Riley's Birth Story

So it's been quite a while since I was on this blog and have updated.  Most of you know why, but I'm over that noise.  I want to document the things going on in my life and the life of my new 10 week old baby and if anyone has issues with that, I don't care.  I want to be able to read back through this log I have created for myself and for my daughter to document things in her life.  Today will be her birth story. 

I found out I was pregnant two days before Christmas.  I was in shock.  Holding that secret was almost too much to bear from our family and friends.  We host Christmas Eve dinner at our house for both of our families.  We told close family that we were expecting shortly after the New Year once we found out that everything was going as planned.  We made our "official" announcement once we knew that we would be adding a baby girl to our family. 

My pregnancy was quite uneventful and I may go back and document my "bump pics" at some point and time.  The one thing I do regret is not taking the time to document my pregnancy as closely as I would have liked to.  My due date was listed at August 27th.  By the beginning of August I was beginning to carry very low and felt like "she" could fall out at any moment.  The beginning of August was hard, passing the 8 year anniversary of my dad's death. 

Sunday, August 12th, I began to feel very uneasy. like something was about to happen.  I told my SIL and my husband I was sure that the baby was coming that day.  I was wrong.  I continued to work the following Monday with little to no change.

Tuesday, August 14th, I awoke shortly after Hubs left for work at 5:30 a.m.  I had a contraction that sat me straight up in bed.  I thought to myself that it felt different than the braxton hicks that I had been having prior and that maybe I needed to pay close attention to my body.  20 minutes later another contraction did the same.  I decided that I was done sleeping for the day and got up to take a shower.  The contractions kept coming about 20 minutes apart and even a hot shower wasn't helping to slow them at this point.  I knew that something was happening and I was pretty sure that it wasn't false labor.  I texted Hubs and asked him to please give me a call and relayed to him what I was feeling.  I wasn't sure that this was "the real thing" yet so told him to stay at work until things progressed alittle further.  Figuring that this was our first, and first babies can take time to work themselves down, I knew that we weren't in a hurry to get to the hospital.

I signed into work for 8:00 that morning and let my colleagues know that I was pretty sure that I was in labor but was going to stick around as long as possible.  By then the contractions were picking up a bit and I was a bit uncomfortable but nothing I couldn't handle with some deep breaths and walking.  After talking to Hubs a few more times, I gave in and called my MIL to come over to sit with me just in case I would need someone else here.  She arrived around 9:30 and helped me work through some more contractions.  I called my best friend and talked to her for a bit, comparing birth stories and how things started.  She thought I was in false labor since I could hold a phone conversation with her.  As the contractions got closer, I felt more and more uncomfortable.

I know now why women in labor moan and rock their hips during birth.  This was all I could do in the throws of a contraction.  As we approached noon, the time Hubs was due home for lunch, the contractions were steadily increasing to 5 to 7 minutes apart.  I knew we would be heading for the hospital soon.  Once Hubs arrived home and we worked through a few more contractions and he took what would be the last pictures of me pregnant, we packed up the car with my hospital bag and took off for the hospital. 

On the way down to the hospital, we decided to debate baby names.  The name that we had both fallen in love with, Carlyn, just didn't seem to flow anymore.  We brought up a few more names we had on the list and decided that once we met our precious little girl, we would decide the right name for her.  The ride to the hospital was pretty uneventful, I had to work through some more contractions but nothing that scared Hubs. 

Once we arrived at the hospital, Hubs dropped me off at the emergency room and took off for the parking garage to park the car.  He would meet me in the emergency room.  I waddled my way through security and explained to the nice security guard that I was in labor and needed to get to the L & D floor.  The put me into a wheelchair and wheeled me to the admissions desk.  I then had to listen to two snotty young interns argue with the L & D floor about how I was going to get up there.  The ER was too busy to spare anyone to push me up to the elevator and the L & D floor was too busy to have anyone come and get me.  I listen to this for 20 minutes, until Hubs finally showed up in the ER.  Then Hubs had to push me through the ER to this bank of elevators while listening to snotty intern #1 describe that he was not a trained medical professional and if I decided to have the baby while he was pushing me that he could be held liable. The placed us in front of some random elevators and wished us luck.

As the elevator doors opened and Hubs pushed me inside, I was in the midst of contractions that felt like they were coming on top of each other.  As we looked at the elevator floors listed, we noticed that the floor we needed was not available from this elevator.  I was livid.  They complained in front of me, made me feel like I had done something wrong and then put me in the wrong elevator.  So Hubs and I rode the elevator to the next floor that we could and asked for help.  The nice people on the 9th floor were able to get us down to the L & D floor after realizing that I was actively in labor. 

Once we arrived on the proper floor, I was taken to a triage room to be checked out.  I dutifully put on my gown and peed in the cup as instructed.  That is when I started to get sick.  The pain of the contractions coupled with the undying heartburn I was experiencing was too much for me to handle.  I am a full blown wuss, I'll be the first to admit it.  I was in so much pain with each contraction that I kept getting sick.  I felt so bad for Hubs as he had no idea what to do for me.  All I wanted at that point was the epidural.  After having the doctor that was on call come and check to verify that I was indeed in labor, it was off to a room for us.  They wheeled us down the hall to a L & D room and it was then that I realized "OH SHIT, the baby is coming"! 

Once in our room, we met our nurse, who was no nonsense and honest and just what I needed.  She helped me get through some contractions, got the anesthesiologist to put me on the schedule and made sure that I had everything that I needed.  Around 3:00 p.m. I received my epidural and some meds to help with the heartburn.  The epidural was not as bad as I had expected.  Hubs was made to leave the room while this happened.  The worst part was being hunched over while having contractions and not being able to move to get comfortable.  The doctor also hit a nerve in my back which made my leg jump involuntarily which he then yelled at me about.  As the epidural took effect, I noticed that I felt it more on one side of my body than the other and had to roll over to get the medicine to travel to the other side of my body.  We waited until after 5:00 p.m. that day to break my water to see if the epidural would take effect more completely or if it was going to need to be redone. 

By 5:00 p.m. I was feeling pretty good.  I wasn't feeling most of the contractions and when the doctor came in to break my water, I really didn't feel anything.  I was 3 cm dilated at that point and was told it would be a few more hours.  We relaxed, chatted and family came in and out of the birthing suite to keep me company.  Around 6:00 I finally convinced Hubs to take a break and go and find something to eat.  He was anxious and I knew he hadn't eaten yet so I wanted him to maintain his energy.  During this time I was getting Pitosin to keep the contractions moving and the baby's heart rate would dip with each contraction.  This wasn't worrying anyone at this point as they would rebound but it was something we were keeping an eye on.  I had also started to shiver uncontrollably.  I was told this was in reaction to the epidural.

While he was off in search of some edible food at the hospital, my in-laws came in to keep me company.  After a bit the nurse came in to drain my bladder and check me.  After draining my bladder, she looked at me and asked if I felt any pressure.  I told her I wasn't sure but felt alittle different.  The shaking was me going through transition and I was ready to go!  The nurse told me that the baby was right there and that I needed to get my support team into the room.  I texted Hubs and Littlest Sister to have them come back to the room as soon as they could and updated the in-laws on the baby status.  Once Hubs and Littlest Sister arrived, it was time to start to push!

I started pushing at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 14th.  With each push, my  heartburn got unbearable.  I was doing anything I could to stop the acid from projectiling out of my mouth.  It was terrible.  I kept begging for something to help with the heartburn, anything to get me relief.  They wouldn't give me anything as they knew once the baby was out, it would be over.  After about 20 minutes of pushing, the baby's head was visible.  I couldn't stand it anymore and ended up getting sick.  That is when the baby's head kept showing itself!  Only a few more pushes after that and my beautiful peanut of a daughter was born.  Riley Jean made her debut to the world at 7:53 p.m. on 8/14/2012.  She was 5 lbs, 11 oz and 18 inches long.  She was born with the cord wrapped around her neck twice.  She was such a tiny tiny peanut.  But perfect.

She has blue eyes and we think either strawberry blonde or red hair.  She's mostly bald right now.  She is perfect in every way.  I couldn't believe that after years of waiting, that it had finally come true.  I had my perfect baby in my arms. 

No longer homeless

After a week of patiently (hahahahhaha) waiting to hear back regarding the house that we saw last week and submitted our rental application for, I finally got some good news today!  We will be moving to our new house by the end of the month.  Here is what the new house looks like from the outside:

The front of the house

The house is deceptively larger than it seems from the outside.  When you go in the front door, you are in the dining room, the steps to go up to the two bedrooms are there and there is a living room.  Both the dining and the living room have beautiful bay windows that the cats are going to adore!.  There is a doorway and a slide window that open from the dining room into the kitchen and off of the kitchen is a large family room, that will be great for watching TV! 

I absolutely adore the kitchen, its bigger than the one that we have now, with tons more counter space!  There are cabinets everywhere!  There is a newer refrigerator, a flat top stove and a dishwasher!  A DISHWASHER!  There is also a small bedroom that I will use for my office and the main bathroom is on the main floor. 

Upstairs are two bedrooms and a half bath (just a toilet and sink).  Both bedrooms are nice sized and will both fit our king sized bed.  The only thing that I am worried about is getting the large gorgeous double dresser that used to be in my mom and dad's bedroom.  My mom wants Hubs and I have to have the dresser as it won't fit in her room.  There is a basement that isn't finished per se, but it is partially finished and dry so Hubs can use that as his "man cave".  Tons of cabinets and storage down there also.  The laundry room is the length of the back of the house and also has a "pittsburgh toilet" in it.  For those of you wondering what a "pittsburgh toilet" is, its a random toilet put in the basement with no walls or anything around it.  HA.  There is also a shower in the laundry room that looks usable. 

The back yard is huge and there is a wrap around porch with a roof around the back/side of the house.  There is a pond and also a shed in the backyard and I cannot wait to begin to do some landscaping.  We are hopefully going to take up residence in this place on or before July 1st.  I will do a better tour of the inside of the house once we get in and get it fixed up. 

There are a few things that we want to do to the house.  We are going to assist with removing the carpeting from the floor because right now the carpet is mint green and smells.  The people who lived there previously must have had cats because it smells like cat urine to me, but I know we can get the smell out.  The carpet is going to be removed to expose the beautiful hardwood floors underneath.  We are going to assist with the labor of taking the carpet out and refinishing the floors.  Hopefully we will get in sooner than later and get started with the work! 

I was really starting to get worried that we weren't going to find a place.  I am so happy that this has worked out.  We were so happy with this place, it is someplace I can see us being in for awhile.  We are going to sign a two year lease so that gives me hope that we will have some stability for awhile. 

We put off TTC for this month because of everything with the move.  I will be doing most of the packing and moving of the small things and rubbermaid containers with the hours that Hubs works so having me not being able to move thing and pick things up would make things hard this month.  That doesn't change the fact that I am still thinking about it all the time and I really wonder if we are doing something wrong.  I don't seem to be able to pinpoint the days that I ovulate on my own and it just makes me so very frustrated.  I surely didn't think that this would take such a long period of time.  I am wondering if something is wrong with me or him and if that is why it is not happening.  I wish that I could just get some sort of peace on that front also.  We  have to try a few more months and then I'll make an appointment to see a doctor.

Once we get in and get this situated, I will do a tour of the new house!  I am finally feeling so much more relaxed.  Nothing at this point can bother me, even dirty whore's who still feel the name to make snide comments directed at me because they have nothing better to do with their time and something is obviously wrong mentally. 

Times they are a changin

Well seeing as how we have only a short 36 days to find a new house to live in as well as move all of our things into said house, I've been a bit preoccupied the past few weeks and have neglected my little space that I call my own. 

We currently rent the perfect house from my cousin and her husband.  It is perfectly located, just enough room for us and the kitties, I have a whole downstairs that is my "office" in which I do all my work during the day.  Its a separate space and I love the house completely.  We moved up here in December of 09 and had the agreement that we would live here so that they could get a house that was bigger, more suited for their needs.  We lived here for a year and a few months and due to the situation between them, personal issues, we are being evicted.  We have until June 30th to find a new house. 

This poses all kinds of issues.  I work from home, so we need to find a place that I can stand to be in 90% of my time.  I don't go into the office very often, so I spend most of my day downstairs right now in the finished basement which is my "office".  I am able to separate work from home for the most part and because I love the house, I don't mind being here all of the time.  Well, most of the time that is.  We also want to stay in the same general area.  We have family all around and don't want to move too far especially now that we are trying for a baby.  Also need to stay out of the city because of the increase in taxes.

We have found a few places and none of them panned out.  The first one was in the city, which means increase in taxes and rent.  I loved the house but it wasn't worth the money and hassle.  The second house I adored.  It was old with woodwork and it was redone.  But C would lose all his space.  He wouldn't have a basement or a garage and he would have no "man space". It was also only two bedrooms and the basement was unfinished so having a home office and a baby room/nursery wouldn't work.  So that won't work.  The third house was one that would have worked.  Had enough rooms and space.  Had a nice yard.  The drive way was very steep and the staining on the hardwood floors was half assed but it was still a house that we could have made a home.  Someone else got that one first.  There is one that is still not on the no way list yet, but it is a nice ranch-style house with a semi-finished basement but it is so very small.  SO SMALL.  I get anxiety thinking about moving all of our stuff in there. 

There aren't many options for what we want in this area.  We are expanding the search a bit to include other close by locations, and we have two appointments to see the houses in those areas this weekend.  One is very close to where we are now and I'm not sure how many rooms.  I did get to see the outside of the house when I was driving around with my in-laws on Monday after work and it looked nice but it is $150 a month more than we pay now and it doesn't look like the size justifies the hike in the pay.  We will have to see what the inside of the house looks like too to determine if we would pay that much and if it is big enough.  The other house is still close but not the immediate area we are in now.  It sounds gorgeous, completely redone, the person is moving for work and is looking for long term renters.  Its three bedrooms.  So we are keeping our fingers crossed for that.  There are also a few places my MIL knows that we may be able to rent, houses that are for sale by friends.  One looks so promising with the view that overlooks the river from the huge windows.  So we have some options, we just need something to pan out soon.

We are both so stressed.  We are obviously not pregnant at this time, but hope to be in the next upcoming months.  I need to relax on that front too and realize that I cannot make it happen but I need to do all I can to help it.  Things last night did not go well, C let some old demons take hold of him and after a long conversation this morning, I feel better.  I know that he is stressed out and that he is upset because we are having to move after finally getting things in order again.  He has a permanent great job, we had a nice home and then poof, we're unstable again.  He realizes that he was wrong and has apologized many times and said that it will not happen again. I believe him but he is on notice that this shit does not FLY in my house.  I will not be made a fool of and if he wants to act like he's a child, he'll be treated in the same manner.  I'll send him off to work with only enough money for a red bull and no ATM cards. 

Ridiculous.  So that's why I've been MIA.  I hope to be back this weekend with TTC updates lol and hopefully pictures of the new house!