My Dog is a Houdini...

Among many other things.

I am surprised I haven't posted more about my dog.
I'm going to tell a little story about her.

My dog is Darby. She is almost 3 years old. She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. She is a very special member of our little family.

We've had our fair share of adventures with her. When we first got her, she barfed every time she was in the car. We even had a system. A very disgusting system of watching the signs: she stands up, starts licking her chops, gets a creepy smile thing going, and her stomach starts heaving. I enter the scene with trash bag, or other "catching" device. She pukes in bag. Success!

Then there was the time where she grabbed a near empty container of hummus off an end table. I saw her do it, didn't think it was a big deal, after all, It's just hummus. Apparently, our dog should not have hummus, as she had an extreme allergic reaction to it, and I thought she was going to die. She didn't. She's very sturdy.



Our biggest scare was last February when after several vet visits, we discovered she had a blockage in her intestines and stomach. This did not come as a major surprise to us, as she's always been a big time chewer. Although we keep a good eye on her, she is stealthy. After a pretty major surgery, the dr. found shreds of a rope toy all tangled up in her innards.

Once again, she was very resilient, and recovered beautifully from her surgery.



Fast forward to today. Darbs has had a couple of bumps removed in the last few months. The first two were removed in October, said to be harmless, but if she gets more, let them know. She had a couple more pop up and we decided to have them removed and sent in for analysis. So now we wait. But while we wait, we deal with a very tricky dog. We've tried just about everything to keep her away from her stitches (on her back leg). She removed them all together on Sunday. We had to call the on-call vet to have her stitched back up. It was ugly! So we took her home, put the giant cone of shame on her head, kept her bandaged, and put a pair of boxer shorts on her.

On Monday, we discovered that she squirmed out of her cone of shame and chewed out more stitches. We brought her back in, where the stapled, stitched and wrapped her up as best as they could.

Today, I got her a new cone (e-collar), that fit her much better, no way could she get out! I bandaged her up again, replaced the boxer briefs so they were nice and snug, kept her in her e-collar, and put her in her crate, where there isn't enough room to move with the cone on.

Seriously. Short of locking her head and front paws in stocks, she was secure!

I got home just after 5pm. Her e-collar was still on! Success! Although...somehow....it had teeth marks. And somehow, her boxers and bandaid were off. And somehow, her boxers and bandaid were completely missing. As in, she ate them. The stitches look okay.



W.T.F.



She hasn't been this happy in days.



I can't believe that her stomach feels so good, and she has some pretty nasty gas.



Dr. won't prescribe a sedative, but reccommends that we board her there for the day, where she can be watched.



NAUGHTY!!!!



I love her so much. I would do anything for her. Some people say this will change after the baby arrives. I can see why they'd say this. Baby is close to arriving, and I admit that I don't worry about her like I used to. Some of that is perspective, and some of it is distraction.



I just hope she is getting this out of her system, because in a matter of days, I won't be able to cater to her every strange demand.

Poor, pathetic hound. I love you!! :)

...

Merry Christmas!

Hello Friends!
Merry Christmas to you all!
I must admit that I haven't been feeling all that festive this season. I attempted to boost the holiday spirit by playing Christmas music and baking cookies (which was basically a disaster).
But once Christmas Eve arrived, I started to feel a little more jolly. I got out of work a little early, finished wrapping some gifts (see? I wasn't in the mood before!), and put green sparkly earrings in.

We got together with Marcus' side of the family on Christmas Eve, following tradition. It's always a really fun time filled with good food and drink and a ridulous amount of gift giving. We even take intermission. I received a couple of sets of pjs, slippers, a robe, a blanket, socks....makes me look very lazy.

This morning, Marcus and I slept in until 8, made homemade waffles and bacon (not homemade bacon...), drank french press coffee in our new coffee mugs, and exchanged gifts with one another. I knew I didn't give a lot of gift ideas for Christmas this year. I totally love the idea of spending Christmas with family, enjoying each other's company, understanding the real meaning behind Christmas (presents!!!) (JUST KIDDING!) so in a way, I really don't like giving lists for what I "want" for Christmas! But regardless of all of this, we do spoil each other a bit every year.

After exchanging gifts, Marcus mentioned that he had one more for me, and it was up in the baby's room, and I'll have to search for it. Hmm...I asked if it was baby-related, and he said it was. So I went upstairs and was kind of peeking around, but nothing really caught my eye. I noticed that the blinds were open, and noticed there was a car in the driveway. Initally, it looked like Marcus' Explorer, and I realized that didn't make sense that it was parked outside. Then I noticed the big white bow on it.....I was surprised by a new mini van!! BIGGEST surprise ever! I could go on and on about how I never expected this, but I'll just say that I LOVE it. I am still in shock!! These sorts of things only happen in movies and commercials...oh and on My Super Sweet 16, but they usually don't get vans...

Please excuse the lack of hair styling and makeup!!

Ha! There I am. Pregnant. Pajamas & slippers. In a cookie-cutter neighborhood. Holding keys to a minivan. What would the 19 year old me even think?! SUCH a dork. Would I have been as excited for Stow-n-go then as I am now? Probably not.

Anyway.

This is my last week of work before I take off for maternity leave. For a long time I really thought the baby was going to come early, judging by my constant contractions. Now I am not so sure, but I do know that I can manage feeling exhausted, enormous and achy for just a couple of more weeks. Must...keep....going. I can't WAIT to introduce her to you! :)

I hope everyone has a safe and meaningful Christmas. I feel very blessed to have a wonderful family as I do. I hope you can feel some warm fuzzies today as well.

xo,

Emily

Not to beat a dead horse...

But REALLY?!

I had a terrible day today. Way too many contractions causing discomfort.
Alright people. I've been to the doctor. Thanks for all your "help", but there's not a lot to do at this point. Until the contractions get more frequent and stronger, I just need to deal with it. If I do go into labor, they won't stop it, because I am almost 35 weeks.

Here are some of the helpful words people shared with me today:

(after overhearing me laugh about how large I looked while bending over to clean a spill)
Person I barely know, who also has not been pregnant: Hate to break it to you, but it's just going to get worse.
me: eh, not really.

(While relaxing on my lunch break with my feet up)
Person: You do realize you still have over a month to go...
Me: yes, that's not that long.
Person: You don't think so???? hm.

(While relaxing on my lunch break, I also was in the only free chair, that also happened to be in at the table filled with a giant sheet cake)
Person: hahahahhahahhaha, you're sitting by that whole cake!!
me:......................................................................................................


Person: You better not have that baby early, or you're never going to get any sleep.
me: Hm, I'm kind of under the impression I'm not going to get too much sleep either way.

Okay, okay, I realize I may have lost my sense of humor. But where is the encouragement in all of this? I had a couple of very, very sweet women help me out today when I started to have a bit of a melt down. So, thank you, ladies, You're very appreciated!


Last night I woke up twice due to some really strong contractions, but they didn't continue. Today I had a few that I couldn't walk or talk through, but they also didn't continue. But it was strange, because once I got to my chair, my nose started bleeding like crazy!! I got super super hot, my nose was bleeding down my face like a faucet (can you imagine the sight?!) and started to sweat. So I went home to relax. But my naughty dog whined for TWO HOURS because she wanted to play outside. Last time she "played" by herself, she ran after a rabbit and I had to drive around to find her. I didn't feel like dealing with that.

So. Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day!!! Cheers!

34 Weeks

Hi Everyone!
I am so excited to feel that this pregnancy is nearing an end. It's not that I hated pregnancy, it's just that the whole reason we got ourselves in this situation is going to be here so soon! Sometimes I feel a little nervous, but I really am more excited than anything else. It's sort of strange how obvious it is that my body is preparing for this.

Here's what's going on:

Baby's size? She is just under 5 lbs and 18 inches long! I think they say they gain about a half a pound a week or something at this point. So really, that would get us a 7.5 lbs baby or so. Sounds great to me!

Weight Gain? Well, I still think this is nosy. The numbers are getting up there, but at this point, I don't have a whole lot of control.

Stretch marks? ahhhh!!!! Yes. I just noticed some last weekend. I had a freak out. They aren't too bad, really. And it's not like I ever had this incredible body and would prance about in my skivvies. Oh wait...I think I change my mind. Looking back, that's exactly what I used to do. Haha, oh well!

Belly button in or out? It's pretty flat. Some days you can see a little dot thru my shirt. My belly is so strange looking.

Sleep? Getting more and more difficult. Preparation...

Foods I am loving? I think sweets. I normally do not have a major sweet tooth, but I find myself snagging Culver's frozen custard from work (they bring it over every month!!) at 9:30 in the morning. WHAT?!

Foods I am hating? I can't say I'm hating anything out of the ordinary, but I do need be choosier as heartburn has made it's debut on a regular basis.


Best moment this week? It may have only lasted for 24 hours or so, but I think the baby moved into a different position because I had GREAT relief from the hip and back pain I had been experiencing. I sort of thought it was normal to not be able to get into a standing position without wincing, and I sort of thought it was normal for me to not be able to take a single step without feeling absolutely miserable. Then, BAM! All of the sudden and get in and out of a chair, I was walking briskly, I felt like going for a jog!! But VERY quickly realized that would be a terrible idea. The discomfort has settled in again, but hey, that's life.


Movement? She's slowing down and I compare her to a manatee. Very slow but strong movements. My belly will kind of stretch and morph where she's hanging out. I've been able to feel individual parts a little more now. It's a little creepy, but absolutely amazing. I feel like I'm holding her already.


Symptoms? Heartburn. Back pain. Leg cramps. Braxton Hicks. Swelling. Pregnancy Brain.
Hair growing EXTREMELY fast, fingernails are growing faster than I can bite them, so I've tried to cut back on that, and they almost look "nice" now. Chapped lips. Anyone else get that?? It's miserable! My lips bleed! I am constantly applying lip balm and drink tons and tons of water. Nothing is helping.


Gender? A girl. If she decided to change half way through though...sorry dude. You are gonna be girly.


What I miss? Hmm...I have gotten used to some of the things I miss, so I won't really say I miss them right now, I'll just say I look forward to experiencing them again soon. I look forward to get my old body back (yes, I know, this may never happen), I look forward to having a couple of glasses of wine, I look forward to putting on socks without feeling like I'm gonna puke.

What I'm looking forward to? Oops! I didn't read ahead. I am also looking forward to moving through the holiday season and having this little munchkin!!


Weekly Wisdom: "Enjoy it while you can" just kidding!! I had some strange woman say that to me as I was waiting in line at Harry & David fanning myself because it was about 90 degrees in there. I gave her a dirty look, put my merchandise back on the shelves and walked out. IN YOUR FACE, strange lady! What does she even mean by that??

Milestone: I can say I'm having my baby next month!

Emotions: In general, feeling very positive. Besides the irrational behavior brought on by chick hormones, I feel like I've been doing pretty well the last couple of weeks.

And now I'll leave you with a few photos taken over the last few weeks:

November 4, our 4 year anniversary--before dinner



November 17, at the shower that my friends had for me!


My doggie and me, November 27