about time!

man i havent posted in a longgg time! ive been wanting to, just havent found the time. as im sure you know, Abigail is here!!! yay!! finally. it didnt all go as I had planned, but i know it went as God had planned. for those of you who dont know about Abbys birth, ill explain. So, i went to the dr. on the tuesday before my due date and he checked me and i just wasnt progressing the way he wanted me to, so he told me to come back on friday (which was my due date) at 8:30 that morning so that we could get things going if he felt i was far enough along in dialting and all that to induce. So, we just really felt like it was going to happen, so my parents decided to go ahead and drive in on thursday (bethany was flying in later that day). Friday morning my mom and i went to the dr, they decided to hook me up to a machine that monitors contractions and fetal movement, everything looked good, was having some contractions and fetal movement was good. The dr. checked me and he still wasnt too happy with my progress and abbys head just wasnt very low. he then decided to measure her to get an idea of how much she weighed...well, just a week or so before that she weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. or so and usually babies stop growing the last 2 weeks or so, so he wasnt expecting her to be much bigger than that. so he was surprised, with the rest of us, that he measured her to be 9 lbs 6 oz, give or take. he also measured her head, and i cant remember the #s, but theres a certain size that they have to recomend that you have a c-section, well, her head measured over that. so, given the circumstances, he really encouraged me to have a c-section and told me that i had an 85% chance of having a smooth labor and everything going fine, 10% chance of going through labor and then having to have an emergency c-section, which just isnt safe, and then a 5% chance that i could have her naturally but she would be all banged up and could have permanent damage (physical, mental, etc.). i of course started crying, i hadnt really even considered having to have a csection b/c i had ben so easily. but i also knew i didnt want to take that 5% chance. so they told me to go home, talk it over with david and call back before noon and let them know and i would get in there and have a baby at 3 that afternoon. We talked it over and knew it was the best choice, no question. so, by 3 that afternoon i was in the hospital being prepped for the arrival of abby. (i can already tell this post is gonna be long...) so here is my c-section experience...david was with me while they got my iv in and my catheter in and all that, but then when they took me into the operating room he had to stay out, which neither of us was too pleased. my anesthesia was a spinal tap, which is alot like an epidural, but the needle goes all the way into the spine...well, he had to do it twice. it wasnt really painful, but just knowing what he was doing and not having david in there bothered me. i immediately went numb and they laid me back on the table and tole me i might have some nausea and i might kinda panic. i usually dont get the side effects from medicine, but i immediately started getting nauseous, so the anesthesiologist gave me some medicine for that and it subsided, then i started to panic, i felt like i couldnt breath and was just very uncomfortable, so he gave me some medicine for that. i thought david would get to come in after that, but the drs came in and started cutting me and then david got to come in. he got to see my insides, and he likes to tell everyone about it, not that he particularly enjoyed seeing them. but he was there with me while they pulled her out, and he said when they pulled her out she was all purple and we didnt hear any crying. but i guess its common for csection babies because they arent squeezed thru the birth canal that they have fluid in their lungs, so the nurses started working on her and i heard all kinds of suctioning and then i heard her start squealing, and of course i just wanted to see her. they got her all cleaned up and just let me get a glimpse of her face and they took her to the nicu for monitoring because of the fluid. not that i coulve held her or anything. i was sooo out of it from the drugs. david had to leave the room with abby. so the finished stitching me up and then moved me to recovery. i was soo out of it, but my bed was right by the nursery windows, so i remember hearing all of our family getting to see her for the first time, that was really sweeet, i just wish i couldve been with them. i finally got moved to my own room after i was able to feel my feet and legs a little. i didnt get to see abby until 9 that night, but it was worth the wait. we were both healthy and she immediately latched on for her first nursing, which was a great relief to me. i got to keep her in my room the whole time, and i had the room to myself, so it was easier to have guests in and out. i may not have liked the effects of the anesthesia, but im just thankful that i have a sweet healthy little girl on this side of the world. she is such a blessing to us all and i cant describe the love i have for her and ben. theres nothing like being a mother, especially to 2 of the most beautiful children in the WORLD!!! haha. oh and i forgot, for those of you who dont know, abby weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs!!! and like i said, i was pretty out of it from the anesthesia, but i remember when they pulled her out everyone was like "whoa look at the umbilical cord! its huge!" haha! i guess the bigger the baby, the bigger the umbilical cord.

abby is 6 weeks old today and healthy and growing. shes soo beatiful, and im excited to say that her eyelashes are growing growing, so i think she will definitely be able to compete with her brother in that area, haha! i also had my 6 weeks checkup today and everything is fine with me too. my body has healed and bounced back a whole lot faster than i coulve imagined.

my sweet benjamin turned 4 years old last week!! where has the time gone?? it seems like just yesterday he was the new little baby in this house. its kind of shocking to hold him after holding abby, hes not my baby anymore, hes my lanky little boy. it kinda makes me sad, but at the same time it makes me thankful because he too is a healthy little boy, and we all know the health issues he has struggled with.

well, i think i will finish this post for now. i will try my hardest to update as much as possible, but having 2 little ones leaves me very little time to myself!

just waiting

Wow, I didnt realize it had been so long since i posted last. We've been semi busy, nothing super exciting. David has been fitting in some off roading trips the past couple weekends, and im glad he's been able to because he just really enjoys it...except when he breaks stuff...but even then he still usually has a good time. Ben has gone with him once or twice but Ive stayed home or have had other things to do.

I had a baby shower at church 2 weekends ago. There were about 20 women there, some i knew and some i just recognized, so it was really special to me that women who didnt even know me came. It was really neat because while we were snacking on some delicious food made by a couple of the women, everyone went around and told about themselves and gave me some advice on being a mother either to multiple children or to daughters specifically. It was just really sweet. I got some really cute clothes, accessories, etc. (or i guess i should say Abby did). I have a couple pictures of the decorations and everything but i honestly dont know where my camera is and im gonna be lazy right now and not go looking for it. But, just to get a little mental image, there was lots of pink, flowers, balloons, and just really cute stuff.

Today was a tiresome day. I had a dr's appt. this morning. From what he told me last week, i thought he was going to set an induction date for next week...well, he decided to not do that. My cervix just isnt thinning out like he wants it to, so for now, im still pregnant! hah! Im not miserable though, thank goodness, but im definitely getting bigger and bigger every day and it makes it hard to sleep well and really just to get around very well. My next appt. is on tuesday, so hopefully i will have started to dilate at least a little. Its hard though, because with Ben i knew when i was going to have him so mom was able to be here, but this time its just a matter of not really knowing what my body is doing and we cant really plan like we want to, but i just have to keep reminding myself that God knows best!

Besides my dr. appt. this morning, we had to have the bug man come and spray the house and yard. I needed to have my quarterly service anyways, and wanted to get it done before Abby was born, but I also found a flea in the house. I only saw one, but i want to be safe rather than sorry. We dog sat my mother in laws dogs a couple weeks ago and appearantly they had gotten fleas, but we of course didnt know that until after the fact. There are some stray cats that like to hang out on the side of our house, so were assuming thats where it all started. So anyways, we had to have the house sprayed for that too, and when they spray for fleas you have to stay out of the house for 5 hours. The bug man didnt get here till 2, so ben and i went and had a late lunch at carls jr and he got to play for a while. Then we went to the mall and walked around and he did some of the little rides. I did buy Abby an adorable little bathing suit that i had my eye on, and it was 50% off plus i had a coupon, score! Haha, now im just ready for that little girl to get here so i can see it on her! After that we went and took david some dinner and then i drove Ben around for a little while so he would fall asleep and take a little nap (he was starting to get grouchy) and he did, but then he woke up pretty grouchy. So we went back to the shop and hung out with David and Ben got to drive his truck in the dirt and he was in a better mood. But all in all, im pretty tired. I busted my booty yesterday to get the house clean for the bug man and was tired from that on top of not being able to relax in my own home for most of the day today. Oh well, I dont have anything else planned for this week...unless miss abby decides to make her appearance, which i wouldnt be one bit disappointed.

Well, i think that pretty much catches up the main things going on. Ill post again after my next dr. appt. or if something exciting happens.

Allergies

Well, I took Ben for his allergy testing this morning...It went ok. They did a scratch test on his back, which is just little pricks of the stuff on his back. He kinda fussed and squirmed, but never went just bonkers. After the nurse was done putting it all on his back they gave it 15 minutes or so and thats when he started getting uncomfortable, he wanted to scratch it, but we kept him as preoccupied as possible. The results are pretty overwhelming...but I think i was expecting it because it didnt surprise me too much. They rate stuff by 4 being the highest and adding a + or multiple + depending on how allergic he is, so here are the results...

4+'s - peanuts (already knew)
wheat (i was highly suspecting this)
walnuts
corn (he said this is a pretty common allergy)
eggs (thought he had outgrown that, guess not)
yeast (there goes all his baked goods)
3+s - soy(hah! i was kinda shocked! and he didnt have a milk allergy)
mold
most grasses, bermuda being the worst and st. augustine being the best
trees (olive trees (which give off the most pollen in the desert) ash tree (which is common
down here) and mulberry (which we have in our yard))

So, those were the biggies. And big they are. But i had already started leaning towards the idea of him having a wheat allergy. He said it would be hard to change his diet, but he did give us a plan. He told me to put ben on zyrtec every day. Its like 1/2 tsp a day, mainly to help with the outdoor allergies but also to see if that alone would help him with the food allergies too without having to alter his diet to significantly. So, Im supposed to do that for 2 weeks and if thats not making a big change, then alter the diet (no baked goods, nothing with corn, which includes corn syrup, etc.) and then 2 weeks after that he said we could introduce 1 new thing and see how much of an impact it has on him and go from there. So im not totally overwhelmed. We have other options besides bread (rice, potatoes...) and taking that nasty corn syrup out of his diet sure wont hurt and would be a good change for all of us. He enjoys his fruits and vegies thank goodness and then he can eat meats.

The other good news is that he will almost certainly outgrow these, with the exception of peanuts. He said we will probably see a big difference by the time hes 7 and all the way till hes probably 17 or so. So there is hope!

That's my news from the doctor. I'm going to make a shopping trip this evening by myself so i can read ingredients (im going to start taking as much wheat, yeast, and corn products out now). I also found out that some girls from church are going to throw me a baby shower on the 16th! Im excited! But one of them told me i needed to go register for more stuff, so im gonna go to Burlington Baby Depot and Macys to register for more fun stuff, so i guess that offsets the label reading at the grocery store. I will keep you updated on our progress with all of this.

Abby's Room!!!

boredom

Well, David went out of town this weekend and Im already bored out of my mind!!! He left yesterday afternoon to go up to Northern Cali where he went to bible college. They were having a reunion type thing. I really wanted to go, but its just too close to Abbys due date and its an 8 or so hour drive, so Ben and i are at home. I have plenty to do, just a lack of energy to do them. But im pretty determined to finish Abbys room tomorrow. All i have to do is change the sheets on the big bed, dust, clean the floors, and take out the trash. So, not much, just need to get in there and do it, and i know i will feel much better after i get it done.

Last weekend I took Ben to the Childrens Fair. They hold it at the park thats just 2 blocks from our house. I took him last year and we had a HUGE meltdown. I remember he screamed the whole way home (we walked home). This year was much better. No meltdowns!!! They have all kinds of booths set up, from food and snacks to health awareness kinds of things. Most of them give away free toys and books and stuff. After getting his loot from the booths, we rode the little train they bring in, which he loved! By then we were getting a little hot and tired, so we got some kettle corn and a drink and sat by the pond and watched the ducks and a guy drive his little motorized boat around. Then, this was the point our meltdown started last year. Let me back up for a second though. I dont know if its just the valley or california in general...but they dont have snow cone stands...and we live in the DESERT!!! Its sooo hott here, i think its almost a sin that they dont have snowcone stands here! But, there is a little company that has a trailer that sometimes parks in different parking lots and then they cater for parties, its called Spears Hawaiin Shaved Ice. But, they come to the childrens fair. Its a huge hit at the fair, so theres usually a decent size line. We were waiting it line last year when Ben threw his fit. But, because im pregnant and from midland(where you can get a snowcone any time of year) i wanted a snow cone. So we attempted it. We waited in line for at least 30 minutes...and we had success!!!! He started getting a little restless, but he stuck it out for me!

Ben was supposed to have some allergy testing done on Wednesday, so we got up and went to the dr. for our 11:30 appt. just to find out that we didnt have an appt....needless to say i was a little ticked...but appearantly when we went into the dr. last week and he got the shot and cream for his skin, they told my mother in law that we were going to have to reschedule that appointment...well i never got the memo. So, i rescheduled for next tuesday. His skin is doing great still, but im ready to get some answers allergy wise. I really think it will be a big answer to our problems.

I went to the dr. today and got to see miss abigail. She's looking good and my water is good. Shes got a strong heartbeat, I love hearing that every time. 5 more weeks to go until my due date. Im getting more and more anxious every day. Im just ready to hold that little girl in my arms and look at her. Im so looking forward to having a baby in the house again. I know that it means alot of work and some sleepless nights, but im ready! And i cant wait to see how Ben is with her. Im just really looking forward to this change in our lives.

Well, i dont have anything else to say. My boredom has been cured for a little bit...hopefully i can fall asleep soon and not toss and turn, but i never sleep very well when david is gone, hes like my security blanket. I love my husband. Hes the best. Ok, well, hope everyone has a good weekend!

eczema = yuck!

Well, I havent really said much about Bens skin lately, mainly because it has been so frustrating and all consuming that when ive sat down to blog, Its been the last thing i wanted to talk about. But, because things are looking up and we see some light at the end of the tunnel, i will fill you all in. As i posted earlier, we took him to the iridologist when we were in TX and felt very positive about it all. His skin started to clear up and then got worse and then just kept getting worse. He rarely slept through the night because he would wake up just scratching the heck out of his skin. We would put him in the footed jammies to keep him away from his legs, but then he would scratch his arms. And if we put him in regular jammies, he would scratch his legs, and when he scratched his legs, i mean he pretty much scratched them raw. It was pretty scary looking and just flat painful looking. I guess the good thing is is that he never seemed to be in constant pain, just when he was scratching. But if finally got to the point where he was scratching more and more and it was obviously getting out of control. It was all over his legs, arms and starting to get on his face and neck. So, the doctor that david has used since living here is Dr. Strong, and he is an allergy specialist. We decided to make an appointment to get some testing on Ben to see exactly what he's allergic to and eliminate that or those things from his body and see if that could be the cause of his eczema (which is probably pretty likely). I called this past monday and they couldnt get him in till next wednesday (i think he sets aside longer times for the allergy consultation). I felt good about that, but in the meantime Ben was still scratching like crazy. My mother in law(she knows the staff really well there) offered to go in with me tuesday morning at 8:30 to see if they could just give him something to calm it down until we could get some more answers. Im so thankful to have had her with me, it was a big comfort and help. Anyways, dr. strong looked at it and said it was definitely eczema, severe eczema. He gave him a steriod shot to just calm it down and get it under control and then put him on an antibiotic just in case there was any infection and then prescribed a cream for when he gets off the antibiotic that will relieve inflamation and itching. Ben hasnt scratched since that appointment!!! His skin still looks a little yucky, but its obvious that its healing. Before it had a pocky look to it and would ooze and then crust over and scab where he scratched it to bleeding. Now its smooth and you can see the sores are healing and im sure some scarring, so its still red. But its pretty amazing how much it has healed in 2 days. Its so nice to not have to watch him every second of the day to make sure hes not scratching and just for him to not be miserable. It just feels good to have some relief, mostly for him, but for me too, it was starting to take a toll on me. I had a couple break downs after a couple of huge fits of him scratching it raw (im sure these pregnancy hormones dont help either). But, thats where we are right now, i will update after we get the allergy testing done.

On Abby news, I went to the doctor on tuesday afternoon (it was just a day full of doctors). It was just an appointment with the ultrasound tech. I got to see our sweet little girl. Shes growing soo much! I remember when i first was pregnant you could see her whole little body on the screen and now you can just see her head. Everything looked good. I also got my glucose screening test results back (high blood sugar test) and everything was normal. I had a feeling it was, but they just wanted to make sure. I go back to the dr. on the 1st and then ill start going every week until she gets here! I cant believe im almost done, it really seems like this pregnancy has flown by. I can definitely tell im at the end though, im really losing steam. I cant seem to get the energy to finish up her room, much less finish my chores around the house. I get bursts of energy here and there and get things done, but not enough to get it all done. I guess it will still be there tomorrow...

The weather has taken a change for the worst...its hot...already...like in the 100's hot. We got a nice little cool spell just a couple days ago though, and it was windy today, so maybe it will cool it off just a tad for a day or 2. Im just glad im only going to be pregnant at this very first part of summer, and not all the way through. Im really looking forward to Abbys arrival, cause that also means my momma is coming!!! And probably Bets and HOPEFULLY my dad (hint hint to my dad) My mom is planning on spending 2 weeks with us, and i couldnt be happier. She will get to spend some special time with Ben (who adores her) and some special time with our little Abby girl. Plus she will be able to help me make the transition from having 1 kid to 2...which im honestly a little nervous about...not so much taking care of them, just being able to give them both the attention they need without one feeling neglected. Anyways, im getting excited!

I think ive made this post long enough. I didnt realize how late it was. David got called out on a job. Like i said, its windy, and appearantly the sign at Dennys was about to fall off and they needed someone to come weld it back for them. Stinks that he had to go out so late, but i guess the overtime is nice. Hope everyone has a good rest of the week!

pictures

So i said i would post some of the pictures Annalesa took this past weekend, well i want to post ALL of them! She is such an amazing photographer! God has given that girl a gift!!! So, here is the link to the album on my facebook, and just so you know, Anna is starting to do her photography for a living...*hint hint*

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2026504&id=83500987&ref=nf