My future's so bright...

I gotta wear shades...

The Birth Story

I had the greatest of intentions to document more of the pregnancy and Xander's life, but that hasn't happened. It seems that this is a recurring statement for me... I really must change that! I finally have his birth written down (regrettably 2 years later) and there are some details and facts that I just can't remember. =( But this is as much as I remember...



During my last month of pregnancy we asked Nelson's family when they thought that the baby would be born, how long he'd be, and how much he'd weigh. Bre, Nelson's niece, wanted the baby born on her birthday January 27, but everybody told her that it wasn't likely. My estimated due date was January 21, 2005, but most people didn't think that I would make it to that day. These are the guesses…


Nelson’s dad 16th 8 lbs 6 oz 21.5 in
Mark 20th 6 lbs 13 oz 19 in
Nelson’s mom 18th 7 lbs 15 oz 21 in
Melody 22nd 7 lbs 3 oz 21.5 in
Kiara 22nd 8 lbs 19in
Bre 23rd 8 lbs 5 oz 19 in
Paige 17th 7 lbs 18 in
Nelson 12th 7 lbs 10 oz 20 in


Everything was as usual until the last week of December. I began having Braxton-Hicks contractions that were almost regular in nature during the night starting at about 2am and then randomly throughout the day. I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions from about the midpoint of the pregnancy, but they only lasted for just a little while and were never consistent. I woke up at 3:45am (which wasn’t unusual… I woke up several times throughout the night while I was pregnant) on December 27, 2004. I laid there thinking, I have to use the bathroom, but I’m so tired. Warning – ookiness ahead… I then felt a small gush of fluid I thought I should go check, but I’m so tired. I got up and went to the bathroom, shut the door, so that I could turn on the light and not disturb Nelson. After nearly burning my retinas out (no dimmer switch on the light where the toilet is) I noticed that I was bleeding and I gushed a bit of fluid. I was not expecting what I thought was a lot of blood!! I yelled at Nelson, “We have to go to the hospital NOW!!” He said, “Really??!!??” I explained to him what was going on. He through on some clothes, grabbed the cameras, gave the cats some extra food, and I got shoes and a sweatshirt on and we headed out. We had a rental car since one of our cars was in the shop and we didn’t want to have to go to the hospital in my Pontiac Firebird (I didn’t want to be in labor and have my water break on my seats or sit in the bucket seats and breathe through contractions. The seating position’s almost a birthing chair anyway, I probably would’ve sped up the delivery looking back on it all)… it was a Dodge Ram HEMI (coooool!). From the time I woke up until we got in the delivery room was 15 minutes… in the fog!! Thankfully, no police were out!!

When we got there I was hooked up to monitors and they checked to see if I was dilated. I was 1 cm and I didn’t have any more blood. They monitored me for a while and watched his heart rate and every thing was fine. They said that since this was first pregnancy that it was perfectly fine for me to come in since there was blood. They didn’t make me feel like I was over-reacting, so I felt reassured that everything was ok. They wanted me to call my OB later in the morning, but I actually had an appointment which was even better. So, on the way back home we went by way of a road that was under construction. They had scraped all the asphalt off and there was a humongous pothole roughly every 6 inches or so. We had to go like 2 miles an hour. I commented to Nelson that if we stay on this road much longer, then we’re going to have to turn around and go back to the hospital!! We got home and went back to bed for a while.

We went to the OB appointment I was 2cm dilated! I called friends and our doula and let them know that the baby was coming sooner rather than later!!

Each night starting about 2 or 3 in the morning I would start having contractions and with each passing night they were getting stronger and more regular, but they would stop after a couple of hours. The contractions that started early Sunday morning went longer and came back several times throughout the day. I got the nesting urge that day, but had Nelson do all the cleaning and organizing to save my strength!! We called doula and let her know what was going on. She gave us some suggestions to get prepared and to give her a call when it was time.
We went out to get some cat food. There’s a huge furniture store next to the pet store so we walked all through it. I was hoping that it would bring on labor. Nelson had to go back to work the next morning because his Christmas vacation was over. He was taking 3 weeks off after the baby was born and really wanted to start his time off after already being off for 2 weeks. The doula was going on a family vacation at the end of the week and her partner would be my doula if I went into labor during that time. I wanted to make everybody happy! I was doing what I could to have the baby scheduled appropriately.

We called up Nelson’s family and asked if they wanted to eat at IHOP which was nearby. So we all met up and had breakfast for dinner! It was quite yummy! I love pancakes!!

We went to bed and contractions started up again about midnight and were much stronger! I was timing them and they were coming very regularly. After a while I couldn’t lie in bed any longer and began walking around the house. At some point (ookiness alert) I felt oozing again and went to the bathroom. The largest glop of bloody goo was in my underwear. I had passed the rest of my mucous plug. I then woke Nelson up and let him know what was going on. By now the contractions were the magical ‘5 minutes apart’. We called the hospital to see if we should come in or wait a while longer. We decided to go to the hospital because the contractions were starting to get to the point of me not being able to handle it on my own. This trip was a little slower than the last one. ;-D

We decided that we would call people and let them know once we determined that we would be staying and that we were ‘officially’ in labor (and by we… I mean… me!). We got there about 3:30 or 4am and unfortunately the labor room that was open was a lot smaller than the one we were in the first time, but it wasn’t too bad. They hooked me up to all the monitors and checked his heart rate. It all looked good. I can’t remember, but I think I was about 4cm dilated at that point. They gave me a huge glass of water to drink to see if that would cause my contractions to stop (dehydration is a common cause of contractions during pregnancy). I surprised Nelson by drinking it all relatively quickly. I normally don’t drink very much, especially water, but it just tasted so good! The contractions kept coming and they decided we were ready. We called Nelson’s family and told them and called our doula. During this time I kept asking Nelson to check and see if I was still bleeding because I kept feeling oozing. He would look and say that there wasn’t any blood. My OB happened to be on duty when we got there. He wanted to break my water, but when he tried nothing really happened. Later, Nelson told me that the doctor gave the nurses a ‘I’m-not-really-happy-with-you-look’ that they didn’t know my water had already broke, but I didn’t notice any of it happening. I guess the oozing that I was feeling was my water leaking out!

Because I have mitral valve prolapse and I was Group B Strep positive, I needed IV antibiotics for delivery. I have always had issues with having blood drawn from my left arm. No one can ever get any blood out of it. My right arm works like a charm, but left… I joke that it has no blood in it. The blood pressure cuff was on my right arm, so they wanted to put the IV in my left wrist. When I had tubes put in my ears when I was younger, I had an IV in my left hand (still have a small scar where it was) so I didn’t occur to me that it may be a problem to have an IV in my left wrist. The nurse tried multiple times and kept apologizing. She moved to a different spot on my arm and tried multiple times. Needles don’t bother me at all and I watch as they do it. I actually find it really interesting. It finally dawns on me that maybe she should try my right arm. I tell her that it’s always been impossible to get blood from my left arm, but I’ve had an IV on that arm before. Total rearrangement of the monitors and blood pressure cuff ensues. She’s able to get the IV in the first time on my right arm. She says that that’s the way it’s supposed to be. She also tells me in the future to have IVs in my right arm! I apologized for not remembering, but I didn’t think of it since I’d had an IV there before.

So, now that everything was set up we just make it through the contractions and wait for the ‘magical dilation of 10’. The nurses kept telling me that the baby was very low and that he would be here really soon, but every ultrasound and internal exam I was told that he was low.

I can’t say enough for how wonderful it was to have our doula there. I wouldn’t have been able to make it through without her. She helped me make it to the other side of each contraction. I can’t really describe what the contractions felt like. It’s really amazing that something that was that painful, I can’t remember what it was like. If we have another child, I’m sure that once I have a contraction, I’ll be, “oh yeah… this is what they felt like”, but I can’t conjure up that feeling. The only thing that I can remember is that later on in the contractions, I started getting an incredible pain and pressure on my pubic bone, but other than that I can’t really describe them.

I labored in bed for most of the time. The nurses kept thinking that the baby would be here really soon, but my dilation wasn’t really progressing very fast. Our doula had me try different positions in bed, a birthing ball, and walking around for a while. That was all helpful in the sense, it changed the sensations of the contractions and broke up the monotony, but the dilation was increasing very slowly. All throughout the morning, between contractions I was my normal self, smiling, joking and enjoying the process. There was one point that I remember thinking was very nice and peaceful. It was sometime in the morning maybe 9 or 10am and it was lightly raining outside. I was next to the window and could see the gray overcast sky and the rain falling. I could also hear the rain. I t was really very peaceful. A very nice added touch to the labor! The only odd thing was that I could see a man outside smoking and it kept looking like he was looking right at me! I’m sure the window is tinted so that it’s difficult to see in, but it still looked like he was looking right at me. Because of my demeanor between my contractions and my quietness during the contractions, my doula and the nurses kept saying how amazing I was and that I was the poster woman for Lamaze!

I can’t remember when, but I think it must’ve been around noon, the nurses decided that I should have a little bit of pitocin to improve the ‘shape’ of my contractions and make them more productive and speed up the dilation. I was a little apprehensive about getting pitocin. I was afraid that it would make the contractions much stronger and that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. They said that it would only be just the smallest amount. I said ok and it did help to improve the ‘shape’ of the contractions and I was still able to handle them.

Later in the afternoon it was getting much harder to make it through the contractions. I remember thinking at one point during a contraction, “I’ve been at this how many hours and it’s this painful? I could probably make it through to 10, but then I have to do the pushing!! How long is that going to take and how much more is that going to hurt??” I started to cry a little and told our doula, “I don’t think that I can do this!” She told me that I could and to just get through each contraction! To look at her and to focus on her. I was able to keep going! Thankfully during all of this long laboring process the baby’s heart rate was consistent and perfect!

I was getting very thirsty and hungry and the nurses let me have some apple juice. It tasted so good and I don’t normally like apple juice! Nelson’s family brought him and the doula some food and they alternated scarfing food down between my contractions. I felt kind of bad because our doula’s daughter had a basketball game that evening and she missed it because my labor was taking so long. Part of the reason that I was progressing so slowly (by 5pm I was maybe 7.5cm) was because the baby was what they call ‘sunny-side up’ (or posterior) and he was stuck on my pubic bone. They added some kind of pain killer to my IV. As soon as it was added I immediately said that it made me feel weird. If there’s a next time we definitely will be skipping that! It made me so groggy and sleepy. I was falling asleep between the contractions and it didn’t take away any of the pain! After an hour or two of this I finally agreed to the epidural. It’s not that I was adamant about not having an epidural, it’s just that I wanted to be able to go as long as I could before I needed it.

The nurses were really looking out for me. I had waited for quite a while for the anesthesiologist to come and put in the epidural. They finally just told him to give me my epidural now!! He came and gave me the epidural and I was given a catheter. It was so hard to try and be as still as I possibly could so that he could place the needle in my spine during contractions that were so painful.

After the epidural the nurses wanted me to rest for a few hours to gain my strength back. It was sometime after 7pm. I remember the lights being turned out and talking with Nelson. I was still quite groggy from the IV pain medicine. I was apologizing for taking so long and being so loud during my contractions over the last couple hours. In the exhaling during contractions I wasn’t really exhaling… it was more like forced exhaling with moaning… which I thought was very loud (Nelson disagrees). He told me that I didn’t have anything to be sorry for. I was doing an amazing job! He told me to get some rest! I rested, but I don’t think I ever actually went to sleep. I could still feel the contractions but they weren’t painful. The nurse who was with me in the morning and had given me my IV was back on duty.

She came in and said, “You’re still here?” I’m coming back at 8pm and you’re going to start pushing and have this baby!!

I said, “Uhh… ok?”

She was true to her word. 8pm she came in and started getting me ready to push. I was 10cm (I actually don’t remember her even checking to see if I was fully dilated) and couldn’t move my left leg at all and the buzzing feeling that I had in my legs was really bothersome. I’m glad that I didn’t have the epidural for very long. They placed my legs in the stirrups. Our doula said that this nurse has a real talent for positioning women so that they can push most effectively. The nurse told Nelson’s family that since this was my first baby that it was going to be a while before the baby was here. She told me that the doctor (another doctor from the OB practice was now on duty) had given me 3 hours to get the baby out or I was going to have a C-section! That was the motivation that I needed! Since I could still feel when I was having a contraction, I began a set of pushes with the next contraction. The nurse was amazed that the baby began moving and rotated into the correct birthing position. She said, “Wow! You’re a really good pusher!” Who knew? I pushed another set and then they let me feel the baby’s head crowning and had me stop pushing! The doctor wasn’t even in the hospital yet! I spent the next 10 minutes trying not to push! Right before the doctor got there I was thinking, “Ok, if she’s not here with the next contraction, I can’t NOT push any longer!” So one more set of pushes and he was born at 8:22 pm! It looked like he had curly hair but it was just because it was wet and he had so much hair (that later when it was dry was such a bright blonde color!!)! His head was so perfectly round, too! I guess because he didn’t spend all that much time in the birth canal!! They laid him on me and I cut his umbilical cord… it was surprisingly tough! It took me a second try to actually cut it! They weighed and measured him and he was 6lbs 12oz and 18.5in. A little tiny guy!! They burrito-ed him and gave him a hat and Nelson got to hold him while they repaired my 3rd degree tear. This is when we finally told everybody his name… Nelson Alexander Sheets and that we giving him the nickname Xander (spelled with an X but pronounced like Zander). Nelson then called my Dad and let him know that his grandson was finally here!! I held him and let him nurse. He took to it right away with no problems!

After a while Nelson and the nurses took the baby to the nursery to have a bath and they began the process of moving me to a post-partum room. They removed the catheter and the epidural. They had me go to the restroom. While I was sitting there I told another nurse that I didn’t feel well. She told me to breathe and put my head between my legs. That wasn’t really helping. I told her that I was getting ready to pass out. At the same time the nurse was coming into the rest room she started to lift me up under my armpits and starting moving me toward a wheel chair. That was the last thing I remember until I was wondering why I smelled ammonia and it was all dark. A group of people were hovering around me trying to get me to come to. I felt much better and they moved me to the new room. I was freezing, so they brought me a warm blanket. They took Xander to the nursery so that I could get some good rest. Nelson tucked me in, said good night, and headed home to feed the cats and to get some rest, too.

About 2 hours later the nurse woke me up and told me that Xander was hungry. So I nursed him. I was so exhausted and I was too nervous to fall asleep with him and he kept needing to nurse many times. At one point he started crying and I couldn’t get him to stop. I thought that maybe I should change his diaper. This was the first diaper *ever* that I had changed. I got him cleaned up which was rather difficult because meconium is just so difficult to clean up, but had a rather difficult time getting the new diaper on him. I like to think of myself as a rather intelligent person that can reason things through and arrive at a solution, but the intricacies of closing up a diaper were lost on me at that moment with a screaming newborn. I actually had to call the nurse to come help me. Did I mention how exhausted I was and how I can’t handle babies crying *at all*? Thankfully the nurse was very helpful and didn’t laugh when she told me that it was on backwards. I can’t remember if she re-burritoed him or not, but by the time the nurses came to get Xander for his pediatrician check at 7am he was not really burritoed very well (did I also mention that still to this day I can’t swaddle a baby?) and I had him sleeping in his little hospital bassinett/cart, so that I could get a little bit of sleep. The pediatrician brought him back after a while and said that his temperature was low and they placed him under the warmers for awhile. I felt so bad… it didn’t dawn on me that I was cold and he might be cold because the room was so cold (which the pediatrician mentioned when he walked to my side of the room). Other than that he was doing well. The hospital food was actually pretty decent!

Nelson arrived a little later in the morning and stayed all day until he had to leave at 10pm. Other people visited and we just enjoyed being with Xander. Before Nelson arrived a gentleman in scrubs came in and asked me how I felt and how my back was doing after the epidural. I had no clue who he was, but he had such an interesting accent (maybe from a country in Africa?). It was a little weird talking with him because I was just trying to figure out who he was. I assumed that he was the anesthesiologist, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember him having an accent when he was giving me the epidural. I know I didn’t know what he looked like because when my eyes were open I was looking at Nelson, but most of the time they were closed so that I could concentrate on making it through the contractions and not moving. I asked Nelson about the whole thing and he said that he was the anesthesiologist. I just couldn’t believe that I had no idea that he had an accent. Later the OB came in and asked if I wanted to go home and I told her that I still felt pretty weak and thought that I would stay another day. I also wanted to stay because I was told that Xander would have to stay for 48h since I was Group B Strep positive. The nurses took such good care of me. They did all that they could to keep my semi-private room private and they brought me extra of those wonderful pads that you break and they get really cold! They felt so good and I think they really helped me. I only took one Motrin for pain from the tear and I don’t think I really needed to. I never had any trouble from my tear. There were a few times that I forgot and sat down too hard in the wrong way, but it was really not an issue for me at all.

The next morning’s check-up for Xander went well. The pediatrician said that he was a little jaundiced, but she wasn’t concerned with it. The second day in the hospital was a little more draining. I was starting to get *very* uncomfortable in the hospital bed. I was also getting tired of the moving process involved with going to the restroom.

I decided to take a shower which really made me quite tired and wasn’t as relaxing as normal. The shower was a little tiny in the corner kind of shower with a curtain that let in cold air, even though I had the heat lamp on in the bathroom, and the water from the showerhead was like tiny needle like streams that were really beginning to hurt. There was not enough water to come out to rinse my hair quickly so I was in there forever. Thankfully near the end, Nelson came in and helped me because my legs were beginning to give out and he helped me get dressed and back to bed. He also combed all the knots out of my hair, which was beginning to look like small mammals were nesting in there. I must remember to try to wear my hair straight and not just in a ponytail before going in to labor if there’s a second baby… yet another reason long curly hair can be such a pain!

Since Xander wasn’t born until 8:22pm we couldn’t leave the hospital until then. By that time Xander was beginning to scream as we were putting him in his clothes which were way to big for him. They were so big that it made Nelson and I get the giggles! We finally got him dressed (kind of). We next had to get him in his car seat. We had to readjust the straps because they were too low. I think this was Nelson’s ‘diaper issue’. Again, he’s a pretty intelligent guy and can easily figure out how things work, but we were there *forever* with a screaming newborn trying to get the straps fixed! Finally, we got everything together, got us all bundled up, and got in the car. Xander was still screaming but we drove not even 2 minutes down the road and it then it suddenly stopped. The car was back from the shop but the interior lights weren’t working! So, I couldn’t even see him even though I was sitting right next to him. Nelson asked, as I was thinking it, “Is he still breathing?” I couldn’t see him, so I put my hand in front of his face and then on his chest and felt him breathing! It was just amazing how instantly he fell asleep! And he’s only done that once or twice since!

All the ducks (and a cat) in a row

He did this all himself. No adjusting or coaxing from me. Have I mentioned that he's ALOT like his father?? Notice how they are all facing the same direction and fit perfectly within the alotted space! This wasn't just a fluke...

Notice this time animal classification. I do need to teach him that reptiles are more closely related to birds... so it should be ducks, aligator, and I'm a bit fuzzy on which is the higher mammal mice or koalas (marsupial)... all of my higher education was in the germs... cut me a little slack! Oops, I think my geekiness just oozed out a bit! Need to keep that in check! ;-D

Sometimes you have to wonder what they're thinking...

Carrots and Ice Cream... that's right carrots and ice cream.

Xander has always loved veggies and he really likes carrots. It's only in the last few months that he's realized the joy that ice cream is. Tonight my Dad, Nelson David, Xander and I went out to eat at Sizzler. Xander ate peas, carrots, corn, cucumber, and chicken. For dessert after the watermelon, pineapple, and cantaloupe, he began dipping his shredded carrots in Nelson's ice cream.

He said, "Mmmmmm... 'ummmy'!!"

I think that he has the potential to be a great chef... to break the (jello) mold of conventional food combinations. He thinks outside the box (of cheerios)! He doesn't let the grimaces of those watching his experience of new recipes affect his enjoyment in new and daring taste sensations! He is steadfast in his opinions! He is courageous and adventurous! He is constantly trying new, bold, and unthought of selections! Watch out Emeril... Xander is waiting in the wings!! BAM!!

This culinary experience follows on the heels of last Saturday's IHOP excusion. The morning's combination of delight... ketchup and cheerios!!

You read that right... Ketchup and Cheerios!!

Actually, he had ketchup with his eggs, his hashbrowns (he does have some conventional and traditional leanings), his eggs, and his pancakes that already had maple syrup! Nelson David drew the line at Fruit Loops.

"He is not going to dip Fruit Loops in kethcup... that's just not right!"

It's been really interesting to see his tastes change. Just a couple months ago he loved spaghetti, but now he won't eat it at all! About a month ago he discovered ketchup (aka 'dup-dup)! He clearly loves the stuff and wants it all the time especially with 'nee-nee' (chicken for those of you not fluent in Xanderish... thankfully he signs quite well to aide in translation to common English).

I've become quite proficient at ketchup stain removal from shirts, pants, socks, pajamas, skin, tables, and floors!!

Moral to the story: Kids tastebuds are whacked, but it is quite a sight to behold!

A Tribute

Maybe it’s because I’m an only child, but I’ve always felt that our pets were much more than just that that. So, whenever pets of ours have died, it always hits me rather hard and I feel that I haven’t taken care of them as well as I could have. These are the events of the last few days.
Watson was our loving, goofy, laid-back, OCD, weird oriental short-hair. He was born August 9, 1994 and died February 9, 2007. We will miss him greatly. It’s so hard to believe that he won’t be sitting at his place on the kitchen rug waiting to be fed or curling up and snoozing in the sun with his half-brother Zemo. Never again will he take off running in a fit of cat crazies. I won’t see his little tummy pooch swinging side to side as he’s running! I’m going to miss scratching him and watching the base of his tail ‘side-poof’ and reach higher to the tip of his tail as he enjoys it more and more. I’m never going to figure out why he licked my mouse, keyboard, and chair arms. I’m only going to see that crooked smile in pictures. I’ll only remember the way he went from lap to lap of people that were visiting. There’s never going to be another Watson.
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning (2/7/07) Xander woke up coughing and so we went into the kitchen and had a little bit of Sierra Mist to stop the coughing. We then went to sit in the nursing chair to rock and fall back to sleep. Both Watson and Zemo were sitting in the chair, so I scooted them over a little and sat down. Surprisingly, Zemo stayed for a little while and then when Xander started moving a little, He hopped down. Watson stayed. After awhile Xander changed positions in my arms so that his legs were laying on Watson. Watson didn’t seem to mind. After a bit I needed to change postions and I was scooting Watson off the chair and he made a sound that I’ve never heard him make… it was like a growl! I scooted him again and he made the sound again and hopped down. I thought that it was odd, but went back to rocking Xander and trying to get him to sleep. He finally drifted off and I put him back in his crib and went to bed.

When we all got up in the morning we noticed that Watson was acting a little odd and there was a spot where a cat urinated on the carpet on the way to the litter box. He was kind of hovering while he was eating and walking around gingerly… like he was sore. Nelson went on to work and throughout the day I kept an eye on Watson and Xander’s fever. Just the day before Xander had a fever of 103°. Xander seems to take after me in that I very rarely ever get fevers, so I was a bit concerned! Thankfully it only lasted about a day and Xander never really seemed sick (except for the constant humming that he does when he doesn’t feel well or is tired). When it was time for Xander and I to take a nap our usual routine is to go into the bedroom, Xander closes the blinds and shuts the door and I check for kitties (usually Watson) under the covers and I usher them out of the room. This time I let Watson stay under the covers since he wasn’t feeling well and we all took a nice nap together. When we got up from our nap, Watson was still acting peculiar. I gave him some of his wet food/water mixture as always since he was wanting to eat. He lets me know that he wants to eat by his quiet almost subliminal meows and sitting in ‘his’ spot on the kitchen rug. When I put the food out I could tell that Watson could smell it and he began walking toward it, but went to the dry food bowl instead. I moved his head toward the wet food and said here it is Watson and he began eating it. I thought that it was very odd that it was like he couldn’t see it.

Later on I sat in the nursing chair and held Watson for a while and then when I got up to make dinner I left him in the chair. He stayed there for many hours. He sat there in positions that were odd for him.

Later that night about 10:30 I told Nelson that I thought we should really take Watson to the Vet because Watson was still behaving oddly and was beginning to shiver/quiver. I was really worried about him. So even though Nelson had to get up very early for work he took Watson to an after hours emergency vet hospital. He called after they were seen and said that Watson had exploded from both ends on the way there and that the towel in the cat carrier wouldn’t be coming back. He also said that the technician had said that they were ‘stinky’! They did some blood work on Watson and gave him a catheter to give him some IV fluids. He stayed overnight. They required him to be picked up at 7:30am since they close at 8am and to be transferred to our regular vet.

Xander and I got up at 6am… I had planned to let Xander sleep while I got ready, but Xander had other ideas. He woke up and was wanting to nurse, but I had to keep telling him that we couldn’t because we had to go get kitty. Daddy took kitty to the doctor last night because he was sick and we needed to go get him. Xander was just whining that he wanted to sleep. I finally finished getting ready and gave Xander some breakfast which seemed to help his mood. I grabbed a towel for the carrier and we managed to leave not too late and traffic wasn’t too bad.

We only got there a bit late!

We picked up Watson and he looked a bit stronger, but still kind of drunk. We took him to our regular vet and on the way there he threw up. When we got to the vet we went into the exam room and waited for a quite a while because the Vet was running late. Watson didn’t want to come out of the carrier, which was unusual for him. He was just staring even when I would get right in front of him he would just stare. While waiting for the Vet there were several times that he almost stepped off the exam table like he couldn’t see that he was close to the edge! It was so hard to try and keep Watson comforted and Xander corralled! Xander was getting so tired by this point I just had to hold him to keep him happy. The Vet thought that Watson had facial nerve paralysis because of his ‘crooked smile’, but I told him that he’s always been like that. I explained what had been going on and that I thought that maybe Watson couldn’t see. He put Watson on the floor and dropped a few cotton balls in front of him and Watson only saw one of them! He thought that there may be something neurological going on with him. He said that he would do some blood tests and x-rays and watch him. He thought that maybe Watson had a stroke and maybe that’s what was causing the problem and would do a thyroid test to see if that’s what caused the blood clot in the first place. When he took Watson out of the exam room and Xander and I were leaving, Xander began crying that we were leaving kitty. I tried to tell him that kitty had to stay so that the doctor could try to figure out why kitty was so sick and to make him better, but that didn’t help. He cried and cried for kitty. He finally stopped when we were about 2 blocks from home and then fell asleep. I drove for about a half hour so that he could get some sleep. When we got home, Xander didn’t want to be awake so after fighting it for a little bit, I decided ok… let’s take a nap. So we both slept until lunch time.

About 2pm the Vet called and said that he really thought that there was something neurological wrong with Watson after watching him throughout the day. He said that when he was taking X-rays of Watson that he got so stressed that he almost passed out! He wanted to me to take Watson to a specialist vet center. Xander and I packed up quickly and went to get Watson. We met with the Vet and he said that he was having a thyroid test done but the results wouldn’t be back for a few days. In the meantime, he wanted to take Watson’s blood pressure because that could be elevated from low thyroid function and cause him to throw clots. He said that his intestines and heart looked good and all of his blood work (from both places) all looked normal. Taking animals blood pressure was something that the specialty vet could do.

So we immediately left for the specialty hospital. I brought x-rays that Watson had taken about a year and a half ago and then the newest x-rays. I couldn’t carry everything in in one trip. So Xander and I went back out for the diaper bag and the x-rays and Xander was starting to get upset that we left kitty. I said that we just had to get things out of the car and we’ll go right back and see kitty. The specialty hospital quickly put us in an exam room (their largest one so that Xander could have room to roam). He kept bumping his nose on the carrier door, like it surprised him that it was there. He really couldn’t see. I took Watson out of the carrier and Xander petted kitty and I held Watson as much as I could to comfort him which did seem to help. The Specialty Vet came in and talked with us about Watson. He had such a sweet and caring demeanor. After having Watson walk around on the floor he agreed that he couldn’t see and that was why he was just meowing because it was so confusing and scary. He wanted to take his blood pressure and look at his retinas. So he took Watson and Xander was a little upset by this but not bad. The specialty Vet was holding Watson and scratching him and telling him that he knew how scary it was. He really seemed to have a truly caring nature. When Watson came back he had a bandana around his neck… I don’t know why. He said that his eyes/retinas looked normal and that his blood pressure was normal. So there were a couple possibilities. That there was some vascular incident and that he would gradually improve over the next 24h. Or that he could have some kind of tumor in the brain. I decided to keep Watson there overnight to get more fluids (that we’d been carrying with us from vet to vet) while we decided if we should do a CT scan and a spinal tap to find out what was going on with Watson. Xander was getting very hungry, so we headed home to get some dinner. After we got home and Xander was eating the Specialty Vet called and said that Watson had had a seizure. They gave him valium to prevent another seizure and would give him Phenobarbital if he had another. They were going to wait until we had decided whether or not to do the CT scan and the spinal tap before they started him on Prednisone to decrease the swelling which should help in any scenario that we were looking at. The Specialty Vet believed that Watson’s eyesight would eventually return and that he would need to stay in the hospital until he had 24h without a seizure. There would be routine blood work to assay the blood levels of Phenobarbital. I thought about going to visit Watson after Xander went to bed, but I thought I’ll just see him in the morning.

Nelson and I decided that we would not have the CT scan or the spinal tap done on Watson. Our reasoning was that in the last few years Watson’s overall quality of life was starting to decline. We couldn’t see putting Watson through the stress of another transport to a different hospital and the procedures in the condition he was in. In the worst case, if he had a tumor that was operable we also couldn’t see putting him through surgery and chemotherapy since he had was having difficulty eating and not throwing up. All that to say, Watson was still his normal self and seemed to be quite content with life. I didn’t want to admit that Watson was beginning a decline of his health. I also was feeling very guilty that I had not been treating him as well as I should have. Since Xander has come along I’ve found it very difficult to give everyone the attention that they need and deserve. Unfortunately, the cats often got the leftovers… which weren’t all that abundant. Often Watosn would be so frustrating to me because of his apparent finicky eating habits and his chewing my rose cuttings that I was trying to grow. I’m so ashamed to admit that there were times I wished that he wasn’t around… he could be just so infuriating! All the time that I was praying that God would help us to figure out what was wrong with him, to help him get better, and for his eyesight to return, I just felt like we were going to be a one cat family. I don’t know why I thought that he wasn’t going to make it… was I wishing for that?
Nelson called the Specialty Vet Hospital before we went to bed to check on Watson. The said that his temperature was dropping and they put him in a heating blanket and that this was common for after a sedative. They said he seemed a little out of it, but also common after a seizure and sedation. I kept praying through the night.

The cats have never been without each other for more than a few hours during the day when Watson had 2 surgeries without Zemo going to the Vet, too. Zemo had been walking around meowing and looking for Watson, so Nelson and I decided to let him sleep with us for the night. We had kept the cats from sleeping with us since Xander was sleeping in the bed with us. When Xander started sleeping in his crib in his room we just kept on sleeping without the cats for Nelson’s allergies.

I was up for a couple hours with Xander during the night and after I got him back to sleep in his crib I was laying in bed and thought I heard the phone ring, but didn’t hear it again. Nelson got up to go to work early and then came back into the bedroom and said that the Specialty Vet hospital had called. Watson had gone into cardiac arrest and died. I immediately began sobbing. I began blurting all of the feelings I had been having about him not making it, going to visit, about at times him not being around. I had no idea that Watson was going to die. Not that I sat around thinking of how people will die, but the people in my life that have died… I never expected it to happen to them or the way that it happened. I just thought that it would come down to a quality of life decision with Watson… either sooner because of his vision impairment, a tumor, or his difficulty eating. I never anticipated it occurring so suddenly. Nelson eventually decided to stay home and do some work from home to be with me. He also wanted to stay home to help clean the house since my dad was coming to visit later that day.

After Xander got up and I made pancakes (Xander’s favorite), we got ready and went to the Specialty Vet to pick up the Cat carrier and to settle our bill. When we got to the door of the Specialty Vet Hospital Xander said Kitty. We had to explain to him that kitty wasn’t here. We got the carrier and got a copy of the referral letter that the Vet on duty had written explaining what had happened. The whole time Xander kept asking for kitty and playing with the cat carrier. When we left he asked for kitty again and I had to say that kitty won’t be coming home with us as I was unsuccessfully fighting back the tears. When we got in the car he again asked for kitty and I explained that kitty was very sick and didn’t get better and he died. Xander put his hands up covering his eyes and began to cry.

After lunch we went to the bedroom for our nap and Xander said happily kitty when we went to the bed and I had to tell him that kitty wasn’t in here.

Sunday evening we were all watching a movie and all of sudden Xander went over to Nelson and pointed to Zemo, who was sitting on his lap, and said kitty and then began crying and laid down on the floor.

It’s apparent how much of a presence Watson had with Xander. Many pictures of Xander have Watson somewhere in them. I’m really sad that Xander will forget Watson and I’m going to have to tell Xander about Watson when he’s older. I hope that Zemo will someday really warm up to Xander and be close to him.One week and one day later we went to pick up Watson’s remains. As soon as we drove into the parking lot of the Specialty Vet’s office Xander started saying and signing kitty! We had to explain again that kitty was really sick and the doctor couldn’t make him better. That kid’s got an amazing memory!

And he's off... Part 2

And he’s off… Part 2

Today at eleven months and 1 day Xander has partially realized the virtues of crawling. I posted before that he was doing the ‘low crawl’ or ‘military crawl’ and he has still been crawling like that since. But today he has started crawling on his hands and knees!! He still likes doing the low crawl as he approaches a toy, but I think he’s realizing that this crawl is quicker and somewhat easier… and mom would prefer it because she is ever so tired of trying to remove the dirt stains off of his shirts!!! ;-D

He also is getting really good at using furniture and toys to pull himself up and stand. He gets the biggest grin on his face when he does. You can just tell he’s so proud of himself for standing up all by himself. He really likes standing and walking. It really seems like he’s so frustrated by his inability to really get up and go!! Awhile ago we had to lower the crib mattress so that he couldn’t get out because he was just beginning to realize that he could use the crib to stand up… He now easily pulls himself up and stands in his crib when he wants to get out!! One of his favorite things to do is to stand up near the living room ottoman and sidestep to a large blue Rubbermaid plastic storage bin that is beside his toy box and pull toys out and place them on the lid of the storage bin. He uses the storage bin as a workbench for his toys… he will stand there for the longest time pulling out toys, with one hand on the blue bin supporting him while he cautiously bends over into his toy box to pull out a toy and place on his ‘workbench.’ Then he will put a toy back in his toy box (or drop it on the floor) and pull a toy out (sometimes the same one)… and put it back and pull it out… and put it back and pull it out… you get the idea??!!??

He also is walking with me holding his hands. He can walk pretty far for his size… if he’s so inclined. The other day I was walking him toward Nelson and Xander got so excited to see him and that he was walking that he just started hopping up and down and stomping his feet and pretty much dancing around. It was really cute and funny!! Today he’s been very ‘in love’ with Nelson. Every chance he got he wanted DaDa to hold him!! Nelson was in heaven today since Xander usually behaves that way toward his MaMa.

Speaking of MaMa and DaDa… it’s pretty funny he uses MaMa pretty specifically for me, but EVERYTHING else is DaDa… Nelson, trees, birds, the cats (no matter how many times we say kitty… that’s kitty), lights, etc. It was hilarious… one day he was watching a video and monkeys came on and he loudly yelled DaDa and pointed to the monkeys!!! Nelson thought that that was a sign that he might need to trim his beard down just a little!! He does recognize DaDa (grins and points and may say DaDa) when we meet Nelson at different places… one time we were meeting Nelson at a store and Xander and I were in the parking lot and Nelson drove by and Xander recognized his car!! So I guess in time he’ll be able to figure out that the cats are not DaDa!!

Toy du jour...

Starting yesterday Xander became very interested in a small green ball. It's the perfect size for his little hands. It has not left his side. He has played with it, napped with it, eaten with it, taken a bath, and taken another nap with it. I wonder how long the fascination will last. Right now he is sitting/jumping in his jumperoo watching a baby einstein video while holding the green ball.

Today has been one of those days when fighting traffic and dealing with bosses has not seemed that bad in comparison to being a stay at home mom. Nothing really horrible has happened, but I'm just tired from dealing with my allergies and Xander is just a little fussy... probably from his allergies and the last few days being very busy.

Starting last Wednesday we had a MOPS meeting in the morning, throwing off his morning nap, and a Financial Peace University meeting in the evening, pushing his bedtime off. Thursday had seminar in the afternoon... missed naps. Friday, Nelson/David's father had what seemed to be a heart attack, so we drove to the hospital and stayed the afternoon until Xander's 9 month doctor's appointment (that couldn't be rescheduled until December... so we had to go). Friday night Nelson stayed at a hotel with his mom near the hospital... so both Xander and I slept poorly without him being home. Saturday was the memorial service for a friend of ours who died from childbirth. It seems so odd that in this day and age that a woman could die from giving birth. Anyway, after the service we went to the hospital that was quite a distance from our house and stayed very late. Xander was past the end of his rope by that point. On Sunday, I decided that we all needed to sleep in and take it easy, so we didn't go to church. Later on the day we ran some errands, but Xander still didn't get his regular naps in. Monday was the first day of somewhat normalcy, but he's just been a little cranky... hopefully this will pass soon.

I forgot to mention in my last post that he also has learned to wave and give kisses. He has several different types of waves, but I haven't learned the meaning behind them yet. He waves often and to things that don't wave back... like the cats, his videos, to people not looking at him. It is really rather cute!! After I kiss him on the cheek he sometimes will turn to my cheek and press his open mouth to my cheek (along with a bit of drool). I'm guessing that he hasn't learned the pucker of a kiss just yet!

And he's off...

And he’s off…

This week Xander has become mobile. He’s not exactly crawling on all fours just yet… he’s doing the military ‘low crawl’. It’s pretty cute, but it does a number on the cleanliness of his white onesies. I guess that means I don’t have very clean floors!. It’s been really interesting to watch his progress to mobility. He started off just lifting his legs up and rolling from side to side in a zig-zag pattern. Later, after he learned to roll completely over he would barrel roll to where he wanted to go. Now with the military crawl he can really get to places and into things!! He has this fascination with a floor lamp and its cord. We need to put in the ceiling fan in that room so that we can get rid of that lamp. He’s also very interested in the cats… they are in real trouble once he can crawl faster!!

Like death and taxes it was inevitable...

Well, Xander is sick for the first time. About a week and half ago he started with a little stuffy nose that has gotten progressively worse. At the same time my nose got all messed up and my throat was a little sore. It never got any worse, so I assumed that it was just allergies or something since the weather had changed about the same time. Nelson has had a cough that has slowly gotten worse, too. Come to think of it, maybe he has given to us! More than likely, though, I put Xander in the church nursery for the first time a couple weeks ago… so he probably picked up a bug from there.

On Wednesday, Xander’s nose was so congested he was having trouble nursing. I had Nelson to call the pediatrician and they recommended PediaCare decongestant. So I got some for him and we started giving it to him. He really didn’t like the taste of it. But he took it pretty well and fortunately it was only 1.2mL (a relatively small amount).

By Friday his nose was not any less congested and he was wired from the medicine to the point that I could get him to fall asleep for 10 minutes then he’s wake up and be ready to play! Thankfully Nelson took over watching him for awhile so I could sleep, since I was wiped out from staying up late working on my dissertation and then Xander waking up a short time later wide awake. We went to the pediatrician today and she checked his ears… they were infected. I was surprised! He isn’t really behaving much different than normal… no fever, very active, smiling, and laughing, etc. So she wrote a prescription for amoxillin… the dreaded bright pink bubble gum/raspberry stuff. We gave it to him tonight… that didn’t go well at all (read as: LOTS of crying!!!)!!! He was way too tired and REALLY didn’t like the taste at all and we had to give him 7.5mL (a rather large amount to try and get down of something that doesn’t taste good)!! A few minutes later he spit up a mixture of breast milk, sweet potatoes, and amoxicillin… thankfully it missed the handmade quilt and landed on the carpet… it’s a good thing Nelson has lots of experience of removing cat food puke stains from the carpet. Come to think of it the cats have prepared us in a lot of ways for taking care of a baby… but that’s another story… ;-D

A bit of background... Part 2

Before we went to our first doctor's appointment, I had a dream, that we were having twins... Maybe that's more of a nightmare ;-D So, with all of those comments and then my dream I was worried that the ultrasound was going to show more than one baby!! The doctor was really good about describing what we were looking at during the ultrasound and he confirmed that there was only 1 baby. He then said that he needed to look at other structures and when he panned around he said, "Did I speak too soon?" My heart flipped - it looked like I there was another beating heart!! But then he said no - it was the same one just at a different angle...thank goodness! Although, it would've been really cute to have the 'twin sheets', but one baby is more than enough! Nelson has a very sensitive stomach… He sometimes has to leave the room when we watch ER because it’s making him ill! He actually felt nauseous during the ultrasound! I think that it was more that he only had an apple to eat that day and not the ultrasound and the thought of twins. It was also determined that the due date would be January 21, 2005!! This is one of the 8 week ultrasound pictures. It is upside down because I think it’s easier to see that it’s a baby. The cool thing about this picture is that the umbilical cord looks like a little halo at the back of the baby’s head… Our little angel!!

After this ultrasound I felt much more confident about the pregnancy and I began telling more people about the pregnancy. I suffered some morning sickness, but I never got so nauseous that I threw up. It was the strangest thing to learn to eat when I felt sick. The worst part was it was like my internal organs were already rearranging and my stomach couldn’t hold as much food. Because of that I couldn’t eat as much as I normally do and I lost about 6 lbs during the first trimester.

The pregnancy went very well. I never really felt any different than I normally do. In the mornings I would have to feel my belly just to make sure I was still pregnant because I felt so normal. I kept working in the lab doing experiments and writing papers. I was doing ridiculous time course experiments where I had to take pictures or harvest cells every 3 hours for 24 hours. On those days I would stay at school overnight (because I live so far away) and sleep for a few hours between time points. I started feeling the baby move when I was about 17 weeks along. As the pregnancy progressed those movements got MUCH stronger and MUCH more often. Toward the end you could see his foot just about sticking out of my belly!!! Looking back maybe I should’ve not kept such odd hours and Xander would be a better sleeper now… interesting thought. Before the 20 week ultrasound we had talked about whether the baby was a boy or girl. We were 60/40 for a boy. I always wanted to have a boy because I feared that I would have a girl that was all prissy and into pink and I wouldn’t know what to do with her. I liked little boys clothes better and just hoped that it was a boy. But truth be told I actually was ok with the idea of it being a girl… which really surprised me. I truly just wanted a healthy baby; I was fine with a boy or girl. When the technician said that it was a boy I looked over at Nelson and he had the goofiest grin on his face. It was the same goofy grin that he had when he tried on the wedding ring that would become his. Men are so silly sometimes. ;-D

Here’s a picture from the 20 week ultrasound.

It was pretty funny that just before the technician captured this image the baby was sucking his thumb and as he was pulling his hand away from his face he had his thumb and forefinger out making the loser sign. Nelson and I joked that we thought that it wouldn’t be until he was a teenager that he’s be calling us losers. ;-D Now that we knew it was a boy we started thinking about what we were going to name him. We came up with his name pretty quickly and easily, but we decided that we didn’t want to tell anyone until he was born. We wanted it to be a surprise. That really annoyed some people. Anyway, Nelson is named after his father but with a different middle name. Around his family he goes by his middle name. We wanted to continue the tradition and so we named the baby Nelson but with a different middle name to distinguish between all the Nelsons. We call him Xander. We like the name Alexander because he can choose from so many nicknames, one of which is Al, which is one nickname that my dad has. So he is sort of named after both grandfathers and his dad!!

The next big event of the pregnancy was the 4D ultrasound that we had when I was 29 weeks. It was on my birthday, too! Because the placenta was anterior it kept getting in the way of the pictures, but we did get 2 really cute ones. You can really see how tightly packed he was in there. Xander had his tongue sticking out the whole time. Surprisingly, he wasn’t very active during the session. Here are those pictures…

The remaining weeks of the pregnancy I finished writing the rough draft manuscript to my second paper, working on my presentation for a committee meeting where I was given the go ahead to write (and do some more experiments… that’s another story), and starting to figure out what I needed to include in my dissertation. We also had a baby shower given by the people at my school (the church baby shower ended up being after Xander was born), professional maternity pictures taken (I’ll post those another day when I get them scanned in… they turned out AWESOME), toured the 2 hospitals that I could deliver at, at took a childbirth class. Nelson was able to make it through the birth videos without getting sick or leaving!!! We also decided that we would like to have a doula at the birth and she was the greatest!!! I’ll talk more about that in the birth story…

I think that this sums up the pregnancy pretty well. I’m sure that I’ll think of other things as time goes by and I’ll post them when I do. It really was an uneventful (up until a few days before delivery) and rather easy pregnancy!! I really enjoyed being pregnant except for the EXCRUCUATING heartburn and horrible taste I had in my mouth the first and third trimesters… Thank goodness for milk for the heartburn and Dubble Bubble bubble gum-- it was the only thing that got rid of the bad taste, but they were thankfully gone the instant I delivered Xander.

A bit of background... Part 1

Before I get too deep, I thought I’d give a little bit of background so that we’re all caught up...

I’m not the typical girl. I’m not into chick-flicks; I much prefer action movies where there are things blowing up, car chases, and cool special effects. I’m trying to finish my PhD in microbiology. I really don't like pink all that much. As a little girl I never dreamed about what my wedding was going to be like. I love my 5.7L V-8 formula firebird (I’m greatly saddened that I can't drive it until my son turns 1 since his car seat doesn't fit rear facing...so I’m driving a 'family car' now). Until recently I always had more guy friends than girl friends. But don't get me wrong, I do have some 'girlie qualities'. I love getting manicures and pedicures. I love shoes and shopping. Although I don't have the endurance or patience for shopping like most women, I do like to shop. I like make up and I spend a lot of time doing my hair (before the baby). I would love to combine all of my girliness into a day trip to a spa… I had a massage one time as a gift to myself for taking my PhD oral comprehensives… it was heavenly… and then to get a manicure, pedicure, and my hair done that would be the living end (you don’t hear that colloquialism much anymore). I guess to sum up these generalizations, I would love to have the money to match my shoes and my car to my varying moods ;-D

So all of that is to say I wasn't really expecting to be 'expecting'.

Babies terrify me...they seem so helpless and you can't ask them what they need/want when they're crying. Well, you can ask, but you probably won't get an intelligible answer. The first diaper I ever changed was my son's...in the wee hours of the morning after delivering him. I had to call a nurse to help me. under normal circumstances I probably could've figured it out; I am getting a PhD, after all, so I got a little bit going on in the ‘control tower’, but I was tired, light -headed from the loss of blood, and his crying was really getting to me and probably my neighbor who had delivered her baby (and not her first one… so she knew what to do with her baby which wasn’t crying at all) a few days before. It didn't help that he was so small (6 lbs 12 oz and 18 1/2in) and the diapers the hospital had were ridiculously large!! But I'm getting ahead of myself…

I had taken a home pregnancy test on Friday, May 14, 2004 before I got ready for school, which is after Nelson leaves for work. I didn't want to stress Nelson out unnecessarily. Well, the pregnant line came up quick and strong, even better than the control line. I was pregnant!! I kind of had a feeling that something was different this month. So I called my doctor and they said that they would call me back when the paperwork was ready for the blood work. I gave them both the home number and my cell. I had instant-messaged Nelson while I was in lab about doing something different that night…. having a date night. We decided to go to Black Angus because we (meaning me) could have Mud Pie… yummmm…

Anyway… I had decided that I would tell Nelson that night. I had wanted to go at lunch time to Wal-Mart and look for a bib that said ‘I love daddy’, but I couldn’t leave lab. So I decided that I would pick it up after Casiano lab meeting (that should’ve been short, but went forever!). So I talked with Nelson on the drive home and we decided that we would meet at Black Angus. this would work out well, I could go by the house, pick up his meds, feed the cats, and check for messages from the doctor because I realized that they may call home and leave a message, even though I told them to call my cell... that could ruin the surprise. Before going home I went to Target and looked for a bib. I couldn’t find anything that said daddy… is there not a market for babies loving their daddies? Finally, I found a burp cloth in yellow (good because we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl) that says ‘I love my daddy’. It was only $3.98… I didn’t want to put that small amount on the American Express. So… I looked for something else… I only had about 30 minutes when I entered Target and I was quickly running out of time. I looked over on the clearance rack and there was this cute one piece with feet terry cloth sleeper that was yellow with ducks on it. I love ducks!! It also had a separate bib with ducks on it and it was 30% off!!. Perfect…

So I headed to the cashier, paid, and headed home. I fed the cats, got Nelson’s meds, forgot to check the answering machine (which was ok because they didn’t call me back until Monday afternoon because the doctor was not in), and headed out. Just as I was pulling out of the driveway, Nelson called. I said I was just heading out and he said that he would go in a get a table. While I was driving there, I realized that I should’ve gone to the bathroom before I left… it’s already starting… and how was I going to tell him/give him the burp cloth? I thought about forgetting my jacket in the car and putting it on top and then asking him to go get it… nah, I didn’t think that would work… I’ll just hide it under my jacket and give it to him at some point during dinner.

I got there and found him and he looked so happy. It was so cool… he told me that I looked really good… must be that pregnancy glow!!! As I was eating my salad (I was starving… that’s not unusual) Melody, Nelson’s sister, called so I handed it to Nelson and told him to talk to his sister… so I could keep eating… I was so hungry!!! After he got off the phone, I asked him what she wanted and he said that there was a Partylite party and he told her that this was our date night so I probably wouldn’t be going.
She said, “What do you guys need a date night for? You don’t have kids! You not working on that right now are you?”
He said, “Well, not right now (we were in a restaurant)!” At that moment I handed him the burp cloth…
“What’s this?” I just grinned.
“What’s going on?” I just grinned and nodded my head, like get it?
“What are you talking about?”
“We are having a baby!”
“Really??!??”
“Yes!”
“Really!!?!!”
“Yes!”
We finished dinner with every now and then a “really?” and a “yes!” He said that he was really excited about it. We walked to the theater that was right near the restaurant and saw the movie Troy. It seemed like a really long movie because my bladder was getting quite full. But it was a good movie and it was really nice to be close and cuddly… us and the new addition to our family!


Nelson and I were thinking that we would wait until Father’s day 2004 to tell his family that we were pregnant. That would be after our first doctor’s appointment, which was on June 14, 2004, and we would know that everything was ok with the pregnancy and we would feel comfortable telling them. We thought that it would be hard for them to keep it secret until after the first trimester. However, while we were in church on May 23, 2004 we decided that we would tell them after church. So we asked Mark what they were doing after church. He said that they were going over to Sherry and Greg Villa’s. So Nelson asked him if there would be some time that we could get together today. We then went to ask Melody what was going on this afternoon and she also said they were going over to the Villa’s, she said we could come. So we decided that we would, we were thinking that while Mark was making the salad that they were bringing we would have a chance to tell them. Well, Mark left to go to the store to get the stuff for the salad. Melody, Nelson, and I were waiting for the girls. We couldn’t find them, so Melody and I headed to their house, and Nelson went looking for the girls and would bring them home. So Melody and I headed out. We got to their house and Nelson’s parents were there… I was worried that they would’ve gone out to lunch and wouldn’t be there, but they were home. So we waited for Mark and Nelson and the girls to get home. Nelson’s parents were getting ready to head out for some lunch. Finally, Nelson got there with the girls. The girls were changing clothes and Nelson’s parents were hanging out for a little bit to visit before they left. Melody was very anxious about heading out and was trying to get the girls to hurry up. Mark still wasn’t home. Melody couldn’t take it anymore so she went to wait in the car. So we all started heading out… I guess we’ll have to tell them later….

It’s like impossible to get this whole family together in one place at one time!!

As we were all in our separate cars Mark finally drove up!! We were so close! Nelson and I were tempted to tell them right there in the street, but we decided to wait. So we went over to the Villa’s house. I didn’t realize that other people would be there, but we hung out and had burgers and a lot of fun. After Lisa Amstutz left with her girls, we were sitting at the table talking for a while. On the way over we had dropped Bre off at a friend’s house and she had called Melody to come get her. Mark and Nelson left to go get her. After talking for awhile longer, Brian Chrissan called to see if Kiara was going to go with him and the Amstutz girls to go see Shrek 2. Just before that Kiara looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion. So Melody was thinking that she wouldn’t go to the movie like they had planned. But after Brian called, Kiara came and asked if Brian had called. She then begged for Mark to take her… he was trying to talk her out of it. I was hoping it would work so that we could tell them… Man, it is so hard to get this family together! But Mark was saying that Nelson and I wanted to have some family time.

Melody then loudly asked Nelson, “Are you pregnant?”
Nelson said, “No, I’M not pregnant.” There was a lot of commotion going on for some reason. And then Melody looked over at me.
Softly, “Are you pregnant?” I sheepishly smiled and shook my head yes.
Screaming, “AHHHH…. REALLY!!!” I turned 15 shades of red.

Then everybody looked at us and she told EVERYBODY that I was pregnant… she was so excited and happy! Then Sherry leaned over and said, “I know why you’re so embarrassed… now you know everybody knows what you’ve been doing!” This is so not how we planned to tell them. Mark started saying that he knew it when Nelson was telling him that we wanted to get together. Melody said we should’ve told her and she wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to get out the door. Bre was so excited too and to share her birthday month. We then had to rush home to tell Nelson’s parents, before the rumor mill hit. Melody told Kiara to give the baby a hug and Kiara said that there’s no baby in there. We said that there was, it was just really, really small. She didn’t believe us. Melody said, “Somebody give this kid a talk!” That will come soon, I’m sure. Melody wanted to call Lisa, but Rod said that she couldn’t tell that was for us to do. So she called him on the way home to talk about it. We got to the house and told Nelson’s parents and they were so excited. His dad said maybe it will be triplets! Oh man, everybody that we have told has said, maybe it will be twins! On the way home Bre even said, “I want them to have a boy… and a girl!” Oh boy! Nelson’s mom was excited to be able to tell her friends that she was going to have a new grandbaby. She asked what color the nursery was going to be… I told her I have no idea. I was waiting on Nelson to realize that we needed to move the cat furniture and the treadmill out of that room.

Well, it all worked out in the end, but it sure wasn’t how we had planned and a whole lot more people know!!


We wanted to tell my Dad about the pregnancy by giving him a license plate frame that said “Happiness is being a grandparent” or something like that. He was going to be visiting over Memorial weekend, so we thought that it would be a perfect time to give it to him. So the Saturday that he was driving down, we went looking for it. We went everywhere, but couldn’t find one anywhere!!! It seems as if these are sold only in places that grandparents know about. I remembered seeing a grandparent’s t-shirt at Target, so we decided we would do that. But before we could go to the store we had to stop by and see what Melody had got for the baby. She had been at a garage sale and picked up a little picnic bench and slide by Little Tykes that she said was very expensive. So we put those in the car and headed out to Target. Dad was going to be here any minute! Thankfully they still had the t-shirts and we got one that said “World’s greatest Grandpa” and headed out. On the way home Dad called and asked where we were. We said we’d be there in just a minute. So we got home and I said, “I know it’s a little early for Father’s day, but we thought that we should give this to you now!” and I held up the t-shirt. My dad was grinning, but not understanding. He finally said, “Are you trying to tell me something?” And I said “yes!” He grabbed me and started hugging me and cried! We hugged for a long time. Then my dad started worrying and asking a bunch of questions!!!

It used to be all about me...

All eyes used to be on me, but it is becoming very clear that I am no longer the center of everything... on January 3, 2005 at 8:22 pm Nelson Alexander Sheets arrived and all eyes are on him! And the view from here... is quite lovely!