A Little bit of everything...

Probably too many updates for one post but I'll give it  a shot. Where do I begin....in story form, I guess...

Grayson
This past week, Grayson was referred to a third-party speech testing place by his pediatrician (at my urging) and little did we know, this would be the most eventful day of all of our lives (with the exception of his emergency c-section - that was just nuts).  The testing results are pretty much non-news so a quick summary: He didn't qualify for their services because he doesn't have any delays. That's right, we had him tested for no reason. He scored at his correct age or advanced in every area (they test for everything: motor skills, cognitive, etc; but I was only concerned with speech). I felt like I wasted everyone's time but in the end, I'm relieved and so proud of his behavior at the appointment. Two hours of three therapists (albeit the sweetest women in the world) throwing questions, tests, activities, etc. in his direction and he did great. They took about 4 minutes to deliberate before they came back and told us that he doesn't qualify for their services. I felt silly. Hand-written thank you notes headed their way this week - ha!

This would be the least exciting part of that day...

Me
After testing, we headed to the grocery store. This is where I might lose you. The moment Gray and I walked in the store, I felt something. Every woman knows it. It's when she knows her period has arrived. Except I'm pregnant so this was a problem. The quicker Grayson and I walked to the bathroom, the faster and worse things were getting. It was getting bad. So there the two of us were in the Tom Thumb handicap bathroom stall with blood everywhere. Everywhere. I can only be thankful that Grayson is too young to remember any of it because it was traumatic. There was sobbing from me, stern instructions for him to remain in the corner and not touch anything. He just didn't know what was happening.

Mama and Jeff
My parents came to the rescue within minutes. They always do! They were in separate cars doing different things in their days and they dropped everything to be in that grocery store with me. My Dad took Grayson with him for the afternoon. My Mom and Ma (they were on the way to Ma's doctor's appointments that they quickly canceled to be with me) took me to my OB's office. The bleeding and crying continued there and I was met with a lot of hugs from their staff (love them all). I was just distraught... 

Baby
Michelle, the best sono tech in the world, brought me in to her room and within seconds of having the wand placed, she told us there was a heartbeat. Stumped and emotional I said, "but there was so much blood"....I can't really explain the mix of emotions I had: sadness, relief, elation but so confused. The diagnosis from the doctor (warning: I might lose you for real now): Placenta Previa. I know, I know, that word should never be spoken or written and I'm not talking about "previa," you understand? But it's important to me that other women know that  you can have a terrifying experience like that and the baby can really be okay! It happens to 1 in 200 pregnancies, it's really not related to the baby much at all and just means that I need to take it easy, bed rest might be ordered if it doesn't correct itself (which it most always does) oh, and the grocery store bathroom episode could happen again anytime or anywhere throughout my pregnancy. Oh, joy. But the bright side of all of this - we found out Baby #2 is a BOY! I love my boys! :) 

To summarize, I went in to that office thinking I had lost my baby and came out knowing I had a healthy baby boy. Again, words will never be able to express the roller coaster of emotions that day.

Soo yeah. 4th sonogram in 14 weeks. :)

It's a boy! Okay so Beau and I aren't really convinced by this picture BUT our sono tech rocks and I trust her more than this pic. But to be safe, we aren't shopping until after 20 weeks. Except for what I already bought. ;)

Beau
Where does Beau fit into all of this? Everywhere. He can so be my rock even across the country (Minneapolis in this example) and the speed for which he can drop what he's doing, head to the airport and hop a flight to get to me still amazes me. He's my some kind of wonderful. Because I haven't told the FULL story. It involves a crazy freak situation where, after my Dad took Grayson out of the restroom that day, I called Beau at work to tell him what was happening. The phone rang and then went silent and I just held the phone forgetting to hang up, I guess. The crazy part is that he answered and could hear me but I couldn't hear him. So he heard me just sobbing in silence. He didn't know where I was, or where Grayson was, or that I couldn't hear him calling out to me. What a terrible thing to have to happen for him. No doubt he thought we had been in a car accident or something. He called back and I remember wondering why he was already in tears. I let him know we were both okay but that the baby probably wasn't, what was happening and that's when he headed to the airport. I don't even think I've changed a diaper this weekend. He's so hands-on and he's staying home with us this week. It will make his trip to Ireland on Saturday a little easier than last time! 

I'm still shocked that all 3.5 of us are here. We're healthy and happy and that's all I can ask for! 

What a day! My little trooper.

We're Having A(nother) Baby!

For as long as we have wanted and tried for this, I just still can't believe it's happening! We are indeed expecting Baby #2 around February 3, 2013 and we are incredibly thrilled! That makes me 10 1/2 weeks now and growing daily (more on that below.) I have had 4 doctor appointments already where typically I would have only had 2 by now. I've also had 2 sonograms - at 5.5 and 8.5 weeks. Since a woman is more likely to experience another ectopic pregnancy after having one, we wanted to make sure that it was, in fact, a viable pregnancy and not in the tube again. We were so excited to see that it was in the right place and growing at a healthy rate! My Doctor and Sono tech even gave me hugs :)

The sono is upside down but you can see the head and arms so much better this way :)

We have heard the heart beat 3 times now. It never gets old! This is a video taken at the 8 1/2 week appointment. A strong 175 heartbeat! Wanna hear it?! :) There is a brief moment where MY heart almost stopped beating - you'll see, it takes a second to get it. 

I have always heard the second shows faster than the first but my goodness, I just can't believe how fast! I started showing at 7 weeks, pants were tight at 8 weeks and with the exception of loose-fitting dresses and shorts, I'm about to move in to maternity clothes. This happened at like 18 or 20 weeks with Grayson so this is happening really fast! Here's a picture...

Taken at 10.5 wks in Clearwater Beach, FL

We really loved receiving so many well-wishes from family and friends both in person and on Facebook/email/text/phone. A sincere thank you to everyone who is so happy for us. It makes my heart so happy. xoxo

Kidokinetics...and some other things.

I really feel like every day lately could be it's own blog entry. From Friday's MRI catastrophe (not to be dramatic, but the word 'malpractice' has been used after I've described the experience to people) to Grayson locking himself in the car yesterday morning and the fire department spending 30 minutes to get him out, EVERY day could be a blog post. 


And while you would probably rather hear more about those two days, I want to talk about today - Kidokinetics! I know, you're thrilled. ;)


Today was our first day at this fun sports fitness program for kids. My parents gifted this class to Grayson for his birthday (a bit early) so my mom joined us today. The bonus is the long nap afterward! :)

Patiently waiting for Coach Claudia to arrive. 

Grayson with Coach Claudia.

Today we learned about soccer. So of course he was shooting hoops.

He looks so little. :)

He's actually pretty good at kicking. You'd never guess it from these photos.

The parachute was a big hit.

Somehow my mom ended up with a baby on her hip.

Mimi helping Grayson with his balance.

Which he's really good at.

So of course he grew bored and used the cone as a microphone.

And later enjoyed stacking them.

After the class, Grayson took dessert to the fire station as a thank you. We cut out his handprint on decorative paper to tape on the container and wrote: "High 5 for saving me from my mom's locked car yesterday! Thank you so much! ~Grayson, 22 months~"


The back story on the fire dept ordeal: Yesterday morning, we were loading up to go to school when Grayson pushed the lock button. Both sets of keys and my phone were in the car with him. Our police detective neighbor just happens to be off on Mondays (Thank God!) so he called dispatch, a fire truck was there in a matter of minutes and about 15 long minutes later, three firefighters had the door unlocked. We were seriously less than a minute away from abandoning the efforts that weren't working and they were going to break a window. Grayson did really well through most of it but really started to panic towards the end. I don't blame him! Had the weather been any bit warmer or had it been later in the day, they would have gone immediately to breaking the window. The guys were truly professional, SO good with both Grayson and me and OHMYGOD can you believe I'm talking about the Frisco fire department AGAIN on this blog?! Good grief. But they're really amazing people. As I also point out here and here.


So fast forward to taking dessert to them today. The firefighter that we spoke to was very appreciative. I hope to raise Grayson to appreciate the people who serve our community and to know them as heros that we respect; never to take them for granted. This is one of the many things I hope to instill in him to help him become a good person. There are just SO many of those lessons that I need to remember! :)


Oh, and so that I don't leave you hanging on the MRI. It was ordered b/c I had a CT scan last week on my stomach (ulcer related) that came back clear but had an incidental finding: an enlargement on my liver. The MRI came back clear also and I'm healthy (yay!) but now I suspect that I was just upsold on extra tests (boo). Just happy to be healthy though. I have single-handedly met our sky-high family deductible. In APRIL, people.


How's that for a smorgasbord of subjects?!

Insomnia + Ulcer

Insomnia
I can't sleep lately. This used to happen to me when I had a big client presentation or project due or just too many things on my To Do List at work. It was always stress related as it pertained to work. Never personal stuff because I'm just not stressed in my personal life like I ever was at the office. So WHY can't I sleep?! I don't have anything weighing on my mind? I just lay there and read Hollywood gossip sites on my phone. And Twitter. I loooooove Twitter in the middle of the night. There is so much activity there that I feel like I'm in good company. And since I have ALWAYS hated the middle of the night, the loneliest of all times, it's important.

At least on the weekends I have this beauty to look at (and to be jealous of his slumber). But isn't he beautiful?!

Beau told me that, to get back to sleep, I shouldn't just lay there and read. That I should get up and move around. So it's 3:30am, I have fixed Grayson's Easter basket (oops, forgot to do it last night), cleaned the kitchen, cut coupons, read the People Magazine that was mistakenly delivered to our house and fed my stomach ulcer. Oh, the stomach ulcer. That keeps me up too but only after I've been up for an hour anyway.


The Ulcer
My body has to be the most high maintenance of bodies. From fussy teeth issues to bad eyes to my old, cranky appendix to that crazy ectopic pregnancy to now this. Google says it's a stomach ulcer so let's go with that. And of course it got really bad on Friday; just as my doctor closed for Easter.


I'm paraphrasing but Google says:

• The major symptom of an ulcer is a burning or gnawing feeling in the stomach area. 
• Often interpreted as heartburn, indigestion or hunger. 
• Pain usually occurs in the upper abdomen. 
• Pain frequently awakens the person at night. 
• Pain can be relieved by drinking milk, eating, resting, or taking antacids.
• Persons with duodenal ulcers may experience weight gain because the persons eats more to ease discomfort. 

The most important part: it can be alleviated with eating and drinking milk. So that's what I do in the middle of the night. Glamorous, eh? Going to the doctor on Monday but in the meantime, I'm getting a kick out of using my best Brooklyn accent (like the bad guy in the hot pepper scene of Dumb and Dumber - minute 3:15 here)....My ul-SUH!

The Winning Combination!

I have complained for years about neck and back pain. I have always felt older than my years but chalked it up to not having much exercise in my routine and a relatively poor diet (quiz me on combo meal #s from any drive thru. I dare you.) However! Recently, a few things  happened to fall in place all at once and I feel like a new person! In no particular order....


Comforpedic Bed - We FINALLY got that King bed I have been dreaming about for years! Nearly EVERY single person we polled about mattresses said hands down Tempurpedic for back pain. Long story short - we went with this Conforpedic, which is apparently very similar just doesn't sleep as hot (VERY important to Beau) and it's about a grand cheaper (important to me). Done. 

Can not WAIT to report back on our new headboard/frame
that arrives TOMORROW! (picture pulled from google)

Tempurpedic pillow - It never occurred to me to buy new pillows but the sales lady threw in a couple of these gems for free. Beau and I didn't even realize we were missing something so crucial for sleeping! It's one of those weird shaped, contoured-to your shoulder/neck/head that looks like a wave. Here's a picture...

That's not me but I'm just as content :) (again, googled pic)

Re-discovered my NTI mouthguard - I talked about this thing here (below the picture). I used to wear it here and there when I remembered. Lost it for a while, Beau found it under the bed, lost it again, never traveled with it, etc. But then a light bulb went off in my head a while back when my sister Amanda was telling me that if she doesn't wear hers at night, she wakes up with the stiffest neck due to clenching her teeth all night long. BINGO! My neck pain could be from that too - it makes sense after all. So I've been wearing it every night for 3 weeks now. It's a beautiful thing. 

Goodness, you can find anything on the internet!

And last, I finally agreed to go see a chiropractor after years of passionately being against them. I was having some pretty intense pain - a concentrated spot in my lower back that just FELT like it needed to be adjusted. I can't explain it. Anyway, I can tell you that I'm a firm believer now! I can't believe I walked around for so many years being so misaligned. I have never felt better!


Altogether, I wake up in the mornings feeling refreshed and looking forward to the day. I get going so much quicker with zero neck or back pain. I can just imagine that, with a little bit of exercise added in, I may just feel 25 again ;) I recommend any and all of these things to anyone - reach out to me if you have any questions!

My First Garage Sale

Well, we did it! 6 signs, 3 online ads, 4 hour worth of sale and the Asels & Reynolds pocketed a combined $800. Not too shabby, especially if you saw how much stuff we had left over! Our neighbors Scooter and Brittney had a TON of baby clothes (mostly boy stuff) and they were nice enough to give us first dibs. I went through SIX bins and got some adorable things for Grayson! In fact, he is fully outfitted this winter AND next! I'm SO excited. Here are three of our great finds!

Who put this TODDLER on my floor??

Ahh, lobster swim trunks.
I resisted buying them but alas, we have them!

Cute Adidas wind shorts and CUTER duckey slippers - ha!

The Asels have been such a blessing -saving us SO much money on 2 winter wardrobes - and the stuff is CUTE! I washed and played with it during the only hours I was awake yesterday. :)


To bring it back to the sale, I think we'll do it again. It was pretty easy, despite me having had surgery 36 hours before. I had some uber-helpful advice given to me from friends, which made a world of difference. Without that, we would not have been as successful! Overall, the people that came to the sale were very nice and respectful (even the 4 people that showed up at 6:30am for a 7am sale). I DID forget to set my alarm and I overslept but our prep the night before (I even laid out my clothes) made it okay. I miss some of the items I sold (my yellow couch and Bombay coffee table/end table) but I can't hold onto furniture for 5+ more years *assuming* we will have a bigger home and that it will even fit then. You know? That's called hoarding.

Appendix Shmappendix

I woke up doubled over in pain at about 1 o'clock Thursday morning. Assuming it was food poisoning, I lay there rolling around for hours waiting for my body to tell me that it was time to go to the bathroom or to go throw up. I even tried to initiate the process with no success. At about 5:30am, when the pain wasn't going away and my body wasn't "getting sick", I knew something was wrong. So, since Beau was in Houston for work, I called my parents to come over (WHAT would I do without them?!). My Dad stayed with Grayson while my Mom drove me to the ER and a couple of hours later after checking in, a urine sample, blood work, morphine (THANK GOD), drinking 32 oz. of nastiness and a CT scan, the doctor determined that my appendix was inflamed and that surgery would be best. Long story short, I went into surgery at 12:30pm, don't remember much of anything, woke up to Beau taking pictures of me passed out (Thanks Dude) and  the nurses discharging me WAY earlier than they should have (in my opinion). Two hours later I was home and the rest of the day is a blur. 

Thanks, Hubby.

Beau was SO sweet to catch an earlier flight home to be there when I came out of surgery. He has been wonderful - taking care of me, putting up with my not showering and crazy morning breath. My parents have been AMAZING taking Grayson for 2 1/2 days straight while I have rested (oh, and had a garage sale). I owe everyone BIG TIME! Especially since I did the whole garage sale thing and managed to get worse, prolonging my recovery. Oops.


This is my dramatic picture of sleeping the days and nights away...just me, water and pain meds (whose cap I can't even get back on correctly in my haze)....

Annie is the SWEETEST friend and came by to visit, bringing flowers and a beautiful baby! I only got to keep one of those, which since I can't take care of my own baby, I guess I can understand.

I actually had a blast with my Mom in the ER. She keeps me laughing when she's not even trying to. She can make anything an adventure, even something like this! ;)


I'll leave you with a Beau-ism...
Beau brought me Mooyah Burger in bed (yessss!!) while I was recovering and hours later, I looked in my sports bra...
Me: "Oh wow, I still have crumbs from lunch in my bra."
Beau: "That must be what Jimmy Buffett was singing about. Cheeseburger in Paradise. PARADIIIIIIIISE."