Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Rhubarb Cake

Had to share a quick rhubarb recipe.  I try to find a new one every summer and usually fail.  But I actually tried this one, and I love it! So yummy and very easy.  Enjoy!
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/rhubarb-cake-2/

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A little baby babble

This is what I got at a 6am changing.  How could you be upset that this little guy woke you up at 6am because he was wet and hungry?! This is what keeps me going even when I'm completely exhausted. 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Number 2!


Two years ago, I stepped into my white dress, walked down the aisle, and said I do to one awesome guy.  I couldn't have dreamt of a better 2 years.  Here's to another great year of many firsts and blessings in our lives. I love you, hubby!

Brody Update

It's been a while since I've visited blog world.  Thought I would share some pictures of my little man as he keeps getting bigger and bigger! 




We are slowly learning how to be good parents as Brody is learning about us and the world.  He's already had multiple trips to Wal-mart, been to his first cattle sale, first branding, hung out with the guys in the garage, and been to a birthday party.  Along with a lot of his firsts, he gets to see his Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins often.  Overall, life is pretty good.  Except the crazy ND wind that keeps us inside most days...

Friday, April 27, 2012

A Baby Story

Here I am, 2 weeks after baby Brody joined our family.  I've read birth stories before and always thought to myself that I wouldn't sit down and share mine because it was our story.  But this one is a little different.  Life had to stop and we had to bring baby into this world whether he was ready or not.

I went to my 39 week appointment (actually 38 weeks and 6 days) at 11:30am.  I had planned to get to my appointment, grab some lunch (Wendy's jr bacon cheeseburger to be exact!), and get back to work.  Hubby and I got in the room fairly quickly and I was excited because I was starving.  The nurse weighed me and checked my blood pressure like usual.  This time, we had a little different situation.  My BP was a little on the high side.  Well, doctor came in and finished out the appointment by having the nurse re-check my BP.  After she checked it, doctor came back in and said we are sending you up to the Babykind floor to be observed and have some labs drawn.  Okay, fine, I thought.  I called work and let them know I was going to be late because of this and headed upstairs.

We were put in a room, hooked up to a monitor, BP taken, labs drawn.  About an hour later, the charge nurse came in the room and said, Well, we are having a baby today or tomorrow.  I looked at hubby or support because I was in shock.  He asked the nurse what was wrong and she said labs came back abnormal and doctor wanted baby out but he would explain more when he came up.  I started crying and shaking because I was NOT ready for this (this is still hard to think about!). 

They put us in a labor and delivery room, gave me my lovely hospital gown, put me in bed and hooked up all the monitors.  At this point, I was scared and still in shock....and starving!  They brought me a lovely tray of a liquid diet and left me there for awhile before the doctor came in.  At this point, we had called and texted those few people we said we were going to inform.  The nurse came back to start my IV and about 6:30 the doctor finally came in.  In the meantime, my sister in law came to sit with us and hubby went home to shower and grab our bags.  When the doctor came in, he explained that I had preeclampsia and we had to get baby out for the safety of both of us.  He broke my water and they hooked me up to pitocin along with Magnesium Sulfate to help stabilize my BP.  There was no turning back now!

Still scared, I had no choice but to try to be brave.  I couldn't have done it without my hubby and sister in law there to keep me sane.  Things were progressing, contractions were coming.  I was even having contractions on my own and the pitocin was slowed...and then again increased...ugh!  All I wanted to do at this point was sleep.  I knew I needed it because we were on a long road.  I knew I couldn't have an epidural because my platelets were low again.  So my only option was to fight it without drugs or use Nubain.  I told myself that I didn't want to use the Nubain because I knew it had affects on baby, but I needed sleep.  I was having horrible back labor and couldn't sleep with that. 

Since my BP was so high, I wasn't supposed to be able to leave my bed except to use the bathroom.  But the nurse at that time was nice enough to bring me the exercise ball to sit on for awhile and let me sit in the rocker.  They also let me walk to another room to use the whirlpool tub.  The tub was my only relief and I sat in there as long as they let me.  Through all this, I was still a little in denial.  Contractions were coming and going and hubby was there by my side through it all.  Even though he woke up at 4:30am Wednesday morning for work and didn't get to sleep until Thursday night about 11:00pm. 

Morning came and went, even though I had no clue what time it was.  Sometime around 2:00, I was ready.  I was dilated to a 9 and needed to push.  My sister in law found the nurse and things started.  SIL was gathering her stuff to leave when I asked her to stay.  I knew that not only I needed her, but hubby did too. 

Things went on and the doctor came in.  We tried and tried and tried, but baby boy wasn't moving.  We found out that he was face up and that was causing problems.  Finally the doctor gave me 3 options.  I could keep trying, we could try the vacuum, or we could go in for a c-section.  Well, the c-section was our last option and I knew I couldn't keep going myself.  So we tried the vacuum.  After a few tears and concerns between hubby and I, we tried it.  This didn't work either.  The doctor was even frustrated and had already called the surgical team because he knew this wasn't going to work.  Finally, they were prepping me for my c-section.  Hubby lost it.  He wasn't going in the OR with me.  They said I couldn't have an epidural and I would have to be put under.  This scared hubby and he was done.  But they checked my platelets again and they came back normal and I was able to move forward with the epidural and quick surgery to get my son in the world.

At 4:52pm, Brody joined our family.  The team of doctors and nurses checked him over and let hubby cut the cord.  They wrapped him up and gave him to hubby.  I finally got to see him.  We shared some smiles and tears just looking at him.  But then I had to go to recovery and Brody still needed weighed and checked over again.  Hubby took him to the nursery where my parents and hubby's mom, sister and nieces were waiting to meet him. 

I was in recovery for about an hour before being taken to my room where daddy and baby were cuddling in the chair.  They got to spend some quality time getting to know each other.  What a special time for them.  Over the next 3 days, I recovered in my hospital bed and baby was taken care of by us and the nurses. 

Brody lost 1lb 3oz in the hospital and he was dehydrated.  We almost didn't get to go home on Sunday.  But I agreed to supplement feedings to get him hydrated and back up to his birth weight.   We had to bring him back to the hospital the next day to weigh him and check his bili because he was a little jaundice before we left. 

My BP was stable when we left and I had to make an appointment to get it rechecked later that week.  We are both healthy now and no worries about high BP or jaundice. 

This story really doesn't put what I went through into reality.  I can honestly say it was a long, exhausting few days, but I knew in the end baby boy was going to be here.  I don't remember having  whole lot of pain or going to hell and back before he was here.  I do know that I was the talk of the floor for a few days.  Even though there were 14 babies born in those 5 days.  The nurses all said I was one tough cookie and they wouldn't trade places with me.  I didn't realize what I had gone through until I started thinking about not having an epidural while they used the vacuum to try to get baby out.  Being so focused on the end result really helps with pain tolerance.  And I will never complain about those few days when I look at my little man! :) 

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Introducing Baby Brody!

One week ago today, I was admitted into the hospital.  I thought baby B would come that day, but he had other plans. 
Born 4-12-12
4:52pm
8lbs 13oz
20 inches



Proud daddy!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

38 weeks...a little late!

Yes, we are actually almost into the 39th week.  I have been in a slump where I don't want to blog,...or do anything for that matter!  I have been feeling sick and really tired, so all I want to do is try to relax and do nothing.  But that seems like a thing of the past.  I used to be able to sit on the couch and watch a good hour or two of TV and think nothing of it when I was tired.  Now, I sit down and start watching something, and 10 minutes later I'm up taking care of something.  Maybe this is my kind of nesting stage.  Our house is by no means dirty because we, yes WE, cleaned it and have been making a great effort to keep it that way so that I don't have to spend too much time working after work. 

But I think the reality of all this has finally set in for hubby.  He is worrying about things finally.  He never worries!  We do not have a basement on our house and we have talked about doing something since we moved in.  We've spent lots of hours at the neighbors when bad weather was coming or the sirens were going off.  But we both agree that packing up baby in the middle of the night to run to the neighbors doesn't sound like much fun.  So, he decided we are putting an addition on the garage where we can put a crawl space, or larger room.  I guess I agree that this is necessary, but I hate the thought of doing this now.  Seems like something that should have been done a few months ago! 

Anyway, back to week 38.  We are slowly getting there.  Seems like the last few weeks have been an eternity.