Happy Easter!

I just wanted to send a little bit of love out there today and wish you all a happy Easter! I love holidays because it is an excuse for me to over cook and have fun and do my most favorite thing, family time! I miss not having my extended family near where we live but it allows Matt and me to build our own traditions.

Tonight will be a fun filled dinner of Chicken Scampi, recipe from Karrie at her Blog, Happy Money Saver (who has amazing freezer recipes and lots of other great stuff, check her out!).

And for dessert, well I will let the pictures speak for themselves! Made from scratch Chocolate cupcakes filled with homemade caramel sauce, topped with buttercream frosting, toasted coconut, peanut M&M's, and a licorice handle. I will let you soak that in for a bit...

I had a little bit of fun this morning in the kitchen with an almost 3 year old running everywhere throwing his new bouncy balls everywhere that were in his easter basket. My house might look like a mess right now, with candy wrappers and his fuzzy balls all over the floor but my desserts look like a million bucks!

Happy Easter!

At THAT Point...

~Here is why it is so hard to do things, THE BABY IS HUGE!~

I'm at the point in pregnancy where things are getting difficult. So here are the things that are really hard to do when you have less than a month left before baby comes. This is a vent post of things I have a hard time doing. Might as well get this out there. All you FTM this is what you have to look forward to. Don't worry we all go through it and we all survive, but I'm keeping it real!

~Walking- Hubs makes fun of me when we go on our nightly walks now because 10 ft out the door I am already huffing and puffing. We do have a huge steep hill right out our door that we have to climb up. But yeah, walking is wearing me out. I did run a little the other day chasing Mason on our walk, my hips were killing me. But I could run. That I am proud of.

~Stairs- Stairs oh stairs, how I loathe thee. And we have a 3 story house. I try not to go down to the basement all that often anymore because then I will have to go to the top floor and doing all 3 just, ugh! Sadly most of Mason's toys are down there, but he has learned to bring some up to the main level to play. Now just getting the toys back down to the basement when he is done is another story.

~Bending Over- My belly is big. It is only going to be getting bigger, but bending over to pick things up is getting challenging. Not to mention that I feel like passing out when I stand back up if I stand up too quickly. This includes picking up Mason's toys, loading the dishwasher. Cleaning up the laundry on the floor. Asking for help from Matt on these things now.

~Carrying things- Can't carry my own son for longer than 2 minutes before my back hurts. Carrying laundry to the wash is also a thing of the past. Since I have to bend over to pick it up (see above) but then squatting to load the stuff in the drum, yeah. I totally know that squatting will not be one of my laboring positions!

~Sleeping- I think my body thinks that sleeping is overrated. I am up for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night unable to get back to sleep. On top of the 2-3 times I have to get up to pee. Then in the middle of the day, I pass out for no reason. I know my body is prepping me for when the baby comes, but why can't the body try to store up the much needed sleep instead?

I think that is about it. My goal now, is to keep the house as clean as possible so that Matt doesn't have to do too much cleaning up after everyone. He has asked for a list of chores to help out with, which is really nice. And will hopefully save my back and my sanity. (I dislike having a dirty house)

Prepping For Labor: Mason's Birth

*If you are new to the blog click on the Pregnancy tab at the top of the page to see other posts on pregnancy!*

This is the original post from my family blog that I wrote back in July 2011 from Mason's Arrival. Enjoy the story!

MASON ROBERT ALLEN

7/18/2011

8:52pm

7 lbs 4 ounces

20 inches

Monday, July 18th 7:30am, Matt and I arrived at the hospital for our scheduled induction. I was induced with half a pill of cytotec and then we waited, and waited. I was 2-3 cm dilated when we arrived at the hospital. Doc didn't come back until 1 to check me. I was having just very small contractions up until then. Doc came in and I was unchanged and did the other half of the pill. I started to feel more contractions but really they were just like the braxton hicks I had been having for the last month just more regular every 1-2 minutes. Doc said at the check up at 1 that I would be picking up and that Mace would be here around 4:30. We called our doula to come in anticipating active labor to start. She arrived and we just talked and watched me really do nothing. She left around 3:30 to give us alone time and asked us to call after the doc did his check again.

The doc arrived at 5 and one look at me told us either he brakes my water or I go home cause he could tell I wasn't much further along. I didn't want to home so we let him break my water. I was 4cm dilated at this point. Within 30 min of my water breaking I started to feel what real labor felt like and was wishing for the barely there contraction I had earlier. I made Matt call the doula to come back in cause I didn't know what to do to get comfy. I asked Matt about 10 times if he really contacted her and he assured me he had. I was starting to panic because it hit me that this kid was going to be here soon. When my doula arrived she jumped right into action. At this point I can't really remember what happened. Matt and my doula have been filling in the blanks for me and telling me what happened. I labored in the bathroom for a while and the nurse had started the bath tub and I immediately wanted to go in there because I was hoping for a little relief. I got into the tub and for about 2 min had a little relief and then, bam, contractions happening again. My doula started timing the contractions and gave up because I was in hard labor but not having the regular contractions of hard labor. My contractions were for only about 30 sec and 1.5 min apart and STRONG! I hated the nurse because she would make me go into an awful position in the tub so that she could take the heart beat of Mason. She would take the doppler and push it into my stomach during a contraction. Every time she came in the bathroom I said, "He's fine, you don't need to check. Don't push." Every time she would check he was fine, as I said.

In the tub I started to feel like I had to push and by the third time I told my doula I think I had to push she ran out and got the nurse who checked me and told me to get out of the tub and go to the bed. As I made it to the bed I had another strong contraction and finally made it to the bed. When I got there the nurse said she called the doc and he was on his way. After what felt like forever the doc arrived and I never felt happier. He checked me and I could tell that there was a little pushing happening. He said that my cervix was pretty much gone but a little bit and said, "let's just go ahead and try pushing." I did one push and he said, "Oh, yeah this baby's coming out." He also said that Mason was sunny side up and that I had to push in the WORST position possible, flat on my back and use handles to pull myself up. I pushed for about 50 min. Matt was amazing during the whole day, but the look on his face when he told me that Mason had a TON OF HAIR, he was so proud. Matt couldn't believe what I was doing and what was happening and was so very impressed with how birthing is. I remember looking at him for strength to keep pushing and just looking at how happy he was was amazing. At the very end Mason did a 180 degree turn in the birth canal and was delivered in the normal position for babies to be born in which makes it a little easier. Right as Mason came out, I remember seeing the nurse and the doc jump backwards as the remaining bag of water attempted to soak them. I remember laughing slightly and thinking, "payback for you hurting me and the doc telling me to push harder when I was already pushing as hard as I could!" I still don't remember a lot of details and some things come back as Matt or my doula tell me but it just kind of feels like a cloudy dream thinking about it.

One detail I didn't forget to mention is that, I didn't have an epidural. I didn't even have time to think about it because from 5pm-8pm I went from 4cm - 10 cm. Once my water broke I was in hard labor and stayed there for the entire time. The doc let me do mother directed pushing where I call the shots for how long I push for and everything which was really nice. No one was screaming at me counting. It was just a great, but very difficult experience. My biggest frustration is that I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get comfy to help relieve the pain. The pain was more of just really, really bad cramps, but I just couldn't get comfy to help me thru it. I am so happy that I accomplished the type of labor I wanted and that I survived. I am so happy to have my little mini-Matt here with me. It is truly amazing what the female body can accomplish from making another human to delivering a human without too much harm to either party.

I am so thankful that I have been blessed to have a baby. For so many years I thought that it would never happen. I am just so thankful.

Check out some pix just after the birth!

~Us with my Doula, Merrie~

~Matt holding Mason for the first time~

Poor Mason

~Mason icing his finger like the big boy he is!~

Mason and Daddy went on a healthy little walk last night. Mason took a spill and injured his pinky finger. (ripped off his fingernail) Daddy fixed it all better, even with dealing with a screaming fit throwing toddler! I was at symphony rehearsal last night so Daddy took care of Mason all by himself. GO DADDY!

Today the finger is swollen, and Mason is not using that hand at all, or as little as he can. So I am currently waiting for Mason's doc office to call back to let us know if they want us to come in to get him checked out or not. So is the day of a mommy!

Baby Pool

Two bloggers I follow, CONGRATS to Jen on her baby girl arriving this week, and Katie who had her baby boy in Dec, both had their babies in the 39th week of their pregnancies. These ladies ran during pregnancy. Both ending running at different times but they both ran. Many people have been telling me that I am going "pop" any day now! (thanks a lot lady who told me that I am basically HUGE) And because I ran it means I will have an early baby. (There was a lady in my prenatal yoga who ran until her 39th week, yes 39th week!, and was still pregnant at 41 weeks)

So should we start casting our votes now as to when I will hatch this baby??? I have said in the beginning that I think it will be the week of the 18th of May, generally around the 21st. I am currently 36 weeks.

Fun facts:

My due date is May 14th.

Had a doc apt yesterday and the Doc said that baby is super high and that there is no dilation at this point. With Mason I was 3 cm at 37 weeks. ( I am telling my body though that I can not have this baby until after May 4 because of the concerts I have to play and the studio recital. Plus mom isn't coming in to town until the 13th.)

Baby still likes to go transverse (sideways) during the night.

Mason was induced at 39 weeks due to Matt being deployed with the Army 3 days after Mace was born, so no idea if Mace was going to be on time or late. I was induced with cydotec and my induction was considered a failed induction because I only went from 3cm to 4 and did not enter active labor at all. Then we broke my water and 3.5 hours later, kid was out and screaming up a storm.

I think he was sucking his thumb last night. It was a different feeling than hiccups but the same rhythmic pattern. ( I was a big time thumb sucker)

I have no idea if I was early, late or on time. (I'm adopted). And Matt was slightly overdue at, oh, 2 weeks late!

Soooo... let the voting begin. Maybe a prize will be in the cards if someone is right!

WHEN AM I HAVING MY BABY? (to view pix of my ever expanding belly check out my weekly recap posts using the LABELS button on the left.)