15 months and Cerclage

On Thursday we took Cameron in for his 15 month appointment. He was 21lbs and 30 3/4 inch. His weight percentile went from 5th to 9th!!! Yay! We are finally putting on some weight. Not that I couldn't tell from his little pot belly poking out when he walks. We were sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor, Cameron was stripped down to his britches and exploring everything in the room. When the doctor finally came in Cam sat down on the floor. I said "tell the doctor Hi!" and he went "HI!!!" and waved emphatically. Yep this kids isn't social AT all!

And then yesterday, I went in and had my cerclage done. For those of you that don't care to "know" more about me, stop reading now! Talk about out of body experience. It was so surreal, walking into the operating room, having 6 or 7 masked people decend on me like vultures to a carcass. Then the spinal. The thing I was worried about, felt like someone was digging an ice pick around in my back. Once that fun was done, I was put on my back and they lifted my dead weight legs into those fancy stirrups that just make you feel so special. Followed by a brief intermission while the spinal fully kicked in and I am splayed open for all the world to see while the doctors stand there having a conversation about "Julie and Julia"- Go figure. Slightly uncomfortable. Thankfully they let me cling to my picture of Cameron the whole time since I apparently wasn't allowed to cling to any dignity...

Anywho the whole procedure took all of 15 minutes, and then they wheeled me to the recovery room for me to sit until I could feel some semblance of my lower half. It took about 2+ hours, they tried to sit me up at one point and my BP dropped and I nearly passed out, so we took that a little slower. Then once I was able to be put in the fancy rolling chair, they told me to go to the bathroom and I could go home.... Easier said than done! Apparently my muscles were still too numb to remember how to go! It took another 2 hours for that! I have never been so excited to go to the bathroom! But then again I have never had a cheering section of nurses encouraging me before either.

I am now at home, after a 20 minute trip up the stairs... You never know how much you use your leg muscles until you can't feel them anymore.... I am in bed, yearning to be up playing with my little boy. But Everything went well. I go back on December 28th to check it and make sure everything is staying well put, including our little bean!

Reasons I think I am having a Girl....

1. I just feel it ( I know.. Not scientific, but they say "mothers instinct")
2. I was never this exhausted when I was pregnant with Cameron.... I can't keep my eyes open!
3. I had very bad morning sickness with Cameron, this time only here and there.
4. Girls are supposed to "take mom's good looks" and I look like crap...:)
5. I have had a major headache the past week, to which my mom pointed out she had with ONLY me and none of my brothers....


So anyways... There are probably more, but that is all I can think of right now. Now I have to go chase Cameron down the hallway.

I think I am going to post a link to this site where people can guess what, when and how big the baby will be. Does that sound like a fun idea? I think so...

Update!

We had an appointment on Monday and got to see the little one kicking and jumping around! I was so happy to see it. The heartbeat was 165bpm and little one is growing right on time!

We have a busy week coming up next week. Wednesday we have my pre-op appointment. Thursday we have Cameron's 15 month well baby check and shots. Then Friday morning I am going in to have my cerclage placed.

As for everything else, Cameron is doing well. Talking up a storm now. Most of it is not discernable, but cute nonetheless. He is walking all over still, him and Molly are the best of friends. I really can't believe he is 15 months old already!

Right now we are having a blizzard warning, which could prove to be fun! Alright I will leave you with some pictures!!

OMG Come on Thanksgiving!!!

My pregnant self is sooooo excited for eating all that turkey and pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes! I can't wait to have my first Thanksgiving where my little boy can eat all the good delicious food and get it all over himself. In his hair, up his nose, EVERYWHERE! It is going to be so cute!

As an update. Cameron is walking nearly 100% of the time now. He is growing up so fast! He looks like a little duckie!

I am feeling OK. Have had a few bouts of morning sickness but nothing near as bad as last time so far....keeping my fingers crossed.

Still waiting for December 7th...........

Dr Appointments

So I just got off the phone with Bronson Maternal Fetal Medicine. I have an appointment scheduled for December 7th. There they will do an ultrasound and check my cervical length.... Yay! Here we go again.... After that I will have my cerclage scheduled for within a week to 10 days. (For those who don't know, a cerclage is a stitch put in my cervix to hopefully keep it CLOSED!!!) I will be out of comission for a little while after that. It is a sort of out-patient procedure. It will involve an epidural and at least 8-12 hours in the hospital for monitoring. After the procedure I will probably have to be on bedrest at home for 4-7 days depending on what the doctor says.... Should be fun with Cameron not understanding why Mommy can't play with him!

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this cerclage will keep this little one where it is supposed to be for the WHOLE pregnancy! And relieve me from having to be on bedrest! There is still a chance I will have to go on bedrest eventually, but we are hoping not. And we will cross that bridge when we get to it! I will still have weekly or bi-weekly cervical length monitoring to ensure that the stitch is doing its job!

Alright. Enough babbling! Now this blog is not just about Cameron! It is about BOTH our babies!

Here comes #2!!!

So I am sure everyone already knows, but Keith and I found out this month that we are happily expecting our second child. And while I am not happily enjoying the morning sickness that comes along with it, it is a wonderful thing and we couldn't be more ecstatic!

We will be due right around June 22nd 2010!!

1 year pics!

MY BABY IS WALKING!!

Alright I will start out by saying I AM A HORRIBLE BLOGGER! I didn't make a single post in September and this is my first in October. And his birthday was in September!! I will blame it on being busy. Between planning his birthday, moving and just plain life.... Well. It all added up. I will do my best to be better at it. No promises though!

Now for the big update! On Monday October 12th Cameron took his first step on his own. He did about 6 non-consecutive steps that evening, then Tuesday October 13th he just took off doing like 6-8 steps at once all on his own! My little boy is truly a toddler now! He is almost 13 1/2 months.

We went to a birthday party last weekend for my friend's daughter Madeleine. Madeleine and Cameron were due 3 days apart but as we all know Cameron was born early so they are about 5 weeks apart. I was so great to see them play together. I found out how passive Cam is. When he would have a toy and Madeleine would take it from him, he would just give it to her. The only problem we had was when Madeleine was opening her presents, Cameron wanted to be in the middle of it and play with all of her new toys too! I am so happy for them too! Madeleine's parents, Ashley and Aaron are expecting #2 in early December, so the kids will be approximately 14 months apart! Good luck guys!

I don't know if everyone is aware that we are completely moved in to our new house. WE LOVE IT!! There is a full flight of stairs and we have been trying to teach Cameron how to go up and down them safely. Unfortunately the other day he got too confident and fell off the bottom step onto the floor which is tile. He got a big knot on his head, but is doing good overall.

I will post a couple of pics and maybe a video of him walking tomorrow. Goodnight all!

The Joy of My Boy

The Joy Of My Boy:

A look back at the first of many years with my little man.

On September 5th 2008 I became:

Your Mommy

Your Caregiver

Your Playmate

Your Best Friend

Your Personal Butt Wiper

Whole

On September 5th 2008 You became:

My World

My Heart

The thing I look forward to seeing

My reason to wake up in the morning

My little Oogie Boogie

Those sleepless nights checking to see if you were still breathing.

The multitudes of dirty diapers.

The hundreds of dollars spent on diapers and formula.

The loads of laundry to wash off the spit up and "accidents"

Were all worth it and more when I saw you:

Roll over the first time

Sit up on your own

Drag yourself around the house :)

Look at me and recognize me

Reach for me

Cry for me

Pull yourself up and look to me because you were so proud

Give your puppy kisses

Things I taught you:

To crawl

To wave

To laugh

To play

To blow raspberries

Things you taught me:

To be 100% Selfless

To be a night owl

To always "point it downward"

To be someone I didn't know existed inside me

That a smile can make anything better.

How is it that you can send me into peals of laughter with your growl?

How do you melt my heart with your giggle?

How do you make a full out scream look cute?

How do I deal with my baby growing up?

How do I put into words just how much you mean to me, and how you have changed my life?

I want to thank you,

For blessing me with your presence

For the sloppy, slobbery kisses that I love so much

For snuggling into my chest when you are upset, tired or don't feel very good

For making "mama" your first word

For spending your days with me enjoying simple things like hide and seek and tickling

For being the absolute miracle that you are and giving me a purpose

For showing me how wonderful the world can be when you see it through your child's eyes.

Happy Birthday, I Love You

My Cameron, My Son

You will not always be a baby, But you will always be MY baby.

How Now Brown Cow?

What a week.....

I have had one whirlwind of a week. I drove up to Midland on Friday to be with my friend Mauria who was expecting her baby. We walked around the mall to try to get her contractions going, because the hospital kept telling her she wasn't "really" in labor. But she was! I knew she was! Keith drove up Friday night to be there when the baby was born, as Mike and Mauria asked Keith and I to be Kaylee's godparents. Saturday we all went to lunch for Mauria's "last meal" before she was put in the hospital. We then went to do more walking which caused the contrax to increase. Mauria was admitted and Kaylee was born at 8:50am Sunday August 9th, 2009.

Melissa was supposed to go in Tuesday to have her c-section but the hospital told her that she couldn't have the c-section yet, they pushed it off until next Wednesday, so it looks like I will have to make another trip up to Midland next week to see little Ashton born.

On top of that, an old friend of our's dad passed away this weekend. He was a pilot and his plane crashed over the weekend. It was a huge surprise and a very tragic loss. So today, Melissa and I went to the viewing and paid our respects. I wish I could have done more.

Cameron has learned to bite....Not my favorite thing in the world. Today he was mad at me and went to bite my foot. I quickly moved it out of the way and his mouth hit the floor. His tooth which has been getting close got a more aggresive push.....

Keith was sent to California yesterday for business. He will be back in a few days.

And this afternoon after all this, I was driving home from Midland when I remembered. Today is Keith and my 3rd wedding anniversary. How can I forget my own anniversary? There was just so many things going on. And Keith being a couple thousand miles away.... Ho-Hum. Pity party.

11 Months old!!!

Yesterday my little boy turned 11 months old.... I have only a few short weeks until his 1st birthday. (which his party is on the same day!!) I just sent out the invitations so let me know if y'all don't get one in the next week or so.

He is getting so big! He is standing and pulling up on the furniture and walking around on the furniture. He walks with me as long as I am holding his hands. I can't believe that it won't be long now and he will be walking on his own. He loves to eat anything we will give him and he is so silly! He blows raspberries and laughs at himself. He loves to crawl all over Molly and chase her around the room. My little boy is growing up so fast!!!!!

Mommy on the other hand has been very busy.... I have spent the last week or so either in Midland or in bed. My friend Mauria is currently fighting off the labor of Keith and my little goddaughter Kaylee. Melissa looks like she will be going in on Tuesday for her c-section. My best guess is, we will have 2 new babies by Thursday at the latest....

On Friday Mauria and I went to go see "The Ugly Truth" and I was taking a bite of popcorn when my molar shattered. Yuk!! I went to the dentist on Monday and found out that either I would have to have a root canal and a crown OR just yank the dang thing out. Well, since the cost of the root canal and crown was ridiculous and the pulling was only $20. I went with yanking. OUCH! I am still recovering.

My weight loss has stalled at about 35 lbs right now. Between my gym closing, being on the road in Midland, and the tooth issue, I have been having trouble getting together. But as soon as this is all over, I will be hitting the gym again and getting back up on that horse!!!

We are also having issues with our rental house at the moment. We love the house but the landlord has gotten very intent on selling it and has been showing it frequently. We will keep everyone updated on whether or not we will have to move again. If we do we will DEFINITELY find a house that has at least a year lease and is not currently for sale! We want a stable place to raise our family!

I am just in a talkative mood today! We took Cameron to the Renaissance festival a few weeks ago and he was a hit with the ladies. What a flirt he was. The queen couldn't get enough of him! I will post pictures of that soon.

We are doing a Cat in the Hat/Dr. Seuss theme for the birthday party. Cameron absolutely loves everything to do with them. Unfortunately we only have the lorax and green eggs and ham and a Cat in the Hat stuffed animal. We haven't been able to find anything else! I can't believe how difficult it is to find any of it. I have even looked on craigslist and found a couple of items on ebay (A halloween costume too! He will be Cat in the Hat for Halloween!!) Whenever he sees the Cat in the Hat he either says "Cat" or "Kitty" It is really too cute.

Well I am sorry it has taken me so long to update but hopefully this overly long post will make up for that! Hope everyone has a good day. Cameron and I will be coming into Midland this weekend to be there when Kaylee and Ashton are born! Let us know if you want to see us!

Erin

Pictures!

Like I said he eventually passed out!

He was soo proud of himself when he figured out how to pull himself up on the PNP!

Dad, Gramma and uncle Gus in the background

Daddy with the hot air balloons

This is when the Thunderbirds were flying overhead and I had to cover his ears because it was too loud!

Cameron in Lake Michigan for the very first time!

Cameron on the Beach!

Eating corn on the cob!!

Getting ready to get in the bath!

10 Months old....

Cameron is 10 months old today!! He is all over the place now! We had such an awesome time this weekend too! Mom, Gus, Pat and Max came to visit and we went to the beach on Friday and to the fireworks/ air show on Saturday. Cameron did awesome considering his sleep schedules were completely screwed up for 3 days in a row and he was out in the sun and public a lot. I have lots of pictures but haven't had a chance to upload them yet.

He refused to take a nap all day at the air show yesterday so finally towards the end of the night he just passed out, like totally zonked on my mom's lap and didn't make a peep for the rest of the night! Nothing woke him, not the fireworks, airplanes, or people yelling and screaming around us. It was too funny!

He has learned to pull himself up on everything and is practicing cruising around the furniture. It is just a matter of time before he is walking. He is trying to stand up without support but as soon as he lets go he falls over...Too cute!

When does it end?

So now my car won't start. The last time it was driven was on Monday only to move it around the driveway, but how much do you want to bet it has something to do with the water at the concert..... It would be just my luck wouldn't it?

Anyhow, I hit 30lbs lost this morning. Only a lot more to go.

We are having a garage sale this weekend, come see our junk!

You will NEVER believe what happened today!!

Okay Ladies and Gentleman, Sit back and relax. This is a long story but it is one of those WTF days where you look around for the cameras because you MUST be in a movie or something!

The day started all well and good, the alarm didn't go off so Mom and I were running late to go to the B93 birthday bash in Ionia, MI. It was a country music fest that was featuring Blake Shelton, Craig Morgan, Zac Brown Band and a special guest on Saturday. Then Emerson Drive, Dierks Bentley and another special guest Sunday. Supposedly. As previously stated we were running about an hour and a half late. About halfway to the concert we had a coffee accident ALL over the car which made our late arrival even later. When we finally got to the "area" of the concert we were stuck in a car line outside waiting to get in when we saw other cars turning around and leaving. We finally flagged someone down and asked. We were informed that they were telling people to go to the other entrance because the parking lot was too muddy. OK, you have to understand that it had rained for the last 2 days straight and there was a river right next to the fair grounds. So a little mud was understandable, maybe even expected.

Now at this point we were like "Hmm, do we turn around and start the whole line process over or wait here while everyone leaves and get right in?" Well I beat mom in the debate and we turned around and went to the other entrance. After about another 45 min of waiting we paid for parking (supposed to be $15 but the takers swindled us out of our change.... whole other story) and happened to get a spot right up near the entrance since they had JUST opened this lot. We get in and get some "meh" seats. After about another hour they started turning people away because they had reached capacity (Keep in mind, capacity was around 80,000) After another hour or so they started to announce that some of the cars in the "back lot" (where we would have parked had we not turned around) had flooding issues and if anyone was parked there they should move their vehicles. Mom and I took this opportunity to get a better vantage point since people were leaving and we parked in a prime location!

Ok, good, great right? Another hour or so we are getting several updates about the flooding. They are trying to shorten the acts to close up early. One girl next to us comes back and tells her friends that her car is completely submerged and there is no hope for it. Cue worried looks between Mom and I. I walk to the entrance (where, I might mention I can actually see my car. NOT even close to any water.) So I'm not worried.

I go back to our seats, Mom tells me that they announced that the final 3 acts have been told they must come on together if they want to perform at all. I ask Mom who the "special guest" is and she says "Some Linda Mitchell lady" I have no idea who Linda Mitchell is so I am slightly disappointed. Blake, Craig, and "linda" are onstage doing a slightly improvised accoustic jam-session (SUPER COOL by the way!) Finally, "Linda" starts singing. I say to Mom, "Man this girl sounds like Michelle Branch..." To which she replies "Oh, Yeah thats who it is!!" How she got Linda Mitchell from Michelle Branch I will never know....

Anywho. The big bad police man comes out, takes the mike from Blake and tells everyone, Ummm Sorry guys but Everyone has to leave NOW! Everyone packs up all their stuff and heads to the exits. Surprisingly we only heard one "F*** You!" from the croud to the police man. Fortunately we were parked pretty close to the gates so we got to the car quickly. After some fancy cutting off of people, we were finally headed toward the exit. Suddenly we saw people walking back towards the parking lot wet and carrying their things. We asked one person if we could get out that way (The same way we came in only 5 or so hours before) to which she replied "Well, SOME cars are getting through..."

Oh, Crap. as we inch forward we see the entire area where we came in completely flooded. The ticket booths where we paid for parking had water 3/4ths of the way to the top. Keep in mind we decided to drive my little Dodge intrepid today instead of my Jeep Grand Cherokee to save gas! Fortunately after some careful driving we made it through the flood (when we opened the doors the water was almost coming in, like less than 1/4inch away) got on the road and headed home....Whew...

Less than 1/2hour later we heard on the radio station that hosted the bash that almost all the cars left there were stuck and they were calling people to abandon their vehicles and come to the main building and they were flying in provisions!! They were using boats to get people out. As of about an hour ago, thousands of people are STILL stranded there, and have pretty much lost their vehicles.


I mean who would have thought???? How many things that we did today contributed to us not being stranded there right now? If I hadn't spilled coffee, if we hadn't turned around, if I hadn't pissed people off by cutting in, if we had hung around a couple minutes longer....?? I mean, really??

So enough of my crazy rant. It may be one of those you had to be there moments, but here are some pics of the parking lots, from the local news website....

What a fun weekend.

We had such a great time this weekend in Midland. It was exhausting, but fun. We had a good baby shower for Mauria and the day was wonderful and beautiful. She got such wonderful gifts from her family. Her mother made her this absolutely gorgeous crib set for Kaylee's room. I made her a diaper cake which I will post a pic of. I am so proud of how it turned out.

Cameron being silly at the baby shower.

The diaper cake and Cameron in the car on the drive home.

Baby Shower!!

We are heading up to Midland tonight because I am hostin a shower for my friend Mauria. I am sooo excited. She is having a little girl, Kaylee, due in August and I LOVE shopping (and making things) for little girls. Ok I just like pink.

More people I know are preggo... I think the planet is going to explode with babies here soon!

Alright some pictures I know you have all been patiently waiting for!!

Molly sniffing Cameron as he crawls by...

Cameron eating his binky at Jeff and Susan's wedding

Cameron being a goob this morning!

Cameron and I at Jeff and Susan's wedding!

9 Months!

Cameron is 9 months old! Wow, I know I say this every time, but I can't believe how time flies.

We had his appointment on Friday. He was 17lbs even and 27 inches long. He is still only in the 5th percentile for weight, but has gone from the 5th to the 25th percentile for height!! The doctor told us it is ok to start giving him real table food. So he has had macaroni and cheese, chicken, pasta, mandarin oranges, a bit of pancake and some other stuff. He loves it! Basically she wants us to give him as much high calorie food as possible to help him gain some weight.

On a side note, my weight loss is going GREAT! I have dropped 22 lbs and as of tonight I was able to fit in a pair of size 14 capris! (I started out in size 20!)

Argg...(warning, long pointless rant)

So this last week Cameron and I went to Midland because Keith was sent out to California on a business trip. On Friday and Saturday we were helping my mom and dad "combine households" for economic reasons... I did a LOT of heavy lifting, which was good because I wasn't able to go to the gym anyways. But man was I exhausted. Well Mom gave me her table because she didn't have room for it anymore, which required her to follow me home to drop it off.

After a long day of manual labor, Mom and I loaded up both vehicles with all the baby paraphenalia and the baby too. Whom we were hoping would sleep the whole way because it was late. Of course he didn't... he practically screamed the whole 3 hour drive, requiring multiple stops to retrive the pacifier he threw across the car or the bottle that fell to the side... But eventually (around midnight) we got home and I was excited to get to bed. I unpacked the monitor base, only to realize that I didn't remember packing the receiver.... Mom also said she didn't pack it. SO I got in the car and drove to the local Wal-Mart, walked to the back of the store, grabbed the monitor, got to the check-out, waited in line (because we all know that Wal-Mart has only 1 line open overnight even though they should have 2) Looked in my purse and realized I had left my wallet at the house.... By this point I was ready to pull my hair out. I drove home, got my wallet, went back to Wal-Mart, bought the darn monitor, and drove home. Only to find my mother trying to comfort my screaming child. I finally got him calmed down and went to sleep...

The next day I was unpacking the rest of our bags and guess what I found...Yep, the receiver. Mom said, Oh yeah... I did put it in that bag. LOL It's not her fault, we were both exhausted.

I just had to put that down. I was just utterly frusterated.

On a brighter note, I am 21 lbs down!!

Pictures and More!

Yesterday Cameron crawled over to the wall and tried to reach for the outlet (which of course is covered but I still don't want him reaching for it) And I sternly said NO... He looked at me and kept reaching. I walked over to him and said NO again and lightly tapped his hand. OMG You would have thought I beat him with a 10 foot pole! He just started WAILING! I guess he doesn't like being reprimanded... But he will have to learn! This pic is from the airplane on the way out to New Jersey. He finally fell asleep on my shoulder....

Baba and Cameron... Spoons are tasty!

My brother ate this giant burger at Cheeburger Cheeburger and they made him get his pic taken with the giant burger for the wall... He doesn't look like he feels good after all that grease and meat does he?

I absolutely LOVE Camerons expression in this pic! He looks like he is from one of those Japanimation cartoons!! Deda looks so happy!

Spoon still tasty!

So thats all for now! We are going to a friends wedding this Saturday and will be coming to Midland the weekend of June 13th for Mauria's baby shower. Hope everyone is doing well!!