Started Birth Control Again Today (and other updates)

Let's pretend it hasn't been a month since I last updated!
Corbin is growing and growing : ) He's already in 3 month clothes and is now smiling and making all kinds of noises. I love it!
Here here is at 1 month old!

And one my SIL took last Friday of his sweet little squishy sleep face:

My 6 week post partum check up was cancelled last Friday, but the Dr. called in a prescripton for the birth control I decided to use (NuvaRing). Today is Day 1 on it. It's weird.
It's weird because this is the first time in almost 2 years (wow!) that I even have to think about birth control. And after trying to get pregnant for so long, it just doesn't feel right that I'm taking steps to NOT get pregnant.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be pregnant again so soon after Corbin, but it's just such a 180 from my previous mindset, it might take me a while to get used to it.

Thoughts On Becoming a Mother

I came across a poem that I absolutely love. Infertility is usually glossed over or ignored. It is a taboo subject that I hope more women become open about.

Thoughts On Becoming A Mother (Author Unknown)

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better.

I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.
I have longed and waited.
I have cried and prayed.
I have endured and planned over and over again.

Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.
I will notice everything about my child.
I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover. I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.

I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream. My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see.

Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love.

I will be a better mother for all that I have endured. I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain.

I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body. I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.

I have prevailed.
I have succeeded.
I have won.

So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.

I listen.

And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely. I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard. I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.

I have learned to appreciate life.

Yes I will be a wonderful mother.

One Week

Corbin is one week old today (well, since it's 1:30 a.m., I suppose he's 1 week & 1 day).
I can't believe a week has already passed and my baby has already changed so much! He's now a wiggle worm and even attempts to lift his head to gaze around. My little heifer sometimes eats up to 3 oz per feeding already.
He already looks different, too. Not anything major, just less like a wrinkley newborn.

Time needs to slow down!

As for me, I am doing surprisingly well. Besides being a little piggy, Corbin loves his sleep (knock on wood!), and I've been able to get about 6 hours at night (broken up, of course). While I am tired, and it may just be the new mom hormones at work, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.
Adam is a huge help. I haven't had to clean (though I did do a load of dishes in the dishwasher lol) anything. Not a single bottle, not anything around the house. He's also been doing all the cooking and general housekeeping.
He's still a bit nervous about handling Corbin. Adam feels like he's a little wiggly bobble head that might break on him. Diapers intimdate him, as does feeding. I really hope he comes around soon. Even if it's just feeding and cuddling, Corbin needs daddy time!!

I was able to get out of the house today. We went to Target to buy my little cousin a wedding shower gift and just walk around. Luckily Corbin seems to like riding in a car (for now), and slept pretty much the entire time. So far, I am very happy. I was worried about PPD or the baby blues and while I know there is still time for it to hit me, I've never been happier than when I'm cuddling my baby boy!

Corbin Heath is Here!!

It's been a while since I updated.
I had been diagnosed with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), however my blood pressure leveled off after a week or two.
After a growth ultrasound, my doctor suggested that I schedule an induction for August 23. So, that is what I did.
Once I hit 37 weeks, I was pretty much officially done being pregnant. I was sore, tired and just miserable. At my 37 week appointment, there was minimal progress, so I began praying that August 23 would get here quickly.
I woke up Monday morning at 4:30 a.m. and I was having what I thought were contractions. It was like a very strong cramp that started in my back and would sometimes radiate around to the front. If you've ever had a kidney infection, the back pain was very similar to that. I figured it was just false labor, and laid in bed reading a book until I had to go to the office.
By the time 8:30 rolled around, I was hurting bad enough that I almost didn't go in. But there were some last minute things that needed to get done, so in I went. I finally decided to call my OB, however it was almost 12. So I decided to wait until after lunch. By 1:00 p.m. the contractions had subsided and I was glad I didn't call and sound dumb about false labor pains lol.
That evening they started up again, but were not nearly as regular nor painful. Adam and I went to my grandpa's house to fix his TV and my uncle was there. He could tell I was miserable and I told him I had been feeling contractions all day. His birthday was on Wednesday (August 17th) and he started making jokes that Corbin would share his birthday. Just teasing, I said I'd rather go late than them share a birthday haha!

We went home and the contractions again subsided and I was able to go to bed at 11 p.m. I usually wake up between 3:30 and 4:00 to use the bathroom. As usual, I woke up around 3:15 and felt a small piddle. I jumped out of bed as fast as I could thinking that I'd hate to have to wake up Adam to help me change the sheets I peed on. As soon as I was on my feet, the flood gates open! I turned on the side lamp and work Adam up. As soon as he heard "I think my water broke", he said ok and walked out of the bedroom. I have no idea where he was going but I asked him for towels.
After that I called the hospital who wanted me to come in. We finished packing the bag we hadn't put together yet and headed to the hospital where they admitted me. My contractions still hadn't started back up, but when checked, I was already at 5 cm!
After a while I felt a few pains, and decided that I'd had enough pain the day before and got an epidural. It went amazingly well, I did not feel any pain, but was able to feel my contractions perfectly fine. It made them feel like braxton hicks contractions. My blood pressure dipped a few times, but some extra fluids brought it back up.
By 2:30 p.m. I was ready to start pushing. The nurse had me do some "practice pushes" and she was shocked at how quickly his head was starting to come. She asked me to stop pushing until the Dr. arrived.
I was able to feel every single push, however there was no way in hell that I'd be able to stop pushing. The urge was just there and I couldn't stop. I told the nurse and she told me to continue. The Dr. arrived just as he was starting to crown. She sat down and in two more pushes, Corbin was out! He was born at 2:55 p.m. and he only took about 5 or 6 pushes and less than 15 minutes!
I have a second degree tear, but other than that and some extreme swelling, both he and I are fine. We were both discharged on Thursday.
Adam and I are both so in love. He is the cutest little thing ever, and a great baby.

And because I love showing him off, here he is!

Corbin Heath Kazmir born 8/16/2011 @ 2:55 p.m. He weighed 7lbs, 8oz

Pregasauraus Rex

 Seriously, that's what I feel like. I'm a large (and in charge) cranky, swollen, vagina pain ridden reptile.

And... did I mention large?

 

We've gotten quite a bit knocked off of our to-do list.  :-) And I've kept my CD buying in check.

 

The Dr. told me last appointment that she will not be letting me go past 8/23. So we have an end date and I can't be happier. I go back and forth between wanting him here asap and wanting him to stay in as long as possible.

 

How far along are you?: 33 weeks, 5 days, but with 37 days left!!

How big is baby?: She est. around 5 - 5.5 lbs.
Weight gain/loss?: 11 lbs as of next appointment

Stretch marks?: Yes, but nothing new, and the others are fading some thank goodness.

Maternity clothes?: Yes, but even those don't keep the belly in check

Sleep?: I have a hard time rolling from side to side and having to get up 97 times to pee.

Best moment this week?: Getting the nursery somewhat organized!

Food cravings?: Pretty much anything.

Gender?: Still all boy I hope!

Movement?: rolling, twisting, one point he kicked my hip bone so hard it ached for an hour.  

Belly button?: Still in, I don't think it'll be popping

 

Labor signs?: Braxton Hicks, some cramping, increased pelvic pressure

What do I miss?: Being able to move easily!

What I'm looking forward to this week? maternity pictures :)

Cloth Diapering: The Addiction

I like lists. I make TONS of lists, fully intending on following them and having everything organized.
Then, I edit my list. Numerous times... so many times, in fact, that I end up just making a new list.

Case in Point: My CD list.
I think the strongest argument against CDing would be how easy it is to get addicted to. If I'm this bad having a boy, what would I do with a girl to put in all the frilly diapers? Somehow, my very reasonable list of a limited number of 6ish Adam-friendly BumGenius X-Smalls (AIO) + 6 kissaluvs (fitteds) + 2 doz prefolds + 6 thirstie covers has exploded to 23 Adam-friendly BGxs + 12 kissaluvs + 0 prefolds + 2 Thirsties AIOs + 5 duo wraps sz 1 + 1 zookies cover + 2 woolies that I crocheted myself + 1 suprise comic book AI2 for Corbin's nb photos.
Before prefolds, that's 40 diapers... oops. Now I'm debating on even getting the prefolds. I figure the covers are good, as they're duo wraps and will last a while. But the rest are all nb size.

No more nb diapers... no more nb diapers....

Procrastination is my middle name

So, a few posts ago I posted a list of things we still needed to do... Erm... I don't think I've crossed off nearly as much as I should have between now and then.

 

Baby

Nursery:

Get Bedding (waiting for it to come in the mail) Super late, and it wasn't my fault.

Get Mattress Thanks Aunt Cindy!

Get Wall Art

Paint Mural

Wall Letters

Organize his clothes

Wash clothes

Figure out the closet

Other:

Order more Cloth Diapers (prefolds from ebay, BG 4.0) Still working on this. I have a list for that too. I'll add it in another post :)

Finish up birthing classes (5 weeks left!) Only 2 weeks left!

Have baby showers (1 down, 2 to go!)

Buy leftover neccessities (obviously not done yet)

 

House

Finish painting guest room (it's primed!! and will be painted THIS week)

Try to paint the bathroom

Paint kitchen wall that was fixed

Paint kitchen and living room ceilings that were fixed

Find something for guests to sleep on (Done! Thanks to Adam's grandma & Pawpee, we now have a trundle bed that goes from a single/daybed to a double)

Try to paint our bedroom

Get house clean (um... I work on this, but it keeps getting dirty!)

 

Hello 3rd Tri!

I can't believe we're finally at the 3rd trimester. It feels like just yesterday I was feeling like I just was meant to never get pregnant, and then being shocked that the first (successful) Clomid cycle worked. I can't wait to meet our little boy, and if time continues on the way it has been the past 28ish weeks, then he'll be here before I know it!

How far along are you?: 27w5d

What I'm looking forward to this week? We have our first shower on Saturday :)

How big is baby?: I know he's 2+ lbs, but other than that, I have no idea. I really want a 3d ultrasound
Weight gain/loss?: I don't weigh my self on my own. I know as of last appointment I had gained 6 lbs total (3 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight) 

Maternity clothes?: Yup. There are a few shirts I can wear, but most are too short.

Sleep?: Sleep is so-so. I have good nights and then nights I'm up and down to the bathroom and tossing and turning to get comfy.  

Best moment this week?: Finally being in the 3rd tri!

Food cravings?: Apple Pie. Yum.

Gender?: Still a boy I hope lol

Movement?: All the time. I finally felt hiccups the other day and I feel him stretching and pushing on me from the inside. 

Belly button?: Still in, but more shallow 

Labor signs?: None, the extra water has helped.

What do I miss?: Being able to bend over easily.

26 weeks!

I can't believe it's already been 26 weeks (or that we have <100 days left to go!)

We have actually been slacking on getting ready for Corbin to be here. I realized that we have a limited number of weekends free and we have a ton of stuff to do. I figured I'd steal an idea from Dana at Destined to be Domestic (and a Mommy too!) and make a list that I can cross off as needed. I am sure I will add to this list, just as often as I take things off. I'll put it at the end of this post. :-)

Other than that, we've been doing great! I keep testing dehydrated, and have had to up my water intake from 64 oz to 96 oz. It's tough! I am not a fan of water, plus I am not a big drinker. I maybe have one glass of drink when I eat. I feel like I am drinking all day, and then peeing all night. Seriously, how is it helping my dehydration if it is all peed out?

How far along are you?: 26w, 1 day

How big is baby?: He's about 2lbs now I think
Weight gain/loss?: I have only gained 6 lbs total. I'm pretty happy

Stretch marks?: Ugh, yes!! I invested in coco butter. I know it won't stop them, but if it helps make them lighter, then I'm all for it. I couldn't bring myself to spend $40 on mederma

Maternity clothes?: Definately. I have one shirt that is a maternity shirt that tends to ride up. Wonderful

Sleep?: I love it. I would sleep all day if I could. Whoever said you get an energy boost in 2nd tri is a low down dirty liar.

Best moment this week?: Working on his wall letters for his name and they actuallycoming out pretty good! I have to redo the "C" so hopefully I'll have a pic up next post.

Food cravings?: Steak and potatos. I've been wanting sweets lately too

Gender?: Boy :)

Movement?: Yes, it's fun watching my tummy bounce when he really gets kicking.

Belly button?: Still an innie, but shallower

 

Labor signs?: Not lately. I had some really bad pains after being delayed in Dallas for 5 hours, the Dr. thinks it may have been contractions, thus upping my water.

What do I miss?: Not feeling tired all the time! 

What I'm looking forward to this week? FINALLY getting our bedding in! It's been a long 8 weeks :)

 

And now my list:

 

Baby

Nursery:

Get Bedding (waiting for it to come in the mail)

Get Mattress

Get Wall Art

Paint Mural

Wall Letters

Organize his clothes

Wash clothes

Figure out the closet

Other:

Order more Cloth Diapers (prefolds from ebay, BG 4.0)

Finish up birthing classes (5 weeks left!)

Have baby showers

Buy leftover neccessities

 

House

Finish painting guest room

Try to paint the bathroom

Paint kitchen wall that was fixed

Paint kitchen and living room ceilings that were fixed

Find something for guests to sleep on

Try to paint our bedroom

Get house clean

 

And that's all I can think of for now :)

 

 

Past the 1/2-way point!

Last week marked the 1/2 way point for my pregnancy. Corbin has been kicking up a storm and Adam has got to feel him once. Of course, the little stinker will kick like 5 times in a row and then stop as soon as Adam puts his hand on my stomach. I can also feel him twisting or turning in there. Definately some cool sensations.
His closet is already 1/2 full with clothes between us and my MIL. I am starting to wonder if he'll ever wear EVERYTHING we bought lol

How far along are you?: 21w, 1day

How big is baby?: He weighed 12 oz last Wednesday
Weight gain/loss?: I've gained 2lbs total 

Stretch marks?: 2 tiny ones on either side of my stomach. I knew they would be coming. 

Maternity clothes?: Definately. I can wear some of my longer pre-pregnancy shirts, but am in maternity pants full time.

Sleep?: I sleep pretty well. I just have really weird dreams. 

Best moment this week?: Feeling him squirm around in there!

Food cravings?: Burger King Onion Rings and Zesty Sauce

Gender?: He's all boy!

Movement?: Definately. He moves mostly after I eat. Guess he likes his food. 

Belly button?: Seems the same to me.

 

Labor signs?: None

What do I miss?: Feeling rested. Guess that won't be happening again for a while :)
What I'm looking forward to this week? Nothing special planned this week :)

 

I have a happy heart

Today is one of those days where I really am counting all of my blessings.
I have a great husband, an awesome family, a  home, 3 wonderful pups and a baby boy on the way!

We got started on the nursery this weekend. We painted it a great green and got the furniture together. Somehow we've ended up with a jungle theme, so I can't wait to add the details to it!

I am 19w today! I am almost half way there! I am sure the 2nd half will go a lot more slowly. I am already counting down days.

I hope everyone has a great day today :)

What? It's only been a couple of weeks.

Ok, so I slacked off on the blogging.

On 3/19 we found out that we are having a little boy! He was super shy and kept his legs crossed for a while. We finally got him to move and he showed off the goods. Then, he covered himself up with his hand. Apparently, he is going to take after his daddy. Here is the goods shot :) :

We are super excited and can't wait for Corbin Heath to make his arrival!

On another note:

Pregnancy does weird things to your body. Or, at least, to my body.

My sex drive is non-existant, I'm still waiting for the mythical "2nd tri energy boost," and my boobs hurt like no other. This is not to mention that they are now leaking. Wonderful, great. Yay. And yes, I am being sarcastic.

However, my hair looks great, my skin is clearer than it has been since pre-puberty and I feel generally good. Round ligament pains and hip pain has been the most. Now if only I could feel Corbin moving, we'd have it made!

How far along are you?: 18 weeks, 3 days

How big is baby? He's approximately the size of a sweet potato

Weight gain/loss?: Dunno, I was down 1 lb last appointment two weeks ago.

Stretch marks?: Not yet!

Maternity clothes?: I'm in maternity pants all the time. I can still wear most of my shirts, except they have a tendancy to creep up.

Sleep?: I've been sleeping like a rock. I am totally out at night, and no weird dreams lately! 

Best moment this week?: Getting the nursery ready to be painted!

Food cravings?: A1 sauce. Lots and lots of A1 

Gender?: It's a boy!

Movement?: Nada

Belly button?: Still in.

Symptoms?: None, really

What do I miss?: Not being sleepy

And here is my 18 week picture!

16w! A day early

How far along? 16 weeks (tomorrow)

Size of baby:  Avacado

Weight gain: I haven't weighed myself.

Maternity clothes? most of the time

Stretch marks? not yet!

Sleep? When I'm not crazy at work!

Food cravings: Grilled squash 
Gender: We find out on Saturday!

Belly button in or out?  Still in

Movement? I'm sure there's some, but I can't feel it yet.
What I miss? I'm pretty content 
What I'm looking forward to: Getting an u/s! and finding out if we're having a boy or girl!