Oh my goodness, can I just say that I thought this raising a baby thing would be so much easier than it actually is! I've had to bid farewell to sleep...eating on a regular schedule...and all other household chores.

We try really hard to have him in bed by midnight so that he only wakes one other time during the night. I go to sleep at 9ish and Steve feeds and puts him to bed. This way, I can usually get a good 5 hours of sleep before he wakes to be fed, changed and burped again. Too bad Wyatt hasn't agreed to our routine...he likes to throw a wrench in the mix every chance he gets!

I honestly can't wait until he's sleeping through the night (for the most part)....and kinda wish I could skip to the toddler stage. Although it's so fun to watch him grow and cuddle with him, it's hard when he's awake and just staring at you, blank faced, expressionless. Or when he cries and you've tried everything possible to calm him, with no success. My sister says that the day they smile at you melts your heart....I'm so looking forward to that!

Until then, please pray for us! We need all the help we can get!

PART II

Being home from the hospital was tough and I depended on my mom and Steven so much to help me through. On my 3rd day home, I ran a fever and had chills and body aches. The doctor thought that it may have been a reaction to the pain medication in combination with the hormones that are involved in a let down. It lasted for several hours and then went away, but only after leaving me with a fever blister that occupied almost my entire bottom lip.

The next night, the fever was back with a vengeance. I'd had a migraine headache all day and around the same time as the night before, I ran a fever of 105.3, had chills, body aches and couldn't stop the shaking. I called the doctor again and she informed me to rush to the emergency room as soon as possible.

Once there, they ran some blood cultures, a urine test, an ultrasound (to make sure nothing was left behind from the c-section) and a chest X-ray (to rule out mastitis). Come to find out, I had a UTI from the catheter that was given to me during labor. I was prescribed an antibiotic and was sent home.

The next night, the same signs began to show up again. I had a lower temperature, so I figured it was my body fighting off the UTI. The next morning, the ER called and said that my blood cultures came back positive. I had a blood infection and needed to get to my doctor as soon as possible.

I'm finally over all the infections and am still trying to heal from the incision. Getting up from the ground and sitting up from a lying position are still very difficult, but the incision looks great! Hormones are still up and down...I get overwhelmed very easy and the simplest thing seems to bring me to tears, but I've been told that will soon end.

I love watching Wyatt grow. We just attended his 2 week checkup and he already grew 2 inches and gained a pound and a half! His little cheeks are so chubby now :) He's such a little lip magnet, you can't help but kiss him! He makes these adorable little squeaking sounds when he eats and if he gets impatient for food, he snorts when he crys!

Here's a picture of Wyatt's first bath:

Wyatt's Nursery:

Such a peaceful sleeper...

PART I

THIS IS TOTALLY GONNA BE A LONG ONE!

Here's Steve and I...before life as we knew it changed for the better. It really is so hard to put into words just how amazing it is to finally meet this little person who was a product of your making. Even harder to fully understand how from the moment you lay eyes on your child, this insane amount of love overwhelms you and threatens to take a wreaking ball to the dam that's holding your emotions in check. Even now, as I write this post, my eyes are spilling over with tears of joy (and a few tears of holy crap, I'm a mom, we are parents....please give us the strength to give this child all he needs and bless that he won't cut down the neighbors tree or run his bike through the garage wall)

Steve and Ken spent almost an entire day snapping pics of me and the belly so that I have something to look at months from now (as I'm struggling to not look pregnant) and remember those 9 months of pregnancy. He's still got a few hours of photo shop to complete on them, removing about 15-20 lbs from my face, neck, arms, and left pinky toe. (Hey, they are my pics, I can choose to remember pregnancy in any delusional manner I see fit). Even though they will be late, I'll post a few to the blog whenever they are done. It's kinda the downside of being married to a photographer. He's amazingly gifted, but I can't even tell you how many empty frames we have around the house. We get the pictures taken, but never get around to having them edited or printed :)

I've been crazy fortunate to have my mom here for the last month. The week before I was due, we shopped till my Michelin man feet could handle no more. She totally pampered me with foot rubs, shared my addiction for Grey's Anatomy (thank you Netflix), fixed all my meals, cleaned the house and visited with me till wee hours in the morning. She even helped me make cookies for the nurses so that I could bribe them into overlooking my chicken nerves and sweetening them up with sugar :)

July 4th, the day we were "scheduled" to deliver, I walked into the hospital in all my swollen glory. The nurse took me to my room and attempted to begin an IV, but after two attempts of fishing around in my hand and arm, decided to bring in a different nurse to give it a shot. Then began the Pitocin drip. I'd heard horror stories about Pitocin. That is doesn't ease you into labor, but rather hits you like a pissed off billy goat. Luckily, it did no such thing and took its sweet time easing me into contractions.

The doc came in after about 3 hours of labor, checked me (only dilated to a 2 but 80% effaced) and decided to break my water. I nearly kicked her off my bed! There is just something so wrong about someone shoving their hand into you and then knitting your cervix a hat with a crochet hook....or so it felt. Her hope was that breaking my water would help me dilate.

Labor seemed to be progressing great. I was totally amazed at my ability to handle the pain. I thought for sure I'd be begging for an epidural at the first hint of pain, but I made it for several hours before the pain got to the point that it made me cry....then I was begging! They gave me a shot of Stadol to take the edge off until the anesthesiologist could get there. That stuff worked great...but man did I feel HIGH! Steve and my mom were laughing at my comments of how the ceiling tiles looked like faces!

Then the anesthesiologist arrived and administered the epidural...didn't hurt as bad as I thought that it would in comparison to the pain I was feeling. I actually had some time to rest and visit with family for a bit. Then the pain began to be stronger than the epidural and HOLY MOLY I wanted to die! They gave me a boost to tide me over, but it only lasted an hour before a surge of pain hit me again.

I ended up having the epidural removed and reinserted. But, my body did not react well to the dosage and I began convulsing. It felt like how you get the intense shakes when you are really cold. I tried controlling it but the more I tried, the more my muscles began to ache. It got so bad that I gave my self motion sickness from all the shaking and my mom and Steve tried with all their might to hold me up as I dry heaved what little stomach acid was in me.

The shaking continued for several hours. But, my labor was not progressing. Each time they increased the Pitocin drip, Wyatt's heart rate would drop. If they lowered the drip, his heart rate would return to normal, but my labor wouldn't progress. After about 12 hours, I had only dilated to a 3. They didn't want to risk infection, so I was prepped for a C-section. They gave me a shot of something that was to reduce the nausea and then asked me to drink a shot of stomach bile....yep, that's exactly what it tasted like! I think that stayed down for about 20 seconds before I yelled...I'M GONNA PUKE! I CAN'T KEEP IT DOWN! I was totally freaked out that I was going to drown in my own puke so I projectile vomited almost across the whole room! They told me to turn my head and vomit in this little pink bucket...but I doubt much of it made it to the bucket the poor nurse was holding.

Here's me, getting wheeled in for surgery....PERTY! lol I remember the anesthesiologist telling me that I would be shaking through the whole surgery....which made me beg to be put under. The doctor told me it was for the best if I wasn't put under and to try to relax. I remember the pressure of the incision, but the kicker was when she went to pull the head out. It felt like a sumo wrestler was sitting on my chest. All of the sudden, breathing became difficult and I began to panic. I guess that I began to move around so the doctor gave the go ahead to the anesthesiologist to give me something to make me relax....and the rest is a bit hazy from there.

Then little Wyatt James Bell arrived at 2:53am on July 5th, 2009. He had his umbilical cord wrapped around his shoulder, chest and legs, so that explained why I was not progressing properly. There would be no way that he could have been born vaginally, as he would have ripped the placenta out with him...so we were blessed that he arrived healthy and safe. He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 19 inches. There was a moment when I remember seeing just the eyes of my baby, and the nurse asking if I would like to kiss him.

The next thing I remember, I woke up in triage sweating bullets and another nurse telling me that I need to nurse my baby...all the while I was completely unable to keep my eyes open. I made it through the transition to my recovery room and spent the next couple of days hobbling to and from the restroom, attempting multiple times to breast feed my baby - with no luck, and ITCHING. OH THE ITCHING! I'd never heard that another side effect of an epidural is ITCHING. I took a cold wash cloth and would rub my face with it anytime that it itched (which was ALL THE TIME) and by the next morning, I'd rubbed it raw! I had major chapped face!

Wyatt was slightly jaundice, so he was placed on the billy blanket for a day and a half. He looked like a little glow worm! He didn't like it much, and was glad when he didn't have to wear it any longer. :)

By day 2, the doctor came to remove my bandage (more like rip the flesh from my abdomen) and put me on an antibiotic drip to cover any infections that may occur.

By day 3, the munchkin and me were approved to go home! We were SO ready to go home. Not that sleep was anywhere in my immediate future, but the thought of a hot shower sounded so wonderful!

Part 2 to come...

ONLY IN VEGAS

You know, I've totally enjoyed living in Vegas these past couple of years. I'm sure that people find a few crazys in their own towns, but there are some things about this town that seriously CRACK ME UP!

Only in Vegas will you find a huge neon flashing sign that so proudly says "Senior Living"! I mean, what other kind of sign would you expect in Vegas, right??

Or, how about this...the other day, Steve and I were at a Chevron near our house and suddenly, some serious baby makin' music came pumping out of a MINI VAN!! I mean, this guy must seriously be a chick magnet. How could anyone resist?? He's got the tunes...and the wheels for lugging your future wee ones!

My all time favorite...I was waddling...I mean, walking out of Target a couple weeks back. Just as I'm about to get to my car, this guy walks up to me and asks if I have any change. His buddy has run out of gas and he points to this jeep that is RUNNING, mind you. I honestly didn't have a dime on me, so I politely apologized and explained that I don't carry cash on me. The kicker? He gives me this grunt, like he's all annoyed, and says, "Well you have a credit card, there's an ATM just around the corner." Seriously....what's the world coming to? I didn't know that it was bad manners to not offer to take a complete stranger to the ATM when you don't have any change in your pocket!

Saturday marked my 30th week!

I can't believe that it's all gone by so quickly...and yet, I secretly wish it would go faster. I only say this because I feel this insane, zero tolerance for stupid people. It's literally taken over every blood cell in my body and only gets worse if the temperature around me reaches anything above 65 degrees, which, wouldn't you guess...IT'S ALL THE TIME! I fear for my co-workers lives (some of them anyways). I never realized just how much I'd been snapping and on the verge of a breakdown until my office roomie started laughing at my reaction to stupid suggestions during meetings, or people who can't operate simple software such as Microsoft Word.

Steve took me to my doc appointment yesterday and we stopped for a frosty before hand. Steve and I ordered the exact same frosty, but mine came all soupy (like it had been sitting out for 5 minutes next to the fries) and his was all thick and chunky. Now, I'm not the type to send food back...call it self sacrificing or non-confrontational, but I just don't like to do it. You'd think I'd lunge at the opportunity to tell someone that they did something wrong, or that they could do it better!

Anyways, Steve refused to let me eat it and took it inside to ask that they make a new one. The way he mimicked the food worker had me rolling in laughter. I think Steve was the first person to challenge the way he was making frosty's! Eventually, the Store Manager came up and would you believe that she had the audacity to say, "I'm sorry, that's how they come." Steve countered with, "I don't think so. I can bring in the other one I just ordered and dump it upside down and nothing would come out. This one is like soup!" She finally agreed to make him a new one and I think my own personal snapping point would have been when she handed him the new one and it was all thick and chunky SO CLEARLY unlike the one she claimed was 'how they come'.

I laughed the whole way to the doctor. Not because I felt bad for him...no, no....because I was SO happy to watch him go through a scenario that happens to me all the time! Somehow, it's funnier when it's not you...go figure! :)

Anyways, the doc says we are still good for a July 4th delivery! I'm grateful that most of the pain I was feeling has gone. My only problem is that this little dude seems to be pushin' his big toe through my belly button! My inny is slowly becoming an outty! And his little bum is just pressed firm against the side of my stomach. I was showing Steve how weird it is that he can move and make my tummy totally change shape. I had him feel for his little bum and Steve pushed so hard I felt our little mans head hit the bones in my pelvis! LOL I think he understands that he's not so little anymore...I had to show him a picture so that he can see just how little space Wyatt has in there now :)