Three years of parenting

Three years ago, our lives were forever changed when Jake came into the world at 10:19 pm via C-Section.

We found out the day before that we were going to get to meet our little angel when the hospital called at about 4pm and told us that they were scheduling an induction for us the following morning, and to be at the hospital at 5am.  We were so excited that we couldn't sleep that night (probably not great for us, but oh well).

4 am rolled around, and the alarm went off to get us out of bed and to finish getting ready to go to the hospital.  Then we drove through McDonald's to get breakfast for Blake so he could make it at least part way through the day.  We got to the hospital and checked in through the ER as we had been directed, and shortly were sent up to L&D and put into the triage room since all the delivery rooms were occupied at the time.

At 7:30, my Dr. arrived and broke my water, and the real fun started.  By 10am, I was asking for the epidural - and it took the Dr. a LONG time to get there to hook it up - like 45 minutes long time, and when you are having labor pains, 10 minutes is a long time.  (Oh well, long in the past now).  He did a good job (at least we thought he did), and it took effect very quickly.  Unfortunately, starting in the mid-afternoon, about every 2 hours, pain would return and he would have to super dose the line in order to remove the issues.

At around 4 pm, we were still in the triage room, and I was progressing well at the time, so they started to move baby warmer equipment into the room.  (I am guessing that I stopped progressing right about the time they started setting up for the baby).  They did discover that the baby was not entirely in the "head toward exit" position, and so they were flipping me from side to side every 30 minutes in an attempt to rotate the baby into the correct position.

At 7 pm, we moved into an actual delivery room - which is significantly larger, and nicer (not just fluorescent lighting) than the triage room.  We were pretty tired by this point though, so we didn't care too much what the surroundings were, but there were more comfortable chairs for Blake at least.  Also at this time, my Dr. told me that she had to leave because she was on-call the entire weekend - fantastic, because I really wanted a stranger to deliver my baby.  (again, oh well, long in the past)

Pretty sure that we in total dilated to an 8 - but not entirely sure.  I know that the Anesthesiologist had to re-work the epidural 3 times before we went in for the C-Section, when I kept maxing out the button, and was still feeling shooting pains.  I also know they didn't check me before actually doing the C-Section, so there is no way to really know how close we came to a more "normal" delivery route - oh well.

At 9:30 pm, the On-Call Dr. showed up, and asked if we had considered a C-Section since it had been hours since any progress had been made.  We discussed it, and with some (unwanted, but considered) input from the nurse in the room, in the end we decided to go with the C-Section, and end the laboring experience.

At the point that we told them our decision, things began to move very quickly.  I was prepped for surgery, Blake was put into a surgical gown and mask, and then they made him leave.  He was not allowed to walk beside me back to the operating room - so I cried the entire way back there.  (Can you really blame me though, I was scared, and they wouldn't let me have my husband with me).

I remember them prepping me, and everything for the surgery at the same time.  I most recall them counting out the towels and tools prior to surgery (I don't recall the same procedure afterward, but I was distracted by a wonderful new life, and am pretty sure that it happened, and that they ended up with the same counts).  The anesthesiologist, and a good friend told me what to expect, thank goodness, the feeling of a C-Section is so NOT natural.  I must have a high tolerance to anesthesia though, because it took the Dr. asking about 5 times, and me saying "No, I can still feel that" before we were finally numb enough to begin.  Not sure what she was doing that I could feel, hopefully not poking me with a knife though.

By the time Blake got into the room, they were likely already into the surgery (which is the way they intend it, but not exactly my favorite aspect of the whole process).  Surgery itself took only minutes, so the oddness of it at least didn't last long.

At 10:19 pm, on October 29, 2009 Jake was born.  He weighed in at 7 lb. 0 oz., was 19 inches long, and immediately stole our hearts away.

Blake went with him to get the bath, and all the newborn testing done, while I was sewn back together.  I didn't get to actually see or hold my baby until nearly 2 hours later - and I couldn't see him very well because they made me take out my contacts.  The first viewing of my baby I actually got was on a picture on Blake's phone because they didn't bring him close enough to me to see in the operating room (I have really bad eyes, so I could tell he had hair, that was about it though.)

So, things didn't go the way we had planned, or really wanted, but in the end we did have a healthy baby - and really that is all that we could have hoped for.

Three years later, I still remember all this, but thought I should probably write it down before I do forget.

Happy birthday to my love!

 

 

 

Jake newly arrived

 

Jake first birthday

 

Jake second birthday



 

Jake third birthday

Pinterest Dinner Week Review

With the exception of Tuesday's dinner, the week was very successful!

Monday:  Mushroom Soup - Oh my goodness, so delicious; tastes a lot like the Mushroom Soup du Jour which La Madeline serves (which means I LOVED it).  Blake liked it, and Jake ate some of it too.

Tuesday:  Cod and Zucchini Cakes - well, slightly disappointing on both fronts.  There wasn't anything wrong with either one, but I have had better fish and better zucchini preparations.  Oh well, no need to repeat either of these.

Wednesday:  Crock Pot Ribs and Cumin Carrots- Another success.  I left out the jalapeno in the ribs, because me and jalapenos do not get along, so it was probably lacking a little zest, but we liked them just fine!  The bones completely fell out of the meat - who doesn't love that.  Jake picked up the meat and gnawed on it like it was still on the bone though.  :)  The carrots were good too, very zesty with the lime.  Definitely will make crock pot ribs again, maybe try another sauce (my favorite part was the tenderness of the meat)

Thursday:  Chicken Marsala - Raving success.  I didn't have Marsala Wine though - so I substituted Pinot Noir (I know but it was all I had, need to make a wine run!), and added in Chicken Stock.  Blake told me to always make it with the Pinot because it was so good.

So overall a very successful food experimentation week.

Pinterest Dinner Week!

So I already admitted to having an addiction to Pinterest (probably to an unhealthy level, but oh well).  I pin LOTS of things, but hardly do anything with the things/information which I pin - hopefully this is typical of all the people who use Pinterest...  This week though, we are doing Pinterest dinners all week so that I can prove to myself that I am not crazy for all the time I spend surfing Pinterest.  :)

Here is our dinner line-up:

Monday:  Mushroom Soup from Season with Spice's blog, with Salad and some sort of bread (Also a side of baked chicken because Blake doesn't believe soup on its own constitutes a full meal most days - unless it is Tortilla Soup).

Tuesday: Roast Cod with Garlic Butter from Myrecipes.com, with Zucchini Cakes from Life's Ambrosia blog, and Oven Roasted Potatoes

Wednesday: Crock-pot Ribs from City Girl Chicago's blog, with Cumin Carrots from familystylefood.com, and leftover roast potatoes from Tuesday's dinner

Thursday: Chicken Marsala from Passthesushi.com, over some type of pasta, with salad

Friday we have other plans, so it will just be 4-days of pinterest food.  Will let you know how it turns out!!


On the other things I said I would update on:

The car - battery seems to have fixed the issue, at least for now - hopefully will not have any continued electrical problems.

The Pumpkin Patch photos:

Happy Monday!

Electrical issues

So I got a new car last February.  I love it.  However, in the last couple months, it has started having some electrical issues... 

It started small - the radio would blink off and then back on, or when I would turn off the car, all power would be out to it, and the powered side step wouldn't come out, so I would have to hop out of the car.

We took it in to the dealership in August, and they kept it for a couple of days (during which I got to drive a Cadillac SUV - FUN!), and they of course could not duplicate the issue - everything worked great for them.  We noticed for a while it seemed to only do it when the gas would get low, but not anymore.

Last week, I picked Jake up from school, and had the car parked on the street - we were walking out to the car and all of a sudden a car alarm starts going off, and low-and-behold, it is mine. (I swear I didn't hit the panic button on it, it has done it in the driveway at home too once or twice).  Of course it looked like I hit the panic button on accident or something, ugh, I don't like it when people look at me like I am "that person".  Embarassing, but oh well.

Yesterday, Mom and I took the boys to the pumpkin patch to get our Haloween pumpkins, and some photo ops (to post soon).  When we got back out to the car, it wouldn't unlock - oh joy, the clicker is linked in to the electrical system too!  I got the key into the driver-side door, and got that unlocked at least.  The door-unlock buttons for the rest of the car are linked to the electrical system though, so they wouldn't unlock.  A few minutes of frustration though, and I was able to turn the car on, and get all the doors unlocked.  Phew!

Then, this morning, I drop Jake off at school, and get back to the car to drive home.  Car won't unlock AGAIN!  I go around to the driver door to stick the key in, and something in the cylinder popped out into view, so the key won't go into the lock to unlock it that way.  And oh joy, I have a baby who wants to leave, and to top it off, the phone is in the car!  5 minutes of hitting the clicker button and trying to jam the key into the door later, I finally get the key into the door, but it won't turn - guess whatever popped out needs to be popped back into the correct location a little better... but the clicker works for 1 small second, and I get the car unlocked!!  Success, maybe I will be able to leave!

I get Travis buckled into the car, get myself in, and turn the key - click, click, click - no such luck, the car won't start.  It isn't even trying to turn-over, it is kaput.  5 minutes of this fun later, I call Blake to come rescue us.  My knight-in-shining-armor shows up and jump-starts the car for us, and then goes to buy a new battery (Cross-your-fingers that it works) while I drive a now hungry and fussy baby home for a nap.

So 45 minutes to drop Jake off at school - yuck!  He though, after I kissed him goodbye when I thought I was going to be able to leave at 9:10, just played with his friends and asked me why I was still there.  Sweet boy!

Hope the battery fixes it - will update if it doesn't!