Juiceboxes and Dirty Dishes

4 weeks already!

Jessie — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:42:35 +0000

Wow, has it really been 4 weeks since Norah was born? That’s not possible is it?! Ok, so it’s correct. How did that happen?

This little girl is just amazing. I’m still amazed that she’s here and that she’s all mine! I pinch myself sometimes.

She’s alert for longer periods during the day now and I love watching her look around. She fixates on this picture of me and Josh that I have hanging above the couch. She is such a good baby. She doesn’t cry all that much, but when she does… watch out. It will distort your eardrums.

These past few weeks have just flown by. There’s so much going that I still can’t figure out what day it is half the time. I’m telling you what, going from 1 kid, to 2 kids is harder than I thought. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. There are days when I question if I spent enough time with Evan, did he feel left out, did I hug and kiss him enough. Most of the time I feel like I’m telling him “not right now, Buddy, I’m feeding/holding/consoling/changing Norah.” And I feel like a horrible mom when I think about how many times he’s watched Toy Story or Monsters Inc. in a day, but you know what… whatever.

He’s a great big brother though. He’s so good with her. He wants to kiss her and hold her and pick her up (YIKES!). It’s just precious. He’s so proud of her. He gets excited when she wakes up from her nap. He says “she yaked up!”

But yeah, it’s physically exhausting as well. Although you wouldn’t know that by looking at my clock as it says 2 am (WHAT am I doing?!). It really is a juggling act. I had someone tell me that Norah has made me so quiet and chill. I told her that I’m just a zombie operating on auto-pilot. So not to confuse chill with tired and distracted.

Anyway, after moving the day before Norah’s birthday, I never had time to get this house in in semblance of order before her arrival. Josh did what he could the week after while we were staying with my parents, but there was still a lot to get done. There still is. Her closet is full of boxes that are still unopened and honestly, I don’t know what to do with them.

And there are boxes and other random things around the house that were set down when they were unloaded, and haven’t moved.

Everyday I say “today’s the day I’m going to _________”. But that never happens because I end up holding Norah all day, or cleaning up some mess that Evan’s made. Or how about constantly feeding Norah. It’s amazing I get a meal in. Or even get dressed for the day. Half the time I don’t, actually.

Although I did manage to get some of Norah’s pictures framed and hanging on her wall today.

But when it seems like EVERYTHING is going to hell in a handbasket, and i don’t feel like I’m doing anything right… I look at this face…

And this face…

And, as a friend of mine said, I give myself a mental slap in the face and tell myself that the dishes/laundry/vacuuming can all wait until tomorrow. Unless I tell myself the same thing then! HAHA!

Here Comes Norah! (Part 3)

Jessie — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:17:56 +0000

Ok, so my apologies for taking so long to get part 3 out. The combination of moving + new baby has knocked me on my butt! I swear there are days where I do nothing but feed Norah. Plus, we just now got our internet up! Whew!

Anyway, back to part 3. Pushing. Like I said, when it came time to push, I started crying. I was in such constant and intense pain, I couldn’t stand the thought of adding to that pain. But I also knew that getting Norah out was the only thing that was going to make that pain stop! Plus, I just wanted to see her. I wanted to be assured that she was ok.

In my last post, I failed to mention that around change of shift, which is 7 pm, they started having some real trouble keeping Norah’s heart rate on the monitor. And then it dropped. I’m not sure how low it got, I didn’t want to know. I knew that if I became aware of too much that was going on, that I would lose my focus. So I just prayed for God to keep her safe. I wasn’t breathing well enough. I found that during this labor, that I’m a moaner. Moaning helped me to cope with the pain. But the nurse said that I couldn’t because in doing that, Norah wasn’t getting enough oxygen. And sure enough, once I started taking more deep, regulated breaths, her heart rate went up and stayed up there.

Anyway, back to pushing time. It was about 15 minutes til 10 when Dr. Perez got there and started “suiting up”. He honestly looked like a butcher in blue. He jokingly asked if I was sure that I didn’t want breathe through it for a couple more hours to make it to the new year. I responded with “Don’t even play.” Once everything was in place, I was ready. I psyched myself up, hung on to Josh and my mom and pushed with all my might. I mean HARD! I could actually feel the progress I was making. She was almost here! And being able to feel that progress made me want to push harder! And then all of a sudden… there she was! Her little blue self! And just like that, the pain was gone. All I could do was look at her and say “Hi Norah!” over and over. My baby girl was here! With her cord wrapped around her neck (probably explaining the heart rate issues)Josh cut cord and they took her over to the warmer to get all cleaned up.

We then introduced Evan to his new baby sister.

This time, I did something that I was bound and determined to do. I wanted to cuddle her skin to skin for a while. So after they got her footprints and cleaned off, they brought her back to me, still naked, and I laid her on my chest and wrapped us both up in a couple of blankets. I was in complete heaven.

Then it was time for our first family picture!

This was one of the greatest experiences. I wasn’t induced this time around so it was an entirely different experience than it was with Evan. I’m so thankful that everything went smoothly and was as “uneventful” as it was.

Norah is an absolute joy. I still can’t believe that she’s mine! I’m one blessed mama.

And Here Comes Norah! (Part 2)

Jessie — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:06:20 +0000

After arriving at the hospital, we were registered and taken to triage where they hooked me up to the monitors and let me just hang out there for a while. When the nurse checked me, she confirmed that I was 4-5 centimeters! She left to call the doctor on call to see what he wanted to do and I told her to pass along the message that I was not going home! A few minutes later, she came back in and said that we were moving into birthing room 1 and that the doctor was coming to break my water! Yippee!

I called my mom andtold them what was happening, and texted a couple of friends to let them know too. At that point the contractions had gotten a little stronger, but nothing too bad. That all changed after my water broke (which felt really weird, by the way). Once that cushion was gone, it was game on. I actually had to really focus and breathe through the contractions. I found that sitting on a birthing ball did a lot to help me get comfortable.

As you can see from the picture, Evan was pretty cool about everything, he had Cat in the Hat on the iPhone.

After a little bit of sitting on that ball, and having some extreme contractions, I was totally ready to talk epidural. I’d had enough. They called the anesthesiologist, but he was at home, so it was going to be about 45 minutes until he got there. 45 LONG minutes. In which time I had a giant contraction, cried, and screamed at Josh to shut up. The nurse then offered me some Nubain… I gladly took it. That stuff was amazing. I actually was falling asleep in between contractions. And I fell asleep HARD.

When that doctor got there, I don’t think I had ever been so happy to see someone in my life. I have to say, the epidural was welcomed with open arms, although it didn’t take the pain completely away like I thought it would. The pain from the contractions was gone, but I still felt such intense pressure that it quickly replaced the pain from the contractions. Along with Norah shoving her foot into my rib with every contraction. But I know I would not have been able to do it without one. My hat really goes off to all you mamas who have delivered med free. I salute you.

After a few minutes, the nurse checked me and found Norah had moved way down and I was 8-9 centimeters. That’s when I got mean. Seriously, the grinch in me really came out! I had to have my mom rub my feet with each contraction and when she didn’t, she got an ear full. And Josh had to stay next to me, but he couldn’t talk or rub anything. He held my hand. That’s it. And nobody was allowed to talk during contractions, which at this point seemed to be never ending. Then 10 minutes later, it was time to get ready to push. I was complete. And then I started to cry… again. I was scared! I was already in so much pain, the idea of adding to it did not sound good. Dr. Perez got there, and just like that, it was time. It was time to bring Norah into the world.

And here comes Norah! (Part 1)

Jessie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:13:46 +0000

This past New Years Eve was quite possibly the most exciting one we’ve ever had. We weren’t expecting to be doing much more than cleaning the apartment we had just moved out of the day before, and then hang out with the family and ring in the new year together. Norah had bigger plans.

As I said, the day before, we moved out of our apartment in Titusville and hauled everything down to Melbourne to our new place. After moving all day, and getting everything in, Evan and I headed back up to stay with Mom and Dad. Josh and I had decided that was the best place for me to stay considering how close I was to my due date, and how far we were from my doctors and the hospital where I wanted to deliver. Josh stayed there to get some stuff done in the apartment.

On our way back, I began to have contractions that lasted every 10 minutes or so. I actually timed them on a cool iPhone app They lasted all through dinner and for a couple more hours before finally letting up. The next morning, we got up and headed over to the old apartment to clean and get the last few things out of there. There I was, my big ol pregnant self, spot cleaning carpets, scrubbing the walls, cleaning the microwave. It was fun. Yeah. Anyway, I left to go drop Evan off at Mom and Dad’s so we could finish and got a mondo contraction getting out of the car. That was about 12:30.

I made sure Evan was set, grabbed what I needed then headed back. I had a few more, but didn’t think too much of it considering how I had been contracting the night before. But I gave Josh a heads up and told him to hurry and finish, just in case.

Back at Mom and Dad’s house, the contractions continued every 5 minutes or so. I didn’t really time them because I found myself becoming obsessed with that timer app! So I just sat on my yoga ball and tried to relax while waiting for Josh to get back. I made the decision that we’d head up to Parrish and get checked out. So I got my stuff together and actually went and did my hair and makeup lol.

I told myself that I was not getting sent home without my baby! After the disappointment of a false alarm the day after Christmas, and the level of discomfort I was having on a daily basis, I was done. I wanted Norah out of my belly and in my arms.

So Josh got back, took a shower, and off we went. Leaving Evan was harder than I expected. I honestly got a little choked up and I couldn’t stop hugging him and telling him how much I loved him. So around 2 pm, we started the short 15 minute trip to the hospital. Josh was a nervous wreck and it was obvious. Poor guy.

But pulling in, I knew this was it. No false alarm, no getting sent home. We were here to start the next chapter of our journey as a family. And telling you about Norah’s arrival deserves to be documented, so I’ll be putting it up little by little.

Stay tuned!

38 Weeks

Jessie — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:48:07 +0000

Today marks 38 weeks! 2 short weeks until Norah’s due date, although I don’t think she’ll be in there for that long. She’s already been teasing us! According to BabyCenter, our girl weighs in at about 6 and half pounds and about 20 inches long (like a leek).

This is what else the site has to say about this week…

“For many women, the next couple of weeks are a waiting game. Use this time to prepare your baby’s nursery or to take care of necessary tasks you may not get around to for a while after your baby’s born. Take naps, catch up on your reading, and spend uninterrupted time with your partner while you can.” Um… yeah. There is no “waiting” going on in this house. I’m way too overwhelmed to wait! We’re moving on Friday. I’m telling you, we Contis know how to plan.

Plus, what’s adding to the stress is hearing from the Doctor that Norah should be here before Friday. I think I might need her to stay in there a little while longer. As much as I would love to have her out and in my arms, I can’t be stuck in the hospital for 2 days! But I don’t think she’ll listen.

Here’s why.

I’m 4 cm dilated as of Monday morning at 4am. How do I know this? Because that’s when Josh and I were at the hospital with my contractions 10 minutes apart. Yep, totally thought Norah was going to be here yesterday! I was actually given the option to induce, considering how dilated I was, but decided to just go home and wait it out. Decided to let Norah decide when she’d like to come. Plus, I was just so exhausted by that point. So yeah, still contracting here and there, but nothing is regular. So I guess I’m getting a good workout in. We’ll just see when the little booger decides “Today is the day that I’ll be born!”

37 Weeks!

Jessie — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:24:23 +0000

We’ve made it! I’ve hit 37 weeks and Norah is now considered full term! I can’t believe it! My sweet girl is measuring in at about 6 and a half pounds and has pretty much reached the length she’ll be at birth, about 19-20 inches. So her length is being compared to a stalk of swiss chard. Here’s to another obscure food comparison.

On Saturday, Josh and I went out on a date. We figured it would be our last chance before Norah’s arrival. Mom and Dad watched Evan for a couple of hours and we went to a local place called Portofino’s for dinner (so yummy) and then went and got coffee at Starbucks. I thoroughly enjoyed myself… and the food A lot of our conversation revolved around the changes that are about to happen. So there was lots of talk about the move and especially about Norah. I just can’t wait until she’s here!

On our way to dinner, the lighting was awesome over the river, so Josh wanted to stop and take some pictures of me and the belly. The bump is pretty big and deserves to be documented! I love them I love looking back at ones at the beginning of my pregnancy too to see how I’ve changed.

So now, we’re just waiting to see when she’ll make her arrival. Josh wants to suggest scheduling an induction with the doctor so we have some kind of control over when she comes. With all that’s going on, logically, it’s not a bad idea. But I don’t think I want to go the induction route again unless I have to. So I’m just doing what I can to make sure I’m ready for her whether she comes before we move, or after. I packed all her clothes away except for her newborn stuff and some blankets in case she decides she’d like to come early. So she’s got a little drawer in Evan’s dresser.

So we’ll see if this is my last pregnancy post or not! The next one might be telling you all about Norah’s arrival. We’ll see!

36 Weeks today!

Jessie — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:41:06 +0000

Well we’ve almost made it. We’re almost to the end! Today, I’m 36 weeks! I find myself wondering at which week will these little pregnancy updates end? Practically, this could be my last of these kind of blogs! Or maybe it’ll be next week. At the end of this week Norah will be considered full term. Woohoo! If I were to say that “this pregnancy flew by”, I’d be lying. There honestly were times that the days and weeks c-r-a-w-l-e-d by and I thought that I’d be pregnant forever (case in point, my crying fit a week ago). Now there have been some times when it seems like it’s gone pretty quickly. This last week went by pretty fast and I think it’s because my OB appts are now weekly. I have another one a week from tomorrow. I love my appointments. It’s so reassuring to hear her heartbeat and hear that everything is right on track. It was especially nice to hear this past appointment that I shouldn’t have to be induced like I was with Evan. Yippee!

According to BabyCenter, Norah is now about 6lbs. and about 19 inches long. She’s gaining about an ounce a day! They then compared her size to a crenshaw melon. Had to look that one up, I had no idea what it was…

Ah. So that’s what a crenshaw melon looks like.

I’m getting very excited to meet our little girl. I just wish I knew when she was going to make her appearance! I told Josh, after coming home from the store, that I’ve reached the point where the first thing that strangers ask me after saying “Hi” is “How much longer do you have?” They look at me like I’m going to give birth right there in the middle of the aisle at Publix. And then there are the other little comments from others like “I would’ve expected you to have her by now!” or “wow, you look really big!” As if I didn’t notice the belly attached to me. And trust me, I’m very aware of how big I am!

Anyway… in all the moving preparations and stuff, and just thinking about if I had everything I need for Norah’s arrival, I realized I had nothing in the way of decorations for her room! Nothing. What kind of little girl has nothing on her walls?! Enter Pinterest. I have been combing that site like it’s going out of style. And I’ve found some really great ideas. And the great part is, they’re all pretty easy and cheap to make! It’s quite exciting! So today, I went shopping and got some supplies to make a really cute initial to hang on her wall. Can’t wait to get started on it. It’s going to be so cute when it’s done. I’ll make sure to post a picture.

My goal for this week is to have one last date night with Josh. Once Norah’s here, I’m not sure when we’ll have one again. So I’m determined to have some time alone with him on Saturday. We desperately need it. Plus, I want one more set of maternity pictures before the belly is gone.

35 weeks and counting

Jessie — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:56:26 +0000

I know I just posted a blog yesterday, but hey, Evan needed some praise and I could think of no better way of giving it to him But this one’s about Norah!

I’m 35 weeks today! Holy cow! We’re really down to the wire now. Our sweet girl is 18+ inches long and weighing in at a whopping 5 1/2 lbs. (give or take some ounces)!

That’s like carrying a honeydew melon strapped to your waist. Try it. I dare you.

I also found this picture online of a baby IN THE WOMB at 35 weeks. Ok, let me emphasis that this IS NOT Norah. You’ll probably be able to clearly see that this baby (whoever’s it is) is a boy. I just thought this picture is incredible and it totally explains why I feel her move the way that I do.

How can you look at that photo and not be amazed at what God can do?!

I went to the doctor yesterday and saw the midwife that’s in the practice. I just love her. Cara is the one who helped bring Evan into the world and I’m so glad to have her as a friend. I told her of some concerns I was having and she did an exam and found that I’m about 1 cm dilated and Norah is super low! That would explain all the intense pressure I’ve been having! Automatically, when I hear “1 cm”, I start thinking “ok. I could go into labor at any minute!” Although, I know that’s not the case. I walked around dilated 1 cm for like 3 weeks with Evan and ended up being induced. And there are people walking around for weeks and are like 3 cm dilated! I can’t imagine that.

But it has kicked me into gear to get stuff done around the house. I have an ever growing list in my head of things I need to do this week. All my bags are already packed, so I can check that off. I’m putting some of the packing on the back burner because if Norah decides to come early, which I have a strong feeling she will, whether or not the cheese grater is packed isn’t going to amount to a hill of beans. I just need to clean… and clean as well as my body will let me. I guess I’m nesting! Looks like poor Josh is REALLY going to get put to work when he gets home. I just feel like no matter how much I clean, or how much I pack, it doesn’t look like I’ve gotten anything accomplished! I guess I can chalk it up to having a 2 year old. But this ever growing list is keeping me up. I’m hoping that if I write it all down, it’ll let me get some rest. Although seeing how much I need to do might just keep me awake even longer! Oh well, I guess we’ll see!

My smart little man

Jessie — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:55:19 +0000

I just wanted to brag on Evan for a minute. I am so amazed at how much he is growing up. Every day I swear he says something new or does something else that makes me sit back and go “wow”. His new phrase today is “much better” Whenever I hear him say something new, I have to think… where did he pick that up? Sometimes it’s apparent where he got it. Like when Josh said “oh crap” and I hear a little voice repeat “oh trap”. So we definitely have to watch what we say now.

But there are just so many things that I could go on and on about. His drumming, his singing, his imagination. I’m constantly amazed by him. There are a few things that he says that are evolving into clearer sentences. Like saying “Thank You” for instance. I can’t even begin to emulate how he said it just last week, but it was something along the lines of “taint doh” or something of the sort. Now, in the last few days I’ve received many a very emphatic, “Hank you, Mommy!’ Like when we put up our little bitty Christmas tree (or piss tree as he calls it! lol!)

I think I’m realizing just how grown up he’s getting because I’m realizing how new Norah’s going to be when she gets here. He’s still my baby, but he’s also such a little boy now! I can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to be the one who gets to be his Mommy.

He’s simply amazing.

34 Weeks! Eeek!!

Jessie — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:21:17 +0000

Today marks the 34 week mark! 6 weeks to go until we get to meet little Norah! I am getting so super excited to see her little face!

According to BabyCenter, she’s a little over 5 lbs. That’s the heft of a good sized canteloupe… and just as sweet She fattening up too, so she can stay nice and warm once she’s out here with all of us. And at this point she should be locked and loaded in the head down position, just waiting.

Physically, I’m really ready. I’m feeling like it’s impossible for her to get any bigger! I’m starting to get some of the first trimester symptoms back, which I wasn’t really expecting. A little nausea, and some definite fatigue! Thank goodness Evan is awesome and will keep himself pretty entertained so I can rest. I actually fell asleep watching cartoons with him this morning and woke up an hour and half later in a slight panic because he wasn’t in bed with me. He was in the living room watching Mickey and looking at pictures of guitars and drums from a catalog. See? Awesome.

I know it’s crazy, but I’m really hoping that she decides to come before Christmas. I think that would be an awesome Christmas present! And in all honesty, moving might be just a tad easier with no belly in the way. I’d still be pretty incapacitated though. Not sure which one would be better. But I was reminded by my friend Amanda today that if I have her before Christmas then I won’t have to worry about going into labor once we move, or while we’re moving. While out with Amanda today, I picked up some necessities for Norah and was quite excited that I got to buy this…

And some of the little bittiest socks I’ve ever seen!

For now, I’m just soaking up as much Mommy and Evan time as I can get. He’s not going to be the only baby in the family anymore and that makes me kind of sad (I actually watched him sleep the other night and was just boo-hooing like a big baby). Josh and I have really been talking about how we can make sure that he doesn’t feel pushed to the side or left out. Going to make sure that he knows that Mommy and Daddy love him just as much, even if we can’t do everything with or for him right that very second. I’m going to be glad when I can pick him up again without thinking twice about it.