Blast from the Past Friday

Wow. 12 years ago today, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my daughter Bug. I can remember SO vividly what happened in the days leading up to her birth! I've relayed this story once before, but I thought it was so fitting to share again today since it's Bug's birthday. I originally posted this in February 2008.

The Story of Bug

I was given 2 different due dates with Bug. May 30th OR June 6th. It was Monday, May 19th, and I was at work. I was a receptionist, so my job wasn't really very taxing on me. I figured I would probably work unti the day I went into labor.

About mid-morning, I started having mild contractions. Nothing too painful, and they weren't very close together. Throughout the day, when people would leave the building, I joked that I might not see them for a while because I was in labor. Some of them laughed, some of them looked a little worried. I was still feeling alright, but towards the end of the day I was feeling a bit more discomfort.

My mom used to pick Bubber up from daycare for me (they closed at 5:00pm and I didn't get out of work until 5:00), and I would pick him up from her house on my way home. I would usually sit and chat with her for a while, because my (then) husband, Dan, worked afternoons, so there was no real need to rush home. By the time I got to my mom's, I was feeling worse and worse. I tried to get in and out as quickly as possible, but in my family. that still means at least a good 15-30 minutes of talking. I finally got out of there, and made the 30 minute drive home.

I got home and called the doctor. He told me to go ahead to the hospital. I called Dan and told him he needed to come home (a 45min - 1 hour drive) right away. I called my mom and told her that I would need her to meet us at the hospital. Then I proceeded to go upstairs and pack my bag. (If you read my story of Bubber first, you already know I'm a procrastinator)

Dan got home and we went to the hospital. My mom met us there shortly afterwards. I was put in triage, since my water hadn't broken yet. They checked me, and I was at about 2. Meanwhile, I'm feeling STARVED because I hadn't eaten all day. My mom finally went and got me some soup from the cafeteria. The doctor decided to put me on an IV antibiotic because I had tested positive for Strep B. So started my stay in the hospital. I don't know if I ever went to sleep that night.

Tuesday morning, nothing had changed. The doctor still didn't really want me to eat (especially since I threw up while in labor with Bubber). So I was hungry, tired, and hurting. I was still having contractions, but they were few and far between.

Wednesday comes, STILL in triage, still no progress. At this point I am wanting to just pack it up and go home, but since I was on the IV meds, they didn't want to release me. A friend of mine, who was also pregnant at the time and on bedrest for pre-term labor, called to see how I was. While I was talking to her, my water broke. I think I might have caused her some serious hearing damage when I shouted with joy!!

Wednesday evening, after going another day with no real progress, my doctor finally gave me permission to eat, and he ordered that I get sent to a birthing suite so that I can get some rest. I remember sitting in bed watching the episode of Mad About You when they had their baby, and I started to cry. Those stupid TV people got to have THEIR baby, why couldn't I just get it over with?!? I got a shot of morphine that night to help me sleep. Of course, the moment I went to sleep (and for what seemed like every 15 minutes after that for the rest of the night), the nurses came in and checked my vitals. I did get a really nice male nurse who re-did my IV for me, because my hand started to go numb and swell...so that was nice.

Thursday, May 22nd. After a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG day of waiting, the doctor put me on pitocin, and I eventually got my epidural. (I was just reading a friend's blog and remembered something else...) So during this time, a bunch of nurses and such have been coming in to check me. At one point, a doctor came in and asked if some medical students could come in to watch while he checked me - I said, "Sure, why not, EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS HOSPITAL HAS SEEN IT ALREADY!" I think I had begun to lose my sense of humor by then. It wasn't too long after that, the doctor came in, checked me, and said, "okay, you can push when you're ready!" My mom sort of "accidentally" ended up being in the room, but she stayed out of the way and just sat in a chair in the corner and waited. I pushed a little, and because God has a major sense of humor, had a bowel movement on the table AGAIN. Man, was I ever embarassed! One of my nurses (who was really nice and very funny) commented, "I just got done in the geriatric ward, I thought I was done cleaning up poop!" It made me laugh a little, but I was still pretty horrified. It's weird, because for a while after my Bug was born, I didn't remember what happened next. I pushed a few times, and her head came out. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck TWICE. Bug's shoulders were stuck, but we didn't have time for that. So the doctor literally grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her out, nearly pulling me off of the bed in the process. He got the cord unwound and she started breathing fine right away. At 8:30pm, my 7lb 15oz, 20 in long Bug was born, complete with a head FULL of light brown hair. No wonder I had heartburn all the time!! LOL

When I had Bubber, I had issues with retained placenta. I actually had to have a D&C done about 2 weeks after he was born because I started to hemorrage. So the doctors knew that might be an issue this time, too. The placenta would not even come out. It was "stuck" to my uterine wall. No biggie, the doctor told me he'd take me to the OR and take care of it. They quickly prepped me, and before I knew it was in in the OR. I told the doctor I felt nauseated, and someone handed me a bedpan. I was helped onto my side when I heard a large splash, like someone spilling a bucket of water. The doctor had me put under anesthesia immediately. I found out later I had hemorraged a LOT. Enough to where they gave me a transfusion. I woke up in recovery and remember being SO cold. I was in shock. I ended up in ICU that night, and didn't get to see Bug until about 11:30 the next day.

(These pictures only go up to when she was 7 - All pictures since that time have been on digital, and they are all on a disc somewhere...)

Now Bug is a sweet 12 year old with a great sense of humor and a soft heart for others. She is a wonderful helper with her little sisters, and has recently started showing interest in helping prepare dinner (now if I could just convince her that cleaning up is just as fun...HA!)

Car conversations

On Friday, Bug, Puckey, Jib and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. After we left the store, Puckey asked me if she could have a watch. (She's 3). I told her that when she was bigger we could get her a watch. Puckey kept talking about it, so then Bug said, "Puckey, I tell you what: when you can tell time, I'll get you a watch."


Oh, was Puckey ever excited! She told me, "Mom! Sissy is going to get me a pink kitty watch!" Puckey continued to giggle and squeal and tell us about the new watch she was going to get for several minutes. Then she says, "Mom, can I tell him?"


"Tell WHO?" I asked.


Her response? "TIME."


Try explaining to a 3 year old what "telling time" means sometime. HA!

October = Fun

I have been pretty lax on my blogging lately. So now I'm going to hit you with a great big post full of lots of pictures. Because I know you can NEVER get enough of my cute family.

There's also a short history lesson at the end. I promise, it's short, and pretty interesting too!

Puckey can go from sweet and smiley

To Grouchy

To downright scary in 2.3 seconds!

(I left the red-eye in because it just makes the picture that much more "scary")

My weak attempt at outdoor fall decorating

But God ALWAYS out-does me!

Puckey, it's a Pumpkin Patch, not a PUPPY Patch!

Nans and Jib picking out a pumpkin

Jibby in love...

Daddy and Jib with her cool white pumpkin

Sometimes they're HAPPY...

Sometimes they're sad...

Bubber is always known for his keen fashion sense...

(note the knee high socks & shorts combo)

Bug, Me, and Nans after completing our Mini-Caramel Apple project

The finished product

Puckey looking longingly at the apples...

The coffee mug my sweet friend Susan gave me for my birthday

(It says "A friend loves at all times... Proverbs 17:17)

Hangin out with Daddy on the couch

This is how we found Puckey and The Jib sleeping last night before we went to bed

(What you can't see is the total havoc they wreaked in the rest of their room)

And last, but certainly not least, it's "That 70's Dinner"...

Boy do I ever L-O-V-E my 70's Pyrex.

Oh, and because I have a million and ten things to do tomorrow (of which I'm hoping to get at least two accomplished), I wanted to write quickly about this because I found it interesting and thought you might too.

This morning, while waiting on the guy from the phone company to hook up our "new and improved" phone and internet service, I was listening to R.C. Sproul (he does a radio program called "Renewing your mind") and heard this little tidbit of information about the "birth" of Halloween.

It is common knowledge (at least I think it is) that Halloween (Or "All Hallow's Eve") falls the day before "All Saints Day". What I didn't know is that All Hallow's Eve has origins in the Roman Catholic church! Apparently, from what R.C. Sproul said today, in the middle ages the members of the Roman Catholic church believed that the surest way of keeping Satan away was to make fun of him. They believed that if they hit him where it hurt the most (his pride), that he would do just as the Bible says (Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7, NIV) and leave them alone. The people would dress up in ridiculous costumes mocking the devil, not because that's how they thought he looked, but because he is described as this in 2 Corinthians 11:14 "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light".

I thought that was rather interesting to know. Another thing that I found interesting is that on October 31 ,1517, Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses on the door of a Wittenburg, Germany church. This list is said to have been the start of the Protestant Reformation, which changed Christianity forever.

See, my blog is fun AND informative, all at the same time! Aren't you glad?!?

So many posts, so little time...

Since you've all missed me SOOOO much over the last few weeks, I've decided to just overload you with posts! ha ha ha

The girls seem like they are growing by leaps and bounds! I can't believe all of the new words The Jib says now. She's SO funny - especially since all of her words that end in an "s" sound she uses a "t" sound, and when she says "yes", she bobs her head up and down and just says "S-s-s-s-s-s-" (I guess it would be better if I had it on film, but my mother in law has the video camera. I should get that back from her)

Puckey is doing well with the potty training. Last night she actually pooped on the potty, and then told me, "I pooped big just like Daddy!" Ande got a laugh out of that one.

Bubber has his second football game on Thursday. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to go. I may have to ask my mother in law if she can babysit the girls, so I don't have to wrangle them on the bleachers (not to mention the fact that I'd probably get charged to bring them in...)

Bug is looking forward to starting band. She will be playing clarinet this year. I hope she enjoys it - music is such a fun thing to learn. I actually had a dream that she was in marching band, and I was helping teach the kids how to march. (I was in marching band in high school) It was a little weird.

Nans started at her new school yesterday, and she said she liked it pretty well. I think she'll do fine once she makes a couple of new friends. We still haven't worked out how we are going to make the pick-up on our weekends. I used to pick her up from school on our weekends, but that's not really going to work out anymore.

I'm finally getting baptized on Saturday. I don't know what's taken me so long (I gave my life to Christ over 6 years ago), but I'm excited about it, and am thrilled that Bubber and Bug will get to be there too. It's going to be fun, too, since it's at our Pastor's house, and we're having a picnic/pool party afterwards. Hopefully the weather will hold out for us.

My brother in law interviewed for a job here in MI yesterday, but he's not sure if he's going to take it. It would be a pretty big pay cut for him, so I think he's thinking it over. As much as I'd love for them to move here, I'd hate for him to take the job and then have a hard time financially. (It's not that the pay is really that bad, but they're used to living on a lot more)

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll probably post at least once or twice more today (aren't you lucky?).

For now, it's back to the grind...LOL

Just a bunch of stuff

In order to get my mind off of needlessly worrying about finances, I have been trying to pay more attention to the good stuff going on in our house....

Who's been sleeping in my bed?

Yes, that's a sock monkey (made by my mom) that Puckey tucked into our bed the other day.

Daddy is The Jib's new cupholder

This means that The Jib is finally "bottle free"! No more baba's. Whoo-HOO!!

Videos we've been watching:

Yeah, the big kids are LOVING this one (read with MUCH sarcasm). So far, Puckey has watched it 5 times, but doesn't have any interest in going potty. Apparently she's just watching it for the entertainment value?

School House Rock is pretty much the best I know of...and this set includes ALL of them, including your favorites like "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill." (You can thank me later for getting those songs stuck in your head) We told Ande's mom we'd like her to buy this one for Puckey for her birthday.

Ande and I have spent more time talking to each other lately. I mean, we have always talked, but it's usually about the kids or whatever. Recently, our conversations have held more depth (and sometimes laughter) than usual. It's pretty awesome.

The Jib is learning more and more new words every day. We've added:

• "Becko" (You're welcome) It's so cute, because she knows how to use it properly.
• Book
• Down
• Home
• Potty
• Puckey
• Ride
• Bike
• Outside
• Cold
• Pool
• "Muck" (Milk) - she can also do the sign language sign for it

Just yesterday, The Jib walked into our room, and she looked out our french doors into the backyard. You can see our pool from there, and she pointed and said, "Cold pool!" I love it!

Puckey and The Jib got a "new" ride a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of a local yard sale.

We went for a family bike ride yesterday. I got to try out my "new" bike. My mother in law gave me her bike, which is sorta like riding a lazy boy chair! (Pretty comfy).

However, even with all the comfort of the bike, I was left wondering just when I got so old and out of shape. My backside and thighs were feeling pretty rough by the time we got back home! I guess I'm going to have to start riding a little more often.

Bubber is now participating in "two-a-days" for football, which is just wearing him right out. He seems to like it, though, so I'm happy!! (Although he's eating us out of house and home!!)

Bug is excited about starting Middle School in a few weeks...although I think I'm going to have to start making her get up early pretty soon to get used to it. Right now it's after 10:00am and she's still asleep. (Meanwhile I've been up since about 6:45am)

Nans should be coming for a week at the end of this week or the beginning of next - it seems like FOREVER since we've seen her! We'll get to go school shopping with Grammy (my mother in law) while Nans is home, too. Always have fun doing that!

The bible study I've been doing is going well - it's still just the two of us, but I feel like I've learned some new stuff (and some stuff about myself) that I wouldn't have learned otherwise.

Thanks for all of the prayers you guys have sent my way - it's been effective! I feel more at ease than I did before, and things are looking better all the time. (Maybe part of my problem was hormones - you all know how that goes!)

New Updates...

So this weekend Ande and I went to my cousin's wedding. My baby cousin. Who really shouldn't be old enough to be getting married. But he IS, and he DID. You see, I forever think of him as this silly little boy who used to follow his older brother and sister (and me) around, begging to play with us. Of course, being kids, we pretty much ignored him, or would only let him play so we could torture him...LOL

Anyway, Stan and Lindsay were married this weekend, and it was a beautiful wedding. There was a little bit of awkwardness when we were seated at the same table as my mom (who's in denial) & my stepdad (who won't speak to me). I tried to make the best of it, but I was pretty relieved that Ande and I had to leave fairly early in the evening to pick up the kids.

One great update came from that night, though - my Aunt Kathy was there. I previously blogged about her here, here, and here. She is still pretty thin (she lost about 30lbs while she was sick), but she was smiling and said she feels pretty good. She told me she spent 46 days in the hospital, 21 of which she was in a coma. Her pulmonologist told her that he had not thought she would survive. At that point, I told her that there had been many, many people praying for her, and she made the remark, "It must have worked!" It would be great if you would continue to pray for her salvation, and for me to have more opportunities to talk to her about it.

Everybody seems to have recovered from the "funk" that took out Puckey, The Jib, and Ande last week. I am SO thankful that I got away with only a mild sore throat...

Ande's job has another change, starting today. His route (the car dealerships he regularly visits) has been changed. It's a little sad, because he had made a few new friends on his route, but it's also very good in that he will now be within about 5 minutes of home ALL DAY EVERY DAY! Each dealership he has now is located within about a 5 mile radius of our house. Closer location equals less miles to drive equals less gas to buy! It also means he can come home for lunch, so that will save on "lunch money".

The kids are getting ready for camp...Bubber leaves on Saturday, and Bug and Nans leave 2 weeks after that. I'm praying that they have a great time, and wonderful fellowship with Godly men and women who will help them build a better relationship with Christ.

Speaking of building a better relationship with Christ...a friend of mine from church, Susan, has asked me to do a Bible study with her. We decided on Tuesday evenings, as that's one of the few nights I don't have other obligations. If any of you local readers are interested in checking it out, we're going to meet at church (don't have a time ironed out yet, but I'm sure it will be reasonable). It's a Beth Moore study on Daniel. The book is $15, and I believe we will have a DVD series that will go along with the study. Anyway, if you are interested, leave me a comment or send me an email to let me know!! We haven't officially started yet, so there's still time to get involved!

Another cool thing relating to building a relationship with Christ - a guy who works for one of the dealerships that was on Ande's old route was in a triathlon this weekend. Ande has been sharing his faith with Trevor, and Trevor has been pretty receptive. So, as a way of showing how much Ande (and the rest of our family) support him, we went on Sunday morning to encourage Trevor and some of his co-workers and family who participated in the race. Trevor was absolutely bowled over that we would come down to support him, so I'm really glad that we went.

I was amazed at some of the people I saw who were in the race. There were some people who were pretty old (I heard the oldest participant was 73), and one kid JUST met the age requirement (13). Some people were extremely fit, while others looked quite out of shape. I have to give everyone who was involved credit. I got winded carrying The Jib back to the car when we were leaving, I can't imagine doing the swimming, biking, and running...

Also, thanks to all of you for the compliments on my hair!!! I'm thrilled with it, and your comments have only made me feel that much more happy about it! For Cindy, I go to CC & Co. in Fenton, and have Bridget Shea cut my hair. I've known her since I was 11 (wow, that's 22 years!), and she is definitely my stylist of choice. She's also a Christian, which is an added bonus...

Playing nursemaid

Okay, I just have to give a little shout-out to anyone who is a nurse, caregiver, or in some other career that involves cleaning up vomit or other bodily fluids. I don't know how you do what you do, but each time my family gets sick, I know why I DON'T do it! I have a hard enough time cleaning up my own children's messes...I just don't know if I could deal with someone else's.

Poor Puckey threw up about 7 or 8 times yesterday. Fortunately, I kept her on a towel and would just throw the towel in the wash when she got sick on it. That only works, though, with little kids who haven't eaten in 24 hours....

Last night she managed to keep down some oyster crackers and water, and perked up a bit. I was glad, because I was starting to worry a little because she wasn't keeping ANYTHING down for most of the day. I didn't want her to get dehydrated.

Speaking of oyster crackers, am I the only one who refused to eat them when I was a little kid because I thought they were MADE of oysters? Just wondering.

Both Puckey and The Jib slept like babies last night (meaning they were up every couple of hours), so today they have been somewhat cranky. I have been a little MORE than somewhat cranky. I don't do well on broken sleep. Fortunately, Bug & Bubber were here today and helped keep the babies entertained so I could have a bit of a nap. I'm feeling almost normal now.

So, now that the babies are feeling a little better, Ande's got whatever they had. He woke up this morning with a headache and a slight fever. He ended up coming home late this morning, and he's been in bed ever since. He did get up once, and almost threw up on me on his way into the bathroom (I was on my way out as he came shuffling in). I'm just glad he made it all the way to the toilet.

I'm starting to feel a little under the weather now. Except I have to follow the "mommy rule" and not actually get sick. Or if I get sick, I still have to take care of everyone else. I have to admit, this is one thing about being a wife/mother I really don't like. I don't get pampered when I'm sick. I still have to be the mommy, even when I feel like my head is going to explode or am on the edge of throwing up. I AM thankful that I rarely get sick, and even when I do, it usually doesn't last too long.

But I WOULD like it if I got to get babied when I got sick, too...

What you've ALL been waiting for.....

Okay, okay, so maybe it's only what I've been waiting for. The girls' room is FINISHED. DONE. FINI.

Pictures? Of course!!! (Drumroll please....)

This is what it looked like before:

And after:

Here's a "before" picture of the desk chair that I bought at Goodwill for $2.99:

And after with a few coats of paint and a newly covered seat:

Bug was practically beside herself with excitement when she saw it (with furniture) yesterday. Nans hasn't seen it yet, but will this weekend. I think she'll really like it too. Now if I can only get them to KEEP IT THAT CLEAN....