pregnancy was interesting. i actually think mine wasn't as terrible as i have heard. morning sickness was created by the devil. yes, the devil. i was on our intel job site the whole time i was prego except for the last few weeks, and that is not the ideal place you want to be while sick or prego. rain, shine, freezing, and hot. i did it all. and walked a lot. i mean a lot. second trimester was pretty good. had to adjust to the growing belly. third trimester was the struggle with maternity clothes. it was redic. everything looked so stupid on me.especially the high viz (high visibility....neon clothes) I had to wear at work. brett and i had some good laughs in the dressing rooms at the maternity stores too. i basically made it with 2 pairs of jeans and lots of yoga pants. thank god for lycra (i.e.stretchynessss!) Sleeping in the third trimester was tough. tremendous hip pain. i mean serious pain. i defined the saying "toss and turn". Stella was due on Dec. 20th....but she had her own agenda. christmas morning i was sitting with the fam as we laughed and opened presents, and for a second i thought i kinda peed my pants. no, i didnt say anything at first. pregnancy causes a lot of weird things to occur "down there" so i figured it was one of those things. then i went upstairs, and with a little more movement, more water came out. so yes, my water had broken. in we went to st.vincent. i was nervous, excited, scared, and so was the fam.
so there we sat in triage...brett and i. nursed checked us in. and in came the young male doctor. keep in mind my doc throughout pregnancy was an amazing woman....never had a man down there. and with brett in the room. weird. awkward. yup...that sums it up. after we got admitted and set up in our room they started putosin and got the inducing started. was labor pains what i thought they would be people ask?? i dont think that kind of pain is something you can predict. nor is it any kind of pain you "want" to know about, or i dont think women would have kids. the closest pain i had was 4 hours under the tattoo needle. and labor is in its own category. an evil category. i went for 4 to 7 cm in 20 minutes. ouch. then some godsent person made the epidural. GODsent. after having normal and back labor, the needles didnt seem bad at all. then heaven. no pain. ahhhh. 14 hours of labor and 14 minutes of pushing. then there she was....the most amazing thing God could have created. Stella Gabrielle. 9 lbs 8 oz 22 inches long.
since she has arrived life has been a whirlwind. no sleep. figuring out breastfeeding. hormones. patience. mom crying. baby crying. doctor appointments. and thank god for my house cleaner. stella will be 2 months old on monday. time flys. we are getting into the more fun stages of baby. she is smiling, cooing, blowing bubbles, rolling over, and for the most part sleeping "better". if there is such a thing. needless to say we are adjusting to this new life and loving it. grandparents are ecstatic, and already asking if we will be giving stella a brother or sister. my first thought was i already have two kids, brett, and stella. do i have patience for more?? no. i really think i am at my limit. no really, it is waaaay to early to ask. i still remember the labor and birth. they say you forget that stuff. hasn't left my mind yet! so we will see. but just remember...i have "kost" blood....patience only comes in small quantities. 
