Here's the story of Stanley Paul Markov, born on 4/21/15 (nine days
before his due date of 4/30/15), weighing 7lbs 4 oz, and 21in long.
I
was half expecting his birth to be similar to Gwen's, but it was
totally different. With Gwen, I started contractions the day before and
knew she was on her way. With Stan, I woke up at 12:30 am thinking I had
peed the bed. I got up, went to the restroom, changed my panties, and
went back to bed. Before I could fall back asleep, I was all wet again.
Oh, maybe this is what it feels like when your water breaks!
I
woke up Alex, who had just fallen asleep, and gave him the news. I
called my mom to come stay with Gwen and we headed to the hospital. We
checked in (I know it sounds like a hotel, but it's kind of like that)
around 2:30. I still wasn't having any contractions, so they wanted to
check to make sure that my water had in fact broken. Well, as they were
getting ready to check me, a whole bunch more fluid leaked out,
confirming that we were there to stay.
As with Gwen, I
wanted this process to be as natural as possible. I started walking laps
around the maternity ward, while smelling an oil mixture that could
induce contractions. I could walk for 40 minutes and then I had to be
hooked up to the machine for 20 minutes. I did this for 6 hours without
any progress (I came in at 1.5 cm dilated and there was no change). My
doc decided it was time to get things moving. I was already on fluids,
so he wouldn't be under stress, but they wanted to start Pitocin. I
really didn't want to do that, but I held off as long as my doc would
let me.
Around 9am, they started me on the lowest dose of
Pit. I tried walking some, but it was hard to do because I had to be
hooked
up to IVs and this heart rate machine that didn't cooperate. So, I spent
most of that time on the yoga ball. From 9am to 1pm, Nurse Pam slowly
upped my dosage, and I was at 5cm when the doc checked me. From there,
it really took off. I was having lots of back labor and instead of
getting an epidural, we decided to try to move the baby using the Texas
Roll. This meant laying in bed on my side with my bottom leg laying
straight and the top leg pulled into my chest resting on pillows.
Apparently, this did the trick!
By 2:15 I was at 10cm and
ready to get the baby out. Nurse Pam had to check me during my
contractions to make sure that my cervix was where it needed to be. If
it wasn't for her and Alex yelling at me not to push, they would've had
to deliver the baby. She called for Dr. Voelkel, who had to run to get
there in time. As soon as she got there, it took forever for the next
contraction to come. It finally came at 2:19 and baby boy was born at
2:20. Yes, I only pushed for one minute through one contraction!
He
came out so fast that the fluid in his lungs was not flushed out (they
pulled out 15 ml). And his face was bruised so much it looked like he
was covered in freckles. Another side effect was constant sneezing and a red ring around each of his irises. They
called him a fake c-section baby because labor was so fast. But he was
still beautiful with a full set of hair. He was a spitting image of his
daddy!
We are so blessed to have healthy baby. And even
more blessed to have a big sister that is totally in love with him! We
thank God everyday for our healthy family.
Happy Babies!
--Am
PS - No poop on the table this time! :)
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
How To Have a Baby
On March 12, 2012 at 3:49 am, we welcomed Gwendolyn Maxine Markov into this world. Here's her story.
Sunday, March 11th started out like many other Sundays. I walked two miles while watching Buffy, helped out with the little kiddos at church, and headed up to book club. While eating yummy guacamole and chatting with friends, I noticed that I was getting hot flashes and having some tightening in my tummy. I thought, "well, these might be contractions," but didn't do anything about it. I called Al on my way home and told him I was pretty sure I was having contractions. In fact, I was having one while on the phone with him, and I continued to have them on my drive home. They started around 2:30 in the afternoon. Around 5, we decided to start timing them to see if we met the 5:1:1 rule. Contractions should come every five minutes, last for a minute long, and fit this pattern for at least an hour long. Most of the contractions were about 40 seconds long and came every 5 to 6 minutes. So, we decided to hold off on going to the hospital.
We headed up to Indy Racquet Club a little after 6 for Al's tennis match. I watched his match (which he won...yay!) while having contractions that were coming pretty regularly now. Around 8:30 we decided we were probably going to have a baby, so we called the doc. She recommended we stay home as long as possible because I wasn't uncomfortable and it would be better to relax at home as opposed to the hospital. We got some dinner at Boston Market then headed home. I relaxed in a bath, put some laundry away, and watched an episode of Grimm. Around 11:30pm I tried to lie down. Al watched me struggle through two contractions then said, "ok, we're going to the hospital."
We arrived just before midnight and checked in at triage. I got dressed into the fancy gown and hooked up to the various monitors. The nurse, Trina, started off by checking to see how far dilated I was. While she was checking me, my water broke. Yeah, warm and gushy, and all over the nurse's hand! And the not so fun news, I was only at 4 cm. But since my water broke, we were officially checked in! Before we headed off to our room, we got to hear someone else give birth...in triage. Wow, lucky her!
We headed off to room 4208. I settled in, while Al parked the car and brought up our overnight bags. We took a couple laps around the maternity ward to help with the pain. At 2am, our labor and delivery nurse, Andrea, checked me again and I was only at 6 cm. Oh geez, I thought we were going to have a long night ahead of ourselves. Andrea worked with me and Alex on comforting techniques but I wasn't having any of it. I didn't want anyone to touch me, let alone massage my back or put lotion on my hands. At this point, Andrea was telling us that we had til about 3am to decide if we wanted an epidural. I had gone in there saying I didn't want any drugs. I mean, how bad could the pain be? I was about to find out.
Since I couldn't be touched, we opted for another walk. At 3am, Andrea checked me again and I was dilated to 8 cm. I thought, "well, we made it from 6 to 8 in only an hour, so maybe we only have an hour left." So, no on the epidural--Yeah, I'm crazy. She also told me it was time for me to get into the bed, especially since I was beginning to feel the urge to push. The pain intensified immensely as I laid on my right side to soften that side of my cervix. All I remember is Al and Andrea saying, "Don't push, don't PUSH, DON'T PUSH!" as each contraction came along. It was so hard to not push and it just felt natural to push. But instead I had to breath lamaze style during those times. So freaking hard to do, and I'm stubborn, so I needed to be told at every contraction to not push.
By 3:28am Dr. Stuhldreyer was in the room, and it was time to start pushing. HOORAY! So, for 20 minutes I pushed. The worse part about is that the baby's head is crowning and stretching out my hoo-ha. It's just sitting there in my hoo-ha, stretching it out, and you can't do anything about it. At each contraction, I would grab my legs and push through the pain for three blocks of ten seconds each. I don't know what was more painful: pushing through the contractions or waiting with a stretched out hoo-ha for the next contraction. the doctor was numbing me the entire time and I all I remember thinking was that I wanted that baby out of me. Poor Al felt so sorry for me. He knew I was in pain and couldn't do anything about it. But he was a fabulous encourager and the best supporter!
Finally, at 3:49am I gave my final push. As the doc was telling me not to push out the rest of the baby, I couldn't help it and she just kind of slid out. Good thing the doc was good at catching slippery little suckers! The doc held up the baby for Al to cut the umbilical cord and asked him what the gender was. On first look, he said, "Oh, it's a boy!" But the doc corrected him with, "No, it's a girl!" Apparently the genitals are so swollen from the traumatic experience that they can look like testicles. We heard the first cries as she was brought to my chest. She passed all her tests as I delivered the placenta and was stitched up (I had a small tear). I remember my legs shaking from all the adrenaline and I vaguely remember the stitches. But, honestly, it didn't matter. Just knowing that we had a healthy baby made it so much better. And we couldn't have been more stoked to have a little girl. Of course we would have been thrilled with a healthy little boy, but we both were secretly leaning towards a little girl.
And that's how we welcomed our 7lbs 3oz, 21in long, dark-haired beauty into this world and our lives. We are so blessed to have a healthy baby and to have had a quick labor. We thank God everyday for her! We love our Princess Gwendolyn!
Happy Birthing!
--Am
PS - I did poop on the table! :)
Sunday, March 11th started out like many other Sundays. I walked two miles while watching Buffy, helped out with the little kiddos at church, and headed up to book club. While eating yummy guacamole and chatting with friends, I noticed that I was getting hot flashes and having some tightening in my tummy. I thought, "well, these might be contractions," but didn't do anything about it. I called Al on my way home and told him I was pretty sure I was having contractions. In fact, I was having one while on the phone with him, and I continued to have them on my drive home. They started around 2:30 in the afternoon. Around 5, we decided to start timing them to see if we met the 5:1:1 rule. Contractions should come every five minutes, last for a minute long, and fit this pattern for at least an hour long. Most of the contractions were about 40 seconds long and came every 5 to 6 minutes. So, we decided to hold off on going to the hospital.
We headed up to Indy Racquet Club a little after 6 for Al's tennis match. I watched his match (which he won...yay!) while having contractions that were coming pretty regularly now. Around 8:30 we decided we were probably going to have a baby, so we called the doc. She recommended we stay home as long as possible because I wasn't uncomfortable and it would be better to relax at home as opposed to the hospital. We got some dinner at Boston Market then headed home. I relaxed in a bath, put some laundry away, and watched an episode of Grimm. Around 11:30pm I tried to lie down. Al watched me struggle through two contractions then said, "ok, we're going to the hospital."
We arrived just before midnight and checked in at triage. I got dressed into the fancy gown and hooked up to the various monitors. The nurse, Trina, started off by checking to see how far dilated I was. While she was checking me, my water broke. Yeah, warm and gushy, and all over the nurse's hand! And the not so fun news, I was only at 4 cm. But since my water broke, we were officially checked in! Before we headed off to our room, we got to hear someone else give birth...in triage. Wow, lucky her!
We headed off to room 4208. I settled in, while Al parked the car and brought up our overnight bags. We took a couple laps around the maternity ward to help with the pain. At 2am, our labor and delivery nurse, Andrea, checked me again and I was only at 6 cm. Oh geez, I thought we were going to have a long night ahead of ourselves. Andrea worked with me and Alex on comforting techniques but I wasn't having any of it. I didn't want anyone to touch me, let alone massage my back or put lotion on my hands. At this point, Andrea was telling us that we had til about 3am to decide if we wanted an epidural. I had gone in there saying I didn't want any drugs. I mean, how bad could the pain be? I was about to find out.
Since I couldn't be touched, we opted for another walk. At 3am, Andrea checked me again and I was dilated to 8 cm. I thought, "well, we made it from 6 to 8 in only an hour, so maybe we only have an hour left." So, no on the epidural--Yeah, I'm crazy. She also told me it was time for me to get into the bed, especially since I was beginning to feel the urge to push. The pain intensified immensely as I laid on my right side to soften that side of my cervix. All I remember is Al and Andrea saying, "Don't push, don't PUSH, DON'T PUSH!" as each contraction came along. It was so hard to not push and it just felt natural to push. But instead I had to breath lamaze style during those times. So freaking hard to do, and I'm stubborn, so I needed to be told at every contraction to not push.
By 3:28am Dr. Stuhldreyer was in the room, and it was time to start pushing. HOORAY! So, for 20 minutes I pushed. The worse part about is that the baby's head is crowning and stretching out my hoo-ha. It's just sitting there in my hoo-ha, stretching it out, and you can't do anything about it. At each contraction, I would grab my legs and push through the pain for three blocks of ten seconds each. I don't know what was more painful: pushing through the contractions or waiting with a stretched out hoo-ha for the next contraction. the doctor was numbing me the entire time and I all I remember thinking was that I wanted that baby out of me. Poor Al felt so sorry for me. He knew I was in pain and couldn't do anything about it. But he was a fabulous encourager and the best supporter!
Finally, at 3:49am I gave my final push. As the doc was telling me not to push out the rest of the baby, I couldn't help it and she just kind of slid out. Good thing the doc was good at catching slippery little suckers! The doc held up the baby for Al to cut the umbilical cord and asked him what the gender was. On first look, he said, "Oh, it's a boy!" But the doc corrected him with, "No, it's a girl!" Apparently the genitals are so swollen from the traumatic experience that they can look like testicles. We heard the first cries as she was brought to my chest. She passed all her tests as I delivered the placenta and was stitched up (I had a small tear). I remember my legs shaking from all the adrenaline and I vaguely remember the stitches. But, honestly, it didn't matter. Just knowing that we had a healthy baby made it so much better. And we couldn't have been more stoked to have a little girl. Of course we would have been thrilled with a healthy little boy, but we both were secretly leaning towards a little girl.
And that's how we welcomed our 7lbs 3oz, 21in long, dark-haired beauty into this world and our lives. We are so blessed to have a healthy baby and to have had a quick labor. We thank God everyday for her! We love our Princess Gwendolyn!
Happy Birthing!
--Am
PS - I did poop on the table! :)
Saturday, March 3, 2012
How To Make a Tree Bookshelf
Wow! It's been quite a while since my last post. I'm going to stray from my usually format and try to give you an actual how to, since I think it's something people might actually want to make.
When deciding on a theme for the nursery, Al and I went back and forth between and under the sea theme and a woodland theme. Not knowing if we are having a boy or a girl, we needed something neutral. Eventually, we decided on the woodland theme. Somewhere along the way, we thought a bookshelf that looked like a tree would be pretty cool. We found two different types online: Graphic Spaces Woodland Happy Tree for $2100 or Shawn Soh's tree bookshelf for $850. Yeah, we can't afford either of those!! Since Al is pretty handy and artistic, he decided he could whip something up for around $250. I love a handy husband! :)
Here's what you need:
12 2" x 6" x 6' planks
Wood glue
Sander
Saw
Paint of your choice
L brackets and hardware
We decided the bookshelf would be more space efficient and look more 3 dimensional if it was in the corner as opposed to just stuck on the wall. The bottom branches would be three feet long, the middle branches two feet, and the top one feet. Keeping that in mind, we took two of the planks and cut them so we had two 3ft pieces, two 2ft pieces, and two 1ft pieces. We drew branches on each of these for our template. For the trunk, we used two 6ft planks and drew our template on those. Al then cut out the templates. Each branch was 4 pieces thick, so Al was going to be spending many days cutting and gluing pieces together. Fortunately, my dad knows a guy with a state of the art woodshop (Thanks Dad and Steve!). He let us drop off our remaining pieces for him to glue and cut out. Not only did this save us a lot of time, but it looked more like one piece as opposed to multiple pieces glued together.
Once all the pieces were cut and returned home, we glued on our original templates and began the painting. As usual, we couldn't decide what the right paint color would be, so we ended up taking the bedding into Home Depot and matched it with a green and red. I don't know what made us do it, but we went with the red. And I must say, that it looks stunning! So glad we went with that over the green. After it was painted and dried, we got assembling. We found some pieces could be assembled to the trunk, while other pieces were better attached to the wall using L brackets. After it was set up, we painted the hardware and started decorating. Thanks to my sis for having guests at the baby shower bring a book in place of a card, we are able to stock the tree full of books. And thanks to my mom and aunt for providing stuffed animals for additional character. We couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out!!
Don't you just love it? :)
Happy Bookshelfing!
--Am
When deciding on a theme for the nursery, Al and I went back and forth between and under the sea theme and a woodland theme. Not knowing if we are having a boy or a girl, we needed something neutral. Eventually, we decided on the woodland theme. Somewhere along the way, we thought a bookshelf that looked like a tree would be pretty cool. We found two different types online: Graphic Spaces Woodland Happy Tree for $2100 or Shawn Soh's tree bookshelf for $850. Yeah, we can't afford either of those!! Since Al is pretty handy and artistic, he decided he could whip something up for around $250. I love a handy husband! :)
Here's what you need:
12 2" x 6" x 6' planks
Wood glue
Sander
Saw
Paint of your choice
L brackets and hardware
We decided the bookshelf would be more space efficient and look more 3 dimensional if it was in the corner as opposed to just stuck on the wall. The bottom branches would be three feet long, the middle branches two feet, and the top one feet. Keeping that in mind, we took two of the planks and cut them so we had two 3ft pieces, two 2ft pieces, and two 1ft pieces. We drew branches on each of these for our template. For the trunk, we used two 6ft planks and drew our template on those. Al then cut out the templates. Each branch was 4 pieces thick, so Al was going to be spending many days cutting and gluing pieces together. Fortunately, my dad knows a guy with a state of the art woodshop (Thanks Dad and Steve!). He let us drop off our remaining pieces for him to glue and cut out. Not only did this save us a lot of time, but it looked more like one piece as opposed to multiple pieces glued together.
Once all the pieces were cut and returned home, we glued on our original templates and began the painting. As usual, we couldn't decide what the right paint color would be, so we ended up taking the bedding into Home Depot and matched it with a green and red. I don't know what made us do it, but we went with the red. And I must say, that it looks stunning! So glad we went with that over the green. After it was painted and dried, we got assembling. We found some pieces could be assembled to the trunk, while other pieces were better attached to the wall using L brackets. After it was set up, we painted the hardware and started decorating. Thanks to my sis for having guests at the baby shower bring a book in place of a card, we are able to stock the tree full of books. And thanks to my mom and aunt for providing stuffed animals for additional character. We couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out!!
the finished and stocked tree bookshelf
Don't you just love it? :)
Happy Bookshelfing!
--Am
Monday, December 26, 2011
How To Install a Ceiling Fan
I know, I know, all those design shows talk about how ceiling fans are such a eyesore and that they should never be in your house. Well, we like to have decent air flow and coolness when it's hot, so we have fans. In fact, every room that would need a fan, now has one. We spent our Christmas night cleaning out the loft and tidying the soon-to-be nursery. That's when Al decided that he needed to install the fan in the nursery. Yeah, it was ten and I was getting tired.
This brought me back to the time we installed the fan in the guest bedroom. The fan was up, and well, not working. We flipped the switch and either the lights worked or the fan worked, but not both together. For some reason, Al decided to have me check the wires to make sure they were correct. However, the switch was not flipped down and as soon as wires were touching, my body was jolted with electricity. It took me a minute to realize what happened, then...waterworks. It wasn't a totally big deal, but it scared me enough that I just stood there, couldn't move, and wept. Al was stuck there holding the fan parts up while I broke down. He didn't know if he should comfort me, laugh at me, or yell at me. I think a little bit of all of that happened, but I don't quite recall all the details. I just remember feeling the electricity go thru my body and standing there not being able to do anything. As you know, I survived with minimal damage.
Last night, in the three times that Alex had to recheck the wires and partway dismantle the fan, I was sure to flip the switch in the down position. I wanted to make sure that we didn't have a repeat electricity offense. Although we did almost have a broken leg or concussion on Al's end, all ended up well and I was in bed a little after 11.
With the room painted, fan installed, and room partway cleared, the nursery is starting to come together! Next project on the list is to re-arrange the loft and to get Al started on the bookshelf. WOOHOO!! Having a baby really gets you in the mood to have your house in order. :)
Happy Installing!
--Am
This brought me back to the time we installed the fan in the guest bedroom. The fan was up, and well, not working. We flipped the switch and either the lights worked or the fan worked, but not both together. For some reason, Al decided to have me check the wires to make sure they were correct. However, the switch was not flipped down and as soon as wires were touching, my body was jolted with electricity. It took me a minute to realize what happened, then...waterworks. It wasn't a totally big deal, but it scared me enough that I just stood there, couldn't move, and wept. Al was stuck there holding the fan parts up while I broke down. He didn't know if he should comfort me, laugh at me, or yell at me. I think a little bit of all of that happened, but I don't quite recall all the details. I just remember feeling the electricity go thru my body and standing there not being able to do anything. As you know, I survived with minimal damage.
Last night, in the three times that Alex had to recheck the wires and partway dismantle the fan, I was sure to flip the switch in the down position. I wanted to make sure that we didn't have a repeat electricity offense. Although we did almost have a broken leg or concussion on Al's end, all ended up well and I was in bed a little after 11.
With the room painted, fan installed, and room partway cleared, the nursery is starting to come together! Next project on the list is to re-arrange the loft and to get Al started on the bookshelf. WOOHOO!! Having a baby really gets you in the mood to have your house in order. :)
Happy Installing!
--Am
Sunday, December 11, 2011
How To Rock Out in the ER on Thanksgiving
Yeah, that was how we spent two hours of our Thanksgiving evening. Before I go into any sort of detail, I should say that everyone is fine and no body parts were harmed!
Our trip began by driving 12 hours in the non-stop rain from Indy to Cortland, NY on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We and off listened to Harry Potter and took bathroom and food breaks. We got in around 11pm and headed to bed shortly thereafter. Wednesday was when all the trouble began. Shortly after playing a round of putt-putt and lunch, I started to feel like my allergies were getting the best of me. I got some pregnancy-safe meds hoping they would take my sniffles and headache away. Wednesday night was a little rough as I was having a hard time breathing and falling to sleep. Even with a dose of Tylenol PM I couldn't seem to get comfortable breathing-wise.
On Thanksgiving day, we headed to the park, and I was really hoping the fresh air would help clear me up. It was nice, but it didn't help me at all! We at lunch/dinner around 3 and that just seemed to make matters worse. I had a full belly and climbing the stairs seemed like the biggest chore! It finally got bad enough that Al called the OB back home and decided it was best to hit the ER. Boy, was I excited...NOT!
We get there, wait a bit, take my vitals, and stick me in a room. The nurse or someone listened to my lungs and heard wheezing. The doctor came in and said, it could be one thing or it could be another. We're going to run some blood tests, give you a breathing treatment, hook you up to an EKG, x-ray your chest, ultrasound your legs, and give you a CT scan. At this point, I start to freak out. I'm thinking, I'm pregnant and I don't want to put the baby through all these tests and I don't want to go through all these tests. So, after lots of talking about options, we decide to wait to see what the blood work says as that will determine which route to take. The doctor was sure it would come back positive for the possibility of a blood clot because I was prego. If it was negative, then it was most likely a breathing issue and not a blood clot issue.
During this time, there were six people that came in to do different things to me. A very nice man gave me the breathing treatment; a very rude lady that wasn't sure how to ask if I was pregnant or fat hooked me up to the EKG; a lady named Gloria and dressed in street clothes checked the baby's heart rate; a nurse drew my blood; a youngin' took all my insurance information; and a lady came in to talk to me all about the x-ray that I wasn't going to happen. All these people were in addition to the 2 triage nurses I had when I first arrived, the resident that saw me shortly after, and the doc. Really? Is it necessary to have all those different people? Freaking crazy town! No wonder ERs are a mess. Too many hands in the honey pot.
Overall, the blood tests came back negative for a blood clot, so the doc was fine sending me home with an inhaler. With the baby, a full stomach and a very bad cold, it was the perfect storm for pressure on my lungs causing breathing problems. I still have a bit of the cold left, but it's nothing like it was. And I have only had to use the inhaler about five times and none since I've been back in Indy. So, all things considered, I'm good and baby's good! Now, if only this cold would leave me alone!
Happy Easy Breathing!
--Am
PS: How was your Thanksgiving? Hopefully less eventful!
Our trip began by driving 12 hours in the non-stop rain from Indy to Cortland, NY on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We and off listened to Harry Potter and took bathroom and food breaks. We got in around 11pm and headed to bed shortly thereafter. Wednesday was when all the trouble began. Shortly after playing a round of putt-putt and lunch, I started to feel like my allergies were getting the best of me. I got some pregnancy-safe meds hoping they would take my sniffles and headache away. Wednesday night was a little rough as I was having a hard time breathing and falling to sleep. Even with a dose of Tylenol PM I couldn't seem to get comfortable breathing-wise.
On Thanksgiving day, we headed to the park, and I was really hoping the fresh air would help clear me up. It was nice, but it didn't help me at all! We at lunch/dinner around 3 and that just seemed to make matters worse. I had a full belly and climbing the stairs seemed like the biggest chore! It finally got bad enough that Al called the OB back home and decided it was best to hit the ER. Boy, was I excited...NOT!
We get there, wait a bit, take my vitals, and stick me in a room. The nurse or someone listened to my lungs and heard wheezing. The doctor came in and said, it could be one thing or it could be another. We're going to run some blood tests, give you a breathing treatment, hook you up to an EKG, x-ray your chest, ultrasound your legs, and give you a CT scan. At this point, I start to freak out. I'm thinking, I'm pregnant and I don't want to put the baby through all these tests and I don't want to go through all these tests. So, after lots of talking about options, we decide to wait to see what the blood work says as that will determine which route to take. The doctor was sure it would come back positive for the possibility of a blood clot because I was prego. If it was negative, then it was most likely a breathing issue and not a blood clot issue.
During this time, there were six people that came in to do different things to me. A very nice man gave me the breathing treatment; a very rude lady that wasn't sure how to ask if I was pregnant or fat hooked me up to the EKG; a lady named Gloria and dressed in street clothes checked the baby's heart rate; a nurse drew my blood; a youngin' took all my insurance information; and a lady came in to talk to me all about the x-ray that I wasn't going to happen. All these people were in addition to the 2 triage nurses I had when I first arrived, the resident that saw me shortly after, and the doc. Really? Is it necessary to have all those different people? Freaking crazy town! No wonder ERs are a mess. Too many hands in the honey pot.
Overall, the blood tests came back negative for a blood clot, so the doc was fine sending me home with an inhaler. With the baby, a full stomach and a very bad cold, it was the perfect storm for pressure on my lungs causing breathing problems. I still have a bit of the cold left, but it's nothing like it was. And I have only had to use the inhaler about five times and none since I've been back in Indy. So, all things considered, I'm good and baby's good! Now, if only this cold would leave me alone!
Happy Easy Breathing!
--Am
PS: How was your Thanksgiving? Hopefully less eventful!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
How To Make Yogurt Pops
While passing the time by obsessing over Twitter, I found a website called Chobani Kitchen. It has all sorts of recipes and videos using Chobani yogurt as an ingredient. I really wanted some dessert-y ideas since I seem to be constantly craving something sweet. And although people say I'm eating for two I still want to be sure to not overdo it as that is so easy to do! So, instead of having a pint of ice cream, I've opted for the these pops.
I used two separate recipes: vanilla or chocolate pops and berry pops. For the vanilla pops, I used 1% milk and vanilla greek yogurt. I must say that these were kind of bland. I think I'll add some honey to them the next time. Since I really don't like chocolate syrup, I opted to whisk in creamy peanut butter and chocolate chips. This mixture really satisfies the sweet tooth! Finally, the berry pops suggested using plain greek yogurt, but I didn't have any so I used the vanilla. Alex was also kind enough to pick up some unsweetened, frozen raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries for my puree. I guestimated how much to puree and mixed in the berries with the yogurt and some honey. Now, I haven't tried this mixture yet, but I did take the remaining puree and mix it with some vanilla greek yogurt and honey. And wow! This was super tasty and will replace the pre-mixed yogurts I've been buying.
These pops take about 6 hours to freeze and are a tasty, healthy, late-night treat!
Happy Pops!
--Am
I used two separate recipes: vanilla or chocolate pops and berry pops. For the vanilla pops, I used 1% milk and vanilla greek yogurt. I must say that these were kind of bland. I think I'll add some honey to them the next time. Since I really don't like chocolate syrup, I opted to whisk in creamy peanut butter and chocolate chips. This mixture really satisfies the sweet tooth! Finally, the berry pops suggested using plain greek yogurt, but I didn't have any so I used the vanilla. Alex was also kind enough to pick up some unsweetened, frozen raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries for my puree. I guestimated how much to puree and mixed in the berries with the yogurt and some honey. Now, I haven't tried this mixture yet, but I did take the remaining puree and mix it with some vanilla greek yogurt and honey. And wow! This was super tasty and will replace the pre-mixed yogurts I've been buying.
These pops take about 6 hours to freeze and are a tasty, healthy, late-night treat!
peanut butter choc chip, vanilla, mixed berry
Happy Pops!
--Am
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
How To Hate Maternity Pants
I tried the rubberband trick. I tried just wearing the pants too tight for my own good. I tried wearing my fat pants. But I've now gotten to the point where I must wear maternity pants in order to be any kind of comfortable. And boy do I hate them!
They have this band that comes up to my boobs and the actual pant part is so low-cut that I am forced to wear long shirts. The longer shirts in turn, cut off my legs and make me look short and frumpy. The part that covers my stomach irritates the crap out of my skin, so all I do is itch it all day long. Seriously, I just stand and itch my growing belly. I can't win with these pants! Am I the only one with these problems? Answer: Most likely cause I'm weird!
Fortunately, I have found one pair of work maternity pants that are lower rise (thank you Motherhood Maternity) and one pair that has a flexible waist (Meijer) thanks to my Mom. Both of these are very attractive and hit at my hips or just below. Love them! Now if only I could find some jeans that are like that as well. Hmmmm.
Here are some of my belly pics:
They have this band that comes up to my boobs and the actual pant part is so low-cut that I am forced to wear long shirts. The longer shirts in turn, cut off my legs and make me look short and frumpy. The part that covers my stomach irritates the crap out of my skin, so all I do is itch it all day long. Seriously, I just stand and itch my growing belly. I can't win with these pants! Am I the only one with these problems? Answer: Most likely cause I'm weird!
Fortunately, I have found one pair of work maternity pants that are lower rise (thank you Motherhood Maternity) and one pair that has a flexible waist (Meijer) thanks to my Mom. Both of these are very attractive and hit at my hips or just below. Love them! Now if only I could find some jeans that are like that as well. Hmmmm.
Here are some of my belly pics:
4 weeks--when we found out!! i was skinny!
12 weeks
16 weeks (and yes that is a turtleneck)
20 weeks (i need to slow it down a bit)
Happy Pants Hunting and Belly Growing!
--Am
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