The time has come...

I've started a new blog. I have every intention of updating this one at least once or twice per week, but I will no longer be updating here! I've had a lot change in my life lately, and I feel like starting a fresh blog from scratch is the way to go. Feel free to hop over there and join Piper and I on our continuing journey!!

http://vlittlebirds.blogspot.com

XOXO

-V

3 Years

Dear Scott,

It's been 3 years already, can you believe it?? I can't believe how much has changed. It started off us, the 2 cats and the dog. Now we're one cat, one dog, us, and Piper. She is the most precious and amazing gift. Im looking forward to continuing to move forward with you. Who knows what the future will hold.

I love you.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chaaaaanges

Have you heard of Pinterest?

Its AMAZING! When I first heard of it, I wasnt so sure. How could that POSSIBLY be fun? A site that basically bookmarks things into inspiration boards. Do you really need a website to do that? 

YES. Yes you do. I signed up and became obsessed with pinning all the things.

 No, this whole post is not directly about Pinterest, but it does play a major role in the point of this post. I've always been into couponing and MY version of stockpiling which does NOt involve 500 packages of Yakisoba noodles because they are free. this led me to think, how else can I save more money? Scott and I are looking to buy a home, and we are almost completely out of credit card debt that we stupidly wracked up. I'm down to one card and it is paid off monthly, I just use it to earn amazon.com points that I'm saving up for christmas shopping. 

On pinterest I came across a whole bunch of "recipes" and ideas for making your own cleaning products, body scrubs, bath bombs, makeup remover wipes, laundry detergent, febreze. I was enamored. this is how we can save EVEN MORE. We tried out a few of the carpet cleaning pins and it actually worked pretty well on doggie stains! It was a combination of peroxide and Dawn dish soap. the ones for laundry detergent you can spend $0.01 PER LOAD on making it. How brilliant is that? Especially with a new baby who likes to puke on all the things, and a dog and a cat who shed like crazy. I've been saving all of my empty baby formula cans, and plastic coffee tubs, and baby wipes containers so we can make this as close to the real thing as possible. Bonus points since I can decorate the packages to my tastes.

So thats it. Our new plan is to MAKE almost all of our cleaning and household products. 

Now if only I could get Scott over his lust for paper towels.

What are your money saving methods? Even if it only saves a few bucks :)

Little Character

disneybaby.com is having a Little Character contest! The prizes are fantastical. SO many cute pictures of babies at their finest! I spent hours browsing pictures before I decided to submit my own! 

Feel free to vote for Piper while you go to check it out for yourselves! Or perhaps you want to enter your own photo into the ring!  :)

My favorite are the surprised babies. Surprised faces on babies crack me up :)

What is your favorite baby expression?

Dear Scott

Dear Scott,

Happy birthday! You are 34 years old, and this is your first birthday as a parent! You are a wonderful daddy, and as much as we may argue about petty things, a great husband. It's great to know Piper has such a laid back, calming influence from your end, to combat my high energy/high-strung influence from my part.

We love you so much!

<3

Mommy & Piper

Super Fun Sunday

Piper has 2 new favorite things!

1 - her jumperoo!

A $30 craigslist score!

And 2 - RILEY

Every time she sees the dog she is beyond excited, huge smile on her face and lots of pterodactyl sounds. She is a maniac in her bouncer, and I adore watching her play in it!

She recently had her first bout of giggles that were instigated by something. And it melted my heart. 

She loves her jumperoo so much that when you try to take her out, she screams BLOODY MURDER. Even if she is exhausted. Then she winds up like this:

 And mommy and daddy crack up so hard that mommy almost pees her pants.

Parenthood = wonderful.

4 Months!

I've fallen into bad updating habits again! 

Piper is 4 months old now!!

Her pediatrician appointment was earlier, and she is 25.25 inches long, and a whopping 15 lbs 4 oz! 80th percentile! 

She is holding her head up like a champion now. She talks and coos and giggles and screeches like a dinosaur! She rolls over back to front, and front to back. She tries to sit up, but still needs a little help there. 

I love her more every day!

3 Months!

Piper is 3 months old already! How does this happen?

I'm not sure where the time has gone! She is getting so big now. She is rolling over, and giggling, and grabbing things, and putting everything she possibly can in her mouth. Becoming a mother has been so rewarding and taught me a lot about myself. 

No stats this month, as we don't have a pediatrician appointment until 4 months :)

Should Have Bought Stock In Kleenex

Last Monday, April 16th, I started back at work. After being off for FOUR. WHOLE. MONTHS. 1 month of bedrest pre-Piper, and 3 months post partum. I was NOT prepared for how hard it would be to leave the house without her. I cried the entire week leading up to D-Day. She would smile at me, and I would start crying. She would coo, and I would start crying. Someone would mention the W word, and I would start SOBBING. 

I barely slept a wink the night before, which is bad when you have to leave the house at 330 AM to get to work. My alarm went off 3 hours after I went to sleep, and I'm fairly certain I woke up crying. I tried to distract myself, get dressed, get my crap together, make my lunch. Walked back into the bedroom to grab my phone charger, and took one glance at her and started sobbing so hysterically that it woke my husband up, and my dog hid from me. How was I supposed to just leave that precious face? It has been over a year since I really had to do anything without her with me. And not only that, but my work day with commute totaled 13 hours. The longest stretch I'd been away from her for was 4 hours, when Scott and I went to see the Hunger Games movie. Which I also cried through. Stupid hormones.

Work was awful. Everyone was asking about the baby and how I was doing, and every time she was mentioned I started crying. And I had NO. CONTROL over it at all. It was embarrassing really. The day dragged on and on. I didn't eat anything, all I did was pump myself full of coffee, and talk to my mom friends on Facebook when I wasn't with a patient. I must have called my brother and dad, who were both watching the baby for me, around 10 times. She was fine every time. And I was hearing her giggle and coo in the background. She was fine without me. While this was comforting, I also felt like she would forget me, or start to love me less, which I know is ridiculous.

Finally at 3 PM, one of the charge nurses offered to let me leave early, since we had a pretty light patient load. I started crying yet again, and thanked her profusely. 3:30 PM rolled around and I sprinted to my car, and sped all the way home. I walk into the house, and there is my dad laying on the floor, and Piper laying on her playmat. Wearing the most ridiculous looking outfit I'd ever seen. Apparently my father does not know how to dress a child. She was wearing a jersey jacket with 3 buttons near the neckline, tucked into a pair of grey fleece pants, and a pair of pink and black striped socks. There was no onesie under the jacket, so my father had tucked the ends into the pants. She looked adorable, but ridiculous. The key here though? She was giggling, and kicking, and playing. She was happy as a clam.

So, as much as it pained me to not be able to be with her all day, and every day, she didn't NEED me to be with her 24/7. She can be happy without me around all the time. She doesn't get scared when she is left with someone else. It's good for her to get to play with other kids, and family members. 

Tomorrow starts week 2. I work 12 hours on Monday, 11 on Thursday, and 10 on Saturday. This will be my set schedule from here on out, and hopefully it will set my mind more at ease, since every time I work, I have the day before, AND the day after off. 

I wish someone would have warned me how hard it would be to go back. People are right though, it does get easier everyday. I'm hoping by the end of this week I will make it through a full workday without tears.

After all, does this look like a face that should make someone cry?

My good friend babysat for us last Tuesday, and this is the photograph she sent for me 6 hours into my work day. She was clearly having a great time playing with R, and her 1 year old son :)

Ultimate Blog Party 2012! April 13-20

It's that time of year again! I always look forward to it! Wait for it......

CLICK HERE

Ultimate Blog PARTY!!! Hosted by 5 Minutes For Mom. I love this time of year because it's so easy to find new blogs, already sorted by category and everything.

For those who might be stopping by for the first time, I'll do a short intro post :)

My name is Victoria, and I am 29 years old. This year will be my dirty 30 birthday, and I'm actually not afraid of aging anymore. I've been married to my amazing, though sometimes irritating husband since July of 2009. We became Puppy parents in 2009 as well to our gorgeous yellow lab/white shepherd mix Riley. On January 15th of this year, our lives changed in a huge way with the birth of our first child, a daughter lovingly named Piper Harlowe. She has literally turned my world upside down, and I did not know it was possible to love one person THIS much. It's insane.

Taken when Piper was just 8 weeks old

I work as a PCT at a dialysis center. I'm glad blood does not make me squeamish. I was put on bedrest towards the end of my pregnancy on December 17th, and I return to work this Monday, April 16th. I am terrified that I won't remember how to do my job! And I'm sad just thinking about not being with my precious babe all the time. But 3 long days a week means I get 4 full days off with her, and that is definitely manageable.

On the side I enjoy taking pictures, crafting, and designing invitations and site banners and buttons in Photoshop. I love coming up with a finished product that is unique!

On this blog there is pretty much everything. You will see product reviews, recipes, photos, parties I've thrown, and just posts about life in general! I'm super sarcastic, and an open book :)

Please leave me a comment letting me know you stopped by and I will do my best to return the favor in a timely fashion!

Recipe : Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

We have been bad. Verrrrrrrry bad. It's been it feels like eons since we ate a home-cooked meal at all. And being post-baby and all, I've got a little extra going on in the middle. And the hubby put on a good amount of sympathy weight while I was pregnant. So is eating all those greasy gyros, and pizzas, and burgers really a great idea? Hell no. We decided today to put a stop to it, and I spent the entire morning on Pinterest looking at recipes. There is some delicious looking stuff out there! And even if it's not 100% healthy, it's better than the crap we've been ingesting since being at home with a new baby makes it hard to eat well!

In my super-fun clicking spree I managed to come across a blog called Cuisine Paradise. And on said blog I found a recipe that sounded like a dream! Avocado Chicken Parmigiana. All things I like! So I set out for the store to get the missing ingredients, came back home after spending more than I planned on (as per usual!), and cooked. It turned out DEEEEEEEEEEEE-licious. And I'm definitely not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination, so this makes me quite pleased with myself.

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast fillets, halved lengthwise

½ cup plain flour

2 tablespoons fresh milk

2 eggs

1 ½ cups dried bread crumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil/cooking spray

½ cup tomato pasta sauce

2 avocados, sliced

½ cup grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Place chicken breast in a clear plastic bag, or between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin or meat mallet pound until 0.5 cm thick. **I highly recommend using a meat mallet, the rolling pin was quite frustrating and took a while. And broke a couple of my chicken breasts**

2. Place flour and bread crumbs on 2 separate plates and lightly whisk milk and egg together in a shallow dish.

   

3. Coat 1 piece of chicken breast in flour (shake off the excess), dip it into the egg/milk mixture and then coat in bread crumbs using your fingertips to press on and secure.

Feel Free To Take Goofy Pictures As Well

4. Place on prepared baking tray (I used nonstick cooking spray on the pan), and repeat the same process with the remaining chicken breasts.

 

5. Lightly spray or brush the prepared chicken with oil. Bake for 8 minutes in a preheated 400° Fahrenheit oven, flipping the chicken after 4 minutes so it cooks evenly.

6. Remove from oven and spread each chicken breast with 1 heaped tablespoon of pasta sauce (I put a little more on mine since I love pasta sauce) and arrange avocado slices over the sauce heaps. Sprinkle with a decent amount of mozzarella cheese.

7. Return chicken to oven and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or until golden and chicken is cooked through.

8. Serve with whatever you'd like, we just had a small salad with ours.

Voila!

If it's simple enough for me to make, I'm sure it will be even easier for the rest of the world! I did add a little bit of garlic salt to the marinara for a little flavor boost. All in all, recipe was both easy to make, and easy to devour. Definitely a tasty treat!

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest if you would like! I love finding new people to follow!

A Couple Days Late....

But HAPPY EASTER!!

Piper's first Easter went off without a hitch! She was happy and cozy in her little easter dress, and she got easter baskets from not 1, but 2 Grandma Easter Bunnies! One full of clothes and headbands, and the other toys and books. 

She finally got to meet my cousins, who are still terrified of babies, but it was a lot of fun! It was great to see the whole family again, and not be pregnant and uncomfortable again like I was for Christmas. 

Added bonus, the day after Easter mama managed to score the most precious Easter basket at 60% off. So mama easter bunny will have a cute basket to fill for next year!

Review! - Little Texas Babes on Etsy!

Recently I had the joy of winning an Etsy giveaway from a wonderful little shop called Little Texas Babes. 

Click Here To See The Shop!

 

 Specializing in embroidered gifts, all of the designs you see in her shop can be made on: bibs, burp cloths, bodysuits and even blankets / quilts. They are ADORABLE and fun :)

 

Here is the bib we chose for Miss Piper:

As you can see in the photo above, she absolutely loves it. Despite the fact she has no real opinion voiced. ;)

The design is printed onto a great quality Babies R Us brand white bib. It is extremely professional quality-wise. The design is embroidered to perfection. Not to mention it gets a ton of laughs everytime she wears it. The shop owner was extremely friendly and the item was shipped quickly. I will definitely be using them in the future for baby shower gifts as my friends start to get pregnant one by one!

Thank you very much to Paula at Little Texas Babes!

Please visit her shop and show her some love, and maybe do a little shopping while you're at it!

www.womanfreebies.com

Linking up to:






I came across this website tonight because of advertisements of an easter egg hunt! Basically you go to the site and click through the blog links, and if you find an egg , you win the prize! It's pretty neat, so I thought I would share. I'm totally going to continue playing around with it!

Review: Bravado Designs Essential Nursing Tank

During my pregnancy I did  a lot of research on feeding, both formula and breastfeeding, to try and choose what was right for me. I decided to go with breastfeeding, as I wanted to pass all the antibodies that I could to my sweet little girl. And hey! It's free! Once it was decided, I started looking around at nursing clothing, and came across Bravado Designs website. They had a bunch of bras and tanks to choose from, which was refreshing, as all I could find in the stores was maybe one or two options. 

I decided to order myself The Essential Nursing Tank in Black.

Below pictures come from the Bravado Designs Website:

 

The Essential Nursing Tank comes in a variety of colors, and comfortably fits and supports up to a G cup size! Not only that, but I find it to be the most flattering article of nursing wear I found. 

What Makes It So Special?

1.) It's got a built in bra, but not one of those crazy scrawny shelf bras that generally come in tanks.

2.) It's LONG! I don't know about you, but after my c-section, aside from feeling like death for a few days, I felt FAT. The length on this was perfect to cover everything without exposing any inch of my poor abused skin.

3.) The fabric is able to retain it's shape time and time again.

Mine was a double whammy, as I was able to wear it while I was pregnant as well, and it never got all funky shaped and useless!

Right now at Bravado Designs you can score this tank for $49.00 in the basic original colors (white, black, and chocolate) and the seasonal colors are on sale for $39.00 each. Occasionally it will show up on Baby Steals. I believe I paid $24.99 when it was their daily deal, but they go FAST!

A little on the pricey side? Yes, but it's so worth it. I had to quit breastfeeding about 1 month in, but I still wear this tank if I want to feel slender!

Versatile Blogger Award!

I was checking in on my blog the other day and noticed that I had gotten a comment from a fellow blogger Ashley from Keeping Up With The Joneses stating that she had nominated me for this award! I haven't received an award in quite some time because I was a bad bad neglectful blog-mommy! So this brightened my whole day basically!

Thank you Ashley!

So now, it's my turn to pass on this award. The rule is to pass it on to 15 wonderful blogs that you regularly follow, so here goes...

1.) http://team-t-adventures.blogspot.com/

2.) http://ashleysthriftyliving.blogspot.com/

3.) http://somedreamscometrue.blogspot.com/

4.) http://hisforhillman.wordpress.com/

5.) http://casbacreations.blogspot.com/

6.) http://diyshowoff.com/

7.) http://www.shasherslife.com/

8.) http://candacetodd.blogspot.com/

9.) http://mybeautifulcrazylifex33.blogspot.com/

10.) http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/

11.) http://ngowhitcombfamily.blogspot.com/

12.) http://blog.bitsybaby.com/

13.) http://twistedfate-rockinmama.blogspot.com/

14.) http://unskinnyboppy.blogspot.com/

15.) http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/

******

The next step is for me to share 7 random things about myself...


1.) I hate tomatoes. I will eat pasta sauce, salsa, ketchup etc, but the idea of eating a raw tomato makes my stomach turn.

2.) After having my first baby and getting through the rough first few weeks at home, I'm already thinking I want another one.

3.) 9 times out of 10 I will not buy something that isn't on the clearance rack unless I have a percentage off coupon to use. I'm a cheapo

4.) However, when it comes to clothes for Piper, I splurge!

5.) I'm terrified to go back to work on April 15th, even though I will only be working 32 hours a week, and 3 days max.

6.) Im also afraid that I will have forgotten how to properly cannulate a fistula/graft.

7.) When I first found out I was pregnant I was hellbent on naming my daughter Harlowe. Scott vetoed it, and that's how it wound up as her middle name!

******

Thanks again to Ashley for nominating me for this award!
If you were nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award please follow these rules:

1. Thank the person that gave you the award in a blog post.
2. Include a link to their blog in your post.
3. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers you follow.
4. Include 7 random things about yourself in your post.
5. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog.

Wubba-WHAT?!

They literally make everything for babies now. I have purchased and received gifts of things I had no idea even existed. And I love them. One such example? The Wubbanub. When I received this as a gift I kind of scoffed at it thinking it was just a silly gimmick to sell a pacifier for more money. But it's absolutely amazing, and a lifesaver at times. Especially in the car when I can't reach her to pop that paci back in!

 

Wubbanub

 Now what the heck is a Wubbanub you ask? The Wubbanub is an Avent soothie pacifier sewn into the mouth/head/front of a small stuffed animal. It comes in a variety of different animals and critters, and is meant to make it easier for baby to hold their pacifier in. It is super easy to clean, and it's hard to lose or forget baby's paci anywhere you go.

Grandma was nice enough to purchase the red dog Wubbanub for Piper from Babies R Us. 

As you can see, Piper approves!

Piper seemed so enamored with her "Wubby" as we've affectionately shortened it to, that I decided to get her a second one, so one could go in the diaper bag and one could stay at home. I wound up ordering this one from www.amazon.com.

Cute and definitely helpful! A toy and a soother all in one. These retail for anywhere from $9.99 to $14.99 from what I have seen, and can be purchased in stores at Babies R Us, and there is a very large selection of them on amazon.com. Piper seems to love them, and as silly as they may sound, they have definitely been worth the splurge!

Linking Up To :

Total Re-Vamp

Last night I went on a bit of a bender fixing up this old blog. I missed writing in it, and now that Piper is getting a little older, I have a little more time to play here. So I changed up the header and the buttons and etc. I like how it came out! Plus after almost 3 years I'm not sure it's fair to still refer to myself as a newlywed. Plus I am 100% in love with being a mommy!

That being said, I've recently discovered two AWESOME websites for moms and kids!

Zulily

AND

Totsy

Normally I am not a huge fan of these kind of websites, as they generally don't have anything that interests me, or the prices aren't as good as one is made to believe. However on both of those sites They have had HUGE blowout sales where I was able to get great merchandise for us at amazing prices! You can sign up at the links above, there is no financial obligation whatsoever!

My latest NON-baby oriented snags?

$6.50 at Totsy Blowout Sale

$6.75 at Totsy Blowout sale

Totsy's blowout sale is still going on for another couple days, but items are moving FAST!

Linking Up To:

Welcome Wednesday

I leave you with.....

A picture of a small, giggly little girl!

Baby Product Rave! Crane Cool Mist Humidifier!

When I first found out that I was pregnant, after the initial shock and doctors appointments and ultrasounds started tapering off and I became REALLY pregnant I began researching baby products. This became like a sick addiction to me, and I would spend hours at a time doing it, all while eating Freeze Pops by the truckload.

I had no idea that a humidifier was a recommended item for a new baby! After doing my research I came across the Crane Cool Mist Humidifiers. Not only are they affordable they are ridiculously cute. They have a variety of shapes and colors and animals. Sticking with our nursery theme we wound up purchasing this one on amazon.com

Mr Owl here provides moisture for nasal congestion, dry skin and cough, and sinus irritation. It is also super easy to fill, assemble, and start using, and is able to run on plain old tap water, although me being the nutcase that I am we use distilled water. This unit is quiet enough where it won't disturb sleep or make really freaky loud gurgling noises, and provides a minimum of 11 hours of moisture. The mist output can be controlled with the knob on the front of the unit, and when the water runs out, it has it's own safety shut-off feature!

If you can't tell I love the humidifier.

But as with anything, even the best products have a dud now and again. My first unit worked for about a week before it stopped producing mist. I was sad and disappointed in it's life span, so I decided to e-mail Crane's customer service department in my post partum wacky hormonal stage. Within a day they were back to me, and shipping a brand new unit my way, as we were still under warranty. 2 days after that initial e-mail, my new unit arrived via UPS. It's been going strong for 2 months now without a hitch! Their customer service team was amazing and helpful, and it's definitely nice to see a company that strives to keep their customers satisfied.

You can purchase these humidifiers at Babies R Us, Target, Home Depot, etc, however your best variety will be purchasing online!  One unit will run you about $40, but it's $40 well worth it!

2 Months? Already?!

My daughter is almost 10 weeks old! HOW did time move so fast? It's been a learning experience for sure, but I am loving every second of mommyhood. She recently began sleeping pretty solid through the night, which has been amazing for my mental health!

2 Months and rocking the air guitar'

Not much time to update today, but I will be updating soon with some useful information on baby products, mommyhood, and everything in between.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Being half irish and all, St Patrick's day is one of my favorite holidays. Not only is my favorite color (kelly green) EVERYWHERE, but I don't feel guilty drinking a Guinness in the middle of the day. Piper decided she needed to celebrate her St. Patrick's Day in style!

I'm glad I have such a fabulous little model at such a young age!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everyone!!

 Piper likes her bottle too ;)

I Have Someone I Would Like You To Meet

My little angel has finally arrived! Piper Harlowe made her entrance into this world on January 15th, 2012 at 6:03 PM, weighing in at 8 lbs even, and 19 inches long. I have never seen anyone so beautiful in my whole life. Hard to believe she is already one month old and thriving! Sorry it took so long to update, but it's been hectic with a newborn!

I was scheduled for an induction on 1.16.12. We were planning on that. Saturday I went and walked around stores with my mother for 4 hours, and then came back home. Cleaned house a little bit, and then laid down to re-read The Hunger Games. Just as the games were about to start in the book, BAM. I felt a weird gushing sensation, so I got up to go to the bathroom. My water had broken. It was 9 PM. My husband got everything together and in the car for the hospital while I called our mothers and my doctor.

We arrived at the hospital around 10 PM, and got settled into our room. I was still only dilated to a 1 at this time. They started me on pitocin, since my contractions were irregular and not progressing my cervix at all. They got them down to a nice pattern, but by the next morning at 7 AM I was only at a 3. They checked again at noon, and I was still at a 3, but my contractions were becoming painful, so they went ahead and gave me my epidural, which was HEAVEN. All I felt was little twinges of discomfort, and was finally able to get some sleep.

Cut to 4 PM. I was in and out of sleep when all of a sudden my contractions got HORRIBLY painful, and were all directed at my back on my right hip. I was literally screaming through an hour and a half of these, and we did everything we could to get me to progress further, but we were definitely stuck at a 5 and I was screaming and crying. I stayed like this for 90 minutes. 5:30 hit, my OB showed up at the hospital, and they took my BP and temperature, and I had managed to spike a fever of 101.2, which concerned them because at this point my water had broken about 21 hours prior, and they were worried about infection. So they gave me a dose of antibiotics, and told me that we were going to have to do a c-section, which broke my heart. I was really hoping to avoid surgery. At that point though, baby girl had to come out and we all knew it. And all I really wanted was a healthy baby in my arms.

They prepped me for surgery and gave my husband his scrubs to change in to. At 5:45 I was being wheeled off to the OR, where they gave me another dose of pain meds via the epidural since it had started wearing off. I wasn't even aware that they had made the first incision when my husband came to my side. He held my hand as I shook and shook and shook, and then all of a sudden we heard a HUGE baby cry, and my doctor say "Hey Hubby, did you want to see your little girl?" So he peeked over the sheet and the first words out of his mouth were "she has the chubby cheeks you were hoping for" and then he started crying. He went over to the babys side while they started stitching me up and 3 minutes later they walked the baby over to me and put her to my cheek. At this point I completely lost it and started sobbing.

The anesthesiologist snapped a couple pictures with my phone during our first meeting, and then they took Piper to the nursery to get measured and weighed, and hubby went with her while I stayed to get stitched up. As it would turn out, the reason I was unable to progress enough to deliver without a c-section was because my little darling had flipped sunny side up, and the way she was positioned her head was tipped back onto my back in my right hip. There was no way for her to get any further into the birth canal in order to put the necessary pressure on the cervix in order to dilate the rest of the way.

About 20 minutes later I was wheeled into my recovery room, and 15 minutes after that my hubby came in with a nurse and the baby in the bassinet. We immediately tried breastfeeding, which seemed to go really well. Then our parents came in to meet their new grand daughter.

So, long story short. Scheduled an induction for my due date, water broke 2 days before said induction and baby was born the night before her due date at 6:03 PM. 22 hours of labor ended in a c-section, but it doesn't matter now because I have the most precious gift in the world in return for it.

Mom Chop

For a while now I've been growing my hair out to do a donation haircut.  The time finally arrived and I couldn't be happier with the results. We chopped 9 inches of hair off, and it's been donated to the Pink Hearts Fund, which is a non-profit charity, provides free wigs for kids and adults who suffer from medical hair loss due to illness or cancer treatment.  I'm glad to know something as simple as getting a haircut can do someone else some good.

Plus now I'm totally ready for a newborn, now that there isn't as much to grab on to! Not the greatest photos, but they get the point across!

39 Weeks and Impatiently Waiting!

Everyone keeps saying I'm so close, I'm so close. It's almost time. I AM SO IMPATIENT! Everytime I see a baby picture my uterus starts twitching and I get all antsy. I cannot wait to meet this little person that I've been growing for 9 months!

Here is my 39 week and 1 day bump in all it's glory!

Check In:

• How far along?: 39 weeks and 1 days

• Total weight gain: I was up 30 lbs at my last appt on 12/21/11 - I would add maybe another 2 that will appear at tomorrow's appt.

• How big is baby?: Little one is the size of a watermelon this week, still. OB's weight guess-timate is 7 lbs 10 oz at birth. We shall see!

• Maternity clothes?: Clothes? Since being put on modified bedrest at 34 weeks it's all about yoga pants and maternity tops!

• Movement: Baby is a party animal. She's always moving. And with how little space she has to move most of said movements are actually a little painful at this point! She's not so much able to kick, but when she wiggles free and finds enough room to kick HOLY CRAP does it hurt.

• Stretch marks?: Not yet! Maybe this will be the one pregnancy symptom I can get away with not having!

• Sleep?: I am tired all the time. My sleep the last couple nights has been awful. I will fall asleep early, wake up 2 to 3 hours later, and not be able to fall back asleep until close to 5 AM. Thank goodness for Angry Birds.

• Symptoms?:Can't. Breathe. Shortness of breath has been terrible. I also have blinding lower back pain, and have been having contractions for 3 weeks. Heartburn is still in the running too, and restless leg hasn't gone away. And I literally ALWAYS have to pee. Always.

• Food cravings:  Popsicles are still my #1
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• Food Aversions: I love food.

• Belly button in or out?: Depends on little one's position! She moved lower the other day and I had an outie for a little while!

• What I miss: I miss having energy. I miss not looking like I swallowed a beach ball. I miss feeling good in general. And I miss being able to wear cute clothing.

• What I'm looking forward to: I am looking forward to meeting my little girl! I'm so impatient about it that I sometimes randomly burst into tears when she moves, not because it's irritating, but because I just want to hold her and snuggle her and love on her.

• Best Moment this week: Nothing new this week! Hoping to pop out a baby any day now!

38 Weeks Down The Hatch

I can't believe I'm under 2 weeks away from Baby Camera Happy's due date. On the same token, I cannot believe I'm still pregnant. It feels like I've been pregnant FOREVER. 

Barebelly Alert!

Bump picture from 1/3/2012

Check In:

• How far along?: 38 weeks and 2 days

• Total weight gain: I was up 30 lbs at my last appt on 12/21/11

• How big is baby?: Little one is the size of a watermelon this week

• Maternity clothes?: Clothes? Since being put on modified bedrest at 34 weeks it's all about yoga pants and maternity tops!

• Movement: Baby is a party animal. She's always moving. And with how little space she has to move most of said movements are actually a little painful at this point!

• Stretch marks?: Not yet! Maybe this will be the one pregnancy symptom I can get away with not having!

• Sleep?: I am tired all the time.However I am also uncomfortable to the point where I can't sleep worth crap. I can't breathe when I'm laying down, my back hurts when I'm propped up, and I don't have enough velcro to velcro myself to the wall so that I can sleep standing up.

• Symptoms?:Can't. Breathe. Shortness of breath has been terrible. I also have blinding lower back pain, and have been having contractions for 3 weeks. Heartburn is still in the running too, and restless leg hasn't gone away. And I literally ALWAYS have to pee. Always.

• Food cravings:  Popsicles are still my #1
• 
  
• Food Aversions: onions gross me out.

• Belly button in or out?: Still an innie, but it's completely flush with my belly.

• What I miss: I miss having energy. I miss not looking like I swallowed a beach ball. I miss feeling good in general.

• What I'm looking forward to: I am looking forward to meeting my little girl! I'm so impatient about it that I sometimes randomly burst into tears when she moves, not because it's irritating, but because I just want to hold her and snuggle her and love on her.

• Best Moment this week: Nothing new this week! I got my OB appt moved from tomorrow at 2, to today at 2. I also passed my CCHT exam for work, and can officially enjoy being off work without worrying about anything.