First OB visit

Today was my first OB appointment. First and foremost I am SOOOO thankful that my Medicaid got reactivated and was backdated to June 1st, so that two day hospitalization will be totally covered!! Yay!! What a huge burden off my shoulders.

The appointment went well. They took a few buckets of blood from my arm (just kidding), I peed in a cup (not kidding), and got to wear a paper vest and paper sheet!! Fun!! (just kidding...well, not about the paper part, but about the fun part) Blood work has to be sent to the lab and they included an electrolyte panel just to monitor my potassium level. The doctor said that if it comes back normal, there is no reason to continue to monitor it. I hope everything is OK. I definitely don't want another "attack" like I had. Scary.

As far as the exam, my belly appears to be that of an 8-10 week pregnancy, but we're going to have an ultrasound on July 10th just to confirm the due date since I only had two menstrual cycles before getting knocked up. I'm really excited about the ultrasound. There is nothing better than seeing your baby moving around in there especially when you can't feel movement yet. I will definitely be posting ultrasound pictures when the time comes!

So far, no weight gain this pregnancy...just weight loss. About 3 lbs weight loss. This doesn't surprise me since I was still carrying around a few extra lbs from David plus the morning sickness has made me not feel like eating. I think that also might have had something to do with my low potassium. I have been better about eating good foods that are also high in potassium. Plus the morning sickness has started to wane a bit these days. I'm just preparing for the pounds!! They are inevitable!! haha. At least I know it is possible to lose them. I got SOOO close, then BAM!! Pregnant again. Thanks Jesse ;o)

It's funny because before I had any children, I thought I might be infertile....ha!! God showed me!!

My little girl is two!

Happy Birthday Eve Rene. You came into the world on June 27, 2007 at 11:53 am weighing 6lb 11 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches. You were so beautiful!! Since then, you have only become more beautiful and such a sweet little girl. I love how you cuddle with me first thing in the morning and at night at bedtime and you play with "mommy's air." I love the way you talk in your own language and accent sometimes. I love how you do that "happy walk" when you're excited about something or just in a good mood. I love how you say "thank you" without asking for it. I love how you tickle me and laugh as if you were being tickled. I LOVE that you still have that baby laugh. I love when I get an unsolicited hug and kiss even if you are just acting out the Barney song!

I LOVE YOU EVE RENE!! You will always be my sweet baby girl.

Freedom

After two nights in the hospital, they let me go. No explanation for what happened. And I'm not crazy. That was NOT a panic attack. Anyway, it's time for bed. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me. I appreciate it.

Back to life.

Prayers needed!

Ok, so long story short I'm in the hospital right now. No it doesn't have anything to do with the baby...it's me. I think there's something going on with my heart. Either that or I'm crazy and have just decided to develop a random panic disorder.

It started in the movie theater on Sat night. We were seeing the Disney Pixar film "Up." So yeah, very non-stressful, all around good movie. During the last 20 minutes or so, I stared to develop a pulsating radiating pain going from my neck, down my left shoulder and back, and into my arm. My left arm and fingers were also going numb. Jesse thought I should just get up and walk around and see how I felt. I felt a little weird, but OK. We got in the van and started to drive back to my parent's house to pick up the kiddos. While on the phone with my mom, my symptoms got worse. All of the sudden I felt this weird sensation come over my body and my heart wasn't beating right. I felt like I was fading away...like I was going to die right there. I told Jesse to go to the hospital immediately. I mean, I really thought I was going to die. I kept telling Jesse that I loved him and couldn't stop thinking about my kids and family. Most of all, I realized how fragile life really is and how much we do have to rely on God in these scary situations.

Let's just say that I hate hospitals. The ER was awful, especially when I first got there and was freaking out, crying etc... They were all very nonchalant about my potential condition and just walked past me as I called out for help. As they hooked me up to the EKG machine to check for any irregular heart rhythms, I began to have another one of those "about to die episodes." That EKG did in fact come out abnormal, so they did a repeat just to check. It was normal. But then again, I was not having an episode during the second one. When I did finally see the Cardiologist the next morning, he seemed to chalk it up to the fact that I may have been moving during the test...but I knew I was trying to be very still. I know what I felt was real and SO scary. I have never felt like I was going to die until last night. I don't wish that on anyone.

They also had me do a stress test, which came back normal and so far all the blood work has been normal or negative (which is good). Tomorrow they will do a CT scan of my chest and an extensive ultrasound of my heart to check for any possible congenital defects. Not that I want to have a heart problem, but I want some sort of logical explanation for what happened to me. I really do not thing I have an anxiety disorder, but I could be wrong. What happened last night was just far too real and too scary to be a panic attack.

Anyway, for those of you who pray, please keep me in your prayers and also pray for wisdom on the part of the staff (God help them!) and the doctors in making their diagnosis. I really do not want to leave here with no explanation and the fear that this might happen again for no apparent reason.

And for those of you with a spouse or kids at home...hug them a little tighter for me.

Uv you Opher!!

Those were Eve's first words this morning. Uv you Opher! (I love you Topher!) It was so cute!! Topher is my good friend Laurie's husband. Now why does she think of Topher first thing? I don't know what goes through her cute little head. Eve is getting very good at remembering people's names lately and I guess Topher was just on her mind first thing this morning. I think she was disappointed to find that he was gone when we woke up. She said "Opher gone!" Haha.

Well, today I'm going over to my mom's house with the kids while Jesse plays with his friend Nick for a while, then it's date night! I wish all (and myself) of you a happy poop free Saturday!

The Happenings of Yesterday

Ok, I must dish. This is totally a mom story and if poop grosses you out, you might not want to read any further.

So yesterday right after Jesse left to go to work, I was trying to get the kiddos down for their nap. David kinda smelled a little ripe, so I opened up the dipe to give him a change. There was just a little hard Hershey kiss-like nugget stuck to his bum, so I wiped it away and as I was getting the new dipe, he decided to make a few tootsie rolls if you know what I mean. So I figured they were pretty solidified and I was safe just to hold his legs up and catch the "candies" with the baby wipe as they came out.

NOPE!

After two of his little tootsie rolls, he decided to give one last push..........

And it was a hard push.

But I wasn't really scared because like I said, everything was pretty solid....but this WASN'T!!!!! My little man decided to release Mount St. David's furry all over me!! Ugh!! Hack!! Barf!! EWWW!!!!!!! I just sat there in disbelief for a few seconds trying to regain my composure. I had just been pooped all over. I am officially a mom. And no people, this is not the first time Mr. David has done this to me. So I have officially been hazed by my own flesh and blood.

I tried to remain calm so Eve would not come over to see what was going on. The last thing I needed was a two year old coming over to "inspect" what just happened. So I wiped the majority of the "chocolate pudding" off my shirt and shorts, changed David's diaper, then proceeded to strip down despite the windows being wide open (don't worry, we live in the back of the building). It was all I could do to get the shirt over my head without getting any "pudding" in my hair. Ugh!!! And it was miracle of God that nothing got on the couch. I have no idea how it all got on me. Thanks for that one God. Is this payback for all of my childhood potty humor? Sometimes I don't get your sense of humor, but I sure am thankful for this beautiful poop makers of mine!

Picture Perfect week!

Just to give you an idea of how BIG David is at not quite 5 months old. Haha. Yesterday he weighed in at 16 lbs at the WIC office and was 26 1/2 inches long. He looks bigger than Miss Eve Rene in this picture.


This is my baby girl after she got her surgery (during the two hours she was actually awake during the day!). As you can see she was relatively unaffected by it all. I'm just glad it's over and her eye is back to normal!

On Sunday afternoon Eve got to play in her baby pool at NeNe's house. She had a blast. Uncle Johnny was visiting too. She went down that slide about 50 times each time giggling her little heart out saying "Ageen!" (that's Eve for again).

Like father like son...little David LOVES to look at himself. That comes to no surprise since I'm constantly catching his daddy flexing in the mirror. For those of you who think my husband is Mr. Humble....haha!!

So a few funny things have transpired over the last week. Probably the funniest was when Miss Eve Rene fell off the big potty while trying to get some TP. I went out of the bathroom to grab a wipe and a dipe (diaper) and when I came back in, she was wedged between the toilet and the wall and somehow landed with her rear up in the air. Of course I picked her up and made sure she was OK. She was fine as soon as I gave her some "yummies" (that's Eve for gummy snacks). What absolutely killed me is that she kept talking about her fall from the potty all day. "Ennay fall poo poo potty!" (translation: Eve Rene fell off the toilet while going poo poo)

Well, I'm having a hard time thinking of all the funny things that have happened. I'll have to keep a running list for the next time around. Well, Mr. David is awake, gotta run!

Eve Rene time is the best!

I love hanging out with my Eve Rene. She is super cute and super sweet. Right now she's cuddled up with me while I'm blogging. I think her two year molars are coming in because she can't keep her fingers out of her mouth and says occasionally "teeth hurt". Poor thing. But she's the sweetest little girl I know ;o)

Today Jesse's brother is coming to visit, see the kids, and maybe go out to eat dinner with us. So, in the meantime, I gotta straighten up around here and get to making the crock pot lasagna since we have some thawed meat that needs to be used ASAP.

So Eve has been recently obsessed with "Bo Bo Man" aka Bible Man. haha. We watch it at least once or twice a day. I have NO idea why she likes it. It's got cheesy plots, horrible acting, and generally makes me embarrassed that this is a Christian program. But Eve loves it, so end of story. We watch it. Period.

Well, Mr. David is awake. Eve Rene time is over for now. Now it's Eve and David time!

ALL DONE!!

Here's a picture of my brave little girl all dressed in her hospital scrubs. Despite the fact that she's squinting, she hasn't had the surgery yet....that's just how she decided to smile. Silly girl. She did so good! She was a little fussy coming out of anesthesia, but that's totally normal for a child her age. She looks like a little pirate girl with her little eye patch, but it generally doesn't seem to bother her too much. She only tried to take it off once and when she realized it hurt to peel the tape off, she decided against it! She feel asleep on the ride home and asked to go night night. She slept for over three hours!! I was shocked. She had no food in her belly either since she couldn't eat past midnight the night before. And she's sleeping again!! And she asked to go night night again. For all of you who know Miss Eve, she doesn't ask to go night night unless she is whooped.

But Eve is doing great. Sleeping is the best thing for her eye's recovery anyway and it's good for me since I'm sleepy from waking up at 5am this morning. Ugh. That wasn't fun. I only got up out of parental obligation. If it were my surgery, I may have hit the snooze.

In other news, Mr. David is now able to roll from his back to his belly and is quite good at it!! And TOOTH UPDATE!! He has ANOTHER tooth coming in!! The other bottom middle tooth is already peeking through. It's just so crazy how he seems to be growing in fast forward compared to Eve. He's absolutely adorable, sweet, and yummy to kiss all over and I love him!!

OK, it's time to snag a nap while both kids are napping AGAIN!! Ah, I love these moments.

All by myself

Just wanna be all by myself!!! (singing). Well, I was all by myself for about 5 minutes until Mr. David woke up. Eve is napping thank goodness and David is somewhat content in his bouncer for now. He did pretty good last night. Slept from 8:30 til 5am. Not too shabby. I still think that even though the pediatrician said to feed him solid food only once a day, that he really needs it twice. This boy is HUNGRY all the time. And literally the first time I mixed banana puree in with his cereal, he's been eating from a spoon like a pro. It's amazing what a little flavor can do. I don't blame him. Barley cereal can't be all that. It smells like shaved card board before it's mixed and not much better after that.

Well, not much to say today. We get our van back from getting a dent fixed and a streak buffed out. Exciting.

Oh, and I'm sort of excited about a friend of mine. It's possible that she will not miscarry due to a misdiagnosis. I do hope that is the case. She's feeling all of the normal signs and symptoms of early pregnancy and her pregnancy hormone levels are in the normal range for the week of pregnancy she should be in. So keep her in your prayers for me. She doesn't realize it, but she'd make a great mother despite not feeling ready to have a child right now. Don't we all feel that way! If Jesse and I had decided to wait until we were financially stable to have one...or two...or three...we'd be in our forties and my eggs would be covered in cobwebs. Have 'em while you're young and have the energy. That's my motto!!

But wait....where's my energy??

Hot or cold? I have NO idea anymore!!

Yeah, that's me. I'm either hot or cold. And no, I'm not speaking in Christianese. I'm talking pregnancy hormones are on the loose! I'm either sweating to death or my feet and hands are so cold they feel like popsicles. Right now I'm the later.

BREAKING POTTY NEWS: Eve Rene went poo poo on the potty like a big girl this morning!!

Ok, back to the mundane that is my life. I think it's funny how our apartment is generally clean downstairs and both of the kid's rooms are usually clean, but if you ever go in our bedroom. Oh my!! It's awful!! I'm embarrassed. And I have no idea why it has to be like that. Mabye if we started fixing the bed that would help.

Right now Eve is singing "Fruit salad, yummy, yummy!" while rubbing her tummy. It's so cute. She has recently started singing words to songs instead of just dancing to the videos. She's turning into a regular Baby Idol over here. And now she has went from singing to doing situps with her daddy all while wearing her white Easter hat. Now she is helping him count. "Eighteen, Eighteen!! She's good all the way up to 10, but after that everything 's eighteen.

Oh, I almost forgot that yesterday me, my mom, and the kids went up to the Dodge dealership to get a tire plugged. I was thinking 30 minutes maybe. We were there for over two hours!! We were both on the verge of insanity. At least Eve and David were pretty good, but I was dying of a heat stroke in the waiting area and was not to happy to have discovered a fist-sized ding in the driver side sliding door near the bottom. That was the first thing the mechanic pointed out. He said, "See that damage?" I was like, "What damage?" He said, "I just don't want to get blamed for that." I was thinking....we drove the car home on Sat, on Sun morning there was a nail in the tire and it was going flat, and now a dent??!! What??!! And then we had to wait longer for the tire because they had to replace it since it was in the side wall. At least we got the tire for free as a courtesy since the nail was probably in the tire at the time of purchase. And they are fixing the dent for free as well. I guess I can be pretty intimidating when I want to be. haha. Me? Intimidating? That's hilarious, but hey....they don't know me. I could go all kung fu on them for all they know.

But for real, they were all really nice about taking care of everything free of charge. I was relieved. Greenbrier Dodge people are good people.

So lately the reality of how common miscarriage is has been on the forefront of my mind. There are two people that I know who have either had one in the last month or are about to. My heart goes out to these ladies. Not all of you know this, but when I found out I was pregnant this last time, I prayed for a miscarriage. It was my selfish way of asking God to let me get on with my life and my desire to not disappoint my parents. Although I realized at the time that my thoughts were irrational and the result of a stressful situation, I now realize how completely self absorbed they were. When it is all said and done, Jesse and I are so blessed to have our children. Even though we will have three children under the age of three and we will probably be pulling our hair out at times (well at least me), it's going to be so worth it.

I am glad to be on the other side of those feelings and I am actually starting to think about the baby as a baby and not a hinderance.

Psalm 127:3-5
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

We took the plunge!!

Yes, we are now the proud owner of a Dark blue 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan with Stow and Go seating and built in car seats (man those things are super cool to have!!) I am amazed at the upgrade in space that we now have. No more having only 1/5 of the trunk for groceries and other necessities. No more only having room for one extra passenger unless we strip out the car seats. No more having to get out of the car in the rain just to unstrap Eve from her car seat. No more sacrificing my space in the passenger seat just so David's car seat can be properly installed. No more worrying about how the heck three car seats are gonna fit in the back seat of a 5 passenger sedan. Whoo hoo!! I am super excited about this purchase. We are planning on turning the Jetta back into the dealership unless we can find someone who wants to purchase it for more than what our payoff is. I have serious doubts we'll find someone, but if you know someone in the market for a 2005.5 NEW Jetta with 2.5 liter, 5 cylinder engine, leather/heated seats, automatic rain sensing windshield wipers (those things are NICE!!), dual temp control, 5 disc CD changer, and HUGE trunk (although not big enough for 3 kids worth of stuff), let me know!!!

So I guess I'm about 6.5 weeks along now and I haven't taken a single pregnancy pic yet. I really have no desire to this time around, but Jesse tells me I have to. He's the pregnancy historian. He has even dug pregnancy tests out of the trash to take pictures of them. Yeah....weirdness.

Oh!! David is cutting his first tooth already!! He's only 4.5 months and already working on one of his bottom middle teeth!! He's running about 2 months ahead of Eve's tooth cutting schedule, but it makes sense since he looks like a 6 month old baby already. At his 4 month visit he weighed 14 lb 12 oz which sounds like a lot, but only puts him slightly over the 50th percentile for weight. It's the head circumference and his length that makes this boy look huge. He's 75th percentile for both of those!! So I've got a big headed tall little man. That's fine by me. He's going to be super smart and tall, I just know it!! haha.

And for those of you who read my post about the speck in Eve's eye and then the subsequent post about how everything is OK....well, she's going to have to have the rust ring removed probably on Thursday. Jesse noticed that there was still something in her eye on Thursday so we got a same day appt with the eye doc and sure enough, she will have to have it removed at CHKD on Thursday morning some time. They normally do this sort of procedure in the office, but for a child Eve's age, she will not sit still while they drill a tiny section of her cornea out like adults do. So, Eve will have to be put to sleep for just a minute so they can do just that. Poor girl. They would have to put me to sleep too!! No one's coming at my eye with anything resembling or sounding like a drill!!! So keep little Eve Rene in your prayers. She has no clue what they are going to do, which is probably a blessing. I just don't want the girl to get a phobia of doctors or hospitals. And I pray that she doesn't even realize what they did and that her eye heals quickly.

All day sickness is in full swing

So the past few days I have felt SOOOO sick. Not sick enough to vomit, but sick enough to wish I could just vomit to feel better. Ugh. I was supposed to take David to his 4 month checkup this morning, but Jesse is taking him instead. Then I was supposed to meet with my dissertation chair, and that's not going to happen either since I feel like crawling under a rock and dying. We also have Young Adults here tonight and I do NOT feel like cleaning. I think just the thought of smelling the cleaning products is making me feel ill. I had a bowl of cereal this morning, but that's probably all I will have until about 2 or 3pm. I have to wait until I am starving to eat or else I just can't bring myself to do it.

Ok, enough complaining. I know a lot of other women who have had it a lot worse. Anyway, I was trying to figure out what Eve was just saying a few minutes ago. She said, "Want watch Bo Bo man!" over and over and over. I was perplexed. Then it came to me!! She wants to watch Bible man!! Haha. That show is ridiculously cheesy, but the fact that she wants to watch it makes me slightly proud that she at least likes good old wholesome family entertainment rather than other shows she could be wanting to watch.

Right now Eve is trying to apply "chapstick" to one of the characters named Wally on the Wiggles movie...only he's on the TV and he's not exactly real. I wonder what she thinks when she watches TV sometimes. Does she think that these people are actually inside this box called a television set? She's too cute. I only wish she could stay like this forever.

So, anyone want to come over and clean for me? I need someone to vacuum, dust, clean the kitchen, and mop. Any takers?

Sleep + Poop = Proud mommy!!

First off, David slept through the night without needing a feeding. I just had to pacify him once and he slept all the way until 7:30!! That was very nice of him to let a weary, morning sick mommy have some sleep. I really hope this becomes a pattern.

And Miss Eve!! She said something about "Poo poo on the potty" so we sat her on it. Nothing. Diaper back on. Immediately she went into her poopy corner and she was wisked back to the potty. After a few seconds she did it!! I'm so proud of both my babies. We've just gotta get Eve potty trained before baby #3 gets here.

The visit with JuJu was nice. Eve always loves to see grandma JuJu. We went to the Cheesecake Factory on Tues evening which was so yummy....then I felt so sick. We got home and I passed out on the couch without even eating any of the cheesecake I had made. Ugh. Grossness of pregnancy. I'm ready to get through the morning sickness. Apparently going through this two previous times doesn't make the third time any easier.

Here are some pictures from the end of the year MOPS tea party. I love all my MOPS ladies and will miss meeting with them on a regular basis during the summer.

You learn something new every day

Last night I decided to make a recipe I found in my handy dandy MOPS cookbook. Slow cook orange honey chicken....mmmm. Only problem....it takes a whole chicken. I've NEVER dealt with a whole chicken in my entire life. That's right, I had to reach in and pull out the giblets....UGH!! HACK!! UGH!! BARFFF!!!! I HATE raw meat, but this was an entire dead bird. I thought I would vomit.

But, I managed to successfully remove the innards and then shoved a lemon up the bird's butt. And I have to say it felt kinda good in a crazy, sadistic sort of way.....muahahahahaha!! That was the hardest part of the cooking process mostly because of the gross out factor. Then I simply plopped the chicken into the crock pot and poured a mixture of 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup orange juice right over the chicken. The chicken cooked comfortably overnight for 7 hours and woke up this morning nice and golden brown smelling deliciously nauseating. Why does nothing smell good cooking when you're pregnant???

Anyway, I am very proud of myself for conquering the chicken and simultaneously cooking a nice meal for my family. All for under $8.00!!! Right now I have a cheesecake baking in the oven. I'm making it for Jesse's mom who is coming to visit tomorrow. She has offered to watch the kids for us Wed morning whilst Jesse and I get a 1 hour couples massage!! Whoo hoo! I'm super excited about some relaxation. My body is still aching after Busch Gardens on Sat. I'm getting too old for that place. It's Eve's turn to have fun now. Next year we will definitely take her and the day will be all about her.

Oh, thank you Eve for conditioning and combing my leg hair. Much appreciated. It was getting quite coarse and unruly, but thanks to some good leave in conditioner and a nice combing, it's looking good!!