A birth story quiz!

Saw this on my friend Jana's site and thought I'd post it on mine too! It's pregnancy/birth questions about me and Reagan!

Were you married at the time? Yes, for 3 years.

What were your reactions when you found out that you were pregnant? I was in shock! We'd been trying but I still couldn't believe it was really happening!

How old were you? 28 when she was born.

How did you find out that you were pregnant? I had been charting my temps (using FAM) and I had a 'triphasic chart', which usually almost always indicates pregnancy, but I didn't want to test and be disappointed again. So, we went out hiking with our friends Kelly and Ben and when we got home, I thought, well maybe I'll go ahead and take a test. I did and it was a very faint positive (because it was late afternoon!)

Who did you tell first? I SCREAMED for Josh and asked him if he saw what I saw!

Did you find out the sex? YES! I knew she was a girl!!

Due date? I'm trying to remember, but I think it was January 16, 2007.

Did you deliver early or late? I delivered her 4 weeks early via an emergency c-section due to complications.

Did you have morning sickness? Like you wouldn't believe. At week seven, I became horribly nasausated and would just sit huddled in a ball praying to throw up. Finally, about week 10?? I started throwing up, so violently that I would always throw up blood. I continued to throw up daily and sometimes several times a day until seven months.

What did you crave? NOTHING. Actually, that's not true! At week five, I craved meat and avacados. After that came the morning sickness and I wouldn't eat for days...maybe a bite or a bite there at times! The smell of garlic, the smell of the outdoors..everything made it worse!!

Who irritated you most? Josh..even though he was also the most helpful!

What was your first child’s sex? A girl, obviously!

How many pounds did you gain throughout your first pregnancy? Let's see, I gained about 6 until I went on the Gestational Diabetes diet (how, I have no idea), then I gained 10 more (luckily that was about month seven when the m/s went away!)...Total was about 22, most of it was water weight at the end that I began retaining. The week after I had her, I had lost 40 lbs.

Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? YES. High blood pressure, pre-e, gestational diabetes, SEVERE morning sickness, -Rh, swelling, migraines, severe anemia...I can't remember what else. I was put on bedrest in the second trimester and stayed there until Reagan began developing complications which led to an emergency c-section.

Where did you give birth? in a hospital.

How many hours were you in labor? I wasn't. I went in for one of my twice weekly non-stress tests at 10 am, which led to more tests, then I was sent home while my doctor contacted specialists and gathered up the pediatric cardiologist, and got all the appropriate personnel gathered, as well as putting the emergency helicopter and Children's Hospital on standby. Reagan was born that evening at 8:39.

Who drove you to the hospital? Josh. We were both very scared!

Who watched? An entire slew of doctors and nurses and Josh. Unfortunately, they were in such a hurry, they didn't cover up the operation, so Josh viewed the entire surgery..including watching me almost bleed out.

Was it vaginal or c-section? C/Section. Thank God for miracles!

Did you take medicine to ease the pain? mmm, yeah! LOL! Actually I was pumped with quite a bit of medicine because of the problems during the surgery. I didn't feel anything for a long time and my head was quite floaty as well...I did try NOT to take medicine as much as I could..I hated that feeling!

How much did your baby weigh? 6 lbs, 5 oz....a good bit of that was fluid that had collected on her. When she finally came home she had lost the fluid weight and actually gained a little bit. She came home at 5 lbs 5 oz.

What did you name your first born baby? Reagan.

How old is your first born today? She is 22 months!

Ten Things I Love About Fall

Jana posted this on her website and I thought I would write my top favorite fall things!

1. Pumpkins! "I love pumpkins, every kind, every size!"--"I Like Pumpkins" by Jerry Smath
2. Crunching through the leaves
3. Baking
4. The GORGEOUS scenery..the colors up here are amazing!!
5. Craft festivals
6. The smell in the air (we live in a part of town that used to be an orchard and you can still smell it in the air on fall days, along with woodsmoke!)
7. Being outside
8. Cuddling up with a good book with the windows open!
9. Apples
10. The way life seems to slow down and you just seem to ENJOY everything more.

Surprise Aunt Stacy...

Reagan can say your name! She was looking at a picture of the two of us together and I told her who you were and she said it immediately! Stacy! Woohoo! (She also happened to see a picture of Josh with his cousin Jason and said "daddy and some guy!" LOL!)

And ask her who she is....she pats her chest and says "Me Reagan". Yes, yes you are my sweet girl!!

Reaganisms--

Reagan picking up the phone:
"HALLOOOOOO! HALLLOOOOO!! HALLOOOO! It's only me!!"

When Josh got home from work he was changing Reagan. All the sudden, she covered her ears with her hands and started yelling: "I just need some peace and quiet!!!" Sheesh..out of the mouth of babes!!!

Menu Plan (Sunday) Monday

This week I'm trying all new recipes! Wish us luck!

Breakfasts:
Egg and Bacon Toast Cups with Fruit
Baked Oatmeal

Lunches:
Family Style Mac and Cheese with Vegetables
Leftovers OR Items from Schwan's

Drinks:
Milk, Formula, tea, juice, coffee

Dinners:
Monday: Chicken with cornmeal dumplings
Tuesday: "Leftover" Makeover chicken
Wednesday: Lasanga with salad
Thursday: Burgers with sweet potato fries
Friday: Chicken with roast, herbed potatoes, bacon and onions
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Chicken with olives, green beans
Monday: Any leftovers

Word puzzle....

Did you know that the average 2 year old toddler SPEAKS between 50-200 words and can put together a few 3 word sentences?

Well, I decided to actually start writing all of Reagan's words down last Saturday...I eventually gave up. She can say practically any word that I say and she uses sentences fluently and correctly...although she doesn't quite understand past tense yet. For example, she'll say "Mommy, it break", when a toy has gotten broken, instead of "Mommy, it broke."

Either way, she's obviously well ahead for her age group and I'm so proud of her!!!

Speaking of her intellectual skills, she's getting so amazing with pretend play. She put two blocks together today and acted like they were choochoos and at the store she was cooking and kept saying "I make! I make!" LOL!

12 Rules of Parenting you can BREAK!!

I'm loving this article entitled "12 Rules of Parenting" by Charlotee Latvala from Parenting's November 2008 issue. I wholeheartedly agree that we set too many rules on ourselves. Let's give ourselves the ultimate gift for the holidays..after all , we're grownups and we're moms!!!

Break free, moms, break free!!

My friends, Tigger and Poo----

Reagan and I were playing on her bed with her Tigger and Pooh pals. All of the sudden, Reagan picked something up off the bed and pretended to eat it. "Hmmm, pickles" she said...she then proceeded to feed Eeyore pickles, which he apparently relished (pun intended). Who knew?? I always thought he ate thistles!

Next, Reagan decided to open Tigger's bottom (he has a false bottom area for batteries), sniffed and said 'eww! poo-pooh!' Poor, Tigger, I guess bathroom skills are hard to come by in the Hundred Acre Woods.

One lump or two?

Reagan was bringing me 'tea' after dinner the other night and she finally sat down as well to have a cup with me. I asked her if she wanted sugar and she screamed "NO!", then turned and sweetly said "Ceam pease". SO SWEET.

Later I was pouring her a second cup and accidently used the 'ceam' pitcher as the 'tea' pitcher. Reagan looked at me like I had two heads and promptly corrected me. Oops! Guess Reagan is the expert on tea making!

Boogies

The other day I was sucking boogies out of Reagan's nose with the nasal aspirator. She was not happy with me because I kept doing it and doing it and doing it, with little success. FINALLY, I was able to get all the dry, encrusted boogies out of her nose.

She sat up with a look of complete and utter relief and said loudly, "BOOGIES ALL DONE!!!!"

LOL!