Happy Birthday Buggy!

One year ago today my life changed in the best possible way, starting at 4:49 am.

I worked right up until she was born. The day before I had been standing on my stool, trimming and folding maps. Everything normal.  Buggy's wall decal with her name finally arrived and we were excited to put it up. We had kept her name a secret from everyone. Our family joked about sneaking into our house to see it after we went to work Wednesday. Little did they know they would get to meet her themselves that very next day!

I got up to use the ladies room for probably the 354th time. When I came back Hubs distinctly said, "My belly don't feel good" to which I replied "Join the club". He asked, is this it?! I said, I don't know. Well within a two hour time span, we knew. THIS WAS IT!

And you know what I did? I called my best friend first. I said this is what I'm feeling/doing (I'll spare you the gruesome details, but you all know what's going on about now) you think this is it? She said, "Sounds like it! Call your doctor!".  So I did. Eventually.  After a shower, a leg shave and fixing my hair through my contractions. 

So I call and the midwife says "Well sounds like you're in a lot pain, you better make your way in!" I said "Well I'm kind of a sissy are you sure?" She said she was sure, so off we went. You see my biggest fear was getting to the hospital only to be turned away to go home and wait some more.

Thankfully we were mostly ready.  All packed, dogs herded into the car, we dropped them at camp and headed to the hospital. Never have been so thankful that Pittsburgh had a HOV lane. We arrived safely and I waddled through to the check in desk. They got me all checked in and assured me I would not be sent home. Into the exam room I went where I promptly began throwing up my guts. Lovely. I was dealing with the pain fine until the puking started. That's when I finally broke. The doctor asked if I wanted pain meds and I begged through my tears like you'd never seen for them as promptly as possible. That's me, sissy girl. I own up to it, it's fine.

Off to my delivery room where in less than 10 minutes the magic man arrived to give me the epidural. I loved him so much I vowed to remember his name always. I have no idea now, although I think it was Tony. I was also really nervous about this because I thought it would be painful, so I made sure it was not his first rodeo, to which he assured me it was not. Within minutes (and a flash of the vagene to Hubs - I am eternally grateful they let him hold my hand) the drugs were in and I even had my own pain button (that I didn't use)! He said he couldn't even tell I was contracting because I behaved so well. That is one of the things I'm most proud of that day. I was not the hysterical, flailing crazy lady (and if you were, no judgement - honest! I just thought I would be! As stated earlier, I am a sissy.)

The rest of the day was pretty boring. We sat around, watched tv, joked we should have brought our travel scrabble with us. I texted all my friends and called my parents to get on the plane and get up here! My MIL, SIL and FIL arrived to keep us company. I had the most wonderful nurses and the BEST MIDWIFE EVER! I also allowed a resident in, to which I'm glad I had the opportunity to "teach". She had never worked with a midwife, and after all was said and done she thanked my doctor for showing her some alternative methods. I love that!

Once the time came, we got everyone out of the room except Hubs and I and the medical team. The doctor helped me push and I got the hang of it - sorta. It was hard, exhausting work. We joked through the contractions and she kept me so calm. At one point she reached over for Hubs hand and yanked him down and said "Look at that, feel! There's the head!". I thought Hubs might pass out.  It took some more pushing to which I wasn't really making any progress and they were very concerned for Bugs heart rate. Initially I didn't want the mirror, but Hubs changed my mind. He said "You'll want to see this" and I trusted him so I obliged. I was incredibly glad because being able to "see" what I was doing helped more than trying to feel my way through this.

At last the doctor said, we have to do this NOW. And because of her heart rate (to this day I don't know if something potentially bad was happening and I don't want to) I was worried enough to give every single last ounce and at 5:49 pm on February 23, 2011 Aubrey Claire was born into the world at 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 3/4 in!

I remember that she was born around a nurses shift change, that the Penguins played that night, and that I had the BEST postpartum nurse ever! Because honestly, what first time mom expects all "that" to happen afterwards? I surely had a small clue, but never in a million years did I expect the Exorcist type scene that actually occurred. We were surrounded by both families (my parents and grandmother made it just as she was born!) and I hope that the coming years she will continue to know how loved she is by all that were there to witness her birth!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Wordless Wednesday...The Night Before

Taking a page from my girl Farrah at The Three Under, I'm doing a Wordless Wednesday in honor of my last night with Bugs before she was born! Tomorrow is her birthday in which I'll share her birth story!

On the way to the hospital!

You Know You Are a Mom When...

Another first! And I can't say it's a good one. In fact it's downright disgusting. But along with being peed and pooped on, this was just one more thing to include me into that special "Mom's Club".

Yep, I'm talking about barf. Puke if you will. Not that innocent baby spit-up either (which by the way Bugs was most proficient at. You had to bring extra shirts just to visit us or risk spending the rest of your day covered).  We are talking about real vomit. The kind that SMELLS and is CHUNKY! And of course, it happened in the car. Great.

While driving home and carpooling with Hubs, if Bugs gets fussy I usually climb in the back seat and hang out with her. I don't get to see her all day so it's an extra hour of playtime for me. She's a pro at peek-a-boo now in case you were wondering.  Anyway I climbed back yesterday and thought, "Hmn, I better pull her bib out over her straps since she's drooling like crazy." Well thank god I did because about 2.7 seconds later, BLEAH! Chunky, real person throw-up. And you know I don't have to tell you what a PAIN it is to dismantle a car seat to clean the cover. Ours is no exception.

So our hour commute home was accompanied by the pungent aroma of grossness. Because she didn't pull this stunt 5 minutes from home. Oh no, she pulled it 5 minutes INTO the ride. And then twice more before we got home.  Nice right?  Of course my emergency travel baby accessories is in the OTHER car. I had 1 old paper napkin and a sample pack of wipes to contain/clean up after her with. Another lesson learned. Always carry extra wipes!!

But no worries, she seemed fine and fever-less so we think it was just an upset tummy. But alas, I have another "badge" to add to my mom sash. It's going right next to my poop badge of which I am equally proud!

On a side note, Happy Valentine's Day!

Don't Forget the Small Stuff: Behind the Music

So my friend Cynthia of Commonplace Crazy lovingly tagged me in her post so that she could possibly learn about me. I love reading about her and her family. She’s also an English teacher who hopefully catches my horrendous grammar and punctuation mistakes. Knowing that she may read my blog/tweets makes me nervous but I love following her anyway!

Um please don’t be mad that I’m not passing this on because all my bloggy friends have been tagged!! I need more peeps! Haha!

Here are her questions:

1. How and when did you start blogging? I started blogging December 2011 in an attempt to remember everything about my daughter Buggy. I felt like I was starting to forget all the great little moments as she was growing. Now I hope that maybe the blog will either evolve into something also for me or I’ll start a new one for me and keep this one for her.

2. What are your greatest hopes for your children? I really want her to be a loving, forgiving and kind person that stands up for herself and others and puts 100% effort into reaching her OWN goals.

3. What stands between you and achieving your dreams? Money and time. I have the best job but we’ve moved around so much I keep having to start at the bottom of the ladder, and the bottom don’t pay much! Time because I travel about 3 hours daily to/from work and what time I DO have, I want to spend with Bugs and Hubs.

4. Whom do you try to model your life after? My parents. They are awesome role models. I hope that I can be as strict, knowledgeable and loving as they were with me.

5. What career would you like to have if you couldn't have the one you do now? I LOVE my job! I’m a cartographer in case I’ve never told you, but if I didn’t do this, I wish I could have been an event planner. Planning my wedding and parties is so much fun! Especially spending someone else’s money!

6. Describe yourself/ your personality using a metaphor. God it’s early. I had to google metaphor. And really, only an English teacher would ask this. SO here goes: I can’t. I can’t do it. I sucked at English and this kind of stuff. I’m sorry Cynthia. Honestly my personality is like a bulldog. If you are my friend, I will champion you and do anything in my power for you, but attack one of my friends and this little lady is going to crush you! That might be a metaphor, I can’t remember if I’m allowed to use “like”. I think that was a simile.

7. Who should play your part in the movie about your life? Eva Longoria. Some of my friends say I look like her (I WISH!) and honestly nobody other than a midget would be short enough to play me.

8. It's your last meal on earth, and you can have whatever you want. What is it? My mom’s beef tips over noodles with a fresh loaf of Italian bread, a cherry coke and a slice of Reese's peanut butter cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I can’t make this meal to save my life (I tried when I first started dating Hubs and it ended in a bloody, beefy disaster) and it has been my favorite since childhood!

9. What's the most wonderful thing about your spouse/significant other? He is an AMAZING dad! He is still a kid at heart so he can play for HOURS with Buggy and our nephew. I’ve forgotten how to “play”. Also, he makes it impossible to stay mad at and I can hold a grudge so winning me over is huge.

10. What's the funniest thing you've seen or heard today? In general Iris makes me laugh daily. Today is no exception with her synonmyns for "Down there Lady Business", so I’m going to say her!

11. What's your worst bad habit? I hold a grudge and always think I’m right. I’m also a scab picker which is so gross, but it’s true. I’m trying very hard to break that!

She's walking! For real this time!

So after about a week of the "Yeah I'm sorta walkin' but I don't really WANT TO" phase, Bugs threw caution to the wind and lit the afterburners.  Our little baby is walking at her 11 month birthday mark! Her wobbles make us laugh and she seems to really enjoy this new freedom.

I have a wonderful friend who also has a small daughter and she sent Bugs her birthday present early. She ALWAYS finds the best presents and so she sent her squeaky shoes. Not shoes that squeak against the floor, but they have actual squeakers in the heels. Hilarious! They are driving our poor dogs wild, but so funny. Even she thinks so!