Welcome to the World, Princess Bowie

Me at 38.5 weeks  11/17/11

This post is 2 months overdue. I hadn't realized how long it has been since I updated. I kept meaning to write a new post, but you know how that goes.

The last few weeks of my pregnancy went fairly well. I was tired a lot, but I had my nausea under control. Our biggest concern was that the baby was still breech and was running out of room to turn over. At 35 weeks the doctor told us we'd most likely have to do a c-section. I was really bummed about it. I had both TG and LM naturally. The recovery time for a c-section is a lot longer. Yuck.

At 37 weeks we scheduled the c-section. One doctor was still optimistic that she'd flip, but the other didn't think it would happen. We were hopeful, but went ahead and scheduled the c-section to be on the safe side. We set it for Tuesday, 11/21/11 at noon, when I was 29 weeks. I was a little bummed that I'd be in the hospital for Thanksgiving, but eh..such is life.

On Friday, November 18, we had our last weekly checkup appointment. She was still breech. The doctor said it was possible she'd flip once I went into labor, so I should have an ultrasound to verify before doing the c-section. I could tell he didn't think it was likely. By then, I'd sort of resigned myself to doing the c-section. No, it wasn't ideal, but at least there would be less stress on her and to be honest, it was kind of nice knowing when it would happen. We were able to make plans for TG and LM and the dogs, etc, etc.

That afternoon I took my math final and came home exhausted. I made a list of all the last minute things I wanted to do before the c-section on Tuesday:

• Get a mani, pedi and eyebrow wax
• Pack hospital bag (I'd started it, of course, but needed to finish)
• Clean the house from top to bottom (with help from MM and the kids)
• Take MM grocery shopping so he could buy stuff he'd actually cook (MM isn't so great in the kitchen)

..and on and on it went. There wasn't anything major on the list, but there was stuff that needed to be done. That night I was tired and uncomfortable when I went to bed. That was nothing new. I'd been tired and uncomfortable for months. I woke up several times in the night to go to the bathroom and get a drink. The last time I went to the bathroom was about 3:30. After that I knocked out and had some crazy dreams. I woke up again around 5:00 and tossed and turned for awhile. I rolled over and faced MM and started to drift off. At 5:30 my back started hurting so I rolled over the other way....and felt a trickle of liquid run down my underwear.

I poked MM and said, "Either I just wet myself or my water broke." MM said, "You wet yourself. Go back to sleep." You wish, MM. You wish.

I had him haul me out of bed and as soon as I stood up there was a gush of liquid. Alrighty then. Not the most comfortable feeling in the world. My water didn't break with TG. With LM it did, but I was sleeping and most of it had leaked out before I got out of bed. This was a totally new - and pretty disgusting - experience for me.

Aside: Let me tell you something, there was a ton of fluid. A ton. No one told me there would be that much. I soaked through 4 towels and 3 large overnight pads. Plus some. And I leaked all the way to the hospital...and more when I got there. It was crazy.

But I digress. So MM hauls me out of bed and I realized yep, my water has broken. I told him to wake the kids up while I took a shower (which ended up being pointless because of all the fluid, but I didn't find that out until later). He was still in a daze and mostly asleep. It was funny watching him stumble around trying to pack a bag, get the kids ready and get himself ready. Also? MM makes really lame jokes when he's tired. In case you were wondering.

It took us about an hour to get ready to leave, by the time we fed the dogs, got the kid ready, got all our stuff and the baby stuff together, etc. By then my contractions had started, though they were pretty mild. TG had state finals for marching band and had to be to the school by 6:30. She decided she wanted to go ahead and compete so we dropped her off on our way, then dropped LM at my mom's.

We got to the hospital about 7:00am. By then my contractions were starting to get a little worse, though they still weren't too bad. Mostly I was just uncomfortable. We explained about the baby being breech and the scheduled c-section and were directed to the Triage center, just in case we needed to be prepped for surgery. After checking in and having an ultrasound, they determined she was still breech. I was also dilated to 3cm. Had she not been breech, my labor would have gone pretty fast.  It just so happened that my doctor was in the hospital doing rounds. He okay'd the surgery and they started prepping me for it.

There was some kind of snafu with the pharmacy and some meds I needed. By the time they got it worked out I was in full blown labor, with contractions coming less than 5 minutes apart. I was NOT HAPPY. One of the benefits of doing a c-section is getting to skip labor, right? MM was great, though, helping me breathe through the contractions and helping me focus on other things.

Around 9 a.m., approximately 4 hours after I went into labor, they wheeled me into the OR and I got my spinal. That was fabulous. Well, at first. Then it was just weird to not be able to move at all. While they prepped me for surgery, MM had to wait outside. They brought him in as soon as I was fully numb. The doctor was already making the incision when MM was led into the room.

The surgery went really fast. I don't know what I expected, but within 5 minutes of him starting. I heard the baby cry. Naturally I started crying then, too. While the doctor finished the surgery (I chose to have a tubal ligation..so no more babies for me) MM went with Princess Bowie while they cleaned her up. I could hear her crying, but hadn't seen her yet. Before they took her out of the room, the nurse carried her over and rubbed her face on mine. Since I was looking at her upside down, I didn't get a good look. I cried harder. MM took a ton of pictures, then followed the nurse out of the room so they could weigh her and all that.

Princess Bowie approx 9:58 a.m.

The next little bit is kind of a blur for me. I know they finished the surgery. What a strange sensation. It didn't hurt, exactly, but there was a lot of pressure while the doctor finished sewing me up. Shortly after he finished they took me into recovery. I don't know how long I was in there before MM and Princess Bowie showed up. As soon as they came in MM brought her over so I could hold her. She was beautiful. I had to ask MM how big she was, because he forgot to tell me.

As predicted, MM fell in love with her about the second she was born. By the time he met me in recovery she owned him. He spent most of the time we were in recovery texting all our friends and family about her. I didn't care since I was busy falling in love myself.

Princess Bowie
Born 11/19/11 @ 9:49 a.m.
6lbs 10oz
18.5 inches long

....to be continued

Weird Cravings

We've all heard the stories about women who had crazy cravings during pregnancy. Pickles and ice cream. Beet soup. Dirt. (yes, I have a friend who craved dirt while she was pregnant).

Me? I've never had really weird cravings. But I have had weird "for me" cravings.

When I was pregnant with The Girl, I craved McDonald's McChicken sandwiches with sweet-n-sour sauce on them. That's pretty much all I could keep down. I'd have at least one a day. I have no idea why I craved them. It was weird for me, because at the time I hated chicken and didn't eat it at all. But man did I snarf on those sandwiches.

With Little Man, I craved Filet-o-Fish sandwiches from McDonald's. Only..I hate those. I think they're nasty. OMG did I want them, but I couldn't stand the taste. So I'd buy a fish sandwich and a hamburger. I'd take one bite of the fish, then a bite of the burger, then the fish, then the burger. That was the only way I could eat it..if I had something to kill the taste in my mouth.

With this pregnancy? Chicken McNuggets with sweet-n-sour sauce. I don't know what it is with me and McDonald's during pregnancy, but OMG do I crave those suckers. MM finds this very amusing. Sometimes one bite will do me, other times I'll eat 10 of them and still want more. It's crazy.

The worst craving I've had so far, though, was for Krispy Kreme donuts. We don't have a KK near here and they stopped carrying them in our local supermarkets ages ago, so it's probably been 5 years since I had a one. But the Saturday before Halloween I got the worst craving for a cream filled glazed Krispy Kreme. I wanted it SO EFFING BAD. I drove to all the stores in town, to make sure they didn't have any, then went to our local bakery and stood in front of the donut case for a good ten minutes. I just couldn't do it, though. I wanted a Krispy Kreme and that was that.

MM was gone with LM doing some boy scout thing all morning, but when he got home that afternoon I told him we were going to find a Krispy Kreme. He tried to talk me out of it, but I was determined to have one. I figured we could drive to a supermarket out of town to get one. MM told me to call around and see who carried them. No one. I seriously called grocery stores from here to 50 miles away and not one had them. I was so frustrated!

MM said he thought there was a KK about an hour away and told me to look it up. Sure enough, there was one 89 miles away. But...89  miles for a donut? Even I'm not that crazy. I told MM to just go down to the grocery store and buy me a donut. I'd make that work. He said, "that isn't going to take care of your craving, babe. We both know it." He was right, but to drive that far for a freaking donut? No. Just no.

Finally MM said, "I'm driving an hour to get a donut. I'm going to be pissed if you aren't in the car with me."

That, my friends, is the reason I married him.

So we drove an hour to get a Krispy Kreme. We decided to get a dozen and bring them home. The kid behind the counter kept telling me the ones on the top shelf were $.50 more or $.20 more or whatever. Finally, after about the 5th time the kid reminded us, MM said "Look, we just drove an hour for these. I don't think $.20 really matters all that much." The look on the kid's face was priceless. I'm sure my face was beet red, but whatever.

I grabbed a little cup of donut holes at the register, and MM and I ate those on the way home. That night after dinner I cut one of the donuts into 4 pieces and we all had one (me, MM, LM and TG). The next morning MM woke me up with the box under my nose. He said, "How about breakfast in bed?". That set the tone for the day. By the time we went to bed, we'd eaten all but two. The next day (Halloween) I had a doctor's appointment. He said, "you had a little sugar in your urine today. No trick-or-treating for you." I said, "That's because I ate a dozen donuts yesterday." and MM laughed.

You know what? It was totally worth it.

Pregnancy Update: Week 35

Only 5 weeks to go. YES! I feel like we're finally on the downhill slide. I am so ready for this kid to get outta me. We saw our doctor yesterday. She's still breech (her head is near my ribcage). I really thought she'd flipped over this week, so I'm totally bummed. If she hasn't turned by the time I go into labor I might have to have a c-section. DO NOT WANT. I'm really hoping she turns! The doctor did tell us today that if we go into labor he won't stop it. I really hope I go into labor early (don't tell MM I said that).

I'm super big and uncomfortable now. Just between you, me and the internet, I've gained 45lbs. FORTY-FIVE. MM assures me it's all baby, but we both know he's lying. Still, a lot of it is baby. My stomach is huge. She's starting to run out of room in there, I think, because her kicks have gotten more painful. She's in my ribs and my pelvis a lot, too, which is muy uncomfortable. Sleeping at night has become almost impossible. I toss and turn all night, trying to find a comfortable position. Either that or I'm getting up to pee. I must get up 5 or 6 times a night. Sometimes more. I'm ready to have my body back.

My feet and ankles are swelling like crazy. My right foot swells more than my left, so it looks like I have one normal foot and a giant club foot. I try not to look at them much, since it just depresses me. The good news is I can't see them unless I work at it, so ignoring them isn't hard.

This past weekend the So Cal Bloggers - Tracy, Lori, Renee, Wendy, Rowena and Nikki - threw me a baby shower. It was a ton of fun. I had a blast playing silly games - Pin the Sperm on the Ovaries - and eating excellent food. We got some great gifts. Lori made us a super fabulous diaper cake that I adore! (I'll share more about the shower and pictures later). Last night MM and I went through them and organized everything. I think I'm moving into the nesting stage. I want to get everything in order, just in case I go into labor.

Speaking of, MM says I'm not allowed to go into labor until at least the 19th of November (my due date is the 27th). He has way too much going on at work before then. Plus, he has it worked out so he'll be off a total of 8 weeks, but that won't work unless I wait until after the 19th. Like I have control over when I got into labor? Riiight. Poor MM, he'll learn someday.

The Girl is starting to get really excited for the baby to come. She's great about putting lotion on my feet and she gives me foot massages. She's always asking if she can rub my tummy, too. She keeps saying she's going to take care of the baby so I don't have to, but we'll see how long that lasts once the crying begins.

Little Man is a little hesitant about the baby. I think he's worried about his place in the family once she's born. I know he'll lover he and be a great big brother, but it's going to take some time for him to adjust to the idea of having a little sister and not being the baby anymore. He's still really creeped out by my stomach and refuses to touch it. It cracks me up. I ask him if he wants to feel her move and he runs. Poor LM.

Last time I promised a picture. MM took this after the shower on Saturday. Here it is, me at 35 weeks:

Overheard at Our House

Tonight MM and I went through all our baby gifts, organized them and wrote thank yous. I started washing all the baby clothes we got and I noticed we had a ton of pink stuff. If you'll remember, MM was in charge of the scanner gun for our registry.

Me: We sure got a lot of pink stuff. I wonder how it all ended up on our registry, MM. Seems to me like you were in charge of the registry gun. That makes it your fault.
MM: Hey, it's your fault we got a girl. If we'd gotten a boy like I wanted we wouldn't have pink stuff.
Me: You need to talk to God about that. He's the one in charge of the sex.
MM: You burned down the Sonic. You have the power. If you'd wanted a boy you would have made it happen.

Freaking MM.

Recipe: Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe in The Best of Cooking Light cookbook. If you don't have it, I suggest you get a copy. It's chock full of great recipes that are both tasty and healthy (or healthier, in any case). I have another recipe for Baked Potato Soup that includes a lot more fat and calories, but this one is the one I make most often.

The main thing keeping the fat and calorie content down is cooking the bacon separately. If you don't care about that, you can make this all in one pot (cook the bacon in a large dutch oven, then drain the grease. Add the flour and continue on from there). This will add a lot of flavor (who doesn't love bacon?). Or you can do it the way the Cooking Light way. You still get the bacon flavor, but it isn't as intense.





Baked Potato Soup
(Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light)

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cracked black pepper (optional)

I also add:

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon no salt seasoning

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). - The key here is to stir it continuously. If you don't, the flour will clump and you take the risk of scorching the milk, which is very bad.

Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, cumin, no salt seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil).

Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 329
• Calories from fat: 30%
• Fat: 10.8g
• Saturated fat: 5.9g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3.5g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.7g
• Protein: 13.6g
• Carbohydrate: 44.5g
• Fiber: 2.8g
• Cholesterol: 38mg
• Iron: 1.1mg
• Sodium: 587mg
• Calcium: 407mg

 This is a great fall recipe. It's easy enough to do on a weeknight (especially if you bake your potatoes ahead of time and store them in the fridge). I serve it with warm bread and call it a meal.

Pregnancy Update: Week 29

I'm tired. Can that be my whole update? Because I am seriously exhausted. I want to sleep 24/7. Ames visited last week and we did absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong, it was great relaxing and spending a lazy week with her. Still, it would have been great if we'd actually, you know, left the house. (I exaggerate - we left the house on several occasions..most of the motivation involving food and/or books)

Despite being exhausted and wanting to sleep 24/7, I have insomnia most nights. Or I'm uncomfortable enough that I wake up every few minutes, tossing and turning. The only time I'm truly comfortable is when I snuggled into MM and use his back as a heating pad on my tummy. Princess Bowie likes that. See, she's already a daddy's girl.

So far I've gained 32lbs. I look like I've gained 32lbs. Most of it, I will admit, is tummy. I'm huge. If I'm this big at 29 weeks I shudder to think what I'll look like at 40. Especially since the baby gains the most weight the last 2 months of the pregnancy. Eep. I can still see my toes if I bend over and look for them. If I stand up straight and look down...not so much. I can still reach my feet if I sit in just the right position and contort myself in just the right way, but it's very uncomfortable. I painted my own toenails the other day and...yeah, I won't be doing that again for awhile. I'm just glad no one was around to hear me grunting and cursing. Yikes.

The baby is doing well. She's very active - until someone wants to feel her. I think she's shy. Even MM has only felt her once or twice. Whenever anyone touches my stomach she immediately stops whatever she's doing. It's kind of amusing. She's approximately 2.5lbs now and about 15.5 inches long. Or, for comparison sake, about the size of a butternut squash.

Other than feeling tired, I'm doing a lot better. I haven't thrown up in several weeks. I still feel really nauseous in the mornings, but if I take my anti-nausea pill as soon as possible after I wake up I can usually make it through the day without too much trouble. Certain smells and tastes still make me sick, but not like before. Every couple weeks I don't take a pill, just to see if I'm over being sick, and every couple weeks I regret it. I think I'll just keep taking it until the end. At least I can function now. The first few months were not fun.

My feet keep swelling up like crazy. Some days my ankles disappear completely. It sucks. It wouldn't look so bad if my legs weren't so small in comparison. My fingers swell, too, but not to the degree that my feet do. 

I'm starting to feel a little stressed out because we haven't done anything for the baby yet. Honestly? I haven't bought one single thing for her. I'm kind of hoping we'll get a few of our big ticket items as shower gifts, but I should still be working on getting things ready for her. I better kick my butt in gear.

TG and LM are starting to get excited, too. TG is especially fascinated with the baby. She'll spend hours with her hands on my tummy, trying to feel the baby. She never has, but that doesn't stop her from trying. LM is..well, he's a boy. I think he'll be a great big brother, but for now the baby isn't real to him.

I started growing out of my bras this last week. As if my boobs weren't big enough before. I really resent having to buy a ton of bras that I'll only use for a few months at most. Of course, MM thinks I should wear nursing bras for the rest of my life. He's tickled by the "easy access". But then he's also the moron who suggested I get a "fake rack" this size after the baby. Oh MM, if you only knew how close to death you came that day.


Speaking of MM, he's doing pretty well with the baby stuff so far. I think it's starting to get more real for him, too. We've been window shopping for baby stuff together online and in the store. He's in charge of the car seat, since there's one specific model that tested better than all the others and he has to have it. I told him to find it and we'll buy it. Not that we have yet..but someday.

I guess that's about it. There might be more, but I'm too sleepy to remember what. Maybe next time I'll post a picture of my ginormous belly.

Adventures in Billing

In June, The Girl got her braces off. She'd been wearing them for just under 2 years and had great success with them. Her teeth look amazing. We're pretty lucky, because TG is the type of girl who actually listens to the horror stories and heeds the warnings. IE, she always brushed and flossed, made sure to stay away from the no-no food list and, in general, was a model patient for the ortho. Little Man, who got his braces on a couple months ago, is not going to be the cakewalk TG was. But that's a post for another day.

I don't like TG's orthodontist office. I like her ortho just fine. He's personable and knows what he's doing. But the people who work in his office are rude and incompetent. He operates out of two offices. Twice a month he's in the office we visit. The rest of the time he's in his main office. Maybe part of the problem stems from the fact that this isn't his normal office crew.

I went to them myself for some dental work several years ago. I was told I needed a super deep cleaning, a crown and various other dental work to the tune of almost $2600. That's my out-of-pocket portion after insurance. Rather than sitting down with me and showing me a breakdown of just exactly what I needed and what the individual cost of each procedure would be - which is what I asked them to do - they tried to railroad me into starting treatment and assured me "we'd talk after". For those of you who don't know, once they do the work, you're responsible for it. Period. Long story short, we chose a different dentist (who, btw, told me I needed one filling and a regular cleaning..$10 out of my pocket) and never looked back.

Unfortunately we had already signed a contract with them for TG, so we were stuck. I've had nothing but problems with them. I called once to reschedule an appointment because TG was going to be with her dad. This would have meant she'd skip an entire month of treatment. I asked the girl in the front if it would be a problem for her to miss (meaning medically) and she said, "You still have to pay, whether you bring her in or not". And she wasn't nice about it. Ok, I wasn't asking to miss a payment. I was asking if it would hurt her MOUTH to miss a month. Cripes.

Anyway, my mom was taking TG to her ortho appts toward the end of the school year last year and I kept forgetting to send a check with her, which means I fell behind. I had an outstanding balance of $300 in June. When I took TG in for her appointment I told them I wanted to pay the acct in full and just get it out of the way. It was my fault I was behind and I didn't want to have to stress about it anymore. I paid $505.20, which included the $300 I was behind plus the $200 remaining on the contract. They told me I was done and paid in full.

Since TG had gotten her braces off and had retainers, we didn't have to go in for two months. When I took her back in August (I want to say it was 8/1 or 8/2) they told me I had an outstanding balance of  $200. I explained that I'd paid my acct in full in June and the office manager says "Yes, I see that you made a payment of $500, but you still owe for July and August". I argued with her and she said she'd audit the acct and let me know.

Naturally I forgot about it..until yesterday. They called to confirm TG's appt and mentioned something about reminding me that all payments are due at the beginning of the month. I called them back and talked to the office manager again. I reminded her of our previous conversation and also told her that I went through the original contract along with the printout of payments she gave me, and that according to both their records and mine the contract had been satisfied. She said could see that it looked like I'd satisfied the account, but she'd have to verify and we could talk about it at TG's appointment today.

So we go in and they call me up..and ask for payment. I explained, again, that we'd just spoken and the account had been satisfied in June. She said "Oh, that's right, I remember now". I told her I wanted a printout from her showing a zero balance for my records and she said she'd get one for me. TG and I went back to get her teeth looked at and when we stopped to make her next appointment the girl asked me for payment. I explained that I'd already talked to the office manager and that the acct had been satisfied. I said "She told me she'd have a printout showing a zero balance for me". The girl goes to the office manager and she replies "I have to audit the account. I know I told you I'd have it done today but I'm swamped. I promise to get to it next week."

Look, I understand being busy, but she she promised to "audit the account" two months ago. She gave me another printout of all the payments I'd made and said she'd be in touch. I said "Look, I need to get this resolved this week. I expect to hear from you no later than Friday". She gave me a frustrated look but said she'd be in touch.

I got home and decided to go through the printout again, just to make sure I wasn't mistaken. I added up all the payments and subtracted that from my original balance and..I owed $300???? WTF? I double checked my math and came up with the same answer. Feeling thoroughly confused, I went through the original payment schedule and contract and came up with a zero balance. Upon further inspection I realize the printout she gave me today starts at 01/01/2010. That's all fine and well, except TG started treatment and got her braces put on in AUGUST OF 2009! The printout is missing 3 payments from 2009.

I called and was told she's swamped but will look into it. I reiterated that I wanted to hear from her no later than the end of the week and she promised to get back to me. I have to tell you, I have zero faith that I'll actually hear from her. If I don't, I plan to go straight to the ortho. I realize he doesn't deal with the billing and etc, but he needs to know how incompetent his staff is. I also plan to file a formal complaint through our insurance company. They shouldn't be able to get away with crap like this.

It makes me wonder, how many others have actually paid the money?