8 weeks in

I'm back, for now. New blog...lifestyle, marriage, mommy blog. I missed you guys!

Baby E is just over 8 weeks old now. How time flies when you're having fun..and learning all sorts of new things..and not sleeping..and adjusting to a HUGE life change. But it's been amazing. Hard, but amazing.

He's getting so big. At is 6 week visit he was 13 1/2 lbs and just over 23 inches long. Everyone thinks he's way older than he is just because of his size. I'm exclusively breastfeeding, so the doctor says he's just a big healthy boy. After the NICU stay and scare with his heart, hearing that makes me so happy.

Speaking of breastfeeding, I'm so blessed to be able to do it, both because it's healthy and good for him and because formula is expensive!! But it's not fun. It's not awful or painful at the moment, although the first few weeks were rough, it's just...tiring. Being the sole source of food for another human being, having to wake up in the night, even if he's sleeping well because I have to feed him...it gets to be a little overwhelming sometimes. Z is great and gets up with him if he's fussy, or will sit with me while I feed him if I'm lonely or overwhelmed, and since I'm able to pump occasionally he'll let me sleep for 8-10 solid hours and just bottle feed him overnight with the pumped milk which is SUCH a life saver.

I'm going to do a post soon on the things we bought that I've loved having these first 2 months. I'm trying to get back into the groove of blogging. I wasn't feeling it before, which is why I quit but being home with the new baby...I miss the sense of community, I miss the bloggers, I miss having an outlet to pour all this stuff out to come back and look at later. So there's an update. He's doing really well holding his head up and doing little baby push ups, sleeps for 6 hours then 3-4 hours at night and is generally a perfect baby :)

Moda Vox Box Influenster Review

I received this sample box from Influenster free for my use and review.

This box arrived just in time, as my son was in the hospital and I came home to find it. Definitely cheered me up!

The box contained a soft sided package of Puffs, a tube of Rimmel London mascara, a tube of Rimmel lipstick, Rimmel London moisturizing lip liner, a packet of Simply Cocoa Swiss Miss hot chocolate, a bottle of Refresh bottled water.

The Puffs came in handy when my baby fell sick with RSV and we spent a lot of time in the hospital. I also came down with a cold and bronchitis and definitely needed tissues with me everywhere! The softsided holder was useful to squish into my purse.

The Simply Cocoa Swiss Miss was delicious when made with hot milk! I used it to soothe my achy throat and comfort me with the rich chocolately-ness.

The bottled water was delicious, and the electrolytes seemed to help keep my energy up during the hospital stay and long nights.

I loved the lipliner, mascara and lipstick as well. They all made an impact without being too much, then the lipstick kept my lips soft without being sticky.

This box was a great perk during a rough week, and I can actually say I loved everything in it!

Keurig 2.0 Influenster Vox Box!

I recieved the Keurig 2.0 with boxes of pods for free from Influenster and Keurig to try and review.

MY husband and I recieved our Keurig a few years ago, for Christmas the year we got married. It was on our wedding registry and I LOVED it!  We used it for coffee at home, which we don't drink a lot of and with the 2 of us, the cup at a time technology was great. We also made teas, and the brew over ice beverages, but when family would come over for holidays or dinners and they would want coffee, it took us a LONG time to make enough for everyone to have.

When Influenster emailed me about the Keurig 2.0, I was immediately interested. I LOVE our Keurig, and even have one I use at work, but with a new baby and family visiting a lot, the ability to make more than one cup at a time was a definite perk.  It arrived super shiney and new, and only slightly larger than our previous Keurig.  It works perfectly! It brews a cup, or a carafe quickly and deliciously, with just a few presses of buttons. The light up touch screen is delightful and in keeping with the latest technology, and the water resevoir is much bigger than our previous Keurig, and lights up. I also love that it has power save mode to turn itself off, and I don't have to plug and unplug it to save energy.  Even my husband loves it, and enjoys making himself coffee in the mornings.

 My only complaint is that Keurig has introduced new technology so that only Keurig brands cups, with the white circle around the top will work. We had Keurig brand pods that were older than this technology, coffees and teas, that will not work in our new Keurig.  I'm taking them to work to use there, but it is kind of annoying. Not worth not getting one though, I still would have purchased one when they came out had I not been given one to try.

It's definitely a great machine, and I'm excited for family to come over so we can brew more carafes and show it off! It's definitely increased the amount of coffee we make at home though!

Vox VoxBox by Influenster Review

About mid June I received the Vow VoxBox from Influenster.  In it there were: Sally Hansen complete manicure nail polish in Barracuda, an EcoTools pure complexion sponge, Pure Silk shaving cream, Olay Regenerist Luminous facial cream, a Tide To Go stick and a Riley & Grey coupon card.

I used the facial cream and sponge first. The cream directions say use twice daily, and the sponge says use whenever you wash your face. I wash my face morning and night, so I replaced my normal moisturizer and washcloth with these products.  Let me say, I love them.  The Olay says it takes about 4 weeks to see correction of dark spots, but I already feel like my skin is healthier and more moisturized, and it hasn't increased my breakouts like most moisturizers do.  The scrubbing sponge was a little strange to get used to at first, but feels awesome on my skin. I haven't noticed a huge difference I can attribute solely to the sponge, but it does feel like it gets my skin really clean, gets my make up off and helps exfoliate my skin. I'm definitely going to keep using both in the future!

The Tide to go pen was nothing new for me, as I have a habit of spilling on myself and have been using them for years. However, being a new mom, having one in the diaper bag has been fantastic. I love being able to just clean myself up on the go when I spill my lunch, or E decides to spill things on me and I don't have to completely change clothes or feel like a schlub all day.

The Pure Silk shaving cream feels like just that, silk. I HATE shaving my legs because they also feel so dry afterwards, but the Pure Silk definitely helped with that. Obviously I still had to lotion them up, but the razor glided easily and my skin felt nice afterwards.

The Sally Hansen nail polish was not my favorite.  The color was a bright baby blue, which I like in most things, but I'm not a blue nail polish kind of girl. Maybe if my feet were tanner...anyway. I think the color would be cute on a wedding day (which was the idea of the Vow VoxBox) as a something blue under your dress, but I probably won't be wearing it much.  It also seemed a little runny compared to the OPI and Essie brands I usually use. It wasn't awful, just not my favorite nail polish ever.

I also did not have a need for the Riley & Grey card, so I'm unable to offer a review of that.


All opinions expressed in this post are my own. I did receive the items in the box free for my review from Influenster, but no other compensation was provided.
This post includes affiliate links. If you use the above links to purchase an item, I do receive compensation from Amazon.

Birth Story

Originally written on May 18, 2014

On April 22nd, Tuesday, I left work early to go to my 37 week appointment. I was only 36 weeks 3 days, but I always had my appointments a bit early.  The week before, my blood pressure had been elevated so they'd sent me to triage for 3 hours to have myself and the baby monitored.  They had told me to keep an eye out for headaches, dizziness etc. The Thursday after I'd experienced a lot of those, but the nurse had told me not to worry.  The symptoms were getting increasingly worse, so I mentioned it all at my appointment on the 22nd.  They took my blood pressure, which was slightly elevated for me (but not elevated by regular standards) and took a urine sample.

My appointment that day was with my favorite doctor, so we discussed my symptoms, and how big the baby was measuring, and she decided to have me admitted to the hospital for 24 hour observation (where they check my urine and blood pressure every 4 hours) to see if I was developing pre eclampsia.  Z and I went over to the hospital, got admitted and settled in. I laid around and watched tv, and got to listen to the baby's heartbeat.  The next afternoon my dr told me that my blood pressure had been fine, so she wanted me to rest a lot but would be sending me home once the urine results were back, and we'd schedule my c section for 39 weeks since he was measuring so big.

A few hours later, the urine results came back elevated. Due to his size and the fact that I was almost full term (37 weeks is the minimum for full term, but 39 is the earliest they'll electively induce or do a c section since the longer the better) they decided to keep me in the hospital on bed rest with twice daily non stress tests where they monitored my contractions and his heartbeat and do a c section the following Monday when I was 37 weeks 2 days. The hospital doesn't schedule c sections for weekends, which is why I couldn't have one on Saturday when I was officially 37 weeks.

I laid around the hospital that week, his heartrate and my blood pressure remained fine. As long as I didn't do too much everything stayed happy so I watched tv and wedding planned from my hospital room. Z kept working through the week so he could start his paternity leave the day the baby was born, and then on Saturday he and his mom cleaned our entire house and he finished the yard work.  My friends Brie and Kristen came to visit, and my mother in law brought me wings and a milkshake :)

Sunday morning (39 weeks 1 day on April 27) I ate breakfast per usual, and Z was at home with the dogs, letting them run and play before he came to hang out at the hospital with me.  He apparently considered taking them to the dog beach but decided against it.  A little later than normal, the nurse came in to take my blood pressure and hook me up for my NST, around 10am.  She got the contraction monitor hooked up, but when she hooked up the heart rate monitor, it wouldn't track. You could hear the baby's heartbeat over the monitor, but it wasn't recording it or monitoring it correctly.  The monitor would go from 55 beats per minute, to 220, to 110 and back again.  After trying to get it to track him for a bit since the nurse thought it was because of too much fluid around him (which we knew I had), she decided it was the monitor and went to find another conductor.  After hooking that up, she tried for another 10 minutes and it still wouldn't track so she decided to find a portable monitor.  As she was trying to find that, Z showed back up. I remember saying "damn, I meant to text you to bring me another pillow" as we explained what was going on.  Everything was calm at this point, no one had given any indication there might be a problem other than the monitor being faulty.

The other nurse came back to say the portable monitor was in use, so they were going to move me to another room.  After loading up all our stuff and moving over there, they hooked me up again. This monitor also wouldn't work.  We could still hear his heartbeat, so Z listened and counted himself.  The nurse kept reassuring us that the count was wrong and his heartbeat was not 220, but when Z counted 220 is what he got.  They paged the dr since there was no way to monitor the baby, and she ordered an ultrasound to see what was actually happening.

They wheeled me down to ultrasound, where I was suddenly dizzy and had a massive headache. The ultrasound tech was snippy and rude, and after making us wait a bit, finally came in to do the ultrasound. She didn't say much but after 5 ultrasounds due to his size, I knew how to read the numbers and could see his heartrate actually WAS 220 beats per minute.  She left the room and I told Z what I'd seen and started to cry. I was super scared all of a sudden and worried for him. I just kept repeating "I want him out. It's not safe. He has to come out".

My doctor knocked on the door and said since it was so high, they were going to move my c section up to that day. She was very calm and joking about attending his birthday party.  They wheeled me back upstairs to a pre op room, while Z went to get our stuff from my other room and move it upstairs. They started pumping me full of fluids to prep for surgery, while still listening to his heart, and Z called our families and best friends. My mom had the stomach flu so she wasn't allowed to come, but my best friend headed up immediately and Z's parents weren't far behind.

Z got into his scrubs as they were fluiding me and getting me ready.  I kept asking if I could have the spinal and stay awake and they kept telling me to wait for the anesthesiologist.  He finally came in, and said no, there was no time and I was getting general anestheia and going completely under.  Z asked when he could come in, the dr said "you can't" and started wheeling me out. I started to cry, and Z looked so crestfallen.. He asked if he could kiss me, they stopped and he gave me a kiss and promised it would be ok, then they wheeled me out. I was crying the entire way down the halls as they rushed me to the OR, since this was the first time it actually seemed urgent and I was REALLY scared.  They moved me to the OR gurney and started doing a lot of painful things.  My dr walked in and held my hand. She asked me if I trusted her and told me she would take care of me and to squeeze her hand when things hurt, which I did as they prepped me. The neonatologist came over to introduce himself and promise to take care of my baby, then I was asleep.

Apparently after 20 minutes they took E to Z and he got to hold him and take a picture before they took him to the NICU to monitor his heartrate and blood sugar.  1 and a half hours later, they wheeled me back to the room.  The dr told Z there was a lot of bleeding, so she'd used staples instead of glue so they could make sure I wasn't bleeding internally.

I slowly started to wake up, Brie and Z were in the room with me, but with the pain med pump (my button) I had to hit to not hurt, I kept falling back asleep.  Z was between me and the NICU upstairs, so it was nice to have Brie in the room so I wasn't waking up alone.  Every inch of me hurt. My jaw and face hurt so bad I wanted to cry, and my legs had permanent charlie horses. I noticed both of those things before my incision, until the nurse came in to do my "fundal massage" which was no joke the most pain I've ever been in in my life.  Z and Brie both said it was awful to listen to, since I couldn't help but scream when she did it.  They did it every 4 hours while I was in the hospital for 3 days, but none hurt as bad as the first one.

Z brought me pictures of the baby, who weighed in at 9lbs 15oz and 20.25 inches long. The doctor said he would have been 10lbs even but he peed on the way out!  Later that night, they let me go down and see him but I was still so out of it I touched him and fell asleep.  The next day I was more awake and got to see him again, but they had him on a feeding tube for his blood sugar so I couldn't hold him until Tuesday when I got to hold and feed him.

They monitored his heart with EKGs until he was discharged on Thursday, and his blood sugar leveled out.  He also developed a bit of jaundice, so he had to spend a night under the lights and have formula supplementation, but so far so good on breastfeeding.

They discharged him on Thursday May 1, which was a gorgeous sunny day in Florida, and it was a whirlwind getting him home but now we're slowly settling in. Having Z home for 2 weeks was incredible and we are so blessed to have the time off we both have, as well as the healthy baby we have after the scare.

I'm so glad she was late on the NST since if it had been earlier we may not have caught his heartrate like we did, and that Z didn't go to the dog beach.  My doctor was amazing even if I was less than thrilled with her practice, and each of my and the baby's nurses were incredible.

Pregnancy 23-29 weeks

Last update was at 23 weeks, after the baby moon.  I'm now 29 1/2 (my weeks turn over on Saturdays) so we'll do a quick recap!
24 weeks- still feeling good at this point! Same backaches and left knee pain, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Can't believe 6 months has flown by. Prepping for a friend's shower and Gasparilla!! We went out and celebrated pirate style (but sober) in my "baby pirate in the brig" shirt, then celebrated Z's cousins's 2nd birthday.  Announced his name to family and friends.

25 weeks-  got to celebrate with friends for another friend's shower this weekend. Her grandma asked me if I was due before her, and I got to explain I'm 8 weeks behind her. Belly is getting bigger and everyone comments on it, but so far no weight gain anywhere else.

26 weeks- went to the state fair! Ate lots of things, drank a ton of lemonade and walked around a surprising amount.  Got home with a knee ache so iced it and made Z rub it down.  Other than that just getting through the weeks at work, coming up with a budget plan for maternity leave and post baby, and booking some last minute weddings!

27 weeks- Valentine's Day weekend.  We spent V Day home on the couch eating pizza and watching movies. the 15th was our child birth class ALL day and I felt like we knew a lot going in. They did cover c sections and all the tools used during birth, as well as few breathing techniques so I definitely felt like it was worth the 6 hours. Had our hospital tour and I feel really good about delivering there. Both the labor rooms, and post partum rooms are nice and big and comfy looking, and the nurses all seemed really great. Also got to celebrate one best friend's son's 1st birthday with an Elmo party!

28 weeks- last weekend of February. How time flies!! I met with a new couple this weekend and booked a wedding for July of this year, YAY! Mainly just hung out with Z, and then went out to dinner to celebrate bestie's birthday!! Took my glucose test and later learned I failed by 9 points. Retest is this Friday.

29 weeks- EEEK! This past weekend I had a wedding on Saturday that Z helped with, and while the caterer was a nightmare we got through it and everything went off smoothly.  He's a really good helper, and having him or my assistant around at this point is definitely necessary. I don't move as quick as I used to. Everyone kept asking if I was about to pop.
Sunday the 2nd was our co-ed baby shower! Besties Brie and Alicia, and MIL put it on for us and went above and beyond. It was better than anything I'd hoped for, and I couldn't have thrown a better shower myself.  We had about 45 people come, family and friends and it was a great time! Lots of good food and conversation, and then we opened a huge pile of gifts! People are so sweet and so generous and we got a lot of the big things we still needed, as well as a ton of little things! Thank you notes have been sent, now I just have to wait for our completion discounts to come in so I can buy the rest :)  I was wiped out afterwards so we just crashed hard and early.

Monday was my 30 week appt, and I met with a dr I hadn't seen before. I loved him, and he said that baby is measuring BIG. a few weeks ahead in fact, but he said it does not mean my due date moves or that he's coming early. They've scheduled me for an ultrasound this week to actually measure the baby and then go from there, but it looks like we may have to change the birth plan. The earliest they'll induce or c-section is 39 weeks, which is awesome so we just pray he stays comfy and healthy in there until then.  I'm glad to finally have some confirmation since I've thought from day one he was a big boy, and everyone always comments on how HUGE I am, so it's nice to know.  My 3 hour glucose test is this week as well, so prayers I pass it please :)

Babymoon

2 weeks ago, Z and I decided to take a trip to one of our favorite cities for a babymoon/2nd anniversary trip. It was a little early for both, but I had some time off work so we decided to go for it, and ended up in Savannah Friday-Sunday.

We drove up EARLY Friday morning, and made it in around lunchtime.  We went straight to River St and found an adorable little seafood place to get the shrimp po boy I was craving.  It was super dark in the restaurant, and it was definitely chilly(40s-50s) for us Florida peeps, but it was a great lunch! Then we bundled up, and went wandering around River St.  I had to take lots of breaks benig 23 weeks pregnant and all belly. I'm not all that graceful anymore.  We wandered in and out of shops, toured the WW II monument and found a little farmer's market near the water.  Z wanted some 50 cent oysters at a place we'd found when there for our honeymoon, and I wanted fudge so we stopped a few times for snacks.

Eventually, we headed back to the hotel to get checked in, shower and rest before dinner.  My feet and fingers began to swell up last week, and by the time we got to the hotel Friday night my rings were hurting my fingers.  After soaking my hand in the ice bucket, off they came to be worn on my necklace :( I do have a plain wedding plain I got before our wedding though, and it's about a size bigger than my regular bands and engagement ring, so I've been wearing that since we got home.

Friday night we went to dinner at a local brewery where Z tasted 9 of their beers on a flight, and I ate my way through a cheeseburger and fries that were delicious!  We walked around a bit more after dinner, exploring the shops on Bay Street and looking for live jazz but amazingly enough, there was none to be found so we headed back to the hotel to get warm.

Saturday we woke up early and I wanted some serious breakfast. Eggs and toast and sausage patties and hashbrowns. I yelped around until I found a place that seemed to be exactly what I wanted and had great reviews. We got there and it was perfect! I had everything I wanted and a huge glass of chocolate milk. This preggo was thrilled.  Then we trekked off towards Forsythe Park where we THOUGHT there was a farmer's market.  No go, just an MLK day rally of sorts so we trekked back through the cold (it was in the 30s) towards Bay St.  We did find a gorgeous synagogue that I'd read about before we left though, but services were going on so we couldn't go inside.  It looks more like a cathedral than most temples and I'd love to go back someday.

 We shopped and sightseed some more, and by this point I was getting hungry and cranky again, so we found a BBQ place and had some delicious pulled pork. We sat at the bar, made friends with the bartender and spent a few hours being entertained.  The bartender even gave me a macaroon to make up for me not drinking, and it was my first! I have to say, I see what all the fuss is about.  Then we headed back to the hotel to rest up before grabbing a yummy dinner together and going to bed early.  Pregnancy is exhausting!

Sunday morning we woke up, packed up and left the hotel. We wandered back down to River Street and found a little hole in the wall seafood place for lunch. Z had some amazing looking ahi tacos and I scarfed down a BLT with some homemade fries and spicy mayo. After taking our time with lunch and a few more passes down the street, we loaded up the car and headed home.  It was a great trip, and nice to finally relax with my husband for a few days alone. Most of our travel involves seeing friends, staying with friends or gonig to weddings/family functions so just having all that time alone together was much needed. I felt completely recharged (and am now exhausted again).

Now we're at almost 25 weeks!! At my 24 week appointment I'd finally gained some weight, and the belly is measuring right on schedule (even though everyone keeps telling me how huge I look).  We're finishing up his nursery decor. He has all his furniture and we're ordering the rest of the decorations this weekend from Etsy so it can be "done" by my shower on March 2nd.  Obviously there's way more stuff he needs, and little decorations I'll want to add but overall we should be good on that front. I've just been buying tons of little baby clothes (0-3 months and up since I think he's gonna be a big one) and trying to slowly stock up on the small necessities we'll need for him but I probably won't get for my shower.

We had our first day care tours today, which brought on a round of anxiety. We found one we love, but it's the most expensive one and I don't know where the money for daycare (period) let alone the expensive one will come from. Then there's the whole..I'd rather be home with my son and planning weddings thing but Z and I enjoy being a dual income household.  Decisions, decisions.

Pregnancy Weeks 6-22

6 weeks:  symptoms: lots of nausea, backache, some lower abdominal cramps and stretches. One epic mood swing. Told the grandparents and they cried. 

Cravings: chicken wings, ranch and French fries.

7 weeks: thought I wasn't actually 7 so missed the picture. Lots of nausea and exhaustion, but on 7w 6d finally got a first ultrasound confirming it is not a tubal pregnancy! We saw the little nugget and it's heartbeat and cried. Such a happy day! We also told the great grandparents. They are beyond excited!

8 weeks: lots more exhaustion and nausea. No new symptoms. Went to a wedding In key west and told more of our friends. Everyone is thrilled. Still craving wings!

9 weeks: 

10 weeks: had a scare this week. Ting amount of spotting and cramping. The drs office sent us to the ER but after 6 hours there they said I was a bit dehydrated but otherwise fine. Saw the baby, nice and big and strong! Scary but ended up being reassuring overall. 

11 weeks: had the 12 week ultrasound with NT scan. Baby is measuring right on schedule with strong heartbeat! Z was traveling but it was so cool to see baby move around on the screen. Slowly but surely the nausea is appearing less. Still exhausted and finally bought maternity jeans! 

12 weeks: We told everyone this week! They are all SO excited!  Nausea has subsided a bit but I still can't eat much without feeling sick. Craving OJ and firehouse subs! Belly is definitely out too.

13 weeks: Getting soreness in my legs and knees. Back has been aching for weeks. Still can't get enough OJ.  '

14 weeks- Morning sickness finally subsided. We started registering this week because I just could not wait!

16-19-  just getting bigger, no weight gain as of yet ( I lost 6lbs to start), lots of back pain and hormone headaches. Baby started moving just a little bit. Z finished painting the nursery this month, it's an awesome palatte of grey and navy, and we're decorating it in vintage baseball theme.

20 weeks- had our anatomy scan and found out Baby is a bouncing baby boy! Perfectly healthy and on schedule, looking like he's going to be big :) We got to surpris the families with this news at Christmas Eve dinners, and got his crib as a Christmas surprise from my in laws!

Craving pizza and chicken wings a LOT.

21 weeks- Z got to feel baby kick for the first time. We were watching a video with DMX as the background music and he was kicking away, so Z replayed it and got to feel one!

22 weeks- This is where we are now!  Baby is nice and big (ask anyone who sees me on a daily basis) and moving around lots more. Leg cramps started in with a fierce passion, and my calves are killing me. I drink a lot of water and a lot of milk already, so I'm trying to add in more bananas to see if it helps.

We're slowly ordering decor for the nursery since we now have all his furniture, and my shower date is set for March 2nd!   It's going to be a bookshower, so in addition to baby gifts, people will bring him a book with a nice note from them to set up his library. I'm super excited about that!

We're also heading out to our babymoon this month, as a combo baby moon and anniversary trip ( a little early but..oh well). All 3 dogs are still doing great. We're working on adjusting them to baby noises, and all the new smells and things going in and out of the nursery.  Mainly they all want to snuggle mom though.