Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesday

Mark Anakin is here... and a month old!

On September 5th at 1 p.m., I checked into the hospital for my labor to be induced. Twenty-nine hours later, on September 6th at 4:41 p.m., Mark Anakin was born. 7 lbs, 5 oz and 20 inches long.

My life has been a bit busy since this little guy arrived.

MAL <1 hour old - first picture that went out via text/email/Facebook 

There was also an incident involving waffles that caused me to lose it the day I checked into the hospital. It was pretty much the only time I got overly emotional over something stupid while I was pregnant, but in my defense, I was over a week overdue at that point. One day soon I'll write about my waffle and labor experience. In some ways it was better than I expected and in others it was worse.

It was all worth it when they put that wriggling messy human on my chest - it was instant love like I've never known. I was also overwhelmed with the new love I felt for my husband. He was amazing during (and afterwards, of course) the labor process and seeing him as a dad is so awesome. I am so grateful for this journey that we are taking together.

The nurse (Bernadette) during delivery told Dr. Liu that Jay was the best husband/labor partner she's ever seen while working there. Bernadette said that Jay was just perfect - that he was supportive of me and generally helpful for everyone. She said that some partners don't do a good job of being supportive or are too protective and get in the staff's way. Dr. Liu said that Bernadette has never mentioned anyone else positively for as many times as she's worked with her.

This is the last picture ever taken of me pregnant. Although my pregnancy was free of complications apart from my back spasms, it's not something that I am eager to do ever again. Plus little Markface is so damn perfect, I don't know why we would need another kid. That and I feel like one kid is totally doable when it comes to traveling.

After his bath - cleaned up photo in the hospital

First day at home

He's so sweet when he's sleeping

Instagram photo taken during photoshoot we took with the good camera (still haven't uploaded those photos)

I know that all parents want to think that their kid is the smartest, most advanced, and early with milestones. We think ours is pretty amazing. 

Here are a few details just in case I forget them later on:  

He weighed 7 lbs when we left the hospital. He was back to his birth weight at his two day check-up, and had already started holding his head up a bit.

At one week, he was up to 8 lbs. At his two week appointment, he weighed 8 lbs 11 oz. He also passed all of his one month milestone checks then and was doing so well gaining weight (the pediatrician said I must have milkshake boobs) that we could skip his one month appointment and bring him at 6 weeks.

The kid is insanely strong. He can support his weight on his legs briefly and has great head control. He makes eye contact and can track objects somewhat. So far he has blue eyes.

Mark at one month

Other stuff that's gone on this month: 

Mark's plastibell device from his circumcision didn't function properly. It was supposed to fall off after it healed. Instead it got stuck on. So a week after being discharged from the hospital, we watched our baby scream for an hour while two pediatricians tried to remove it. We almost ended up having to take him to the ER to have it taken off. Fortunately the docs were finally able to remove it. It was incredibly traumatizing for all of us.

Jay started working construction part time for an Amish guy. He shot himself in the leg when his nail gun misfired. Which he of course pulled out himself, slapped a band-aid on and wrapped electrical tape around his leg. He then finished his day at work. I would have cried and gone to the ER.

Loki decided he wasn't getting enough attention and broke his leg. He knocked me out of the way while I was taking out the trash, ran out the front door and after a speeding car coming around the corner. He is good with the baby, but has been a serious pain in the ass since he broke his leg. The vet said that we can't play with him as usual and can only take him on walks to wear him out. Of course that doesn't work so well.

Oh and I just came down with a case of mastitis. It sucks.

So it's been an eventful month! Sure hope the next month is less eventful.

The Countdown is on

Right around this time last year, Jay and I were in the process of getting our PADI Open Water certifications. I was also about to meet with my now boss for the first time.

It's incredible how much can change in a year.

I now have my PADI Advanced Open Water Certification as well as my FINRA Series 7 registration. For the record, the Series 7 was a lot harder. But my dive certification will keep me safer when it comes to breathing underwater.

We went to the Dominican Republic to celebrate our three year anniversary last December, and we brought home a parasite.

After we found out we were expecting, we of course rushed out to get a puppy, since the breeder in Maryland still hadn't come through for us. Speaking of which, I still haven't heard from him and it's been over a year now.

Loki is settling down, kind of. Okay, not really. Maybe a little. Part of the problem is that he's a high energy breed and pregnancy kind of takes all of that extra energy out of you. He is awesome as long as you keep him busy playing fetch or frisbee. We had hoped to take him for a second round of obedience training, but this summer got away from us.

So on to the countdown... if due dates are to be believed, I will become a mom in five days. It's all rather surreal and terrifying.

The nursery is ready, we have childcare for when I go back to work, my awesome friends have set up a food delivery schedule to get us through the first six weeks, and we have everything that we need.

I'm trying to get some rest this weekend, but it's not easy when you're 9 months pregnant and have to pee constantly. That and having a dog who constantly wants to play.

I suppose that I should get back to writing my thank you cards... and hopefully that elusive nap!

Catching Up Part II

Here is a photo summary of the last month or so...

The cows have been grazing across the street again... they like to come over and say hello.

Kitty Whore aka Piper is the least scaredy-cat that we have. She stands up to Loki pretty well, but our pets are still working things out. I'm hoping that one day they'll all get along. Loki of course just wants to play and doesn't understand why the cats don't want to play with him.

The dog loves to play fetch and will do just about anything for his ball. It's our most useful training tool. Although he does love treats, he's not as food-motivated as most other dogs. We are working on playing frisbee with him and he's had a lot of awesome mid-air catches, but he still prefers the tennis ball.

There was also this morning a week or two ago, where Loki chased the rooster into the house. I was standing outside in my bathrobe with the door open, trying to stop him from chasing it. The rooster had his head down in the corner like, "If I can't see him, he can't see me!"

And then I got a hold of the dog and Mr. Roo-Roo went on his merry way.

Draco, aka His Royal Highness The Reverend Doctor Tasty, Esquire is loving his new bed. I feel kind of bad for all of our animals... they have no idea how their lives are going to change in a few months. My friends Jen and Tim are done having kids, so they gave us a ton of their baby stuff late last summer. It turned out to be perfect timing. This is the pack & play bassinet that we're going to keep in our bedroom for the first few months. Jen and Tim were over a few weeks ago with their girls (two and four, who Loki did very well with) and they helped us set up the bassinet while they were here.

And speaking of the baby, here I am pretending to chug a Strongbow. That said, I am of the belief that light drinking during pregnancy is most likely okay. It is of course a controversial subject, and since there are ethical questions over setting up any kind of study that involves pregnant women, I doubt that most OB/GYNs (in the U.S., at least) will ever encourage drinking. I've weighed the risks and read more than a few articles and studies on the subject. My definition of light drinking? Since the beginning of my second trimester (my first trimester I abstained almost entirely), I've been having anywhere from one to three drinks a week. And I do mean single servings, like a 5 ounce glass of wine instead of my usual 8-10 oz pour pre-pregnancy.

The pregnancy itself is going well... I'll be 28 weeks on June 5th, which is the beginning of my third trimester. At my last doctor's visit, I was measuring a week ahead, so my appointments were moved up to every other week. I didn't post about it, but I was having some horrible sciatica and muscle spasms in my left side quadratus lumborum. The pain was pretty unbearable, but my OB sent me to physical therapy, and I think that the combination of PT, massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic finally got me all straight. The pain also seemed to clear up a ton after passing my Series 7 exam, so that may have had something to do with it.

I've been continuing with massage and also started going to acupuncture in February. I really think that it is having a positive impact on my life as well as how I'm feeling. My massage therapist moved from the Shore Health integrative medicine group to starting up Whole Being Health with a group of like-minded practitioners, which is how I ended up trying acupuncture. My acupuncturist is also a licensed counselor, so it's like having a therapy session and acupuncture treatment together. I love it! There are also studies that show the benefits of acupuncture during pregnancy - and some states and insurance companies have approved acupuncture as another way to bring on labor naturally. So I will be keeping that up, as I do not want to go past 40 weeks.

And last but certainly not least, my dear friend Christina tied the knot with her hubby Dan a few weeks ago. She was such a beautiful bride and we all had a fantastic time celebrating her nuptials. I can't wait to see Laura Dye's gorgeous photos from the wedding!

Catching Up Part I

Blogging at this rate, my next post won't be until the baby gets here. Just kidding, I'm going to break this into two entries so that I'll have another post this week. :)

Yes, one day I will have a life again and apparently that day arrived. I've just been too busy doing things to have time to blog. Also, since my new job is pretty intense, the last thing I feel like doing when I get off (or with my few free weekend hours) is to get on the computer. If I have free time now, it's usually spent doing something with the dog, reading, and sometimes I just veg and watch bad tv.

There has been SO MUCH going on lately... but let me start with the most important thing first...

#1 on my list for my 25 things in 2014 --- I PASSED MY SERIES 7 EXAM!

It was a huge accomplishment, AND a huge relief. I found out after taking the test that I am the first to pass with my company in our region in about a year, and that lately they have had a 90% failure rate for first-timers. I was pretty damn proud of myself. The morning of the test, I was already planning on how I was going to do a better job studying for my next go at the test, and that this time I was going to take a test prep course. But all of that was unnecessary. I hugged the test proctor when I was finished. That happy.

And since I'm going through my 25 things list anyway, I can check off some more items on my list:

• Housebreak our dog.

Puppy brother hasn't had an accident inside in probably over a month now, and the last few times he's been over my girlfriends' house, he has also not had any accidents. So yeah, he knows what he's supposed to do.

• Finish the fence.

My awesome husband finished the fence about a month or two ago. I wish that it had been completed when we were housetraining the puppy... life would have been much easier (and less cold). Along with finishing the fence, he also replaced our back door, which the original contractors did a shitty job with. It hasn't shut properly in several years, so we would keep it deadbolted and unopened all winter, since I can't physically get it shut or locked. Anyway, we now have an awesome functioning, easy to open, shut, and lock door. We should have done it years ago... it only took Jay a few hours to do it and was well worth the cost of the new door and supplies.

• Finish at least one closet of the two unfinished ones.

Jay took care of that, too. Having a baby helps to speed along some of those unfinished projects.

• Rearrange upstairs bedrooms.

This also happened and is why there is now a queen-sized mattress and box spring sitting downstairs in our living room. Now we have the futon in the baby's room (we figure if the kid is sick, it will be useful if one of us need to stay in there), a double bed in our front office/guest room, and a queen size in the guest bedroom. Along with our king size bed, which I love.

• Get my wedding ring re-sized.

I had this done in January. However, with the warmer days causing swelling, plus extra fluid from pregnancy, it's starting to get tight again. I'm going to have to find a cheap replacement band to wear soon. 

• Come up with new savings goals & reallocate funds.

This was completed... my maternity savings goal will be complete hopefully within the next month or so. The balance sheet has some sizable accounts receivable which is going to make a big difference in the savings. And then I can start redistributing the funds that I had siphoned away from the emergency savings fund. Around year end, the Emergency Savings Fund should be fully funded, so that we can start saving for other fun things. More on that in my next post.

• Complete an obedience class with our pup.

Of course, that is the least of our problems with him... the biggest challenge has been getting him enough exercise. An ideal day to get him to normal (and not crazy) dog status involves playing fetch for an hour or two and taking him on at least a 45 minute walk. He has definitely made a lot of progress from where he was, and I have to remember that he's still a puppy. We will be signing him up for an intermediate training class, so that we can work on his manners. He's incredibly smart, but he gets distracted easily when he's around a lot of people and other dogs. It's also tough because everyone gives him lots of attention whenever they see him, so he wants to be everyone's friend. Getting him to ignore new people is a bit of a challenge. And then of course there's the well-meaning strangers who encourage him to jump up on them.  

More to come in my next post. And more photos!