!!!

Royce is almost a month old! He'll actually be one month old next week. I can't believe it. Where did the time go? Stupid mom (me), I actually thought he was one month old this week. I thought once he hit 4 weeks he was considered one month. I guess it's at the 5 week mark. It will be so weird to refer to him in months and not so much weeks. There is so much he can do now, I can't wait to see what the future holds. One thing he has been doing since oh about day 3, is trying to hold his head up on his own. His dad, me, and the rest of the family were amazed with his range of movement. I almost cried, but not tears of joy. I thought- he's trying to leave me and grow up too fast and he just got here. He's not supposed to be doing that yet! On a side note, when you pick him up he also tries to push off on you and jump up and down. Today we let him try tummy time on his Boppy and he did a pretty good job. He didn't cry and neither did I ;)



Starting out



Okay, what do I do next?



*This is kinda fun*



I'm outta here!



Foiled again...

For all who dare...

This was Royce's first time in a swing. Notice the clasped feet!



Its taken me 3 weeks to post my birth story. I've started and stopped writing my story numerous times over the last several weeks. I recently wrote to a co-worker about my experience and decided to use that as my post so here goes:

My labor and delivery was not what I expected. I ended up having rolling contractions so they did not stop, just one after the other. By the time I reached the hospital I was already 4 or 5 cm dilated so they admitted me that was at 1:30 am. I ended up delivering Royce at 8:33 a.m. When I was about 7 Cm's I couldn't take the pain any more, plus it was hard to ignore the suggestions of an epidural. I even tried sitting on the bouncing ball but that did not work . I went in with an open mind and just wanted to see what my body was capable of. Plus, side note I am a big baby when it comes to needles . I got an epidural. It did not work. I had to be re shot! I was hunched over a table for 45 minutes getting poked in the back, being told to keep still, and my contractions never stopped the whole time. I was in so much pain. I even called out for my mom. I guess it was bad b/c they allowed her to be in the delivery room even though there was a limit to how many were allowed in. I had planned on just having myself and my husband in the room :). By the time I was fully dilated the epidural started working. This was when I needed to feel to push, but instead I was numb. They had to bring out a bar I could place my legs on and a sheet I could pull on (almost like I was doing sitting crunches) for me to push the baby out. I did it though! After he was out I cried and cried. They cleaned him up and placed him on me.

The next day I started to get a mind searing headache. It felt like a combination of a hangover or migraine that I've heard about (I've never had one before). I told my nurse about it in passing but I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was just the after effects of giving birth. Plus, I was having painful lower back muscle spasms. I had a great nurse!! She was so concerned she called the anesthesiology department and arranged for them to come speak with me. I thought she was making a big deal out of nothing, but I was still grateful.

It turns out I developed what is known as a spinal headache. The hospital tried to correct it by hooking me up to an IV with caffeine and a salt solution for 24hrs but that did not work. They said I could try another option which is known as a blood patch and requires a third shot. It is very much like an epidural except some of your blood is taken out and pumped back into your spine. The after affects were that I could not hold anything heavier then the baby for 48-72 hours after and I had to spend the majority of my time lying on my back or else there was a chance it would not work. It was hard to do this with a baby but my husband, parents, and mother in law pitched in to help. I'm so glad the blood patch worked because I was given an example of someone who had to have the procedure done 4 times before the pain went away. I'm just starting to feel like myself. Whew that is a long story!

Guess who's here?

I couldn't wait to go to Bob's just for this photo! Hehe!



Okay, now for the blog world debut of Royce:

I guess he takes after me...

My first Mother's Day (as a momma to be) was awesome. I didn't really expect much, but I woke up to a sweet card from Mr. Blog thanking me for all I've done so far to make sure our son is healthy and happy and these:

A dozen beautiful red roses!


Then Mr. Blog proceeded to make me a breakfast of hash browns, waffles, and sausage.

After breakfast, Mr. Blog and I went to Babiesrus to get some last minute things and use our completion certificate and gift cards. We were able to get over $100 of stuff for $30. That was nice. Next, we went to my parents for a bbq. I love my dad's bbq. I've already put in a request for it once the baby is born :P. Well my family surprised me too. Check it out:


They bought me the bath, lamp for the nursery, baby book (I've been stressing about this b/c I wanted to take it to the hospital to get the baby's foot and hand prints ), and a Coach purse and wallet!

I'm excited to meet my son but I am nervous at the same time. I am truly blessed to have the love and support of family and friends and that strength has been pulling me through. I'm really scarred at the thought of delivery. I cry when I get a shot! Haha. But, all the support and excitement has got me caught up too. I don't think it will be a piece of cake, but I am coming to peace with everything. I better right? I only have 12 days until D day.

One Spoiled Baby

A backwards tale.

Wow, today was the 3rd baby shower for the baby. I can't believe it. On Tuesday I was asked by the social committee if it would be okay for them to throw a shower for me on Friday after work. It was fine by me. Usually the shower consists of cake and punch and we all sit around talking. That was what I was expecting. Well it turned out to be a joint shower with a co-worker who is one month behind me. I was glad about that b/c I hate sitting around getting stared at. I'd much rather share the love. What surprised me though was people actually brought gifts. Gift cards, outfits, accessories,even a check so I can get what I need. I am truly touched. Wow. When I asked a coworker how I looked he remarked "pleasantly pregnant". I'll take that.


Cake from the work shower.


On Sunday April 19th was my women only shower. This shower was hosted by my bestie with help from my mom. It was thrown at my clubhouse which ended up to be a really nice spot for a shower. If you can believe it I'd never been in the clubhouse until the day of the shower. It had a little kitchen and ample seating. Plus AC, for the weirdly hot April day. We played games like guess the baby lyric, word scramble, diaper raffle, and my personal favorite "string around the mommy" :p.I loved that my childhood friend and her mom came out from OC and SD to celebrate with me. I also loved that some people didn't RSVP so they could surprise me at the shower. The baby received a lot of cozy homemade blankets, diapers, wipes, bibs, outfits and $$.


A cozy blanket shot.


A blurred gift shot.

March 21st was my mother in law hosted shower. She wanted to throw one for her side of the family. My parents and brother came along too.This was a co-ed shower with Mr. Blog and myself opening gifts together. Mr. Blog even invited some of his friends,one of which brought his cute one year old son. It was nice seeing him toddle around, I was able to get an idea of what I have to look forward to.Its been so long since I have been around a little one. This shower also had games such as:
guess the cotton ball, and don't say baby.


Cake and pretty flowers from the shower. I was able to take the flowers home. Sadly they no longer look as good as they did in this photo :(.





This baby is loved, spoiled, anticipated. I think everyone (including his parents) is just very excited and can't wait to meet him. To think he will make his debut in less than 30 days! And.......there is still one more shower to go. Ellen. Ellen DeGeneres.I wrote a letter to Ellen and received tickets to her annual baby shower show. I've been telling the baby to hold off until then ;).

I'm in my 3rd Trimester today!

Yay! I can't believe how fast my pregnancy is going with less then 100 days to go. Its seems like I just took a test! In other news, I saw the baby move my stomach about 3 days ago. I was sitting on the couch and felt him, and happened to look down,the whole left side of my belly was moving like jello. I blinked a couple times in disbelief and looked back down, but no, what I saw was definitely movement. He is making his presence known. I called G down so he could see it too. The baby will even respond to voices and start kicking me if there is too much noise ,as he did last night when we went to dinner at Lucille's.

More Nursery News

The crib is up and the mattress is ordered and on its way. The baby's room is coming along! We need to work on the decoration end of it, but as far as the furniture goes I'm very satisfied. The crib has sort of a chemically smell so I'm glad that it has time to air out.



As you can see, I picked up a few more outfits for the baby ;)

In other news, I strained my calf muscle getting out of bed the other day. How embarrassing! Everyone has said its normal and that it's happening b/c my ligaments are stretching, but I feel so funny limping arond and looking like a war hero, only to say it happened b/c I stretched my legs before I got out of bed. I'm so glad we had a 3-day weekend b/c I spent Sunday mostly up stairs, not walking on it, and with a heating pad. :/