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This is a blog about our life. I started the blog because we lived overseas for my husbands job. That meant it was hard to keep family, back in The States, in the loop about what we were up to. It also became a great way to share my sons birth story with everyone who we wish could have been there. I slowly got busy with life & stopped blogging. Here we are in 2014, living back in the good ol' USA & as we make life changes I find this to be a great way to share my thoughts and save them for my son to look back on someday.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

15.10lb Turkey

Been busy lately so I forgot to blog about Thanksgiving. What a great day it was. I was up at 5:30am to get the Turkey in the oven at 6am. I was very worried the turkey wouldn't cook all the way in time because it was a 19 pound turkey...yeah thats a big ol turkey for my little ol' German oven. Thank the Lord it turned out great. At least I thought it did LOL. We had two other families over. Great day.  Here are some pics from the eventful afternoon/evening!
 
 The Kid had his 4-month checkup and shots yesterday. 4 months ALREADY!!! Where has the time gone? He is so full of energy and personality already. 

He weighed in at 15 pounds. CRAZY!!! He is getting so big. It is already late here so this is just a quick blog post. More to come another day!








Sunday, November 20, 2011

Familia

So this is what the entire purpose of this blog was, family. We finally had family pics done. It was a very quick shoot because little man was crabby and it was cold out. Once he was cold, we were done. She still managed to get some great pics as always. Enjoy!








Friday, November 11, 2011

11.11.11

I have a few things to touch on today.
First and most important, Chango. He and I ventured out in the cold yesterday for a WIC appointment. He weighed in at a whopping 14lbs 12oz. He is 24 3/4 in long. For both height and weight he comes in at the 75%. He fluctuates so much it amazes me. Good news, I still get my WIC vouchers, YAY eggs and milk hahahaha. Bad news, in two weeks he goes in for his 4 month shots. SHOTS!!!! I hate when he gets shots. I am a worry wart, so it makes me crazy. He seemed to handle the first set well, lets pray he does well again this round.
Onto 11.11.11 news. Today my oldest niece turned 21. Yes I have a niece of legal drinking age. CRAZY!! She is honestly one of the brightest most intelligent people I have ever met. Since she was a little girl she has been super smart... amazing smart. When I think about her age, I am amazed that there is a 21 year difference between the oldest grand-baby (for my parents) and youngest (Chango). So I send her tons of Happy Birthday wishes!!!! May she have an amazing day!!
More 11.11.11 news. When The Mr and I were engaged, I picked a wedding date, TODAY! Yes I picked 11.11.11. How did I pick today? Well I was working and carded someone to buy alcohol. His ID had today as an expiration date. I liked it and went with it. I even asked my niece if it would be okay to have our wedding on her 21st birthday. Didn't want to steal her thunder. Well here we are over 4 years later and no wedding. The Mr ended up enlisting in The USAF. We did a quick courthouse wedding and said we would have a big wedding TODAY, when we could afford it. Well here I am, today, sitting at home blogging, not at my wedding. What happened? Well about a year and a half ago, we started planning this wedding. Started researching venues, caterers, the whole bit. WELL, while researching we started seeing $$$$. It was adding up quick. We didn't want much in a wedding so it was affordable BUT did we really want to spend that much money on one day? It took us all of 5 minutes to decide we didn't want to spend that much money on a wedding. So no wedding. Looking back on it, I am so glad we made the decision not to have it. Not that I think weddings are a waste of money, but I have enjoyed our trips home, the new truck outside, providing for our son etc so much more. Would the wedding have prevented all that? I really doubt it. BUT, I just cant imagine having spent all that money on one day.
I suppose that is all for now. PS. new pics should be up on here within the next couple weeks!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

More mini Vacay

Day 3
We fully intended on waking up early early Saturday morning and heading to New York City. Well it took us a while to get going. Then we headed off to Ihop YUMMY with our friends. Well the weather was horrible. It actually started snowing while we were eating breakfast. While at breakfast we decided to go ahead and skip NYC for the day. I was not about to have Chango out in that weather and I don't like to be wet and cold so I knew it was a bad idea. Good thing everyone agreed. Oh yeah, before breakfast we stopped at a WalMart to pick up umbrellas. WOOHOO WALMART!!! Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE WalMart. Went in for an umbrella and came out with gloves, jerky, gum (that The Mr & his cousin made fun of me for, haters). Man I love me some WalMart. So anyways, after breakfast we headed to a local mall. Well, when I say local I mean 5000 miles away. As much as I love the States, it was annoying having to drive 20min to get anywhere. Oh well, at least I could read the signs etc on the way :D. It was so so nice to be in a real mall. Good Times!! The rain was nasty out still when we left. We headed to dinner at OLIVE GARDEN woohoo...another American restaurant I like. Of course I know its not authentic Italian but I still like it. They even had my favorite desert of theirs, Pumpkin Cheesecake. That stuff is delicious. I  ate it all by myself. Then it was back to the room to get some rest.
Here we are at Build-A-Bear. Chango made his first bear!! 
Day 4
YAY, NEW YORK CITY!! We woke up nice and early again . Pretty sure we got very little sleep on this trip LOL. We stopped at Mickey D's for breakfast real quick and headed to Penn Station to catch the train to the WTC site.  Here are pics from the day...not much to say other than it was tons of fun!!! PS, hope you can hold it when you visit, no public restrooms anywhere! ha! 
 On the Hop On Hop Off, Double Decker bus tour

 Times Square
 Whats left of the Twin Towers!
We had to return early from NYC because The Mr and his friend were headed to an Eagles game (the purpose of the trip). He didnt get home until SUPER late and we had to be up SUPER early to take his cousin to the airport for her plane ride home.
The Mr at the game! Eagles WON!!! 
Day 5
We woke up at like 3am to take The Mr's cousin to the airport. We got back to the room around 6am and thought we would get some sleep WRONG. I decided to go ahead and start packing because we were going to try and fly out that night. After packing we decided to go ahead and wait until the following day and fly out of a different airport so that we would be on a commercial plane rather than the cold loud military planes. So we got dressed and headed out to go shopping!!! I was going to put the address of a mall I wanted to go to into the GPS but then I saw an Outlet Mall on the GPS. So I decided to go ahead and go there instead. Glad we did. We got some great deals and got lots of shopping done. We actually ended up buying another bag in order to fit everything in. For dinner we picked up food from a Mexican restaurant. Okay, we would have gone in and sat by Chango was beyond fussy. He wasn't having it. I think he had enough of being his car seat. He was in it to fly and all day in NYC. I think he just wanted to relax. Anyways, horrible Mexican food. Super disappointed. Cant wait to go to Texas in Dec and have good stuff!!
This is Chango with the first relative on either side that he met, at like 4am LOL!!

Day 6
Sad sad day. Woke up to head back to Germany. BOO!! We met with our friends to go have some Sonic. YAY, cherry limeade, my fav!! Then we headed to Baltimore to catch our late night flight. Nothing too exciting here. Here is Chango in his stroller like a big boy LOL. I wanted him out of his car seat because I knew he would be stuck in it for the eight hour plane ride. 
 We finally made it back to Germany, exhausted beyond belief.




Thursday, November 3, 2011

Mini Vacay

So we just returned home from our little getaway to the States. WOOHOO, oh how I love America. The Mr and his friend wanted to go to an Eagles game. So The Kid and I just went along for the ride, and American shopping and eating of course  :D So the three of us along with our friends and their two children set off on an adventure.
Day 1:
We went to Ramstein to catch a military flight aka free to Baltimore. Well we missed the flight because there were not enough seats on it. BOOHOO!  So we set out to find a room for the night since the next flights out were EARLY in the morning. We tried a couple different hotels and they were either too expensive or no room, bahhh humbug! Anywho, we finally found one for a decent price. It turned out to be pretty nice. Our room was connected to our friends through a doorway, which was nice, their kids could run free. It was The Kid's first time staying in a hotel so of course I documented it. Here he is hanging out.

Day 2
Day 2, we wake up before the Sun and head to the terminal. We got there and it was SUPER packed with troops. So our first chance at a flight was at like 7:30am. Just our luck, cancelled, cancelled, cancelled. All the flights we were hoping to be able to catch that morning were cancelled. Good times, NOT. So we were waiting for one last change flight around lunch time. All  of the sudden they announced a few open seats on a flight to McGuire AFB. We were lucky enough to catch that flight out. (Our friends made the next flight out to Baltimore). So we went on a KC 135. This is not an ordinary plane with ordinary seats and luxuries. It was just the opposite. COLD and LOUD. Ha, but it got us to exactly where we needed to be. So the Kid had his first flight on a military plane, and it was an international flight. He did AWESOME! Only cried twice, and no one could hear it because it was so loud on there. Here is on the plane.

We got to the base, picked up the rental car and settled into lodging for the night. The Mr went and picked up some food while Chango and I got comfy, we were exhausted from a long day of traveling. Late late that night The Mr headed to the Phili airport to pick up his cousin. She was joining us for a couple days!! 


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

2 Month Update


Since I had surgery last Friday, The Mr had to take The Kid to his 2 month well baby appt without me. I could have called to reschedule but getting an appointment here isn't always the easiest AND he was already a 11 weeks old.  So all went well according to The Mr, he weighed in at 59.kg or just over 13 lbs. That puts him in the 62%. That is a drop from the last time we went and he was in the 92%. His length is 61cm or about 2ft long. That puts him in the 71% for length. So he is doing great. Of course, 2 months means immunizations. They wouldn't do them that Friday for whatever reason, so I took him yesterday.  I was pretty nervous for shots. I thought I was going to cry as soon as I saw him cry. I did okay though LOL. Of course this isn't about me, it's about him. He did pretty good. He was happy and smiley when we went in. I felt bad knowing we were about to ruin his good mood. The look on his face the moment he felt the pain and was about to cry, broke my heart. I felt so bad. But he didn't try to flop all over or anything. He just cried and looked at me like I was supposed to help him. I really felt horrible. Thank goodness the guy was quick and it was over fast. He cried a little bit but by the time I put him back in his car seat he was fine. He went to sleep soon after. I did notice he was more fussy than normal all afternoon. I felt bad. Last night around 1am he did get a slight fever. The Dr prescribed some Tylenol, so I gave him some, fed him and back to sleep he went. His temp has gone down today and he isn't as fussy. I will be glad when we are past this. I am a worry wart when it comes to fevers. So hopefully he doesn't get another one. I am already dreading his next set of shots. It never ends...
On Sunday, our awesome friend came over to take Chango's Halloween pics. The weather has already changed here so it's pretty chilly out. It was a very quick photo shoot because I didn't want him out in the cold long. Once he started getting cold we were done. Regardless, she got some great pics. Enjoy!!




Sunday, October 16, 2011

Surgery

So a lot, well it seems like a lot, has been going on because we have been busy busy. Update on me. Might be TMI, so most ppl will want to skip this lol.  Last week I went to the hospital at like 7am due to bleeding. I shouldn't have all this crazy bleeding. I have had issues with it since The Kid was born. The first Dr I saw said we needed to keep an eye on it but no worries. Started again so the next Dr I saw said it was probably normal but if it continued I would need a D&C. Finally, the dr I saw last week, the same dr that did my c-section, said I needed a D&C as soon as he saw my ultrasound. He saod it wasn't an emergency but needed to be done within 2 weeks. So it wa scheduled for Friday and I had time to get things straigtened out. I am so so lucky my husband is working where he is right now bc he was able to take the day off to drop me off for surgery, take the kid to his appt and then pick me up after I was released. Surgery went well, thank the lord. I have a follow up appt in a couple weeks. Hopefully this takes care of the bleeding and I can finally be fully recovered from my c-section. 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Big Baby

Just an update on all things Chango. Last week, Friday ish, Chango started spitting up a lot. and I mean a lot. Literally everything he ate. Not only was it a lot but he went from almost no spit up at all to that. So we watched it through the weekend and it didn't get any better. He was also getting more fussy. So Monday am, I called the nurse advice line that is provided by our insurance. Not exactly what I expected. She pretty much input that I said into the computer and told me what it said. Yeah I have access to WebMd too. I was a little annoyed. Especially because she kept asking what I was asking. Luckily her little computer told her that I needed to have Chango seen within 8hrs. Not luckily because something was wrong but luckily because getting an appointment on base is a nightmare. She called to make the appointment for me. Within 30min they called me back to schedule his appointment that day. So we got ready, met The Mr at the gate and headed to the doctors. First things first, they weighed him. 12lbs 8oz. WHOA, big baby. He went from being in 30ish percentile at birth to being in the 93% at 8 weeks. The doctor said most babies double their weight somewhere between 4-6 months. Well he is almost there already.
So The Dr comes in and we explain everything, he asks questions. Basically, Chango could have a touch of reflux but he doesn't have the symptoms of it being severe enough to treat even if he does have it. Mainly, his weight is fine so no worries with that. I asked about a milk allergy since I am allergic to milk and as a baby couldn't even tolerate soy formula. The Dr said it was possible, however, without a visible rash we can't tell for sure at this point so it's something we will watch for and again watch his weight. The Dr then told us he thinks Chango eats too much, or extra, because of his gas. This I knew, we see it when his tummy hurts, he wants to eat more, which just makes it worse. The Dr said we could try changing formulas but didn't really recommend it because he doubts that is the issue and probably won't help. He said to try reducing how much he eats to try and help the spit up. He said it would probably get worse before it gets better. Of course he didn't spit up much while The Dr was in there but as soon as The Mr was putting him back in his car-seat he spit up a bunch, SMH. The major thing the Dr said was to watch his weight. As long as his weight was fine we dont really need to worry.
So we immediately took him back down to 3oz instead of 4. Its not easy. He eats every 3 hrs during the day. Well 3oz isn't keeping him full for those 3hrs. So we deal with a fussy baby sometimes if he is hungry before the 3 hrs is up. Yesterday, he did not spit up at all and very little spit up today. As soon as, or if we can get the spit up under control we will go back to 4 oz. We go back to the Dr in 2 weeks for his 2 month well baby checkup. At that point we will re-evaluate, check his weight etc

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

8 Weeks

WOW, The Kid is almost 8 weeks old already. Thursday is the day. Crazy how fast time is going. Seems like we just brought him home yesterday. He is getting so big so fast. Yesterday, The Mr and I emptied out a plastic tote so that we can start putting all the clothes Chango grows out of into it. There are a ton of clothes he never even got to wear. Today I will go through his drawers and re-organize them and take out the stuff he already outgrew. I am beyond glad that we didn't spend a ton of money on clothes before he was born.
This morning we had a first. His first explosive diaper. Yes, we made it 8 weeks without poop coming out of a diaper. Today however, I was going to change him b/c he spit up on his clothes. Well when I put my hand on his back to lift him off his dirty outfit I felt something squishy. EWW!!! Sure enough...poop out the top of the back of the diaper. I have to say I am very impressed with my WalMart diapers. They held it all in around the legs, I was surprised b/c this was a crazy amount of poop! And even the amount the came out the back wasn't much. Just enough to gross me out and laugh b/c it was our first time dealing with this, probably not the last though. I should have taken a pic to gross everyone out LOL. A friend keeps asking me if I feel like a mom yet. Well this morning while cleaning up all his crap LITERALLY, I sure felt like a mom. He probably thinks I am crazy since I literally laugh out loud. I mean what else can ya do? He of course smiles through the entire process. Oh yes, He smiles now. I was beginning to think he was never going to smile. But now he smiles at us throughout the day. I can never get him to smile for the camera, but here is the closest I got.

Man can this kid eat. I am always amazed at how much he eats. Where in the heck does it all go? It won't be long before we have to put away the 4oz bottles and get out the big 8oz bottles. Some days we end up making one extra ounce because 4 is not enough for him. So I know it won't be long until we retire his little bottles. It's kind of crazy because they are still in such good condition. I wish we were in the states so I could donate all this stuff. 
Last week Chango and I started walking for an hr a day. Unfortunately, I have had a small set back in my healing from the c-section so no more walking for now. Anyways, we finally started using his stroller. He slept through all the walks. Thank the lord! I didn't take any pics OOPS, whenever we can start walking again I will take some...actually we probably wont because the weather here is changing.
Our landlord actually came Sunday and turned the heat on for us.
The Mr and I are good. Busy busy with school still. It never ends. Well hopefully it will end for me in 2 years, God willing! I guess that is all I have to say for now. So here are a couple pics of The Kid!! Enjoy!

This is an older pic, he was still in Newborn size!

 HAHAHAHA can you tell we just throw stuff on him!!

He loves bath time!!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

WOW!

I can not believe that we are already in September. Where has time gone? This Thursday The Kid will be 6 weeks old already. That also means I will be 6 weeks postpartum! First an update on The Kid. He is doing great. Starting to have a stubborn personality. Just ask his photographer! We have been battling cradle cap and baby acne for what seems like forever now. I know it will go away but I just want his pretty newborn perfect skin back. He eats eats and eats some more. Its amazing how much he eats. As long as he has a full belly he is happy. BUT if we take too long getting his bottle to him he lets us know. He is already growing out of all his newborn clothes. The other day he wore a 3 months onesie, yeah he is not 3 months yet!! He is too short for other 3 months clothes but the onsies fit him just right, crazy! He also had his first diaper rash. Sad day that was! I felt really bad. We ran out of one brand of diapers that day and wipes so we switched both to a new brand. We were still using baby-shower gift diapers but ran out of the Pampers finally (yes were 5 weeks in just ran out of those) so we went to another brand. We have only been using WalMart brand Parents Choice wipes on him but I ordered them through the mail and we ran out so we swapped back to some from one of the Baby-showers. He had a rash QUICK. So we busted open the Parents Choice Diapers and had about half a pack of Parents Choice Wipes in his diaper bag. I made a call to my mom to ask her what a good home remedy was. She said corn starch. I knew of this but wasn't sure how to go about it. Thank goodness for moms!! Anyways, with all Parents Choice items, washcloths and corn starch, it took only 3 days his rash is completely gone!! So now we have a ton of diapers left over. I hadn't even realized how many diapers we got from the baby-showers until I realized we still haven't run out of them. What awesome friends and family The Kid has!
So all is well here. The Mr and I stay busy between school and parenting.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

August 24, 2011

Today was The Kids estimated due date. Crazy, tomorrow he will be one month old already. So I just want to take a minute out to thank my husband. He has gone above and beyond with helping me with The Kid. I knew I had a good husband but he really is amazing. Amazing really isn't sufficient. He literally did everything for The Kid in the hospital the first couple days when I was too sore to do anything. He even jumped right into changing dirty diapers with no complaints. I might have to ask him 10 times to take out the trash but I dont even have to ask to have him to baby related stuff, who knew? I started school this week and lucky to be able to go face to face so soon after having The Kid because the Mr takes care of him while Im at school. He also gives me a break when he gets home from work and does most baby duties until bed time.
I am beyond blessed to have such an awesome husband. The Kid is super lucky to have such an amazing dad. I couldn't ask for a better man in our lives. I don't know how it is possible to tell him that I am so thankful for every little thing he does for us. But I am, more than words could ever express!


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

3 week update

I almost forgot to post this. The Kid has his 2 week well baby checkup last Friday. He was actually 3 weeks old, not sure what happened there. That's just how they scheduled it. Anywho, he weighed in at 8lbs 14oz. That is a 10oz increase from his WIC appointment the week before. He measured 21in long. At his WIC appointment he measured 20 7/8in. So he has grown. The pediatrician said he has actually gained too much,  but didn't tell us that we need to change anything. Other than that everything is good. We don't go back until his 2 month appointment. So here are a couple pics of him.

He always does this weird thing with his lips, he is weird!
 And this is him just now, he is always doing that with one of his arms!


Friday, August 19, 2011

Re: He Deploys. You Run Home

So this post is in response to another bloggers post. I disagree with the post and would like to respond. No I do not have beef with her, I happen to be friends with her and think she is pretty amazing. I just want to give me perspective on the issue.
Here is the original post in case you are curious, He Deploys. You Run Home.
We have only been through one deployment. The Mr was gone for 6 months. I decided that it was best for me to stay here in Germany and stay in school while he was gone. I was in school full time, therefore, I was in class 4 days out of the week. However, if I were not in school and not working I would have gone home for the deployment. And looking back on it, I regret not going home. Yes going home means I would be living with my mom at her house for the entire deployment. Does this make me a "DEPENDASAURUS"? Well let's be honest here, I DO depend on my husband financially. However, when I go stay with my mom she doesn't pay anything for me/us. We actually help her out with bills and buy groceries etc. Mommy doesn't "take care of me" either. Sure she makes some awesome meals, but she doesn't hold my hand through life, although I am sure she would if I needed her to. That is what moms are there for after all. So, I wouldn't move back because I can't handle being alone. I have already proven that is not an issue for me. I would move back for one reason, and that is to spend time with my family.
I feel like our time here on Earth is short. We will spend years and years away from family and missing out on things because of the military life. Why should we spend time away when we don't have to? Those 6 months that I stayed here in Germany are 6 months worth of memories I could have made with my family. I wouldn't have missed out on birthdays and other important events. I feel even more strongly about this now that we have a baby. We will go home as a family as much as we can afford to in order for them to see him and him to see them. And if and when The Mr deploys again, The Kid and I will go home for those deployments (unless I have a job or school that doesn't permit it). Once again for the same reason, that is 6 months worth of memories with family that we cant get back.
So for me I don't see a problem with going home on deployments because it is not about not being able to make it on my own. It is about spending time with loved ones and making memories with them. That is all valuable time I will never take for granted.
Yes it really sucks my husband misses out on those memories and that time with family. But just because he has to miss out does not mean that our son shouldn't have that time with our families.
Also, some people talk about how hard it is not being in your own home. Sure after a few weeks my mom gets on my nerves LOL. But in my eyes it is worth it. 50 years from now I don't want to regret not spending more time with my mom just because she got on my nerves a little.
I want to look back years from now and say " I am so glad I spent as much time with ____ as I could." because once they are gone, they are gone forever and we can't go back in time and do it different. I will look back and know that we made as many memories as possible and The Kid knew his family even if it was only for a couple months at a time.
Also, lets be honest, deployments are not easy. Why not surround yourself with the people who love you the most during the tough times. Time flies when you're having fun and for me time really flies when I'm with family. What better way to make a deployment fly by?
In the end, going home doesn't make anyone a worse Military Wife. To each his own.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

C-Section

So a lot of people have asked about having a c-section. So I will share my experience and thoughts on it. Keep in mind that everyone is different and I have read many other stories that are different than mine. This is just my take on it.
First of all, anesthesia. There are a couple different options when it comes to the anesthesia. I had the spinal anesthesia. This is different from an epidural. If you are having any surgery and get to choose between these, do the research. They are different from each other. The shot did not hurt. Maybe it did but the contractions I was having were way stronger and distracted me. It went into effect quick. I wouldn't say that I was completely numb. I swear I could feel by legs but not feel them, confusing huh? It was that feeling you get when your foot falls asleep, you know like ants are crawling all over it? It was that times a million. It was a very odd sensation and I did not like it.
I have always heard that it feels like pressure and tugging when they are doing the procedure and taking the baby out. I did not feel anything at all. Literally nothing. I only knew they started surgery because the anesthesiologist told me. I am grateful for not being able to feel anything. There came a point where I started gagging like I needed to throw up. This too was a sensation I hated. It felt like I needed to throw up from the neck up, but the normal muscles you would use to do so were numb so I couldn't feel it. I am pretty sure I was gagging right at the moment they were pulling The Kid (this is his blog alias) out because as soon as they held him up over the sheet thing I stopped gagging. I think it was how my body reacted to the exact moment of him being pulled out.
Once he was out they stitched me up and what not. This was uneventful and quick. The Dr and the rest of the surgical team were actually laughing. They said I had no blood in there. I guess this was a good thing because they said it was easy clean up. Near the end of surgery I started to shake a little. Once again completely normal. Next came the weirdest feeling ever.
I was laying there when all of the sudden I saw my leg fly up in the air. Literally I could see my leg over the little curtain thing. Only it felt like my leg was still laying flat. They were cleaning up stuff under me and moved my leg but I never felt it go in the air. That was beyond weird, I really really did not like that feeling. Its like what my brain saw and my body felt didn't match up and it was not a good combo.
So onto recovery I went. I was in there about 35 minutes. They just checked my vitals a couple times and once I started getting sensation back I was able to go back to L&D to be with The Kid and The Mr. Right before I left the recovery room the pain started to kick in. The nurse put some pain meds into my IV. No idea what they were but they went in FAST.
Now the real recovery began once we were back in our room. The pain meds wore off quick. The anesthesia wore off quick. Another odd feeling, I could feel one leg but not the other. So here in Germany you dont get good drugs like in the states, it was tylenol or ibuprofen. UGH!!! Not what I needed the first 2 days.
So I had The Kid at 8:31am and had to stay in bed all day. Not that I wanted to move around. I wanted the catheter out though. This meant one thing, I had to get up and out of bed to be able to walk to the restroom in order to have it taken out. UGH!!! So that afternoon the nurse came and told me I had to try to get out of bed. HOLY PAIN!! I can't even describe in words how painful it was trying to stand up. I would rather feel contractions that feel that pain ever again. I literally wanted to punch the nurse. As soon as I was on my feet the pain took my breath away and I couldn't even speak when she asked how I was. I just stood there staring at the blood pooling on the floor (another pretty side effect of birth). I had to take two steps to the left and two to the right then I could get back in bed. I really don't think I took a breath for that whole minute or two the process lasted. Pain is an understatement. She said I did good....whatever, I didn't care I just wanted drugs. The nurse told me that it would get easier every time. I seriously felt like she was crazy and that I was going to be in pain the rest of my life.
She was right though, each day the pain was a little less. The hardest part was the motion of getting in and out of bed. You really have no idea how much you use those muscles until they have been sliced through.
By day 3 the pain was bearable enough that an Ibuprofen every 4 hrs kept the pain under control.
So now I am home 3, weeks post-op. My incision is still sore. I can't wear jeans yet because they will hit the incision and that will be so uncomfortable. The incision itself is pretty long. Longer and higher up than I thought it would be. The sutures are all internal so I am hoping the scar will not be too ugly. The incision/scar has already started to shrink. Some days at the end of the day my incision is pretty sore, telling me I overdid it. I still can't sleep on my stomach.
Im not sure what the side effects if any are from the spinal yet. I am praying to not have any but we shall see.
Im not sure why anyone would want a c-section. Recovery was not, has not been fun. I would much rather deal with contractions pain for a few hours than deal with this recovery for weeks. It has not been easy at all. I am pretty sure I won't even be willing to have any elective cosmetic surgery that cuts through the muscle. The recovery just isn't worth it in my eyes.
Maybe in a few weeks when my scar is looking better I will put up pics of what it looked like the day after surgery to compare. MAYBE! LOL! For now I will just put a pic of the end result, The Kid :)


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Photobooks!

So after our first professional photo shoot I wanted to get at least one picture printed for us, maybe on canvas or something. After asking around about what site has good quality I decided to check out Shutterfly.com I ended up finding these photo books. I decided that would be the cheapest way to get all of our prints done in a way that was easy to keep track of without printing each picture individually. It was super quick and easy to make our maternity photo photo-book. When it came in the mail I was beyond pleased with the results. I love love the book. I was so excited to show the photographer how the pictures came out. She did an awesome job and Shutterfly did an awesome job printing it. I have now used them to make a photobook with The Kid's newborns photos and make his birth announcements. I will not be going back to the old site I used. We also had prints made to send back to family. We will also be sending photo books to a couple people. I THINK that if you click on the link you can order the photo book for yourself!  I am one happy customer!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Photo Shoot

Little man had his very first professional photo shoot when he wasn't even a week old yet. Here is a peek at the pictures. He didn't really want to cooperate. He normally sleeps a lot but I guess he decided he was going to make things difficult. He stayed awake for almost the entire shoot. However, being the great photographer she is, she got some awesome shots!
Please remember that these are professional pictures and do not crop or edit the photos in any way, Thank you!





8.2lbs

I weighed Chango today and depending how accurate it is he is weighing in at 8.2lbs. It is crazy to think that on Thursday he was a week old but actually should have been 37 weeks pregnant still. It has been a great week home with him. He put himself on a schedule. He really only wakes to eat. Last night he even let us sleep for 4hr stretches. Woohoo!! He is a super good baby, thank the lord, knock on wood. He is too big for newborn diapers. We tried one and he peed right out the side of it lol. That was an adventure and melt down number one. Oh I should add that he has peed on me twice during diaper changes but only peed on the Mr once and that was during his photoshoot. Guess he has a favorite! So everything is good! He has his first doctors appointment next week. Until then...

Friday, July 29, 2011

Birth Story

At about 3:30am Thursday July 28th I woke up to go pee just like any other night. This time was different though. As soon as I woke up I felt a "pop". While walking to the restroom my water just started gushing out. I couldn'tstop it so I knew my water had broke and I wasn't just peeing on myself. So while on the toilet I called for The Mr. Oddly he woke up right away. Usually a takes a few tries but not this time. I told him that My water broke. He said I was just peeing on myself. Ha, I walked back into our room and just keep leaking, there was no stopping it. So I told him we were headed to the hospital. I felt gross though from all that running down my legs so I asked if he thought I had time to shower. Not sure why I asked him. Anyways, I decided to go ahead and shower since I wasn't having any contractions. While I showered he got me a duffel bag to pack. I guess he realized it really was my water breaking and we weren't coming home right away. Once I showered I packed my bag. This was a comical and gross experience because Im a lucky one that the fluid just kept coming. So I stood on a doggie piddle pad while I packed. If people could see it they would have laughed and been grossed out at the same time. I know I was. Once I was packed we headed to the hospital. We arrived to L&D around 4:45am.
The midwife hooked me up to monitor Changos rate and then she examed me to make sure it really was my water that had broke. Sure enough, no doubt about it, he was ready to make his entrance, 4 weeks early!
So on a side note, I was totally grossed out feeling like I peed all over myself. But once the midwife examed me she put together this pad, extra large panty combo that was super padded but I didnt have to feel the amniotic fluid leaking anymore. Woohoo! Who knew I would be so happy to be wearing that huge pad.
So the Dr that was on call came in and did and ultrasound to see if Chango was still breech. He was. Since I wasn't having very many contractions and they didnt really hurt yet they said we would wait until 8 or 9am so they didnt have to wake up the Dr.
Around 5:30 maybe 5:45 they put me into my room and said now we just wait. Well it felt like waiting forever. Aroud 6:15 my real contractions started. They were coming quick and super strong. The midwife came sometime after 7 and I told her how bad my contractions were and she did an exam and I had dialated to 2-3. She said she was going to call and see if we were going in at 8 or 9. She came back in and said it was time to go. They would do the c-section at 8am. So we headed back to L&D to prep me for surgery. That was an adventure.
The midwife couldn't get my vein to put in the IV. She tried 3 places, multiple times. Finally she called in someone else. She too had a hard time but got it on the 2nd try. The entire time they were poking me, I was having contractions. They hurt pretty bad. I have no idea how people  go through those without pain meds. I mean I guess I survived but Im sure they would have got worse if I was actually giving birth.
Once all prepped we headed down to the OR. The Germans, well at least this hospital, have a pretty cool set up for the OR. I was wheeled in and there was an entire team of people waiting. They all introduced themselves but I could have cared less. I just wanted drugs for the contractions.  Finally, right before I got the spinal they gave me a shot to stop the contractions. The last two contractions were beyond horrible. Once again, I cant imagine giving birth without serious pain meds LOL.
So once I was all strapped in, they brought the Mr in. And within minutes they were holding Chango up over the curtain for us to see, it was 8:31am. He was pissed, crying already. They took him away right away. Being 4 weeks early he had to be checked out. He had his own room next to me OR full of machines etc. Luckily, he didnt need the machines. Everything checked out great. Great lungs, great heart! He settled down as soon as they handed him to The Mr.  He held him for awhile then they let me touch him.
After a few minutes Chango and The Mr left to head up to L&D while I was sewn up.
So at 8:31am on July 28, 2011 Chango was born weighing 7.6lbs and 21.6in long.

Fresh out of the belly!!


Monday, July 25, 2011

He has a BirthDate

So today was my 36 week checkup. I won't actually be 36 weeks until Wednesday but The Mr was off today so we went ahead and scheduled the appointment for today. All is well. However, Chango is still breech. We went ahead and scheduled a c-section. He is also very big, 3480grams which is about 7.6lbs. Yeah, hes not a little baby. He is measuring in the 90th percentile. I am 100% comfortable having a c-section. I know some women really want to experience natural birth. Call me crazy, but I don't mind either way, as long as he is safely brought into this world, I really don't care. So I am not at all sad that I will not be having him naturally. Well, technically, if he flips before my c-section then I will go back to having him naturally. We just wait and see. So until then we just wait. I check into the hospital the day before my surgery. So everyone mark your calenders, as long as everything is good from here on out, god willing, Chango will be making his entrance on August 11, 2011!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Deactivation

So some people have noticed I deactivated my Facebook account. It's not the end of the World. I can re-activate it at any time, and I am sure I will once I get bored enough without it. I had wrote out my thoughts on deactivating it but I decided to just leave it alone. I shall get back on there soon enough and do a serious edit of the "friends" list. Until then....

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

34 weeks!

Only 6 weeks left to go! However, I will probably not make it to 40 weeks. I think Chango has his own plan to make an entrance into the World before then.
We had a doctors appointment yesterday. Good news is that I haven't gained any weight. HAHA, good news for me at least. In other news, I won't call it bad news because it really isn't, Chango is still breech. My Dr has said that it is up to me what I want to do as far as delivery in the event he does not flip. Here they will allow me to attempt a vaginal delivery even though he is breech, as long as he is under 3000 grams, roughly 6.6 pounds. Anything bigger than that and the midwives, who normally handle deliveries here, suggest a c-section. So at my next appointment I have to decide if I want to schedule a c-section or not. Even though we will be scheduling it, it won't actually be until 8-10 days before my due date. In the event he decides to flip before then, then we would do a natural birth. Or I can just not schedule it and wait and see what happens. My Dr has left it up to me at this point. I like that but at the same time its a tough decision. For now, I will wait until my next appointment and see how things are.
Chango is doing good. He is currently 2488 grams or 6.2lbs. UHH YEAH, that is an entire pound more than he should be at this stage. Of course ultrasounds this late in the game can be off by up to two pounds. So, at this rate I will not even be allowed to attempt a vaginal breech delivery because of his size. The Mr thinks he is going to try and break the record of that 16lb baby born in Texas recently, YEAH RIGHT!!!!
That is all for now, will update again after my two week appointment. I didn't take pictures of my belly today so I will just add another one from our maternity photo shoot!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Homesick

So I am sitting here at the computer listening to Tejano music. Makes me super homesick. Back home in Texas we can turn the radio on at any moment and hear some good ol' Tejano music. Most weekends you can even find a band to go see. Anyways...I know I was born and raised in a different state but that state will never be home to me. Texas is home. Texas will always be home to us. I'm sitting here thinking about all the things Chango is going to miss out on because he will be a Military brat and not raised in Texas. Sure we can go home and visit often but its not the same as being immersed in the culture 24/7. I am super grateful for the opportunities he will have because he is the child of a military member but I wish we could have our cake and eat it too.
Some people might think I am crazy because we live in Europe and I would rather be in Texas. Europe is great for travel and fun but I would not want to live here forever and LOVE LOVE the United States! We miss out on so much being so far away. Sure we can make memories here, but I would much rather have memories of time with family than touring Europe. When we do finally move back to the states I am going to make sure we make many more trips home and spend every moment possible with family. I want Chango to know what its like to spend the weekend at the river with family. I want to go to the family reunions (which we're only missing this year because I am too pregnant to fly, makes me sad). I want him to know what quinceaƱeras are. I want him to have memories at all the festivals, funnel cakes, fajita tacos etc etc. Things that we just don't get on a regular basis living far away. We will do our best to go home as often as possible so that he does know these things and learns about his culture. We will do our best to teach him these things at home. 
All in all, I just cant wait to be back in the States where we can fly home more often because it costs a couple hundred dollars not a couple thousand dollars.  Until then, hopefully we will see everyone in December!!!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Photo Shoot

Yesterday The Mr and I had our very first photo shoot. Next month we will celebrate 7 years together and these are our very first professional photographs together. I could not be any happier with the results. Well technically I haven't even seen all the pictures yet, just the sneak peek the photographer posted on Facebook for us to see. She did an amazing job. I am super impressed with her skills. She is a naturally talented photographer. I know that she is going to have an amazing career in the field. We were her first maternity clients and from the results of the pictures you would never know, she is just a natural. I can not even begin to tell her how talented she is and how thankful we are for these pictures. I would be happy to pose for her to help her build her portfolio any day. Can't wait to see what she has in store next month.
So here are a couple of the pics from the shoot. 



Please respect her photography and do not crop or edit the pics, thank you :)

Today is the 4th of July, so we will probably head to the base later for the festivities that they have going on and for the fireworks show they do. Not too much going on this week. Should be pretty laid back.