Birth Story- Part Deux

I had no plans to go back to work that afternoon. Instead, I went home to take a nap and wallow in my self pity. When Dan got home he came in to assure me that I would not, in fact, be pregnant forever. He tried to remind me I could go into labor at any time. He suggested we go for a walk before getting ready for Stephanie's birthday dinner that evening. I pouted and told him there wasn't really any point because I had been walking the entire pregnancy and it didn't seem to be doing me any good! After a little bit of coaxing I gave in and waddled around the block for the very last time.

We met up with some people at 7pm to celebrate my friend, Steph's, 26th birthday. Her actual birthday is the first week of May, but she decided to have the dinner early just to make sure we'd be able to attend. Obviously Dan and I are the life of every party. haha! The dinner was at Cantina Laredo which is basically a fancy restaurant that serves over-priced Mexican food. Around 8:30pm, right after we ordered our desserts, I felt a little... something. I ignored it the first time, it was just a trickle. I told myself that I was probably laughing and just lost control a little bit. A few minutes later I felt it again. A little more this time. The wheels in my head started turning and I started to panic. I leaned over to Dan and whispered, "Either I am losing control of my bladder, or my water just broke."  He looked at me and laughed, obviously thinking I was making a joke. I told him I was serious and got up to go to the bathroom to check things out.

I will spare you the details of that trip. Basically, I was afraid that I had really lost control of my bladder. I did not want to go to the hospital only to be told that I peed myself! I had heard that it happens quite often! I also had expected that if my water would  break on it's own that it would be more of a gush, not the slow leak that I was experiencing. You know, like in the movies. Thanks, Hollywood!

I came back to the table and told Dan that I still wasn't 100% sure. At that point, only one other person was aware of what was going on. Dan wanted to go ahead and go, but I didn't want to cut Stephanie's evening short since we were driving her home. We kept it on the down low and thankfully the check came only a few minutes later. Dan held my trembling hand and as we made our way outside, I thanked God that I had worn black pants. Once outside one of the girls wanted to get everyone together for some group photos. We tried to politely decline and told them we really had to get going. When she kept insisting we finally blurted out that my water had broken inside the restaurant and we needed to get home and call the doctor.

After all the cheers and hugs, we nervously raced home and did just that...

Birth Story- Part 1

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 16th, I had a routine OB check-up. At 38 weeks pregnant, I was totally pumped for it, too. Two weeks earlier they had checked to see if I was dilated, and much to my surprise I was 1cm. Now, anyone who knows anything about being pregnant is well aware that that doesn't mean anything. You can walk around at 3cm dilated for a few weeks and still give birth a week later than your due date. But when you are nearing the end of your pregnancy, all of that logical thinking goes right out the window. You hang on every word that has anything to do with progress!

I headed to my appointment hoping, and quite frankly expecting, to hear that I was progressing. I was counting on at least 3cm. Well, first things first, they weighed me.  I was up to 180lbs. My goal was to stay under 40lbs gained and that number was quickly approaching with two weeks to go. Then I waddled down to the exam room and prepared myself for the rather uncomfortable poking and prodding that was to come. This appointment happened to be with my least favorite doctor in the practice. She came in and we listened to the heart beat (music to my ears!) and then she checked my measurements. For the second time in a month she mentioned that she thought the baby was going to be small. She didn't really say it in a negative way, but that is, of course, how I took it. Then she "checked" me and told me that I was still at 1cm, but possibly starting to efface. What?! How could that be?! No progress in two weeks?! Two friggin' weeks?! Ugh!

I left the office with an appointment to come back in a week. I immediately called my Mom and Dan to tell them the news. I was a big fat fatty who was going to stay pregnant forever...

Oink! Oink!

This past weekend Dan and the older boys were off on a camping adventure. This gave Haeden and I the opportunity to spend the weekend catching up on quality time with my family and friends. Saturday night one of my oldest friends, Amy, and her boyfriend, Justin, came to hang out and get their fill of Haeden's cuteness. Boy did they ever!

Haeden had already finished his dinner, but he's a total mooch. If someone in the room is eating something, anything, they better be prepared to share. The kid will eat pretty much anything (unless it's on his own plate). It just so happens that Amy and Justin stopped for dinner on their way over. Amy sat on the couch with her Taco Bell and Justin sat at the dining room table with his McDonalds. Haeden is a big flirt, so he went to Amy first and she generously gave him some of her burrito. He looked to his left and noticed Justin was eating something, too, so he quickly walked/waddled over and pointed at him to get a bite of his burger. Yum!

This went on for a good 20 minutes. Back and forth. Back and forth. We had to keep reminding him to chew it up and swallow (not unusual since he's part chipmunk anyway) since he was so worried about getting that next bite. My little piglet. He takes after me, obviously.

Par-tay

I do believe Haeden's party was a success. I'm having to base that on the feedback from our guests, because to tell you the truth, I was so busy trying to be a gracious host that I couldn't really form an opinion myself. It's funny how much work goes into planning the first birthday party. It's not unlike a wedding, really. In fact, the Hubs kept saying that it reminded him of our reception because as the host, you are so busy making sure that you talk to each guest and ensure that they're all having a good time, you don't really get to enjoy it yourself. Not to the extent that you'd like anyway.

We didn't take nearly as many pictures as I'd hoped. And we only got a tiny snipet of video. Hopefully we'll manage that part better next time. It's hard though when you're being pulled in so many different directions, one family member telling you to go on to the next thing every 10 minutues, "Cake now! Presents now! Everyone is leaving! Hurry!" And all the while you still have to keep an eye on your little one. And smile. Don't forget to smile and have a good time! I'm pretty sure my stress was showing a few times.

Ahh, but the important thing is that the food was good, the guests were happy and the Birthday Boy was having a grand time. He ate up all the attention and then stuffed (and smeared) his face with birthday cake. Onto the pictures:

Party Central. Haeden's making a break for the bubbles.

He loved his balloons, but not the party hat!

CAKE!

Testing it out.

It's about to get messy, folks.

End result. My little green martian man.

After hosing him down we opened the presents. He didn't care about anything other than his first gift. He grabbed that thing and ran with it! Then he threw a little fit when we took it away and tried

to show him the rest!

This has been his favorite at the house. It serves as a great distraction when I need to tidy up. haha!

These are the only two family shots, which makes me sad. Next year these come first!

You live and learn, right?

And there you have it. Everyone thought he'd be wired for the rest of the night after all the cake, but he fell asleep on the ride home and the kid was knocked out! I had to wake him up because I was afraid that he wasn't going to sleep the rest of the night.  That and he was stained green and needed a bath.

Thanks to all my friends who lent a hand in the planning and decorating. And thanks for all of the thoughtful cards and gifts. My living room looks like a toy store.