Teething Sucks....I Guess...

About a week ago I noticed that Zoe was getting in two teeth on the bottom. Yup I said two teeth. She has always teethed in twos.

Well, she use to. As of Monday she was still working on the two on the bottom. They are almost through. But, when I was checking things out I noticed that she was not getting two teeth in this time. Nope....she was getting in FOUR!! Yup, FOUR. Oh and did I mention the two newest arrivals are MOLARS. So as you can imagine it has been happy, happy, fun times in our house.

Well, actually, I thought getting in her molars was going to be worse. I had heard a lot of horror stories. But I can honestly say that besides being crabby during some of the day, she has had no problems. No fevers, rashes or waking up in the middle of the night. We have had it so easy where teething has been concerned that I kinda worry what our next child is going to be like. Of course that is WAY in the future...LOL!

Wordless Wednesday-Balancing Act

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

The Story Of Zoe's Birth.....

*There is a very good reason that I am posting this story. Stick it out to the end and all will be revealed.*



As a little back story, I am not able to get pregnant on my own. It took us 2 1/2 years to get pregnant. After 1 year of trying I found out I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and had to take Clomid to become pregnant. So now onto the rest of the story.

My due date for Zoe was January 5th, 2008. That day came and went...nothing. I was not even close to dilating and she was still REALLY high. Another week went by and still nothing. Finally I was set up to be induced Monday, January 14th.

We got to the hospital around 9 pm and they gave me the Cervidil about 10 pm. They told me that the Cervidil would stay in for 12 hours then the doctor would come in, remove it and break my water. Instead, my water broke on it's own around 3:45 am. The nurse said that I had half an hour for my contractions to get strong enough and regular enough to impress her or I would get Pitocin.

A half hour later the nurse came in and shaking her head said she was definitely not impressed....LOL!! So I was introduced to the world of Pitocin. Now I have heard awful things about Pitocin and since I am such a baby about pain, I was way worried. By the way, have I mentioned that my plan was to try to go without pain meds. Ummm, yeah, WAY nervous!!

As it turns out I have a high tolerance to Pitocin. I was on it for just over 12 hours before I was in enough pain to ask for meds. The nurses were amazed. And even when I did ask, I didn't want the Epidural (needles are my enemy). So instead I got the IV drugs. (I was only 4cm at this point and Zoe was still very high.)

Sweet relief!!! Well, for a short time anyway. When the pain started to get unbearable again, I asked the nurse how long the drugs are suppose to last. When she said an hour, I told her it had been about an hour and I wanted MORE...LOL! As I was saying this my Doctor walked in looked at me and said, "Wouldn't you rather just get the epidural?" Well, being in so much pain, I just sighed "OK". I was worried about getting the epidural mostly because of the needle issue, but also because I was afraid it would slow down my labor. I was still only 4cm and I didn't think my labor needed to go any slower!!

So at about 6 pm Tuesday night I found the miracle known as the Epidural!! The relief came rapidly! I did have some side effects though. My blood pressure dropped causing me to be shaky and very nauseous. they had to give me meds to raise my blood pressure. The other side effect was less serious and in my opinion pretty funny. I lost all feeling in my right leg and it swelled up to twice its normal size. It was really weird to be able to see my leg, touch it, but could not move it to save my life. My left leg was completely numb but I could still move it. (The swelling went away within minutes of the epidural being turned off.)

My labor started to pick up the little pace then. I was starting to dilate again, but Zoe was still really high. The doctor even mentioned the big, bad "C" because she wasn't dropping. Well, I really didn't want that to happen so my new mission became doing whatever necessary. Which meant the nurses raising the head of the bed to almost 90 degrees and me facing it on my knees and then hanging over. And remember that I couldn't fell either leg and couldn't move the right one. Very uncomfortable. I even slept this way. But it worked!! She finally started moving down. YAY!!!

I was finally fully dilated around 5:15 am Wednesday morning!! The nurse and I both let out a little whoop. By the way, this nurse was the same nurse that was on Monday night when I was admitted. I had been in the hospital so long that she was back on shift again...LOL!!

The craziness began!! Other nurses started bringing in the bassinet and other equipment and the commotion woke Jarod and my SIL Jody (Iowa Geek) who was, thankfully, there to help. By that time I had already pushed a few times. But once everyone was fully awake, the pushing really began. Luckily I could feel my stomach harden during contractions so the epidural was allowed to stay, YAY!!

I remember becoming very focused while pushing. I was soooo tired and VERY ready for it all to be over. I really didn't talk to anyone between contractions except to look at Jarod and say, "Ice." for the ice chips. Towards the end I quit even saying it and would just look at him. I guess that I was so focused that I made really no noise. Jarod, Jody and the nurse all told me at one point that it was ok to make noises, but I just didn't for some reason.

Finally the nurse told me I had to stop pushing until the doctor got there. That really sucked!! I had to blow through 2 contractions and it became the only time I really said anything when I asked when the doctor was going to get there. And as luck would have it, as soon as the doctor got there, my contractions stalled!! With the nurse they were coming every minute or two. When the doctor got there we had to wait almost ten minutes. They continued to be sporadic. Eventually the doctor asked me if I wanted to try pushing without a contraction. He said that I was pushing so well that I wouldn't need the contractions.

So...at 7:19 am, Wednesday January 16th, Zoe was finally born!!!

I was really looking forward to holding her and feeding her right away. But, there was a problem. Zoe was born running a fever of 102 degrees. So after letting me hold her for about a minute, they took her right to the nursery to do blood work looking for an infection. Needless to say, I didn't get to hold her during my wheelchair ride in the private Mommy and Baby elevator to my room. It all turned out ok because her blood work came back fine and her fever broke easily. We stayed in the hospital until Friday and then brought our baby home.

We finally had our beautiful baby girl and for all you keeping track, here is a break down of the time. Admitted on Monday and released on Friday, so a whole week in the hospital. From the time my water broke until the time Zoe was born---27 1/2 hours!! I know they say the first one always takes longer, but I never expected that!! LOL!!

Ok, so now on to the burning question. Why did I write this post? Kristin at An Ordinary Life is giving away a JVC HD Camcorder. I really want to win this camera to record the major events in our lives. We are planning on trying to get pregnant again in a few months and would love to be able to capture all the gore, um I mean beauty of the moment. I also would love to be able to capture introducing Zoe to her new sibling when it happens as well. Of course, hubby will have to record that moment since I will be a blubbering mess! LOL!!

If you would like to enter to try to win this for your self, or just see the other entries, click here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Eirinn go Brách

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!! Here are some pics of Zoe along with a few Irish blessings!!

"May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.”







"May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go."

"Like the warmth of the sun
And the ligh of the day
May the luck of the Irish
Shine bright on your way."

Slán agus beannacht leat

Urgent Care Update!

Ok, so we took Zoe in to the Urgent Care Clinic yesterday morning for her wrist (full story here). She had X-rays around 10 a.m. and we were told we would get the results today. So I assumed that we would hear fairly early. Not so!! I called about 11:30...no results. Then I called again around 4:30...no results. Seriously!! How hard is it to look at an X-ray, say yup broken or nope not broken, and then give me a call!!

Well, at 6:00, 32 after the X-ray was taken, I was finally called with the result of........

NOT BROKEN!!!

The splint is off and she seems to have no pain. We are very glad this little adventure of ours has come to a happy close!!

Another First

Well this weekend we have experienced a new first. Zoe's first X-rays. Here is what happened.

Saturday night she was playing with Daddy. At one point Jarod felt Zoe's little wrist pop. She was hysterical and kept holding it with her other hand. She was able to move her fingers and when we handed her something to hold she loosely gripped it. But she couldn't lift anything. She finally fell asleep on Daddy, but if we touched or moved her arm/wrist she woke up crying. We thought about taking her to the ER, but since there was no swelling or bruising we decided to wait and see how she was in the morning.

Daddy got her up this morning and right away noticed that she wasn't using her wrist. So, off to Urgent Care we went. When the doctor came in he first told us that he thought it was Nurse Maid Elbow. He quickly discarded that thought when during his examination she didn't flinch when he touched her elbow but cried a lot when he felt her wrist. He did say that it was pretty difficult to dislocate an infant/toddler's wrist and even more difficult to fix it. Great!!

We were off to get X-rays to see if it was dislocated. BTW the X-ray tech said that she was amazed how well Zoe did (even though she cried the whole time). She said most kids Zoe's age are EXTREMELY hard to X-ray.

After reading them the doctor came back in and said, "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is her wrist isn't dislocated. The bad news is that the X-ray showed a line on her wrist." He then told us that it could just be a growth line that he is unfamiliar with and that the radiologist would have to look at it to be sure.

He ended up making her a splint since they didn't have one small enough for her little arm. Hopefully when we get the call tomorrow with the results he will tell us it is just a bad sprain and not a fracture. But if it is broken we will have to take her to a specialist to get it casted due to her young age.

So, please keep my little girl in your thoughts and I will update as soon as I find out which outcome we have!

I will now leave you with some pics of Zoe's first splint and her sling that is more cute than it is useful....LOL!!

Wordless Wednesday-Playing Ball

Zoe playing ball.

For more Wordless Wednesday head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Totally Talented Tuesday #2

It is time once again for Totally Talented Tuesday!!

On Saturday Zoe and I attended Kidsfest. Kidsfest is a HUGE fund raising event benefiting Children & Families of Iowa. I have to admit, I worked for CFI's daycare center (see this post) for almost 7 years but had never attended Kidsfest.

Well that all changed this year when we went with my friend and her son (who is 12 days older than Zoe). We had a great time!! The kids got to "play" lots of games (ok so we may have helped them some...LOL). It seemed like Plinko was a big theme this year since we played it at many vendor booths. We also spun many a prize wheel. Zoe even won mommy one free session with a personal trainer at Aspen Athletic. Wonder if she is trying to tell me something...hmmm. We also collected many edible goodies as well. One booth also had a real bunny and Zoe liked petting it.

But I would have to say that Zoe's favorite booth was the swing set put up by Back Yard Adventures. She was able to experience swinging for the first time. She LOVED it!! Lots of huge smiles, giggles and loud squeals. So it looks like we will be hitting the swings at playgrounds all summer long!!

So my Totally Talented Tuesday entry is pictures of Zoe thoroughly loving her first time on a swing! Enjoy!!

For more Totally Talented Tuesday posts visit Dee at Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House.

Back On The Job...Maybe

I mentioned in a previous post that my husband is more than likely getting laid off again in the next week or two. Since he was laid off the entire month of January, we know what to expect this time around. That being said, I have decided to be more proactive this time.

Before Zoe was born I had worked for 6 1/2 years in a daycare as a Special Needs Assistant Teacher in their Therapeutic Child Care room (behavioral disorders). When I left to become a SAHM, I was told my job was there whenever I needed it. So today I stopped by with resume in hand.

They were very excited to see me. When I told the Center Coordinator what was going on she told me to call her as soon as I know when Jarod's last day is and they will get me on the schedule right away. I told her that I only wanted part time and only afternoons. I still want to get up with Zoe and start the day with her. So more than likely I will be working from noon to 5 or 5:30. Works for me!!

It is going to be hard to be away from Zoe, but it is what I need to do for our family. And I know it will only be until Jarod gets hired on somewhere else. Plus, it will be great Daddy-Daughter time for Jarod and Zoe. So, wish me luck as I transition from a SAHM to a Part-Time Working Mommy.

Win The Body Shop's Baby Line

Kristin over at An Ordinary Life is giving away the new line of baby care items from The Body Shop. My daughter has dry skin issues so I am definitely going to be trying to win this for her.

If you would like to enter to win this for the baby/babies in your life, click here.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

The school my 11 year old niece attends has been celebrating Dr. Seuss all week long. Each day has a different theme and activity.

Well yesterday was wacky hair and clothes day. My sister sent me pics of my niece and I immediately asked if I could share them with all of you. She definitely looks wacky!!

My sister said sure....so with out further ado.....

I give you Wacky Hair and Clothes Mariah!!

Great News....Mmmmm Maybe Not

In 2007, 2 weeks after we found out I was pregnant, my husband was hired as a Lineman's Apprentice. He was now going to be making enough for me to be able to stay home with our daughter after she was born. Life was great!!

It didn't last. This November his hours were cut. Then he lost a lot of work due to weather Nov. and Dec. His paychecks were very small. Then he was laid off at the start of the year. Things were very tight and we quickly started falling behind. Luckily through his union he was hired onto another company at the end of January. He has been working long hours with lots of overtime so we are getting caught up. Things were looking up. I saw "were" because tonight he told me that when they reach the deadline on this job (in 2 weeks..maybe sooner) it is pretty certain that he will be laid off again.

So panic mode has once again set in. My goal is to get every bill caught up and start putting every spare dime into savings for future bills. Our tax refund will not be used to pay off our last credit card. It will now be banked to make sure we have money to pay the mortgage and keep power and water on. At least since we will have it we won't fall behind so easily this time.

He was told that things should pick up again in April. Hopefully he will only be laid off for 4 weeks again.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us and any advice is more than welcome!!

Wordless Wednesday-Dinner Mmmmmm!!

Zoe and her dinner last night.

For more Wordless Wednesday, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wanna Win A Pair Of Cute Crocs?

Over at my SIL Jody's blog (Iowa Geek) she put up a post about having trouble picking out a pair of new shoes. While at Blissdom she received a $50 Crocs gift certificate. She is not a fan of the typical Croc shoe. She was pleasantly suprised when she went on their site and found all the adorable shoes they have to offer.

Now onto how you can help her and win a pair for yourself. She has a poll up on her blog with her 4 picks. All you have to do is vote, visit Croc's site, and then comment on her post that you voted and then which pair of shoes (up to $50) you want.

Easy, right?!?

I voted for these-Red Celeste slip-ons in canvas.

These are the shoes I would pick for myself-

Chocolate/Choco Celeste Canvas slip-ons.

If you want to help a fellow blogger out and maybe get something for yourself in return, click here.

Win a Flip Mino HD!!

Ryan McLean from Smarter Wealth is giving away a brand new Flop Mino HD to
one lucky reader. This will be the easiest Flip Mino HD to win because
barely anyone is going to enter meaning more chances that you can
win.

The Flip Mino HD is the coolest gadget around. You can shoot one hour
of video in HD (so you can play it on your plasma) and you can even edit your
footage right on your device. This device is so small that it will fit in
your pocket so you will never miss capturing a moment ever again.

To enter all you have to do is sign up for Ryan's newsletter and post about the competition.

Check out all the details of how you can enter the Win a Flip Mino HD competition now.

Winners will be announced March 5th 2009.