Will I ever be good at blogging?

After watching the movie "Julie and Julia" (an amazing movie), I realized the neglect that has been done to my blog. Not all things on this blog will be baby-centered, but be prepared to hear lots about my little joy.

Being a mom has always been something that I knew I wanted to do. I knew I would love my child and spending time with her, but oh my word!! Nobody warned me that I would come to love (and like) her more every day. Last week was Lee's first seminary class since Nina was born. She and I were alone all week. I was so scared that she would have some horrid accident or come down with a life-threatening disease in the 4 days he was gone. I was wrong (Praise Jesus!) and she and I enjoyed a week of girl time. I used to dread Lee's weeks in seminary like I dread going to Wal-Mart in December. We would spend most evenings frustrated with the lack of cell phone service and intensity that his courses require. I used to look forward to the night they would leave Parchment Valley to go to Gino's Pizza for Two for Tuesdays because I knew the cell service would be consistent. This class, however, we had the joy of webcams! Several times during the day, Lee would be able to chime into the mecca of girl-time. Every night, he would "go" with me as I tucked Nina in and would be able to pray with us. First seminary class= great success!

This week marks the end of my stay-at-home-mom era. I can't believe that it's time for it to be over! When I was on bedrest and had to miss the first day of school, I thought that by the time the second semester came around, then I would be ready to go back to work- boy was I badly mistaken! I have gotten so accustomed to our little life of me being home and playing homemaker! My house and life has felt so under control. The time of dread started probably in October when I realized how quickly the first two months had gone by and I knew the next two would be equally as fast. So, here we are. I went to school today to somewhat get my bearings and prepare for the return to the world of early mornings and high-heels. I have missed my coworkers and students, but the thought of not smelling like spit-up and carrying a diaper bag everywhere is a little unsettling!

I am so lucky for my child-care workers to be my husband, mother, mother-in-law, and close friend. I know they all love Nina and will take such good care of her. As I started to wallow in my self-pity of all of the things I would miss, I was so convicted by the things I was failing to see. While singing in our praise band on Sunday, I had the realization that I was choosing to fail to see the fact that I had been called to teach and to minister to my students everyday. The place I have the opportunity to go to every morning, isn't just a job, but my place of ministry and my mission field. I had been praying for a peace that passes understanding, and I found it.

Stay tuned for more consistent blogging-hopefully...

Whoa baby!

Now that I've gotten all the drama out of delivery, let's discuss the fruits of my labor! I briefly got to hold Nina before I went to surgery, but only for a few minutes. It wasn't until I was back in my room for a bit, did they bring her to my room. Lee says that he's never seen someone completely change as I did once they wheeled that tiny bundle in. Because I was in surgery/recovery for so long, they had to give Nina a bottle of formula (anyone who knows how obsessed I am about breastfeeding knows that Lee was scared to tell me this piece of information. It was the first thing I said to him when I got to see him after surgery "They had to give her a bottle, didn't they?" haha). Due to my fluid loss, all of my colostrum dried up, so we had to supplement with formula until my milk came in (9 days later). I would nurse for 20-30 minutes and then she would get a small amount of formula.

Having a newborn was easy as pie in the hospital; when I wanted to sleep, the nursery came to get her. They would bathe her, clean her belly button, change her diaper, whatever we needed! I totally thought I was set to roll with this newborn thing. I mean, whoever said that it was hard, was completely crazy, right?! ;) haha Then we came home. The first night I thought, "Um, baby, I don't know if you know what I went through to get you, but I'm tired and need sleep. So, please just be quiet and we'll be fine!" Oh my word was that first week's sleep (or lack thereof) completely crazy! She slept fine during the day, but we were doing great to get 90 minutes uninterrupted sleep. The second night, I called mom at 4:00am to see what in the world I was doing wrong. Who knew that this was normal?! At this point, I had to take a minute to regroup and figure out how in the world to get this child on a schedule so we could sleep. Babywise: an incredible book on sleep patterns and schedules that guarantees a full night's sleep between 7-9 weeks. Here we are at 5 weeks, and she's doing great! It isn't recommended that a newborn sleep for longer than 5 hours without eating and she's currently sleeping for 4 1/2 hours.

I've been asked if being a mom was surreal and the answer is simple: yes! At her first appointment at the pediatrician, they called for "Nina's mom" and I giggled like I did the first time Lee was referred to as "your husband".

After we were home for 2 days, we noticed Nina was getting irritated in the diaper area. At this point, we decided to make the switch to our cloth diapers. We are so excited about our decision to use these diapers. Everyone's cautioning has proven to be false.

1) Our house doesn't smell like poop. The only time we smell anything is the few times we've used disposables

2) No folding required. A little stuffing, but, it honestly takes 20 minutes every 3 days

3) It will save between $2,000-$3,000 a kid

4) Lee and I both have crazy sensitive skin and this takes away the issues of diaper rash which also saves time and money with creams.

We basically love them!

More details on the growing baby to come soon!!

The day they said "let's have a baby!"

I woke up on Monday, August 30, to get ready for another ultrasound and doctor's visit. Lee had a particular amount of energy this morning and I found him unloading the dishwasher and checking the car seat (again) to be sure it was installed right. We had been told to come to every doctor's appointment with bags packed to be ready in case induction was going to happen. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby girl who was breathing up a storm. sOnce we got checked into the doctor, my bp was up to 151/110 and protein was showing in my routine urinalysis. My preeclampsia had gone from "mild" to "severe" and we were off to the hospital to be induced. They checked me at the office and I was dilated to 2 cm! We went straight to the hospital and got checked in. We were so excited to see Rhonda (my nurse from the preeclampsia stay) working and got to meet Shauna, my nurse for the day shift. The midwife came in to check me and I was already to 3 cm. I had dilated a centimeter in 45 minutes! (We're convinced I was on my way to going into labor on my own anyway) They broke my water, started pitocin, and we were off! Debbie Crowder (the midwife) informed me that they would need to start magnesium to keep my preeclampsia in check and to fight off possible seizures. I knew that mag wasn't a good thing. I knew it would make me loopy and probably make me throw up. I asked her how low my bp needed to be to avoid it. She said my bottom number needed to be in the 80's. The 80's?! Was she nuts?? I hadn't seen it that low since June! We get on the horn and start calling people to pray for that very specific need. I told Debbie to give me 20 minutes and if it wasn't down, I'd let her start the mag. Praise Jesus, it instantly started to go down and never again went above 88. Crisis avoided! Shauna left the bag of magnesium beside my bed so that we could continue to have a prayer point.

Labor continued like it should. Contractions on pitocin made me nuts (as I had heard they would) and I got my epidural when I dilated to 6 cm. I was able to start to get some rest, as did mom, and I let Lee cuddle with me while I enjoyed being pain free. At this point, I had met my night nurse (soon to be a friend), Misty, who was with us every second of the delivery process. When I got to a 9, I started to feel the contractions again and quickly went to a 10. I had been told that the urge to push was one of the strongest urges you'll ever feel, and man, were they right. But finally! Something could be done with the pain! With Lee, mom, and Misty with me, I started pushing at 3:15. What a surreal feeling! I remember thinking, "holy cow! I'm having a baby!" The midwife, Zion, was brought in and at 5:21, Nina Claire Boso was born weighing 6 lb 11.6 oz and measuring 19 inches long. She was perfect. The look on Lee's face when she was born was something I will never forget. I was still in shock as to how easily I could breathe and that I had just had a baby!

After we had all admired this new little wonder, Zion brought in Dr. Wolfe to help finish up with things. This is when things started to go downhill. About 40 minutes after delivery, my ears started ringing and I started seeing spots. At this point, a massive hemorrhage started from my uterus. I was an idiot who knew no better (heck, I'd never had a baby before!) and I laughed it off and apologized to everyone. I began to feel a tad more normal again and then a few minutes later, more hemorrhaging. At this point, I feel like I'm on an episode of ER. Nurses are buzzing everywhere, they call for O- blood stat, my blood pressure keeps falling (it was as low as 40/20), Nina is taken out of the room, I was in and out of consciousness, and I continued to ask Shauna (who was coming back on shift) if I was dying. (Typing about it just feels so weird that it was happening to me.) They apparently stuck me to draw blood and no blood came. The blood and fluids were started and I was wheeled down to the OR for immediate surgery. I have been told that I was a gray'ish green color and I continued to ask my OR nurse (I think her name was Cindy) if I was going to die. (Why did I harass these poor women and make them answer a question that they weren't sure of themselves??) There were anesthesiologists, nurses, and doctors everywhere. I knew I was dying, but was too sick to care.

The next thing I know, I'm in recovery. After being there for a while, I am taken to my room that has been turned into an ICU room in Labor and Delivery. Shauna was my nurse all day and I was hooked up to so many machines! I found out later that I had a condition called "placenta accreta". This is where the placenta adheres to the uterine wall and causes trauma after delivery. Most of these cases are in post-C-Section cases. Unfortunately, there is no way of diagnosing or predicting it. The accreta had left part of the placenta in my uterus that they were able to remove during surgery. After they determined they were able to save my life, a hysterectomy was considered, but luckily avoided. After surgery, I was considered "stable but not out the woods yet". I had been given 4 units of blood during surgery and 2 more the next day. By Friday, I was able to surprise my doctors and was sent home, on medicine, but home nonetheless.

I delivered when I was 37 weeks and 3 days. Who knows if the accreta would have caused more problems if I had gone the full 40 weeks. Also, I was told that magnesium could have increased my bleeding and made things much worse (could they have gotten worse??). Lucky for me, my hemoglobin was already at a 12 (12-14 is considered normal) before I went into labor giving me as much blood to work with as I could. I swear there are no coincidences in this world. God put every nurse, midwife, and doctor where He did in that 18 hours because they would be instrumental in saving my life. It has been 3 1/2 weeks and I still find myself washed with emotion to God's faithfulness. I can't sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness" without sobbing on the line "Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me".

When we were driving home from the hospital, I realized I had been given a new lease on life. I saw the horizon differently. Things that used to upset me seemed so small in the joy of new life for me and my tiny bundle of joy (did I mention that she was perfect??). God's faithfulness to me and my family can't be expressed. and the faces that were with me (Dr. Rainey, Dr. Wolfe, Misty, Shauna, and Rhonda) will never be forgotten. Instead of looking on that week with horror, I look at it gratefully for the deliverance that we experienced and the love I was given.

3rd trimester

Well, I have no excuse for my lack of posting since I was on bedrest... or maybe that WAS my excuse since I did absolutely nothing! For most of July and the first part of August, I was on "activity restriction" due to my blood pressure being up. I really missed walking and doing some of the basic things, but took it in stride. I think I've seen every episode of every show TLC has ever made. I had 2 awesome baby showers (one at Summersville Baptist and one at Breckenridge Baptist), we went to the beach (what a fiasco with me!), and I watched other people remodel my bedroom. The beach trip was awesome with the family, but I wasn't allowed to do much and my body let me know if I did too much. Generally, I woke up, laid by the pool, sat in the pool, took a nap, went to dinner, went to bed. One day, we went to the outlets and after 45 minutes, my feet wouldn't fit in my shoes. Such a bummer!

I started to notice something might be more than "a little high blood pressure" after I saw pics from my shower at BMBC. My nose had swollen so much that I barely recognized myself. Having a close friend who had had preeclampsia, I knew that was a symptom. I continued to be on weekly doctor's visits and they kept a close eye on everything, but there still was no protein in my urine. (I totally hate that word). I spent one day not on my butt all day, and that was the day Sarah Beth and Matt got hitched; what an awesome weekend! But by the end of it, I was pooped and had a rather bad headache. I took my blood pressure regularly for the next 2 days and it continued to stay up, really up. I went to teacher's first day of school and awaited a phone call back from my OB. When I heard from him, he wanted me to be seen the next morning and he told me to bring clothes for a possible hospital stay (ugh). He was right, they checked me in for monitoring and to do a 24 hour urine (eww) collection. That was such an awkward test! I had to pee in a hat, and then pour it into this container and store it in a cooler in my bathroom (a tailgating nightmare). After 24 hours, they tested all that had been collected for protein and voila! protein. I had a case of mild preeclampsia and was officially on real bedrest. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm not good at being still. I looked forward to my biweekly doctor's visits where I had monitoring once a week and an ultrasound once a week. I would shave my legs, straighten my hair, do anything that made me feel like a human again. Just awaiting the words "lets have this baby!".

The bedrest helped with some of my swelling (eventhough I didn't recognize myself and I laughed when Lee told me I was beautiful). Lee brought as much of his work home to help me out as he could. He was a champion who never said "Do you really need another glass of water??". I took Benadryl at night to try to get some sleep between my 6 pee breaks a night. But still, being pregnant wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. The worst part, for me, was being concerned for Nina's safety if my bp went up and they wanted to take her before shew as ready. Just a waiting game at this point...

Long time, no post...

So, I was recently informed that it had been forever since I had posted on the blog (Sorry Caitilin and Allie). There has been so much going on! Since my last post, school let out, we got settled into a summer routine, had to take my Spanish praxis exam, a Busch Gardens trip was planned, VBS happened, and camp happened. whew!!

I was really excited to get to summer. By the end of school, I was pooped and knew that my body was ready for a summer of resting some. It was really weird closing out school. I was trying to get as organized as possible so that whenever August comes around, me or my sub will have everything squared away. I just had way too much fun with my label maker.

My Praxis exam was the Saturday after I finished out school and I was one stressed-out chica about it all. I had to get up and be on the road by 5:15 on that morning to drive to WV Wesleyan. Once I got there, there were only 2 of us taking the exam and we started at exactly 7:30... which wouldn't have been a problem other than that's when Nina wakes up every morning. She started rolling, hiccupping, kicking my bladder, and just generally making herself very well known. I had to take time out to go the bathroom just to get relief enough to finish the test. Lucky for her, I passed the test, so I won't hold it against her!

Lee had scheduled a trip to an amusement park with the youth as we do every year. This year's trip was planned to go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. My original plan was to go and hang out while the group was riding. As the trip approached and we got a definite forcast, we decided that it probably wasn't in mine or the group's best interest for me to go with them. After hearing that it definitely was in the upper 90's, lower 100's while they were there, I was happy with my decision to hang in the AC.

The next week was VBS which I was assigned to do preschool music. Sunday evening (the first night of VBS), I wasn't feeling well. I was rather swollen and felt cruddy. Monday, I felt better, but we couldn't go to VBS because of our childbirth classes. Tuesday, I had my glucose test and my doctor decided to see me while I was there. I was scared of the glucose test because I had heard so many horror stories. It was honestly no big deal at all!! I passed it with flying colors. While I was meeting with my doctor, we found that my blood pressure was running a good bit higher than he was comfortable with. He told me that he wanted me to rest as much as possible. Since preschool music involved lots of dancing and motions, we decided it probably wasn't the best idea for me to finish the week. So, I was planted firmly on my couch. After my appointment, I stopped by mom's office to say hi to her as I was leaving town. While I was there, she got a phone call from dad saying that he had fallen off of a ladder at the church and he was pretty sure he had broken his shoulder. Many x-rays, CT scans, and a 3 hour surgery later, he had busted his left humerus into at least 5 large pieces, and shattered the joint connecting to the shoulder. He also ripped off his rotator cuff. What a mess we were!!

All of that drama was on Tuesday and camp started on Sunday. Dad is a co-director, and typically I have my nose in the middle of everything. When I woke up on Tuesday, the plan was for me to lead girls' Bible study and campfire. After my bp started to be wonky, I wasn't allowed to do either. Due to my need to nap everyday and my frequent night-time peeing, we had already decided that I wouldn't counsel a cabin. After another doctor's appointment on Tuesday revealed that my bp wasn't showing much improvement and my swelling was increasing, I wasn't released of my "take it easy" status, so I resumed making sure dad was resting well and I kept the rocking chairs on the dining hall porch quite busy. As as the week progressed, so did my swelling and my bp continued to be problematic. So, I left before breakfast this morning to come home and put myself back on the couch as much as possible.

Our house is under massive reconstruction (Lee has been nesting this whole pregnancy and it has hit an all-time high). Our bedroom is being completely redone and the nursery is almost finished. I will blog pics about all of that super soon!

Full of Grace

Well, I realize that I have slacked a lot on posting. 2 reasons can justify my tardiness: 1) things have been crazy with the end of school and 2) nothing exciting has been happening! Both of us continue to grow at an astronomical rate. My bellybutton is starting to pop out and is 3/4 of the way flat with the rest of my stomach. She kicks what seems like nonstop and has the hiccups at least twice a day.

The nursery construction is fully underway. Lee is spending today framing in a new closet for her and my diaper stacker (that matches the pattern) is in and I am so excited to see the finished product (Check Lee's facebook for nursery progress pictues).

This week is graduation week. The seniors have taken their finals and the teachers are all getting ready for the graduation ceremony tomorrow. My job has been to stuff the diplomas (put the actual diploma in the fancy leather case and put the plastic sheet over it and put into an envelope with their name on it). As I sat there and read each diploma, I was struck with the realization that every student who is graduating, that has their name written on that diploma, spelled a certain way, is that way because when their mom's were pregnant with them, they loved that name. As we are in the final stages of selecting a name for our daughter, I have realized why so many of my friends have chosen to not say the name they have chosen until he/she arrives. It has amazed me how opinionated people can be about a name (especially a name that the mom and dad think is perfect). Lee is also afraid of meeting her for the first time and deciding that she doesn't look at all like that name. Maybe we'll have one solidified by then and maybe not. But I have decided that, from now on, to not criticize anyone's selection for a name for their child (whether publically or privately) because those parents adored that name. My current favorite name, in Russian, means "full of grace". That is our prayer for this little one; that as she approaches a life outside of my belly, that whatever life hands her, she will be full of God's grace.

And now we know the rest of the story...

So, on my last post, I expressed my concern over my ginormous size at this stage of the game. Many of my students were predicting that my ultrasound would find two babies, instead of just one. People's eyes would bug out of their head when I told them how far along I was. It was as if they were saying "Wow! You're going to be a hippo by the time this baby arrives!"

So, on Tuesday, the ultrasound came and we found out that we are having a girl! You could have knocked us over with a feather at that news! Her sweet little face was just so precious. As you can see above, she enjoys sucking her thumb (which is what I did until I saw in 2nd grade). Near the end of the ultrasound, I mentioned that many people thought that there were 2 babies in my belly. She said that she was sure there was only 1, but that she was quite a big girl. She went on to say that she's currently weighing 15.2 ounces. At 20 weeks, most babies weigh 10.5 ounces. She's in the 94th percentile for weight. No wonder I'm huge!!

Now that we have a gender, we're ready to start the balls rolling! The registries have started and we're trying to change our pronoun usage from "it" or "he/him" to "she/her". Such an exciting time right now!!