A Baby Story

It's so hard to believe that my baby girl is already over a month old! Time has flown much quicker this time around. Another kid means another hospital story so without further anxious waiting...

The due date of November 12th came and went with no signs of an arrival. Fast forward to my 1 week overdue appointment where an ultrasound is done to check amniotic fluid levels and a non- stress test to check baby movement. The amount of fluid they like to see in utero is a minimum of 7 oz and I had 18 oz!!! The non-stress test showed a few contractions that I wasn't feeling and plenty of baby movement. So in short little Evelyn was incredibly comfortable. The midwife then wanted to schedule an induction date just in case things didn't progess on their own since they don't allow anyone to go past 2 weeks overdue. I decided to schedule induction for Monday, November 26th which was the 2 weeks.

After leaving the doctor, Mark called me asking to move up the date so he wouldn't have to miss work. Friday, November 23rd is now was....nothing like spending Black Friday in the hospital because there was no way I was going to go shopping. Iowa State also had their last home game that same day. Fast forward to the morning of November 23rd.

We checked in at 7 am and started to get settled in my room when in comes the nurses. I was blessed with an incredible nurse with Lane and I was equally blessed this time too. There was some training going on so I actually had 2 nurses this time and funny enough, one of them I used to show horses with and graduated high school with Mark. I thought that it might be a little awkward but it wasn't at all. There was a few contractions but I couldn't feel them..and was dilated to a 2. Definately no recipe for a quick baby arrival without some help. So they started me on Pitocin at 7:30 am to see how things progressed. This dang child was laughing at the Pitocin induced contractions because after 3 hours I was finally feeling contractions but they weren't very strong and I wasn't progrssing.

Finally around 10:30 am they decided to break my water. Breaking my water proved that there was A LOT of fluid because they kept bringing towels to soak it all up. Almost instantly the contractions tripled in strength and I was asking for an epidural. My nurses wanted me to get up and go to the bathroom before the epidural was inserted and holy moly did that make the contractions intensify even more!!! By this point I was really struggling. The anesthesiologist arrived about 11:45 am and this was by far the worst part of my entire day. 45 minutes and 3 tries later I finally felt comfortable. I have no idea what the problem was but she really struggled.

It's now about 12:30 pm and my awesome nurses and midwife decide to turn of the Pitocin in hopes that things will progress on their own. OF COURSE they don't because my daughter is incredibly stubborn and she's still not ready to join the world. Pitocin eventually gets turned back on and now all things are finally a go! I'm itching all over (side effect of the epidural) and I feel as though it's feezing in the room (last delivery nurse with lane said it's another side effect of the epidural but the nurse this time said I'm finally in the transition phase of labor - sign we're getting really, really close.) Now the nurses (mine and babies) are coming in and out getting things ready for delivery. At about 1:45 pm I tell the nurses that I'm starting to feel pressure so they call the midwife in. Well what do ya know?!?!? My little girl is finally ready to come out. So at 2:15 pm they call the baby nurse back in because they think it's going to be a quick delivery and at 2:20 pm I'm finally being told to push. 9 pushes and 3 contractions later baby Evelyn is here at exactly 2:30 pm. Just in time for kickoff of the ISU football game. No episiotomy snafus and only a small tear. For those of you who are wondering....yes Mark held a leg once again and watched it all :)

We had a great group of nurses taking care of us, joking around and watching TV during the day. They all took a guess as to her weight and they all guessed about 7-7.5 pounds. EVERYONE was shocked to hear 8 lb 14 oz. That's all for now....there are 2 kids that need to get down for a nap so I can try and put this house semi back together.

Life Post Kids

I am such a slacker when it comes to blogging! Since Juanita could come any day now, I figured that I better get my Part 3 of Life with Kids in quick. Having kids had always been a part of my 'imagined' future and I am incredibly glad and lucky to have 1 on the ground and another on the way. While having kids has been a blessing..it's also caused some headaches (and heartaches). Go ahead and put the kids to bed, pour yourself a beer (or 2) and let's chat about how amazing those little monsters are.

1. The bathroom will never be a place that I'm allowed to be alone or have quiet. If Lane's not in there with me, he's knocking on the door. Remember the story from 'Life Pre-Kids' and my pooping fiasco? It really is amazing how much I love being able to take a bath without any interruptions.

2. All of my shopping, online or in store, ends up consisting of items that Lane or Juanita will like/wear. Mark appreciates the fact that my shoe and purse fetish has really taken a back seat!

3. Speaking of shoes and purses, I used to always be looking for cute clothes to wear to work....or out. I know a couple moms that still look at cute as ever in cute clothes/shoes (Adrienne, yes I'm talking about you plus a couple others :)  )and really wonder if they have super powers. How is that they can have kids and still manage to look that good? Am I missing something?

4. Back up a minute.....what is going out consist of????? That even exists? My poor husband LOVES to be social and do things but I'm now the frumpy lady that doesn't like to go any where 1. I really would prefer to take Lane with me wherever I go and 2. I'd rather spend the money on fun things for the kids. My goal is to really try and get better in this area because otherwise my husband is out having all the fun. My poor friends that don't have kids never see me any more. SORRY!!!!!!

5. I now have a required interest in all things kid related. While I'm not a fan of watching Thomas the Train....Lane LOVES it. For the most part I really try to limit the TV watching because he turns into a zombie but it's hard to resist when it's shows like Mickey Mouse, Backyardigans, Cat in the Hat or Curious George that I enjoy watching too.

6. The consistency of Lane's poop or lack there of is now common table conversation in the Widick house. NEVER in a million years would I have thought kids poop was so fascinating between them not pooping or the color/consistency of it when it finally does come out.

7. I love it every time Lane says a new word (which currently is multiple times a day) or a new trick (latest is flexing his muscles)! It makes me more and more proud to be his mommy every day. That is why I take full advantage of him wanting to spend time with me right now instead of his ATM. On one hand I'm incredibly lucky to have a kid that goes to bed about 7:30 every night but it also makes me sad that I barely get any playtime to spend with him during the week. Also why I tend to hoard him on the weekends (sorry Grandmas!!)..another point that I need to get better about.

All in all being a mom is the greatest achievement I have to date and it's pretty hard to imagine that it will ever be topped. I think back to how much my parents have done for me and all I can hope is that I am half as good of a mom to my kids as my parents were to me. It's sad to think about how late in life you really, REALLY appreciate all that your parents do for you. Enough about being sappy because it's making the 39 week 1 day pregnant lady cry....that blog about my awesome parental units will happen at a later date when my hormones allow me to finish without being a wet mess.

Back to topic, as much as I've joked about the messes of having kids, the decisions I've made are ones that I will never regret. My kids (and husband...I won't forget about you either honey) are the center of my life and make me a better person!

Life While Pregnant

To warn you, this could get a little gross and personal, so be prepared to learn some things about me that you probably don't want to know. Then again, if you've already been through pregnancy, you might be nodding your head in agreement with some of my points while adding more to your list.

I wrote last week about life pre-kids and said it would be a 2 part series but I have since changed my mind and made it a 3 part series. Why not share with you the wonders of being pregnant? Don't take this post the wrong way. I am INCREDIBLY lucky to have such easy pregnancies compared to some and my last delivery was quite a breeze (labor on the other hand can stick it where the sun don't shine.) This post will actually skip over the fantastic things about being prego and instead I'm going to tell you about some of the things that happen to me the royally suck. Things that as much as you see in movies or read in books, they don't tell you about. Or if they do, it's just a quick passage with things that you can do to hopefully make the problem better. These are things you should really warn your friends about people! Without further adieu-

1. Constipation/hemorrhoids-I can't wait for the day where I can poop without feeling like it's labor/delivery all over again. You would think drinking a whole lot of water and using Miralax on a regular basis would help but so far...not so much. Something so natural should NOT be so painful! Luckily I'm married to someone who has really weird poops too so I don't mind sharing my issues with him but I highly doubt he's gotten to the point where he bleeds as well. Then again I'm not real sure because he doesn't share his bodily functions with me too often. Hmm maybe I should take that as a sign that he doesn't want to hear about mine? Too bad so sad honey, if you want me to push out a 7 pound baby for you than you can deal with me without complaints :)

2. Heartburn-Holy Heartburn Batman!! If the old wives tale is true than I'll be having another hairy baby because I'm popping Tums like they're Smarties. I'm lucky enough to not endure heartburn except while pregnant. Props to those of you who have heartburn on a regular basis!!!

3. Uncontrollable bladder-This point was proven to me over and over again at a friends wedding reception a few weeks ago! My friends really wanted me to dance so I joined along....forgetting that I've gained about 22 pounds of pressure to my bladder! Every song ended with a trip to the bathroom to pee and sometimes not even making it through the song. Pretty sure I peed my underwear all night long at the reception. Note to self and all of you out there........dancing while pregnant = not a good idea.

4. Discharge-This didn't happen to me with Lane until the last few weeks but all of a sudden I was having chunks of something where they didn't belong. My midwife informed me that it was completely normal (as long as it wasn't bloody like a period) and could just be the mucus plus coming apart in pieces instead of all at once. Whatever it was....not pleasant.

5. Nasal stuffiness-This is a new symptom this go-a-round and while it doesn't keep me up at night, I do feel bad for my husband. He has had to listen to my snoring for the past couple months and he hasn't gotten mad at me once about it. The recent cold has made it even worse unfortunately.

There are probably a few things that I could add to this list but I'll keep it short with my worst &/or strangest symptoms. Since this blog was all about complaining, I want to say again that it is all worth it in the end. While it doesn't feel so great right now, when I get those first few moments after some time to process and recover after delivery, it'll be worth every painful and bloody poop that I endure for the next 5 weeks. There are many people out there that are unable to have kids or spend a large amount of money have a child that I want you to realize that I know how lucky I am!

Life Pre-Kids

With less than 7 weeks to go until the due date of Baby Juanita, I've been thinking lately about the things I did pre-kids. You always hear that having a baby changes everything. While that is correct to a point, you also make your life the way you want it. Majority of the following can still be done after kids but it'll need to be planned in advance along with the paying of a babysitter which is hard to justify for some people. Soo here's my suggested list of things to do before you have kids:

-Get all your daredevil antics out of the way. Go skydiving, swimming with sharks, hunting for alligators, be the pretty lady helping out a knife throwing magician....whatever it is. Do it now! Last thing you want is to kill or seriously hurt yourself now that there's another life completely dependent on you. Luckily for me, I am the completely opposite of a daredevil. Just the thought of swimming where I can't see anything scares me to the core. Leave me to a clean pool, clear ocean where I can see or on a flotation device of some sort and I'm happy. Swimming with dolphins has always intrigued me though and some day I'll have the guts to do it.

-This may not be for all of you out there but if you enjoy sex, do it now! As much as you want and anywhere you want. Just because you can. Once again probably not advice for everyone but please take heed my friends....there will come a day where all you want is to feel not tired, unhurried, uninterrupted or just hoping that someday you'll be in the mood again.

-Spoil yourself with spending. There are times where I'll splurge on a massage (very, VERY sparingly) but for the most part I've become quite the hoarder with money. I used to not think twice about a $120 bill at Old Chicago or going on vacation with the credit card but now all I think about is how much of daycare that would pay for, the cute clothes, accessories, or toys I could buy for my kids, or just getting out of debt in general. This whole money guilt thing has really gotten in the way of anything I used to buy or do for myself.

-Go out to eat! I don't care if it's a nice place that needs reservations or sitting at Old Chicago for 6 hours with appetizers and beer. Oh how I miss our entire Saturdays spent at Old Chicago and Buffalo Wild Wings. Once again we could do this but then my guilty version of responsibility kicks in saying that I don't need to do this anymore because 1) There's no way Lane could sit still for that long and 2) See the previous point about money.

-Spend an entire day on the sofa watching movies or tv reruns and don't feel guilty about it. Another point that I really miss! Mark and I used to spend entire days watching movies. Now our Netflix is full of kids shows...case in point....our top 10 is all cartoons except for a teenage drama TV show for me. I feel like I know all the episodes of Chuck and Friends, Backyardigans, The Cat in the Hat, The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Curious George. Truth be told and please don't share this with anyone else, I actually enjoy sitting and watching these shows with him :)

-Enjoy your friends that don't have kids. It's inevitable and most parents would probably agree. It's not that we don't still love our friends that don't have kids....it's just that it seems like we all of a sudden don't have much in common. They don't understand our inability to do things spur of the moment and we don't understand their ability to drink like we used to. I PROMISE that when they have kids you will see them more and have even more to talk about. Feel incredibly lucky if you have a non-kid friend that takes a genuine interest in your kids and wants to be around them and vice versa.

-Enjoy using the toilet alone. It doesn't matter which end it's coming out of either. The past few days have been the worst for this in our house. I don't know if it was because I spent over 24 hours away from Lane or what but holy cow...the kid seriously had to be on my lap with his face next to mine, hands around my neck while I'm pooping. He was still attached while wiping. Sooo not pleasant and this is something I'm sure he'll love to hear about when he's in middle school. What I wouldn't give to sit on the toilet and not have a kid in there with me or knocking on the door.

-While at a restaurant, at church, on a plane, at the store, wherever you are at. Don't look at the parent with a kid making a scene or running around with hate like they have 2 heads/make nasty comments. I don't care how fantastic you think your kid will act or how you'll say 'I'll never let my kid act like that' because it's inevitable that you WILL have that kid at one point or another. Karma really is a bitch and will come back and bite you in the ass. I can say that because I've been the person on both sides of the fence.

-Go and drink during the day whenever you want. Be it a champagne brunch or tailgating. It's just not enjoyable to drink anymore during the day when you know that there are kids to come home to.

Like I said before, these things can still be done after kids but there is so much more forethought that comes in to play. I absolutely love my life and wouldn't trade my kids for anything. Okay I take that back, I would give birth today if I could get rid of my heartburn and snoring while pregnant that keeps my husband up at night. Anywho, I said before the I've made the decision to put my kids first in multiple ways and currently I'm okay with that 90% of the time. Of course there are times that I think to myself it'd be nice to drink too much without the consequences of the kid hangover or having to pump and dump instead of feeding my child but it's the sacrifice that I've decided to endure. I keep telling myself that my kids will only be little and need me for something other than $20 or a ride to a friends house for a short period of time.

Parenting Advice or Warning?

I read an article today about how some people feel the need to 'help' parents by giving them advice on how to parent. Read it here if you want. What interested me the most was it focused only on grandparents because the topic could relate to people that don't have kids of their own, fellow parents, doctors etc. The list could probably keep going.

Everyone has an opinion. Awhile back I wrote a blog post about judging others and really this all falls into the same category. I'll easily admit that I've had to bite my tongue a time or two about someone elses 'parenting'. Luckily I've never actually said anything to a parent but I've made my opinion known to someone else (usually Mark) a few times. Majority of those moments came before I was a parent myself. Being a parent now has taught me that while I've watched children before....having your own children is a completely different animal. However, I still stand by thinking someone is an idiot for driving a motorcycle with a cigarette in their mouth AND having their children in front of and behind you without helmets on. I don't care if you're just driving around town or not.

I've also been told a time or two about how to care of my kids. There's no need to go into any detail about those instances but they're things I'll never forget. I just tell myself that they don't agree with my choice and that's their decision. They don't live in my house so their opinion doesn't hold a large amount of weight. I just pray that I am a good enough parent to know when my child is in serious danger or just being a normal, curious toddler.

The end result is hopefully each parents knows their child and their habits better than any outsider would. 'Hopefully' being the key word because there are exceptions to everything. My exception to that rule would possibly be our daycare provider....yes she does get VERY paranoid about things but then again she does see my child awake more than I do. Now if everyone would abide by not offering unsolicited advice and abiding by the rules that are originally set....we'd all be better off. This whole topic makes me happy with the family situation we have.....yes there are sometimes issues but oh dear lord I've heard horror stories from other moms :)

It's a.....

If you are friends with Mark on Facebook he decided to ruin our surprise early. I was just too tired to even think about writing anything last night so instead I went to bed. Well we're once again going to be poor from shopping! It's a girl. The little booger wouldn't cooperate for all the measurements that needed done since she only wanted to face my spine so I have to go back in a month to get everything else measured.

Mark and I both had a 'feeling' that was what we were having. I was just a little shocked to be honest and the first words out of Mark's mouth was 'Well I guess we're now officially broke again.' He knows how  much I love shopping for girl clothes. Unfortunately the pocketbook won't handle it so I've made a commitment to try and be good this time around. There are some little girls out there that seriously wear the cutest clothes in the world. Ashley Soma and Eden Bullock....watch out because I'll be raiding your clothes stash!!!

I decided to make it a little more fun this time around by making cupcakes that were blue and pink with blue/pink swirled icing. My thought was that until they went to eat the cupcakes, our parents wouldn't know what we were having. Unforunately I didn't think about buying the foil wrappers so the pastel one's leaked what color cupcake they were getting. Oh well.

My mom had such a funny reaction! We handed her a gift bag with two cupcakes in them, one for her and one for my dad. Her first reaction was 'We're having two?!' It wasn't so much as a question as it was an exclamation. Jan about gave me a heart attack and I knew there was only one kid brewing. She was so excited about the thought of having two she completely missed the rest of our conversation (that my dad heard without his hearing aids) about how the icing colors didn't matter and the fact there was two didn't matter. What mattered was the color of cupcake they were going to eat. I swear it took her about 10 minutes to finally calm down and figure out what was going on.

Since I know it will be asked..we are sharing what we're having obviously but we are not sharing a name. And no we haven't even talked about a name yet. Also, I haven't yet picked out the blog winner so stay tuned for that!

The Guessing Game

This week is the big week where we'll find out boy or girl, 1 or multiple. Just kidding, we know for a fact there's only one baby roasting in there. So I'm going to give you all a chance to take a guess at what we're having.

Thursday is the big day! We never did a reveal on Facebook with Lane since I had family members that didn't want to know and we're friends on Facebook so that just wouldn't have been fair. This time around...too bad Missy....I've decided to reveal to anyone who wants to know. For future reference, if you don't want to know, you might not want to read my blog post on Thursday or Friday. Or even better you might just want to avoid my Facebook page and blog all together until my mom let's the cat out of the bag like she did last time.

So here's the deal if you want to participate. Leave a comment letting me know what you think the news will be. If you're the lucky guesser, I'll do a blog post about YOU. If you don't want a blog written about you (and your special secrets) you might not want to take a guess. My initial decision was to use the first person that guesses correctly but I haven't quite made the final decision yet.

Sooooo start guessing away! I can't wait to hear what everyone says.

My wish list

Maybe I'm just naive but I honestly cannot wrap my head around all the controversy going on right now in the parenting world. It all started with the Time magazine cover of a mom breastfeeding her son and it has just exploded on the internet since. Does anybody even know if the magazine is even out yet so people can read the article?

I've read so many different newspaper, blog, and magazine posts the past few days and it amazes me how heated people get. What happened to being happy with the fact that your child is healthy and happy? Who cares how the child was fed (or for how long) or how they learned to sleep through the night. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am very proud to have nursed my son for over a year but in no way shape or form do I feel the need or care to look down upon people that don't. My mom made the decision to formula feed me and I think that I turned out pretty good.

As a mom I realize that every decision I make will impact my children in one way or another but at the end of the day.....I just want them to be happy and healthy. I read an article this morning by Kara Baskin about her wish list for her son. Read it here if you'd like. She seems to share my sentiment and has inspired me to share a few of my hopes for my children.

I hope that they know the things in life that really matter don't come easily and you must work hard for what you want.

I hope that they are polite and kind. 'Please' and 'thank you' are the most simple words but also the most forgotten.

I had to steal this from Kara because I agree wholeheartedly. I hope I raise a child who will stick up for a kid who’s being bullied on the playground. I also hope I raise a child who, if he’s the one being bullied, fights back. Hard. Oh, and if he’s the bully? I hope he realizes that his mother will cause him more pain than a bully ever could.

I hope that they love to read as much astheir mother.

I hope that they grow up and look back at the relationships of their parents and grandparents to realize that there is true love out there and to never settle for anything less.

I hope their hearts are full of compassion for others, human and animals alike.

I hope that they have a love of animals and think there's nothing better than pets in a house like their mother.

I hope that they are outgoing and can carry on a conversation with anyone (whether you like them or not) like their father.

I hope that they know their parents will always be there for them but also realize that they are their own person.

I hope they they know that not all their prayers will be answered and that's okay.

What are the hopes for your children be it born or not, adopted or biological? My hope is that whatever they are, that health and happiness are among the top.

Lane's Big News

This time it isn't about Lane getting teeth, which seems to have stalled at 2. Lane will be a big brother in a few months. Go ahead and reread that now if you haven't already. Just to make sure you're not crazy...yes, yes you are correct. Our family is officially growing by the addition of another person and this little person hopefully will not be making an entrance until November 12th. I tend to be a little conservative when it comes to sharing our news so this blog is dedicated so those family and friends that have been dying for an official announcement.

We planned on doing our official family and friend announcement about now but two weddings changed that and we had to tell some people at the end of March/beginning of April. Mark's sister wanted a destination wedding in November..definite no go and I'm in a wedding in September that was planning on very form fitting (aka non-flattering for pregnant folk) dresses. So what does this mean for the Widick clan??

1. YES we do know how this happens and no we aren't too crazy. Most people's responses (except 1..I love you Joni) has been 'Wow.' or 'Are you serious? That was quick.' Then it's the congratulations!
2. Mark's hunting this fall/winter will be incredibly limited, if at all.
3. We'll have 2 kids approximately 18 months and under. This is where most people have stopped and thought....you guys are crazy.
4. At least they'll be in two different grades!
5. I'll get to be home on maternity leave for Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Year's. I couldn't have planned that any better if I tried since I plan on taking the full 8 weeks that I'm allowed this time around.
6. We'll be spending approximately $10,000 a year in daycare. I hope to God that I'm over estimating that.
7. Approximately 6,000 diapers will be changed in this baby's 1st year for both kids.
8. It's very likely that not many people will receive Christmas presents from us this year...unless I do all the shopping before November or do it online. Or be prepared for gift cards that are available at Walmart!
9. This mama does not enjoy being pregnant any more the 2nd time around than the 1st. At least there shouldn't be any big surprises.
10. Meals are limited to prepackaged, frozen or grilling by Mark. Poor Mark barely had any home cooked meals while I was pregnant with Lane and those first few months! Very sad coming from a lady who loves to cook.
11. I recently found out that Mark is hoping for a girl this time so that way I have my girl and he's hoping I will want to quit having kids.

A big thank you everyone that has given us congratulations! We are very excited and here's our first picture of the little bean.

The most perfect morning!

Someone I know had a baby yesterday afternoon and that is the inspiration for today's (albeit completely unplanned) blog. This new mama posted a picture of her newest addition this morning on Facebook at about 8 am and a bunch of memories rushed back to me from my hospital stay.

Lane was over 24 hours old when I was able to wake up from my 1st night sleep as a mom (which I must say was probably the best sleep I had in almost a week). We decided that Mark would stay home to sleep, for both our sanity and the sanity of our dogs, and the previous day was full of visitors from the moment Lane was returned to our room at 7 am until I went to bed at 10 pm.

I will NEVER forget that first morning that it was just Lane and I together before Mark arrived. It was also the first time that we were able to spend a single moment alone that didn't include him being attached to my boob. To be able and stare at the most beautiful thing in the world was priceless. Actually just thinking about it is bringing tears to my eyes! Before that moment, I would've never thought something so simple could be so meaningful.

It's a moment I'll cherish forever and seeing these new babies lets me relive it all over again!

Mooo

For the past 1 year and 3 weeks I have more or less felt like a dairy cow. My son has officially decided that he was done last week with nursing. It seemed as though my mission in life was to try my hardest to make enough milk to feed little B Dub (aka Lane). Don't get me wrong, this journey has been incredibly tough but worth everything I had to give up completely or have in small moderation. To be completely honest with you, I didn't really give up anything. The only thing I didn't do was tobacco or drugs which I never did anyways. Chastize me if you want but yes I still drank in moderation and yes my little boy turned out to grow and develop just fine.

I only planned on breastfeeding for 6-9 months but it was such tough work those first couple months (for a multitude of reasons that I won't go into here) that there was no way I was going to stop. Luckily I had some people in my life that encouraged me and were great examples to follow. My sister in law breastfed her babies for a very long time and she is one of the busiest people I have ever met so if she could do it.....I could sure as hell find time in my life to feed my baby or pump if necessary. She's also my inspiration for making baby food! Doing the best for B Dub became my mission! If I had to take time out of work, my lunch, a concert, a visit from a friend....all could take a moment while I gave him the best of what I could give.

This post is definately not meant to sway a future mom one way or another but just to give some insight into the reasons of my journey. Some of the following are the most interesting facts I learned throughout the past year:

1. 73% of mothers get outside help or advice - this was definately true in my case. I had some major issues the first couple months so the lactation consultant at the hospital was my saving grace. Her positive reinforcement was exactly what I needed...after I got over the wierdness of having a stranger touch my boob. Awkward.

2. Breastfeeding helps prevent cancer & reduces the risk of osteoporosis

3. The milk sprays out of lots of holes, not only 1 - this is probably the most shocking to me. Which shouldn't have considering my animal background. I've milked sheep & horses so I really shouldn't have been surprised to see a crap ton of milk spraying in all directions.

4. about 3/4 of all moms produce more milk with the right breast - very strange fact but it was true with me and oddly enough it has nothing to do with which side dominant you are

5. Approximately 65% breastfeed in the hospital, that drops to 14% at 6 months and less than 5% at 1 year. These percentages are slowly getting higher year by year.

I have nothing against formula or what it does for a baby because I know lots of people that do it! Their babies turn out great so no judgement here but there will always be people that are against one way of feeding or another. It all comes down to personal preference just like choosing to cloth diaper or use disposable (if you care to know I'd cloth diaper in a heartbeat if I had a husband that was willing). Both options are safe and my best friend and brother/sister in law both cloth diaper...they love it but it's not for everyone. I will say that I was shocked at some of the comments that people gave though!! 'You're still breastfeeding?' Why yes I am...is that a problem? 'Formula isn't that expensive.' I understand that for some people formula is the only option or the cost doesn't matter vs. the time & effort....but some months of living paycheck to paycheck and those formula cans could've made a huge difference. If I could do something, hard or not, and save us some money then I was going to give it my all.

I apologize for the personal boasting but I just feel incredibly proud to have made it as long as we did and plan on doing the same with future kids. All in all I thought it would be like God came down from heaven the day I was done breastfeeding but it was a little like a let down. I was hoping to end on my own terms....not B Dubs. He's just showing me that he is going to run the show!

It's Already Been 1 Year?

How can one year fly by so quickly? Does this mean that every year will continue to go quicker? I would really like to feeze time right now because I'm not quite ready for things to progress in every way imaginable. It is so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that my first born baby is already one!

Lane was such a good baby and made being a parent incredibly easy. There wasn't any more strain than normal between Mark and I, Lane slept pretty descent and was a joy to be around (saving all of his fussy episodes when we were home alone), and all in all he was a textbook baby. I can only hope that our next baby (if we're lucky enough) will be as much fun as this little guy has been.

Now on to what this post is actually supposed to be about. The Party!!! We had an amazing day albeit a little windy to have a house full of some of Lane's biggest supporters in life. I really wish that I would've gotten a picture of all the attendees!!!! Put that idea in my mind for future reference. I had BIG plans for decorations and food but only about 1/4 of them successfully happened. Without further adieu here is what went down last Saturday!

The decorations were pretty minimal but we were also tight on space. I

highly doubt many people cared what our house looked like as long as there was a little boy that was crawling around to be the entertainer. The two main decorations were a balloon wreath for the front door and a banner with picture of Lane from the past year. Both done with the help of Pinterest. The instructions for the balloon wreath called for floral pins, 3 bags of 72 balloons and a 16 inch straw wreath. This thing was so easy to make but it did take some time. Two movies and a 4th bag of balloons later it was done. Looks pretty darn good if I say so! It took so long that this sucker is going to come out for everyone's birthday EVERY year. Lane will thoroughly appreciate his birthday wreath when he's 16!!!! I just know it.

The banner was initally going to be quite elaborate but instead the pictures got taped to a Christmas ribbon. In fact, it's still up in our kitchen..I just can't bring myself to take it down yet. Maybe my subconcious is hoping that Lane won't grow up if I keep it hanging.

Now for the main attraction! FOOD. We love food and I love The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) so basically our entire menu came from her delicious recipes. I've been following her blog for about 2-3 years now so I was super excited when she started a Food Network show AND came out with a new cookbook recently. Everyone needs to check her out!! For meat we did her Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork and Mark also smoked some extra pork butt that we had. I'm proud to say that my pork was a clear favorite! Although ours ended up not very spicy because I couldn't find the canned peppers...instead I used spiced red peppers which aren't nearly as hot.
For potatoes we had potatoes au gratin. I thought they were delicious! Ree's green bean casserole is definately not your average canned beans with cream of mushroom!! It wasn't very popular but I thought it was delicious as well. Then again there was pieces of red and orange pepper that could be seen and my family isn't into 'different' food. The bright colors probably threw them off. Also I made banana pudding & monkey bread (aren't I clever going with the whole monkey theme?) We also had the typical fruit, meat, cheese etc.

What I'm most excited about is the cake! A huge thank you to Adrienne Krantz with Sophisticated Cookiefor the awesome (and delicious) work. It was absolutely amazing!! I recommend her to everyone in the Des Moines area. We had 3 flavors of cupcakes (lemon raspberry, banana pecan caramel and chocolate peanut butter) and Lane's cake was lemon raspberry.

I'll say it again....she's awesome. Look at the detail she went into putting buttons on each cupcake?!?!

My poor little man wasn't too interested in the cake. All he wanted to do was play with the monkey on top and eat the red dots along the sides. After about 10 minutes he was done & ready to get out. Oh well...more cake for me to eat!

The day might not have been as I imagined but it went amazing nonetheless. A huge thank you to the invitees for spending your evening with us and we look forward to many more years sharing these special memories with you!

Labor Pains

There were a lot of ideas running through my head for Lane's birthday blog today. Lane's story about being born won the coveted spot. I don't plan on leaving anything out so be prepared if you really don't want to read about how it all went down(at least what I remember)!

It all started on Thursday, March 10th. That morning I had a Dr. appointment. The little pipsqueak was 2 days overdue and I had high hopes that the Dr. was going to say 'Wow you've made great progress this past week. He should come any day!' What I heard instead was 'You haven't changed at all in the past week. You're dilated only half a fingertip...but anything could happen.' I then went home and proceeded to write an official eviction notice for Lane on Facebook.

Fast forward to 10:36 p.m. I woke up with the wierdest pain but figured it was stomach pain. There was no way that I was going to stay awake so back to sleep I went. Unfortunately I was up every 30-40 minutes with the same uncomfortable feeling. To answer your question...I had no idea I was having contractions so I did what any perfectly rational person would do and went to work Friday morning.

I was exhausted and had no idea labor had started so I went about my normal day. It took until 10:30 a.m. for the idea of contractions to pop into my head. The timing between them were anywhere from 20-35 minutes so enough where the 'idea' of contractions was pretty fleeting and left my mind as quickly as it arrived. Mark and a co-worker of his came into the bank at 11:30 a.m. to drop off Mark's paycheck (Mark later informed me that Justin told him 'I bet you have a baby this weekend. She looks horrible!') The day keeps truckin along and the pain keeps getting a little stronger. Work's done so I headed home and thought I should probably inform Mark what was going on. So I told him 'I've been having this wierd pain off and on all day.' Mark asked what they felt like then proceeded to get the labor/delivery book from our birthing class to read up on how they explained labor pain. What do ya know??!?! It matched up but the contractions were still about 20 minutes apart and I was told to not call until it was 5-7 minutes. The pain started to intensify enough where I had to stop moving. That didn't work very well when I was trying to do laundry and clean up the house! At around 9 p.m. I decided to try to sleep but that wasn't going to happen. I curled up into a ball every time a contraction came so I knew that Mark wasn't sleeping well with me in bed. At 10:30 p.m. I decided to lay in the recliner in the living room because the contraction time went down to 7-10 minutes. Friday night included NO sleep whatsoever.

Saturday morning at 6 a.m. Mark wakes up for work and asks 'Should I go to work or not?' So I call First Nurse for their opinion and they tell me 'It sounds like they are contractions and you can go to the hospital if you want buuuut we really suggest that you stay home until 5-7 minutes. You'll be much more comfortable at home.' I tell Mark to head to work and I'll call him if something crazy happens. While Mark is at work I walk to get the mail and the weather was not ideal. 40 mph winds and about 40 degrees. Under normal circumstances, I would've never walked outside but I was determined that walking would help me feel better. It didn't. During this time my mom also called and asked how I was doing. My response 'Oh I'm fine. The doctor told me that nothing has changed.' All the while trying to talk through contractions. Some people might call me crazy but my goal was to not call anyone until we were checked into the hospital and knew for a fact that a baby was coming. Mark finally gets home about 12:30 p.m. and the contractions keep getting a little stronger but the timing is still 7-10 minutes :( I try to lay down at 10 p.m. and at this point I can't tell if the contractions are getting longer or they're getting closer together. I swore that they lasted at least 90 seconds long and at 10:20 I finally call First Nurse and say that I'm at the 7 minute mark and think that I need to head to the hospital. We talk some more and she is about to put me on hold to talk to the labor/deliver floor at the hospital when I tell her that it's a 25 minute drive for us to the hospital. Her response 'Oh!! Well then you need to leave now. I'll take care of everything else.' So off we went.

Hospital check-in took forever. We got there at 11 p.m. and everything was finished at about 12:15 a.m. The nurse informed me that my contractions were 2-5 minutes apart, my water hadn't broken but it was ready to pop and there was no way that they were going to send me home. The nurse we had was amazing and got the epidural in at 12:30 a.m. The anesthesiologist was going to head into surgery so my epidural had to happen right away (it was a good thing too because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get it). Wow it felt amazing. We were then told to relax, the pitocin would help push things along and to let them know when I felt the need to push. The midwife broke my water at 2 a.m. because they needed to insert Lane's monitor directly since the outer one wasn't working very well. Fast forward (literally) and hour because of daylight savings time so a minute later the time is really 3 a.m. At 4:15 I tell Mark to get them because I can't take this much longer. They come in saying that they were just getting ready to check on me because the monitors showed a major shift in Lane. The midwife takes a look and all she said is 'Oh wow his head is right there so you can push whenever you want.'

Then the time comes and the midwife tells the nurse to grab one leg and Mark to grab the other. Yup you read that right. Mark wasn't a spectator...he was a participant! I push a few times then feel the sharpest pain I'd felt in a long time. I must've winced really, really bad because she asked 'Did you feel that?' 'Hell yes I did!!!' Come to find out she gave me an episiotomy (which Mark informed me later that she literally took a razor and cut me open). 'Oh I'm so sorry, you're narcotic pain killer must not've kicked in yet.' I pushed for 7 minutes and Lane arrived at 4:55 a.m. I think God gave me a quick delivery since I had contractions for 49 hours before heading to the hospital. Time to stitch me up...at a later point Mark also informed me that I was stitched up with literally a huge fish hook!

Next is really a blur. It was almost as though everything was moving really fast and in slow motion at the same time. All I remember is the midwife pushing on my stomach to make sure everything is out and then having Lane put on my chest. The only specific thing I remember is Lane sucking on his thumb literally within 30 seconds of being put on my chest...this kid was destined to be a strong sucker. Oh and that Lane came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his arm and head. Within 1 hour I was walked to the bathroom and also specifically remember peeing so much that I asked the nurse if something was wrong. It had been months since that much liquid came out of my bladder :)

The end result was the birth of my proudest moment so far in my life. Mark was so proud that within 4 hours of Lane being born he said 'I could have more.' Slow down buddy, slow down. You didn't just push a 6 lb. 13.5 oz. kid out of your vagina.

Smarter(er)?

One of my earlier blogs was about this website that I'm a member of, Bzzagent.com. Basically you answer surveys and manufacturers choose people to test their products.

A month ago I was asked to try out this new website called Smarterer. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it but ended up accepting the invitation. More or less this website is full of different types of quizzes on a HUGE range of topics.

The first quiz that I did was about Bzzagent which I was completely bored with and kept wondering when I was going to be done. To say the least I didn't try it again until yesterday when I decided to give some fun topics a try. Beer and Twilight. Odd combination...I know but I like beer and I also like Twilight. I thought that maybe if I did some quizzes on items that I was interested in than I'd like the website better. I'll admit that it did peak my interest a little but only a little.

Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever go to the website again. If I'm bored out of my mind and can't find anything else to do (yeah right...like that'll happen with a 1 yr old running around) than I might try it again...buuuuut I'm still leaning towards no.

Thanks BzzAgent and Smarterer for letting me give it a try but it just wasn't for me!

Life's a Changin'

Our house has had a pretty eventful couple of weeks. The blog title probably makes it seem much more drastic than it really is but it's the only catchy title I could think of! So sorry to dissapoint if the rest of what I write doesn't live up to your expectations but at least I got you to take a look!

Mark started off everything with informing me that he was taking a new job. Talk about a system shocker! I'm so happy for him and I love seeing how excited he is about the new venture. There are some logistic things that we'll need to figure out like the new daycare drop off/pick up schedule and most important.....the morning routine. Lane and I have our routine down to a science. While it will be nice to have Mark around to help get Lane ready, especially as he gets older, I love how quiet the house is after Mark leaves and Lane is still sleeping. I leave for work more stressed on the mornings that Mark is home. It just throws a little wrench into how I do everything.

Now for Lanes big news and no it's not a brother or sister. Houston, we finally have teeth! Lane's finally getting the teeth that I never thought would come. I was about 7 months old when my teeth came in and Mark was a year so I shouldn't have been surprised that it took this long. Cold symptoms also arrived within 24 hours of noticing the teeth so our baby has been a tad more irritable than normal.

I happen to be the most excited about some of the things I've done! First and foremost, I have actually gotten out of the house WITHOUT Mark or Lane and did things with some friends. I do get out of the house once and awhile to do errands but I rarely ever do anything fun that is just for me. That dang child of mine is like a leech and seems to be wherever I go :) There are only 6 instances that I can think of in the past year and 3 of those are with family. The three friends that I spent time with deserve some recognition! Jen Arnold for the Kenny Chesney concert when Lane was only a week old, and just this last week was Shana Lancaster for our chinese buffet dinner and Amy Johnston for a movie. Love you ladies and thank you for helping with my sanity!! Now I might have missed a time or two and I apologize in advance if so. Thank you to Patty, Nichole and Kathy for some girl time at Wicked, dinner and pedicures too!

Granted this also has to do with the fact that I am no longer pumping. Did you read that?!?!?!?!?! I understand that most of the people that read this could really care less but holy cow I am excited. Not having to sit in the bathroom and pump at work is quite the accomplishment and I'm sure my coworkers are happy about it too. I honestly didn't think I would make it this long but I just kept telling myself, 'This is such a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things.' that and it turned into a competition. How long could I go?? I'm not done breastfeeding by any means but at least I no longer have to carry around that stupid backpack. You other breastfeeding/pumping moms know what I'm talking about.

I have pumped in some of the strangest places. The bathroom at a Kenny Chesney concert (which I will NEVER do again), the security office at Wells Fargo arena during the Kenny Chesney concert (much better choice), the car while tailgating at an ISU football game (talk about awkward when a random college kid walked by and looked in), in the parking ramp in Des Moines before our anniversary dinner and going down the highway while heading to my birthday celebration at Prairie Meadows (no I wasn't driving).

Lastly for the most exciting news that I know my brothers and nephew will absolutely love to hear.....I put on one of my old bras (before I had to go up a size & eventually changed to nursing bras) this morning, looked in the mirror and was so happy to see my boobs look normal again. No saggy look from having to wear nursing bras/tanks!!!!!!!!

As you can tell we have had an interesting couple of weeks and it will keep getting more fun with the infamous 1st Birthday in a week!

Tip Of The Iceberg

I've done it and I'm sure that you have to. Why is it that we easily consider ourselves part of a jury and become judgemental? We don't realize until it's too late that we hurt someones feelings or alienated someone that we are supposed to care about. Recently I've encoutered some things that made me think about this issue.

I read a blog about this same topic and he had the most amazing comparison. Icebergs. Now I know what you're thinking...this guy is crazy...because I thought the same thing at first. We all know the story of the Titanic but how many of you actually know the specifics of an iceberg. Well here's your education lesson for the day. Pure ice weighs less than salt water and on average only one-ninth of an iceberg shows above the waters surface. ONE-NINETH!! That makes the expression 'tip of the iceberg' make a lot more sense in my book. The largest iceberg on record....larger than the country of Belgium that was found in the South Pacific Ocean.

The same holds true for a person or a situation. We only see a small part of the whole picture. So if we knowingly have only a small portion of information, why are we still so quick to judge/offer our opinion? We want to solve the problem as quickly as possible, sometimes we think that our solution 'is the only correct answer' and feel the need to say it without thinking first, and sometimes have become too comfortable in our roles. Sometimes it hurts to hear that we shouldn't share our opinions but we also have to remember that once again we don't know the whole story either.
So now I want you to think about your own life. Do you think it's possible to ease off of judgement towards others? We (read I) like to give our opinion thinking that it will honestly help the intended recipient. Unfortunately the information that's received isn't always taken in the same manner it's given. A lot of times the intended recipient making the decision knows it's the right one but not everyone else will agree.

I know that I'm going to try in hopes that people will follow suit.  It's not going to be easy but the most important choices in life never are.