Tucker's Newborn Pics + an Update

I finally have a chance to share the sweet pictures of my precious boy. Our mornings have been kind of rough the last few days... and that's because our nights have been rough. We're back on a good schedule though so hopefully we have less and less rough nights.

Anywho, the real reason you are here... the pictures.  Tucker didn't love having his picture taken, so we couldn't get many different poses.  The kid hates to be naked.

 

That last one is my absolute favorite. I fall more and more in love with this precious little bundle every single day.

 

Now for an update. Last time I left off saying surgery may or may not be in my future. Went to my OB last Monday, so the 23rd, where I got an antibiotic, pain meds and a referral to the general surgeon. Monday night I took another Epsom salt bath and it started drawing out the infection and the cyst started draining. Exactly what I was after. Tuesday morning around 2am, my mom and Danny were picking me up off the bathroom floor after I passed out. This happened when I had the cyst in high school. I don't know if its from the pain or what, but it causes me to pass out. After crying hysterically then getting a little sleep, Danny took me to the ER where they lanced and drained the cyst the rest of the way. It hurt WAYYYY less than the surgery and I felt better almost immediately. I kept my appointment with the surgeon and he said I do not need surgery. Thank the lord! I kind of wanted to kiss him. The bad news of all this, my milk supply took a hit. I think the combination of the stress and just not nursing because I couldn't get comfortable no matter what I did caused it. I'm doing all I can to get my supply back.. oatmeal, fenugreek, mother's milk tea, water... all of it.

 

That is all for now. I'd share my resolutions/goals for 2014, but I have only thought of 2 so far.

 

Lets talk about the 2 moments where I've wanted to cry in public. Saturday Danny and I went on a date. His mom watched Tucker and we went to Outback. After we went to Kohls to get Tucker some more clothes so he didn't look like a bum all the time. I'm paying and the cashier asks WHEN I'M DUE! I cut her some slack because we were buying newborn stuff and when I told her the baby was actually 3 weeks old you could tell she felt like an asshole. We went grocery shopping yesterday and I'm not sure what brought this one on, but the bag boy said something along the lines of "wow you have one already and you've got another one on the way?" Are you freaking serious?! Its sweats and hoodies from now until I lose the rest of the weight.

 

Hope you all have a SAFE and happy new year! Its just Tucker and I tonight. Danny works tonight. I bet I'm asleep by 9.. and then up again as the ball is dropping. Ahhh, life with a newborn!

How things have been going

I'm back for a hot second. Depending on how my appointment at the doctor goes today.. I'll get to that in a minute.

Life with Tucker has been wonderful. I wouldn't say that we've settled into a routine or anything though, because our days and nights are exhausting still. Little man lost 20% of his birth weight, which is an absolute shit ton. We went back to the hospital for weight checks the Monday and Tuesday after he was born. The weight check on Tuesday resulted in a 3.2 oz gain.. and admittance to the peds floor for 2 nights for jaundice. This mama was an absolute mess due to exhaustion, hormones and just feeling bad. I couldn't help but feel like I was responsible for him feeling bad, but there wasn't really anything I could do. Plus the pediatrician that broke the news to me, over the phone during a rare nap, had about 0 tact when he did it.

After a night and half the next day on the bili-bed, Tucker's levels went down about as quickly as they went up and we were home Thursday afternoon. So, that was his first week of the outside world.

During the first weight check, the lactation consultant put us on a feeding schedule to help put the weight back on. Tucker eats every 2-3 hours. He was nursing for 10 minutes and no more than 10 to conserve calories then he would eat an ounce through a syringe. This require me to pump at every feeding, even the ones during the wee hours of the night. We even did this when he was on the bili-bed, without the 10 mins of nursing to maximize time under the lights. Now that he's gaining so well and has gotten up to 6 lbs again, we're nursing as long as he wants then giving him no less than 1.5 oz. I'm happy to say he is nursing like a champ and as of this past Saturday, he has 4.2 ounces to go until he reaches birth weight. I'm hoping at that point we can let him sleep during the night. The kid would sleep at least 4 or 5 hours if we let him. But we can't.

Tucker has been a champ during our outings. We've been to Lowe's, Target, and out to eat a couple of times. We even went to church Saturday evening and he maybe made one peep when his paci fell out of his mouth then again when he wanted his bottle. Other than that, perfect!

Onto this doctors appointment I talked about. I've been in serious pain for the last week. Not the post partum pain. But pilonidal cyst pain. Its basically a cyst in the tailbone region, you know, the part of your ass that you sit on... and that you sit on a lot when you have a kid attached to your boob every 2-3 hours every day. Sometimes these cysts get infected and they hurt. They hurt bad. I had one of these when I was a senior in high school and had is surgically removed and this is where this gets gross. When you have it surgically removed, the hole has to be left open and packed with gauze twice a day so it can heal from the inside out. Worst pain of my entire f'ing life. I'm talking I was on hydros, with a pain patch while that thing was being numbed with lidocaine. That bad.  My mom always said that after going through that, childbirth would be a breeze. She was right. Granted, I had an epidural, but I felt contractions at all 10 centimeters. I'm hoping and praying surgery isn't my only option. That would be a shitty Christmas, a shitty maternity leave, and likely no more breastfeeding since I'd have to be pretty doped up all day everyday. There are easier procedures that are still painful but not as invasive. I'm kinda just hoping the doc can give me some antibiotics to clear up the infection and we'll be good. I've been taking Epsom salt baths and they seem to be drawing the infection out. We'll see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I've literally been crying off and on since Thursday because that surgery scares me that bad. Anyone have any experience with these awful things? I need to hear about it.

That's how things have been going so far. I can't believe that Tucker will be 3 weeks old this week. Absolutely crazy! I'll get his newborn pics up sometime. We got them back on Friday and ooooh they are adorable. We couldn't get many because he wasn't loving being nakey, but we got enough :) here's a little preview

Hope you all have a merry, merry Christmas!
I'll keep you all updated on the cyst situation.

Tucker's Birth Story

Bessie has some time while she is being milked to type up a post about Tucker's arrival. Danny has called me Bessie the Cow since last Sunday when I started pumping. 

Let's start with Tuesdays doctors appt. shall we. My BP was still high but not high enough to warrant an induction, so my OB sent me to L&D for an NST and blood work. She also checked my cervix... Which was maybe a finger tip dialated but soft. NST and bloodwork were fine so we were sent along our merry way and I was to continue modified bed rest. This is when Danny said " you know that we'll be back tonight even though she said nothing's happening and you're fine right?" 

Wednesday at 3 am I get up to pee for th 2nd time. As I'm walking out of the bathroom, I feel a gush. I back to the toilet thinking I'm pissing myself, only to find that the gush won't stop! It donned on me that my water had broke and it was go time. I woke Danny up (who started fa-reaking out!), showered and headed to the hospital calling Danny's sister who is an OB nurse at the hospital (we'll call her Aunt D for this post). 

Once we got to the hospital, Danny calmed down and we got checked in. About 10 minutes later, one of my friends moms had her hand up my vag checking to see if I was dialated at all. Surprisingly not as awkward as one might think. When she couldn't find my cervix, Aunt D gave it a shot. Within 30 minutes of being in labor my sister-in-law and a friends mom had seen and felt my goods. All modesty was gone. I was maybe a 2-3 cm at 6 am. Aunt D came back around 8, still no change. We were told to start making laps in the hall and she would check again in a couple hours and if no progress had been made pitocin would need to be started at 11 since my water was already broke. 10 rolled around and no progress. The Pit was started and shit got real. 

Contractions got stronger and stronger and I was trying to wait as long as I could to get the epidural. Only 2 hours had gone by since the Pit was started so I didn't think I could have made much profess, but was in some serious pain. It was time for drugs and boy were they nice. After the epidural kicked in , Aunt D came into check me and starts laughing. I was fully dialated. "No wonder I was in so much f**king pain!" That's the kind of thing you can say when your sister-in-law is your nurse. She gave me the option to start pushing or take a quick 30 minute nap. I opted for the nap because I knew once pushing started I would need energy and the hours after that would be a blur. Well, about 10 minutes later she comes back and says "just kidding. She (my OB) wants you to push now" 

After an hour and 20 minutes of pushing and feeling like my head was going to explode at any given moment, I was close enough the dr needed to come over. It was really nice to be able to get through the hard part with my husband and his sister. Once the dr got there, I think I pushed twice and the next thing I knew this beautiful baby boy was laying on my chest. That part happened very fast. 

Our lives changed forever in the second. My favorite part about all of it so far has been watching Danny with Tucker.  Listening to him try to calm or watching them snuggle are just a couple if things that make my heart melt.

 Diesel has been pretty funny with him too. Initially he was actually kind of afraid of Tucker. Now they kind of just coexist. Which is fine since Diesel could easily be rough with him and so far (knock on wood) that hasn't happened. 

 



 

Tucker arrived at 2:31pm, after 11.5 hours of labor (not bad for a rookie ;) ) weighing 6 pounds 6.8 ounces and 19.5 inches long.

 

 

Later this week I'll recap his first week of life, some of which was spent in the hospital. 

Tucker Paul is here!!

On Tuesday when I said if you don't hear from me it's because I'm having a baby, I really thought I was joking. Especially since hours after that my doctor said I wasn't dialated at all. 

Tucker had other plans and I went into labor 12 hours later. 

Christmas came early and Tucker Paul arrived Wednesday afternoon at 2:31 weighing 6lbs 7oz and 19.5 inches long. Although he is early, he is doing amazing! 

We are over the moon and so happy that he is here and healthy! Mommy and daddy are head over heels in love! 

I'm sure it's no surprise that I'll be a little absent over the next couple weeks as I enjoy this little bundle of joy. I'm sure I'll keep Instagram (erinshell10) updated with photos because I can't get enough of him. Make sure to follow along, until you get sick of baby pics, which I'm not sure how you could get tired of seeing that face. 

See you all in a week or so. :)

Thanksgiving Weekend Highlights

So I skipped out on blogging yesterday. Mondays are becoming rough, even more so when you're coming off a 4 day weekend where you're running yourself ragged one day then doing absolutely nothing the next. I'm one of those people that needs a steady flow of activity. I don't like running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but if I spend an entire day doing nothing but watching tv/playing on the computer, the next day is rough. It takes a while to get going. This was even true for not pregnant Erin.

So Thanksgiving. This is how this that marathon day went: Breakfast at Danny's moms at 9, got home around 11:15 to make dirt pudding and pecan poppers (they were like mini pecan pie muffins, delish!), lunch at Danny's dads at 1, make a 2 hour visit to Danny's bonus fam from 3:30-5:30ish, drive to Anderson to see Gram at the nursing home, leave there at 6:30 to make it back to our house to have dinner with my mom, brother and his girlfriend and eat at 8ish. Not even kidding, that was our day.

Friday I paid for it. My mom and I had plans to work on finishing Tucker's room, which is vital now since he could arrive sooner rather than later. Yeah... we didn't do that. We watched tv, I napped, my mom cleaned my kitchen, we visited Danny for a blood pressure check, ordered dinner and watched a movie. I wouldn't trade that whole day lounging with my mom for anything. Its been a long time since we've done that.

Saturday was Thanksgiving with my dad's family. We arrived 15 minutes late and everyone was waiting on us to eat. I felt bad for about a second. Its not my fault that their Thanksgiving meal depended on green bean casserole. It was a good time though and I was relieved because holidays with them can go one of 2 ways: really great or bad and since I am 9 months pregnant and can't drink I wasn't sure what to expect.

Saturday night was the Diaper Party for Danny/Egg Nog Extravaganza. My brother (with only a little bit of help) threw the diaper party for Danny and the Egg Nog Extravaganza is a party that we host every Christmas season. It was such a good time. A lot of our friends came, we got a great start on diapers and I even got to see my mother-in-law drunk. We are a lucky little family for sure!

I got my shirt at Motherhood Maternity. It says "All I want for Christmas is you Baby" Perfect for a Christmas party!

Sunday wasn't too busy. We had lunch with some friends and then we had Danny's grandpa's Christmas dinner. Afterwards we went and picked out our Christmas tree.  Danny helps the guy that sells them unload them every year, so we get ours for free. And it gets better... I got to pick out a wreath for our front door and that was free too. All we had to pay for was a grave pillow for my dad and the tree juice. Not too bad for a couple hours of Danny's time.

After all of THAT, its no wonder I was exhausted yesterday. Today its off to the doctor for a blood pressure check. If you don't hear from me, its because I'm off having a baby.

36 weeks & the "Oh Shit" appointment

Bumpdate on a Wednesday? Yep! These posts are numbered, and shits getting real, so I didn't want Thanksgiving to interrupt the regular scheduled programming :)



Baby size: Honeydew
Any symptoms?  back pain, more frequent swelling, horrible sleep, carpal tunnel, high blood pressure
Cravings? cheeseburger, cheesecake
Favorite part this week? getting things mostly ready for his arrival
Least favorite part this week? my wedding/engagement rings are officially off
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker Paul it is!!

So, our appointment yesterday was interesting. Lets start with me sitting on the couch before I left for it. I had this feeling that I should put my bag in the car, but I talked myself out of it and chalked it up to me being ridiculous. I arrived at the hospital where my doctor is and I run into Danny's cousin who is really close to us in age and has 2 children. She's all, "how are you feeling, blah blah" then  says "wow you look like you swallowed a balloon!" Gee thanks. Lets point out that she has had 2 children so she knows how awesome you feel about yourself at 9 months pregnant. This trip to the doctor is off to a great start!

I get up to the appointment and get called back where the nurse checks my BP. She doesn't look thrilled so Danny and I ask what it was. 148/88. My exact response was "what the hell" and she tells me to go pee in the cup so she can check for protein and she's going to take it again and to not worry yet. I managed to stay pretty calm so I'm proud. Second BP was 145/80something, then the third was 140/88, which is acceptable. The nurse told Danny while I was in the bathroom that my OB's cut off is 150/90. Sooo, I was really close to having a baby yesterday and me thinking I should put my bag in my car wasn't ridiculous. It will definitely be going with us next appointment.

Originally, my only question for yesterday was how far over my due date would she wait to induce. Well after the BP issue she kind of laughed at it. She says I'm "brewing" and that she doesn't THINK anything will happen in the next week, but probably after that. She said I'll be lucky to go another 3 weeks. She would like for me to stay pregnant another 2 weeks, and becaue of that, I am now on modified bedrest. When she left the room I looked at Danny and it was another priceless reaction. His face was tomato red and he looked like someone had gut-punched him. Like I said, shits getting real and its very likely that there will be a baby here well before Christmas!

Since you won't heear from me tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy the holiday with your loved ones while stuffing yourself past the point of uncomfortable. Don't forget to wear pants that have some give to them. If you're a woman, just go with your leggings. And no matter what you are, here's a little reminder for you.

Thankful

Last night I wrote a post for today. But it isn't this one.

I wrote a post bitching about the fact that Danny and I have FIVE places that we have to go to for Thanksgiving: Danny's moms's, Danny's dad's, my dad's family, Danny's bonus family, and our house for dinner with my mom. 4 on the actual day, plus a dessert stop with Grammy at the nursing home, and 1 on Saturday with Grammy and some more of my dad's family. I say have to because the one furthest from our house is 15 minutes.

As ridiculous and absolutely crazy having 5 places to go is... at least I have somewhere to go. Hell, I have multiple somewheres to go. Some people don't even have one place to go. Or what would almost be worse, they have somewhere to go but can't afford to get there. So, I won't bitch about our Thanksgiving Tour today. (I've decided thats what I'm calling our holidays... Tours).

Ever since my dad passed away 3 years ago, I've tried to adopt the attitude that it could always be worse. Most of the time I do pretty well with this. And since then I've adopted Danny's attitude of "it is what it is." Even when someone who my family trusted goes behind our back and tries to steal all of our customers from the business, I told myself "at least I have a college degree I can fall back on" unlike my brother at the time.

So, even though my Thanksgiving will require some careful planning from how long we'll be at one to what I'll put on my plate at each, I am thankful that I have still have the family that I have. And I'm super thankful for Danny's family.  My dad's family has always been full of drama and people with piss poor attitudes (most of them anyways), but aside from my brother they are all I have left of my dad. And Grammy won't be around much longer. I'm thankful for my mom. She's incredibly supportive of everything I do and will never hesitate to sacrifice what she wants as far as the holidays are concerned in order to accomodate my brother and I's other places we need to go. Danny's family, both his mom and dad, have been so accepting of me since day one. The very first Christmas at his dad's I even had my own stocking. And Danny's bonus family, well they are just that.  Its just one more family that is here to love us, Tucker and any future children we have.  

So, yes, we have 5 places that we have to go to for Thanksgiving. But we could also have nowhere to go.
And even though its absolutely stupid, it is what it is and we're going to make it work.

Our Baby Prepping Weekend

First off, a little housekeeping since there are some new eyes around these parts. I really have never posted all of my social media stuff, Holly usually just does it for me.  Anywho, here's what I do: I do Instagram - erinshell10 and I tweet - ErinShell1021. So, there are those. Hopefully you stick around since its about to get interesting... aka I'm about to be responsible for another life.

Ok, we did GREAT this weekend prepping for Tucker!

Friday night we lounged and had at least a 30 minute discussion on where we were ordering dinner from. Not kidding. I also got a load of baby laundry done so I would have a headstart Saturday/Sunday. Danny and Diesel also snuggled and it was cute.

Saturday the work began! We got the Jeep cleaned out (trash and junk wise.. still needs swept) and after that we got ready to head out the door and finish up the baby purchases.  First stop was Lowe's for a dresser handle then it was off to Target. All returns went off without a hitch! I had matched and taped receipts to the return items and even taped items from the same receipt together. That helped. Also, if you're missing receipts but the items came from your registry, you can print a Purchase Log and that can act as a receipt. Super helpful since you're allowed to return only so many dollars worth of merchandise per year. Between gift cards and returns, we only had to pay $16 for a crib mattress, changing table pad, a couple breastfeeding supplies and some household items. Woo Hoo! Next was lunch because homegirl was hungry. I wanted a cheeseburger and Five Guys did not disappoint... like they ever really do! Buy Buy Baby was the next stop and it was the expensive one since thats where a couple bigger items came from and we only had 2 gift cards. We got the last carseat base, Rock n Play, more breastfeeding things, thermometer, nursing pj's and sheets. After that trip, I wanted cheesecake and felt like we deserved it. Plus, Cheesecake Factory is only right down the road from Buy Buy Baby, which is an hour away from home. Can't pass up a chance like that. I napped on the way home and that gave me energy to do more work when we got home. I organized my closet (wasn't in the plans, but Tucker's cubical thing was too big for his and mine fit just perfect.), folded and put away laundry and started more.  After all that, I was beat!

Sunday after church I was a laundry machine! I had 3 loads washed, dried and folded by noon. Check me out. That pretty much wore me out for the day though and I leisurely worked on finishing up my hospital bag, packing Tucker's, putting more clothes away and doing more organizing. We also got the carseat installed in the Jeep! I didn't get off the couch much after all that. I planned out my Thanksgiving dinner contributions so I can make a grocery list. Wednesday night is going to be full of prepping thats for sure!

Like I said, we did great this weekend and I would feel ok if Tucker were to arrive any day. Still too early for him and there are still quite a few things to get done, but we're practically ready.

Here's to a short week this week! Hope you all enjoy it!

Five on Friday

Oh Friday I am so glad you're here! I have been just exhausted this week. Work hasn't been too stressful, but the first part of the week was super busy and that has made it hard to stay motivated in the last half. I just have to make it 3 more weeks and one of those weeks is Thanksgiving week so it'll be a short week. I think I can, I think I can.

If you're here from Holly's giveaway, welcome! :)
If you're here from the Five on Friday link up with Darci, welcome! :) Lots of exciting things going on in the blog world today.

My 5 on Friday has a theme to it. I'm going to list the 5 things I'm looking forward too about not being pregnant. *GASP!* Pregnancy is a magical time and there is nothing that brings me more joy than knowing that I am growing a life inside of me and watching/feeling those baby kicks and rolls on the inside is amazing. Easily one of my favorite parts. But we can all be honest about one thing... it's not always pleasant and we've all wished our husbands/partners could take on the responsibility for a day or 2. Your body hurts, sleeping sucks, and it can be physically/mentally/emotionally draining. Now that I am 35 weeks, I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and the things about my pre-pregnancy life, and new life, are getting closer.

1. First and foremost, I am looking forward to baby snuggles and being a mom. I might be more excited about watching Danny be a dad though. He practices with Diesel a lot... he holds him like a baby, carries him to bed, tries to make him mind like he would a child, and he even reads to him. Its quite precious really.

2. You better believe the second thing I'm most looking forward too is an adult beverage. Wednesday was one of those work days where you want to start drinking before it even ends. When you're pregnant, you can't unwind with a glass of wine or beer. Instead, you have to find another outlet. The weather has been shiiitty so I can't walk at the park. And as much as I'd like to walk, it hurts and I'm tired. So what do I do, I unwind from my day with some cookies or something else that is just as healthy. No bueno!

3. Speaking of walking at the park, I can't wait do that and go back to Zumba. I have missed both of those like you wouldn't believe. Most importantly, I need them because I've taken about a 3 month break from physical activity. Its so terrible. Hopefully I will be able to master taking both the baby in the stroller and Diesel with me. I joked with Danny that we should have gotten a double stroller so Diesel could sit with Tucker. He would LOVE it!

4. Stomach sleeping. Holy crap am I over sleeping on my sides. My hips hurt from it even though I have the ever beloved Snoogle. I will likely cry tears of joy the first night I can sleep on my stomach. It'll be a beautiful night.

5. Sleep in general. This getting up every hour and a half is for the birds. I miss the days when I got up only once. My life needs me to have more sleep.

35 weeks!

My due date is getting closer and closer and closer. I keep getting more and more excited and nervous about it too. Time for a bump date... I even put on the appropriate bump shirt!




Baby size: coconut
Any symptoms?  back pain, more frequent swelling, heartburn (I keep forgetting this one), horrible sleep, carpal tunnel
Cravings? I had to have Pizza Hut on Monday.
Favorite part this week? getting closer to getting his nursery complete
Least favorite part this week? I'm exhausted
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker Paul it is!!

A good night's sleep is now a thing of the past and I can't even pinpoint what the cause is because its likely a number of things: the human rolling around on my bladder, the heartburn/acid reflux that has come close to making me vom, or that I can't get comfy. I am only sleeping in 2 hour stretches, sometimes 1 1/2 hour stretches. So its really a series of naps every night. I've also read in a few different articles that carpal tunnel is a symptom. I couldn't understand why and still don't, but I do know that its true. My fingers hurt at all times. Its kind of nuts.

This weekend is a Tucker weekend for Danny and me. Danny tried doing something in his room the other day and got extremely frustrated with the bags of baby stuff everywhere. So, we're buying the rest of what is needed and going to start putting things away now that his closet storage is complete and the dresser is done and inside. I can't wait. To me this is the fun part. Organizing, decorating and just all together getting ready for our little man's arrival. 

Thats all for today :) It's almost Fridayyyyyy!!

So What Wednesday!

I've been a little MIA. No real reason other than I don't have shit to talk about. The weekend was uneventful, other than getting the babe's dresser painted and the threat of tornadoes on Sunday. It was real life for a lot of people around our little town and in Illinois, and I cannot imagine how terrifying that was. I hope I never ever have to experience it.

I'm back to link up with Shannon for So What Wednesday.

So what if...

- I just want wine. White, red, cranberry apple, box, bottle... I don't have a preference. I just want it. And some hard cider.
- One of my goals for maternity leave is to win a swag bag from Bethenny Frankel. Nearly every night she will tweet a question about that day's show and the winner gets some serious swag.
- I changed into sweats and plopped my ass on the couch to watch General Hospital as soon as I got home from work yesterday. I had to find out who won custody of the babe and couldn't wait another second.
- I'm probably going to talk my brother into coming to my house after work just to carry Tucker's extremely heavy cubicle system into the living room so I can put it together tonight. Uncle Drew might get some dinner out of it.
- Danny has the whole weekend off, causing me to have the expectation that we're going to get the crib set up, furniture arranged how we want, remaining items purchased, my Jeep cleaned out and the carseat installed.
- I just want to spend a whole entire day snuggling with Diesel. He's been super snuggly lately and its been sweet.
- there are days I wish I still earned my income twirling ice cream cones and flipping burgers.

Maternity Pics

Today I am sharing our maternity pictures. Our photographer did a great job.  She is good friends with Danny's sister, so we were comfortable with her and had a great time. All of the pictures were taken at our house, which I love!

 

This is in my top 2. Danny just looks so studly!

 

I surprisingly don't hate this. I might even kind of love it. The other solo shots weren't my fave.

 

This is the other one that is in the top 2.

 

I think I might put this one in Tucker's room.

 

 

 

I LOVE this one! My mom picked up those letter magnets from a hospital gift shop and they were perfect for pictures. It was really hard for me to lay still so they would stay up though!

 

 

Hello, Roots.

Thats it. Well, thats not really it, but these are the faves. I'm very happy with how they turned out.

Hope you all have a good weekend! This weekends agenda includes getting that damn dresser done and packing most of my hospital bag! Can't believe its time to do that!

34 weeks!

So you know how in last week's bumpdate I mentioned how the "any day now" time period was coming up? Well, apparently 34 weeks is when everyone around you starts freaking out. Two funny things happened yesterday. The first was at work with my brother. He's been asking me random pregnancy questions throughout, which is kind of sweet, but they are getting more serious. Like Tuesday when he asked me what would happen if I went into labor at the diaper party he is throwing since I will most likely be the only one 100% sober. (If you don't know what a diaper party is, its the dad shower basically... there is a keg and if guests want the keg, they bring diapers.) Well, yesterday we were looking over something and then he asked "What if your water broke right now?" Then last night, Danny called his best friend and he didn't pick up. Said friend called back while Danny was in the other room so I picked it up. I said hello very cheerfully and his friend says, "you're not in labor are you?!"  Like I said... people are starting to freak out.

Onto the goods...


 Baby size: Butternut Squash
Any symptoms?  back pain, more frequent swelling, heartburn (I keep forgetting this one), horrible sleep
Cravings? fried chicken still, pancakes from ihop
Favorite part this week? shopping for Tucker with my in-laws!
Least favorite part this week? feeling like shiiiit the other night
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker Paul it is!!

I think I jinxed myself on the swelling.  My hands were swollen from Friday morning to Sunday night. They swelled on the way up to Michigan (I got really hot at one point) and just kind of stayed that way. I felt fine most of the weekend, except for in church, where I got really hot again. I felt kind of dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat. So, I just took a seat while everyone went up for communion and remained there until it was time to leave. Once I got outside I returned to normal... until Tuesday night.

Tuesday I felt pretty good until around dinnertime. After we left IHOP (the pancake craving was fulfilled), I started feeling bad and was getting a headache and my back was aching differently than normal. I tried to ignore it so we could go to the grocery and to breastfeeding class (which was super helpful!) Halfway through breastfeeding class, I was becoming a hot mess. My cheeks were flushed, I felt a little light headed and despite the Tylenol my headache wasn't going away. Danny was even a little concerned and he never says points out that I look like I don't feel good. Once we got home I went straight to bed and felt fine when I woke up yesterday. Hopefully these waves of feeling bad aren't the norm from now until the end.

We had a check up Tuesday as well (it was a busy day!), but had to see a different doctor. Right as were were taken back to the exam room, our dr was called to check on a patient in labor who ended up needing a c-section. I don't mind when things like that happen because that could easily be me in a few weeks. Anyways, the doctor we saw said I was measuring a week ahead. She wasn't concerned because she said unless its 2 weeks or more (behind or ahead) they don't get worried. I'm not concerned but for a different reason. At the beginning of my pregnancy, my OB said my due date was closer to 12/31. Well, the baby's measurements have since bounced back and forth between measuring with 12/25 and 12/31. He'll be with one at one ultrasound then the other at the next. I've stuck with 12/25 the whole time, but my drs office has stuck with 12/31 and has it that way in the computer. So, to the doctor the little guy is a week ahead but to me everything is right on track :)

I'll leave you with a preview of our maternity pics. I really love some of them, maybe even most. But there are a few that I look large in and can do without lol.

Pet Peeves

Over the last couple of weeks, or we could probably just go ahead and say months, its safe to say that I've gotten easily annoyed. I feel like thats par for the course when you're pregnant anyway.  I mean, I usually get annoyed with the general population and wonder if a lot of them have a brain. I've been told a couple of times that I'm kind of impatient. Just a couple though.

Aside from some of the random annoying actions of people that set me off these days, my non-pregnant pet peeves are still present and far more annoying these days.  I have yet to go 100% raging bitch on someone, but that doesn't mean I didn't think it wouldn't happen. Or won't still because the closer this thing gets to the end, the more nervous/anxious I get, and the more that happens, the more on edge I become and when I'm on edge I just might snap.  So, before I go off one someone, I need to just flat out bitch about them.

1. When someone texts you and you call them within minutes of receiving the text and they don't answer the phone call. I'm pretty sure the first thing that flies out of my mouth when this happens is "what the f**k?!" I really don't understand. I usually respond with a call when I'm driving or if I feel the response is complicated. It is one thing if I call and it is an inconvenient time to answer. I'd love nothing more in that instance for the person to press ignore when my call comes through then text me explaining that it is not a good time to talk. It really chaps my ass though when I call, they don't answer and then I hear nothing for a while.

2. Not using turn signals is just silly. They are there for a reason people! I have had an issue with this since the day I got my license. Not using them can easily slow the flow of traffic. Just use them.

3. Acquaintances that text me when there is a bad car accident or fire asking if I know anything. This happens since Danny is a firefighter. I mean, I fully expect my GOOD friends and family members (yep I'm talkin about you Mom) to text me asking, but people I've hardly spoken too since we've graduated high school... uh, no! Here are my issues with them. 1. I don't like being used. 2. We don't speak. 3. Does the term HIPAA violation mean anything? 4. We don't speak. 5. Let's just think about this for a second. I probably get my info from Danny and if the accident is so bad that you need to know what is going, who is involved and all the questions answered.. don't you think Danny is PROBABLY a little busy? If there is a fire, he is either covering station, at the fire, or hell, he could be IN the fire. Or if it's an accident, lets not think about the horrible things he could potentially be seeing. Its not like he's calling time out for fun every 10 minutes to tell me who was involved and what the injuries are or the damage is. He's gone for hours at a time if the trouble is that bad and by the time he gets home, the news is alllll over Facebook, accurate or not. Oh and 6. We don't speak.

4. When people say they are going to do something with you and then it doesn't happen. I get so damn irritated when I make plans with someone, I write it in my planner then build my schedule around it, only to find out that they didn't do the same. I get that things come up, trust me. But we ALLLLL know those people that this happens with continuously. That is what bothers me.

So, now that the pregnant lady is good and wound up, do those things grind your gears too? Or is there something else that really just strikes a nerve and sends you on a rampage?

Weekend Recap

This girl survived the shopping weekend with the girls in Danny's family. The adult girls anyway. That's right, at 8.5 months pregnant, I shopped like a freakin champ for 2 days. Its going to take a good week to recover probably, but I handled it pretty well. Other than some swelling in my hands and sweating like a bitch, it was okay.

Friday morning we took off for Michigan and stopped 3 or 4 times on the way. We also watched The Heat. O.M.G. Freaking hilarious! My poor mother-in-law though. We always pick these hilarious movies that she can't watch since she's driving so she just has to listen to us laugh our asses off. We're usually half popped while this is happening too, but we left earlier than normal and I'm knocked up so no Captain for Erin. Once we arrived, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland to get that out of the way.  Even though Danny and I were just there in September, I managed to spend nearly $70. I amaze myself. The rest of the night was spend lounging in the hotel room and eating.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at the outlet mall.  We show that mall who is boss with our coupons. I shit you not, we strategically plan our checkouts based on the amount of money that can be saved.  We'll combine orders, rack up the balance on Danny's sisters Old Navy Card, check phones for email deals, or consider buying gift cards to pay for our merchandise just because if you buy so many they give you a coupon. This is all on top of the Veterans Day deals that the mall already has going on. Its amazing. I did get a cute red infinity scarf for $2. Tucker made out like a bandit between his mama, grandma and aunts. I've spent the last 2 trips having my sister-in-laws pick clothes out for their kids for Christmas and this year I had to do that for them. It made my heart smile :) I got Danny a couple things for Christmas and I may have already given him a sweater I picked out. We really suck at keeping things a surprise.

While we were at lunch yesterday before heading home, we were talking about what we hoped our husbands did while we were gone. I told them I secretly hoped Danny cleaned the kitchen, bathroom and my Jeep. When I got home, the bathroom was SPOTLESS! The kitchen wasn't cleaned, but that's okay because our dishwasher is coming today so its in a state of distress anyway. I did get a peak at his to-do list he made for himself for the weekend, and the kitchen and my Jeep were on it. So he did think about it. The bathroom was my number one wish so he gets hubby of the weekend.

Oh, and I failed to take a single picture the entire weekend. Yep. We never take any so its not a huge surprise.

Exciting news... Friday night I got a text that our maternity pics are DONE! I should be getting them today and I can't wait to see them!

33 weeks!

33 weeks and I can officially say I'm having a baby next month. Or, I should say I'm DUE next month because I am so afraid of jinxing myself and this kid will come in January. That would be bad. It is so crazy to me that I am just a few weeks away from "any day now" and that to me is when shit gets real. I feel like baby showers usually get people in freak out mode, but for me its going to be when the doctor says "you can go any day now." Just knowing at any given, unpredictable moment, labor could start. Whether it be contractions or my water breaking, not knowing when it could happen freaks me out. I'm not really sure when this "any day now" is, but I'm thinking 37/38ish weeks just because at that point you're considered full term (by the old standard since they just changed it last week) Crazy!

Baby size: Durian Fruit... never have I ever seen one of these before.
Any symptoms?  back pain, just a little swelling, frequent bathroom breaks (I went 14 times yesterday from 12am-11:46pm. I'm serious, I counted.), Braxton Hicks
Cravings? fried chicken
Favorite part this week? baby shower, duh!
Least favorite part this week? back pain just freaking blows
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker Paul it is!!








Swelling hasn't been too bad, but it is happening still and I'm sure it will just continue from here on out. I'm almost positive that I'm experiencing Braxton Hicks. I've felt pretty crampy a few times this week, and am currently, so that has been fun.

This weekend should be interesting though. Its the annual Michigan trip with the women of Danny's family. Danny and I went there for the first half of our Babymoon. The LAST trip I'll ever take without having to miss a small human being. I mean, I miss Diesel when I'm gone. Hell, there are work days where I miss Diesel. But a 2-legged child requires so much more work and planning and attention. Regardless, they will both be fine next year with their dad. Anywho, I say it will be interesting because walking more than a lap around the grocery store is enough to land me on the couch for 12 hours. Soooo, a weekend shopping trip will be something. Not to mention the 4 hour drive up there. I'm in good hands though because Danny's sister is an OB nurse (a great one at that!) and if anything should happen or I just don't feel right, she is the person I'd call anyways and she'll be with me the whole trip. Oh, and I'm taking my Snoogle. I didn't take it on the Babymoon and what a mistake that was. And that was nearly 10 weeks ago!

Ok, I'm out now. Happy Grey's Anatomy day!! :)

My wonderful baby shower



I've said it a hundred times and I will say it again... I hit the mother f'ing jackpot in terms of in-laws. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would marry a man and I love each member of his family the way I do this one. They have been so accepting of me since day one (well all but his mom, but we got over that when she knew I wasn't just some fling) and I just seem to fit.

 

Sunday was baby shower day. Danny's sister, step sister, sister-in-law, and my brother's girlfriend (who BETTER end up being my sister-in-law one day, or my mom and I might disown him) hosted. My mom played a big role before and after with set up and tear down, but during the shower she just took her time to enjoy being the grandma to be (or Gigi to be), which is exactly what she was supposed to do.

 

We are doing a farm theme in Tucker's nursery, so the girls went with that for the shower. And they did great!When I got to the place they were throwing it, I walked in and was amazed. Each table was decorated perfectly, the food all looked delicious and the drink area was freaking adorable, complete with a barn piñata and tractors. Here are some pictures from the day, most courtesy of my mama.

 

Before Danny dropped me off

 

The food spread. We're saving a couple of the blue things having from the ceiling to hang above his crib instead of a mobile.

The adorable cupcakes

An close up of the cupcakes. I didn't get a chance to eat one until on the way home.

Drink station. The bale of hay came from Danny's mom's barn haha.

 

My mama and I

 

Honestly, I'm showing people where my belly button was. We played a game where people had to tear off a piece of crepe paper the size of my belly. Funny story, one of my skinny bitch friends (she isn't really a bitch, although you'll think she is after this but knowing her the way I do, she was completely clueless), had no idea how to guess, so she just wrapped it around her body 3 times. Homegirl weighs probably 105 lbs fully clothed and in Ugg boots. Fortunately, 3 times around her twig waist was more DOUBLE the size of my belly.

 

Also, if you look closely you can see mini hay bales on the tables. There were 4 on each table and they all had a baby/toddler picture of Danny or me on them. They did this for my bridal shower too, except they used embarrassing/awkward teenage year pictures too.

 

 

A couple of sorority sisters and then a couple of high school friends. Yellow pants is the skinny bitch from the story above. But as you can see, I hang with a bunch of twig bitches.

 

All the gifts once we got them home

Tucker has just about everything he needs, except for some of the bigger things we didn't put on the registry like a mattress for his crib. He even has the most adorable pair of Sperry's that my mom got him. I forgot to take a picture before I came to work though.

It was an incredible day and it honestly took me all of Monday to recover.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was one I will never forget, thats for sure!

Friday was a pretty chill night. Danny and I ran a couple of errands then went to visit my grammy in the hospital. It was our town's scheduled trick-or-treating, but we weren't home for that so who knows if we got any trick-or-treaters. We will just have to continue eating the 2 large bags of candy ourselves I guess.  :)

Saturday morning I got up and lounged for a little bit then worked on another Tucker project. I got the last wall decor project done for his room! Now I just have to get it hung up. I have one more project left for his room and that is the dresser. We are using my old dresser... that has been sitting in a garage for about 8 years. It requires me to clean it extensively, sand it (maybe just a little) paint it, and get new hardware. I wanted to at least get the cleaning part of it done Saturday but just thinking about it made me tired. So I went back in the house and took a nap! My mom came up to get things ready for the baby shower. She volunteered to make (poor man's) ham salad sandwiches (bologna, mayo, relish, egg, and cheese), which really meant I was in charge. My dad made awesome ham salad and I can get it pretty close. To make it correctly, you need one of these bad boys.

You can make it in a food processor modern day food processor, but from what I hear it kind of sucks. After our work was done, I headed to my nephews birthday party then my mom and I watched Modern Family and hung out with my brother and his girlfriend. Those 2 helped me change the cover on my Snoogle pillow. That was seriously a 3 person job. No Joke!

Sunday was the big day: Shower day! We assembled sandwiches and took it easy most of the morning since we were up earlier than we should have been due to daylight savings. I'm sure I'm going to looooove springing forward with a baby! The shower was wonderful and I have THE BEST mom, sister-in-laws (current and potential) and mother-in-law in the world. It was a beautiful day and Tucker has way more stuff than we probably know what to do with! I'll have a whole shower recap later this week, but here is a preview!

Isn't that insane?! Going through it all to determine what we still need and what needs to go back will require a well thought out plan.

After the big shower, Danny and I went to the hospital to have a small shower with my Gram since she couldn't make it. She called me a little bit before the shower so upset, so my aunt and I decided to have a small shower in her room. I brought her a couple sandwiches and a cupcake and we opened the gifts from her and my aunt. The room was decorated with blown up gloves... which kind of looked like utters, so it fit the theme of the big shower. It was all good. 

After the mini shower, I came home and crashed.

It was such a good weekend, but I need another Sunday!

32 weeks!

Yesterday marked the 8th month of my pregnancy. I really have no idea how I got here. Back in April when I took that test, this point seemed FOREVER away. I felt like it was going to drag on for a long time and pregnancy has been the exact opposite. And now that I've said all this, weeks will start dragging on.

Baby size: Squash
Any symptoms?  the back pain is back in full force, frequent bathroom breaks, and some swelling
Cravings? I could eat a cheeseburger just about every day of the week. Salads have been sounding good too.
Favorite part this week? getting his closet started and the anticipation of the baby shower this weekend.
Least favorite part this week? I am struggling to walk and Diesel could really use a walk.
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker :)










Things went pretty well this past week. At the Halloween party we went too over the weekend, I had some swelling in my hands. This is only the second time that it has gotten so bad I had to take my wedding ring off so I'll consider myself lucky. Danny might get out of buying me a fake ring after all. I told him that I didn't want to go too long without my rings on since I look like I'm in high school, causing people to believe I'm going to be a teen mom.

We have an ultrasound and doctors appointment today. This will most likely be the last time we see Tucker until he makes his debut. Today's ultrasound is to check his growth and try to get an idea of how crowded he is going to get in the end because of my bicornuate uterus. I will hopefully have an update for you tomorrow. And pictures :)