Countdown to Baby is Over

Yep. I wasn't pregnant forever! Precious baby girl number 3 made her grand entrance in the wee hours of the morning April 7th. We don't have an official nickname for her yet and I suppose we should stick to the food theme though that theme was unintentional initially. She fell smack dab in the middle of The Nut and Frito a far as birth stats go. 8 lbs. 13 oz. and 21.5 inches long. Her birth was only slightly longer than Frito's but was WAY calmer.

So, I NEED warm water to labor in for the pain relief. We bought a baby pool to set up in the FEMA trailer but realized a few days ago that it wouldn't work because it would take forever to fill so we couldn't wait until I went into labor and we couldn't fill it and wait because there was no way to keep the water warm. So TGTBT went into "fix it" mode and starting running around trying to find something suitable. I figured we'd just make do with the tiny tub and I'd get through it somehow. My sister decided to look around on her own and hit the jackpot at Academy. http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=content&target=products/outdoors/pool/pools&start=8&zoom=1&selectedSKU=0106-40860-0001

So TGTBT set it up late Sunday night and he did it redneck style. He had a piece of flexible liquid tight electrical conduit duct taped to a piece of rigid electrical conduit that was attached to the kitchen sink using a small PVC elbow. That contraption rested on the back of a kitchen chair as it drained into the spa. It was his crowning moment in improvisation. He was so proud. I actually hopped in it that night and floated around and relaxed while we watched a movie.

I had the date of April 7th in my head for a while for various reasons but thought it would never happen because my birth predictions never come true. We went to bed at around 11:00 and on the way I told him, "The thought of spending another night pregnant is just killing me." :o) At some point as I was falling asleep I felt a 'pop' and thought to myself that it felt similar to when I started labor with Frito. I didn't feel any wetness or anything else so I ignored it and went back to sleep. At around 12:30 I got up to pee and felt water leaking as I sat up. Yay! I waddled to the bathroom and more water poured out as I sat on the toilet.

I went back to the bedroom and tried to wake TGTBT up but he had come down with a sinus infection and felt SO bad and was exhausted so he was out. I cleaned myself up and tried harder to wake him up and it worked but I think he was hoping I was wrong so he could go back to sleep. I called the midwife who was glad she only had to walk from her RV in our driveway instead of drive 2 hours to get to us. I also called my mother and sister and we decided to not call the sister in Dallas because she was getting up early to head down here anyway and we knew she wouldn't make it in time anyway so we figured at least SOMEONE should get a good night's sleep.

I waited around for contractions and after about 15 minutes they started. I hopped into the spa and hoped the warm water would slow it down enough for everyone to get here but not draw it out too long. The contractions were very irregular and not consistent in intensity at all. I'd have a doozie that would double-peak and last for nearly 2 minutes and then a teeny one that I didn't even have to pay attention to. My mother and sister showed up about 1:30 and we were all having a good time laughing and joking. I kept asking what the time was because I was sure I'd just speed through in about an hour since Frito's birth was only about 2.5 hours.

At some point I remember telling TGTBT that he should probably go ahead and get into the spa because once it kicked off good I wouldn't be able to handle him jostling me to get in. I also made him turn off the bubbles in the middle of one big contraction because it was affecting my concentration. It was about this point that I also told my sister to "shut up" because she was talking in the middle of a contraction. From this point on I have no concept of time and I was in laborland with my eyes closed trying not to notice anything but the contractions so I could deal with them.

Up to this point I had been completely silent during contractions other than trying to keep my breathing slow and deep. All the sudden I started vocalizing. When birthing naturally there's a point where you enter transition and begin to moan involuntarily. The groans are VERY deep and although you're aware that you sound possessed there's not a dang thing you can do about it. My midwife even says there's a certain note that's so low you can't hit it unless you're just about ready to push. The contractions were extremely painful at this point and I kept telling myself that I could get through this ONE contraction if it meant I could push during the next one. That happened through about 5 contractions and then I realized I was about to push.

The midwife's assistant was just walking in the door. I told my sister to wake up The Nut but to let Frito sleep until just after the baby was born. Here comes The Nut in her pj's smiling from ear to ear to see all the excitement and know the baby was about to be here. I pushed once and felt the baby move way down and knew she was going to come flying out. I lifted myself up and did a crab walk across the spa to the midwives yelling that she was coming and I needed support or I'd tear. I was pushing the entire time and couldn't figure out why they were just sitting there watching me and not DOING anything, lol. They had no clue how fast she was coming.

So TGTBT helps hold me up and all the sudden her head is there and both midwives and TGTBT jump to help support me so I don't tear. I pushed again and she SHOT out into the water about a foot. My midwife caught her and lifted her onto my chest and that was that. In all the excitement I don't know if anyone got the exact time but our estimate is 3:45. My mother got Frito up and she was so confused about all the action. She just stared at the baby with her mouth hanging open. I think she understands that the baby was in my tummy and that I didn't just show up here one day with this stranger.

The cord took forever to quit pulsating and when it did The Nut got to cut it. She wasn't quite strong enough to make it all the way through but she said she'd do better next time. :o) After it was cut I grabbed the other end that was still attached to me and noticed a true knot. It looked like a little pretzel. I stood up to deliver the placenta and could not get it out. It was like all my muscles had been so overstretched and overworked that they were completely useless. Of course, I'm also worried about it not detatching and I'm thinking that would be my luck. Such an awesome birth and then have to go to the hospital anyway to get the placenta taken out.

So we worked at it and I changed positions a few times and it finally came out. I had no tears, surprisingly, considering she came out in under a minute. All in all I feel great and it's kind of hard to keep myself from doing too much because of that. All day Tuesday the baby slept and was up pretty much all night Tuesday night. We were a little concerned with a funny hitch in her breathing so we decided to get her to the pediatrician for her newborn exam sooner rather than later so her appointment was yesterday afternoon. The pediatrician didn't find anything wrong and deemed her perfectly healthy. The baby slept much better last night (as did I) and my milk is coming in so she's enjoying that new phase.

As long as this post is there's actually much more that I want to add but I'm getting sleepy and things are the calmest they've been around here since she was born so I'm going to take advantage of that and rest a little. Thanks for reading!

Well! Doesn't THAT just take the biscuit?!

The Nut just asked me, "Momma, do you WANT another baby?"

Assuming she's talking about the one coming any day now........."Well, yes."

Tsk, tsk. "That sure is going to be a lot of work for daddy."

He got a kick out of that.

She's Horsey.

I'm up getting The Nut ready for school and she's eating breakfast----well, she's supposed to be eating but she's really just running her mouth. She coughed and cleared her throat and turned to me and said, "I had to do that because my voice was getting horsey." I threw my head back and laughed and she said, "I mean, I was talking horsey." I still laughed and she just went back to eating.

Now, when I was growing up my mother used to say we were being "horsey" if we were backtalking or had a bad attitude. I still don't understand how that word means that but it does fit The Nut in a special way.

Ah........Pregnancy Insomnia

For the record, the only reason I'm even posting is because it's 4:30 AM and I can't sleep. I went to bed at around 11, woke up at 2 and have been on the internet since then. I'll probably get exhausted and need to crash right before the kids wake up.

We had family/maternity pics done today by my cousin's wife Alicia. Thank goodness she's family too because Frito was a turd. She is most definitely coming into the Terrible Twos and she was NOT having it today. The Nut went the opposite direction and wanted to be in every single picture. She was even acting as set director and throwing out ideas for poses and where people should stand. Alicia took it all in stride though and we got some great shots in spite of Frito's scowls and The Nut's camera hogging.

Now that the pictures are done this little one is free to come anytime. Except for Monday because my mom and sister will be out of town and my sister says she can't come Friday either because she has movie plans. LOL April 7th is sticking out in my mind although I'm not putting much, if any, stock in it because so far I've had 2 births and NONE of my predictions about them came true either time. It's still fun to speculate though.

I've been told that I'm much more mellow this time around and that people aren't scared to call me so that's nice. However, things didn't get really bad until I hit 40 weeks with Frito so things could change. I think her birth though is what's different about my outlook this time. It happened so fast I went from thinking that I had NO signs of labor and it wasn't ever going to happen to holding a baby in less than 3 hours. It's sort of proof that it really CAN happen even if you feel like you'll be pregnant forever and not to stress over it. The past few days I've been having the tiniest signs that things are settling down where they should be and that I will, indeed, be giving birth soon.

We somehow had lost a video camera AND some of our tapes with Frito's birth and other stuff on them. We searched through the trailer, the house, the rent house we'd been in, my FIL's house where we had stayed and we called relatives to ask if we'd somehow left it at their house, etc. Nada. My FIL actually found it today hanging on his coat rack underneath a jacket. Not only does that mean that we had passed it dozens of times but it's kind of scary because this is the same man who cannot keep up with a checkbook. He lost his checkbook 3 times in 6 months. The last time he called me to say he was heading to the bank to close his account before the stolen checks could be cashed. He called back 5 minutes later to say he had found it------in his OTHER pocket. No kidding.

So I stuck Frito's birth video in and TGTBT walked in to see what I was doing and I started crying. He asked what was wrong and I said, "I can't believe I'm about to do this all over again." He sort of got a soft look on his face and rubbed my back and I realized that he was thinking that I was getting sentimental about having a newborn and all that jazz. I set him straight. "That was the single most excrutiating experience of my life and I'm doing it again!" LOL

It is a little scary to think of the pain because watching that video brought it back pretty clearly but the excitement of labor and seeing that baby for the very first time dulls it somewhat. And I've actually gone from swearing I NEVER want a fast labor again because it's so intense and out of control to hoping this one is even shorter. I figure if I have to hurt I may as well hurt for the least amount of time possible even if it would hurt a little less if labor lasted longer.

As you can see, I'm preoccupied with the birth and nothing but the birth so this may be my last post until the baby is here. Unless I keep up with this insomnia.........

Has it Been This Long??!!

Sorry, guys! I'm at the point in pregnancy I always get to where it pisses me off to do anything but go into labor so I haven't been keeping up.

I'm 38 weeks tomorrow and although I've gone over 40 weeks both previous pregnancies I still dream of it happening "any minute." Realistically I know it could easily be another FIVE WEEKS and that doesn't settle well with me so I sort of fixate on the "any minute" thing.

My midwife doesn't have any births scheduled when I'm due so she's going to park an RV in our driveway and live there until the birth. It feels weird to me for her to do that but my labor with Frito was under 3 hours and she lives 2 hours away. She was in the house 26 seconds before Frito was born and it really stressed her out so she'll feel more comfortable this way. And it'll be nice to not have to second-guess if it's time to call her because I won't be worried about bothering her for nothing.

The Nut had open house at school tonight and we got to see all of her Texas history work. She had a pecan tree with Honey Smacks glued on as the pecans, a mockingbird with her handprints as wings and this lovely little story she wrote (I'm replacing their real names just as I do in the blog but for those who know us, she used an "i" instead of an "o" for Frito's real name):

Cowgirl Frito

My name is Frito.
I am rideing a cow.
My sisters name is The Nut.
I have black heer. (Actually, Frito has blonde hair)
I have a red hat.
The rope is brown.
I am saying yee hall. (That cracks me up)
I am wering boots.
I am having fun.
We are smiling.

Flows very nicely, doesn't it?

The other day we were all coming home from going out to eat and TGTBT and I were TRYING to have a conversation and she was in the back saying, "What?" "Huh?" "He did what?" every few seconds and I finally said, "That's enough! This conversation does not involve you and it's taking 10 times as long as it should because you keep interrupting us!" She was quiet for a minute and then said, "I need to get me some hearing aids."

I was looking at my belly button yesterday wondering if it was actually going to protrude this pregnancy as it never quite made it out the other 2 times. I remembered being pregnant with Frito and The Nut and I were in the bath together and I was telling her that my belly button was probably going to pop out at some point. Her eyes got huge and she said, "That's ok. I'll catch it. And put it in my mouth to keep it safe."

This is funny.....

although probably only if you know me.

I've been VERY uncomfortable lately and it's getting harder to get around and TGTBT, staying true to his nickname, has just been wonderful. He's been telling me to just rest during the day and he'd take care of laundry and stuff when he gets home from work (and he works 12-hour days). Of course, I ignore him and try to do what I can anyway although it's admittedly not as much as NEEDS to be done. He also is picking up a dishwasher today for the FEMA trailer to make kitchen cleanup easier AND he suggested hiring a cleaning lady.

Calm down, ladies, he's taken. Did I mention he's also extremely romantic, handsome, has dimples and is G.R.E.A.T. in bed? I'll stop there because I don't want to risk being run off the road in an "accident."

So anyway, last night he was washing dishes after supper and I stared at him for a minute and said, "You're such a good husband." He grinned, showing those dimples, and rolled his eyes at me. He said, "Well, you're a good wife."

I popped out laughing and put myself in a world of hurt from the strain. When I caught my breath he said, "I knew that no matter how sincerely I said it that I'd get that reaction."

What a day!

Title makes it looks exciting, doesn't it?

I noticed that my low tire pressure doo-hickey was flashing at me this morning. Nothing new as 3 tires will read 32 PSI and the 4th is flashing at 30 PSI. It's more irritating than anything. I also knew TGTBT had just filled a low tire last week. Except that today the left rear tire is 14. After a round-trip dropping The Nut off at school it's only on 16. So, me being a helpless female when it comes to things like this, I called TGTBT at work to ask what I should do as we had an appointment later that morning that I'd have to drive to.

His first idea was to tell me how to put air in the tire. Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh. Not going to happen. I don't care how idiot-proof it seems or how much he swears there's nothing to it. I will find a way to make the situation even worse. It's a guarantee. I just decide that I'm going to get dressed and take it to the tire place 5 minutes down the road. TGTBT has me convinced that I'll do permanent damage to the car and/or have a horrific wreck on that 5 minute drive. I'm willing to risk it.

Frito and I get dressed and leave and 30 minutes later I've got a patched tire and no more flashing doo-hickey. And it was only $14.95. The day's starting to look up.

I head to Walmart and wander around for 30 minutes picking up odds and ends but not the 1 thing I went there for. I did score a button-up maternity shirt in a very flattering color that I hope will work for my maternity photo shoot in a few weeks. It's really very hard to find a maternity shirt that buttons but I prefer them for the photos since I can expose my belly and nothing else. So that's done and I wait for TGTBT to meet me so we can go to our appointment.

Make the appointment on time and we get good news and I have lunch plans with my mother and sister as soon as I drop TGTBT back off at his truck. I'm really enjoying my day out.

Until.

I've touched briefly on TGTBT's bathroom habits and how it's his one downfall. He decided to be considerate and pass gas outside of the car right before he got in. Unfortunately for me, it apparently was on a delayed time-switch because as I started the car it hit me. I rolled down the windows and began to gag (odors are 1 thing that I cannot handle---especially if I know what they are). At 36 weeks pregnant you really shouldn't gag if you're not already on a toilet. So I sat there in the driver's seat and peed all over myself.

I not only had to drive all the way back sitting in pee clothes but there was no way I had time to go all the way back home before my lunch date. I DID have a gigantic pair of maternity pants that were in the car because I was supposed to be returning them to Walmart anyway so I had to climb in the back of the minivan and take off my pee pants and put the gigantic ones on. As I'm changing Frito is saying, "Pew pew. Hiney." Thanks, honey.

I then get to go back into Walmart to buy some new panties and a better-fitting pair of maternity pants, go into the bathroom to clean up and hope I don't get hassled for shoplifting because the sign right there says "NO MERCHANDISE IN THE RESTROOMS."

To his credit, TGTBT only laughed a little, felt bad about it and only told 1 person he works with. And I made my lunch date on time.

At lunch my sister said something that reminded me of something The Nut did a few weeks ago. I had bought a package of vanilla sandwich cookies and gave her 2 of them for dessert. She ate them in her room. But she brought one back out and gave it to TGTBT saying she didn't want it because she was full. So he popped it into his mouth and was almost finished chewing when he got a strange look on his face and asked, "Did you LICK the cream out of the middle?" The Nut said, "Yeah. I just didn't want the cookie."

He was able to swallow it down but was not a happy camper and she couldn't understand why he wasn't happy that she gave him her cookie. There was an email sent around some time back where a little girl made her daddy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and halfway through he remembered that they were out of peanut butter and he asked the girl where the peanut butter came from and she said, "Well, we had peanuts so I just chewed them up and put them on the sandwich."

I say TGTBT got off easy.