Summer. Zoom.

What do I remember about this summer?

L's birthday, with ducky cupcakes and his tiniest of pimp hats;

D & K's summer vacay, complete with Lizard rabies, Cookie Monster and Supernatural obsessions and don't forget *bwah*.

Seaworld and San Diego with the sneaky sunburns, B winning a giant Shamu, me biffing it in the hottub (to the delight of my wicked daughter) and D's Leopluradon sand sculpture .

Charlie the Unicorn quotes, and sugary junk food...both in large quantities.

Not much summer left, and I hope it slows down a bit, except maybe for the temps dropping. THAT can happen any time now!

First Haircut... Gulp!

Liam did so well! He cried and HATED the trimmer alot. Then he threw up a bit... but other than that he did AWESOME!

The Little Chops Salon is terrif, they have a Thomas track, race car chairs and a tv at each station (we watched Barney). I was so concerned with pictures that I totally forgot about getting a lock of hair. Luckily, they not only gave me a lock in an envelope for his baby book they also gave us a cute little certificate with a place for a picture. I am framing it and putting it in his room, until he insists I take it down. Or, as Dad says, he knocks it down!

Super Swim Lessons!

Wow, what a great time we have at swim lessons! Liam just loves all his little friends, the water and the ordered chaos that rules the pool.

He is so comfortable in the water, once the he gets used to the water. He has no problem getting his face wet, he kicks, blows bubbles and LOVES to "jump" off the side!

He'll be swimming by his first birthday... well, maybe that's wishful thinking, teehee :)

Missed a few holidays...

Happy Valentine's Day!

This past week has not been fun. One would think a week off work would be great. That One would be wrong in this case.

The Good: L can't get enough of me, thinks I'm the greatest. He got another little toothy, and learned to dance. His babbling is getting quite sophisticated. He's discovered objects that are covered with a burp cloth are still under there (!) and thinks it is the funniest thing ever, followed closely by that old favorite Peek-a-Boo.

The Bad: L forgot how to sleep through the night. So, I don't sleep through the night, not good for the Hashi's! He also projectile vomited without known cause one night, just the one, lots of fun. I am in pain but he's usually in a great mood, as long as I don't make him sleep in his crib by his lonesome.

The Ugly: Baby spit up; epic-icky diapers. No time for a shower for me and a sick husband. 'Nuff said.

7-month-olds have a lot going on. Teeth coming in, getting mobile and body part discovery just to name a few. I wish I was more like him; too excited to sleep because I wanted to practice my Peek-a-Boo. It sure is hard to insist that the littlest love of my life go back to sleep when all he wants is to give me hugs and kisses!

I share the xoxo's with everyone who loves us and everyone we love:)

2010- I'm ready for you;D

Here I go with the resolutions again:

1.) Lose weight, at least 30 pounds.

* This will be hard b/c of the Hashimoto's Disease. And the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And the Whoppers. And Skittles.

Crap. Now I'm Hungry.

2.) Be more social.

*Facebook doesn't count. Except if the friends live out of state. Or if I am in a lot of pain that day. Or if it's really cold. Or hot.

This is why all my friends live in the laptop.

3.) Work on my personal relationship with Heavenly Father.

No jokes with this one, it's the only one that matters, everything else will fall into place when this does, I should think.

I didn't do too bad last year; all I wanted was to have a healthy baby, a closer relationship with my family and to lose 70 pounds after L was born. I did all those things.

Except the weight deal but I lost 40 and that is a good start. Sure, 10 of it was Liam, but I wouldn't have gained it in the first place if it wasn't for the years of fertility treatments, wellllll... and all the junk food I mentioned above.

I'm pretty happy though. Life is good.

Hashimoto's Disease/ Post Partum Thyroiditis

Seriously.

I sometimes wonder if I am so blessed because I take the crappy parts without complaint.

I have a mildly unpleasant type of thyroid problem that sends my hormones soaring and then crashing in a rapid-fire lunacy that makes me feel like an asylum case. It's like my hormones are bi-polar. Which would explain a lot.

When L was about four months old he was sleeping through the night and so was I, but I felt like I never actually woke up. I guess I would have just let it slide, blamed it on new-mom-syndrome (I'd already complained about it to my doc who'd done a few rounds of blood work) but two things happened. 1) I started having chest pain and could not breathe, 2) I considered taking a nap at a stoplight as if it were a logical thing to do. I got myself to my GP like my butt was on fire.

I presumed it was bronchitis, I have had it a lot back east and it has caused some chest pain. Sure, not this bad but I figured the extreme mommy fatigue could make it worse. It was actually kind of a funny conversation;

Amy the medical assistant. "So, you're thinking bronchitis?"

Me: "Yes"

Amy: "Do you have a cough?"

Me: "No."

Amy: "Congestion, Runny nose?"

Me: "No."

Amy: "Then why do you think you have bronchitis?"

Me: "Because I have chest pain and feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest, or I am drowning."

Amy: Silence

Me: "So... bronchitis."

Amy: Silence.

Me: "Or not."

Amy: "I'll go get the doctor."

Since I had been nursing the pain for a couple of weeks (oh and say-hey-by-the-way my blood work indicated I'd had really high thyroid levels for the past month, would have liked to know that) she did an ekg sent me to get more blood work and to a cardio guy and a endocrinologist. In fact she had her MA make the appointments for me to ensure I got in that day. Now my chest hurt, I was exhausted and scared I was going to die or something. Which would totally suck.

The cardio guy basically told me I was fine, which I had a hard time believing since I still had so much pressure in my chest that I felt like I was being crushed, but I was too tired to argue.
Next stop, endocrinologist. Who do to my previously high thyroid levels and no bottomed out levels diagnosed me with Post Partum Thyroiditis.

The pregnancy that keeps on giving. I swear, if I knew that this baby-journey from conception to now would be so rough.... I still would have done it. Who am I kidding? He's worth anything.

So here I am after a bunch of tests, an effective, if troublesome, drug that makes me feel like many of my bones are slightly broken. Apparently that's actually joint pain but what do I know about anatomy? It also indicates the possibility of another auto immune disease, Lupus.

Phuff. I watch "House"; it's never Lupus.

Are you KIDDING me with this jiggly jogging?

I am going to embrace my inner fat person ( who has been my outer fat person for the past couple years) because exercise is degrading.

I'm going to get those jeans that'll lift my butt and squish my thighs. I'll lean ALL of my mirrors a bit forward at the top to give me a false sense of slimness.

I will avoid looking at my lap while sitting unless my baby is in it.

What I will NOT do is watch my flesh dimple and shake while I run a few miles, play a little DDR on Wii, all in hopes of return to my former slender self.

I have done this before, I lost 60 pounds after Kristen. Sure it was 12 years ago and it was after my literally life-devastating divorce, and lost about 45 of those pounds in a fog of self destructive behaviour. I probably would have wasted away from the Despondency Diet if Bill hadn't wandered into my life, and gave me a much needed shake until my teeth rattled.

Figuratively, people.

Anyway, I'm ready to lose the weight and get back my energy. I have been dealing with a skin problem, massively distracting itchy, bumpy rashes (ew) and my dermatologist has prescribed some stuff which makes me itchy and bumpy (which I was before) and now my skin burns like a house-a-fire (which is a new development).

So, hey. Maybe I'll open a cupcake shop and then no one will think twice about my chubbiness. Bakers are always a bit "fluffy", it goes beautifully with the tall hat.

And I really like cupcakes.

So Busy, So Tired, So Joyful!

I am blessed beyond belief. My kids are such a joy to me. D is practically 14 (gulp) and K is in junior high now, so weird. L is changing so fast, I feel like I scrambling to keep up with them all!

D's devotion to Bionicles is as strong as ever. With the The legend Reborn coming out he is even more committed to knowing everything there is to know about them. His obsessive fascination is typical of Aspie's and it does worry me that he is a little too engrossed, but I try to stress the Strong elemental aspects and hope that it will lead to a wider interest in science. I also try to get him to write about it because he has a real grip on the ideas and understands the construction of the canonical story line. He impresses me with his ability to immediately apply what he learns in school to his Bionicle world!

Kristen is still focused on skating, her clique at school at Katy Pery. She went to Katy at the fair and enjoyed it alot, she hasn't stopped talking about it! I have to say her clique seems a little snotty and self- absorbed but I guess that is pretty typical of the middle school set. I remember being pretty much the same way! She is still a bit of a tomboy, but she is beginning to become more tolerant of girly things. Hurray!

L is amazing! He is growing so fast, and he is such a big boy. He's been sleeping in his room finally, he usually only gets up once a night, so that is like the best gift a mommie can ask for. He still resists his crib (I can't figure that out) but sleep's well in his bassinet. He rolled over once at 9 weeks but hasn't done it again. He hates tummy time so I am afraid he'll never crawl, LOL, but he holds his head up remarkably well and has for a while now. He is very social, and constantly strives to keep all eyes on him. His smiling and cooing makes me feel so wonderfully happy, and watching B with him brings me to happy tears. I am so thrilled that my husband can leave behind his natural reticence behind to be silly and cuddly with the baby. He loves to make L laugh and coo, and watching them interact is the high point of my day!

I am back to work, and it is not as bad as I thought it would be. My MIL is the main reason, she is the perfect grandma! She is all about the g-babies! She is loving, cuddly and endlessly patient. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives. My FIL is fantastic too I am so glad they moved out here. They really fit in Sun City, although they feel like the kids of the town! At 67 and almost 65 they are still totally active and full of excitement about what life has to offer.

All in all, I am outrageously happy and spend alot of time thanking God for his gifts, He has kept my cup full and I am so grateful everyday.

Fretting about going back to work

Can someone please tell me how I can leave my baby? Ugh. I know that I have to go back to work and I really like my job alot. But how am I supposed to let my tiny infant out of my sight for 7 hours? Its like setting your heart your actual beating heart on the windowsill and hoping for the best.

Moms are medical marvel; we just let our hearts walk around all on their own.

*Sigh* At least I have 4 more weeks to spend in my baby centered world. I'm thankful for that.

Poor Baby's Ouchie

Awful. Just Awful.
I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, I know it is a totally common procedure. I went through it with D and that was awful way back then, too. I still remember being horrified that all they gave him was sugar. The doc back then swore it would be fine and he was right.
The difference is that they would not allow me to be in the room with L during the procedure. I suppose I could have kicked up a fuss, but it seemed like it would be fine. So I went down to the gift shop, got a soda and waited.
OMG, I thought my heart was breaking when they brought him into the waiting room! Did he howl? I guess. This child has never cried with such outrage and pain. Even remembering it is tightening my chest and making my skin crawl. Then I had to put him in his car seat which snaps right at the crotch, ugh.
The ride home was a very heart wrenching 5 minutes. If it had been any longer I suppose I would have died of a broken heart, LOL. We got home and he chugged down a bottle, Daddy swaddled him like he's never been swaddled before, I sang him a few lullabyes and he conked out.
Huh, babies are marvel.

Lost the baby weight!

I can't believe it! In only 12 days I lost 35 pounds! I wish that would happen for the 15 I gained while stimming and the 30 I gained before that... but I 'll take what I can get.

I think it's because i am the happiest i have ever been in my life and not really anything I'm doing; except laying of the Whoppers:)

*Sigh* Life is gooooood.

The Itchy C-section Story

We arrived at the hospital at 530 am for my 730 c-section... and we were told that it had been rescheduled for 830am with no notice. B was not thrilled, he doesn't do mornings. (in fact he had half joked he'd drop me off and be back by c section time haha) I'd also gotten no sleep and woke up at 4am to get all beautiful for my first pics with my son. So i was tired and over anxious.
Then my surgery nurse Elisabeth (LOVE her) informed me that I had to take a shower with pre surgery disinfectant (or what ever it is) With my sensitive skin it might as well have been fire ant venom. It beats the crap out of getting an infection and having to have all my limbs amputated like that lady on Oprah, though, so whatev.
Then we waited. we looked over the baby book, watched the CNN coverage of Micheal Jackson and asked Elisabeth. "How about now? Is the doctor here? How about now?" in increasingly impatient voices.
I got my IV, got the belly shaved and drank the remarkably nasty tummy-settling shot while Bill dressed in his scrubs. The put me on the travel gurney and rolled me into the operating room. It's funny I hadn't been nervous about the actual surgery until we hit that bright room with the tiny table and the anesthesiologist who sounded exactly like Norm Mc donald. In my head I'm like, " I changed my mind! I don't want Norm mc donald to give me a spinal and lay me on a tiny table!" Luckily, Elisabeth could talk a monkey down from a tree, and she let me lean on her itty bitty little self while they gave me the spinal. It hurt all the way up to my freakin' teeth but we kept repeating, "All for Liam". Boy, that spinal worked fast as lightening, I felt liked I'd been novacained and wrapped in itchy felt. They had to lay me down on the tiny table quick and I told Elisabeth not to let me fall off. Elisabeth laughed. I told her I was totally freakin' serious. She said she make sure of I stayed on!
They finally let Bill in and I felt much better. Then Dr F came in, asked me I could feel him pinching me and in a snap I heard Liam's first cry. I was unprepared; it was so quiet and calm (if a baby's first cry can be calm, Liam's was.) B ditched me immediately to get the first pics. Dr F held him and I thought, "Dude the kid is huge!" and he was. Bill ran back and forth between me and Liam, saying "He's so amazing!" I was like, "Uh-huh, now can I see him?" They brought him over and I could feel my heart growing, actually feel it, tho I couldn't feel anything else! They sent Liam and Bill to the newborn Nursery, then cleaned me up, stitched me up and rolled me into recovery.
I was high as a kite and could not stop gushing about my new son, my other kids and my husband to Elisabeth. After an hour I was getting sensation back but had not seen Liam, or B either. Elisabeth called the Newborn nursery and let me know Liam was have a little trouble breathing and couldn't join me just yet. She was a very comforting person, becasue somehow I did not have a meltdown and that is a freakin miracle. ( Maybe she's like Jasper in Twilight, LOL) They sent me to my long term room and Bill finally tore himself away from his son to give me an update. Liam was having trouble but it was going to be okay, and B ran right back. He's a man wild for his son!
About 4 hours after I had surgery I started to itch. I mean itch like crazy. My face puffed up like a blowfish and I couldn't stop rubbing. (So much for the pretty mommie pics!) They had to give me a shot and I was a stoned crab after that. I just kept asking for Liam and B kept assuring me it was okay. They gave him an x ray, and he was just fine.. then they flipped him on his back rather than his belly and he started breathing normally. Just like that.
So, I finally got to hold my baby. It was surreal, between the drugs and the new mom high. Then I fell asleep. Bills family came to visit and coo over our pretty boy. Since the drugs for the allergy were knocking me unconscious, I let Liam go to the nursery and sent Bill home at 7pm. I told him to enjoy his last night of uninterrupted sleep!
All in all, it was not nearly as bad as I'd thought it would be, compared to the first one!

Liam Sean McConaghy 06/26/09!

Liam Sean McConaghy born on Friday June 26, 2009 at 8:58 am 7 pounds 6 ounces 20 inches


What a week! I hardly believe that he is finally here. After thinking he'd be terribly early, he came in at a respectable 38 weeks. Good thing, too; he was already 7 pounds 6 oz. I wonder how big he'd have been at 40 weeks:)
Not that it mattered much what with having another c section and all. The c-section itself, not being an emergency this time, was weird. It took so long and was so strangely routine. I hated the spinal block, and the slowly numbing sensation was like being novacained then wrapped in felt. I was also scared to death that I'd fall off that tiny little table. Gag.
It was all totally worth it though. My newest son is so gorgeous. He was in the newborn nursery for quite a while; he was have some trouble breathing but Dad stayed by his side. The hospital is renovating and the L & D floor is all spread out he spent 4 tense hours running back from the nursery to my ever increasingly nervous side. He was the perfect man, as usual.
The only bug in the garden, really, is that I decide against breastfeeding. Between the pain and latching problems I just became overly frustrated. I am not the most patient person and also breastfeeding did not feel natural at all. I decided there are so many ways I want to bond and spend time with my son and forcing him to eat is not one of them! B was totally supportive as always.
I finally escaped the hospital on Monday and the rest of the week has been a blur. A happy blur that is! Recovery has gone well, I feel great and even walked a mile this mornig with Liam in his jogging stroller. In fact I have more energy and vigor than B! He's exhausted. I admit it is a real treat to be the competent calm one for a change.
All in all, I am in Heaven. I don't think I have ever been so happy. My life is so full of joy and I thank God for his grace everyday.

Baby Taser?

Okay, so.
On Friday I had my usual BPP and blood pressure check. My pressure was high (like it always is, HI, that's why I am on bed rest) but Dr F decided he wanted blood work and a NST. I was bummed because I had a crusher of a headache and while I like Arrowhead L & D, I didn't want to spend all day there! Plus, I really get stressed out because I am always afraid I will have to be delivered before B can get there.
However, in this case I got a great L&D nurse, so things were moving right along. The only hold up was that the fetal monitor wasn't picking up the baby consistently and I couldn't leave until he did. The L&D nurse mumbled something about "stimulation" and left the room.
When she came back she had a small item in her hand; it looked like a small flat-headed microphone. She held it against my stomach and I felt a slight vibration. Well, Liam went purely crazy! He jumped like a surprised cat, and started moving like a disco dancer!
Then the L& D nurse sent me home.
Poor Liam. He wiggled and squirmed for hours, and I had contractions for hours.
Now, what I really want to know is, what the H*** is up with the baby taser?

Week 35- Can't believe we made it

The baby is doing great! Dr F has tentatively scheduled the c section for June 29. He of course repeatedly stresses that we WILL be delivered even earlier if my BP goes up any more but I am still really excited. Even if I only make it one more week i am still totally close to full term. I am so thrilled and so ready; we've been ready since April!

(The photo is of the 3 of us taken by Picture People)

Maternity Pictures at Picture People

I love our maternity pictures!

They were such fun to do and we had a great time. I wanted to wait until a bit closer to the end of my pregnancy but really I could go really early and we didn't want to take a chance.

Everyone who has seen them loves them, but says they would not ever do it. I don't get that. Are we ever any more beautiful than when we are carrying our children?

No. The answer is no.

Is it the end of the world?

Because SWINE FLU

My Social Life at the Baby Doctors

They only time I socialize is at the OB/GYN's office. All the ultrasound techs know my name and my baby's persnickety way of waiting until the last possible minute to practice breathing on his Bio Physical Profile. The BPP's are like the high point of my day, twice a week.
Also, Dr. F says i may have gestational diabetes. Which is making me feel a little exhausted. I have already been on bed rest for a month and haven't been able to exercise which is making me cranky and causing wretched headaches. Exercise is a big part of the solution with mild GD. What will I have to do now? I hope I don't have GD but if I do, I hope it is mild but if its not than I hope I don't have to stick my fingers or whatever.
There. I have a plan. Sort of.

DOG HAIR ARRRRGH

My house is insane.
We've had my MIL and FIL's dog, Love, with us for a week and she sheds as much as my Coco. Except she is bigger, so she has quite a lot more hair to shed! Needless to say our house has a light mat of hair-uh-everywhere. The sunbeams show 1 or 2 BILLION hairs floating lightly through the air. The dogs don't care, Coco and Love are totally BFF's.
I am not really supposed to obsessively clean so... I just sneak around with my swiffer, steam mop and lint roller trying, trying always trying to keep up with the hair.
I have decided to hide in my room until June.