Happy Thanksgiving

Well, turkey day started off freezing this year. Skye and I woke up to our heater being out of commission. So, we packed up enough things to stay at my dads for a while. Thankful we didn’t have to spend money on a hotel or something, considering fixing the heater is an expensive project!

We had two new additions to our Wormer Family thanksgiving this year…and both don’t eat turkey! Newcomers included our new son, Britain (formula), and our new sister-in-law, Whitney (vegetarian). We had so many new things to be thankful for this year and a lot has changed. It still makes me a bit sad my mom wasn’t there to help prepare the feast. This would have been the complete table she always prayed for.

In other Britain news, he turned four months today. We celebrated by going to see Dr. Hood, who said he is progressing perfectly. He now weighs 17 lbs. and is 25 inches long. He is definitely a growing boy. He got his shots like a trooper today and also had his first bites of rice cereal. Pictures to come soon!

Giggles make it worthwhile…

Last night I heard the most wonderful sound. Britain giggled and laughed for the first time. The past few months, he’s squealed and made happy noises, but last night he did a full-on laugh. I was so happy that Skye was home to hear it too. He’s been working so much and doesn’t get to spend a lot of time with us, so that meant a lot. I’m glad Britain saved it for us both.

Speaking of work, I’ve been very fortunate to have found a job that allows me to work part-time from home. I get to spend my days with Brit at my side and, for the most part, make up my own schedule. It allows me to work the same days that Skye works and be off the same days. If I were sitting in a cubicle working 9-5 someplace, that would never happen. We’d also be paying for day care. Yuck.

Lately, gearing up for the holidays, the realization that we don’t make as much money as we used to also hangs over us. The trade off is worth it, in order to spend time with kiddo, but I usually like to be more generous with gift giving at Christmas. It disappoints me that we have to tighten our belts more this year. We also might have some upcoming dental expenses that we might have to prepare for. Please be praying for that because it could be in the thousands of dollars (and that still with 50% dental coverage.) It makes me sad that we have to say no to ski trips with friends and possible family road trips we were hoping to take in the spring, but I’m trying to keep a positive outlook. Some day, right?

In other news, we are also thinking about putting our house up for sale. That’s a little stressful too, thinking about what we could sell ours for and what we could actually afford in return. We need more space because we definitely want to expand our family some day. We are thinking about this now because of the new tax credit for home-owners that have owned for 5 years. It ends in April and we would qualify in March. Plus, the market is getting back on track with the 1st time home buyers and prices are semi-reasonable.

Happy Halloween

Well, we didn’t do too much to celebrate Halloween this year. Skye had to work during the day, so Aunt Whitney and I took Britain to a friends for a Halloween Brunch before heading out to Pumpkinfest in Downtown Franklin. Uncle Brad ended up coming to meet us for lunch and we ended up running into this guy on the square. (Britain actually slept through the introduction as you can see.)

Darth Vader, Brit and I

Hilton Head Trip

This past weekend we took Britain on his first car trip. The destination was Hilton Head to visit Skye’s family. The grandparents had already met Britain when he was born, so the most exciting thing about this trip was introducing him to his Aunt Joy and cousin Duncan.We won’t get to see them during the holidays, due to Skye’s crazy work schedule, so it was great that we were able to get done there this soon.

Aunt Joy and Britain

Goin’ to the chapel…

Yesterday my youngest brother, Brad, got married. Skye asked me if I felt a little sad (like I had lost him) on the drive home. The answer is yes, a little. He’s got another family to be a part of now. Spending time together on family holidays won’t be a guarantee anymore, probably won’t just pop over to my house like he used to…you get the picture. But I’ve also gained something wonderful too. I got a new sister-in-law that I am crazy about. I am so excited that she’s become a part of the family. I’m very protective of Brad, and I know that she will always take care of him and love him like crazy. I’ve got nothing to worry about.
I wish I had some pictures to post, but it was a lot having bridesmaid duties and also taking care of Britain all night. Hopefully, I’ll find some pics soon!

Let’s get real…

I had my first major “freak out” the other day. Most people would say that its pretty good to go a 5 weeks without one, but I wasn’t proud of this one. Exhaustion finally caught up with me and I practically could not function. Skye’s been working a lot of late shifts at the Apple Store lately and I really just needed some relief. I have eased back into work, only after 3 weeks off, and made some promises to the company, which I wanted to follow through on. As you know, whenever you start a project, the baby will surely put a stop to it. (There’s a reason why maternity leave is 12 weeks.) Some may say that I am crazy for trying to do too much, but in reality, I have a pretty good set up. I work from home 20 hours a week for an awesome company. It allows me to spend time with my baby and set my own hours…or that was the plan. IT WILL BE THE PLAN! I look at the big picture when I think about starting work now, rather than having a three month maternity leave and then dealing with day care. I know I would not be able to handle that and I know that I am not mentally wired to be in an office all day. I need the flexibility.

So, back to the freak out…I am not ashamed of it. I know its a reality and I’m honest talking about it. I know all mom’s go through this…right? They may not blog or talk about it, but I know they have those moments where they just need space. Skye was off to work and I was yelling at the top of my lungs “Where’s the pacifier? We have like 6! How come I can’t find one?” Amazing. A lost pacifier blew my fuse. Okay, build up some other things probably set it off too, but that was the final straw. I had a crying child in my ear and I was alone. Still hadn’t gotten my work done, was up since 3:15am and had to be at the office in just a few short hours (with promises still not delivered.) S-T-R-E-S-S. Skye called my dad on the way into work and had him come over. Of course by the time he came, I had gotten the baby soothed and he was sleeping all cute and tucked in his crib. That’s always the case, right? Nobody really witnesses the battle that goes on behind the scenes…or if they do, they wonder if they should call DCS. All said and done, the baby got loving care from Grandpa and mom got her work done in time for the meeting, a bath, and a 45 min nap after a trip to the office. But most of all, time to regroup and get back to lovin’ on Britain.

A month…already?

Today was a big day. First off, Britain turned 1 month old. I can’t believe that he’s been on the “outside” so to speak for that long. I still can’t get over how beautiful he is. Nobody said it was easy and I would agree. The past four weeks has been filled with great joy, recovery pain, guilt (over nursing and formula), trial and error, and I’m not going to lie…some postpartum sadness too.
We took Britain to his first church service at Rolling Hills Community Church. Amazingly, he slept through the whole worship portion, but as soon as it was time to be quiet and listen to the sermon, he, of course, decided to get fussy. Afterwards, the three of us went to the new membership class. Skye and I have been praying for a while that we would find a church home. We have been visiting Rolling Hills for a few months now, gotten involved with a community group and so the next step just became really visible. We definitely wanted to make a decision and get plugged in someplace now that Britain is in our lives.
I want to give a big shout out and thanks to all our friends and family that has made this past month special. We’ve had so many meals provided for us, which has been entirely helpful. I’ve also had some great friends listen, advise and allowed me to grow in this experience.

Three week update

My life has no routine right now. Basically it revolves a three hour window 24 hours a day, which includes feeding, changing and rocking a baby right now. He sleeps now and then too and fortunately, for us, he’s been pretty good during the nights. We first had to get him up throughout the night to feed due to a low drop in weight, but now he’s a force to be reckon with. My three week old baby is now 10lbs!
We’ve hit a little snag in his diet too. Symptoms have shown up of Britain having a cow’s milk protein allergy. No wonder he was always so fussy and looked like he was in pain after a feeding. He would be crying hysterically and I would be too because I didn’t know what was going on. Is this normal upset baby, or is there something else causing this? Well, we took him to the doctor and you could tell she was so sad to tell us that he has this allergy. In reality, it’s really common and most kids grow out of it, but in the meantime, it’s definitely an expensive allergy to have. The special hypo-allergenic formula he’s been put on is twice the cost of regular formula. I could try to nurse him, but that would require me to go on a special “dairy-free” diet. Surprisingly, that is more than giving up milk and cheese. For those interested, I’ve included a list of foods you aren’t allowed to eat while being “dairy-free.” But first, I’ve posted some pictures…because that’s more important, right? It’s going to be trouble he’s so beautiful. He’s going to be a charmer and hard to say no to!

Little photo shoot I had one late night.

Britain's first bath

List of foods to avoid:
Baked goods such as pancakes, biscuits, muffins, cakes, crackers, baking mixes (read labels for dairy product ingredients),Au gratin foods, Butter, Buttermilk, Calcium caseinate, Candy (especially creams and chocolate), Casein, Cheese, Cheese sauces, Chocolate milk and drinks, Coffeemate, Cold cuts (such as bologna), Cottage cheese, Cream, Creamed or scalloped foods, Curds, Dry cereals containing milk powder, such as some granolas, Dry milk powder, Dry milk solids, Evaporated milk, Fondues, Grated cheese, Gravies (some), Ice cream, Malted milk, Margarine (most), Meat loaf and patties (some), Milk: whole, skim, 1%, and 2%, Milk shakes, Milk sherbets, Nondairy creamers (most), Non-kosher luncheon meats (some), OvaltinePuddings (most), Sausage (some), Sodium caseinate, Wieners (some), Whey, White sauces, Yogurt

Britain’s Arrival

So, I was scheduled to be induced and arrive at the hospital at 5:30am on Thursday, July 30, 2009. Skye and I went to bed that night and set the alarm, knowing that we were going to wake up and go have a baby! I could hardly sleep due to all the anticipation. Finally, after all the pre-term labor contractions for 9 weeks, I was going to meet my little boy. Around 2am that morning, I woke up not feeling too hot. Something wasn’t right and I was having contractions, again. I took a shower and tried going back to bed for the few hours I had left before the alarm, but the contractions wouldn’t let up. I woke Skye up and told him that he needed to get himself ready because we were going to the hospital early.
So, we arrived an hour early and I had progressed to 3cm. (For those unknowing, you push at 10 cm.) Very soon after that, I had progressed to about a 5 and they gave me my epiduryl. Pure Bliss! Skye was looking at me while I was having deep contractions and I could only feel the pressure and not the pain. He kept on saying “Don’t you feel that? It’s like a 9 on the pain scale/contraction monitor!”
After that, the doc had to come in and break my water. I quickly progressed to a 9 and they prepared me to deliver. I ended up staying at a 9 for about two hours. Ugh! Then came the time to push. Oh geez! Let the games begin!
I pushed for about an hour. Skye was an excellent coach and helped me through the breathing. I had to wear an oxygen mask the whole time so, eating the ice chips and not getting overheated was a bit difficult. When the baby’s head was finally crowning, it was time to call the doctor. They told me to stop pushing, but that wasn’t going to happen. I needed to get the baby out! The nurse ended up being the one to deliver my baby due to the doc not making it over in time. The baby was in a weird position, so they had to find some random doctor walking the halls to come into the room and actually sit on me to help get his shoulders out. Skye says it totally looked like some random lady walking in and body slamming me!
So, when he came out, all I wanted to hear was him crying. But there was silence. His cord was wrapped around his neck and he was kind of blue. He also wasn’t moving his arm, due to the distress of the shoulder displacement. It wasn’t a classic movie moment. They briefly showed him to me and then whisked him off to the NICU for a couple hours.
As if that wasn’t enough, I lost a lot of blood during the delivery, so I had to lay flat the whole evening and couldn’t really hold him when they finally brought him to me. I ended up passing out in the bathroom and when they brought me back, they decided to give me a blood transfusion that night. After receiving two units of O Positive, I was feeling a lot better by morning. My baby was doing well and we were ready to move forward as a new, little family.
It’s true and unbelievable, the love they say that you automatically feel. I can’t imagine my life without Britain. The short periods of sleep, the frustrating nursing and feeding times are well worth it and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I am truly blessed.

Britain being taken to the NICU, 9 lbs. 2 oz

Leslie in hospital with Britain

Skye and Britain about to head home

It’s baby time!

Tomorrow I’m going to have a baby! TOMORROW I’M GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!! Wow! What an amazing feeling. My life is going to be turned upside down tomorrow, and I don’t mind at all. I welcome the change. For those of you wondering, I’m not nervous. Okay, a little bit about the epiduryl and the actual birth process, but we won’t get into that. I just know the outcome will make it all worthwhile.

I have to admit, I’ve gotten sad a little over the course of the pregnancy. I really wish that my mom was going to be out in that waiting room tomorrow. I know she will be looking over me tomorrow, but come on…its not the same. I’m so lucky to have friends and family that have been supportive throughout and I want to say thank you to them. We love you! That’s all for now! Next time I post, I’ll be a mommy. Maybe one day, I’ll get the daddy to post on here.