4 weeks!

Well, Case is almost 4 weeks old already! I can honestly say its been the longest 4 weeks of my life! Trying to adjust the lack of sleep and all the things that have gone wrong has left me pretty much numb. Eventually, maybe, I might want another one! ha ha in a few years. We have been to the doctor 2 to 3 times every week since he's been alive. He has had a lot of little problems many due to the fact that I have been sick and so he's been getting sick from me. This last week we went in to weigh him and he still hadn't gained any weight since he was born, so the doctor was pretty concerned. I had to take him into the hospital to get an X ray on his upper GI tract to see if he needed surgery to help fix his acid reflux. He has been throwing up a lot more and the doctor thinks that might be one of the reasons why he isn't gaining. So after reviewing the X ray the doc decided that we should try some acid reflux medicine, that so far isn't working. But I am hopeful! So after we figured out this problem, I realized the other night he doesn't stay asleep in his crib because its uncomfortable for his tummy! So I decided to put him in his bouncy and shove blankets next to him to make him feel more secure! Which resulted in 3 hour sleep segments! I was practically crying with joy! Bring on the sleep.

I am recovering surprisingly well after my C section! I am ready to get back to running already but I know I need to wait 2 more weeks. Not being able to run is getting old! I cannot wait to get back into it!

As for Sam, we still haven't heard what is going on for our next job. I am sure we will hear in a month or so. This job is almost done it looks like! Hopefully we'll be out of Texas in know time!

Aw.... Such Luck I have!

So up until this point, I have been super positive about having to have a C Section and the recovery and all that! And to be honest, its been a lot better than expected. So yesterday was the last day my mom and Meg were here to help me, and I decided to do a lot, probably a lot more than I should have! By the night time, Case wasn't sleeping and he was super onery and I was getting no sleep and I started feeling really sick. The thought crossed my mind that I could have a UTI. Case had a doctors appointment today so I decided to walk across to my doctor and see if they could squeeze me in. Well, lo and behold I do indeed have a urinary tract infection... along with mastitis!! SO my mom is gone, I'm not allowed to drive for 2 weeks, and now I am sick. Along with trying to deal with a newborn. HA! Luck is just not on my side these days! But as I look at my beautiful baby, I know its STILL TOTALLY WORTH ALL THE PAIN!!!

More pictures!

I couldn't help but put more pictures of my ADORABLE baby!! I'm so stinking in love if you all can't tell!

The Story of Baby Case

Wow, it has been a very crazy adventure!!! So to continue on after what happened Monday with the cervidol... I had it in from Monday to Tuesday. They didn't start me on Pit until about 6am. I started to really progress just within a few hours. I went from a one to a 3 in about an hour and a half. I was really proud and surprised that I was handling the pain so well. I got to a 4 by noon where I got the epidural. Anyone that knows me will be proud to hear that I didn't have ANY problems with it! So after I got the epidural things sorta headed south for me. I completely stopped dilating because Case was Posterior Lateral... something or other. We can't figure it out exactly but basically the babies head was in the way and I could not dilate anymore than a 4. So.... this was at noon! They let me stay on pit until 5:30 KNOWING that he wasn't going to progress before they shut the pit off and decided I needed a C Section, due to the fact that I was getting a fever and so was the baby, and the nurse told me I am very petite. Lets just say we weren't the happiest that they allowed that to happen. Case came out with a lot of cuts and bruises on his head from being shoved down there! We were all pretty upset. I haven't had the best hospital experience and it kinda just keeps on comin! I finally got done with the surgery recovery part and an hour and a half later I FINALLY got to see him and Sam! It KILLED me having to sit and wait to see them! It was sheer torture! I just wanted my baby!

So, they brought us back to my room and literally.... we were on our own! A nurse came to check my vitals and I asked for help nursing and got a one second lesson and that was that! The baby didn't go to the nursery because they don't allow that here, he stayed in my room the whole night. So we were on our own! Which was kind of nice in a way so that I could bond and we bonded as a family, but I just haven't gotten the help that I wanted or think I deserve. No one has talked to me about nursing, or taking care of the cord, its kind of ridiculous. But its ok! He's here and he's 100% perfect! He arrived at 7:00pm weight 6lbs 13 oz and he was a womping 20 inches long and as to quote the nurse.. has some of the biggest feet she's ever seen! So much for my small baby Doctor! We are SO HAPPY he is here! I've never felt more love for Sam and our perfect little creation! Its the most amazing adventure I've been on!

Labor and..... just some more labor!

So since all our friends and family are calling, messaging, and texting and we can't really keep track of anything except ourselves I will update you all here. I was checked in this morning at 8am. My doctor decided that since I wasn't dialated and I wasn't thinned out that he wanted to do whats called cervidal (I know that is not how you spell it), it inserts in the cervix and helps ripen me for labor, since I wasn't already when I first got here. So that had to be in me for 12 hours, the doctor came in and I'm totally thinned but still not dialated so he decided to do another round of it! So the plan thus far is that he will start me on pitocin at 5:30 this morning and hopefully we will get this baby out sometime soon! We will keep you further updated! Thanks again for all the love and support!

Baby Time!

Just to update our friends and family who follow the blog, this last month we moved to Del Rio, Texas to finish up this job! Sam says its actually going pretty fast, so we may indeed be moving to the next job in October or November! Its SO much nicer living here in Del Rio! Everything that we had been driving for is right here in town! Our trailer park is SO NICE!! Its a 4 star park, there is a swimming pool, laundry mat, and we have a great yard with green grass! I know it sounds so odd, but we really learned not to take for granted those simple things that we lived without for almost 8 months!

Its only been two weeks since we've lived here, but we've met some really nice people in our branch, and a lot of ladies have put my mind at ease about my doctor! The branch is in a church building which really surprised both Sam and I. We weren't expecting it to be this big! There are about 50 people in all in our branch! Its a quaint little branch and I think we'll enjoy being there while it lasts!

Sam's job is still going really well! Its really hot and humid here, but he says its not too bad out at work! I'm so grateful for him and how hard he works so that I can stay at home and raise our baby! He is a stinking STUD!!!! Ha ha ha

My brother is coming home from his mission today. I'm really really sad that I can't be there. Most people don't get it, but Ben and I were super close. I know that I get to see him in a few days, but its not really the same! This is definitely one of those times I have to think positive about life! Missing out on family things for a few years is going to better for our family in the long run! And I'm so grateful that our job is steady! One less thing we have to worry about, so in keeping that in mind, I've been positive about missing Ben and all the family going to see him come home!
So I am being induced the 18th at 8am. My "Small" baby weighs 5lbs 110z so far. So I'm sure he'll be over 6lbs by the 18th!! I can't WAIT for him to come out! Its VERY hot and humid here and even in my AC trailer I still am just a pool of sweat everywhere I go! It makes it awkward to even go out in public! I for sure only get a few hours of sleep now, which I guess I'm getting used too for a good reason! I am constantly scraping my belly on doorways in the trailer! Its rather annoying! So only a little over a week now and he'll be on his way! I guess I should maybe tell those of you who don't know that I'm being induced because I have GBS (dangerous for the baby could lead to deaf, blindness, or death) So he won't let me go into labor on my own! Not only that but he is worried the placenta is getting too old to support the baby and that's why he's so "small". So here we are! We're excited and we will let you all know how it turns out!

Update

I haven't blogged in forever because I am not a picture taker really and I feel like that is usually the only reason anyone wants to read blogs... ok fine... that's usually why I look at blogs! Is to see the pictures!! Ha ha... but we are getting a new camera in a few weeks and I promise to be better about taking them! I just wanted to catch up the few family members that read this on what is going on in our lives right now. We will be moving down to Del Rio the end of this month, where Sam will spend the next few months finishing up on this job, after this we still aren't sure where we are going. We've heard of several different places we could end up! So we will just cross our fingers and hope that it is indeed the Utah job. At this point though we just feel so blessed to have a great job, so we're willing to travel wherever we have to go to still have a job!

Sam is doing really really well in his job! They have really been good to us the last few months and he is working really hard! His hours are starting to get old for me, but I realize that it basically comes with the job, so I try to be positive about it!

At my last doctors appointment my doctor once again, commented on how small Case is looking.... even AFTER he decided to change my due date! So I fear my doctor is just crazy! So I asked him how small exactly he thought he was and he said 4 pounds! 4 pounds is normal for the week I'm at!! Then I asked how much he thought he'd weigh when I delivered and he said 7! So... I'm really unclear about my doctors definition of "small". But I am proud of myself... I have only gained 6 pounds in the last 3 months! I was quite surprised myself! :) I am getting really ready physically for him to come out, but I know he needs to stay in for a couple more weeks. I have started feeling nausea and LOTS of cramps and back aches. So I am hoping this is a good sign that things are progressing! My next doctors appointment is the 24th and I will be 36 weeks, so I am hoping that some sort of "change" comes out of it!!

Other than this, not much is going on with us! Hopefully the next post will be all about how baby case came into the world!! Hopefully not along side of the road on the way to the hospital (still 2 hours from hospital until end of month), but we hope that all of you are doing great! We are missing out on a ton of family things in the next months and we wish we could be there with you all!! We love ya and miss ya!

Lake Amistad

So this weekend we decided to go camping on Lake Amistad which is on the border of Mexico and the US. So we head down there and we start setting up and of course the wind is howling!! We can't even grill our hamburgers because the fire won't stay lit. So it took 2 hours to finally eat dinner and set up our tent. Which I had insisted earlier that we had to buy an air mattress because I didn't think sleeping on the ground would have been much fun at this point! SO..... night falls, its still a 100 degrees with a 100% humidity and we are laying in the tent sweating like no other. Long story short, the night turned out terribly for me. I was so hot, I was scared the Mexicans were going to come and kill us so I stayed up to guard us because snoring Sam doesn't wake up for nothin. So it was just me and the dog on guard. The wind was still blowing terribly and I had to pee. But of course I was too darn scared to go pee because of the Mexicans. I tried waking up my dear sweet hubby but got completely shut down there! So I held it which I think made the baby uncomfortable too because he didn't quit moving the whole night!!! So needless to say, It was a long long night. But it was worth it to go do something fun and adventurous... ok if you were to ask Sam he'd tell you he's never taking me camping again! :) But we'll see about that!

Baby Wants

Since we live in a trailer I pretty much can't do anything about a cute baby room or cute baby accessories, which in the long run might be a blessing on the check book, but it is a little bummer! I guess its just one of the many sacrifices that has to be made for a good life! But here is some Crip bedding that I think is SO SUPER CUTE!! The red onsie, for those of you not up to par on tractor lingo, is the name of our baby. Case International Harvester. Its his brand I guess I should say! :)

Word of Wisdom

Weird title right? You're probably all thinking that something is going wrong... Don't worry its not, I'll get to the title part. On Friday I had my most recent doctors appointment which took me 2 hours to drive there and then I had to wait for 3 and a half hours for the doctor to actually see me, then a 2 hour drive home. It made for a very long day! But while the doctor was examining me, he told me that our baby is measuring small for how far along I am. Many of you know that my mom had a son who had a birth defect and measuring too small in his head was the reason they caught it. My doctor didn't mention anything about his head being too small, I think he meant more his whole body. My doctor also didn't seem really concerned. It was a little scary to deal with on my own and there were many questions I didn't ask because so much was going on. So maybe if any of you remember just pray for him. Its probably nothing to worry too much about but it still scares me.

So to the word of wisdom part... Yesterday in relief society the lesson was on the word of wisdom, something we've all been taught since birth and is super self explaintory. So when the lesson shifted to the part about eating right, exercising right, and basically just learning to live right I was kind of surprised. I'd heard it before many times I'm sure, but it hadn't hit me until I was sitting there listening to it. My boy was on my mind at the time, I kept thinking to myself; is he too small because I run so much still? Is he too small because I can barely get in one serving of fruits and veggies a day? Questions like that were running through my head. When all the sudden it just dawned on me, whether I like fruits and vegetables it doesn't really matter, because they were put on the earth for our benefit. Don't get me wrong i'm really not a terrible eater. We rarely eat out, I don't have fast food nearby, I never drink soda, I get plenty of rest and I exercise alot. But I felt like just hearing that its part of Gods plan made it easier for me to just suck it up and deal with it, maybe eventually I'll begin to crave the things I never liked before. I know this was a weird post, and I usually don't put spiritual things on my blog because I don't feel I have to flaunt that around me, but I was so inspired!

Its a boy!

Although last week was a very traumatizing event for me and it made me more homesick than ever, I was excited to hear we are having a boy! His name will be Case. We have a middle name but we aren't releasing it yet! Sam was elated, as you can imagine. He has a habit now of talking to the belly. He cannot feel him move but I feel him move all the time now! My body is changing so much that its freaking me out! I get sore from running now, I constantly feel as if I have to urinate which makes running difficult and extrememly uncomfortable, but I know I need to keep going. I have also had some nerve problems and leg swelling in just one leg, believe it or not, running is the only thing that keeps the swelling down and the leg aches to a minimum! Ok so enough about the running.

My friend Chelsey challenged me to the 8 weeks to a better you. I feel its a safe and easy way to stay healthy and to become a better person spiritually! So I embark on this event starting today! Wish me luck peeps!

Update

My computer broke... again. Definetly not something that I wanted to happen! Who knows when or if it will ever be fixed, luckily there is a library here in town! On a happier note, Sam is officially on the wire crew. For those of you wondering what the wire crew is.... it means he is on his way to becoming a Journeyman! We're SO excited! Even when it means he has to get up and 3 in the morning to fix a storm damage. The guys he works with like him so much that he was pulled from framing to wire, and put on the oncall list. It may seem like a really insignificant thing but its VERY good for us! He's doing so awesome, everyone tells me he's one of the smartest guys they've ever seen come through. He would kill me if he knew I was saying anything about him, but I just am proud of him!

The weather here has been insane. We went from 80 degrees to 15 overnight. By 9pm last night all our pipes were frozen inside the trailer, meaning NO WATER! The heater to our trailer is also having some issues, so you can imagine how cold we have been! It is an adventure to say the least! On the plus side of bad weather. Sam has had the days off because the wind has been ripping! (which means danger)

Still no baby bump! I'm over 16 weeks now! Next Wednesday I get to have my ultrasound! Hopefully they will be able to tell me what we're having! We're super excited.

Control

I have a lot of time on my hands to think. And most of you that know me well, know that I have been trying to live a healthy lifestyle for a long time now. Being pregnant hasn't stopped me from continuing to try and progress. Although I have yet to hit my goal weight in any of my diet endeavors, I have come to realize something over the last few months. Diets don't work. Not for me anyway. And probably not for most people. And they may work for a few months, and then gradually we're back where we started. So my thoughts lately have been that the only real thing I can do is to change my lifestyle of how I eat. Which boils down to one thing: CONTROL. Diets have so many restrictions that all have one word in common: CAN'T. You can't eat this or that. Which is why I think mentally diets are so hard for people to stick to. Instead of saying we can't have that, once again, I think we CAN. It just comes down to control. For example; last night I was craving brownies. So I made homemade brownies. I had one square. (Sam had 4 :) This morning while I was preparing Sam's lunch I cut up the rest of the brownies and put them ALL in his lunch. He works with enough guys to get rid of them. My point is that I didn't deny myself, but I didn't gorge myself either, and I got rid of them the next morning before I could tempt myself again. You may be thinking this is the stupidest thing you've ever heard. But really we have to be realistic about the way we "diet". Having control over how we eat will become more of a lifetime change than a 6 month diet. I'm not saying that we can eat french fries and big macs once a week. We have to find that balance. If breads and desserts are your temptation (mine) then cut back. Eat a dessert only once a week.

I know this is all much easier said than done, and like I said this is something I have been thinking about for the past few months. Mainly because I'm pregnant and there isn't anything I can do about my body except have control. I decided if I can get the control thing down now, then when I'm not pregnant it'll be a lot easier.

Thanks for listening to me rant about control! Hope you all have a fantastic day!

Women of Today

It seems like a lot of women out there these days are all about creating things. Which is, for some; fulfilling. Most of the women in my life (minus my mother and a select few others) are always making things, or always have this project or that project going on. Its so... silly to me. Call me ridiculously crazy but I'd rather spend my time camping, outdoors, or sweating my butt off on the roads. I don't get this need for women to "make" things. Make them cute, make them simple, make them less expensive, make them on your own. I will admit, there is a need to be clean (anyone that knows me well knows I'm a little clean freak-o!) there is also a need to cook. My kids will probably be the ones running around with their bare butts covered in cow crap and drinking out of horse trough, while I'm out mowing the lawn and walking the cows. Not making crafts.

I feel better now that I have vented about my disapproval of crafts. For all those of you who do cherish craft day... I have nothing against you personally, just your odd need to be... crafty. :)

*Disclaimer: you are probably all thinking, she is just ranting about this because she herself is not a crafty person. Wrong. I am very talented. I just choose not to participate! Once again... Love all you odd nuts out there!

Boredom!

We've been home almost 3 weeks now since our Christmas vacation and it has been more boring than it was at first. I am finding it hard to stay active and busy! Fatigue has set in and it seems its not ever leaving me. I have continued to run but it gets harder and harder everyday it seems. But I am pushing through it. My next ultrasound is February 9th. I will be 17 weeks along so I am really hoping that they will be able to tell me the sex! We are super excited to find out! And maybe can finally stop arguing about names.(we hope ha ha)

On another note, if anyone can think of ANYTHING for me to do!? Seriously people; send me your pictures I will scrapbook them for you. Send me your kids; I will babysit. SERIOUSLY!