Lena Ballerina - The Beginning

So here it is! The story of little Eleanor's arrival!

On Friday, September 14, after weeks of false labor, I felt like crap. It shouldn't be isolated to Friday, because I had several days within a 3 week period that I was a miserable person to be around. I had a solid two weeks of regular uncomfortable contractions that were deemed false labor because I never actually progressed into the real deal. People told me that I would know when it was real. I was getting very frustrated because they felt real, but out of nowhere, the contractions would just stop.
But back to that Friday. I was crabby. I was tired. I was so, so moody. Around noon I started having some mild contractions about 6 minutes apart. They felt like everything else I was experiencing, and knowing that they weren't real, I just ignored them.
Marcus, Charlotte and I went to Panera for dinner and saw a couple of friends and I was trying to hide my misery, but I was pretty transparent. I apologized for my attitude, and hoped they didn't think I was being rude. We came home and watched the movie Bernie. It was interesting.

It was probably 11:30 that we went to bed. I felt fine. I didn't really think anything was happening. Marcus had plans to go to our cottage the next morning with his dad and brothers to take the boats and docks out of the water for the season. I didn't really want him to go just in case I went into labor, but at the same time, the cottage is only like an hour away.

(I forgot to mention that my goal was to have the baby on Saturday. I was determined to get it done. If it didn't happen that Saturday, it would have to wait until the following. Marcus travels to Traverse City for work every Thursday and coordinating childcare for Charlotte would just be easiest on the weekend. I'm not sure why I thought I needed to have the baby nearly 2 weeks early, but I just knew if it was going to happen soon, it would be Saturday.)

Around 1:40am, I woke up. I didn't know why. I felt a contraction, but it was just like every other one. Maybe a little bit more in my back. I got up to go to the bathroom, and I had another one. I tried to go back to sleep, but realized they were pretty close together. I've had this before though. They weren't real. Or were they? I waited a little while. They were 3 minutes apart. I woke up Marcus to tell him and waited a few more minutes. Even though they were very similar to what I had been experiencing, I called the on call OB anyway. She told me to head to the hospital, so I called my mom around 2:30 so she could come stay with Charlotte. Right after that, my water broke and I was thrilled to know this was the real thing!!
I was not thrilled about how holy crap crazy the contractions immediately got.

This is where it gets awesome.
I'm having the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life in waves coming every 2-3 minutes at home and in the car. I was not convinced I would deliver my baby in the hospital. It was so National Geographic it was embarrassing. We got to the hospital and I felt like I waited a lifetime to get to triage, and another lifetime to get to L&D. I seriously sounded like a wildebeest or some other Savannah dwelling creature. I kept on apologizing because I'm pretty sure the women who were walking the halls just waiting for their babies to be ready decided to hang on a little longer.

Anyway. It wasn't nearly the peaceful laboring experience I had with Charlotte. Even though that was really painful, I managed to hold off on an epidural for about 3 hours. I could barely last 30 minutes this time and there were so many people in and out of the room and I felt like I was making a scene. At one point I'm fairly certain I told the chief of anesthesiology to "just shut up for a minute". Yeah, I was real dignified.

My epidural was not great and he told me that 99% of them work better than mine and he couldn't redo it. So unfortunately my left side felt most of the action.  
By 6 am, it was time to get ready to deliver the baby, and after the opposite of rainbows, unicorns and fairies  occurred, my sweet chubby baby was born at 6:52.

It was a completely different experience from Charlotte's birth, in some good ways, and in some not as good ways. But I'm so pleased I was able to have a vbac, and the recovery has been much more manageable too.

Lena has been such a blessing. She's a great eater and sleeper, and an even better pooper. so.much.poop.
Life as we knew it has changed forever, but it's been changed for the better.

The Time I Had Another Baby

Hi!
Guess what? I had another baby!
I'm guessing most of you know this already because of real life, or facebook life.

The last time I sat down to blog was last Thursday. I was basically whining about how I was still pregnant, even though I still had 13 days to go.

Since I am sort of tired, I'll just keep it short.

Eleanor Ruth arrived on Saturday, September 15 at 6:52am. We call her Lena, and she's the bomb!
She was 11 days early (same as Charlotte) and 8 lbs 1oz, 20 in long! I grow em big!
I should also mention it was a successful VBAC. That, my friends, is the way to go. There was about 2 hours where I majorly regretted not scheduling a c-section because of the craziest amount of pain I've ever experienced in my life during labor, but I persevered and am SO glad I did.

The nicest little baby ever.

I'll be sure to update soon with the story and about life in general.

Just wanted to share the exciting news!

I Should Just Stay Home

After 6 nights of false labor and 5 days of exhaustion from it, I decided (after my dr. strongly suggested it) it would be best to stay home labor day weekend. I was really looking forward to heading up north for a few days and enjoying the completely awesomeness that is northern Michigan.

I went back and forth regretting it, but know it was the best decision, especially after last night, having some whopper "real" (?) (I don't even know what reality is anymore) contractions for about 40 minutes - and then they just stopped. tricky bastards.

Earlier in the day, I went to get a much needed pedicure. The polish was all chipped and my feet looked disgusting because I'm too lazy to put on shoes when I walk around outside. And since I can't reach them comfortably, I pay other people to do the dirty work.

I tried out a new nail salon that advertises like crazy on the radio, and when I walked in, it seemed like a great choice. It was really busy, but I only needed to wait about 5 minutes. The girl who did my nails seemed really sweet until she started sharing some really, really odd things.
Among those odd things were these little pearls:
"I mean sometimes...there's blood on the toilet paper."
"I get really nervous during this part!!!"
"There was literally throw up in her mouth!"
"Is your family crazy like mine?"
"What do you do for all of your stretch marks?" (I didn't even say I had any. She assumed because I'm ginormously pregnant.) (I chose not to answer with my original "kick nail techs in the face")

Everything else about it was really great. I just have thismuch patience right now, so that is why I should just stay home.

Today we took Darby to the dog park since it's been a while, and it's obviously good for her to get some zoomies out. She's such a snob. She has no interest in playing with other dogs, unless it's another ridgeback, and since there aren't very many around, she just doesn't play. She runs around and looks for squirrels outside the fence. Charlotte and I waited on the outside and just watched, since children under 10 aren't allowed on the inside. She is just as happy woofing and mooing at the dogs on the outside as she would be on the inside. There was one little dog that kept humping every other dog. (I didn't take a picture, but totally should have in retrospect) and I must have made some sort of disapproving click to myself because a woman sitting on a nearby bench looked at me and said "oh that one is mine." I said, "the humpy one?" And she didn't really answer, but said "they like to play rough." But then, she continued to ignore her horny dog and just stare at Charlotte and me. I mean, Charlotte was being adorable trying out all of her animal sounds and saying hiiii to the dogs as they ran by, but it was pretty weird. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she stares rudely at people since she allows her dog to strip other dogs of their innocence.

So now I feel like I owe Charlotte a trip to the park down the street since she was clearly ticked off that we brought Darby all the way down town to "play" and she just had to stand and watch.

She didn't even play with the other dogs.

You like her more than me, don't you? Her breath smells like a dirty aquarium.

Do you easily lose patience with the general public, or are you a real sweetheart that I'd like to punch?

                                  

Go, Go!!

"Go, Go!!" is Charlotte's catch phrase. We never really know the appropriate time to say it, because if we say it randomly, she looks at us confused, but if we say it before we go someplace, she shouts it right along with us.

That has little to do with anything at the moment, except for "Go, Go!" time is approaching...I think.
I've been having some pretty noticeable contractions the last 20 hours. I called the on call OB last night and explained that I was having some mildly painful, very uncomfortable contractions every 8-10 minutes and that I am 35 weeks and 4 days. She was very kind and recommended I try to get some shut eye and if they continue to get closer and stronger, to call again - though she thought it was more likely that they'd go away on their own. I woke up a couple times in the night due to the discomfort, but by morning, they were irregular again and more of a nuisance than anything else.

By noon, I decided to start timing them again and they were 8 minutes, 7 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes...lasting about a minute each. They didn't hurt bad though. The only "real" contractions I knew
were from my labor with Charlotte and they were crazy climb the walls insane bad. By 2:30, I decided to call my OB again and just let them know how frequently they were coming. He decided he wanted to see me within the hour. So my mom came to my house because Charlotte was still napping and I went to the office by myself.

The contractions are doing something, but he says "I don't think it's active labor." and while I didn't either, I still don't know what the crap the difference is. I'm still confused about when I'm supposed to call, since I was always supposed to call when they're 5 minutes apart. They've been 5 minutes apart all day, and now I'm starting to have back ache and heavy legs.

I just wish I knew what I was doing.

I went to get groceries after my doctor appointment, and was so uncomfortable people were starting to take notice. I started to tear up a couple of times because I just feel so clueless and I can't imagine letting this go on for another week or more. Though I want my baby to be born full term, I'm not sure stopping to catch my breath every 5 minutes around the clock sounds like a good way to spend the next week.

I don't want to spend any unneeded time in the hospital. I just want to know when it's the real thing. I don't think it truly is right now, because it's supposed to hurt...right?

Ugh. I suck at this.

How did you know it was go, go time when it was the real thing?

Kid's Store Jargon

Last week I did a little clothing shopping for Charlotte. I had a couple of coupons that were going to expire soon, so what better reason, really?
I'm not sure why I always have a story about shopping. see here. It's probably because I'm a mall rat.
In this particular story, I'm shopping at a kid's clothing store and looking for some sale items that I saw online.
The only signs I see say
"All jeans $9.99!!"
"Select leggings $7.99"
"Basic tees $5.99 regular price $12.99"

There is one stack of t-shirts by the sale sign and they are orange. Really.
There are three stacks of different leggings that do not match said orange shirt. (different collections, of course.)
I ask the girl working there about any other sales they have going on, as when I was online, I saw many items I was interested in. She explained that it was a "back to school sale? so it's like for the bigger kids? and your little girl isn't in school yet?"
So I asked her about the shirts that were marked $12.99 and if they were part of the basic tee sale. "Well these are fashion tees? and the sale is on basic tees? See how these have like glitter and buttons and some embellishments? The basic tees don't. They have ruffles?"

I'm gritting my teeth and kind of want her to just leave me alone. But she grabs her floor chart that diagrams where the sale items are to be laid out and explains it to me like it's a map of IKEA. And tells me how their store has this random section of extra shelving? so that's where I'll find the other ruffled tees?
Ok, got it.  This wall is where I'll find my daughter's size. Thanks.

So I start picking through the clothing that doesn't seem to have any sale sign near it, but it's the stuff I saw online. Oh look. There's a sale sticker on the tag! That would have been helpful to know. I choose the items that I want to buy and as I check out, I let her know that these are the "back to school" sale things I saw online. She exclaims, "OH! Those are mark downs! That's what you should have asked for!"

holy crap.
I love shopping online.

Would you rather shop at Brick and Mortar places (as they say on the interwebs) or do you like online shopping like me?

oh hey.

I'm a blogging slacker.

It's just that I've been real busy eating cake and being rude to strangers in parking lots. (do not say dumb things to me when I'm carrying cake in a parking lot.)

So other than my extreme debilitating pelvic pain, being 34+ weeks pregnant is a breeze. It actually has been a little better the last couple of days where I haven't cried, so that's cool. I talked with my OB about it today and he actually showed some sympathy but said that nothing has actually been proven to help with this type of pain other than delivering the baby. And of course, like every appointment before, he asks if I want to schedule my c-section. In case you didn't know, I'm going to try for a VBAC and I'm pretty much set on it. I really hope it works out this time, and while I recognize that I need to do what's best for both the baby and me, I will be pretty ticked if I have to have my baby surgically removed.

The baby's room is almost complete after cracking down and working hard on it this week. So while I don't have a picture of what it looks like now, I do have a picture of what it doesn't look like anymore.

Marcus put in a nice little closet system!

Because of that adorable little closet, everything that was once in there, was thrown out into the rest of the room. Resulting in this:

What.

You think I should be embarrassed?

That closet housed all of our photo albums, gift wrap, tacky dresses, old coats, picture frames, and random crap. And with the basement being under construction, there hasn't been a ton of room to move things down there to store - until the last couple of weeks. So FINALLY, with some help from my mom, (since Marcus has been extra busy with work and finishing the basement) we got everything sorted, stored, or trashed. She and I put the new crib together, and I now have all of the new baby's clothing hung and organized. I'm feeling so much more ready than I was even 5 days ago! 

We're keeping Charlotte in a crib, mostly because I don't want to deal with any changes right now, and she hasn't been protesting at all. If it's not broke, don't fix it. 

In other news, we had some family pictures taken this week, and I couldn't be happier! Anne Jansen  did an amazing job. There was only one picture where I look larger than the average bear and it was an unposed one. So when she tells a pregnant chick to stand/sit/pose a certain way, do it. It's like magic.

 I will share some photos in the next few days. But I'll leave you with this one that warms up my icy heart.

a  candid moment with my sweet little Charlotte

Homestretch

Is there an official week in pregnancy where you can say you're in the homestretch? I think most people would say that it's at 37 weeks when you're considered full term.
I say it's whenever the crap I feel like it is. In which case, it's now. 33 weeks.

Knowing that I delivered Charlotte a little early, at 38 weeks, it makes me feel like it really is just a matter of weeks, not months, that this baby could arrive.

It's so much different the second time around. I was so, so ready just to have Charlotte. I wanted to meet her, hold her, start our new life with her. This time, I am not rushing it. I know how crazy life can be with a newborn. Holy moly, I will need to get used to not sleeping anymore. I wonder if I'll completely lose my cool or if I'll handle it with grace. Charlotte has been a tad difficult the last couple of weeks, throwing hard objects at me, having tantrums, and taking short naps, and I hope she snaps out of it.

I'm at the point where people assume I'm a lot more pregnant than I am because they forget how giant you actually get at the end. Or, they have no idea how giant I actually get at the end.
I can no longer stand on one foot which means putting on pants is quite a shit show. It involves a lot of leaning, sitting, and breath holding, accompanied by nausea. My mail delivery lady stopped me this week while I was walking with Charlotte and Darby to ask excitedly "Are you in labor?" I laughed and told her that I've got a ways to go, sister. (so please don't ask that again for a long time.)

I got a massage today, and though the massage therapist knew how far along I am, she saw me and said "oh wow. You're way more pregnant than I thought you were." I am not nearly as easily offended as I was with my first pregnancy. I have a better sense of humor , and a better understanding of the things to come.
I do admit that it's been much easier this time around, and I'm sure part of it is due to the understanding of what's going on. But also, I'm not working, I'm far less stressed, and overall I just feel a little better. But that's all fading quickly with the ever present braxton hicks, pelvic girdle pain, and the legitimate medical condition known as lightning crotch. Or, crotch zingers as they are sometimes called. Google it. I dare you.

Right now, my family is rolling their eyes thinking that I share way too much, but come on. If you don't have a friend who will tell you about crotch zingers, you don't have any real friends. That's what I'm here for.

We still have a lot of work to do before the baby comes. The nursery needs to be finished (basically, cleaned out), but we have to wait until the basement is completed to move the rest of the crap down there. Hopefully the basement will be done in a couple of weeks. A lot of various steps have been started, it's just a matter of completing them. I won't be doing that.

I've taken a couple of days to stock the freezer with some pre-prepped meals to hopefully make life a little easier in the upcoming months. What I haven't done yet is moved the oven to clean behind it in a nesting frenzy. We'll see if that strikes me anytime soon.

That's basically the update for now. I don't have any pictures because I only take pictures of my dog and my kid doing the same things as they did in the last picture I took.


peace out my homies.