Thursday, May 3, 2012

The {very last} Birth Story, Part One

Some good friends kindly pointed out that I had yet to post Cassie's birth story... whoopsie.  Actually, I knew that... I just wasn't aware the whole world was waiting to hear about it or what's been taking me so long to get to it, but I'm gonna take a stab at it and see how much I remember. {5 1/2 months later}  *cringe*

**Warning** 
Some of the info contained in these particular blog entries may or may not be t.m.i. or completely uninteresting to you, the reader. I'm simply trying to write everything down so that I can come back to it and read about it when time has robbed me of the little details. With Cassie being our last baby, I really want to cherish every little thing and I'm finding it's going by way too fast!


"Just the facts ma'am." - a little background info...
 
*I was pregnant. (<-is this funny to anyone else - because I just smirked out loud (s.o.l) Maybe a mildly exhausted, chronically sarcastic mother of 4 shouldn't be blogging)
*Babe was working out of town - staying almost 2 hours away.
*2 out of 3 of my children were born on, or within a day, of their due date.
*My water had broken with all 3 of my previous children so I was kinda waiting for that.

*My due date was November 18th. 
*I was seeing the doctor weekly - the same guy that one week told me I was completely effaced/thinned out and 1-2 centimeters dilated and that I was definitely *not* going to make it to my next appointment... only to tell me the next week that I was 80% effaced/thinned out and about 1 1/2 cm. ::blink::blink:: This momma was not amused, but bygones. I love my doctor.
*My membranes were stripped a couple of days before I went into labor.
*I lost some of my m.p. on two different occasions.
*The texting lines between me and my sister and b.f.f. were pipin' hot in anticipation!! I was really trying to be patient... as long as I didn't go too far over the due date I was "O.K." s.o.l

A couple of Facebook postings prior to her birth...

"Tell Cassie to HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - November 5th, Uncle Bubba

"4:43 a.m. been up for about two hours now... birth is taking place... just not Cassie's... Ginger is in the process of having her puppies! One so far... so tiny... black and white... today is gonna be a long day!" - November 9th, Me

"Letting the girls wrestle and squeal and giggle and shriek on the living room rug... it's probably a good thing they don't know how much effort it's taking not to toss them up in their rooms... this mama is tired..." - November 10th, Me

"Hey I saw you had puppies.....any baby yet? LOL" - November 13th, Drea

 "Ok, so I made some very important plans for Saturday with Kelly! Think that's enough to coax Cassie into coming so she can completely mess them up? **fingers crossed** although I'd really like to do the planned things, too!" - November 17th, Me  (The plan was to get pedicures and then go to the movies to watch Breaking Dawn, pt. 1)

I remember glancing at the clock at 3:40-ish on the 18th, but went right back to sleep. I don't remember the exact feel of what woke me, but there was an essence of "oh, that was different."  I was awoken again a short while later with the same feeling and with the thought, "Thank God she's coming today... I didn't want to be late!" I got up to go to the bathroom and see if I could clear my head enough to make sense of the "sensations" I was having. There may have been some "show"... that memory is fading, but I do remember that I was highly un-confident of what I was feeling. There were a couple of contractions, but they weren't painful and not very close together.... they were just different. 

Text to Babe: approx 4:40a.m. "What time do you have to leave for work?"
Babe: "I have to leave here at 530. Why, what's up? Are you having ctx?"
Me: "I dunno. Something is different. I'm going to wait for a little while and I'll let you know."
Babe: "I'm coming home."
Me: "O.K."  The fact that I didn't stop him showed me that I knew it was probably time. I couldn't pinpoint one certain "this-is-it" indicator... the "feeling" was just there. 

I laid down for a little bit around 5 and got some timing in. I was using an app on my phone and they were coming anywhere from 5 to 12 minutes apart. I called my sister when the contractions kept coming, telling her that I wasn't sure it was time, but that I wanted to go in and be checked. She was living 30 minutes away at the time and I felt bad for waking her up, but she was on her way. Not much later, and the contractions picked up a little bit. I'd have a strong one and then a hint of a couple followed by another strong one. It was after a strong one that I texted the Hubs again.

Me: "Where are you?"
Babe: "Just getting my things ready to leave."
Me: "Get.in.the.truck.and.drive!!"

I called my mom and let her know I was going to go in and "get checked" and that I'd bring the girls over. I also called the hospital L&D to let them know that I was coming in to "be checked". When they asked how far apart the ctx were, I remember saying 5 to 8 minutes. I woke the girls up and told them the plan to go to Grandma & Poppas so I could go to the hospital and "be checked". I think I was afraid to jinx the whole thing by saying "this is it", even though I knew it probably was. 

I remember tooling around the house and getting the girls' things ready while I was explaining and talking to them about what would "probably" be happening.  The Hubs called just as Kelly was getting to the house - around 6:15ish- and I told him to meet us at the ER. We dropped the girls off and then headed to the hospital.

to be continued...

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

...in which Cassie discovers her hands

Cassie: "Um, Emma? What is that?"
Emma: "What's what, Cassie?""
Cassie: "That, Emma!"
Emma: "Oh, that's just mom's camera, Sissy."





Cassie: "Oh. Well, what does it do? Play music? Shake? Why's it just sitting there?"
Emma: "No, no, Silly Cassie. Mom wants you to take your picture."
Cassie: "I don't know, Em... it's kinda creepy."
Emma: "Just smile... like this... and it will eventually go away."





Cassie: "Smile? Hmmm... I dunno, Emma. Smiling can be hard to get right. It takes a lot of practice. I'm not sure if I can do it."
Emma: "Just doooo it, already!"



Cassie: *hmmm, ok... smile...* "How's this?"
Emma: "That's a good try, PooterButt, but keep going."



Cassie: "Ok, that wasn't so hard. Lookit this one, Sis."
Emma: "Good job, now let me play with my blocks."



Cassie: "Emma, look, I'm a rapper! It makes two to make a thing go RIII-IIIIIGHT!  ALL YOU PARTAY PEOPLE!!"
Emma: "Oh, now you're just showing off!"



Cassie: "Look, Mom, it's the Sprinkler!"



Cassie: "Oh, wait, wait... check this one out... It's the Cabbage Pa-  heeey, what are those?"



Cassie: "Whoa... what is that? Hey, Emma, what is this?"
Emma: "Oh, those are just your hands."



Cassie: "Hands?  Hands... hands! They're pretty cool. Hey mom, have you seen these hands?"
Mom: "I sure have, Cass... aren't they perfect?"
Cassie: "Well, if perfect means I can't stop staring at them, then yeah... I guess they are perfect."



Cassie: "I'm a hand-staring machine. I could do this all. day. long."





Mom: *whispers* "Thanks for the memories, Cass."

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Post It Note Tuesday

I felt the need to utilize a few post-it notes this morning. These are the only ones that were close enough to PG rated, non-angry and appropriate for sharing... maybe next week I'll have more I can share!






Sunday, July 17, 2011

Weekend Fun at The Shack

We took a quick trip up to Buck's Lake on Saturday!! My parents have some property up there where they're building a weekend getaway spot! I call it "The Shack". You'll see why in a couple minutes! We had a quick lunch in the trailer before heading down to the creek that runs below The Shack.
In a normal July, the girls would be in shorts and wading through the cold mountain water.

Wait, scratch that. In a "normal" July, the creek would probably barely be running.
However, it was a very long winter around here... so we get to enjoy the rippling brook for awhile longer!
Even the doggies had a good time!
They had fun finding critters! I think they were looking at helgramites here..

I don't know why I try and get a good picture of the three of them anymore... this is what I end up with!


Momma: "Emma, you've never looked so much like your dad, before!" lol

Daddy and Red had a little "Battle of the super loose tooth" by the crik.


"Come on!!!!" Dad whined when she refused to give in!
Brenna ended up winning this round!

In case you were wondering, Brooklyn is still our family clown!

We made our way up to The Shack after a bit.

Notice the snow still on the ground!
*IN* July!


And here ya have it... The Shack!
It actually kind of embarrasses me.
I mean, it's way too small for any of the family to crash in...
it's completely run down... it's an absolute... well, shack.
I shiver to think of having to sleep in there... I'd almost rather take my chances in the tent with the bears!


Just a peek of the inside... I don't imagine there's much they're gonna be able to do to turn this thing around. The sheer smallness of it doesn't leave much room for improvement.

So after we took our chances looking around The Shack, we headed over to the lake!
It's so pretty and full right now!
We just wanted a nice quiet spot to let the girls play in/near the water... and this was perfect!
Daddy borrowed Poppa's fishing pole and threw in a line here and there.


Emma had a blast playing *near* the water. It still wasn't quite warm enough for them to go crazy in the water.

The wind would blow for a minute and then let up. Then it'd blow some more. The sun would hide and then come back out. It was beautiful and oh-so relaxing!And then Daddy caught a fish!!!

A German Brown, to be exact! Lookit Brenna trying to make you think she thinks it's gross... she totally KISSED that fish!! I'm sure the fish found extreme comfort in Brenna's kiss as it... well, you know.


And look who else kissed the fish! Blech!

We caught two fish altogether! IF I had my fishing license, I *probably* would have caught the second one and it *probably* would have been bigger than his! *wink wink*

We definitely need to go back up soon!!! It's too close and too relaxing and too fun to ignore the beauty any longer!!! Must. go. back!



Sunday, July 3, 2011

20 Weeks


Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 20 Weeks
Size of baby: Banana
6.5inches and 10.5 ounces.
Total Weight Gain: negative 5 pounds!!
Maternity Clothes: I have one pair of trusty maternity shorts and some shirts! I definitely need to find some nicer wear for church because I've been reduced to wearing jeans!! no bueno!
Gender: Girl #4!
Movement: Yes!
The baby is laying towards my back... with the placenta between her and the outside of my stomach, so I think that's keeping me from feeling her as much as I'd like at this point!
Sleep: Yes!
Am doing pretty good so far. I purchased a Boppy body pillow that has really helped with aches and pains at night. There are days when I feel like I could literally sleep ALL day!!!
What I miss: Not much at this point.
Just trying to enjoy everything about his last pregnancy!
Cravings: Greasy tacos and club sandwiches... kinda random.
Symptoms: Just really tired. Kinda cranky.
What I’m looking forward to: Next u/s is on September 3rd! It'll be a 3d/4d so we'll get to see her with some chubs on her!
What else:
We picked out her name! Cassie Shane J. She's actually going to have a 2nd middle name, but we're keeping that quiet until she's born!!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Random Kid Conversation

A lil conversation you might have heard in my house today.

"Mooooooooooom! I went pee and poo!"

"Ok, coming, Boo."

"This is the best. toilet. ever., Mom."



Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Blogworthy

I've been a very bad blogger lately, but every once in a while, I have something to blog about. Today, it's more of Baby Quockido. (Baby #4)

Well, we no longer have to refer to the poor girl as Quockido. Her name will now and forever be "Cassie Shane"!! I'm still kind of in mourning about my first choice, which was "Irelyn Shane", however I knew that the Hubs just wasn't feeling it. So, ever the dutiful wife (yeah, I'm rolling my eyes, too) I kept wracking my brain for the perfect name.

It took a while for Cassie to come back to me. It was a name that we'd considered when picking out names for Emma. It's not Cassidy or Cassandra... just Cassie. Named for my father's initials, C.A.S., and her father's middle name; Shane. So yeah, she's named after two men. And I think it's cute!

Ok, so part 2!

Ultrasound 3 was today! Her HB was at 154 and she seemed to be measuring right on schedule (18w 5d) and I just wanted to share some pictures!

Still a girl!
Lookit the gams on this girl!

I don't think I've seen one of my girls this stretched out before!
Stretch those legs while you still have room, baby girl!

Her sweet lil profile!