She's a big girl now (almost)

Yesterday was Memorial Day, and Hubby and I took the kids out to the mountains for a family get together. The last time that I had been out to my aunt and uncle's cabin, the roads were pretty rough. I couldn't get my low-sitting SUV down there! With all the rain, I just knew it was going to be a LOT worse. So we took my dad's flatbed diesel truck...bad idea!
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It rode rough, we bounced all over the place in that thing!! Both of the kids were asleep, in their carseats, in the back seat. How, I have no idea! Once we got to the river, I realized that we could have brought my car! Figures!! Also realized that I had forgotten my camera! Unbelievable!!!
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We has good eats and a wonderful visit with family. Right after we had eaten, some of our church family had pulled up on their four-wheelers...so that was fun! The kids got to play, the adults got to visit, and everyone, hopefully, had a wonderful time.
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Sissy is thisclose to being a big girl now!! Hubby decided that she needed her own bed, she's 2 1/2 and has been sleeping with me since the day she was born! We have his grandfather's old full-sized old wooden bed, just no mattresses for it. So on the last day of his vacation, we went to Wal-Mart and bought a coil mattress and some Dora sheets for it. The first night, she slept half the night in it, then woke up screaming for me. She did that for awhile, or slept with me all night.
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Sunday night I told her that she WAS sleeping in her OWN bed. I laid with her until she fell asleep, and then went to my own bed. She woke up around 430am crying for me, so I went and laid with her until she fell back asleep. Then out I went. Last night, I laid with her until she fell asleep, and then got up. When she woke up crying for me, I noticed it was brighter than normal..it was 730am! She slept all night long, by herself, in her own bed! Not only did she sleep all night long, so did Bubba! Wow...and yet, I'm still exhausted! LOL
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Now, I am just waiting for her to be ready to potty train. She is almost there, she tells me every so often that she wants to go potty in the toilet, but not all the time. Until then...

My Week in Review

Since Hubby has went back to work after a week long vacation, things have been pretty quiet around the house. With the lack of moola, the kids and I haven't done much of anything but sit at home.
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Friday, Hubby's last of vacation, we had a garage sale and made enough money to order lunch from a local BBQ/steak place. I told him that's what I wanted for my birthday, a nice meal that I didn't have to cook.

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Saturday, he went back to work. Sunday, was church and I felt led to help with the new drama ministry that my uncle, who is also the youth minister, had started back up. At the end of the team meeting, he asked me if I would want to lead the group. I, of course, said yes. I had wanted to start a drama team before I knew that he was starting one, and was/am pumped to help!!

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Wednesday was my 27th birthday, and it was nice to just spend time with Hubby and the kids. Even though it was a church night, all that was going on was Senior Recognition. We didn't have Zone 56, so I decided to stay home with my family.

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Thursday, Hubby was off work. While he mowed the back yard, the kids and I sat outside in the garage. Sissy rode her bike in the driveway, Bubba played in his horsey jumper, and I worked played on my laptop while syncing my iPod. Once Hubby was done mowing the back yard, we took the kids Sissy to swim in their little blow up pool. Bubba hates water if it's colder than what his bath water is, so he didn't get in for more than 30 seconds! After Sissy swam it was nap time.

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After nap time, my BFF and her DD, came over to deliver my birthday card and her DD's birthday party invite. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but her and I haven't seen each other for more than a few months. Yeah, it's been that long. She left, and we had to get ready for a very important event...my little sister's 6th grade graduation! She was valedictorian of her class, even though there was only 30 kids in her class, it's still a big accomplishment. She was the only one of her class that got straight A's all year long!! I recorded her giving her speech, which btw was awesome!, but can't seem to figure out how to turn it right side up...figures!

(My beautiful little sister)

(Getting her diploma)

(I am such a proud big sister!)

(My sister and all her nieces and nephews...yes even the boy at the end is her nephew!)

(Aunt C and Bubba)

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Friday was boring, we didn't do a single thing. We did watch the NBA Playoffs between the Cavs and the Magic...GO CAVS!!! I watched the whole game with Hubby, until the last second, literally, when the Cavs were down 2 points. I thought it was over, so I went to lay down with Sissy, in her bed, and missed it. Hubby yelled, then told me that we won! What?!?! How is that possible? He replied with one word...LeBron! Ahhh...that explains it!!

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Today is Saturday, and the kids and I have been watching the Jon and Kate Plus 8 marathon on TLC. Even with all the controversy, Sissy and I still love to watch it. Even though Kate can be mean to Jon sometimes most of the time, they are normal people. Jon does/says things that Hubby sometimes does/says and the way that Kate responds sometimes, is the way I would "like" to respond. But never would!!

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Tomorrow is Sunday, and our first rehearsal for the drama ministry's first skit. I am so excited to take on this new adventure, I just hope that the kids teens are just as excited. I also hope that they will listen to me and take productive criticism well from someone that they may not, probably don't, know.
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Monday is Memorial Day, and Hubby is off work!! YAH!! My aunt and uncle have a place out in the mountains that we go to for family functions like Memorial Day and Fourth of July, during the summer. There is a creek/river that runs through the land, and they moved an old house that was once my great-grandparent's, I think, out there, by hand, wood plank by wood plank. We are planning on taking the kids out there for lunch and to swim, and lots of family time. I'm sure Hubby's excited...

It's not just my birthday!

27 years ago, on this day~May 20, 1982, a tiny baby was born.

That tiny baby progressed into a young child.

Then she grew into a young lady.

Next, she became a mother to 2 wonderful kids!!

Today is my birthday. It is also the day that my mother became a mother. When my daughter, born in October 2006, had her first birthday, it was also a special day for myself. It marked the anniversary of the day that I became a mother. A very prestigious honor. Not everyone can call themselves a mother.

So that is why today I don't want to just say it's my birthday, I also want to say, it's my mom's anniversary of becoming a mom! She made me who I am today. I learned so much from her growing up, and try to instill them in my every day life. I just hope that when my daughter grows up, she can say the same thing about her mother.

Swoon Giveaway!

You got to check out this blog. It's called Swoon. They are doing a giveaway for a $25.oo gift certificate to ecostore USA.
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Now, I'm one of those people that would love to do more for Mother Earth, but just never do. I don't recycle, though I need to. I use disposable diapers instead of re-usable, it just grosses me out to have to wash nasty poopie diapers. I try, but now that I could do better. I am hoping that if I win this give-away, I can/will start doing better. If not, I will have to make a concious effort to do it on my own. I do have it on my list that the next time I have to buy dishwashing liquid that I buy the Greenworks brand. That's a start, right?!?!

"Short" Story #5....L&D with Bubba

So here it is: "Short" Story #5

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My hypothyroidism, linked to pregnancy #2, was taking its toll on me. I was more ready to have this baby than I was with Sissy. I.was.dragging. And on top of me dragging, I was having contractions...not Braxton Hicks ones either. The real things. They just weren't making me go into labor fast enough, I was at a 2 for about 3 weeks.

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Two weeks from my due date, I thought I was in labor. (I had never felt "real" labor pains since I was induced with Sissy) I went to the hospital, only to be told it was a false alarm and to send me home. A couple of days after that, early Monday (7-14-08) morning, I went in yet again with labor pains. They put me on the monitor for an hour after checking my cervix. (I was at a 3)

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When the hour was up, the nurse informed me that every so often, when I would have a contraction, the baby's heart rate would slow down. That meant that I had to be watched longer. She told me to walk up and down the hallway for about 30 minutes, then she would put me back on the monitor for 30 more minutes. After the next hour, she checked me before sending me home. I had dilated to a 4! So she called Doc and he said to have me walk some more, and that he would be up to check on me in an hour or so.

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When he did check me, I was still at a four. He decided that he would strip my membranes and send me home. He said that he expected to see me later that night, and if not to not eat anything after midnight and to be at his office first thing in the morning. My aunt, a L&D nurse, told me that I didn't need to be home by myself at all. So Hubby took the rest of the day off, sent Sissy with Nana and Pop-my parents, and sat on the couch with me all day.

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At around 6pm, they brought Sissy home, and we decided to get some awesome Mexican food for supper. At 10pm, right after Hubby got Sissy asleep, I started having bad contractions. They hurt so bad that they were coming every 2-3 minutes, lasting for a good minute, and bringing tears to my eyes. I told Hubby, who in return asked what I wanted him to do about it...keep in mind, he was half asleep and we had been thru this twice before to no avail.

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So I called my aunt and told her what was going on. She, too, was half asleep, and told me to drink some water and lay down for about an hour, then call her back. Less than a minute later she calls me back and asked me how many minutes apart they were again..."2-3 minutes. But now they are 1-2 minutes and hurt worse."

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She told me that I needed to go to the hospital right then. I told her that Hubby and Sissy were asleep, so she said that she would stop by and get me on her way. While on her way, my contractions got harder and closer. They were almost on top of one another. Once she got to the house, they WERE on top of each other. I called my parents on the way to let them know we were headed to the hospital...yet again. I told them not to drive up, 30 minutes away, just in case it was a false alarm again.

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Apparently my aunt had called the hospital on her way to get me to let them know we were coming. Because as soon as we got there, at 1130pm, someone was waiting at the door with a wheelchair for me. They wheeled me right back, had everything hooked up and ready to go for me. The nurse asked me to go to the restroom and leave a urine sample for them. Also to put my gown on. Before I could step out of the chair though, more hard contractions.

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They decided it would be better to strip me down and put the gown on, while still sitting in the chair. After that, I was able to crawl walk to the bathroom. Then I had to make my way to the bed. Sure sounds, easy, but when you are in labor...it's not!

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Once I got in bed, they checked my cervix...6 with a bulging bag! Yeah, just a little bit longer and my water would have broke on its on. The nurse called the doctor while someone else tried to put an IV in me. Not a fun time! It took them forever to find a vein they thought would work, only to find out that it wouldn't. After 4 different sticks, leaving marks that looked like I use, and a vein bursting, they got one in my upper forearm. They couldn't give me an epidural until I got an IV, so yes I was still in some major pain.

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I called my mom to let them know it was time, and she told me that they were almost there. They had gotten ready and left right after I had called. I then called Hubby to tell him that they were keeping me, while my aunt called my cousin so that she could go to the house and stay with Sissy. Hubby got there in less than 5 minutes!!

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Once they got the IV and an epidural in me, I found out that I was only half numb. Yep...the whole left side of me still had complete feeling!! Doc told me to roll over on my left side to try and half some of the epi drain to that side. It wasn't working. He said he needed to check me again, and had me roll back over on my back. Immediately I was completely numb. Oh and I was an 8!!!

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At about that time, 130am(7-15-2008) my parents got there. The nurse checked me again and said that I was fully dilated and ready to push. She ran to get Doc, who was standing by my door waiting. When she got back she told me to push while he was getting ready. Once he was ready, he told me to push again...3 pushes and 11 minutes since being fully dilated, Bubba was born!

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Hubby went back to the house to get Sissy and let her meet her baby brother. When they got back, Sissy was in awe of the little baby. Shortly after meeting him, she went home with Nana and Pop, and Hubby stayed at the hospital with me and Bubba. My aunt was insistent to give him his tests, first bath, and rocking him to sleep herself. That was around 230am, and Hubby and I were exhausted! I was especially...it had been almost 48 hours since I had slept for more than an hour.

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She had come in around 330am to let me know that she was heading home, Bubba was asleep, and she would be back the next day to check on us. The next day was a whirlwind. Lots of visitors and phone calls. They sent us home the morning of 7-16

and we were ready!

(Bubba was born 7-15-2008 @ 153am. 7lbs 12oz and 21 inches long)

(Hubby, Sissy, Me, and Bubba in the hospital)

(Bubba now~May 2009)

*****

That's it for my "short" stories. If you would like me to write another one about something else, let me know. I'll do what I can! Hope you enjoyed them!!

Hello Mother

Here it is, my Mother's Day post. 4 days late, I know, but better late than never right?

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Okay, so there was this young woman, about 18 years old, that got married and pregnant right out of high school. Her marriage wasn't the best of marriages, in fact it was one of the worst. She basically lived by herself and when the baby was born, not much changed.

(The young woman and her daughter in the hospital)

But she was an awesome mom! She lived her life for her daughter. When her parents moved away, she intended to follow. She took her 18 month old daughter and set off to move halfway across the country...away from the man that was still legally married to her, but that it was it. She planned on giving her daughter a better life.

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Yes, things at first, were a little rocky. She was still a young woman, that wanted to get out and spread her wings. So she left her daughter in the care of a wonderful family. This family became part of her daughter's life. Her daughter adored this family as well as the family adored her! But the young woman was still a mom first.

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The young woman met a man. This man had 3 other children from a previous marriage, but she didn't care. The young woman and the man fell in love and got married. The seperate families became one big 'ole chaiotic family. There were many ups and downs within the family, but that's normal in any family, right?

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So the young woman's daughter grew up and got into a marriage a lot like her mother's first one. The mother and her young daughter had a heart to heart and the daughter realized that she needed out of this marriage. Once out of the bad marriage, the daughter re-married a nice, handsome man that had also been in a bad marriage beforehand. The mother, after being re-married, had once told the daughter that a love between a mother and her children are different than that of a woman and her husband. The daughter never completely understood that until she became a mother.

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Once the daughter became a mother herself, her love for her own mother grew! The things that her mother went thru not only as a single, young mom, but with little help from her parents, made her daughter appreciate her more. The daughter still looks up to her mother, and prays that she will be able to raise an intelligent, beautiful, christian woman the way she has...lol!

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My kids are my life. Yes I love my husband, and yes I put God first as much as I can. But my children are still at the age where they need me! I love that...sometimes. When they get hurt, they need me. When they need to go somewhere, they need me. When they need to eat, they need me. When they need a change of clothes or diapers, they need me. When they need the TV channel changed, they need me. When they are upset, they need me.

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As much as I get tired of it now, I also realize that one day, they will NOT need me. Then what? When they get hurt, and they don't even tell me. When they need to go somewhere, and they just hop in their own car and go. When they need to eat, and just walk to the kitchen and fix something theirselves. When they need to go to the bathroom, or change clothes, and they just do it on their own. When they need the TV channel changed, and they just pick up the remote and do it by themselves. When they are upset, and would rather me die than talk to me about it.

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What then? Will they appreciate all things I USED to do for them, then? Will they realize how much I truely love(d) them? Will they strife to be a mother/father like I once was/am/will be? I can only hope!

(Hubby, Me, and Sissy in the hospital)

(Hubby, Sissy, Me, and Bubba in the hospital)

(Me, Bubba, and Sissy now....ugghh, I'm so fat!!)

Vacation is over :(

So, I have been MIA for a little while. But it was an awesome MIA!!! If you didn't read my last post, don't know why you wouldn't have, I told you that we took and impromtu vacation. It was well worth it. But because of this said trip, I forgot to take my laptop. Therefore, I didn't get to blog about all the things I wanted to...my Mother's Day blog, our trip to the zoo, "short" story #5. So instead of making one big post, I will split them up.
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Our vacation was so much fun and relaxing. We got there late Friday night, then Saturday morning we got up and went to an outdoor mall called Market Street, about 10 minutes from the house. It was pretty neat to see, being from a small town, I have never seen an outdoor mall before. There was a Cheesecake Factory that I just had to eat at, and we did! I ordered a Craig's Crazy Carrot Cake Cheesecake and it was fab!! I didn't take my camera with me...didn't think about it, but I did take a pic with my cell phone...just forgot to take one of my cheesecake! Ugghhh!!

(Loved it!!!)

After eating, we went and got some groceries and then went back to the house for naps. After naps, we had supper and just chilled around the house.

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Sunday morning, we woke up and got ready to go to the zoo. The kids loved it! Bubba normally takes a nap in the morning and one around noon-ish. Not Sunday! He stayed awake the whole time at the zoo...we got there around 1130am and left around 330pm. Sissy had so much fun that she didn't want to leave. She loves animals, so it was definitely her thing.

(The kids at the fountain when you first walk in to the Dallas Zoo.)

(Sissy in front of the elephant statue)

(Sissy and the gorilla)

(She was scared of the alligator statue at first, she thought it was real. We finally convinced her that it wasn't so then she wanted to ride it)

(I loved this picture of her shaking the monkey statue's hand)

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After the zoo, we were all starved...prices at the zoo for food is ridiculas! $2.50 for a bottle of water...wow!! Anyways, on the way back home we stopped at Fuddruckers to eat. It was awesome! We had never eaten there before, but we both wish there was one close to home!! YUMMO!! After eating, we headed home, all in need of naps again. Once we got the kids laid down, Hubby and I left to go watch Wolverine. It was pretty good, I would watch it again for sure.
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Monday morning, Hubby wanted to go check out some card shops. The one we went to was right next to a Poor Richards Cafe so while he looked around the rest of us went next door to order some lunch. It was also good. I do believe that I was never once disappointed in food the whole time we were down there...and I am one of the pickiest eaters you will come across!! After eating we went to look for yet another card shop, but didn't want to drive into downtown Dallas, so instead we went to the mall!
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The only thing we bought was some candy from the candy store, a go on the rides for Sissy and Bubba, Sissy a ride on the train, and pictures of Sissy and C in one of those little picture booths. But all in all it was a good time...Sissy even went pee-pee in the potty there. They had a family bathroom, which had a little potty in it along with a regular size one. When I sat down to go she wanted to as well. After a minute or so, she went! I was so proud of her that I didn't care how much candy she got at the candy store!! LOL
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We left from there and headed back to the house. Bubba and Hubby laid down to take a nap, while L, C, Sissy, and I went to the pool...where Sissy almost drowned, not once, not twice, but three times!! The way the pool is set up is odd, there are 3 different sections to it. In the middle section there is a round spa and then around it the pool is about a foot deep. But in that area with the foot deep water are 2 spots that are 3ft 6in. Well we told Sissy over and over not to go over there because she would fall in...she's stubborn. She did it anyways, and I had to jerk her up out of the "hole" 3 times!! Darn kid!!
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That evening we had supper and went to bed pretty early. Tuesday morning, we got up, got ready, packed, and headed home. The weather in Texas was cloudy, but the only precipitation we got was a little mist. Once we hit the Arkansas line...the bottom dropped out. About an hour from home, I had to drive oh so very slow because it was pouring...I mean POURING!! We could barely see in front of us, Hubby and I were both on the edges of our seats just trying to see out of the windshield!
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We were so ready to be home once we made it at about 215p. One reason was Sissy was homesick. For the last 2 hours of the trip home, she kept saying, "Mommy, I go home". We had to run by the store so that Hubby could get something and she was upset that we didn't go directly home. Poor kid! Once we did though, we all crashed for about an hour and a half!!
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Hubby is still on vacation for the rest of this week, so we deciding if we want to do anything else or just sit at home...except if we sit at home, we will have to clean it! Not what I want to do right now!!!
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Hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Vacation....WHOO-HOO!!!

On this "beautiful" Mother's Day, I am on vacation with Hubby and the kiddos in Texas. This was an impromtu very impromtu trip. We woke up at about 9am 10am Friday morning, the day that Jacob started vacation, and he tells me he wants to drive 5 hours to go stay with his Aunt L and cousin C.
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Okay, well the only way we could have made the trip possible was for me to go clean my parent's house for some extra money. So at around 1130, I headed south to clean. For about 3 hours, then had to go back home, pack, take a shower, and then head to Texas. We got here around 9pm Friday night.
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Saturday we woke up, went to the salon that L works at to see her and meet the salon owner. There was a pet shop a couple doors down that we took the kids to, and they loved it. Puppies, kitties, fish, rabbits, gerbils, snakes, turtles, spiders, birds....yeah...they had so much fun. I think they could have stayed in there for a few hours.
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After that we went to an outdoor mall. If you haven't ever been to one, it's awesome...if the weather's nice. The one we went to had a Cheescake Factory which was the bomb!! I told Hubby that he didn't have to take me to eat for Mother's Day or my birthday. That was perfect!! I did take some a few pics, but they were with my cell phone so when we get home I will upload them.
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Today, we are going to the Zoo!! Sissy is soooo excited. We asked her this morning if she wanted to go and see the animals and she screamed...YAH!!!!! I will definitely take some lots of pictures of that. This will be her first time to go to a zoo of any sort so we are very excited to take her and see her reactions!
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It is Mother's Day, and I am doing a post to honor my mom, but it will have to wait until after the zoo outing. I seem to be holding everyone up by sitting here blogging and not gettin myself or the kids ready...

"Short" Story #4....Second Pregnancy

*****

In October 2007, we celebrated Sissy's 1st Birthday! It was a great week, 3 parties, but lots of fun with family and friends.

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A few weeks later I was sick. It when away, but then a week or two later, I got sick with something else. Not normal.

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I was at work one day and my boss made some comment to me that I in turn popped off to him. He laughed and remarked that I least I wasn't crying (when I first started I made myself cry...yes, I can do that...to make him feel bad about picking on me. He never forgot that!) One of the girls made some comment about no, that I wasn't going to cry because I wasn't pregnant.

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That started a conversation between me and one of the other girls about pregnancies and such. Her two kids are both teenagers so she was kinda reminiscing, as was I. I had told her that with all 3 of my pregnancies, Sissy's and the 2 miscarriages, that it seemed as if my immune system went down and I always got sick.

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She made some smart-alec remark about, "Well weren't you just sick, and now you're sick again?!?!" To which I replied, "Yes, but I'm not!" After some thinking about it, I couldn't recall when Aunt Flo visited last. I told her that and she said that I should take a HPT(home pregnancy test). I said that if I did that and it came out positive, that when mean that it was real. To which she so lovingly added, "As opposed to 9 months from now and you are giving birth?" Okay, she had me there.

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So I grabbed one off the shelf, I worked at a local pharmacy, had her ring me up, and off to the bathroom I went. 2 minutes later, I couldn't believe my eyes! I walked out of the bathroom, holding the stick, and asked her to come to the back. I showed it to her and asked what she thought that meant. She said, "Well, Honey, I think that means your pregnant."

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Pregnant?!?! What?!?!? Sissy was only 13 months old! Yes, we wanted another one, but not right then! I lost it! I started crying, not knowing what to do, or what to tell my co-workers about why I was crying. I told my friend that I was going to take a break and run home and tell Hubby (he was home sleeping because he worked overnight the night before).

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When I got there, I woke him up, and this was our conversation:

Me~ "Honey, you love me, right?"

Hubby~ "Yes"

Me~ "If I tell you something, will you just tell me that everything will be okay?"

Hubby~ "Why? What happened? What's wrong?"

Me~ "I'm pregnant..."

Hubby~ "So why are you crying?" Reaching for me to hug me

Me~ "Because I'm not ready to have another one. Not right now. Sissy is only 13 months old. It's too soon..."

Hubby~ "Honey, calm down. It will be okay. We will handle it . Everything will be okay. Give me a hug and then go back to work."

Me~ Still sobbing, "Okay"

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He was more excited and happier than I was for the first 4 months or so. I still cried almost every day about it, but thank God, I wasn't near as sick with pregnancy #2 #4 as I was with Sissy. That worried me at first, but then when we hit our halfway mark, we realized that things were fine.

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I didn't have blood pressure problems this time around, but I did have thyroid problems. My mother has thyroid disease and so the doctor always checks me for it. Apparently, this pregnancy triggered it. So once a month, I had to have my blood drawn to check it. Not fun!

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About 2 months before my due date (July 23), I started feeling the effects of my hypothyroidism. I was so tired, and just dragged thru the day. When they checked it again, it was still pretty low and they decided to put me on medicine for it. At least until I delivered.

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At about 3 weeks to a month before my little man was due to arrive, I had to quit work because I could barely make it thru the day anymore. It wasn't worth it. I had to take care of my baby and myself.

(23 Weeks and 2 days pregnant with Bubba)

*****

That's all for this "short" story. Watch for the next one coming soon. If you haven't read my other ones, here's the links to those. Until next time...

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"Short" Story #1....Crush 2 Hubby

"Short" Story #2....First Pregnancy

"Short Story #3....L&D With Sissy

"Short" Story #3...L & D with Sissy

With Mother's Day this Sunday, I decided to go ahead and give you my 3rd "short" story. The day that I became part of an elite club. The day I became a Mother!

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I'm going to try and write this to the best of my recollection. Even though it was my first child, it was over 2 1/2 years ago, and I have been thru another labor and delivery since then! So here goes.

*****

Having high blood pressure while being pregnant, Doc wanted to keep his eyes on me pretty well. Especially towards the end of my pregnancy. He had told me to watch for really bad swelling or headaches. One evening I had went to bed early because I had a really bad headache. I thought it would go away as most of them do when after I sleep for a few hours. When I woke up though, it was worse. Hubby was already in bed, so I told him that I was going to just run up to the L&D at the hospital and have them check my blood pressure.

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When I got there, I told them what was going on, and they took me back hooked me up to the monitors and checked my blood pressure. It was high...too high. They called Doc and told him what was going on. He told them to have me stay on the monitors for about an hour and have machine check my blood pressure every 15 minutes.

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It went down in the end, but not a lot. Doc came up there and checked me for dilation and I was at a 2. He told me that with I was beginning to get pre-eclampsia. And that the best thing to do, since I was so close to my due date (Oct 17), was to wait until I reached at least a 2 1/2 or a 3 and then induce me. He said that at my next appointment, which was in less than a week, he would check me again and we would go from there. But that he didn't want me going too much longer because it could get much worse.

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At my appointment, that next Monday (Oct 16), he checked me and sure enough, I was a 2 1/2! He called the hospital to check for a room in the next few days, and they confirmed and prepared to have me the next day at 6am.

*

Hubby was working over-nights at that time, so after the appointment he took me to meet my sister-in-law he was going to take me down to my parents house to stay the night. He had planned on going ahead and going into work for a few hours, then go home and get things ready to be at the hospital the next morning.

*

That night was horrible. I was nervous, anxious, scared, excited, and having contractions all.night.long. My parents and my little sister got up early that next morning to take me to hospital. Hubby, who ended up not working but stayed at home to sleep and get the house cleaned and prepared, met us there.

*

They hooked me up to an IV and the blood pressure machine right off the bat. Of course, my BP was high ,so they were trying to help me calm down so that it would go down a little. Doc doesn't want his patients to get an epidural until they are at least a 5, so we were I was impatiently waiting on that. It wouldn't have been that bad, but I was stuck on a 4 for 5-6 hours!!! The only thing I could have was Nubain to help ease the pain. The first dose was pretty good. I was able to sleep thru most, if not all, of my contractions until it wore off. They checked me once it did wear off, and I was at a 4 1/2. So Doc told them to only give me half a dose. It didn't help. At all!

*

Once I was dilated to a 5, they called for an anesthetist to come give me an epi. Both of the anesthetists were busy, so I had to wait another 45 minutes until one of them were free. Once he got there he told me all about what was going to happen, and the side effects. At that point, you I didn't care what the side effects were. I wanted pain relief!

*

It took him 30 minutes and 4 different sticks to get the catheter in my back. Apparently I have a lip on my spine that makes it hard to get a catheter in. Imagine that! Finally after all of that, relief...for the most part. There was a small part that was not numb yet. Which would have been okay, if it wasn't the part that hurt the most numb. Yep, the, ahem, lower region, had complete feeling!

*

They gave me more medicine which finally helped. Problem was, that as soon as I got the first dose, within an hour, I was at an 8. Ten minutes after the second dose, I was fully dilated and ready to push. Total numbness! I could not feel anything to push. I couldn't even tell if I was pushing. At one point they had told me that when I would push, they would lose the baby's heart rate on the monitor. So they had to go in and screw a little antenna into her head so that the monitor could pick up her heart rate. At another point they told me that every time I pushed, her heart rate would drop because she wasn't getting enough oxygen. So they had to put the mask on me...yeah, hated that thing!

*

After an hour of pushing, the doctor came in and told me that he was going to use the vacuum. If I wasn't able to deliver her with the help of the vacuum system, then we would have to resort to another method. Thankfully, it helped and less than 15 minutes later, my beautiful baby girl was born!

(Sissy was born Oct 17, 2006 @ 4:16pm. She weighed 7lbs and was 18.5 inches long)

(This was taken at Sissy's 1st Birthday)

(This is the most recent picture of her. She is now 2 1/2 years old.)

*****

I know it was a long "short" story, but I told you with the first one that they all were going to be just that. I do hope you enjoyed though, and hope you will read "Short" Story #4....Second Pregnancy coming in a few days or so.