Year in Review

We were talking last night about how crazy it is that 2007 is just days away. Where did 2006 go? Looking back I realize that we've definitely had a busy, yet memorable, year.

January

• I was diagnosed with bronchitis and borderline pneumonia just after returning from our trip to Michigan. Had to reschedule my hysteroscopy and D&C.
• The mess of the "reorganization" began at work.

February

• 1st -- Hysteroscopy and D&C.
• 2 frustrating appointments with different RE's.
  
• 19th -- 6 year wedding anniversary and annual trip to Moab.

March

• 12th -- First positive pregnancy test.
• Progesterone injections start.
• Morning sickness kicks in.
• Reorganization at work starting to get really ugly.
  

April

• 5th -- See heartbeat on Ultrasound.
• Trips to ER for morning sickness/dehydration/migraines start.
• Diagnosed with hyperemesis.
  
• 18th -- PICC line inserted.
• C and I start looking for new work opportunities.

May

• New jobs found in Idaho.
• Progesterone injections stopped.
• PICC line comes out.
• Everything we own is packed up and carted off by the moving company.
• We embark on our new lives in Idaho.

June

• I deal with the hassle of the movers.
• I deal with the inconvenience of the condo.
• Waiting on the official job posting for my job.
• Start looking for a house in Idaho.
• Job interview.
  

July

• 20 week ultrasound.
• Still on Zofran for hyperemesis.
• Start job.
• Field Day for work.
• Sold house in Utah.
  
• Offer accepted on house in Idaho.

August

• Swelling starts.
• Travel for my sister's wedding in Michigan.
• Close on house.
• Begin moving in.
• Swelling gets really bad.
• Put on modified bedrest.
• Mother in law comes to help paint.
• My 28th birthday.
  
• Borderline results for glucose tolerance test.
• Baby measuring way ahead.
  

September

• Officially moved into new house.
• Still on Zofran for hyperemesis.
• Swelling continues to be a concern.
• Baby still measuring big.
• Baby breech.
• 21st -- Nephew born.
  
• 23rd -- Baby shower in Detroit.
• Potato Harvest.

October

• Officially an Idaho resident (got Driver's License).
• Still on Zofran for hyperemesis.
• Swelling still a concern.
• Baby still big.
• Baby still breech.
• 16th -- Blood pressure skyrockets.
• Nursery finished.
• Diagnosed with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH).
• C's 30th Birthday.
• Halloween

November

• 1st -- External version successful, baby no longer breech.
• 10th -- Water breaks.
• 11th -- K born via c-section.
• 14th -- Home from hospital.
• 16th -- Grandma comes to visit for 10 days.
• 23rd -- Thanksgiving.
• 23rd -- In laws come to visit for 10 days.

December

• My sister comes to visit.
• Preparations for the holiday.
• Christmas.
• My boss resigns.
• No idea what will happen with my job.

Wow...quite a busy year. What did you do in 2006?

That Sinking Feeling

You know that horrible feeling you get in the pit of your stomach just before the sh!t really hits the fan? When life gets really ugly before it gets better...

Well, I've got that wonderful feeling.

You know that amazing job opportunity that caused C and I to sell our house in Utah and pick up and move for? That one that allowed me to work with a fantastic boss and have the incredible opportunity to work from home?

That fantastic boss turned in his resignation this morning.

F*ck me.

6 Weeks, already??

It hardly seems that Baby K is 6 weeks old today. Seems like just yesterday that my water broke. Just yesterday when we bundled her up and brought her home from the hospital. Just yesterday that my mom was here for Thanksgiving. But it's been longer than that. Time continues to roll by, filling our days with smiles, tears and wonderful new memories.

Katie is growing, growing, growing. I had to buy new onesies for her the other day, moving up to the 3-9 month ones. The 0-3 month sizes (in the plain white ones) are starting to get snug. To the point where when we snap them at the bottom they pull the neckline down and look silly. Part of it is due to the bulkiness of the cloth diapers (they're definitely not as stream-lined as "sposies") but she's also getting wide enough through the chest and belly that they're tight that way too. Funny thing though, is that most of the onesies that belong to outfits (that are Carter brand, Old Navy, GAP, etc.) in size 0-3 still fit fine. It's just those danged white Gerber ones that are too short. Poor girl is gonna be like her mom and inherit my short legs and like her dad and inherit his longer torso. I'm not sure how much she weighs now or how long she is, but my guess is that she's over 10 pounds now. I keep thinking that I'm going to get out my cloth measuring tape from my sewing box and measure her, but I keep forgetting.

It's been really fun to watch her hair grow too. It's getting super, super light. She's definitely going to be blonde. One of our friends was here from Utah the other day and L said that she looked like she was gonna be strawberry blonde. I could handle that. But her hair is getting longer and longer. The hair on top of her head is probably at least an inch long now and when it's wet it's got beautiful waves/curls to it. I keep hoping that she'll also inherit her dad's curls and the light, bright blonde hair I had as a kid. What mom of a little girl doesn't hope for a beautiful head of blonde curls to play with?

I'm glad to report that I did manage to get Christmas cards out in the mail Wednesday of this week! No gifts for friends (sorry for everyone that's gotten something in the past) but at least cards containing well wishes for the holidays. My shopping for C is done too, thankfully! And just about everything taken care of for family. I know, I know, Christmas is only 2 days from now, but my mom and sisters aren't celebrating until next weekend, so I have a few days to get a couple of things wrapped up. I just can't find this one thing that I'm looking for...doesn't that drive you nuts when that happens?

This week has been busy, filled with outings for shopping and Christmas parties. It's amazing how much more difficult it is to get the family showered, dressed and ready to go outside! I think I really took for granted how easy it was before Katie was born to just jump in the car and run a quick errand. Now it's a much more elaborate ordeal.

We (baby and I) tried to go grocery shopping on Thursday night while C went out to do Christmas shopping. As soon as I walked through the sliding doors at Wally-World, K spit up ALL over. I had the blanket over the top of her infant carrier so I didn't know at first. I put the carrier in the cart, dropped the diaper bag in the main part of the cart (directly underneath the carrier) and pulled the blanket back. Wow! K had spit up just about all of the feeding she ate just before leaving home. It was on the underside of the blanket, all over her jacket and soaked through to her shirt, her mitten was soaked and the best part--it ran down the carrier and out the slots in the bottom where the straps weave through the plastic. It then ran down all over the top of the diaper bag that was sitting underneath. So we trucked our way to the back of the store to the family restroom. Thankfully the diaper bag always contains an extra change of clothes. Twenty minutes later we emerged in fresh, dry clothes (and of course a new diaper) to discover that someone had taken off with our cart. Grrr. Back to the front of the store we went for a new cart and onto our shopping experience. If it wasn't for the fact that our fridge was empty, I probably would have just walked right out to the car and gone home. The joys of going out with an infant...

Well, nursing calls. As usual. I apologize for my lapse. Lately it seems as though my days are blending together and there is very little differentiation between them. Leaving not much of interest to blog about. But I'll try to stay updated, I promise. I'm also trying to put together a site specifically for the baby so this blog can go back to "my" space. Crazy, I know, to try to keep up with two sites but the baby site is also planned for people that I haven't shared this address with...

But I leave you with holiday wishes from the family...

'Tis the Season

Can anyone explain how it all of the sudden got to be the middle of December already? Somehow it's only 11 days from the holiday and I haven't even started decorating, shopping or writing out Christmas cards. Usually by now all 3 projects have been completed and I'm reveling in the fact that I can sit home and enjoy the peace and quiet, watching all of the frantic people rushing to get everything done in time.

Oh, yeah. I had a baby. I guess that explains why I have absolutely nothing done and will be incredibly grateful if everything does get done on time.

I love the holidays and enjoy all of the pre-Christmas "stuff" that needs to get done. C and I tend to disagree on the amount of stuff that I actually do. In a normal year, I address and send out close to 75 Christmas cards, make cookie/candy trays for 10-15 friends and neighbors and shop for around 20 people. The list of card recipients is so numerous because of our tendency to relocate to a new state after a few years. Every move causes the list to grow slightly. Add this to the fact that C has an enormous family and you get the point. It seems too as though the tradition of sending cards is slowly being eroded as every year the amount we receive dwindles. It's sad because I absolutely LOVE getting Christmas cards. The cookie/candy trays were made for the neighbors we were the closest too and then all of the friends that we felt warranted more than just a card. It was easier (and cheaper) for me to spend a Saturday baking and making other goodies than to go out and try to buy gifts for everyone. And gifts -- the number is higher than many people, once again for the amount of C's family we buy for. We have 3 times as many people to buy for on his side than mine!

This year I'm afraid that all of my pre-Christmas activities are going to be pared down considerably. I doubt that I'll do any cookies and candy for the neighbors and the few friends we've made so far here in Idaho. Plus, the card list will be seriously re-evaluated and trimmed down.

I promise, the thought is there and I'm trying as hard as I possibly can to get into the holiday spirit. Please know that I'm thinking of all of you and your families during the holiday season. Even if you don't get a card or a cookie!

Shoes, Shoes, My Wonderful Shoes

This is probably going to seem like a trivial post but it's something that has been a real joy in my life the past week or so. I know that some of you will understand completely.

Obviously, I had some horrible, horrible swelling when I was pregnant with KT. One of the most frustrating aspects of the swelling was finding shoes that fit my growing feet. Many of you probably remember me struggling to find shoes for my sister's wedding. It had gotten to the point at the end of my pregnancy where the only shoes that fit were either size 10 wides (I normally wear an 8) or this one pair of black flip-flops that I had stretched the heck out of.

I was so afraid that my feet wouldn't totally go back to normal size after having the baby. I've talked to many women who end up needing shoes a 1/2 or full size larger after giving birth. By no means do I have a phenomenal shoe collection, but what I have has taken me a couple of years to put together. After my last job, where I had to dress up--business casual--I finally got to the point where I had most of the basics down. You know, a variety of styles in enough colors/shades to compliment just about any outfit choice. Including a couple of pairs that I absolutely loved. I've fretted since mid-summer that I'd have to start building my shoe collection all over again.

Good news though!

Although a couple of pairs are slightly more snug than before, so far I can get my feet back into all of my favorites! Yay! C was laughing at me the other day as I ran around the house, clad in pj's, with one of my favorite pairs of heels on. I'm sure that it was a sight to see. So now I yearn for a reason to put my favorite dress pants on (which are slightly too big right now, as opposed to a touch too tight) just so that I can wear my wonderful shoes.

I am silly, I know. But it really is the small things in life that can make you smile.

Chunky AND Snotty

A trip to the pediatrician's office yesterday confirmed two things.

#1, baby girl is gaining weight the way they want her to. She weighed in yesterday at almost 9 pounds. The scale teetered between 8 pounds 15 ounces and 9 pounds. That calculates to 6 ounces gained in 6 days -- right on track. Average weight gain should be 5-7 ounces for "non-formula fed" infants.

#2, baby girl has a "little bit" of a cold. She's been snotty for a few days now and it had started to affect her nursing. She would only eat for 10-15 minutes at a time but then wanted to eat every 45 minutes to an hour. Plus she's all snorty and gaggy and incredible fussy. The snorty/gaggy aspect had gotten to the point where she'd wake herself up because she couldn't breathe very well. Good news is that it hasn't gone into her chest or her ears. Bad news is that we just have to ride out the snottiness, crankiness, frequent nursings and constant need/want to be held.

So, both good and bad "news" from yesterday's visit. I'm extremely happy about the weight gain -- I was afraid they'd recommend we start supplementing her with formula. And as for the cold, it is winter and to be expected. Hopefully it clears up quickly. Plus, I really don't mind an excuse to comfort/pamper my little one even more.

22 Days Post-Partum

It's hard to believe that little Kathryn is now just over three weeks old. It's even harder to figure out where all my time goes during the day. I realize that I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up to date with anyone. E-mails, phone calls and blog updates get bypassed for showers, naps and tending to baby girl.

So here's the scoop on what's been going on...

We're actually on our own again, since just after Kathryn was born. My mom spent ten days with us and my in-laws spent nine. It was wonderful to have family here, especially for Thanksgiving. It's been a long time (since 1999) that we spent Turkey Day with anyone other than friends. It was great too to have the extra hands around here to help with meals, housework and holding Kathryn while I took a shower. Kathryn and I will be on our own during the day, until my sister gets here on Friday. So there's a good chance that we'll both still be in our jammies when C gets home from work tomorrow!

Physically I'm doing really well -- minus the sleep deprivation. My incision has healed really, really nicely. I still have numbness around the site but am told that will last quite a while until the nerves heal (if they ever do completely). I really forget that I had major surgery 3 weeks ago and find myself quite often doing more than I should be. I'm also surprised that I'm down at least 15 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. I haven't done anything at all to lose any weight. If anything, I eat junk way too often because it's the easiest thing to grab out of the cabinet. But the weight keeps dropping and I'm fitting nicely into jeans that I used to have to squeeze myself into. My blood pressure has come down too so I'm weaning off of the medication.

Kathryn is doing really well too. She's still a really great baby and fusses very little. Although I will say that when she does get cranky, watch out because she's a real bear! I think that we've both gotten the hang of nursing. One pitfall is that she's still slightly below her birthweight so her doctor is recommending that I feed her every two hours during the day. By the time you wake her up, nurse off of one side, burp her, change her diaper, nurse off the other side, burp her and change her again, then get her settled back down, it's taken 60-90 minutes. So we're looking at only 30 minutes sometimes until the process starts ALL over again. Thankfully though, when she goes down around 11pm she sleeps a good 5-6 hours straight so C and I can get a solid chunk of sleep to start the night off with.

It's amazing how much she's changed in three weeks already and how much I see she's grown. Even if the scale isn't showing a tremendous increase in her weight. We very much enjoy our naptimes together mid-afternoon



and I absolutely love watching her with her dad. The two of them melt my heart.



After all the heartache, headaches and struggles we went through to get to this point, it makes me appreciate her all that much more.