Alive and Kickin

 Life is crazy ass busy. I've never been this busy before. We leave the house at 7am with baby bear in tow. I drop off Mr. Spice, then drop off baby bear (at a fabulous day care- seriously love this place), and then go to work, and then I do the reverse 8 hours later. On a good day, we are all home by 7pm. Feed the little lady, bath and then bed time for her at 8:30. I am in bed by 9:30pm, so not much time for life. 

 Good news Baby Bear is thriving. She is rolling over like a champ and growing like a weed (a cute chubby weed). 

Here she is at 4 months:

And here's our little chubby bunny at 20 weeks- almost 5 months: She's loving bath time with Dad and yes she is finally growing some hair!! 

One last thing- WE ARE HOMEOWNERS!! 

WHOOT WHOOT!!

Pictures of the current house to come!! We are meeting with another contractor tonight to talk about knocking down walls and possibly doing a full kitchen reno!! Yep. Dreams do come true!!

Go Big or Go Home 2012

A new home that is!!

We are officially in Escrow on a 1964 ranch style house in Wine Country!! Whoot whoot.

And if the inspection and appraisal go well, not only will we be home owners, BUT we'll be doing a reno. We hope to knock down a few walls, put in some new floors, and possibly gut the kitchen.

Cross your fingers.

Birth Story Part 2: All that matters is a healthy baby!

So I had just found out that I was 3cm dilated, and I was still waiting for a room. (Part 1)

It was almost 8am, so I had been in labor for 6 hours and my contractions were just over 3 minutes apart. At this point, my labor was intense.

Everything that I thought I would like I didn't: I did not want to walk; I did not want a massage; I did not want to listen to soothing music; I did not want to 'dance' with my partner through contractions- I just wanted a room, to sit still, and the damn drugs.

Like I said before, the only thing that offered relief was Mr. Spice pressing his thumb on the middle of my forehead.

They were finally ready to escort me to a room. Of course, while walking to the room, I had a contraction. The nurse directed me to face the wall and she started putting pressure on my back (which I hated, but I was in too much pain to say anything). What I didn't realize- I was leaning next to a door to a bathroom. In the middle of my contraction a nurse opened the door- took one look at me and went right back into the bathroom. Even at the time- it was pretty hilarious.

A few more yards later, I was FINALLY in a labor room (it only took 1.5 hours from when I arrived), and my epidural came within 30 minutes. By the time I got my epidural at around 9:30am, I had been in active labor for 7.5 hours, which was more than enough for me. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart, and I think I can safely say- Mr. Spice was ready for me to get an epidural as well. He was being such a champ- but both of us knew that I wouldn't be able to sustain that type of pain.

The epidural itself was pretty painless. The only issue- my contractions were so on top of each other that I did have a couple contractions during the epidural (which is probably why I don't remember the pain of the actual epidural). The good news- within minutes of getting the epidural- life was so much better. In fact, the rest of labor was pretty pain free.

The other good news- Mama Sugar was already at the airport when she found out I was in labor. She had bought her ticket weeks before- talk about great timing!!

From this point on- my labor story might get a bit fuzzy.  I didn't get checked from a doctor until about 11ish. Like I said before- 3 babies were born during the early morning shift.

I was already 6 cm!! Holy awesomeness. This labor thing was going!!

Around noon, I asked my nurse if I could change sides. I had been hanging out on my left side since 9:30 am, and I was feeling pretty numb on that side. With her help I switched sides, and almost immediately, Baby Berry's heart rate dropped. Within a minute, I had four doctors and three nurses in my room.

Basically, they have monitors all over the floor- and all the doctor's saw her heart rate drop. They moved me back to my left side, and within seconds her heart rate returned to normal.

It was a bit dramatic, but it was good to know that I was in such great hands. The doctors all stayed in the room to watch her heart rate for a few more minutes, and I was checked again. I had progressed to 7cm!! Whoot whoot.

I think this is the point where my nurse said that I may feel my water break soon. She said that it would feel like a warm rush and I might hear a pop. Moments later, I heard a pop. I didn't feel a rush of warm water, but I was pretty sure that was my water popping.

This is also the point where Mr. Spice saw more than his fair share- my water had broken and I had my bloody show. Talk about a mess. While they were trying to clean up and put new sheets on the bed, I moved to my left side, and again, her heart rate dropped and everyone rushed back into the room.

Again, her heart rate returned to normal once I went back to my right side. Since my water had broken, they decided to put a heart rate monitor on her head (it is a little screw like probe) so they could more accurately monitor her.

For the next hour things were pretty calm. I was texting with friends and talking to family. We felt great and knew that the baby would be coming before the day was over.

Around 2pm, my back started to hurt, I was numb on my left side, and I was dying to move sides. The Anesthesiologist came back into the room and told me that the epidural could help with the contractions, but not the back pain. I had a new nurse, and she decided to try to get me on my right side again.

And again, Baby Berry's heart rate plummeted.  Two doctors rushed back into the room. This time they noticed that my contractions were right on top of each other. They weren't giving Baby Berry time to recover between them. They decided to insert an internal monitor to get a better handle on my contractions. They checked me and I was back to 6 cm. URG. I wasn't progressing.

They decided to give me a drug to slow down my contractions. The doctor decided to talk to us about what would happen if we needed a c-section. She was very clam and we figured that this would be much later in the day.

Five minutes later, the Doctors were still in our room watching the monitors and they made a decision. It was time for a c-section!! Baby Berry was in distress. If I was 9 or 10 cm dilated they would have let me continue with a natural labor, but the truth was-- I wasn't progressing and they couldn't let her stay in distress for the next 6 or 7 hours!!

OMG.

I was NOT prepared for a c-section.

The nurse asked if we could wait another 5 minutes to see if the Baby's heart rate returned to normal.  The answer was a clear- NO.

The next hour was the most emotional hour of my life.

I told Mr. Spice to text my sister so she could relay the message to our families. The nurse saw the panic and tears in both our eyes and tried to reassure us that everything would be OK and that we were in good hands. In an effort to reduce our stress- she took pictures- can you see the panic in Mr. Spice's eyes:

While I was internally panicking because a c-section was not in my plan, I found out later that Mr. Spice was panicking because he was worried about his two girls. Thinking about this moment still makes me tear up inside.

Minutes later I was wheeled into the surgery room- which randomly, I remember had a really great view. It took about ten minutes for them to prep me and before they got Mr. Spice.

As soon as they gave me the extra numbing drugs, I got the shakes. They were horrible. I have to be honest, the whole experience was awful. I couldn't feel the c-section per say, but I couldn't stop shaking. Have you ever been super scared or had a really bad flu and had the shakes?? Well, for me, my shakes were way worse. The anesthesiologist was right next to me the whole time- and told me not to fight it.  I couldn't clench or relax my jaw- it was all just  uncomfortable. I also couldn't really look into Mr. Spice's eyes because the shakes were so bad. I had to close my eyes, and I focused on his voice, which of course, freaked him out even more. He was a great partner- and talked about how she was going to be an Olympic swimmer in 2030.

And finally, at 3:04 pm- 13 hours after labor started, we had a baby girl.

The c-section may have been awful, but she was healthy.

6lbs. 9oz. and 19.5 inches long. A small little lady, but perfect.


It felt like it took forever for them to stitch me up. Mr. Spice got to cut the cord, and then they brought her over to me. It was surreal, and I wanted to hold her so badly.

The shakes had finally stopped, and we were officially a family:
 
 
And then, finally, my little Sugar Bear was in my arms:


Not the labor I had prepared myself for, but she's been the light of my life every since.

Go Big or Go Home 2012: Goal #1

Hi Lovelies,

I promise to finish Baby Sugar Bear's birth story at some point. It's half way written.

But I have an excuse.

Remember my 2011 Goals: Go Big or Go Home 2011?? I wanted a new job, a new house and a to lose a bunch of weight.

We all know that I gained a ton of pregnancy weight in 2011, and I had to put the other two goals on hold.

Well, on hold no longer. I got a new job!! Whoot whoot.

I will still be working for the great state of California, but I will officially be a Supervisor and it is up in wine country!!

 Hazel's first trip to wine country for my first of two interviews.

Which means that goal #2- buying a house is now our top priority. We are mad on the house hunt. We are just waiting for the right house.

Let's hope the beautiful Spring weather we are having will encourage someone to put an awesome house on the market ASAP.

The only down side- I start in a month. YIKES. Just over four weeks left of my time with Baby Bear.  I always thought I'd be ready to go back. In fact around week 6,  I was ready to go back to work but now. YIKES. Raising this little lady is the hardest thing I have ever done, but by far the most rewarding thing ever.  I am pretty overwhelmed about going back to work, but I know that not working is just not an option. The good news, while my new job will be demanding, I will still maintain a certain amount of flexibility with vacation and time off.

So I start a new job in a few short weeks; we hope to move ASAP; and I am now looking for Day Care. Talk about overwhelming.

All this means that I will probably still be pretty quite over here. In fact, I am not sure this little blog will make the transition, but I wanted to share the start of some great news with all of you- my on-line cheerleaders!! And of course, here's my beautiful baby Bear sleeping yesterday:

 Hazel yesterday with her new favorite- Mr. Bunny.

I hope all of you are having a fabulous 2012. Any recommendations to survive my new transitions- new job, new house, new place to live, new day care???

Birth Story Part 1: No room at the hospital

So last I left you, I had just gone to bed on a Wednesday night and I was desperate to get labor started.

I woke up just before 2am, and something felt different. I always wondered how I'd know I was in labor, and what people say is true- You Just Know.  While still in bed- I downloaded an app to start tracking my contractions.

I think I spent about 30 minutes in bed tracking contractions- little cramps, every 7-10minutes.

Finally, I had to get up.

Since I had heard that the first stages of labor take so long, I decided to let Mr. Spice sleep.  I knew that as soon as I woke him up, he'd start to panic and be going full throttle.

So I waddled into the living room; put on some mind numbing TV; and spent three hours on the couch tracking my contractions. What I didn't expect- by 4:30am my contractions were coming pretty quick- between 4 to 6 minutes apart. I knew that at 5 minutes apart, I should head to the hospital. My contractions were also starting to get painful enough that I couldn't sit quietly in our living room any more.

I set a goal to get to 5am before I woke Mr. Spice up. I don't know why- but for some reason, that sounded reasonable to me. At 4:55am, I couldn't take it any longer. I woke Mr. Spice up and told him that not only was I in labor, but I was pretty sure it was time to go to the hospital.

After some shock, surprise, and a bit of panic, Mr. Spice called the hospital to let them know that we were on the way. They asked the typical questions, including:

Was this our first baby? Yes. And:

How far apart were my contractions?? Since I had just woken him up- he didn't really know and said 4 to 7 minutes apart.

Well, we got an answer that we really weren't expecting: Labor and Delivery were full!! They couldn't have me come in because there would be no room!!

Holy Crap!!

The nurse told Mr. Spice that we needed to wait until my contractions were 'more consistent' and that I should get in the shower and call back in an hour.

Talk about a memorable shower- I spent at least 45 minutes sitting in our shower- yelling out expletives every 3 to 5 minutes.  I have no idea what our neighbors heard, but I was LOUD and full of four letter words.

In between contractions, I apologized to Mr. Spice for my horrid language and directed him to grab the last minute things we needed to pack for the hospital- like our cell phone chargers. I also shouted at him from the bath tub to change out of his ripped pants with the wine stains. Yes, in the middle of labor, I told my husband what to wear to the hospital.

Finally, at 6am, Mr. Spice called the nurse back and told her that we were on our way. My contractions were already 4 minutes apart and I was a hot mess.

At this point, Mr. Spice asked if I wanted to walk the 5 blocks to the hospital. Holy Hell. That was funny before I was in labor. It was 6am, raining and my contractions were right on top of each other- Hell No.

Right around 6:30, we made it to the third floor of the hospital and were put in the waiting room.

Where we waited for 45 minutes.

Those were the  WORST 45 minutes. The room was HOT. I was sweating and having contractions about every 3.5 minutes apart.

Little did we know that the Nurse's were in the middle of a shift change and 3 babies were in the process of being delivered. URG. I could have hurt someone.

At one point a nurse walked by and told Mr. Spice to use his thumb to put pressure on the middle of my forehead. Ahhh. This little gesture really worked, and ended up being the only thing that felt good while I was in active labor.

Finally at around 7:15, I was directed into the triage room to see how far along I was. Again, this took quite awhile. I was full on shouting four letter words during my contractions at this point and I was more than ready for an epidural. I was NOT going to make it without drugs. 

The nurse checking me in jokingly said- I am going to go ahead and say that you are at a pain level of 10. I was not about to contradict her.

In the mist of checking me in- a couple strolled into the triage room for their scheduled c-section. I was barely dressed and shouting expletives at the top of my lungs. I couldn't believe they brought someone else into the room.  A second nurse came in and asked who she should check first??

Seriously?? The women shouting in pain or the lady just chilling?? Luckily, she checked me first. And I have to say- she wasn't gentle. I was almost fully effaced and only 3 cm.

Crap- I had a long way to go.....

Week 40: Let's get this party started

Where were we? Right, I was 39 weeks pregnant....

I spent the majority of that last week working on getting the little lady out so I thought I should let you know what I did.

Starting at Day 2, Week 39: Friday, I went to acupuncture for the first time. My doctor highly recommended it. If it didn't get labor started, it would at least would get my body ready for labor so I thought it was worth a shot. Through my insurance, I was able to find someone who had great yelp reviews and gave me 30% off through Kaiser.

Since it was my first time at acupuncture, she was pretty gentle on me.

I was expecting something to happen, but nothing.

Saturday night I went to a Holiday party at my Sister's house. I tried jumping up and down and dancing with my Niece, but that just made me super tired.

What really made things worse- that damn cold that I had. I canceled all plans that next week, except for another acupuncture appointment on Tuesday. I told the nice lady that I was ready to have this baby and not to be gentle. While nothing was ever painful, she was not so gentle.

She did something called cupping on my back, which didn't hurt, but left some nice round bruises on my back for the next week. She also uped the anti and did some electronic stimulation.

I left and nothing.
 
That night- I was up for hours. I just couldn't sleep any more.

On Wednesday, I was off to my weekly doctor's appointment. The whole way there I was determined to get an induction date. I was desperate to get this baby out and I did not want to be in the hospital over Christmas. For some reason, I just really didn't want a Christmas baby.

My Doctor checked me- I was 1 cm dialated- which is nothing- but the baby was sitting really low. One thing the doctor did do- strip my membranes.

Of course, my Doctor would not set an early induction date. I had to be at least 41 weeks- which meant December 23rd. Of course, the 23rd was full, so she set my induction for December 24th.

URRRG. I left the doctors office; called Mr. Spice and my Mom and just cried. I couldn't imagine going another 9 days!!

After I got home and took a nap, I realized that I would need to create a plan to get through the next week. I was convinced that this baby was not going to come out on her own. That afternoon, I finished my last sewing project, the bunting banner. And that night Mr. Spice helped me hang it up:

That evening, in a desperate attempt to get the baby out-- I decided to rely on the old wives tails. I did them all- even the ones no one had heard of.

Spicy food. Check. Raspberry Tea. Check. Pineapple. Check. Long walk. Check. And one last one- you know, the one that got us into this mess in the first place.

Side Note: During our evening walk, I told Mr. Spice that he was probably going to see some pretty gross things during labor and I didn't want that to change how he looked at me. He promised that he wouldn't look in that general direction, so not to worry. Now I laugh at the naivete of that statement- during labor there was no looking away. Nothing could be avoided.

Right before I went to bed, I think I lost my mucus plug. Again, I knew that really meant nothing. It could mean labor was going to start, or I could regrow my mucus plug and it could still be weeks.

That night I couldn't sleep again, but this time for a whole new reason.....

Announcing Hazel Mae

Hi Lovelies, Happy February.

I wanted to share Hazel Mae's official announcement:

Photos by Amanda at Blueberry Photography.

Announcement by Paper Culture. 

LOVED both. Paper Culture is eco-friendly- recycled paper and they plant a tree for every order. Plus, they will address and mail all your announcements for free!! They are a bit more expensive, but I used a 30% off coupon from Giggle. So great.