Goodbye #9

I've said it before, but that time it was because he was leaving my beloved Titans to play for the Ravens. This time is much more upsetting and sad. Steve McNair was found shot and killed today in Nashville. It really breaks this football fan's heart. He was one of my all time favorite players in the game and one of the reasons I became a Titans fan. It's a sad day for Titan and football fans alike. So much more so for his family. He was a father, a husband, a son. No one will miss him more than those closest to him. If you are reading this, please say a prayer for them.

RIP #9.

Summertime Sammie

Newborn comparison

Joshua (June 2003)



Arianna (January 2005)



Sammie (March 2009)

My baby is 6 years old today!!

Happy Birthday Joshua!! I love you very very much.

I can't believe it's been 6 years. Where does the time go? He has grown so much and learned so much already. He just graduated from kindergarten a few weeks ago and it seems like he just came into our lives. He is a great big brother to both of his sisters. His love of all things Star Wars is well known to family and friends. I look forward to all the new things he will do and see throughout his life.

Here are some pictures, then and now.

Sounds Like Life

Yeah, when our life starts getting to be too much I need to remember to listen to this song. I really do love this song and it is SO our life right now. LOL

Ari had her hair cut short today!

Before:






After:

Wow, only one blog post in May?

Bad blogger! LOL No excuse really other than the baby keeps me busy. I usually have her in my arms and it's hard to type one handed. Lots going on though.

Joshua's kindergarten year is coming to a close and we've been busy with end of the year stuff. I can't believe I'm about to be the mommy of a 1st grader!! Doesn't seem possible.

Ari still has one more year of preschool before I have to send her off to kindergarten. My babies are growing up way too fast.

Sammie is doing great. She is now at 10 lbs 1 oz and still has all of her hair. It still stands straight up too. I've been trying to get her to take a bottle in anticipation of going back to work in July, but so far no luck. She just doesn't like them. This could be bad!! LOL She is smiling and "talking" more now and loves to stand up.

As for me, I'm moving from kindergarten to 2nd grade next year. It will be a busy summer getting things moved and a new room set up. I'm kinda looking forward to it and kinda not. The move was a surprise to me and I can't say that I was all that happy with it, but I'll make the most of it. Who knows, it might satisfy that "I need to move" urge that I get every couple of years because it looks like we will be in this damn apartment for another year. *sigh*

Michael and I are beyond stressed at the moment too. My disability check stopped before I had anticipated (didn't refactor everything after Sammie was born and she was early so the checks stopped early! Ugh!) so now we are scrounging to find rent (not even thinking about other bills at the moment) money for July and August. I won't start getting paid at school again until August 15. It's going to be an incredibly stressful couple of months to be sure. If you know anybody who can spare a couple thousand dollars......................you know................hook me up! ;)

With the money issues we won't be going to Florida for vacation this year. Nor will I be able to go to my 20 year class reunion. I'm very upset about the no vacation thing. I've always gone back home in the summer. I'm not going to know what to do with myself. It will be a depressing summer for me no doubt.

Ok so now that I've depressed you with my life I'll share some pictures of the kiddos.

Joshua and his friend Jelly Bean

Baby and BabyDaddy!

Where I wanted/NEEDED to be last night

But wasn't. *sigh*

My 3 babies

Spent the morning in the ER.

They did another ultrasound on my legs. No clots found again thankfully. They did other tests that ruled out heart/kidney failure or any other thing that could cause swelling like this. They also say no infection. So basically my body is having a hard time getting rid of the excess fluid from prenancy and those pumped into me at the hospital for my c-section. The dr said to follow up with my OB this week and give it a week to 10 days. I have to go back in if I start running a fever or vomiting. I am not to stay lying around because that could end up causing clots. I'm supposed to take it easy but do my normal stuff. Just when I sit down my legs need to be elevated and to make sure I take my pain meds to manage that. Not that they help tremendously. I swear I've never had constant pain like this before. It sucks.

Oh and they stuck me 5 different times trying to get blood! I was NOT a happy camper.

I tell ya, it's been a hell of a week to say the least. I'm an emotional wreck. I've cried more in the last week than I have in years. I bawled like a baby every time they stuck me at the ER. Oh and my mom left today. Again with the water works.

Other than feeling sorry for myself I think I'm doing ok. I'm just tired of hurting. I just want to enjoy my new baby and the big kids. *sigh*

More pictures of Sam!!

Welcome Samantha Jane!

She was born on Monday, March 30 at 4:20pm. Weighing in at 7 lbs 15.5 oz and 20 1/4 inches long. I was only 36 weeks on Monday. It was quite the surprise to have her come then let me tell ya! I had gone to my first appointment for that week and even though I wasn't supposed to see the dr I asked if I could talk to her. I had been having some major pain in my legs for a little over a week and it had gotten to be unbearable. She looked at them and decided they needed to be checked for clots. After calling labor and delivery to see if they had a bed for me she sent me on over. I was a little freaked out to say the least. LOL This is 2 weeks earlier than planned. Michael was at home asleep with is phone on silent. My mom was still in Florida. The kids were in school. I was alone and freaking out trying to figure out who was going to get my kids from school and keep them until my mom could get here. I called mom and knew she was packing and on her way. I called my dad and arranged for him to get the kids from school. I was finally able to get ahold of Michael and tell him what was going on. I was still freaking out at this point!

I checked in at labor and delivery and they put me in a room. About an hour later they took me for the ultrasound on my legs to rule out blood clots. Lucky for me, Michael came in while they were wheeling me down the hallway. He went with me to get the ultrasound. There were no clots spotted. Thank goodness. My dr still wanted to go ahead and take the baby since I was in so much pain and with her getting bigger that wasn't going to get better, but worse. She scheduled my c-section for 4pm.

When we got back from the ultrasound my stepmom was in the room waiting. They began prepping me for surgery. Have I mentioned in the past that I absolutely HATE needles? Well now is the time I have to deal with them. They had to do an IV. I had a wonderful labor and delivery nurse though. She called anesthesia and they came to do the IV. He was fabulous! He numbed my hand first and my nurse distracted me while he put it in. I had to stop him at one point though. He kept telling me exactly what he was doing. I had to ask him to stop! LOL I really didn't want to know the play by play!

Around 3:50ish they wheeled me to the OR. Once in there they sat me on the side of the bed and did the spinal (no epidural this time and spinals are actually easier.....at least for me). My dr was in front of my distracting me and the same anesthesioligist did the spinal. Once again I had to ask him to stop with the play by play. LOL

They got me situated on the table and sent for Michael before starting the c-section. You know you have this big blue sheet in front of your face so you can't see what is going on, but I could see a reflection in a clock on the wall. Yes, I was watching. LOL The entire thing lasted all of about 25 minutes. Well until the baby was out anyway. Wheeled in the OR around 3:55 and she was out at 4:20. I, of course, had to stay for the sewing up part, but Michael and Sam headed down to the nursery.

I have to say that coming down off of the spinal was not that much fun. I was shaking uncontrolably. It felt really weird not to be in control of that. Heck it was weird not to be able to wiggle my toes. LOL

We had lots of visitors right after Sam was born. None of them got to see her though. She was in the transition nursery for a very long time. Her blood sugar was low and they needed to get her breathing regulated. Along with her temperature stable. I didn't get to see her either until way late. I was getting quite impatient if you want to know the truth.

They finally brought her to us around 12:30am. She's gorgeous with a head full of dark hair. It's not red, but she does have the temper of a redhead. Believe me! It doesn't take much for it to come out either. LOL

At first we had some nursing issues, but once my milk came in those were straightened out. She is nursing like a champ now.

We were supposed to come home on Thursday, but Sam ended up being jaundiced so had to go under the lights. They had her there for almost 24 hours only bringing her to me to nurse every 3 hours. It was a hard 24 hours for me. One thing about this pregnancy and birth is that I've been incredibly emotional. I definitely cried when they told me she couldn't come home. They did let me stay an extra night though so that helped. I'm not sure I could have left her there. We got to come home on Friday evening.

I am still having the same leg issues as before she was born though. They are swollen and very very sore. I even ended up at the ER today, but that is a different post! LOL

Here are some pics of my baby girl!

They definitely enjoyed Mardi Gras!!

Both kids aquired lots of beads!



Even Georgia got some beads!

Why Women Are Crabby

Yes, I'm crabby right about now!


We started to 'bud' in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find that anything that came in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So came the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra contraption that the boys in school would snap until we had calluses on our backs.

Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner). Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we cramped, we got the hormone crankies, had to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had.

Our next little rite of passage was having sex for the first time which was about as much fun as having a ramrod pushed up your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn't end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Then it was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we didn't spend the entire day leaning over Brother John . Of course, amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we were preparing to have Rosemary's Baby.

Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a whole watermelon and we pee'd our pants every time we sneezed. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER.

Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while theOBsays, 'Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hearmeroar. Calm down and push. Just one mo re good push' (more like 10), warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the %$#*@*#!* hubby and doctor square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 10 pound bowling ball through a keyhole.

After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find that when all that 'cute' wears off, the beautiful little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.

Then come their 'Teen Years.' Need I say more?

When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our early 40's - while hubby had his somewhere around his 18th birthday.

So we progress into the grand finale: 'Menopause', the Grandmother of all womanhood. It's either take HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned 'buds' or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or, sweat like a hog in July, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.

Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men, when men get off so easy, INCLUDING the icing on life's cake: Being able to pee in the woods without soaking their socks...

So, while I love being a woman, 'Womanhood' would make the Great Gandhi a tad crabby. You think women are the 'weaker sex'? Yeah right. Bite me.

Yeah, about this?

The whole pelvic joints loosening thing? Yeah that happened way before now. It pops when I walk and it hurts! LOL

Just sayin'!

It just keeps popping into my head

I can't stop it. I really love my teaching job, but lately a change in careers desire keeps popping up. I'm thinking I want to be a labor and delivery nurse. Sound crazy? Yes it does. It means more school so more money in loans. Plus where in the world would I find the time? I'm about to have 3 kids and I work full time! I know it's nuts to even think about it, but the thought just keeps popping in my head. I'll probably never do anything about it though. *sigh*

Here are some of those maternity shots I was telling you about!

I have to say that they turned out much better than I thought they would. We all know that I hate being the subject of pictures, but I find myself really drawn to these. Must be the big ol' belly. LOL Lisa and I were both incredibly tired at this point in the trip though. We had spent the entire day traveling from Jersey back to Boston. We'd been home probably an hour when these were taken.

Thank you Lisa!! You made the big preggo woman look good! ;-)

Been awhile, huh?

Yes I realize I only wrote 2 new posts in February. Sorry. LOL I've just not been in the mood to write. A lot has gone on though. I took a fabulous trip to New Jersey. My friend Lisa and I went to see Jon Bon Jovi in a fan club only event. Talk about an amazing night! There were about 1500 people and Jon played for over 2 hours. He played mostly songs that we've never heard live. We, of course, knew them because we have bootlegged copies on our mp3 players. He played maybe 3-4 of the "popular" songs. We were loving it to be sure!! We were in Jersey long enough to make the rounds on the "Must See" sights for Jovi fans. From JBJ's childhood home all the way to Asbury Park. We took lots of pictures. Lisa is going to send me a disk with the pictures and I'll post those as soon as I get them. As for New Jersey itself? Well let's just say that what you see on tv or in the movies is pretty accurate. It's really not a pretty place to visit. There is a lot of trash all over the roads and its very industrial. My biggest complaint though is that you can't turn left. No, I'm not kidding. You can't turn left. They have concrete barriers blocking you and even at traffic lights you have signs that say no left turn. In order to get to someplace on the left you have to go about 5 miles out of your way to do it. It was very frustrating. We had a GPS (thank God!) and we still ended up getting lost on more than one occasion. Even in the "hood."

I also had professional maternity pictures taken while I was up north. I will be posting some of those shortly.

Sam is growing nicely. I had a doctor appointment yesterday. She is measuring right on target and the doctor thinks that I won't have a 10 lb baby this time. LOL Not that it really matters with a c-section, but you know. LOL My next appointment is on the 16th and that starts my twice a week appointments. I can't believe that we are at that point already. Then again time seems to be crawling by. LOL I have made it to the "I'm completely miserable" stage. A little earlier this time than with Joshua or Ari. I guess it's pretty usual with the 3rd. I really don't know how people have more than 3. My body would just shut down I think. LOL

I can't remember if I mentioned it before but we've set a date for Sam to make her appearance. We will head to the hospital on April 14 for my c-section. Unless, of course, Sam decides she wants to come earlier.