You Have No Idea.

You really think you know what parenting is all about until you have that baby.  People can tell you how much 'work' it is or that you need to do this or need to do that but really all that advice is for the birds.  It takes time but you find what works for you.  There are so many things I said I would never do but did i.e. co-sleep and my God during that four month sleep regression-we co-slept or we did not sleep at all.

Funny how you go into parenting thinking one thing is right or better.  Then you become a parent and realize every decision you make is right for you and your child but may not be right for someone else and their child.  I have had a lot of mom's I know pass judgement on those who chose formula over breastfeeding and I have to say while I was and still am successfully breastfeeding some women just cannot do it.  During the first month I really wanted to quit.  His latch was horrible and to be honest-it really effin hurt.  I would cringe knowing it was almost time for him to eat and cry in pain while he ate.  It eventually got better but some days I really was not sure if I could do it.

The lack of sleep was the worst but somehow as parents we can push through it and function on little to no sleep at all.  Then just when a routine is established and you are getting say 4 or 5 solid hours of sleep-a growth spurt or wonder week happens and damnit there goes that sleep you were so looking forward too.  Being a parent is hard work, takes a lot out of you and can be stressful but I am lucky that my hubby is very involved and loves to help out.

I really have no idea how my mom did it on her own with 4 girls.  God bless her for it.

“Your children are not your children.
They are sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For thir souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the make upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness.
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He also loves the bow that is stable.”
― Kahlil Gibran

Long Overdue...

Well here I am a mother to a 7.5 month old little boy whom we named Niam Domenico. When I started this pregnancy blog I had every intention of keeping up with it after he was born and then boom he came and the blog went to crap! But I am happy to say that God has given us a beautiful little boy who has truly completed us. Better late than never but here is my birth story.

2/6/13 8 am-OB appointment-barely 1 cm (if that) 50%. I was told you are not going into labor anytime soon and will probably go after your due date which was originally 2/18 but then I was told I am measuring a week behind so a due date of 2/25. I am given the nurse after hours number just in case and told if I feel contractions or my water breaks to call. 230 pm-I went home that day sick from work and took 2/7/13 as a sick day as well due to a horrible headache.

2/8/13 Feeling fine again so back to work I went.

2/9/13 9 am-I am sitting on my couch and feel a trickle of water. Think it is my water breaking but I'm not 100% sure-I have had no contractions at all. I stand up and it's still trickling. I go upstairs to tell DH and I'm still trickling as I tell him. I start panicking that we are not ready. DH brings me back to reality and tells me we are going to have to be; so at that point we decide to call the doctor. She tells me it is definitely my water breaking and to eat some breakfast/relax then head over to the hospital later on. I ended up doing laundry/loading the dishwasher/etc and made it over there at 12:30-1. 1 pm-admitted since my water broke and I am told this baby is coming in the next day or so no matter what. 3 pm-1 cm/50% still... 4 pm-I am given meds to soften my cervix. 730 pm-barely making progress so they tell me I can eat some dinner. 810 pm-second dose of meds to soften cervix. 9 pm-period like cramping.

2/10/13 1230 am-given meds to help with sleep/pain-they do not work. 4 am-3 cm/80%. 445 am-epidural time-literally makes me legs feel like sand. 9 am-5 cm/80%-at this point I am given pitocin. 11 am-7cm. 130pm-8 cm. 3 pm-9 cm. 415 pm-10 cm. But cervix is still not thinned out enough. We wait for it to thin a little more. I am ready to meet this baby and this waiting is torture. 6 pm-finally given the go ahead to start pushing. The epidural was so strong I could not feel anything. I had to have the nurses tell me when the contractions were coming to try to push. I pushed on their command for 1.5 hours. Finally my epidural was lowered and I was able to feel some contractions but only when laying on my right side. Pushed another 40 minutes on my side. Apparently he was stuck in my pelvic area and could not fit passed my bone. My mom had the same issue and ended up with all c-sections. OB decided for my health (at this point I had a slight fever) that a c-section was the safest option. I cried from stress, being tired, from wanting to experience skin to skin with him and just feeling like I could have done more. DH gives me a pep talk which I needed because it has been a long 24 plus hours. 10 pm-DH was given his scrubs to put on and at same point the epidural was turned back on. I was wheeled off and prepped for the c-section. I do not feel tugging or pressure like they say I may and I wait patiently for him to come out and hear that cry!! Finally I hear it and I cried like a baby. Our little guy was born 2/10/13 @ 10:21 pm weighing 7 lbs/9 oz and at 20 1/4 inches long. He is the best thing that has happened to us and we am enjoying every minute with him!!