Sorry, my new "job" is keeping from getting online!

My little baby boy was born on January 21, 2010 at 3:07am by emergency c-section. He was 7lbs 11 oz. Since then, I have been desperately trying to learn the art of motherhood and how to juggle being a mommy and a housewife! (I'm sure all you mothers out there understand!) At the moment, my little "Peanut" is fussing, so I don't have time to go through the whole birth story, but I will post a pic for your enjoyment.

Much Prayer is needed

Continue to Pray It is a Boy by C section Gotta Go

Baby Update....

Coming to you from Mom Gearheart: Missy is at 8 cm!!! She was forced to have an epidural (and she is not happy about that!) because she is so exhausted and things had slowed down. I think she is feeling somewhat better because she has started talking again. Things are starting to move now that her body is getting some relief from pain.....updates will follow!

Guess What?????

Joe speaking on behalf of Missy,

We are currently at "The" Hospital in REAL somewhat still early Labor. We got here around 5:00am. We have our own room and are going through contractions. Upon Admission she was at 4cm dilated and 90% effaced.

More to come....

Pray for us

Midwife update (week 38 appt)

Ok, I wrote this once and my computer erased it because I was disconnected from the net...GRRR! So, here we go again...

Last night I went to bed with some sharp pains in my sides of my belly. My midwife attributed them to ligament pain. But all night last night, I had a lower back ache and crampiness. Not fun! Talk about making it hard to sleep! So, I got up this morning and the pain was still pretty constant that I really couldn't do much of anything. So, Superhubby told me to go take a shower and he'd make breakfast. So, I drank about a glass of water and got in the shower and relaxed for a while. The shower helped quite a bit and when I got out, Superhubby had made omelets! Yummy! Breakfast felt good on the starving belly! I managed to accomplish a few things before going to my midwife appointment this afternoon.
I had her check me for dilation, just to ease my curiosity. She usually doesn't check until week 40. She said that I'm 1-2 cm dilated, 50% effaced and the baby's at -1 station (which means it's pretty low!) I've felt like I was going to go about a week early for most of my pregnancy, but now I wonder if it'll be earlier...especially after what's been happening with the baby dropping 2 weeks ago and all the discomfort and pain lately. I told Superhubby that I hope I can at least make it until after my shower, but only God knows. Wouldn't that really spoil plans? I'm really looking forward to the shower on Saturday! It seems like everything is going to be so nice!

Well, talk to you later peeps!

Update, update....

Ok, ok! So I'm getting super bad at this blogging thing. Last week on Monday, I had my midwife appointment (weekly now) and took the test to see if I have what they call "Group B Strep". It's something that 1 in 4 women have, but it doesn't affect them and it can come and go. So they test every pregnancy for it because one can have it one pregnancy and not the next. The reason for testing is that it can be passed to the baby through birth and can cause all kinds of problems from blindness to retardation to death if not cared for. So, the way they care for it is just this: during labor and delivery, they give you an IV of antibiotics for 15 minutes every 4 (I believe) hours to "block the strep" from getting to the baby. Supposedly, this protects baby from having any problems at all. Well, this last Monday, I got the big news...I'm Group B Strep positive. :-( Man was I bummed! So, I really was wanting to avoid having any kind of IV during labor and delivery, but looks like I'm forced into it this time.
Last week on Thursday and Friday (and partly on Saturday even though Saturday turned out to be a lazy day at the Potter house) I caught the nesting bug. I'm still caught up on laundry and dishes!!! I'm so proud of myself! Superhubby and I have tried to work on the house: moving furniture...(even though he won't let ME move ANY of it...) and basically, well...nesting in the evenings when we don't have anything else going on this week. Mom is coming over on Saturday to help me work on the nursery because of my lack of motivation in previous months. And things are starting to shape up. Part of why things haven't gotten done as far as the nursery is concerned is because I need help moving said furniture OUT of the nursery to turn it from my wreck room into a nursery. So, both Superhubby and I have needed a slight kick in the rump from Mr. Motivation. I think with me being 37 weeks and 1 day along, motivation has finally kicked in.
One night this last weekend (don't remember which) at 2am, I think I had my first contraction. It was so weird! But not as bad as I had thought it would be. I know....they get worse...but I'm just praying that my labor will go smoothly. I think my biggest fear is the fear of the unknown, and labor is a BIG FAT unknown!
Mom and company is going to throw a shower on the 23rd (Jan) at the church annex. If you don't go to the church and haven't received an invite by mid-next week, let us know and we'll get you the info. She's actually doing a collection to see if we can get some cloth diapers that we really want to use. I think the plan is to get the money collected at the shower, then make an order (you can only get them online) and have the package sent to my house after the shower. That will be such a wonderful blessing! We want to use cloth diapers, but there's no way we can afford this kind right now.
Well, I think I'll end this book for the time being and see ya on the flip side.

Ok, get this thing outta me!

Yesterday, late afternoon, we had our "long appointment" for the 36 week appt. We were able to ask questions about labor & delivery, etc and she talked to us about all different kinds of things. I'm now insured! Yay! So, the hospital bill won't be NEAR as bad as before insurance. So, last night was the worst night for sleeping for me. It's been getting bad, but I'm pretty sure that the baby has dropped at least part ways and I'm miserable! My hips, pelvis & thighs have pretty much begun their "loosening" in preparation for labor and now, rolling over in bed or any kind of movement at all is horrible! I'm definitely waddling now! This really stinks because I still have so much to get done and the nesting instinct has NOT kicked in at all...FAIL! Just that good ole' fatigue, no energy here... :-( That and the freezing cold is not helping matters much! Trying to keep this house warm is like pulling teeth sometimes. As I type, I know the next thing I must do when I'm done is re-stoke the fire in the wood stove...again. Well, I guess this will be it for now...way too many things to make myself get done today. Later peeps!

God's protection should never be taken for granted!

Since Superhubby's cousin got killed in a motorcycle accident in 2007, Superhubby and I have always prayed before he leaves the house in the morning for God's protection throughout our day. Yesterday, I reaped the benefits of those prayers more than I ever thought that I would.
I was on my way to work and I was one block away, stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, nobody else was at the light on any of the three other sides of the intersection, so I didn't think anything of just...well, going. As I started into the intersection, I looked to my left and saw a maroon semi-truck barrelling my way. He had obviously already committed to run the red light on his side and I just knew that he was going to T-bone me in my door. This was on one of the back roads behind the restaurant, so there wasn't a whole lot of room to "run". All I could do was decide whether I was going to speed up and try to out run him or slow down and pray that he would be able to go around me and say "In Jesus Name" three times and that's all the time I had. Thankfully, God led me to slow down and I slowly turned to the right as he slowed down and turned to his left...without God's hand on us, there was physically no way that semi was going to stop before hitting me...the noses of our vehicles were somewhere around 2 feet away from each other when we got stopped and my nose wasn't far from the power pole situated on the corner of the intersection. I was able to keep my composure until I backed up enough to be able to turn right (instead of going straight as I had planned because there was a semi in the way) and pull off to the side of the road and I broke down. I called Superhubby, hysterical might I add, and tried to calm myself enough to tell him what had happened. He eventually got the gist and I talked to him as I drove the rest of my commute to work and walked into the restaurant. As people all around were wondering why I was crying and shaking and talking on the phone, I got off the phone and spilled what had just happened as well as I could in Spanish. Everyone was so good to me, had me sit down and calm down enough. They were all worried about me the whole time I was there yesterday. I can't help, even now, to think about God's goodness and when could've happened and cry. All I can see is a big maroon semi, headed my way and a hopeless situation turned around to life and safety, instead of hospitalization or worse. God you're so good to me! Thank you Jesus!

It's getting so close!!!!!!!!!

So, Monday I went to my midwife appt again. Turns out...baby's heads-down! I couldn't believe it! It's kinda facing sideways right now. Its back is on the right side, so the pressure I've been feeling to the right of my belly button has been either its shoulder or elbow.

Saturday we took our child birthing class from 8am-4pm at the hospital here close by. What a gruelling day! When it came to the part about all the pain killers and stuff, I started feeling sick...then light headed and got the cold sweats! I almost passed out! I guess my mind and body have been focusing so much on the natural birth experience that it couldn't take in all the mind-boggling stats. At the end of that section as the Q&A was winding down I started feeling better, then she started in on the C-section portion of the class and I felt it creeping back up, so I told Superhubby that I'd be in the hall until she was done with that part. I couldn't believe it! I know that I don't have a high pain threshold, but I think needles and junk like that makes it worse...I'm preparing myself for the natural pain, not something brought on by others.

Last night at church, I was sitting beside someone and I took a deep breath and exhaled, she looked at me and I said "Look at this!" and she watched my belly move like crazy! I can't believe how much it's pushing on my right hip bone now! Because of all the movement last night, I had a crazy dream! The baby was moving so very much that I started to actually see appendages go across my belly. I saw a hand an arm, so I reached down to grab it and my skin just got really thin and I pulled the baby right out! It was a long, skinny baby and I looked at it and said "It's not ready yet" and just slid it right back in! Talk about BAZAAR!

On Monday evening we are going to the hospital to take a tour of the birthing and maternity facilities. I'm looking forward to knowing what to expect when we get there.

Can you believe Christmas is so close!?!?! We've basically got 15 days left! I spent a lot of time online today shopping because I had only bought one present...now, I'm up to 4! It really crept up on me this year! How 'bout you? You ready yet?

Appointment update

Ok, so Monday afternoon I had my midwife appt and it went well. The gestational diabetes and hemoglobin tests came back perfectly normal. Yay! She said next time (in 2 weeks, well, week and a half now) she's going to check to see if baby is heads down. Wow! I can't believe how quickly this is going by! She also said that at week 36 we'll have a longer appt to meet and talk about my wants and desires as far as birthing goes, basically, we'll talk about my birth plan. The heartrate of the lil' one was 120's-140's this time. Dunno, maybe a boy? Perhaps. :-)

As far as the baby moving is concerned...WOW! IS HE/SHE MOVING?!?!?! I can just sit back and watch my belly roll and jump and jive with every movement...so crazy! I can't believe how big my belly's getting! I'm really lookin' preggo now! Here I go again...using exclamation points all over the place!

Anyway...we're supposed to be getting together with my family tonight for Thanksgiving. I got my work schedule on Monday and she has me working tonight, so we're going after I get off work at 8pm! That's ok though, because mom-in-law is doing the soup kitchen meal tonight from 5:30-6:30 and Superhubby is helping her after he gets off an hour early (I'm helping until I have to go to work.) and then he's going to help with clean-up and then come get me from work and then we'll go see the fam. They'll have already eaten, but that's the only way we could work it out this year. Between crazy work schedules and everything else, there was nothing else to do. Lil' sis is in the hospital with an absess and a really bad infection that they are afraid might be MERSA. They've been cleaning it out and giving her antibiotics through the IV. I feel awful for her! I wanted her to get out of work tonight, but not like this. Please pray for her? The cultures for the infection won't be back until today or tomorrow. She's going to be in the hospital for at least 2 days, they said. She needs your prayers.

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving day, we're going to the in-laws and my parents are coming as far as I know. Then, Black Friday...get up at probably 3:45am, get everything together, go to Staples and set up shop to pass out coffee, hot chocolate, doughnuts and snacks to those standing in line. No shopping for us this Black Friday, just enjoying the spirit of giving. Then I'm headed back home at 6am to hit the sack! I won't be able to function if I don't!

Well, gotta get ready to head out and help mom-in-law with the hot meals for the soup kitchen this afternoon. Have a great Thanksgiving!