Wow! So I totally lied about updating my blog! I believe I was going to update it on Veteran's Day when I was off work -- that was, oh, two weeks ago!
So I feel like a lot has been going on lately. My job has gotten seriously crazy -- I definitely see why social workers have such a high burnout rate. That crap is STRESSFUL!
We did get some good news about a month ago. We had our follow-up ultrasound at the end of October when I was about 12 weeks along. The baby was doing great and the fluid situation they were worried about had resolved itself. Talk about a relief! Gosh. I have my next appointment on November 29th. I am scheduled for a regular OB visit, along with the quad screen. I am not 100% sure I want the quad screen -- I may back out at the last minute. At this point I am satisfied with my last u/s when they said everything was fine and the baby looked great. I guess we still have a few more days to decide.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you all have much to be thankful for! I know I am SUPER thankful that I actually like most foods again and that I have my appetite back. I was so worried that Thanksgiving would come and I would still be hating food. Woohoo!!! I can't wait :)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thursday, Thursday, Thursday !
...is the day I will update my blog :) My life has been seriously insane lately and I want to update, I really do, but I just can't seem to find the time! So Thursday I am off for Veteran's Day and I will have all the time in the world to update my little blog :)
Monday, October 18, 2010
What a crazy ride....
So I have a lot to update! I haven't even signed into blogger in a couple of weeks because my life has been absolutely insane lately. A LOT to update, so I will just start from the beginning...
When we first found out I was pregnant we talked about when and how we wanted to tell our families. We both decided to just keep it a secret for a while and spill the beans after we saw a heartbeat and a growing baby. I was DYING to tell someone, but I managed to keep the secret (mostly). Dave kept saying "You need to tell your Mamaw" and I kept saying "I will wait and tell her when we tell the rest of our families". Gosh I wish I would have listened to him. At the time I had no idea that she would suffer a massive heart attack before we got the chance to tell her that she would be getting her 18th (!!) great-grandchild. Tuesday morning (October 5), she was rushed to the hospital. We had our first ultrasound the very next day and saw a little heart just beating away at 164 BPM! By this time my Mamaw (my grandmother, if you haven't caught on yet :) was lying in a hospital bed pumped full of morphine. I was really torn about what to do. I was so sad that I had waited until she was sick and almost unresponsive in a hospital before I told her. One week earlier and I could have told her and gotten one of her amazing hugs, and we would have sat down and talked about plans for a baby quilt (she was a lifelong quilter and made AMAZING quilts -- every stitch was hand-stitched, she didn't even own a sewing machine). I tried to get a few minutes alone with her and just hope that she would hear me and understand my words. With my luck, every time I got some time alone with her happened to be right after they had given her another does of morphine, so of course she was out of it. I said the words to her, but in my heart I knew that she didn't really hear it.
So on Saturday, I am sitting in the hospital waiting room with my dad. By this time she had been holding on for 5 days -- on top of the heart attack, she also suffered a stroke, one lung was collapsed and she also had pneumonia. Her doctor told us that he truly believed it was a miracle that she even lived through the heart attack, as it totally destroyed at least half of her heart. But yet she was hanging in there for some reason. My dad said "The Good Lord is calling her home, but for some reason she is hanging on. I wish I knew what for, so that maybe we could help her to let go." When he said this I just reached in my bag and handed him the ultrasound picture. It wasn't at all how I planned to tell him, but I told him that I needed him to help me tell my Mamaw -- he seemed to be able to get through to her and she responded most to him, I think. So we went in her room -- my mom was in there so of course I had to show her the pic (there were lots of happy and sad tears in that room). Then my dad and I went over to her bed, and she was not necessarily alert but I could tell that she was a little bit aware of what was going on. I couldn't get the words out so my dad just said to her "Jessica is going to have a baby". I knew immediately that she understood because when she got good news she would always say "Awwww" in the sweetest way possible, and she did that exact thing when my dad told her. So that made my heart happy :) She passed on Monday night after a good fight.
I am so sad that she won't be around to meet my baby and that I won't ever get the chance to work on a baby quilt with her, but I am so thankful for the time we had together and I have lots of good memories to share with my child someday :)
After I made sure my Mamaw and parents knew about the baby I could finally tell the rest of our families! Here is what we did for my family...
That is my nephew, Levi. Dave and I stole him away for a quick diaper change and put this onesie on him. We just brought him back and handed him to my sister -- it took her a second to catch on, but everyone was so excited when she started shoving him in everyone's faces saying "read the shirt!".
For Dave's parents, we took them an early anniversary gift of a rubber ducky, a pair of baby shoes and a onesie that says "What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's". Needless to say there were lots of tears from his mom. Dave is an only child so we are their only shot at grandkids!
OK, now fast forward to the next Wednesday (2 days after my Mamaw passed, if you are following my crazy timeline!). My midwife calls and says "well your bloodwork all came back great" and immediately I am thinking "why are you calling me? You said you would only call if there are problems". She then tells me that the doc looked over my ultrasound and noticed what she thought might be some extra fluid around the baby and that they wanted me to come back in for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks. She kept saying "It could be a problem, but we won't know for sure until we see you again". Of course my mind is reeling at the thought of my baby having any kinds of problems. She could have told me that they needed to amputate both of my legs and I think I would have taken it better! She just told me to stay calm (HA!) for the next couple of weeks and we would go from there. So it has been a LONG week and I have one more to go :( So if you are the praying kind, maybe you could say a little prayer for me and the kiddo?
If you have made it to the end of this post, well then all I have to say is Bless You!
When we first found out I was pregnant we talked about when and how we wanted to tell our families. We both decided to just keep it a secret for a while and spill the beans after we saw a heartbeat and a growing baby. I was DYING to tell someone, but I managed to keep the secret (mostly). Dave kept saying "You need to tell your Mamaw" and I kept saying "I will wait and tell her when we tell the rest of our families". Gosh I wish I would have listened to him. At the time I had no idea that she would suffer a massive heart attack before we got the chance to tell her that she would be getting her 18th (!!) great-grandchild. Tuesday morning (October 5), she was rushed to the hospital. We had our first ultrasound the very next day and saw a little heart just beating away at 164 BPM! By this time my Mamaw (my grandmother, if you haven't caught on yet :) was lying in a hospital bed pumped full of morphine. I was really torn about what to do. I was so sad that I had waited until she was sick and almost unresponsive in a hospital before I told her. One week earlier and I could have told her and gotten one of her amazing hugs, and we would have sat down and talked about plans for a baby quilt (she was a lifelong quilter and made AMAZING quilts -- every stitch was hand-stitched, she didn't even own a sewing machine). I tried to get a few minutes alone with her and just hope that she would hear me and understand my words. With my luck, every time I got some time alone with her happened to be right after they had given her another does of morphine, so of course she was out of it. I said the words to her, but in my heart I knew that she didn't really hear it.
So on Saturday, I am sitting in the hospital waiting room with my dad. By this time she had been holding on for 5 days -- on top of the heart attack, she also suffered a stroke, one lung was collapsed and she also had pneumonia. Her doctor told us that he truly believed it was a miracle that she even lived through the heart attack, as it totally destroyed at least half of her heart. But yet she was hanging in there for some reason. My dad said "The Good Lord is calling her home, but for some reason she is hanging on. I wish I knew what for, so that maybe we could help her to let go." When he said this I just reached in my bag and handed him the ultrasound picture. It wasn't at all how I planned to tell him, but I told him that I needed him to help me tell my Mamaw -- he seemed to be able to get through to her and she responded most to him, I think. So we went in her room -- my mom was in there so of course I had to show her the pic (there were lots of happy and sad tears in that room). Then my dad and I went over to her bed, and she was not necessarily alert but I could tell that she was a little bit aware of what was going on. I couldn't get the words out so my dad just said to her "Jessica is going to have a baby". I knew immediately that she understood because when she got good news she would always say "Awwww" in the sweetest way possible, and she did that exact thing when my dad told her. So that made my heart happy :) She passed on Monday night after a good fight.
I am so sad that she won't be around to meet my baby and that I won't ever get the chance to work on a baby quilt with her, but I am so thankful for the time we had together and I have lots of good memories to share with my child someday :)
After I made sure my Mamaw and parents knew about the baby I could finally tell the rest of our families! Here is what we did for my family...
That is my nephew, Levi. Dave and I stole him away for a quick diaper change and put this onesie on him. We just brought him back and handed him to my sister -- it took her a second to catch on, but everyone was so excited when she started shoving him in everyone's faces saying "read the shirt!".
For Dave's parents, we took them an early anniversary gift of a rubber ducky, a pair of baby shoes and a onesie that says "What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's". Needless to say there were lots of tears from his mom. Dave is an only child so we are their only shot at grandkids!
OK, now fast forward to the next Wednesday (2 days after my Mamaw passed, if you are following my crazy timeline!). My midwife calls and says "well your bloodwork all came back great" and immediately I am thinking "why are you calling me? You said you would only call if there are problems". She then tells me that the doc looked over my ultrasound and noticed what she thought might be some extra fluid around the baby and that they wanted me to come back in for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks. She kept saying "It could be a problem, but we won't know for sure until we see you again". Of course my mind is reeling at the thought of my baby having any kinds of problems. She could have told me that they needed to amputate both of my legs and I think I would have taken it better! She just told me to stay calm (HA!) for the next couple of weeks and we would go from there. So it has been a LONG week and I have one more to go :( So if you are the praying kind, maybe you could say a little prayer for me and the kiddo?
If you have made it to the end of this post, well then all I have to say is Bless You!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Jason Aldean - Laughed Until We Cried
Last night I got to see Jason Aldean in concert. It was pretty much amazing :) This is my favorite song of his -- makes me all teary-eyed every time I hear it :)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wow.
Who knew that pregnancy is the most terrifying journey that I would ever take!? And I have not even known for three weeks yet. The weekend was great -- Sunday I had mad cravings at the grocery store, coming home with the most random assortment of food items I have ever seen! Sunday night -- the spotting started. It was pink and I was absolutely terrified. I literally curled up in my husband's lap and cried all night. I just had that bad feeling, ya know? I didn't sleep a wink because I was in the bathroom just about every 15 minutes or so. I even called Labor and Delivery at the hospital. Monday morning, I called into work due to the lack of sleep and the fact that I would be totally worthless. I called my OB and talked to the nurse and she didn't seem too concerned -- just told me to keep an eye on everything and to come to my regular appointment on Thursday. Thursday cannot come soon enough!! I am going to literally BEG for an ultrasound (I wasn't scheduled for one) and if they don't give me one, then by God I will go to someone who will!!
So I have had on and off spotting today and thankfully it has been brown and haven't noticed any at all in a couple of hours, but I have felt like I have had more cramps than usual which is a little worrisome to me. So now I am just counting down to Thursday and hoping and praying for a healthy baby.....
So I have had on and off spotting today and thankfully it has been brown and haven't noticed any at all in a couple of hours, but I have felt like I have had more cramps than usual which is a little worrisome to me. So now I am just counting down to Thursday and hoping and praying for a healthy baby.....
Monday, September 20, 2010
I can't believe I am typing this....
But....
Excuse the 1970's style bathroom countertops, but you are looking at a BFP!! The first positive pregnancy test I have ever seen and I am absolutely over the moon!! I honestly thought we were out this month. I did a terrible job temping/charting and just really didn't put much effort into TTC this month. On top of that I started a brand new job and my insurance doesn't kick in until November 1st (oops)! I do still have my old policy, so I am not worried about coverage.
OK so here is how it all went down....
Like I said I really thought we were out this month and I wasn't even planning on testing at all. Fertility Friend hadn't confirmed my O date since I had a lot of missing temps and open circles. I woke up on Friday morning (September 10) and considered not even taking my temp, just waiting for AF to come. I thought I would take it just for the heck of it and I am so glad I did! It had actually gone up! So I decided to go ahead and test. I am so used to seeing negatives that I usually can tell right away that it is going to be a negative, but I still let it sit for a few minutes just to make sure. So this one looked like it was going to be a negative so I followed the normal routine of setting the strip down and going about my business, doing my makeup and hair or whatever. Well when I glanced back down at the test I about had a heart attack! I could not believe my eyes. Dave had already left for work so I just walked around the house in shock! I didn't know what to do!
So I went on to work -- it was a long morning -- and bought a FRER Gold Digital at lunchtime. After the longest three minutes OF MY LIFE, that beautiful YES+ finally popped up! After work I went out and bought a card, a bib that says "I love Daddy", and the Willow Tree New Dad figure for Dave. When he got home I handed him the bag and told him to open the card first. He just sat there staring at me in shock! He kept saying "are you serious?" I wish I would have thought to capture the look on his face with my camera, but my mind was preoccupied at the moment!
In short, I am so very grateful for everything that God has blessed me with :) I know I don't deserve it all, but I am thankful nonetheless. I prayed and prayed for this day, shed many tears along the way, and I sit here typing this and just can't believe it is actually happening! I have never felt anything like it :)
OK so here is how it all went down....
Like I said I really thought we were out this month and I wasn't even planning on testing at all. Fertility Friend hadn't confirmed my O date since I had a lot of missing temps and open circles. I woke up on Friday morning (September 10) and considered not even taking my temp, just waiting for AF to come. I thought I would take it just for the heck of it and I am so glad I did! It had actually gone up! So I decided to go ahead and test. I am so used to seeing negatives that I usually can tell right away that it is going to be a negative, but I still let it sit for a few minutes just to make sure. So this one looked like it was going to be a negative so I followed the normal routine of setting the strip down and going about my business, doing my makeup and hair or whatever. Well when I glanced back down at the test I about had a heart attack! I could not believe my eyes. Dave had already left for work so I just walked around the house in shock! I didn't know what to do!
So I went on to work -- it was a long morning -- and bought a FRER Gold Digital at lunchtime. After the longest three minutes OF MY LIFE, that beautiful YES+ finally popped up! After work I went out and bought a card, a bib that says "I love Daddy", and the Willow Tree New Dad figure for Dave. When he got home I handed him the bag and told him to open the card first. He just sat there staring at me in shock! He kept saying "are you serious?" I wish I would have thought to capture the look on his face with my camera, but my mind was preoccupied at the moment!
In short, I am so very grateful for everything that God has blessed me with :) I know I don't deserve it all, but I am thankful nonetheless. I prayed and prayed for this day, shed many tears along the way, and I sit here typing this and just can't believe it is actually happening! I have never felt anything like it :)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
What's for Supper? (or dinner, depending on where you come from!)
I woke up today craving a good BBQ sandwich. Apparently my husband was watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives last night while I was sleeping and they were focused on BBQ. I didn't watch it but I guess my subconscious picked up on it! So this morning I broke out the ole' crock pot and fixed myself some BBQ!
I used this recipe from allrecipes.com:
I followed it exactly and it turned out great! Well I did cook it on low all day instead of on high for just a few hours.
Yum!
I used this recipe from allrecipes.com:
Ingredients
- 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
- 3 pounds boneless pork ribs
- 1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
Directions
- Pour can of beef broth into slow cooker, and add boneless pork ribs. Cook on High heat for 4 hours, or until meat shreds easily. Remove meat, and shred with two forks. It will seem that it's not working right away, but it will.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Transfer the shredded pork to a Dutch oven or iron skillet, and stir in barbeque sauce.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until heated through
 |
| I did bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes or so. I am glad I did because it gave it those little crispy pieces :) |
 | |||
| Served it up with some baked beans and fresh garden corn :) |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
