Documenting the BumP!

My Boys

Who would've thought that I would be spending the rest of my life surrounded by boys?! Ha! I am a 100% girly-girl. I don't like dirt or beer, hate the texture of basketballs, and REFUSE to come within 20 feet of a bug - dead or alive. I grew up surrounded by girls, my Mom, sister, and myself... (my poor Dad!) My teen years were filled with nail polish, shoes, and emotional bad days, always to be resolved with a "Gotta Have It" size from Cold Stone.
Now... it's Tyler, Cruz, and Sam - all boys. I couldn't be more happy! :)
I'm learning to get my hands a little dirty (poopy diapers) and open to being a football/soccer/dirt bike Mom, someday.
I love all of my boys!

la·bor - noun: productive activity

According to dictionary.com, this is the definition of labor. I'd like to tell you how it really goes. Don't forget, if you are shy or easily offended, please stop reading now. :)
I broke out with a horrible rash called Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy in my 38th week of pregnancy. It was ridiculous and spread all over my tummy, arms, legs, hands and feet, itching to the point that I broke skin, and I couldn't sleep...for days. Poor Tyler - I was losing my mind and I think he was scared for his life. :) I was prescribed some medication for the itching with no relief (there is no remedy for the rash, of course). I finally gave in and called the doctor on Friday July 15th, like a physco, emotional pregnant lady I begged for help. The lovely nurse said "have you tried a cold wash cloth or maybe a cool bath?" The response in my head went a little something like this: Are you frickin' kidding me lady? You went to nursing school for several years to prescribe me a frickin cold compress??? You don't think I tried that last week? - I got my degree online and University of Phoenix and figured that one out!! Needless to say, she suggested we go to the triage at the hospital to get checked out. Tyler and I left work on Friday at noon and headed to the hospital. (Our bags were already packed and my legs were shaved :))
One of the doctors from my office was at the hospital getting ready for a C section. He stopped in to check me out and suggested we induce labor due to the severity of the rash. I was all for it, and I think Tyler was pretty much over me being pregnant and miserable... and he was VERY much ready to meet his lil' man. We agreed to the induction. At this point, I was dilated to a one, and 60% effaced.
Step One: Gels. The nurse inserted what felt like her entire fist and forearm into me and attempted to strip my membranes. OUCH!!! It felt like she carved her initials into my hoo-ha. Then she squirted a gel-like substance on my cervix which is supposed to "ripen" it. Joy. I had to lay down for an hour, then walk around for the next hour. Before we headed out for our exciting walk through the hospital she reminded me to head back to my room if my water broke. Umm, duh. I got to repeat this gel process three times. Yes, she carved her initials three times. Oh, and my water didn't break. I was told I had dilated to a "loose" one. I've never been so thrilled to be called "loose" before. Ha!
Step Two: The pixie stick. I don't recall the medical term for this giant, sharp stick that was inserted but I can tell you that a fist felt better than this thing! Holy crap! I about jumped out of my hospital bed when the nurse put this in. It was to stay in for 12 hours to also assist in "ripening" my cervix. Thank goodness it was pretty late on Friday night so we were able to sleep through most of the hours. The pixie stick was removed and I had dilated to a "tight" two. Ughhhh!!!!
Step Three: Pitocin. An IV of pitocin was given to me to help induce contractions. Every 30 minutes the nurse would increase the amount being given. The contractions weren't bad but they also weren't very consistent. I was still dilated to a two after several hours of pitocin. This was late Saturday afternoon - far after all of the "I bet you'll have the baby by midnight" bets were wrong. :(
Step Four: Attempting to break my water. The on-call doctor decided that he would break my water to induce the contractions and hopefully dilate my cervix quicker. He inserted his arm, which thankfully he was a petite man so this felt better than the nurse - and then he inserted a crochet hook and tried to break the bag. Unfortunately, every time he tried, Cruz would move his head up which meant there was a gap between his head and my cervix. The doc felt it wasn't safe to break the water at this time because when the water came gushing out, so might his umbilical cord or even an arm. That sounded glamorous. I can't imagine walking around the hospital in my backless gown with an arm hanging out. I was satisfied with the doc's decision, but still very frustrated that we were still pregnant!
Step Five: More pitocin. Sunday morning they cranked up the pitocin. The contractions were starting to become more painful - especially in my back. I was placed on a birthing ball (basically a big exercise ball that I sat on and bounced.) This actually made my back feel better but the contractions weren't consistent and my cervix was being stubborn. The doctor suggested I take the epidural and then he could "aggressively" (yes, this was his term to sell it to me) break my water. I went for it.
Step Six: Epidural and breaking of water. I would like to know who invented the epidural drug so I can personally write him or her a thank you letter. WOW! Five minutes after the epi I was pain free. The doctor jumped on into my hoo-ha and I couldn't feel a thing! He broke my water and Cruz's cord and limbs stayed in. :) Thank you, Cruz! The nurse cranked up the pitocin and had me lay on each side, flipping me every 30 minutes. Oh, I also got a catheter because I obviously couldn't tell if I needed to pee. Once she did that Tyler said "Look! Your peeing RIGHT NOW!" Awesome. I went from being pretty conservative around him (never farting or pooping) to peeing in a bag while he ate his lunch.
A few hours later I started to feel pretty nauseous and began throwing up. The doctor came in to check me and said I was ready to push! Yay!!! Tyler alerted the family.
Step Seven: Push. I always pictured the "pushing" phase to be very loud, and chaotic...kind of like it is on T.V. but it wasn't. The nurse and I chatted about dogs, coffee shops, and real estate and then every time I felt a contraction I would push for 10 seconds, three times... then we would resume our conversation. At first, the nurse thought I would be having him within the hour. My pushes were successful and he was riding right down the canal. She could see and even touch his hair - as creepy as that sounds.
Then, there wasn't any progression. I needed to get him under my pelvic bone, then back up and out. He wasn't moving past the bone. The anesthesiologist decided to turn down my epidural so I could feel the contractions more, and hopefully be able to push stronger. This didn't work. I could feel them but my I couldn't seem to push any harder. They brought in a squatting bar in hopes that I could get on the bed, squat and push harder. Ummm.. "laugh out loud" I could barely do squats when I weighed 30 pounds less, and wasn't numb from the boobs down. So, they decided to have me put my legs on the bar, then they wrapped a sheet around it so I could pull myself up while pushing. It was very "Little House on the Prairie" looking. This made me even more exhausted because I was using so much of my arm strength. It had been 3 1/2 hours of pushing at this point and I was getting a bit tired.
The doctor came in and said I was beginning to tear - awesome. He wasn't seeing any progression because he felt Cruz's head was too large to fit through my pelvis. He encouraged us to go for a C section. I felt a bit sad, I wanted the feeling of pushing him out and being a successful laborer ... but I knew we had tried everything with no avail. I was also a bit frustrated that we had been there since Friday, it was now Sunday late evening and they could've done this days ago. But, I understood where they were coming from.
Step Seven: C section. They prepped me, meaning they drugged the crap out of me. I felt like I was dying...my heart beat felt slow and weak and I could barely keep my eyes open. I laid there in silence. They brought Tyler into the surgery room and he sat next to my head. I remember the doctor asking me if I could feel anything sharp. I said no. Then I heard him call for a blade. I stopped listening at this point.
I felt some tugs and pressure, then a loud POP - I gasped. I thought they broke my pelvic bone. Then a warm gush of water and then they asked Tyler to look over the sheet and see his baby boy! Tyler was elated, and so was I - but I was just too scared to speak, or cry, or move. They hung Cruz over the sheet so I could see him really quick. He was so cute, screaming and covered in goo - but I remember him looking plump and healthy.
Tyler was able to cut the cord and watch them wash him down while they stapled me back up. The brought him over and held him in front of my face. I gave him some kisses. I was so relieved that it was over... but still so drugged up. I could barely think and was laying as still as could be. The nurse said I was the calmest patient she had ever seen. I wasn't calm on the inside, I was crapping my drawers - so to speak.
Tyler went with Cruz to the nursery to be checked out and they wheeled me to recovery. I was able to see him about three hours later. He was well worth the WAIT! :)

Cruz Jameson Kasowski
Born Sunday 7/17/2011 at 10:57pm
Size: 7 pounds 7 ounces, 20.5 inches long
Head: 14.5 inches

His head is supposedly quite large (thanks to Daddy) but it doesn't look disproportionate. His legs are sooo long and thin. He holds all of his plumpness in his back and belly. :) His pinky fingers are just about as long as the others! His hair is light brown and he has a lot of it! His eyelashes are blonde, but very long. Everyone talks about his chubby cheeks (thanks to Mommy) but they are so kissable. He is absolutely perfect!

*I wrote this in so much detail because I don't want to forget. I heard that God 'bamboozles' you into having another child by letting you forget about the labor part. :)

Tic...Toc...

The nursery is done, our hospital bag is packed... NOW WHAT?
I am trying to be patient waiting for our son to arrive... but I must say, that I am failing terribly! I am not a patient person - ask anyone that knows me. 9 months is FAR too long to wait for your life to change in the most amazing way possible. :)
Today I am 37 weeks and 4 days pregnant, to be exact. Today is also Tyler's birthday and he really wants his son to be born today. Wish I could make that happen, Tyler!

In the meantime (during my sleepless nights) I've been thinking a lot about how comical the pregnancy journey is. I am not going to edit a thing - so if you are bashful, stop reading now. ;) Here is how I see it:
Bam! You find out you're pregnant. Every second of your day it's in the back of your mind, you might even walk more cautiously or drive slower; as if to not disturb the little poppy seed inside of you (I did). :) You want to tell the WORLD about your exciting news, but you have to wait until it's 'safe'. So...you wait.
Barf! Every smell (coffee, Tyler's deodorant), sound (the alarm clock), taste (everything except for 6" tuna subs and Dr. Pepper) makes you hurl into the toilet - if you're lucky enough to be near one. Otherwise you get pretty good at puking into your hands (I am skilled - not a drop on my shirt, couch or floor), the parking lot, or whatever bag/cup you have sitting in your car. Everyone tells you it's just a phase and will get better by the 2nd trimester. So...you wait.
Blek! Still barfing...and WELL into your second trimester. You're annoyed because you spent so many hungry nights before the baby trying to lose weight on Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig with no luck. You are finally losing weight the one time in your life when you are supposed to be gaining weight. Awesome. People tell you it should get better soon (with an "eak" look on their face). So...you wait.
Poo! You can finally keep most of your food down, but now you can't get it out. (If you know what I mean.) You sit on the toilet - and you WAIT. ;)
Yay! Everyone tells you that you get to find out the sex of your baby at week 18. 18 weeks is a LONG time, but you have no choice. If you're like me, you have a paper chain (the kind we made in Elementary school to count down the days til X-mas)for each day until you can find out Pink or Blue. Then your doctor tells you that he does the ultra sound at week 20, not week 18. Ugh! So...you wait.
Eeeeeeeee! You find out the sex of your baby and things start to look a bit more eventful for the next few months. You have to register, have a baby shower, decorate the nursery, if you're like us (nuts!) you move into a new house. For once I felt like time needed to slow down so we could get everything done in time for our little man's arrival. It felt like a tornado of events. So, we kicked it into high gear and got everything completed - we were moved in, house painted, decorated all in less than 2 weeks.
36 weeks is the magic number - you can safely have him. You've never been so excited to have your hoo-ha checked. You swear you must be dilated to a nine because it feels like he's going to fall out. The doctor tells you you're not dilated at all. So...you wait.
Then 37 weeks comes along... and you're dilated to a one. A one???? I could sneeze and dilate to a one. Come on!
Now, guess what we're doing?? - Yep. We are waiting.
We are both ready for this baby! I am ready to be able to wear normal clothes again, to be able to pick something up off the floor when I drop it, to get out a bed without grunting and squirming, to have skinny feet, to have 1 or 1 1/2 chins and not 3, to eat spicy food without breathing fire, to enjoy a cocktail after a long day. I think Tyler is very much ready for me to not be pregnant anymore either.
2 1/2 weeks left doesn't sound like a long time, but literally each day feels like an eternity.

They say, the best things in life are worth waiting for. This is true. Cruz is going to be SO worth the wait. Even for impatient me. I'm excited to see who he looks like (hopefully Tyler), how pudgy his knees are, what makes him smile, and how his giggle sounds. 2 1/2 more weeks... but feel free to come sooner, Cruz! We'll just be here ...waiting. :)

Cruz's Nursery!!

With four weeks to spare (hopefully less), we are finished with Cruz's nursery! We're both very pleased with the final product. His room has a 'modern' jungle theme, complete with monkies and elephants! - Mamma's two favorite animals! I spent a lot of time on the details and tried to capture all of them on film. Enjoy these pictures while we await our little man!

It's HOT.

Hmmm. Not sure if it was the best idea to buy a house and move in while we are nine months pregnant, in H-O-T Phoenix, Arizona...BUT we did. Don't get me wrong, we are VERY blessed that we were able to find a great deal of a home. But, holy hotness! I'm not too cut out for moving furniture and boxes these days, so thank goodness we had a crew of family and friends to help us!! Thank you all so so so much! My mind has so much ambition to clean, organize, and decorate our new place, but my round, tired, chunky body is not quite up for the job. Tyler has worked so hard helping to get this place in tip-top shape for our new bundle of joy! I am beginning to go through my crazed nesting stage and he is patiently completing each task that my mind comes up with. I LOVE you Tyler! We plan to have Cruz's nursery complete within the next two weeks so I will be posting pictures soon!

Baby Shower!

My sister Taylor, Mom, and Mother-in-law hosted a lovely baby shower for Cruz and I. We spent the warm afternoon with my closest friends and amazing family. We munched on Paradise Bakery sandwiches, fruit, salads (Yum!!) and oh-so-good cake!!!

My only shower request was to avoid the gross games that some find to be entertaining. I didn't want to make my guests eat baby food, nor guess the melted chocolate bar in the diaper - yuck! So...Taylor had each guest guess how BIG my belly is by cutting a ribbon to fit perfectly around, without measuring of course. Hmmm. Embarrassing? Yes. Only ONE person guessed the string to be smaller than my belly! Ha! The winner with the closest measurement was Kelly - she's 35 weeks pregnant!

I noticed a few guests were missing but didn't think anything of it. Then I received a call on my cell from my friend Dani:
Dani: (nervous, giggly voice) I think I might be at the wrong baby shower!!?
Me: What?? Where are you?
(Some of the girls over hearing my conversation begin to tell me about another house down the street had blue balloons out front, possibly hosting a baby shower too)
Dani: I hugged the Mom, and told her that I worked with (April) and she looked at me weird.
Me: (Laughing) Get out of there, yes, you ARE at the wrong shower!
Dani: Then I saw this blonde pregnant girl turn around, and it wasn't YOU!
Me: (Cracking up) Dani, you have to leave. Keep driving down the street and you'll see my parent's house.
...About 20 minutes later, Dani gets a call on her cell phone from my co-worker Cynthia:
Cynthia: Dani, where are you? I'm at the shower but I don't see anyone I know
Dani: (Laughing) You're probably at the wrong baby shower
Cynthia: There is a sign that says 'Welcome Baby Royal' I thought they were naming him Cruz??!
Poor Cynthia had walked in, set her gift down at the BACK of the gift table! Once she realized where she was, she had to go digging for the gift, and sneak out the front door. Ha! I LOVE that this happened! It made for some GREAT laughs! Thanks Dani and Cynthia :)

Best of all, Cruz and I were blessed with so many beautiful, thoughtful gifts from our family and friends. Wow - some people are so creative! To name a few of the gifts: a custom floral hospital gown, with matching headband (that's the quickest way to my heart), and side snaps so I can easily breast feed, handmade quilts, blankets, and dirt bike themed pacifier clips (the quickest way to Tyler's heart). My sister gave Cruz the most thoughtful gift ever - a Build-a-Bear teddy bear complete with black converse tennis shoes. She even recorded herself, so when you squeeze his paw you can hear her talking to the baby. I cried, of course!

I can't thank everyone enough for taking the time out of their busy schedules to join us for this shower. We are so blessed and grateful to have all of you in our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!