Zetta Mae's birth story

I wrote this post when Zetta was 10 weeks old. I figured this was a post I would want to look back on even if I posted it a year after it was written. :)
Disclaimer: This is going to be long and more information than some people really want to read, so don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

I went in for my 40 week doctor appointment on Tuesday, November 13th at 8:00am. Since it was my due date, it is procedure to have an ultrasound to check fluid levels, size, etc. Just to make sure that the baby isn't too big. Pete and I both guessed she was around the 7 pound mark, but boy we were wrong! The ultrasound tech goes well, my guess is 10.4! I was in shock! We went and met the doctor and before she got all the way in the door she said "girl, you have a big, big baby!" ha! Told me I had to go to the hospital to get induced in case they were a pound off in the other direction, making her 11.4. Since she was measuring so big she told me that I could go try to have her vaginally or could choose a c-section and have her right away. I was totally against being induced until they told me I had no choice, so I really wanted to try to have her vaginally. I am not someone who just gives up before I even try something. Therefore, we headed to the hospital, got checked in and pitocin going by 11am. Around 1pm they came in and checked me, I was at 5cm (I was 4cm and 80%-90% effaced for weeks), I told them to go ahead and break my water. After that I could start to feel the contractions. My mom, sister, and her kids were all in the room hanging out. I decided after about 30 minutes, they needed to get out. I could really start to feel the contractions and I HATED the feeling of my water continuously breaking. Hated. I think that is what frustrated me the most. Around 4pm I decided that I wanted to get my epidural. Side note: I was really going to try to go without unless I had to be induced, then I knew the long, drawn out pain wasn't going to be something I could handle. The epidural was easy  and nothing like I was expecting. I could still lift my legs, move around in bed, etc. I had heard so many horror stories I was nervous, but it was nothing but a good experience for me. I was so hungry I was mad, but they wouldn't let me eat anything. So once I got comfortable I took a nap for a few hours. Around 8pm they came in and checked me and I was 10cm and fully effaced but I just didn't feel an extreme pressure to push. Don't get me wrong, I could feel "the pressure" every contraction, but no where close to the point where I thought I could get her out. We hung out until about midnight and then the nurses came in and said okay, we're doing this..let's go. I was like alrighty then...
So I started pushing 3x every contraction (2 minutes apart). The nurses were so great. I am not kidding, they were go encouraging and really excited because they thought they were going to deliver the biggest baby ever! By the time I started to push I was the talk of the floor and my baby according to them, was going to be over 11 pounds! They warned me that I probably wasn't going to be able to get her past my pelvis because she was so big, but I was determined NOT to have a section!!! I continued to push like it was nobodies business every 2 minutes. Pete was right there and so encouraging the whole time. Pushing wasn't a super hard thing for me. I mean it wasn't the easiest thing I have ever done, but it wasn't the hardest either. I mean, I apologized to Pete halfway through because he wasn't involved enough and I felt bad that there wasn't more that he could do. Between every contraction we (nurses included) were watching TV and just talking about different things. I could feel every contraction coming, and I knew when it was time for me to push. They called doctor Cugini around 1:45am and I had our sweet girl at 2:06am. It was so surreal, I could not believe I had just had a baby!!! They threw her up on my chest and I seriously think I was in shock. I was so tired, and SOO incredibly hungry I was delirious, yet so happy that I did it and I proved to myself and everyone else that big baby or not, it was possible. They took her over to the little table in the room and cleaned her off, weighed her, etc. She was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long!! She scored a 9 and a 10 on her APGAR and ate like a champ. She instantly latched on and nursed like a queen. Then the nurses reminded us that she didn't have a name! Ha. I looked at Pete and told him to choose. :) He said " I mean, I think it has to be Zetta Mae." I could not be happier with the choice! He had his mom and Wes come in first, since it was their first grand baby and my family came in shortly after! Everyone  got to quickly meet her and then they all went home! It was almost 4am by this point! Pete went with Zetta while she got her bath and I tried to eat my amazing Caesar salad that my awesome MIL went to get for me. I was literally falling asleep while I was eating it, so I just went to sleep. Pete and Zetta came back shortly after and the nurses had to come in at 6am and wake us all up because it was time to feed.  She latched on like a champ again! After that, I got up took a shower and had a full day of guest!
 I could not be happier with the way things turned out! It was NOTHING like how I wanted the birth to go, but I knew that was going to happen. :) Doesn't it to everyone?! The main thing is we had a beautiful, healthly baby girl and that's all I can ask for!

What we're up to...

Let me catch you up to speed on where our lives are right now! We moved into our new house over the summer. It is the last house on a quiet, dead end street and we love it! We renovated this one more to our taste than any in the past. It was a fun process, but a bit more stressful than usual considering we are planning on making this our home for a few years! Which who knows if that is even true. If we find something else that we like more, than I am sure we will move but, right now I am just enjoying this house and all it has to offer! Zetta got a major upgrade in floor space in her room, so that is a plus. The minus for her now though, is she get's to share it with her baby sister! There is another room upstairs right next to her's that Pete is currently using as his office that we could make a nursery if we wanted to, but I loved sharing a room with my sister when I was younger and I also really like having Pete's office upstairs. I don't know why, but I feel like if he moved it down to one of the bedroom's in the basement I wouldn't see him as much! So ridiculous, but oh well. We will see how it works out and if we need to make a change, we will! So onto the topic of baby sister! Can you believe it? We are going to two babies, 16 months apart! We knew after we had Zetta that we were going to just let it all be in God's timing on when we were going to have another child and boy, did he surprise us! We just thought since I was breastfeeding and it took us over a year to get pregnant with Zetta it wouldn't be too soon. Which some days I think that 16 months apart isn't too soon but, then others, I selfishly don't want to give up my undivided attention on my first baby just quite yet. With all that being said, we are extremely excited that we are having another girl and know it's going to have it's challenges, but nothing that we can't handle!
I started working full time when Zetta turned 10 weeks old. I started out at a rehab facility being a technintion and really enjoyed the people and interacting with patients all day long. When I was two weeks into that job, a lady I use to babysit for called and said that she was good friends with the owner of LeBounce (a local bounce house in our area) and that I would be perfect for the job! I went and applied, and ended up getting the job! I put my two weeks in at my brand new job (oops) and worked 2 jobs for the next two weeks. It was an incredibly stressful time for me. Not only was I adjusting to motherhood and all that comes with it(pumping at work, waking in the middle of the night, etc, etc), I was working 2 full time jobs. This was my first full time job since college to begin with, so it was just a hard time. Anyone who has made that transition from college student to 40 hours a week job, knows how much of a shock that adjustment is. I truly do not think I am use to it yet!..someday! Since I started at LeBounce in February, there has been a lot of changes there, and all for the better of course. There was 2  facilities under the name LeBounce, and as of November 1st we separated the two facilities, and I work at a place called "Orange Monkey"! It is still a kids entertainment type place, just bigger and better(I will do a whole post on what I do exactly at another time)! Life as a manager has it's challenges but, is also rewarding!
Pete is still flipping foreclosure's and becoming quite the stud if I do say so myself! He has been lucky enough to buy, flip, and sell at a pretty good pace, so he only has about two or three houses he is working on at one time. He also has one rental property(3 separate units though) through his business that he manages and we have two personal rentals that he takes care of as well! He is extremely busy but you would never know it! He is the most calm spirited guy! God knew exactly what he was doing when he put us together! I need someone like him to keep me from going insane!! That is the basics of where we are now! I am hoping to get before and after pictures of our house uploaded soon, I am so pleased with the outcome and can't wait to share!

And we're back for another dramatic season..The Bachelor!

Are you as excited as me about the new season of the Bachelor!?!? I was not a huge fan of Juan Pablo last season, but I defiantly like the Bachelor more than the Bachelorette, so I am excited..bring on the drama! Ha! I have an amazing group of girls that I watch with every week. It is so fun to make time to get together during the week, even if it is for a silly reality tv show! It is going to be interesting this season though, considering I am going to have a new baby halfway through the season. I think I will be hosting quite a bit this year! I am the only one with a little one, so it is just easier for everyone to come to me :) Plus, I love having people over to my house! We have the basement finished now too, so there is a cozy room for us all to hangout and watch together! Can't wait to recap each week with you all!! Cheers to ANOTHER season! It will probably be "the most dramatic season yet"! (I feel like Chris Harrison says that at least once every episode!)

2014...Let's do this!

Well, it is a new year so what better time to start blogging again then at the beginning of a year! Ever since Zetta was born (over a year ago!) the months would roll by and I would be mad at myself for not doing a monthly post for her. Mainly for me to look back on and know when each milestone happened, because it is impossible to remember all the details! So, this year I am determined to stick with it and have a place to look back and cherish our family..especially because we are expanding again! That's correct, for those of you who don't know, I am pregnant again! It was a surprise for sure, but we couldn't feel more blessed. I will do a whole post about baby number two soon. There is a lot I need to catch up on and I still have at least five post in my drafts that I wanted to post before Zetta was born and just didn't. I am excited to start this journey again and can't wait to get started! Check back in often because I promise I will be updating! And please stick with me as I play catch up and post a few post that are extremely out of date, but I want to have them to look back on, so I am going to post them anyways!

Belly and Baby Shower Pictures and a few Tidbits!

Hello! I have obviously been terrible at updating, so I am going to have to do one big post of what's been going on and all the pictures I have! Of course they are all from my phone..owell, maybe the baby will make me better about using my camera! Here we go!

 I am pretty sure that this is 30 weeks

Another 30 weeks

30 weeks bare belly!

This was at my first baby shower that my sister and friend Patty threw for me, 34 weeks and 4 days.

The next weekend my mom's "bible study" friends threw me a church shower, 35 weeks and 4 days.

The next weekend we went to Sam A. Baker for our annual family trip. All my cousins/siblings trying to have a belly like me! 36 weeks and 4 days.

This is 37 weeks and 1 day!

This is 37 weeks and 1 day bare belly!

You can't see me in this really, but this is the day after my shower. It is my bff, Ashley's shower that her mom, our friend Emily, and I threw for her while she was home from New York.

Ashley and I at my shower!! She didn't wear a very belly revealing shirt, but as you can see in the pic above she really is pregnant! :)

Ashley's cake!! The only picture I took of her whole shower. :(

Beautiful decor at my shower from my sister and Patty! There were thank you cards, cookies, and advice cards/tree at this table!

Food table- My mom did an AWESOME job on her big fruit piece!

Cute cupcakes and drink table! Love the mason jars! :)

Ashley-Me-Emily at my shower

My sister-me-my mom at my shower

**Sorry those pictures were in such a random order but it was too much work to move them all around, sorry! I felt so blessed to have two awesome showers- we got so many good things and a lot of necessities too, which makes Pete a happy man!

**My appointment's have been going smoothly for the most part. We had a little bump in the road around 34 weeks. We went in for our normal Thursday appointment and when she went to listen to the heartbeat about 10 beats in there was a little jump sound. It was so clear that Pete and I both heard it. Our doctor wasn't nervous at all, but wanted us to come back the next day to listen again and see if it was gone. Apparently, it is pretty common for a heart arrhythmia to pop up in the later part of pregnancy. Regardless, it was very scary to hear anything could be wrong and it was a rough 24 hours for us. We went back the next morning and our doctor was out doing due to a delivery so the nurse practitioner came in and listened and it was still there so we had to sit and wait for Dr. Cugini to get back and tell us what she wanted us to do. The ultrasound tech that is normally in their office was conveniently out of town for the whole weekend, so we had to go to the hospital to do an hour of external monitoring and get a biophysical profile done. Registration was a disaster, but once we got to the OB floor the nurse was very nice and informative. She said she hears them quite a bit, and usually after birth they are gone and can't even be heard by the pediatrician. After spending practically the whole day at the hospital, Dr. Cugini read the monitoring and decided that she wanted us to go see a specialist. Hearing that news made my heart hurt so bad. That weekend I had my baby shower and put on a brave face, but had a hard time telling 40 people that everything was okay because I did not want to have to explain the situation 40x and plus, we really didn't know if anything was wrong or not. Pete and I had many conversations that weekend about how crazy it that everyone tells you that you won't understand the amount of worry you will have for a child until you have one of your own. Boy, were "they" right. We prayed so much that all would be okay with our baby girl. We knew it was in the Lord's hands and HE is in control. I do not know what I would have done without Pete. He is my rock. He has such a calming spirit, positive attitude, and encouraging personality. The Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he put us in each others paths because I don't know where I would be without having him to turn to. I never, ever want to take him for granted. Okay, back to the story..the next Tuesday we had our appointment with the specialist. First off, the doctor is the one who did the ultrasound and went through every little detail with us. Stopped on everything, pointed out what each thing was, explained what he was looking for, etc. He even took a picture of the hair on her head and gave us a free 3D picture, which showed off baby girl's butt chin just like her mama. :) Although, I am very happy we didn't really know why we were there other than the fact that our baby had a heart arrhythmia and we needed to check and find out what type it was. When he got to the heart and said well I do not see any fluid around any parts of the heart, so you are clear from fetal heart failure. I looked over at Pete in shock. If I would have known that was the reason we were going there before my anxiety would have been out.of.the.roof. He thought everything looked great and said she will have the arrhythmia until she was born and maybe for a while after, but it will not affect her in any way. Praise the Lord. We left there so encouraged and thankful for the good results. We have been back to the doctor 3-4 times since then and you can still hear it for sure, but if the doctors say it is okay, then that is what we have to trust in.

**I had my 37 week appointment today and I am almost dilated to a two and pretty much all the way effaced. She said it was so much that she couldn't give me an exact percent. She all said that last week she could still push the baby's head up and it would move and this week it didn't go back up at all! All good news! We could have a baby any day now!

**I have really been feeling good. I only had a few weeks that she was high enough for it to be uncomfortable to sit or breathe. She has definitely dropped!!! My feet and hands are pretty puffy all the time now. I can't get my rings on anymore. First time I have went without them since we got married!

**Pete and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 16th of this month. We just kept saying how crazy it is how important we made our 1st anniversary and this year, our lives have changed so much that November 13th is the date that has our attention now. Plus, the first year of marriage was not easy for us. Getting adjusted to living together is a hard, hard thing. Where as this past year has been so fun for us! We are adjusted to each other and have our own life together now and it feels good to look back on the past year and see how far we have came together! I can't imagine what next year is going to look like considering we are going to have a baby who is about to turn 1!! ah!

**We are still waiting until baby girl is born to decide on a name. Although I did tell Pete a few weeks ago that if I had to decide that second I knew which one I wanted to go with. My thoughts have not changed from that either, so that's pretty exciting. Thinking about her with a name is a lot more fun than without, but it will be worth the wait of a few more weeks!

**I really do not want a Halloween baby. At. All.

That is all I can think of right now. I am going to try to get a nursery reveal post finished (for real!!), a post on what/how I want my labor to go (this is the point when anyone who has had a child can go ahead and laugh, but I just want to have my thought wrote down before and after), and my sister told me I should do a post of my day now so I can do one once I have the baby and see what has changed. So I have a busy next few days! :)

xoxo,

Erin

Blogging Fail

Hello everyone!
I had such good intentions on keeping up with this blog and I have failed in the past two weeks! The sad part is that I wrote out like 3 or 4 posts so all I would have to do is come and publish them and I still didn't do that!! Pathetic. The pregnancy tiredness is getting the best of me, that's for sure. When I get home from work it takes everything in me to cook dinner and do a little nightly cleaning and not just lay down on the couch and not get up until morning! :) I will be posting the missing belly pictures soon, along with all those other written post!!

Stay tuned,
Erin

Labor Day Weekend

We didn't really have any plans for the extra long weekend, and it is a good thing because the weather was pretty nasty the whole time. On Friday we both worked during the day and then went to dinner with my parents that night. They were suppose to go on a motorcycle trip with another couple but, that got cancelled due to the weather. They ended up making a change of plans and the 4 of them left early this morning and headed for a short weekend get a way in Nashville. So jealous that they are actually doing something! After dinner Pete brought me home and headed back out the door to Cape Centrals football game. A few of his friends coach/teach around the area so he tries to go to a few games every year. It was POURING down rain so I stayed at home and decided to hook up the old Nintendo and play a little Donkey Kong. Pete came home early and turned on a football game. I read a few blogs and fell asleep pretty quickly. :)
Saturday I woke up around 7:30, checked all my normal morning things on my phone and then got up. Pete got up shortly after me because he was meeting people to work on our rental house around 9am. I ate breakfast, showered, and got ready for the day. I had a few errands to run, so I jumped in the car and did those. On my way downtown to the market, I stopped in at the new bakery that just opened up. I ended up getting a cinnamon roll, it was delicious.

The place is still new and working things out, but it was so cute! The have different flavors of cupcakes each day, plus cookies, brownies, coffee's, etc. I really hope that it makes it because our town really needs something like this! Since my parents are out of town, I ran to Jackson to let their dogs out before I came home. Once I got home I ate lunch and watched a few episodes of The Hills since there is a marathon on all weekend long! Pete got home around 5, took a shower and got cleaned up from working all day. We headed back to Jackson to feed my parents dogs and visit with his mom for a bit. Her husband was out of town so she was home alone all weekend! We had dinner plans with my friend Erin at BWW, so we headed back to Cape to meet her. A few of Pete's friends ended up being back at the bar watching all the games, so we stayed a little later than planned! After dinner we just came home and both fell asleep on the couch pretty quick!
 Sunday was a lazy day! Neither one of us set an alarm (terrible, I know) so we missed church. The only good thing about that is I actually slept in for once! I feel rejuvenated, finally!! I made pancakes for breakfast (more like brunch) and then we laid around and caught up on a few recorded shows. I had to go to the store to get everything for a dip that I told a friend I would bring that night for a get together at their new house, so I got ready and did that. I also may have made a quick trip by Starbucks to get my first pumpkin spice latte of the season!! I just wanted to sit there and savor every single sip. It was delicious!!  Around 3:30 we loaded up and headed to the Harrell's. They recently moved to Sikeston and have been painting/ renovating their new house since they moved in, so we were excited to see all the updates!! They made a shrimp boil for dinner (YUM) and we all just hung out pretty late since no one had work or school the next day!

Monday was a pretty lazy day for us also! I got up pretty early (not by choice), ate my breakfast, and watched a few shows that I had recorded that I don't make Pete suffer through. Aka, Beverly Hills Nannies, and Keeping up with the Kardashians! Ha. When Pete got up we cleaned the garage a little bit and I trimmed my potato vines back, they were taking over the front porch! Other than that we just sat around the majority of the day. I moved a few decorations around in the house and started to figure out where I wanted to hang everything! Here is the most updated thing I have done. I really wanted a collage type wall but the first one I did I was just never satisfied with it. I also realized that I do not have any pictures of us or family in the whole house, so I am going to replace everything in the frames with family pictures. I think I will like it a lot more!!

First Attempt:

I know the pictures aren't that great, I was did it quick to text others for advice :)

Second Attempt:

The "ram" head will be going in baby girls room. I think it will get more of the attention that it deserves. :) Plus, I just like this one a lot more!

My mom asked us to come over for dinner since they had been gone all weekend, so we headed over to their house for the evening and ate some delicious homemade fried chicken! Thanks mama!

I think that wraps up our lazy weekend! Hope everyone got as much rest as we did!! :)

xoxo,

Erin