Update Time...
Current mood: content
Category: Life

It has been a really long time since I wrote and updated, so I decided it was time to give at least a tidbit...

Needless to say, I keep myself pretty busy.  I've replaced my normal computer time (which used to be when I got home from work) with sleep time, so I rarely get on my computer except to check my fantasy baseball scores.  It also doesn't help that i have a brand new amazing phone (blackjack II) that has full internet, so it checks my email for me once an hour.  I don't even have to sit at my computer to read email anymore.

The baby, who is almost 12 weeks old, is amazing.  I couldn't ask for a better baby.  She still sleeps and eats well and cries when she's hungry, sleepy, or bored and wants you to talk to her.  I do have new pics, I just have to transfer them from my phone.  (soon!)  She absolutely loves for you to sit and just talk to her.   She's tries to talk back, watching your mouth as you make words and tries to mimick the sounds. 

Alex, my little man, turned 5 on Friday.  I still can't get over that.  He starts kindergarten in the fall.  I remember when he was Caroline's size.  Everyone tells you it goes so fast... it truly does.

Life is mostly back to normal.  I've gone out and gotten back into the swing of things.  I finally got to drink again and have a new favorite beer.  Baseball is in full swing and I am in heaven.  I'm sick of professional basketball and forgot how never-ending the post season is.  If I can just get my dart game back up to par...

Pictures soon.  Promise.

11:34 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The Good Doctor...
Current mood: crazy
Category: Life

I have an appointment with the good doctor tomorrow.  When I say "the good doctor," I mean the GOOD doctor.  I drive well over a half hour, probably closer to 45 minutes, to get to this doctor, so you know he's worth it.  He's the man with the happy pills.  The drugs that make me happy and calm.  And don't forget the Ambien.  (I have missed my Ambien.)  I've been waiting for this appointment for MONTHS.  I couldn't take the happy drugs while I was pregnant or nursing, so I had to wait... and wait... and wait.  I'm now free to take whatever I want (including migraine medicine) and drink whatever I want.

Whoo hoo me!  Three cheers for the good doctor!  

8:42 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Going Back to Work...
Current mood: distractable
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

I'm in the final countdown until I go back to work.  It's a damn good thing too.  The amount of money that I'm getting from disability is insulting.  (I get about $220 a week.)  Who the hell can live on that?  I can barely pay regular bills and expenses with that... forget rent!  If I was married or living with someone else to help share in the bills it would be a bit more do-able, but I can't live on that with it just being me.  Hell formula is $25 a can, and then there's diapers.  I am officially broke (actually broker than broke since I'm overdrawn...lol.)  It's a good thing she's adorable and well worth it.

I'm currently working on a small money-making project.  There is a big consignment sale in Southaven next weekend and so I'm putting all my maternity clothes into it.  That means making sure they are washed and ironed and put on hangers and all have an index card safety-pinned to them.  It's a bigger project than I had expected, especially since I really don't like ironing, but if I can sell this stuff, it will help.  Plus I get special benefits as a consigner, like the opportunity to shop first and a special half-off hour.  Hopefully I can find a few cute things to buy for the little princess. 

I've been trying to gradually change my schedule back to swing shift hours.  Not easy, but I've worked swing shift for many years, so it's natural to me.  It won't take long.  I'm not ready to go back to work by any means, but knowing that I truly have to for financial reasons is a lot of incentive.

I go to the doctor Wednesday morning and hope to go to work Wednesday night.  I'm still pissed that he wouldn't release me a week early, but at least the end is in sight.

Guess I'll be seeing some of you soon... ;-)

2:43 AM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Update...
Current mood: busy
Category: Life

For the record, I have actually tried to post a blog on two separate occasions over the last two weeks and BOTH times something happened and they were erased.  So I haven’t been posting, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying.

So my update...

Baby girl is simply amazing.  I fall in love with her every time I look at her.  She’s doing well, a few days shy of 4 weeks old.  She’s having some tummy issues, meaning some fussy times every day where she HAS to be held, but that’s pretty typical for a baby her age.  She doesn’t always let everyone sleep, so I have absolutely no set "awake/sleep" schedule.  Being a creature of habit, my body tends to stay on one schedule, so this hasn’t been easy.  Yesterday I couldn’t sleep, so I only slept from 8:30am-10:30am.  I was then up all day painting and being active, so when I got home I literally passed out from exhaustion on my bed.  All the lights in my room were still on, my glasses were on, and I was in a horrible position for sleeping, so now I am extra sore from sleeping wrong and from all the painting.  I have no clue whatsoever what time I went to sleep, but I would guess around midnight.  I was up again at 8:30 this morning.  Such strange hours for a vampire.

In health news, I lost all the weight that I gained during the pregnancy in the first two weeks, plus 5 extra pounds.  I’m wearing a size above my pre-pregnancy jeans, but I haven’t actually tried them on... I might could squeeze into them.  I hate the loose skin that I have on my tummy, but it will take time for that to go away.  I’m just glad that the weight came off easily.

I had a bad migraine that lasted for almost 3 weeks.  It would come and go in intensity, but I was able to stay functioning with good drugs.  I knew it was related to the hormone crash from going from pregnant to not pregnant, so I was just waiting it out.  It’s actually gotten better over the last day or so, so I’m hoping that it will be gone for good.

I will probably have to go back to work a week or two earlier than I had planned because Harrah’s sucks.  They only approve disability payments for 6 weeks after the birth, regardless of vaginal vs. c-section.  I only hope the doctor will release me to go back before 8 weeks.  It will all come down to finances.  (Doesn’t everything?)

Amazingly the rumor mill at work is still churning up stories about me.  I love how I’m not even there and still the topic of conversation.  They do amuse me, and there have been some really outrageous ones.  Sad thing is that I can actually now predict what the next rumor will be.  (I did this last one...lol.)

I think that’s it.  My life, though incredibly busy, is actually pretty boring right now.  Let me tell you how much I truly love that.  After all the crap over the past year, boring is beautiful.

Here’s to being boring! :-)

8:23 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

St. Patty’s Day...
Current mood: content
Category: Life

I love St. Patrick’s Day.  I always have, even before I could drink... ;-)  This year has been rather uneventful and boring by some standards, but I’ve enjoyed it nonetheless.  (Although a beer sounds really good right about now....)

I, of course, wore appropriate apparel (St. Patrick’s Day tank top) to celebrate the day, and sweet little Caroline was appropriately bedecked in her St. Patty’s Day finest.  She has a dress that I absolutely adore (since I love all things celtic and irish themed,) and so I had to make sure I got her picture in it. 

She was our little irish rose today.

As for life in general, things are going well.  I’m healing remarkably fast.   I’ve been up and moving around like nothing happened for a few days now.  Amazing since I had major surgery 11 days ago.  I’m not even supposed to drive for the first two weeks, but I rarely do things as I’m told anyway, so why start now?  Since I only gained a total of 16 pounds for the pregnancy, the weight has come off quickly.  I’ve told people that I just had a baby and they don’t believe me.  I can wear regular jeans again (though not my pre-pregnancy size 10’s,) but that’s helping me feel more normal.  It won’t be long.

Caroline is still amazingly good.  She sleeps and eats really well and doesn’t get too fussy.  I remember how terrible the first month was with Alex.  Amazing how different two babies can be.  I’m remaining skeptical about the whole deal, figuring that any minute she’ll turn on us and become a holy terror.  ;-)

In the meantime, I’m enjoying every second with her. :-) 

9:03 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Link to Caroline pics...
Current mood: loved
Category: Life

Here's a link to the hospital pictures of baby Caroline...

Pictures of Sweet Caroline

2:13 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Sweet Baby Girl...
Current mood: happy
Category: Life

This is the first time I've sat down at a computer since the baby was born, so sorry about the lack of updates or pictures.  I will get them uploaded ASAP. 

The road to recovery is slow.  I think I'm doing pretty well since someone cut me open a few days ago, but there are painkillers involved.  Drugs are my friend.  :-) 

Caroline is absolutely beautiful.  She's really been a good baby so far, but I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  The c-section went well.  It was supposed to be scheduled for 4pm, but I didn't go back until almost 5:30.  It was very quick, the whole thing taking 22 minutes (I somehow remember that fact from the operating room.)  I apparently had some problems remembering to breathe and remember the anesthesiologist nudging me and telling me to breathe then drifting and waking to a big oxygen mask on my face. 

The next day or so is kind of hazy.  I remember not feeling too badly Friday when I had really good drugs, and being in a lot of pain on Saturday.  We came home on Sunday, and everyday I feel better.  There are a lot of conversations that I either don't remember at all or are very blurry.

I just wanted everyone to know that every one and everything is fine and I promise pictures soon.

10:02 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Announcing the Arrival of...
Category: Life

Caroline Abigail. She entered the world at 532pm on Thursday, March 6th. She weighed in at a healthy 7lbs, 9oz, 20 inches long. Shes beautiful with sandy blond hair and blue eyes. We all fell in love with her instantly. Im on good drugs and feeling ok.

1:32 AM - 7 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment

So Here I Sit...
Current mood: impatient
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

So here I sit, 12:30pm, in front of my computer.  In my apartment.  (eyeroll) 

I never got to sleep this morning, but stayed up and got everything ready to go.  We head to the hospital at the scheduled time where I'm told, much like another well-known pregnant woman, that there are no rooms at the inn.  Maternity was completely full.  I'm sent to the waiting room.  After a half hour or so I'm given the option of coming back this evening or scheduling it for tomorrow.  (As you might have guessed, I opted for this evening.)  I was told to go eat something, then stop eating/drinking again for the rest of the day.  We headed straight for Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Then I came straight home for a nap. :-)

So the good news is that I got about 4 hours of sleep in.  (Bad news is that my head is killing me.)  My biggest concern is that we'll encounter the same problem when we go back and get sent home again.  I just read the weather forecast for tomorrow, and we're under a winter storm watch starting tomorrow morning, so I would REALLY rather it happen today.  (It actually sounds like there's the possibliity of nasty weather, so rare here in Mississippi.)

I'm off to take my second shower of the day and try this having-a-baby-thing again.  I have to be at the hospital at 2pm with the c-section rescheduled for 4pm.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

11:23 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The Best Laid Plans...
Current mood: restless
Category: Life

So I had a plan.  I knew that I had to be at the hospital at 5:30am for my c-section which is scheduled for 7:30.  I knew that it was going to be difficult for me to sleep the night before, so I went to bed kind of late (around 7am the night before) and slept until 11am.  Only 4 hours of sleep.  Plus I got up earlier than usual.  I figured it would give me the best chance at some sleep.

Things just didn't quite work out.  I wasn't tired, so I started doing things around the house that I had wanted to get done anyway (mostly cleaning,) thinking that I'll eventually get tired.  Seeing as how it's almost 3am and I'm typing a blog post, you can see how well that worked out.  The worst part about it all is that NOW I'm tired.  My alarm will be going off in an hour and I'm tired.  Somehow this plan of mine backfired horribly.  Now I'll be going to the hospital to have a baby on 4 hours sleep in 2 days.  Honestly I don't think I could have screwed it up any worse.

On the bright side, my apartment is pretty clean.  Not 100% spotless as I dont have the energy, but it's clean enough that the obsessive/compulsive one is satisfied.  I didn't get everything that was on my to-do list done, but I did pretty well.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch some sleep here and there at the hospital.

Baby Caroline makes her entrance into the world in 4 and a half hours.  :-)

12:44 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment