3 Weeks

Liam is 3 weeks already!  He is growing into his preemie clothes and will be in his 0-3 mo. clothes pretty soon.  It's crazy, I know he needs to grow, but I would love it if he stayed this small for longer.  He is starting to have more awake time during the day, and it’s fun to hear him “talk” and look around.  He is fairly strong for a preemie, and when we put him down for a nap he likes to roll on his side to sleep.  He also likes to stretch his arms over his head while he sleeps (just like his dad!)  After he was born I had troubles trying to keep him awake long enough to eat, but now it seems he can’t get enough!  He’s starting to get chubby in his cheeks and on his legs.  We notice that he’s growing and changing everyday.  We know we need to savor every minute because this time is going to fly by!

The First 2 Weeks.

So it's been a crazy and wonderful 2 weeks. Liam was born Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 10:27 am. He was about a month early, and gave us quite the scare! Luckily, he was born a healthy 6 lb. 6 oz baby, and didn't need to stay at the hospital. We were able to take him home after 48 hrs. The doctor and nurses were a bit concerned because he wasn't eating much. Since he is a preemie, they tend to sleep more than a full term baby, and I had a difficult time keeping him awake long enough to feed him. So it's true what they say that all babies do is eat, sleep and poop. And the sleep deprivation that goes along with caring for a little one is NOT a myth. I think I went for about 4 or 5 days with maybe a couple of hours of sleep combined. At times I get sooo tired that I can't even think straight. It really is a lesson of patience for sure. Since he was not eating, the Doctor wanted to wait on his circumcision. We went in to the doctor a few times to check his weight. He started to gain weight after the first week, but not as much as he would like to do the circumcision. So yesterday we went back for another check, and he is just under his birth weight, 6lbs. 4 oz. He now felt he could have his circumcision. We were so sad to have to do it, but felt in the long run it was for the best. The first night was just awful. He cried out in pain at times, but thankfully he slept and ate a lot, and today he was feeling much better! In the second week he started to be more awake and aware of his surroundings. Sometimes he will just sit there and coo and look around. He rarely cries, except when he's hungry or wet. And he is easily calmed when we sing to him, or stroke his head. Liam is a such an all-around good baby, and we look at him every day and ask ourselves how we got so lucky?!

comment by mom/grandma on 12/26/2007
You got so lucky because you are both good, good people. He is beautiful and it is beautiful for us to watch your little family together. Love you all so much, mom.

The Birth Story

So, after I had gone in the first time to the hospital thinking my water broke, they told me to come back if it continued.  The following day it had slowed a bit, but it had not stopped, so I left work in the afternoon and went back to get it checked out again.  Again the tests they took showed it to be negative for amniotic fluid.  So, that night it kept at it, and at this point I'm just not sure what to think.  I woke the next morning having some back pain, and I mentioned to Mike that I thought I might be having contractions.  He asked well how far apart are the contractions…not knowing exactly how to time them, I said they seem to be lasting 20 min.  He said well then they aren't contractions, you must just be having back pain.  So, I got ready for work.  I said to him that I was still having some pain, and that I would let him know if anything changed.  On the way to work I called him and said to stick around, and that I decided to stop by the hospital to get checked out again and would let him know what was up as soon as possible.  After the crying wolf incidents for the past 2 days, he really thought it was nothing, so he left for work.  When I got to the hospital I told them I had been there the last 2 days for fluid that was negative, but I was now having some pain.  They brought me to a room, and did yet another test….it was positive for amniotic fluid this time and I was dilated to 5 cm?!  So I called Mike up and told him to come over.  The nurses tried to contact my doctor, but couldn't get in touch with him.  I started contracting pretty close together.  And thankfully my mom showed up because the nurses disappeared for what seemed like an eternity.  I kept asking my mom to see what was up…they could not do anything for me until they reached my doctor.  I was in agony screaming, and they decided to get the fluid going so I could at least get the epidural….FINALLY they got in touch with the doctor, and then Mike showed up shortly after.  By the time I got my epidural I was already at 10 cm!  They said I basically had a natural labor.  Although, I'm very glad I was able to get the epidural for the delivery.  It all happened so quickly, I was a bit concerned they wouldn't be able to get to it in time.  I showed up at the hospital shortly after 8 am, and Liam was born at 10:27 am. The whole experience was just so surreal and amazing!  Shortly after he was born, they took him to the nursery to get cleaned up and checked out.  The nurse helped me to the bathroom, and I passed out. She said it looked like I had a seizure, but since I don't have any history of that, we think it was just from the blood loss and maybe a reaction to the medicine.  They wheeled me to my room and brought him to me.  His birth weight was 6 lbs. 6 oz. which is pretty good for being a month early.  He had some issues trying to eat because he was just so sleepy all the time.  I had a hard time getting him to stay awake long enough to feed him. He also was a bit jauntice. So we ended up staying an extra day at the hospital to keep an eye on him.  He's doing much better about eating now, and his jauntice is going down.  He did lose some of his weight, which is normal, but the doctors have kept a close eye on him since.  Our last check up he was just under 6 lbs. which was 3 oz. more than his last check up 4 days prior.  His next check up is on Friday, and we are optimistic that he has gained some more!

Not Buttorhead Anymore....

So we are at 34 weeks this week, and I had a checkup at the Dr.'s today. He's about 4 ¾ lbs and almost 18 inches long this week, about the size of a cantaloupe. For the past few weeks we've felt a couple round lumps, thinking one was a head and the other his butt. I mentioned to the Dr. that I thought he was sideways, but he said he thought that he was already head down, making what we thought was his buttorhead his butt or shoulder. I have started to swell a little here and there and haven't been able to wear my ring for a few weeks now. Other than some growing pains, overall things have been going well....knock on wood...been doing a lot of that lately!

ONLY 57 Days Left...

Liam is over 16 inches long and just over 3 lbs this week. I keep thinking back to when he was only the size of grain of rice. It truly doesn't seem that long ago?! I know most women by this time are ready for their little one to get out of them by now, but since things have been soo crazy lately getting our townhouse ready to sell, we feel like we haven't had much 'us time'. We really would love to have some 'us time' before he's born, and it just feels like we won't get it. Last Thursday I posted an ad for our Townhouse on KSL and Craig's list. The following morning I got bombarded with calls from agents. I had at least 4 or 5 calls in just the first hour?! After about the 10^th call I stopped answering the phone. We decided since time is running out, we would just go ahead and hire an agent. So the townhouse is officially listed with an agent now. We are now crossing our fingers and hoping it sells quickly! Oh, some good news...our fence was finally finished yesterday!! It looks great, and it makes it so much easier to let the dogs out, plus we really love the privacy. Now we just need to pay for it....bla.

Night and Day

We had our first great Halloween in many years. Halloween is one of our favorite holidays, and it had been soured for many years living at the townhouse. The first year at the townhouse we figured there would be a lot of kids, so we went out and spent about $50 on candy. Then only a handful of kids showed up, and we were left with a butt-load of candy. We found out later that the local church decided to have “Trunk-or-Treating” rather than going door to door in the neighborhood. Trunk-or-Treating is going from car to car in a parking lot and collecting candy. Basically its a hand out with no work involved. I remember walking up and down long driveways as a kid, it was quite the task, but that was part of the fun!! Trunk-or-Treating has got to be one of the dumbest ideas for many reasons, one being that it's boring! And two, it excludes people that are not part of the local congregation. Year after year we never knew how much candy to buy because they would do this stoooopid Trunk-or-Treating. One year we did hear that they decided NOT to do Trunk-or-Treating, so we went out and got a ton of candy again, and STILL only a handful of kids showed up...We figured that another reason we didn't get many kids coming could be because the design of our townhouse is a bit confusing because the door is hidden in the back of the complex. Anyway, we basically stopped buying candy and doing other things on Halloween night....BUT, this year we were in a REAL neighborhood, with a real driveway, and FRONT door!! We had a TON of kids show up, and it really sparked the excitement of Halloween back in us. We got a couple great pumpkins at Pumpkinland and we carved them out and put them on our front steps. The kids were really cute and very polite, saying “thank you” for the candy. Some of the neighbors came by to introduce themselves....We are very excited to finally have Halloween back, especially because we will taking our own little trick-or-treater out in the near future.

Buttor Head

It's been 28 weeks, and Liam is a little over 2 lbs, and is about 15 inches long. My belly is looking more like a basketball these days. Sometimes when he moves my belly looks lop-sided and there is a round lump poking out and we figure it must be either his butt or head. I'm officially in the 3rd trimester, and time is just flying by. I'm excited, but at the same time I don't feel quite ready. I was hoping to be more settled and have our townhouse sold before he was born...but it just may not be in the cards because it's not like I can call Liam up and tell him to wait a few more weeks until we are ready for him?!

Becoming More Apparent...

At 26 weeks, Liam is a little under 2 lbs and is about 14 inches long. It is definitely becoming more apparent that I'm carrying a little human inside me. His movements are more obvious and are less like little finger pokes, and more like rolling, and nudging. At night when he's the most active, we can actually see my skin move! Sometimes there will be a hard round spot poking out, and it kinda feels like it might be his head...it really is a strange feeling for sure! My skin and ligaments are stretching, and sometimes I get tender spots that feel like bruises from the inside. Yesterday it was especially sore in a spot that Liam was hanging out most of the day, and kicked a few times....it REALLY hurt! But I know I do need to toughen up, since it's only going to get worse! : )

25 Weeks and Counting

This week Liam is about 13.5 inches, and weighs about 1.5 lbs. He's going to start to fill out now, which means I'm gunna be getting even bigger! Sometimes I look at myself and think I'm soo big, but other times I think I'm not THAT big for being 6 months pregnant. His growth is checked at the Dr.'s once a month, and he is growing just right, which is a relief because I'm a semi-vegetarian. I say semi because I do eat fish on occasion. Since I found out that I was pregnant, I struggled with whether I should start eating meat again. I stopped eating meat about 6-7 yrs ago, and the thought of starting up again was difficult. If I wasn't going to eat meat, I knew that I would need to increase my protein intake in other ways, so I decided that I would increase my dairy intake, start eating eggs, drinking lots of soy milk, and snacking on nuts, mostly in the form of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I make sure I take my tums, which is a calcium supplement and my prenatal multi-vitamin everyday. And as far as fresh fruits and vegetables, I enjoy making juice with my juicer. And I've also cut down on sweets and junk food. I do feel that I've made a conscience effort to make sure I'm eating enough of the right stuff for a healthy baby. At times I do feel I should be better about it, but I know I'm not perfect. And I figure that what I am eating is certainly better than some of the cravings others get, like sardines with ice cream or drinking bleach?!

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Do you ever get that feeling where you have so much to do, that you just feel overwhelmed? I have been feeling that lately, mainly because we have been moved from the Town House for a few weeks now, but we aren't completely moved out, or completely moved in?! After a full day of work, I stop by the Town House on the way home to get the mail, and to pick up a small load of stuff....Oy the never ending stuff....It's just so hard to believe how much stuff 2 people can collect over the years. It really is me though, I'm the guilty pack rat...I get it from my mom...If it were up to Mike, he would just throw it all away...I just have this thing where I have a hard time parting with things. I think, well one day I might need this. Then after I get home, I have to unload the car, find places for all the stuff, then I need to let the dogs out...one by one because we don't have our fence up yet! Thankfully we have ordered it, but they are 2 months behind schedule, so we won't be getting it till November! By the time I have let them all out, I'm completely exhausted, but still feel like I need to do more, like make and/or help with dinner, unpack some stuff, tidy the kitchen, do some yoga, do some weeding, pick up dog crap in the yard, or nag Mike about calling our old neighbor to get a move on getting a bid for fixing the damage to the complex?! The year is slipping by me, and we still have soooo much to do before the baby comes! One major one being getting the Town House clean and fixed up to sell. Especially because making 2 mortgage payments really just sucks! So, guess what we'll be doing this weekend?!

First Symptom

It's been 23 weeks now. Liam is more than 11 inches and weighs just over a pound. It's crazy to think that he will gain 6-7 more pounds in about 3 months!! So far I have had a pleasant pregnancy. I never got sick in the first trimester, and other than a little indigestion, I have hardly noticed that I'm pregnant....until last night?!! I awoke from a dead sleep with the worst charley horse in my calf I've ever felt! I screamed so loud I probably scared my husband into thinking I was dying...Before our move, I had been really good about having an exercise program. I alternated days of aerobic exercise on a stationary bike and yoga. Since the move, I have been busy everyday finishing up packing the loose ends at the townhouse and unpacking/organizing at the new house. I read on the Internet this morning that leg cramps are fairly common in the 2nd and 3rd trimester...guess its time to start exercising again!

Well, there used to be a shed there.....

Last night a big storm blew into much of Northern Utah. There were warnings of flash floods, high winds, hail, and lightening. Also, some people reported seeing funnel clouds. This is pretty unusual weather for Utah, so it was enough to make a person a bit nervous. I was pretty nervous being in a new house with lots of windows. It was especially nerve racking when the weatherman has breaking news, and circles YOUR town and says “ There could be a funnel cloud forming right here, right now!!” In the end we did get some pretty good winds, rain, and lightening, but thankfully it had calmed a bit by the time it got to our area. Salt Lake City, and west of it seemed to get the brunt of the storm. Our house held up amazingly well, but I can't say the same for the Rubbermaid shed in the backyard! It had a broken door and the wind just blew in and exploded it into pieces?!

On the baby front...well it seems we have a name that seems to be sticking. I hesitate to share names with people because before we found out the gender, the name that we liked kept changing. But, we both really like the name Liam and we have been calling him that for a couple weeks now. The name is unique yet not too strange that it's hard to say or remember.

About the name Liam: Resolute protector "Teutonic"

You are a deep thinker and student of life using your intuition and natural detective ability to seek truth and hidden knowledge. Peaceloving and compassionate you are nonetheless strong-willed and courageous in confronting challenges. Although your approach to life tends to be on a mental level it is important for you to see your ideas and concepts take form in the material world. Your talents and leadership skills give you great potential for a distinguished career.

We haven't decided on a middle name yet. But we do have some time to think on that. Liam is already taking after his dad, in that he likes to be up late at night, and sleep in. He's fairly quiet during the day, and like clock work he starts moving like crazy at about 11pm. Although, I sure hope we can change that schedule after he's born!

My Feet Are Killing Me!

So, we spent the weekend moving our bigger stuff with the U-haul. Except for a little sleep, I have been going non-stop for 3 days and my feet and lower back are sooo sore! We spent our first night at the new house on Saturday. It's a bit strange getting used to the new noises around the house. We can hear the freeway in the distance, and also the train. We actually like the sound of the train, and we could hear it at the townhouse, but not quite as much as we can at the new house. I'm sure we'll get used to it soon enough. Last night around midnight I heard this banging noise. At first I thought it was the pipes creaking since we had just run the shower, but then I realized it was coming from outside our bedroom window. Mike had fallen asleep and it didn't seem to bother the dogs at all, but it disturbed me, and my mind was playing tricks on me in the dark. I peeked out the windows, but I couldn't see anything that it could be. I'm hoping I don't hear it again! I think it will take some time for me to adjust to living in a house rather than our townhouse. I felt pretty safe at the townhouse. The structure felt like a fortress. It had 3 levels above ground, with very little access points on the ground level. In the new house, there are many access points through the basement and the ground level, leaving me feeling more vulnerable to intruders. Although one comfort I do have is our killer dog Gretchen...she would probably die protecting us...which does make me feel safer, but since she's never had to in the past, I really don't know how it would end up?! She just might wuss out on me!

We Are Having A......

BOY!! Had the ultrasound this morning. The little one was pretty active while we were waiting, so I was hoping he'd stay that way for the Ultrasound. Although, the technician said she really didn't need him to be active, just in the right position to see stuff. She said it was clear as day that he was a “he”, which just confirmed our suspicions. We just had a feeling that it was a boy, and I did keep calling him a “he”, which is good because it would have been weird to start calling him a “she”. So this will be the first grandson for both of our families, and first grandchild on my side. Unfortunately, he takes after his dad and is very stubborn, he would not turn his head so that we could get a profile shot of his face :( But most importantly, there was a specialist there and he checked for any abnormalities and he said everything looks great so far. So, we are very happy about that! (Pictures coming soon)...no profile ones though, just the “gender shots”, as the technician called it.

Half way there...

I can't believe it's been 20 weeks already! Prior to 20 weeks, they measure from head to rump because the baby is curled up, after 20 weeks they measure head to toe. So this week the little one weighs about 10-1/2 oz. and is about 10 inches long. Only 2 more days till we check to see if it's a B or G...that is if the little one cooperates.

We spent the weekend moving more stuff to the new house. We got all our baby furniture there and mostly set up. The plan is to keep packing and moving stuff this week, and then renting a U-haul next weekend for the bigger stuff. We will leave some things there to stage the townhouse to sell. We have learned from the many hours of watching TLC and HGTV that a house sells much quicker when it has furniture in it. We just hope it does sell soon because we really don't want to make 2 payments for too long! Unfortunately, we might have a snag that may scare some buyers off. This past Friday night one of the neighbors kid backed his car into one of the pillars that goes into where the garages are. Thankfully, the support beam was not damaged, but it does make the building look even more like it's falling apart than it was before. Add this incident to the many things I will NOT miss about living in a townhouse!

Our Little Contortionist

Week 19, and the little one has grown another ½ '' and 1-1/2 oz. (totaling 6 '' and 8 ½ oz.) about the size of a small zucchini. This growth information I have been reading off the babycenter.com site. It has been very interesting following the development of the baby throughout the weeks. I would say the Internet is another joy of modern technology...I just think that our mothers would have also been thrilled to have been able to follow their babies growth at the touch of their fingers, getting daily reminders and tips to follow as well. I also find it so much easier to jot down my thoughts on this life changing event over the computer...I could not see myself taking the time to grab a pen and paper to do this as often as I am now....so I'm grateful to be living in a time where I have these luxuries. By the way, Mike finally felt the baby move : )

It Sucks Bein Sick

Especially when you are pregnant and can't take any medicine! I got a nasty head cold a few days ago, usually I just take some Dayquil and I feel good enough. But since that isn't an option, I decided I had to stay home from work yesterday. Before I got sick I was feeling the baby move a little here and there, but since I've been sick, it hasn't been as active. We thought well maybe the baby isn't feeling well either and is resting more. I spent the day resting, drinking lots of fluids, and watching baby stories on TLC. On one of the episodes a guy had placed a flashlight on his wife's belly. It is supposed to make your baby move around...so after Mike got home with take out, I grabbed a flashlight and said check this out. I placed it on my belly where the little one tends to hang out, and all of sudden I felt the biggest jump in my belly! It startled me so much I screamed. Mike and I spent the next 5 minutes laughing at my reaction. Well at least we know the little one can see : )

Park City Art Festival

So there is this art festival in Park City every August, and we go every year. It seems most people that go just like to browse...we go to buy. For the first several years we have liked the ceramic pottery, and usually bought something in that medium. After a while we ran out of horizontal space, and decided we should start buying prints for the vertical space. We really like the mixed media, and have several that we love. Since we will be moving, we were excited because we will have more space to display all our previous art work that has been shuffled off to the office for storage. Plus we were also excited to buy some new stuff. Sadly, this year we just didn't find much that caught our eye. I think partly it is because we haven't moved in yet, so we haven't had a chance to find the right spot for our current pieces, so buying a new piece for a house you haven't moved into is a bit difficult. Usually we buy a few things at the festival, but needless to say, this year we ended up with one piece. This piece was something that we really wanted to find...something cute for the baby's room. It is titled: “I hid snacks in my pocket for the ride” by Lisa Kattenbraker

Sweet Potato

So the little one has grown another ½ '' in length, and 2 oz in one week! About the size of a sweet potato. It's so hard to believe how quickly the little one is growing. I'm still in that in-between stage, and it really depends on what I wear as to how pregnant I look. No one at work knows yet. I'm waiting to see how long it takes for someone to ask that oh so touchy question.... “Are you pregnant?” Does anyone want to make any wagers?? I've been pleasantly surprised on how nice the maternity clothes are these days. For a short time, I was a bit frustrated because most of the pants I was trying on were tight in the crotch and/or too long, or maybe I am too short?! Either way I wasn't finding any pants that fit me, and I was getting a bit worried that I'd end up pant-less! Come to find out, I was just shopping at the wrong place. I ended up going to Kohl's the other day, and all the maternity clothes were ½ off...I was thrilled to find a bunch of great stuff! Well, I did end up finding mostly crop pants, that kinda look like real pant on me...so I'm still hoping I will still be able to find real pants before winter. Several weeks ago I did buy a cool invention called the Bella Band. It's sorta like a tube that you can put over your regular pants so that you can unbutton it, and wear them a little longer. You can also use it to hold up maternity pants when they are still too big to wear.

Five-Five

Well, he/she is growing like a weed now...5 inches and 5 oz. already! About the size of a large onion?! I had another routine appointment today, and so far so good. Not much else to report in that area.

16 weeks...

So, it's been 16 weeks already!! The baby is about 4 ½ inches long, and weighs about 3 ½ ounces. Time is flying by, and this week I started to wear my maternity pants. I tried to buy some bigger sized pants at a thrift store, but even they were a little tight, and I knew I would only be able to wear them for a short time, so I decided to just stick with the maternity pants. I have my next routine appointment on Monday, and then it will be less than one month till our next ultra sound, the one we will find out if its a boy or girl!! They say that the babies movements should start to be apparent between 16 and 20 weeks. I have been feeling something fluttering in there, but I'm not 100% positive it's the baby...

Week 13

So far so good. I have been very lucky in that I haven't been sick during the first 3 months. It's a little strange because I just feel normal, so it's hard to believe it's real. People assure me though that it WILL become real soon enough. My tummy is starting to pook out a bit, and I've outgrown most of my old pants.

 

Today I had another check up at the Dr.'s. The baby is 3 inches, about the size of a jumbo shrimp. This time we were able to hear the heart beat. He found the heart beat for a few beats and said "there it is", and he was done. I've been going to him for about 8 yrs. and I've been very happy with him, although sometimes it feels as though I'm on a conveyor belt. I really think it has to do with living in the highest baby birth capital of the country. He sees sooo many pregnant women, he's got the routine down pat. So for someone who's going through this the first time, it really is a bit odd to think how really common having a baby is. It's OK though, as long as he delivers our baby alive and well...which I do feel he can, after all he's got plenty of experience. They sell the heart beat monitors for pretty cheap, so I think I'll just get one and listen on my own.

 

We set up the appointment for our next ultra sound in about 6 weeks. This one will be the one that determines if it's a boy or girl. I definitely want to know. I would like to be able to narrow the baby name search down, and also start buying clothes. I know there are people out there that still like to wait, but honestly, I just don't get it...I guess I'm just one that likes to prepare...I don't care much for surprises.

 

So, the other day our baby furniture arrived at the store. We had to borrow Mike's parents van to pick it up. So we stopped by his families home to grab the van, and we saw the puppy that his family adopted from my rescue group (it was one of the pups I puppy sat for a couple weeks ago). Also, Mike's younger brother and wife were visiting with their 4 month old baby girl. Mike took notice that I ended up paying more attention to the puppy than the baby...don't get me wrong, their baby is adorable, and sweet, but I never really get goo-goo-ga-ga over babies like other people do. I tend to do that more for puppies and kittens....I sure hope that isn't a bad sign...I'm sure it's different when it's your own kid!

At Least Babies Wear Diapers!

So, my sis-in-law rescued a pregnant dog from the shelter several weeks ago. It is a medium sized dog, about 35 lbs. She was due any day, and they waited patiently for the pups to arrive. Then May 9th, they came, all 10 of them!! All the pups are healthy, they are 5-1/2 weeks, and are about ready to be weaned. This past weekend, she and my brother went out of town, and she asked if we could puppy sit. I knew it would be a lot of work, but there weren't many options for her to find someone to care for that many puppies...so I agreed.

They arrived on Friday morning. We set them up in our utility room, which is on the main floor. After we got the playpen set up, we put Sheba (the mother) in the pen to nurse them...They all swarmed around her grabbing a nipple. It was a FUNNY site for sure. Mom wanted to get out after a short time, so I helped her out. They ate, and slept, and pooped, and pooped, and pooped for the rest of the day. We had taped a puppy pad in for them to go on, but they had decided it was a toy to play with and tore it up. Then I put some newspaper in there, but they did the same. So, we just had towels and sheets on top of a plastic sheet for them to go on. I switched out their bedding about 3-4 times that day. By the next morning the sheet left overnight was FULL of really stinky poop. The pups were as well. I took them and their pen out to the back yard. We have a small yard, mostly a patio, no grass. It was a bit warm out there so I kept them in the shade, and kept moving them as the sun moved. Pretty soon there would not be any shade, so I had to figure out what to do next. I had cleaned up the room they were in, but the WHOLE house wreaked of doggy poo! Mike suggested that we put them in the garage. So, he parked his car outside, and we set them up in there. Then it was time to deal with the pile of soiled sheets. Not wanting to put poop in our washing machine, I took them outside to the common area, and hosed them out on the lawn. Then I had to wring them out before running them to the washing machine. By this time, I was pooped and grossed out and thought how does she do this everyday?!

So Saturday the pups ate, and slept, and pooped, and pooped, and pooped for the rest of the day. Sunday morning I started out doing the same, changing the sheet, and feeding them, and hosing down the bedding. A few hours later the pups had soiled the whole sheet again!! Not wanting to soil any more sheets I decided to try the newspaper again....they played with it for a few minutes, but then left it alone. If they pooped, I just covered it with another layer of newspaper!!! Feeling stupid I just didn't stick with the newspaper from day one, I was still glad that it worked out so well for the rest of the day until they came to pick them up.

So, I had a little taste of motherhood this weekend. And all I can say is at least babies wear diapers!!

9 Weeks

Well, hit my 9 weeks this week. Not much to report. I've been very fortunate in that I haven't been sick (knock on wood). We have been shopping around for various items. Our first purchase was a Eddie Bauer Diaper Bag.

 

And the other item(s) we purchased was a convertible crib, dressing combo with hutch, and a 5 drawer chest.  We would have waited on these items, but they were on sale, so we saved about $200.

Went to a check up at the gyno's yesterday. It was pretty uneventful. Just checked stuff, then he tried to listen to the heartbeat with a handy little machine. But, since it's the size of a grape this week, it was just too small to hear anything. He said by next month, we should be able to hear it....can't wait!

Sequoia

About a year after Mike and I started dating Mike decided he wanted to get a dog. His family had never had one, and he thought it would be fun. My family had two dogs at the time, but Codi, an Australian shepherd mix, was my brothers dog, and the other was a stray that my family took in. Niki was a lab mix...he was a sweet dog, but liked to do his own thing. He wasn't too interested in playing or fetching balls. He generally like fetching buried cat poo. 

Anyway, we looked at a wolf hybrid, but he was pretty skiddish. After looking through the paper for a few weeks, we finally found an ad in the Thrifty Nickel for husky/chow mix puppies for $25. The puppies were in Salem, and we called the number. A guy living there said to come on down. So we drove there, and we saw about 10 adorable fluffy puppies behind the fence. We both instantly picked out the same puppy. The pup had the most defined mask, and distinctive colors. We both pointed to the puppy, and said "I like that one". So, we rang the doorbell, but no one answered. We waited around for a while trying to figure out why they said they would be there, and they weren't. We decided to get dinner and come back and wait. Still no people. We joked that we should just take her and leave the $25 on the door. But, we weren't sure if she was spoken for. A long time passed and they still were not home. We decided to go to Mike's work and give them a call (this was before the cell phone era). We found a box there and made a box for her. We called over and over and no answer. Then we decided to go to our vets office to kill some more time. We asked what they thought of chows. They said they are known to be mean. We called again from the vets and FINALLY a lady answered. She said the puppy that we wanted was still available and that she was a girl. PERFECT! So we drove back down there, and picked her up. The lady told us that she was born on September 14th. We got her in the car and I sat in the back with her and put her in the box. She cried and cried all the way home. 

We being young kids, still living at home, DID NOT get permission to get a dog. We thought we'd keep her with my families dogs outside. So we introduced them and put her on the ground. The dogs were very curious and chased her. She screamed and peed all over the ground. So we thought, this isn't going to work. So we took her to Mike's house. We snuck her in the window well while we tried to figure out what to do with her, she cried and cried. So we took her back to my house, and snuck her into my brothers room. We put her in his bed, and then went into the family room to watch TV. A little while later, my mom came down to check on Eric, and then came to us, and said in a scared voice, "there is a skunk in Eric's room!" Then we said "really?"and busted up laughing, and she said "that's a dog isn't it?!" So we had to take her out. I decided to stay up with her that night. I took her into the utility room and fell asleep on the concrete floor. The next morning she woke me up licking my face. It was pretty early still, so I took her in my jacket and walked around the neighborhood. That morning we were better able to introduce her to my families dogs. We named her Sequoia, and had a blast with her. 

At about 9 months old, I took her to the groomers, and when I picked her up she was limping a bit. By the time I got her home, she did not want to get out of the car. I called Mike up, and he came over to help. Something was seriously wrong. We took her back to the store that she was groomed at, which also had a vets office. They took some x-rays, and we found out that both her hips were blown out. She had advanced hip dysplasia, which is generally genetic, but can be caused by a trauma. It is usually not in both hips, and usually does not show up until the dog is older. With hip dysplasia, the pelvis that holds the ball of the hip is too shallow, and it slips out. Hers were completely out of the socket on both sides. We really felt that she definitely had the genetic form, but with her being so young, we thought something happened during the grooming to progress the dysplasia to that point so quickly, but unfortunately we could not get anyone to back it up. The specialist that saw her did say he'd never seen a case like this, but couldn't prove that it was caused by a trauma. He had a vested interest in staying neutral because he got referrals from the store she was groomed at. The surgery would cost $1500 per side. I had been saving money like crazy for a new car, but I decided that she was more important, so we did the surgery. During the surgery they cut her pelvis in 3 places then bolted them at a different angle, so that the ball of her hip would sit inside. The surgery was a great success. She walked perfectly! 

About six months later I moved out of my parents house to a small house in Provo. This rental allowed pets! So, she got to live inside with me. She has been an indoor dog ever since. She has been the best dog ever. She is very sweet, and loves to be around us. 

She will be 11 years old this September, and she's starting to show her age. We had her groomed last week, and ever since she has been limping. We know it's age this time, so we got her some pain medication, but it's not helping. The last 2 nights she has not been able to go up the stairs to be with us at night. The first night after trying to help her up the stairs, Mike had to carry her up. The second night she seemed to be OK on the main floor, so we let her stay down there, but at about 4 in the morning, she started barking. Mike went down to check on her. She went outside to go to the bathroom, then he was going to sleep downstairs with her, but she was standing by the stairs wanting to go up. He said she looked like she didn't care how humiliating that she had to be carried, but she wanted to be with us. So he carried her upstairs, and she slept soundly for the rest of the night. She has been such a huge part of our life and we really aren't ready to see her go. So we hope to find a good strong medication that will allow her to live longer. We would love to have her meet our first child. We know she will be a wonderful big sister. We love you Sequoia!

Mother's Day Gifts...

So we went to my brother and sister-in-laws home on Saturday night for a mother's day dinner. My mom and dad were there and we had a BBQ. Toward the end of the evening, I gave my mom her gifts. One was a baby themed pewter frame with each of our 3 dogs in the slots. My mom liked the pictures, but said she wanted a picture of us. I told her that she could replace the pictures in January. She wasn't sure what I meant, so I handed her the 2nd gift, the bib with "I Love My Grandma" on it. It took her a minute, but then she got so excited. I think she was so surprised, she almost didn't believe it was real. My dad was a little more reserved about it. I think he doesn't want to get too excited until after the first trimester. He and my mom had several painful miscarriages, so I can understand.  

Then last night we went by Mike's family's home to give his mother her gifts. His dad was away, but we decided to do it anyway. First the frame...she LOVED the pictures of the dogs, and got teary about it...We both thought, well if she likes it that much, she will be even more happy about the rest of the "gift". So then he handed the bib to her. She liked it and said, "well we can use this someday". And Mike said, how about in January? She was elated, jumping up and down, and VERY excited of our news.

Both mother's thought it was the best Mother's Day Gift ever!

Living Inside

So, if you have seen my "new pictures" you will have seen that we are pregnant!  We found out 2 weeks ago, and because of some family events going on we have not told our families yet.  We thought Mother's day would be the perfect time to tell them.  I had searched on the internet for creative ways to tell your family and liked these 2 ideas. Get a baby frame and to throw them off, put pictures of your pets in there, and the other idea was a bib with "I Love My Grandma" on it.  It will be interesting to see how they react to the news.

My husband and I were married about 9 years ago, and our families have been waiting at least that long for us to give them grandkids.  We live in the # 1 state for birthrates, and around here it is the expected thing to do.  We weren't even sure if we even wanted kids…I was more undecided, and on more than one occasion my husband had said he didn't want any.  I had accepted that we wouldn't and was Ok with the decision.  Then about a year ago my husband ended up in the hospital, and nearly died.  Since then we have been going to counseling with a great therapist, and several months ago, he had us write down on a piece of paper what our short and long term dreams are and share them with each other.  I had been really depressed and couldn't think of anything special, but Mike wrote down that he wanted kids.  I was surprised and shocked of this news, and we had discussed it over the next several months, and decided it was time for me to stop taking the pill.

We had thought that it would take a few months, since I had been on the pill for such a long time, but it happened right away.  The first test I took was at the Dr.'s office as I picked up some pre-natal vitamins.  The test was negative, then 5 days later I took a home pregnancy test, the 1-2 line one (I don't recommend those tests).  One line was really dark, and the other was there but it was soooo light that we figured it was negative, especially with the previous one at the Dr.'s office being negative.  Then I started to feel really bloated and crampy, and figured that the pill had messed up my cycle.  But, I decided to take another test, it was the 2 line one again (it came 2 to a box).  This time one line was dark, and the other was light, but it definitely was there.  This was about 9am on a Sunday morning, and I woke Mike up asking him to come take a look and tell me what he thought of it.  I handed him the test with my hand shaking. He was still half asleep, and he looked a little dumbfounded…he scratched his head and we both looked at each other like "How did this happen?"  Even when you are trying for it, it still comes as a surprise. We wanted to make certain we were reading the test right, so I went to the Pharmacy and grabbed one of those dummy tests, you know the ones that are digital, and displays the words "Pregnant" or "NOT Pregnant".

That evening we started that new show "Notes from the Underbelly".  And the couple on the show had a very similar reaction to ours, and it was so close to home we laughed soooo hard we were crying!  So the following day, I called the Dr. and got the next available appointment for the following week.  Since I had just stopped the pill, the estimated conception date is a little harder to determine, so he set me up with an ultrasound.  They told me to drink 32 oz. of water before I went in.  And then when I got there for some reason I had to wait for 45 min. to be seen…It was pretty uncomfortable to say the least.  So, then she found out that it's soo small she couldn't see anything though the belly, so she was going in the "other way".  She let me use the bathroom first thankfully! Sadly, I was not able to see the screen.  I thought she was going to turn it or something, or show me the pictures when she was done, but it didn't happen.  Mike was able to watch though, but he said you couldn't see much…The baby is about the size of a grain of rice, and it already has a heart beat?!  She estimated the age as 5 weeks and 5 days (This was on 5-10).  So the due date is January 5, 2008 .  We are excited and scared at the same time….this will be an amazing journey for sure.