Baby Burrito

baby burrito

my little love bugger

Mini update. We are all doing well and feel really lucky to be in such a good place. I am healing very well and am actually surprised at how good I feel. I was under the impression that I'd be pretty much immobile after a c section. I am still on restricted activity and am conscious to take it easy and no over do it, but in general I feel really good. And if I try and do too much Joe gets mad and makes me stop. We've been getting out for short and slow walks - the weather is so nice that it's impossible to say in side. Plus the more I walk the faster my swelling should go down... which I cannot wait for! I'd love for my lower half to go back to normal size so I have some clothes to wear! These days I'm living in mens pj pants because nothing of my own fits. I even have to wear Joe's socks because my feet look like clubs.

Carter is a little love bug and I cannot get over how cute he is and how much I love him. I've never fallen so completely in love in such a short period of time. To say he has stolen my heart would be an understatement. He's stolen Joe's too. I see the way Joe looks at him. It's the same way I've seen my dad look at me. Full of love; plain and simple.

in his little lamb swing

bundled up in his JJ Cole hat ready for a walk

baby baby...

can't you hear my heart beat. you're the one i love....

Pictures!

More pictures!!

we're in love

we might be slightly biased but we're totally in love and think he's the cutest baby ever.

look at that proud papa!

he's already got his angry face down :)

no pictures of me yet... not in a picture taking state just yet :P

Carter David Troness

8lbs 8 oz, 21 inches long born at 12:24 am on Tuesday March 23rd. We think he's absolutely adorable and are totally in love. It was a crazy experience but it all turned out well and that's what matters.

He has the Van Thiel big head - thanks dad! And decided to follow the Cathy plan of birth for just after midnight!

The "short" version of the day
3am - wake up and get ready to go to the hospital

5am - check in for induction. 3cm

6 - 12pm - cervix junk put on 3 times with walking in between.

1pm- still 3cm and contractions aren't picking up so we were sent home to let things progress naturally instead of starting pitocin.

1:30pm - get home and try to nap but get the most intense period like cramps of my life.

3:45pm - in horrible pain with the period like cramps. Call my nurse from the morning and she tells me they will fall into a pattern and when they start coming 3-5 minutes apart for one hour to head back.

3:45 - 4:45pm - as soon as I hang up the phone they start getting a pattern of 2 minutes apart.

5pm - head back to the hospital

5:15pm - get admitted and have gone from 3cm to 5.5cm just while being at home. Epidural is ordered because these contractions are unreal crazy.

6pm- my new BFF arrives, Dr Wells the epidural man. Just like that the pain goes away and I am really looking forward to a nap before the real thing gets started.

7pm - get checked again and am already 8cm! Dr breaks my water then I settle in for a nap. I'm progressing really quickly and they think the baby will be here before we know it.

8pm - 10 doctors and nurses rush into the room and before I know it they tell me I'm 10cm and need to push NOW. Carter's heart rate was having decels and they were worried. It was frantic, I went from half asleep to pushing in less than 2 minutes and Joe and I had no clue what was going on. Epidural is turned way down so I can start to feel my contractions to know when to push.

8:30pm - things settle down and Carter's heart rate is back up to normal. The extra 7 people leave and it's just Joe and I and the dr and nurses.

8-11:00pm - pushing, pushing and more pushing.

11pm - Dr says we're not making any progress and I have 2 options - try some different pushing positions or go for a c section. At this point I'm not feeling that this is going to happen naturally but decide to give it another go and push for another 45 minutes

11:45pm - Dr throws in the towel and says it's time for a c section. We're not progressing and it's been over 3 hours.

11:47pm - I agree but am scared. Like really scared. I tell Joe not to get all mushy on me or I'll start crying. Dr says "it's ok, let the tears out now" And there they come! All day of this labor business, 3 hours of pushing and ending up with a c section/major surgery. Freaked out! The people were so nice to me though and really made me feel a lot better while I was getting prepped and Joe couldn't come in yet.

12:24am - THE NEXT DAY... just like my mom wished for... he's born! He cries, I cry, Joe cries. I watch them clean him up on the table next to me. Carter is crying and Joe puts his finger in Carter's tiny little hand and the second Joe touches him to comfort him he stops crying. I don't think I've ever loved Joe as much as I did in that very second.

Some pics:

We found out that the reason Carter wasn't wanting to come out was because of a few things. A. his huge head and the fact that he was stuck semi sideways in my pelvis. B. the cord was wrapped around his shoulder/neck - kinda like you'd wear a messenger bag - and the cord was totally flat with no give. So each time I pushed he'd go down but then come right back up again because the cord had no give. We were told it was the flattest cord they'd seen. or C. he was NCO - not coming out! as one of the doctors said. :)

We are all settled into our recovery room. They just took Carter to give him a bath and have the ped doctor examine him. Joe ran home to get some stuff/shower and let our dogs out and since I'm on drugs still and pretty much stuck in bed Carter can't be in the room alone with me - hence my time to write this. And with that I'm going to take a much needed nap!

Koder Bear/Photoshop Playing

A bonus to the new blog layout is larger pictures! And who doesn't love bigger pictures?? Look at my little girl dog - isn't she cute? Not the best composition since she's looking out of the frame but I think she's cute regardless. Used this picture for a tutorial on how to make grass greener. How's that for some bright green grass?

stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Ding! 40 weeks!

Today's news:
* 3cm and thinned out

* dr said "he's right there"

* ultra sound showed good fluid levels and a squished baby

* non stress test came back good and his heart rate did what they wanted it to do - go up and down at least 3 times in 15 minutes. I was contracting a bit but didn't feel it.

* induction set for 5am Monday March 22nd if no baby before then. She again said I'm inducible and that she hoped that she wouldn't need to use pitocin to get my contractions going. Apparently pitocin is what makes induced labor harder - it makes the contractions stronger and closer together than natural labor I guess. So hearing that she thought I wouldn't need that is good news. She hopes that the meds used to soften and dilate the cervix will be enough to get my labor started.

Having an induction set puts me strangely at ease. Being such a planner I really find comfort in knowing that there is a date set and an end in sight. Don't get me wrong, I won't sleep a wink on Sunday night!

whew, made it past the 13th!

I wouldn't call myself a superstitious person at all, but I was really worried about giving birth on the 13th! Every seven years there'd be a Friday the 13th birthday. And you know once you say something like "oh I have a really strong immune system, I don't usually get what every one else has" and then a couple days later you're sick? Had that happen just a few months back. Anyway I had said "I really hope he's not born on the 13th" more than once. So when the 13th came I was a little nervous that I might have jinxed it. So I wake up on the 13th to 4 missed calls from my mom... which is not like her at all. Apparently she thinks I'll forget to call her if I go to the hospital. Anyway, four missed calls just making sure I wasn't in labor. After those calls AND me saying I didn't want to give birth on the 13th I decided it would be best for me to camp out and do photoshop tutorials and watch movies and move as little as possible!

Now we've made it past the 13th and I'm more than ready for him to come! Let's get moving Carter!

husbands...

they say the darnedest things! Last night we were laying in bed watching tv and talking about how we're going to have a baby soon, it has come so fast, etc. I said something along the lines of Carter is going to need an eviction notice and I really thought he would have been here by now. Joe says "he's lazy like his dad". It could not have been funnier. I said I was going with "stubborn like his momma".

Had my 39 week appointment yesterday. BP was high... again. Seems every other time it's high. Dr says "do you want to have a baby today?" me "um, I don't know!" (while in my head I'm thinking, yes I kinda do, but oh my god is this for real?!) They checked for protein and rechecked my BP. Dr came back and said I was "off the hook, no need to have baby today"

2cm, 80% effaced and a membrane sweep to possibly get things moving. They say a membrane sweep is 50/50. Based on either stubbornness or laziness I'm not too hopefully I'll fall on the 50% of the time it works :) But time will tell!

Next appointment is on MARCH 18TH. Carter's DUE DATE! If no baby by then we'll start talking an induction. Apparently I am "inducible" but that natural labor is much better so she's holding out for that. She told me I could drink some castor oil..... no thanks.

In the mean time I'm making sure to enjoy my sleep and showers as much as possible. From what I hear those are the first two things to go after a new baby.

2 things!

Joe found his ring!

And some more photoshop playing:
straight from the camera:

tucker's senior picture pose straight from the camera

this diamond ring....

Looks like we're headed for divorce! Joe Troness has officially lost his wedding ring! It was only a matter of time.... this was the ring that sat in the cup holder of his truck, on the nightstand, at work, on the bathroom counter, it flew out of shirts or pants pockets when I did laundry, etc. I'm actually surprised that ring made it as long as it did. One year, four months.

No longer will he have the ring that made the trip to Mexico with us, and that I lovingly put on his finger on November 2, 2008. Now it will just be an imitation ring.

RIP Joe's first wedding ring. I hope someone finds you a loving home.

38 and counting!

Come out come out wherever you are! We are now in the single digits waiting for Carter's arrival. 9 days as of today. At the very least we know we will have a baby in 16 days. (due date the 18th and they'll induce before 41 weeks)

37 and 38.... look the same to me

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food for thought

Just wanted to shed some light on why everyone that says we'll move back is crazy! And here is why I think you should move down here (not Flagcraphole, but Gilbert)

Weather
MN - humidity, snow, sleet, ice, wayyy below freezing temps, dreary days/weeks/months. Snow and ice storms, shoveling, warming up your car, ice scraping. Dirty snow, wet jeans, salt rimmed jeans. Always have to watch the news to catch the next days forecast.
AZ - sun, sun, sun and more sun, few really hot months but overall very pleasant temps. No need for ice scraper, just a sun shade. No need to watch the news for the weather. Sunny and warm 98% of the time.

Dress
MN - hats, scarves, mittens, snow boots with a few months of shorts, flip flops and t shirts
AZ - flip flops YEAR round! fleece coat is the heaviest coat you'd need. shorts, t shirts, tanks and dresses almost year round

Community
MN - hard to find the perfect place to live - young families, newer houses, good schools but not rich people schools, job proximity, etc you have to sacrifice something
AZ - Gilbert is hands down the place to live in AZ. Great schools, newer houses, maintained neighborhoods, good mixture of family ages, close to everything you need. No need to sacrifice.

Houses
MN - higher taxes, more expensive houses.
AZ - lower housing prices = more bang for your buck, plus lower taxes. You could sell your house and move into our neighborhood with money to spare. And then literally be within walking distance.

Outdoor life
MN - limited to the summer months
AZ - only limitations are during the summer months. But then there are always pools and misting systems. Daily walks! I miss daily walks up here in the tundra.

Looking toward the future
MN - three story house, icy steps, shoveling, etc
AZ - one story house, no ice and plenty of vitamin D to keep you going!

Bugs
MN - spiders, centipedes, MOSQUITOES, ticks. Bugs in the house too!
AZ - granted we have way worse bugs in AZ - scorpions, black widows, etc but they aren't in your house. I've killed more spiders in my few months in Flagstaff than I did in Gilbert total.

that's all I've got for now. I'm sure Joe might have a few things to add.

fringie!

I finally finished my fringie! It was very time consuming. From cutting all the yarn - heck even getting the yarn untangled and cut to my specific size was tough! There has to be a trick to unraveling the yarn. The yarn that came in balls were super easy, but I got some that were in a big loop and man those were tricky.

Anyway I cut up 10 different colors of yarn and tied them on to a braided strip down the middle. I started tying on one at a time and then had a brilliant moment that I could tie on more than one at a time. Went a little faster then! And I bet if I wasn't 9 months pregnant it would have gone much faster too! Big bellies and sore hips hindered my progress some.

Anyway, here was my inspiration. I went online to buy one to find out they were 85 dollars!

Figured I could make my own for way cheaper! My pics should look better next time. Didn't realize my camera was set on florescent white balance. Oops.

My inspiration definitely has some more funky yarns but hey it's my first time! Plus I have no idea where you buy those funky yarns.