I’d have to say that I’m part pro at the whole c-section procedure.  I mean I did it three times in less than four years.  None of them were really planned per say.  I mean they said for sure that I had to have one the third time around, but it ended up happening way sooner than expected.   I’m going to go through some of what happens and what to expect.  Overall, it really isn’t that bad.  I mean, come on, I did it three times and maybe just maybe might do it again.

1. Check-in at hospital.  You get to go through the whole question process.  Yadda yadda.  They might scare you with the whole living will part (get on that if you haven’t).

2.  Head back to your room.  Everything is very cool, calm and collected if it is planned.  You get to chill and if you have a scheduled section and wait until the OR is free.  With my third, I had a time, but someone that had an emergency section pushed me back a couple of hours.  They take your temperature, monitor the baby, check your blood pressure and urine.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot that you get to put on the heinous hospital gown that you have to leave open in the front, all modesty ends here.  They also start your IV and take your blood.  They also make you take off all jewelry except wedding rings.

3.  Meet with anesthesiologist.  I haven’t had a bad one yet.  They explain the whole process of the anesthesia and the spinal.  I told mine this past time that I get really sick and nauseous while it is all happening so he was prepared to put the antinausea medicine in me.  We found out this time that I get like that because the spinal causes my blood pressure to drop REAL fast and low.  You can ask them anything.  They do it a million times a day.

4. Husband gets ready!  They give your husband or one person of choice paper scrubs to wear.  Your “person” can watch the c-section or  do like mine does and stay by your head.

5.  Walk back to OR.  Yep, you walk back to the operating room.  With my second, my water had already broken so they let me walk back and fluid was gushing out and getting all over the floor – definitely do NOT walk around the hallway without shoes.

6.  Sit on table and get your spinal.  The spinal is basically a more potent epidural.  If it isn’t planned, you might have already had an epidural so they can just add the spinal stuff to it.  You go completely numb from the middle of your rib cage down.  All you do is lean over and they insert it in your back.  You feel a sting, but it doesn’t hurt.  I promise!

7.  Catheter (the pee pee one).  I have to say this is my least favorite part.  You don’t feel it, but you have to keep it in until you aren’t numb anymore.  It’s mandatory whenever you get a spinal or epidural.

8.  Get ready for baby.  They will strap you down, put heated things on your body and get you all prepped.  I honestly don’t know all of what they do because they put up a screen right at my neck, so I can’t see what’s going on.

9.  Husband comes in.  My husband comes in and sits next to my head.  He usually holds my hand until baby is out.

10.  Here comes baby!  It usually takes 5-10 minutes and baby is out!  You will feel pressure, but nothing else.  If you feel something, start screaming.  They will tell you when he/she is almost out and then you will most likely hear a cry of a baby.  It happens SO fast.  My husband got to see them and they immediately take them over to the clean-up station and get to work on the baby while you are getting sewn up.  This usually takes about 15 or so minutes because they weigh the baby and do the other measurements as well.

11.  Mama gets to see baby!

12.  Head to recovery.  Husband meets you there because he walks with the baby up to the nursery until mama is in recovery.  Recovery isn’t that bad and usually goes by fast.  You get to have some ice chips (I was SO parched with baby 3).  Once they think you’re okay and ready to go to post pardum (usually an hour), then you get to head up there.

13.  Enjoy this room for 3 more days.  This is your home for the next few days.  Each recovery for my girls was a little different.  Baby 3, Marin, was the hardest recovery.  Baby 2, Anna, was the easiest and baby 1, Ella, was in the middle.  I can’t tell you exactly how you will recover, but it really isn’t awful.  I mean your stomach just got cut open and it’s considered pretty major surgery so you really need to act like it and take it easy for a couple of weeks.  Live it up in the hospital.  STAY ON TOP OF YOUR PAIN MEDS.  Nurses get busy (I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt on this one and that they didn’t forget).  If it is 15 minutes before your next pain med is due, call them.  Do not wait until it’s time.  Seriously, listen to me on that one.  Call them whenever you need anything, that’s what they are there for.  The first night, you won’t get much sleep.  They come in so often to check blood pressure, temperature and to see how much your are bleeding down there.

Your spinal will stay in for a good amount of time.  They didn’t take mine out until 13 hours later after my 3rd.  I kept pumping it as much as I could to keep the pain away.  You don’t have to be in pain, so why should you be?  It takes a few hours to completely wear off.  I believe all three times one side became normal before the other.  Don’t freak out, that’s normal apparently.  Once you are free of numbness, you get the catheter removed and you get to go pee on your own!  Yaya.  Take it easy when walking.

During all of this, your baby gets to stay in the room with you.  Make sure someone stays with you the whole time.  You can’t get up to change the baby or even get the baby so you can feed him or her.  My husband stayed with me all three times on a tiny pull out, hard chair.  He’s sweet, but I guess it’s the least they can do, right?!?!  right?!?!

14.  Words of advice.  Enjoy your hospital stay.  Get all the help you need from the people there, whether it’s your nurse, lactation or even a doctor.

Don’t feel bad telling people to get out of your room.  If you’re like me, you need your space while breastfeeding.  Tell your husband to tell people that you need a little bit of time.  Breastfeeding is SO stressful, especially at first.  Also, if a doctor or hearing person or nurse or whoever comes into your room, it’s OKAY to ask people to leave.  Some people are CLUELESS and just sit in there.

If you’re stressed (because this is SO stressful, no joke) or tired, it’s okay to tell people not to come visit.  They need to understand.  I, personally, don’t love a ton of visitors.  I look like crap and am overly tired and really don’t feel like entertaining.  Most of the time, just my family visits and really close friends (maybe 2 or 3 tops).

Make every single person that touches your baby wash their hands.  Once again, people are CLUELESS and don’t understand that they carry germs.  I actually make people up to six weeks wash their hands.

You are VERY hormonal.  You might cry a lot, like a lot and for no good reason.  Let your husband know this ahead of time and make him be your advocate.  Tell him how you’re feeling and that you don’t want visitors or make him tell people to wash their hands.  They gotta be good for something during this whole thing, you just gave birth.

Hospital food ain’t good.  If people offer to pick you up food on their way there, jump on it.

You will bleed for several weeks.  You make up for all your missed time the last nine months.  I will leave it at that.

Once you’re done bleeding and you lose all your baby weight, you can wear a bikini again.  The scar won’t show!

 

Okay, I guess that’s all for this LONG post.  I guess the moral of all this is to not be nervous.  Doctors do this SO many times a day and it’s routine for them.  You will be fine and so will your precious little baby.  See, look at mine!

 

 

 

What a day… seriously!

It started out normal enough.  We got up and left the house at 630 am to drive my 2nd grader 40 minutes to school.  Yes, I know that is crazy, but I promised him he could finish the school year in his same school when we moved.  Anyway, we dropped him off and picked up my nephew that I babysit then headed over to my sister’s house nearby to wait until school gets out.

We got to her house and I realized hubby had borrowed my key to their house and didn’t put it back.  So I have 8 hours to kill with three kids and no where to go.  I call my other sister who I know has a key and works a few miles down the road.  She agrees to meet me in the parking lot to hand over her key.  I get there and she holds up her keys to show me that someone had borrowed her key and she doesn’t know why it isn’t on her key chain anymore.

Awesome.  So I have no choice but to call my brother-in-law who is a PE teacher to get his key.  I got lucky and he actually responds to my text that his class is outside and has me pull up along the outside fence.  I get there and he jogs over and hands me several keys through the fence.  He is pretty sure it is one of those keys, but he never remembers which one.  Awesome again.

Luckily one of these keys worked, but of course this is after driving around with three kids for 3 hours.  I vowed to never have a day like this again!  I painted the top of the correct key with black nail polish so I can see at a glance if I have the key with me or not and know which one it is!  I also made copies of all my keys and color coordinated them with different colors.  Here’s hoping this solves some of the madness!!!

 

 

I just had my third kid. Third girl in less than four years. Third csection too. Enough said right?!

I honestly think people feel sorry for me. We were doing our newborn shoot last weekend and this lady asked me “are all three yours?” I said “yes” and her response was “Looooord, you’ve got your hands full.” Not only this, but people have been over the top kind and generous to us and I’m sure they’re thinking they need to help me out (ha, maybe they do). One way is that we’ve had SO MANY dinners brought to us. NOTHING is better than a home cooked meal that you haven’t had to cook. They have all been so delicious and have made my heart melt that we know so many kind people.

My next door neighbor told us a few days before it that she wanted to bring us dinner. All she said was that it was going to be BBQ. Hot dang. We love BBQ. So, she brought over a basket of food. It was covered with a hand towel. We opened it and WAHHHHHLAHHHH. Look at this beauty. She put everything in Mason jars.

I bet you wanna know what’s all in here right. There is BBQ with two kinds of sauces, chips, buns, baked beans, cole slaw, mac n cheese, potato salad, and the best bangin’ dessert – chocolate lovers delight.

 

Here are a couple more pics.

 

Look at how great this looks!

Thank you sweet Marin for making me a Mama again (and not just for all the tasty food)!

Yay!  Its BBQ season again!  I love it!  Time to start getting your grill on!

We love potato salad at our house!  My mother-in-law has really perfected her potato salad by taste, all the way to the tiniest dab of salt.  It is so so so fabulous.  Sadly, I am unable to replicate it.  I just dont seem to have the magic taste… you know where you can take a small nibble and declare it needs just one more touch of mustard or pepper.  I just can’t seem to get it right.

So when I can’t duplicate it, I have to go out and find a new recipe to introduce.  I have had this Loaded Baked Potato recipe pinned for a long time from Dishing With Leslie for a long time now.  I finally got to try it out for a family BBQ last week.  Thank you Leslie!  So yummy!

The only thing I would change from her recipe is to add more cheese… because really, you can never have enough cheese!  I used the Yukon Gold potatoes… it was perfect!  I agree with Leslie, serve it warm or cold!  It is fabulous either way!

 

 

 

Remember how I had my kitchen redone?  Well, I planned to have my 2 year old’s party the day that it finished and not because it was supposed to finish that day.  Because of this, I only had family at the party.  Believe it or not, the plumber was there until 10:30 and that party started at 11.  If you know me, I bit a hole through my lip due to nervousness.

Since I didn’t have a lot of time to plan, this is dress that I bought the girls for Disney World inspired me for the theme of Anna’s party.  It made it more perfect that she was able to wear the dress at least twice too!

Remember I’m still planning this last minute.  I have a friend that has an adorable Etsy Shop, Hope48, that makes birthday banners and cupcake toppers (and tons of other stuff, check it out!).  She made this banner and cupcake toppers for me in less than a week!

These cupcakes are the Valentine’s cupcakes I made before with mini oreos used as Mickey ears.

I had no choice but to make simple food because I didn’t have countertops until the evening before.  Here was our menu:

Subway Subs – It was actually customer appreciation day so all the subs were half off.  Heck to the yeah.
Broccoli Salad
Orzo Pasta Salad
Chips
Minnie and Mickey Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
Fruit Platter
Lumpia – made by my Filipino mom in-law

We also did a pinata!  I randomly got Easter candy 70% off (heck yeah number 2 for the party).  The kids love it!  Pinatas are $15-$20 at party stores.

The party was simple, but she still had a great time!  I do love parties for my girls!  Remember, the little details are EVERYTHING.

Happy party planning!

So I just moved into the new house (FINALLY!!!!) last week… literally.  I am not settled enough to cook or craft up anything just yet, but I can never go without a good book!  I love reading, especially when life gets crazy!

I just finished this Philippa Gregory book.  I love all her books!  I find her writing interesting, well researched, and addicting.  Once I start her books I hardly put them down until I finish.  I particularly loved The Boylen Inheritance because it really gives you a feel for King Henry VIII’s lesser known 4th and 5th wives.

It seems like King Henry’s first two wives are the ones we hear most about.  Queen Catherine of Aragon, the first Queen to be divorced by the King so he could marry Anne Boleyn ,whom he later publicly beheaded.  It was so interesting to read this next book about King Henry VIII’s wives following the famously beheaded Queen Anne.

This book tells the story of Queen Mary of Cleves and the very young Queen Katherine Howard.  It continues with the character of Jane Rochford (sister-in-law and Lady in Waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn) as started in The Other Boleyn Girl.  It tells of their lives at court while  married to the notorious “wife killer” King Henry VIII, who married six times and survived the death of four wives.

Loved the story and the research that went into this book!

I would recommend reading The Other Boleyn Girl first if you haven’t already.  It really gives you a lot of background on the characters.

For all those Philippa Gregory fans out there, her next book is available for pre-order on Amazon.  It is comes out July 23rd!  I can’t wait!  This next book is called The White Princess and is the next in the Cousins War series.  It is all about Princess Elizabeth and her fate after her father, King Edward, dies and her mother is cast out of the Royal Court.

Here are few other Philippa Gregory books I recommend:

I’m going to compare/review the two most popular wholesale clubs for you!

Right now I have memberships to both places (after switching to Costco and then also wanting my Sam’s back) and I think I can give you some advice on where to join (cause let’s face it, the memberships aren’t that cheap) depending on your preferences as well!  I’m going to go through several things that are probably the most important to most moms.  We recently joined Costco because we saw a special on CNBC and how people were ranting and raving over their brand of stuff, customer service, prices and quality.

So, here we go!

1. Crowd.  Sam’s Club is always very calm and WAY less crowded than Costco (maybe that tells you something, maybe it doesn’t).  I feel like it’s somewhat of a fun place to take my kids because they can get out of the cart and run around a little.  Even though Costco is more crowded, they seem to carry the crowd pretty well (not well enough for me to let my kids run though).  Sam’s Club normally has two or three cash registers open whereas Costco has most open and usually two people manning each register.  Checkout time is usually about the same at both stores.  Getting out the door is not the same.  Sometimes I have to wait five plus minutes for someone to check my receipt at the door at Costco because of the long line.

2.  Food.  Most families join because of the savings on food.  I can say hands down Sam’s Club wins it for me here.  The first time I went to Costco, I immediately missed my whole wheat sandwich rounds for the girls, the 2 pound package of Jimmy Dean sausage, and the good selection of Laughing Cow cheese spread.  All three of these food items are something I bought every time I went there and Costco sells none of them ( well, they sell one kind of Light Laughing Cow).  Sam’s Club prices are also better on food items.  Oh, and their cakes…. Sam’s wins again with their better selection of birthday/grad/all occasion cakes.  They have so many different choices and designs AND COOKIE CAKES.  Did I mention they have a double layer COOKIE CAKE with icing in the middle?  Sorry people, it’s the little things in life.

3.  Stuff besides food. I’m mostly talking about furniture.  You really can’t beat the quality of Costco’s furniture.  However, when saying this, Sam’s also has furniture and they are both priced according to quality.  Costco’s furniture prices are expensive, but they have a right to be because it is good stuff.  Sam’s Club furniture is cheaper, but the quality just isn’t there.

Besides furniture, they both have clothes.  I’ve found much better deals on clothes for my girls at Sam’s Club.  I can’t beat paying $5 and some change for a Carter’s outfit.  There isn’t any brand differentiation here, Sam’s Club just has a better price.

4.  Eating at the store. At our Costco, you have to pay cash unless you go to a different area, pay with cc and then get in the food line.  At Sam’s you can pay with cc at the counter.  Food quality is about the same and priced the same.  Sam’s Club did win my heart with the food bar though because they know my love for Coke Zero.  They have about three times as many soda choices.

5.  Cleanliness/appearance of the store.  I would say that they are both equally clean (I think it might depend on the area that you live).  Both sets of bathrooms where I live (Dulles, VA) have been clean.  I do like that Sam’s has a family bathroom that has a little toilet for my girls.  I’m not sure if all have this, but ours does.

6.  Diapers/Wipes.  This may not be important to some, but with me overlapping with kids in diapers twice, it is important to me!  My big issue is that Costco does not sell Pampers diapers and those (at least for the first couple of stages) have been the best for my girls.  They both sell their own store brand, Luvs and Huggies.  I have tried Sam’s Club diapers and they worked fine for me in the later stages.  I’ve actually never tried Kirkland diapers, but I heard they are amazing and just as good as Huggies.  Well, they better be cause they are the exact same price for the same amount of diapers.  It’s hard for me to ever justify paying the same price for any store brand item.  Sure, call me weird.  Same goes for the wipes.  I’m kind of funny about my wipes.  I did not like store brand Sam’s Club wipes and am very partial to Huggies.  Huggies wipes are much cheaper at Sam’s.  Kirkland wipes are good, however they are priced the same at Costco (for the same amount) as Huggies again.  Call me weird again, but I’m going for the Huggies.

7.  Gas.  Seriously, it seems like people at Costco think the world is going to run out of gas.  Usually you are 4-5 cars back waiting for a pump.  Sam’s Club is drive right up (I think I’ve had to wait once car back like once).  I think the gas is pretty important because you do save a lot, especially me and my HUGE tank.

8.  Credit cards. Costco: check, cash, debit or American Express. Sam’s: check, cash Discover,  or Mastercard

I hope these eight items help you decide which to join.  Of course location is going to play a huge roll in which one you decide.  Mine are less than a mile apart, so it’s basically a choice.  For me, I won’t cheat on Sam’s Club again and get a Costco membership UNLESS I’m looking for furniture and I really fall in love with something at Costco.  In that case, I will keep both.

Am I missing anything?  I know there are a ton of obsessive people over Costco.  Feel free to leave a comment and explain why you like one store better than the other!

Maybe I’m writing this as a “hint” to my husband.  Well, maybe just the ones that I don’t have on this list.  I’m a stay at home mom and I believe that all of these will be of great use to any mom.

1.  My most favorite gift ever is my keurig.  I seriously don’t know what I would do without it anymore.  My coffee is ready in less than a minute.  If you go with this, my husband recently got me for Valentine’s Day these clear glass coffee mugs.  LOVE THEM!  And, of course you could go for k-cups or a refillable filter also.

2.  A nice thoughtful gift would be a big pot with lots of plants in it.  I guess you would know your mom or wife and think if she would like a lot of annuals put together or even a pot of herbs.  These are both so pretty and will for sure make your mom or wife smile!  I recently saw that Costco had big pots already filled for you!

3.  I’m keeping it real by saying this, but I would LOVE a nice sweatsuit.  Of course, once again, you would know you wife or mom’s style and brand of choice, but you can feel cute in a stylish sweatsuit too right?!  The real reason I want one is for the hospital after delivery.  Comfy.

4.  My husband got me these body butters and bath gel also for Valentines Day and I cannot express how much I LOVVVVE them!

5.   Tom’s!  Right now, Tom’s are a big fad and the best part about them is that they are comfortable and serve a good cause.  I just linked to the one’s that I’m in love with, but those might not be everyone’s style of choice.

6. Birchbox.  Husband got me this subscription for Christmas and it feels like Christmas every month when I receive my sample of beauty products.  Basically, that’s what it is.  You get a small package of 5 or so samples of beauty items and you get to try them out and of course you can buy them if you fall so in love.  Such a fun surprise each month!

7.  You can never go wrong with jewelry.  If you’re feeling especially generous, go for a simple piece of Tiffany’s jewelry and if that isn’t in the budget, any cute and trendy jewelry item will work.  Etsy has some adorable handmade Mother’s Day gifts!

8.  Picture canvas or other picture ideas.  Mamas just love pics of their babies, young or old (usually they love their pets too)!

9.  Another thoughtful gift is a stepping stone.  Mom’s and Grandma’s will cherish this forever!  Click on the link and it will give you step by step instructions!

10.  Gift cards.  What woman doesn’t love a good gift card?  Just try getting it somewhere that they like to spend their money.  OR, another option would be to get your wifey a house cleaner for a week.  I remember my friend’s husband gave her a new purse with a wallet in it that had 3 or 4 random gift cards.  One was a restaurant gift card that he told her to take a friend with her to spend.  Talk about awesome!  I recently got this wristlet from Thirty-One that I love.  Perfect little stuffer for gift cards and it can hold your cell phone and lots of credit cards and ID!  Some ideas of gift cards include massages, nails, hair, or her favorite clothing stores.

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12th!  Let’s not forget our Mom’s and Wifey’s on this day.  It’s always extra special to add a nice and thoughtful card too!

Feel free to leave other ideas in the comment section for people to read and help them out!

We got a phone call two weeks ago from our builder telling us the house will not be ready by our agreed upon closing date after all.  Closing on the house was pushed back until the end of the month.  Boo!

We currently live with my sister and her family of 5 in a two bedroom, one bathroom house while our house is being built.  That is 10 people in said 2 bedroom house.  Yep.

So you can imagine how I was feeling after having the closing date delayed. Ha!  I decided to take a little mommycation for a couple days.  Needed to get out of the house and have a little luxury alone time if you know what I mean!

At first I felt bad about going… who takes a vacation by themselves for no reason?!?!  My husband was really sweet about it though and encouraged me to go and have some fun.    He took over everything with the boys and even babysat my 18 month old nephew for me since I watch him on weekdays for my sister.

I had such a good time!  I got a hotel in Orlando (couple hours from us) and just chilled!  I slept in everyday, got some fresh highlights, got a pedicure, went shopping at the outlets, and sat by the pool to read.  It was AMAZING!

Technically it was was only 2 nights, but I am so glad I did it.  I came home refreshed and motivated.  I think I can make it now…  8 more days until we close!  We have been waiting since August, so what is 8 more days now that I am refreshed and de-stressed!

 

Wow… so the past couple nights have been something else!

My three year old is really giving me crap at bed time.  The other night it took him two hours to go to sleep!  Jumping on the bed, throwing his stuff, trying to go tackle big brother, and just being a total maniac!

First of all let me remind you that we are talking about the kid who just last month, stuck his hand into a wet cement bucket he passed by.  Stuck it right in there and then smeared it all over his pants and legs.  I tossed him in the bath at home and it still didn’t come off him!  We had to wait a few days for it to completely dry out and crumble off his little fingers! No joke!

I feel like I have tried everything! Re-direction, snuggles, taking things away, time outs, positive reinforcement.  I could have written the book on positive discipline after my years of working in childcare, but even this has me stumped!

The same approach never works twice with this kid.  For example, he will hand over his special lovey and tell me its because he is going to do a trick on his bed (he got it taken away for doing this last time).  Or he tells me he can’t wait until he gets to sleep on the floor again (had to do this after continuing to jump on the bed)! Note:  we have also tried letting him earn tv time, treats, and special things as well.

So last night I again exhausted all my efforts…

I began scouring the internet for good ideas!

I found this, “caught ya doing something good” jar on pinterest from wolfelicious.blogspot.com and will be putting this into action very soon.  I used this in the classroom years ago to build class unity and team work, but hadn’t thought of using it for my own three year old.

Basically, you get marbles, cotton balls, or pompoms.  Every time you catch them being good, you reinforce their behavior by putting one of the marbles in the jar.  The idea is to fill it up with marbles to earn something special!    Great way to use positive reinforcement!!!

I haven’t decided what the prize will be after filling up the jar.  Possibly a camping trip, ice cream party, or pizza party.  I want to let them help pick the reward so its something they are really excited about.

I also came come across a daddy blogger  (Jasongood.net) who obviously was trying to interpret the many reasons why his three year old freaks out as well.  It was hilarious.  If nothing else, it did make me feel better!  Turns out, a lot of these three year olds are very similar!

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty.

His shirt has a tag on it.

The car seat is weird.

He’s hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

Someone touched his knee.

He’s not allowed in the oven.

I picked out the wrong pants.

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

His hair is heavy.

We don’t understand what he said.

He doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

His sleeve is touching his thumb.

He doesn’t understand how popsicles are made.

The inside of his nose stinks.

Chicken is gross.

A balloon he got six months ago is missing.

A puzzle piece won’t fit in upside down.

I gave him the wrong blue crayon.

The gummi vitamin is too firm.

Netflix is slow.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog within a 70 mile radius.

A shoe should fit either foot.

I asked him a question.

His brother is talking.

He can’t lift a pumpkin.

He can’t have my keys.

The cat is in his way.

The cat won’t let him touch its eyeball.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

The DustBuster is going to eat him.

His mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

He got powdered sugar on his pants.

The yogurt won’t stay on his spoon.

EVERYTHING IS TOO HOT.