A Random Thing Or Two-sday

1) Luke already knows how to hold hands! Such a cuddle bug. We can't get enough, can't you tell? 

2) I have mastered the art of typing one-handed at a rather remarkable pace. It's quite impressive, the new skills one acquires as a mother.

3) Fun fact of the day:

"Research shows that men know they’re falling in love after just three dates, but women don’t fall in love until date 14" (source). That can't be true. Really? I feel like girls are always the ones being all romantic and lovey-dovey and won't stop talking about their feelings. Apparently not!

4) Sometimes it just feels good to let it all out and write run-on sentences that would make your 8th grade English teacher cringe with frustration since she made an earnest attempt with every fiber of her being to ensure she turned out grammatically correct individuals to society and not wanting to run the risk of sounding like a babbling moron or a valley girl that relays stories like this... thank you, Simone.

5) Did I already mention my sugar addiction has increased? I ate 6 of the 8 pieces of my birthday cheesecake. In 3 days. And I thought my problem was bad before... yikes! First step is admitting you have a problem, right? At least you don't have to feel as bad if you ever substitute meals with candy and sweets, because I do it too!

Spring Dreaming

Can we talk about how great it is to fit into normal clothes again? I can finally go shopping! Yippee!

Here are the transitional spring pieces I will be adding to my closet in the very near future.

1) Blue plaid shirt: H&M. I'll mix prints for days in this number.

2) Pink cigarette jeans: UO. I die.

3) Smarty-pants readers: Anthropologie. Pretty sure my IQ will be through the roof every time I wear these.

4) Inwood dress: Anthropologie. Let's have a tea party, shall we?

5) Creme accordion maxi skirt: American Apparel. I will be pairing this little diddy with #8.

6) MAC Fluidline. Cat eyeliner for dayyyys. Meow.

7) Fitted skinny jeans: F21. Can't have enough colored skinny jeans.

8) Cropped anchor top: F21. I will be pairing this with my pleated skirt, a rose-colored long sleeve tee underneath, and wedges. Perfection.

People, I think I've caught a case of shopping spring fever. Heaven help me.

Slouchy Sweater Issues

 

 

Button-up: F21. Sweater: LOFT. Skinnies: F21. Oxfords: Steve Madden. Necklace: LOFT. Sunnies: Anthropologie.

So, I am at that point where I have that little bit of left over tummy. You know, the tummy that looks like I'm 4 months prego or slightly chubby? Yeah, that one. I figured my slouchy sweater would cover it up, but I'm not exactly sure if it helped or just enhanced this awkward body phase. Can I just say I am excited to get the clearance from the doc to work out? My yoga pants are calling out for a friend!

In other news, Dianne, my mother-in-law, is here to hang out with the Lukester and I. We are having a ball! We love our mamas!

Birthday Smirthday

Source: Uploaded by user via Jane on Pinterest

I am officially 24 years old. I feel so old. Sure, it's not that old, but I've been alive for almost a quarter of a century! When put that way, it sounds kind of ancient.

This next year is going to be awesome. Age 24 is going to treat this girl right. I can feel it. 

As for today, it will be filled with shopping (I have the aforementioned 15% Anthro coupon to use), watching hilarious Youtube videos (this one literally had me in tears), and stuffing my face with cake.

I also found that I share my birthday with Ellen DeGeneres, Eddie Van Halen, Paul Newman and the Suleman octuplets, aka Octomom. Pretty awesome people if you ask me.

Eat some cake for me, will ya?

Happiness Is...

Wearing a messy top knot practically everyday. It's chic and baby friendly.

Blouse: LOFT. Necklace: Sprightly So.

Sporting a leopard print blouse. No better way to add some va-va-voom to your wardrobe than with animal print.

Skinnies: Paige Denim.

Fitting into my skinny jeans again (insert Hallelujah chorus)! It may require the assistance of Spanx and some rather tight buttoning, but hey, they're on! And let's not forget the pink pedicure.

Fuzzy baby mohawks. So presh.

Onesie: Babies R' Us.

Cute baby onesies with even cuter owl appliques. 

 

Tiny baby footsies, all wrapped up and toasty warmy.

A Random Thing Or Two-sday

1) Yesterday I saw a truck driver do a U-turn in a very cramped intersection. In a huge semi. To say he has mad driving skills is an understatement. Sometimes I hardly make those turns in my Honda Accord! Bravo, truck driver man. Bravo.

2) "About 80% of neonatal and newborn sleep time is REM sleep, suggesting a tremendous amount of time dreaming" (source). Luke laughs in his sleep all the time. Yes, it's the cutest thing in the world. I wonder what he is dreaming about?

3) The ability to produce milk makes me feel like a cow. Mooooo.

4) I am ready for Chuck and Blair to be back together. The whole "I can't be with you in order to save you, but I'll always love you" thing is getting old. I really hope Chuck's wedding crashing next week makes me scream out of excitement. And how are we feeling about Serena's love for Dan? I often wonder if any of those feelings are real, considering they are ex-lovers in real life. Oh the drama. I live for Monday nights.

5) My mom is a saint. She stayed with us this last week to help out with Luke. I love her so much. I'm very grateful to have such a wonderful mother and blessed to have her around whenever I need her.

The Birth Story

Crawling out of bed the morning of Friday, January 13th was a bit different than my usual wake up routine. Instead of moseying around in bed, I quickly ran to the bathroom as there was a substantial gush of liquid all over my PJ's. Had I peed my pants? Nope, that couldn't be it. There was only one other conclusion to draw from this...

My water had broken.

The nurses at the hospital didn't seem alarmed, so Matt and I waited for my 9:30 am NST appointment before going in. As I greeted the attending nurse, I exclaimed with enthusiasm, "I think my water broke!" and proceeded to give her a hug. Matt made fun of me because he said the nurse had reached out to show me the way to the triage room, not for a hug. Whatever. I was about to have my baby in the next 24 hours and I deserved all the hugs in the world!

I changed into a hospital gown and they wired me up to the monitor. Nurse Sharyl watched for about an hour to see if my water had truly broken. She came in 45 minutes later and found no fluid on my seat pad, so we proceeded to an amniotic fluid test. It came back negative, meaning it didn't detect enough fluid to determine that my water had actually broken.

I was confused. I know my body and that fluid definitely was not coming from my bladder. Back to the NST room they sent me to have the fluid levels checked by ultrasound. Sure enough, there was only 5 cm of fluid, meaning my water had broken within the last 48 hours. Turns out the amniotic fluid test could only detect broken water if it was within the last 12 to 18 hours. 

You know what that meant? 

Induction! 

Now, I had wanted to try to go through labor naturally and unmedicated, but the risk of infection was too high to not be induced. Beside, I had been over the whole pregnancy thing for the past 4 weeks and being induced sounded like a dream.

So I thought...

Nurse Sharyl started the Pitocin drip at 12:30 pm, January 13. I was already dilated at 3 cm and 50% effaced. My suspicions were that Baby Rod would make his debut no later than 12 am that night/morning. At 4 pm, the contractions were becoming fairly intense so I opted for an epidural. They moved me to my birthing room and in waltzed the anesthesiologist. Must be nice having a job where everyone adores you the moment they lay eyes on you. The man seemed like an angel, sent to relieve the ever-growing pain of labor. I'm not going to lie. I was pretty nervous about having a 5 inch needle rammed into my spinal cord. It didn't help that he kept saying how "tight" my dura mater space was as he was jamming it in. I should have known then that something could very well go wrong.

Within 10 minutes, I felt on top of the world! All pain vanished and my painful grimace was replaced with a big smile. Nurse Sharyl checked to see my progression. Four hours had passed since the Pitocin was started and I was only dilated to 4 cm and about 75% effaced. Since the epidural had kicked in, she maxed out the Pitocin to its highest amount to get the process moving along faster. 

Suddenly the monitor started flashing purple and baby's heart rate completely dropped off the screen. I felt in my gut something wasn't right, and Nurse Sharyl was scrambling in the room not 10 seconds later. She rearranged the heart monitor and was able to find his heart beat again, but I was pretty shaken at this point. Tears filled my eyes and I couldn't help but start bawling. The Pitocin level was decreased to ensure a healthy heart rate. 

Fear had consumed me and anxiety was beginning to take over my consciousness. My own heart rate was now at an alarming 150 and the constant awareness of it made it worse. At this point it was 7 pm. Nurse Natasha replaced Nurse Sharyl. She took one look at me and gave me the best pep talk in the world. Her reassuring words and amazing care are what got me through the night. 

At 7 pm, I was about 5 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. Slow progression, but we were getting somewhere. Matt stayed right by my side and held my hand as we watched a movie to get my mind off my anxiety. 

A few more hours passed, and I was finally at 7 cm and almost 100% effaced around 10 pm. Baby Rod was coming soon! 

Matt and I sat there together, reveling in the thought that we would meet our beautiful son soon. Moments later, I felt a horrifically intense pain on the left side of my abdomen that shot all the way through my back. It literally felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. Not 4 minutes later, the terrifying pain returned.

My epidural has stopped working. Let me repeat that. MY EPIDURAL HAD STOPPED WORKING. At the height of my active labor! Where the contractions were the most unbearable, especially since the Pitocin augmented them to 10 times the intensity!

Was this really happening to me? The anesthesiolgists's complaints of my insertion area being "really tight" rang in my ears. I wanted to slap the guy at this point, not hug him. Nurse Natasha helped as much as she could and requested what they call a bullet of pain medicine into the epidural line. Guess what? It didn't work. The pain was increasing at an alarming rate. It felt like a UFC fighter was grabbing my insides and wrenching them as hard as possible, while kicking me in the back. This was not how I had imagined labor.

I consider myself to have a fairly high pain tolerance. I felt like the biggest wussy in the world. I hurt and ached and just wanted it to be removed from me. I began to throw up. 

The anesthesiologist gave me a second round of the bullet shot, but to no avail. It was about 12:30 am and I threw up a second time. The good news was I had finally dilated to 9, almost 10 cm and pushing was imminent. 

I had been in labor for 12 grueling hours and felt hopeless. The life was slowly being sucked out of me, and all I could manage to do was whimper in pain to Matt. Bless his dear heart. Matt was amazing. He stroked my hair, cooled me off with a wet washcloth, and whispered sweet words of encouragement as tears welled up in his eyes from witnessing the suffering I was enduring.

At 2 am, the pushing began. As much as I thought it would hurt, pushing with the contractions felt liberating. It was a time for me to push out the agony and visualize the moment when I got to meet my stubborn boy that didn't want to come out. An hour later, I was still pushing. Nurse Natasha coached me through each and every push, and assured me I was going to get our little guy around that corner. She called my doctor and asked what she wanted to do at around the hour mark. Keep pushing, she told Natasha. How could I go on? I had zero strength left and wanted them to cut him out of me. It's funny how your perspective on things tends to change when you are faced with extreme difficulty. I was ardently opposed to a cesarean section the entire pregnancy, but at this point I no longer cared and wanted him out of me as I laid there helpless and weak. 

Around 3:25 am, January 14, I pushed the hardest I ever have in my life. Baby Rod had finally crowned. Waiting for Dr. Vu to rush to the hospital was a challenge. Fighting the urge to push with each contraction seemed almost impossible. Finally, the doctor arrived and I pushed with all the might and strength I could find within myself. At 3:55 am and five solid pushes later, I was met with the most glorious feeling of lightening imaginable. The pain immediately melted away and all I could hear was the cry of a helpless little baby.

I did it.

The doctor laid my sweet, precious baby on my chest. I was overcome with fear, exhaustion, and excitement all at once. He was covered in a waxy coat of vernix with a very cone-shaped head. He looked more like an alien than a baby, but he was still amazing. 

Matt cut the cord, to both our surprise, and they whisked him off to be cleaned, measured, and weighed.

Being placed in my arms once again, Matt and I both stared at the true miracle of life we had created.

Childbirth is the hardest thing I have ever gone through, but by far the best.

Lucas Timothy Rodriguez is ours forever, and we've been falling more madly in love with him with each passing day.

Introducing...

The moment we've all been waiting for...

Lucas Timothy Rodriguez

AKA
Luke, Cool Hand, Bruiser, Lil' Lukey

Born Jan 14, 2012 at 3:55 am

7 lbs, 13 oz

20 in 

Birth story to come. It's a good one, albeit dramatic.

Since I am now genuinely sleep-deprived and baby-obsessed, I have a line up of bloggy friends that will be sharing some fun and happy stories this week during my absence. Enjoy it and catch a couple of extra winks for me, will ya? ;)

xoxo

Who Comes Up With This Stuff?

A little birdy told me laughter is a good way to induce labor.

Oh really?

Well in that case, bring on the funnies!

Here are just a few of many hysterical pins that I've been collecting over the past 6 months. I can always count on this pin board to get me rolling.

Source: m.9gag.com via Abbey on Pinterest

Source: icanhascheezburger.com via Abbey on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Abbey on Pinterest

Source: facebook.com via Abbey on Pinterest

Source: a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net via Abbey on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Abbey on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Abbey on Pinterest

You can imagine my particular enjoyment of the last one. Still gets me, every time.

New Arrivals!

Sorry, the new arrival isn't Baby Rod. He'll be here soon though! I am happy to announce that as of yesterday I was 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Woot-woot! For those of you who don't understand that mumbo-jumbo I just said, it basically means the cervix is almost half-way ready to birth a baby! 

Actually, let me just simply explain the process. Once the cervix completely softens to 100% and dilation is at 10 cm (the max the cervix can open), the bebe comes out! A year ago I always had that confused puppy dog look on my face when women would get all technical with their birthing talk, and I always wished someone would explain to me what the crap they were talking about. So there you go. Hope you feel educated enough now so you don't feel out of the loop :)

The arrivals I am speaking of are the new necklaces I just added to the shop!

Hootie Cutie: $12.50.

Initialized: $12.50

Quite The Duo: $19.50.

Hope you stop by and take a peek! Enjoy!

A Random Thing Or Two-sday

Jacket: LOFT. Striped tee: LOFT.  Maxi dress: F21. Necklace: LOFT. Belt: LOFT.

1) According to the specialist, Baby Rod weighs 8.6 lbs as of today. His new nickname is Ibby -- Itty Bitty Beastling. I just add the 'y' on the end to make it sound more cute.

2) Engagement/wedding rings are often worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because the ancient Greeks maintained that that finger contains the vena amoris, or the “vein of love,” that runs straight to the heart (source). That is so romantic! Unless you get your finger chopped off.

3) You should probably plan a trip to Disneyland right now. We were there yesterday and the wait for Space Mountain was 15 minutes. That's incredible! It's usually at least 60. Get packing.

4) The newest episode of Gossip Girl is on next Monday. I am dying to know if Chuck is dying. And I still think Chuck is the baby daddy to Blair's little bambino. I have all along. If it's not, the accident probably caused her to miscarry. Tear. Those are my predictions. Thoughts? Do you hate GG? That's okay, I hate The Bachelor. Sorry, I just can't stand it. To each their own, right?

5) How do you feel about taking small infants to the movies/seeing small infants at the movies? Is it annoying, okay to do if the baby is well-behaved, or just not recommended? I am curious and would like to hear your opinions, please and thank you.

Beaches, Presidents, And Awkward People

 

Jacket: LOFT. Tee: LOFT. Flower belt: Sprightly So. Bracelets: LOFT. Unflattering, but oh-so-comfy maternity pants: Target.

How many of you are hating the snow and the frigid winter weather in your area? You should totally come out to California. It has been in the 70's and perfect for long walks on the beach. Obviously. 

I just realized I forgot to share my awesome resolutions for 2012 with all ya'll. I used my bucket list for inspiration. That list needs some lines scratched through it!

Resolution #1: Memorize all the U.S. presidents.

My proposed strategy is to memorize 4 per month. I would like to get their term dates in there too, but I don't know if that's going to happen. I'll be happy with just knowing each one. This is what I've been chanting to myself every morning in the shower...

"George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison"

Resolution #2: Stop getting overwhelmingly embarrassed for awkward people.

This may sound like a weird goal, but it is something that has always bugged me. You see, I have a serious problem with getting super humiliated for people, to the point where I lower my head with my hands in my face and cringe. I do it all the time, whether it's watching TV, observing someone make an idiot of themselves, or even watching a fictional movie scene that's not even real! 

I've had enough of it. I resolve to stare these situations straight in the face and be the bold person that is completely involved with the terrible reality of the situation. I think it will build character.

And after all, isn't that what resolutions are for?

Lazy Day

Today marks the 38th week of Baby Rod's life in the womb. I can no longer see my toes unless I strain my neck, and multiple naps are a necessity. 

As we await our little bambino's arrival, I will be sitting on the couch eating Turtles by the boxful. I've already helped myself to half a box today. I have no shame. Nope. None, whatsoever. I like to think of it as consuming 16% of my daily iron and calcium needs, based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Who knew they were so full of nutritional value?

Have a wonderful weekend, and keep your fingers crossed that you'll be the lucky winner of my $25 Anthropologie gift card giveaway! The winner will be announced Monday! Make sure you enter if you haven't already! You'll be sad if you miss it!

xoxo.

To Do And Not To Do

Mustard headband: Sprightly So. Blouse: LOFT. Cardi: LOFT. Baby bump: 38 weeks.

My new favorite way to wear my hair: the retro side bun.

This is my awkward transition face. Can you see the aging that's happening as a result of growing a human? I guess my sister was right... pregnancy causes wrinkles! AAAHHH!

Child birth is getting closer everyday, peeps. Belly has dropped, making it even more huge, and I'm at the point where people in public just stare at me with no shame. 

After some thought, I've decided it would be best for all parties if I compiled a go-to list of the do's and don'ts of dealing with pregnant women. You may find this resourceful if you yourself have never had a bun in the oven or if you are a man. If you are a sleep-deprived,  crazy mom, you can just nod your head and agree. 

-Do hold the door open for pregnant ladies. Sometimes the inertia of pulling open a door while your center of gravity has shifted to an awkward middle region can result in running into things or falling over.

-Do not stare. Seriously. I know we all like to look and think, "Aww, look at the cute baby bump!", but that's not how the prego monster on the other end of it feels. She probably feels something more like this... "Is my fly down? Do I have pen marks on my face or something? Why the crap is this person maddoggin' me?"

-Do give short and succinct compliments if you can't resist the urge. Something along the lines of, "I just want to tell you I think you are the most beautiful pregnant woman" is nice. More than that can get annoying and seem more sympathetic than complimentary.

-Do not try to guess how far along someone is and use it as a conversation starter. Everyone's body is different. Everyone carries their babies differently. Don't tell me I'm having a boy or a girl based on this observation. I know what I'm having, I don't need your "expert" advice.

-Do be patient and remain calm if a pregnant person is curt with you. Or has a sudden breakdown. Remember, it's not you, it's the hormones. Reacting in a hostile manner will only increase the irrational behavior from the mama bear.

 These are just the most important things I have encountered, but the list could go on for days. I think it's a very handy list. Feel free to print it out and carry it in your wallet. After all, half the people these days are with child. Feel free to add on your do's and don'ts as well. 

By the way, I have a guest post up today at Across The Pond, detailing the story of how I got into this pregnant state in the first place. It's quite a funny story. You should probably go read it.

And one more thing. Go here to enter my $25 Anthropologie gift card giveaway if you haven't already!

That is all. This is Abbey signing out. Goodbye.

Flower Power

Calling all headband enthusiasts...

New items up in the shop!

These bad boys are the latest and greatest...

Guess what? They are only $5.50, plus 15% off when you use promo code "GRANDOPEN1"! 

These little beauties are already selling like hotcakes, and hotcakes are delish... trust me, I would know. Nom, nom, nom (why am I always talking about food? Oh well, that's a conversation for another day).

Hop on over here if you feel like indulging in a little online shopping that won't break the bank or have husband wanting to hijack your wallet.