't know if we wanted to find out the sex, but I finally convinced him that it would make it more fun. Plus, I just couldn't wait any longer to know especially since I work in OB, and my fellow nurses wanted to hook me up to the machines on the floor to see for themselves what I was having. I know many women say they just knew they were having a girl or boy..... but I seriously KNEW it was going to be a boy from the start. No morning sickness, carrying low and all in the front.... all pointed towards boy. I honestly didn't care if it was a boy or girl in the beginning, but now that I know I couldn't be happier.

So Maybe I'm an Amateur...

2009-01-25T22:30:00.000-06:00

I'm completely new to this blog thing, but it seems to be a popular hobby that I thought I would try. My 23rd birthday is in two weeks and I've been hinting around to my parents that I would love to get a new digital camera, but we will see how that turns out. Until then, I apologize for the lack of recent pictures. (My boyfriend Tyler got me a nice 10 megapixel digital camera for graduation.... and I broke it already. I don't believe I'll be asking him for another camera anytime soon!!) I may not be able to provide pics or videos for all of my blogs, but I definitely will have some interesting stories to tell. I often joke that my life is so crazy that I could be a stand up comedian just talking about my daily encounters with people. Honestly, what fun would life be if we couldn't laugh at ourselves and each other?