Merry Christmas to all

My say started at 5:30 am and is just finishing. Our girls decided to wake up very early this morning to see what Santa had brought. We then drove 2 1/2 hours to Porterville to spend the day with family. First up was my mom and grandma at noon. After we were done there we headed over to Nick's parents house. That is where we are now. Presents are all opened and our bellies are full. We will now be going to see Marley and Me.
What a day. I will write more and upload pictures later.

My Screening Appointment

Sunday evening the family drove up to Alameda. Lisa and Gerry were nice enough to let us stay at the house. I had an early morning flight and didn't want to make the drive at 4am. We were unlucky thought because Lachlan was asleep when we got there and still asleep when we left. Nick hasn't seen him since he was a day old and I don't think he believes me about how big he is.
So Monday morning we left the house at 6:45 and got to SFO at 7:30. My flight was at 8:30 so I got through security and grabbed a bite to eat. Nick and the girls planned on going to pier 39 to spend the day while they waited for me to get back.
I made it to my appointment 30 minutes early and got my blood work drawn. They stuck me in the room and told me to put on the paper gown. Let me tell you how comfortable those gowns are. My behind was starting to get cold when Dr. R came in. He asked me general health questions and about my birthing history. It changes so often I need to keep people updated, lol. Then came the wonderful exam. For the most part it wasn't bad but then came the saline ultrasound. For those of you who don't know what that is, look it up, this is a family read blog. According to the u/s my uterus looks great. Good size and nothing in there that shouldn't be.
After all was said and done with Dr. R I met with Anita, our nurse coordinator. She told me that as soon as my blood work came back and Nick's too that we would be cleared to wait until March. We went over what our calendar would be like and I am lucky enough to not have to use BCP's or lupron. So that means only PEO and estrogen. I am keeping track of my cycles so we will have a tentative date but we will know for sure whenn nI start my cycles in March. Day 19 + or - a few days will be the day I will transfer Rex and Penny's little sibling.

Get Together

So last night the girls and I went to visit with some friends. Jenn, Jess and Sarah were there with their kids. The three of them are also surrogates. It's nice to be able to talk to adults when you are home all day with kids but it is even better that they have been in my shoes. Not everybody truely understands why and how you can have a baby(ies) for another person. But these ladies can. And we talked about everything under the sun last night. Things I don't even talk to Nick about because I want him to still love me in the morning. :)
Even my girls had a good time. Trystan talked about Alex (Jess's little girl) all night. She kept telling me that she lived in Modesco (that is the way Trystan says Modesto) so we could see her and she could come to our house. Bailey was in heaven. There were kids there that would follow her and do whatever she said. She likes to be in charge, I wonder who she got that from, lol. She even got the kids to roast marshmallows in front of the gas fireplace.

December 15th

On this day I will start the process of making Rex and Penny a big brother and sister. The guys and I have been talking about the 5 embies they have frozen for a few months. It actually started while I was still pregnant with Lachlan. They were unsure if they would want to try and have another baby. Well when we visited with them in October the talks continued. But this time they were leaning more to the side of trying one more time.
So now we are going to try one more time. I will meet with Dr. R in LA on 12/15. From there we will begin the process. Sometime in March I will transfer the brother or sister of Rex and Penny and hopefully 2 weeks after that date I will be able to report that I am pregnant.

I'm going BALD!

After you have a baby youn reach a point where your hair starts to fall out. It's not so bad because during pregnancy you tend not to lose much hair.
I have a thick head of hair and when some falls out it's usually not a concern. The post-partum hair loss usually isn't bad either. Well my hair loss has gone to the extreme. I have been noticing more and more hair around the house, in the car, on my pillow, and definately in my brush and shower drain. Today I was drying my hair and realized I have a BALD patch. It's in the very front of my hairline and it looks horrible. The hair there has always been short, it doesn't grow very long, and thinner. Well now it is non-existant. I have had to reposition the part in my hair to cover this huge spot. I am hoping that the hair that is dormant will now start growing so my bald spot will soon be gone.

The week in review

Well since it's been a while I have a whole lot to update.
Last Monday I had my gallbladder removed. It had been giving me problems for almost a year now. I went to the hospital at 5:30am and left at 10:30am. It was a pretty easy recovery the only issue I had was a blown vein were my IV was. Good thing it was in my left hand. I have still been watching what I eat but not as carefully as I had to before. I have my final visit with my surgeon on Wednesday and hopefully I wont have to see him again.

Wednesday and Thursday Nick was off. So we did a majority of our Christmas gift shopping. Toys 'R Us had a lot of our business. They had a coupon in the paper that if you spent $75 you would receive a $10 gift card. Nick also got a gift card for buying a new video game, so now i have $35 in gift cards to Toys 'R Us ready to be used on another gift. We still have a few things to buy but mostly it's just stuff for each other that we can't get while we are together, lol.

Friday night the new shops at Vintage Fair Mall opened. They had a little parade with Santa and Mrs. Clause and a few different performances. There was an ice skating rink, hot air balloon rides and free kettle corn and donuts. I took our girls and one of Bailey's friends. They had fun. Trystan was so excited to see Santa that she couldn't stay still. Nick had her on his shoulders so she could see above the crowds and wouldn't get lost. Who knew there were so many people in Modesto. After the parade it was our turn to go ice skating. Well more like the girls turn. They had never been before so it was hilarious to watch them. We had a long day ahead of us so we didn't stay long after the skating.

Bailey had her soccer tourney on Saturday and Sunday. Her team the Hurricanes had finished the season in third place. They had two games on Saturday. The first game they played against a team that had beat them the two time they played. We won by 1 goal. It was nice to finally beat them. The second game went by fairly quick with another win. Sunday mornings game was another story. The girls were all tired and it was so early. The ground was soaking wet and so they were wet which made it even colder. We ended up losing by a goal because one of the refs made a mistake on a call which would have made the game tied. We had to wait for two more games to be played to see if we had made it into the finals. At 11:30am the coach called and said we were in the Championships. So with either a win or lose we still finished ahead of what we did during the season.
The game was supposed to start at 2:30 pm but did not start until 3:15pm. So our girls had been sitting in the sun waiting for over an hour to play. They gave it their all and played just like the coach had told them. They still lost. But hey second place is still better than third.
CONGRATULATIONS HURRICANES GIRLS U12 SOCCER!

And now for news on the surrogacy front. I spoke with the Bill's tonight. We had been talking for a few months now about doing a sibling journey but had not decided on anything. When we met up in Vegas they dropped of couple of hints but still no decision was made. Well tonight they finnally said they wanted to proceed. I am all up for making Rex & Penny a big brother and sister so of course I said yes. They are goinng to talk to all the necessary people and get finances in order andn we will try for another baby next spring.

$84 ice cream

I totally forgot to put this in my post about Vegas.

So after the concert we had two hours before we had to be back in the room. We decided to walk around Cesars. We didn't have any dessert at dinner so we ordered gelato. They had 5 different sizes. I didn't want to die so my mom and I shared the terminator. The guys got one each for themselves. Just so you know prices weren't listed anywhere near the gelato. You ordered first then walked down to pay. Well Bill also decided he was thirsty and got a bottled water. Then the girl said $84 and some change, I don't think the change part really matters. All of us looked at eachother and then back at her. She then decided to tell us that the terminator size cost $24.99. OMG! So 3 terminators and a bottle of water cost $84.

Vegas Baby

My mom and I took the girls to Las Vegas last week. We met up with the Bill's and the twins. Had a blast. We got there Wednesday afternoon and stayed at the Flamingo. That ninght we, the guys and my mom and I, went to the Elton John concert. OMG! It was great. No cameras were allowed so I didn't get any good pictures. But I tried with my phone and he looks like a little blob on the stage, lol. Throughout the concert there were videos playing on the screen, a different one for each song. I knew all but 3 songs and I think I was the youngest person there.

We also say Carrot Top at the concert. He has a show at the Luxor but I guess he decided that Elton was more entertaining.

Thursday we spent the whole day together. We went to Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef. The kids had a blast. My girls got to pet the rays and the horseshoe crabs. Penny tried her hardest to pet them but her arms were to short. Then we had lunch at their buffet. Dr. Bill met us during hos lunch break. Sooo much food, and it was good. We sat there for for about an hour and a half until we were all tired and needed a nap.

That afternoon the girls went swimming with the Bill's and the twins, I would have went but after two back to back pregnancies my body just wont fit into a swim suit. The pool was supposed to have been heated but the twins and the girls ended up purple after about 20 minutes. So we got out and headed back to our rooms. We decided to meet up for dinner at Rainforest Cafe so we could celebrate Trystan's birthday.

We got there and they immediately had a thunder storm. Rex was so excited. The animals were all going wild and he was copying them all. There were tons of kids there and may I say mine were the most well behaved. The group next to us actually let their kids run around climbing on things and picking eachother up. We ate our dinner and then had a volcano brownie for dessert. Trystan got to blow out the candle and they sang Happy Birthday to her. She opened her gift from the guys and a part of her gift from me. The night had come to an end and we all were exhausted.

Friday morning we met up for a goodbye breakfast. We had to make our way home and the guys were heading to Flagstaff to meet up with some friends. It was so great to see them. It had been 14 months since the last time we visited. They have gotten so big, but I guess that's what kids do.

Gall Bladder Attack

This past weekend was a little rough. Thursday afternoon Nick and I went to lunch at Round Table. Had me some hawaiian pizza and a salad. About 2 hours later the tummy started to hurt. Figured I had to poo (sorry this may be a TMI post). Well did my business in the bathroom and felt a bit better. Then it hit, and I mean like a mac truck. I took my pain pills in hopes that they would work. After about half an hour I went and layed in the shower. Warm water usually helps me relax and it did it's job. So I got out to take another pill because the first ones were wearing off. Well about 10 minutes after taking the pill (TMI coming) I started shaking and threw up all over the toilet. Mostly in it but my aim isn't the best with my eyes closed. So off the the ER we went.
I needed pain control at this point and since I couldn't keep anything down figured it was going to come from a shot. We got there and signed in. How come the time you really need to get seen fast the whole city is also in the ER? So they call me back and I explain whats going on. The nurse is a total B*tch. She talks down to me and then proceeds to tell me that they can't do anything for me except give me pain meds because I don't have a primary care physican. HELLO, I just moved to Modesto what am I supposed to do.
So needless to say I still have my gallbladder and have an appointment with my surgeon in Fresno on Wednensday. I am not sure of what is going to be done but I can tell you I want the stones gone. My pain lasted for 3 days and I couldn't enjoy anytime with my family this weekend. But we are going to Vegas in 8 days so hopefully it can nbe done quick or it will have to wait.

NO on Prop 8

My Hatchlings

Mean Mom

Well they didn't actually come out and say it but I knew they were thinking it. You could see it in their faces as all the toys on the floor went into the trash bag.
I have been having problems with them keeping their room clean and have threatened to take all their toys away but I've never followed through. Well I had enough tonight. First I said if they had it clean by 5pm (this was at 4:30) hen they would be able to play Guitar Hero. Well 5 came and went. Then they started wanting to go outside. I said the room had to be cleaned. 6 o'clock came and I said no dinner until the room was clean. Well at 7 they both came out of the room and I thought maybe it had been cleaned. NOPE! I told them to get back in there and clean or it was bedtime with no dinner and the toys would be gone. The fighting began.
So I followed through. They are in bed, did not get dinner (had a snack at 3 of apples and peanut butter) and their most prized possessions (the toys) are in a trash bag sitting by the door to be put outside. They are going to have to earn each toy back and I'm not sure if I want to give them back. I hope they see that keeping their room clean allows them to keep their stuff.

Lisa sent pictures

Today in my inbox I had an email from Lisa. She uploaded pictures of Lachlan who is now 7 weeks. My time does fly. I let her know that she needed to talk to him and let him know that he needs to stop growing. If he doesn't I may get the urge to get pregnant again (not our baby) too soon. So here are some picturs of the big boy.

Soccer Saturday

As usual we had soccer yesterday. Trystan's game was bright (well cloudy) and early at 8am. We arrived and set up our chairs and the girls practiced for a couple of minutes. She was playing a team that had jersey's that were fluorescent green. They were so bright it didn't matter that the sun was nowhere to be found. The game started and Trystan was at the back of the pack. I think she just likes to run around the field. She's not really into taking the ball away from the other girls so she can kick it. So we let her be. Well at half time she was out on the field practicing again and was going up and down the field dribbling. Her coach saw her and asked why she didn't do that during the game. He told her that she could take the ball away from the other team. So that is what happened. She took the ball away twice and scored two goals. They happened to be in the other teams goal but at least she played the game.
We didn't get to stay for her entire game because Bailey had pictures so we left about 5 minutes early. But I didn't have a problem with leaving because the sprinkles had started. We got Bailey to pictures on time but they were running behind so we had to wait. As we were waiting the sprinkles turned into full on monsoon rain. There was really no place to keep dry so everybody at the park that didn't have umbrellas were under the trees. The rain was coming down so hard that the trees didn't do much. After about half an hour pictures were done and the rain had slowed. So off to Target to buy a shirt for Bailey to put under her jersey and water.
Bailey's game was at 10:30 and we had to be there at 10. Trystan and I set up the chairs again and had our snack. Her game started on time and the sky's had started to clear. Her team is playing really well together and scored 3 goals the first half. Bailey played left defender and they didn't allow any goals and only one shot. The second half the other team scored almost right away but then no more shot were allowed. We scored one more time and the sun came out. So it was a good ending to a day that had it's ups and downs.

Mrs. David

Bailey is now in the fifth grade. She is in a total imersion GATE class. This is the first time she is in this type of class. Last year her GATE program was twice a month being taken out of her regular class.
She is doing very well in Math and Spelling. A's in both of them just like last last year. Writing she is struggling in, just like last year as well. She is refusing to do work and once she decided against it there is no use in trying to get her engaged again. Mrs. David asked if this was something she has done before and I let her know its not new. But she is determined to get thru to Bailey and hopefully get her to enjoy writing.
Bailey is reading a lot right now too. She is reading the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. It has taken her most of the summer and now she is on the last book. Once she is done I don't know what we are going to do to keep her entertained.

Meeting with Mrs. Halsey

Wednesday afternoon Nick and I met with Trystan's teacher. I didn't know what to expect out of Trystan, so everything she told us was a surprise (well almost everything).
A little background.
When she was 2 we started getting concerned about her speech. She babbled a lot but very few of her words were understandable. Then started the testing. First it was hearing. Perfectly fine. Next was cognative. She could understand everything we said. After that was done it was decided that she just had speech difficulties. We then started speech therapy. She was 3 at the time. Three times a week for a year, then starting prechool and going twice a week really improved her language. Her prechool teachers commented on how much she had improved and Mrs. Halsey said she didn't even think she needed to go to speech therapy.
So back to Wednesday.
Trystan is excelling in her class. She has reached the kindergarten standard in almost all areas. We are now working on site words to learn how to read. She does have one problem though. She is very social. Especially when they are supposed to be listening to the teacher. So we decided that she should be moved closer to the front of the carpet so that she wouldn't have as many distractions. Hopefully that works and we are on our way to first grade.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Minimum days this week and no school tomorrow.

Off to Vegas

Four weeks a little less than 28 days and I get to see the Bill's, Rex & Penny. My mom, the girls and I will be driving to Las Vegas to meet up with them. We are going to arrive Wednesday morning and spend the day with them. Then Wednesday night the four adults will be going to the Elton John concert. We will be there all day Thursday taking in the sites and celebrating Trystan's birthday. Then back home on Friday. I can't wait.
The twins will be almost 20 months. The last time we saw them in person they were 6 months. So quite a big difference.

The passing of Mr. Bean

Tonight my mom called me crying. She had ran over our cat. We had him for 14 years. His mom was our cat. My grandpa brought her home for the prison that he worked at. She was just a kitten. Pure black with bright yellow eyes. Her third litter of kittens the only one that survived was Mr. Bean (he was the only one that survived out of all of her litters) He was the best cat. Looked just like his mom except he was fluffier.
In the 14 years we had him he moved with us four times. He never left us for longer then a day or so and would often bring us presents when he came back. Thank you Bean for the birds and squirrels left on our door step. In his last few months his health had been deteriorating. He had a few seizures and would be paralyzed for a few days after. I am thinking that he had one of these seizures tonight and that is why he wasn't able to move when my mom pulled into the driveway.My mom is very upset over this. I wish I had been closer so that I could have gone to comfort her but all I had was the phone.

Goodbye Mr. Bean you will be missed by your family.

Pics of the surro babes

Today in my email I received pictures of Rex & Penny. They are 19months. I am going to Vegas at the end of October to visit with them & the Bill's. It will be the first time I will seen them since they were 6months old.


On Monday the family took a drive to Dublin and met up with Lisa & Lachlan. Here are a few new picts of the 11 pounder.

I have decided

So one of my least favorite chores is doing laundry. There are too many steps to actually complete the task.

1. seperate laundry
2. load washer
3. wait for washer to be done (during this time it's usually another chore being done)
4. unload washer (seperate out clothes that need to be hung dry)
5. put dryer sheet in dryer, clean lint filter turn on dryer
6. wait (again)
7. unload dryer
8. fold clothes
9. put clothes away

Well now I am skipping step 7. I will fold clothes directly out of the dryer. I find that this helps with the full laundry basket of clean clothes that never gets folded or put away. So hopefully this lasts and I can keep on top of the laundry.

Soccer Again

Another weekend of soccer.
We (meaning me and the girls as Nick had to work this morning) were up bright and early to get everybody ready, fed and at the soccer field this morning for Bailey's game. It was a brisk morning but it felt like real soccer weather. Trystan and I set up our chairs and sat down to wait for the game to start, that was the last time I sat. Once the game was going it was nonstop action. This was the first game of the season that I thought the girls actually played together as a team.
Bailey was on defense the whole game and did extremely well. She blocked a couple of really good shots by a girl that was a good six inches taller than her and all over bigger. By the end of the first half she was pooped and rightly so. Her team won the game 10-3 and they were all so happy (it was their first win).
Trystan's game was much of the same as last time. 10 little girls chasing the ball like a swarm of bees. It's too cute.

What do I want to be?

I have not figured that out yet. I have had many ideas but none of them have ever come to fruition. I just want to do something that I enjoy. So for now I stay at home and take came of my family.
I am a few units away from completing my BS in Kinesiology but now I don't know what I would do with my degree. I took a certification course to become a doula but after my most recent birth I am not sure that I would be able to help a woman during one of the most painful (yet rewarding) times in her life. I once thought I could be a personal trainer, but I think I would need to be fit first. Now I am thinking I would like to take up photography. I think it will have to start as a hobby, as I should concentrate on my girls and school (at least until I graduate). But maybe if I become good enough someday people will pay me.

I want to move back

Well we have been in Modesto for about a month now. I have tried to get used to the place. It's not that bad and there is quite a big group of surrogates and IM's around so we can get together time to time. I just don't feel like this is our home. I know it takes time to get used to a new place but I don't remember it being this bad when we moved to Kansas City. I think we were far enough from family that I knew we wouldn't be able to see them and then we moved back to Fresno and we were so much closer, only an hours drive. But now we are just far enough that driving is a pain in the @$$. Six hours round trip as opposed to two.
I do know that we aren't going to be here for long but I don't know where we are going to end up. I want to be home. Wherever that may be. I want my own house that I can paint and decorate any way I want. I want a front yard that I can plant flowers in. I want a back yard that has trees and grass and maybe even a dog house. I want a place that the girls feel safe going outside to play or ride thier bikes or make friends. Is that too much to ask?
I feel like that place could have been in Fresno/Clovis. But now Nick has obligations and we don't know if we will ever go back or have to find a new place to be comfortable in. I just needed to get that out. Maybe now I can try to make this place a bit more like home, nah.

Soccer Mom

So I am a soccer mom. I have been for 4 years now. I do NOT drive a van. This is the first year that I am having to juggle game schedules though. Trystan plays on an under 6 team. They don't practice during the week. Their practice is during game time. The first 30 minutes is practice and then they have 2-15 minute halves. She likes it so what so I have to complain about.

Bailey is now on an under 12 team in division 'A'. She is the youngest on her team but she is doing good. I had to miss her game today but Nick was able to be there. We split games and the next time they play at the same time I will go watch Bailey and Nick will watch Trystan.

I was able to take pictures of Trystan and next week we will get some of Bailey. Enjoy the show.

I missed the first day of school

I had my summer planned out. Nick started his new job in Modesto in July so he had to move. The girls and I stayed in Clovis until August when they went to stay with my mom and I went to stay with Brooke. I needed to be near the hospital so I could deliver Lachlan and not have to drive an hour and a half. Well my due date came and went along with my plans to be in Modesto for the girls' first day at their new school.

I actually deliverd 36 minutes before they were supposed to start school. When I came home Nick had been taking them to school and did for two weeks so that I could recover. Then I had my first day of school.

So two weeks late but I decided that I would have my own first day. Here are their pictures. Bailey is now in the 5th grade and Trystan just started kindergarden.

Had lunch

Today I met up with Lisa and Lachlan for lunch. WE met in the middle at a Chilies. I got to hold him for most of lunch, I had to give him back to his mom so I could finish eating. He has gotten bigger but he is still so small. I am used to my girls who are bigger than average and not to mention the are way past the baby stage. He gain 1 whole pound in two weeks, so he is up to 9lbs 14oz. He has chunky little arms, which I have decided are cute as an infant and toddler but not a 28 year old woman.
Lisa and I talked about life, well mostly Lachlan's day to day business. We also talked about the whole Sarah Palin, republican, crazy election stuff. I have tried to stay away from anything republican related lately so she let me in on a few of the things that have been said during the convention. I just wish there was a presidential nominee that had my exact same views so I wouldn't have to even think about who I would vote for.
Then to finish off lunch I was able to feed the little guy. It took him a while but I got him to wake up and actually drink it. During the bottle feeding he decided he need to do some business. Well his business decided it did not want to be contained within the diaper and ended up all over my hand. So I get to walk through Chilies holding a baby with one arm so I don't smear poo all over him with the other. What a fun time.
We said our goodbyes and I gave Lisa the milk I have pumped for the past week and a half. I know Lachlan enjoys it, why else would he be refusing formula now, so that's why I keep pumping.

New haircut

Yesterday I was left all alone. My grandma came and picked up the girls for the weekend and Nick had to work. I was bored so what did I do? That's right I cut my hair. I didn't do too bad either. I guess my hormones got the best of me but at least I'm not a ball of tears. I needed something to make me feel better about myself. I don't fit in regular clothes yet and I don't think I will anytime soon so a haircut was what I needed. I will post before and after pics when I find a good before and take an after.

Visited the baby

Today was a fun day. Well the first half I slept through, allergies, but after we picked the girls up from school we drove and hour and a half to visit L and his momma. He is now 9 days old and only 2oz lighter than when he was born. He looks a lot smaller to me than when I had him but maybe that because I pushed a bowling ball out of my whoohaa. He was alseep when we arrived but had to wake up because he was hungry. The girls wanted to love on him but since they had just started school we only let them look, didn't want to get him sick yet. He only stayed awake long enough to get a bottle and poo but I still got to hold and cuddle with him. We ate dinner and talked for a while and then it was time for us to go. But not before I woke him up again, and let him poo too. So we spent about 4 hours with them today and I am glad I was able to. No crying for me either, so in all it was a good day.

My weekend

so I celebrated my 28th birthday yesterday. I am pretty sure I was the only one who didn't make a big deal of it. It was just another day to me, making me one year closer to 30. Nick had to work so me and the girls just roamed the house all morning. My phone rang at least 10 times before I even got out of bed and I got 3 texts because I wasn't answering. We went out to dinner at a mexican restaurant and I had my first alcoholoc beverage (a pina colada) since my birthday last year. My brother thought he should tell me that drinking was a much better habit than having babies. But I'm not so sure, lol.
I didn't let anybody know what I wanted for my birthday, because I really didn't want anything. But Nick wouldn't just let it be, he had to buy something. So he got me a new pair of sunglasses and the girls got me a giftcard to Starbucks. They also love to get the cards that play music. So I got two of those. I would have been happy with the cards but I am glad that I was remembered on my birthday as well.
Today my parents came up for the afternoon. They hadn't been here since we moved so we took them around to see the girls new school. We drove around for a bit and then headed out to lunch. We had a nice lunch and then my mom decided to let our server know that it was my birthday. I'm not one for public humiliation but I guess nobody minded. At least I got a peice of cake out of it.

The birth of Lachlan Alexander

It all started Sunday August 17. I woke up at 8 to use the bathroom, one of the many times I had to pee since I was 41weeks 3days pregnant. I stood up getting out of bed and felt what I thought was my water breaking. I got to the bathroom and went to sit down when I realized that it wasn’t my water but a large gush of blood. I immediately thought the worse and yelled for my husband to wake up. I got in the shower to wash myself off and asked for a glass of orange juice to see id I could get the little guy to move. So Nick called Lisa to let her know what was going on and we headed to the hospital. I had been in Modesto with my family but was going to deliver in Clovis an hour and a half away. So Modesto’s hospital was the best choice for us given the options. When we got there I was hooked up to the monitor and waited. After about 4 hours we were seen by the ER doc on call and she consulted with the OB on call. They decided that since I was not actively bleeding and that I did not want them to perform a c-section they would release me. I was given instructions to go directly to Clovis and to go the hospital and let them know what had happened. So off we went. Nick packed the girls up and all four of us headed to Clovis with Lisa and Gerry following behind.
We arrived at 3:30 and were put on the monitors yet again. The doctors would be changing shifts at 5 so as soon as the new doctor came on she came to visit us. We had good readings on the baby by this time and no more bleeding except for during cervical exams. I was told that she wasn’t going to release me though because of the bleeding. We were going to have a baby either VBAC or by c-section. But I wasn’t in labor. So the doctor gave me the option to wait it out or break my water as I really wanted to VBAC. I made the decision to break my water and see if that would bring on labor. So I called my doula, Katie, and she came down to the hospital. Nick brought the girls in so they could see me before they had to head back to Modesto for the first day of school the next morning. And at 7:15 or so Dr. K broke my water.
I sat on the ball for about an hour before contractions started. Then I went to the bathroom and a pretty big gush of my water came out. That’s when things started to pick up. I was able to talk through most of the contractions and then the pain started. It was all on my cervix, I knew he would be OP as both of my girls had been OP so it was just intuition. At about 10:30 or so I started shivering, but I wasn’t cold, which I thought must be transition. Well my body was playing a trick on me because I was only at a 2, 50% effaced and -2 station. So I tried to not let that bother me and let my doulas help me get this baby out. We changed positions, sitting, hanging, hands and knees. And the contractions kept coming, faster, longer, harder. Then about 2 hours later I was able to get into the shower, and relax just enough to make my brain decide how to go about the rest of my labor. I was checked again and had made a bit of progress but not what I needed to make me think this baby was coming any time soon. I was only at a 4, 80% and 0 station. So I asked for some IV meds and they didn’t help at all. My body did not want to relax, I was tired, and really wanted all of this to be over. That’s when I decide the best way for me to have this baby was to get an epidural. My main goal was to VBAC but if I was able to do it with no meds it would have been an extra. So at 1:30 on Monday morning the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. He was a jerk but without him I don’t believe I would have delivered vaginally. He proceeded to tell me that he had been waiting for 3 hours for me to call him in. He had been listening to me yell and was just waiting. If I had been able to get out of the bed at that time I would have punched him in the nose.
From then on my labor was pretty uneventful. I relaxed and was able to get some sleep between getting my blood pressure taken every half hour. My IP’s, doula and I talked off and on about the Olympics and just waited. I started making progress again and by 7am I was fully dilated and ready to push. But my body decided it was time for a rest and my contractions slowed to about every 7-8 minutes. So with each contraction that I could feel I would push to get him down. Once his head was in view I had one contraction with three pushes and he popped out face up. Katie said his cheeks were so cute as he was looking up. I didn’t get to see but I believe her.
Lisa was the first to hold her son. We waited for his cord to stop pulsing and then she was able to share her beautiful son with everybody. The whole time I was so happy that we had finally brought this little guy into the world. Lisa & Gerry both had glossy eyes and at that moment I knew how they felt seeing their baby for the first time.
So here are the stats: 8lbs 14oz and 19in long, he came into the world at 7:49 am on August 18th, 2008 almost 24 hours after it all began.

My first entry

So I've blogged a bit on myspace but I've never had an actual blog. This will be very interesting to see how this all pans out.